A recent Talk about Aversity

These are some notes from a recent Talk I gave on Aversity

The winds of Adversity

Introduction

This summer Kristina and I took the kids and hit the road to go explore the Oregon coast. As a family we have always loved our time going to the beach and having fun along the shore. The kids loved the trip this summer so much that they were trying to find ways that we could leave Wenatchee and move to the Oregon coast permanently. 

One of the difficult things we faced this year was that we were going to be camping for a few nights of our trip and there was just so much more we had to pack in the van for camping. We ended up borrowing a car top carrier from my parents to put some of the odd ends in....Things like sleeping bags, and foam pads that just took up a lot of space in the car. It was perfect

Well there is a beautiful stretch of road as you come through Fairbanks and approach the Dalles. The highway takes you along the Columbia river and on a clear Sunny day you can see Mt. Hood up in front of you. We found out soon that this stretch of road has very severe side winds. You can see white caps on the river and as we drove along this highway you could feel the wind try to throw you off the road. Anyhow,  so we're driving along this road and suddenly we hear this large bang and I looked in my rear view mirrow and I could see the lid of the car top carrier had gone flying onto the ground at full speed and our sleeping bags and memory foam pads were bouncing everywhere on the highway.The Diesels are swirving all over the place...so I jump out and realize I still have half the cartop carrier and that the wind had ripped the lid just above the joints where it clamps down. So I go sprinting....If you have ever lost something on the highway you know that its quite a distance to where the thing la ds by the time you stop going 65 miles an hour.  So I'm running and trying to gather everything up without getting killed by a semi truck. We got everything to the side of the road and drug everything back to the car. We ended up stuffing the dirty sleeping bags and foam pads with tire grease all over in the only available space left in the van, our kids's laps.  I ended up gashing my hand on the sharp plastic while I was trying to tie down the peice that had torn so we could get it off the road, but . Well after 30 minutes of heart pounding and getting everything back on the van... We took off again to try to find a place to pull off and deal with it...then we're cruisin along the road again all of a sudden we heard another bang! The wind was still blowing and another peice of plastic ripped off and went flying. Again, I got out to go retrieve this stupid thing...and then out of no where another semi truck comes barreling around the bend....and I'm like here we go again...I felt like I was trapped in a real life version of that frogger game. So then as if in slow motion I see this Semi spook because of the debris in the road and he swerves to the right and starts coming right at me..in the process he grazes a corner of this huge piece of plastic and it goes spinning into the air, slams against the windshield of the next car over and shatters into a thousand tiny shards of plastic in every direction. Luckily the Semi truck saw me and veered back into his lane. Honestly I thought I was going to get killed right then and there. However, I know for a fact that someone from above was looking after me that day. We later found a place to pull off the highway and ended up dumping the remainder of the car top carrier in a dumpster on the back side of a starbucks cafe. 

I got to thinking about this experience and I think there is a definite correlation here. Why is it that on the roads of life there are similar trechorous conditions? Why are there severe sidewinds? Why do things break down and get torn apart? Why do people get hurt? I had a lady on my mission that asked me why do bad things happen to good people? I remember answering all the reasons like there is opposition in all things, and it can be a result of our choices, or other people's choices, or just a physical act of nature, or to condem the wicked, etc, etc, etc....but it got me thinking why would the Lord put that in his plan. Why must we have sorrow, and sickness, and death, and anguish?? 

Let me read you a few scriptures:

Mathew 14:26-32

Peter walks on the water but when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid and [began] to sink

Fear or weakness

Helaman 5:12

It is upon the rock of our Redeemer who is Christ the Son of God that ye must build your foundation that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea his shafts in the whirlwind, yea when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you.....

Temptation

D&C 122:7-9  Background: Revelation given to Joseph Smith while a prisoner in the Liberty Jail.

IF fierce winds become thine enemy if the heavens gather blackness and all the elements combine to hedge up the way

Persecution and Suffering

Whatever the wind is it stands for the opposition in our lives.

Hold on thy way..for God shal be with you forever and ever from Elder Aoyagi---We are not alone in the battles we fight.

If we build our lives on the Rock of Christ we cannot fall.

Be of good cheer, It is I. Be not afraid.

Story about Kites on the beach Oldest Kite shop on the Oregon Coast, box kite, sport kite...etc....This wind was no different than the wind that cause all the trial on the road...but we were in a better place we were in the sun having fun flying kites....John Bytheway once said:

"When the winds of adversity come, remember one thing--kites fly the very highest against the wind. Kites don't fly in spite of opposition, kites fly high because of opposition. In fact, they couldn't fly without opposition."

President Henry B. Eyring stated: “The test a loving God has set before us is not to see if we can endure difficulty. It is to see if we can endure it well. We pass the test by showing that we remembered Him and the commandments He gave us.”⁴

Matthew 11:28

Come unto me all ye that labour and are heavy laden and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn of me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

Brothers and Sisters, whatever sever side winds that you have in your lives. Please remember to Hold on thy way, remember that it is on the Rock our Redeemer, who is Christ that we must build our foundation. If you do this you will not fall. I testify to you that Jesus Christ is the Saviour and that all these things will give you experience. He has descended below them all. He knows your struggles and your pains. Reach up to him, take hope. I invite you to take personal inventory of your lives and strengthen your faith in Christ. I invite you to find ways to focus on the tender mercies that the Lord is giving you rather than get caught up in the sorrow of your trials. I know that if you do this the Lord will strengthen you to endure all things.  

