1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:02,560 querer. 2 00:00:05,520 --> 00:00:09,920 Welcome to Closer to Christ through Conference. We're two friends who love Jesus sharing our 3 00:00:09,920 --> 00:00:12,720 own approach to general conference. Hey, Abby, how are you? 4 00:00:12,720 --> 00:00:14,000 So good! How's it going, Amy? 5 00:00:14,000 --> 00:00:15,520 Good. Glad you're here. 6 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:19,760 I'm glad I'm here, too—other that I'm embarrassed. This is the 25th anniversary of 7 00:00:19,760 --> 00:00:24,640 Amy and her husband's life and that we're here recording. It's uh, 8 00:00:24,640 --> 00:00:27,280 we're pressed for time on some things, so it had to be today. 9 00:00:27,280 --> 00:00:28,280 But I feel bad. 10 00:00:28,280 --> 00:00:29,280 It's so much for busy, right? 11 00:00:29,280 --> 00:00:30,280 We just had to find the time. 12 00:00:30,280 --> 00:00:31,760 We've got lives going on. 13 00:00:31,760 --> 00:00:36,800 Okay, so today we're talking about the powerful, virtuous cycle of the doctrine of Christ. 14 00:00:36,800 --> 00:00:40,680 I'm going to say that one more time, because this is like, I feel like he encapsulates 15 00:00:40,680 --> 00:00:41,680 a whole teaching here. 16 00:00:41,680 --> 00:00:42,680 That's so true. 17 00:00:42,680 --> 00:00:45,840 The powerful, virtuous cycle of the doctrine of Christ. 18 00:00:45,840 --> 00:00:50,400 This is by Elder Dale G. Renlund, the Quorum of the Twelve. 19 00:00:50,400 --> 00:00:55,440 Elder Renlund echoes and amplifies the words of our prophet in this talk, and he did it 20 00:00:55,440 --> 00:00:59,640 all through an analogy of lessons that he learned from the back of a kayak while he 21 00:00:59,640 --> 00:01:00,640 was in Hawaii. 22 00:01:00,640 --> 00:01:03,520 He was confident because as a young man, he paddled across. 23 00:01:03,520 --> 00:01:08,960 I love this whole story and how he says it is, hubris never bodes well, does it? 24 00:01:08,960 --> 00:01:11,840 And we all just laugh because we know a good story is coming. 25 00:01:11,840 --> 00:01:13,480 Okay, go for it, Abby. 26 00:01:13,480 --> 00:01:14,480 What would you do next? 27 00:01:14,480 --> 00:01:20,160 I was thinking of this talk, like you said, that I love it when the title really sums 28 00:01:20,160 --> 00:01:21,740 up the take home. 29 00:01:21,740 --> 00:01:25,260 To be honest with you, as I read the title, I didn't appreciate it as much until I got 30 00:01:25,260 --> 00:01:27,640 through and combed through and deep dived through the talk. 31 00:01:27,640 --> 00:01:32,760 But in 100% agreement, I'm like, yeah, it said the powerful, virtuous cycle of the doctrine 32 00:01:32,760 --> 00:01:35,120 of Christ, there is something to be learned. 33 00:01:35,120 --> 00:01:40,720 And I love that he probably didn't think it was that funny or that educational while he 34 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:41,720 was on the kayak situation. 35 00:01:41,720 --> 00:01:44,560 But when he got home and he had some time to think about it, he's like, well, that's 36 00:01:44,560 --> 00:01:47,840 a conference talk for everybody to enjoy for me. 37 00:01:47,840 --> 00:01:52,160 So I was thinking about this, like we do, how I would bring it up in an early society 38 00:01:52,160 --> 00:01:58,480 or an elders quorum setting, and I think I would just ask that they would read it with 39 00:01:58,480 --> 00:02:03,840 the thought in their mind to consider what analogies that they can tie between the kayak 40 00:02:03,840 --> 00:02:08,900 experience and how we would use that as we're thinking about navigating the challenges of 41 00:02:08,900 --> 00:02:14,520 life with the doctrine of Jesus Christ, rather than excluding him from the process and leaving 42 00:02:14,520 --> 00:02:17,040 him out of it completely. 43 00:02:17,040 --> 00:02:20,640 So should I jump into the first one that popped out at me? 44 00:02:20,640 --> 00:02:21,640 Go for it. 45 00:02:21,640 --> 00:02:26,680 I was thinking, like you said, he learned about kayaking on an ocean lake. 46 00:02:26,680 --> 00:02:30,820 And so we do know that the kayaks that you're used for oceans are a little bit differently 47 00:02:30,820 --> 00:02:32,560 built than the ones he'd used to a child. 48 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,800 You said on top of it, your center of gravity is a little bit different. 49 00:02:36,800 --> 00:02:39,960 You're more on top of the kayak versus being in it. 50 00:02:39,960 --> 00:02:44,580 And what it made me think about is, like, the preparatory steps that we get, like when 51 00:02:44,580 --> 00:02:48,800 trials are going to come, like the kayak that he used as a child could be more considered, 52 00:02:48,800 --> 00:02:51,300 like they take the waves a little bit differently. 53 00:02:51,300 --> 00:02:57,240 You can have waves that hit the sides of it and you're kind of sunk deep in that. 54 00:02:57,240 --> 00:03:01,980 As a first grader, I kayak, so it doesn't take any talent or any real muscle. 55 00:03:01,980 --> 00:03:05,160 You just have to sit there and you kind of move your paddle and get to the places that 56 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:06,160 you want to. 57 00:03:06,160 --> 00:03:10,200 So from experience, I know it's not that complicated to kayak on a lake. 58 00:03:10,200 --> 00:03:18,660 And so being in the safety of our parents' home gives us some experience, but a ton of 59 00:03:18,660 --> 00:03:21,960 safety is provided as those waves come crashing in. 60 00:03:21,960 --> 00:03:27,960 So anyway, I just thought that to me was a little bit of how there's preparation in our 61 00:03:27,960 --> 00:03:32,520 younger lives that's going to maybe lead to the steps that we'll need as we get to the 62 00:03:32,520 --> 00:03:36,000 bigger challenges, the bigger waves that we're going to face later on in life. 63 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:39,240 I love that. 64 00:03:39,240 --> 00:03:41,640 He also talked about, I like the different things he said. 65 00:03:41,640 --> 00:03:45,800 So he also talked about rowing at a really fast pace so that he could kind of, you know, 66 00:03:45,800 --> 00:03:46,800 get it there. 67 00:03:46,800 --> 00:03:47,800 Sort of show off. 68 00:03:47,800 --> 00:03:49,760 I didn't say it, but he was showing off. 69 00:03:49,760 --> 00:03:51,760 That's the humorous part. 70 00:03:51,760 --> 00:03:56,160 So yeah, he would get there and then he would just kind of wait for his daughter and wife 71 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:57,160 to catch up. 72 00:03:57,160 --> 00:04:01,820 And then he says that a 13 centimeter wave hits the kayak and completely flips him over. 73 00:04:01,820 --> 00:04:06,880 He gets it upright and then right again, a 20 centimeter wave flips him again. 74 00:04:06,880 --> 00:04:10,340 He was winded and he feared that he didn't have enough energy to get back on top. 75 00:04:10,340 --> 00:04:16,480 So I love this because it does make you kind of think if you're using a spiritual lens 76 00:04:16,480 --> 00:04:20,860 or a gospel lens, it does have you think of the danger of living the gospel to the extreme 77 00:04:20,860 --> 00:04:24,920 with gusto and thinking that you can just stop while others catch up. 78 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:27,920 What was something that you were saying about this earlier, like a way that that might look 79 00:04:27,920 --> 00:04:30,240 in life? 80 00:04:30,240 --> 00:04:32,280 Maybe taking a challenge to read the Book of Mormon. 81 00:04:32,280 --> 00:04:35,680 Like you say, you said yourself, I want to read the Book of Mormon in a year, but March 82 00:04:35,680 --> 00:04:36,840 Madness comes along. 83 00:04:36,840 --> 00:04:39,680 We play this March Madness game where you like cruise through the Book of Mormon. 84 00:04:39,680 --> 00:04:41,240 You get kind of a different type of reading. 