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 Abbe and Amy. Let's
jump into it. Today's talk will be discussing
Divine Helps for Mortality by President Dallin H.
Oakes, First Counselor in the First Presidency.
Just wanted to say welcome to all of our listeners.
It's so good to have you with us. And Amy and
I were just talking, it's crazy. We're at the
bottom of Sunday morning session right now and
just have one more to go. And I guess kind of
exciting because we know another conference is
just around the corner. So trying to prepare
for that. As always with his talks, President
Oak fills this one with nuggets of doctrine.
He outlines helps as he calls them. Heavenly
Father has already given us as we walk this mortal
journey. To paint the picture, we first have
pre -earth life. We existed as spirit children
of God. The purpose of earth was to receive a
body, learn divine attributes, develop them,
and be tested in keeping commandments. Those
who qualify will receive eternal glory. That's
Abraham 3 .26. We have the plan of salvation.
Jesus Christ was chosen as our Savior. Lucifer
chose to become Satan. opposing God's plan and
seeking to destroy agency. That's Moses 4 .4.
Essential for spiritual growth is experiencing
opposition in all things, 2 Nephi 2 .11. And
I love how he typically does this. He lines out
the things that we know to be true, points us
to the scriptures, and he's like, just to be
sure, we're on the same page before I hit you
with why it was such a good plan. Also, I've
noticed in his talks, he's very clear about the
fact that there were not two plans. There was
God's plan, and it was opposed by Satan. Exactly.
President Oaks made an emphasis in this part.
He says, just as our physical muscles cannot
be developed or maintained without straining
against the law of gravity, so mortal growth
requires us to strain against Satan's temptations
and other mortal opposition. Most important for
spiritual growth is the requirement to choose
between good and evil. Those who choose good
would progress towards their eternal destiny
and those who choose evil, as all would do in
various temptations of mortality, would need
saving help which a loving God designed to provide.
I love that. So yes, that was kind of like the
foundation that he starts with, right? And then
that brings us to the role of the savior. And
just by the way, we're not even to the four yet.
We're just talking about the foundational. He
said he really likes to, we talked about before
he likes to number his things with paragraph
numbers. And he's like, I can't even do that
because I've got to make sure that you guys are
all caught up with me before I give you the cheat
code. So that's great, Abby. He says, by far
God's strongest mortal help was his provision
of the Savior, Jesus Christ, who would suffer
to pay the price and provide forgiveness for
repented sins. Love that, too, that he kind of
outlines again. We always say, you know, there's
forgiveness for sins, forgiveness for repented
sins. So when we bring the atonement into our
lives and repent, that's when our sins are forgiven.
That merciful and glorious atonement explains
why faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first
principle of the gospel. His atonement bringeth
to pass the resurrection of the dead, like we
read in Alma 42 -23, and it atones for the sins
of the world, and it meaning the atonement, erasing
all of our repented sins and giving our Savior
power to succor us in our mortal infirmities.
Jesus' atonement allows for forgiveness and resurrection,
which is in Alma 42 -23, and also Alma 34 -8.
And then it also provides strength against sin
and helps in our mortal journey. I like that
because it reminded me of President Nelson's
talk where he talks about mothers and women helping
the next generation to be sin resistant. And
it just reminds me that what power, through what
power does this come? And of course, it's through
Christ's atonement. Yes. So he kind of lays this
landscape that overall, the plan is perfect because
there is a savior for whatever, whatever challenges.
are really going to strike us. And then he tries
to go into his points of saying, like, keeps
pointing us back to the Savior, like how the
Savior's involved in step A, B, and C. So let's
first talk about the light of Christ. He says,
the Spirit of Christ is given to every man that
he may know good from evil. Moroni 716. And I
love that because this is the opportunity we
have to see people, different walks of life.
We don't share a similar religion. You can see
when people have accepted Jesus Christ and they
carry that light about them. That's awesome.
