Dear Friends,
Happy Monday! I sound crazy when I
say this, but I love them!
I wasn’t able to attend church
yesterday, but my friend who taught the Relief Society lesson gave me the
information and asked for my thoughts. So here they are:
In the talk “Yielding Ourselves to
God,” by Sister Neill F. Marriott, she asks the question “How do we become
yielded and still?” Take a second and ask yourself that.
One way I do this is to give myself
extra time to get ready for bed. I turn on some soft Church music that I normally
only listen to on Sundays and give myself lots of ponder time. Sometimes, I just
sit there and think. My point is to slow down and be still. How do YOU do this?
The next question she asks is for
during the Sacrament. After she repents of her wrongs from the previous week,
she asks “Father, is there more?” This reminds me of “What lack I yet?” which
is something we should ask Heavenly Father, often.
In 3 Nephi 9:20 it says “And ye
shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit...” So
ask yourself: What condition is my heart in today? “In order to have a healed
and faithful heart, I must allow it to break before the Lord.” (Sister Marriott)
The second talk I read is called “The Joy of Living a
Christ-Centered Life” by Elder Richard J. Maynes of the Presidency of the
Seventy. He tells us of a potter that is teaching a group of youth at a
conference. The potter begins by showing them the basics and then lets them
try. Many become frustrated and say they aren’t talented enough. The potter
then shows them that the clay needs to be exactly on the center of the wheel
for it to work properly.
We need to center our lives on Christ in order to live happily. In
2 Nephi 5:27, the family of Lehi had been in the wilderness for about 30 years
and they followed the Lord. “And it came to pass that we lived after the manner
of happiness.”
Another example from the scriptures is from Alma 20:23. This is
when king Lamoni and Ammon are speaking to king Lamoni’s father, asking him to release
Ammon’s brothers from prison. The older king learned of his son’s new beliefs
and tried to kill him, but Ammon defended him and almost killed him in turn.
(Alma 20:23) “Now the king, fearing he should lose his life, said: If thou wilt
spare me I will grant unto thee whatsoever thou wilt ask, even to half of the kingdom.”
Then later, when Ammon has his brothers freed from prison, Aaron
(a brother of Ammon), is talking to the father of king Lamoni about the gospel.
Notice what the king says about his kingdom: (Alma 22:15) “And it came to pass that after Aaron had expounded these things
unto him, the king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of
which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having
this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may
be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said
he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.”
I know that if we take time to be still and obey His commands
with exactness, we will be happy.
Sincerely, Shelbi
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