The Teacher Will Appear

When the student is ready the teacher will appear.

View Your Horizons

"Don’t place mistakes on your head, their weight may crush you. Instead, place them under your feet and use them as a platform to view your horizons."

Your Dance

"If you Stumble, Make it a Part of your Dance"

About Crows by John Ciardi

I liked this wise poem quoted by Boyd K. Packer in General Conference today. We can definitely learn from those who go before us, and the youth especially need these 'old crows so they don't fly aimlessly ahead':)

ABOUT CROWS

by John Ciardi

"The old crow is getting slow; 

the young crow is not. 

Of what the young crow does not know, 

the old crow knows a lot. 

At knowing things, 

the old crow is still the young crow's master.

What does the old crow not know? 

How to go faster. 

The young crow flies above, below, 

and rings around the slow old crow. 

What does the fast young crow not know? 

WHERE TO GO."

Self-Mastery

Elder Robert D. Hales:
"Everyone has something they must learn to master. Some are just more obvious than others."
(Ensign, May 1998, 77)

Ether 12:27:
“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”

Gaining Knowledge

Alma 12:9
"And now Alma began to expound these things unto him, saying: It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God; nevertheless they are laid under a strict command that they shall not impart only according to the portion of his word which he doth grant unto the children of men, according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him."
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Spencer W. Kimball
"The knowledge of the spiritual will not come to an individual without effort any more than will the secular knowledge or college degrees."
(Conference Report)

When Are You Going To Really Live?

I read this somewhere (but I don't remember where) and copied it down. Hope you like it:

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"I am discovering that many people want, above all else, to live life fully. But sometimes the past prohibits our living and enjoying life to the utmost in the present. A schoolteacher entered his room a few minutes early and noticed a mealworm laboriously crawling along the floor. It had somehow been injured. The back part of the worm was dead and dried up, but still attached to the front, living part by just a thin thread. As the teacher studied the strange sight of a poor worm pulling its dead half across the floor, a little girl ran in and noticed it there. Picking it up, she said, "Oh, Oscar, when are you going to lose that dead part so you can really live?" What a marvelous question for all of us! When are we going to lose that dead part so we can really live? When are we going to let go of past pain so we can live fully? When are we going to drop the baggage of needless guilt - guilt over things we have been forgiven for or need never have felt guilty for - so we can experience life? When are we going to let go of that past resentment so we can know peace? Have you been dragging something that is dead and gone around with you? Are you ready to "lose that dead part so you can really live"?

Alfred D. Souza said, "For a long time it had seemed to me that life was about to begin - real life. But there was always some obstacle in the way, something to be gotten through first, some unfinished business, time still to be served, and a debt to be paid. Then life would begin. At last it dawned on me that these obstacles were my life."

So stop waiting until you finish school, until you go back to school, until you lose ten pounds, until you gain ten pounds, until you have kids, until your kids leave the house, until you start work, until you retire, until you get married, until you get divorced, until Friday night, until Sunday morning, until you get a new car or home, until your car or home is paid off , until spring, until summer, until fall, until winter, until you are off welfare, until the first or fifteenth, until your ship comes in or your song comes on, until you've had a drink, until you've sobered up, until you've got it all done, until you die, until you are born again to decide that there is no better time than right now to be happy......Happiness is a journey, not a destination.

Thought for the day: Work like you don't need money, love like you've never been hurt, and dance like no one's watching.

Personal Progress

"We are sanctifying ourselves one step at a time as we accept personal responsibility for our actions and honor the covenants we make... We progress by living worthy to receive the blessings available to us, responding to those promptings to serve others, by loving one another, and by trying to obey the prophet's voice in all things"

—Barbara W. Winder, Ensign, Nov. 1985-

Conference Learning Pt 2 - The President of the Church is here

I think it would bless our lives immeasurably if we had the kind of attitude about the words of prophets that is shared by Jeffrey R Holland in the story below:

“I was recently in Vavau, Tonga. It is a little island that is 1-1/2 hours away from Nuku’alofa by plane and twenty-four hours away by boat. By boat is the worst trip that can be made. (If you don’t believe that, ask Elder Gordon B. Hinckley, who went there recently to organize a stake and couldn’t get a plane.) When the Area Conference was announced for Tonga, it was determined that only one boat would be available for the Saints from Vavau. The boat held 150 people. If you stuffed bodies into every possible corner of the ship, you could get close to 300 people. Eight Hundred Tongans jammed onto that boat and stood up for twenty-four hours without sleep, without food, without drink, without anything—because they knew that a prophet of God was going to be in their islands and they were not going to miss him for anything in the world.

