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 we're talking about Do Your
Part With All Your Heart. This is by Elder Dieter
F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Thank you so much for being here with us today.
Abby, it's great to see you. It's good to be
here. So this talk starts with a classic airplane
story because, of course, President Uchtdorf,
he was invited to try. I love this. I laughed
through it. He was invited to try out the flight
simulator that he had done regularly in his career
as a pilot. But it had been many years since
his last experience. So he said of this invitation,
before I had time to fully process the question,
I heard a voice sounding astonishing like my
own saying. Yes, I would like that very much.
He had a reputation to protect and an ego to
protect. What once had been second nature to
him when he was regularly flying now took every
bit of his concentration. What's the lesson he
learned from this experience? It's really an
important reminder that getting good at anything
takes consistent self -discipline and practice.
Such a good lesson. So good. All of us can think
back to a skill that we put a lot of time and
effort into acquiring. For sure. Maybe the use
of an instrument. Maybe you learn to speak another
language. Maybe you're a pilot yourself. Canning,
crocheting, sewing, public speaking. The list
could go on and on. just a myriad of talents
that people could possess. And sometimes you
put so much effort into this that you don't think
that, you know, you'll ever lose that. But if
you set it aside for a while and then try to
pick it up, you know, after the time that you're
not doing it regularly, it's with difficulty
when you come back to it. You're rusty. The skills
of atrophied and it's that consistency that we
need to keep. sharp on the things that we want
to maintain like sharpness and being good at.
So what a great backdrop to talk about the idea
that President Uchtdorf wanted to share. And
it's the idea that to be a disciple of Jesus
Christ takes that same consistent daily effort.
What a great reminder that discipleship does
take self -discipline, just like anything else
we want to be good at. Discipleship is not a
casual endeavor, and it doesn't happen just by
accident. We have faith in Jesus Christ. Make
a choice to commit our might in our mind and
strength to the Savior with multiple small acts,
right? It's just the small things that we do
every single day consistently. We're continually
learning and growing to know the Savior that
we follow. We anticipate opposition from Satan
and find that as we rely on the Lord in those
trials, we come to know and depend on him on
a deeper level and are then able to apply those
lessons to others that we experience or maybe
to others who will have those same trials. We
constantly nourish. And day by day, we affirm
that we are a disciple of Christ. It's true.
It is little by little. It is day by day. And
it's not the whole, you know, it's kind of like
the water, how the water cut the canal or the
opening in the Grand Canyon. It didn't happen
overnight. It's small, consistent acts. It's
His way. Line upon line. Baby steps. With our
agency, you know, what other choice do we have?
Faith has the convincing power. To convince us
to act. If we don't act, we become less certain
of the things that we once knew beyond a shadow
of a doubt. The things that we once recognized
as deterrence to the covenant path now all of
a sudden look appealing. And the things we once
held dear, we set aside and ignore until they
can become completely forgotten. I can see that.
And what can we do to choose discipleship? become
a little more like him every day. He taught the
way in one of his parables about the talents.
So we've all heard this story. Those that use
their talents kept or increased them. And then
those who buried or didn't use the talent lost
them. Pretty much the same principle in our lives.
We were each born with special gifts, God -given
gifts. And why do we have these gifts, Abby?
Good question to ask ourselves. Sometimes the
biggest challenge is knowing what those gifts
are. That's true. Think back to a couple of weeks
ago when we talked about encouraging us to get
our praise vertically instead of horizontally.
Sometimes when we're looking at developing gifts,
is it with the intent that the guy to our left
and the guy to our right is like, oh man, you're
doing so great? Or are we trying to acquire those
gifts so that we can do God's work and we get
the vertical praise from those things? We need
different gifts at different times in our lives,
kind of depending on what season we're in, what
callings we're trying to balance. And I would
say patriarchal blessings are a really valuable
place to see and understand what gifts you might
have that are going to help you accomplish some
of your purposes on earth. And I would say different
callings that I've had. It's not like, oh, they
called me to that. Good. I can use this great
gift that I had. Most of the time I feel way
underprepared, way inadequate for it. Yeah. And
then I get to see different gifts magnified because
I'll do my part in that calling. And what a neat
way to, like you said, like I'm giving you this
little talent. The talent of saying yes to the
calling, even though you feel underprepared.
