I was given the assignment to speak in Church on August 16, 2009.<\/p>\n
I have gone through to modify this from the original to reflect some of the changes I made As I spoke.<\/p>\n
As I was sitting on the stand I realized I have been studying for this talk for over 7 years.<\/p>\n
As I was reading over Elder Snow’s talk “Get on with your life” I noticed a difference with this talk.\u00a0 I know it is about adversity.\u00a0 While there are many talks on adversity this one takes a different approach to the topic. It speaks more about getting ready prepared and pushing forward into adversity, than the usual how to endure and triumph over adversity.<\/p>\n
I realized from a young age there must be opposition in all things.\u00a0 I learned that gravity is the opposition that keeps us alive, but is also what makes our mortal bodies get old, our hearts weaken, makes our skin sag and eventually kills us. Strangely I discovered that without the constant opposition of gravity we would die much sooner.\u00a0 This was discovered, as astronauts went into space, in only a few days the heart stops working as hard and pumps 20% less blood and Muscle mass loses about 5% a week. In less than two years the human body would atrophy and die. I think that is amazing that is the constant opposition of gravity is keeping us alive.\u00a0 There is great lesson to be learned from this and I think is the essence of what the talk it about.\u00a0 We need to get ready and be willing to meet adversity head and Get on with our lives.<\/p>\n
Elder snow speaks in his talk about trials we know are in our future and we try to prepare for these trials.\u00a0 Missions, Marriage, School and Children. \u00a0While we can prepare there always seems to be things we have never anticipated.\u00a0 I remember after a hard week on my mission, having to deal with not knowing the language, the hot humid weather, no running water and no electricity.\u00a0 I remember reading a the church magazine \u201cThe friend\u201d in the Zone Leaders apartment.\u00a0 It showed a picture of a group of young men 10 or 12 years old with the caption below \u201cPreparing for a mission\u201d They were all smiling.\u00a0 I said out loud to my companion.\u00a0 They have no idea what they are in for.\u00a0 Being able to prepare for adversity you know is coming always helps us to endure the trial, especially by ourselves.\u00a0 However, the adversity that hits us in the face at some random Tuesday afternoon are, at least in my life, \u00a0the most difficult to deal with. These are things like, sickness, accident, unemployment, disaster and church callings.\u00a0 I see a significant difference between these two.\u00a0 In the preparable adversity.\u00a0 Many times you can manage by yourself because of preparation, but the Random Tuesday Afternoon adversity is usually less likely to be handled personally and many times requires others to help.\u00a0 As members of the Church of Jesus Christ we should be willing to help.\u00a0 In a talk given by Elder Henry B. Eyring in April 2004, he quoted a his district president as saying \u201dWhen you meet someone, treat them as if they were in serious trouble, and you will be right more than half of the time.\u201d\u00a0 Elder Eyring thought that was pessimistic, however looking back he can see how well that district president understood the world and life.\u00a0 \u00a0There was a great talk given by Bishop Edgely in the priesthood session of the last conference on how we need to give extra effort to helping our members who are out of work find jobs in this tough economy.<\/p>\n
I doesn\u2019t matter what trial we are called to bear there are things we can do to prepare.\u00a0 There are all the Sunday school answers, fast, pray, read your scriptures, and Attend your meetings.\u00a0 I think one of the most important things in helping to deal with adversity is being able to recognize the influence of the holy ghost in our lives.\u00a0 In my teen years I would hear people talk about feeling the spirit but I wasn\u2019t really sure what is was.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t until I was in the MTC where one of the teachers told us how to know when we were feeling the spirit.\u00a0 He said the MTC is like the temple the spirit is always here.\u00a0 He said it is quiet and subtle.\u00a0 He I can feel the spirit it is here right now.\u00a0 He then said we are just going to sit here for a few minutes and feel it.\u00a0 It was there that day and I realized I had felt it many times before. I had felt it the day\u00a0 was baptized.\u00a0 I had felt it when I had attended the temple to do baptisms for the dead.\u00a0 I had felt it as a priest when I blessed the sacrament.\u00a0 Though out my life since then I have learned to identify the spirit.\u00a0 I have learned when I am making a decision that is the way I need to feel about what I am doing.\u00a0 I have also made decisions where I have made choices where the spirit had pulled away letting me know it was not the right choice and I have suffered because of the bad decisions.\u00a0\u00a0 I have learned when I feel the spirit I feel good I know things will out well I feel like I can accomplish anything.\u00a0 When I make bad decisions I feel the spirit withdraw, I also feel, fear, hopelessness and despair.<\/p>\n
