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Hey there everybody welcome out to another episode of Redeemed Through His Blood, Scott

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and David Durfey here.

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What's up?

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Oh, such a great weekend Scott, you know we enjoyed conference huh?

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Holy cow, it was just absolutely amazing for me.

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So Deb and I got to spend the conference weekend down at her brother's house in St. George

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and he just moved back from Texas so it's been, that was wonderful.

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So it was really cool, you know we got to be with her family and their spouses and we

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even got to FaceTime her mom for a minute who's in a, you know, a facility here in Linden

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Utah so anyway that yeah it was just amazing how did you enjoy it?

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Yeah, you know, conference is a little different when your kids are raised and gone and you're

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not worried about them fighting over the M&Ms on being a play car.

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You get them all for yourself or you know trying to take care of their needs while you

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listen to conference you know.

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Which is, which are great days and I actually miss some of that but when it's just you and

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your sweetheart it can be such a blessing just to listen and enjoy that.

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Well, were there any impressions you got?

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Oh, lots.

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Anything just stuck out?

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I have a couple of quotes here.

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I won't go through all of them but a couple of these really stood out to me and so much

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of it, well all of it is pretty much in alignment with the stuff that we've been talking about.

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Yeah, I noticed a lot of it was as well.

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Elder Brooke Kells, he talked about mortality, mortality works.

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Despite the changes, challenges rather are loving, wise and perfect.

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Heavenly Father has designed the plan of happiness such that we are not destined to

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fail.

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I loved his talk.

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I really did but I kept waiting for him to talk about the doctrine of the fall.

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He never got into that but I loved his talk and powerful really in the stories that he

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shared.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, I really loved that.

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Yeah.

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Which really was a talk on the fall even though he didn't mention it.

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Right.

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I think we should talk about that.

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I think that's like our second or third episode each season is the effects of the fall and

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we actually talk about mortality and how that we should celebrate the fall.

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When's the last time you thank God for the fall?

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Right.

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When's the last time you thank God that you were fallen?

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Yeah, exactly.

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You know that's all part of his plan.

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I don't know why we want to fight that or reject that or think that we're beyond that

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because as long as we're in mortality the fall is going to affect us.

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According to Brigham Young, we're never going to completely overcome the fall in this life.

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You know, we're never going to ever be considered beyond the fall or temptations or sins of

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this world.

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It's not possible as long as you live in a telestial world and you have a telestial

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body and you have all these telestial beings surrounding you and especially in our world

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today.

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I was thinking about that getting gas this morning driving over here, Scott.

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Even stuff on the...

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You know, they had some screen on the gas station as I was pumping it, you know, full

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of inappropriate material.

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And you know what?

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I mean, you know, not terrible, but just...

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Negative.

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Yeah.

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Just anyway, you can't avoid not feeling the effects of the fall every day.

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I think that our listeners just need to really be thankful for the fall, need to be more aware

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of it and not take it so personal or beat themselves up over being fallen.

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Yeah.

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Well, and according to Elder Hales here, right?

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Mortality works.

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It works.

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It just works.

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Exactly.

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And I think that part, you know, the Heavenly Father has designed the plan of happiness

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such that we are not destined to fail.

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Yeah.

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We're not destined to fail.

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I love that.

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Maybe two more.

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Sister Yee, Christian M. Yee.

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That was a good talk.

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Our need for healing and help is not a burden to the Lord, but the very reason He came.

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I loved her talk.

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You know, she's very accomplished.

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She did a BYU devotional a year or so ago, which I really have listened to multiple times.

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I really like the way she thinks and communicates.

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And I know she's had her challenges and troubles in her life with some relationships, in some

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relationships, which she makes some reference to in her BYU devotional.

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So I really, as soon as she starts speaking, actually, I told my sweetheart, Chris, I said,

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you're we're going to like this talk.

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Yeah.

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So that was great.

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I loved all the sisters talks.

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I thought sister Freeman did a great job.

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Yeah.

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Yeah, I did too.

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I did too.

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All the sisters that spoke.

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It was, I can remember Scott, my dad, your grandpa.

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Later years of his life and sometimes being over there with my kids, you know, on a Sunday

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afternoon and everything else.

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And after the conference is over, he says, wow, I think that's the best conference we've

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ever had.

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And he said that every year for like 10 consecutive years when I would be over there on a Sunday

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afternoon watching maybe the last session of conference with him and mom.

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I kind of relate now to what he was feeling.

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Yeah.

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Because I think the older I get, the more I love and appreciate the conference talks.

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So best one yet.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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One last one.

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And this is one that was for me extremely important.

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They all were, but this is from one of our prophets.

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This is from Elder Holland.

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He says Christ's charity persisted and continues to persist, especially through the

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darkest and most difficult days.

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You know, and I think Elder Holland's been acquainted with dark and difficult days recently

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over the last few years.

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Everybody thought that when he said it too, I think.

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Yeah.

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Yeah.

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He's really been through a lot and is going through a steal.

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Right.

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And prophets do.

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They do.

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Well, they're subject to the effects of the fall.

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They all feel the effect of it and mortality works for them too.

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And I think some of them have some of the greatest trials.

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Yeah.

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Prophet Joseph Smith and Liberty Jail and all the other jails and hard experiences

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he had in his short 39 years leading up to his martyrdom.

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You know, prophets have bad days too.

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Yeah.

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And they know from experience what they teach.

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Right.

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So yeah, I loved I loved conference on our podcast recently.

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Scott, we've been talking about revelation.

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And you know, I think for me, I spent an afternoon with the Bishop Budge.

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He's a counselor in the presiding bishop.

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And he spoke and he's the one that did the Japanese figure.

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Yeah.

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And the right calligraphy and showed some of that and and talked about the

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Japanese language and and how that stillness is not necessarily a waste of time.

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It doesn't have to be a waste of time.

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That that being still and slowing down and all of that can be such a blessing in our

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lives.

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I thought I thought that was really a profound talk on on kind of what we've been trying

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to say a little bit.

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We talked about slowing down actually the last podcast.

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We did.

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Yeah.

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And, you know, slowing down doesn't mean you do less.

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It just means that you're more contemplative, which which takes work too.

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Meditation takes work and meditation and pondering and being still and connecting with God requires

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effort and intention.

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And anyway, I just thought his talk was really profound on what we're trying to say.

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I loved, you know, sweet President Nelson in his hour of need and no doubt difficulty

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with his big smile and joy in any circumstance, which was, I think quoted maybe more than

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any, I don't know.

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I didn't a lot.

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Yeah.

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There was a lot of joy in the circumstance.

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And him just sitting under smiling in his wheelchair.

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And I just, I think all the prophets got are had their strengths and their weaknesses.

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And but his strength is just his joy, which he just not only feels, but which he shares

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with everyone else that sees him.

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Yeah.

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It's pretty, pretty profound.

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I'll say.

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Anyway, so as we finish our course on, on Revelation Scott, let's talk about the last

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few, this, this next, this number nine, I think we're on number nine.

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Yeah, we're on nine.

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You want to read it?

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Yeah.

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Number nine.

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I really got this from Elder Scott.

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Elder Scott gave a talk years ago.

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Sorry.

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I don't have the reference right here in front of me about some of the keys of Revelation.

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And this really comes from Elder Scott.

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Take good care of your body and understand how the body is an instrument of Revelation.

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Exercise eat well, develop discipline, deep and, and deep spirituality.

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So develop discipline and deep spirituality.

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Keep your environment clean and healthy.

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Scott, I, I'm not a really organized sort of guy.

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That's not one of my strengths, but I know it makes a difference when my life is in order.

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And I know that it makes a difference when things are in place.

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I know it makes a difference when I take care of myself.

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I know it makes a difference when I exercise, when I eat well, when I choose not to give

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in to the appetites and passions that we all feel is mortal.

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You know, it really makes a difference in my spirituality.

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And this goes back to, I think, the fundamentally, the, the definition of spirituality that

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President McKay gave us years ago.

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And the actual quote here looks like is the consciousness of victory over self and the

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communion with the infinite.

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Yeah, that was President McKay's definition of spirituality.

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Consciousness of victory over self.

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I think that's another way of saying that is mind over mattress.

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You know, that, that we, that we are controlling our body, our desires, our passions.

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That's what victory consciousness of victory over self, that we are not just going with

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every whim and desire and appetite.

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Yeah.

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I mean, you know, that's President McKay.

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Also, this was, somebody touched on the three temptations of, of Jesus, the temptations

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of Jesus.

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I can't remember who gave touched on that in conference this weekend, but the different

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temptations, it was one of the 70.

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You know, it went to turn the rocks into bread when you're starving to death.

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The, some of those things, the very temptations really that we experience on a daily basis

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is to take care of the flesh, but taking care of the flesh appropriately is or inappropriately

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is the key to feeling the Holy Ghost or not feeling the Holy Ghost.

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If we could see our bodies as instruments of revelation and that what we take in and what,

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what, how we, the choices that we make, the sleep that we receive, the, the kind of the

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schedule that we follow, the, the food that we eat, the exercise that we experience, all

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of those things affect how we feel about ourselves and affects our spirituality.

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Really the, the, the body is a temple of God and it is the house in which the spirit resides.

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And if we don't take good care of our bodies, it's really hard for our spirits to, to thrive

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like they could have, should have, would have if we, if we would make better choices.

