1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,000 [♪ Music playing. 2 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:14,800 Welcome to Closer to Christ through General Conference, where two friends who love Jesus 3 00:00:14,800 --> 00:00:18,240 share our own approach to studying the most recent General Conference talks. 4 00:00:18,240 --> 00:00:19,880 This is Abbey and Amy. 5 00:00:19,880 --> 00:00:20,880 Let's jump into it. 6 00:00:20,880 --> 00:00:27,160 Today we get to discuss holiness to the Lord in everyday life by Elder Garrett W. Gong, 7 00:00:27,160 --> 00:00:32,800 Quorum of the Twelve. And I love this because obviously it nods to the temple. The verbiage 8 00:00:32,800 --> 00:00:37,320 is above temple doors, but more so how He's going to make that everyday life. You're not 9 00:00:37,320 --> 00:00:40,040 in the temple every day, but you can still have those temple promises. 10 00:00:40,040 --> 00:00:41,280 So good, Abbey. 11 00:00:41,280 --> 00:00:45,060 Ours is the gospel of joy and holiness in everyday life. Holiness sets things apart 12 00:00:45,060 --> 00:00:50,700 for sacred purposes, but holiness also invites us to infuse daily living with the sacred, 13 00:00:50,700 --> 00:00:54,960 to rejoice in daily bread amidst the world's thistles and thorns, to walk with the Lord. 14 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:59,600 We must become holy for He is holy and to help us become holy, the Lord invites us to 15 00:00:59,600 --> 00:01:04,320 walk with Him. Elder Gong shared story after story of people who are living with daily 16 00:01:04,320 --> 00:01:08,520 holiness to the Lord. And I love that from the perspective of an apostle when they bring 17 00:01:08,520 --> 00:01:11,960 these awesome stories to the, like, you know that they're experiencing neat things. And 18 00:01:11,960 --> 00:01:15,160 then when we get a little glimpse of some of the beautiful things that they're seeing 19 00:01:15,160 --> 00:01:16,160 around the world. 20 00:01:16,160 --> 00:01:17,560 Around the world, right? Yes, that was my thought. 21 00:01:17,560 --> 00:01:24,480 It touches my heart. He then tells us that we are going to live the seven seas. Come 22 00:01:24,480 --> 00:01:30,360 union with God, community and compassion with each other, commitment and covenant with God, 23 00:01:30,360 --> 00:01:35,880 family and friends centered in Jesus Christ. That was number seven. 24 00:01:35,880 --> 00:01:41,880 Yes. So he goes on to talk about stories of everyday holiness to the Lord. So the first 25 00:01:41,880 --> 00:01:46,380 one, holiness to the Lord in everyday life looks like two faithful young adults married 26 00:01:46,380 --> 00:01:51,900 for a year, sharing with authenticity and vulnerability gospel covenant sacrifice and 27 00:01:51,900 --> 00:01:56,040 service in their unfolding lives. The first one was the wife. She tells us about the challenges 28 00:01:56,040 --> 00:02:00,980 in her nursing classes and feeling very alone in her beliefs and also socially because she 29 00:02:00,980 --> 00:02:05,800 was the only one that was married. The rest of this class was single. This is what she 30 00:02:05,800 --> 00:02:06,800 says. 31 00:02:06,800 --> 00:02:11,800 The past, this past semester, I learned how to better my belief, sorry, how to better 32 00:02:11,800 --> 00:02:17,120 voice my beliefs and be a good gospel example. My knowledge and testimony grew because I 33 00:02:17,120 --> 00:02:24,320 was tested in my ability to stand alone and be strong in what I believe. I love this because 34 00:02:24,320 --> 00:02:32,000 I can see how that would be definitely be something to learn. Okay. To learn from in 35 00:02:32,000 --> 00:02:37,720 just everyday life. Abby and I have talked about this and just us, you know, doing the 36 00:02:37,720 --> 00:02:44,620 podcast, we feel like there are lots of hours that we have put in that have helped us better 37 00:02:44,620 --> 00:02:48,680 voice our beliefs and I have seen the benefits of it in my life. 38 00:02:48,680 --> 00:02:52,840 Well, and two, like if I'm just in the community or having a conversation, I'm like, this is 39 00:02:52,840 --> 00:02:58,080 a great conversation. They, you know, we could have a nice conversation together, but I don't 40 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:02,600 want to like overimpose on them. I can just say like, I've been able to say, oh, I have 41 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:06,240 a podcast about that. And then I'll just quickly share the link with them. Then it's their 42 00:03:06,240 --> 00:03:08,920 choice. They want to listen to it. If they were like, no, I was done with that conversation. 