“Do you want to go to conference that badly? Do you care that a prophet of God is speaking in the neighborhood? Do you care enough to flip on a television set, a radio, or to come to [a] building to watch a priesthood meeting? Eight hundred people stood up for twenty-four hours to get to conference . . . “The President of the Church is here,” they said.

“That’s our prophet, and we may not see him again soon.” And they came.”
(“Remembered and Nourished by the Good Word of God,” Jeffrey R. Holland, BYU, Sept 26, 1976

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If an announcement came that the Savior himself would speak in General Conference today, would our attitude and preparation for the event change at all? Of course He will. He had made his will abundantly clear in this matter. “What I the Lord have spoken, I have spoken, and I excuse not myself; and though the heavens and the earth pass away, my word shall not pass away, but shall all be fulfilled, whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same.” (D&C 1:38) Not “almost the same,” or “very similar.” or “nearly identical.” It is the same. We are under divine directive to treat the inspired words we hear from the Lord’s servants as we would treat his words. Thus we can honestly ask ourselves. “What did the Savior ask me to do in this past Conference?”

If the Savior was going to speak and the program was going to be broadcast to your television, what other events or considerations would be significant enough to cause you to skip the opportunity? What if an announcement came that the lead article in next month’s Ensign was to be written by the Lord himself? How difficult would it be to convince you not to read it?

The Lord emphasized this point in a revelation given the day the Church was organized. “For his word ye shall receive, as if from mine own mouth, in all patience and faith.”

It is not enough to talk about conference. It is not enough to come to conference or to sit and listen to conference or to hear the words spoken in conference. We must make application to our own lives. We must be different because of the conference experience. We must do something".
(Ted Gibbons)

I hope today brings you closer to the Saviour.

Conference Learning Pt 1 - Turning and Looking

Nephi and Lehi were travelling to the land of Nephi when they were captured by the Lamanites and thrown into prison. Whilst in prison they were encircled by fire, but unharmed, the Lamanites couldn’t kill them and the prison walls then began to shake, but did not tumble. The sky then changed, and the land was overshadowed with a cloud of darkness, and they heard a voice coming from above the darkness that said:

“……Repent ye, repent ye, and seek no more to destroy my servants whom I have sent unto you to declare good tidings.
“And it came to pass when they heard this voice, and beheld that it was not a voice of thunder, neither was it a voice of a great tumultuous noise, but behold, it was a still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper, and it did pierce even to the very soul—
“And notwithstanding the mildness of the voice, behold the earth shook exceedingly, and the walls of the prison trembled again, as if it were about to tumble to the earth; and behold the cloud of darkness, which had overshadowed them, did not disperse—
(Helaman 5:29 - 31)

They heard the voice a further two times, but still the darkness did not disperse.

“Now there was one among them who was a Nephite by birth, who had once belonged to the church of God but had dissented from them.
“And it came to pass that he turned him about, and behold, he saw through the cloud of darkness the faces of Nephi and Lehi; and behold, they did shine exceedingly, even as the faces of angels. And he beheld that they did lift their eyes to heaven; and they were in the attitude as if talking or lifting their voices to some being whom they beheld.
“And it came to pass that this man did cry unto the multitude, that they might turn and look. And behold, there was power given unto them that they did turn and look; and they did behold the faces of Nephi and Lehi.
(Helaman 5:35 - 37)

I thought about these verses in relation to General Conference. The Lamanites had obviously witnessed the miracle of fire encircling Nephi & Lehi, and them being unharmed, and they heard the voice of God from Heaven also, but the darkness which had come upon them still didn’t lift. They were directed to “turn and look” upon the faces of the prophets, and only as they did this and followed their teachings, developing faith in Christ, did the cloud disperse.

My prayer is that as we go to Conference this weekend that we will “look” for the 'still voice of perfect mildness, as if it had been a whisper,' that we will “turn” to the Prophets and Apostles and hear the words the Lord wishes to speak to us, that any clouds of darkness we may be experiencing may also be lifted.

How blessed we are to have the technology that allows us to hear the Lords words, firsthand, from the lips of our Prophets.

