Welcome to the podcast, Closer to Christ, where two friends who love Jesus and his gospel
share our own approach to general conference.
Today, we're going to be discussing Sister Annette Dennis' talk, Put Us on the Lord
Jesus Christ.
Let's jump right in here.
So Abby, what were your favorite takeaways?
Hey, thanks for asking that question, Amy.
That's exactly how I like to start a Relief Society lesson.
Like just open it up, what stood out to you so that I can kind of hear in general what
the sisters are, like what's most interesting to them so that I'm not pigeonholed into just
trying to get through what I want to get through in the talk, really opening it up to like
more collaboration and more inspiration and the spirit touching people.
Like sometimes somebody will bring something up in the talk.
I'm like, I didn't even hear that this time.
And they make me aware of it and make it more important to me to readdress.
So for me, the thing that just popped was right from the beginning paragraph when Sister
Dennis talks about symbolism in books and how she taught her children over the years
how to read the book at face value and then what's the deeper message that can be found
within those pages and to the point where her kids would be frustrated.
They couldn't just read the book for the sake of the book.
They were always getting a deeper message.
That's what the author's intention was.
But not necessarily, you know, in that way, we might walk away with a lesson that we need
to rather than something explicitly that the author is trying to share because that's the
message we needed to hear at the time we're prepared to hear.
And so she set me up for this.
Okay, this is going to be a very symbolic talk.
I'm going to get something out of this talk in the first pass.
I'm going to get something more out of it as I look into it a little bit later.
And then if I'm ready for even more wisdom or something from this talk, then that's going
to be there each time that I take a pass through it.
I'm going to share one of like one of my aha moments.
Just right, just directly quoting what she said.
She said when God the Father offered his only begotten Son as a sacrifice for us, Jesus
Christ himself became the highest symbol of our Father in heaven's undying love for each
of us.
Jesus Christ became the Lamb of God.
I was like that was so powerful.
I've heard it in a million different ways in a million different times, but Jesus Christ
is the ultimate symbol of Heavenly Father's love for us.
And then as the talk goes on, talks about how we have the privilege and blessing of
being invited into a covenant relationship with God, which our own life can then become
a symbol of that covenant.
And it creates a kind of relationship that allows God to mold and changes over time and
lift us to become more like the Savior, drawing us closer and closer to Him and our Father
and eventually preparing us to enter into their presence.
God sets the conditions and obligations of the covenants we make.
When we choose to enter into that relationship, we witness to Him through our symbolic action
of each and every covenant we make that we are willing to abide by the conditions he's
set.
And then in honoring those covenants, we enable God to pour out the multitude of promised
blessings associated with those covenants, including increased power to change and become
more like our Savior who was set as this ultimate prime example of God's love for us.
And so as we become more like the Savior, we're demonstrating our love back to God.
And then the last I'm kind of cutting my favorite direct quotes from him.
This is the last thing that I'll directly share.
It says, there is a deep and beautiful symbolic meaning in the garment of the Holy Priesthood
and its relationship to Christ.
I believe that my willingness to wear the holy garment becomes my symbol to him in my
own personal sign to God.
It's not a sign to others.
And that was a stand up for me.
Do you feel like there's kind of like an incessant argument like in social media, like with the
way that we publish our lives and we put our lives out there these days that that's something
that comes up all the time.
All of us like commenting on how people wear their garment or don't wear their garment
or what that should look like for each person.
Totally.
And I noticed it the way that she said this.
It was like, I don't need to worry about how other people wear the garment.
I only need to worry about how I wear the garment for myself and the way that I wear
my garment to reflect how I feel about my savior, period.
No judgment on how others are wearing it.
The first presidency, they've added that extra layer to the Temple recommend stuff.
There are a set of rules that we have been asked to abide by.
The garment is so sacred and special that we do promise to wear it in a certain way.
But you know, past that interview and past receiving that recommend and past having the
privilege and the opportunity to wear the garment.
It's really an individual pursuit on what that looks like.
Totally.
I agree with that.
Like, it's interesting to how you keep saying layers.
Okay, not intentionally.
No, I know.
Yeah, you know, no pun intended with it being another layer, right?
But it's true.
Like, as you were talking, I was thinking about just the way that she described it.
And then you just use the same words that she used.
But essentially, having us be covered in the blessings that Jesus Christ offers that are
tied through his atonement.
And again, another layer, I'm just kind of thinking in this way, but we have layers of
covenants, right?
Like we start at baptism, and we make a covenant and we, we might not totally understand what
is entailed in that covenant at eight, right?
I can be fully aware with that.
One thing that I would say I fully understood is that I wanted to follow Jesus.
And that's why I made that covenant.
Have I learned more things beyond every week as I take the sacrament?
Every week, I grow deeper in that covenant, you could say, as I continue to live the gospel
of Jesus Christ.
And I feel like it's the same way with the next covenants that we make.
