I love biographies and this one was excellent. His story is so inspiring. I have heard him speak in every General Conference that I ever attended. He has been a General Authority since well before I was born. I love his talks because he illustrates everything with personal experiences. But I never knew about his hobbies -- keeping pigeons and chickens, or his prankster habits in childhood, or that his family spent summers in a cabin up Provo Canyon.
Two quotes stood out to me as I was reading his story. The first one was about preparing missionaries for service while they are young:
Preparation for a mission is not a spur-of-the-moment matter. It began before you can remember. Every class in Primary, Sunday School, seminary-- each priesthood assignment-- had a larger application. Silently, almost imperceptibly, a life was molded, a career commenced, a man made.
... You who hold the Aaronic Priesthood and honor it have been reserved for this special period in history. The harvest truly is great. Let there be no mistake about it; the opportunity of a lifetime is yours. The blessings of eternity await you. (pp.412)
That one made me think about my kiddos and how I hope that they will each have the opportunity to serve missions. My missionary experiences are one of the cornerstones of my spiritual foundation. I hope that I can do a good job teaching my kids now, so that they will be excited to serve when the time comes.
The other quote that I wanted to remember was about how to have an "abundant life".
He counsels those just starting out in their families and careers to seek "the abundant life." Wishing will not make it so, he says, "The Lord expects our thinking. He expects our action. He expects our labors. He expects our testimonies. He expects our devotion." He cautions: "To measure the goodness of life by its delights and pleasures and safety is to apply a false standard. The abundant life does not consist of a glut of luxury. It does not make itself content with commercially produced pleasure, the nightclub idea of what is a good time, mistaking it for joy and happiness." He measures the abundant life by the capacity "to face trouble with courage, disappointment with cheerfulness, and triumph with humility". (This comes from the March 1988 Ensign. I want to read the whole talk).
The two things that stood out to me in that one were not "the delights and pleasures", but the "safety" part of things. I always pray for safety for my family. Probably everyone does. But having everyone and everything be "safe" is not the indicator that he says that we should use to measure the abundance of our lives. Rather the attitudes with which we face our challenges and successes. That is a much trickier thing to do, but something that we have total control over.
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