And then what can I do with it? You know, help
you see to delegate, help you have the gift of
knowing who's. prepared to help you in this calling,
in this aspect. For sure. Right? Yes. Callings
are huge and a big, big help for that, for helping
to... understand what your spiritual gifts are.
And also, like you said, how we need different
gifts at different times. I was just talking
to Bailey, my daughter this today, and she is
the Relief Society president of a single adult
boards, like, you know, anyway, she was saying,
mom, on my, on the way to my lesson, on the way
to my meetings today, I was praying and I asked
the Lord to please help me not to be awkward
and not say things because it's like, she's not.
uh generally out there talking to everyone but
she puts herself out there because she does care
and she wants to say things but anyway so i said
you know what you are absolutely entitled to
claim that blessing because you're doing this
because you love god and you love your fellow
man and so yeah he could totally bless you to
be less awkward or just know what to say that
would be something that would help someone else
or She may say awkward things and feel less sick
about the awkward things that she's saying because
her heart was in the right place. There's a myriad
of ways that he can bless her with whatever she
needs. I agree. Sometimes it takes other people
to point out gifts that we don't recognize in
ourself. Not that we're doing things to be like,
oh, yeah, you're so good at that. But it's special
when somebody's like, wow, thank you for your
gift of testimony or thank you for, you know,
there's a lot of things that people could say.
You have the spiritual gift of pointing out and
recognizing others' gifts. Oh, that's nice, Abby.
Thank you. So when I point out spiritual gifts
to people, I know it's not... it's not my praise
or adoration that they're looking for, but more
of like an appreciation or an affirmation that
I appreciate them using those talents on behalf
of God's children. And also, I also feel like
we've talked about this before, but when you
serve someone or have the opportunity to see
someone as God does, I feel like he gives you
a portion of his view of that person. And it's
just, it's a gift to be able to do that, you
know? So I feel like he gives me sometimes just
a quick little glimpse of, a portion of what
he sees. When he gives you the opportunity to
serve his children, you know that he's just as
inclined to help other of his children help you.
Yeah. When you're needing that, when you have
a need. Totally. Great point, Abby. President
Uchtdorf said, growing our talents doesn't happen
if we put those gifts high on a shelf, like a
trophy that we admire from time to time. Our
gifts magnify and multiply only when we put them
to use. On a shelf or... Buried underground.
Yeah. Just really played off the parable of the
talents. So good. And I don't think you need
to spend a ton of time like rehashing the talents.
You just jump into it and say, how have your
talents been multiplied in using them? People
would be like, well, I don't really want to talk
about this. Well, fine. If you can't get them
to talk about what they've seen, what blessings
they've experienced in growing talents by doing
his work, then you'd say, what gift have you
recognized in others as they've had opportunities
to serve you? For sure. That's easy. Everybody
will start talking when you ask that question.
Agreed. When I heard this talk, maybe when you
guys heard this talk, did you sit there and think
that you drew the short stick when you were in
heaven and they were passing those talents out?
Did you do a little self -deprecation and say,
I don't have any gifts or talents, at least none
that are valuable? That would be human nature.
It's ingrained in each of us. And a lot of times
we're also programmed to look around us and just
think how amazing and impressive everybody else
is and how boring we are. If you did that, stop
it. I affirm what President Urquhart said. You
bear within you a potential beyond your own capacity
to imagine. That's very powerful. You are divine.
You're destined. Your destiny is divine. You
are not ordinary. You're gifted. Best quote of
the talk. You left heaven to come here, but heaven
has never left you. What did we do with our time
before we came here? We certainly worked to learn
our potential and reach the greatest heights
we could there. We had talents in pre -earth
life that we would use. again here on earth.
And the DNC teaches us there are many gifts and
to every person is given a gift by the Spirit
of God. To some is given one and to some is given
another and that all may be profited thereby.
It doesn't say that, you know, so that we can
be jealous of the ones we see in others or self
-pity because we aren't given one. We should
have a stronger emphasis on this part to every
person is given a gift. And I also believe that
every person is given multiple gifts. I don't
think any person came down to earth with just
one. Maybe they came down with just one, but
they have the ability and capacity to grow those
gifts and to learn what the others are. We're
definitely going to hit on that. There's a point
later in the talk. Let's bring that back up again.
