Sunday

Finding Strength in Challenging Times!

Elder Allan F. Packer Of the Seventy

Here are my favorite quotes from this talk. The bolds are mine. Please click on the link in the title to read the whole talk.

"When I was a young man in high school, one of my passions was American football. I played middle linebacker. The coach worked the team hard, teaching us the basics. We practiced until the skills became natural and automatic. During one play against our biggest rival, I had an experience that has helped me over the years. We were on defense. I knew my assigned opponent, and as the play unfolded, he moved to my right into the line of scrimmage. There was a lot of noise from players and fans. I reacted as the coach had taught us and followed my man into the line, not knowing if he had the ball. To my surprise, I felt the ball partially in my hands. I gave it a tug, but my opponent didn’t let go. As we tugged back and forth, amid all the noise I heard a voice yelling, “Packer, tackle him!” That was enough to bring me to my senses, so I dropped him on the spot.
I have wondered how I heard that voice above all the other noise. I had become acquainted with the voice of the coach during the practices, and I had learned to trust it. I knew that what he taught worked."

"We need to be acquainted with the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and we need to practice and apply gospel teachings until they become natural and automatic. These promptings become the foundation of our testimonies. Then our testimonies will keep us happy and safe in troubled times."

What I learned from this:

As we learn to recognize the promptings of the Holy Ghost we will be able to make better choices. We will be comforted in our times of trial, and we will be able to more fully feel our Saviors love. As we listen to and obey these promptings we will feel our testimonies grow and be better prepared to deal with those hardships to come. No one can take away our testimonies. Not our employer, our bank, the government, or our enemies. It is ours and only ours. It is our responsibility to make it grow. We can not borrow from someone-else, and we can not loan ours out. It is worth our time and effort to fortify it so we may recognise the 'voice' above the noise of the world and follow our Prophet and leaders on the path that leads to true happiness.

I will continue with Elder Packer's talk next week.