85 00:04:41,240 --> 00:04:43,360 Then you say, oh, well, I've checked that box. 86 00:04:43,360 --> 00:04:47,600 I'm done reading the Book of Mormon because I did the whole book in the month of March. 87 00:04:47,600 --> 00:04:48,680 So you can cruise. 88 00:04:48,680 --> 00:04:53,120 Like you would think that that's filled your vessel, filled your lantern, whichever way 89 00:04:53,120 --> 00:04:55,360 you want to look at that, but then you're good. 90 00:04:55,360 --> 00:04:56,720 You're covered. 91 00:04:56,720 --> 00:04:58,920 You know, it's interesting because there's- 92 00:04:58,920 --> 00:05:00,160 I'm not saying that's a bad thing. 93 00:05:00,160 --> 00:05:01,160 Sorry. 94 00:05:01,160 --> 00:05:03,720 I'm just saying it's just to consider that as the one and done. 95 00:05:03,720 --> 00:05:06,560 It could be dangerous as he's drawing this analogy. 96 00:05:06,560 --> 00:05:07,560 What were you thinking? 97 00:05:07,560 --> 00:05:10,120 It's just interesting too, because like, you know, there are different personalities and 98 00:05:10,120 --> 00:05:14,160 as many personalities as there are, there are different approaches to life in the gospel, 99 00:05:14,160 --> 00:05:15,160 right? 100 00:05:15,160 --> 00:05:20,360 I remember it was three years ago and I received a priesthood blessing that said, I mean, that 101 00:05:20,360 --> 00:05:23,080 summer, Abby, it was so full. 102 00:05:23,080 --> 00:05:25,400 This summer is so full? 103 00:05:25,400 --> 00:05:26,400 Right? 104 00:05:26,400 --> 00:05:30,120 And I was doing so many things and I mean, it was one thing after another. 105 00:05:30,120 --> 00:05:34,920 And I received a blessing that said, first of all, that I was supposed to go to bed at 106 00:05:34,920 --> 00:05:36,880 a reasonable hour and I chose the time. 107 00:05:36,880 --> 00:05:38,880 It was 10, 10 o'clock for me. 108 00:05:38,880 --> 00:05:39,880 That is like amazing. 109 00:05:39,880 --> 00:05:42,400 It's still light at 10 o'clock here, right? 110 00:05:42,400 --> 00:05:44,160 Anyways, that was one of the things. 111 00:05:44,160 --> 00:05:50,960 But the part that stuck in my mind is it said, keep a pace that you can sustain for the next 112 00:05:50,960 --> 00:05:51,960 30 years. 113 00:05:51,960 --> 00:05:52,960 You know what was going on? 114 00:05:52,960 --> 00:05:53,960 Not the next 30 days. 115 00:05:53,960 --> 00:05:54,960 Oh, I remember exactly. 116 00:05:54,960 --> 00:05:55,960 Okay. 117 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:56,960 This is when the cabins were in full swing. 118 00:05:56,960 --> 00:05:58,440 Yes, the cabins were in full swing. 119 00:05:58,440 --> 00:06:00,600 We have 10 tiny cabins and there were families coming. 120 00:06:00,600 --> 00:06:05,480 So I was laundering and getting people in and out. 121 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:07,600 My parents came to live for the summer. 122 00:06:07,600 --> 00:06:08,880 They first remodeled their cabin. 123 00:06:08,880 --> 00:06:12,640 We had another family that came to live for the summer, remodeled their cabin. 124 00:06:12,640 --> 00:06:15,840 I had a wonderful nephew who came and did a service mission here. 125 00:06:15,840 --> 00:06:20,360 I was Young Women's President and I was doing camp for that. 126 00:06:20,360 --> 00:06:22,040 I was getting a missionary ready to leave. 127 00:06:22,040 --> 00:06:24,820 I mean, there were just a lot of things that were going on, right? 128 00:06:24,820 --> 00:06:27,000 We also helped my dad with his feet. 129 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:30,300 We didn't know that he started walking after diabetes, things like that. 130 00:06:30,300 --> 00:06:31,520 There were a lot of things going on. 131 00:06:31,520 --> 00:06:35,720 So for me, my personality is more like I'll do all the things. 132 00:06:35,720 --> 00:06:39,880 But what I don't realize sometimes is that my body has a say too. 133 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:43,400 And sometimes it's like, you're done, tap out, we're resting now. 134 00:06:43,400 --> 00:06:44,400 You know what I mean? 135 00:06:44,400 --> 00:06:50,200 So it's just good to remember that too, that again, he says, we're the safest when we are 136 00:06:50,200 --> 00:06:56,140 able to have this momentum steady, slow if it needs to be, momentum to get us through, 137 00:06:56,140 --> 00:06:58,980 not burn out and crash and then just be done for a while. 138 00:06:58,980 --> 00:07:02,720 Give our all in that moment and then become so exhausted by overworking ourselves, by 139 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:05,640 setting unrealistic expectations that he never set for us. 140 00:07:05,640 --> 00:07:06,640 Absolutely. 141 00:07:06,640 --> 00:07:10,400 And then having to take a breather because what happens when you stop, like with this 142 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:16,040 ocean story, small waves can overturn you. 143 00:07:16,040 --> 00:07:19,400 And then the challenge to get back on top of the kayak when you've been totally knocked 144 00:07:19,400 --> 00:07:21,120 off because the waves haven't stopped. 145 00:07:21,120 --> 00:07:22,120 Like you still have to do that. 146 00:07:22,120 --> 00:07:23,120 It doesn't sound very fun, does it? 147 00:07:23,120 --> 00:07:25,320 It's exhausting. 148 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:30,560 So I'm going to jump off from there because at this moment after the second turnover, 149 00:07:30,560 --> 00:07:36,000 that's when the instructor sees the situation and he actually hitches a tow rope to the 150 00:07:36,000 --> 00:07:40,360 kayak and begins paddling and pulling and gives Elder Renlund a chance to catch his 151 00:07:40,360 --> 00:07:43,840 breath until he can take over the paddling again on his own. 152 00:07:43,840 --> 00:07:48,600 And so when he realizes that he's equipped to do that, he lets go of the rope and they 153 00:07:48,600 --> 00:07:49,800 make it to the first island. 154 00:07:49,800 --> 00:07:53,560 Once they get their Elder Renlund flops down, he's totally exhausted in the sand. 155 00:07:53,560 --> 00:07:57,800 So this just made me think of what a sweet blessing it is when certain people are put 156 00:07:57,800 --> 00:08:03,960 into our path that need our help and they're willing to be that helping hand when you see 157 00:08:03,960 --> 00:08:05,160 somebody struggling. 158 00:08:05,160 --> 00:08:10,640 So I just kind of stopped and thought about the intuition it takes to help somebody in 159 00:08:10,640 --> 00:08:12,200 the appropriate manner. 160 00:08:12,200 --> 00:08:15,880 So I think that the instructor thought, you know, like he could have given him some words 161 00:08:15,880 --> 00:08:20,800 of advice right there, but I think he assessed the situation and he thought if I asked him 162 00:08:20,800 --> 00:08:26,360 if he needs help, he might, in the particular, like towing, the specific towing at that specific 163 00:08:26,360 --> 00:08:29,180 moment, he might say, no, I don't, I don't need it. 164 00:08:29,180 --> 00:08:32,880 And then he'll, he'll fail at the ability to get to that first island. 165 00:08:32,880 --> 00:08:38,160 So he hooked on, he just waited for him to catch his breath and then he comfortably released 166 00:08:38,160 --> 00:08:39,160 him. 167 00:08:39,160 --> 00:08:46,400 So I just tied that into, I like, it's more of like a tool I'm putting in my belt to say, 168 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:51,080 especially my children, my husband, if they come to me with a challenge that I say, like 169 00:08:51,080 --> 00:08:55,160 I maybe will take a moment to assess where they're at and what maybe help they're going 170 00:08:55,160 --> 00:08:57,020 to need from me. 171 00:08:57,020 --> 00:09:01,280 Maybe even ask them like, like, what, why did you come to me about this? 172 00:09:01,280 --> 00:09:02,560 What, what can I do to help you? 173 00:09:02,560 --> 00:09:04,360 Do you want me to step in, do it completely? 