Welcome to Closer to Christ through General Conference,
where two friends who love Jesus share our own
approach to studying the most recent General
Conference talks. This is Abby and Amy. Let's
jump into it. Today's talk, personal preparation
to meet the Savior by Elder Dale G. Renlund,
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. talk is awesome.
It's one of those you could study over and over
again. Elder Redland prefaces the entire talk
by quoting what our beloved prophet said in the
last conference. I appreciate it when the apostles
expound on the words of the prophet because there's
so much to them in just a handful of words. He
can say so much and it takes us some time to
digest and think on it and see what it's going
to mean in our life. And when an apostle has
had a few extra months to think on it, it creates
a deeper understanding, another layer of testimony
to the things. that I'm already working on. Here
are what President Nelson's words were. It says,
now is the time for you and for me to prepare
for the second coming of our Lord and Savior,
Jesus the Christ. And he goes on to say, or Elder
Renlund goes on to say, when President Nelson
speaks about the second coming, it is always
with joyful optimism. I mentioned a primary girl
who recently told, said that she becomes anxious
when she hears. things of the second coming mentioned
she said i'm scared because bad things are going
to happen before jesus comes so it makes you
think of the question is there anyone who isn't
scared about the things that are going to happen
before jesus comes again i agree I've thought
the same thing. I think that if we're being truthful,
there's an element of not knowing all the details
or maybe knowing some scary details and then
focusing on those grim events rather than the
great part of the great and terrible day. And
I don't know, Abby, if I had to guess, I'd say
that there are days or seasons when each of us
have a Peter moment where we trust the Savior,
we have Him and His character in our sights,
and we step out onto the ocean to walk to Him
in faith. And then we have our days or our seasons
where we think, what was I thinking? We start
sinking because we let our focus toggle to the
terrible part of the great and terrible day.
Yep. I think the power here is to be aware of
those seasons or days. You know, if we're in
a moment where we're not thinking of Him and
we're just focused on the terrible, then it's
time to remind ourselves. It's time to return
to God and repent. It's not that it's a horrible
thing to doubt or fear. Those things can certainly
exist in our lives. We're human. that we want
to cast out that fear and replace it with the
joy that we can have as we focus on something
else, our Savior Jesus Christ and His power to
redeem and save. And then we refocus our efforts
on Jesus, our Savior. So we've given some insight
on this. What is Elder Renlund's advice for not
only children who may be fearful of the last
days, but to adults too? He's talking to me.
Right. The best advice for the primary child,
for you and for me, these are his words, is to
follow the Savior's teaching. His instructions
are neither mysterious nor complex. When we follow
them, we do not need to fear or be anxious. And
then Elder Renlund focuses on three parables
that Jesus taught toward the end of his ministry.
answered the age -old question as to when he
would come again. If you look at the footnote
three, oh, I did notice, Abby, I don't know why
I didn't notice it before. Nope, this is brand
new. Numbered paragraphs. On paragraphs, brand
new. Stop it. Yeah, I was going to mention that
to you. It was fantastic, I loved it. So you
could be reading the talk, you could be like,
let's go to paragraph four instead of like a
guessing game. Right, for Relief Society? Yes.
Loved it. I was like, why didn't we think of
that before? But whoever did it, kudos. So footnote
three, I love this. This is the quote that is...
that is used. And it's also in reference to Isaiah
45, 23, Zechariah 12, 10, and the DNC 88, 104.
It says, the Lord's second coming will occur
at the beginning of the millennial era when he
returns in glory and will acknowledge that he
was and is the promised Messiah. In returning
to these three parables, Elder Renlund says,
These teachings are crucial because personal
preparation to meet Him, Jesus Christ, is central
to life's purpose. So, parable one, the five
foolish and the five wise virgins. In this parable
alone, he taught us three key points. The first
one, he said, is that they did not need to fear
or be anxious because they would survive and
prosper. They would prevail. If we are wise,
we receive the truth by accepting the gospel
of Jesus Christ through priesthood, ordinance,
and covenants. The second lesson is that as we
strive to remain worthy of having the Holy Ghost
always with us, this capability... I like how
he said it because we're always talking about,
you know, you can't share your oil. Like they
would have shared their oil if they could, but
sharing your oil is impossible in this situation
because you have to have your own deep personal
connection with Jesus Christ. You can't give
somebody else that thing. Totally. You can give
them the light that comes as you exemplify. your
testimony because you know about jesus christ
agreed but you can't share the oil yes and the
first time i understood this i'm sure it has
been taught for decades and decades but the first
time i understood it was when elder bednar said
that the that it's the oil of conversion and
i was like it clicked i was like of course i
can't i can't transfer my conversion to somebody
else so i understood it at that point and yes
i do appreciate the the clarification um third
element of that Parable that Jesus highlighted
is avoiding deception. We are wise when we accept
the gospel, seek to have the Holy Ghost with
it, and avoid deception. One key teaching element
that's woven throughout all of the parables,
the five wise virgins could not help those without
oil. No one can accept the gospel, take the Holy
Ghost as a guide, and avoid deception on our
behalf. Nobody can do that for us. We have to
do that for ourselves. I did love that, too.
