Welcome to Closer to Christ through General Conference, where two friends who love Jesus Christ share our own approach to studying the most recent General Conference talks.
This is Abby and Amy. Let's jump into it.
Today we get to discuss the talk called Live Up to Your Privileges by General Young Women's President, Sister Emily Bell Freeman.
Sister Freeman started by sharing this. She said, "...partaking of the sacrament would increase my companionship with the Spirit of the Lord, allowing me to draw upon the gift of God's power, including the ministering of angels and the Savior's enabling strength to overcome."
So, this leads us to the power by which we have this priesthood and these covenant promises and ordinances.
So, Amy, let's jump in with a question. How do we receive the power of God in our lives?
I love this, Abby. President Freeman first starts and she says, "...in order for an ordinance to manifest the power of God in our lives, it must be done with authority from the Son of God. The delivery system is important."
And then she talks about, "...the Father entrusted Jesus Christ with the keys and authority to oversee the delivery of his priesthood ordinances. Under his direction, within the order of his priesthood, the sons of God have been ordained to stand in the place of the Son of God."
I love that so much. I appreciated the imagery that she put together here for the line of priesthood authority, God, Son of God, and then Sons of God.
In her footnote also, in footnote 6, it talks about, there are multiple scriptures, but the one I really liked was Hebrews 7.3, and it just talked about this.
It said, "...for this Melchizedek was ordained a priest after the order of the Son of God." And then it talks about how all those who are ordained unto that priesthood are made like unto the Son of God.
So I really liked that the scripture reference was there with that wonderful imagery, because the imagery was just so good, and then I loved that it was backed by scripture.
We all thought back to every 11 slash 12 year old little boy that you've known that is inclined to mischief and being dirty and being wild.
And I can't think of a time in my 40 years that I can think of a time when the deacons haven't accepted the challenge to deliver the sacrament in such a respectful, peaceful, quiet way.
It's completely separate from most of their natures at that particular age.
Ten minutes into the second hour, and they're acting like deacons and just being their regular age, right? But during that specific part of time, you're right, it's very relevant.
Yeah, they accept this. It's a salinity of it, and they're being very serious about it. They do recognize that they are the delivery system for this covenant making.
For us, making up. Renewing. I don't want to say making, but yeah.
And then I love to, you know, as far as we're talking about the power, this is something I really love. She shared this, or maybe this was just one of her footnotes, but it was from the Powerful Virtuous Cycle from Elder Renlon of Just Last Conference.
He says, through these covenants, we have greater access to his power. And then he says this, to be clear, baptismal and temple covenants are not in and of themselves the source of power.
The source of power is the Lord Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father. Making and keeping covenants create a conduit for their power into our lives. So I just love that.
Again, I'm a visual person, and I love seeing that it's, you know, in my mind, it's not the covenants themselves.
Those are the promise in there that they're a conduit that leads us always back to Jesus Christ, back to Heavenly Father.
Somebody could make the case like that you really don't know what you're doing at eight when you make baptismal covenant. If you're just raised in the church and like that's the age you got baptized at.
And I could counter it with this, that may be true. I do think it's a beautiful age to accept baptism, if that's your opportunity.
But every week past that, that you partake of the sacrament is, again, having the opportunity to use your agency to say, yep, I'm still buying in and I still want to be closer to you and I still want to rely on your power.
Still opting in every week.
So maybe I started at eight, but like was 40. I'm 41. 41 the other day. And I'm still happy to have continued access to that source of power. And I recognize that's through Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.
Something that you've learned over the years about making and keeping covenants, Amy?
I would say over the years a covenant made once and then kept on a shelf doesn't produce much of the power of God that I have to see in my life.
What good does a one-time action do for me in living my best life? It's learning and then claiming those blessings in my life.
A conversation with my brother that I just had this week, he reminded me how Abraham, Father Abraham, desired special blessings and then he approached and asked God for them.