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Yeah, yeah, you know, this is, this is pretty commonly, I think, understood.

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I think it is.

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But at the same time, this is one of those things that though probably most of us understand

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the relationship between our health and our ability to, or our state of wellbeing, even

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it's not necessarily just our health, but our state of wellbeing, which is also part

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of the whole mortal body experience, right?

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But I think that we all know that if we're healthy, if we're not tired and run down and

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groggy and if our mental state is alert and more alert than it would be otherwise, if

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we weren't taking care of our body and getting proper sleep, that we are just pretty much

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shut off.

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And not only are we shut off, David, but, but there are times when that can make us susceptible

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to feeling more, well, that, that maybe I, maybe I put it this way.

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That may open the door for the accuser and his followers to enter into our lives when

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we're tired and he can start telling us, he can start telling us how bad we are, how we

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failed and I mean, you know, those, those kinds of situations when we are in that situation,

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that really creates a, a, a devil friendly environment, I guess is the way I could put

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it.

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I, Vince Lombardi was onto something when he said fatigue makes cowards of us all.

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It's true, not, not only in football, but it's true in, in church and spiritual matters

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that if we're not rested, if we're fatigued, if our bodies are run down, if we're not feeling

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well, it, it does open some doors to at least sometimes dark gloomy thoughts and maybe even

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the door to, to Satan and his followers.

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So we, we need to do all that we can.

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I know that there's sickness and there's disease and other things that we can't control, but

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I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ can compensate us in those, in those times.

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And I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ covers us in those times and sometimes with

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a ravished body of cancer or whatever, because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the, the

243
00:16:56,280 --> 00:17:03,720
hope of eternal life and the, the Holy Ghost as our Comforter, that people actually can

244
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feel pure revelation and closer to God than ever before.

245
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So we're not talking about those experiences.

246
00:17:12,640 --> 00:17:17,800
We're just talking about people not taking good care of themselves, making bad choices,

247
00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:25,200
bad decisions, taking things into their body, staying up to night, watching things that

248
00:17:25,200 --> 00:17:30,760
they shouldn't be watching, taking things into their mind, into their body that are

249
00:17:30,760 --> 00:17:38,440
going to negatively affect their ability to receive and to be a receptacle of the Holy

250
00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:41,280
Ghost and the Spirit that resides in them.

251
00:17:41,280 --> 00:17:45,560
It would definitely dull our spiritual senses, right?

252
00:17:45,560 --> 00:17:50,440
And actually not taking care of your bodies and making bad choices can, can put you in

253
00:17:50,440 --> 00:17:52,400
a state of being past feeling.

254
00:17:52,400 --> 00:17:53,400
Yeah.

255
00:17:53,400 --> 00:17:56,600
Where you, you can't even feel the Holy Ghost.

256
00:17:56,600 --> 00:17:57,600
Yeah.

257
00:17:57,600 --> 00:17:59,600
That's why addiction is so bad, Scott, right?

258
00:17:59,600 --> 00:18:00,600
This is.

259
00:18:00,600 --> 00:18:01,600
Yeah, yeah, absolutely.

260
00:18:01,600 --> 00:18:08,240
Addictions on our bodies keeps us from really having the spiritual experiences that we

261
00:18:08,240 --> 00:18:09,920
could be having.

262
00:18:09,920 --> 00:18:13,440
And it really is just our lack of connection.

263
00:18:13,440 --> 00:18:15,240
And and Satan knows that.

264
00:18:15,240 --> 00:18:16,360
Yeah, of course.

265
00:18:16,360 --> 00:18:22,840
And if he can cause us to experience shoes, I think it's choice.

266
00:18:22,840 --> 00:18:23,840
Yeah.

267
00:18:23,840 --> 00:18:24,840
Right.

268
00:18:24,840 --> 00:18:25,840
It is a choice.

269
00:18:25,840 --> 00:18:26,840
Yeah.

270
00:18:26,840 --> 00:18:27,840
Addiction.

271
00:18:27,840 --> 00:18:28,840
Initially, yeah.

272
00:18:28,840 --> 00:18:29,840
Initially.

273
00:18:29,840 --> 00:18:30,840
And even, you know what?

274
00:18:30,840 --> 00:18:36,000
I have not been able to get off my mind what you, what you taught us a week or two ago,

275
00:18:36,000 --> 00:18:39,160
which is rock bottom is a decision.

276
00:18:39,160 --> 00:18:40,160
It's not a destination.

277
00:18:40,160 --> 00:18:41,160
Yeah.

278
00:18:41,160 --> 00:18:42,160
What did you say?

279
00:18:42,160 --> 00:18:43,160
It's not a destination.

280
00:18:43,160 --> 00:18:44,160
No, it's not a destination.

281
00:18:44,160 --> 00:18:46,520
So yeah, it's really true.

282
00:18:46,520 --> 00:18:51,000
You know, when we, when we talk about rock bottom and rock bottom is something I think

283
00:18:51,000 --> 00:18:54,920
that most people see and you can call it whatever you want, but it is a choice.

284
00:18:54,920 --> 00:18:58,640
It's not a destination just because I went to jail and I'm not talking about myself.

285
00:18:58,640 --> 00:19:02,600
I'm talking hypothetically, but because just because a person goes to jail, that doesn't

286
00:19:02,600 --> 00:19:06,280
necessarily make it their rock bottom just because a person goes through divorce.

287
00:19:06,280 --> 00:19:08,760
That doesn't necessarily make that their rock bottom.

288
00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:13,360
Their rock bottom has to be just a point in time where decision, we just make a decision

289
00:19:13,360 --> 00:19:16,480
to turn our will in our life over to the care of God, understanding.

290
00:19:16,480 --> 00:19:18,440
And that's done with that period.

291
00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:21,440
And, and, but it's not just I'm done with that.

292
00:19:21,440 --> 00:19:22,440
It goes beyond that.

293
00:19:22,440 --> 00:19:23,440
It goes to I can't.

294
00:19:23,440 --> 00:19:24,920
I got to be done with it.

295
00:19:24,920 --> 00:19:25,920
Yeah.

296
00:19:25,920 --> 00:19:26,920
I can't do it alone.

297
00:19:26,920 --> 00:19:27,920
Yeah.

298
00:19:27,920 --> 00:19:28,920
Yeah.

299
00:19:28,920 --> 00:19:29,920
He can.

300
00:19:29,920 --> 00:19:30,920
And so I'm going to help.

301
00:19:30,920 --> 00:19:33,920
I'm going to let him by aligning my will with his and in one blinding moment with by the

302
00:19:33,920 --> 00:19:35,280
grace of God.

303
00:19:35,280 --> 00:19:36,280
There you are.

304
00:19:36,280 --> 00:19:37,280
Yeah.

305
00:19:37,280 --> 00:19:38,280
It can be changed.

306
00:19:38,280 --> 00:19:39,280
It can be changed.

307
00:19:39,280 --> 00:19:40,280
And one blinding moment.

308
00:19:40,280 --> 00:19:41,280
It can be changed.

309
00:19:41,280 --> 00:19:45,440
And with maintenance, and this is important to point out with maintenance, it can stay

310
00:19:45,440 --> 00:19:46,440
changed.

311
00:19:46,440 --> 00:19:50,280
Anyway, I am going to get that off my mind.

312
00:19:50,280 --> 00:19:53,280
I'm grateful that you that you taught us that.

313
00:19:53,280 --> 00:20:00,520
But but addictions, whether they be from from substances, whether they be how I'm so concerned

314
00:20:00,520 --> 00:20:08,240
about the effects of gambling on people these days, because it's now just so open and so

315
00:20:08,240 --> 00:20:09,240
rampant.

316
00:20:09,240 --> 00:20:16,920
And yeah, you know, Scott, I have I have when I was a bishop, one of the real we in Minnesota,

317
00:20:16,920 --> 00:20:21,920
where they have casinos on on the Native American reservations.

318
00:20:21,920 --> 00:20:31,760
And such a sweet couple of family from Utah that moved to Minnesota and and had the greatest

319
00:20:31,760 --> 00:20:35,120
family children and everything else.

320
00:20:35,120 --> 00:20:42,960
And the dad goes starts going to the casino and and pretty soon he is so addicted that

321
00:20:42,960 --> 00:20:50,040
all of his money is gone and the church is supporting his family and he loses his wife

322
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:56,160
because of divorce and loses his family and and it leads to other substance abuse.

323
00:20:56,160 --> 00:21:07,240
And so it's substance, it's it's it's gambling, it's sexual addictions that are so so rampant.

324
00:21:07,240 --> 00:21:17,520
And if if if people cannot control their their bodies, their what they take into their bodies,

325
00:21:17,520 --> 00:21:25,040
how they use their bodies, their time, if you can't control your time and what you watch

326
00:21:25,040 --> 00:21:28,440
and what you do with your money.

327
00:21:28,440 --> 00:21:34,360
I'm telling you, personal revelation is going to be hard to come by.

328
00:21:34,360 --> 00:21:37,080
And those are important that you point out those types of addictions.

329
00:21:37,080 --> 00:21:41,560
Those are the types of addictions where we engage in some activity, right?

330
00:21:41,560 --> 00:21:42,560
Yeah.