I love that he was clear about it. Yeah. And
he not only accept the gospel, but then take
the Holy Ghost as our guide and avoid deception.
I also love that, like he's saying, we are the
ones that do this for ourselves. Yes, we look
to the brethren. Yes, we look to our prophet
and they help guide our work. Yes, it's nice
when we're born to families that foster that
within us, that it's something we're going to
want. But at the end of the day, we're the one
who's in a situation where a friend might say
something like, hey, if you do X, Y, Z, you'll
have greater understanding about the Lord and
get to know him better than anything else. And
I'm kind of thinking, I feel like my temple covenants
have me there. I'm pretty happy with that. I
don't feel like I need to do X, Y, Z. That would
mean take me outside and maybe, you know, have
something extra other than the patterns that
God has already established. So that's really
what it is, is that in the everyday lives, we
were the ones making those. We are the ones who
are in. control of our own choices. And do we
believe this thing or not? Yes, we can always,
after the thing, like after our friends are gone
and everyone's at home, that night I can definitely
pray and be like, Heavenly Father, what was going
on there? Receive more clarification for myself.
You have the right to know, are you being deceived?
Or do they have the foreknowledge to give you
a good point or point you in the right direction?
Or is what they're saying going to pull you farther
away from the Savior? So they have that third
point. Very clear there. And I like too how it
had three points in that one parable. I was like,
man, this is just chock full. You know what I
mean? That's why you say you like listen to it
once. Maybe that's the parable that you get further
clarification on. And you're like, oh. That hits
different than it has ever before. Absolutely.
Or maybe one of these other ones. Why don't you
cover parable two? So parable two. Okay, we pretty
much know about this one. The parable of the
talents. Most of us are quite familiar. Talents
here means money, and oftentimes it's translated
in our day to mean physical talents, abilities,
or spiritual gifts. So a man gave differing amounts
of money that he referred to as talents to three
servants, two of them. multiplied them doubled
them and the other one hid right because there
was a feeling of lack and the two heard well
done good and faithful servant thou has been
faithful over a few things i will make the ruler
over many things enter thou into the joy of the
lord um whereas the other one was chided and
was said um the words wicked and slothful were
said and all that he had was taken which was
just that one and i really like these words this
is what elder renlin said about it i think he
has a really good point he said yet had this
servant doubled his talent So just one to two,
he would have received the same commendation
and reward as the other servants. Of course,
right? The Lord is a very fair. And then this
one message of this parable is that God expects
us to magnify the abilities we've been given,
but he does not want us to compare our abilities
to those of others. Love this story about Zuzia.
It is an 18th century scholar. Zuzia of Anipol,
and he was a renowned teacher who began to fear
as he approached death. Says Zuzia, if God says
to me, Zuzia, why were you not another Moses?
I will say, because you didn't give me the greatness
of soul that you gave Moses. And if I stand before
God and he says, Zuzia, why were you not another
Solomon? I'll say, because you didn't give me
the wisdom of Solomon. But alas, what will I
say if I stand before my maker and he says, Zuzia,
why were you not Zuzia? Why were you not the
man I gave you the capacity to be? Ah, this is
why I tremble. This story made a great point.
When we get caught up in looking to others and
comparing our gifts to theirs, then we get lost
in the comparison. God wants us to know ourselves.
I feel like knowing ourselves is a huge deal.
And part of that is turning to God and saying,
who am I? You know, like, help me to find my
gifts. Indeed, God will be disappointed if we
do not rely upon the merits, mercy, and grace
of the Savior to magnify the God -given abilities
that we have received. With His loving grace,
and assistance, he expects us to become the best
version of ourselves, that we may start with
differing abilities is irrelevant to him. And
it should be to us. I think that's funny that
it says that just the fact that we start with
differing abilities is irrelevant because to
a lot of us, it's not. We're keenly aware of
what we have or what we lack as far as abundance
goes. Do you know what I mean? I know exactly
what you mean. But to him, I just love that he
says it's irrelevant. And I'm like, okay, I'll
remember that. But until the next time I don't.