43 00:03:08,920 --> 00:03:12,360 They don't have to listen to it, but they totally can. That's great. You were saying 44 00:03:12,360 --> 00:03:17,720 that. Two things come to mind on that. My husband, he did a master's degree a few years 45 00:03:17,720 --> 00:03:25,720 back and very different dynamic than his fellow classmates. What their priorities were and 46 00:03:25,720 --> 00:03:31,120 what their, let's say, political leanings were, their ideologies. And so like a few 47 00:03:31,120 --> 00:03:35,560 things like Adam would set ground rules with his professors. He had to interact on, what 48 00:03:35,560 --> 00:03:40,120 do you call that? Like when you make a comment and the people have to comment on your comments 49 00:03:40,120 --> 00:03:44,560 on an online platform, that's called something. I'll think of it when I'm listening back, 50 00:03:44,560 --> 00:03:49,400 I'll be like, oh yeah, it's that. But anyway, he would say, I don't do schoolwork on Sundays, 51 00:03:49,400 --> 00:03:54,160 like dedicating that time to my family because life was stretched thin and like, he could 52 00:03:54,160 --> 00:03:56,880 have certainly used the time on Sundays to do it, but he made a choice that he didn't 53 00:03:56,880 --> 00:04:00,960 want to. And so he's like, I'll take the point deductions because you had to make a comment 54 00:04:00,960 --> 00:04:03,800 and then you had to respond to other people. And a lot of the students would wait till 55 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:08,160 like Saturday to get on. So then their interaction with each other happened on Sunday. And so 56 00:04:08,160 --> 00:04:11,760 he just said upfront, I'm not trying to disrespect you and not fulfill the assignment, but I'm 57 00:04:11,760 --> 00:04:16,400 only able to comment on anybody that's posted by Saturday night at midnight. And if they 58 00:04:16,400 --> 00:04:21,280 haven't, then I'll just take the point deduction. Most of the time he got, you know, blessed 59 00:04:21,280 --> 00:04:25,000 with a couple of people to respond to and that worked fine. Sometimes he didn't, never 60 00:04:25,000 --> 00:04:29,840 received a point deduction for that. It was great. And then definitely in the discussion 61 00:04:29,840 --> 00:04:36,880 platforms, it was like, he definitely was definitely a different voice than like your 62 00:04:36,880 --> 00:04:41,880 normal young college student. Like we'd lived some life and we'd had some hard blows and 63 00:04:41,880 --> 00:04:46,120 like we're at a different place in life. So this idealistic, you know, what my professor 64 00:04:46,120 --> 00:04:53,680 said goes and this is, this is truth. You know, he's kind of, he has to politely, respectfully. 65 00:04:53,680 --> 00:04:58,280 It often came with a religious undertone because he teaches for us and I, and like the degree 66 00:04:58,280 --> 00:05:02,800 was to further him in that career. So like a lot of that would be infused. His daily 67 00:05:02,800 --> 00:05:06,640 life was spent teaching the gospel. Then when he comes home and he's trying to do 68 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:12,240 schoolwork, that's in there. But I liked how she said it in a respectful way to voice their 69 00:05:12,240 --> 00:05:18,280 beliefs. And then I also thought of my two sisters, my two of my sisters were married 70 00:05:18,280 --> 00:05:21,600 to doctors still through the residency and stuff. They were married, they were having 71 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:26,080 children and it was such a contrast with a lot who think just going to get the school 72 00:05:26,080 --> 00:05:30,520 piece done and then I'll commit to marriage, maybe