331
00:21:42,560 --> 00:21:43,560
And and those are prevalent.

332
00:21:43,560 --> 00:21:48,280
And when we think of addiction, that's what we think of most prevalently is those types

333
00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:54,560
of addictions, gambling, drugs, alcohol, sexual behaviors, pornography, all kinds of

334
00:21:54,560 --> 00:21:57,440
stuff, you know, even even some behavioral addictions.

335
00:21:57,440 --> 00:22:01,440
So, you know, which and I'm not a nice psychologist and I don't want your emails telling me that

336
00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:02,880
I'm wrong on this and all that.

337
00:22:02,880 --> 00:22:07,000
But you know, we can even look at things like bulimia and we can even look at things that

338
00:22:07,000 --> 00:22:12,080
you know, that have a that have a kind of an emotional and physical combination.

339
00:22:12,080 --> 00:22:14,920
But here's some of the addictions, David, and I don't want to get into a long list.

340
00:22:14,920 --> 00:22:18,160
And this isn't the podcast on addiction today, but here's some of the addictions today that

341
00:22:18,160 --> 00:22:19,160
will backdoor us.

342
00:22:19,160 --> 00:22:22,960
In other words, they will sneak in the backdoor on us.

343
00:22:22,960 --> 00:22:24,960
One of them is being a victim.

344
00:22:24,960 --> 00:22:31,360
I, a person I can become addicted to being a victim because of the payoffs around being

345
00:22:31,360 --> 00:22:36,800
a victim and because of and one of those big payoffs is the removal of seemingly removal

346
00:22:36,800 --> 00:22:38,880
of responsibility around my life.

347
00:22:38,880 --> 00:22:39,880
Right.

348
00:22:39,880 --> 00:22:44,120
So, you know, we have all kinds of emotional addictions like that anger, you know, which

349
00:22:44,120 --> 00:22:49,920
has has an outward manifestation too, but it's more of an emotional type of addiction,

350
00:22:49,920 --> 00:22:58,120
fear, all kinds of things that, you know, we as humans as fallen people engage in and

351
00:22:58,120 --> 00:23:01,000
it can really consume our lives.

352
00:23:01,000 --> 00:23:02,000
Yeah.

353
00:23:02,000 --> 00:23:14,280
Emotional, physical, mental, chemical, chemical, sexual, behavioral addictions can keep us from

354
00:23:14,280 --> 00:23:20,600
feeling the spirit of the Lord and can can really affect the growth and progress of our

355
00:23:20,600 --> 00:23:21,600
spirit.

356
00:23:21,600 --> 00:23:22,600
Right.

357
00:23:22,600 --> 00:23:25,280
And you say, you say can affect us.

358
00:23:25,280 --> 00:23:26,280
I will.

359
00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:27,280
Exactly.

360
00:23:27,280 --> 00:23:28,520
I think we should be that bold.

361
00:23:28,520 --> 00:23:29,520
Right.

362
00:23:29,520 --> 00:23:30,640
It will definitely affect us.

363
00:23:30,640 --> 00:23:34,840
So, just the simple thing of exercise.

364
00:23:34,840 --> 00:23:38,760
I don't know, Scott, how, how to help people.

365
00:23:38,760 --> 00:23:45,880
But I know again, it goes back to small, simple things on overcoming, you know, some of the

366
00:23:45,880 --> 00:23:51,400
habits, bad habits, let alone addictions that we fall into.

367
00:23:51,400 --> 00:23:57,920
But I'm, I just really want to testify to my family and those who are listening to this

368
00:23:57,920 --> 00:24:09,400
podcast that small, simple choices to make sure that your spirit is in control of your

369
00:24:09,400 --> 00:24:17,280
body is critical to one's connection with God, the Savior and receiving the Holy Ghost

370
00:24:17,280 --> 00:24:19,160
in their life.

371
00:24:19,160 --> 00:24:26,760
And just the simple choice to, I'm going to make my body do something that my body doesn't

372
00:24:26,760 --> 00:24:28,840
want to do.

373
00:24:28,840 --> 00:24:37,240
And that may be five pushups or that may be 10 setups or that may be something I'm telling

374
00:24:37,240 --> 00:24:44,560
you, Scott, there is power when one is in control of their body and when their body

375
00:24:44,560 --> 00:24:52,200
is strong, when their body is rested, when their, when their body, when their spirit

376
00:24:52,200 --> 00:24:56,640
is in control of their body, you know, Paul, the apostle Paul.

377
00:24:56,640 --> 00:25:03,640
The flesh is weak, the spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.

378
00:25:03,640 --> 00:25:09,640
And we have to do all that we can to make sure that our spirit is in control of our

379
00:25:09,640 --> 00:25:11,880
body.

380
00:25:11,880 --> 00:25:15,560
That is key to receiving revelation.

381
00:25:15,560 --> 00:25:17,240
I agree.

382
00:25:17,240 --> 00:25:20,120
So that requires discipline.

383
00:25:20,120 --> 00:25:23,680
Discipline creates discipleship.

384
00:25:23,680 --> 00:25:29,160
And it's, it's kind of tricky, Scott, because, you know, so many people can go, here's a

385
00:25:29,160 --> 00:25:36,840
principle that, that is true for all of these keys to receiving revelation and to all things

386
00:25:36,840 --> 00:25:43,280
that we do in life and in the gospel of Jesus Christ is that if Satan cannot, if he cannot

387
00:25:43,280 --> 00:25:47,760
get us to go short, he'll get us to go long.

388
00:25:47,760 --> 00:25:54,160
And if he can get us to go long on some of these ideas and principles, it will be just

389
00:25:54,160 --> 00:25:59,880
as effective and maybe even more damning than if he gets us to go short.

390
00:25:59,880 --> 00:26:09,960
For example, if he can't get us to not exercise, right, he'll get us to overdo it and to become

391
00:26:09,960 --> 00:26:13,480
fanatical about exercise.

392
00:26:13,480 --> 00:26:22,600
If he can't get us to eat right, you know, he'll get us to eat so that we're, we're crazy

393
00:26:22,600 --> 00:26:30,200
about what we eat and obsessed and, and that it affects every little thing that we do.

394
00:26:30,200 --> 00:26:37,600
I just, people have to just stay in the, in the zone and the sweet spot and not go too

395
00:26:37,600 --> 00:26:41,480
far one way or the other.

396
00:26:41,480 --> 00:26:48,440
It's just amazing to me that how some people just become fanatical about some of these

397
00:26:48,440 --> 00:26:49,440
things too, Scott.

398
00:26:49,440 --> 00:26:50,760
I love that you brought that up.

399
00:26:50,760 --> 00:26:51,760
I hadn't thought of that.

400
00:26:51,760 --> 00:26:55,640
But now that you bring that up, that makes perfect sense, you know, and, and if you think

401
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:59,560
about it, you know, because we all know people and maybe we've even been that person.

402
00:26:59,560 --> 00:27:06,240
I know I have where I have over rotated to the, you know, instead of sloth being overzealous

403
00:27:06,240 --> 00:27:11,680
about something to the point where it becomes, you know, it's kind of a form of idolatry.

404
00:27:11,680 --> 00:27:12,680
Yeah.

405
00:27:12,680 --> 00:27:18,000
And, and it definitely pulls us away from the one needful thing.

406
00:27:18,000 --> 00:27:25,280
There's just absolutely no question because we start seeing our, our efforts and maybe

407
00:27:25,280 --> 00:27:26,480
even our achievements.

408
00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:33,440
We will, we'll start to really glorify them or make a bigger or whatever.

409
00:27:33,440 --> 00:27:35,720
And, and all of them become self-righteous.

410
00:27:35,720 --> 00:27:36,720
Yeah.

411
00:27:36,720 --> 00:27:38,280
We become really proud.

412
00:27:38,280 --> 00:27:42,440
We become, this is the way this is my way is the way.

413
00:27:42,440 --> 00:27:43,440
Yeah, exactly.

414
00:27:43,440 --> 00:27:45,600
And everybody else is slothful.

415
00:27:45,600 --> 00:27:48,040
And we become judgmental.

416
00:27:48,040 --> 00:27:55,560
And besides that, I know people who ridiculously run and exercise until it begins to actually

417
00:27:55,560 --> 00:27:56,560
hurt their body.

418
00:27:56,560 --> 00:28:00,480
And when they're not doing it, they can't feel the spirit of the Lord.

419
00:28:00,480 --> 00:28:02,960
So it's just, we cannot.

420
00:28:02,960 --> 00:28:08,240
We don't want to be, we don't want Satan to, to hold us back.

421
00:28:08,240 --> 00:28:15,960
But honestly, if, if we go too far the other way, then we're in his controls, God.

422
00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,280
So it's just really critical that we find balance.

423
00:28:19,280 --> 00:28:20,280
Exactly.

424
00:28:20,280 --> 00:28:21,280
In all of these things.

425
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:22,280
Yeah.

426
00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:23,280
Yeah.

427
00:28:23,280 --> 00:28:24,280
Yeah.

428
00:28:24,280 --> 00:28:25,280
I agree.

429
00:28:25,280 --> 00:28:28,080
So that's the ninth key.

