HAVING MANY REVELATIONS DAILY: THE SPIRIT'S ROLE IN RECOGNIZING, UNDERSTANDING, AND LIVING BY PRINCIPLE (STEPHEN K. HUNSAKER): We need constant guidance to survive in the world today. Living a principle driven life opens up the windows of heaven for daily revelation, frees us from the recipes, circumstances and rules that limit the revelations we desire, and helps us to overcome our fears that limit revelation in our lives. We need a constant connection with the heavens. To be driven by recipe means that we follow a specific recipe we have created form our own perceived idea of success exactly to get a result--the one future outcome we desire. To be driven by circumstance is to allow our circumstances to influence our choices or to make decisions based upon the most desirable or easiest immediate outcome. To be driven by rules means we are dependent upon specific, external parameters to make our decisions for us. When a question is asked, it authorizes the Holy Ghost to teach. When the Holy Ghost teaches us, life becomes different. A principle is an enduring truth, a law, a rule you can adopt to guide you in making decisions. Generally principles are not spelled out in detail. That leaves you free to find your way with an enduring truth, a principle, as your anchor. Sometimes we just want the Lord to tell us what to do, but instead He gives us general counsel about the issues or problems we are facing. He is trying to empower us with eternal truths that will help us govern ourselves. We need to live by principle, not by the circumstances before us. Ezra Taft Benson said, "Usually the Lord gives us the overall objectives to be accomplished and some guidelines to follow, but He expects us to work out most of the details and methods. The methods and procedures are usually developed through study and prayer and by living so that we can obtain and follow the promptings of the Spirit. Less spiritually advanced people, such as those in the days of Moses, had to be commanded in many things. Today those spiritually alert look at the objectives, check the guidelines laid down by the Lord and His prophets, and then prayerfully act without having to be commanded in all things. Sometimes the Lord hopefully waits on His children to act on their own, and when they do not, they lose the greater prize, and the Lord will either drop the entire matter and let them suffer the consequences or else He will have to spell it out in greater detail. Usually, I fear, the more He has to spell it out, the smaller is our reward." The more He commands, the less He can bless us. Bruce R. McConkie said, "We're supposed to learn correct principles and then govern ourselves. We make our own choices, and then we present the matter to the Lord and get His approving, ratifying seal." He wants us to learn. A man had two horses, Laman and Nephi. Laman was high spirited and it was a battle to get him to do what you wanted him to do. Nephi loved to do what his owner wanted him to do. The man would put his grandchildren on Nephi, but never on Laman. One wanted to please and the other only obeyed when he had to. Both horses were loved, but only one was trusted. God loves all His children, but He doesn't trust them all. God loves it when He finds a child who will willingly submit. When he and his wife first got married they went to the Lord and asked Him when they should start having children. His answer, "Will you let me send them as I will?" He sent them 10 children in 15 years. His wife has been pregnant or nursing during those entire 15 years, except for one month. After child 8, his wife felt like she was losing her mind. She went to the Lord in prayer and said, "I cannot do this anymore!" The Lord answered back, "Okay. But can I send a couple more?" As two more came they beautified their family in such a way that they can't imagine their family without them. After the 10th child, his wife got the confirmation that she stands right before God. It's still very difficult to raise 10 children and sometimes his wife still feels like she's losing her mind, but she knows she's done what the Lord wants and knows that He will help her get through it. Sometimes it's hard to keep the commandments. We can make a choice to live by truths that God teaches us, in spite of what the world says. He's a seminary teacher and doesn't make much money, so it's not easy raising 10 children. He was very frustrated that he couldn't afford to send his son on a mission. He prayed about it and the answer was that his mother in law would pay for the mission. His wife's mother is not in the church and hates the church, but she is paying for her grandson's mission. And she'll be blessed for it. The Word of Wisdom doesn't spell out everything that we shouldn't be taking into our bodies. Arsenic isn't mentioned in the Word of Wisdom, and it's not habit forming, but we'd be wise not to eat it. He who must be commanded in all things is a slothful and unwise servant. The Lord commanded Moses to take the children of Israel into a place where there was no way out, and the Egyptians were coming in after them. Only when they were in this dead end spot did He part the Red Sea so they could cross. Sometimes in our lives, the Lord leads us to a spot where there is no way out, except through His intervention. We like to feel like we're in control and can handle things on our own, so it takes faith to allow the Lord lead us into a situation where we need Him to get out. The Lord will lead us into many situations where we need to let go of our fears and trust in Him. It's scary to leave our comfort zone. His mother went through two divorces, one when he was 6 and one when he was 11. The losses of his father and his step father were very traumatic for him. So when he dated the woman who would become his wife he was scared to death. He broke up with her three times because he was so scared. Finally she told him to make up his mind one way or the other because she wasn't going to play these games anymore. At that point he decided to do it and they got engaged. The six weeks before they got married were really scary. The Lord told Him he would support Him and He has. They've been married for 21 years now. We need to be faithful even if circumstances are darker than 10,000 midnights and it seems that every trace of God has vanished. We still need to bow our heads and obey.
