Talk #3 - President Monson, General Relief Society Meeting
This is from Kenon - thank you Kenon!
May I recommend watching the talk at least once during your study of it - he speaks for a little over two minutes before his 'written talk' begins and it is beautiful to hear the heart of our Prophet!
Go ahead and click and enjoy!
Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are.
ReplyDelete... will write more later - but this spoke to me! Love you all!
Ok girls...I chose this talk for selfish reasons.
ReplyDelete#1 I LOVE it and have thought about it at least 3 times a day since it was given.
#2 I am speaking on this talk on Sunday and want to hear ALL of your thoughts to draw inspiration from. Give me all you've got girls! Much love...
I was surprised how many promises he makes to those who are grateful.
ReplyDeleteMy favorite quotes are
"Do we remember to give thanks for the blessings we receive? Sincerely giving thanks not only helps us recognize our blessings, BUT IT ALSO UNLOCKS THE DOORS OF HEAVEN AND HELPS US FEEL GOD'S LOVE"
That sounds pretty good to me. What a promise!!
Pres. Hinckley said, "When you walk with gratitude, you do not walk with arrogance and conceit and egotism..." Sounds like it is the antidote to pride. Instead of working on "not having pride" just be grateful. That sounds so much easier and doable to me.
He told the story of the 7 loaves and fishes. He said the Savior gave thanks for what they had-and a miracle followed. Again what a promise. To me that says gratitude invites miracles. Again what a promise!!!!
"And in nothing doth man offend God, or against none is his wrath kindled, save those who confess not his hand in ALL things"
"Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness in its place." Again...fight pride with gratitude.
"Most human beings have an almost infinite capacity for taking things for granted" Understanding that as human beings we are weak in this area, can increase our ability to look deeper.
"To express gratitude is gracious and honorable, to enact gratitude is generous and noble, but to live with gratitude ever in our hearts is to TOUCH HEAVEN"
So Gratitude...Unlocks the doors of heaven and let's us feel God's love, saves us from pride, allows for miracles, and to touch heaven.
Bottom line...That sounds pretty good to me. Who doesn't want to live like that? You had me at gratitude!!!! I am inspired to make this a great focus in my life. I will be working on this for sure!!!!!
I am so grateful for our Prophet! I am truly so grateful that I had the opportunity to attend the Relief Society meeting when he gave this talk - what a treat - what a blessing! The Spirit was so strong in that room and he truly spoke with such love and such strength .. I hope to be at many more Relief Society Meetings - it was a blessing!!!
ReplyDeleteI love near the beginning when he says ... "There is really no way we can know the heart, the intentions, or the circumstances of someone who might say or do something we find reason to criticize. Thus the commandment: “Judge not.”"
How often in my own life does something happen and I jump to a conclusion or an action - when I find out more information later - I would have not concluded or acted as I did. It just happened with Hale - he came running in and started to play the piano with the front door left wide open - so I of course yell down 'Hale close the front door' - he yells back 'mom you don't understand' - I then yell louder 'Hale shut the front door' - to which he yells 'mom, you don't understand' - to which I YELL LOUDER 'Hale, shut the front door NOW!' - to which he gets up from the piano yells you don't understand and slams the door on the way out. I then yell HALE COME BACK IN HERE - he comes back in and I say shut the door behind you and come up here and tell me so that I can understand .... so turns out a neighbor with a dog was walking by - asked Hale who played the piano and that his dog likes hearing piano music - so Hale ran in so the dog and neighbor could hear him play - but how could they hear him play over the yelling from his mom ... yah
that was fun!
So... lesson learned - find out WHY the door is opened before screaming out to the world so all your neighbors who are listening to piano music can also hear that you are a crazy mom who doesn't like to let the hot air out of the house. oops
have more to say ... Kenon said give me your ALL!
ReplyDeleteAnother great story - a friend of mine told me - for weeks she exercised first thing in the morning at ACAC (local gym) when it opened at 5:30 - and this grouchy old man would also be there - jockeying for position at the front of the line to get in and then would always be stern and grumpy and one day got mad at her for splashing him in the pool when she jumped in ... anyhow she was soooo put off by him and threatened to herself many times that she was really going to let him have it - and really tell him off for being so selfish and so grouchy this early in the morning every day and just mean! .... well thankfully she didn't ever get mad at him.