430
00:28:28,080 --> 00:28:37,440
It's really control your physical body, your physical activities and make sure that you're

431
00:28:37,440 --> 00:28:45,880
as healthy and strong as you can, as you can possibly be without, without going to any

432
00:28:45,880 --> 00:28:46,880
extremes.

433
00:28:46,880 --> 00:28:47,880
Yeah.

434
00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:53,800
I think we, and it's important without going to any extreme.

435
00:28:53,800 --> 00:28:59,520
And I think we need to know our bodies well enough and not compare ourselves to the way

436
00:28:59,520 --> 00:29:04,880
somebody else is doing it and the way somebody else looks and the way that we perceive somebody

437
00:29:04,880 --> 00:29:10,560
else's physical nature is or has become because of their own efforts or whatever.

438
00:29:10,560 --> 00:29:12,320
We got to stay out of that.

439
00:29:12,320 --> 00:29:18,560
It's important that we just for ourselves use ourselves and compare us against us.

440
00:29:18,560 --> 00:29:20,240
Let the spirit guide us.

441
00:29:20,240 --> 00:29:23,720
We shouldn't, we shouldn't compare ourselves to anybody else.

442
00:29:23,720 --> 00:29:26,280
We should compare ourselves to us.

443
00:29:26,280 --> 00:29:29,000
Where am I today and make an assessment?

444
00:29:29,000 --> 00:29:32,520
And if there is lack, where do I need to improve it?

445
00:29:32,520 --> 00:29:37,720
If I have over-rotated and there is too much zeal, where can I temper it and so that I

446
00:29:37,720 --> 00:29:40,840
can be more susceptible to the spirit in my life?

447
00:29:40,840 --> 00:29:41,840
Right.

448
00:29:41,840 --> 00:29:42,840
Okay.

449
00:29:42,840 --> 00:29:43,840
It's all connected, Scott.

450
00:29:43,840 --> 00:29:44,840
100%.

451
00:29:44,840 --> 00:29:45,840
It's all connected.

452
00:29:45,840 --> 00:29:50,280
The body, the spirit, the mind, the soul of the soul.

453
00:29:50,280 --> 00:29:51,280
That's right.

454
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:52,280
It's all connected.

455
00:29:52,280 --> 00:29:53,280
That's right.

456
00:29:53,280 --> 00:29:54,640
We can't neglect any part of it.

457
00:29:54,640 --> 00:29:59,760
We didn't even talk about I think the power of the mental in the mind.

458
00:29:59,760 --> 00:30:02,160
Yeah, we probably should for a second too.

459
00:30:02,160 --> 00:30:12,160
Just know that the learning, new principles, the power of learning and feeling our minds

460
00:30:12,160 --> 00:30:14,200
full of good things.

461
00:30:14,200 --> 00:30:19,080
You know, the effect that that can have on our spirit.

462
00:30:19,080 --> 00:30:26,160
I just think that's really critical to revelation is to make sure that we're exercising our

463
00:30:26,160 --> 00:30:32,160
mind as well as our body so that our spirit can thrive.

464
00:30:32,160 --> 00:30:33,640
It's all connected.

465
00:30:33,640 --> 00:30:34,640
Just know that.

466
00:30:34,640 --> 00:30:38,920
Well, so you just talk about exercise our mind and that really kind of rolls into key

467
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:41,280
number 10, right?

468
00:30:41,280 --> 00:30:45,640
Which is record impressions and act on the promptings and revelations you receive.

469
00:30:45,640 --> 00:30:46,640
Yeah.

470
00:30:46,640 --> 00:30:48,800
I'm not great at this.

471
00:30:48,800 --> 00:30:52,840
I'm not terrible at it, but I'm not great at this.

472
00:30:52,840 --> 00:30:55,240
And I need to be better.

473
00:30:55,240 --> 00:31:02,080
But I know it's really powerful and I have lots of things recorded in my phone.

474
00:31:02,080 --> 00:31:07,080
But I need to go back and review them often.

475
00:31:07,080 --> 00:31:15,200
I know that there's so many things, impressions that I've recorded in the notes on my phone.

476
00:31:15,200 --> 00:31:22,160
And oftentimes it is just so easy for us to neglect or forget them.

477
00:31:22,160 --> 00:31:25,880
And I need to be better at this one.

478
00:31:25,880 --> 00:31:29,560
I know that if we, this is the principle.

479
00:31:29,560 --> 00:31:35,600
And again, Elder Scott taught this powerfully when he had talked about acquiring spiritual

480
00:31:35,600 --> 00:31:36,600
knowledge.

481
00:31:36,600 --> 00:31:39,080
I think that was the talk that he gave.

482
00:31:39,080 --> 00:31:44,280
Everyone should look that up and read that about acquiring spiritual knowledge by Elder

483
00:31:44,280 --> 00:31:46,440
Richard G. Scott.

484
00:31:46,440 --> 00:31:51,120
But he talks about that when you read your scriptures, you should have a pen or pencil

485
00:31:51,120 --> 00:31:52,360
in your hand.

486
00:31:52,360 --> 00:31:57,640
Be ready to number one mark what you read that impresses you.

487
00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:03,800
And just in that physical exercise, you might receive more revelation or a pen in your hand

488
00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:09,120
to record impressions, which is assigned to the Holy Ghost that you are not only ready

489
00:32:09,120 --> 00:32:14,800
to learn, but you are ready to capture what he is willing to give you.

490
00:32:14,800 --> 00:32:20,280
And he shares his whole experience of being in Mexico City when he started to receive

491
00:32:20,280 --> 00:32:21,280
some impressions.

492
00:32:21,280 --> 00:32:23,520
And he started to write.

493
00:32:23,520 --> 00:32:28,280
And he wrote a page or two of impressions that he was having.

494
00:32:28,280 --> 00:32:35,400
And when he got done, he, before he put down his pen, he said, is there more?

495
00:32:35,400 --> 00:32:39,880
And more came and he started to write again.

496
00:32:39,880 --> 00:32:42,080
It's just so critical.

497
00:32:42,080 --> 00:32:46,560
I know again that I've had some people come up to me and say that they're changing how

498
00:32:46,560 --> 00:32:51,280
they pray because they're starting to pray with notebooks because of what we taught a

499
00:32:51,280 --> 00:33:01,880
while ago about asking questions and pausing and listening, learn to listen when we pray

500
00:33:01,880 --> 00:33:07,120
and not to miss some of the impressions that our Heavenly Father would like to give us

501
00:33:07,120 --> 00:33:08,520
if we would listen.

502
00:33:08,520 --> 00:33:12,920
And when he gives us those impressions, we should record them, even if it may be in the

503
00:33:12,920 --> 00:33:18,960
middle of a prayer, that when we're starting to receive impressions, we record them.

504
00:33:18,960 --> 00:33:25,200
I think this is, this is one of the more important principles that any person could learn in

505
00:33:25,200 --> 00:33:26,520
this life.

506
00:33:26,520 --> 00:33:36,480
And then to review them and be able to apply them, live them, put them to practice immediately.

507
00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:43,320
Do not let those words fall to the ground unheeded or not be acted upon.

508
00:33:43,320 --> 00:33:52,320
So I, again, I'm not great at this, but I want to be better than I need to repent.

509
00:33:52,320 --> 00:33:54,200
So any, any other thoughts on that?

510
00:33:54,200 --> 00:33:56,920
Yeah, I'm not great at this either.

511
00:33:56,920 --> 00:34:02,720
I do sometimes record the impressions that I have as I'm praying or in meditation.

512
00:34:02,720 --> 00:34:04,800
I do that.

513
00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:07,640
I know many people who also do that.

514
00:34:07,640 --> 00:34:12,200
As a matter of fact, that's one of the things in Alcoholics Anonymous that as a sponsor,

515
00:34:12,200 --> 00:34:15,440
I encourage sponsors to participate in.

516
00:34:15,440 --> 00:34:19,880
It's actually one of the steps sought through prayer and meditation to maintain conscious

517
00:34:19,880 --> 00:34:21,480
contact with God.

518
00:34:21,480 --> 00:34:25,480
We've talked about that praying only for knowledge of His will for us and the power to carry

519
00:34:25,480 --> 00:34:27,120
it out, right?

520
00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:31,320
And so I have done that and I encourage others sometimes to do it as well.

521
00:34:31,320 --> 00:34:34,200
I will tell you this, there's huge benefit.

522
00:34:34,200 --> 00:34:37,800
I have definitely felt the benefit in my life.

523
00:34:37,800 --> 00:34:40,680
It helps me to remember, to recall.

524
00:34:40,680 --> 00:34:43,880
It gives me resource when I, when I need it.

525
00:34:43,880 --> 00:34:46,200
And when I say resource, I don't mean for other people.

526
00:34:46,200 --> 00:34:47,200
I mean for myself.

527
00:34:47,200 --> 00:34:52,840
It gives me valuable resource for my own, you know, personal study and my own personal

528
00:34:52,840 --> 00:34:54,080
approach to my life.

529
00:34:54,080 --> 00:34:59,240
One of the things that, you know, we do in Alcoholics Anonymous frequently though, is

530
00:34:59,240 --> 00:35:04,440
when those impressions are recorded, when appropriate, which is pretty frequently, we'll

531
00:35:04,440 --> 00:35:06,040
share them with somebody else.

532
00:35:06,040 --> 00:35:07,480
A sponsor, for example.

