Welcome to the Talk Of The Week Club. I began this club as a way to share my love of learning and growing in the gospel of Jesus Christ through the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. My hope and desire is for you to learn and grow in your faith and love of the Savior, Jesus Christ. Each Thursday a new talk will be posted, come back, open your heart and mind, allow yourself to receive and I promise you will be spiritually fed.
This Easter Conference Week's talk is Elder Holland's "None were with
Him" from the April 2009 General Conference. How I am looking forward to
hearing from The Brethren this weekend! As we prepare to celebrate
Easter and I pondered what I could share this week, Elder Holland's
sweet witness came to mind. What power and conviction he shared as he
bore his tender testimony of the Savior and the Savior's love for us.
His final plea that "we declare ourselves to be more fully disciples of
the Lord Jesus Christ, not in word only and not only in the flush of
comfortable times but in deed and in courage and in faith, including
when the path is lonely and when our cross is difficult to bear" is a
resounding call to action. His reminder of all that we enjoy because of
the Atonement: "Brothers and sisters, one of the great consolations of
this Easter season is that because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path
utterly alone, /we/ do not have to do so. [We have been given] the
merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of
this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in
heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, prophets and apostles,
teachers, leaders, friends...Truly the Redeemer of us all said, “I will
not leave you comfortless." "
What sweet privileges and blessings we receive as members of His Church,
given access to eternal covenants and tender opportunities to be taught
at the feet of Prophets and Apostles. May the surety of our blessings
and the testimony of our Redeemer fill you with peace, joy and faith
throughout this Easter Season and the months ahead.
I love the advice Elder Joseph B. Worthlin's mother gave to him when dealing with adversity, "Come what may, and love it!" If you've read or received the Talk of the Week for some time you may have realized that I am constantly seeking to improve my home life, my family, and myself. It's a common thread that flows through each of my monthly postings. Often when faced with adversity, or when I am discouraged I tend to be disheartened, saddened, and I fail to remember that we are here to be tried and tested. We ARE here to grow and learn. Elder Worthlin says, "If we approach adversities wisely, our hardest times can be times of greatest growth." We need to remember to make the best of any situation thrown at us, come what may.....and LOVE IT.
I have a confession to make this week's talk was more for me than for you. I hope you will find some wonderful truths and peace in it too. I've been so busy lately going about doing the things I really feel are meant for me to do but I am so tired and sometimes the things I have to do are so hard. I loved reading this talk as a reminder that as we come unto Jesus our burdens are made light. Enjoy.
Brothers and sisters, I’m grateful to be here. I’ve been rather sleepless while preparing my remarks. I’ve felt some concern. But standing here today, seeing you all before me, I feel blessed—blessed to speak from a lectern where saints and scholars and prophets have spoken, and more blessed to come to this campus each day to teach and be taught by wonderful students who are my brothers and sisters and to work with faculty and staff who are reaching for something here that is more than a job.
Today I want to address my remarks to you who may be feeling tired and a little worn down, who may be struggling with feelings of frustration about being a student at BYU, and who may even be feeling a little cynical about what we’re trying to accomplish here. There are some challenging days. There are days when a teacher, an administrator, a classmate, or a roommate does not speak or act as one should in Zion. There are days when you and I do not speak or act as we should in Zion. There are days when we’re confused about a policy or process here that seems inconsistent with the principles of Zion. Sometimes we experience a bit of emotional whiplash when our lives get bumped hard by an experience or a challenge that is painful—painful enough that it pulls us up short and we find ourselves saying, “Wait a minute! I thought this was BYU, the Lord’s school. I thought it was Heavenly Father’s will that I be a BYU student. What in the world is going on here?” You may chuckle—perhaps a bit nervously—at that representation. If you do, it’s probably because you have had some experiences along these lines. And so it’s to you that I address my remarks.