It's a good starting place. Enlightenment is
available to those who heed the Spirit, Doctrine
and Covenants 8446. So, kids know. Kids know
when they go through this thing that there's
truth tellers or whatever, and then they go through
a development stage where like they do something
wrong, but they know that they have to tell a
fib to cover because they know that that thing
would get them in trouble. That, to me, is a
piece of this because we innately know what's
right and wrong. We don't have to always be told
exactly. Or it's a good opportunity when you
do those minor things as a little kid. Your parents
are like, that wasn't the right thing to do,
pinching your brother, stealing that piece of
candy from the store, whatever, that there's
opportunities for correction. But really, it
resonates because you do know. Oh, that wasn't
probably the best thing that I did. That's true.
That's a good point. President Joseph Fielding
Smith explained these scriptures, the Lord has
not left men when they are born into this world
helpless, groping to find the light and truth,
but every man is born with the right to receive
the guidance, the instruction, the counsel of
the Spirit of Christ or truth of light. Yes.
That takes us to our second help, which is commandments.
Commandments to find the path our Heavenly Father
has marked out for us to progress toward eternal
life. People who imagine commandments as the
way God decides who to punish fail to understand
this purpose of God's loving plan of happiness.
I think we talked about this actually in one
of our last talks about it either being shackles
or a help, and here he clearly outlines it's
a help. Elder Oaks gives a reminder that commandments
are not punitive, but serve as loving guidance.
So a question here could be, how could our lives
change if we viewed God's word in this way, meaning
loving guidance rather than punishment? This
question reminds me again of one of my favorite
quotes by President Benson, when obedience to
God's law ceases to be an irritant and becomes
our quest, in that moment, God will endow us
with power. I had to go back and look for that.
And that's always been a favorite that has resonated
with me. Elder Oaks ends by reminding each of
us that our Heavenly Father desires all of his
children to return to the celestial kingdom where
God and our Savior reside, and also to have the
kind of life that those who reside in that celestial
glory. I think it was in this part of the talk
that he said something like, covenants are a
way to choose in advance to follow God. And I
was like, boom, that's amazing. It is. That requires
a lot of thought. I just loved it because people
question why you're making these covens. Why
would you want to get into this? Why would you
want to saddle yourself with restrictions, but
really just turning it on your head to say, I
have this desire to abide with him and become
like him. So this is the path that he's lined
out and that you... I'm like excited to do it,
like I'm telling you, I'm saying I want to covenant
myself with you. I think as those challenges
come up with life, he's like, remember, you've
linked yourself with me to give you that extra,
you know, what you said, the resistance that
you need to these temptations. But if he just
took away the temptations, that's like him taking
away our agency. So it's a way to still have
us experience this life, but with as much. help,
possibly. Godly help is possible. Moves into
the third point, in its ordinances and covenants.
He says, says this, I like to think of the role
of covenants as demonstrating that under God's
plan, His highest blessings are given to those,
oh, this is it, who promise in advance, I knew
I wanted to say this before, His highest blessings
are given to those who promise in advance to
keep certain commandments and who keep those
promises. I will think of that line so many times.
I will too. As I'm trying to explain to my own
children, they definitely get ready. Like we
did our back to school blessings and my little
Lucy, she's seven and when her dad blessed her
he said, you're preparing to make your baptismal
covenants. Love that. It's funny to see like,
some of them are kind of unsure about it. certain
ages, like maybe have a fear of the water, don't
really know what it's all about. And it's amazing,
every time I've witnessed a child approach that
age as they're preparing, they understand what
baptism looks like. If I tried to get her ready
to make temple covenants, I think that would
be a stretch. But at this point in her life,
that is exactly the covenant that she needs and
the one that she is ready to make at this age
that she's at. But, you know, on the same token,
I have some older children and we are gearing
toward making those temple covenants. I'm going
to use that language. You don't have to make
those covenants, but if you should look into
them and should choose to do those things, there
are a bucket load of blessings and promises for
your willingness to say to the Lord, I do want
to follow you and I do want to be on this path
with you. Maybe we don't opt into the highest
blessings and that's what this would look like.
