1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:21,400 Hey there everybody, welcome out to another episode of Redeemed Through His Blood. 2 00:00:21,400 --> 00:00:27,280 My name's Scott Durfeey and super excited to be here with you today as always, joined 3 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:30,280 by our teacher and friend, David Durfey. What's up Dave? 4 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:39,720 Hey Scott, so good to be here and talk about how to apply the Atonement of Jesus Christ 5 00:00:39,720 --> 00:00:45,040 in our life. That's kind of the question that I hope everybody will ask themselves 6 00:00:45,040 --> 00:00:52,160 and that by the time we're done with the podcast today that they'll have a little bit better 7 00:00:52,160 --> 00:00:59,520 understanding and know how to focus on that process a little better. 8 00:00:59,520 --> 00:01:04,840 This has just been an absolute joy for me over the last several weeks again as we've 9 00:01:04,840 --> 00:01:10,600 gone through a second season actually of the, we call it a course because it really is a 10 00:01:10,600 --> 00:01:16,040 course. What we do here is kind of fashioned after the course, the Divine Gift of Forgiveness 11 00:01:16,040 --> 00:01:23,440 which is an institute course from the church. Last we checked or last we heard we don't 12 00:01:23,440 --> 00:01:29,560 check but somebody told David that and somebody in the know that it was, is I guess still 13 00:01:29,560 --> 00:01:35,640 the most popular course that's being taught in seminaries and institutes right now and 14 00:01:35,640 --> 00:01:39,320 what a great course. It's a great opportunity. You know Dave, a couple weeks ago Deb and 15 00:01:39,320 --> 00:01:45,200 I had an opportunity to share some experience and strength and hope in a couple of fifths 16 00:01:45,200 --> 00:01:53,960 Sunday talks if you will. One we got to do was with a single adult ward and you know 17 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:59,560 normally I should say in the past when I've approached this and I've gone in and we've 18 00:01:59,560 --> 00:02:04,960 talked about how to recover from addictions and various things in the church. You know 19 00:02:04,960 --> 00:02:09,080 we've had an approach and it's been great but you know as we talked about it this time 20 00:02:09,080 --> 00:02:15,080 David it was a little bit different because I was able to integrate what we talk about 21 00:02:15,080 --> 00:02:20,880 here in the podcast with that kind of approach to healing from addiction and healing from 22 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:27,080 you know the things in life that are just natural man to us and it was really interesting, 23 00:02:27,080 --> 00:02:30,640 shouldn't be a surprise and it really wasn't a surprise. I think it was kind of our intent 24 00:02:30,640 --> 00:02:41,240 but the spirit was just so strong in testifying and in kind of what's the word not enabling 25 00:02:41,240 --> 00:02:46,440 but administering the atonement of Jesus Christ there that day when we were there. The spirit 26 00:02:46,440 --> 00:02:53,640 was just so strong as we focused on these truths and really came to a consensus and 27 00:02:53,640 --> 00:03:00,040 to a belief and to an agreement with the spirit itself that you know it's through the spirit 28 00:03:00,040 --> 00:03:04,600 that the atonement of Jesus Christ gets administered in our lives and I think we're going to talk 29 00:03:04,600 --> 00:03:05,600 a lot about that today. 30 00:03:05,600 --> 00:03:12,960 Yeah for sure Scott. Yeah that's really sweet. I'm sure that your influence that you're 31 00:03:12,960 --> 00:03:20,760 having on the young adults of the church you and Deb together because of your experiences 32 00:03:20,760 --> 00:03:30,720 and how the Lord has taken ashes and turned them into something beautiful is really really 33 00:03:30,720 --> 00:03:37,240 sweet for me to kind of be a witness to so thanks for sharing that Scott and and you 34 00:03:37,240 --> 00:03:44,880 mentioned the course you know this is an this is based on an Institute course that I had 35 00:03:44,880 --> 00:03:50,840 kind of designed and put together several years ago and then Elder Anderson found out 36 00:03:50,840 --> 00:03:59,520 about it and and wrote the book the divine gift of forgiveness and you know I consulted 37 00:03:59,520 --> 00:04:07,520 on that a lot and I want all of our listeners to know that this is available to them online 38 00:04:07,520 --> 00:04:16,880 the course if they if they go to the app the church's app and they go to books and lessons 39 00:04:16,880 --> 00:04:23,680 then they'll be taken to a tab called Institute and if they click on Institute really the 40 00:04:23,680 --> 00:04:30,000 first question that comes up or the first course that comes up is the divine gift of 41 00:04:30,000 --> 00:04:38,640 forgiveness yeah it's become a really really popular course in all of the languages that 42 00:04:38,640 --> 00:04:44,680 the book has been translated which I don't know how many languages it's been translated 43 00:04:44,680 --> 00:04:54,680 in by now and and I was I helped put the the teacher manual together I worked with the 44 00:04:54,680 --> 00:05:02,480 curriculum department of seminaries and institutes a little bit to to do that and they use the 45 00:05:02,480 --> 00:05:10,200 book the divine gift of forgiveness by Elder Anderson as a student manual and that's available 46 00:05:10,200 --> 00:05:15,200 to them online through the church's church's app and I encourage them to look at that and 47 00:05:15,200 --> 00:05:21,880 to use that in their in their teaching what in the church in their family in their in 48 00:05:21,880 --> 00:05:27,320 their personal lives it'll it'll really bless all of our listeners also if you go to just 49 00:05:27,320 --> 00:05:32,920 the website on a on a PC laptop or anything like that you can find it there it's under 50 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:39,280 Institute just go to churchofjesuschrist.org forward slash study and then if you go under 51 00:05:39,280 --> 00:05:45,920 Institute you'll be able to find it there Deb and I teach this at BYU for a YSA stake 52 00:05:45,920 --> 00:05:49,360 currently this will be our we're actually going into our third year I can't believe 53 00:05:49,360 --> 00:05:56,520 that really yeah but yeah it's been amazing yeah to see lives changed and to see lives 54 00:05:56,520 --> 00:06:02,160 touched and and perceptions change of you know the relationship and their connection 55 00:06:02,160 --> 00:06:07,540 with deity specifically with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ but obviously you know that 56 00:06:07,540 --> 00:06:12,840 has to be done through the spirit of the Holy Ghost which is and it's just been beautiful 57 00:06:12,840 --> 00:06:21,400 Dave to see literally see lives changed and and our own you know among them you know absolutely 58 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:28,320 but to see life bless the most yeah just a beautiful experience so so that's the that's 59 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:33,000 you mentioned the spirit of the Holy Ghost we're going to talk about the gift and power 60 00:06:33,000 --> 00:06:37,720 of the Holy Ghost today I'd like to begin by just saying and maybe this should be the 61 00:06:37,720 --> 00:06:47,200 title of this podcast Scott that the Holy Ghost is the agent of change you know if if 62 00:06:47,200 --> 00:06:55,520 if anyone wants to change their life not just habits but if you want to change your life 63 00:06:55,520 --> 00:07:04,200 the key to that is receiving responding and recognizing the gift of the Holy Ghost in 64 00:07:04,200 --> 00:07:11,520 our life and that's what we should talk about today we have talked the past few weeks about 65 00:07:11,520 --> 00:07:19,320 forgiving others how to forgive ourselves a little bit about how to recognize that we've 66 00:07:19,320 --> 00:07:25,320 been forgiven so that we can forgive ourselves it's probably worth repeating it's pretty 67 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:30,000 