BYU is not Zion. Not yet. It is Zion’s university—and it is under construction. It is a work in progress. However—and this is the core of my remarks today—here at BYU it is not an academic program or an athletic program or even a missionary or leadership program that is under construction. It is you. You and I are the whole point of it.......To read the rest of this address please go to this link
In search of the answers from last week I came a cross this talk by Sheri Dew. I learned that when we ask to have our weaknesses revealed are are shown the weaknesses that we are in need of strengthening. Now that I know what I need to fix I can pray for the change of heart and mind. I can pray for the conversion I am seeking in this single matter. We will all have to follow this same pattern over and over again until we are like Him: we are shown our weaknesses (if we allow ourselves to see them), we will then pray to be strengthened and have our very souls changed, receive the gift of charity and the enabling power of the grace of the Lord, go to work by remembering the Savior's grace, then become aware again to another piece of baggage to let go of. But each time we will unmistakeably grow stronger and have His image in our countenance. We will become like Him then when he comes again we will recognize Him.(some one please help me find the reference to this, when they see Him they will know him because they have become like him. ? I can not find it)
My challenge to you this week is to prayerfully ask for help in letting go of some baggage. I know you will not be given more than you can handle and that you will feel peace and be blessed.
This week I learned a lot about the grace of the Savior. I found these definitions on the LDS.ORG website: Grace is a gift from Heavenly Father given through His Son, Jesus Christ. The word grace, as used in the scriptures, refers primarily to enabling power and spiritual healing offered through the mercy and love of Jesus Christ.
The grace of God helps us every day. It strengthens us to do good works we could not do on our own. The Lord promised that if we humble ourselves before Him and have faith in Him, His grace will help us overcome all our personal weaknesses (see Ether 12:27).
From True To The Faith a publication from the Church comes one of my favorite definitions of grace: In addition to needing grace for your ultimate salvation, you need this enabling power every day of your life. As you draw near to your Heavenly Father in diligence, humility, and meekness, He will uplift and strengthen you through His grace (see Proverbs 3:34; 1 Peter 5:5; D&C 88:78; 106:7–8). Reliance upon His grace enables you to progress and grow in righteousness. Jesus Himself “received not of the fullness at first, but continued from grace to grace, until he received a fullness” (D&C 93:13). Grace enables you to help build God’s kingdom, a service you cannot give through your strength or means alone (see John 15:5; Philippians 4:13; Hebrews 12:28; Jacob 4:6–7). If you ever become discouraged or feel too weak to continue living the gospel, remember the strength you can receive through the enabling power of grace. You can find comfort and assurance in these words of the Lord: “My grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them” (Ether 12:27).
This week I would challenge you to allow grace to work in your life and open your hearts to the Lord. Let him in to enable your weaknesses to be made strong. Below are two MP3 links because I could not choose which one of these talks was the best. I also truly believe that one may be better for you than the other. The first is by Jay Parry entitled "Receiving the Marvelous Grace of God" He teaches how we can use grace in our daily lives(This talk will be broadcast on BYU Television on April 4 at 3:00 PM.) Second is a talk from Robert Millett, "After All We Can Do: The Meaning of Grace". He goes into great detail for the first 30 minutes about the Saviors grace and then how we can live by grace in our daily lives. Please do not feel like you have to listen to both of these but instead chose the one that appeals to you the most. I know you will be blessed to do all that you can do this week as you allow the grace of the Lord into your hearts and lives.
Would you like to be added to our weekly email list? Every Thursday the Talk of the Week is emailed out as well as posted here. If you would like to be added to the list please email me with Talk of the Week in the subject line.
If you would like to download a talk to your computer follow these directions. If you are having problems please feel free to email me
If a talk has an MP3 Link right click on it with your mouse, choose the option 'Save Target As', decide where on your computer you will save it, (I created a file in My Music called Talks) click Save. A box may come up to show you the progress. From there you can add it to your potable MP3 player or to a CD, or just listen from your computer.
About Me: Shauntell
Second and Fifth Week
I am a mother, wife, daughter, sister, and friend. I grew up in Washington, Utah then in 1994 moved to Logan, Utah. I was married in 1995 and in 1999 I became a mother and began a whole new journey in life. Here I am 12 years later with 3 beautiful children who have been a blessing and have been the cause of much of my growth! I hope that I am a person who brings hope and happiness to others. This year I am working on just being me and serving Jesus Christ. Ever since I can remember I have enjoyed learning about the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. I enjoyed all the classes and opportunities I have had to learn and grow in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. For many years I based a lot of my studies on knowing who I am and what I am supposed to be. I am grateful for the things I have learned and desire so much for as many people as possible to know what I know and trust in what they feel in their hearts.