However, if you do want the highest blessings,
they're available to you. They're available to
every man. I love that. I also love that last
week when we talked about that God is a God of
order, you know, it's the one that talks about,
prepare every needful thing, a house of order,
house of God, all those things. We just talked
in primary about, I said, you know, what if,
you know how President Nelson is always talking
about the covenant path. I said, what if it was
out of order? And just like you said, Lucy, right
now at her age, it is age appropriate for baptismal
covenants, for the understanding, for the foundation
to be laid. And the endowment doesn't come before
that. The ceiling doesn't come before that. You
know what I mean? Everything is really in order,
and God talks to us and teaches us according
to our understanding. So I just love that there
are foundational steps. Same thing in his talk
as he's preparing to talk to us about the fourth
point. He's like, you don't get the gift of the
Holy Ghost until you have had faith, you have
baptism, and then. Totally. That's a good point.
So here we are. The fourth help is the Holy Ghost.
He is the third member of the Godhead. His function,
defined in Scripture, is to testify of the Father
and the Son. to teach us, to bring all things
to our remembrance, and also to guide us into
all truth. Now, it's interesting to note that
he breaks this into two sections, which I do
love. First, it's the manifestations of the Holy
Ghost. He says the scriptures include many descriptions
of the manifestations of the Holy Ghost, such
as a spiritual witness in response to an inquiry
about the truth of the Book of Mormon. And manifestation
is not to be confused with the gift of the Holy
Ghost, which is conferred following baptism,
like you said. Which I think he's just nodding
back to. We would call this the light of Christ.
Right! It's important that all men have it and
have equal access to it so that they can have
those spiritual moments and that they can decipher
between right and wrong. Just general ... your
conscience, like let your conscience dictate
things. Because it's important. You're not a
member of the church. You're reading their book
and you're asked to pray and ask in sincere faith.
It is a manifestation of the Holy Ghost. It is
a taste of what can be yours as a constant companion.
Right. It's a taste of it. And also too, it's
through the Holy Ghost that he bears witness
of truth. So wherever their truth is, that's
where that is. So then he says, the gift of the
Holy Ghost is conferred after baptism, offering
continual guidance. find that in 2 Nephi 31 -17.
It's a lot, isn't it? It's a mouthful about the
Holy Ghost and just all the different things
that it is and kind of the fruits of it, right?
Like it said, when you have it, you have no disposition
to do good to all men, to suffer wrong rather
than to do wrong. I love that. It reminded me
of President Nelson's recent address. I looked
it up and it was actually in April 2024. It's
where he encouraged us to study the dedicatory
prayer found in DNC 109. And he says, Joseph
Smith's dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple
is a tutorial about how the temple spiritually
empowers you and me. to meet the challenges of
life in these last days. In this tutorial for
us, I want it to be top of mind while I study
other topics, right? So here's what the quote
about the Holy Ghost comes in. Here's where it
comes in. We are also promised that in the temple
we may receive a fullness of the Holy Ghost.
Imagine what that promise means in terms of having
the heavens open for each earnest seeker of truth.
So a great action item, if you haven't already,
is to imagine or ask in prayer what it means
to receive the fullness of the Holy Ghost. What
does that mean? It may be a great question to
take to the temple the next time you worship
there. Abby, do you have any final thoughts about
this talk? trying to think of my answer to that
fullness of the Holy Ghost, but a lot of these
talks help me think. Sometimes we go to the temple
for answers, but the point is that we can bring
the temple back out with us into the real world
so that I can have some of my strongest spiritual
impressions and my best thoughts in the temple.
For me, a fullness of the Holy Ghost would be
to make a connect with even in the chaos of the
world and the things that I have to juggle outside
of the temple, because I can't be in there 24
hours a day, how to have more obvious interaction,
relationship, connection with the power that
I can get as I'm just in tune. I love that, Abby.