I've chosen to make the covenants.
I might not understand them fully and perfectly at every step.
But what I do know is that my heart is turned toward Jesus and I want what he has.
I love that.
What was the word that she used about covering?
Kala.
Kala or was it the kafar?
Kafar.
Yeah.
Sorry.
That's what it was.
That's like, isn't that like a beautiful religious covering or is that just, it's like the whole
headdress?
I'm not sure what that hat.
Yeah.
I don't know what the name of that is, but I think it just means cover.
Right.
It's like the garment doesn't necessarily have to cover every square inch of our body
to if we understand that it's more of a symbolic point that it's putting ourselves on Jesus
Christ.
We were thinking, you know, back in the day, the garment used to be ankle to wrist.
That's pretty cumbersome.
Right.
But as far as they understood, you know, what is covered is protected.
That's a layer.
But then you come to understand really if the garment just points you to Jesus Christ
and makes you think of Him more during your day, that's the point of the garment and the
having it next to you and by you and so intertwined with everything that you're doing, points
you to Jesus Christ more often during the day.
Had we not had the opportunity to wear it?
Absolutely.
I totally agree with that.
It's interesting because as we've been thinking about this, you know, this talk, I just thought
to myself, I was like, you know what?
It's become a part of my morning routine.
Right.
Like, I could say it's as routine as me putting on my shoes in the morning.
It says routine as me, you know, brushing my teeth.
Just because it's part of that, it kind of gets lumped in with it.
And after this talk, I definitely during the talk, I was like, Oh, wow, Amy, this is an
opportunity for you to really think about it rather than having it just be autopilot.
I get ready in the middle, you know, in the sorry, in the beginning of the day.
So I just was thinking of a couple of questions and one of them was, how am I being covered
by the Savior's atonement in my life?
Another one, can I ask Heavenly Father to help me feel more connected to Christ as I
put on my garments of the priesthood?
And then the other one I was thinking of is, you know, I am capable of creating an environment
as I get ready in the morning.
I was thinking of the sacrament, you know, the doors are closed.
We sing a hymn.
It's quiet and it's reflective.
And so I was just thinking, you know, what if the beginning of my day, as I put on the
garment, I am thinking of that and just remembering that I really am renewing a covenant that
I've made to remember Jesus Christ.
And as I do that, how much more empowered am I during the day?
Like, honestly, if we think about it, that we put him on, that means I'm putting on a
portion of his patience with people and myself.
I'm putting on a portion of his love.
And these all flow through his atonement that he did for each one of us.
So it's very empowering to think of that.
So I guess the best way for me to put it is that I appreciated the way she framed that
because the Spirit was able to teach me as I listened and as I've read this talk, that
there really is more there than I was claiming for myself.
And so now I want to, you know, stand up and claim that power.
I do want to be covered in the blessings of Jesus Christ.
So this is an easy action item for me to point out to the audience.
If you've made covenants with God in the form of temple covenants and you do have the authorization
to wear the garment on behalf of those.
Amy pointed this out to me a couple of weeks back when we were just talking about highlights
from conference and something that she's been doing since.
And so she told me that she's putting more thought and time into putting the garment
on rather than just one of those daily tasks.
We probably all agree when a prayer is the first thing we do in the morning or we get
our scripture study done earlier in the morning, it changes the direct, it changes the course
of the day.
It changes what we're able to accomplish.
It changes.
I mean, even if we don't get everything accomplished, like we felt like we've got the most important
things done if we're kind of checklist people.
And so I can honestly say I've put more time and attention into that step of my day where
the garments going on, thinking of it more like not just what I wear, not what I've worn
for the last 20 years, that it's a chance to sit and reflect on my savior and what he
has the ability to do for me during that day.
Especially if the day seems overwhelming or crazy, that it's not just in prayer that I'm
like, I need these things from you.
It reminds me that I have specific temple covenants that I can rely on him in so many
different moments.
My responsibilities as a mom, my responsibility as a member of a ward, the things that I'm
expected to do in my community.
Well, I shouldn't say expected.
There's just the list.
We all have lots of hats that we wear and the savior is willing and able to step in
and fill whatever we need him to in those moments.
And the garment was designed as a symbolic representation of all of those things that
he can do for us.
Too often we think we have to be the one that gets all of these things accomplished and
do these things.
And he wants us to know, nope, I'm here with you, beside you.
Like we're way more of a team.
I'm reminded of that by the garment and I love that.
So I've appreciated that.
Amy admitted to me that it's something that can kind of slip out of her focus and like
kind of goes back to that routine thing.
And so she's talked about a few ideas of actually, I don't know, making, making a little, it's
like people will put little things on their, with their mirrors in their bathroom, like
a saying, a quote, like an affirmation or something, something where she keeps her,
her garments stored.
I don't know what you come, came up with.
Was it going to be a scripture?
Was it going to be a piece of sisters?
