Good afternoon sisters. What a wonderful
Sacrament Meeting we had today.
THOUGHT: “The Holy Ghost communicates
important information that we need to guide us to our mortal journey. When it
is crisp and clear and essential, it warrants the title of revelation. When it
is a series of promptings we often have to guide us step by step to a worthy
objective, for the purpose of this message, it is inspiration.”
Elder Richard G. Scott
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
- Choir practice on Sundays
at 2 pm at the Nay's (where Fillmore's lived). Youth are invited to
participate.
- If you were at the Mother's
Day Activity and enjoyed the wonderful drink, Kristi Attaway will be
ordering the Stevia. It is $10 for the bottle of stevia and you need to
prepay by Friday. You can drop the money at Kristi's home (she lives in
the basement of the Waldron home) Contact her if you are interested
801-473-5928. The recipe will be in the RS blog.
- Wonder Ovens will be
sewed and filled on June 14th at 7:00 pm at Lupe's home,
1245 N 1150 E. You will need 3 yards of 100% cotton or flannel. If you did
not sign up and would like to make one, please contact either Martha or
Melissa Brady.
- Coming up: June 21st.
Kristi Attaway will be teaching some great Summer meals. Most information
to come.
- Sisters, if you took
meals to the Backman's or to Donna Larson, please contact Megan so you can
get your dishes back. What to do with them is the questions. Thanks.
Today being fourth Sunday the Young Women met
with us for opening exercises and we were honored by spotlighting the Laurels
who will graduate this year. Jen Rutter, who was YW President when they were
Beehives honored each one of them.
- Elizabeth Garces
- Andrea Cox
- Katherine Ellis
- Nancy Waldron
Sisters, we know that Conference talks are
scriptures. I would like for you to take the handout and mark it as noted on
the board; it will easier to follow. (handout is attached)
page one paragraphs 1-5
page two paragraphs 6-16
page three paragraphs 17-27
page four paragraphs 28-32
This way as we read and discuss, we will know
what paragraph it has reference to. We are marking the paragraphs.
Thank you for Sister Rutter for her efforts in
spotlighting each of the Laurels. She has such love for the girls, and they
have love for her.
We are limited in time but I want you to share
any experiences you may have regarding the topic. Sharing experiences is my
favorite thing to hear.
As I read the talk, I thought it was unusual
that Elder Scott paid tribute to his wife and how he receives support from her.
Anyone who stands at this pulpit to deliver a message feels the strength
and support of members throughout the world. I'm grateful that
that same support can come from a beloved companion on the other side of the veil.
Thank you, Jeanene.”
Let's look at paragraphs 4 and 5.
Another example of revelation is this guidance
given to President Joseph F. Smith: “I believe we move and have our being
in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not
separate from them. … We are closely related to our kindred, to our ancestors …
who have preceded us into the spirit world. We can not forget them; we do not
cease to love them; we always hold them in our hearts, in memory, and thus we
are associated and united to them by ties that we can not break. … If this is
the case with us in our finite condition, surrounded by our mortal weaknesses,
… how much more certain it is … to believe that those who have been faithful,
who have gone beyond … can see us better than we can see them; that they know
us better than we know them. … We live in their presence, they see us, they are
solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever. For now they see
the dangers that beset us; … their love for us and their desire for our well
being must be greater than that which we feel for ourselves.”
Relationships can be strengthened through the
veil with people we know and love. That is done by our determined effort to
continually do what is right. We can strengthen our relationship with the
departed individual we love by recognizing that the separation is temporary and
that covenants made in the temple are eternal. When consistently obeyed, such
covenants assure the eternal realization of the promises inherent in them.
Paragraph two defines the difference between
revelation and inspiration. It defines it better for me.
The Holy Ghost communicates important
information that we need to guide us in our mortal journey. When it is crisp
and clear and essential, it warrants the title of revelation. When it is a
series of promptings we often have to guide us step by step to a worthy
objective, for the purpose of this message, it is inspiration.
For me it is more common to receive inspiration,
line upon line. It's like you have faith to this point and then I will give you
a little more.
On page two, we receive a great lesson about
asking. Why do we ask? Because that is how revelation is received. He says, and
I love how he takes this step by step. Paragraph 8
When I am faced with a very difficult matter,
this is how I try to understand what to do. I fast. I pray to find and
understand scriptures that will be helpful. That process is cyclical. I start
reading a passage of scripture; I ponder what the verse means and pray for
inspiration. I then ponder and pray to know if I have captured all the Lord
wants me to do. Often more impressions come with increased understanding of
doctrine. I have found that pattern to be a good way to learn from the
scriptures.
