To be honest, when I was younger I always had
a hard time paying attention in conference… sometimes still do but Conference
is like Christmas to me! I love getting spiritually and physically fed (who
doesn’t love all the food you eat conference weekend?!? That’s a tradition in
my family). But since I’ve really been listening over the years its so hard for
me to pick just two favorites!! I mean I loved Elder Hollands… who doesn’t?!
Uchtdorfs was great. The typical favorites were my favorites too! But, the two
I chose to speak on were Elder Hallstroms, a member of the seventy and Elder Duncan,
also a member of the seventy.
This past semester was honestly, one of the
hardest for me. I had something happen to me that challenged me personally. I hit a low point. It really tested
me to hold onto the faith and knowledge I had that Heavenly Father had a plan
for me. But, I had a lot of questions… so I was especially looking forward to this past conference, seeking
and knowing that I would receive answers.
Both of my talks I chose to discuss today
were from the Saturday morning session. Elder Hallstrom’s I think was my
personal favorite out of all of them because it was exactly what I needed to
hear and answered several of my questions and I think Elder Duncan just spot
on.
Elder Hallstrom talked about how we must
remember that We are Children of God. That it is essential to our exhalation.
We need to have a correct understanding of our eternal inheritance. He said,
quote, “With few
exceptions, everyone participating in this meeting could right now, without
written lyrics or music, sing “I Am a Child of God.”8 This beloved hymn is one of the most
often sung in this Church. But the critical question is, do we really know
it? Do we know it in our mind and in our heart and in our soul? Is our heavenly
parentage our first and most profound identity?” He
goes onto say that many of the times we identify ourselves in many different
ways, our heritage, age, ect. But does that come before our eternal heritage?
It should not. In today’s world, its easy to forget who we are and where we
came from. The media is constantly telling us what we should do, who we should
be like, what we should look like but that all doesn’t matter. What does matter
is we are children of God and he created us the way we are and we are special
to him. We have divine DNA.
The thing that stuck out to me the most
and had the most profound impact on me was when he said this:
“In real life, we face actual,
not imagined, hardships. There is pain—physical, emotional, and spiritual.
There are heartbreaks when circumstances are very different from what we had
anticipated. There is injustice when we do not seem to deserve our situation.
There are disappointments when someone we trusted failed us. There are health
and financial setbacks that can be disorienting. There may be times of question
when a matter of doctrine or history is beyond our current understanding.
When difficult things occur in our lives, what is our immediate
response? Is it confusion or doubt or spiritual withdrawal? Is it a blow to our
faith? Do we blame God or others for our circumstances? Or is our first
response to remember who we are—that we are children of a loving God? Is that
coupled with an absolute trust that He allows some earthly suffering because He
knows it will bless us, like a refiner’s fire, to become like Him and to gain
our eternal inheritance?9” Then he
quotes Elder Holland and says on dealing with trials: “You can have what you
want or you can have something better.”
That immediately hit me. That was the answer I was seeking. That
was what I needed to be reminded of. I think I’m not alone in this. Many times
when hardships come, be honest with yourself, are you always so quick to say,
“Oh I know that this is something Im being tested on” ? Or are you more like
me, and think, “WELL WHAT. WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY WHY! Why me! Why now! Why this?”
I know I’m probably not alone in this. But, Elder Hallstrom reminds us, that
when hardships come, remember that Heavenly Father has a plan for you. You
could ignore it all and just do what you want and get what you want and ignore
the promptings of the spirit OR you can have something better just like Elder
Holland says. Remember that, and trust that He allows some earthly
suffering because He knows it will bless us. We need To
remember that we are loved, we are amazing, we have a loving Heavenly Father
that created us in his own image. He wants us to be happy. He didn’t create us
to be sad! He created us to have joy! Life is supposed to be enjoyed not
endured. Go forward in trails with courage and hope that everything will work
out. One of my favorite quotes that I think fits this is from President Gordon
B. Hinckley, which says, “You can be smart and happy or stupid and miserable
it’s your choice.” Trust in the Lord that he has a plan for you, because he
does. After I listened to Elder Hallstrom’s talk I sat there with renewed faith
and hope that everything will be okay. If its not okay, its not the end and it
will get better. But, we need to rely on the Lord and trust in Him and lean on
the gospel to help us. I have seen and
felt the Lord’s hand in my life through this hard time and I have been become
so much happier through it.
