1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:09,520 Welcome to Closer to Christ, the General Conference, where two friends share our own approach to 2 00:00:09,520 --> 00:00:15,900 studying general conference. Today we get to delve into the talk by Elder Ronald A. 3 00:00:15,900 --> 00:00:21,640 Razband called Words Matter. And before we jump, jump in, Amy, I think it's worth noting 4 00:00:21,640 --> 00:00:24,520 that we are onto the Sunday morning session of conference. 5 00:00:24,520 --> 00:00:25,520 Yay! 6 00:00:25,520 --> 00:00:28,400 Yes. And as we get to the top of these general conference sessions, we always like to take 7 00:00:28,400 --> 00:00:34,960 the chance to invite you guys to like, rate, and subscribe to the podcast because it does 8 00:00:34,960 --> 00:00:41,000 help more people find us when they're looking for something like this. So if you feel so 9 00:00:41,000 --> 00:00:44,320 inclined, we would love your thoughts. 10 00:00:44,320 --> 00:00:51,660 Awesome, Abby. Thank you. Okay, so in this talk, words are the bedrock of how we connect. 11 00:00:51,660 --> 00:00:56,360 They represent our beliefs, our morals, and perspectives. And sometimes we speak words 12 00:00:56,360 --> 00:01:01,560 other and other times we listen to words. Words set a tone, they voice our thoughts, 13 00:01:01,560 --> 00:01:06,840 feelings and experiences for either bad or for good. He then goes on or just a little 14 00:01:06,840 --> 00:01:11,800 more background. Words can be thoughtless, hasty and hurtful. They can wound, punish, 15 00:01:11,800 --> 00:01:16,840 cut down and even lead to destructive actions. They can weigh heavily on us, but words can 16 00:01:16,840 --> 00:01:23,180 celebrate victory, be hopeful and encouraging. They can prompt us to rethink, reboot and 17 00:01:23,180 --> 00:01:27,840 redirect our course. Words can open our minds to truth. 18 00:01:27,840 --> 00:01:30,920 Isn't that such an amazing statement? 19 00:01:30,920 --> 00:01:32,120 Yep, he said it very well, didn't he? 20 00:01:32,120 --> 00:01:37,240 He did say it well. And it made me think how amazing it is to think about the vast audience 21 00:01:37,240 --> 00:01:42,160 that the conference is going to reach in so many languages, across all continents. 22 00:01:42,160 --> 00:01:43,160 Cultures. 23 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:49,080 Cultures. And you know that they don't specifically assign speakers to talk on anything ventricular. 24 00:01:49,080 --> 00:01:53,960 So once they get the assignment, they spend months studying, pondering, praying over topics 25 00:01:53,960 --> 00:01:58,560 that are near and dear to them. And maybe they've asked the Lord at some point, like 26 00:01:58,560 --> 00:02:01,000 what do they need to learn more of so then they're going to put their time and effort 27 00:02:01,000 --> 00:02:07,100 into studying that. But I have a strong testimony that the words that are spoken as messages 28 00:02:07,100 --> 00:02:11,000 from General Conference are through the Lord's servants and they are the words that he wants 29 00:02:11,000 --> 00:02:16,240 us to have access to and to hear. And so when I go into General Conference, I've already 30 00:02:16,240 --> 00:02:20,640 mentioned this before, but I ask him to bless me with ears to hear the messages that are 31 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:25,600 meant for me. Like they'll resonate in a certain way. And now that we're doing the podcast 32 00:02:25,600 --> 00:02:31,400 week to week, really delving into talks rather than just the ones that my Relief Society 33 00:02:31,400 --> 00:02:37,000 presidency has selected for us to take a look into, I'm getting that deep dive into every 34 00:02:37,000 --> 00:02:45,280 single talk. And just want to testify that when we access those words that are available 35 00:02:45,280 --> 00:02:50,760 to us, they can change your life. Because the message that you were prepared to hear 36 00:02:50,760 --> 00:02:56,720 on that first day of conference or the ones you pick up here and there, they matter. They 37 00:02:56,720 --> 00:03:00,800 help us change our thought. They help us change the actions that we're doing day to day. And 38 00:03:00,800 --> 00:03:05,920 then when I'm like, now that we're this far into each of the conference talks, I'm connecting 39 00:03:05,920 --> 00:03:11,840 things between the talks like never before, or it's making, if I'm having a conversation 40 00:03:11,840 --> 00:03:15,000 with a friend, maybe they're looking for some advice or they just want to talk about 41 00:03:15,000 --> 00:03:18,280 something that these are maybe the most fresh words on my mind. 42 00:03:18,280 --> 00:03:19,280 Nicole Sadd-Kelley Isn't it nice? 43 00:03:19,280 --> 00:03:21,400 Danielle Pletka Yeah, like I can just be a mouthpiece to 44 00:03:21,400 --> 00:03:26,320 the Lord through his servants and then have something to reference back to so that they 45 00:03:26,320 --> 00:03:29,800 can ponder on it themselves rather than just like, this is good information. Maybe you 46 00:03:29,800 --> 00:03:33,580 were going to run across it at some other point. So I'm just feeling super grateful 47 00:03:33,580 --> 00:03:41,380 for this opportunity that we've had to study, to study these so deeply. So we have ancient 48 00:03:41,380 --> 00:03:46,240 scripture that we can pull off of and then what I'd consider general conference modern 49 00:03:46,240 --> 00:03:51,680 scripture and both of those combined are really blessing my life. There was a quote from this 50 00:03:51,680 --> 00:03:55,360 talk and it said, believing and heeding the word of God will draw us closer to him. President 51 00:03:55,360 --> 00:04:00,640 Russell M. Nelson has promised, if you will study his words, your ability to be more like 52 00:04:00,640 --> 00:04:05,360 him will increase. And isn't that our end goal? Be more like Jesus Christ, draw closer 53 00:04:05,360 --> 00:04:10,720 to him, echo his words more fully and knowing that we can easily do that as we're sharing 54 00:04:10,720 --> 00:04:15,760 thoughts and impressions from conference and as scriptures come to our mind, like what 55 00:04:15,760 --> 00:04:21,440 great tools to have. Absolutely. This talk gives us the opportunity to consider words 56 00:04:21,440 --> 00:04:25,460 and then their ability to draw us closer to Jesus Christ. And then I love that it's broken 57 00:04:25,460 --> 00:04:32,200 up into three categories. There's the Lord's words, the prophet's words, and our own words. 