There has been times when I have need for
inspiration. My Patriarch Blessing tells me to read my scriptures daily. I love
how that provides inspiration for all of us. I have started to try to write
down my inspiration as it comes to me. Some people write it in the margins of
their scriptures, but I have started a scripture journal and write out the
scripture. Line upon line, step by step, then I can look back and see the whole
picture of what I have received.
Let's jump to paragraph 14
Revelation can also be given in a dream when
there is an almost imperceptible transition from sleep to wakefulness.
If you strive to capture the content immediately, you can record great detail,
but otherwise it fades rapidly. Inspired communication in the night is
generally accompanied by a sacred feeling for the entire experience. The Lord
uses individuals for whom we have great respect to teach us truths in a dream
because we trust them and will listen to their counsel. It is the Lord doing
the teaching through the Holy Ghost. However, He may in a dream make it both
easier to understand and more likely to touch our hearts by teaching us through
someone we love and respect.
So what revelation can also be given in a dream?
I know you sisters have heard these experiences that I will share with you over
and over, but they are my favorite. President Hinckley reminded us in the 2007
April General Conference in this address that he gave to the brethren.
Joseph F. Smith
was the son of Hyrum Smith, who was the brother of the Prophet Joseph and was
martyred with him in Carthage. Joseph F. was born at Far West, Missouri, on
November 13, 1838. He came out of Missouri as an infant. As a lad not yet six
years of age, he heard a knock on the window of his mother’s home in Nauvoo. It
was a man who had hurriedly ridden from Carthage and who told Sister Smith that
her husband had been killed that afternoon.
When he was 9, he
drove an ox team with his mother across the plains to this valley. At the age
of 15 he was called on a mission to Hawaii. He made his way to San Francisco
and there worked in a shingle mill to earn enough money to buy passage to the
islands.
Hawaii was not a tourist center then. It was
populated by the native Hawaiians, who were, for the most part, poor but
generous with what they had. He learned to speak their language and to love
them. While serving there he experienced a remarkable dream. I quote from his
narrative concerning this. Said he:
“I was very
much oppressed [when I was] on a mission. I was almost naked and entirely friendless,
except [for] the friendship of a poor, benighted … people. I felt as if I was
so debased in my condition of poverty, lack of intelligence and knowledge, just
a boy, that I hardly dared look a … man in the face.
“While in
that condition I dreamed [one night] that I was on a journey, and I was
impressed that I ought to hurry—hurry with all my might, for fear I might be
too late. I rushed on my way as fast as I possibly could, and I was only
conscious of having just a little bundle, a handkerchief with a small bundle
wrapped in it. I did not realize … what it was, when I was hurrying as fast as
I could; but finally I came to a wonderful mansion. … I thought I knew that was
my destination. As I passed towards it, as fast as I could, I saw a notice [which
read B-A-T-H], ‘Bath.’ I turned aside quickly and went into the bath and washed
myself clean. I opened up this little bundle that I had, and there was [some]
white, clean [clothing], a thing I had not seen for a long time, because the
people I was with did not think very much of making things exceedingly clean.
But my [clothing was] clean, and I put [it] on. Then I rushed to what appeared
to be a great opening, or door. I knocked and the door opened, and the man who
stood there was the Prophet Joseph Smith. He looked at me a little reprovingly,
and the first words he said: ‘Joseph, you are late.’ Yet I took confidence and
[replied]:
“‘Yes, but I am clean—I am clean!’
“He clasped my hand and drew me in, then
closed the great door. I felt his hand just as tangible as I ever felt the hand
of man. I knew him, and when I entered I saw my father, and Brigham [Young] and
Heber [C. Kimball], and Willard [Richards], and other good men that I had
known, standing in a row. I looked as if it were across this valley, and it
seemed to be filled with a vast multitude of people, but on the stage were all
the people that I had known. My mother was there, and she sat with a child in
her lap; and I could name over as many as I remember of their names, who sat
there, who seemed to be among the chosen, among the exalted. …
“[When I had this dream,] I was alone on a
mat, away up in the mountains of Hawaii—no one was with me. But in this
vision I pressed my hand up against the Prophet, and I saw a smile cross his
countenance. …
“When I awoke that morning I was a man,
although only [still] a boy. There was not anything in the world
that I feared [after that]. I could meet any man or woman or child and look
them in the face, feeling in my soul that I was a man every whit. That vision,
that manifestation and witness that I enjoyed at that time has made me what I
am, if I am anything that is good, or clean, or upright before the Lord, if
there is anything good in me. That has helped me out in every trial and through
every difficulty” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 542–43).