533
00:35:07,480 --> 00:35:08,600
Good idea.

534
00:35:08,600 --> 00:35:11,560
And as we share them with a sponsor, that does a couple of things.

535
00:35:11,560 --> 00:35:17,400
And it helps us to be accountable to the impressions that we've had because we have

536
00:35:17,400 --> 00:35:20,480
a sort of an accountability partner built in that way.

537
00:35:20,480 --> 00:35:24,480
We don't necessarily call it that, but it serves as that effect anyway.

538
00:35:24,480 --> 00:35:30,080
So to share those with somebody, a trusted somebody, you know, some things would be inappropriately

539
00:35:30,080 --> 00:35:31,320
shared publicly.

540
00:35:31,320 --> 00:35:35,000
Some things would even be inappropriately shared with another individual.

541
00:35:35,000 --> 00:35:38,800
So you know, as is in all things, you know, we don't want you to kneel down with every

542
00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:40,120
prayer with a notebook.

543
00:35:40,120 --> 00:35:41,520
That's not what we're saying.

544
00:35:41,520 --> 00:35:45,960
And we're not saying that every prayer should have these kinds of experiences that you want

545
00:35:45,960 --> 00:35:50,440
to, and we don't want you to ever feel like, if I'm not having those experiences, there

546
00:35:50,440 --> 00:35:52,080
must be something wrong in my life.

547
00:35:52,080 --> 00:35:53,640
Because that's not what we're saying.

548
00:35:53,640 --> 00:35:57,640
But what we are saying is, is that when it is appropriate, when the time does come, and

549
00:35:57,640 --> 00:36:03,320
when you have made that alignment, and those impressions do come, and they surely will,

550
00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:08,240
as we align, that's a promise we can make, that as we align, we will surely receive those

551
00:36:08,240 --> 00:36:12,080
promises when it's appropriate, share it with your spouse perhaps or something.

552
00:36:12,080 --> 00:36:19,080
It's good to share it with others, sometimes even with some trusted person in the church,

553
00:36:19,080 --> 00:36:25,200
friend or whatever, to just make sure you're not going over the top or being deceived.

554
00:36:25,200 --> 00:36:27,200
Yeah, that's true too.

555
00:36:27,200 --> 00:36:32,320
Because Scott, one thing I've learned is that Satan can surely give you revelation.

556
00:36:32,320 --> 00:36:33,320
Yeah.

557
00:36:33,320 --> 00:36:40,440
Man, I know we've talked about this before, but I've had too many experiences in my lifetime

558
00:36:40,440 --> 00:36:48,440
with apostates who are definitely getting revelation, but they aren't receiving it from

559
00:36:48,440 --> 00:36:51,000
the proper source.

560
00:36:51,000 --> 00:37:03,240
And because of how they pray and because of their zeal, their being zealous, and they

561
00:37:03,240 --> 00:37:15,160
are fanatical, and almost this demand to receive something from God, it really opens them up

562
00:37:15,160 --> 00:37:17,680
to be deceived.

563
00:37:17,680 --> 00:37:27,680
And if God is trying to teach them something, whether that be patience or whether that to

564
00:37:27,680 --> 00:37:37,120
be humility or whatever that may be, if they're not willing to wait upon the Lord, Satan will

565
00:37:37,120 --> 00:37:41,560
fill in that gap really quickly and easily for them.

566
00:37:41,560 --> 00:37:47,520
And I just really want our listeners to know, we have this.

567
00:37:47,520 --> 00:37:51,320
You know, Scott, I worry about this in the church a little bit because we talk a lot

568
00:37:51,320 --> 00:37:52,320
about revelation.

569
00:37:52,320 --> 00:37:54,360
We've done a whole course on it.

570
00:37:54,360 --> 00:37:58,560
And so many people know the importance of personal revelation.

571
00:37:58,560 --> 00:38:03,440
The first talk President Nelson gave as President of the Church was church revelation and personal

572
00:38:03,440 --> 00:38:05,120
revelation.

573
00:38:05,120 --> 00:38:10,680
It's an important principle in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

574
00:38:10,680 --> 00:38:17,120
But it's an occupational hazard that so many people take it to an extreme.

575
00:38:17,120 --> 00:38:24,360
Too many people's expectations are so out of proportion and blown out of proportion that

576
00:38:24,360 --> 00:38:30,360
they begin to hear things and feel things that are not from God.

577
00:38:30,360 --> 00:38:36,640
And that's, I think, my biggest worry talking about this and doing a course on it is that

578
00:38:36,640 --> 00:38:44,880
people need to make sure that the impressions they receive, the revelations they receive

579
00:38:44,880 --> 00:38:50,240
are in accordance with the Word of God.

580
00:38:50,240 --> 00:38:54,120
Not, you know, the revelation is receiving the will of God.

581
00:38:54,120 --> 00:39:00,400
They need to make sure that it's according to his Word and his way.

582
00:39:00,400 --> 00:39:07,320
And the only way they can do that is to make sure that it is consistent with the prophets

583
00:39:07,320 --> 00:39:09,880
and the holy scriptures.

584
00:39:09,880 --> 00:39:15,640
And when you start getting impressions that you may be a little off, it is so important

585
00:39:15,640 --> 00:39:22,240
that you may be shared those with the right person or persons who can maybe be a second

586
00:39:22,240 --> 00:39:25,120
witness for you on some of those impressions.

587
00:39:25,120 --> 00:39:31,200
I, you know, the dream, I've had some dreams and I didn't want to teach anything that was

588
00:39:31,200 --> 00:39:35,160
doctrinally inaccurate that I had learned from a dream.

589
00:39:35,160 --> 00:39:40,240
So I shared that with a stake president who then said, well, your friends with Brother

590
00:39:40,240 --> 00:39:43,480
Matthews, why don't you talk to Brother Matthews about it?

591
00:39:43,480 --> 00:39:50,960
So I actually shared my dream with Brother Matthews and told him the impressions and

592
00:39:50,960 --> 00:39:57,520
thoughts and some of the doctrinal teachings that, by the way, I will not teach openly

593
00:39:57,520 --> 00:40:01,440
because some of those things are just personal.

594
00:40:01,440 --> 00:40:03,320
They're just for me.

595
00:40:03,320 --> 00:40:06,760
But anyway, he cautioned me about that, Brother Matthews.

596
00:40:06,760 --> 00:40:09,640
He told me how he believed that they were true.

597
00:40:09,640 --> 00:40:16,000
That's how he saw it, but that we couldn't teach it because it had not been taught by

598
00:40:16,000 --> 00:40:17,520
the prophets.

599
00:40:17,520 --> 00:40:25,440
So there are just some revelations that even though you receive these impressions and revelations,

600
00:40:25,440 --> 00:40:29,360
it's sometimes good to share them with others you trust.

601
00:40:29,360 --> 00:40:36,640
And sometimes it's good to not share them at all because they're private and they're

602
00:40:36,640 --> 00:40:41,720
too sacred to share with anyone else.

603
00:40:41,720 --> 00:40:48,760
And I think the Spirit will surely teach us and witness to us what can be shared with

604
00:40:48,760 --> 00:40:55,040
others and what cannot if we'll be in tune and if we'll be obedient.

605
00:40:55,040 --> 00:41:01,360
The witness test though being that it is consistent, that it is consistent with gospel teachings.

606
00:41:01,360 --> 00:41:02,360
Yeah.

607
00:41:02,360 --> 00:41:03,360
Yeah.

608
00:41:03,360 --> 00:41:05,800
And so it's in alignment with the prophets.

609
00:41:05,800 --> 00:41:06,800
It's in alignment.

610
00:41:06,800 --> 00:41:07,800
That's right.

611
00:41:07,800 --> 00:41:10,720
It's in alignment with the prophets and the scriptures.

612
00:41:10,720 --> 00:41:12,040
That is so critical.

613
00:41:12,040 --> 00:41:13,040
Yeah.

614
00:41:13,040 --> 00:41:18,400
You know, we don't need to give any examples or bring up any names of apostates that I've

615
00:41:18,400 --> 00:41:26,920
known or others that the public know that when they start having weird stuff, you know,

616
00:41:26,920 --> 00:41:31,080
come into their mind that they're supposed to do this or they're supposed to do that.

617
00:41:31,080 --> 00:41:33,000
And it is so out there.

618
00:41:33,000 --> 00:41:34,160
Wow.

619
00:41:34,160 --> 00:41:36,320
That is so dangerous, Scott.

620
00:41:36,320 --> 00:41:37,320
Yeah.

621
00:41:37,320 --> 00:41:38,320
Literally.

622
00:41:38,320 --> 00:41:39,320
Yeah.

623
00:41:39,320 --> 00:41:40,320
This is so dangerous.

624
00:41:40,320 --> 00:41:47,760
And Satan is more than willing to feel in the gap of revelation when we think that we

625
00:41:47,760 --> 00:41:55,720
either should be receiving more or, you know, I think the greatest danger that I've noticed

626
00:41:55,720 --> 00:41:59,640
is for some men and women.

627
00:41:59,640 --> 00:42:04,640
I know of women who've done this as well, who think that they should be in positions

628
00:42:04,640 --> 00:42:13,520
of power or they should have certain callings or they should be in certain places, you know,

629
00:42:13,520 --> 00:42:15,400
they're of prominence.