commit to family or whatever. It made 73 00:05:30,520 --> 00:05:36,760 them very, very unique in their circumstances. And they weren't dealing with easy things 74 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:43,000 like, I mean, you know, like bringing Ollie in and his heart things like, you know, they 75 00:05:43,000 --> 00:05:48,120 could have been easier for him if they hadn't gone that route. But I think they had the 76 00:05:48,120 --> 00:05:53,180 opportunity to like really strengthen their testimony of family. And I think in the end, 77 00:05:53,180 --> 00:05:57,560 it really did help with their schooling pursuits and things. Holiness to the Lord in everyday 78 00:05:57,560 --> 00:06:04,240 life looks like a young returning missionary who learned to let God prevail in his life. 79 00:06:04,240 --> 00:06:09,520 This missionary is asked to give a blessing to someone who's very sick. His first thoughts 80 00:06:09,520 --> 00:06:16,520 like, oh, he didn't know if he had the faith and he would bless him to recover. The missionary 81 00:06:16,520 --> 00:06:20,160 says, I learned in that moment to pray not for what I wanted, but for what the Lord knew 82 00:06:20,160 --> 00:06:27,000 the person needed. He blessed him with comfort and peace. And the man later passed away peacefully. 83 00:06:27,000 --> 00:06:32,320 So kind of watching your will align with the Lord's will in a matter of moments within 84 00:06:32,320 --> 00:06:33,320 a priesthood blessing. 85 00:06:33,320 --> 00:06:36,560 That's true. In real time, right? Like he went in thinking, I have the faith, I'm going 86 00:06:36,560 --> 00:06:37,560 to, you know, this will turn out great. 87 00:06:37,560 --> 00:06:38,560 We're going to heal them, we're going to set up. 88 00:06:38,560 --> 00:06:40,960 He puts his hand on his head and probably was like, oh, that's not where this is going. 89 00:06:40,960 --> 00:06:44,320 If this doesn't feel like the words need to say, then you always feel guilty. Like, is 90 00:06:44,320 --> 00:06:47,960 it my will that he's dying? Like, no, it's just aligning my will with his and saying. 91 00:06:47,960 --> 00:06:48,960 You're just recognizing. 92 00:06:48,960 --> 00:06:52,560 Yeah, the words, then I think that there must be some comfort in that when he's like, no, 93 00:06:52,560 --> 00:06:56,360 I did listen to the prompting of the Spirit. Let's offer you what you need in this moment 94 00:06:56,360 --> 00:07:00,720 because it's actually peace and comfort, not rejuvenation and longer life. 95 00:07:00,720 --> 00:07:01,720 Right. 96 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:02,720 In this scenario. 97 00:07:02,720 --> 00:07:04,120 Right. In this scenario, your body is done. 98 00:07:04,120 --> 00:07:05,120 Yes. 99 00:07:05,120 --> 00:07:10,400 So the third one he talks about is, he said, a sister does her best each day after her 100 00:07:10,400 --> 00:07:14,680 husband was unfaithful to her and also the children. I deeply admire her and others like 101 00:07:14,680 --> 00:07:20,560 her. One day while folding laundry, her hand on a stack of garments, she sighed to herself, 102 00:07:20,560 --> 00:07:25,320 what's the point? She felt a tender voice reassure her or assure her your covenants 103 00:07:25,320 --> 00:07:29,800 are with me. And here again, Abby, here we are again. I'm guessing that every person 104 00:07:29,800 --> 00:07:35,500 listening has at one time felt a similar question, either asking the Lord, what's the point? 105 00:07:35,500 --> 00:07:39,520 Or is this gospel living producing what I'm hoping for? Right. Is there hope for me in 106 00:07:39,520 --> 00:07:46,000 my specific situation? And when I read this, my favorite is that the Lord refocused her 107 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:52,000 attention on him and his covenantal love has said. So I looked up a couple of things as 108 00:07:52,000 --> 00:07:56,640 far as what President Nelson has taught us about this word. He said, once we make a covenant 109 00:07:56,640 --> 00:08:01,880 with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon his relationship with 110 00:08:01,880 --> 00:08:06,360 those who have forged such a bond with