Hope across decades

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Afternoon Session of the October 1992 Conference.

I always think it's interesting to compare the same apostle's talks over the decades. My son just gave a talk based on President Ballard's most recent conference talk, Hope in Christ, so I wanted to see how this talk thirty years ago, also about hope, treated that same theme. It still seems very applicable! President Ballard says in 1992,

Many have even resigned themselves to accept the wickedness and cruelty of the world as being irreparable. They have given up hope. They have decided to quit trying to make the world a better place in which they and their families can live. They have surrendered to despair.

Admittedly we have ample reason to be deeply concerned because we see no immediate answers to the seemingly unsolvable problems confronting the human family. But regardless of this dark picture, which will ultimately get worse, we must never allow ourselves to give up hope! Moroni, having seen our day, counseled, “Wherefore, there must be faith; and if there must be faith there must also be hope.”

Then he elaborates further on how having hope will help us get through these "seemingly unsolvable problems":

My message to you today, my brothers and sisters, is simply this: the Lord is in control. He knows the end from the beginning. He has given us adequate instruction that, if followed, will see us safely through any crisis. His purposes will be fulfilled, and someday we will understand the eternal reasons for all of these events. Therefore, today we must be careful to not overreact, nor should we be caught up in extreme preparations; but what we must do is keep the commandments of God and never lose hope!

But where do we find hope in the midst of such turmoil and catastrophe? Quite simply, our one hope for spiritual safety during these turbulent times is to turn our minds and our hearts to Jesus Christ. 

It took me a long time to figure out how the 2021 talk, which I remembered as mostly being about belonging and helping others feel like they belong, related to the subject of hope which is in its title! But this older talk actually helped me figure it out. I think it has to do with how we feel when we are "hopeless" about something. I've felt that way often—about my ability to teach my children, about the state of the world, about anyone's ability to change when harmful ways of thinking are so entrenched. When you don't have hope, it's really easy to think, "Well, nothing can be done about this. And nothing will help. And I've already failed a million times. So I might as well stop even trying." It's easy to think this about any hard situation, including the ones Elder Ballard described in 2021, when people are lonely can't see how they "belong" at church, AND the ones he described in 1992, when the world seems too wicked to be worth saving.

But the answer to all these hopeless feelings comes when we turn, as Elder Ballard says, to Jesus Christ. He sounds a lot like President Nelson when he says:

Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ—real faith, whole-souled and unshakable—is a power to be reckoned with in the universe. It can be a causative force through which miracles are wrought. Or it can be a source of inner strength through which we find peace, comfort, and the courage to cope.

And then he ties that in to his central theme, Hope: 

As we put our faith and trust to work, hope is born. Hope grows out of faith and gives meaning and purpose to all that we do. It can even give us the peaceful assurance we need to live happily in a world that is ripe with iniquity, calamity, and injustice.

I love that for thirty years, this good man, President Ballard, has been trying to teach us a principle I'm sure he's used again and again in his own life when trials come. I love that just a month ago, he repeated his hopeful message again:

I speak of hope in Christ not as wishful thinking. Instead, I speak of hope as an expectation that will be realized. Such hope is essential to overcoming adversity, fostering spiritual resilience and strength, and coming to know that we are loved by our Eternal Father and that we are His children, who belong to His family.

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Not the plan to have a whole lifetime of bliss

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Saturday Morning Session of the October 1992 Conference.

Some passages about adversity that stood out to me from different talks:

This was a weird way to phrase things, but I liked it. Elder Glenn L. Pace said, 

Into each of our lives come golden moments of adversity. This painful friend breaks our hearts, drops us to our knees, and makes us realize we are nothing without our Lord and Savior. This friend makes us plead all the night long for reassurance and into the next day and sometimes for weeks and months. But, ultimately, just as surely as the day follows the night, as we remain true and faithful, this strange friend, adversity, leads us straight into the outstretched arms of the Savior.

I have tried to understand why we must experience tribulation before we can experience the ultimate communication. It seems there is an intense concentration which must be obtained before our pleadings reach our Father in Heaven and, perhaps even more importantly, before He can get through to us. Sometimes we must be straining very hard to hear the still small voice. Before we can be taught things hidden from the world, we must be on a spiritual frequency which is out of this world. Adversity can help fine-tune this frequency. Even the Savior communicated more intensely with our Father in Heaven when he was in agony.…

Of course I've noticed this—the increased focus and intensity that my prayers and pleadings take on when I'm really struggling with something. Hoping that I can choose to be humble rather than being compelled to be humble, I've prayed that I'll be able to seek God earnestly even when things are going relatively well. And I'm sure it's good to try for that. But Elder Pace makes it sound like adversity is just something we all need fairly regularly anyway. I like the way he describes that balance:

The challenge for each of us, in order to prevent having to receive constant wake-up calls, is to remain obedient once we have turned upward. As the storm clears, it is possible to stay in tune by being valiant in our testimonies. We can then enjoy reprieves—sometimes long ones—and have a taste of heaven on earth. Nevertheless, it does not seem to be in the plan to have a whole lifetime of bliss if our goal is increased spirituality and perfection.