So I looked it up and it's in Abraham 1 verse 2 and this is what he shares, Abraham.
And finding there was greater happiness and great and peace and rest for me, I sought for the blessings of the fathers and the right whereunto I should be ordained to administer the same, having been myself a follower of righteousness desiring.
So again, we have sought and we have desiring. Those are two words for claiming blessings. Also to be one who possess great knowledge and to be greater follower of righteousness.
Yeah.
So I love that. I love that Father Abraham showed us that we can claim blessings and that's the way I like to live my covenants and to continue making them is to claim those blessings and to learn what they are.
Do you find in those words that he's saying that because he had this happiness for himself that he wants others to have that same blessing?
I totally do.
That's what I'm reading here and so.
Because we know it flows through him.
We get our blessings from that direct line of Abraham.
Yes.
And I noticed seeing us, but he knew his posterity would be numerous and we're less.
And if we're putting the, you know, the words of Elder Suarez from this conference, he says, what works for thee works for me.
And I think that it's like a really good way right here of saying that Heavenly Father shared his will through his spirit with Abraham.
Abraham picked up on that and was like, yeah, I want this for all of my seed.
And I mean, what happened? It was for all of his seed.
So I feel like that's a beautiful also showing us where God's will and our will come together.
Abraham also modeled that very well.
Covenants help us overcome and become.
This is from Sister Friedman.
Another example that she shared from her talk was she said this partaking of the bread and water is a weekly reminder of his power working in you to help you overcome.
Wearing the garment of the Holy Priesthood is a daily reminder of the gift of his power working in you to help you become.
Love that, Abby.
What are your thoughts on that?
So I think every one of us has something we love to be done with once and for all.
We want to overcome it.
So I'm as far as asking questions, it would be really worth asking the question.
What do I want to overcome?
Maybe journal that, maybe prayer journal that and have the Lord chime in with that as well.
Can you give me an example of something that comes to your mind?
Oh, geez, Abby.
I know I'm trying to get on the.
I have so many things.
There's something I've been working on for two years and I'm just like, you know what?
Why is this in my mind every single day all the time?
And I actually that was one of my open questions.
It was one of my questions for conference.
I said, Heavenly Father, what's something I should stop doing?
And it was completely blank until the very end.
And finally, I said, OK, Heavenly Father, I haven't this.
This answer hasn't come to me.
Like, what is it?
And he said, he said, stop ruminating over this thing.
It's done.
He said every day and I'll know when this is going to be finished.
But for now, my protocol for repenting or for going to the Lord at night is number one,
I think Heavenly Father for his forgiveness.
Number two, I think him for his son.
Number three, I think him for Jesus Christ's atonement.
And then these are the feelings I got from Heavenly Father was he said, claim the blessings
of the redemptive power of the atonement in your life and then watch how this current challenge
and struggle changes.
And I was like, heck yeah, I'm on board.
Like, I want to put it, I want to try this.
I want to prove him and see that this is going to work.
And I will say we're already today, which is Wednesday, and I've done it more than every night.
And every time this thing vexes me, it comes to mind and I start claiming these, these
blessings.
And I already feel kind of a change in it.
And I'm already feeling the shift.
So I can't even wait to see what's going to happen next.
You've talked in other podcasts about the phrase when you say it is finished, like for yourself,
you know, when you've gone through the process of something and it's finished.
This one, for whatever reason, it's meant to really grow and stretch you.
And so it keeps coming back to you like, I don't feel like it's, you don't feel like it's finished.
But you're learning that it doesn't have to be resolved to be finished in his eyes.
If you make up the difference in the power that he has to offer in the equation.
Totally.
And then, you know, this is interesting too.
And you said it is finished because I literally, I felt to write down, I have part one, part
two, part three, part four, part five, and then in a conclusion.
And I just like kind of asked for the spirit to guide me through kind of like you were
saying in our last episode when the spirit kind of walks you through different things
and highlighted little, little highlights, like a highlight reel, right?