I KNOW HEAVENLY FATHER LOVES ME. I FEEL HIS LOVE WHEN I SERVE OTHERS (ALLISON G. BELNAP): Bear one another's burdens. Mourn with those who mourn. Comfort those in need of comfort. That He may pour His Spirit out more abundantly. When we're baptized we take Christ's name upon us and promise to obey His commandments and always remember Him. This means we are willing to serve. Heavenly Father is a vastly loving God. When we bear one another's burdens, we're acting as an agent for Christ and by so doing we're coming to Christ. As we come to Christ, we draw near to Heavenly Father. As we do what Christ would have us do for His Heavenly Father's children, we feel His love and His approval. Service brings us closer to the Lord and allows us to engage in the work He would be doing if He was on the earth. Service helps us express pure charity. Look upward and outward. Become a personal minister. Develop inclinations of charity. Forget about yourself and start concentrating on others. Look to God and live. Approach Him daily in prayer. Press forward. Find ways to lift and bless others and then we can feel the inspiration of God's love. When we choose to look up we demonstrate that we acknowledge that His ways are higher than our ways and we're willing to trust in Him. We need to love our neighbor as ourselves. Lift the hands that hang down. Often our prayers are answered by the words and actions of those around us. And we can be the answers to other people's prayers if we'll be sensitive to the promptings of the Lord. Don't miss out on opportunities to serve others. If two men walk together and ones falls, the other one can lift him up. But woe unto the man who walks alone and falls, with no one to help him. When we receive a prompting about someone we need to help, we need to act on that prompting. Pray for spiritual eyes to see and for a discerning heart. Give a hug, make a phone call, listen. When you go to church your primary purpose is to partake of the sacrament and your next most important purpose is to look for ways you can bless the lives of other people. She has felt promptings to watch fussy babies for other mothers so they could attend their meetings, taking them out into the hall. When President Hinckley was discouraged while on his mission, his father told him to forget himself and go to work. He went to work serving those around him, and his focus shifted from worrying about himself to trying to bless the lives of others. The Lord will strengthen us. Attend to the wants and needs of others. Do the work of God in the way He would have us do it. There could not be a more choice calling than this. Your personal ministry is separate from your calling at church. It means that you look around and find the way the Lord wants you to influence others. When she was going through her first pregnancy, there were problems and her doctor ordered her to stay in bed. Her visiting teacher came and cleaned her house and did her laundry, and did everything for her she could. To this day she loves that visiting teacher and all she did for her. She had later visiting teachers who simply got to know her and offered her their friendship and support. When she was attending law school, which was difficult for her, she had to have surgery and two young women who attended law school with her came to the hospital and reviewed their notes with her. All these people ministered to her according to her needs and wants. The Lord will strengthen us so that we can bear the burdens we have with ease. As we bear one another's burdens, we will become a Zion like people and qualify for all the blessings of the Lord. Are we doing all we can to help the downtrodden people who cross our path? Sometimes all it takes is a smile. The Savior always made time to listen. He did not interrupt people or break into conversations. He met people in multiple locations. He didn't pay attention to boundaries, He extended His love to all. As we become personal ministers, we become more like Christ. Miracle after miracle occurs in Christ's ministry while He was on His way to something else. The same can be true of us. Service often comes at inconvenient times when we have other things to do. Strive to attend to the wants and needs of others. Follow Jesus' example. Are we following God's will in becoming the person He would have us become? Our service does not have to be showy to be effective. Small things can make a difference to others. Develop an inclination towards charity. Partake of fruit and learn to share it with others. First we need to develop the desire to have charity. When we read about all the qualities of charity, it can make us feel overwhelmed. We can't be perfect all at once. But charity never faileth. When we're trying to be charitable, we will not fail. Very few of us are inclined to charity naturally. We give in to the natural man. But were instructed to overcome the natural man incline ourselves toward spiritual things. As we act and strive to be more charitable, the Lord will help us on that path. Compassion is knowing someone else needs help and wanting to help. Almost all of us are blessed with some measure of compassion. The key to turning that compassion into charity is striving to follow the Savior. When you have a difficult experience, write down how you feel. Then when you find other people having the same difficult experience, you can read what you wrote and be reminded of what it felt like so you can be compassionate toward them. Even if we don't have a natural inclination toward charity, the Lord will help us be an effective instrument for good in the lives of others. If we want to feel an increase of love from Heavenly Father, we need to do what we can to bless the lives of others. When you have small children, the biggest focus of your service needs to be on them. There are times and seasons for everything. Seek the Lord's direction. There will be times in your life when thee will be more service inside the family and other times when there will be more service outside the family. The Lord will guide you as to where your service needs to be. We must lose our lives to find our lives. Become true disciples of Christ. Ask and see where the Lord can use your specific abilities to bless the lives of others. Then act!