174 00:09:04,360 --> 00:09:08,840 Do you want me to partner with you in this or do you want me to just be a sounding board 175 00:09:08,840 --> 00:09:10,720 for the challenges that you're in? 176 00:09:10,720 --> 00:09:11,720 Yeah. 177 00:09:11,720 --> 00:09:12,720 And you're really good at that. 178 00:09:12,720 --> 00:09:16,120 I've heard you say before, you know, I just wanted to ask my children, can you verbalize 179 00:09:16,120 --> 00:09:17,120 what you need? 180 00:09:17,120 --> 00:09:18,120 That's a huge step. 181 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:19,640 And even asking someone to help you do that. 182 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:21,040 I mean, yeah, it's true. 183 00:09:21,040 --> 00:09:25,320 We can help people where they are and use our life experiences and you do that really 184 00:09:25,320 --> 00:09:28,800 well. 185 00:09:28,800 --> 00:09:31,280 I don't know that I did that well, but that's nice of you to say. 186 00:09:31,280 --> 00:09:34,920 It made me think, just take a few extra breaths to assess the situation. 187 00:09:34,920 --> 00:09:40,360 If I really want to minister like in the Savior's way, then he would just give the right amount 188 00:09:40,360 --> 00:09:42,120 of help without overdoing the help. 189 00:09:42,120 --> 00:09:43,120 Totally. 190 00:09:43,120 --> 00:09:44,120 So that's the take home for me. 191 00:09:44,120 --> 00:09:45,120 A gift of discretion. 192 00:09:45,120 --> 00:09:49,080 So they get to that first dial and the group's resting up and the guide, he offers some advice. 193 00:09:49,080 --> 00:09:53,960 He tells them, he says, Mr. Renlund, if you just keep paddling, maintaining your momentum, 194 00:09:53,960 --> 00:09:55,960 I think you're going to be fine. 195 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:59,040 So Elder Renlund says, I followed his advice as we paddled to the second island and then 196 00:09:59,040 --> 00:10:00,680 back to our starting point. 197 00:10:00,680 --> 00:10:02,880 Twice the guide rode by and told me I was doing great. 198 00:10:02,880 --> 00:10:06,200 Even larger waves hit my kayak from the side, but I was not flipped over. 199 00:10:06,200 --> 00:10:11,320 So just to carry on on the expertise of this particular guide, what incredible lessons 200 00:10:11,320 --> 00:10:13,040 we're learning from him. 201 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:17,120 Like you said, if we, like, if we think of this in the gospel way, if we put a ton into 202 00:10:17,120 --> 00:10:20,240 the gospel to the point of exhaustion and then we have to stop and catch our breath 203 00:10:20,240 --> 00:10:23,280 for a while, that's when Satan knows to come in. 204 00:10:23,280 --> 00:10:24,280 It's true. 205 00:10:24,280 --> 00:10:25,280 And you would think, well, I've been doing guilty. 206 00:10:25,280 --> 00:10:26,280 You would feel guilty. 207 00:10:26,280 --> 00:10:28,480 And you'd be like, I've been doing all of these good things that should have carried 208 00:10:28,480 --> 00:10:29,480 me for a while. 209 00:10:29,480 --> 00:10:32,880 But he's wise and cunning and he knows exactly the moment to attack. 210 00:10:32,880 --> 00:10:35,240 And that's when he comes for it. 211 00:10:35,240 --> 00:10:42,260 So what I would say is that he definitely had a different experience from getting from 212 00:10:42,260 --> 00:10:48,720 Island One to Two and then back because the advice that was offered to him was well placed 213 00:10:48,720 --> 00:10:49,920 in just the right time. 214 00:10:49,920 --> 00:10:55,040 And so he was definitely able to improve on the experience and way more successfully make 215 00:10:55,040 --> 00:11:01,400 it to Island Two with just a little pieces of advice and see, you know, with very little 216 00:11:01,400 --> 00:11:02,400 assistance from there. 217 00:11:02,400 --> 00:11:03,400 Yeah, encouragement, right? 218 00:11:03,400 --> 00:11:04,400 Good timing and encouragement. 219 00:11:04,400 --> 00:11:05,400 Right. 220 00:11:05,400 --> 00:11:08,000 We're not talking the tow rope in this situation. 221 00:11:08,000 --> 00:11:10,120 We're not talking like longer breaks. 222 00:11:10,120 --> 00:11:14,280 We didn't have to stop and rest at an island longer. 223 00:11:14,280 --> 00:11:16,800 All it took was just, hey, you're doing well. 224 00:11:16,800 --> 00:11:18,440 You listened to the advice that I gave you. 225 00:11:18,440 --> 00:11:19,800 You definitely were receptive to it. 226 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:22,520 And so it's definitely getting you to where you need to be. 227 00:11:22,520 --> 00:11:23,520 Love it. 228 00:11:23,520 --> 00:11:25,000 I love that so much, too. 229 00:11:25,000 --> 00:11:28,640 Okay, so I love it, too, because we're talking about the momentum. 230 00:11:28,640 --> 00:11:32,720 That's essentially what he has created for himself, maintaining your momentum, like he 231 00:11:32,720 --> 00:11:33,720 said. 232 00:11:33,720 --> 00:11:36,840 This makes me think that President Nelson's taught from a while ago. 233 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:42,120 He taught that as we repeatedly embrace the doctrine of Christ over a lifetime, we produce 234 00:11:42,120 --> 00:11:44,140 a powerful virtuous cycle. 235 00:11:44,140 --> 00:11:50,920 So the question would be, how does a person create spiritual momentum in their lives? 236 00:11:50,920 --> 00:11:54,200 Such easy concepts, but like until you put it down on paper and you're really looking 237 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:58,080 at it, you're like, what does it take to have those skills that you need? 238 00:11:58,080 --> 00:12:02,860 So he went into talking about what the elements of the doctrine of Jesus Christ are and how 239 00:12:02,860 --> 00:12:04,420 we could experience them more fully. 240 00:12:04,420 --> 00:12:09,320 So I think if it's cool with you, I think we'll kind of hit the elements of the doctrine 241 00:12:09,320 --> 00:12:10,320 of Christ. 242 00:12:10,320 --> 00:12:11,320 Love it. 243 00:12:11,320 --> 00:12:16,920 And then, you know, we'll all kind of be assessing how am I applying that element in my life 244 00:12:16,920 --> 00:12:18,920 and do I need to make tweaks? 245 00:12:18,920 --> 00:12:21,440 Or is it like that one that I'm really solid in? 246 00:12:21,440 --> 00:12:26,180 Because it's the combining of the multiple pieces of the doctrine of Christ in improving 247 00:12:26,180 --> 00:12:30,200 upon them each time that we do that, that gets us to the title of the talk, this powerful 248 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:32,560 virtuous cycle of the doctrine of Christ. 249 00:12:32,560 --> 00:12:36,860 So the first one is always faith, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. 250 00:12:36,860 --> 00:12:39,040 And so I thought, what am I doing? 251 00:12:39,040 --> 00:12:43,200 From the talk, too, I pulled some ideas right out from there, but what am I doing to increase 252 00:12:43,200 --> 00:12:45,040 my faith in the Lord Jesus Christ? 253 00:12:45,040 --> 00:12:48,160 And certainly, daily prayer is important. 254 00:12:48,160 --> 00:12:49,660 Scripture study. 255 00:12:49,660 --> 00:12:58,080 And again, I think we've already talked about how manageable expectations on that are wise 256 00:12:58,080 --> 00:13:04,160 versus just kind of power loading and then thinking that that's going to get us by, you 257 00:13:04,160 --> 00:13:05,520 know. 258 00:13:05,520 --> 00:13:06,760 And maybe I'm pretty guilty of this. 259 00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:10,320 Like if the weeks kind of got ahead of me and I've been studying and other things, then 260 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:14,080 I'm jumping in the Scriptures preparatory to a lesson that I'm going to prepare. 