**I've posted these more for our family history than anything else. Feel free to read or to pass...**
For those who do not know, we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints. We gave our last talks in our current ward/congregation this last Sunday, and here were our remarks:
Michelle's TalkThe thoughts I want to share with you today are reflections of mine from a conference talk given last April entitled, “It’s True, Isn’t It? Then What Else Matters” by Elder Neil L. Anderson.
As an explanation for why I chose this talk, I’d like to share with you a few of the musings I’ve had lately about the need for conviction in our lives. I have never considered myself to be a very constant person, and I will also include that I am a perfectionist. (For those of you that really know me, this is no surprise!) In fact, it is often the case that I begin some crazy project or set a new goal for myself, completely gung ho, and drop the ball sometime before I finish completely. I often tend to try going about the goal using a different practice to get there, only to find the same end result of not fully achieving what I set out to do. Although I am happy that I have the ambition to begin such projects and set such goals, I wind up feeling discouraged and frustrated with the end result, and therefore tend to lose confidence in my abilities.
It has occurred to me lately that the problem is not in how I go about trying to achieve my goals, but more so in my conversion to the principles behind them. To share a rather personal example, I have tried for a year now to re-establish a habit of regular exercise. I have made sticker charts, posted motivational quotes and pictures, and even offered myself monetary rewards for keeping up a routine, to no avail. I have tried every practice imaginable to motivate myself to reach my goal, but lately I’m questioning whether or not I am truly converted to the principle that my body is a gift a from God; one that he entrusted to me to care for and love unconditionally. The same applies to goals I have set for scripture study, personal prayer and parenting.
In his talk, Elder Anderson related the following story told to him years ago by Elder Gordon B. Hinckley:
Elder (Hinckley) spoke of meeting a young naval officer from Asia. The officer had not been a Christian, but during training in the United States, he had learned about the Church and was baptized. He was now preparing to return to his native land.
President Hinckley asked the officer: "Your people are not Christians. What will happen when you return home a Christian, and, more particularly, a Mormon Christian?"
The officer's face clouded, and he replied: "My family will be disappointed. . . . As for my future and my career, all opportunity may be foreclosed against me."
President Hinckley asked, "Are you willing to pay so great a price for the gospel?"
With his dark eyes moistened by tears, he answered with a question: "It's true, isn't it?"
President Hinckley responded, "Yes, it is true."
To which the officer replied, "Then what else matters?"
This officer was truly converted to the principles of the gospel. He was willing to give up his most prized possessions, even his family relationships, for the cause of righteousness. I ask today, are we so converted as this man was?
The Bible Dictionary tells us that the word conversion “Denotes changing one’s views, in a conscious acceptance of the will of God. If followed by continued faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, baptism in water for the remission of sins, and the reception of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands, conversion will become complete, and will change a natural man into a sanctified, born again, purified person - a new creature in Christ Jesus.”
Most of us have had faith to repent, be baptized and confirmed as members of the Church of Jesus Christ, but can we truly consider ourselves a convert to each and every principle of the Gospel – a new creature in Christ? Do we really believe the Book of Mormon to be the word of God, insomuch that we would not even consider missing a chance to study its words, in place of all other worldly pursuits? Do we know, without a shadow of a doubt, that God hears and answers even our most seemingly insignificant prayers, insomuch that we find ourselves conversing with him at every opportunity we can find throughout our day? Do we really believe in the power and vital importance of missionary work, to the point that we cannot keep ourselves from sharing the gospel with those we meet?
President Marion G. Romney commented: “It would appear that membership in the Church and conversion are not necessarily synonymous. Being converted, as we are here using the term, and having a testimony are not necessarily the same either. A testimony comes when the Holy Ghost gives the earnest seeker a witness of truth. A moving testimony vitalizes faith; that is, it induces repentance and obedience to the commandments. Conversion, on the other hand, is the fruit of, or the reward for, repentance and obedience”
He also stated that the word “Converted” means to turn from one belief or course of action to another. Conversion is a spiritual and moral change. Converted implies not merely mental acceptance of Jesus and his teachings but also a motivating faith in him and his gospel. A faith which works a transformation, an actual change in one’s understanding of life’s meaning and in his allegiance to God in interest, in thought, and in conduct. In one who is really wholly converted, desire for things contrary to the gospel of Jesus Christ has actually died. And substituted therefore is a love of God, with a fixed and controlling determination to keep his commandments.”