The core of that meaningful dream is found in
the reproof given by Joseph Smith to young Joseph F. Said the Prophet, “Joseph,
you are late.”
Replied Joseph
F., “Yes, but I am clean—I am clean!”
The result of that dream was that a boy was
changed into a man. His declaration “I am clean” gave him self-assurance and
courage in facing anyone or any situation. He received the strength that comes
from a clear conscience fortified by the approbation of the Prophet Joseph.
This prophetic dream holds something for every
man and boy assembled in this vast congregation tonight. It is an old saying
among us that “cleanliness is next to godliness.”
I love that. Mother used to tell me the story
and when she was dying of pancreatic cancer, I was able to whisper to her that
her garments were clean and she could go forward to do what needed to be done
and to meet those of the other side.
Do any of you know someone who knew what had to
be done when it was needed?
President James E. Faust on April 1st
2000 gave a talk and related the following story.
At Haun’s Mill, a heroic pioneer woman, Amanda Smith, learned by
faith how to do something beyond her abilities and the scientific knowledge of
her time. On that terrible day in 1838, as the firing ceased and the mobsters
left, she returned to the mill and saw her eldest son, Willard, carrying his
seven-year-old brother, Alma. She cried, “Oh! my Alma is dead!”
“No, mother,” he said, “I think Alma is
not dead. But father and brother Sardius are [dead]!” But there was no time for
tears now. Alma’s entire hipbone was shot away. Amanda later recalled:
“Flesh, hip
bone, joint and all had been ploughed out. … We laid little Alma on a bed in
our tent and I examined the wound. It was a ghastly sight. I knew not what to
do. … Yet was I there, all that long, dreadful night, with my
dead and my wounded, and none but God as our physician and help. ‘Oh my
Heavenly Father,’ I cried, ‘what shall I do? Thou seest my poor wounded boy and
knowest my inexperience. Oh, Heavenly Father, direct me what to do!’ And then I
was directed as by a voice speaking to me.
“… Our fire
was still smouldering. … I was directed to take … ashes and make a lye and put
a cloth saturated with it right into the wound. … Again and again I saturated
the cloth and put it into the hole … , and each time mashed flesh and splinters
of bone came away with the cloth; and the wound became as white as chicken’s
flesh.
“Having done as directed I again prayed to
the Lord and was again instructed as distinctly as though a physician had been
standing by speaking to me. Near by was a slippery-elm tree. From this I was
told to make a … poultice and fill the wound with it. … The poultice was
made, and the wound, which took fully a quarter of a yard of linen to cover, …
was properly dressed. …
“I removed
the wounded boy to a house … and dressed his hip; the Lord directing me as
before. I was reminded that in my husband’s trunk there was a bottle of balsam.
This I poured into the wound, greatly soothing Alma’s pain.
“‘Alma my child,’ I said, ‘you believe
that the Lord made your hip?’
“‘Yes, mother.’
“‘Well, the Lord can make something there
in the place of your hip, don’t you believe he can, Alma?’
“‘Do you think that the Lord can, mother?’
inquired the child, in his simplicity.
“‘Yes, my son,’ I replied, ‘he has showed
it all to me in a vision.’
“Then I laid him comfortably on his face,
and said: ‘Now you lay like that, and don’t move, and the Lord will make you
another hip.’
“So Alma
laid on his face for five weeks, until he was entirely recovered—a flexible
gristle having grown in place of the missing joint and socket, which remains to
this day a marvel to physicians. …
“It is now nearly forty years ago, but
Alma has never been the least crippled during his life, and he has traveled
quite a long period of the time as a missionary of the gospel and [is] a living
miracle of the power of God.”
The treatment was
unusual for that day and time, and unheard of now, but when we reach an
extremity, like Sister Smith, we have to exercise our simple faith and listen
to the Spirit as she did. Exercising our faith will make it stronger.
These are just a couple of family experience
about personal revelation. Each of you have had the need beyond your own
experience.
He strengthens us in time of need, even faster
than we have strength.
Do any of you
want to share an experience. I love to hear the instruction received. We will
close with paragraph 32 and I encourage you especially to read paragraphs
6-23. It gives the principles that lead to personal revelation.
May the Lord inspire you to understand and use
the principles that lead to personal revelation and inspiration, in the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
Have a wonderful week.
0 comments:
Post a Comment