I'm terrible at it. I know I have room to improve
on it, but we're talking action items and we're
thinking about what it means to receive a fullness
of the Holy Ghost. What a neat gift. I think
the paragraph that I read up above, maybe I've
taken the Holy Ghost a bit for granted in my
life because I got it at such a young age. Whereas
I have friends who've walked the path without
it and when they enter the water to baptism receive
the gift of the Holy Ghost They have life experience
with and without Memories they can like draw
back to like I'm not the best at remembering
my childhood. And like I said, it's just been
I've just been blessed with that my whole life
Never really been separated from it. So I think
in my situation I have to stop to be the most
grateful for it. I think I need to stop and recognize
that gift a little bit more in my life. I did
actually have an experience this week. It's coming
to mind. Love it. Do you want to share? I will
share it. I think if I can hold my emotions,
but my oldest son, he's 11. He's been on a medication
that like it's life saving. And when his older
sister who has the same condition, when this
drug became available to her, Because it was
available at age 12 So I was like counting down
the days to her birthday after I read the research
on this drug and and we take this medicine It's
like 30 grand a month. It's like you don't take
it lightly But it does amazing things because
it helps form the cell in the way that it just
makes your body function like a person without
cystic fibrosis So, you know then they're working
in the back scene trying to get it approved for
a younger age group And so my boy was able to
start taking it much younger And like the spirit
testified to me, it was definitely the right
drug for Maddie. And I kind of just took it for
granted. Like, well, when Kimball's old enough
for it, we'll give it to Kimball. So we started
him on it and didn't see like, you know, it's
great. My kids have been really blessed and we've
been blessed as far as how awful the disease
can be. I feel like we've seen a lot of manifestations
of God's power in our lives through this disease.
But long story short, I've there there is a complication
it can mess with your emotions like, you know
mentally it can be a problem Yes, there's so
many physical benefits from it. That's Irrefutable,
but for some it's really problematic and so I
spoke with a you know provider like six months
ago and we did a little dose change where We
did the day pills at night and night pills in
the day. Hmm, and I'm like, yeah I noticed enough
of an improvement that I was like, well, it does
seem like the drug is that is the issue more
than anything else. And so we had our big appointment
last Thursday and I kind of went prepared to
say it's, we're going to take them off of this
drug. And my oldest daughter was like, you can't
do that. She was like devastated about it because
she, she physically at her age, she knows that
it's making physical improvements for her. She's
farther along in the disease. And like, I'm like,
I'm not doing this so that, you know, short his
life like that. It's not like I want him to be
off of this drug, but I'm like trying to balance
between keeping him mentally healthy and physically
healthy. Right? Exactly. And so she's like, why
don't you get put him back on the younger dose?
And you know, like the spirit kind of pricked
me like that maybe could be an option. I'm like,
okay, like rather than go cold turkey, but I'm
like, I'm going to deal with the provider on
this or whatever. So we have a conversation and
she gave me the suggestion that we throw out
this what, you know, it's like a three tablet.
process and she's like throw this tablet out
and keeps the date and I think and as she's saying
it like kind of my heart was pricked like I'm
kind of getting the answer that I was hoping
for whatever and then I got home and I do like
a series of pills and I have to like prep their
vitamins and their enzymes and the Trikafta and
you know the series of things it's kind of a
process it's like something I do every two weeks
I do you know two sets of pills for them wow
I was doing it and like my head was on fire like
I was so happy. I was like, I'd been praying,
like, what should we do? What should the answer
be for this? So I wanted the confirmation of
the Holy Ghost to feel good about the changes
that we're going to make. And I want the best
for my kids that I can do. I don't have all of
the information in my lap, but I made sure Kimble
was just kind of quiet in the morning. I just
kind of had the house to myself and Kimble had
woken up to do therapy. And I was still processing
those emotions because I'm like, what a neat
thing that The desire of my heart was to do the
best that I can for my kid, but I don't know
the whole picture and I don't see everything,
but because I had, you know, that open prayer
like, help me know the right thing to do for
them in that quiet moment in my home. I'm putting
this taste together and the, what I would say,
a fullness of the Holy Ghost touched my mom heart
to say, in this moment, it's not like we can't
change the path again later, but right in this
moment. with what you have available to you,
this is the change that's going to work for him.
