So last Friday I had the great opportunity to go see David A. Bednar in Orlando across from our temple. It is such a rare occurrence to have an Apostle in our area, let alone a fireside with one. He did a Q and A session for 2 hours, which was very enlightening and uplifting for everyone in attendance. Some highlights of things mentioned were..(I'm mainly recording this for myself) It's going to seem very unorganized, but the answers depend on the question of others.That it doesn't matter where any of us came from as far as background in the church, we have the potential inside of us to become anything we want or need to be. It doesn't matter if we had the priesthood, family prayer or Family home evening in the home. All that matters is that we have the desire to have that in OUR own homes in the future. He then went on to say that when his wife was pregnant with their son, she threw up constantly and by the time she was at the end of her pregnancy she was physically exhausted. Their son had colic and was up all during the night. She would breastfeed him and he would stay up for hours with him reading scriptures to him while he had the Mormon tabernacle choir playing in the background. He said no body told him to do that, but he always wondered what kind of family he would have if he did those things. He never had a father with the priesthood and he wanted to be that example in his own family. The main point he was trying to make was when Heavenly Father is with us we truly can do anything and be the type of parents he wants us to be regardless of our backgrounds.
He said When we raise our hand to sustain someone in the church, we are promising to help them succeed. That means to help them in anyway we can. (I thought that was an interesting thought).
When someone asked him how to keep the Holy Ghost with us more frequently, he said that we shouldn't gear up to receive the Holy Ghost, but rather simply keep our covenants that we have made at baptism, sacrament, temple etc. It's not studying the scriptures a certain way that better benefits us, it's how we live our lives. Asking, and seeking is how we receive revelation.
Along the same lines he talked about prayer and how it's a common misunderstanding about prayer. Too many people want the assurance and sit and wait for the answer to their prayers when that isn't how God answers prayers at all. We need to have more FAITH in things we hope for and can't see. FAITH is the principle of action he wants us to take the STEP and the LIGHT assures us we are on the right path. So our prayers should work like this
- FAITH
- ACTION
- ASSURANCE
That was one of my favorite points of the night.
The gift of tongues is not just learning a bunch of languages, but rather the gift of tongues is knowing the right thing to say at the right time and place through the spirit of the Lord.
The reason Pornography is so detrimental to our society is that it darkens our understanding of what God intends for us as his children on earth, and we forget who we are and what heavenly father wants for us. We need to be prepared to face the evils of the day and know how we will stand up and be a man or woman of integrity. We make that decision one time in our lives and we never waiver. If you don't know how your going to handle a situation when you are faced with it, you are spiritually dead. He went further and said that it isn't enough to have a testimony. It's simply the beginning not the conclusion. A testimony is not enough for you to withstand. You need to be converted to the Lord. To be converted, you stand up and are willing to follow the Lord. That's the way we all must be. Alma 23:5-6*
The #1 thing he wants for all of us is to be doctrinally grounded in the simple doctrine of Jesus Christ. We live in a world that thinks Good is evil and evil is good. Unless we understand the simple doctrine we will wonder in the darkness of the world. We want those around us to know WHY we obey, WHY we attend church meetings-- To feel the companionship of the Godhead (Holy Ghost) That's WHY we become doctrinally grounded and the power of Satan will have NO hold on us.
Someone stood and asked how we learn to forgive what seems like an unforgivable sin. To which he responded.. YOU cannot forgive them. It's only in and through the power of the Atonement that we CAN forgive. You cannot forgive someone of your own will but of the Lord's.. When we take the sacrament we do it for a remission of not only our sins, but others. Mosiah 24:13-15
Notice that the covenants are central to ordinances.
The power of Godliness is manifest in the power of the priesthood.
and the power of Godliness is the atonement of Jesus Christ.
The Ordinances of the gospel is what helps us forgive and manifest the power of godliness.
Forgiveness of sins is overcoming the sins of the fall of Adam.
We forgive through and only through the power of the Atonement!
He also said that Satan only attacks the things he hates.. The reason he HATES it so much is because he will never have those things, and so he attacks them the strongest. He will never have a body, he will never have a family, he will never be able to make covenants, he will never have eternal life. How much sense that makes! I had never quite heard it like that before.
He invoked a blessing on us that according to our faithfulness that we would not let our fears rule our lives. That we would never take council from our fears.
*Most of this is me paraphrasing what he said, as a result it's not word for word. It's my own interpretation.
What a blessing it was to see an Apostle of the Lord! I do know that we are a blessed people to have such men of God lead and guide us in a way that is pleasing until the Lord. I know that if we follow their counsel and direction that we will make it safely back home to our father in Heaven and he will tell us well done thou good and faithful servant! :) What a wonderful time it is to be alive and to be able to participate in such goodness! It was evident as I shook hands with him and he looked into my eyes that he was a servant of the Lord. He brought the love of the Lord with him, and I felt it so deeply.