TALK NOTES FROM MY TALK TODAY

Talk notes Jan 2015

Hastening the work of Salvation

There has been much emphasis by the brethren of the church as of late to hasten the work of Salvation. I have felt a personal witness of this even within the church here in this valley. What does it mean to Hasten? It means to hurry or to cause something to happen sooner than it otherwise would.  Sometimes we may ask ourselves, "How can I possibly move faster or do more than I am doing now?" I testify to you that through the Atonement of Christ coupled with a deepened desire and commitment to The Lord, you in fact CAN do more and hasten the work of Salvation in your own lives.

In Luke chapter 2 we are taught of the Savior’s reply to his parents, Joseph and Mary, when they found him teaching in the temple at the age of twelve. His mother expressed concern about having searched for him for three days. As she questioned, “Son, why hast thou thus dealt with us? behold, thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing” (Luke 2:48). Her son’s dutiful response came, saying: “How is it that ye sought me? wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” (Luke 2:49).

Brothers and Sisters the work of Salvation is our Father's business.  We are united with him in the business of saving souls. Christ from an early age gave us a perfect example of making this a priority in his life and ministry.

The Lord is asking us in this last dispensation to not only make it a priority, but to do his work bigger and better, and more efficent than we have in the past. We must not become casual and fail to heed the invitation to Hasten his work. Don't get stuck in a rut and fall into patterns of behavior that keep you from taking time for the Lord's work.

During the early history of the church the Prophet and others would ride in canoes to travel from place to place along the Missouri River. On August 12, 1831 as they were camped at a place called McILwaine's Bend the Prophet received the revelation found in D&C 61. In verse 3 it reads: "But verily I say unto you, that it is not needful for this whole company of mine elders to be moving swiftly upon the waters, whilst the inhabitants on either side are perishing in unbelief." I remember first applying this scripture on my mission and trying to remember that while my appointments and destinations were important, The Lord was going to place people in my path as well ...and that I needed to make sure that my eyes were open to this a long the way.
How many of us our moving too swiftly upon the waters? We need to make sure that we do not let our lives become so busy that we neglect those in need a long the way. ( This could be Our spouse, our children, our neighbor, the homeless and needy, the sick and aflicted, those who are searching for the truth but know not where to find it) These souls are placed in our path every day of our lives. Let us not be like the priest and the Levite in the story of the Good Samaritan who refused aid to the half-dead man who was in obvious need, and even distanced themselves from him by walking on the “other side.” But let us be like the unexpected Samaritan who had compassion on the wounded fellow. Who tenderly bound up his wounds, administered soothing oil, placed him upon his own beast and took him to an inn, and stayed with him overnight..and paying the cost of his care. The priest and the Levite, much like the early elders of the church were moving swiftly upon the waters, whilst the inhabitants on either side perished.


We can't go about our Father's business if we are too busy minding our own business.

In Mosiah 4:27 it reads
And see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize; therefore, all things must be done in order.

The Lord is asking us to Hasten his work, but that may require us to give more of our time and energy and start to run a little faster. If we are going to do all things in wisdom and order and it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. The only way I reconcile this in my mind is....we have to increase our strength. We have to get STRONGER so we CAN run faster!

Well how do we become stronger? The only way we can become stronger is by Coming unto Christ in our lives. He is the Master and Giver of strength. The Lord said in Matthew 11:28-30 Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.
When we are yoked with Christ our burdens become light and our strength and our power to do God's will increases.
As it says in Isiaiah 12:2 Behold, God is my salvation; I will trust, and not be afraid: for the Lord Jehovah is my STRENGTH and my song; he also is become my salvation.

Brothers and Sisters, where much is given much is required. We must take part in the hastening of the work.

As I said before
 We cannot go about our Father's business if we are too busy minding our own business. Let us come unto Christ with a deepened desire and comittment by making time for The Lord in our lives.
Let me close with 5 suggestions of how we may accomplish this.
1. Make time for more frequent Prayer and Gospel Study. .We must feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.
2. Make time to strengthen your family The greatest work you ever do will be within the walls of your own home.
3. Make time to open your mouth and share the gospel. Peter admonished the early followers of Christ to “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you” (1 Peter 3:15).
4. Make time for the Temple. It is the great symbol of our Membership. Thomas S monson said I think there is no other place in this world where I feel closer to The Lord than in one of his Temples.
5. Make time for Service, Pres Uchdorf has said, As we lose ourselves in the Service of others we discover our own lives and our own happiness

I leave with you my testimony that as we make time for these things in our lives we will become stronger and we will be embarked in the Service of God with all our heart, mind, and strength. We wil run faster and longer in the work that Lord is giving us in the Latter-days. Let us Hasten his work with all diligence is my prayer.
In the name of Jesus Christ Amen.