Right in my closet, I just have, I have a little mirror in my closet where I get ready
and that's where my garments are as well.
And so just when I'm getting ready in the morning, I just want to have that on my mirror.
One of the questions that speaks to me, do you know what I mean?
Like how am I claiming the blessings of my covenants as I, as I wear the holy garment,
you know, something like that, that just gets me to think a little more that it truly is,
like you said, a symbol of something that I take very, that I see as sacred.
Yeah, and the more often that we're attending the temple and, and we have those covenants
and the blessings associated with the covenants we're making running through our brain.
I don't think it's appropriate to mention any of that past past saying that here, but
I'm, I'm running through those in my head right now, as we're having this conversation,
we're podcasting, I'm thinking the absolute power that is bestowed on me in the temple
and brought to remembrance of it as I'm thinking about the garment in that way.
So once again, reiterating rather than using the garment as a way to judge standard of
others and what we perceive as going on in our life and how we think that they are being
like just be self-reflective on it.
All that matters is how you view the garment and what it means to you.
And what power you can draw from it as you take the deeper symbolism of the garment into
your life.
Not necessarily just thinking of the fabric of it, but the meaning, the, the meaning of
the garment.
Agreed.
What, what stood out to you, Amy, I should have asked you the same question back.
Like, you're good.
Um, some action item was obviously drawn from, from the talk.
Like you've actually been doing something because of the talk, but was there any like
piece of it that you were just like, Oh, that was something to think about?
I did like again, like with the layers, I really loved how, um, through the whole talk,
she was really good at reminding us like that the first layer, you know, she says, Jesus
Christ is at the center of all of the covenants that we make and covenant blessings are made
possible because of his atoning sacrifice.
And I just like how she went through after that and just sort of highlighted each of
the, um, the covenants that we do make.
And again, I feel like it's the layers, right?
She says with our baptism, we symbolically put on Christ.
We again put on Christ as we make a new covenant each week.
So that would be like, as we take the sacrament, right?
And then she talks about the ceremonial clothing during temple service.
We also wear the garment to the Holy priesthood, both during temple worship and in every day
of our lives.
And again, when we were talking about the word Kaffir, she says, our temple garment
reminds us that the savior and the blessings of his atonement cover us throughout our lives.
As we put on the garment to the Holy priesthood each day, that beautiful symbol becomes a
part of us.
And I, again, it's the symbolism of it, right?
It's kind of like a parable and there's as much there as we're willing to ask to be taught.
So it's great if you just want to take it at the face value, you know, some days maybe
that's where you are, or some years that's where you are, just with a hope and a desire
that the spirit will continue to teach you as we live the gospel of Jesus Christ.
That's really what I see in it.
And that's what I've seen throughout my life is that there's always been like a line upon
line type of a thing as I turn to God.
Yeah, I don't think any of us start our day out like intending to do any wrong or hoping
to make mistakes.
Right, as a natural man goes, it's gonna, it's bound to happen.
But I, as you were talking, I was just thinking, it's covered.
If I mess up, it's covered.
I'm not intent because my heart's in a place where I'm not intentionally setting out to
cause harm or make a mistake.
That's great.
I'm thinking of that as I'm putting on that garment and kind of master planning the day.
But at the end of the day, you know, when life has happened and haven't done everything
perfectly, that I get another chance to reflect on my Savior and how grateful I am that anything
that didn't quite go perfectly, which is every day was covered by my Savior.
I feel that.
I love that.
That's so great.
It's true.
I like going through the day, you know, going back through the day and saying, if I had
to redo, what could I do?
And Heavenly Father, you know, please let the atonement work in my life where maybe
I messed up and someone's not ready to forgive me or something like that.
Like if there could just be a softness that's there that can soften hearts and we can still
mend a relationship.
Because I do think, you know, there's one thing to make a mistake.
And then there's another thing, repair.
Repair really is possible because of the atonement of Jesus Christ.
Yeah, we didn't do it perfectly.
But if we come together and, you know, two people talking together in whatever circumstance
or situation it is and just say, I realize I did mess up, is there a way forward for
both of us?
And the word repetition popped out.
Like there's another R for you.
It's like if I keep doing the same thing, making the same mistake again.
Yes, the Savior has atonement does have the power to get over that.
But if I'm more reflective on my day after it's gone by and I'm like not super happy
with the way something went, if I reflect on it and I think if I had to do over, I wouldn't
do it again.
It actually propels me to not make that same mistake in a future day.
Oh, I think that's where a lot of pride.
That's really a demonstration of the love that I have for my Savior and my Heavenly
Father when, when I'm recognizing that I didn't love some of the decisions that I made that
I want to, can't really go back on them.
He covers that though.
But going forward that I'm going to try to do better, you know, be aware of what the
Spirit's perking in you to think about a little bit more deeply.
See you next time.
Amazing Grace dollaged up and caught in Lake