58 00:04:32,200 --> 00:04:37,480 Yeah, that's a great way to describe how this talk was broken up. It makes it like 59 00:04:37,480 --> 00:04:42,200 simple for us to kind of attack each of those. So Abby, what examples from this talk stood 60 00:04:42,200 --> 00:04:47,520 out to you on how to make the Lord's words matter more in our lives? I like that he quoted 61 00:04:47,520 --> 00:04:54,740 2nd Nephi 32.3. This is what it said, wherefore I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ, 62 00:04:54,740 --> 00:04:59,760 for behold the words of Christ will tell you all things that you should do. And just by 63 00:04:59,760 --> 00:05:07,120 way of comment on that, I just kind of thought we've got to get into the scriptures. They've 64 00:05:07,120 --> 00:05:13,280 been made available to us. And if we use our agency to access the power that can come from 65 00:05:13,280 --> 00:05:17,000 scriptures, then they will provide the power that we're looking for. If you have a question 66 00:05:17,000 --> 00:05:21,720 come to mind, you don't have to be a scriptorian. I think many of us have probably had that 67 00:05:21,720 --> 00:05:26,080 experience where you have a question in your heart and you feel impressed to go to the 68 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:29,940 scriptures. They're like an old friend and you open them randomly and the scripture that 69 00:05:29,940 --> 00:05:35,860 pops up, the spirit can make applicable to whatever situation. Totally. I'm married 70 00:05:35,860 --> 00:05:40,160 to a guy that can know the scripture that he's supposed to turn to. He can be like, 71 00:05:40,160 --> 00:05:43,920 this is the reference, but oh yeah, I'm going to open to whatever book. That's not a gift 72 00:05:43,920 --> 00:05:48,320 that I have. Nor do I imagine I ever will. Yeah, I'm totally all about it. I do love 73 00:05:48,320 --> 00:05:53,080 that. You're like, I know enough words. Type in the word sacrifice or whatever and he'll 74 00:05:53,080 --> 00:06:01,040 get me to where I need to be. But we just had an experience last week and a gal was 75 00:06:01,040 --> 00:06:05,520 contemplating a question. She had something burning on her heart. So she typed into her 76 00:06:05,520 --> 00:06:10,800 search button and then it took her to this article that was based on the early society 77 00:06:10,800 --> 00:06:15,660 or whatever. I looked at Adam and I was like, let's test this out. So I opened up the gospel 78 00:06:15,660 --> 00:06:19,680 library thing and I typed in the word she said. She typed into the search bar. Did not 79 00:06:19,680 --> 00:06:23,960 come up with the same search results. I'm telling you, divine Google search. It really 80 00:06:23,960 --> 00:06:27,800 is, especially if you're focusing into good resources like the gospel library app, they're 81 00:06:27,800 --> 00:06:32,080 going to take you to wherever. But how she tied in that article to the question she was 82 00:06:32,080 --> 00:06:37,520 asking, I was like, yeah, that was the spirit. And so continue that process because that 83 00:06:37,520 --> 00:06:41,320 is an excellent way to rely on the Lord's words to get you through whatever trial that 84 00:06:41,320 --> 00:06:45,360 you're experiencing, even if it's not duplicatable. He'll get you to the right place later. 85 00:06:45,360 --> 00:06:49,600 That's the whole thing. Yeah. It doesn't have to be duplicatable. It's whatever is for you 86 00:06:49,600 --> 00:06:58,040 at that moment. Was there anything that stood out to you about that, about feast, like the 87 00:06:58,040 --> 00:07:04,040 Lord's words in particular? I like the part where he talked about, well, there were so 88 00:07:04,040 --> 00:07:06,640 many things. It's hard to narrow it down, but something that really stuck into my heart 89 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:13,560 was it was from the savior and just the reassurance in the New Testament. Heaven and earth shall 90 00:07:13,560 --> 00:07:18,560 pass away, but my word shall not pass away. And I, again, I totally think that that for 91 00:07:18,560 --> 00:07:24,180 me, it is another remembrance for me that scripture is living scripture and that is 92 00:07:24,180 --> 00:07:30,400 always applicable as I change, as I'm in different seasons. I can go back and read the exact 93 00:07:30,400 --> 00:07:33,640 same scripture I've read before. And instead of kind of rolling my eyes and thinking, I've 94 00:07:33,640 --> 00:07:38,300 already heard this before, if I'm really listening and wanting to learn from it, it's like I 95 00:07:38,300 --> 00:07:42,920 learned something else from it. It just hits me in a different way and it's applicable 96 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:48,480 to maybe the hardship or the trial that I'm going through right then. And it's an answer 97 00:07:48,480 --> 00:07:52,360 that totally resonates is truth to me. And then when I read it to my words shall not 98 00:07:52,360 --> 00:07:57,160 pass away, I kind of think of maybe people's intention to rewrite history, rewrite things. 99 00:07:57,160 --> 00:08:02,840 And for me, like assurances that I've received from the spirit of a truth that's in the scriptures, 100 00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:04,920 this really can't change, can't be rewritten. 101 00:08:04,920 --> 00:08:10,680 Right. The truth doesn't change, but the application changes, which is why it's living. Yes, I 102 00:08:10,680 --> 00:08:11,680 totally agree. 