Our LDS Life

I just got off the phone with a friend. We were talking about the blessings that come to us when we commit ourselves fully to the Lord, and also the sacrifices that sometimes he asks of us. She mentioned in passing how blessed she’s been in the area of friendships — how the Lord has given her so many wonderful friends. It reminded me of a quote by President Ezra Taft Benson. As I went to look it up, I found an entire article by him, and there’s just so much good stuff in here that I thought I’d post a segment of it:

“Christ’s great gift to us was His life and sacrifice. Should that not then be our small gift to Him—our lives and sacrifices, not only now but in the future? A few years ago my colleague Elder Boyd K. Packer said this: “I’m not ashamed to say that … I want to be good. And I’ve found in my life that it has been critically important [to establish this intention] between me and the Lord so that I knew that he knew which way I committed my agency. I went before Him and said, ‘I’m not neutral, and you can do with me what you want. If you need my vote, it’s there. I don’t care what you do with me, and you don’t have to take anything from me because I give it to you—everything, all I own, all I am—,’ and that makes the difference.” (“To Those Who Teach in Troubled Times,” address delivered at seminary and institute conference, Summer 1970, Salt Lake City.)

“Yes, men and women who turn their lives over to God will discover that He can make a lot more out of their lives than they can. He will deepen their joys, expand their vision, quicken their minds, strengthen their muscles, lift their spirits, multiply their blessings, increase their opportunities, comfort their souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace. Whoever will lose his life in the service of God will find eternal life.

“Sacrifice is truly the crowning test of the gospel. Men are tried and tested in this mortal probation to see if they will put first in their lives the kingdom of God. (See Matt. 6:33.) To gain eternal life, they must be willing, if called upon, to sacrifice all things for the gospel. “If thou wilt be perfect,” Jesus said to the rich young man, “go and sell that thou hast, and give to the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven: and come and follow me.” (Matt. 19:21.)

Hearing this injunction, Peter said, “Behold, we have forsaken all, and followed thee; what shall we have therefore?”

To this query, our Lord replied, “Every one that hath forsaken houses, or brethren, or sisters, or father, or mother, or wife, or children, or lands, for my name’s sake, shall receive an hundredfold, and shall inherit everlasting life.” (Matt. 19:27, 29; see also D&C 132:55.) From First Presidency Message “Jesus Christ — Gifts and Expectations” December 1988

Good stuff, don’t you think?!

This summer our family took a trip to Kirtland Ohio, Palmyra and Washington DC. This video  includes footage from the Johnson Farm … one of the places where Joseph Smith was tarred and feathered and also where he spoke the next morning to 200 people on the front steps of the Johnson home:

I’m reading Bruce Wilkinson’s The Dream Giver and thoroughly enjoying it. Our protestant friends know Bruce Wilkinson as the author of the popular The Prayer of Jabez. I love his work and have read the two little books that followed Jabez — Secrets of the Vine: Breaking Through to Abundance and A Life God Rewards: Why Everything You Do Today Matters Forever. A Life God Rewards is the closest thing I’ve seen in the protestant world to our beliefs about the blessings that God has for the faithful.

Anyway, back to The Dream Giver — fantastic book. There is this one paragraph that stood out to me that made me think of my calling as Young Women’s president. When I was called earlier this summer my first thought was, “I have risen to the level of my incompetence.” Anyone who’s been in the Church for very long has felt that way at one time or another. It seems God has a habit of asking us to fulfill callings that stretch our capabilities — in fact — many times He asks us to do things we KNOW we aren’t qualified to do. Why? So we’ll be humble enough to ask for His help and activate His grace in our behalf.

In “The Dream Giver,” I ran into another reason why God repeatedly uses this method in the Church. He’s building leaders:

Bruce Wilkinson talks about having lunch with his friend who is a leadership developer. Wilkson asked, “Based on your research and experience what would you say is the most important secret to developing world-class leaders?”

His friend said, “Well, it’s not a course, a lecture or a book.” When his friend went back to his meal, Wilkinson prompted him to explain. His answer was, “The single best way to develop leaders is to take people out of their safe environment and away from the people they know, and throw them into a new arena they know little about. Way over their head, preferably. In fact, the more demanding their challenges, the more pressure and risk they face, the more likely a dynamic leader will emerge.” (p 117)

Isn’t that the way it is in the Church? Ordinary men asked to be bishops and stake presidents. Ordinary women asked to be Relief Society presidents and Young Women’s presidents. After reading this, I kind of feel excited to see what God can make of me after a season as a Young Women’s president. As inept as I feel, maybe there’s hope for me yet!