That reminds me of Elder Holland's picking marigolds quote. :) And I also liked this, from Elder Robert L. Backman:

The word endure has an interesting connotation. We seem to equate it with suffering. I was interested to discover that endure comes from the Latin word indurare, which means “to harden, to steel, make lasting.”

If I'm accepting the fact that life's going to pretty much consist of my constantly going from one struggle to another (rather than what I usually hope for, which is to get through my trials and then be DONE—ha), I at least find comfort in the idea that the difficult things I endure are also going to be the things that end up making my character changes lasting—permanent—meaningful. I want to actually choose to let these hard things be for my experience and good, so I can become more like Jesus Christ!

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To participate in your own miracle

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week covers the Relief Society Sesquicentennial Broadcast of the April 1992 Conference.

Sister Chieko Okazaki, speaking to the Relief Society sisters, shared some lessons she'd learned from the story of Jesus healing a blind man. I really liked these applications:

You are powerful! Where does that power come from to “do many things of [our] own free will”? It comes from the Savior himself. Feel that desire to serve in your own heart. Sense within yourself that strength to choose!

Remember Jesus healing the blind beggar. He spat on the ground, rubbed the mud on the man’s eyes, and said, “Go, wash [your face] in the pool of Siloam.” (See John 9:1–7.)

My sisters, this story has a lesson about service in it for us. First, remember that Jesus and the man didn’t have an appointment. They encountered each other almost by accident. So look for little opportunities in your daily life.

Second, Jesus saw the need of an individual. Sometimes I think we see programs instead of individuals.

Third, Jesus performed the service immediately with just the resources he had—spit and mud and a desire to help. He didn’t transport the man to an exotic medical facility, organize a cornea transplant team, or didn’t make it into a media event. Sometimes we think we can’t serve because we’re not rich enough, not educated enough, not old enough, or not young enough. Remember, if we have the desire to serve, then our bare hands, a little spit, and a little dirt are enough to make a miracle.

And fourth, Jesus didn’t just dump that service on the man and walk away. He gave that man a way to exercise faith and strengthen the faith he had by asking him to participate in his own healing. It was a simple thing—washing in the pool of Siloam. But what if the man had refused? Jesus took that risk and let the man participate in his own miracle.

Those are all good lessons, and I especially like the idea of "looking for little opportunities in daily life" to serve others, without advance planning or overthinking, but just responding to needs we encounter as we go. It seems so…achievable.

Then that last point, #4, was interesting to me because I can't quite figure out how to apply it. I can see how it helped the man develop faith to "participate in his own healing," but how would anyone besides Jesus set up such a situation? I guess when someone asks a priesthood holder for a blessing, the person being blessed "participates" by exercising faith that the blessing comes from God and will be effective in his or her own life. But how would I, when serving someone, "let them participate in their own miracle"? Hmmm. Maybe there is an application there in giving my children chances to participate in service with me? Or maybe it means not leaving a sister alone after the need to serve her is over, but going on to help teach her or involve her further—so she too can have a chance to serve? That seems more like she'd be participating in someone else's miracle, though. But maybe the miracle comes to us all as we become transformed over a lifetime of serving and being served.

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Let's always have bunnies in Conference

This post is part of the General Conference Odyssey. This week we are skipping forward in time to cover the General Conference that just happened, April 2021.

Hooray for General Conference! Wasn't it good? Every year I feel like I need it more. Here are my not-very-well-developed thoughts on some favorite messages and themes. 

• Sister Jones' talk was wonderful. (I'm sad she got released. Have I mentioned that for years I thought Sister Jones and Sister Cardon were the same person? They look just alike enough that they can fool someone who's not really paying attention. I felt like this person was turning up everywhere, even sometimes having multiple roles in the same meeting! Both women are great and I'm glad I now know there are two of them. :)) When she told the story about the drill instructor making those poor soldiers lie still for hours in the hot sun, I did NOT anticipate where she was going with it. I was amazed and moved when the moral turned out to be that such rigorous experiences were a necessary and merciful preparation for the tests that were to come! "Wouldn't we rather have our children sweat in the safe environment of home than bleed on the battlefield?" Wow.