In the Book of Mormon, the Anti-Nephi-Lehies demonstrated their true conversion to the gospel principle of faith when they refused to fight their enemies, even unto their own death.
Many of the early saints suffered exceedingly for their conversion to the principles of the gospel. One well-known story is that of a man, who traveled in the Martin Handcart Company. He shared his story with a group of people who, years later, were criticizing the Church leaders for ever allowing the Saints to cross the plains with no more supplies or protection than a handcart company provided. The old man listened until he could stand no more; then he arose and said with great emotion:
“I was in that company and my wife was in it…We suffered beyond anything you can imagine and many died of exposure and starvation, but did you ever hear a survivor of that company utter a word of criticism? We came through with the absolute knowledge that God lives for we became acquainted with him in our extremities. The price we paid to become acquainted with God was a privilege to pay, and I am thankful that I was privileged to come in the Martin Handcart Company.”
Do we have that absolute knowledge that God lives? Can we claim to be so converted, that we would give our very lives for the cause of truth and righteousness?
Elder Russell M. Ballard has said, “True and complete conversion is the key to accelerating the work of the Church.
In order to receive a fullness of promised blessings in our lives, and to be fully effective in our callings, we must become converted. Would any of us truly do any less than our very best in keeping a covenant or commandment, fulfilling an assignment, or in following Christ if we were truly converted in our hearts?
One who is converted and committed will not simply “go through the motions” in fulfilling a Church service assignment. A converted home teacher will not be satisfied with just making a visit to one of his assigned families so he can report to his quorum leader that his home teaching is “completed” or “done.” A converted Primary teacher would not be content to merely “give” a lesson but would want to teach by the Spirit, thereby making a real difference in the impressionable lives of the children entrusted to his or her care.”
Are we converted to the principle behind the practices we perform in our callings?
As a missionary, I remember praying relentlessly and fervently to have the vision of God in doing missionary work. I carried in my scriptures a bookmark that read “The Kingdom of God or Nothing”. In that time of my life, I felt truly converted to the principles of the gospel. Like the parable of the sower, the faith and obedience required of a missionary make fertile soil for the fruit of conversion to grow. Since then, I have had to work harder to till the ground. But I have not lost my testimony that when we perform that work, when we seek out the fertile ground, that we find it and we are happier for it.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson shares his formula for becoming truly converted to the principles of the gospel.
First, we must lay aside any feeling of pride that is so common in the world today. You hear it expressed today in phrases such as “Do your own thing” or “Right and wrong depend on what I feel is right for me.” That attitude is a rebellion against God, just as Lucifer rebelled against God in the premortal world.
Second, for the gospel to be written in our hearts, we need to know what it is and grow to understand it more fully. That means we will study it. He suggests reading a few verses, stopping to ponder them, carefully reading the verses again, and as you think about what they mean, praying for understanding, asking questions in your mind, waiting for spiritual impressions, and writing down the impressions and insights that come so you can remember and learn more. Studying in this way, you may not read a lot of chapters or verses in a half hour, but you will be giving place in your heart for the word of God, and He will be speaking to you.
Third, he invites us to pray. Your Heavenly Father wants us to pray about our hopes and fears, our friends and family, our school and work, and the needs of those around us. Most of all, we should pray to be filled with the love of Christ. Thank God for our blessings; ask for His help; ask Him to bestow upon us the pure love of Christ. Sometimes fasting will help.
Fourth, we must serve. Jesus said that He came to serve, not to be served. So it must be with us. We must look outward and care about others. We can be compassionate; we can be friendly; we can share; we can help others in a hundred small ways. As we do, the gospel of Jesus Christ will become a part of us.
Last, we can offer Christ a gift. Are we carrying around a bad habit or sin that needs confessing? As we seek the blessing of conversion, we can offer the Lord the gift of a broken, or repentant, heart and a contrite, or obedient, spirit. In reality, it is the gift of ourselves—what we are and what we are becoming.
Elder Dale E. Miller stated, “Conversion does not normally come all at once, even though the scriptures give us dramatic accounts. It comes in stages, until a person becomes at heart a new person. Being “born again” is the scriptural term. It is a change of both how we think and how we feel.”
We must be patient with ourselves in our conversion process. Most of us live long lives for a reason – there is much to be taught, learned and put into practice before we are ready to meet God again. For those who are struggling, these words from God found in 3 Nephi can be of comfort:
“…will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you? Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.”
Elder Dallin H. Oaks said, “Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become. As we do so, we should remember that our family relationships—even more than our Church callings—are the setting in which the most important part of that development can occur. The conversion we must achieve requires us to be a good husband and father or a good wife and mother. Being a successful Church leader is not enough. Exaltation is an eternal family experience, and it is our mortal family experiences that are best suited to prepare us for it.”
The blessings that come from conversion to the principles of the gospel are many, but perhaps none are as great as those promised in 4th Nephi, chapter 1:
"And it came to pass that there was no contention in the land, because of the love of God which did dwell in the hearts of the people.
"And there were no envyings, nor strifes, nor tumults, nor whoredoms, nor lyings, nor murders, nor any manner of lasciviousness; and surely there could not be a happier people among all the people who had been created by the hand of God.
"There were no robbers, nor murderers, neither were there Lamanites, nor any manner of -ites; but they were in one, the children of Christ, and heirs to the kingdom of God"
I bear you my testimony that I know the gospel to be true. I have felt many times, in dark and happy hours, the love of my Savior and his desire for me to be fully converted to the principles of righteousness that bring everlasting joy. I know that He wishes the same for each of His children, and I pray that we may all continually seek out our own conversion. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Peter's TalkI am continually grateful for my wife and I am grateful for the Spirit she brings and the things she teaches me. This talk has evolved into a form of repentance for me, as I have taken for granted the choicest of things. I am realizing again, as the Lord has a habit of doing as I am humbled, that my conversion is not complete, nor an end point, but a continual process.
I have learned over the past several months to not be so confident in the answers I think that I know…that I cease to ask questions. Conversion is an eternal process and “just knowing” is not a very effective means for growth.
These past 2 weeks I have been reminded of the value and the importance of having the truth restored and the need to continually be working on my own personal conversion. These reminders have come on 3 distinct occasions.
1) I was watching a show on the television and during a commercial break an ad came on asking “Is there a purpose for me on this earth?”
2) I was at work working on some reports and listening to an internet radio station. I didn’t care for the song that was playing and as I went to the control panel to skip to the next song I saw flash across an ad banner the question, “Did I exist before this life?”
3) I was sitting in the waiting room as I was taking Parker to the dentist on Friday and I was reading a popular sports magazine. As I was turning the page on an article I was reading there was a full page ad stating…”Why does God allow all this suffering?” then on the next page another question. “What is my relationship with Jesus Christ?”
These ads all came from the new Church media campaign and end with the same catch phrase “The truth about life’s great questions is now restored.”
Although I am obviously not an investigator of the church, but rather a member I am grateful to the campaign because of the reminders that it brought to me and the benefit it can bring to others.
These questions have reminded me of 2 important things.
1) The importance of remembering and not taking the gospel for granted
2) The Importance of laying up in store. For the hard times to come.
In the last general conference, Elder Marlin K. Jensen of the Seventy spoke on the importance of remembering:
“If we pay close attention to the uses of the word remember in the holy scriptures, we will recognize that remembering in the way God intends is a fundamental and saving principle of the gospel. This is so because prophetic admonitions to remember are frequently calls to action: to listen, to see, to do, to obey, to repent. When we remember in God's way, we overcome our human tendency simply to gird for the battle of life and actually engage in the battle itself, doing all in our power to resist temptation and avoid sinning.
I believe this is an important part of the new media campaign. To help all people, members, and non-members, to remember a higher purpose from the monotony and difficulties of daily life. Then hopefully, action toward that goal will occur.
On the website,
http://www.mormon.org/, it lists several “questions of the soul,” as the Elders in our ward have put them. Here are some of them and as I read them think to yourself: Have I thought about this in a while? Do I know how to answer this? How long has it been since I have studies about this? How has the answer to this question changed or could change my life or my daily actions?