hard to really forgive yourself if you don't know where you stand with God and you don't 68 00:07:30,000 --> 00:07:36,120 know whether Jesus Christ has forgiven you or not yeah that if you forgive yourself and 69 00:07:36,120 --> 00:07:42,320 you don't know that you probably just brainwashing yourself so I just think it's really important 70 00:07:42,320 --> 00:07:52,680 that we understand that it is the Holy Ghost who is the agent of change and he is the messenger 71 00:07:52,680 --> 00:08:01,280 and the administrator of the atonement of Jesus Christ in our life that's a paraphrase 72 00:08:01,280 --> 00:08:06,200 from elder Christ offers and the agent of change by the way is really from Bishop of 73 00:08:06,200 --> 00:08:12,800 God say of the presiding Bishop of the church in general conference talk I want to begin 74 00:08:12,800 --> 00:08:20,440 today by referring to a face-to-face event for the youth that was held six years ago 75 00:08:20,440 --> 00:08:27,080 back in 2017 at the sacred Grove president Eyring was there elder Holland was there there 76 00:08:27,080 --> 00:08:32,480 were the few youth on hand and then by satellite connected the youth all over the world this 77 00:08:32,480 --> 00:08:40,920 was on the 4th of March 2017 and the elder Eyring was asked by one of the youth how do 78 00:08:40,920 --> 00:08:46,640 we apply the atonement of Jesus Christ how do we apply the atonement I don't even think 79 00:08:46,640 --> 00:08:51,800 they said Jesus Christ I think they said how do we apply the atonement in our life okay 80 00:08:51,800 --> 00:08:57,480 so that was the question and Scott that should that's a great question that's a question we 81 00:08:57,480 --> 00:09:05,280 should all ask ourselves but elder Eyring got really kind of animated I mean if you if 82 00:09:05,280 --> 00:09:09,760 our listeners watch this you'll notice how he kind of sets up in his chair and he gets 83 00:09:09,760 --> 00:09:16,920 out on the edge of his chair and he's really excited about that question and he's really 84 00:09:16,920 --> 00:09:20,320 you can tell they've been talking about it as a first presidency and the quorum of the 85 00:09:20,320 --> 00:09:27,720 twelve I mean and this is shortly after president Nelson had asked us to talk not talk about 86 00:09:27,720 --> 00:09:34,840 the atonement without referring to it as the atonement of Jesus Christ and connecting 87 00:09:34,840 --> 00:09:41,880 Jesus Christ to the atonement and so president Eyring gets all excited about the question 88 00:09:41,880 --> 00:09:46,920 how can I apply the atonement in my life and this is what he said I'm gonna I'm just gonna 89 00:09:46,920 --> 00:09:54,680 read a little bit of it here the first thing to do is to get a few facts straight president 90 00:09:54,680 --> 00:10:05,240 Eyring said the atonement was something Jesus Christ did it's not a thing itself I think 91 00:10:05,240 --> 00:10:11,040 that's that's a different way for some people to look at it is it's something that he did 92 00:10:11,040 --> 00:10:18,000 it's not an entity in itself and he goes on quote he had toned for our sins and he paid 93 00:10:18,000 --> 00:10:24,280 the price to allow us to be forgiven to be resurrected so it's what he did that qualified 94 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:32,520 him to give us forgiveness to change our hearts get this Scott it's the Holy Ghost doing that 95 00:10:32,520 --> 00:10:42,600 not the atonement as if it's a thing itself and so when you feel forgiveness that's not 96 00:10:42,600 --> 00:10:51,240 the atonement that's the Savior giving you a feeling of forgiveness through the Holy 97 00:10:51,240 --> 00:11:00,800 Ghost because of the atonement really Scott what what I just read from president Eyring 98 00:11:00,800 --> 00:11:09,280 should cause all of us to rethink yeah how we think about how it works and I hope people 99 00:11:09,280 --> 00:11:15,600 do I hope I hope for a minute all of our listeners will consciously make sure they got this right 100 00:11:15,600 --> 00:11:21,600 it's not the atonement that we that gives us forgiveness it's not through it's not it's 101 00:11:21,600 --> 00:11:29,600 Jesus Christ as administered by the Holy Ghost because of the atonement right yeah Jesus Christ 102 00:11:29,600 --> 00:11:37,320 yep that we get forgiveness yeah so I just think that's really critical again and another 103 00:11:37,320 --> 00:11:45,600 testimony that Jesus Christ is the one that has the power of forgiveness but he offers 104 00:11:45,600 --> 00:11:51,560 it to us as a gift right from the gift of the Holy Ghost right or the power of the Holy 105 00:11:51,560 --> 00:11:58,040 Ghost I don't think I don't think LDS and I know that some LDS will disagree with me 106 00:11:58,040 --> 00:12:03,320 on this because I've had that argument with some I do not believe we have in the monopoly 107 00:12:03,320 --> 00:12:08,360 on forgiveness of sin I don't now I know there's power in the ordinances and I know 108 00:12:08,360 --> 00:12:14,360 the power in the priesthood of you know the baptism in the ordinances and all of that 109 00:12:14,360 --> 00:12:22,920 is really important I you know I know that but I believe people through prayer and no 110 00:12:22,920 --> 00:12:29,280 matter what their faith can receive some degree of confirmation that they're making progress 111 00:12:29,280 --> 00:12:36,760 and some degree of forgiveness if not complete forgiveness through the power of the Holy 112 00:12:36,760 --> 00:12:44,000 Ghost without ever receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost by the laying on of hands I was 113 00:12:44,000 --> 00:12:48,920 in a meeting I won't say what kind I'm gonna I'm gonna be a little bit careful here I was 114 00:12:48,920 --> 00:12:55,560 in a meeting semi recently and a person was giving a talk and in the talk and I and I 115 00:12:55,560 --> 00:13:00,960 know what they mean and it's all good but I have a point I want to make here in the 116 00:13:00,960 --> 00:13:08,760 talk this person said I've used the atonement many times in my life and I know what they 117 00:13:08,760 --> 00:13:14,000 mean you know probably said I know what they mean exactly what they mean but millions of 118 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:20,320 passing testimony meetings every month but but to your point you know it's it's not the 119 00:13:20,320 --> 00:13:25,960 atonement with that we use it's Christ's power it's Christ's blessings there are blessings 120 00:13:25,960 --> 00:13:30,760 that come to us his blessings though and we talked about these at length and we'll continue 121 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:37,160 to but it's these blessings that come to us because of the atonement not it's not the 122 00:13:37,160 --> 00:13:42,400 atonement but because of the atonement because of what Christ went through the events of 123 00:13:42,400 --> 00:13:48,200 the atonement right that give us the effects of the atonement and but those are only available 124 00:13:48,200 --> 00:13:54,760 because of Jesus Christ himself and and they're made available to us only through the spirit 125 00:13:54,760 --> 00:14:00,880 of the Holy Ghost right yeah absolutely yeah that's the way it works after President Eyring 126 00:14:00,880 --> 00:14:06,920 had given a even a little longer more detailed answer than what I'm sharing with our listeners 127 00:14:06,920 --> 00:14:12,400 today then Elder Holland spoke up and said hey can I can I just say a word here and he 128 00:14:12,400 --> 00:14:19,280 and Elder Holland said if we understand the atonement of Jesus Christ we're going to 129 00:14:19,280 --> 00:14:28,280 be meek and lowly and very grateful remember how many times have we said gratitude the 130 00:14:28,280 --> 00:14:34,720 beginning of desire is the beginning of desire and Scott I I think Elder Holland's quote 131 00:14:34,720 --> 00:14:41,480 here somewhat confirms that that that if we think about the atonement of Jesus Christ 132 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:49,000 it can it can in and of itself understanding what Jesus did can have a really humbling 133 00:14:49,000 --> 00:14:56,080 