Last Minute Talk

 

Last Tuesday the bishop pulled me aside at a Young Women's event I was attending and asked me if I would give a sacrament meeting talk. I love the whole process of giving a talk, especially the preparation and delving deep into a topic, so I readily agreed. He said it would be "next Sunday" and I confirmed that it was "next Sunday, not this Sunday". I even had W there as a witness. Well, last night about 11pm I checked my e-mail and there was a friendly reminder email to those participating in today's sacrament program.  And I was on the list. I quickly emailed the bishop and asked for confirmation.  He apologized for the confusion and he did indeed intend to ask me to speak this Sunday as in, exactly 12 hours from that e-mail. I had the topic in my head for four days, but I hadn't done any research or reading and only a little bit of pondering and praying. So I got to it. I actually really enjoy public speaking, as long as I am really prepared, that is. I found a few conference talks to support the theme of my assigned topic, John 14:15 If ye love me, keep my commandments, and then went to sleep around 1:00. This morning I had a few hours to collect my thoughts and type it up.  I can only use note cards as notes if I have a speech practically memorized, so I had to go with reading/talking. I'm told my reading style sounds just like I'm talking off the cuff, so I guess that's a special talent I have. I leave some things hanging and it isn't polished the way I would like, but I sure did pray over this and nice people told me they felt the spirit, which is what really matters.

Expressions of Love

John 14:15

With Valentine’s Day right around the corner, our thoughts may be on how we can express our love to our spouses, children, parents or sweethearts.  Some of you may receive a beautiful, sentimental card, some will be lucky enough to get some chocolate, and maybe some of you will be taken out to dinner or even get something sparkly.  (My husband is out of town so too bad he isn't here to get any of these hints!) There are many ways we can express our love to each other.  I like to express my love to my kids with a hug.  Not all of them like that, however. (Bet you can guess which one.) But when it comes to me being on the receiving end, I really feel the most loved with a sincere compliment or an act of service, no matter how small. Some people feel the most loved when they are given extra time and attention and of course, who doesn’t love to receive a gift? (Again, you can’t go wrong with chocolate…)

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the twelve apostles often speaks of his dear wife, Jeanene, who passed away a number of years ago.  Their loving relationship has inspired me.  In a talk he told about the little expressions of love they would show each other, one of which was leaving love notes in unexpected places for each other to find.  After Sister Scott passed away, Elder Scott found in a scrapbook all of his little love notes he had given his sweetheart over the years.  They were a treasure to her. 

As I pondered about the topic of love, I asked myself, how do I express my love to my Heavenly Father and to my Savior Jesus Christ?  The how is found in John 14:15, where the Savior says, ”If ye love me, keep my commandments.” But then my mind really started to go and I asked myself, do I keep the commandments as an expression of love, or because of obedience? Or is it the same thing?

I was once struggling with the feeling that I was not able to recognize the spirit in my life or more specifically, personal revelation.  I felt like I couldn’t tell the difference between God speaking to me and my own thoughts.  Because of this, I questioned every decision I needed to make and felt pretty discouraged.  It got to the point where if any good thought  popped into my mind, I would immediately start analyzing and questioning if that was the spirit prompting or just my own idea, and if it was my own idea, maybe it was not a good idea after all. So, I talked to someone about this issue in my spiritual life and she said, “Shonda, remember, ALL good things come from God.”  So this has led me down a line of reasoning that if all good things come from God and is His expression of love to us, His children, then All the good we do is our expression of love to Him.  Every drop of good that we put in the bucket expresses our love to and for God.  When I am kind to someone that needs it, I am expressing my love to that person, but also to Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.  When I serve my family in any of the hundreds of ways that we all do, I am expressing my love to my family, but also to God.  It’s a twofer!  When I care for any of God’s creations, be it a person, an animal, or tending a garden, I am expressing my love to Him.  So, as Elder Jeffry R. Holland has said, "...we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do. In short, we have a life of devoted discipleship to give in demonstrating our love of the Lord.”

Now, let’s talk about sacrifice.  Expressing our love can and does require sacrifice.  As we serve our families, we sacrifice daily. Hourly, sometimes. In big and small ways. Raising children, supporting spouses, going back to school to better provide for family, putting aside your own wants because you love them. Sending children to college and missions can be a big sacrifice. And, of course, we express our love to God with sacrifice.  We serve his children when it isn’t convenient and sometimes not even fun, we magnify our callings by giving time, effort and resources, we pay tithing, go to the temple, attend our meetings, pray on tired knees, and go without food as we fast for others.  And here’s the beautiful thing and another expression of our Heavenly Father’s love to us…That sacrifice starts to feel less like a sacrifice and more like a blessing and a gift we receive.  We are given greater peace, greater comfort, and greater capacity to endure the trials, pain, and hardship that comes to us all. Brothers and sisters, I have felt that spirit of peace and have been lifted up in times of trial.  I have been given greater capacity to endure very hard things.

As we strive to keep the commandments, we are expressing our love to Him who loves us greater than we can imagine. I'm so grateful for my Savior and for the gift of the atonement that not only atones for all of our sins, but for every sickness, pain and hardship we will ever have.

Some links to the talks I used for reference:
http://www.lds.org/liahona/1998/02/how-do-we-show-our-love?lang=eng
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/10/the-first-great-commandment?lang=eng
http://www.mormonchannel.org/video/mormon-messages?v=1094400252001 (Adorable video! Used it as my title and theme.)
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2011/04/the-eternal-blessings-of-marriage?lang=eng