103 00:08:11,680 --> 00:08:15,580 Here was another quote from that section. If a man love me, he will keep my words. My 104 00:08:15,580 --> 00:08:19,800 father will love him and he will come unto him and make our abode with him. So I love 105 00:08:19,800 --> 00:08:25,080 the thought of the abode. I love the visual of thinking of the father and son and me abiding 106 00:08:25,080 --> 00:08:30,720 with them. But you have to know his word to keep his word. And so that's the important 107 00:08:30,720 --> 00:08:35,480 thing of why these prophets were charged with writing this important stuff down. It's because 108 00:08:35,480 --> 00:08:41,200 those truths existed then and they exist for us now. And they're really just meant to be 109 00:08:41,200 --> 00:08:47,320 such a strong tool. So because of those words, we have the story of Joseph Smith reading 110 00:08:47,320 --> 00:08:55,640 in James 1.5. And as he records his experience, being able to see the father and the son and 111 00:08:55,640 --> 00:09:01,640 hear him. So let's borrow a question right from Elder Rasband. He says, we hear him in 112 00:09:01,640 --> 00:09:06,220 the words of scripture, but do we just let them sit on the page or do we recognize he 113 00:09:06,220 --> 00:09:08,320 is speaking to us? Do we change? 114 00:09:08,320 --> 00:09:10,200 Very good. 115 00:09:10,200 --> 00:09:16,040 That's a question probably we should all just kind of steal on and just think about like 116 00:09:16,040 --> 00:09:20,560 the scriptures are good, but to what end? What am I doing with the words that I'm learning 117 00:09:20,560 --> 00:09:23,920 from them? Are they causing change in my life? Are they driving me closer to the savior and 118 00:09:23,920 --> 00:09:28,360 helping me act more like him? Or is it just like, I felt like I had to read a chapter 119 00:09:28,360 --> 00:09:30,360 and I read my chapter and it was a check mark. 120 00:09:30,360 --> 00:09:34,120 Right. Or, oh, that reminds me of someone else who needs this. Like when you hear that 121 00:09:34,120 --> 00:09:37,800 rather than I need this, what can I do with this? That's what it's all about. It's not 122 00:09:37,800 --> 00:09:40,760 for you reading for other people. It's you reading for you. 123 00:09:40,760 --> 00:09:47,120 That's really smart. We hear him in personal revelation and prompting from the Holy Ghost 124 00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:50,640 in answer to prayer. And in those moments when only Jesus Christ through the power of 125 00:09:50,640 --> 00:09:54,600 his atonement can lift our burdens, grant us forgiveness and peace and embrace us in 126 00:09:54,600 --> 00:10:01,940 the arms of his love. I guess when I heard this part of the talk, I thought that relationship 127 00:10:01,940 --> 00:10:06,960 in reading his words and then making them applicable in our lives or allowing them to 128 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:12,080 feel like the answer to a prayer really is contingent upon the relationship that we've 129 00:10:12,080 --> 00:10:13,560 established with him. 130 00:10:13,560 --> 00:10:19,720 Totally. Is it trusted? Is that one of your lines of communication? 131 00:10:19,720 --> 00:10:25,080 To feel the power of the atonement that only Jesus Christ can offer to allow him to lift 132 00:10:25,080 --> 00:10:31,600 our burdens, we have to initially turn that burden over to him and have to test that process 133 00:10:31,600 --> 00:10:37,760 like whether we think that we can access the power that we've been promised if we abide 134 00:10:37,760 --> 00:10:40,720 in his word and trust in his word. 135 00:10:40,720 --> 00:10:45,160 So I don't think that everybody that's listening is going to be like, oh yeah, I totally trust 136 00:10:45,160 --> 00:10:50,200 that I'm doing that. But it's a process. It's a process that's worth putting time into and 137 00:10:50,200 --> 00:10:51,200 learning. 138 00:10:51,200 --> 00:10:55,720 Doesn't it feel like everything's a process? I don't know of anything that's one and done. 139 00:10:55,720 --> 00:10:59,640 It's like everything's preparatory for the next thing. 140 00:10:59,640 --> 00:11:05,640 And I especially love when you'll hear a child testify of an answer to their prayer and it's 141 00:11:05,640 --> 00:11:14,120 something as simple as finding a remote or their stuffy. It's simple ways for them to 142 00:11:14,120 --> 00:11:15,440 establish trust in him. 143 00:11:15,440 --> 00:11:17,600 For sure, because that's important to them. 144 00:11:17,600 --> 00:11:20,720 So that when the bigger things come along that they have that as their experience from 145 00:11:20,720 --> 00:11:25,960 before. So then as they hear these promises that they can access that power, that they'll 146 00:11:25,960 --> 00:11:30,120 be like, oh, I have that one time that I remember that one experience and then it buoys them 147 00:11:30,120 --> 00:11:35,360 to do the next thing. Ask him for a harder thing, a bigger ask and a bigger situation. 148 00:11:35,360 --> 00:11:36,920 That's a pattern of God. 149 00:11:36,920 --> 00:11:40,440 Why not make the best investment of your life by spending more of your time now to study 150 00:11:40,440 --> 00:11:46,040 and learn for yourself the ways of the Lord? Consider the ways you're making time for scripture 151 00:11:46,040 --> 00:11:50,880 study. Do we need to make an adjustment to better be able to hear him? 152 00:11:50,880 --> 00:12:03,440 So I thought on this one, I thought, what's my pattern for studying the gospel? 153 00:12:03,440 --> 00:12:04,440 Does it change or is it the same? 154 00:12:04,440 --> 00:12:05,440 Oh, totally, totally changes. 155 00:12:05,440 --> 00:12:06,440 My nose changes. 156 00:12:06,440 --> 00:12:10,200 It totally changes depending on the calling that I'm having. So it's like, if I'm teaching 157 00:12:10,200 --> 00:12:13,600 teenagers, I'm like definitely reading the Come Follow Me week to week, like through 158 00:12:13,600 --> 00:12:18,120 the eyes of a teenager. It's rarely about myself. That's just how it is. 159 00:12:18,120 --> 00:12:22,280 And you're a lot with teenagers as far as your callings. You just did FSY last week. 160 00:12:22,280 --> 00:12:23,280 You teach them. 161 00:12:23,280 --> 00:12:24,920 But now I have like a primary calling. 