him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant 111 00:08:06,360 --> 00:08:10,800 with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy. In the Hebrew language, that 112 00:08:10,800 --> 00:08:17,320 covenantal love is called hesed. And he said, once you and I have made a covenant with God, 113 00:08:17,320 --> 00:08:21,600 our relationship with him becomes much closer than before our covenant. Now we are bound 114 00:08:21,600 --> 00:08:25,960 together. And this is the part I believe God was telling this woman. He was reminding her 115 00:08:25,960 --> 00:08:30,680 and really each one of us listening here who has ever asked, what's the point? Or is there 116 00:08:30,680 --> 00:08:35,800 hope for me? Again, President Nelson is speaking directly to those who make and keep covenants. 117 00:08:35,800 --> 00:08:39,800 He says, because of our covenant with God, he will never tire in his efforts to help 118 00:08:39,800 --> 00:08:44,000 us and we will never exhaust his merciful patience with us. We've talked about that 119 00:08:44,000 --> 00:08:48,400 before. Like, is this the last time I can ask her? 120 00:08:48,400 --> 00:08:51,680 He reminds us. And I love it because we've said that before and this is actually the 121 00:08:51,680 --> 00:08:58,040 prophet reminding us. We will never exhaust his merciful patience with us. Each of us 122 00:08:58,040 --> 00:09:03,480 has a special place in God's heart and he has high hopes for us. And that was from a 123 00:09:03,480 --> 00:09:06,960 special love and mercy in the Liahona from President Nelson. 124 00:09:06,960 --> 00:09:11,320 I love that you found that. And I love when it sparks. How did you find that extra additional 125 00:09:11,320 --> 00:09:14,600 I looked up hesed, President Nelson. 126 00:09:14,600 --> 00:09:18,120 I love it when I go on like on a rabbit hole and then I'm like, I find these little gems. 127 00:09:18,120 --> 00:09:22,200 Yeah, you're like, hey, we've kind of quoted that but we didn't know where it was from. 128 00:09:22,200 --> 00:09:28,020 A girl, another example that he shared was about a girl in a family of boys who struggled 129 00:09:28,020 --> 00:09:32,480 to feel good enough for her father, which was sad. Then she talked about her mother 130 00:09:32,480 --> 00:09:38,480 passing away, which could have made the relationship more difficult because she tended to be their 131 00:09:38,480 --> 00:09:45,080 buffer, the translator, kind of the only sliver of relationship that the girl and her father 132 00:09:45,080 --> 00:09:51,640 had. And then the daughter relates that one day she'd heard a voice say, invite your dad 133 00:09:51,640 --> 00:09:55,720 to the temple, take him to the temple with you. And so then they started going to the 134 00:09:55,720 --> 00:10:02,960 temple twice a month and their father daughter relationship completely changed, it was strengthened 135 00:10:02,960 --> 00:10:07,280 and she was even able to verbalize to her dad that she loved him. He reciprocated that 136 00:10:07,280 --> 00:10:11,840 love. She said, spending time in the house of the Lord has healed us. My mom could not 137 00:10:11,840 --> 00:10:15,400 help us on earth. It took her being on the other side of the veil to help mend what was 138 00:10:15,400 --> 00:10:20,680 broken. The temple completed our journey to wholeness as an eternal family. I would say 139 00:10:20,680 --> 00:10:25,640 that her mom probably is still with her and the father and helping strengthen that, especially 140 00:10:25,640 --> 00:10:32,200 as they're in the temple. And what a neat thing to know that our efforts, they continue 141 00:10:32,200 --> 00:10:33,200 on in the next life. 142 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:38,360 Yes. And especially when, I mean, that must have been like she felt like the rug was pulled 143 00:10:38,360 --> 00:10:41,920 off around her when her mom passed away. And then to think that it even- 144 00:10:41,920 --> 00:10:42,920 Assumed in her mind like that, that's it. It's over. 145 00:10:42,920 --> 00:10:46,200 That's the last thread of hope to have this relationship with dad. 146 00:10:46,200 --> 00:10:51,720 And then to have it actually be