effect on us it can make us meek and lowly in heart it can even break our heart as we've 134 00:14:56,080 --> 00:15:04,360 discussed it can give us a contrite spirit it can start us on the path of repentance 135 00:15:04,360 --> 00:15:14,400 but there is no power in the atonement to forgive us it is not a thing in and of itself 136 00:15:14,400 --> 00:15:23,080 Jesus suffered for our sins and because of that it qualified him with power to forgive 137 00:15:23,080 --> 00:15:32,200 us it it empowered him to offer us mercy and grace because of his atonement and the 138 00:15:32,200 --> 00:15:42,120 gifts of mercy and grace the redemptive enabling powers and compensatory blessings of the atonement 139 00:15:42,120 --> 00:15:48,680 of Jesus Christ are all administered in our life through the gift of the Holy Ghost and 140 00:15:48,680 --> 00:15:56,840 then Elder Holland said and because of meeting us in lowliness of heart which comes as we 141 00:15:56,840 --> 00:16:02,360 view as we go to get 70 in the cross and we view the atonement of Jesus Christ and because 142 00:16:02,360 --> 00:16:09,560 of meekness and lowliness of heart then cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost I know that's 143 00:16:09,560 --> 00:16:14,920 the scripture but I don't have the reference right here Elder Holland continued we've just 144 00:16:14,920 --> 00:16:20,200 been swept right into the celestial kingdom here on the strength of the atonement of Jesus 145 00:16:20,200 --> 00:16:27,240 Christ because it made us meek it made us lowly it made us grateful it made us know somebody 146 00:16:27,240 --> 00:16:36,040 helped us and that brings the Holy Ghost I don't know that I had ever quite tied the gift of the 147 00:16:36,040 --> 00:16:47,160 Holy Ghost as an extension of the Savior's atonement so I I just think maybe we again the question 148 00:16:47,160 --> 00:16:54,680 how can I apply the atonement of Jesus Christ in my life what's the answer to that Scott well the 149 00:16:54,680 --> 00:16:59,720 way I can apply the atonement of Jesus Christ in my life is striped to have the spirit of the Holy 150 00:16:59,720 --> 00:17:10,200 Ghost with me and that is a lot more concrete and sequential than the abstract idea of how do I get 151 00:17:10,200 --> 00:17:15,720 the atonement in my life yeah how do I apply the atonement you know I've heard people say well 152 00:17:15,720 --> 00:17:21,400 you just have to apply the atonement you just have to apply the atonement and I heard from dozens 153 00:17:21,400 --> 00:17:27,880 of students that I taught at Institute they would say what does that even mean what does that mean 154 00:17:27,880 --> 00:17:38,840 I don't know what that means how do I do that it's much more effective for us as as family members 155 00:17:38,840 --> 00:17:45,640 as parents as brothers sisters sons and daughters to help our other family members and those that 156 00:17:45,640 --> 00:17:55,720 we love and those in the church who we teach it's much more effective to teach how to qualify for 157 00:17:55,720 --> 00:18:05,800 the power and gift the cleansing power the healing gift of the atonement of Jesus Christ by receiving 158 00:18:06,600 --> 00:18:13,640 the Holy Ghost it's the Holy Ghost that should be our focus how can we get the spirit in our life 159 00:18:13,640 --> 00:18:23,880 because as we discussed last week or two when we feel the Holy Ghost what do we know we know 160 00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:32,760 we are being forgiven of our sins president ironing again when we feel the Holy Ghost 161 00:18:33,640 --> 00:18:39,240 we should know that the atonement of Jesus Christ is working in our life 162 00:18:39,240 --> 00:18:47,560 I I think about that daily I if all of our listeners and if all members of the church 163 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:53,800 would just every time they feel the Holy Ghost immediately their their minds should be taken to 164 00:18:53,800 --> 00:19:00,600 the uh Gethsemane and the cross and we should this is this is really how you look unto me in every 165 00:19:00,600 --> 00:19:08,200 thought how you look unto me in every thought is is by having the Holy Ghost as our constant 166 00:19:08,200 --> 00:19:14,280 companion and when we feel the Holy Ghost we think we should think about the atonement of Jesus 167 00:19:14,280 --> 00:19:24,760 Christ and the connection between Jesus Christ and the atonement and the administration of the 168 00:19:24,760 --> 00:19:29,880 Holy Ghost in our life you know in the in the sacrament prayers it just kind of like lays it 169 00:19:29,880 --> 00:19:35,800 all right out for us yeah absolutely the connection there yeah you know so you know the very end and 170 00:19:35,800 --> 00:19:40,280 this is the blessing on the bread but at the very end that they are willing to take upon them the 171 00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:45,880 name of thy Son and always remember him so we talk about that you know this is where they go this is 172 00:19:45,880 --> 00:19:52,440 how we remember him right well and what is one of the roles of the Holy Ghost to bring all things 173 00:19:52,440 --> 00:19:59,320 to our remembrance to our remembrance yeah and so and then that they may and keep his commandments 174 00:19:59,320 --> 00:20:05,560 which he has given them that what that they may always have his spirit to be with him that's the 175 00:20:05,560 --> 00:20:12,440 reason we take the sacrament why that we may always have his spirit to be with us it helps us to 176 00:20:12,440 --> 00:20:18,040 remember it helps us to recovonant it helps us to stay you know keep our feet pointed in the 177 00:20:18,040 --> 00:20:24,920 covenantal direction and that's the whole purpose that we may have his spirit with us now we know 178 00:20:24,920 --> 00:20:30,840 that the atonement of Jesus Christ was there to help us qualify so that we can be forgiven of sin 179 00:20:30,840 --> 00:20:35,640 so that all things in our lives that are brought to us because of the effects of the fall both the 180 00:20:35,640 --> 00:20:42,040 spiritual and the physical death can be remedied can be answered and they are answered through 181 00:20:42,040 --> 00:20:49,000 Christ's atonement but the result the net effect of Christ's atonement in our lives is that we may 182 00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:55,800 have his spirit always to be with us when his spirit is always with us we know we're forgiven 183 00:20:55,800 --> 00:21:00,920 of our sins or we are in the process of that repentance process take in place Dave we should 184 00:21:00,920 --> 00:21:06,120 always be in the process 100% right we should always be on the process of repentance it's an 185 00:21:06,120 --> 00:21:15,640 ongoing process again I you know I was thinking this morning Scott early that we're never really 186 00:21:15,640 --> 00:21:23,400 sinless right you don't have to be sinless to feel forgiven because you'll never be sinless 187 00:21:25,000 --> 00:21:30,200 you just have to receive the Holy Ghost because what does that mean if we're receiving the Holy 188 00:21:30,200 --> 00:21:36,680 Ghost that means that we have the administration of Jesus's atonement which is the blessing of 189 00:21:36,680 --> 00:21:41,880 all of his powers that come to us through the atonement at work in our lives and when we have 190 00:21:41,880 --> 00:21:49,320 that then we know that it's not through our merit but his merit that now that qualification process 191 00:21:49,320 --> 00:21:55,880 is drawing us to him to be with him forever yes and the atonement is working in our life right 192 00:21:56,840 --> 00:22:06,760 so the Holy Ghost is a constant companion Scott you know I I take that phrase pretty seriously 193 00:22:06,760 --> 00:22:14,120 I think it's only once or twice in the scriptures I I was doing a little search and 194 00:22:15,240 --> 00:22:21,320 maybe we can look at this scripture Scott but I think this is really powerful if you want to 195 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:27,640 look it up and read it to us doctrine and covenants section 121 verse 46 let virtue 196 00:22:27,640 --> 00:22:34,840 garnish thy thoughts unceasingly all right so this is dnc 121 verses 45 and 46 actually 197 00:22:34,840 --> 00:22:41,400 let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men and to the household of faith and let virtue 198 00:22:41,400 --> 00:22:47,160 garnish thy thoughts unceasingly then shall thy confidence I love that because it tells us how 199 00:22:47,160 --> 00:22:52,360 do we get our confidence I know if you're and I know we all wonder this right where do you stand 200 00:22:52,360 --> 00:22:59,000 how do I get confident in the presence of heavenly yeah where do I stand with God yeah and this this 201 00:22:59,000 --> 00:23:03,880 just answers am I good enough this just there's just so many questions and insecurities in our 202 00:23:03,880 --> 00:23:09,320 our relationship with the Lord and this is right this is telling us that through charity 203 00:23:09,960 --> 00:23:16,120 and virtuous thoughts you know which which aren't only morally clean thoughts but good 204 00:23:16,120 --> 00:23:23,480 no good thoughts right you yeah virtue is not just a some something dealing with sexual connotations 205 00:23:23,480 --> 00:23:29,640 it's no anything good good thoughts yeah virtues anything that's inviting the spirit yeah there 206 00:23:29,640 --> 00:23:36,920 you go I like that and so I'm gonna start over 121 45 let thy bowels be full of charity towards 207 00:23:36,920 --> 00:23:42,760 all men and to the household of faith and I also like I'm gonna stop again I also like that it says 208 00:23:42,760 --> 00:23:47,960 towards all men all men the whole world yeah you don't get to choose no yeah you don't get to that 209 00:23:47,960 --> 00:23:53,720 guy that to cut you off even the guy on the news that you see that you're really gets under your 210 00:23:53,720 --> 00:24:00,520 skin the whole whole world and whole country supposed to hate them whatever or or the world 211 00:24:00,520 --> 00:24:05,480 supposed to hate them that gate this gets back to the last couple of episodes you know forgiveness 212 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:11,240 maybe even right so let bowels yeah well this is one reason why to be forgiven you have to forgive 213 00:24:11,240 --> 00:24:20,200 you have to forgive and so here we go let that again dnc 121 verse 45 45 and 46 let thy bells 214 00:24:20,200 --> 00:24:25,800 also be full of charity towards all men and to the household of faith as sometimes it's harder to 215 00:24:25,800 --> 00:24:30,280 have charity towards the household of faith yeah what does that mean then it is to all men Scott 216 00:24:30,280 --> 00:24:34,760 what does that mean well it's the it's the church it's the people in the church who who shouldn't 217 00:24:34,760 --> 00:24:41,320 offend us but who do offend us yeah it's people in the church who we have we have so much higher 218 00:24:41,320 --> 00:24:47,880 expectations for and it's our neighbor yeah sometimes yeah harder forgive your neighbor Scott 219 00:24:47,880 --> 00:24:53,960 then it is the whole world or even a family member or yeah or or somebody in your own household yeah 220 00:24:53,960 --> 00:25:01,480 right yeah and let virtue guy garnish thy thoughts unceasingly hmm that's and that's another one 221 00:25:01,480 --> 00:25:07,640 unceasingly virtue okay so to have virtuous thoughts and and again this is not necessarily 222 00:25:07,640 --> 00:25:14,280 talking about anything sexually related this is anything pure includes all that it does for sure 223 00:25:14,280 --> 00:25:20,920 but this also includes anything that's pure and christlike and godlike all right so let the let 224 00:25:20,920 --> 00:25:30,040 virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly then okay so then so this is obviously if an end statement 225 00:25:30,040 --> 00:25:36,360 there is a there are conditions on this yeah so in order for that to happen here's do this then this 226 00:25:36,360 --> 00:25:42,520 then okay yeah so it's kind of like an algorithm if this then that right then shall the then shall 227 00:25:42,520 --> 00:25:50,440 thy confidence wax strong in the presence of god sounds like you're forgiven yeah and that sounds 228 00:25:50,440 --> 00:25:56,920 like a huge blessing and the doctrine of the priesthood shall distill upon thy soul as the 229 00:25:56,920 --> 00:26:03,720 dues from heaven the doctrine of the priesthood yeah all right and then 46 the holy ghost shall be 230 00:26:03,720 --> 00:26:08,920 thy constant companion and thy scepter and unchanging scepter of righteousness and truth 231 00:26:08,920 --> 00:26:15,880 and thy dominion shall be an everlasting dominion and without compulsory means it shall flow 232 00:26:16,600 --> 00:26:23,160 unto thee forever and ever i like that part i think that part i look over that part without 233 00:26:23,160 --> 00:26:29,160 compulsory means that means without really trying yeah that means that it'll become our nature it'll 234 00:26:29,160 --> 00:26:38,280 become who we are the people who hold the rod of iron and they're not clinging to it they're just 235 00:26:38,280 --> 00:26:46,360 holding fast right they're they're steadfast right they're moving forward they're not taking huge 236 00:26:46,360 --> 00:26:54,840 leaps and bounds they're just they're just moving one foot from the other and continually by small 237 00:26:54,840 --> 00:27:01,400 and simple things great things come to pass well i love that scripture and i that's one of the few 238 00:27:01,400 --> 00:27:08,120 places in the standard works where it says the holy ghost will be your constant companion i 239 00:27:08,120 --> 00:27:14,520 take that i take that pretty seriously constant companion and and every time we we hear somebody 240 00:27:14,520 --> 00:27:20,680 confirmed to the church right they call them by name by the power of the priesthood you know and in 241 00:27:20,680 --> 00:27:31,400 the name of the savior they say receive the holy ghost after being confirmed to remember the church 242 00:27:31,400 --> 00:27:39,960 jesus christ florida saints receive the holy ghost that as a constant companion scott that's 243 00:27:39,960 --> 00:27:49,320 quite a commandment and such an important part of the covenant of baptism the baptism of water 244 00:27:49,320 --> 00:27:57,960 followed by the baptism of fire which is the holy ghost if you receive the holy ghost he shall be 245 00:27:57,960 --> 00:28:03,960 your constant companion right you know president elson in kind of a face to face not very just a 246 00:28:03,960 --> 00:28:09,640 year or two ago with the youth talked about you know you know somebody asked him about a question 247 00:28:09,640 --> 00:28:15,160 about the atonement jesus christ and he started talking about the holy ghost and he says unfortunately 248 00:28:15,160 --> 00:28:23,880 some people have never opened the gift they need to untie the bow they need to take off the paper 249 00:28:23,880 --> 00:28:31,960 and open the gift and realize the blessings that are in store for them if they will receive the gift 250 00:28:32,760 --> 00:28:41,480 of the holy ghost yeah so maybe again for just a moment in regards to receiving forgiveness 251 00:28:42,680 --> 00:28:50,760 through jesus christ because of the atonement administered into our lives by the gift and power 252 00:28:50,760 --> 00:28:57,320 of the holy ghost how do we receive it how do we receive the gift well i think we've talked about 253 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:02,040 that you know and it's definitely something that we need to continue to talk about but the way that 254 00:29:02,040 --> 00:29:07,880 we receive the gift of the holy ghost is we align ourselves with heavenly fathers will for us and 255 00:29:07,880 --> 00:29:15,320 that includes so much right you know we we have certain things that we drop on as kind of expectations 256 00:29:15,320 --> 00:29:20,520 or or whatever for ourselves which are good you know sometimes when i say that we have expectations 257 00:29:20,520 --> 00:29:26,200 for ourselves that sort of has a negative connotation not in this case in this case when we have those 258 00:29:26,200 --> 00:29:33,080 expectations those expectations