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 Simplicity
in Christ by Elder Michael Ciesla of the 70s.
Yes, Utah is full of green jello and funeral
potatoes, but in the time that Elder Ciesla spent
there as a missionary, he was also acutely aware
and also deeply impressed by the devotion and
the discipleship of many of the saints. He talked
about the sheer number of people attending church
meetings and also the scale of fully functioning
church programs. He gained a deep love for the
people of Utah and wanted to take that joy and
spiritual strength and maturity back with him
to Germany, but he absolutely planned to come
back to Utah to raise his own future family so
he could have similar experiences for them. That's
awesome. Not long after returning home, he was
called to serve as a young man president. So
it's no surprise to us that he learned that the
same joy of the gospel he felt in Utah was He
was blessed to feel also in Germany. The joy
that comes from being a disciple of Jesus of
Christ has very little to do with the size of
church and the needings of the scales. sorry,
church meetings and the scale of programs. President
Russell M. Nelson taught us many years ago, the
joy we feel has nothing to do or little to do
with the circumstances of our lives and everything
to do with the focus of our lives. When the focus
of our life is on Christ and His gospel message,
we can experience the full blessings of discipleship
wherever we live. I really loved it today as
I was pondering this talk, how the entire sacrament
meeting was focused on The youth theme, Doctrine
and Covenants 636, which is look unto Christ,
doubt not, fear not, which was shared by, you
know, the youth took over. They did testimonies,
thoughts, and song, and each kind just got a
bare testimony of how they've been blessed through
difficult times with a focus on this theme, a
focus on Jesus Christ. One of the youth I really
liked shared how, yeah, it's written as a youth
theme and it's the focus of the youth, but because
they're focusing on it, that it that he's seen
that it affects their family or is positive as
the family works more to focus on Jesus Christ,
so it's not just a youth blessing. And we're
experiencing that, too. For sure. It was so good,
Abby. And it seems like an easy enough challenge
to focus on Christ, but really the challenge
is that we live in an increasingly secular...
complex and also confusing world. You could say
that the world tries to blind our eyes and harden
our hearts to the point that the plain and precious
things of the gospel of Jesus Christ are lost
to us or they don't resonate. The apostle Paul's
advice to the saints of Corinth is just as important
to us now when he reminded them to focus on the
simplicity that is in Christ. Such good words.
I think it's because our default setting as adults
in this mortal experience appears to be to overcomplicate
things. Sure. That's why I love teaching the
little children. They're easy to teach because
they don't overcomplicate life. When they share
their testimonies, it's often in a simple way
and it always pierces my heart. They can say
the simplest things and I'm like, They're just
kind of cut into the chase and it's so good.
From the talk, he says, the doctrine of Christ
and the law of the gospel are so simple that
even little children can understand them. Yep.
The gospel can be summarized in one sentence,
exercising faith in Jesus Christ, repenting,
being baptized, being sanctified through the
gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.
So if we do these things, we can access the redeeming
power of Jesus Christ and also receive all the
spiritual blessings that our Father in heaven
has prepared for each of us. I love how President
Nelson described this journey so beautifully
as the covenant path and the process of becoming
a devout disciple of Jesus Christ. Amy summarized
the gospel for us in just one sentence, you know,
just a minute ago. The principles of the gospel,
they are simple, but I guess the problem is that
we're finding that that doesn't mean that it
doesn't come with its own challenges. The gospel
is simple. Life is hard. what it takes is constant
effort and diligence. I think you saying that,
you know, complicating things is the default
setting of adults, and I totally agree with that.
Listen to the line from this talk where he says,
put off the natural man and become like a little
child. This includes putting our trust in the
Lord and letting the complexity go, just as little
children do. Applying the doctrine of Christ
in a simplified and focused way will help us
to find joy in our daily lives, give guidance
in our callings, answer some of life's most complex
questions, and provide strength to face our greatest
challenges. I think it's a good reminder to remember
this is a lifelong journey, a lifelong process.
He asked the question in this talk, how can we
practically implement this simplicity in our
lifelong journey as disciples of Christ? That's
a great question, Abby. President Nelson reminded
us to focus on pure truth, pure doctrine, and
pure revelation as we seek to follow the Savior.
I think that's one of the the most succinct way
to put it. And another good question, what would
the Lord Jesus Christ have me do? It's a simple,
powerful way to open ourselves up to revelation.
And basically, I think the answer you get most
of the time, it's simple. It's simplicity. Yes.