630
00:42:15,400 --> 00:42:16,520
Sure.

631
00:42:16,520 --> 00:42:22,400
And it just totally opens them up to be deceived.

632
00:42:22,400 --> 00:42:29,080
I think it's just so important that when we pray, Scott, and let's just maybe conclude

633
00:42:29,080 --> 00:42:34,880
our course on revelation by talking about prayer in general, that when we pray, that

634
00:42:34,880 --> 00:42:43,680
we pray with such an honest heart, humble heart, that we have humility, that we pray

635
00:42:43,680 --> 00:42:48,320
sincerely, that we pray in faith.

636
00:42:48,320 --> 00:42:53,040
And we don't pray as we talked about this last week or the week before.

637
00:42:53,040 --> 00:42:55,440
We don't pray to get what we want.

638
00:42:55,440 --> 00:42:56,640
Prayer is not about faith.

639
00:42:56,640 --> 00:43:00,160
It's not about getting what we want.

640
00:43:00,160 --> 00:43:06,760
Faith and prayer is about aligning our will to God's will and to be really humble about

641
00:43:06,760 --> 00:43:07,760
that.

642
00:43:07,760 --> 00:43:17,600
And to be patient in that, to be submissive, to be like a child praying to their father,

643
00:43:17,600 --> 00:43:18,600
submissive.

644
00:43:18,600 --> 00:43:26,160
You know, this is Mosiah 3.19, that we should be as a child.

645
00:43:26,160 --> 00:43:32,880
I think Elder Holland actually called this submissive, patient, meek, full of love,

646
00:43:32,880 --> 00:43:37,240
willing to submit to all things that the Father is.

647
00:43:37,240 --> 00:43:40,240
The eighth fit to inflict upon us.

648
00:43:40,240 --> 00:43:46,160
So, anyway, Scott, that's the attitude and the spirit of prayer.

649
00:43:46,160 --> 00:43:51,800
I know people who pray and pray and they cry out and they cry out and they feel like they're

650
00:43:51,800 --> 00:43:57,360
not getting anything and they become disappointed and they give up the process because they

651
00:43:57,360 --> 00:44:02,360
feel like their prayers aren't being answered.

652
00:44:02,360 --> 00:44:11,240
I reviewed recently the screw tape letters, C.S. Lewis.

653
00:44:11,240 --> 00:44:13,040
And it's so fun.

654
00:44:13,040 --> 00:44:16,040
And I actually used A.I.

655
00:44:16,040 --> 00:44:17,040
Oh, did you?

656
00:44:17,040 --> 00:44:19,560
Yeah, to help me review it.

657
00:44:19,560 --> 00:44:27,480
And I remembered some of the things that screw tape, the kind of the one of the head devils,

658
00:44:27,480 --> 00:44:29,320
was trying to teach his understudy.

659
00:44:29,320 --> 00:44:30,320
Understudy devils.

660
00:44:30,320 --> 00:44:35,240
His nephew Wormwood on how to become a devil.

661
00:44:35,240 --> 00:44:44,880
And he's telling Wormwood about how to get people not to pray or how to pray too much.

662
00:44:44,880 --> 00:44:45,880
Both work again.

663
00:44:45,880 --> 00:44:49,440
If you can't get, get us to go short, he'll get us to go long.

664
00:44:49,440 --> 00:44:52,440
But I think it was really interesting.

665
00:44:52,440 --> 00:44:59,440
The first thing that A.I. brought up, by the way, I love that the opening talk by Elder

666
00:44:59,440 --> 00:45:04,000
Gong on dad jokes and the A.I. dad jokes.

667
00:45:04,000 --> 00:45:11,560
So here's what, here's, here's a few points of advice that screw tape gives Wormwood on

668
00:45:11,560 --> 00:45:21,000
how to get his, the, how to get his patient or man, as he calls him, the patient, to not

669
00:45:21,000 --> 00:45:22,560
pray.

670
00:45:22,560 --> 00:45:29,180
And number one is to focus on feelings rather than real prayer.

671
00:45:29,180 --> 00:45:32,440
To focus on feelings rather than real prayer.

672
00:45:32,440 --> 00:45:38,800
Oh man, that is so good because it was, I prayed and sometimes when I don't feel like

673
00:45:38,800 --> 00:45:43,560
it, sometimes when I don't feel anything, all of a sudden I started thinking that my

674
00:45:43,560 --> 00:45:50,120
prayers are not valuable, that my prayers aren't of any use, that why am I praying, why am I

675
00:45:50,120 --> 00:45:57,960
doing this, I'm just going through them, you know, and so sometimes we all offer prayers

676
00:45:57,960 --> 00:46:01,720
when we don't feel anything.

677
00:46:01,720 --> 00:46:05,000
Prayer is not about feeling.

678
00:46:05,000 --> 00:46:07,960
Prayer is about worshiping.

679
00:46:07,960 --> 00:46:10,680
We should pray to worship.

680
00:46:10,680 --> 00:46:13,520
It doesn't matter how we feel.

681
00:46:13,520 --> 00:46:22,600
What matters is, is that we are expressing to God how we feel towards him, not him feeling

682
00:46:22,600 --> 00:46:23,600
us.

683
00:46:23,600 --> 00:46:28,720
I mean, I, we've all had prayers where we've felt the spirit, where we receive revelation,

684
00:46:28,720 --> 00:46:32,640
but not every prayer we offer is going to, no, and it's important, it's going to feel

685
00:46:32,640 --> 00:46:38,360
good and prayer is an important component to feeling good and to revelation and prayer

686
00:46:38,360 --> 00:46:41,200
is work and that doesn't always feel good.

687
00:46:41,200 --> 00:46:42,200
Right.

688
00:46:42,200 --> 00:46:43,200
Prayer takes time.

689
00:46:43,200 --> 00:46:46,360
I know this is my mother's cousin.

690
00:46:46,360 --> 00:46:51,960
My mother's cousin, I was in the car, I was an 18 year old kid, I was right in the back

691
00:46:51,960 --> 00:46:58,960
seat with her and we were driving down to Loa and Loa, Utah, I think it was Memorial

692
00:46:58,960 --> 00:47:07,240
Day weekend and I was alone, Louise was gone and, and sister Dill sitting in the back seat

693
00:47:07,240 --> 00:47:14,280
and telling my mom and dad that she had prayed nine years or something.

694
00:47:14,280 --> 00:47:23,000
I won't tell the whole story, but she had prayed every day for nine years and finally

695
00:47:23,000 --> 00:47:25,160
her prayer was answered.

696
00:47:25,160 --> 00:47:33,680
Scott, if, if, if every time we prayed, we didn't feel anything and we just gave up,

697
00:47:33,680 --> 00:47:40,960
how many prayers have we missed out on being answered because we didn't, we just didn't

698
00:47:40,960 --> 00:47:41,960
feel it.

699
00:47:41,960 --> 00:47:42,960
We didn't, we didn't feel it.

700
00:47:42,960 --> 00:47:45,200
He didn't answer it immediately.

701
00:47:45,200 --> 00:47:46,200
So we just give up.

702
00:47:46,200 --> 00:47:50,040
You know, I have to admit, I've probably been that person sometimes.

703
00:47:50,040 --> 00:47:51,040
I have to.

704
00:47:51,040 --> 00:47:52,040
All of us have.

705
00:47:52,040 --> 00:47:53,040
I really have.

706
00:47:53,040 --> 00:47:58,000
All of us have, but I just, I think this is so great.

707
00:47:58,000 --> 00:48:00,640
I'm going to read what AI wrote here.

708
00:48:00,640 --> 00:48:07,720
Screw tape encourages wormwood to make the human focus on his emotional state rather

709
00:48:07,720 --> 00:48:13,880
than genuine communication with God.

710
00:48:13,880 --> 00:48:21,080
Focus more on your emotional state on the human emotional state than you communicating

711
00:48:21,080 --> 00:48:23,480
or worshiping God.

712
00:48:23,480 --> 00:48:24,480
Wow.

713
00:48:24,480 --> 00:48:33,360
I think that's so because he says, if the person fixates on whether they feel in quotes,

714
00:48:33,360 --> 00:48:39,240
if on whether they feel like they're praying, then it can distract them from actually doing

715
00:48:39,240 --> 00:48:40,240
so.

716
00:48:40,240 --> 00:48:43,520
Yeah, I love that.

717
00:48:43,520 --> 00:48:45,800
So I, that's a great insight.

718
00:48:45,800 --> 00:48:46,800
Yeah.

719
00:48:46,800 --> 00:48:53,080
That's just one caution is not, not be so focused on what we feel.

720
00:48:53,080 --> 00:48:58,920
Instead we should be more focused on him and what he feels.

721
00:48:58,920 --> 00:49:05,040
You know, we should be more focused on not, not so much on my will or what I want.

722
00:49:05,040 --> 00:49:10,240
We should be more focused upon God's will and what he wants.

723
00:49:10,240 --> 00:49:19,440
We shouldn't, we should be not so much focused on, on God blessing me, but on me worshiping

724
00:49:19,440 --> 00:49:20,440
him.

725
00:49:20,440 --> 00:49:23,440
I mean, that's the attitude of prayer.

726
00:49:23,440 --> 00:49:24,440
Yeah.