And then I felt a little bit guilty because I
definitely prayed about Maddie starting that
drug and it felt right, but I just took it for
granted. I just did that for Kimball rather than
making it like, is this going to be good for
him? And it was a different dose back then. And
I'm like watching for changes and stuff, but
I've learned something again. You know, this
disease has been part of our life for 16 years,
but I learned something last week. He's still
in our corner and he still cares about us and
he's given us the help that we need. And it is
such a blessing to have those promptings of the
Holy Ghost because it's the way that they communicate
with us. And I know that wasn't Heavenly Father,
but it was, you know, the messenger that can
reach us and let you know. And I know you've
been dealing with a myriad of health issues,
but I feel like you've had a lot of opportunity
for those same bits of communication. Not that
there's a magic wand that's fixed everything
for you, but I think we would probably agree
that you've been really close to the Holy Ghost
in a fullness of it, probably. Would you use
that word now that you're kind of thinking of
that word? As you're like, hey, these are the
things I'm willing to do to seek treatment or
the therapies I'm willing to do to get feeling
better. feel like I've learned from you that
you get that good burning of your heart, like
it's the right thing. Do you feel better immediately?
Not usually. Usually you kind of go through like,
Oh, that was a terrible decision. But it doesn't
mean that it wasn't wrong. You can, you can reflect
back on that. I loved it. You can reflect back
on the confirmation that you felt that good,
that good feeling of like, okay, yeah, what I'm
in, I'm in this with somebody who sees a picture
that I can't see. Yes. I can only see in the
moment. I can only see so far in the future.
And I think like a really good word for that,
which it's not it's not my own phrase. It's something
that I received in a priesthood blessing, but
it said through this process, you will be tutored
by the Holy Ghost. And like you said, I feel
like this is part of receiving a fullness of
the Holy Ghost when he is not only not only just
not just not only always with you, but when you
are tutored, like you said, you were just tutored
in. how to deal with cystic fibrosis, because
guess what? There are changes, like you said,
there are seasons where you need to make a pivot.
And how wonderful to have that manifestation
of the Holy Ghost because you have the gift of
the Holy Ghost. I think another thought right
here would be just as Abby was talking about
this and as I'm reflecting on times when the
Holy Ghost has been a tutor in my life. I feel
like every single person who is listening right
now has something where the Holy Ghost has tutored
you in a certain way. Maybe you haven't yet recognized
that, but I think that's part of this question.
One of our action items is just to ask yourself,
where has that been? Where have you been tutored?
Where have you been mentored? Where has he truly
blessed your life that you didn't even recognize?
Because I'm sure I have those moments all the
time. And it's great to recognize it. 100%. I
could just have a passing thought like, it's
fine. We're making this change. It's nothing.
Allowing myself to admit that it was the spirit
talking to me. from a question that I had asked
my father in heaven, made that moment so special
and sweet. And I did tell Kimball, did I tell
you that? He came up, he was getting ready for
therapy and I'm like, I couldn't like talk for
a minute and I explained to him, I'm like, we're
making this change. I was like, I want to be
part of his medical journey. And so I'm like,
this is where we're at. I'm feeling really good
about it. And he was like, you know, 11. Good
job, mom. He's pretty tender kid. But anyway,
it was a good conversation and I think it was
a neat opportunity for me too. to express my
gratitude. I heard your answer. I'm following
along with what we've got here and it makes us
partners in this thing that's kind of a challenge
in the mortal body in this moment. I love that.
I love this talk. You were talking and I was
thinking Elder Bednar is one of my absolute favorites
on that point. don't know how the Spirit talks
to them. They're still experimenting with how
that works for them. Sometimes it's their music.
There's a myriad of ways, but people will be
like, well, is that me or is that the Spirit?
And he's like, did it encourage you to do something
good and bring you closer to Jesus Christ? Then
it doesn't matter. That's the right thing. Yes.