What was to be gained from the hard trial that you were going through?
Yes. And I saw the first one was an invitation.
The second one was me repenting of this thing.
The third one was me going to the temple for it.
The fourth one was watching conference and asking a question.
The fifth one was writing down all of these things, going on a walk with a friend and
really crystallizing it all.
And at the very end, it said, it is finished.
Like the rest of it, all of the residue, give it to Jesus because you have done the work, Amy.
You can look at this page anytime you feel like maybe you haven't.
But as a parent, if I were Heavenly Father and I looked down at what I've done in the
past two years, I would say, Amy, you have claimed the blessings.
You have claimed the blessings of being redeemed of this situation.
That is what the atonement is for.
And let it work in your life.
I love it.
Sister Freeman talked about Doctrine and Covenants, Section 25 in this talk.
Yes.
Was it 2019?
Yes, it was.
President Nelson invited us to study that deeply.
As women.
And we did that.
It changed my life.
I could hear it in her voice.
She picked up that challenge and she ran with it.
It changed my life.
I'm a different person.
I study things differently.
I claim different power.
I do remember I texted Amy today and I was preparing for this.
We listened to the talks ourselves and gathered stuff.
And I said, I am re-listening to Sister Freeman's talk and it feels like the first time I'm hearing
it because the notes, the revelation I was receiving during her talk are so different
from the words that I'm reading on the paper.
Isn't it interesting?
But I think it's because it conjured so many feelings that I had from the experience that
I got from studying DNC 25.
And what I think that I summed up in here, I'd probably have to look at it again, but
I can quickly go back to my notes, is General Conference.
I basically made a comment that she is embodying what it means to be a woman who knows the
power that runs through them.
Totally.
That was the gist of it for me.
Very clear on it.
I love it.
It's kind of a contrast to the narrative that we as women don't have a voice or we don't
have equal access to power.
Or we follow blindly.
That's another one.
Not the case.
I love that I could listen to her talk and be like, yep, she represents me.
She is vocalizing the way that I feel.
And she's like-minded, right?
Yes.
And you have every right to not feel that way, but I think that it's a great way to
feel, and I would challenge you to get to that point where you feel like she speaks
for you if you don't feel that way already.
I feel powerful when I listen to her.
I agree.
What were your thoughts on her as she brought us back to that experience that we had with
DNC 25 and studying so many years ago?
Yes.
It was interesting because I had that experience back in 2019.
I would say that during the talk, I had a different experience with DNC 25.
And the part that came to my mind was when she said that Emma Smith learned about the
covenant connection that would increase the ability of priesthood ordinances to work in
her life.
Through El Chesedek priesthood ordinances, the power of godliness would be manifest.
And I love the part where Sister Freeman emphasized that this particular blessing, meaning DNC
25, was given to Emma, the young wife and mother.
She had been married for like three years.
This was not given to the grown, more experienced Relief Society president Emma.
And one of my favorite ideas of this version is that we have different versions of ourselves.
So this was the version of Emma that was the wife and mother.
So there's the child and teen version of me.
There's the young missionary, a young wife and mother, the seasoned mother, the cancer
patient, the mother of teens, the buying a lodge and figuring it out, the new hobby farmer,
and then the softer version of my former selves as God has rounded out my edges.
I'm so proud of how far I've come hand in hand with my Savior.
We've overcome a lot.
We've repented and learned a lot.
And we're currently the best version of me that has ever been.
The part I love is that our loving Heavenly Father, he sees all versions of us all at
once.
He sees where we've been, what we're doing now, and he sees what each of us are capable
of in our future selves.
So I love when I get a glimpse of what I'll be doing down the road.
I do ask for glimpses now and then I actually do it at every conference.
I like that.
I tell the Lord, I don't have to see it all, but a glimpse into my divine calling is all
that's needed because he's perfect and he knows my current capacity.
A glimpse of my next step is all I get.
I used to want all the answers at once, you know, but I've learned to be happy with the
illumination of just what my next step is.