727
00:49:24,440 --> 00:49:29,240
And the attitude of prayer affects whether we receive communication, whether we connect

728
00:49:29,240 --> 00:49:30,240
or not.

729
00:49:30,240 --> 00:49:31,240
Right.

730
00:49:31,240 --> 00:49:34,160
Going back to the 11th step, praying only for knowledge of his will for us and power

731
00:49:34,160 --> 00:49:36,160
to carry it out.

732
00:49:36,160 --> 00:49:37,160
Yeah.

733
00:49:37,160 --> 00:49:42,960
The second, a second caution that screw tape gives a wormwood to get the patient or man

734
00:49:42,960 --> 00:49:49,640
not to pray is that he suggests that wormwood should make the human think of God as something

735
00:49:49,640 --> 00:49:57,160
vague or as a distorted version of himself rather than as the true transcendent sovereign

736
00:49:57,160 --> 00:49:59,680
being that God is.

737
00:49:59,680 --> 00:50:04,640
This can reduce the effectiveness of prayer by turning it into a mere psychological exercise

738
00:50:04,640 --> 00:50:08,280
rather than an encounter with the divine.

739
00:50:08,280 --> 00:50:10,440
An encounter with the divine.

740
00:50:10,440 --> 00:50:14,120
That's, that's, that's a great definition of prayer.

741
00:50:14,120 --> 00:50:22,040
Instead of just a psychological mental exertion sort of things, God.

742
00:50:22,040 --> 00:50:25,440
And I know that faith can be mental exertion.

743
00:50:25,440 --> 00:50:28,560
Somebody used that quote in conference as well.

744
00:50:28,560 --> 00:50:32,280
I know that God works through mental exertion.

745
00:50:32,280 --> 00:50:37,640
He can work through mental exertion, but it's more than that.

746
00:50:37,640 --> 00:50:40,040
It's an encounter.

747
00:50:40,040 --> 00:50:42,800
It's an encounter with the divine.

748
00:50:42,800 --> 00:50:44,240
That's what prayer is.

749
00:50:44,240 --> 00:50:46,280
That's how we should see it.

750
00:50:46,280 --> 00:50:54,960
And that's not just us laying in bed thinking thoughts and directing them to God, but really

751
00:50:54,960 --> 00:51:00,200
connecting with him and having an encounter with him.

752
00:51:00,200 --> 00:51:03,680
And I know that can happen any place, any time in any way.

753
00:51:03,680 --> 00:51:09,640
I am not, you know, it's really, I think some people's prayers in the cars really, they

754
00:51:09,640 --> 00:51:14,560
do encounter God, their eyes wide open and they're crying out and they're talking to

755
00:51:14,560 --> 00:51:23,160
God and, but again, even in those prayers, we should be more concerned about his feelings

756
00:51:23,160 --> 00:51:25,360
than our feelings.

757
00:51:25,360 --> 00:51:32,760
Anyway, third is to make prayers vague in general.

758
00:51:32,760 --> 00:51:41,480
This is kind of the caution and the condemnation, well, the caution or the, the correction that

759
00:51:41,480 --> 00:51:49,120
Jesus gives on, don't say vein, trite, vein repetitions, right?

760
00:51:49,120 --> 00:51:56,320
In prayer and screw tape wants wormwood to promote vague general prayers that lacks sincerity

761
00:51:56,320 --> 00:51:58,400
or depth.

762
00:51:58,400 --> 00:52:02,640
These kinds of prayers he argues are less likely to result meaningful spiritual growth

763
00:52:02,640 --> 00:52:04,400
or divine intervention.

764
00:52:04,400 --> 00:52:13,440
I think some, some prayers are much more effective when we prepare to pray rather than just kneel

765
00:52:13,440 --> 00:52:20,920
down and say the same things over and over and over again, which is not, I'm not criticizing

766
00:52:20,920 --> 00:52:21,920
that.

767
00:52:21,920 --> 00:52:23,000
We all do it.

768
00:52:23,000 --> 00:52:30,720
But if you want your prayers to be more effective generally, then maybe we should be more specific

769
00:52:30,720 --> 00:52:34,280
in our preparation to say our prayers.

770
00:52:34,280 --> 00:52:41,160
So some preparation and to think about what we really want to pray and, and how we can

771
00:52:41,160 --> 00:52:47,240
connect with God and how can, what, what is an inspired question that I can take to my

772
00:52:47,240 --> 00:52:48,960
Heavenly Father?

773
00:52:48,960 --> 00:52:54,840
What are things that I'm really specific things, specific things that I'm really thankful for?

774
00:52:54,840 --> 00:53:00,120
I want to express my gratitude for things that I've never expressed my gratitude to

775
00:53:00,120 --> 00:53:02,440
God for before.

776
00:53:02,440 --> 00:53:06,720
I mean, those kinds of things can really make our prayers more effective.

777
00:53:06,720 --> 00:53:13,480
And then the fourth thing that screw tape wants to teach wormwood about how to get patient,

778
00:53:13,480 --> 00:53:21,520
the human not to pray is to prevent prayers from affecting the will of man.

779
00:53:21,520 --> 00:53:28,080
So one of screw tapes key strategies is to make sure that humans prayers remain superficial

780
00:53:28,080 --> 00:53:34,560
and they do not lead to any real change in their behavior or desires.

781
00:53:34,560 --> 00:53:37,480
He advises wormwood to encourage prayers.

782
00:53:37,480 --> 00:53:38,840
I love this.

783
00:53:38,840 --> 00:53:46,560
He advises wormwood to encourage prayers that feel religious but have no lasting impact

784
00:53:46,560 --> 00:53:48,840
on the person's life.

785
00:53:48,840 --> 00:53:49,840
Wow.

786
00:53:49,840 --> 00:53:54,720
Man, that's so, see as loose.

787
00:53:54,720 --> 00:54:01,200
I, I prayers aren't a checklist thing to do.

788
00:54:01,200 --> 00:54:04,120
I mean, there's no bad prayer.

789
00:54:04,120 --> 00:54:09,920
You can't say a bad prayer, but it's, it's not a checklist sort of thing.

790
00:54:09,920 --> 00:54:16,880
It's kind of an attitude really Scott and more of us need to live our prayers.

791
00:54:16,880 --> 00:54:19,640
We need to really live them.

792
00:54:19,640 --> 00:54:23,960
We should see our life as a prayer life.

793
00:54:23,960 --> 00:54:28,080
You know, I know a general authority that was always his question when interviewing

794
00:54:28,080 --> 00:54:30,720
potential brother and to be stake presidents.

795
00:54:30,720 --> 00:54:35,360
He would say, tell me, describe to me your prayer life.

796
00:54:35,360 --> 00:54:43,360
And I think what he was really wanting to discern and ask were men not just praying,

797
00:54:43,360 --> 00:54:45,840
but were they living their prayers?

798
00:54:45,840 --> 00:54:50,920
I think that's what it means when it says pray always, pray always that you may overcome

799
00:54:50,920 --> 00:54:52,240
temptation.

800
00:54:52,240 --> 00:54:59,040
Pray always that you may overcome Satan that live your prayers.

801
00:54:59,040 --> 00:55:01,480
Be more holy.

802
00:55:01,480 --> 00:55:07,640
Act like you're praying even when you're living.

803
00:55:07,640 --> 00:55:08,640
That's kind of the idea.

804
00:55:08,640 --> 00:55:09,640
Yeah.

805
00:55:09,640 --> 00:55:10,640
Yeah.

806
00:55:10,640 --> 00:55:15,840
And if we would, if we would pray like that and we would live like that, Scott, we, we

807
00:55:15,840 --> 00:55:20,760
could receive more communication and revelation from our heavenly Father.

808
00:55:20,760 --> 00:55:28,600
I love that you reminded us and, you know, through CS Lewis that prayer really is an encounter

809
00:55:28,600 --> 00:55:30,880
with the divine.

810
00:55:30,880 --> 00:55:35,920
And I think of my encounters, you know, I can encounter the divine and have it look a

811
00:55:35,920 --> 00:55:37,080
whole bunch of different ways.

812
00:55:37,080 --> 00:55:39,160
I can encounter the divine in the temple.

813
00:55:39,160 --> 00:55:43,200
I can encounter the divine in the whatever.

814
00:55:43,200 --> 00:55:49,480
And so if I think of prayer as being an encounter with divine, that really just kind of helps

815
00:55:49,480 --> 00:55:54,160
put everything in summation for me, you know, because I know that I can have an encounter

816
00:55:54,160 --> 00:55:59,480
in various places and I know that those encounters can be have take on different forms and have

817
00:55:59,480 --> 00:56:03,960
different meaning and impact in my life and in the lives of those I love.

818
00:56:03,960 --> 00:56:05,960
I love that.

819
00:56:05,960 --> 00:56:11,880
Well, I, I think all the general talks, general conference talks that we're giving, I love

820
00:56:11,880 --> 00:56:12,880
them all.

821
00:56:12,880 --> 00:56:15,400
I think it's the best conference we've ever had.

822
00:56:15,400 --> 00:56:16,400
Yeah.

823
00:56:16,400 --> 00:56:24,960
But I really loved and I just really loved Elder Gong's talk on holiness and that we

824
00:56:24,960 --> 00:56:31,360
just need to be more holy, which is really another way of saying we just need more humility.