162 00:12:24,920 --> 00:12:27,920 Oh, yeah, you're right. Sorry. I subbed for you. I knew that. 163 00:12:27,920 --> 00:12:30,680 Yeah. Well, I mean, it's a mixture. I have different, I do have different hats that I 164 00:12:30,680 --> 00:12:35,720 wear, but like on every Sunday, my Come Follow Me experience is with nine turning 10 year 165 00:12:35,720 --> 00:12:41,000 olds. And so I would definitely say that like first year since January, like my delve into 166 00:12:41,000 --> 00:12:45,320 the scriptures is from the eyes of what's a bite size piece, like what's one take home. 167 00:12:45,320 --> 00:12:50,880 I'm definitely not trying to cover everything. I go through the scripture verses and I just 168 00:12:50,880 --> 00:12:55,160 recall experiences that touched me. And then I always just think what's the one thing, 169 00:12:55,160 --> 00:12:58,700 like if they go home and they're having a conversation with their family about the one 170 00:12:58,700 --> 00:13:02,080 thing that we talked about, what's the most important? 171 00:13:02,080 --> 00:13:07,320 And so, I don't know. I'm like, that's a different way that I'm studying the Come Follow Me currently. 172 00:13:07,320 --> 00:13:14,000 But I would say I'm, to hear the Lord's word, like I'm more in general conference now, this 173 00:13:14,000 --> 00:13:17,040 chunk of time because of this podcast than I've ever been. 174 00:13:17,040 --> 00:13:18,040 Agreed. 175 00:13:18,040 --> 00:13:21,880 And so that's like filling my personal cup and that's allowing personal growth for me. 176 00:13:21,880 --> 00:13:26,280 Whereas like the Come Follow Me is totally awesome and it pairs well with whatever we're 177 00:13:26,280 --> 00:13:30,960 studying. But I'm always like, oh, that scripture ties well with this talk that we just went 178 00:13:30,960 --> 00:13:34,680 deep into and it makes me think this more about the talk. So those are the moments for 179 00:13:34,680 --> 00:13:41,320 me. But I hesitate to, I think we need to be in the scriptures and the more that are 180 00:13:41,320 --> 00:13:45,920 on our mind, the more reference that we have to recall those answers, the questions are 181 00:13:45,920 --> 00:13:51,440 certainly there. But I just really want to suggest not having like a checklist item like, 182 00:13:51,440 --> 00:13:54,800 oh, you've got to get through a chapter, you've got to get through this at a certain amount 183 00:13:54,800 --> 00:14:02,280 of time. I think if what's maybe like more valuable is to have a question on your mind 184 00:14:02,280 --> 00:14:08,040 and then let the scripture study pair with the question rather than just like I got through 185 00:14:08,040 --> 00:14:09,040 a chapter. 186 00:14:09,040 --> 00:14:10,040 That's kind of how I do it too. 187 00:14:10,040 --> 00:14:11,040 Yeah. I'm not saying that. 188 00:14:11,040 --> 00:14:12,040 I don't always follow. 189 00:14:12,040 --> 00:14:14,560 I hear that all the time. It's just a thought. 190 00:14:14,560 --> 00:14:17,920 Okay. So we've gone through the Lord's words. Now let's talk about hearing the 191 00:14:17,920 --> 00:14:22,440 words of the prophet. Prophets testify of the divinity of Jesus Christ. They teach his 192 00:14:22,440 --> 00:14:27,120 gospel and show his love for all. And then he says, I bear my witness that our living 193 00:14:27,120 --> 00:14:33,000 prophet, President Russell M. Nelson hears and speaks the word of the Lord. 194 00:14:33,000 --> 00:14:34,000 Amen. 195 00:14:34,000 --> 00:14:35,000 Amen. 196 00:14:35,000 --> 00:14:40,080 He does. Let's think of some of the last cute little terms that he's coined right 197 00:14:40,080 --> 00:14:46,480 from the talk, pulled, keep on the covenant path. He said, gather Israel, let God prevail, 198 00:14:46,480 --> 00:14:51,880 build bridges of understanding, give thanks, increase your faith in Jesus Christ, take 199 00:14:51,880 --> 00:14:57,300 charge of your testimony, become a peacemaker, think celestial. So the prophet is very good 200 00:14:57,300 --> 00:15:00,840 at reaching people where they're at. And he knows to reach the youth, like Instagram 201 00:15:00,840 --> 00:15:05,900 is a really great way to do these. And what really resonates on Instagram is like a two 202 00:15:05,900 --> 00:15:09,080 to four word blurb. 203 00:15:09,080 --> 00:15:10,080 Agreed. 204 00:15:10,080 --> 00:15:14,240 So I think Heavenly Father knows that's how they're going to reach them. And so he comes 205 00:15:14,240 --> 00:15:15,240 up with these cool little things. 206 00:15:15,240 --> 00:15:16,240 So good. 207 00:15:16,240 --> 00:15:19,760 And then you could spend months and years on just like one of his little phrases, the 208 00:15:19,760 --> 00:15:25,120 deeper you want to get into it. So if you don't feel put on the spot, what comes to 209 00:15:25,120 --> 00:15:29,120 your mind or like what truth have you learned from one of those cute little coined phrases 210 00:15:29,120 --> 00:15:30,760 that he's recently spoken? 211 00:15:30,760 --> 00:15:38,160 So I went back and looked at all of his since 2018 and I was absolutely floored. I know 212 00:15:38,160 --> 00:15:42,680 this sounds funny, but you know when like you learn or understand a truth and you take 213 00:15:42,680 --> 00:15:46,160 it into your heart, sometimes you forget when you learned it because it feels like it's 214 00:15:46,160 --> 00:15:49,920 always been part of you or a piece of you. But as I looked back, there were four different 215 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:54,480 times that I was like, oh my gosh, that one question or that one thing that President 216 00:15:54,480 --> 00:15:58,960 Nelson said, for example, one of them he said in 2018, he said, you do not have to question 217 00:15:58,960 --> 00:16:04,760 what truth is. You can find out for yourself. And he just talked about personal revelation. 