Sunday, Sept 15th -attended Queensburg Ward - talks

We attended Queensburg Ward again and were well taught. The first speaker in sacrament meeting was a girl, Beehive age, that spoke about the Young Women's Values and how if you strive to live them you will be doing as Heavenly Father wants you to do. She said that it makes her happy to do what is right. She compared the YW Values with the 13th Article of Faith. She mentioned that her teacher in YW class told her last week that she really appreciates how she smiles all the time. She told her that last Sunday she was having a bad day and came to church with the wrong attitude, but when she started to teach she looked at this young girl and her smile immediately changed her attitude. She said all she had to do was look at her and she was happier. This made the girl very happy too, to know that such a small thing as a smile can make such a difference.

The next speaker was the Primary President, Sister Creak and she is also on our Public Affairs Team for Hillcrest Stake. She talked about how she went to a stake meeting and the Stake President said he was preparing for the apostle coming October 25th to Durban. He told them that because of his preparations, he was already feeling the Spirit of Elder Bednar. We are told that all we need to do is prepare and the Lord will do the rest...that is a big promise. All things we've recently accomplished, the Helping Hands projects, the David Glen Hatch tour...they were really hard things to do, but the Lord helped us accomplish them. He knows what we are capable of and blesses us when we do what he asks. When an Apostle comes, it is really a big thing. We all should prepare to get the most out of his visit.

She then related her experience with a public affairs training meeting (with us and others) where Elder Mkhabela of the Quorum of the 70 told us about his first meeting with all the other members of the 70 and the Apostles. He was next to another Elder who was also fairly new to the Quorum. There was about 300 people there and the other Elder leaned over and asked him if he noticed that Elder Packer was wheeled in the room for the beginning of the meeting. He told him that they would wheel him out again before the meeting was over because of his poor health. He said that he had always wanted to shake his hand, but he was never there at the end of the meeting to shake hands. Elder Mkhabela, being very new, thought that he would like to shake the hands of every apostle, but knew that probably wasn't going to happen, so he said a silent prayer that he would be able to do this. Elder Packer addressed the group and then all of a sudden stopped and said, I think we should take this opportunity to have the Apostles shake hands with all of you. Then, rather than starting in order of the quorums, he started with Elder Mkhabela and the other guy's group. They were among the first to shake all the Apostles hands, including Elder Packer. There were many who said they had never seen this done before. Elder Mkhabela was overcome with the Spirit and the knowledge that his prayer went directly to Elder Packer at almost the same time he was finished praying.

Do not think Elder Bednar's coming is just another meeting. It is a precious thing. If you want to learn you study, get to know your subject, practice. If you want to get to know someone you practice getting to know them by being with them, talking to them to find out all about them, you practice getting to know them. We can practice getting to know Elder Bednar by reading about him, listening to past talks, find out about his hobby, his education, his family, so that when he comes you already know him and the Spirit can fill you with the knowledge of all you have studied...he can become a dear friend and you would love to hear from your dear friend...or an Apostle of Jesus Christ.

At the Stake meeting she attended, the Stake President said, 'You can go to hear Elder Bednar or you can stay home. You won't know what you will gain unless you show up. If you do, the Lord will bless you for attending. There were two men in wagons stuck in the mud. Both prayed for help. One man got out and pushed, heaved and pushed some more until he did all he could. Suddenly, when he thought he could do no more, the wagon moved out of the muddy ruts. The other man prayed that his wagon would not be stuck. He prayed all day, but nothing happened. We need to do our part, if we want the Lord to help us, to open up the Heavens and pour out his blessings upon us. Will we be like the ten lepers who were healed, but only one said, "Thank you?" The other nine went on their way. We would be very lost without the Lord's messengers. Read all about them...see what they have said and taught and you will gain so much from it.

Her husband spoke next because their regular speaker did not show and he was filling in the time. He continued with her theme: There will also be General Authorities at the October meetings. They are also messengers of the Lord. Once when I was young a General Authority came to our Stake Conference to speak to us. He got up to speak and two young children ran down the aisles holding their hands like guns and pointing them at each other, making at Rat-a-tat sounds of machine guns. They were right below the podium. The G.A. looked down at them and said, "The scriptures say there will be wars and rumors of wards. This must be part of what they meant."

He said it would be helpful to take notes during their talks to remember what was said. He quoted the words to the song that says "The Lord has need of helping hands." The Lord does need us. Prepare by reading the lessons in Sunday School, so you can participate in the lessons and be ready for discussions. Be there for others who need your attendance to further the discussion and speak loving words to them.

"If you get a chance to speak in church, even though you are scared, do it. The  more you speak, the more the Lord will help you to speak. I knew of someone who was very scared to speak and asked the Bishop what he could do to not be scared. The bishop called him to speak every other Sunday for six months. By the time he had done this, he was not scared anymore. He now does presentations for a large company where he speaks to hundreds of people at a time.

He continued: I used to lift weights at a gym and I was pretty happy with what I was able to do until a trainer walked up to me and put more weight on each end of the bar. He told me that I was wasting my time unless I increased the weights once in a while when it became too easy. We need to keep adding on the weights to become stronger and more able to do what the Lord expects us to do. Do not miss opportunities to do things that help you grow stronger. Accept callings - they help you to grow, accept speaking assignments - you will get better each time you do it - take opportunities to serve others when asked, instead of saying, "I'm too busy with my own stuff." Pass on a smile, pass on knowledge and love. We as a bishopric are very happy for all those who serve in the ward and attend the meetings."

