As I read David A. Bednar's talk, "Your Whole Souls as an Offering Unto Him," I was touched by many things that really made me stop and think, so I want to share a few of those things. How diligent, faithful, and competent am I in all aspects of my life? Going back to school to complete my degree after I have raised my children, has really taken on a different aspect than when I went to school as a young adult. I feel like I am just as diligent in my studies, homework, exams, etc., but I feel that I am more faithful and look more to my Father in Heaven for help this time around. I fought with the idea of returning to complete a higher degree for two years but Heavenly Father didn't give up on me. I finally asked my sister if she would like to begin the Pathway program with me at BYU-Idaho because if you have a "friend" you can do anything. She said no, so I decided that was my answer for returning myself. However, when Heavenly Father has a plan for me, he finds ways to help me complete that plan. The next day my sister called me and said she was ready to begin college with me. I immediately applied and began the Pathway program within a few weeks. My loving Heavenly Father knew what I needed to do to discover and become a better me.
I have read, heard, and quoted Doctrine and Covenants section 4 verse 2 many times throughout my life and am in the category that Elder Bednar described of interpreting heart, might, mind, and strength as four separate but interrelated factors that are required in the service of God. I greatly appreciated his additional interpretation to consider the word "might" as descriptive of the "heart" and the word "strength" as descriptive of the word "mind." Wow! This was definitely an aha moment this week to have it put into words that in order to fully serve God, we need to have a mighty heart and a strong mind. I am truly grateful for this experience this week.
Another aspect that resonated with me is about sacrifice and consecration. Too many times many of us think of these two words as money, substance, and even time. However, Elder Bednar reminds us that it is much more. "We must consecrate unto the Lord both a faithful heart and a strong mind—a mind capable of learning and instruction and discipline and receiving revelation. And only our best is good enough for the Lord." Our world has changed over the years and specifically during this year, 2020. I have seen the need for all people to have a strong mind and a mighty heart as we have been bombarded with turmoil in our world. These two attributes have helped and will continue to help as we navigate this journey of life. My son, Dylan, is serving a mission and so has experienced the change in how missionary work is carried out. Without a strong mind and a mighty heart, missionaries would certainly give up because of discouragement.
The video of Guy Kawasaki, "Do What You Love and the Money Will Follow" also made me stop and think this week. He cautions about doing anything just for money but rather to do something because you love it. If you don't enjoy what you're doing, no amount of money can bring you happiness. While his analogy of trying med school and law school because it seemed like "what he was supposed to do" was funny, it really made me stop and think about what I want to do with my life. I would rather figure out what I didn't want to do in 10 days rather than 20 years.
The last thing I want to pull from this week is President Gordon B. Hinckley's talk to students at the Hinckley Building dedication. This talk resonated with me as he reminded the young students how faithful and strong they are. He reminds them (and I think this goes for people of all ages and in all stages of life) not to "ever do a cheap or a tawdry or a mean or an evil thing." He goes on to say that "the world is on a slippery slide. It's going downhill and it's going fast. And you are as a beacon on a hill of young people of rectitude and virtue and decency and goodness. Remain that way. Do not destroy your effectiveness. Do not become involved in any kind of behavior which destroys you, injures you, hurts you, debilitates you in any way whatever. You don’t have to do those things. You can stand above them. You must stand above them. The world will look to you as the years pass. Of that I have no doubt whatever. For if it continues to go in the direction which it is going, the disparity between the world and and this church will grow and lengthen." Wow, could he know and see where our world would be 18 years later in 2020? He reminds us that most of us are not geniuses but that the work of the world isn’t done by geniuses. It is done by ordinary people who’ve learned to work in an extraordinary way.