healed by going to the temple. And I'm sure that her 147 00:10:51,720 --> 00:10:54,560 mom had a hand in that and I just love that she was able to help her. 148 00:10:54,560 --> 00:10:59,120 What I also like is that she didn't desire for that relationship to be severed. She did 149 00:10:59,120 --> 00:11:02,760 want a stronger relationship rather than being willing to give up on it because she knew 150 00:11:02,760 --> 00:11:07,700 that their family bond was meant to be an eternal bond, even though it wasn't feeling 151 00:11:07,700 --> 00:11:12,680 strong in this time and this moment. So I'm thinking that she was kind of carrying this 152 00:11:12,680 --> 00:11:18,080 like heaviness and a desire. So she was expressing that she had this desire because she was doing 153 00:11:18,080 --> 00:11:20,640 that, that opened her up to the revelation that she would get. 154 00:11:20,640 --> 00:11:21,640 Absolutely. 155 00:11:21,640 --> 00:11:25,240 It was as simple as inviting to temple because also she was exhibiting that the temple mattered 156 00:11:25,240 --> 00:11:28,880 to her and she was attending the temple. That wasn't like a stretch for her to be like, 157 00:11:28,880 --> 00:11:32,560 well, she hasn't been attending the temple. Let's get her to the temple and see if she 158 00:11:32,560 --> 00:11:36,760 can get some inspiration while she's there. She's already obviously regularly a temple 159 00:11:36,760 --> 00:11:41,600 attender and maybe her father was too with the mom. Now that mom's gone, there's a void 160 00:11:41,600 --> 00:11:46,240 there for him and it just seems like the right opportunity. And then dad buys in because 161 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:48,840 he says yes to the invitation and commits to it. 162 00:11:48,840 --> 00:11:49,840 I love that. 163 00:11:49,840 --> 00:11:56,160 Everybody's buying in. So how could we each infuse our daily lives with holiness or, yeah, 164 00:11:56,160 --> 00:12:01,920 is that a good question? How do we each infuse our daily lives with holiness? 165 00:12:01,920 --> 00:12:08,120 So one of my first thoughts was to be where the Lord is. That is in scripture, in prayer, 166 00:12:08,120 --> 00:12:12,480 in the temple. He talks about, I mean, of course, like you talked about at the beginning, 167 00:12:12,480 --> 00:12:17,040 holiness to the Lord is what is above our temple doors. 168 00:12:17,040 --> 00:12:24,480 And it's making a statement that what we're about to do is set apart for a sacred purpose 169 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,480 that can be over the temple door. I just went to a lady's house and she's got it on a cute 170 00:12:28,480 --> 00:12:34,640 little sign above her home door. She's inviting that same message to prevail that what's going 171 00:12:34,640 --> 00:12:38,760 to be happening in their home, this is a place set aside for sacred things. So yes, your 172 00:12:38,760 --> 00:12:44,840 list of things is perfect. Scripture, prayer, temple, sacrament meetings where we're renewing 173 00:12:44,840 --> 00:12:50,720 our baptismal covenants. Are you finding that as you're studying general conference talks? 174 00:12:50,720 --> 00:12:51,720 I totally am. 175 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:57,600 Same, like putting the effort in, I'm like, this is paying off way more than ever before. 176 00:12:57,600 --> 00:12:58,600 It is. 177 00:12:58,600 --> 00:13:00,800 Because it's where I'm spending my time right now. 178 00:13:00,800 --> 00:13:06,280 And it's also, when I studied general conference talks, it is infusing my everyday life with 179 00:13:06,280 --> 00:13:11,480 holiness. And it's setting apart, like you said, setting apart just, I don't know, the 180 00:13:11,480 --> 00:13:15,840 questions I've had and just the other things I feel like when I read general conference 181 00:13:15,840 --> 00:13:21,480 talks and put them in the questions to practice, it's essentially like proving the Lord, I 182 00:13:21,480 --> 00:13:22,480 guess. 183 00:13:22,480 --> 00:13:23,480 Exactly. 184 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,240 Then I've been seeing leaps and bounds of growth. 