218 00:16:04,760 --> 00:16:12,280 And just like you said before, that exact talk was when he said, we don't give specific 219 00:16:12,280 --> 00:16:16,720 topics, everyone prays and receives their own personal revelation on what they want 220 00:16:16,720 --> 00:16:24,840 to talk about. And then we use our agency and use our use our agency to receive personal 221 00:16:24,840 --> 00:16:29,600 revelation. And I also love it was also the talk where he talks about, I think it's spiritual 222 00:16:29,600 --> 00:16:32,680 treasures, but I'm not sure. No, no, no, no, revelation for the church, revelation for 223 00:16:32,680 --> 00:16:41,120 our lives. And he talked about how you grow into personal revelation. And I've literally 224 00:16:41,120 --> 00:16:48,840 taken that. And that was the whole basis for, I feel like since he got into his presidency, 225 00:16:48,840 --> 00:16:53,080 yeah, his presidency, that my life has changed since then. That was one of the things. The 226 00:16:53,080 --> 00:17:00,120 other one was, I think it was spiritual treasures. Yes. When he talked to the women and I have 227 00:17:00,120 --> 00:17:06,240 never felt more loved, more seen and more like valued as a woman in Christ restored 228 00:17:06,240 --> 00:17:10,920 church as I have through that talk. And it's really cool because just this week I saw a 229 00:17:10,920 --> 00:17:19,000 video of sister darn can't think of her name right now, but she's single and she was in 230 00:17:19,000 --> 00:17:24,760 one of the presidencies. I know I can see your face and she was a humanitarian. You 231 00:17:24,760 --> 00:17:28,800 think Sharon. Thank you, Sharon. Yes. So she does the charities now, right? Yes. She was 232 00:17:28,800 --> 00:17:38,600 talking and she said for this talk, spiritual treasures that president Nelson sat down that 233 00:17:38,600 --> 00:17:43,000 specific presidency and said, this is what I want to say. He gave them each a copy. They 234 00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:46,520 listened to it or sorry, they read it and they were like, oh yeah, this is great. This 235 00:17:46,520 --> 00:17:51,440 and they kind of, and he said, no, I want you to tell me if there's anything that kind 236 00:17:51,440 --> 00:17:56,880 of rubs you wrong or doesn't feel like I have nothing but love. And I want to make sure 237 00:17:56,880 --> 00:18:01,440 these words articulate the absolute love that I feel. Okay. Well, maybe this part right 238 00:18:01,440 --> 00:18:05,880 here you might want to. And I just thought that was so interesting that I had literally 239 00:18:05,880 --> 00:18:11,560 just the morning before read and studied that talk again and literally sat down and wrote 240 00:18:11,560 --> 00:18:16,720 down my reflections. And I just thought it was interesting that number one, president 241 00:18:16,720 --> 00:18:23,000 Nelson's humility in approaching women who he trusted and asking and then having like 242 00:18:23,000 --> 00:18:28,440 a conversation with them that that really did bring about, it's like he, he walks the 243 00:18:28,440 --> 00:18:32,200 walk. He doesn't just talk to talk, right? He actually put that into practice. He does 244 00:18:32,200 --> 00:18:36,920 value women. And it was a collaborative effort and I felt that in the talk. So I just thought 245 00:18:36,920 --> 00:18:44,400 that was wonderful. It does help that he raised eight women and one son nine, right? Or is 246 00:18:44,400 --> 00:18:50,060 it nine daughters? Maybe? I don't know. Anyway, cause then he says a little Timo. I wanted 247 00:18:50,060 --> 00:18:54,800 to emphasize the love that the prophet has for his women because I did a woman's devotional 248 00:18:54,800 --> 00:19:01,480 last week. Like it's like the Thursday of FSY. And I wanted this, the women that were 249 00:19:01,480 --> 00:19:08,400 joined with me to know that being woman is unique. It's special. It's important. And 250 00:19:08,400 --> 00:19:15,640 that if they're ever feeling like lesser than or undermined or like not heard, that's Satan's 251 00:19:15,640 --> 00:19:20,320 tool because there's nothing but love oozing out and like having father loves his sons 252 00:19:20,320 --> 00:19:24,480 and his daughters. But if he had to pick one or the other, kind of like led him with that. 253 00:19:24,480 --> 00:19:30,680 And I was like, if this isn't resonating with you, then I pushed play like on a chunk, like 254 00:19:30,680 --> 00:19:34,440 two or paragraphs from the prophets words. And it's when he called himself mother, like 255 00:19:34,440 --> 00:19:39,960 he was, it was being translated was a spiritual treasure. That's why I thought it was the 256 00:19:39,960 --> 00:19:43,080 one under the gathering of Israel. Cause it's the women's. And I'm like, that's not the 257 00:19:43,080 --> 00:19:49,880 one I played. It's the sisters. It's not role. It wasn't a woman's session. Yes. And it was 258 00:19:49,880 --> 00:19:56,400 right after he had done like the gathering, the youth battalion thing. This was the woman's 259 00:19:56,400 --> 00:20:00,360 session. He also invited us to do some, a few things like, like give up social media 260 00:20:00,360 --> 00:20:05,480 and whatever, like to join. But the beginning of it, he talked about how being a mother 261 00:20:05,480 --> 00:20:13,240 isn't about having children. It's about like, um, like fore-ordained, like, um, nurturing. 262 00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:17,640 Yeah. Like those qualities that just imbue woman and, and, and how Wendy, Wendy's the 263 00:20:17,640 --> 00:20:20,640 only one that really caught because it was translated. The translator totally fixed it 264 00:20:20,640 --> 00:20:26,160 to say son or father or whatever. And he, like he said, is the most beautiful thing. 265 00:20:26,160 --> 00:20:32,000 It's like, um, that, that he wanted to be a mother because, uh, a doctor, cause mother 266 00:20:32,000 --> 00:20:36,880 was already taken. Yeah. I loved that too. Abby, I'm like, how can you, how can you, 267 00:20:36,880 --> 00:20:40,280 how can you think anything, but that they have your best interest in like absolute love 268 00:20:40,280 --> 00:20:46,060 and adoration for you? I 100% agree. Okay. It's a dark, I could go on and on because 269 00:20:46,060 --> 00:20:51,800 truly I was, this is what I would love to say. Two things. The first one is that again, 270 00:20:51,800 --> 00:20:57,580 the gift is in the reflection. When we stop and we reflect and we just take a moment, 271 00:20:57,580 --> 00:21:02,880 what have I learned from the prophets words? What have I learned in this instance? I feel 272 00:21:02,880 --> 00:21:08,340 like it gives the Holy ghost time to touch our heart one more time. The second thing 273 00:21:08,340 --> 00:21:12,400 is this, when I looked back, I was like, Oh, maybe someone has a quick list of something 274 00:21:12,400 --> 00:21:16,880 that the prophets taught. Guess what they did. There were multiple of them. But when 275 00:21:16,880 --> 00:21:21,200 I looked, it wasn't the things that spoke to my heart. Like there was just one thing 276 00:21:21,200 --> 00:21:25,520 and I thought, no, there was more than that. So this is what I want to say about this. 277 00:21:25,520 --> 00:21:29,560 There may be something that touches someone else's heart, but don't take their list. 278 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:34,200 Like make your own list, go back and truly find the things that spoke to you because 279 00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:37,200 I promise they're going to be different. There might be some that are the same, but 280 00:21:37,200 --> 00:21:43,440 they're going to be some that are spoken directly to you from the Lord and through our prophet. 