would be whatever i need to do to court the spirit in my life so that 259 00:29:33,080 --> 00:29:39,000 would include all the primary answers that we ever talk about in church right we say our prayers in 260 00:29:39,000 --> 00:29:43,720 the morning we say our prayers at night we read the scriptures we treat treat everybody kindly we 261 00:29:43,720 --> 00:29:51,640 we we adhere to the covenant promises the covenants that we've made and we take upon us his name i mean 262 00:29:51,640 --> 00:29:57,560 everything that we've talked about in every episode coming to this one so all 32 episodes prior to 263 00:29:57,560 --> 00:30:03,720 this one we talk about what it is that we need to do to have the spirit in our lives and and you 264 00:30:03,720 --> 00:30:09,400 know it becomes really less of a checklist like everything else and more of just a way that we 265 00:30:09,400 --> 00:30:15,560 live our lives let me just share a quick experience last sunday i'm sitting in in church and i'm sitting 266 00:30:15,560 --> 00:30:20,360 in sacrament meeting and i don't have the spirit with me and i don't have the spirit with me because 267 00:30:20,360 --> 00:30:24,440 i have a heart problem that day you know that might might and when i say heart problem an 268 00:30:24,440 --> 00:30:31,800 attitude of the heart problem right and my go ahead and scott maybe maybe i don't i don't know i'm 269 00:30:31,800 --> 00:30:39,320 not saying this is right or not but maybe another way of looking at that is maybe you did have the 270 00:30:39,320 --> 00:30:47,640 holy ghost as your constant companion maybe but maybe you were not receiving it or recognizing it 271 00:30:47,640 --> 00:30:55,640 yeah or willing to do whatever it took to feel the holy ghost in your life yeah and that and that 272 00:30:55,640 --> 00:31:00,760 was definitely the case for a few minutes or at least and you know when i came home that day and 273 00:31:00,760 --> 00:31:05,160 not you know i went toward counsel we did all of the things that i need to do as part of my 274 00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:10,680 leadership calling in in our ward we took and we took care of everything and it was all fine but 275 00:31:10,680 --> 00:31:16,120 when i came home sunday night this past sunday there i could just feel something missing there was 276 00:31:16,120 --> 00:31:21,880 something wrong with me and i and so i could do what i often do when that when that's the case i 277 00:31:21,880 --> 00:31:27,320 came down here to my office and i did a little prayer and personal inventory and i determined 278 00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:33,080 that i wasn't striving very hard to have the holy ghost in my life i was not necessarily doing things 279 00:31:33,080 --> 00:31:39,800 to chase it away per se but there were there were things in my life that maybe hadn't received the 280 00:31:39,800 --> 00:31:45,000 kind of attention that they should have been receiving for a short period of time and so i 281 00:31:45,000 --> 00:31:50,120 made a conscious decision that night that would have been sunday night just a few days ago at this 282 00:31:50,120 --> 00:31:56,680 point to strive harder to have the holy ghost in my life and so as i've done that and i really noticed 283 00:31:56,680 --> 00:32:03,480 it yesterday in the day before especially i i've really noticed a big change a big difference in 284 00:32:03,480 --> 00:32:08,600 me and so you know the things that would normally or or when i don't have the spirit with me that 285 00:32:08,600 --> 00:32:14,120 aggravate me or irritate me it's been different i have a different again a different approach so 286 00:32:14,120 --> 00:32:22,440 for me maybe for all of us these are things that a constant awareness of and vigilance towards can 287 00:32:22,440 --> 00:32:27,320 help us in making sure that we have the atonement working in our life so that we don't have to 288 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:32,520 have those feelings of you know i call it restless irritable and discontent you know and that's 289 00:32:32,520 --> 00:32:37,880 kind of where i was that without the without the whole yeah that's good but but i believe the holy 290 00:32:37,880 --> 00:32:43,640 ghost was with you i mean this is my yeah personal i know what you're saying and i sometimes i don't 291 00:32:43,640 --> 00:32:50,040 feel him either sure but i i think he's there yeah i mean the holy ghost doesn't dwell in us 292 00:32:50,040 --> 00:32:56,600 the holy ghost is always with us but doesn't necessarily we don't carry him around with us 293 00:32:57,160 --> 00:33:07,240 he's just always there for us if we will receive him by choosing what we think by choosing how we 294 00:33:07,240 --> 00:33:12,760 feel there you go meaning meaning what's in our heart yeah when i say what we feel is what's in 295 00:33:12,760 --> 00:33:18,600 our heart yeah what what negative thoughts of my struggling with what negative feelings of my 296 00:33:18,600 --> 00:33:27,160 struggling with am i am i am i full of fear am i full of pride am i full of jealousy envy coveting 297 00:33:28,200 --> 00:33:39,240 all of these negative emotions scott that act as a pavilion that keep us from feeling receiving 298 00:33:40,440 --> 00:33:47,960 recognizing the holy ghost in our life i love how you just put that that act as a pavilion yeah 299 00:33:47,960 --> 00:33:54,200 i know a guy that had a pavilion felt a pavilion one time separating him from him and god well 300 00:33:54,200 --> 00:34:00,280 right that's in the same section yeah exactly this is in section 121 joseph smith in liberty jail 301 00:34:00,840 --> 00:34:05,640 you know where is thy pavilion that cover the hiding place well it's not that the holy ghost 302 00:34:05,640 --> 00:34:11,480 wasn't with joseph smith when he made that prayer i know the holy ghost was with joseph smith but 303 00:34:11,480 --> 00:34:18,760 because of the extreme physical conditions pain fear all the natural man stuff that would be present 304 00:34:18,760 --> 00:34:27,160 even with the prophet was acting as a pavilion to keep him from deity scott we have those daily 305 00:34:27,160 --> 00:34:33,960 really i know the holy ghost is my constant companion but there are pavilions in our life 306 00:34:33,960 --> 00:34:42,200 that that become a a block aid or a stumbling block for us to really feel and receive the holy 307 00:34:42,200 --> 00:34:48,920 ghost i i love elder or president iring's talk that he gave years ago called the pavilions 308 00:34:48,920 --> 00:34:56,680 i can't remember the whole talk and it's been probably been 15 years ago now but um he talked 309 00:34:56,680 --> 00:35:05,560 about the emotions and the thoughts that act as pavilions that separate us from god or jesus 310 00:35:05,560 --> 00:35:11,400 or the holy ghost and be worth our members to go back and read that talk it's one of my 311 00:35:11,960 --> 00:35:17,640 one of my all-time favorites it's actually called where is the pavilion in its october of 2012 312 00:35:18,440 --> 00:35:24,920 okay 11 years ago yeah well that was an amazing talk for me and he and he talks about how to 313 00:35:24,920 --> 00:35:30,840 overcome some of those pavilions so that we can receive the holy ghost in our life again the 314 00:35:30,840 --> 00:35:38,440 question maybe that we're we're asking oh and maybe an invitation to our listeners based on 315 00:35:38,440 --> 00:35:45,480 your comments scott is what elder bednar taught us we should all ask ourselves what do i need to 316 00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:53,480 start doing and what do i need to stop doing to feel the holy ghost to receive and feel the holy 317 00:35:53,480 --> 00:36:02,520 ghost in my life it doesn't have to be huge things maybe some of them are but it's the small simple 318 00:36:02,520 --> 00:36:11,720 things that bring great things to pass and that's spiritual as well as temporal well i asked you 319 00:36:11,720 --> 00:36:17,240 the question how can we receive the holy ghost and i found the scripture that i referred to easily 320 00:36:17,240 --> 00:36:25,960 or earlier that was the scripture