October 19th, 2014
The day history was made...
1 - I gave my FIRST talk ever in sacrament.
2 - We gave our first talks ever together!
Such a happy (terrifying) day. :)
We got an email 2 weeks prior to, letting us know what our topics were and the layout of how sacrament would go. As we looked through the email, we realized...
We were the only speakers! hahah.
I already have a huge fear of speaking in front of people, so on top of this being my first time ever speaking in sacrament, knowing I had to talk for about 10 minutes, didn't sit well.
Surprisingly, I was actually pretty calm the morning of/during sacrament, until my name was called to stand up. As much as I wish I could say I got up there and talked for 10 whole minutes... I can't, I didn't. I felt like I got at least 5 minutes in, but Connor informed me that it was more like 3... maybe 4. LOL! Luckily Connor is amazing at (everything) talking in front of people, so he made up for my time, his time, and some. :)
My topic was "Where can we go to avoid evil?"
I spoke about the external and internal ways I've found peace from evil in my life. My first thoughts as I wrote my talk were physical locations we can go to avoid evil (church, temple, scriptures, prayer). Then I thought of internal evils we face (murmuring, jealousy, negativity, anger) and how quickly those things can take us away from the peace we feel.
I found a quote by Elder Richard Evans that says;
" To find peace—the peace within, the peace that passeth
understanding—men must live in honesty, honoring each other, honoring
obligations, working willingly, loving and cherishing loved ones, serving and
considering others, with patience, with virtue, with faith and forbearance,
with the assurance that life is for learning, for serving, for repenting, and
improving.”
Simply put, we can find peace within by striving everyday to be better people and having an inner determination to follow Christ's example. Putting The Lord first is the easiest way to fight internal evil.
I continued with my example of external peace - re-reading and listening to general conference talks daily, and a quote by Elder Holland;
"...at least one of
the purposes of general conference and the teachings of the prophets down
through the ages is to declare to these very people that The Lord is equally
fervent in trying to reach them that when there is trouble His hopes and His
striving and His efforts greatly exceed our own and it never ceases."
Finding time in our days to not only go to church, the temple, read the scriptures and pray, but to also make an effort to re-read the words of The Lord that come to us through the mouths of our prophets will bring peace and comfort to our everyday lives.
I had some more words of wisdom, but that's the summary of my talk!
Connor's topic was "Are we really in the latter days?"
He started out by following up with my talk about how by listening to/reading general conference talks, we are listening to the words of The Lord and that if we weren't in the latter days, we wouldn't have our prophets to teach us and guide us.
He talked about the foundations of the church and how we believe that Christ was born into this world and lived a perfect life to show us the way and his path, so we can live with Him again.
He talked about how Joseph Smith didn't start his own church, he restored the same church Christ formed when He was on the earth.
He continued with talking about the 7 dispensations and read these quotes (from The Encyclopedia of Mormonism in BYU'S Library);
The central work of the "dispensation of the fulness of times" consists of bringing together all gospel ordinances and truths of past dispensations and some items unique to the last days. Paul spoke of a future time when all things that are in heaven and on earth would at last be gathered together, and he called it the "dispensation of the fulness of times" (Eph. 1:10).
This dispensation began with the Prophet Joseph Smith's first vision, and all revelations and divine gifts of former dispensations continually flow into it. Concerning this, Joseph Smith wrote on September 6, 1842: "It is necessary in the ushering in of the dispensation of the fulness of times, which dispensation is now beginning to usher in, that a whole and complete and perfect union, and welding together of dispensations, and keys, and powers, and glories should take place, and be revealed from the days of Adam even to the present time" (D&C 128:18). Revelation and restoration characterize the fulness of times.
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Listening to Connor speak about the church and bear his testimony always helps mine grow. It brought back memories of when we were first dating as we sat at his apartment, and I would ask him tons of questions about the church that confused me. He spent hours with me, opening the scriptures, reading chapters and verses, and teaching me things I never knew. I'll forever be grateful for his diligence and faithfulness to The Lord. He's been the best example to me.
After church Connor said "Well, are you glad it's over??"
My response? "No! Because all I can think about is how I'm going to have to do that AGAIN in February when we move!"
It was a good experience, and probably went better than I feel like it did... I just hope I don't have to do it again for a while. :)
It must have not gone too bad, though, because they still sustained us as
teachers of the 14-18 year olds!
We're going to be taking turns teaching with the current teacher until she moves in December, but we're super excited! This is definitely more my cup of tea! Even better that it's a calling with Connor. :) Eee!
Church is quite different in the South... but it's always interesting and my favorite time of the week. I often tell Connor how I wish we had church two times a week... :) Maybe I need to get out more?
October 19th, 2014.