I think that Elder Duncan’s talk went perfectly with Elder
Hallstroms. He spoke on forgiveness and how we must not be a victim twice. We
can forgive. I think this went perfectly with what Elder Hallstrom talked about
because sometimes, when things happen in our lives or we go through a hardship,
trial, whatever you may be suffering with, another person may be involved. That
person could have done something to hurt you, but they need to eventually be
forgiven. Even if they don’t apologize. Elder Duncan reminds us that we CAN
forgive others. Sometimes I think people like to hold grudges and hold people
accountable for things that are so far gone in the past that they personally
may have been battling with something and took it out on you, I don’t know and
you perhaps may not know, but you find it hard to forgive them. He says, “most of us want to forgive but find it hard to do.”
He reminded us that, as we try to forgive others, we need to remember that we
are all growing spiritually. We need to try to see them as Heavenly Father
would. I mean, this gospel is all about growing and learning! We are constantly
learning and constantly messing up, but does the Savior say, “ok well you’ve
messed up this many times, this is your last time, im done with you.” ?? NO! He
doesn’t and neither should we with people. We have the atonement where we can
be forgiven of our sins and wrong doings. Something someone once told me was,
you can forgive someone but that does not mean they need to be in your life,
nor should they be. With the situation that happened with me this past
semester, I had to learn to forgive the person. But, that does not mean that
they are going to be in my life. But, I had to step back and look at it from a
different perspective. From how Heavenly Father views them. Elder Duncan says,
“God sees people not only as they currently are but as who they can become.” I
had to remind myself that everyone deserves forgiveness and I may not know, or
will ever know what they were thinking, but for myself, I need to forgive them
in order to move on, I mean it is required for us to forgive others! Elder
Duncan states that, “none of us should be defined by the worst thing we’ve ever
done.” We need to forgive and let people be forgiven. Don’t hold grudges. The
atonement is real and it works. If you need help learning to forgive others ask
Heavenly Father for help. I know that he listens and will help you and soften
your heart. Let people grow and remember that the past is to be learned from
not lived in. Heavenly Father cares a lot more about who we’re becoming and
where we’re headed than who we once were. It is not our job to play judge and
jury, to determine who is worth of our kindness and forgiveness and who is not.
We just need to be kind, uncondintionally and without ulterior motive, even-or
rather especially-when we’d prefer not to be.
Happiness and anger is a choice. No one forces you to be angry
and no one forces you to be happy. Everything is a choice. It is a choice to
choose to follow Christ. But, we know, that when we do, we will be much happier
for it. I know that when we forgive others we will be much happier. You are
loved and Heavenly Father wants to help you. I know that these little things,
like remembering who we are, and forgiving others will truly help us become
more like Christ and help us on our journey to returning to live with him
again. Move on and forgive others from things that happened in the past. Better
days are truly ahead when the Lord is on our side. Frogive someone not only
because they deserve forgivness, but because you deserve happiness. Holding
onto anger, is letting Satan have power over you. Try to see where others are
coming from and understand that they may have been battling a trial in their life
that you’re not sure of. Chose to spread happiness and love wherever you go. Be
a light to others and show them Christ like love. Spread that light have Christ
in you that I know you all have. Choose to be kind. I’m not perfect and I know
none of us are. But we can try every day to be better. To be more like Christ.
Heaven is cheering us on! I know that the Lord answers our prayers and is there
for us, always. I know that days will come where we think we can only handle so
much but I know that we can handle whatever life may throw at us with this
gospel and the help from our loving and powerful Heavenly Father. He will wipe
away those tears from our eyes. The Savior is our brother, our healer, our best
friend. He knows exactly what each of us are going through right now. We must
remember that when trials come or we find it hard to forgive others but you
must remember that he understands. He knows because he suffered for us. I know
that the atonement is real and it works. I am so grateful for it and I am grateful
for the sacrament that I am able to partake of every Sunday. He did this for
us. For me. For you. He loves us and wants us to return to live with him. I
know that the Book of Mormon is true and that it is the word of God and that it
is the road map that will help us with anything. I am so grateful for it and
for my loving Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. I do not know where I’d be
without them or without this gospel. I know that the prophet, Thomas S. Monson
and his apostles are called of God. That they receive revelation from him. I
love and sustain each one of them. I know this gospel is real and it works. I know it can make you happy and the Lord wants to help you, you just need to ask.