261 00:13:14,080 --> 00:13:18,920 I'm like, it's not as powerful as if like Monday morning that I got into those Scriptures 262 00:13:18,920 --> 00:13:22,680 and then was able to think about them during the week for Come Follow Me. 263 00:13:22,680 --> 00:13:23,680 It's true. 264 00:13:23,680 --> 00:13:30,760 What I found was when I'm willing the best at it, when I get the Scriptures in my mind 265 00:13:30,760 --> 00:13:38,120 from Come Follow Me as a mom, I was having way more of those moments when like the kids 266 00:13:38,120 --> 00:13:41,640 would ask a question, I easily have some Scriptures to recall that were pertinent to that week's 267 00:13:41,640 --> 00:13:42,640 Come Follow Me. 268 00:13:42,640 --> 00:13:48,360 Or I homeschool, and so I would like run across something in any subject, really, just any 269 00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,400 time I'd be like, oh my heck, that pairs with what I'm studying, Come Follow Me. 270 00:13:52,400 --> 00:13:56,160 So I mean, if I'm being honest, it's summer, I'm like not the best in my schedule. 271 00:13:56,160 --> 00:14:04,200 I get the checkbox part of it done, but you know, I could do definitely better on my daily 272 00:14:04,200 --> 00:14:05,200 Scripture intake. 273 00:14:05,200 --> 00:14:06,200 The depth of it. 274 00:14:06,200 --> 00:14:07,200 Yeah. 275 00:14:07,200 --> 00:14:09,100 Well, and that's even another thing. 276 00:14:09,100 --> 00:14:11,200 He asks us to be in him daily. 277 00:14:11,200 --> 00:14:15,920 He can make up the difference between like, if I'm really in his Word, then he can help 278 00:14:15,920 --> 00:14:18,540 me recall those in the time that is nice and necessary. 279 00:14:18,540 --> 00:14:20,000 You don't even have to be great at it. 280 00:14:20,000 --> 00:14:23,560 You really just ask to get into the Scriptures. 281 00:14:23,560 --> 00:14:24,560 That's true. 282 00:14:24,560 --> 00:14:26,960 He didn't ask for a chapter, he didn't ask for reading a whole book, like he just asked 283 00:14:26,960 --> 00:14:28,840 you to get into his Word, his Scripture. 284 00:14:28,840 --> 00:14:31,280 So I've seen blessings even when I'm not great at that. 285 00:14:31,280 --> 00:14:36,120 So anyway, past Scripture study, reflecting on the goodness of God daily. 286 00:14:36,120 --> 00:14:37,120 That's huge. 287 00:14:37,120 --> 00:14:41,480 Like just being aware of the things around you and where they came from. 288 00:14:41,480 --> 00:14:42,480 Oh yeah. 289 00:14:42,480 --> 00:14:44,520 This gratitude thing that makes all the difference. 290 00:14:44,520 --> 00:14:45,800 Being mindful. 291 00:14:45,800 --> 00:14:47,160 Repenting daily. 292 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:50,600 Like too often we think like it's the big things that we're going to say for that we 293 00:14:50,600 --> 00:14:54,480 really need to ask forgiveness for, but there are like a lot of minor things in a day that 294 00:14:54,480 --> 00:14:58,160 he could help us improve if we recognize that we want to improve those. 295 00:14:58,160 --> 00:15:01,720 And so as we're rethinking the day and thinking, hey, I'd change that if I could go back a 296 00:15:01,720 --> 00:15:02,720 little bit. 297 00:15:02,720 --> 00:15:05,800 He can give us the opportunity to do that. 298 00:15:05,800 --> 00:15:10,320 Like the next time around, we might take an extra breath and not say words that we didn't 299 00:15:10,320 --> 00:15:11,320 really mean to. 300 00:15:11,320 --> 00:15:12,320 I like that. 301 00:15:12,320 --> 00:15:13,320 That's really good. 302 00:15:13,320 --> 00:15:14,320 I like this. 303 00:15:14,320 --> 00:15:17,320 So, we need to take responsibility for our own testimonies and follow the promptings 304 00:15:17,320 --> 00:15:20,680 of the Holy Ghost daily until we've developed bedrock faith in Jesus Christ. 305 00:15:20,680 --> 00:15:25,880 So he just said this, just as it's not healthy to defer eating all of our food until Sunday 306 00:15:25,880 --> 00:15:29,680 and then binging our weekly allotment of nutrition, it's not spiritually healthy to restrict our 307 00:15:29,680 --> 00:15:32,240 testimony nourishing behavior to one day in the week. 308 00:15:32,240 --> 00:15:37,320 And I guess I just, after reading that and thinking on my own processes and what things 309 00:15:37,320 --> 00:15:41,120 I'm doing to build faith in Jesus Christ and how I'm implementing that into my life, I 310 00:15:41,120 --> 00:15:46,680 certainly see room for improvement in my own life, but I also see moments when I'm pretty 311 00:15:46,680 --> 00:15:49,120 happy with the success that I've had in it. 312 00:15:49,120 --> 00:15:53,320 And so, pairing what I've done that's worked for me and where I think I could improve, 313 00:15:53,320 --> 00:15:56,880 like I'm not just down on myself like, oh, you need to get better at that. 314 00:15:56,880 --> 00:15:58,440 He's helping me in the reflection. 315 00:15:58,440 --> 00:16:02,200 He's helping me see like, you made that work like the earlier morning for me. 316 00:16:02,200 --> 00:16:07,160 Like if I get up and get it done in the morning, like get a prayer and get into the scriptures 317 00:16:07,160 --> 00:16:11,240 or if I go on a walk and I'm listening to a conference talk or listening to scripture, 318 00:16:11,240 --> 00:16:13,000 it makes my day totally different. 319 00:16:13,000 --> 00:16:18,560 I've been able to witness that in my own life and so, I'm not suggesting that everybody 320 00:16:18,560 --> 00:16:24,000 do it that way, but play around with the timeliness of it if you're kind of, like your days seem 321 00:16:24,000 --> 00:16:26,680 kind of overwhelming and you're not sure we're going to fit one more thing. 322 00:16:26,680 --> 00:16:31,920 Just see how your day is magnified and multiplied by doing these small things to build your 323 00:16:31,920 --> 00:16:32,920 faith in Jesus Christ. 324 00:16:32,920 --> 00:16:33,920 I agree with that, Abby. 325 00:16:33,920 --> 00:16:34,920 I like that. 326 00:16:34,920 --> 00:16:39,320 And so, just really quickly, you know how you were saying He doesn't say, you know, 327 00:16:39,320 --> 00:16:41,000 do this amount for whatever. 328 00:16:41,000 --> 00:16:42,000 No. 329 00:16:42,000 --> 00:16:45,880 It's what you can do and you put in your time and maybe if there's something like you're 330 00:16:45,880 --> 00:16:49,160 in a certain spot in the scriptures or whatever it is, and maybe you don't get through an 331 00:16:49,160 --> 00:16:53,280 entire principle or you don't get through something that like totally clicks with you, 332 00:16:53,280 --> 00:16:58,240 even on those days, it's fine because when you put yourself in scripture, it's not necessarily 333 00:16:58,240 --> 00:16:59,240 on some days. 334 00:16:59,240 --> 00:17:00,240 Yeah. 335 00:17:00,240 --> 00:17:04,160 It's not necessarily the words that will carry you, but it's the spirit that is in the scriptures 336 00:17:04,160 --> 00:17:09,720 that carries and is overarching, a spirit of peace, a spirit of calm, a spirit of God. 337 00:17:09,720 --> 00:17:10,720 Absolutely. 338 00:17:10,720 --> 00:17:13,040 And I could hear from, like you're testifying on that. 339 00:17:13,040 --> 00:17:16,980 You've experienced that some days you've read the scriptures and it's just been because 340 00:17:16,980 --> 00:17:19,840 you know that there's benefits of reading the scripture. 341 00:17:19,840 --> 00:17:23,080 The answer that you were looking for wasn't in that, but who's to say that it didn't come 342 00:17:23,080 --> 00:17:26,120 later on that day as you were cooking or running another errand? 343 00:17:26,120 --> 00:17:29,240 Yeah, I just, I agree, 100%. 344 00:17:29,240 --> 00:17:34,360 Do you feel comfortable talking about the repentance piece of the element of the doctrine 345 00:17:34,360 --> 00:17:35,360 of Christ? 346 00:17:35,360 --> 00:17:36,360 Sure. 347 00:17:36,360 --> 00:17:39,080 So, momentum likewise builds as we strive to obey the laws of God and repent. 348 00:17:39,080 --> 00:17:42,920 Repentance is joyful and allows us to learn from our mistakes, which is how we progress 349 00:17:42,920 --> 00:17:45,040 eternally. 