earlier that was referred to by by elder haaland this is marona 321 00:36:25,960 --> 00:36:35,080 eight letter of mormon to his son marona and i love this this passage i think it's kind of the 322 00:36:35,080 --> 00:36:43,640 process i think he really describes the process here scott it's verse 25 and 26 so maybe we can 323 00:36:43,640 --> 00:36:51,000 discuss this scripture if you want to read it please all right marona eight verses 25 and 26 324 00:36:51,000 --> 00:36:58,760 in the first fruits of repentance is baptism and baptism cometh by faith unto the fulfilling of the 325 00:36:58,760 --> 00:37:05,480 commandments and the fulfilling of the commandments bringeth a remission of sins and the remission of 326 00:37:05,480 --> 00:37:11,720 sins bringeth meekness and lowliness of heart and because of meekness and lowliness of heart come 327 00:37:11,720 --> 00:37:20,440 at the visitation of the holy ghost which comforter filleth with hope and with perfect love and which 328 00:37:20,440 --> 00:37:28,120 love which love endureth by diligence unto prayer until the end shall come when all the saints 329 00:37:28,120 --> 00:37:36,520 shall dwell with god that's a that's an interesting description i think of the process 330 00:37:36,520 --> 00:37:46,520 now repenting ordinances the remission of sins that come to us through the holy ghost 331 00:37:47,640 --> 00:37:55,800 filling us with meekness and lowliness and then then and then cometh the visitation of the holy ghost 332 00:37:56,760 --> 00:38:02,840 which fills us with hope and perfect love so again the question how do i know i'm forgiven 333 00:38:02,840 --> 00:38:07,480 well there you go you feel the holy ghost and you're filled with hope and perfect love 334 00:38:08,280 --> 00:38:14,360 and that love charity the pure love of christ endureth by diligence unto prayer until 335 00:38:15,000 --> 00:38:22,840 we return to the presence of god it's not really complicated scott no it's it's pretty simple as 336 00:38:22,840 --> 00:38:31,240 described there by mormon well yeah i mean but you know we it's definitely not complicated but 337 00:38:31,240 --> 00:38:37,400 sometimes we don't find it super easy to do right and and maybe it's not that we don't find it easy 338 00:38:37,400 --> 00:38:44,440 to do as much as we get lulled away into our carnal security and we become and i hesitate to use the 339 00:38:44,440 --> 00:38:49,800 word lazy because i don't ever want to imply that any of us are lazy but but president elson talked 340 00:38:49,800 --> 00:38:56,760 about you know the lord is it that doesn't tell us how do you put it the lord isn't pleased with 341 00:38:56,760 --> 00:39:02,840 lazy yeah lazy learners that's what it was you know but but i think that a lot of times though 342 00:39:02,840 --> 00:39:06,840 that that's what it really kind of comes down to that's what it came down for me the other day 343 00:39:06,840 --> 00:39:11,880 you know it wasn't so much that i was committing any grievous sin it wasn't you were but i had i 344 00:39:11,880 --> 00:39:19,880 had drifted in my contact just in my contact you know just wasn't making a conscious contact 345 00:39:19,880 --> 00:39:25,960 not being proactive enough right i was just kind of resting on my laurels maybe a little 346 00:39:25,960 --> 00:39:30,440 bit my spiritual laurels maybe a little bit you know and so i think that that's the point you know 347 00:39:30,440 --> 00:39:36,760 that this is just something that it just requires a little bit of constant effort on our part yeah 348 00:39:36,760 --> 00:39:43,000 absolutely and it helps to have a plan yeah it helps as we think about our day 349 00:39:44,920 --> 00:39:50,600 the night before the morning of to say okay what are some things i'm going to do today 350 00:39:50,600 --> 00:39:59,240 to help me to feel the holy ghost which which really means to have the atonement of Jesus 351 00:39:59,240 --> 00:40:07,000 Christ applied in my life right what am i going to do today to feel the power of christ because 352 00:40:07,000 --> 00:40:16,440 of his atonement flow into my life through receiving the holy ghost right i mean scott if all of us 353 00:40:16,440 --> 00:40:21,720 would just consider that question when we're thinking about our day beginning our day or 354 00:40:22,520 --> 00:40:31,000 as we end our day to help us to repent and to move forward and progress it could really be 355 00:40:31,000 --> 00:40:38,120 life changing you know that plan part is so important if we approach each day with no plan or if we 356 00:40:38,120 --> 00:40:46,120 approach our lives with no plan then we're going to get what we plan for nothing right yeah no right 357 00:40:46,120 --> 00:40:52,360 but if we have that plan in play and that's and that really does become an important part of this 358 00:40:52,360 --> 00:40:57,880 we have to know what things invite the spirit into our lives we have to know that we have to 359 00:40:57,880 --> 00:41:04,600 know what things will separate us from the spirit so we can avoid take measures to avoid those things 360 00:41:04,600 --> 00:41:12,920 even you know even things just i can't i can't look on a certain website maybe because of the 361 00:41:13,880 --> 00:41:19,320 conflict that's brought there that draws me into yeah but be proactive don't just go with the flow 362 00:41:19,320 --> 00:41:23,960 yeah and what you know and that's that's just a small example there's a probably thousands of 363 00:41:23,960 --> 00:41:29,000 watching commercials you know when i was a i remember when i was ordained a patriarch scott yeah 364 00:41:29,000 --> 00:41:35,960 you've told me i became super sensitive about i i could lose the spirit pretty and then i don't mean 365 00:41:35,960 --> 00:41:42,600 lose the holy ghost i mean not feel the holy ghost or not receive the holy ghost yeah by watching 366 00:41:42,600 --> 00:41:49,800 certain commercials yeah so i i try pretty hard not perfect at it but i i try pretty hard to 367 00:41:50,520 --> 00:41:57,080 try to avoid commercials and advertisements on television because i i think the the commercials 368 00:41:57,080 --> 00:42:03,960 can be more um um that they put such negative and inappropriate thoughts into our mind 369 00:42:04,600 --> 00:42:10,200 even more than television programs yeah probably i mean i just think it's so great that we have the 370 00:42:10,200 --> 00:42:16,200 technology to be able to record and pick and choose but are we are we using that technology to 371 00:42:16,200 --> 00:42:22,920 eliminate the distractions even if it only might be uh little commercials i mean it's amazing to me 372 00:42:22,920 --> 00:42:33,640 i can't understand this how they can uh put a movie rated r which you know you have to be a certain age 373 00:42:33,640 --> 00:42:38,120 to apparently go to that i don't have no idea if that's ever enforced but you're supposed to be a 374 00:42:38,120 --> 00:42:44,440 certain age to go to certain movies and yet they can show it on television in my living room 375 00:42:45,320 --> 00:42:52,520 a commercial they can advertise it in my living room with my kids or babies or grandchildren 376 00:42:52,520 --> 00:42:59,640 watching it right that drives me crazy and i i don't know there's nothing i guess we can do about 377 00:42:59,640 --> 00:43:06,920 that except learn ways and use technology to block that stuff out out of our lives well that is what 378 00:43:06,920 --> 00:43:13,560 we can do about it and that's again being proactive i remember president ballard years ago talking it 379 00:43:13,560 --> 00:43:19,400 gave an amazing talk i'm sorry i can't remember the name of it but he compared sometimes our lives to 380 00:43:19,400 --> 00:43:27,960 drifting down the river right with nothing to control where we go we just are going with the flow 381 00:43:27,960 --> 00:43:37,400 i was up at uh uh hot springs lava hot springs and lava hot springs by the way i thought that was a 382 00:43:37,400 --> 00:43:43,640 a place i didn't know it was a city with a zip code you did it no i'd never been there before 383 00:43:43,640 --> 00:43:48,600 and i'm so i go up to lava hot springs with my family they've been trying to get us to go up there 384 