He referenced Moroni. Moroni said, What does
everybody think that means? I think that... And
another way to say it is that we just weren't
born with any useful gifts. It's a denial of
our divinity. It's a stumbling block to growing
these gifts that are in each of us. There we
go. We're on the same thing, Abby. Some say,
I don't have any gifts because some of them just
aren't really flashy. Just because they may not
be flashy doesn't mean that they're any less
important. President Uchtdorf has a... has a
list and he, this is some of them. He has us
ask whether it's something we've seen in ourselves
or whether we see it in someone else. So showing
compassion, noticing people who are overlooked
or being, what is it? Observe, observant, like
Elder Bednar talks about. Noticing or finding
reasons to be joyful, being a peacemaker, noticing
small miracles. Giving sincere compliments, forgiving,
repenting, enduring, explaining things simply.
That's so beautiful. Connecting with children,
sustaining church leaders, helping others know
that they belong. This is such a great list of,
you know, there's... Non -typical. Yes. Like
ones we don't give ourselves credit for. Exactly.
You have a list you've shared in other lessons.
It was like an eight by 10. Yeah. And this adds
to that. I mean, there are just so many gifts.
And what I love is that he's not saying this
is an all -inclusive list. This is just to start
to think like, oh, I can recognize that as a
gift. It's basically like giving gratitude to
where you're recognizing that you do have so
many special things inside of you. 100%. These
gifts were likely in full display when you were
serving a child of God, he says. Such a sweet
reminder to know by small and simple things are
great things brought to pass. Amen to that. He
really hits on the title of a talk here. Which
is do your little part with all your heart. When
I listened to this talk, you know, the first
time, the second time, the third time, I felt
like my biggest takeaway for me or the biggest
urge that I got, maybe a lot of you feel this
way as you're listening to it, is we can feel
overwhelmed by the amount of things that need
to be done in a day, in a week, in a month or
whatever. And I'm grateful that I feel a sense
of responsibility that I do need to contribute
and participate. My takeaway from this talk was
that I don't have to do it alone. And then I've
been given spiritual gifts that will, that's
how he aids me. Jesus will be with us, but he
provides spiritual gifts to allow us to help
ourselves while he's with us, right? No one ever
asked me to do this thing solo. Bringing my gifts
to the table and then allowing others to bring
their gifts to the table allows us to develop.
our own gifts individually. Absolutely. Did I
hear in state conference? Yeah, I did. The gist
of you're not here to be judged against the person
to your right or left. You're here to be judged
from the person you were yesterday to the person
that you are tomorrow. He's looking for progress
and he's looking for opportunities to help you
progress towards him, not to progress above Amy,
Garrett, Adam, you know? Yes. And I love that.
So just a reminder, you don't have to do it all.
We're just asked to do our part. And I think
that's cute just to remember with your heart,
like with the intent that we, like, let's encourage
the joy that you can feel in doing something
not out of obligation, but with your heart, my
mind, all of those things kind of pointing towards
Jesus. I love that, Abby. So here's a question.
Are you still sitting there wondering what your
gifts are? We remind you that these are spiritual
gifts. We can pray to recognize these gifts by
the Spirit, or we can get to work in a task that
we think we have no business doing and see how
some or many talents become magnified as we put
them to use, just as we are taught in the parable.
I've said this before, but in my patriarchal
blessing, it says I've been blessed with a spirit
of peace and love and many more gifts that will
become apparent as I serve God. So it's interesting.
When I was a teenager, I thought, man, what a
bummer that I didn't get to hear the other things
and that I have to figure them out myself. But
of course, the Lord helps me. And it's just like
you said before, Abby, when we do, then the blessings
come, right? We understand after we do the things.
We've talked about stewardship before, and I've
thought on the word stewardship, but most of
the time when I think of stewardship, I think
of physical, tangible things. my home, my children,
property, the things that I have, and maybe the
families that I minister to. So I'm explaining
some physical places and some people that I think
that I have some responsibility over. But listen
to this line from the talk. The day will come
when we stand before our compassionate Father
in heaven to give an accounting of our stewardship.
He will want to know what we did with the gifts
He gave us, in particular, how we use them to
bless His children. Not just the physical possessions
that I think that I have to take care of and
my children, but he's given us the gifts to do
those tasks that can be overwhelming and hard.