281 00:21:43,440 --> 00:21:47,960 Awesome. And specifically if you're using the gospel library app, there is a study plan 282 00:21:47,960 --> 00:21:53,000 that will get you into the words of the prophet so that you can kind of put those in like 283 00:21:53,000 --> 00:21:57,240 one place and listen to one after the next. There's a ton. I mean, and I love it because 284 00:21:57,240 --> 00:22:00,880 it just kicks into the next one. You don't have to do anything, go back and change anything. 285 00:22:00,880 --> 00:22:04,320 It just exes it off and you go to the next one. I was just like, I'll pause it and then 286 00:22:04,320 --> 00:22:10,000 write things down and just offer a prayer of gratitude. Yes. Anyway, I'm done now. 287 00:22:10,000 --> 00:22:14,320 I love it. I was going to say like for me, think celestial was kind of a mind blowing 288 00:22:14,320 --> 00:22:19,680 talk for me. And I just thought we are not asked to just like trudge through this life 289 00:22:19,680 --> 00:22:24,240 and get to the end and then wonder what kingdom we're going to inherit. We can think celestial 290 00:22:24,240 --> 00:22:31,400 now and be blessed with celestial blessings now in the present. It's been a game changer. 291 00:22:31,400 --> 00:22:36,960 Like obviously I'm not perfect at things, but my initial thought, like if somebody irritates 292 00:22:36,960 --> 00:22:42,600 me, like minor friction, big friction, the way that I'm treating my kids, like my conversation 293 00:22:42,600 --> 00:22:47,840 with husband, how I'm looking at like curve balls that are thrown at life. I am doing 294 00:22:47,840 --> 00:22:51,440 a much better job at thinking celestial. I'm like, is this going to make a difference in 295 00:22:51,440 --> 00:22:55,720 the long run for the good or the bad? And it's helping me choose better words because 296 00:22:55,720 --> 00:23:00,880 I'm thinking in that vein that I, ideally I'm not going to have something that I really 297 00:23:00,880 --> 00:23:07,000 need to apologize for. Like, I kind of just skip to like, what, like fast forward, like 298 00:23:07,000 --> 00:23:10,320 what's this going to, what's this reaction going to cause like a month down the road? 299 00:23:10,320 --> 00:23:14,080 And if I'm not really happy with that, then I just nip it in the bud right, right at the 300 00:23:14,080 --> 00:23:21,040 beginning. That's great. I like that. Let's move, let's move past that. I think just 301 00:23:21,040 --> 00:23:25,800 so we can get to the last of the talk. I'm not even sure how long I've been talking 302 00:23:25,800 --> 00:23:29,920 for him. Oh, I do have to say this though. He was assigned to do the dedication prayer 303 00:23:29,920 --> 00:23:33,920 in Thailand and he thought about it for months. I love that they put so much time and effort 304 00:23:33,920 --> 00:23:38,360 into these like singular assignments or whatever, but it's cool because you can reference those 305 00:23:38,360 --> 00:23:42,000 dedicatory prayers. Like I've referenced the one that Elder Brednar did for our Strive Valley 306 00:23:42,000 --> 00:23:46,520 temple and to see like now enough years have gone past, but I'm like, how am I seeing that 307 00:23:46,520 --> 00:23:52,320 being fulfilled? So it's awesome that he was kind of like stirred in his sleep, woke up 308 00:23:52,320 --> 00:23:57,000 like the night before the dedication, he was unsettled and he was feeling like this urgent 309 00:23:57,000 --> 00:24:01,880 thoughts related to this dedicatory prayer. And he tried to set it aside, but he, the 310 00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:06,520 spirit kept pestering him. And so he just knew there's something missing from here. 311 00:24:06,520 --> 00:24:09,980 So he said, by divine design, they came to me in revelation and I inserted these words 312 00:24:09,980 --> 00:24:14,280 into the prayer near the end. He said, may we think celestial, letting my spirit prevail 313 00:24:14,280 --> 00:24:17,960 in our lives and strive to be peacemakers always. The Lord was reminding me to heed 314 00:24:17,960 --> 00:24:22,200 the words of our prophet. Words of the prophet matter to the Lord and to us. And I thought 315 00:24:22,200 --> 00:24:28,080 there's just no better way to just reemphasize that what a blessing we have to have the leaders 316 00:24:28,080 --> 00:24:35,760 that we do at this time. And if you have nothing but like, if you have any other feeling than 317 00:24:35,760 --> 00:24:40,040 like love and adoration for the service that they're providing, this is a good chance to 318 00:24:40,040 --> 00:24:46,840 see like, like where those feelings coming from. Oh yeah. It's just a way to readdress 319 00:24:46,840 --> 00:24:52,320 like, are you really sustaining the Lord's prophets or like, yeah, I sustain them except 320 00:24:52,320 --> 00:24:58,000 for. Right. But what's the but there? Yeah. So what was the, what was the third point 321 00:24:58,000 --> 00:25:03,280 of this talk in this? It was our own words. Yes. Our own words. So we're thinking about 322 00:25:03,280 --> 00:25:08,360 the power of our own words and how words matter. Our words can be supportive or angry, joyful 323 00:25:08,360 --> 00:25:12,760 or mean, compassionate or tossed aside. In the heat of the moment, words can sting and 324 00:25:12,760 --> 00:25:17,280 sink painfully deep into the soul and they stay there. Our words on the internet, texting, 325 00:25:17,280 --> 00:25:21,640 social media or tweets take on a life of their own. So be careful what you say and how you 326 00:25:21,640 --> 00:25:26,000 say it in our families, especially with husbands, wives, children, our words can bring us together 327 00:25:26,000 --> 00:25:30,560 or drive a wedge between us. Do you remember the three phrases he suggested we use a little 328 00:25:30,560 --> 00:25:35,840 bit more? Yes. Thank you. I'm sorry. And I love you, which is the oponopono. Oh, that's 329 00:25:35,840 --> 00:25:44,920 a cute way to say it. Um, well, he definitely encouraged us to use those, um, more regularly. 