Sport For My Neighbors: August 2013

Again, it has been some time since a post - and that means, of course, that something big is going on. A short six months after our foster daughter went home (it was the month of May 2011), Bishop Woolf asked Adam and I to come visit with him. And I already knew what it was about.

Back in March 2011, the day before my birthday, I attended a Women's Conference for all of the American Fork Stakes in which Sister Julie Beck, then the General Relief Society President, was the speaker. I had been asked by our Relief Society President, Nancy Stern, to sing in the choir. So there I sat in the choir seats at the Alpine Tabernacle innocently listening and taking notes. Sister Beck told the story of Mary and Martha and becoming disciples of Christ, and clear as day I heard the words, "The sisters in the ward need to know this." I thought it strange that I would have a thought like that. I ignored it and continued to listen. Not more then ten minutes later, Sister Beck talked about knowing and understanding what it means to be a Daughter of God. And for the second time the clear voice said, "The sisters in the ward need to know this." Knowing what this prompting could mean for me, I rebelliously told the voice, "That's nice. Go tell Nancy!"

By the time I found myself sitting across the desk from my Bishop holding hands with my husband, I already knew who my entire presidency was to be. On May 22, 2011 I was called as the Relief Society President of the Sunset Hills 2nd Ward of the American Fork West Stake with Erin Decker as my 1st counselor, Kim McBride as 2nd counselor and Debbie O'Dell as secretary. As of now, we have been serving for over 2 years with one change. Kim McBride had a baby and needed to focus her efforts there, so Tara Callaway is now serving as my 2nd counselor.

I have tried to follow the promptings as they have come. I have sought for guidance, but I have also had the motto of "Don't wait to move forward" - I just have to go and trust that the Lord will bless my efforts. And he has! I know any successes have only come because of Him.

I spoke in Sacrament Meeting the week after I was called. I talked on coming to know the Savior - the first prompting I had received. For my own record, here is a copy of that talk.

Sit at the Feet of the Savior

Given by assignment as the new RS President

May 29, 2011

As a youth I had my life all figured out

Go to college and become a teacher, marry Adam, have 3-5 kids, live happily
Reality: Quit school to serve a mission, which meant that Adam and I did not see each other for over 3 years, and at the age of 25 was floundering with what to do with my life when my battle with infertility began
Found myself asking: What had happened to cause my life to go so wrong? Why does life have to be so hard?

Go back to the beginning – not my beginning, THE beginning
The beginning was that God had a plan for his children

It was not for Adam and Eve to spend their days in the perfect Garden of Eden
The Plan

For them to leave perfection for imperfection
To be sent to a place they knew nothing about
To live in a harsh world where Satan would continually try to exert influence over them
How is it this is God’s Plan? Seems cruel and he is supposed to be a God of love

2 Ne 2:11 – opposition in all things

God knows we need imperfection to find perfection

3 examples of opposition leading to better things

1) Sandi Bates

Is not a great cook by accident

Has a passion for good food – if eats something she likes at a restaurant, will search for a recipe to make it
Tries and fails several times

o Combines recipes, experiments with them

o Learns about new ingredients along the way, maybe even watches cooking shows or buys a new kitchen gadget to help her get a delicious end result

She is a great cook not because of her successes, but because of what her failures have taught her

2) Liz Jeffrey

An amazing pianist, can sight read a song I couldn’t play if I practiced for months

Again, is not a great pianist on accident
Years of lessons, practice and learning theory has given her knowledge and increased her ability

o Very importantly, she knows from experience that when there is a section of the music that is difficult for her to play

o If she will practice it over and over, she can make that weak area become a strength

o The opposition she faced has now made her a better pianist

o Then she can confidently give a beautiful performance, which blesses those who listen or sing with her

3) Jaime Theler

Is training for a marathon

Obviously had a desire to reach a goal to be willing to push her body to do something so amazing

o Sometimes makes FB comments about her runs

o Good runs and not so good

o Runs in all weather and temperatures

o Has learned to persevere through physical challenge

o Opposition has made her physically and mentally stronger

Will be more likely to succeed at another goal or when faced with a challenge

In essence, each of these examples exemplifies what Alma teaches us in chapter 32

Have a passion or a desire to know or do something
Plant that in your heart
Then begin to move forward in the direction of that goal

There will be trial and error as we mix the wrong ingredients
We will discover weaknesses we will need to work on, but through that our knowledge and ability will increase
We will learn how to endure all kinds of “weather” as we become stronger and more capable

In other words, if we desire and act we make progress – spiritual progression towards returning back to our Heavenly Father

And that’s our Father’s plan for us
It is the eternal plan of progression

So we have imperfection and progression working as a team in the plan

Means as we make progress, God knew we would also make mistakes

Will falter as we “experiment” on the word

Mistakes, bad choices, neglectful

Sometimes we flat out rebel against it and embrace or desire the imperfect things in the world
Because Satan is allowed to try to exert his will over us in opposition to God’s plan
Satan’s opposition to God’s plan

His goal is to get us to do things that

o Make us feel chained to things

o Feel guilty, lack of self worth

o Make us feel hopeless that we will ever succeed in God’s plan

o He wants us to give up on our experimenting on the word, our testimonies

Sis. Beck – American Fork RS Conference March 19, 2011

Taught the story in Luke 10 of Christ coming to visit Martha in her home
Little is known of Martha

I believe sometimes characters in the scriptures are meant to be vague
Gives us the ability to insert ourselves into the story with the details of our own personal lives so we can apply the scriptures to ourselves

The story begins with Mary, her sister, sitting at the feet of Jesus while Martha working to get dinner ready
V40 was cumbered about much serving

Comes to Jesus expecting him to support her need to have some help in taking care of these guests in her home

V41 READ

Careful = worried (footnote)
She was worried and troubled about many things
We don’t know what Martha was worried about, but it wasn’t just that the table wasn’t getting set or dinner was burning – something heavier
This is where we insert ourselves

What are the worries and troubles that we carry with us as we work?
Loss of a loved one through death, divorce, or going wayward
Infertility, raising children, sickness, aging, marital struggles, finances, addiction, depression, monotony of work, lack of self-esteem, ETC.

