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I ran across something very interesting this morning and thought I would share it here – particularly for those who think the global LDS leadership all thinks in black-and-white, simplistic terms and doesn’t believe in members thinking and making decisions for themselves. It is a personal statement from one person to another, but it’s deeply profound in its own right when extrapolated to other decisions we each need to make – and even as the resident parser, I think it’s appropriate to extrapolate this to other situations: Quote:“I was consistently top five or better in the U.S. for ski jumping before my mission,” Bailey said.
Qualifying for the Olympics was a real possibility, and Bailey seriously considered delaying his mission, something he had long considered his duty.
Bailey was wrestling with the decision as he and two high school friends attended the birthday party of Joachim Schenk, his neighbor and stake patriarch.
As the trio walked across the lawn, they stopped in their tracks as they recognized someone in the driveway. It was President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the first presidency of the church. Bailey said their first reaction was to hide around the corner of the house, but it was too late. They had been spotted.
“He came up to us and shook our hands. He talked with us for quite a while,” Bailey said.
The importance of serving missions came up, and President Uchtdorf told the young men about the blessings of missionary service. This prompted Bailey to share his dilemma.
President Uchtdorf’s reply surprised Bailey.
“It was not a straightforward answer, ‘Yes, you should serve now,’ or ‘No, you should serve later,’ which I was looking for at the time,” said Bailey, who was impressed the church leader would take time to chat with three high school boys. “It was, ‘You’ll know when to serve when you pray about it.'”
In our Gospel Essentials class on Sunday, the lesson listed things we can do to be more of an “eternal family” here on earth. The very first thing was to pray individually, as a couple and as a family – so that we could be open to the promptings of the Holy Ghost as we struggle to make personal decisions. The teacher emphasized that there are no cookie-cutter answers to all of our questions that we can get from others – that most of the answers and solutions we need are communicated to us personally.
I really dig E. Uchtdorf. We’ve been (rather unsuccessfully and inconsistently) trying to go back on TiVO and watch a GC talk from last conf for FHE (so much easier than pretty much any alternative). Anyway, last night we watched E. Uchtdorf’s talk from the Sat AM session of GC in October (if you do the math, you’ll see how often we’ve actually successfully done FHE since October GC). His talk started with some gentle chiding of those in the church who like to make up additional rules and focus on those things while forgetting the weightier matters. He said that often those “good ideas” were not in actuality inspired or correct, but that they were just someone’s idea. Here’s an excerpt: Quote:How Do We Become True Disciples of Jesus Christ? The Savior Himself provided the answer with this profound declaration: “If ye love me, keep my commandments.”1 This is the essence of what it means to be a true disciple: those who receive Christ Jesus walk with Him.2
But this may present a problem for some because there are so many “shoulds” and “should nots” that merely keeping track of them can be a challenge. Sometimes, well-meaning amplifications of divine principles—many coming from uninspired sources—complicate matters further, diluting the purity of divine truth with man-made addenda. One person’s good idea—something that may work for him or her—takes root and becomes an expectation. And gradually, eternal principles can get lost within the labyrinth of “good ideas.”
This was one of the Savior’s criticisms of the religious “experts” of His day, whom He chastised for attending to the hundreds of minor details of the law while neglecting the weightier matters.3
So how do we stay aligned with these weightier matters? Is there a constant compass that can help us prioritize our lives, thoughts, and actions?
Once again the Savior revealed the way. When asked to name the greatest commandment, He did not hesitate. “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,” He said. “This is the first and great commandment.”4 Coupled with the second great commandment—to love our neighbor as ourselves5—we have a compass that provides direction not only for our lives but also for the Lord’s Church on both sides of the veil.
Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood.
This is just one more example of why I think E. Uchtdorf is so great. He’s a big picture guy who is not legalistic.
I 
E.Ucht!111!!!1!Quote:Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood.
I remember having a similar revelation a couple years ago as I was contemplating what spirituality meant to me. I’m so glad a top leader spoke this sentence in a General Conference!
Now if we could only get the following plaque in every church house:
😆 “LOVE
ISThe Law” Then… did the Beatles have it right? All you need is Love? Why of course. I’ve said before, though, that there’s a paradox in that. You can say the meaning of life in one word, Love, but meaning everything it doesn’t mean anything. Or you can explain it in a million words, and you will miss the mark half the time. Cnsl1 wrote:Then… did the Beatles have it right? All you need is Love?
I’d say love is WHAT you need. It’s simple in that it’s one word – but growing to understand the fullness of love is not as simple to me as that Beatles line may suggest.
I do like the song though!
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