185 00:13:26,240 --> 00:13:30,680 Same, and then I would just say same thing when I'm in my Come Follow Me study for the 186 00:13:30,680 --> 00:13:31,680 week. 187 00:13:31,680 --> 00:13:32,680 Absolutely. 188 00:13:32,680 --> 00:13:36,040 If I happen to have listened to a conference talk, or I've listened to a podcast on something 189 00:13:36,040 --> 00:13:39,280 and I'm doing my Come Follow Me and listening to my scriptures, all of those things tie 190 00:13:39,280 --> 00:13:44,440 together and I think, how could it so magically go together? Which really isn't the case. 191 00:13:44,440 --> 00:13:48,720 It's that the thing that I'm needing to learn is impressed upon me by the Spirit. I'm having 192 00:13:48,720 --> 00:13:49,720 revelatory moments. 193 00:13:49,720 --> 00:13:50,720 In layers. 194 00:13:50,720 --> 00:13:53,740 Yeah, like all of those little parts and pieces, I can see like, oh, all of that helps come 195 00:13:53,740 --> 00:14:01,280 to this understanding. I've got this ability to make better choices in my day because I'm 196 00:14:01,280 --> 00:14:06,440 filling my mind with potential quick answers to things that I've maybe been pondering on 197 00:14:06,440 --> 00:14:07,440 for a long time. 198 00:14:07,440 --> 00:14:14,480 I love that, Abby. So it's been a few years now, but back during COVID, we started doing 199 00:14:14,480 --> 00:14:19,820 a meditation together where it was just understanding that, you know what, that's part of pondering. 200 00:14:19,820 --> 00:14:23,720 There's the search, which is reading the scriptures. There's the ponder part where you're thinking 201 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,760 about questions and you're being in a very quiet place with the Lord. 202 00:14:27,760 --> 00:14:29,880 And giving time for it to like ruminate. 203 00:14:29,880 --> 00:14:33,360 It's true. I had not made time for quietness in my life before that. 204 00:14:33,360 --> 00:14:39,080 Here's my question. Where's the answer? I'm going to bed. He doesn't like that so much. 205 00:14:39,080 --> 00:14:43,360 Well, it doesn't give him much time to work with. It's true. 206 00:14:43,360 --> 00:14:47,160 My latest email is I get my best answers in the morning, so I'll go to bed on a question. 207 00:14:47,160 --> 00:14:48,560 I'm like, don't have to answer me now. 208 00:14:48,560 --> 00:14:49,560 Love it. 209 00:14:49,560 --> 00:14:52,480 I'm ready for it. And then I wake up in the morning, whatever hours, and I'm like, oh, 210 00:14:52,480 --> 00:14:53,480 that's good stuff. 211 00:14:53,480 --> 00:14:55,840 It's the same. I like things that percolate a bit. 212 00:14:55,840 --> 00:14:56,840 That's what it's doing. 213 00:14:56,840 --> 00:15:01,160 That's so great. So these are my thoughts. So the first one was be where the Lord is 214 00:15:01,160 --> 00:15:05,600 or essentially seek the Lord. The next one is invite the Lord to where you are, wherever 215 00:15:05,600 --> 00:15:07,360 you are in the daily, right? 216 00:15:07,360 --> 00:15:14,200 This is such a good part. This is such a good suggestion because we're always, I mean, if 217 00:15:14,200 --> 00:15:17,260 we're saying like we're making time for the temple and we're in there, that's the Lord's 218 00:15:17,260 --> 00:15:22,160 time and we have gone to where he is. But I feel like multiple talks have given us this 219 00:15:22,160 --> 00:15:26,080 beautiful idea that it doesn't have to rest there alone, that that has to be your only 220 00:15:26,080 --> 00:15:32,540 place of sanctuary. We can bring him into the dishwashing and the laundry, the sweeping 221 00:15:32,540 --> 00:15:38,520 and mopping of the floors, the driving kids to activities, the waiting in line at the 222 00:15:38,520 --> 00:15:42,840 grocery store. What I'm summarizing is daily tasks. 223 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:48,160 Right. Right. And when we bring the Lord into any of those daily tasks, like for example, 224 00:15:48,160 --> 00:15:54,080 I'm doing laundry, I'm listening to scripture, it turns that task into being holy because 225 00:15:54,080 --> 00:16:00,000 holiness sets things apart for a sacred purpose. So it's just so interesting that you can set 226 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:05,080 laundry aside, set that apart for a sacred purpose. I've never thought of that before. 