In Sunday School, Brother Rieckhoff played a video of the Mormon Pioneers walking and the music, "I'll go where you want me to go dear Lord" was playing. He talked about how the members were told to leave their possessions, their families, their homeland and go to the Promised Land. How does this compare to our lives. We have struggles, requirements...different, but we still have them. The Pioneers did not know what lay ahead. They needed faith to leave everything and go. Today, we are trying to achieve getting to the Celestial Kingdom. We need to be physically, mentally and spiritually prepared to do this, just as the Pioneers that survived the trek were. In order to do this, the pioneers needed Courage & Commitment, Decision and Determination, Endurance and Faith. D&C 136: 19.
Today we need physical preparation (Word of Wisdom, exercise), prepare our conduct - Is our attitude correct, do we need humility? Are we doing all that is required of us? All of us will have to go through the refiner's fire...we will have challenges. Are you prepared to do whatever is asked of you?

Then he said, "We cannot know who will suffer when we start our journeys, or who will make it and who will not." He then showed us all these small photo cards of pioneers he had attached to the wall and asked us to write down three of the photos that we chose. When everyone did that, he called out numbers of certain photos. If we had it on our list, we were to cross it off. When he stopped calling out numbers, he asked how many had one crossed out, how many had two, how many had all three and how many had none. If we had one, that meant that we had one really bad challenge in our pioneer trek but made it anyway, if we had two, we had two really bad challenges and probably didn't make it. If we had three really bad challenges, we died along the way. The ones with none, had no really bad challenge that tested their faith and they made it. He then explained that before the trip they didn't know any more than we did who would make it and who would not. Some of them were not prepared physically, some did were not prepared spiritually and some lost their faith entirely. We will be tested in this life...It is why we are here. Let us be prepared in our eternal journey to reach the Celestial Kingdom so we can finally reach our heavenly home and be in the presence of our heavenly father and mother and Christ our brother. Let us not fall somewhere along the way.

Relief Society was just six of us. The teacher was Sister Reickhoff again. The Stake Relief Society President was there. While waiting for the class to start, she asked me if I would be available to teach RS once in a while. I told her I would be glad to when in town. She said she would tell the RS President to contact me and sort it out.

The teacher talked about Lesson 18: Church Leadership and Selfless Service. She told about the story in the lesson where Elder Snow had a Leader in one of the branches in London. Elder Snow described this leader as having “no external faults.” The man was “ambitious in promoting the cause” and had the ability to ensure “that everyone was in his place, and doing his duty.” He was diligent, “labor[ing] in the work himself more industriously than they all.” But despite this man’s outward appearances of faithfulness, the branch consistently had problems that seemed to center on him. Elder Snow tried for some time to identify the source of the problems, and he gently rebuked the branch members for not supporting their leader. Then he began to wonder if the leader may be the cause of the problem, because of some inward feeling or personal agenda.

Elder Snow prayed that the Lord would give him a spirit of discernment in the case. His prayer was answered when he found that the brother possessed a kind of half-hidden, concealed spirit of self-exaltation which was directing him in many of his movements. He would send out a brother to fill an appointment but had a suppressed wish to have the honor of it himself; if the appointment was not attended to, he would chasten the delinquent, not because the work of the Lord was in any degree frustrated or that the brother lost a blessing, but because he himself was so despised being disobeyed. In a case where a number were baptized by a brother, his heart rejoiced not so much because the persons were brought into the covenant but because it was done under his superintendency, secretly wishing no person under his charge to obtain much honor unless his own name were brought into connection of the event.

He wrote the man a letter, not to chastise him, but to teach him something. He counseled: “To become as God would wish us, we must accustom our minds to rejoice in seeing others prospered as ourselves; rejoice in seeing the cause of Zion exalted by whatsoever hands Providence may order; and have our bosoms closed against the entrance of envy when a weaker instrument than ourselves is called to greater honor; be content in magnifying a lesser office till called to a higher; be satisfied in doing small things and not claim the honor of doing great ones.” He compared the Church to a great building, with individual Saints as parts of that building, saying that we should “never feel too lofty to be sometimes cut down, squared, scored, and hewed to be fitted into the place we are to occupy in the spiritual building.”

The teacher then said that she and her husband (both teaching the same lesson) were discussing this and wondered if they were guilty of this. They both are the type who want things to get done, so they proceed to take charge and not only get it done, but make sure it is done right. They decide that they are guilty of doing this, but also that they did not seek personal recognition for doing so and thought they were still humble about it. "I hope so anyway," she said.

Leaders and teachers are called to follow the Savior’s example and serve with love, not to aggrandize themselves.

Make one prayer before teaching, and that is this: Ask the Lord that you may say something during your remarks that will be beneficial to those whom you address. Never mind whether it will be something that will add to your own glory or not, but simply bear in mind that you are called upon to address the audience and that they desire to receive something that will benefit them. This can only come from the Lord. Do not worry as to whether … those who hear you may say you spoke beautifully. Do not mind about that at all, but remove every selfishness that may be in your mind that the Lord may dictate unto you something that will be of benefit to the people.

Wise leaders appreciate the talents of others and give people opportunities to serve.
You will find, as a general thing, that talent is diffused through the many and rarely combined in single individuals; and it only needs opportunity in order to be developed. He might say to one, “Here, Brother So and so, you are better adapted to fill this or that position than I am;” or, to another, “You are the man best fitted for this department;” and so on until he gets the talents of all brought out, and instead of diminishing the public confidence in himself, such a course would add to it."

The proper way to lead is by humility, good example, and devotion to the welfare of others.
"The Lord has not chosen the great and learned of the world to perform His work on the earth. It is not those who have been trained and educated in the colleges and seminaries of learning, but humble men devoted to His cause whom He has chosen to take charge of the affairs of His Church, men who are willing to be led and guided by the Holy Spirit, and who will of necessity give the glory unto Him, knowing that of themselves they can do nothing."