350 00:17:45,040 --> 00:17:49,320 We will undoubtedly have times when we flip over in our kayaks and find ourselves in deep 351 00:17:49,320 --> 00:17:50,320 water. 352 00:17:50,320 --> 00:17:54,680 Through repentance, we can get back on top and continue no matter how many times we've 353 00:17:54,680 --> 00:17:55,680 fallen off. 354 00:17:55,680 --> 00:18:01,000 I love this because I feel like at the beginning of my life, I just more, and maybe this was 355 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,600 just me and it's my personality that's built into me. 356 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:06,280 But what I heard was, don't make mistakes. 357 00:18:06,280 --> 00:18:07,280 Don't make mistakes. 358 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:08,280 Don't sin. 359 00:18:08,280 --> 00:18:09,280 Don't sin. 360 00:18:09,280 --> 00:18:13,760 I didn't hear a lot about the repentance and how I love now that it's joyful. 361 00:18:13,760 --> 00:18:18,180 Like hearing joyful repentance like that, it was a mind shift for me when President 362 00:18:18,180 --> 00:18:21,360 Nelson said, you know, find the joy in daily repentance. 363 00:18:21,360 --> 00:18:22,360 I loved that. 364 00:18:22,360 --> 00:18:24,800 My spirit was like, hey, that is true. 365 00:18:24,800 --> 00:18:29,440 Or what I felt, kind of like you're a quote, bad person if you need to repent. 366 00:18:29,440 --> 00:18:30,880 That is so far from the truth. 367 00:18:30,880 --> 00:18:31,880 Do you know what I mean? 368 00:18:31,880 --> 00:18:37,240 Like every time we turn to Heavenly Father, every time we take part in the atonement of 369 00:18:37,240 --> 00:18:41,840 Jesus Christ and bring it into our lives, we are bringing Jesus into our lives. 370 00:18:41,840 --> 00:18:46,120 So truly as a kid, I thought I was a better person as long as I didn't make mistakes. 371 00:18:46,120 --> 00:18:48,120 Like I had it all wrong. 372 00:18:48,120 --> 00:18:49,120 So I love this. 373 00:18:49,120 --> 00:18:53,400 It makes me so happy to think of just with my children and even, you know, when they 374 00:18:53,400 --> 00:18:57,800 come, my grandchildren talking about joyful repentance and how it's a daily thing. 375 00:18:57,800 --> 00:19:02,000 For some reason, it's easier to repent about small things, doing it a lot of times over 376 00:19:02,000 --> 00:19:06,320 and over and over, than like you said before, saving up for the big stuff. 377 00:19:06,320 --> 00:19:07,320 There's no need for that. 378 00:19:07,320 --> 00:19:08,320 Do you know what I mean? 379 00:19:08,320 --> 00:19:10,360 And it gets easier as you do the small things. 380 00:19:10,360 --> 00:19:11,960 So I'm grateful for that teaching. 381 00:19:11,960 --> 00:19:13,840 I think we lived in the same day and age. 382 00:19:13,840 --> 00:19:17,120 I think it's our parents' job to teach us about repentance and then, you know, you don't 383 00:19:17,120 --> 00:19:21,900 want to make your kids think like fighting with their sibling is like an unforgivable 384 00:19:21,900 --> 00:19:23,920 sin and that you need to go visit the bishop about it. 385 00:19:23,920 --> 00:19:26,360 And so you'll use examples of like murdering somebody. 386 00:19:26,360 --> 00:19:29,800 And then I'll be like, well, I didn't murder anybody today, so I have nothing that I need 387 00:19:29,800 --> 00:19:30,800 to repent for. 388 00:19:30,800 --> 00:19:35,480 I can totally resonate with what you're saying because I think we don't want them to get 389 00:19:35,480 --> 00:19:40,200 boggled with the idea of like they're just living in sin all the time, like every minute 390 00:19:40,200 --> 00:19:41,200 you're going to need to. 391 00:19:41,200 --> 00:19:47,920 But the more beautiful thing is that the Savior, the process of the atonement, you know, it's 392 00:19:47,920 --> 00:19:51,000 so much more encompassing. 393 00:19:51,000 --> 00:19:54,560 I think we just narrow it down to like you're forgiven for your sins because of the atonement, 394 00:19:54,560 --> 00:19:57,080 but in reality, everything is made right through the atonement. 395 00:19:57,080 --> 00:20:02,040 And so like the little wrongs that happen in the day, you know, hurt feelings or words 396 00:20:02,040 --> 00:20:07,280 said, you know, in the wrong way or with like the wrong emotion or the way that those words 397 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:11,320 hit you or like so many more little pieces of the day can be made right through Jesus 398 00:20:11,320 --> 00:20:12,320 Christ. 399 00:20:12,320 --> 00:20:17,240 So I don't really know if there's a better way to explain that to kids. 400 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,920 I think joyful repentance is awesome. 401 00:20:19,920 --> 00:20:24,200 And joyfully coming to my table when I invite you for dinner, I would way rather you come 402 00:20:24,200 --> 00:20:28,400 and joyfully partake of everything that I've made rather than feel guilty that I spent 403 00:20:28,400 --> 00:20:29,400 time and you didn't. 404 00:20:29,400 --> 00:20:30,400 You know what I'm saying? 405 00:20:30,400 --> 00:20:31,400 I do know what you're saying. 406 00:20:31,400 --> 00:20:35,760 I'm just trying to think of my kids and their personalities and like how can we, and I think 407 00:20:35,760 --> 00:20:40,160 that it really, I think that this would really start with understanding their Savior Jesus 408 00:20:40,160 --> 00:20:42,840 Christ, all the things he can be for them. 409 00:20:42,840 --> 00:20:46,400 So that when you're like a man and then you catch them, they come to you with like this 410 00:20:46,400 --> 00:20:50,720 emotion and we decided sadness because of a betrayal and maybe their friend said something 411 00:20:50,720 --> 00:20:55,400 to them, then we work back and we say, you know, the way you respond to that friend, 412 00:20:55,400 --> 00:20:59,080 like you don't want to do that out of anger, but you also don't want to like be like a, 413 00:20:59,080 --> 00:21:00,440 what do you call that? 414 00:21:00,440 --> 00:21:01,440 Like people walk all over you? 415 00:21:01,440 --> 00:21:02,440 Is that a rug? 416 00:21:02,440 --> 00:21:03,440 A rug. 417 00:21:03,440 --> 00:21:04,440 Door mat. 418 00:21:04,440 --> 00:21:05,440 Door mat. 419 00:21:05,440 --> 00:21:06,440 Whatever. 420 00:21:06,440 --> 00:21:10,280 But then you can say, even if they don't realize that that hurt your feelings, those feelings 421 00:21:10,280 --> 00:21:13,600 can be made right, like turn that over to Jesus Christ, right? 422 00:21:13,600 --> 00:21:16,720 And then you explain, then they're like, I feel so much better about that. 423 00:21:16,720 --> 00:21:19,120 And you say that was the atonement working in your life. 424 00:21:19,120 --> 00:21:20,120 Amen. 425 00:21:20,120 --> 00:21:21,120 Okay, I'll do this. 426 00:21:21,120 --> 00:21:23,120 I'm not saying I'm great at it, but you've helped me walk through the idea. 427 00:21:23,120 --> 00:21:24,760 And he's the one that invites us to his table, right? 428 00:21:24,760 --> 00:21:26,520 He wants us to come joyfully. 429 00:21:26,520 --> 00:21:28,240 The word joyful is super key in this. 430 00:21:28,240 --> 00:21:29,240 It is. 431 00:21:29,240 --> 00:21:30,240 It changes it for me. 432 00:21:30,240 --> 00:21:32,240 Because what's the opposite of that? 433 00:21:32,240 --> 00:21:33,240 Guilty. 434 00:21:33,240 --> 00:21:34,240 Yes. 435 00:21:34,240 --> 00:21:35,240 And so burdened. 436 00:21:35,240 --> 00:21:36,240 Yes. 437 00:21:36,240 --> 00:21:38,160 And also feeling like it's all on you. 438 00:21:38,160 --> 00:21:39,320 So who wants you to feel that way? 439 00:21:39,320 --> 00:21:40,320 Who wants you to feel his emotions? 440 00:21:40,320 --> 00:21:41,320 Same. 441 00:21:41,320 --> 00:21:42,320 Definitely. 442 00:21:42,320 --> 00:21:46,160 Because it recognizes the power more than we even do of what you can turn over to Jesus 443 00:21:46,160 --> 00:21:47,160 Christ. 