00:43:48,600 --> 00:43:54,360 for a few years and i thought okay i gotta go see this lava hot springs you thought it was just 385 00:43:54,360 --> 00:43:58,520 springs yeah i thought it was just the springs and i was gonna go down a little river i didn't 386 00:43:58,520 --> 00:44:04,680 know it no it was a whole town oh and a million dollar swimming pools and right i did not know that 387 00:44:04,680 --> 00:44:12,040 yeah so anyway uh that was an experience for me but it's kind of like you jump in on this tube 388 00:44:12,040 --> 00:44:18,760 yeah and you have such little control where you go and and there's it's it's a fun little river 389 00:44:18,760 --> 00:44:26,600 because sure it's warm yeah it's it's not very cold and uh there there's there's some fast parts to 390 00:44:26,600 --> 00:44:33,880 it and there's some slow parts to it lazy parts and exciting parts and uh anyway we had a great 391 00:44:33,880 --> 00:44:41,640 time but Scott how many times is our life or or individual days of our life uh like just 392 00:44:41,640 --> 00:44:50,360 floating down yeah the tube or even just in a warm in a warm hot springs and we just we're just 393 00:44:50,360 --> 00:44:56,840 happy to be there and anyway i i think we have to be a little more proactive and yeah we definitely 394 00:44:56,840 --> 00:45:04,920 and use planning yeah and ask questions in our prayers what do i need to stop doing and listen 395 00:45:04,920 --> 00:45:12,760 for some answer get a vision get some spirit to help us know what we need to stop doing 396 00:45:13,640 --> 00:45:22,200 and what can i start doing ask the question ponder listen write it down put it in our plan 397 00:45:23,000 --> 00:45:28,680 and start doing some of those things and Scott it can be as simple as well it'd be nice if you 398 00:45:28,680 --> 00:45:33,480 read a book the chapter in the Book of Mormon today it'd be nice if you went to the temple this week 399 00:45:33,480 --> 00:45:38,040 um there's just so many things or listen to a conference talk while you're getting ready 400 00:45:38,920 --> 00:45:44,920 for work or serving somebody and doing your ministering or yeah and so much so much much 401 00:45:44,920 --> 00:45:52,360 more next time you go to lava hot springs you need to take my kayak oh i'd probably drown you 402 00:45:52,360 --> 00:45:57,880 take my kayak because that's like having the spirit because you can control with the oars 403 00:45:57,880 --> 00:46:05,320 where you go you can you can but i i'm i'm probably in trouble no i that'd be easy for somebody 404 00:46:05,320 --> 00:46:10,840 even like you learn how to do yeah no you'd be fine you'd be fine but you know i'll 405 00:46:10,840 --> 00:46:14,920 i'll joking aside though that that you know that really is not a bad metaphor you know 406 00:46:14,920 --> 00:46:19,240 you float the river on a tube and you just go where the river takes you you know you put an 407 00:46:19,240 --> 00:46:25,240 oar in your hand on a kayak and that's like having the spirit in your life because you can avoid treacher 408 00:46:25,240 --> 00:46:31,400 treacherous situations you can enjoy the more calm waters you can even enjoy the fast waters if 409 00:46:31,400 --> 00:46:36,840 you have the control and and that's very much like having the spirit of the well i used in our 410 00:46:36,840 --> 00:46:45,000 lives to administer be the administrator of christ sito man and and scott so many of us don't try to 411 00:46:45,560 --> 00:46:53,640 really control the media that just uh consumes our culture in our society and we just uh 412 00:46:53,640 --> 00:47:04,200 uh we have so many i think uh on social media on television on radio on so many things we hear so 413 00:47:04,200 --> 00:47:11,080 many inappropriate things we live in kind of a pornographic world and we wonder why so many 414 00:47:11,080 --> 00:47:19,000 have pornographic addictions and it's so hard for them to to um get out of those addictions 415 00:47:19,000 --> 00:47:25,800 and honestly i think a lot of it has to do with just a lack of being proactive and planning and 416 00:47:25,800 --> 00:47:31,800 doing the small and simple things the dailies i know that's what you know those uh 417 00:47:33,400 --> 00:47:40,760 addiction recovery programs on the certain addictions they call it we're dailies yeah we 418 00:47:40,760 --> 00:47:45,640 do our dailies i did my dailies this morning my dailies will be complete when the day is 419 00:47:45,640 --> 00:47:51,160 over and i get to do the second part of them today but yeah and those are so important you know and 420 00:47:51,160 --> 00:47:56,520 what's a what's an example of well i'll give you so and i'll and let me give you an example of why 421 00:47:56,520 --> 00:48:02,120 they're important so you know you know that i've been um involved in alcoholics anonymous and other 422 00:48:02,120 --> 00:48:08,280 addiction recovery programs for over 24 years as an active participant still am today um i'll have 423 00:48:08,280 --> 00:48:16,520 25 years coming up uh october 26 i can't believe that but anyway i get an opportunity to sponsor 424 00:48:16,520 --> 00:48:22,680 men in the program which simply means being there as a support kind of a mentor helping them work 425 00:48:22,680 --> 00:48:28,920 the steps etc uh giving them direction and taking them by the hand just kind of leading them through 426 00:48:28,920 --> 00:48:34,680 not just the steps but through the whole recovery process and part of that recovery process really is 427 00:48:34,680 --> 00:48:41,320 and it's it's not it's not a prescribed part but it is a part that we all do by tradition because 428 00:48:41,320 --> 00:48:46,920 it works and it helps us and that is actually it is a prescribed part it does talk about it in the 429 00:48:46,920 --> 00:48:53,320 big book about how when we start our day we start our day on our knees basically and ask to be directed 430 00:48:53,320 --> 00:49:00,840 by a higher power by heavenly father through the holy ghost um in our in our case uh we ask him to 431 00:49:00,840 --> 00:49:08,760 direct our our our thinking our actions to remove us from the bondage itself to see where we can be 432 00:49:08,760 --> 00:49:15,400 useful uh those kinds of things so there's prayer and then there's some sort of um directive mind 433 00:49:15,400 --> 00:49:22,680 directive exercise that we typically go through which will include reading uh something spiritual 434 00:49:22,680 --> 00:49:26,920 something from the big book of alcoholics anonymous maybe something from other approved 435 00:49:26,920 --> 00:49:33,720 literature there's a couple of uh daily reflection books that you know i they're sitting right there 436 00:49:33,720 --> 00:49:40,280 on my desk that i like to uh read that also kind of help so for example in one of them this we we 437 00:49:40,280 --> 00:49:45,560 just began august so that's the eighth step eighth month eighth step there's 12 months 12 steps just 438 00:49:45,560 --> 00:49:50,440 so happens it works that way so the eighth step is where we begin to make a list of all persons we 439 00:49:50,440 --> 00:49:55,800 have harmed and become willing to make amends to them all and so we begin in august we kind of 440 00:49:55,800 --> 00:50:00,520 as a group focus on that not everybody's on that step but that's kind of our direction and when we 441 00:50:00,520 --> 00:50:06,120 do that david you know that so that's a daily another daily would be uh and i'm just throwing some of 442 00:50:06,120 --> 00:50:12,520 there so many of these are obviously optional you get to choose them etc but another one would be to 443 00:50:12,520 --> 00:50:17,880 talk to another alcoholic throughout the day you know uh and you know preferably especially if you're 444 00:50:17,880 --> 00:50:23,640 new your sponsor call your sponsor just say hey hey how you doing hey how do i sound that's actually 445 00:50:23,640 --> 00:50:29,160 the more important part yeah that you know but to just have those things and there's several others 446 00:50:29,160 --> 00:50:35,560 you know we go to meetings we go to uh we do service uh it's such an important part of it you know 447 00:50:35,560 --> 00:50:39,960 and we and we