330 00:25:44,920 --> 00:25:50,480 And why not? Yeah, exactly. Why not use them every day? Each one of those. Um, I guess 331 00:25:50,480 --> 00:25:55,480 that kind of was summed up in the talk as I was talking about, like think celestial that 332 00:25:55,480 --> 00:26:01,360 we all have the ability to say something in the heat of a moment for sure. But if you're 333 00:26:01,360 --> 00:26:06,720 as the prophet suggested, thinking celestial, and if you're reading the scriptures pretty 334 00:26:06,720 --> 00:26:12,200 regularly, if you're addressing conference talks regularly, when you're confronted with 335 00:26:12,200 --> 00:26:16,480 a situation, we're obviously talking about something that's probably driving you to anger 336 00:26:16,480 --> 00:26:21,680 or I don't know. You think of it annoyance. Okay. I was like, think of some other emotions 337 00:26:21,680 --> 00:26:28,280 that this might be in that our natural man instinct would be to say like thought a or 338 00:26:28,280 --> 00:26:34,200 input, like give advice where they weren't asking for advice. And if you take a few steps 339 00:26:34,200 --> 00:26:39,720 back and you're thinking celestial, then you're like, okay, did they ask for advice or am 340 00:26:39,720 --> 00:26:44,440 I just like trying to change their behavior because I think I'm right and they should 341 00:26:44,440 --> 00:26:50,520 do what I'm doing. I don't know much past to say past that, but you don't really have 342 00:26:50,520 --> 00:26:54,080 to say I'm sorry if you don't do something offensive in the beginning. You could be saying 343 00:26:54,080 --> 00:26:59,160 sorry because they've perceived like an ill intent when like no ill intent was meant. 344 00:26:59,160 --> 00:27:07,920 But if I guess the take home for me was as I read the scriptures and as I listened to 345 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:14,360 the words of the prophet, it is way more likely that if a situation arises in that circle 346 00:27:14,360 --> 00:27:20,220 that I do have, we don't say like jurisdiction, but it's like my circle of influence, friend 347 00:27:20,220 --> 00:27:24,680 that comes to me for advice or opinion or just having a conversation, my spouse, certainly 348 00:27:24,680 --> 00:27:29,120 my children that the words that will come to my mind, I could probably say a quick prayer 349 00:27:29,120 --> 00:27:33,760 for it. He's able to put those words to come out of my mouth is his mouthpiece because 350 00:27:33,760 --> 00:27:40,740 I put them into myself. For sure. So that's all right. Yeah. I didn't have like a ton 351 00:27:40,740 --> 00:27:45,920 more to say past that. Do you have any thoughts on the words that we're speaking or as far 352 00:27:45,920 --> 00:27:51,140 as the words that we're speaking? I have always held back like my entire life. I've held back 353 00:27:51,140 --> 00:27:57,680 for fear of offending and I hit a certain point. I'm going to be 48 this year. I hit 354 00:27:57,680 --> 00:28:02,600 a certain point a few years ago where I was like, you know what, if I don't do that, I'm 355 00:28:02,600 --> 00:28:06,140 not going to have an experience of, I think it was when I was listening to president. 356 00:28:06,140 --> 00:28:10,780 It was when I was listening to president Nelson, he talked about, he said, our meetings are 357 00:28:10,780 --> 00:28:17,520 rooms of revelation and no one withholds their opinion or anything. We might not agree at 358 00:28:17,520 --> 00:28:23,920 the beginning, but it doesn't majority does not rule. Everyone speaks. So I thought, oh 359 00:28:23,920 --> 00:28:27,280 shoot, maybe the way I've been doing things is maybe I haven't been going about it the 360 00:28:27,280 --> 00:28:31,680 wrong way. Maybe I do need to learn to speak and have difficult conversations that I really 361 00:28:31,680 --> 00:28:36,320 don't want to have. I want to avoid them at all costs because they're non-confrontational 362 00:28:36,320 --> 00:28:40,520 and they hit close to my heart. Right. And I don't want to offend someone else. So I 363 00:28:40,520 --> 00:28:45,400 have started to have those conversations and I will say in all transparency, sometimes 364 00:28:45,400 --> 00:28:50,680 I haven't been the been perfect at them at the same time because of Christ's atonement. 365 00:28:50,680 --> 00:28:56,000 I feel like nothing I say, especially in the spirit of wanting to communicate and to show 366 00:28:56,000 --> 00:29:02,280 love to somebody, nothing I say is beyond the reach of Christ's atonement. And again, 367 00:29:02,280 --> 00:29:07,080 because my intent intent is to be Christ-like is to have open, honest communication at the 368 00:29:07,080 --> 00:29:11,640 same time. Someone something that someone else says to me is not beyond the reach of 369 00:29:11,640 --> 00:29:16,480 Christ's atonement. I don't give that much power to anyone else's words. So as you're 370 00:29:16,480 --> 00:29:19,960 talking, are you specifically thinking like you're sitting in Sunday school or Relief 371 00:29:19,960 --> 00:29:24,880 Society and a comment comes to your mind to share or you talking about like one-on-one 372 00:29:24,880 --> 00:29:30,800 personal communication, conversations you're having with, yes, where maybe something has 373 00:29:30,800 --> 00:29:35,240 where I want to mend a relationship. I want to strengthen it. I want to say, where did 374 00:29:35,240 --> 00:29:39,280 we go wrong? Because I feel a little bit of tension here, those types of things that you 375 00:29:39,280 --> 00:29:43,320 kind of just want to just be quiet and let it sail off into the sunset sometimes. So 376 00:29:43,320 --> 00:29:47,480 I've started having some more of the open conversations and been very prayerful and 377 00:29:47,480 --> 00:29:51,200 start with a prayer with that person and then with a prayer. 