Contributors: Noni
First Week
I was born in Logan, Utah and spent my school years in Snowflake, Arizona. I met my awesome husband the second month I attended Ricks College. In June of 1985, after he returned from serving a mission, we married in the Logan Temple and I graduated from BYU in December of that year. We spent 8 of our first married years in Canada-- Magrath, Alberta and Hamilton, Ontario--where 3 of our sons were born. We moved to Utah 15 years ago. I am becoming a woman of Faith. I strive to live each day with eternal goals in mind. The past three years, I have grown immensely as I have been stretched and challenged. I have learned to rely on our Father in Heaven and the Savior as never before. Most of all, I have learned to trust Them and Their perfect plan for each of us. The days I let Them steer my ship, my life is much sweeter, despite the difficulties, than the times I rely on my own strength and insights. I know as we each allow Them to guide our daily activities, we can feel the peace and joy that come from being in Their service and doing exactly what They would have us do each day. I am daily striving to be more like Them and know that our joys increase as we do this. I am also learning to better hear and heed the Spirit and I am so grateful for His direction in my life. I know our safety depends on each of us developing this Gift. Most of all, I want to be an instrument in the hands of the Lord to fulfill His purposes while I have the privilege of being here on earth. I love being a wife and mother to five wonderful sons, and my desire is that each person I have contact with each day feels better for the time we have shared and that somehow I might assist in bringing the light of the Gospel to them.
Sarah
Third Week
I am a mother, wife, daughter, friend, mentor and business owner. I grew up in a small town in central NJ and then in 1992 I moved to ID to attend college. I met and fell in love with the man of my dreams and we were married in the SLC, Temple on General Conference weekend. In 1996, I graduated from USU with a Bachelor’s of Science and a few weeks later became a mother. It’s been over 16 years since I was married and I now have 3 strong-willed and valiant children. I can honestly say that the last 7 years I have been on the steepest learning curve of my whole life. I have been blessed both temporally and spiritually in ways I never dreamed. Since I was a little girl I have listened to conference talks and the scriptures. My mom would play them on a small tape recorder while she hand-washed dishes, made dinner, or even while we were driving in the car. When I started my own family we started listening to the CDs of the scriptures as well as General Conference. Now we simply put them on our IPOD. Whatever the medium of listening, I have been strengthened throughout my life to hear the voice of the God. I know he loves each of us. We are his children and because we are His he blesses us each day and encourages us to lift, heal, edify, strengthen, love, learn and more.
Alida
Fourth Week
I am the daughter of a loving Heavenly Father who has blessed me in countless ways. I am a mother to 5 beautiful children, the wife to an amazing priesthood holder, a daughter of goodly parents, a sister and a friend to many. My journey began almost 19 years ago when I was just 8 years old and two beautiful sister missionaries knocked on our door in Bayside, Queens, NY. That day my life changed forever. Two short months later I was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints. Our membership in the church led us to Provo, Utah when I was 12 years old. After graduating from Provo High School, I married my best friend on April 17, 1999. We were sealed together in the Bountiful, Utah Temple. Over the last 9 years, our life together has seen its share of ups and downs, including the birth of a child with Cystic Hygroma. Throughout our trials I have been able to stay close to the Lord through study and much prayer. The knowledge that we have a living prophet by which He speaks to us has sustained me. I know that I can always turn to Latter-day talks to build my faith and understanding. I always seem to find the right words at the right time when I seek to know more. Throughout this year I have been striving to learn patience and trust in the Lord and in his timing. I want to be an example of Christ-like love and to make Him the center of my home. I know that through the gospel of Jesus Christ those things are not hard to achieve if we put our faith in him. I am thankful that he guided those two sister missionaries to our house that September day in 1989 and that my parents chose to let them come in and share their message. I am dedicated to sharing that message with the world so that they to may know my JOY!
Here are a few helpful hints to make the most of the Talk of the Week
~upload the talk to your MP3 player, listen while exercising , cleaning or getting ready for the day ~burn the talk to a CD and listen to it in the car, kitchen, bathroom, etc. ~have your journal nearby to write your thoughts and inspiration ~share your thoughts with a friend or family member or comment on the blog ~remember that this is supposed to be an enjoyable experience read or listen to the talks that catch your attention first ~ be open to the Spirit's promptings and you will never go wrong