ENJOYING THE EVERYDAY JOURNEY OF LIFE--MEASURING SUCCESS, PRIORITIES, AND HAPPINESS (STAN G. CRIPPEN): When he first joined the church, he thought that all members of the church were perfect. He was really excited about attending general conference took notes on the counsel given, and turned it in to be printed in the ward newsletter. It was a huge list of things o do which sounded very overwhelming. If if we don't do things step by step, we can feel overwhelmed. If we don't make deposits into our spiritual account, we'll get to the point of wearing away. We need to enjoy the everyday journey of life. There is so much to enjoy! Happiness is the object and design of our existence. Don't be an ark steadier. Someone reached out his hand to steady the ark and he got zapped. We need to obey. It was not his job or his stewardship. How often do we create mental to do lists of things not within your stewardship. We end up putting extra pressure on ourselves. If you're a grandparent, don't overstep your bounds trying to tell your children how to raise their children. Allow others to have their own curriculum. We may not have the energy or means to be able to give at certain times of our lives. Having financial struggles can help us develop gratitude. A parent who gives so much to their children that they don't need to struggle, cripples them. He was diagnosed with cancer and had to be released from his calling as a bishop. He served as a scoutmaster for many years and then was called as a bishop again. He was a much better bishop because of serving as a scoutmaster. What that calling taught him was to serve and enjoy what you're doing. The change was within him, not with the calling. Be happy wherever you are called to serve. Dump the guilt. Look for things you can fix and make things better. Be sorry after a godly manner, to cause you to repent. Heavenly Father just wants us to change. That is godly sorrow, not guilt. Godly sorrow doesn't damage us, it helps us make a difference in our lives. The sorrow of the world works death. This is guilt that does not give us any hope. This is from the adversary. When we make mistakes, make changes, don't beat yourself up. If you don't feel peace, realize where that guilt comes from. Huh B. Brown said, "This gospel is primarily the gospel of second chance, the gospel of repentance. Do not insist upon remembering what God is willing to forget. Everyone of us has made mistakes but though we must pay the full price, our mistakes should be remembered only as guides to better lives in the future." We can learn from mistakes, our own and those of others. Develop qualities of peace. Put off the natural man. He'll keep coming back, so we need to keep putting him off. Become humble, patient, full of love, and be willing to submit to all things which the Lord sees fit to inflict upon us. Why would He inflict things upon us? To help us learn. The Lord wants us to be happy. He will do His part if we will do our part. Sin brings sorrow, heartache, and disappointment. Only the good life will bring us joy. Did you ever think of your weaknesses as a gift? The Lord has given us weaknesses so we may be humble. He makes weak things become strong. Think of your biggest weakness. If we humble ourselves and have faith in Jesus Christ, He will make weak things become strong. How would you feel f the weakness you just thought of was a strength? Would you feel great relief? Peace? Would it build your confidence to overcome that weakness? We need more faith, including faith in ourselves that we can do what is expected of us. Th Holy Ghost can teach us things that we cannot teach one another. Never forget that. The Lord calls clueless people to do callings. And then once we are in the calling long enough to be good we're released and another clueless person is called to do our calling, and we're called to a new calling that we're clueless about. This is how we learn. Learn to delegate so you don't feel over burdened. The adversary will tell us we have to d everything right now. But we will continue learning even beyond the grave. Parable of the Dock. When he was a bishop they called a spiritual living teacher who was a busy mother of five children. She was being called to replace Sister Spiritual who was 75 years old and had lots of time to put into the calling. This new sister felt like she was a failure in her calling because she didn't have time to make refrigerator magnets for all the sisters for each lesson. It would take 8-10 hours to make them. Sister Spiritual always made refrigerator magnets each week. He reminded her of other things she could do each week for those 8-10 hours, which would be a higher priority than making refrigerator magnets. At her time in life, she had other things more important to invest her time in. Remember when you were a child and you'd play in the lake and jump off the dock. It was hard to pull yourself up onto he dock. You try to push your friend up onto the dock and the more you push the faster you go down. We can be active in the church but inactive in the gospel. If we're trying to push somebody up onto the dock, we need to first put ourselves on solid ground and then pull them up. If we're trying to help someone else in the gospel, we need to first put ourselves on solid ground by praying and studying the scriptures. Put things in order by putting God in the center of our