444 00:21:47,160 --> 00:21:48,160 He must. 445 00:21:48,160 --> 00:21:49,160 He's seen it. 446 00:21:49,160 --> 00:21:50,160 Yeah. 447 00:21:50,160 --> 00:21:55,840 Jacob, in the Book of Mormon, taught, remember after we, that's inserted, are reconciled 448 00:21:55,840 --> 00:21:59,680 into God, that it is only in and through the grace of God that we are saved. 449 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:03,120 So we all need the Savior's infinite atonement in our lives, and it's just part of it. 450 00:22:03,120 --> 00:22:04,120 Love it. 451 00:22:04,120 --> 00:22:08,680 And the better that we can incorporate it into all aspects of our life, the more power 452 00:22:08,680 --> 00:22:10,840 that we're going to have. 453 00:22:10,840 --> 00:22:14,520 I wanted to talk about the third thing, which is entering a covenant relationship. 454 00:22:14,520 --> 00:22:18,480 And he specifically ties into baptism to start off with. 455 00:22:18,480 --> 00:22:23,840 But he talked about how baptism of water and through confirmation, the baptism of the Holy 456 00:22:23,840 --> 00:22:28,520 Ghost, that it's not just a singular event because we're renewing the baptismal covenant 457 00:22:28,520 --> 00:22:30,200 repeatedly with the sacrament. 458 00:22:30,200 --> 00:22:34,240 All covenants that we make, we're renewing with the sacrament. 459 00:22:34,240 --> 00:22:37,780 The sacrament does not replace baptism, but it links the initial elements of the doctrine 460 00:22:37,780 --> 00:22:41,960 of Christ, which are faith and repentance, with the reception of the Holy Ghost. 461 00:22:41,960 --> 00:22:46,480 As we conscientiously partake of the sacrament, we invite the Holy Ghost into our lives, just 462 00:22:46,480 --> 00:22:48,420 like when we're baptized and confirmed. 463 00:22:48,420 --> 00:22:53,360 As we keep the covenant described in the sacrament prayers, the Holy Ghost becomes our companion. 464 00:22:53,360 --> 00:22:57,000 Forward spiritual momentum also propels us to make additional covenants with God in the 465 00:22:57,000 --> 00:23:00,960 house of the Lord, and multiple covenants draw us closer to Christ and connects us more 466 00:23:00,960 --> 00:23:01,960 strongly to him. 467 00:23:01,960 --> 00:23:06,920 So he said that, and then I'm boom, I'm thinking of Elder Bednar. 468 00:23:06,920 --> 00:23:14,520 He anchors and pins into our foundation of the bedrock, which is Jesus Christ. 469 00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:25,520 And I loved it because it makes this talk applicable to, you know, for me, it's just 470 00:23:25,520 --> 00:23:32,120 like, you know, it caused me to think why baptism is so important or why the gospel 471 00:23:32,120 --> 00:23:37,280 of Jesus Christ is so important in my life, and it all comes down to covenants. 472 00:23:37,280 --> 00:23:42,880 And the more we invest in our side of that covenant relationship, the more ability he 473 00:23:42,880 --> 00:23:46,440 has to amplify that and give us more of his power. 474 00:23:46,440 --> 00:23:48,800 So I just stopped and thought on that for a little while. 475 00:23:48,800 --> 00:23:49,800 I love that too, Abby. 476 00:23:49,800 --> 00:23:54,560 I like, you know, I'm not remembering the exact thing he said, but in this talk, one 477 00:23:54,560 --> 00:24:00,960 of the quotes I loved so much is he said, it's not that Heavenly Father wants us to, 478 00:24:00,960 --> 00:24:04,880 and I don't remember the word that it was, but he wants us to choose to be like him. 479 00:24:04,880 --> 00:24:07,400 Like it's, is that in here somewhere? 480 00:24:07,400 --> 00:24:09,040 It's definitely in this talk. 481 00:24:09,040 --> 00:24:11,320 It just spoke to me because that is exactly it. 482 00:24:11,320 --> 00:24:15,760 It was like this, he doesn't want us to be good or like to do good. 483 00:24:15,760 --> 00:24:17,320 He wants us to choose to do good. 484 00:24:17,320 --> 00:24:21,840 And when I read that, I was like, oh, absolutely, because as he was trying to figure out the 485 00:24:21,840 --> 00:24:24,920 way that the plan was going to be executed, if it was done under him, everybody was going 486 00:24:24,920 --> 00:24:25,920 to choose right. 487 00:24:25,920 --> 00:24:27,060 Nobody was going to choose wrong. 488 00:24:27,060 --> 00:24:34,280 How does that in any way grow us to be more like Savior Jesus Christ and be, you know, 489 00:24:34,280 --> 00:24:36,360 able and willing to have all that the Father has? 490 00:24:36,360 --> 00:24:37,360 Like how, where's the growth? 491 00:24:37,360 --> 00:24:38,360 Where's that growth? 492 00:24:38,360 --> 00:24:42,120 Why didn't we just stay put in the pre-existence and not have this Earth life if it's like 493 00:24:42,120 --> 00:24:46,040 you never really knew if it was you that wanted to make that decision versus somebody else? 494 00:24:46,040 --> 00:24:47,040 Totally. 495 00:24:47,040 --> 00:24:48,040 Sounds miserable too. 496 00:24:48,040 --> 00:24:49,040 Yeah. 497 00:24:49,040 --> 00:24:52,980 Okay, so receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and enduring to the end. 498 00:24:52,980 --> 00:24:58,200 Because the Holy Ghost exerts a greater influence in our lives, we progressively, here it is, 499 00:24:58,200 --> 00:25:02,440 and iteratively develop Christ-like attributes. 500 00:25:02,440 --> 00:25:07,320 There's that word, our hearts change, our disposition to do evil diminishes, our inclination 501 00:25:07,320 --> 00:25:11,600 to do good increases, and we only want to do good continually. 502 00:25:11,600 --> 00:25:13,600 This is exactly where that quote was in it. 503 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:17,120 As we thereby access the heavenly power needed to endure to the end. 504 00:25:17,120 --> 00:25:22,640 So our faith is increased and we are ready to repeat this powerful virtuous cycle again. 505 00:25:22,640 --> 00:25:25,320 Can we stop back on that word, iteratively? 506 00:25:25,320 --> 00:25:26,320 Yes. 507 00:25:26,320 --> 00:25:28,400 I had to look it up to be like, how is he using this? 508 00:25:28,400 --> 00:25:32,000 But I loved it because he hits us with this last point and what he's saying is you might 509 00:25:32,000 --> 00:25:37,360 not get it right the first time that you attempt to exhibit faith or live up to the baptism 510 00:25:37,360 --> 00:25:42,040 of covenant or repent the repentance process or, you know, listening to the promptings 511 00:25:42,040 --> 00:25:43,040 of the Holy Ghost. 512 00:25:43,040 --> 00:25:47,280 You might not get it perfectly right, but your attempt at trying it is a, it's a cycle. 513 00:25:47,280 --> 00:25:53,320 You're cycling through this thing and if you recognize that it could be improved, that 514 00:25:53,320 --> 00:25:56,760 process could be improved, then the next time that you do it, you do improve it. 515 00:25:56,760 --> 00:26:00,440 That's when you get those Christ-like attributes that make us more like our Savior Jesus Christ 516 00:26:00,440 --> 00:26:03,400 and more prepared to inherit all that the Father has. 517 00:26:03,400 --> 00:26:04,400 Absolutely. 518 00:26:04,400 --> 00:26:05,400 I love that. 519 00:26:05,400 --> 00:26:07,480 I was like, you're not even asking me to do it perfectly. 520 00:26:07,480 --> 00:26:08,480 Yeah, just keep trying. 521 00:26:08,480 --> 00:26:11,520 Even though you've given me the perfect example, you're not even asking me to do that. 522 00:26:11,520 --> 00:26:12,920 I did love that too. 523 00:26:12,920 --> 00:26:13,920 So good. 524 00:26:13,920 --> 00:26:17,320 I mean, when we list them like that, that was like one through four, technically five, 525 00:26:17,320 --> 00:26:19,320 because enduring to the end. 526 00:26:19,320 --> 00:26:25,500 But making the point from the talk that it's not a check the box, one-time event. 527 00:26:25,500 --> 00:26:29,480 We experience these elements of the Doctrine of Christ over and over through our lives 528 00:26:29,480 --> 00:26:32,900 with different life experience picked up and gained every time that we're doing it. 529 00:26:32,900 --> 00:26:38,800 And that's how we come to the name, the powerful virtuous cycle that President Nelson described. 