The Creation of Something of Substance or Beauty - Elder Uchtdorf

This video, created from a segment of Pres. Uchtdorf's talk at the last Women's Conference, is powerful and significant:

He sees our Successes!

"God not only forgives our failures; he sees successes where no one else does, not even ourselves. Only God can give us credit for angry words we did not speak; temptations we resisted, patience, and gentleness little noticed and long forgotten by those around us. Such good deeds are never wasted and not forgotten, because God gives them a measure of eternity."

-Rabbi Harold Kushner-

It is so easy to be self-critical and unfortunately, all too often, we have a perfect memory when it comes to our shortcomings and mistakes, even replaying them over over again in our minds. It is good to know that Heavenly Father has a perfect memory of our efforts to improve and the untold desires of our hearts too. Thank goodness He loves us perfectly and sees who we really are!

Pain & Progress

"Yes, there is pain in change, but there is also great satisfaction in recognizing that progress is being achieved. We need not feel that we must forever be what we presently are. When change is thought through carefully, it can produce the most rewarding and profound experiences in life."

—Marvin J. Ashton, Ensign, Nov. 1979

"Come What May, and Laugh" - Joseph B. Wirthlin

Elder Wirthlin passed away yesterday, aged 91 years old. I was reading his last conference address from his talk called ;Come What May, and Laugh', and loved the 'Learn to Laugh' section. Here it is, I hope it brings a smile to your face too:

"The first thing we can do is learn to laugh. Have you ever seen an angry driver who, when someone else makes a mistake, reacts as though that person has insulted his honor, his family, his dog, and his ancestors all the way back to Adam? Or have you had an encounter with an overhanging cupboard door left open at the wrong place and the wrong time which has been cursed, condemned, and avenged by a sore-headed victim?

There is an antidote for times such as these: learn to laugh.

"I remember loading up our children in a station wagon and driving to Los Angeles. There were at least nine of us in the car, and we would invariably get lost. Instead of getting angry, we laughed. Every time we made a wrong turn, we laughed harder.

Getting lost was not an unusual occurrence for us. Once while heading south to Cedar City, Utah, we took a wrong turn and didn’t realize it until two hours later when we saw the “Welcome to Nevada” signs. We didn’t get angry. We laughed, and as a result, anger and resentment rarely resulted. Our laughter created cherished memories for us.

I remember when one of our daughters went on a blind date. She was all dressed up and waiting for her date to arrive when the doorbell rang. In walked a man who seemed a little old, but she tried to be polite. She introduced him to me and my wife and the other children; then she put on her coat and went out the door. We watched as she got into the car, but the car didn’t move. Eventually our daughter got out of the car and, red faced, ran back into the house. The man that she thought was her blind date had actually come to pick up another of our daughters who had agreed to be a babysitter for him and his wife.

We all had a good laugh over that. In fact, we couldn’t stop laughing. Later, when our daughter’s real blind date showed up, I couldn’t come out to meet him because I was still in the kitchen laughing. Now I realize that our daughter could have felt humiliated and embarrassed. But she laughed with us, and as a result, we still laugh about it today.

The next time you’re tempted to groan, you might try to laugh instead. It will extend your life and make the lives of all those around you more enjoyable."

(Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin , General Conference, October 2008)

Thank you Elder Wirthlin, you will be missed.

Boring Sunday Meeting?

This is from a talk given in the Spring 2005 Open Houses for Sunday School, given by the Sunday School General President, and I thought I'd take a peak at it. It begins with this experience, which really gave me some food for thought. Hope you like it too:)
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"Someone once asked President Spencer W. Kimball,"What do you do if you find yourself caught in a boring sacrament meeting?" President Kimball thought a moment, then replied, "I don't know; I've never been in one" (in Gene R. Cook, Teaching by the Spirit[2000], 140). With his long years of Church experience, I'm sure that President Kimball had been to meetings where people had read their talks, spoken in a monotone, or given travelogues instead of teaching doctrine. But I suspect that President Kimball was teaching that he did not go to sacrament meeting to be entertained; he went to worship the Lord, renew his covenants, and be taught from on high. If he attended with an open heart, a sincere desire to be "nurtured by the good word of God," and a prayer—rather than judgment—for the speakers, the Spirit would teach him what he needed to do to be a more effective and faithful disciple. President Kimball was teaching the principle of learning by the Spirit."-
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I hope your Sabbath day is one of learning and of feeling the Spirit.