One of the things that I’m going to be doing is starting
again with reviews of the General Conference talks. I love listening to General
Conference. I love re-reading through everything. The kids and I have started
trying to watch a talk every day while they take a break from work and have
their morning snacks. Tiger still doesn’t like sitting and paying attention too
much although I can tell every so often that he’s picking stuff up. Monkey has really
benefited I think. She loves the stories and when the General Authorities get
personal about themselves and their families and the amazing people they know
and things that they’ve experienced.
Last Easter weekend was another beautiful General Conference
weekend. It was nice to be able to spend so much family time all together
listening to the General Authorities. Before I start in on their talks though I
want to go back to one from October 2014 Conference. I teach the 4th Sunday in Relief
Society and my lesson before this conference was based on a talk given in the Priesthood
Session by Elder Quentin L. Cook titled “Choose Wisely”. I actually hadn’t
really gone through the Priesthood Talks from that Conference so it was a new
talk to me and I really enjoyed studying it and teaching from it.
To start off please take a minute and ponder the question “What
choices have I made today?
Every day we make trillions of choices. Some are consciously
made and some are unconsciously made but each minute we are continually
choosing. I think sometimes we forget just how powerful those choices are. One
of the greatest gifts we’ve been given on this Earth is our ability to choose.
Elder Cook reminded us of President Monson’s teaching that
our decisions determine our destiny. Elder Cook said, “In that spirit my
counsel tonight is to rise above any rationalizations that prevent us from
making righteous decisions, especially with respect to serving Jesus Christ.”
The idea that decisions determine destiny made me think
about each choice being like a fork in the road. Every unhappy destination
likely began with a bad choice. That may seem kind of discouraging because we
all make bad choices. The flip side and blessing is that every joyful and happy
destination begins with a good choice. At any point in time we can choose a
different path than the one that we are on. If we don’t like where we are
heading all we have to do is make a new choice.
One of the sisters shared a story about how much power is in
simple daily choices for good. She said that when her daughters were in
Seminary they had a teacher who challenged them to read a chapter of scripture
a day. The challenge was taken on by the girls and through her influence they
were able to develop a pattern of daily scripture study that has been a
blessing to them throughout their lives.
Elder Cook told the story of a young man he had met that had
some very worthy goals such as going on a mission, obtaining an education,
marrying in the temple, and having a faithful happy family. Elder Cook noted
however that most of the young man’s choices were not leading towards those
goals.
In many ways that made me think of myself. I don’t know
about anyone else but I think I’m obsessive over goals. Since I know that
having good goals is important, it seems as though I’m always trying to come up
with new ones. The problem for me is that I spend more time thinking about the
goals and trying to figure out how I can reach them then I do actually doing
those things that will get me there. It
often holds me back and I spend a lot of time frustrated because even though my
goals are good I never seem to be able to reach them.
There are a few things Elder Cook talked about that keep us
from reaching our goals. In my case one of my goal killers is getting
overwhelmed by the enormity of the goal and procrastinating because it’s easier
than dealing with it. Please someone else tell me it’s not just me!
One problem Elder Cook spoke of was rationalizations. Elder
Cook said, “When we rationalize wrong choices, big or small, which are
inconsistent with the restored gospel, we lose the blessings and protections we
need and often become ensnared in sin or simply lose our way.” Elder Cook
reminded of Elder Oaks council to seek out the very best.
The last problem in making good choices that Elder Cook
spoke of was distractions. Elder Cook said, “Sometimes it feels like we are
drowning in frivolous foolishness, nonsensical noise, and continuous
contention. When we turn down the volume and examine the substance, there is
very little that will assist us in our eternal quest toward righteous goals. One
father wisely responds to his children with their numerous requests to
participate in these distractions. He simply asks them, ‘Will this make you a
better person?’”
In the church we tend to talk a lot about choices and
agency. I’m not sure if it’s the same for everyone but I think it’s a great
blessing that we really need to take more time to ponder. One of our sisters
grew up in Finland. She remembers a time and a people that had very few
personal choices they were allowed to make.
For me this idea of the power of personal choice is just
starting to really develop. I have what I like to think of as a fairly obedient
spirit. Growing up I never really questioned, I just followed instructions. There
have been a lot of blessings that have come from that obedience. Especially
lately though I’ve seen a whole new light to this idea of choice – God doesn’t
just tell us to choose and then punish us when it isn’t what He wants. Many
times God gives us two or more very good choices and waits patiently while we
choose for ourselves which one we desire.
One way that I have felt this in my life was when I was
serving as Primary President. I was always so nervous about finding people for
callings. I worried so much about getting exactly who the Lord intended for the
position that it was agonizing and tearful. After a few years I finally came to
the realization that God didn’t need me to pray for specific revelation about
each and every person on the ward roster. He wanted me to use my own wisdom and
judgement and decide for myself who I thought would be well fitted and then
take that to Him. Doctrine & Covenants tells us that Heavenly Father doesn’t
want us to be commanded in all things but to do good of our own free will.
I really can’t explain enough how much this new perspective
on choice has changed me. Yes, our decisions are important, we know that many
of our decisions – even the little daily ones – can impact us and our family, and
countless others throughout eternity. That’s huge and pretty intimidating. But
God still loves us and wants us to be us and that will be a little different
for each of us. The Spirit isn’t there to tell us exactly every moment of every
day what to do and who to be – it’s to help us find our very best selves with
God’s help. That isn’t to say we can choose whatever we want. I don’t believe
that’s the case by a long shot. I think that if the answer is no or not now and
we’re in touch with the Holy Spirit then we’ll feel that and we should respond
accordingly.
Elder Cook ended with these thoughts, “I encourage everyone,
young and old, to review goals and objectives and strive to exercise greater
discipline. Our daily conduct and choices should be consistent with our goals.
We need to rise above rationalizations and distractions. It is especially
important to make choices consistent with our covenants to serve Jesus Christ
in righteousness… In all things we should remember that being ‘valiant in the
testimony of Jesus’ is the great dividing test between the celestial and
terrestrial kingdoms. We want to be found on the celestial side of that divide.”
I know that as we make choices that are consistent with our
knowledge of the gospel and in keeping with the Spirit that Heavenly Father
will bless us with great joy and happiness and we’ll be able to reach all those
worthy goals.
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