We overcomplicate things. We are masters at overcomplicating
things. That's true. Following the example that
our savior set for us helps us to choose to do
what he did and not just know what he did in
this life on earth. There's a big difference
there, right? His example provides a safe path
through uncertainty and a loving guiding hand
to hold from day to day. I love that one of the
youth said that today, that she knows that. Jesus
can be there to hold her hand through the things,
you know So many times we feel like he's supposed
to take everything and that's not the case We
are here to have experiences. Yes from the examples
of his life. He invites us to love God keep Keep
his commandments and also love our neighbors
I got a great series of titles from this talk.
Here's what he called them in this talk. He said,
He's the Prince of Peace and the Good Shepherd.
He is our Comforter and our Deliverer. He is
our Rock and Refuge. He is a friend. And I love
that. I love when they mention names of Christ
because it feels like they're deeply personal
to them. They can kind of come up with any one
of them. But I think what he's trying to say
is, I'm telling you, life is as simple as keeping
it simple. But I know that that's a complicated
thing because life comes with its own challenges.
when he points out these names of Christ, to
me it means his life hasn't been easy and perfect.
And when we see like the back history, the family
history story, and what it took to get his family
where they are, I think he's coming from a place
of saying, I've dealt with some challenges, my
family's dealt with some challenges, but these
are the things we were able to count on with
Jesus Christ, and so he made the path easier
for us because we did rely on him. For sure.
Applying simple gospel principles. will help
us navigate through life's challenges in the
Lord's way. So just some ideas, simple acts like
prayer, fasting, scripture study, daily repentance,
partaking of the sacrament weekly, regular worship
in the house of the Lord. So just like you said,
Abby, challenges aren't removed and heartache
may still find us. It most certainly will, but
our capacity to endure these challenges has changed
and we find strength and confidence before God,
I 100%. Agree with that. We just talked about
this just right a talk or two ago and I love
how they build on each other They really do when
you hit that I'm like, there's not people sometimes
they feel embarrassed by saying well, what's
the answer to this challenge read? fast study
pray Go to church like they're the like these
answers are getting overused. They're not. They're
underused. That's what we need to base everything
around. If you add anything to it that's accessory,
these are the things that will keep us, you know,
paired with Jesus Christ and blocking these difficult
challenges with Him. For sure. And I know I have
a lot of work to do on this topic, so I did really
love studying it. I love that he suggested that
as we simplify things, it will really help us
focus on people over processes. We focus on the
things that matter most in God's work of salvation
and exaltation instead of getting caught up in
managing our ministering. We make ourselves free
to prioritize the things we can do rather than
being weighed down by the things we cannot do.
Out of small and simple things, proceedeth that,
which is great. Absolutely. He shared the sweetest
story. I loved it. He talked about his grandmother.
lovingly called Oma Cislev. She joined the church
along with her mother in her youth. Later, when
she married his grandfather, who's not a member
of the church, and moved to his farm, she was
too far from a congregation to join regularly.
So attending church was out of her control. But
what she did was have the ability to do was pray,
read the scriptures, and sing songs of Zion.
Later, she brought children into the world and
though To some, it may have looked like she was
raising them outside of the church because there
was no priesthood in the home and no meetings
to access ordinances nearby. But what did she
focus on? She taught them to pray and walk up
rightly before the Lord. She read her children's
scripture. She read scriptures to her children.
and she sang them the songs of Zion, and she
also prayed with them. So this would not be a
home -centered church -supported experience,
but instead of 100 % home -centered experience.
During World War II, when his grandfather was
away and enemies were approaching their farm,
she took her two children and sought refuge where
they found, and they were found in northern Germany.
The only thing they had was the clothes on their
backs, and no one would consider this life easy.
But what did Oma do? She continued with what
she had, with what was available to her. She
prayed with her children every day. She sang
with them the songs of Zion. She had memorized
by heart every day. Providing for the basic essentials
of life, giving food on the table for her children
was extremely hard. Then at the age of 17, love
this part, when Elder Siasla's father, a then
17 year old boy, was going to trade school in
the city, he walked by a building and saw a small
sign on the outside that read, the Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints in his German
tongue. He thought, that's interesting. This
is Mother's Church. So when he came home, he
told Oma that he had found her church. You can
imagine how she must have felt after almost 25
years of no contact with the church. She was
determined to attend the next Sunday and convinced
his father to accompany her. This was a 20 mile
walk one way from the little village where they
lived, but this did not keep her from attending
church. So the next Sunday, she got on her bicycle
with father and rode to church. When the sacrament
meeting started, the dad sat down in the last
row, hoping it would be, or his dad sat in the
last row. So the 17 year old boy at this point
sat in the last row, hoping it would be over
soon. This was almost church and not here. What
he saw was not very encouraging. Only a few older
women in attendance and two young missionaries
who effectively ran everything in the meeting.