Where did I come from?
Does God have more for me?
Does God really know me?
Does God care about my suffering?
What’s my relationship with Christ?
Did I exist before this life?
How can I feel closer to God?
What’s the purpose of my life?
Does God answer my questions?
Are there prophets today?
Does God have more to teach us?
Could a young boy really see God?
I can be married forever?
How can I know this is true?
What’s missing in my life?
Will I be with my family after death?
God has a plan for my life?
Motherhood is a part of God’s plan?
Why do we have trials?
Does life have to be painful?
We are truly blessed to be living in a time where the answers to these questions are available. The Elder have even made chart with scriptural reference to provide answers for us. But the challenge on our shoulders is to remember, in the scriptural sense, meaning a call to act on them.
Again, in the last general conference, Bishop Keith B McMullin provides 3 ways in which can apply to the goal of remembering what truly is important in our lives.
1) Be faithful: He counsels us to be members “who pray, who keep the Sabbath day holy, and who know the word of God. We tithe, fast, and give a generous fast offering. We keep our covenants and consecrate our lives to the building up of God's kingdom.”
2) Unencumber your life. We need to “turn from excess to that which edifies, for "that which doth not edify is not of God." If dealings or involvements or pursuits or schedules detract from putting God first, we must pare back and unencumber our lives.”
3) Lay up in store: Although given as temporal counsel regarding food storage, we can draw spiritual parallels. We need to lay up in store our testimonies and spiritual experiences and continually be working at them.
In parallel, we may be very faithful during a point in our lives in which we have prepared a ton of food storage, which in the short term can help us get thought the difficult times, however, if we have gone years without adding to our storage or upgrading, then when we have the need to draw from our personal storage arrives, we may find stale, spoiled, or even rotten food that is less than desirable and which has diminished our available supply. Sure, there will still be some food, but if neglected, we may find that our supply is not sufficient for our needs at that moment. Likewise, we need to continually lay up in store our testimonies. Continually remembering and nurturing them. Thus, when we do go through the difficult times in life we have a personal reserve to sustain us and strengthen us.
Conversion, remembering and laying up in store are all reasons why I am so grateful to this ward and why we will miss it tremendously as we move. It is here that my family and I have learned so much to assist our own personal conversions. The friendships and personal examples of members of this ward are memories we will truly cherish for years to come. I testify that the Lord will guide us in our personal conversion process as we are humble enough to ask questions and follow the promptings toward the answers. It is my prayer that we will all continually work toward the goal of personal conversion and to help others be truly converted, be they members or non-members, so that we may all to draw closer to our Savior, be edified, and return to our Father. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Here is Tyler's reaction - "Hooray! I can finally find all of the toys that I really want to be playing with!" Take these trains, for example. I can't remember the last time we actually built a track and had enough cars to form an actual train, since they were so disorganized.
Parker's reaction - "I'm in denial!" During a quiet moment, I found him shut up in his closet with EVERY TOY WE OWN. I fear what garage sale day will bring when he finds that some "fairies" have escorted his possessions to a train of cardboard boxes in the driveway - each with a one-way ticket to some other kid's house!
Bring on the rain...our plans for an outdoor BBQ at a friends' were changed to an indoor party, which proved to be equally fun.
The biggest threat from the rain was that our annual trek out to GR's fireworks show would be cancelled, but happily the rain stopped just in time! The show was better than ever, since he is now a "licensed" pyrotechnician. Tyler loved it, exclaiming "Wow!" at every pop. Parker even watched a few, after repeatedly asking "Is it over yet?!" We enjoyed hanging out with friends, doing sparklers with the kids and sipping root beer floats. Good times.
Cousin time. Parker looooves his cousins Andrew & Abby, and aside from the boys needing their occasional "alone time" together to play, they all got on famously.
Oh baby, oh baby, oh baby. Tyler also found mischief with his fellow year-old cousins Ashley & Eliza. Ashley, how did you miss out on this one? Hmmm, you must have been napping.
Our night out! We got two babysitters for the six munchkins and took off to the Plaza for some