Week 17

Hello darlings!

SO much happened this week, I don't even know where to begin!
Well, first off I have been told by someone that I have a rather extensive vocabulary and that I have the tendency to be rather bombastic (#shoutouttomydad) so I have decided to have a word for the week. And I would like to challenge all of you to try and use it this week as much as you can! :D
Adjective: lackadaisical
|ˌla‑ku'dey‑zi‑kul| 
Lacking spirit or liveliness "a lackadaisical attempt"
=dreamy, languid, languorous, lethargic, unenergetic
Idle or indolent especially in a dreamy way "a lackadaisical, spiritless young man-about-town" "she was annoyingly lackadaisical and impractical"
Noun: lackadaisicalness
Adverb: lackadaisically

Anywho... some thoughts I had/found this week other than my talk I gave during church yesterday. (Members of the congregation are asked to take turns giving talks on assigned topics each week.) (The text of the talk is below)

“You can never get enough of what you don’t need, because what you don’t need won’t satisfy you.” Elder Oaks
Each area is a mini mission.
"If you can kneel before God, you can stand before anything."

A way to see where your priorities really are: (#calltorepentancetomyformerself)

Sister Gardner's birthday was Wednesday and she got a Dory onesie from her mom and she is literally the most hysterical person in a Dory costume!!! :D

Sister Longo

CHURCH TALK:

Worth of Souls:

"And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father" (D&C 15:6).

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God" (D&C 18:10).

Why is that? Why are souls worth so much to God? Why is bringing souls unto God the most important thing we could ever do? The answer is in Moses 1:39, "For behold, this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."

This work that God has called us to do is the work of Christ. It is the work of salvation. We are the cause for which Jesus Christ suffered, bled from every pore, and in perfect love gave His life. His cause is the good news, “the glad tidings, … that he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; that through him all might be saved.” Our Savior has “marked the path and led the way.”

There are three main parts to Christ's work of salvation that the prophets have spoken about. Helping those who are not members of the church progress towards the Savior and helping those who are members of the church progress towards their divine destiny and helping those who are members of our families qualify for the blessing of eternal life. Of this President Harold B. Lee said, "Missionary work is but home [or visiting] teaching to those who are not now members of the Church, and home [or visiting] teaching is nothing more or less than missionary work to Church members." And “the most important [missionary] work you will ever do will be within the walls of your own homes.”

I've been at BYU Provo the last two years and one of the things that frustrates me so much is when I hear young adults who are return missionaries, men and women alike complain about member missionary work or about home/visiting teaching and then try to make excuses by saying things along the lines of, "Someone else can take care of it. I served 18 months or I served 2 years. I did my time!"

Before we were born, we accepted our Heavenly Father’s plan “by which [we] could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize [our] divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.” Of this premortal covenant, Elder John A. Widtsoe explained: “We agreed, right then and there, to be not only saviors for ourselves but … saviors for the whole human family. We went into a partnership with the Lord. The working out of the plan became then not merely the Father’s work, and the Savior’s work, but also our work. The least of us, the humblest, is in partnership with the Almighty in achieving the purpose of the eternal plan of salvation.”

We have renewed this covenant when we were baptized and continue to renew it every time we take the Sacrament. The phrase "take His name upon you" we individually promise and say "I take His name upon me" means so much more than we sometimes realize. Taking His name upon us means that we take His work, to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man upon our shoulders as well.

There is no "I've done my time." There is no "someone else can do it." Our work, our partnership with the Lord is not finished "until the great Jehovah shall say the work is done."

There is a parable about the path each of us must take to recognize the worth of a soul in order to fully enter into the partnership with God that we covenanted to enter long ago.

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I walked along a stormy beach late one afternoon with the wind roaring at his back and the seagulls screaming overhead. Tourists who came to the beach would collect shellfish and sea life tossed up each night, boil them in large kettles, and take the shells home as souvenirs. I walked far down the beach around a point away from the collectors and saw a man gazing at something in the sand.

In a pool of sand a starfish had thrust its arms up stiffly and was holding its body away from the stifling mud. "Is it still alive?” I asked.

“Yes," said the man and with a quick, gentle movement he picked up the star and spun it far out into the sea.

"It will live,” the man said, “if the offshore pull is strong enough."

At first I felt only the futility of the man’s efforts, 

"Why are you spending all of this time," I asked, "throwing one starfish at a time back into the sea when it nightly tosses out hundreds? It won't make a difference!"

The man tenderly picked up another starfish and once again spun it far out into the sea before turning to me and said, "It made a difference to that star."

I scoffed and walked away, shaking his head over the foolishness of the man. But as I walked past the tourists and all of the waste in the name of pleasure something began to stir in his heart.

The next morning I again went to the beach. Again the star thrower was there. Silently I picked up a still-living star, spinning it far out into the waves. "I understand," I said. "Call me a star thrower also."

The man grinned before he stooped and threw once more. I bent down and joined with him. And so we, alone and small in that immensity, hurled back the living stars. Sowing life on an infinitely gigantic scale. We set our shoulders and cast, slowly, deliberately, and well. The task was not to be assumed lightly.  Each moment counted if we were to rescue the starfish that we sought to save.

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Like the sons of Mosiah we should get ourselves to the spiritual point where "[we are] desirous that salvation should be declared to every creature, [because we can] not bear that any human soul should perish; yea, even [to the point where] the very thoughts that any soul should endure endless torment [will cause us] to quake and tremble" (Mosiah 28:3). Where we understand how incredibly priceless each and every one of our brothers and sisters and ourselves are to our Eternal Father.

Elder David B. Haight said, "We need star throwers--throwers with vision and who have a sense of discipleship with the Savior, who feel the need to save where there is still life and hope and value, and not to let that life die on a friendless beach, but to hurl it back to where it belongs. In a world where materialism, cynicism, and hopelessness exists, we share the message of greatest hope--the gospel of Jesus Christ. Be a star thrower! Then you may better understand our Lord’s commandment: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself.” (Matt. 19:19.)

If we wish to call ourselves Christians, we need to be ready to work alongside the Savior in His work, "True Christianity is love in action. There is no better way to manifest love for God than to show an unselfish love for your fellow men. This is the spirit of missionary work.”