378 00:29:51,200 --> 00:29:58,800 That is key because if he's involved in the process because you've prayed that into truth 379 00:29:58,800 --> 00:30:06,160 or absolute, like he's in the process, then part of that prayer, I've had this situation. 380 00:30:06,160 --> 00:30:11,440 So I say, my intention is not to hurt or offend, help me have the words to say like to express 381 00:30:11,440 --> 00:30:16,200 my feelings. Then this is also a place where it's not necessarily per journaling, but it's 382 00:30:16,200 --> 00:30:20,720 like, let's call it like conflict resolution. Like I will make a note to myself and I'll 383 00:30:20,720 --> 00:30:27,880 say like, these are my feelings, like I'm a jumbled mess, but like I can line out and 384 00:30:27,880 --> 00:30:32,920 then say, does that articulate the feelings that I'm having? So that there's less like 385 00:30:32,920 --> 00:30:38,280 circling around saying the wrong thing. I can look at how it comes out in print and 386 00:30:38,280 --> 00:30:42,200 say, that's not exactly what I mean. That could definitely be misinterpreted. So that 387 00:30:42,200 --> 00:30:49,400 like the final outcome of my side of events is written out in a way that I'm like, ooh, 388 00:30:49,400 --> 00:30:55,440 that's not even a conversation we're starting. I'm avoiding conflict by not engaging when 389 00:30:55,440 --> 00:31:01,160 I already know the end outcome is no better than where I'm at. Or if it's, I mean, this 390 00:31:01,160 --> 00:31:06,000 sounds terrible, but the prophet has specifically asked us to like end conflict or whatever 391 00:31:06,000 --> 00:31:11,560 in our lives. And when you want to resolve something and like both parties aren't like 392 00:31:11,560 --> 00:31:15,960 at the same place to get to that resolve. I think you've already testified to this and 393 00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:21,560 I have that experience in my own life. Like you don't have to come to mutually agree on 394 00:31:21,560 --> 00:31:27,120 something to feel peace about the conflict resolving. You can move past that through 395 00:31:27,120 --> 00:31:33,120 with him. And no, it's like, it's just not the time for them to like have this conversation 396 00:31:33,120 --> 00:31:39,240 and process these. And if we engage in like a face-to-face situation, the words that are 397 00:31:39,240 --> 00:31:42,560 going to be spoken are not Christ-like and will not draw us closer to Jesus Christ. And 398 00:31:42,560 --> 00:31:47,200 so give that to me and I'll carry that burden until such a time as maybe it's appropriate 399 00:31:47,200 --> 00:31:48,200 to. 400 00:31:48,200 --> 00:31:57,280 Sometimes that's the best way to do it. Yes. I think we're ready to wrap it up. There 401 00:31:57,280 --> 00:32:03,120 are conversations I think with as particular as family members that like as a parent, like 402 00:32:03,120 --> 00:32:08,400 as a mom. Right. That relationship's not going away. Those are the ones I'm like, this is 403 00:32:08,400 --> 00:32:15,040 what I ask myself. Will this relationship be part of my life next year? Will it be part 404 00:32:15,040 --> 00:32:19,640 of my life in 10 years? Do you do something specific when like when something's pressing 405 00:32:19,640 --> 00:32:23,040 on your mind, something that you want your kids to do like directionally, you want a 406 00:32:23,040 --> 00:32:27,320 change to be made, you're seeing something, you're noticing something. When I consider 407 00:32:27,320 --> 00:32:31,360 this in the words matter, I just kind of want to reiterate that what I learned from this 408 00:32:31,360 --> 00:32:38,400 talk is that if I have a question like in my role as a mother right now or as a spouse, 409 00:32:38,400 --> 00:32:40,860 I want to have this conversation. It feels like maybe it's going to be a difficult thing 410 00:32:40,860 --> 00:32:45,760 to tackle. Just again, reiterate, be in the scriptures and listen to the words of the 411 00:32:45,760 --> 00:32:49,960 prophet. And if this issue doesn't fall within the category that those two things could help 412 00:32:49,960 --> 00:32:53,460 you, it probably isn't that important of a thing. So like maybe don't get that upset 413 00:32:53,460 --> 00:32:56,680 about it. Yeah. Prayer journal or journal it for yourself and get over it. If it has 414 00:32:56,680 --> 00:33:04,280 eternal significance, then you certainly can ask the Lord to direct you to whatever you 415 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:09,240 need to say the right thing. And to mediate. Yeah, that's a good idea. All right. Let's 416 00:33:09,240 --> 00:33:18,120 wrap it up, girl. Let me end with his testimony. He said, I love the Lord Jesus Christ. He 417 00:33:18,120 --> 00:33:22,680 is – oh, this was good. That's why I put this here. He is, in the words of the Old 418 00:33:22,680 --> 00:33:29,880 Testament prophet Isaiah, wonderful counselor, the mighty God, the everlasting father, the 419 00:33:29,880 --> 00:33:36,480 Prince of Peace. And here I insert, the idea of the many names of Jesus Christ is such 420 00:33:36,480 --> 00:33:42,140 a beautiful thing because he can be everything and anything to anybody, whatever they need. 421 00:33:42,140 --> 00:33:46,120 And so I love – this is just a handful, a small handful of some different names that 422 00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:52,480 have been given to him. But as the apostle John made clear, Jesus Christ himself is the 423 00:33:52,480 --> 00:33:58,680 word. And I thought, what a great talk, title, to say words matter because then I just inserted 424 00:33:58,680 --> 00:34:03,320 Jesus Christ matters. Absolutely. And when we involve him in those difficult conversations 425 00:34:03,320 --> 00:34:07,480 that we think we have to have with ourselves or with the ones that we love around us, that 426 00:34:07,480 --> 00:34:11,280 we can't really go wrong. Love that, Abby. All right. We'll catch you next time. See 427 00:34:11,280 --> 00:34:34,720 you next time.