And did we rely on him enough to, you know, did
we check in more regularly when we're struggling
with a child and we're taking it to prayer? He
gives us an impression. So I can, in that way,
because I was struggling with something from
one of my children, he's given me the opportunity
to communicate with them. and to hear him. Those
are spiritual gifts. You know, if everything
was just smooth sailing, maybe I wouldn't check
in as much. So it's designed. It's not like,
oh, and that was a hard time for you. It's by
design. We have to have some resistance to these
things so that we can rely on him and that he
can help us to figure out what those spiritual
gifts are that he knew when he watched us develop
in the pre -earth life. He's not surprised when
we get to earth and we use those things and then...
remember, reconnect with them and become good
at them again. He's not surprised by anything.
Very good. I'm so glad that I heard this line
and I'm so glad that it sparked in me a desire
to check in more regularly with him. Like I said,
he knows before and he's not surprised by what
we're doing now. And he knows me and you more
fully. He knows our potential more than anybody
else. I love that too, Abby. I don't have it
exactly, but President Monson said it. He said,
Heavenly Father left the songs unwritten, the
electricity in the clouds, all the different
things He gave us all, left it in nature and
also left it in each one of us, raw material,
and we're the ones that get to create and get
to expand and discover what they are, those gifts.
Also, love that we are reminded that the plan
in place is designed for us to learn to become
like Him gradually and patiently and over a long
arc of time. That's good. I'm glad for that.
We are born with gifts, but for different seasons
of our lives, it will give us the opportunity
to build or bury those talents, depending on
whether we take the opportunity or not. I think
it's a good time to point to those who like to
live life like an island and don't like to accept
help from others. Sometimes it's hard. How do
you expect them to grow and develop their talents?
Allow others to bless their lives by serving
you. Yeah. And the first thing that you kind
of started talking about in that last bit was
just a reminder, you know, of some spiritual
gifts that were very lined out in your patriarchal
blessing. What I find is you had me run through
my patriarchal blessing and there was sort of
a if -then scenario. So what were the two characteristics
that you just shared? Spirit of peace and love.
Yeah. So if you had no desire to try to work
on the spirit of peace and love, call that done
you buried those he's not going to add to it
amen but as you know those two are that your
starting place and you've really worked on those
particular two that's when you see you know that
he's multiplied and magnified that yeah question
mark what are those exactly but you've got a
gift of recognizing those like I know you do.
You've pointed it out about, you've helped me
expand my vision of what spiritual gifts are,
not just like seven that you're going to find
in the Doctrine and Covenants. The more that
you listen, I mean, Uchtdorf just added awesome
12 right there. But there's just like hints to
all of these gifts that somebody can claim or
that they can recognize that they have as you're
thinking about it. I'd like just to remind. what
the talk's emphasis was to start small but start
somewhere start with faith and hope in jesus
christ from the talk he said we know that our
efforts alone cannot make us celestial but they
can make us loyal and committed to jesus christ
and he can make us celestial so step by step
little by little we'll grow ever closer to that
great and perfect day when we'll live with him
and our loved ones in eternal joy what a great
promise that's so good Let's take the chance
daily, weekly to reflect on gratitude that we
have for the lessons that we're learning along
the way. Sometimes that's tricky, but really
that's where the joy is. We know where we want
to be living in eternal glory with. the Father
and the Son. Gratitude for these experiences
that we had yesterday that are making us into
a new being today and knowing that tomorrow we
have the potential to do better, be better, and
learn more and grow into our spiritual gifts
and also become disciples of Jesus Christ on
our way back to our heavenly home. I would love
to just again invite all of our listeners to
continue this conversation on Facebook on the
Closer to Christ page. Share an experience when
a calling you've been asked to do requires you
to develop a spiritual gift that you didn't previously
recognize that you had. I swear, it feels like
we're excavating, like we're working to uncover
these gifts because they were there. They were
planted in us. We had the seeds. And yeah, we
would love to hear what your personal experiences
are with this. It's a great suggestion. And if
you feel uncomfortable sharing your own personal
spiritual gift that you're recognizing, you could
flip it and say, this is a gift I recognize in
somebody else when they were serving me. Love
it. So I'll close with this testimony. Sounds
good. He said, I urge and bless every member
of the church and all who desire to be part of
it to trust the Savior and engage patiently,
diligently, doing your part with all your heart
that your joy may be full and that one day you
will receive all the Father has. And not this,
important. Amen.