Also, as far as the future self goes, we are going to link in this podcast.
In the show notes.
Yes, in the show notes, a meditation that I put together that walks or a guided visualization
that walks you through meeting your future self and just having a conversation.
And it's beautiful because it really brings this that all time is current to God.
So it brings that together.
So forever ago, first season, yes, was it motions of a hidden fire?
Probably.
I don't know.
One of our one of our reviews, you referenced it, asked us to.
Yeah, I did.
Because that was powerful for me at that time.
I had I had done a visualization with you and it had walked me five years in the future
and I was like, oh, my heck, that's where I am now.
Anyway, one of the sisters that listens to the podcast asked us if she could, if we had
access to that and I hadn't recorded it yet.
Yeah, that's not like that wasn't we didn't want to take this podcast that direction.
So what has happened is Amy's like suit on it for the last six months on how to best
deliver this offering, this gift that she has to do some of these guided visualizations.
And if at any time you feel impressed to, you know, incorporate that into what we consider
like a piece of pondering a way to put yourself into a way to to synthesize the information
that you have running through your brain.
I as just a person that's used what you've done.
That's that's how I'm explaining it.
Is that accurate?
Also for me, so so when you do a guided visualization, more parts of your body are are involved in
the learning process.
And this totally reminds me of one of the ways that President Nelson teaches.
I remember way back when he first became prophet.
It was in April of 2018.
And my sisters and mom and my daughter and nieces were all sitting around.
We were actually watching the priesthood session.
And I remember he at the end, he asked each man to stand up when he would name their priesthood.
And then at the end, after that, it was I forget what song it was now, but it was Stan's something about standing in the priesthood or whatever.
And it was like it was a full body experience.
And I was like, yes, I love this.
I love that we speak the words and then we also sing the words.
And so it kind of feels like that type of a thing where when more of your body is involved, you just learn better.
It like is able to sink into your bones.
So for the sister that asked for the guided visualization, like the first one is up.
We will I will link it to the episode that she requested for it on.
I will put it in the show notes of this.
Then if it's something that speaks to you, something that you'd like to take a look at, see if that's something you want to add to your like arsenal of things that you can do to what we think draw closer to our Savior Jesus Christ.
Then you pick that up.
This podcast will stay what it is. General Conference Review and Talk as we feel impressed to add guided visualizations that will go on a podcast Amy has created for herself.
What is it called?
It is called Closer to Christ Through Visualization.
OK, I like it.
So you'll you'll you'll recognize it.
You'll tag it.
And then if you follow that podcast, you'll you'll become aware as more more pop up and you'll find yourself.
If you've ever done guided visualization or meditation apps, you use the same ones repeatedly at different times in your life.
There are usually guided visualizations for, you know, calming your mind before bed or preparing for the following day.
I don't really know what Amy is going to bless us with, but I'm there for it.
I'll be there to listen.
And so we'll probably mention it in the podcast and put a link to it if it's something you want to pick up.
It'll be at your fingertips.
And if it's not for you, it's fine, too.
That's also fine.
Do you feel like you feel like you shared everything you wanted to do?
Do you have any last thoughts in conclusion for us today?
My last thought is I love that when God spoke to Emma in DMC 25, he first the Lord reminded Emma of her place in his plan, including who she was and who she was, a daughter in his kingdom.
She was invited to walk in paths of virtue, a path that included ordinances that would unlock God's power if Emma held on to her covenants.
What I love about this is that we all have a place in God's plan.
How do we find what that place may be?
Sister Freeman asked us, and this is what her action item would have been, to live up to your privileges, study and ponder the Aaronic and the Melchizedek priesthood ordinances.
The covenant promises made with each and the power of God access through those ordinances.
And I just add my testimony that as we do this, the Holy Ghost will teach or remind us of who we are, whose we are and what our own place is in his plan.
I say that in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen. Thanks for being with us. Catch you next time.