talk about you know how do we get the spirit in our lives well we talked about well 448 00:50:39,960 --> 00:50:43,880 you should read the scriptures you should do this you should do that those are all things we do for 449 00:50:43,880 --> 00:50:49,560 us we do by ourselves but one of the real big ones and we can't i i can't personally overemphasize 450 00:50:49,560 --> 00:50:55,400 this one of the biggest ways that i like to help people and i like to help myself feel the spirit 451 00:50:55,400 --> 00:51:00,760 in my life is when i serve others i you know i don't really feel like there's a more christlike 452 00:51:00,760 --> 00:51:07,800 thing that i can be doing is to then to serve somebody who needs my help my uplifting even my 453 00:51:07,800 --> 00:51:13,480 physical service you know i've taken out the trash for somebody or mowing the lawn for somebody in 454 00:51:13,480 --> 00:51:18,200 my ward or whatever that needs help so any of these things are what we would call consider 455 00:51:18,200 --> 00:51:24,840 dailies and and you know and and yeah i think that for me i have a list of things that that i like 456 00:51:24,840 --> 00:51:29,080 to do on a daily basis and if i do those things on a daily basis i'm going to have the spirit with 457 00:51:29,080 --> 00:51:33,880 me but for me they're one in the same you know if i if i have the spirit of the holy ghost with me 458 00:51:33,880 --> 00:51:39,720 then my recovery process is in in in check and so is the atonement of jesus christ at work in my life 459 00:51:39,720 --> 00:51:45,880 to me they're one in the same uh for me the in fact the recovery the 12 steps of recovery come to us 460 00:51:45,880 --> 00:51:52,920 is one of the enabling powers of christ's atonement yeah and so you know even those 12 steps are a 461 00:51:52,920 --> 00:51:57,880 component of that so when i have the spirit in my life and when i have those dailies when i have 462 00:51:57,880 --> 00:52:02,200 those things and and i and i hesitate and hate actually to use the word checklist but in this 463 00:52:02,200 --> 00:52:07,560 case it kind of is a checklist there are certain things that okay did it okay did it okay did it 464 00:52:07,560 --> 00:52:15,480 now if i do those okay did it's on a pretty regular basis and is the more consistent i am in fact it 465 00:52:15,480 --> 00:52:20,920 almost correlates the consistency i have with that almost almost directly correlates with the 466 00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:27,960 consistent consistency to which i feel the spirit in my life well thank you scott thank you for for 467 00:52:27,960 --> 00:52:36,520 sharing that and uh so i think that as we as we go forward i know we need to close and as we go 468 00:52:36,520 --> 00:52:45,640 forward we need to just really really come to some revelation receive how we can grow 469 00:52:47,880 --> 00:52:57,240 and progress in our life through receiving recognizing and responding to the gift of the 470 00:52:57,240 --> 00:53:08,920 holy ghost by starting certain things daily planning pondering writing it down uh considering 471 00:53:09,720 --> 00:53:18,840 what can we do as a individual as a couple as a family to get the the greater part of our day 472 00:53:18,840 --> 00:53:28,840 focused on the holy ghost uh you know i i still remember the talk at president bruce armiconky 473 00:53:28,840 --> 00:53:35,960 or elder elder bruce armiconky gave years ago in 1981 uh i think it was i can't remember the month it 474 00:53:35,960 --> 00:53:42,760 was byu devotional where he really chastised somebody byu for writing a what he called a foolish 475 00:53:42,760 --> 00:53:50,120 book i actually thought it was a pretty good book but he he was a little upset that day and uh 476 00:53:50,120 --> 00:53:57,800 well it never being one to mince words yeah and uh anyway because this person had written a book 477 00:53:57,800 --> 00:54:04,520 about how to have a relationship with jesus christ oh yeah but had not talked enough about a 478 00:54:04,520 --> 00:54:10,520 relationship with the father and the importance of having a relationship with heavenly father 479 00:54:10,520 --> 00:54:18,680 and kind of having an exclusive relationship with jesus and and and praying through jesus 480 00:54:18,680 --> 00:54:28,440 that that was a part of the book that had really i think made the elder mcconkey feel bad was that 481 00:54:28,440 --> 00:54:34,360 somebody said that we should pray through jesus and he was really dogmatic about we don't pray 482 00:54:34,360 --> 00:54:42,360 through jesus we pray to the father directly to the father we don't pray through rosary beads we 483 00:54:42,360 --> 00:54:49,640 don't pray through any other medium through angels or jesus or anybody when we pray we pray to the 484 00:54:49,640 --> 00:54:59,560 father in the name of jesus well i that was good i that was important i think for him to teach that 485 00:54:59,560 --> 00:55:05,800 and then he said if you're going to air if you're going to air in having a more personal relationship 486 00:55:05,800 --> 00:55:14,360 with one member of the deity than another then you should air on having the most personal closest 487 00:55:14,360 --> 00:55:23,480 relationship with the holy ghost because it's the holy ghost that administers all of the gifts 488 00:55:23,480 --> 00:55:29,640 all of the blessings all of the powers that are available to us through our heavenly father 489 00:55:29,640 --> 00:55:35,240 and jesus christ if you're going to air and have an a personal relationship with a member of the 490 00:55:35,240 --> 00:55:42,920 deity let it be that one have a relationship with the holy ghost well i i've never forgot that and 491 00:55:42,920 --> 00:55:48,760 i've i've always thought that was that's probably true you know that he is the testator he he 492 00:55:48,760 --> 00:55:55,560 testifies to us of the father he test testifies to us of of the atonement of jesus christ and 493 00:55:55,560 --> 00:56:04,280 our savior and redeemer and he teaches us he's the teacher the sanctifier the comforter the cleanser 494 00:56:04,280 --> 00:56:11,480 the healer all all of the gifts that are available to us through the atonement of jesus christ 495 00:56:11,480 --> 00:56:20,840 right through our heavenly father it's the holy ghost that administers that and testifies of that 496 00:56:21,400 --> 00:56:31,240 and i hope that all of us this week and coming weeks and days can focus more and pray about it 497 00:56:31,240 --> 00:56:40,760 think about it ponder it how can we how can we get to more in tune and closer to the holy ghost 498 00:56:40,760 --> 00:56:46,520 in our life and next week we can we'll continue this discussion i'd like to talk about the skill 499 00:56:46,520 --> 00:56:54,040 of revelation and how we can actually receive more revelation from the holy ghost and the 500 00:56:54,040 --> 00:57:01,960 importance of the holy ghost in our in our daily lives so we'll we'll we'll continue this discussion 501 00:57:01,960 --> 00:57:09,800 next week fantastic yang is we conclude this week especially as we are at the sacrament table 502 00:57:09,800 --> 00:57:14,200 or in sacrament meeting and partaking of the sacrament this week it's my challenge to each one 503 00:57:14,200 --> 00:57:22,440 of us that we really listen to carefully the promises that come as a result that they may have 504 00:57:23,080 --> 00:57:29,480 his spirit to be with them that's why we do it that they may always have his spirit to be with 505 00:57:29,480 --> 00:57:35,960 them that's why we do that and so let's let's really pay attention to that they may always have 506 00:57:35,960 --> 00:57:41,560 his spirit to be with them how are we doing there what can we start doing or stop doing that will 507 00:57:41,560 --> 00:57:47,560 help us to better enable the spirit of the holy ghost to be in our lives so that we can fill the 508 00:57:47,560 --> 00:57:53,080 administration of Jesus's power through his atonement in our lives as well thanks for being 509 00:57:53,080 --> 00:57:58,840 with us today we always enjoy our time with you and look forward to being with you again next week 510 00:57:58,840 --> 00:58:09,880 until then