• Several other speakers also mentioned the importance of using the "sacred time" before the age of accountability to teach children important gospel truths and let those truths take root deep in their souls. (Elder Eyring and Elder Newman are the ones I can remember, but there may have been more.) Of course I knew this principle, but I was struck more than usual by the urgency of doing this. Maybe I'm just learning for myself how quickly those early childhood years pass. I feel like I should have done more, should be doing more…there is so much confusion my children are going to face in the world. I can't let them face it unprepared! They must be able to recognize the spirit and feel its influence!

• I loved Elder Motombo's talk but also his happy, lively countenance. I couldn't stop smiling as I watched him. I thought it was funny that he started his talk with the experience of his wife asking him "Why are you smiling?"—because clearly he is ALWAYS smiling! I guess that's because he is always thinking about how "good will always triumph over evil." I love (and want!) faith like that.

• Elder Dube saying how Elder Holland's patting his cheeks made him feel "like a baby" (in a good way!) was one of my favorite moments.

• Likewise Elder Wong super-intensely doing the actions to "The Wise Man and the Foolish Man."

• A couple different people (Elder Walker, Elder Christofferson) mentioned "putting the law in our inward parts." That's something I want to focus on—doing what's right and serving others because I truly, deeply WANT to. And thinking about my love for the Savior as I intentionally act.

• Elder Uchtdorf said something like "Having hope through Jesus Christ changes the way we view our imperfections—we see them as hopeful instead of hopeless. Our failures refine us, like a musician rehearsing scales. If we repent, mistakes are actually part of our progress." I love that!

• Hearing President Oaks say "Today I will speak about the United States Constitution" is like hearing J.S. Bach say "Today I will demonstrate the art of the fugue." You can't help but straighten up in eager anticipation of hearing the master at work. We are learning about the American Revolution in our homeschool right now, so I was extra invested in hearing what President Oaks would say. You can bet we're going to go over his talk again in a couple weeks when we get to the Constitutional Convention! (As well as watching A More Perfect Union, the best BYU movie ever.)

• I loved Elder Rasband on miracles: "The magnitude of the miracles do not matter—only that they come from God." I have noticed lately that in some ways the smaller the miracle is, the more it assures me of God's love. I expect God to intervene in larger matters of nations and history, and even in things that affect lots of people, like the miracle Elder Rasband described in the face-to-face meeting where the power went out. But when He speaks to some small, insignificant sadness or concern in my own heart, I feel almost overcome that He would notice ME and care to intercede.

• And now let us take a moment to contemplate what may have been the best conference talk ever. Elder Stevenson talking about…bunnies?! Yes, there was adorable bunny footage that had us all squealing with cuteness. There was furriness. There were tiny ears and tiny paws and wiggling noses! BUT it was such a great message, too. It went deep into my heart because it spoke to so many of my desires. I want so much to be gentle and kind and loving "in deed and in thought"! I want so much to have a profound effect on my children, and everyone around me, because of the love and care they feel when I'm around. I want so much for my home to be the kind of place where people thrive and grow and flourish, perhaps in ways they can't even quantify, because it's a place of love and the spirit. I know it too often falls short of that! But a home full of happy, healthy, contented little bunnies is all I've ever wanted. :)

• My friend and I were comparing notes and both of us mentioned that we assumed President Nelson could never top his "Let God Prevail" talk from last conference. It was just too powerful and too influential! But then, somehow, this time he managed to give another talk just as powerful and (I anticipate) just as life-changing. I want to understand and use faith the way he said we can! I can't wait to study his talk further and try to put the principles into practice, but even before fully understanding what it all means, I could feel the power in President Nelson's words. Every time he speaks I know he is conveying the words of God.

• President Eyring, with his meekness and tender heart, always reminds me of my dad. (They were friends back in my dad's Harvard days, but they also just seem a lot alike.) I couldn't stop crying when he told the story of the angry, straying young man who had a flash of memory: sitting on his mother's lap, being encircled by her arms, and feeling safe and loved. I have a hard time believing my older children will ever remember such moments in their past. It sometimes feels to me like those moments (which I remember so well!) are lost forever, maybe as if they never happened, maybe even as if they didn't matter. It is hard to have faith that they will matter. But minutes before my dad died, I had a memory of such a moment between him and me. I was holding his hand, and I leaned over and told him the memory. He whispered, "You remembered" and he had tears in his eyes. I don't think I fully understood then why it was significant, but oh how I understand now! And I relate so much to the yearning and hope to hold onto those moments, and the relationships they encapsulate, for eternity. President Eyring's perceptive comment that "the only way to feel that way again is to be worthy of temple blessings" was powerful and echoed down into my heart as absolute truth. And the temple is just a taste of what eternal life will be with our Heavenly Father and Heavenly Mother!

Other posts in this series:

General Conference Epilogue—by G.

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