825
00:56:31,360 --> 00:56:32,360
Yeah.

826
00:56:32,360 --> 00:56:35,560
And let's see who was it.

827
00:56:35,560 --> 00:56:36,560
It was Elder Bender.

828
00:56:36,560 --> 00:56:42,680
I loved his talk too, because he talked that we need to be more humble and he talked about

829
00:56:42,680 --> 00:56:44,920
the pride cycle in Heelman.

830
00:56:44,920 --> 00:56:53,240
The book of Heelman and President Benson and his amazing talk on pride.

831
00:56:53,240 --> 00:57:01,320
Pride is such a enemy to encountering the divine.

832
00:57:01,320 --> 00:57:06,760
Pride keeps us from really having prayers answered from God.

833
00:57:06,760 --> 00:57:09,600
Pride can definitely answer our own prayers.

834
00:57:09,600 --> 00:57:18,360
I, I, I love the description that I think it was President Joseph F. Smith gave in,

835
00:57:18,360 --> 00:57:28,160
in his book, Gospel Doctrine and describing apostates and those who have, who are deceived.

836
00:57:28,160 --> 00:57:38,040
He said that they, they read the word of the Lord by the lamp of their self conceit.

837
00:57:38,040 --> 00:57:39,040
I've always loved that.

838
00:57:39,040 --> 00:57:40,040
Yeah.

839
00:57:40,040 --> 00:57:48,240
Description of those who are deceived, those who pray and think that their prayers are

840
00:57:48,240 --> 00:57:57,040
answered in inappropriate, false ways, that they read the Holy Word of God or they read

841
00:57:57,040 --> 00:58:02,800
the words of the prophet by the lamp of their self conceit.

842
00:58:02,800 --> 00:58:11,600
I think we all just need to be more humble, more teachable, that we need to be knocking,

843
00:58:11,600 --> 00:58:19,440
we need to be seeking, we need to be asking specifically humbly, with real intent, with

844
00:58:19,440 --> 00:58:22,160
faith, with patience.

845
00:58:22,160 --> 00:58:32,200
Oh, it may take years before some of our questions are answered and our prayers are answered.

846
00:58:32,200 --> 00:58:39,400
But it's, it's kind of, I guess, Scott, the, the attitude that we have when we pray that

847
00:58:39,400 --> 00:58:43,040
I think is the real key to, to receiving revelation.

848
00:58:43,040 --> 00:58:46,640
Well, and it's a real key to joy, right?

849
00:58:46,640 --> 00:58:49,200
Joy was just one of the themes.

850
00:58:49,200 --> 00:58:52,560
It seems like there's several themes in each conference and that was one of the themes this

851
00:58:52,560 --> 00:58:53,800
conference is right.

852
00:58:53,800 --> 00:58:55,320
Elder Gong talked about it.

853
00:58:55,320 --> 00:58:57,320
Elder Utdorf talked about it.

854
00:58:57,320 --> 00:59:02,000
Elder Karen's talk on joy, you know, we are members of the Church of Joy, he even said.

855
00:59:02,000 --> 00:59:07,360
And, and I think that, and I think that that, I think that that joy comes, Dave, through

856
00:59:07,360 --> 00:59:11,400
what you just said, those encounters with the divine, you know, that, that, that we

857
00:59:11,400 --> 00:59:17,320
can know that our life and our, our, the way that our life is going is acceptable to the

858
00:59:17,320 --> 00:59:18,320
Lord.

859
00:59:18,320 --> 00:59:24,040
We, we know that as we do this, we're inspired and, and encouraged through the spirit to

860
00:59:24,040 --> 00:59:28,400
engage in our own repentance process and so on.

861
00:59:28,400 --> 00:59:36,040
And it's so important that, that we kind of are in touch with our, our feelings and our

862
00:59:36,040 --> 00:59:43,240
emotions and, and that they're in alignment with the, the heart, mind and will and even

863
00:59:43,240 --> 00:59:46,800
emotions of God who has emotions.

864
00:59:46,800 --> 00:59:50,080
And joy is not necessarily exuberant.

865
00:59:50,080 --> 00:59:55,600
You know, people who receive false revelation and are deceived, they have this false sense

866
00:59:55,600 --> 01:00:02,280
of exuberance, overzealousness, fanatical ideas and feelings.

867
01:00:02,280 --> 01:00:20,360
And joy is a, a serious, a long term, deep feeling of purpose and confidence and feeling

868
01:00:20,360 --> 01:00:29,160
that we are in the, where we need to be doing what we need to be doing all according to

869
01:00:29,160 --> 01:00:31,280
the will of God.

870
01:00:31,280 --> 01:00:36,880
I like to define joy as a peaceful assurance that my life is in alignment with God's will.

871
01:00:36,880 --> 01:00:41,360
A peaceful assurance that my life is in alignment with God's will.

872
01:00:41,360 --> 01:00:42,360
That's joy to me.

873
01:00:42,360 --> 01:00:43,360
Yeah.

874
01:00:43,360 --> 01:00:48,400
And I, and I think, I know, and I testified that it's true that we learned that through

875
01:00:48,400 --> 01:00:53,480
conferences past weekend and I know that as we continue to seek that we will continue

876
01:00:53,480 --> 01:00:58,960
to learn and as we continue to seek that he will continue to provide all that we've talked

877
01:00:58,960 --> 01:00:59,960
about today.

878
01:00:59,960 --> 01:01:00,960
Do we have an invitation?

879
01:01:00,960 --> 01:01:01,960
We will.

880
01:01:01,960 --> 01:01:02,960
Yeah.

881
01:01:02,960 --> 01:01:09,040
Let's, let's all pray with, with greater humility and greater perseverance and in an attitude

882
01:01:09,040 --> 01:01:13,080
of real gratitude and worship.

883
01:01:13,080 --> 01:01:21,520
And let's just kind of change our focus as I told someone recently, you know, who's,

884
01:01:21,520 --> 01:01:28,440
who's been crying out for answers, been crying out for directions and feels as though they

885
01:01:28,440 --> 01:01:38,280
have not received what they wanted and somewhat discouraged and, and struggling because of

886
01:01:38,280 --> 01:01:39,360
that.

887
01:01:39,360 --> 01:01:45,040
I think it's so important, Scott, that what it's our focus.

888
01:01:45,040 --> 01:01:48,200
Are we focused on what I want?

889
01:01:48,200 --> 01:01:51,160
Are we focused on my needs?

890
01:01:51,160 --> 01:02:00,440
Or are we focused upon the plan of redemption, the will of God, the gift of his son, his

891
01:02:00,440 --> 01:02:12,760
love, his mercy, his grace, as well as his, the Lord's, the Savior, the Savior's suffering,

892
01:02:12,760 --> 01:02:14,160
his sacrifice.

893
01:02:14,160 --> 01:02:20,600
If, if, if that would be more of our focus instead of what I'm going through or what

894
01:02:20,600 --> 01:02:28,840
I need or what I want, if we could tap in more to what Jesus Christ feels, what Jesus

895
01:02:28,840 --> 01:02:35,640
Christ experienced, what through Jesus Christ we might be able to receive in our lives.

896
01:02:35,640 --> 01:02:43,720
If our focus were more on him and less on us, Scott, it would definitely increase our

897
01:02:43,720 --> 01:02:47,520
encounters with the divine.

898
01:02:47,520 --> 01:02:52,160
But when we're so focused on ourselves, I think God has a hard time getting through

899
01:02:52,160 --> 01:02:53,160
all of that.

900
01:02:53,160 --> 01:02:59,280
And look unto me in every thought, doubt, not fear not, and, you know, and then, you

901
01:02:59,280 --> 01:03:02,040
know, I can't, I can't quote that without the rest of that.

902
01:03:02,040 --> 01:03:08,400
Behold the prince of the nails, behold the wounds in my side and the prince of the nails

903
01:03:08,400 --> 01:03:10,240
in my hands and feet.

904
01:03:10,240 --> 01:03:14,000
Be faithful and keep my commandments and ye shall inherit the kingdom of heaven.

905
01:03:14,000 --> 01:03:18,440
We can inherit the kingdom of heaven even in this life as we have those encounters with

906
01:03:18,440 --> 01:03:20,000
the divine.

907
01:03:20,000 --> 01:03:27,760
Well, Dave, thanks, that that concludes our series on the receiving personal revelation

908
01:03:27,760 --> 01:03:30,480
and revelation in our lives.

909
01:03:30,480 --> 01:03:32,800
We hope that that's been a benefit to you.

910
01:03:32,800 --> 01:03:38,960
As always, you know, provide us with your comments at he redeems us at gmail.com.

911
01:03:38,960 --> 01:03:39,960
Thanks Dave.

912
01:03:39,960 --> 01:03:40,960
Good to be with you today.

913
01:03:40,960 --> 01:03:41,960
Thank you, Scott.

914
01:03:41,960 --> 01:03:42,960
Do you have any final thoughts or words?

915
01:03:42,960 --> 01:03:43,960
Okay.

916
01:03:43,960 --> 01:03:45,240
Well, folks, thanks again for being with us.

917
01:03:45,240 --> 01:03:47,200
We look forward to being with you again next week.

918
01:03:47,200 --> 01:04:02,760
And until then, be well.