530 00:26:38,800 --> 00:26:42,080 So even though repeating elements, that might sound to somebody like you're just going in 531 00:26:42,080 --> 00:26:46,920 circles throughout your life, but it's not a circle because you're in a forward trajectory 532 00:26:46,920 --> 00:26:50,440 and you're moving towards Jesus Christ each time we make it through the cycle. 533 00:26:50,440 --> 00:26:51,440 Totally. 534 00:26:51,440 --> 00:26:52,440 So this is what I see. 535 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:57,040 So when I thought of I was learning something in my life that was kind of parallel with 536 00:26:57,040 --> 00:27:00,600 – I was trying to figure out like what the name of this thing was that I was learning. 537 00:27:00,600 --> 00:27:03,600 And then when President Nelson said spiritual momentum, I'm like, that's it. 538 00:27:03,600 --> 00:27:07,800 Because I was saying, there has to be a word for like when you're pulling, drawing back 539 00:27:07,800 --> 00:27:10,680 an arrow, everyone would say, well, nothing's happened yet. 540 00:27:10,680 --> 00:27:14,080 And I'm saying, but there is something because you're drawing it back and you're about to 541 00:27:14,080 --> 00:27:15,080 go forward, right? 542 00:27:15,080 --> 00:27:18,480 Anyways, so in my mind, I see the arrow going forward. 543 00:27:18,480 --> 00:27:21,400 That's the forward momentum. 544 00:27:21,400 --> 00:27:28,320 But with this one, I see a corkscrew, like, okay, a powerful number one has that momentum 545 00:27:28,320 --> 00:27:29,320 behind it. 546 00:27:29,320 --> 00:27:30,560 And it's a virtuous cycle. 547 00:27:30,560 --> 00:27:32,360 I see it like continuing. 548 00:27:32,360 --> 00:27:35,240 Instead of a downward spiral, it's an upward spiral. 549 00:27:35,240 --> 00:27:36,480 Which I like that. 550 00:27:36,480 --> 00:27:37,480 Like I can do that. 551 00:27:37,480 --> 00:27:38,480 You know what I mean? 552 00:27:38,480 --> 00:27:41,440 Sometimes in life, these things feel like mountains to climb and like rather than saying 553 00:27:41,440 --> 00:27:46,480 like take that, take straight path up, take the straight path up, it does make more sense 554 00:27:46,480 --> 00:27:48,920 to make a continuous cycle. 555 00:27:48,920 --> 00:27:52,120 The visualization of a switchback. 556 00:27:52,120 --> 00:27:56,320 I'm the arrow pulling back on the arrow and getting that momentum built up and then focusing 557 00:27:56,320 --> 00:27:59,920 on the Savior and then like releasing and letting that momentum carry you closer towards 558 00:27:59,920 --> 00:28:00,920 Him. 559 00:28:00,920 --> 00:28:01,920 I'm also seeing that too. 560 00:28:01,920 --> 00:28:03,560 Yeah, it's like all that works together. 561 00:28:03,560 --> 00:28:04,560 Absolutely. 562 00:28:04,560 --> 00:28:08,000 I highlighted this part of the talk, so I better say it. 563 00:28:08,000 --> 00:28:11,200 Through our covenants, we have greater access to His power. 564 00:28:11,200 --> 00:28:15,040 Baptismal and temple covenants are not in and of themselves the source of power. 565 00:28:15,040 --> 00:28:19,680 So I do keep saying I'm like learning, I'm learning where to recognize the power that 566 00:28:19,680 --> 00:28:23,080 I'm getting from the temple, the words in the temple, the covenants that I made in the 567 00:28:23,080 --> 00:28:24,080 temple. 568 00:28:24,080 --> 00:28:27,560 But I love that He said this because I'm like, this resonates. 569 00:28:27,560 --> 00:28:29,940 This doesn't make me want to change the way that I've been saying that. 570 00:28:29,940 --> 00:28:34,480 But He says, the source of power is the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. 571 00:28:34,480 --> 00:28:38,160 Learning and keeping covenants creates a conduit for their power in our lives. 572 00:28:38,160 --> 00:28:39,160 I love it. 573 00:28:39,160 --> 00:28:40,160 Awesome. 574 00:28:40,160 --> 00:28:42,640 It's funny, not funny, it always points to Christ. 575 00:28:42,640 --> 00:28:47,880 Like if you're not really sure what the whole middle of everything is, it's usually Jesus 576 00:28:47,880 --> 00:28:48,880 Christ, you know what I mean? 577 00:28:48,880 --> 00:28:51,320 I would say almost every time. 578 00:28:51,320 --> 00:28:58,280 And what's the point of venturing on this continuous, powerful, virtuous cycle of the 579 00:28:58,280 --> 00:28:59,280 doctrine of Christ? 580 00:28:59,280 --> 00:29:04,620 It is to eventually become inheritors of all that Heavenly Father has. 581 00:29:04,620 --> 00:29:09,040 Our divine nature is recognized and our eternal destiny is realized. 582 00:29:09,040 --> 00:29:15,800 So once you've got it figured out for yourself, Amy, what does it mean to help others inappropriate 583 00:29:15,800 --> 00:29:17,800 in appropriate ways? 584 00:29:17,800 --> 00:29:20,920 I don't want to sound like inappropriate ways. 585 00:29:20,920 --> 00:29:21,920 Yes. 586 00:29:21,920 --> 00:29:22,920 Okay. 587 00:29:22,920 --> 00:29:27,160 In, pause, appropriate ways, especially considering the kayak story clear back from the beginning. 588 00:29:27,160 --> 00:29:32,460 So you've maybe not doing it perfectly, but iteratively, you're getting better at it. 589 00:29:32,460 --> 00:29:34,680 How do you then take that and share that with somebody else? 590 00:29:34,680 --> 00:29:40,120 Again, I think that the beauty of this story is in pausing and saying, what did I learn? 591 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:41,380 What were the principles? 592 00:29:41,380 --> 00:29:44,720 And one of the hugest things, like when I went back and was underlining things in this 593 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:52,040 talk, it was the timing of when that instructor came and said, you know, just a few little 594 00:29:52,040 --> 00:29:54,000 things because it was timely. 595 00:29:54,000 --> 00:29:55,440 He was ready to listen. 596 00:29:55,440 --> 00:29:57,440 And so I love that. 597 00:29:57,440 --> 00:30:00,640 You know, he didn't say, hey, Mr. Remlin, what are you doing in the water? 598 00:30:00,640 --> 00:30:05,560 And Mr. Remlin, you would not be in this situation if you were more physically fit. 599 00:30:05,560 --> 00:30:06,560 He didn't say those things. 600 00:30:06,560 --> 00:30:10,640 And sometimes as a ministering sister or even as a parent, you know, we might catch ourselves 601 00:30:10,640 --> 00:30:14,240 saying things and as they're coming out of your mouth, you're like, this might not be 602 00:30:14,240 --> 00:30:15,240 helpful. 603 00:30:15,240 --> 00:30:16,240 Do you know what I mean? 604 00:30:16,240 --> 00:30:17,240 Absolutely. 605 00:30:17,240 --> 00:30:20,840 But it was in the timing and that's the time when we can say a quick prayer and just say, 606 00:30:20,840 --> 00:30:23,560 please help me to have the right words to say in this situation. 607 00:30:23,560 --> 00:30:27,240 It's a hard thing though, because I have watched trials and from the outside, not knowing all 608 00:30:27,240 --> 00:30:34,240 the nuances of it, I have used it as an example to be like, it does sound judgy. 609 00:30:34,240 --> 00:30:36,240 It's not gonna come out any other way of sounding judgy. 610 00:30:36,240 --> 00:30:40,680 But I've been able to say, if they were living the law of tithing, then this particular thing, 611 00:30:40,680 --> 00:30:44,000 like I'm not saying money, it's just gonna just windfall, like it's just gonna be great. 612 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:46,720 But I've seen too many blessings from tithing. 613 00:30:46,720 --> 00:30:50,360 If somebody's opening up to me about like a financial situation, I'm thinking, are you 614 00:30:50,360 --> 00:30:51,360 paying your tithing? 