President Monson - CES Fireside

On Sunday I attended the CES fireside in the Marriot Center. President Monson was speaking. Candice got us seats in the fourth row on the floor of the Marriot Center. It was awesome being so close!

My stake president (President Echohawk) conducted the meeting. Elder Nelson and his wife were in attendance, as well as President Samuelson and his wife (President of BYU) and Elder Russell Osguthorpe (a Seventy and Director of the CTL where I worked - so I have met him often). What was also cool is that the closing prayer was given by Bryon McKay - the Elder's Quorum President in my ward. He got President Monson's autographed talk. :)

President Monson gave a good talk that has given me a lot to think about. He spoke about how great things are expected of us and when we consider the choices we need to make in this life, we need to think about our preparation that we need to make to be able to make those choices correctly, because when the time for decision arrives, the time for preparation is over.

He first spoke of the fact that our preparation began in the pre-existence. Then as we came to earth during our first 8 years of life, when Satan has no power to tempt us, a lot of preparation occurred then, because what is placed in the brain during this time is typically there to stay, with the ages of 2 and 3 being the most influencial.

He then spoke of how we are preparing ourselves as we study and that real effort is required in order to reap bountifully. He encouraged us to really learn to think because a man who cannot think is not an educated man.

He spent the remainder of his time talking about a more important aspect of preparation: spiritual preparation, which involves developing a solid testimony, through 4 main steps (desire, study, prayer, the doing of God's will). While we know that doubt and faith cannot exist in the mind at the same time, faith implies trust and reliance on the Lord. He gave 4 hints for achieving our great expectations:

1. Avoid the pitfalls/detours

• whatever you read/watch has an impact on you; if it is questionable - don't watch it.
  

2. Beware of the flashy start and the fade out finish

• endure/persevere
• work will win when wishy-washy won't
• a second effort is often required - ie. don't give up; keep trying
  

3. Help others

• see others from the right perspective
• we won't be asked how many positions in the church we held, but rather how many we have helped
  

4. Seek the help of the Lord

• make room for Him in our lives before all else
• He then will teach us the way of truth
  

Bishop Burton - CES Fireside

On Sunday I went to a CES fireside with Bishop Burton (Presiding Bishop) in the Marriot Center. It was great! The talk was centered on a story about himself as a young man, where someone he worked with asked him, "Will you ever make something of yourself?" He talked about how Jesus, in essence, asked the same question in 3 Nephi 27:27, "What manner of men ought ye to be?"

So, if we're going to consider the type of people we're going to be, we need to focus on Christlike attributes, such as caring for the one, and so on. Bishop Burton contrasted President Monson's private and public ministry. I loved this contrast! One's public ministry would consist of serving in one's calling, while one's private ministry goes beyond that and involved reaching out to and blessing individual's lives, comforting, being concerned, and so on. This reminded me of what I was trying to get the Young Women leaders in the Cape Town, South Africa Stake to consider - their private ministry among their young women. I had just used other words. Bishop Burton said that what we do in anonymity is just as important as what we do in public.

He said that the manner of men and women we will be will be determined by how much we listen to the Spirit. He continued to say that it will also be determined by how well we handle the storms of life.

Two things he said that stuck out to me: (1) "Discipline is the bridge between goals and accomplishment"; and (2) "Intelligence without ambition is like a bird without wings" - Salvadore Dali.

Finally, he ended by declaring that focus is essential is achieving our goals. He said, focus on the right things in order to become what we are meant to be.