So I know that LDS General Conference was a few weeks ago and that my writing on topics related to it is a little dated. Regardless, I feel a need to write a few more things on the subject because I have learned different lessons in my life that I feel like can apply to those individuals who have concerns about General Conference. I am sure they also have learned lessons that I have yet to learn, but I will learn in time.
Close to the close of General Conference I read an article entitled My Prayer for Conference. It is from the USGA at BYU blog and someone had posted it on Facebook. Reading this article lead me to a reflection about a lesson I learned my freshman year of college.
A story from the talk entitled To Acquire Spiritual Guidance really expresses what I discovered. The story is a contrast of two different Sunday School lessons that Elder Scott attended. One was in Mexico where a humble man who was teaching out of love for those he taught. The other was back in his home ward, presumably in Utah, where the teacher appeared to be teaching to show how intelligent he was. Regardless of how the class was taught, Elder Scott demonstrated that he was able to receive spiritual guidance in both meetings.
I have had many strong experiences that show to me that General Conference is a place where the spirit resides and everything I hear is an answer to my prayer. I have also had the opposite side, where I pull up social media or a game on my phone in order to stop the flow of anger and resentment at what is being taught. I do not think the difference is the content or the speakers not speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost. I think it is related to my personal preparation and where I am in my life.
I do not wish anyone to feel like I am singling them out or saying that they are falling away from the Church because of their struggles in finding strengthening messages in General Conference. I wish to relate it to myself and I lesson I am learning now. A phrase that has recently been sticking with me is "O that...thy righteousness [been] as the waves of the sea" (1 Nephi 20:18 or Isiah 48:18).
To me this means that in our daily life we draw close to Gd and then drift further away and then close again. Growing up near the beach makes this message more tangible to me. A wave cannot be strong and powerful unless it has a strong pull out to sea, but then it comes crashing even stronger towards the shore.
So it is with us. At times in our lives everything brings a strong spiritual message that we are on the right path and we easily receive the next steps on our path. Then other times hearing the pleasing word of Gd makes us feel like hard words have been spoken against us because we are guilty of some wrong things (1 Nephi 16:2). This is expected as we are far from perfect and our struggles are personal.
The secret is what we chose to do because of that pulling away from the things of Gd. Do we take them as a warning sign that we are drifting away from who we want to be and then humble ourselves to do all that we can to crash upon the shores of the Gospel? Or do we let them repulse us away from the Gospel feeling like the pull away is the direction we are meant to travel because that is how we feel now?
The person who wrote that article admitted to feeling a few messages that said “I’m here. I know you. I love you. Stay with me, and come back to me.” That there is the way to receive revelation. That could be deemed as the answer to your prayer, Gd knows and loves you individually regardless of your struggles. And similar to Elder Scott, we can learn the personal things just for our particular circumstances even if the speaker gives a talk or lesson unrelated to our struggles.
Admittedly this understanding is the reason why I did not enjoy taking religion courses at BYU. In a class where the professor is trying to teach a discourse on faith or history and background of something or other, I am learning what classes I need to take next semester, how to decipher the revelation I have received, and what to do in my dating life. Then I take a test that judges how I learned what the professor taught rather than what the spirit taught. No fun during the test, but the skill to learn what I need to learn regardless of what is being taught is a lesson that I will use my lifetime over.
Whoever wrote the article already took the first step, to write down the revelation. Next steps are to follow the prompting and ask if there is more to know, which also seems like the author was doing because the article is about prayer. This author is clearly on the path to receive more revelation on what they need to hear in their life. Don't give up. The answers to your specific struggles will come to you, even if it is during a talk on tithing given by a returned missionary who only tells stories about their mission. The real teacher is the spirit. Gd will not leave you comfortless.
Close to the close of General Conference I read an article entitled My Prayer for Conference. It is from the USGA at BYU blog and someone had posted it on Facebook. Reading this article lead me to a reflection about a lesson I learned my freshman year of college.
A story from the talk entitled To Acquire Spiritual Guidance really expresses what I discovered. The story is a contrast of two different Sunday School lessons that Elder Scott attended. One was in Mexico where a humble man who was teaching out of love for those he taught. The other was back in his home ward, presumably in Utah, where the teacher appeared to be teaching to show how intelligent he was. Regardless of how the class was taught, Elder Scott demonstrated that he was able to receive spiritual guidance in both meetings.
I have had many strong experiences that show to me that General Conference is a place where the spirit resides and everything I hear is an answer to my prayer. I have also had the opposite side, where I pull up social media or a game on my phone in order to stop the flow of anger and resentment at what is being taught. I do not think the difference is the content or the speakers not speaking by the power of the Holy Ghost. I think it is related to my personal preparation and where I am in my life.
I do not wish anyone to feel like I am singling them out or saying that they are falling away from the Church because of their struggles in finding strengthening messages in General Conference. I wish to relate it to myself and I lesson I am learning now. A phrase that has recently been sticking with me is "O that...thy righteousness [been] as the waves of the sea" (1 Nephi 20:18 or Isiah 48:18).
To me this means that in our daily life we draw close to Gd and then drift further away and then close again. Growing up near the beach makes this message more tangible to me. A wave cannot be strong and powerful unless it has a strong pull out to sea, but then it comes crashing even stronger towards the shore.
So it is with us. At times in our lives everything brings a strong spiritual message that we are on the right path and we easily receive the next steps on our path. Then other times hearing the pleasing word of Gd makes us feel like hard words have been spoken against us because we are guilty of some wrong things (1 Nephi 16:2). This is expected as we are far from perfect and our struggles are personal.
The secret is what we chose to do because of that pulling away from the things of Gd. Do we take them as a warning sign that we are drifting away from who we want to be and then humble ourselves to do all that we can to crash upon the shores of the Gospel? Or do we let them repulse us away from the Gospel feeling like the pull away is the direction we are meant to travel because that is how we feel now?
The person who wrote that article admitted to feeling a few messages that said “I’m here. I know you. I love you. Stay with me, and come back to me.” That there is the way to receive revelation. That could be deemed as the answer to your prayer, Gd knows and loves you individually regardless of your struggles. And similar to Elder Scott, we can learn the personal things just for our particular circumstances even if the speaker gives a talk or lesson unrelated to our struggles.
Admittedly this understanding is the reason why I did not enjoy taking religion courses at BYU. In a class where the professor is trying to teach a discourse on faith or history and background of something or other, I am learning what classes I need to take next semester, how to decipher the revelation I have received, and what to do in my dating life. Then I take a test that judges how I learned what the professor taught rather than what the spirit taught. No fun during the test, but the skill to learn what I need to learn regardless of what is being taught is a lesson that I will use my lifetime over.
Whoever wrote the article already took the first step, to write down the revelation. Next steps are to follow the prompting and ask if there is more to know, which also seems like the author was doing because the article is about prayer. This author is clearly on the path to receive more revelation on what they need to hear in their life. Don't give up. The answers to your specific struggles will come to you, even if it is during a talk on tithing given by a returned missionary who only tells stories about their mission. The real teacher is the spirit. Gd will not leave you comfortless.
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