615 00:30:51,360 --> 00:30:53,360 And they say, no, I'm thinking, probably wouldn't even... 616 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:55,080 I'd be struggling with this. 617 00:30:55,080 --> 00:30:57,560 It sounds judgy, but I'm like, that's... 618 00:30:57,560 --> 00:31:01,040 So if they ask my advice, maybe that's what happens, like that I just... 619 00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:07,600 I should more so just be like, how grateful I am for a testimony of tithing that things 620 00:31:07,600 --> 00:31:11,640 have always worked out when there's no way that on paper they should have worked out, 621 00:31:11,640 --> 00:31:13,460 versus like, well, they should have done that. 622 00:31:13,460 --> 00:31:18,720 And I don't know that I verbalize that to that person, but maybe if I just listen to 623 00:31:18,720 --> 00:31:21,420 the situation and they say, do you want something from me? 624 00:31:21,420 --> 00:31:22,420 Do you want advice? 625 00:31:22,420 --> 00:31:23,420 Do you want to talk about it? 626 00:31:23,420 --> 00:31:24,420 Is there some way that I can help you? 627 00:31:24,420 --> 00:31:30,280 I mean, I would probably just turn them over to the course that I've done through the church 628 00:31:30,280 --> 00:31:31,280 a couple times now. 629 00:31:31,280 --> 00:31:32,280 That's the first thing. 630 00:31:32,280 --> 00:31:36,360 Like, it doesn't even have to be my advice, because they go through Scripture and like 631 00:31:36,360 --> 00:31:37,360 they go through real-time practical... 632 00:31:37,360 --> 00:31:39,360 And it's living the law that you want to... 633 00:31:39,360 --> 00:31:40,360 Yeah, what's that course called? 634 00:31:40,360 --> 00:31:41,360 Self-Reliance? 635 00:31:41,360 --> 00:31:42,360 Self-Reliance. 636 00:31:42,360 --> 00:31:46,240 That's the personal finance aspect of the personal finance thing in the church. 637 00:31:46,240 --> 00:31:47,240 So, I'll go ahead. 638 00:31:47,240 --> 00:31:48,240 No, you go. 639 00:31:48,240 --> 00:31:51,320 When you were saying that, it's so funny because when you said, it's kind of hard, but the 640 00:31:51,320 --> 00:31:54,680 first thing you want to ask is, are you paying tithing? 641 00:31:54,680 --> 00:31:58,320 It's so funny because years and years ago, Gare shared with me a story where he was talking 642 00:31:58,320 --> 00:32:02,320 to one of the guys that he worked with and he asked him a question like that. 643 00:32:02,320 --> 00:32:07,360 And Gare, the guy answered no, that he wasn't living this specific law. 644 00:32:07,360 --> 00:32:10,720 And Gare's answer was, the first thing he said was, that's great news. 645 00:32:10,720 --> 00:32:11,720 Yeah, because we can just fix it. 646 00:32:11,720 --> 00:32:13,160 Because that's a great place to start. 647 00:32:13,160 --> 00:32:16,760 If you were doing all the things, I wouldn't really know what to tell you, but like, we 648 00:32:16,760 --> 00:32:17,760 can start here. 649 00:32:17,760 --> 00:32:18,760 This is awesome. 650 00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:21,760 So, I kind of like that approach, you know what I mean? 651 00:32:21,760 --> 00:32:22,760 This is great news. 652 00:32:22,760 --> 00:32:23,760 Like it would catch him off guard. 653 00:32:23,760 --> 00:32:26,080 He was like, so good. 654 00:32:26,080 --> 00:32:28,000 It would catch him off guard if he was like, yeah, I'm paying my tithing. 655 00:32:28,000 --> 00:32:30,000 Be like, oh, where do I go from here? 656 00:32:30,000 --> 00:32:31,680 Yeah, I like that. 657 00:32:31,680 --> 00:32:35,840 Okay, well, I'd like to think that that was like the intent of my heart every time this 658 00:32:35,840 --> 00:32:38,000 has come up, but I don't know that it has been. 659 00:32:38,000 --> 00:32:40,320 So, it's something worth considering. 660 00:32:40,320 --> 00:32:41,760 Then that was my take home from this. 661 00:32:41,760 --> 00:32:47,680 I was like, you can see how much effect a good instructor had in changing the rest of 662 00:32:47,680 --> 00:32:49,480 the experience for elder Renlund. 663 00:32:49,480 --> 00:32:53,200 And I just thought, I've got a lot of life left in front of me and I like a lot of these 664 00:32:53,200 --> 00:32:55,360 conversations that are still to happen. 665 00:32:55,360 --> 00:33:01,320 And if I can take this as a tool to put in that, you know, metaphorical belt that when 666 00:33:01,320 --> 00:33:05,480 they come up and I just think like, are the words that I'm going to speak going to bring 667 00:33:05,480 --> 00:33:06,480 you closer to Jesus Christ? 668 00:33:06,480 --> 00:33:08,720 Or am I going to feel guilty about the thing that I'm saying? 669 00:33:08,720 --> 00:33:12,480 Then in that way, then I'm relying on the Spirit, the Holy Ghost to help me improve 670 00:33:12,480 --> 00:33:13,480 on that. 671 00:33:13,480 --> 00:33:19,800 So, I would say I give myself like a, maybe a C on what I've done so far, but that I do 672 00:33:19,800 --> 00:33:24,080 feel optimistic that I can get more like in the A range on this one. 673 00:33:24,080 --> 00:33:25,080 Oh, absolutely. 674 00:33:25,080 --> 00:33:26,640 It's all good news, right? 675 00:33:26,640 --> 00:33:27,640 Yes. 676 00:33:27,640 --> 00:33:28,640 Okay. 677 00:33:28,640 --> 00:33:29,640 Any last thoughts? 678 00:33:29,640 --> 00:33:30,640 Should I wrap this up? 679 00:33:30,640 --> 00:33:31,640 Go ahead and wrap this up. 680 00:33:31,640 --> 00:33:35,240 From the top, we do need all our compassion, empathy, and love as we interact with those 681 00:33:35,240 --> 00:33:36,240 around us. 682 00:33:36,240 --> 00:33:39,320 Those who are struggling need to experience the pure love of Jesus Christ reflected in 683 00:33:39,320 --> 00:33:40,800 our words and actions. 684 00:33:40,800 --> 00:33:44,960 As we minister, we encourage others frequently and offer help, even if someone's not receptive. 685 00:33:44,960 --> 00:33:47,000 We continue to minister as they allow. 686 00:33:47,000 --> 00:33:50,800 The Savior taught that unto such shall you continue to minister, for you know not but 687 00:33:50,800 --> 00:33:54,160 what they will return and repent and come unto me with full purpose of heart. 688 00:33:54,160 --> 00:33:57,840 And I shall heal them, and you shall be the means of bringing salvation unto them. 689 00:33:57,840 --> 00:33:59,120 The Savior's job is to heal. 690 00:33:59,120 --> 00:34:03,400 Our job is to love, to love and minister in such a way the others are drawn to Jesus Christ. 691 00:34:03,400 --> 00:34:09,840 This is one of the fruits of the powerful virtuous cycle of the doctrine of Christ. 692 00:34:09,840 --> 00:34:14,200 So I just stopped and I thought, I'm not doing great at something. 693 00:34:14,200 --> 00:34:17,760 I've got some action items for myself. 694 00:34:17,760 --> 00:34:22,440 What an opportunity it is to maybe be that instructor or be that person that's put in 695 00:34:22,440 --> 00:34:26,120 the past to reflect the love of Jesus Christ and help somebody back onto the top of that 696 00:34:26,120 --> 00:34:27,120 kayak. 697 00:34:27,120 --> 00:34:28,560 But it's not really anything you're going to do. 698 00:34:28,560 --> 00:34:29,880 Jesus Christ has already done it. 699 00:34:29,880 --> 00:34:33,320 You're just like His hands in the moment or His mouthpiece. 700 00:34:33,320 --> 00:34:37,880 And the best way to say the right thing is to definitely involve the Holy Ghost in that 701 00:34:37,880 --> 00:34:38,880 process. 702 00:34:38,880 --> 00:34:44,200 You can't say the wrong thing, but you can't say the wrong thing if your intent isn't to 703 00:34:44,200 --> 00:34:49,480 harm her to hurt, but just to help somebody back on that virtuous, powerful cycle of the 704 00:34:49,480 --> 00:34:50,480 doctrine of Christ also. 705 00:34:50,480 --> 00:34:51,480 So good, Abby. 706 00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:52,480 Thank you. 707 00:34:52,480 --> 00:34:53,480 Thanks for being here. 708 00:34:53,480 --> 00:34:54,480 We'll catch you guys next time. 709 00:34:54,480 --> 00:34:55,480 See you next time. 710 00:34:55,480 --> 00:35:08,680 healthy.