V42 (READ) – one thing is needful

To truly understand what that one needful thing is, we need to go back to the beginning again because we need to understand what happens next in the story of God laying out his plan through Adam and Eve

We know that because of eating the fruit, they have to leave the Garden
We know that this began the process of learning and becoming through opposition

Become experimenters of the word

We also know that now Satan can work to have influence over mankind
These things all mean that life is now going to be really hard for them

Like our lives are really hard

Knowing that their lives, and ours, would be hard in this fallen world, God put the final piece of his plan into action before driving them out of the Garden
God sent Jesus to make coats of skin to cover Adam and Even
(“The Continuous Atonement” by Brad Wilcox)

I learned this week that in Heb. the word kaphar means ‘to cover’
It is the ancient root of the English word ‘Atonement’
The Savior is not in the clothing business

His is the work of covering

Adam and Eve left the garden covered in a tangible and continuous reminder that through Christ all of their physical, emotional and spiritual weaknesses are covered through the Atonement

Pres. Boyd K. Packer (Oct 95 Conf): If we will turn to the Lord, there is “no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no offense exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness.”
WE are covered through the Atonement of Jesus Christ
He doesn’t cover up our sins like Adam and Eve tried to with fig leaves
He gave us the gift of covering, meaning if we repent, he will have our backs and cover us when we stand before God, taking all the responsibility and the punishment for our mistakes

In (Luke 10:42 READ) our story of the Savior with Martha, he wasn’t dismissing her concerns

What we sometimes hear as His answer is ‘Mary is better than you’ - NO
His answer to her was that one thing was needful – Him

She needed him in her life as we all so desperately do

Martha, with all of her worries and troubles, needed not to be Mary, but just to follow her example in this thing

To stop running, stop trying to solve her worries and troubles on her own and in her own way
She needed to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear his word
We need to sit at the feet of Jesus and hear his word

To take the challenge of Alma and experiment in becoming doers of the word that our testimony of Christ can grow

Sister Beck taught us that day that Christ was inviting Martha to become a disciple

And that invitation extends to all women, and men, everywhere

Now I’ll go back to my story where I was asking why life is so hard

I was Martha

Carried troubles and worries of infertility around with me everywhere I went and in everything I did – it weighed me down, made me miserable
Satan jumped right in with messages that I wasn’t good enough, that God didn’t love me
I turned many directions in search of relief from this burden

Six years ago I received a calling that literally saved me (Gospel Doctrine teacher)

Studied the scriptures to learn so I could teach the class
What it was really doing was turning me into an experimenter of the word
For the first time in my life I literally feasted, for sometimes hours a day, on the scriptures
I found myself at the feet of the Savior and I wanted to be there because it was such a place of peace
There my burdens didn’t feel as heavy
Gained perspective and understanding
Felt value and the love of the Savior
This is what the Savior and His Atonement do for us

Not only provide repentance, but the promise to help us carry our burdens

Asked to share a message with the sisters - The message I have felt to share is also a challenge:

Come and sit at the feet of the Savior and become a disciple of Christ
This means we need to

Feast from the scriptures – become comfortable with and knowledgeable of them
Pray with gratitude and earnestness
Serve one another – at home, in callings, visiting/home teaching
Make covenants in the temple and work hard to keep them
Nurture children – most important role for women

Teach in word and example
Prepare them to go to the temple and serve missions
Help them know where to turn for true happiness – teach them how to be disciples of Christ

Remember how we were to put ourselves into Martha’s position with our worries and troubles?

If your worry is sickness, sit at the feet of the Savior
If your marriage is in trouble, sit at the feet of the Savior
If you deal with depression, anxiety, addiction, or are worried about a child or loneliness or loss, sit at the feet of the Savior

Lastly, give yourself a break!

This is an imperfect world and you are an imperfect person
Plan on not being perfect in this lifetime, because that is God’s plan
And that is precisely why repentance and the Atonement sit at the center of God’s plan

It makes it ok to fail at things and then be able learn from those mistakes
It fills in where our weaknesses let us down
It strengthens us so we can weather the challenges of life

Beck: We are ordinary people who have been given monstrous and monumental tasks.

We will be successful in those tasks as we take time each day to be with the Savior

Testimony that these principles are TRUE!

I followed the second prompting six months later when we had a retreat up at a cabin in Heber City, UT. I pushed for a retreat because I wanted the sisters to get away, be treated to yummy food and good laughs, and have a chance to bond with one another. Forty-five sisters attended! For the spiritual thought I used that prompting as the theme and I gave a devotional on being a Daughter of God. I made a video where I had sisters respond to questions on camera. Adam taught me how to edit on my Mac. I made the video into several clips and spoke in between the clips. Here is the video part of that presentation (but the quality is terrible because blogger made me make the file really small before it would download):