life. Practice gratitude. When afflictions come, step away from feeling overwhelmed and step toward gratitude. The Lore will ease our burdens, so that we cannot feel them upon our backs. To have our burdens lifted, we need to turn them over to God and allow Him to be part of our lives. Be positive and think of what great things are occurring as the Lord brings to pass His eternal purposes. He was at a busy time in his life when he was diagnosed with cancer. He was 38 years old and life was good. It was not in his planner to have cancer. He fell to his knees. His 6 children were 18 months o 15 years old. He looked at his baby and wondered who would love him like he id. He wanted to savor every moment with his children. He could not find peace. He told his wife to marry again, but make sure he was over 70. He opened his scriptures to Moroni where it talked about how if you have faith, your problems can be resolved. He then felt that instead of having a cancer problem he had a faith problem. He went to the temple the next day. After having cancer surgery, he woke up feeling peace. He rejoiced in having another day.
LEARNING TO LIVE WITH ADVERSITY--WISDOM FOR MAINTAINING A JOYFUL LIFE (S. MICHAEL WILCOX): God will take whatever challenges we have in our lives and consecrate them for our good. While Joseph Smith was in Liberty Jail, he wrote what sounded like accusatory verses asking God where He was, but then he was prepared to receive God's counsel. The Lord told him his adversity and afflictions will be but a small moment and then if he endured them well, he would be exalted on high. Trials in our lives can come from other people, or from nature, or from things the adversary brings deliberately into our lives as we give in to temptations. Even if all three of these combine against you, you'll gain experience and it will be for your good. Even Jesus, the most perfect ma who ever lived, had bad things happen to Him, so how can we expect that bad things won't happen to us? Tribulations work patience and patience works experience. It develops character. All these things will develop and refine our character. God will cause us to forget all our negatives and make our negatives positives. We're told that we need to endure well, not just endure. It's not enough to endure with grumbling and complaining. Whatever reason we fear or weep or grieve, we can know that one day we will be able to say "It is finished." And it will be finished. God will wipe away all ears from our eyes. There will be no more death, nor sorrow, nor crying. No more pain. Former things will pass away. Mary Magdalene was weeping at the tomb of Jesus. She saw Jesus but thought he was the gardener. He asked her why she wept. She told Him she wanted to know where they had taken away her Lord's body. He then says, "Mary" in such a way that she recognized Him. In this moment, it is the end her grief and the beginning of her joy. Our moment will also come. He has great sorrow over the death of his wife. But he knows that the day will come when that grief will end and he'll have great joy at being with his wife again. It will be finished. The misery will be over. In the last moment's of Jesus' freedom, He knows Judas will betray Him. He is pained by this. He knows Peter will deny Him three times. This brings Him sadness. He knows He will be scourged and crucified. He asked His three apostles to watch with Him, but they fall asleep. He goes to pray with all these things weighing on Him. He needs comfort, but He turns outward to comfort others. He tells His disciples to be not troubled, He will go and prepare a place for them. Jesus gained strength by focusing outside Himself. If you're depressed and don't feel like doing anything, you need to act--do something! If you're trying to help a depressed person, give them something to do. Remind yourself of all that God has done for you. Instead of worrying about all the bad things that have happened to you, think about all the good things. You don't need to suffer twice, once in reality and once in retrospect. Don't allow yourself to linger in the valley of sorrow. Linger is the key word here. You might find yourself in sorrow, but you don't need to linger there. It is better for us to PASS THROUGH sorrow. We don't stay there, we pass through. It will end. Get out and do something. Act! Think of the widow who had only a little meal and oil to make a last meal for her and her son. The prophet asked her to make a cake for him. What she had was multiplied so she had enough. When we go to the Lord for help because we don't have sufficient for what we need, He asks us what we have to bring to the solution of the problem. Then He takes the little that we have and multiplies it so that it is enough. This was the same principle in the multiplying of the five loaves and a few fish to feed the 5,000. We need to put to use the little we have and allow the Lord to multiply it. Sometimes you'll see two people with similar circumstances but only one gets the blessings. One has their prayers answered but the other doesn't seem to. Why? Does God love one more than the other? When you get the blessings, be grateful, but don't make any comparisons with other people. And when you don't, be trusting and don't make comparisons with other people. He'll make it good in the end. That's the way life works. May the Lord bless you in your adversities.
