Instruments in the Hands of God

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the General Relief Society session of the October 2005 conference.

Sister Kathleen H. Hughes is married to one of my favorite LDS authors, Dean Hughes. One of his books, Before the Dawn, was inspired, in part, by the unity of sisterhood he felt among the women when his wife served in the General Relief Society presidency. I enjoyed her talk so much in this session because she addressed some of my most glaring faults.

All of us long to possess Christ's pure love, called charity, but our humanness--the "natural woman" in us--gets in the way. We get angry, we become frustrated, we berate ourselves and others--and when we do, we cannot be the conduit of love we need to be if we are to become an instrument in Heavenly Father's hands. Being willing to forgive ourselves and others becomes an integral part of our ability to have the love of the Lord in our lives and to do His work.

I often think of the quote from C.S. Lewis about entering a cellar turning on the light and discovering rats. The light didn't create the rats, it revealed them. I have rats in my cellar! Big, ugly ones that are revealed when I'm frustrated by things I can't control. I often pray to be able to kill the rats and rid myself of them, to clean up my cellar.

Sister Hughes shared something she learned from a woman she had recently met.

Alicia told me something I will never forget. She said, "I only do one thing for myself when I go to church: I take the sacrament for me. The rest of the time I watch for others who need me and I try to help them and nurture them."

That is an insight I needed to be reminded of. And I tried it this past Sunday. At the potluck after the meetings I sat with sisters I don't normally sit with. We had a delightful time. I felt better for having done so. Not that I was better than them, rather that they gave me hope, strength, and sisterhood.

We can only be instruments in the hands of God if and when we are willing to forget our own troubles and inadequacies and reach out to serve others. He will sustain us, and though we may not know the outcome of our service each time, it is surely recorded in heaven. I look forward to seeing the effects of my efforts someday when I return Home.  

 

Choosing the Good Part

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the General Relief Society session of the October 2003 conference.

During a week of feeling discouraged it was lovely to read talks that fed my soul and helped to overcome those negative feelings.

The Relief Society General Presidency chose their theme from the story of Mary and Martha found in Luke 10:38-42. 

Sister Bonnie D. Parkin said, "The one thing that is needful is to choose eternal life. We choose daily. As we seek, listen, and follow the Lord, we are encircled in the arms of His love--a love that is pure. . . . Charity is our love for the Lord, shown through our acts of service, patience, compassion, and understanding for one another. . . . I invite you to not only love each other more but love each other better. . . . I've learned that the best way to reclaim charity is to uncumber myself and simply love and serve the Lord. How do we do that? We start each day kneeling in prayer to our Father in Heaven, we hear His words through daily scripture study, and we follow the guidance we receive. We put Christ first, restoring charity's circular love. 'We love him, because he first loved us.' This is the reciprocating cycle of charity. Sisters, 'charity never faileth.'"

Lately, because of seeing the film The Boys in the Boat, and rereading the book from which it was made, I have felt a great desire to be part of something. As I listened to the talks of this session of conference I realized that what I really want is for Relief Society to fulfill those longings. When I was young watching my grandmother, mother and older sister participate in Relief Society I couldn't wait to be part of it myself. But things changed while I was serving a mission, the block schedule of Sunday meetings came into being and I never got the chance to be part of the Relief Society that I had observed in my youth. More disappointingly is that it seems to have devolved into just another Sunday school class twice a month where we have tepid book review style lessons of general conference talks. I used to believe what the general leaders said about Relief Society being a force for good in the world. I suppose it is in some places, but I've not experienced it where I've lived, especially in the past dozen years in tiny branches.

Yes, I'm complaining, because I truly want to be on a team that does something important, and ongoing in the world. I can do things by myself, but that doesn't fulfill my longings for sisterhood, camaraderie, or synergy. I've also learned by hurtful experiences that neither suggestions nor initiative are welcomed by some RS presidents.

Me and my best girlfriend, my daughter

Becoming Like Christ

This post is part of the General Conference Odessey. This week covers the Saturday afternoon session of the October 1998 conference.

Some years ago I read through all of my journals, which I began keeping in June 1975 after I received a journal as a high school graduation gift from a cousin. I haven't written daily for the entire 47 years, but enough to get to know me and my life. 

While reading I noticed three themes that were constant throughout:

1) I love the Gospel of Jesus Christ

2) I want to be married to a righteous man

3) I feel that I don't measure up, and want to be better and do better

It was an interesting exercise in self-reflection and discovery. I'm so grateful I've kept a record of my life. For the past two or three years I've been writing daily, partly because my memory is not what it once was, and I want to remember things!

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin's talk resonated with me as he talked of "Cultivating Divine Attributes". Since 2020 I've been contemplating what it means to "live the gospel" and "become like Christ" and "build a Zion people". I'm so grateful to have the opportunity to re-read this talk and find some answers.

Elder Wirthlin speaks of preparing for the Second Coming and asks, " What do we believe that will motivate us to move forward? What do we hope for? What are the virtuous, lovely or praiseworthy things we should seek after? I believe we should strive to develop within ourselves the traits of the character of the Savior." 

He turns to the words of the Apostle Paul, "And now abideth faith, hope, charity, these three; but the greatest of these is charity." Then Elder Wirthlin suggests, "We should not wait a single day to intensify our personal efforts to strengthen these virtuous, lovely, and praiseworthy attributes. . . As I read and ponder the scriptures, I see that developing faith, hope and charity within ourselves is a step-by-step process. Faith begets hope, and together they foster charity. . . . These three virtues may be sequential initially, but once obtained, they become interdependent. Each one is incomplete without the others. They support and reinforce each other. . . . These are the virtuous, lovely, praiseworthy characteristics we seek." 

What a wonderful, simple pathway to improvement! And the Lord has promised that if we seek we shall find. 

Wise Men Still Seek Him