227 00:16:05,080 --> 00:16:09,400 I have thought of that. You know why? No, yeah, no, just recently, mostly recently because 228 00:16:09,400 --> 00:16:14,240 I'm like the second I mentioned laundry, my children scatter like cockroaches. So it's 229 00:16:14,240 --> 00:16:19,240 like, I think of all of the time, if I'm getting ready for the day, like my bathroom space 230 00:16:19,240 --> 00:16:24,320 is not private space. My bedroom is not private space. No room in the house that's private 231 00:16:24,320 --> 00:16:26,400 space but the laundry room. Oh, I love that. 232 00:16:26,400 --> 00:16:30,360 It really is. It's sacred because nobody wants to do laundry. So I'm like, I'm going to go 233 00:16:30,360 --> 00:16:36,440 for laundry. Who wants to help me? I got the place to myself and I usually put on something 234 00:16:36,440 --> 00:16:41,200 to listen to, podcast, scriptures, come follow me for the week, whatever. It's my time. I 235 00:16:41,200 --> 00:16:45,600 love that. That's great. That is so great. So I have a friend, her name is Maria, and 236 00:16:45,600 --> 00:16:50,720 I love the way that she's very intentional about this. She has a photo of a different 237 00:16:50,720 --> 00:16:56,120 child or a different family member, husband included, in each zone of her home. So when 238 00:16:56,120 --> 00:17:01,880 she's there cleaning or doing dishes or doing the laundry, she thinks on that child, the 239 00:17:01,880 --> 00:17:06,320 needs that are around that and praise for them specifically. I think that is such a 240 00:17:06,320 --> 00:17:11,480 great way to turn anything that you're doing as a mother or someone who's caring after 241 00:17:11,480 --> 00:17:18,720 a home or whatever, to turn that time into setting that apart for a sacred purpose. 242 00:17:18,720 --> 00:17:22,940 I love that. And then I'm thinking, you know, I don't do that, but I'm thinking, what do 243 00:17:22,940 --> 00:17:28,400 I do? I have proclamations to the family or an article to faith, pictures of Christ, my 244 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:32,460 family pictures. They're scattered through my house and they're kind of meant to be on 245 00:17:32,460 --> 00:17:37,700 central pieces. I've got them fixed on central walls. I think it's for that same purpose, 246 00:17:37,700 --> 00:17:42,480 so that it reminds me why I'm doing the things in my home that I'm doing for those special 247 00:17:42,480 --> 00:17:49,500 purposes. Also, when we're thinking about prayer, you know, amidst the tasks that we're 248 00:17:49,500 --> 00:17:53,520 doing, they're like drawn out prayers rather than like breakfast, lunch, dinner, or morning 249 00:17:53,520 --> 00:17:57,120 prayers, night prayers, that you kind of open a prayer and you're carrying it with you in 250 00:17:57,120 --> 00:18:01,000 these tasks that you're having. Love that. That invites the Lord into the things that 251 00:18:01,000 --> 00:18:03,540 you're just naturally going about your day doing. 252 00:18:03,540 --> 00:18:08,120 An open-ended prayer. I love that. That's so good, Abby. Okay, so there was one other 253 00:18:08,120 --> 00:18:13,080 thing. Do you remember when he talked about just as far as the temple goes, having the 254 00:18:13,080 --> 00:18:18,320 holiness to the Lord on the top and how it is a sacred place? He talked about it's a 255 00:18:18,320 --> 00:18:22,900 sacred place for members of the church and also he said for our friends. He talked about 256 00:18:22,900 --> 00:18:27,420 some friends that he had in Bangkok that were clearly not members of our faith. And when 257 00:18:27,420 --> 00:18:34,280 they walked in for an open house, they were exclaiming things like at the baptismal font, 258 00:18:34,280 --> 00:18:38,320 like you know, it makes me want to be clean and never sin again. And someone else said, 259 00:18:38,320 --> 00:18:43,520 can you feel the power in this place? So I just thought that was wonderful that it doesn't 260 00:18:43,520 --> 00:18:49,600 matter who you are. There is something inside of us