Well then about a year later she saw him at Whole Foods -and thought to herself - ugh there is the grouchy insensitive old man but she had just come from a weekend retreat with her church - so she decided this was her test to see if what she learned she could really put in to practice with the meanest man in Charlottesville. So she went up to him and said 'Hi, I used to see you every morning for early morning workouts at ACAC but I haven't seen you there in awhile.' Which he paused and then got tears in his eyes and told her 'that was the month just before my wife died - she was undergoing treatments for her cancer and that was the only time I could break away first thing to come and get my exercise in as I spent the rest of the time with her. Since she passed away, I go later in the day. He thanked her for talking with him and then he walked away.
Oh my friends heart broke for him, and she was SO GLAD that she didn't ever yell at him - and now felt so bad she had thought so many unkind things about him.
Oh we often don't know the pain - the struggles - the innermost thoughts of others ... we truly need to be more tolerant more full of love - more full of acceptance - of patience - and to truly give others the benefit of the doubt!
I love too how he speaks that we are all unique .. yes deep in hearts we all want everyone to think, act, and to be just like us - because that is how we are - it must be the RIGHT WAY! But so wonderful to be reminded that we are all unique and to not let these differences 'tempt us to judge one another'.
I have always felt so strongly about this one ...
Needed is the charity which refuses to find satisfaction in hearing or in repeating the reports of misfortunes that come to others, unless by so doing, the unfortunate one may be benefited.
There is so much value by not talking about the negativity that is pervasive around us - but by speaking of the good in others and how we can help someone get out of a bad situation - not clobbering them for being there!
I look forward to hearing of your great lesson tomorrow - I hope that you are able to invite the Spirit - so the women can hear the promptings that the Holy Ghost witnesses to each of them - how they can be more loving, more kind, and more patient with their fellow sisters and those they interact with.
I too hope that I can be more loving - yell less - and truly be a charitable example - a lover as Christ loves - in my every thought, action, and deed!
OK...so we had company all week, and then spoke in church today and I finally have a chance to comment on this awesome talk. I ended up using a different talk today, but I still love this talk SO MUCH.
ReplyDeleteYou guys have discussed a lot of the things that touched me as well. I have the hardest time not judging people when they don't meet my expectations. I rarely judge strangers or casual friends...for whatever reason I can always give them the benefit of the doubt (even if they flip me off while I am driving), but if someone close to me hurts me or doesn't meet my expectations I have a REALLY hard time not judging their actions. When my feelings get hurt, I tend to forget that there is no way for me to know the heart of the other person.
I have been working hard on changing this unfortunate part of my personality. I have Mother Teresa's quote on my mirror and read it several times a day, "If you judge people, you have no time to love them." AND...the best part is that it is working! I can feel my heart being full of love and compassion in situations where I couldn't feel that before. I still have a lot of work to do, but I feel encouraged.
I also LOVED the story he shared about the old man.
After the man passed away, Mary was visiting with a friend who had a greenhouse. As she looked at her friend’s flowers, she noticed a beautiful golden chrysanthemum but was puzzled that it was growing in a dented, old, rusty bucket. Her friend explained, “I ran short of pots, and knowing how beautiful this one would be, I thought it wouldn’t mind starting in this old pail. It’s just for a little while, until I can put it out in the garden.”
Mary smiled as she imagined just such a scene in heaven. “Here’s an especially beautiful one,” God might have said when He came to the soul of the little old man. “He won’t mind starting in this small, misshapen body.” But that was long ago, and in God’s garden how tall this lovely soul must stand!
This is so true! There is nothing better than to be able to look at someone in the same way that the Savior sees them. To feel the love that He has for them. Also, to look at ourselves in the way that He sees us.
I am so jealous that Emily AND Cecia got to be there to hear this talk! What a neat experience!! I love you guys...
OOPS! Long Week! I read the talk on gratitude as you can clearly see??? Sorry for the mix up. LOVED the talk on Charity and my favorite part was the quote Kenon has on her mirror. I saw it when I was there at your house. "If you judge people you have no time to love them." When he said that it stuck with me like no other quote I have ever heard!!!!
ReplyDeleteI also loved Cecia's story about the old man at the gym. What a reminder to us all that those who are obnoxious, insecure, grouchy, mean etc are for a reason and our job is to love.