MAKING SENSE OF SORROW AND SUFFERING (ROBERT L. GLEAVE): When you're wrestling with difficult life issues, quick and easy answers just aren't adequate. We're dealing with real people with real names and real faces. He sees a parade of people who went through his office and their pain is not insignificant. And your pain is not insignificant. And those who you know have pain that matters. It matters in a way that we ought to treat it with respect. When we encounter pain in ourselves or other people, the answers aren't always quick or easy. What does the church teach us is our highest priority in this life (that which we should pursue at the expense of all else, if necessary)? What is the goal of this life. Then say so that.... We need to find joy. Gain eternal life in the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom, return to live with our Father in Heaven. No one else is more interested in our own salvation than we are ourselves. Nor should they be. How do we best pursue our own best interest? Service. Take care of yourself. If you don't have joy you can't teach others to have joy. Sacrifice, service, commandments, charity. Our highest priority should be our own exaltation. If you believe that God is all knowing, all powerful, and all loving, how do we explain evil in the world? Does He not know about it, isn't powerful enough to stop it, or doesn't care? We need to go through experiences to learn. Even Jesus had to go through painful experiences. God doesn't cause evil, but allows it. We want quick responses to our pain, yet there may be important gifts to be bestowed by a delayed response. Imagine in the world before this one when we lived with Heavenly Father. He could communicate His love to us perfectly, profoundly, in a way we couldn't argue with. How do you feel alone? How do you feel afraid? He gave us a veil to cover our minds and we lost our ability to communicate thought for thought, with nothing but a lineal language to communicate with other people. This is a fabulous gift. Now we can learn about feeling alone and afraid. It may be that this mortal existence is the only flash of eternity where we are allowed to have a veil over our minds, and allowed to experience things we could not experience any other way. Pain and sorrow might not be deficits to be overcome, but rather gifts from the Father to develop a divine nature. Rather than run from trouble, we can turn and embrace it. Heavenly Father doesn't leave us in this miserable condition all the time. We have moments when the veil can thin and we feel a little of what it must have felt like before. We can feel this way in the temple. But then life gets hard again. We feel like we're in the darkest abyss. We demonstrate our deep affection for others by the degree to which we suffer for them. Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friend. We grow through suffering. When some people go through difficult things, they can become bitter, while others become softened. Put things into perspective. There are people in the third world whose problems we have no understanding of. If we're worried about the paint pealing off our car, that's a first world problem. There are people in the world who would love to have any kind of car, and gas to put into it, and have places to go and things to do. Sometimes we can remind ourselves "That's a first world problem" to help us put things into perspective. Only those who resist temptation know how strong it is. When you get to the end of it you can go, "That's it? That's your best shot?" Pain is the same way. You'll get to the end of it. Gratitude turns what we have into enough and more. God asks us to be thankful for all things. The root of joy is gratefulness.