that recognizes truth and recognizes 261 00:18:49,600 --> 00:18:51,920 our Creator. And just- 262 00:18:51,920 --> 00:18:57,280 I can add my testimony to that. We did the Oran temple open house one morning and then 263 00:18:57,280 --> 00:19:02,080 we had hotel rooms down in St. George because their open house also coordinated. So we hit 264 00:19:02,080 --> 00:19:06,240 two at once and didn't quite know where to park and we didn't actually have tickets for 265 00:19:06,240 --> 00:19:09,640 the Oran one. We had the day set for the St. George trip and we're like, well, we're going 266 00:19:09,640 --> 00:19:13,720 to be down here anyway. Let's go halfway and make this happen. So we go, we see these people 267 00:19:13,720 --> 00:19:17,320 are kind of also lost. And so we kind of help them get to where we need to depart to the 268 00:19:17,320 --> 00:19:22,600 bus situation that they were doing. They end up not speaking a lick of English. And so 269 00:19:22,600 --> 00:19:27,240 we decided, we were able to like use Google translate and we were speaking Chinese to 270 00:19:27,240 --> 00:19:30,040 each other and coordinating between the two. 271 00:19:30,040 --> 00:19:31,040 Go you. 272 00:19:31,040 --> 00:19:35,120 Well, it was very difficult. I'm like, I mean, I wish I could speak Chinese in this moment, 273 00:19:35,120 --> 00:19:38,440 but I really couldn't. But we're having our little conversation and like that was the 274 00:19:38,440 --> 00:19:41,520 message that they brought. Like everybody's smiling, everybody's so happy. And you could 275 00:19:41,520 --> 00:19:45,120 just see that they just really enjoyed their time in there and the peace that they were 276 00:19:45,120 --> 00:19:49,040 filling. So like, yeah, we don't even have to speak the same language, but the spirit 277 00:19:49,040 --> 00:19:55,160 can speak the same language and fill our hearts with that same piece. So I'm glad that I got 278 00:19:55,160 --> 00:20:01,480 to be reminded of that. It was cool. Let's see questions. Somebody might ponder on while 279 00:20:01,480 --> 00:20:04,880 they're listening to this talk. 280 00:20:04,880 --> 00:20:09,320 How do you infuse your daily life with holiness to the Lord? It's going to look different 281 00:20:09,320 --> 00:20:13,080 for every person and every season is going to look different. 282 00:20:13,080 --> 00:20:15,760 Consider the things that you have going on in a given day and what things you want to 283 00:20:15,760 --> 00:20:19,160 achieve and is there any opportunity to pair both? Like we know we have to do laundry, 284 00:20:19,160 --> 00:20:24,560 we know we'd like to listen to the scriptures. Can we do both simultaneously? Love it. Another 285 00:20:24,560 --> 00:20:25,720 question. 286 00:20:25,720 --> 00:20:29,920 What can you do this week to voice your beliefs in the gospel of Jesus Christ? And remember 287 00:20:29,920 --> 00:20:34,600 voice, to put a voice to something doesn't necessarily mean you have to speak it. You 288 00:20:34,600 --> 00:20:39,400 could write it. You could leave it behind in a journal for your posterity. You could 289 00:20:39,400 --> 00:20:45,520 have a conversation with a family member, sister, brother, friend, children, husband. 290 00:20:45,520 --> 00:20:49,600 It could be a social media thing. We'll let you decide that. 291 00:20:49,600 --> 00:20:50,600 Many options. 292 00:20:50,600 --> 00:20:52,280 All right. Wrap it up for us. 293 00:20:52,280 --> 00:20:57,920 All right. Holiness to the Lord makes living daily life sacred. It draws us closer and 294 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:02,360 happier to the Lord and each other and prepares us to live with God, our Father, Jesus Christ 295 00:21:02,360 --> 00:21:08,560 and our loved ones. Again, Abby, he ends with the triangle, right? Where he says it draws 296 00:21:08,560 --> 00:21:12,360 us closer and happier to the Lord and each other. It's like when we're on that triangle, 297 00:21:12,360 --> 00:21:15,880 when you're at the bottom, if we're both getting closer to the Lord, we're also getting 298 00:21:15,880 --> 00:21:42,880 closer to each other. And I think that is a beautiful thing. We'll leave you with that.