And what hit me like a ton of bricks. How many
times have we heard the story of the talents?
A multitude. You even brought up spiritual gifts
today in our little primary lesson. And, you
know, thoughts go through my mind. But today
as you're speaking, we're referencing this talk.
I'm thinking what a neat tool it is of Satan's
to cause us to only focus on gifts. in a way
that we're just looking at others and doubting
ourselves, thinking, I don't even want to start
that process because I'll never be as good as
that. Yeah, I'm not a Solomon. Once we get to
the point where we recognize somebody else's
gift and we're just excited for them that they
have it and we see it because they're using it
on behalf of others. They're demonstrating because
they're doing something for other people. Once
we strip that layer of having any jealousy form
in relation to that, that's when he really can
help us see who we are and what our talents are.
Amen. Amen. That is a great point, Abby. And
I've always felt this about spiritual gifts that
as soon as two really big, two really big words
that come to my mind are shame and jealousy.
Those are two ways that Satan operates out of.
As soon as those feelings come in, you know,
100%, that is not from God. Just kick it right
back from where it came. Because yes, you can
acknowledge what others have and be joyful and
happy that they have that and acknowledge that
they are serving others and then ask how you
can do the same. There's always abundance. What
can I do to take their talents and magnify what
they're doing to further your work? Yeah. He's
going to run with that. Yeah. I love it. Should
I go into parable three? Go for it, Abby. Okay,
sheep and the goats. And I just want to make
the point. I said that I would reference like
where there were Easter, nods to Easter messages
throughout the conference session. And these,
remember, these are the three parables that Jesus
taught teaching Tuesday. Yes, I feel good about
that. It's coming to mind because I was like,
what was the sheep and the goats? But that was
the third parable he discussed. Finally, the
Savior told the parable of the sheep and the
goats. When he returns in his glory, before him
shall be gathered all nations, and he shall separate
them one from another, as a shepherd divided
his sheep from the goats. And he shall set the
sheep on his right hand, but the goats on the
left. The distinguishing factor of those on the
left hand of God and those on the right hand
of God are those who feed and clothed and took
him in, visited him when he was sick or imprisoned,
when the crowd was perplexed and asked when.
And in response, the Savior said, Verily I say
unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one
of the least of these, my brethren, ye have done
it unto me. So when we serve others, we serve
God. This was where Elder Renlund shared the
parable story about Farmer Paavo. I love that
story. The story goes, Paavo, Paavo, you unfortunate
old man. God has forsaken us. Paavo in turn stoically
said, spark with the rye flour to make bread
so the children won't go hungry i'll work hard
to drain the marshy fields god is testing us
but he will provide each time the crops were
destroyed pavo would direct his wife to double
the bark and the flour so that they would not
go hungry year after year they lived like this
and at last the crops were successful Pavel's
wife explained that at last they could have full
flour to make the bread. And then Pavel reminded
her that the neighbor's crop had failed and they
would continue to eat mixed bark with the rye
flour. I was kind of sad for her at that point.
I was like, she finally had her day. And then
really he reminded her, it's not our day. Like
we are our brother's keeper. But I'm going to
say, I think that rye flour and bark mixed together.
When you could be just eating flour, but knowing
that you're giving it to your neighbors is going
to taste different. A little sweeter, right?
Yeah, sure. For sure. The lesson of the Savior's
parable of the sheep and the goats is what we
are to use the gifts we have been given. Our
time, our talents, our blessings to serve Heavenly
Father's children, especially the most vulnerable
and needy. Now we circle back. So we're going
to circle back to the primary girl who was scared
of the events leading up to the second coming.
This is what Elder Renlund says toward the end
of his talk. He says, my invitation to the anxious
primary child I mentioned earlier, and really
to each of you is to follow Jesus Christ, to
trust the Holy Ghost as you would a cherished
friend, seek God's guidance to develop your unique
abilities and help others, even when it isn't
easy, which that's Paavo and his wife. Elder
Renlund ends with this. He said, you'll be ready
to meet the Savior. You can join President Nelson
in being joyfully optimistic. In doing so, you'll
help the world prepare for the second coming
of Jesus Christ, and you'll be blessed with sufficient
hope to enter the rest in joy of the Lord now
and in the future. Before we jump, let's jump
to the footnote on what it says about the rest
of the Lord. But I was just thinking what a neat
spiritual gift that is to joyfully proclaim.
the second coming of Jesus Christ. Right. Rather
than add to, you know, just the fair part of
what it could be. Just because there's some unknowns.