You know, Abby, as you were talking, there's
one more thing that I remembered that I'd been
working on. I received a priesthood blessing
after I had some health procedures just recently,
just last week. And in the blessing, I was invited
to, it said, even if you've done this before,
write down a list of how the Holy Ghost speaks
to you. And it said, you've done this before,
but write a list again and as you ponder on it.
So I kind of wrote like what first came to my
mind, but I need to continue to ponder on it.
This was the next sentence. Heavenly Father will
reach you in those less known ways. So you can
grow in them. Literally, the whole blessing was
like, hey, great job on everything you've been
doing. Let's level up. I was just like, OK. So
it just sounded like, OK, you've already understood
the ways that he's spoken to in the past. Write
down the least likely all of them. And in those
ways, that's the new way that I'm going to reach
you. I just thought, wow. If I'm stepping back.
I'm thinking what a master teacher Heavenly Father
is, right? Like just to build skills to make
my connection with Heavenly Father stronger than
it's been before, to make my communication with
the Holy Ghost and receiving inspiration even
stronger. So I just thought that was beautiful.
And I think that that would be also a really
great thing for any person to do is to write
down the ways that the Holy Ghost speaks to you,
because I think there are more than we even realize.
Okay, this was awesome. Also, Abby, as Abby was
speaking, I just thought, what a blessing it
is for Abby and I to sit here and to discuss
these things. I would love for our readers to
be able to have a conversation with someone who
they love and respect and admire and to share
these types of things with them. I was just reading
this past week, there's a difference between
gratitude. and thankfulness. Gratitude is feeling
grateful in your heart. Thankfulness is actually
speaking out loud. And when you do that, you
invite more of that wonderful thing into your
life, which would be the wonderful thing would
be blessings from God, right? So I do invite
your readers to find someone and have a conversation
about this for someone that you feel comfortable
talking about it. I could just see an entire
Relief Society lesson if sisters were willing
to share, you know, ways that they felt the fullness
of the Holy Ghost. I can see that I have room
to improve in, like, trying to make it a moment
-to -moment thing, a day -to -day thing that
I'm really recognizing, oh, that was from the
Holy Ghost. But I'm saying I can definitely grasp
out. you know, like Holy Ghost moments in my
life and how fun that would be to have that conversation
with the sisters. Like, when have you experienced
that fullness? They share their thoughts. I think
it would be very likely that other sisters would
be like, oh, I had that moment, recollect things.
Maybe it brings a memory up to the surface that
they had kind of forgotten about or didn't think
that it was as important as it was. Yeah, I could
see this being a very good lesson. I agree, Abby.
So great. So in conclusion of this talk, this
is what Elder Oaks says, many are unprepared
for meeting Christ as illustrated by the parable
of the... Oh, sorry. This is not what he said.
I'm paraphrasing. He ends with the parable of
the ten virgins. So in that half of those...
invited will be ready. Elder Oaks lists some
deviations from the path and then rebrands the
Sunday School Answers, this is my thought, to
the Fundamental Spiritual Maintenance Plan. I
thought that was awesome. So from now on, I'm
not going to think, oh, the Sunday School Answers,
it's the Fundamental Spiritual Maintenance Plan.
Yeah, it's not a bad thing if, like, read your
scripture. Right. pray, come to mind. It's because
they're so fundamental, right? And it's maintaining
this plan. So he just says they are personal
prayer, regular scripture study, frequent repentance,
and also weekly partaking of the sacrament up
to the renewing of covenants. And then he ends
by saying, humility and trust in the Lord are
the remedies for such deviations. As the Book
of Mormon teaches, the Lord doth bless and prosper
those who put their trust in Him, as we find
in Helaman 12 .1. This really is a talk to be
studied over and over, as Abby and I have said,
because there are so many good pieces of goodness
and opportunities to ponder. So we would invite
you, like always, to listen back to that talk
for yourself, and let the spirit direct you to
the piece or part of this talk that really can
buoy you up, prepare you for the next conference
to come, or be the help that you need in the
coming week. Thank you for being here. We'll
catch you next time. We'll see you next time