Walter F. Gonzalez (70) Followers of Christ
“Two characteristics can help us recognize to what extent we follow Him. First, followers of Christ are loving people. Second, followers of Christ make and keep covenants.”
“Truly loving Christ provides the required strength to follow Him. … Love is a powerful influence in our hearts in our effort to be obedient.”
Joseph Smith taught, “covenants were made in heaven” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church, JS, 42). Also (in endnote) Spencer W. Kimball taught, ‘We made vows, solemn vows, in the heavens before we came to this mortal life. … We have made covenants. We made them before we accepted our position here on the earth.’
“Making covenants is an expression of love. … All things will work together for our good if we remember our covenants. … Love for the Savior and remembering our covenants will help us keep them. Partaking of the sacrament is one way to remember them … The power of our covenants is greater than any challenge we face or we may face.”
This reminded me of two quotes from President Eyring’s teachings.
“The covenant God offers us in marriage contains the crowning promise, the one that most touches our hearts. To be sealed in the temple of God by the sealing power that God has restored to the earth allows God to promise us that we may have all He has, may live the life that He lives, and may be with Him, the Savior, and our faithful family members forever In perfect love and harmony. Our promise is complete too. We promise to give Him all that we have and are and all that we may ever have or ever achieve. So the promise is that we may have all He has by giving all we have. The almost unimaginable imbalance of that exchange, all we have for all He has, is a measure of His love for us" (Elder Henry B. Eyring in Because He First Loved Us, p. 44).
(From my notes of one of his talks at the dedication of the Columbia River Temple -- paraphrased, not a direct quote): Elder Eyring said that when he came to the temple for the first time, he was only a few minutes into the endowment session when he realized he had waited all his life to make these covenants with his Heavenly Father so he could be eligible to receive these promises.
Saturday, August 6, 2011
Refrigerator Hangers (4/11 #1)
My new friend and fellow Coordinator in Queens, Stan Kauffman, said that when he taught the class, Teachings of the Living Prophets, he invited his students to look for short inspirational statements in the Conference talks that they might want to hang on their refrigerator. I think that's a good idea. Here are a few of mine from this last Conference (April 2011).
L. Tom Perry The Sabbath and the Sacrament
“The pattern of Sabbath day observance must always include worship.”
"Partaking of the sacrament is the center of our Sabbath day observance”
“Brothers and sisters, in the latter days the adversary succeeds when we relax our commitment to the Savior. … I bear my special witness that the greatest joy we receive in this life is in following the Savior.”
Jean A. Stevens (1st C. Primary) Become as a Little Child
A member of the 70 taught a Bishop the importance of tithing to help the members of his ward with their challenges. The Bishop taught the children of the ward the principle of tithing and asked them to live it. Six months later, when they had, he asked the members of the ward if they would be willing to follow the example of their children. They did and the windows of heaven were opened for them.
Elder M. Russell Ballard has taught us the importance of the Savior’s admonition to “behold your little ones” when he said: “Notice that He didn’t say ‘glance at them’ or ‘casually observe them’ or ‘occasionally take a look in their general direction.’ He said to behold them. To me that means that we should embrace them with our eyes and with our hearts; we should see and appreciate them for who they really are: spirit children of our Heavenly Father, with divine attributes” (“Behold Your Little Ones,” Tambuli, Oct. 1994, 40; emphasis added; “Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children,” Ensign, Apr. 1994, 59).
L. Tom Perry The Sabbath and the Sacrament
“The pattern of Sabbath day observance must always include worship.”
"Partaking of the sacrament is the center of our Sabbath day observance”
“Brothers and sisters, in the latter days the adversary succeeds when we relax our commitment to the Savior. … I bear my special witness that the greatest joy we receive in this life is in following the Savior.”
Jean A. Stevens (1st C. Primary) Become as a Little Child
A member of the 70 taught a Bishop the importance of tithing to help the members of his ward with their challenges. The Bishop taught the children of the ward the principle of tithing and asked them to live it. Six months later, when they had, he asked the members of the ward if they would be willing to follow the example of their children. They did and the windows of heaven were opened for them.
Elder M. Russell Ballard has taught us the importance of the Savior’s admonition to “behold your little ones” when he said: “Notice that He didn’t say ‘glance at them’ or ‘casually observe them’ or ‘occasionally take a look in their general direction.’ He said to behold them. To me that means that we should embrace them with our eyes and with our hearts; we should see and appreciate them for who they really are: spirit children of our Heavenly Father, with divine attributes” (“Behold Your Little Ones,” Tambuli, Oct. 1994, 40; emphasis added; “Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children,” Ensign, Apr. 1994, 59).
Wednesday, August 3, 2011
Something you should know #1
Something you should know.(1)
I remember hearing about a Branch President who told his congregation that he knew the gospel was true and that if he didn’t he would be someplace else having “fun.” And I remember another time being taught that it was the Spirit that gave life to our church experience. The more we felt the Spirit, the more vibrant, uplifting, and “fun” our Church experience was. That’s true. Two individuals can be in the same meeting and one love it and the other may not like it very much. It’s the Spirit that makes the difference. And the Spirit comes and goes according to the things we do to cause it to come or go.
I’ve found that I have the Spirit when I try to do those common ordinary things that we’ve been taught we should do every day. When I start and end my day with prayer, when I read from the scriptures every day, and when I try to find ways to help others the Spirit comes into my life (of course obeying the commandments is important too).
I was with Joey when he received his patriarchal blessing. He was told that he would find that days he read from the Book of Mormon would be better days than when he didn’t. And a little while ago Jackie told me she was feeling kind of despondent and then decided to become more committed to reading from the scriptures every day and the gloomy feeling went away. I believe it. That’s been my experience too.
I remember hearing about a Branch President who told his congregation that he knew the gospel was true and that if he didn’t he would be someplace else having “fun.” And I remember another time being taught that it was the Spirit that gave life to our church experience. The more we felt the Spirit, the more vibrant, uplifting, and “fun” our Church experience was. That’s true. Two individuals can be in the same meeting and one love it and the other may not like it very much. It’s the Spirit that makes the difference. And the Spirit comes and goes according to the things we do to cause it to come or go.
I’ve found that I have the Spirit when I try to do those common ordinary things that we’ve been taught we should do every day. When I start and end my day with prayer, when I read from the scriptures every day, and when I try to find ways to help others the Spirit comes into my life (of course obeying the commandments is important too).
I was with Joey when he received his patriarchal blessing. He was told that he would find that days he read from the Book of Mormon would be better days than when he didn’t. And a little while ago Jackie told me she was feeling kind of despondent and then decided to become more committed to reading from the scriptures every day and the gloomy feeling went away. I believe it. That’s been my experience too.
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