Great Moment in Pathways

President Oaks “2 Lines of Communication” talk connected to Sister Okazaki’s “Baskets and Bottles” talk FOR THE WIN!

We were going over President Oak’s “2 Lines of Communication” talk and I felt like I was suffocating from the weight of talking about “the importance of following the prophets” counsel being discussed in the orthodox manner (yes it was that kind of evening, I had already moved onto electronics). I wanted and NEEDED a topic redirect because the current one was not working for me on quite a few levels.

I felt inspired to connect the “Following the Leaders” theme to Sister Okazaki’s fruit storage analogy talk. I pointed out that it was important to listen to the leaders in identifying the principles important for growth – and that we needed to rely on our individual line to figure out the best practices for us to implement that principle. I cited how she had brought 2 types of food storage in for 2 different cultures – Hawaiian culture focuses on storing the fresh fruit with minimal storage in part because the fruit is available year around and needs to be used before it expires. The other culture I thought was either Utah or the Mid-West – where snow and the weather mean that food needs to be canned and stored up for those lean months. Both types of food storage were useful and had meaning for the climate around them – but they weren’t the same. I pointed out how we could and should expect to see diversity in how principles were applied around us.

One of my fellow students got an animated look and jumped in “You remember that talk from over 20 years ago – that’s awesome! I remember it too and it is an amazing example”. Another student piped in citing a time when she took a sister who had moved from Utah aside and lovingly told her, “You aren’t in Utah anymore, this is the mid-west with a different culture. I am happy to help you adapt if you need it (with undertones of “stop alienating yourself from this community with your Utah requirements”).

I celebrate this because it was a positive redirect, a VERY UNEXPECTED redirect, sharing of a valid principle, and I got to cite Sister Okazaki – what’s not to love? :clap: 😆 :crazy: :clap: