Monday, May 24, 2010

And Upon My Handmaids...

Julie B. Beck

8 comments:

JJ said...

This talk seemed to reiterate what we have been reading. I just finished reading the January Ensign (a little late, I know!) and every talk encouraged (if not warned us) that studying the scriptures on a daily basis would help us build our testimonies. Sister Beck says "insight found in scripture accumulates over time, so it is important to spend some time in the scriptures every day." I have been told this my whole life. I suppose I am hearing this again to remind me how truly important this really is.

She also says "the ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life." When I first read this statement, I was confused. How can this be the single most important thing that I master? Isn't there another trait (or many traits) that are more important? No. If I can have this trait, I will be able to have access to everything else that comes. This allows me to have an open heart and mind and be humble enough to learn more about the gospel.

Amanda said...

This is exactly the talk i needed to read this week! It seams that life just keeps getting more busy, and there is less time for the things that really matter.

Each day i usually make a list of the things that need to be done that day. i usually list them in order of importance... (or time sensitive) often times i have to re-evaluate my list... because the really important things have been pushed down to the bottom...

I've taken counsel in my Patriarchal Blessing, that talks about setting goals each day-- ones that will help me become a better person!

Sister Beck did an awesome job at setting the real priorities that can help us feel confident enough to establish the Kingdom of God here on the earth...

"...so it is important to spend some time in the scriptures every day. Daily prayer is also essential to having the Lord's Spirit with us."
(I love this)
"...Those who earnestly seek help through prayer and scripture study often have a paper and pencil nearby to write questions and record impressions and ideas."



"The ability to qualify for, receive, and act on personal revelation is the single most important skill that can be acquired in this life!"

if it's the single most important skill, we should be doing all we can to qualify for those blessings, and have the faith to act upon them... "The Lord DEPENDS on His daughters to do their part to strengthen the homes of Zion and build His kingdom on the earth!"

Awesome Talk!

Unknown said...

I love how Sister Beck talks about ways of qualifying to have the Spirit in your life. This is the story of my life lately summed up in a short paragraph! If I changed my life to allow the Spirit at ALL times instead of sometimes, or when it is easy... I could make much better decisions in my life. It's easy to have the Spirit at church. It's easy to have the Spirit when reading my scriptures or saying my prayers. But what about when I'm out at a movie or bowling with friends? It's not as easy, but just as important.

I like the phrase "We are doing well when we develop attributes of Christ." Sometimes I think of attributes I would like to develop... but the attributes I need to remember are MOST important are those of Christ.

I also like the line "When we have done our very best, we may still experience disappointments, but we will not be disappointed in ourselves." I guess this line easily tells me I'm not doing my best! What a good feeling it will be to know that I am doing my best EVERY SINGLE DAY and not just most days. Not only will we not be disappointed in ourselves, but Heavenly Father (who I'm pretty sure is more important!) won't be disappointed with us either.
I know how much better I feel on those "most" days when I'm doing good... so I need to strive to make a bigger effort of making it an everyday thing. I smile knowing that the Lord is pleased with me. I want to make Him smile down upon me all the time, not just most of the time!

Happy said...

Sister Beck seems "real" to me. As I listened to her talk, I felt like she was talking with me instead of at me with vaseline on her teeth (like the Barbie's do). The line in her talk that seemed to hit me in the head was, "A good woman knows that she does not have enough time, energy, or opportunity to take care of all of the people or do all of the worthy things her heart yearns to do." FINALLY someone from church headquarters is telling me that it's okay not to be able to do everything now. I know, I know, we've all heard "for every thing there is a season," but that's not really what I hear. And I agree with my peeps that we need to "put our trust in the Spirit". Wow! And then I CAN receive personal revelation and go forward in faith. Now my question is, "What is faith? How far does it delve?"

Happy said...

I still stand by my statement a couple of weeks ago....I get more from you girygirls' comments than I do reading the talks. I am so glad you started this!

Amy said...

I was talking with Amanda just yesterday and mentioned that I was behind in reading these talks. She inspired me to go back and read the talks.

Wow I loved this talk! It seems like the entire talk was designed for me. Along with what was already shared what really seemed to stand out was,

"Peace, joy and hope are available to those who measure success properly." Oh how I needed to hear that. So often I focus on my inabilities and what I still have to accomplish. I feel like I have been slowly falling away from the proper measures of success over the years. As mentioned just before this quote she said,

"We can feel certain that the Lord is pleased when we feel the Spirit working through us." What a blessing to be able to have the spirit to guide us properly as we continue to improve ourselves and serve as the Lord would have us serve.

J, E, M & I said...

I don't always have something significant to share, but I have been reading... Thank you JJ for your example and love of the Lords words to all of us. I'm so grateful for our church leaders. :) Sister Beck is Awesome and has stood tall and true to what she knows is right.

Sara said...

I've had such a great morning reading and pondering on conference talks. Thank you, JJ!

Lately, I've been feeling the need for a project of some sort. Thanks to this talk and the Spirit that accompanied it, I realize that I want to focus on cultivating the Spirit in my life. I have the time to read and write and pray; I need to use it.

What I love about my feeling right now is that it hasn't come out of obligation because I know that I should. I truly want to and feel a lot of excitement when I think about it. This is what I need to build myself as well as the home and family I desire.

I have a friend that looks at a skill she wants to develop and she builds a course to help. She selects textbooks, creates a project and then takes the course. This is what I'm going to do: Qualify, Receive and Act On Personal Revelation 101. I can't wait to start.

Also, I've really enjoyed reading everyones comments. I don't know you personally but can tell that I would like to.