But then they started to sing. and they sang
the songs of Zion that my dad had heard since
he was a little boy. Come, come you saints, oh
my father, praise to the man. Hearing this little
flock sing the songs of Zion he'd known since
childhood pierced his heart and he immediately
knew without a doubt that the church was true.
The first sacrament my grandmother attended after
25 years was the meeting where my father received
a personal confirmation of the truthfulness of
the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. He was baptized
three weeks later on September 25th, 1955 together
with my grandfather and my aunt. I love it so
much. So thinking of Elder Brown's talk, I thought
this was his sacred grove experience. Seriously,
yeah. Oma's dedication to the small and simple
things certainly would have come without lonely
moments over the decades. Could you imagine being
not with the... A body of saints. Yeah. She faithfully
endured, but her determination to keep her covenants
and also trust in the Lord, notwithstanding her
struggles, had eternal consequences. There are
many around the world who focus on the simplicity
in Christ in their challenging circumstances.
Perhaps seeing little changes now, but trusting
that great things will come to pass someday in
the future. In the words of Elder Jeffrey R.
Holland, some blessings come soon. Some come
late and some don't come until heaven, but for
those who embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ,
they come. Any final thoughts? Just sweet. I
love how you said that just the themes of the
gospel, the principles of the gospel are layered
and they just continue to be taught in every
one of these. in every one of these talks of
conference. Sometimes I wake up like at four
or something in the morning and I'm like, why
am I awake? And I lay there this morning, I was
just thinking, man, I'm really grateful for conference,
that we get to study it, that they really are
the words of the prophets, of the latter day
prophets. And we get to study those words and
just have them deep in our hearts for when the
complexity comes, for when the things come. It's
kind of like we have a - Reservoir. Yeah. And
something in our pocket of like, you know what?
I know what the Lord might do with this. And
especially if we're just having - have some quiet
time and are listening. I love that. My thoughts
are, that bounces off some of my thoughts, but
I was just thinking that the church is growing
rapidly across the world, across the earth and
here where it's been established for time and
we've got these programs and we've got these
accessory things. That's all lovely. It's all
things that we can do. but the most important
thing is the simplicity of the gospel of Jesus
Christ and when we're teaching the gospel truths
that we focus on pure and simple doctrine. But
knowing that our brother and sisters that are
being gathered in around the world, you know,
even though there's a multitude of programs and
processes and ministering opportunities that
they can. tap into, the most important thing
is a love of our Savior Jesus Christ. And that
one sentence, the simple laws and principles
of the gospel, we'd heard this story about, I
think it was somebody that's involved with the
Young Men's Program. Anyway, they were kind of
going around doing stuff for FSY. And whoever
the leader was in the area, they're like, you're
not allowed to talk about the youth programs.
Because of where they were in the world. Yeah,
exactly. Not because it was going to be, like,
dangerous politically, but because the gospel
was so new and fresh, we needed to focus on what
we could focus on, like, let's have solid sacrament
meetings and attendance and scripture reading
versus, like, all of the things that could be
happening. Yes. All the programs that are there
and available for us, I love them. We pick them
up and we grasp onto them and to the best of
our abilities, we execute them. But at the end
of the day, when you're feeling overwhelmed by
a multitude of things, and you just have that
conversation with the Lord, I promise He'll say
like, all of that's good, but the best thing
that you could be doing, talk with me regularly,
read my word, follow the prophet, you know, these
basic covenants. Make your covenants, keep those
covenants, and it does not require fancy table
settings and handouts and, you know, just so
many things that we choose to add on to our plate
to add more stress to our lives. When it comes
down to it, it can be as simple as simple. I
will end with his testimony. Thank you. He said,
I have learned through my own experience that
the small and simple things of the gospel and
faithfully focusing on Christ leads us to true
joy. bring about mighty miracles and grant us
confidence that all promised blessings will come
to pass. This is as true for you as it is true
for me. Of this I testify in the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen. Amen. Thanks so much for being
with us today. We'll catch you next time.