I also want to talk briefly on the reasons why we face trials.\u00a0 I think Elder Faust quoting Dr Authur Wentworth Hewitt in the Oct 2004 states it best \u201cFirst I don\u2019t know, Second we may not be as innocent as we think. Third:\u00a0 .. I believe it is because [God] he loves us so much more than he loves our Happiness.\u201d\u00a0 Either we are suffering because we did something wrong or God believes we are prepared to grow.\u00a0 In any case it\u2019s our fault, but God Loves us and wants us to come closer to Christ. \u00a0I believe the most dangerous situation we can be in is to have no trials; we get weak and our testimony atrophies.\u00a0 Because of the trials I have experienced over the last several years I feel I am much better equipped to identify and help people in need.\u00a0 However, I would also like to add these difficulties have tested my faith and will to keep going.\u00a0 I am seeing why we need to be prepared to have the oil in the lamps of our testimony full.\u00a0 I just hope the Lord will bless me and I will be receptive.<\/p>\n
While reading the Book of Mormon over the past couple of years I have attempted to study how people deal with trials and how God helps during the trials.\u00a0 I try to see if there are parallels in my life.\u00a0 One of the most interesting trial stories is the one with Zeniff, Noah, Abinadi, Alma and Limhi. I see a couple of trial stories.\u00a0 The first one is Noah as a wicked king.\u00a0 The people were bad sinned against god and were put into bondage.\u00a0 There are other types of bondage in our day and age. But nevertheless bondage.\u00a0 Many times we caused the bondage to come upon us? God is eventually merciful, after the people suffer, get humble and repent.\u00a0 This story should give us all hope.\u00a0 If we do things wrong God may pull away blessings but he will not withhold blessings forever, if we repent and seek to come closer to our Savior. Second is the trial of Abinadi, He did what the lord commanded him and he was killed.\u00a0 This brings to mind the part of the hymn \u201cCome Come ye saints\u201d \u201cAnd should we die before our journey\u2019s through happy day all is well.\u201d\u00a0 Then the third story is Alma and the people that followed him.\u00a0 These people were the most righteous of all the groups, however they were the most tormented.\u00a0 At first they organized themselves into the Church of Christ and then were warned to leave the land of Nephi.\u00a0 So they left and were doing all that was right.\u00a0 Then the Lamanites found them.\u00a0 It is interesting to note the Lamanite army found them as a result of the army chasing the people of Limhi after they had been delivered from Their bondage.\u00a0 From my perspective this doesn\u2019t sound fair.\u00a0 The less righteous get delivered first and then those that were righteous were made to suffer worse persecutions than the less obedient.\u00a0 I have studied that story several times mostly to see how I may be treated.\u00a0 I am not dead yet so I don\u2019t believe I am super righteous.\u00a0 I know I have made some mistakes, however none of them are as serious as the people of king Noah.\u00a0 I hope I am like the people of Alma that are trying to do what\u2019s right and just have to endure the trial.\u00a0 One thing I have also learned from this.\u00a0 That The Lord will end trials pretty quickly.\u00a0 It took about a week to free the people of Limhi an then for Alma it was over in one night. \u00a0\u00a0Through all of these trials the Lord is just trying to get the people closer to Jesus Christ.<\/p>\n
I believe our attitude in getting prepared to deal with trials is important.\u00a0 Too often when I am thrust into a trial situation I have a bad attitude.\u00a0 I am more quickly realizing I am having the bad attitude and realize I need to push forward with faith.<\/p>\n
In the talk by Elder Snow he talks about Robert Gardner Jr.\u00a0 He is not a ancestor of mine, however I think he is a ancestor of Elder Snow.\u00a0 He had some trials in his life and when he thought he had over come his trials he was talking with his friends and they were saying it is good that you have been able to overcome your trial of being broke.\u00a0 He then said he was afraid he would have to endure more.\u00a0 Sure enough, within a couple hour people coming from a conference in Salt Lake told him he had been called to settle Southern Utah.\u00a0 I like the quote \u201cI looked and spit, took off my\u00a0 hat and scratched [my head] and thought \u2018All Right\u2019<\/p>\n
It is interesting to notice the difference in the situations for Joseph Smith the Prophet<\/p>\n
In 1838 in the Liberty Jail he petitions the Lord for help. \u201cWhere is the Pavilion that covereth thy hiding place.\u201d Help us out here<\/p>\n