WHISPERS FROM HEAVEN (BARBARA BARRINGTON JONES): When you make people laugh, they become teachable. A woman told her doctor her memory was failing her. He asked when she noticed it and she replied, "When did I notice what?" Everyone has a photographic memory. Some just don't have any more film left. She looked for an exercise video for women her age, but they haven't made one yet called "Buns of putty." The great thing about being senile is that you can hide your own Easter eggs. Her memory is not as sharp as it used to be and also her memory is not as sharp as it used to be. How do you prevent sagging? Just eat until all the wrinkles fill out. You don't stop laughing because you grow old. You grow old because you stop laughing. Sometimes we wonder why certain things were in the cards for us. We see ourselves on a long trip, traveling by train. We see scenes outside the window, but think of our final destination. When we get there, our lives will fit like pieces of a jigsaw puzzle. We wait and wait for the station. A young woman couldn't wait until she got out of high school. Then she couldn't wait to go to college. Then she couldn't wait to go on a mission. And when she got on her mission she couldn't wait to come home. When she got home, she couldn't wait to find a husband. After she found him she thought if she could just get a house she'd bet happy. They got the house. Then if she could just have children, she'd be happy. After three children, if she could just get those kids in school, then she'd be happy. And so it goes. We wait and wait and wait for the station out there when we can finally be happy. Look back at the stations in your life. When she was in the 6th grade she was already her adult height of 5'10". She was all legs. Little boys would run around down by her ankles. She felt like if one more of those little boys asked her how the weather was up there she would tell him it was raining and spit on his head. Then she got into ballet. But she wasn't popular in high school. People made unkind comments and she cried her eyes out. She decided to go to New York and become a star ballerina. Her friend told her she'd have trouble finding a ballet company who would provide her with a 4-4 instead of a 2-2 and find four guys to hoist her up. But she went to New York anyway and got accepted into a ballet company. She decided that she needed to lose weight so she quit eating. She burned lots of calories with her ballet. She got so thin and so sick that she had to go home. She was a very talented dancer. She couldn't understand why she got so sick and had to go home. She'd been praying and saying her novenas. She was Catholic at that time. Then she married her boyfriend's best friend. As a young bride she found her husband on the bathroom floor where he'd taken lots of pills and she had to have him taken to the hospital. He burned up all her pictures of her ballet days. She was in a ballet one time when her son was a year old and during the performance her husband motioned her to come quickly because there was an emergency. She thought something had happened to her son so she ran off stage and out to her husband's car. He put tape over her mouth, hands, and ankles and drove her out where he held a gun at her and threatened to shoot off her legs so she'd never dance again. She prayed and prayed and her husband uncocked the gun and drove her back to the parking lot and dumped her out. A security guard untaped her. She went to her mother's house, but her husband found her and went after her with a rifle. She prayed again and was able to escape. She was a Catholic and didn't believe in divorce so she went back into that bad marriage. Her husband pulled a gun on her again and said he was going to kill her and then kill himself. She again prayed. Her husband put the gun down and went outside where he took his own life. She showed a picture of herself with her husband and their two children. She said to look at them they looked like a happy family, but those last five years were just pure fear. After her husband killed himself, she was left to raise two children alone. She wanted to be a dancer and now that dream was shattered. Then she met a wonderful man who became her husband for 30 years. He was 26 years older than she was. He was the most wonderful, supportive man you could imagine. She went back to dancing. She started teaching sacred dance for Catholics. Her children called her new husband dad. She went to mass every day. The priest was reading from the gospel, about Peter walking on the water. She'd never read that story before. She was deathly afraid of water. She could feel for Peter and was so afraid. But then she felt a hand on her wrist. It must have been the Savior who pulled up her Spirit and said, "Oh ye of little faith. Why did you doubt me?" She didn't know what happened to her. She felt like she had been through the water and had been rescued. Then after many years her husband said he wanted to find a different church instead of the Catholic Church. So she started going to a Protestant Church that taught Jesus loves you. Then they went on a vacation and passed through Salt Lake City. He wanted to stop on Temple Square. He said to look at it like a historical landmark. She thought it was weird. There were no statues or candles. For years she'd been praying "Who are you Jesus?" Then she watched a movie at the visitor's center on Temple square that showed Jesus saying "Here I am. Come follow me." She gained a testimony and joined the LDS Church. Little did she know on that day back in 1979 that there was a plan for her life and she would become a speaker for the LDS church. She has been at Education Week for 30 years now. Her husband passed away and it was very hard. It's still hard. It gets very lonely. She does have a cat. She looks back at her life and wonders why she had to go through the abuse of her first husband and why she couldn't just be a ballet dancer. You have to be all in and be willing to put everything on the line. Everything in your life goes to working for your good, but you have to be all in. What does it mean to be all in? You can talk all in or be all in. It's about being the best you can be. It's about sacrificing what you thought it would be and discovering the true you. Don't talk all in, be all in. Don't just start the race. It's never too late. You give everything you've got to win. She showed a video of a man who finished a marathon long after everybody else finished, but kept going even though he was struggling with his last breath. He gave it all he had to finish the race. God gave us gifts and talents so that we would be all in and give it everything we've got. We need to trust Him to accomplish what we need to do, even if it's struggling across the finish line.
Rather than take notes on the general devotional yesterday, I'll include a link to a Deseret News article recapping it. Here it is:
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