But if the prophet has demonstrated that we can
be joyfully optimistic about it, it's a good
reminder that when we're just feeling the fear
about it, that it's just time to take a few breaths
and contemplate it and be excited about the things
we do know. I love that you say that. Honestly,
Abby, in my daily life, Whenever someone's talking
about the things that are fearful that are going
to happen at the end, that's the first thing
that comes to my mind is every time I've heard
President Nelson testify about the second coming,
he does it with such conviction and optimism.
And I'm like, he knows that it's going to be
mixed, right? For sure. And yet he's focusing
on that. That's what I'm going to do, too, because
that's where I feel. I don't know, I feel like
I'm more using my agency in that way rather than
getting stuck in swirling the drain with the
fear. Because it's, I mean, it's a real thing,
right? But again, it's what you focus on. And
yes, I love the way that he's modeled that for
us. So as you mentioned the footnote here, I
love this footnote. It was from, it's a teaching
from President Joseph F. Smith. He says, the
rest, so the rest of the Lord. referred to is
not physical rest. It is the spiritual rest and
peace, which are born from a settled conviction
of the truth. We may thus enter into the rest
of the Lord today, saying it's not something
that's far off. We can do this right now. And
that is what I feel like what you just said is
President Nelson has entered the rest of the
Lord and he's showing us how to do that in our
daily lives, which isn't that what a prophet
is? It is what a prophet is. And it's obvious
that he just does a self -check and he's like,
am I ready to meet you? today and he says the
answer is yes what does he have to be fearful
of yeah for sure so it says um we must thus enter
into the rest of the lord today by becoming by
coming to an understanding of the truth of the
gospel those who have entered into this rest
are those whose minds have become satisfied,
who have set their eyes upon the mark of their
high calling with an invincible determination
in their hearts to be steadfast in the truth,
who are treading in humility and righteousness,
the path marked out for followers of Jesus Christ.
I appreciate the words and clarification on what
the rest of the Lord means. I have Christian
friends who've talked about it and they envision
the rest of the Lord as sitting at the Lord's
feet, Jesus's feet forever. I've also heard described
as the feeling that you get while doing temple
work. Meaning while you're working in the temple,
the rest is more of, you know, mind and spirit
than of body. He then goes on to describe what
the rest of the Lord is not. And I appreciate
this as well. I think we can all say that we
felt like this at one time or another for a short
period or maybe for a season. He says this, but
there are many who not having reached this point
of determined conviction are driven. about by
every wind of doctrine, thus being ill at ease,
unsettled, restless. These are they who are discouraged
over incidents that occur in the church and in
the nation and the turmoils of men. They harbor
a feeling of suspicion, unrest, and uncertainty.
Their thoughts are disturbed and they become
excited with the least change, like one at sea
who has lost his bearings. Love that so much.
And then he just, this is correlated to Moroni
7 .3. He says, or this is what it says, Wherefore,
I would speak unto you that are of the church,
that are peaceable followers of Christ, and that
have obtained a sufficient hope by which ye can
enter into the rest of the Lord from this time
henceforth, until ye shall rest with him in heaven.
Love those words. It's great. It's what a neat
promise to know that we can be part of those
that fill at rest our spirit. our mind can be
can be put at ease of these things i i will readily
admit i have looked at some of the events of
of the second coming of our savior jesus christ
with fear i recognize that come from satan so
i i do try to put those off but um i i love that
that's a promise that's been made to us and it's
good to be reminded of it that that it's not
um It's not just putting off bad things that
are going to happen. It's saying, no, it's truly
going to be a great and glorious and marvelous
thing. We live through hard things already in
this day and age, like that quote that you were
saying, uncertainty, turmoils, just the way that
the world is. We are living. We're living in
a time when we experience that, but we don't
have to get caught up in that. We can be with
our Savior, Jesus Christ, in feeling peace, even
though it's unknown. We don't really technically
know the outcome. We know that if it's with the
Savior, we do know the outcome. Amen. All right.
That wraps us up today. Thanks for being here.
We'll catch you on the next one.