You may be what you will to be....

Today we had a high councilman come to our sacrament meeting, and at first I was taking care of some administration of the young men on my tablet, when I really got a feeling that I needed to pay more attention to what he was saying. He was talking about covenants, and covered it in a really interesting way.

Instead of giving examples from the scriptures about covenants (which are important, I know) he gave examples of covenants through his life, and through the lives that he has seen first hand. He talked about the covenants we make as members of the church and as members that have callings, and also about covenants we make when we are sealed in the temple for time and all eternity.

With that said let me give you some background. I have recently been feeling that I haven't been doing well at my calling at all. The summer has been a very laid back one as far as working with the Young Men has gone. The Sunday lessons that I have given don't feel like they have been full of the spirit, and the Young Men are already very sparse (just because of the demographics of the membership). Summer vacations have brought a lot of travelling for everyone else, and I just don't feel like anything is really being accomplished. There have been a couple of times where I hear a little voice in my head saying, "You must be doing something wrong. You just can't do it."

But today, I was able to finally feel like I was doing something right.

The speaker talked about callings, and I very much needed it. One of the biggest things that I got out of this part of the talk was this:

"Our fulfillment of callings isn't measured as the world measures it"

I have heard this multiple times in my life, but it really hit home today. Our service in the church is all about converting ourselves and then being able to help others. When I am in my funk, I am prideful and I am not focusing on the most important things. I am focusing on the tangible, not on helping the young men become spiritually aware of who they are, and the wonderful Priesthood that they bear.

Our fulfillment of our callings is based on the diligence and determination that we have to do our best. That is truly what Heavenly Father wants us to do. He asks that we try to be perfect, yes. HOWEVER, He knows that we will falter and make mistakes (see last week's post).

After talking on this for a while the speaker quoted James Allen. And this quote opened my mind, and allowed me to humble myself.

"Of all the beautiful truth pertaining to the soul, none is more gladdening or fruitful of divine promise and confidence than this - that you and I are the master of thought, the molder of character, and the make and shaper of condition, environment and destiny. As a being of power, intelligence, and love, and the lord of our own thought, we hold the key to every situation, and have within ourselves the means of transforming ourselves into what we will."

What a beautiful thought. Too often am I quick to put myself down, and allow myself to wallow in my misery. Instead of being able to learn and move on. Our Heavenly Father has given us the minds that we have to choose what we will do. He has given us Agency to be active in how we will react to things that happen around us.

One more story and I will wrap-up.

On my mission (served in Guatemala) I had a wonderful mission president, and he  helped me learn a crucial lesson for my life.

I was driving in the mission's ford ranger, and I added a fairly large bump on it (although it already had plenty marks of love on it). I felt particularly bad about this one and I asked to speak with him about it. He looked at me after I described what happened, and we had the following conversation (translated to English):

"So Elder, you ran the car into something?"

"Yes Presidente"

"Are you hurt?"

"No Presidente."

"Is anyone else hurt?"

"No Presidente."

"Then Elder Treanor, move on. Everything is ok. Thanks for letting me know."

I was stunned. Here I was someone who had damaged part of the mission's vehicle and I was told just to move on and that everything was ok. I guess he saw how stunned I was because he continued:

"Elder, I say that everything is ok because although the car is important, it isn't as important as you or anyone else. For example, if my family was in a car accident, what would I be worried about? The van, or my family? Don't worry about the small things that don't matter, worry about what really matters and you will be much happier for the rest of your life."

That was and is sound advice for everyone. We need to worry about what matters, what TRULY matters. If a problem is something that you can control, take it the bull by the horns and work on it until you get it in line. If the problem is something you can't control, make a decision to have patience and be calm until the situation is over. And this is something that I am still working on improving. I don't think a day will go by that I have to make a conscious decision to act on that council.

To close, I have been working on quoting a poem from James Allen every time that I get down on myself. It is a very common poem to the David and Tracy Treanor family, and I think my Dad quotes it at least once a month. I never understood what it meant. But I think I am finally catching on. I think it is one of those poems that you have to read when you are ready for it. Otherwise it is just a cool saying.

Will

by James Allen

(from the book, "As A Man Thinketh")

You will be, what you "will" to be.

Let failure find its false content,

In that poor word "environment,"

But spirit scorns it and is free.

It conquers time, it masters space,

It cowls that boastful trickster "chance"

And bids the tyrant "circumstance"

Uncrowned, to take a servant's place.

The human will, that force unseen,

The offspring of a deathless soul,

Can work away at any goal,

Though walls of granite intervene.

Be not impatient and delay,

But wait, as one who understands.

When spirit rises and commands,

The gods are ready to obey.

Deception vs. Being Valiant

Today at church there was a really good lesson about deception (which takes our faith away) and being valiant in the church. There were a couple things that I got from it, and I thought I would share.

To be clear, the lesson started off by talking about who deceives and why. Of course it is because Satan wants us to be like him, at least by being miserable. I mean, think about it. Heavenly Father is perfect, therefore: His plan is perfect too! But because Satan didn't want to follow it (he used his agency) the consequence was that he could not come to earth to receive a body. That would be pretty miserable. (Not sympathizing, just being logical.)

So what does Satan make his personal goal? To make everyone else miserable as well. Because that is what really prideful, selfish, and demanding people do. So where does it all start when people sin? Yep, you got it: Pride.

Pride is dangerous and unstable. But it is something that we all have to work on bridling and guarding ourselves against. When I think of a good example of pride, I think of (wait for it....) Anakin Skywalker. I mean there he is, found in the middle of a barren planet, and is taken in and trained by some of the best Jedi Knights in the Galaxy. However as he gets older he starts to get a little power hungry. To the point that he joins the dark side, and doesn't come to his senses about his choice until he is honestly about to die. But I digress (I have always wanted to say that).

This is what I found (and makes sense to me) about what happens to us if we let pride in the way.

1. We let pride poison our heart/mind.
2. We refuse to recognize the prophet (or other leaders/parents) as the source of revelation for the church/home.
3. We become critical of leaders imperfections
4. We take offense
5. We rationalize disobedience
6. We accept false teachings of the world to be true.

The interesting thing about it, is that these above six don't have to be things like, "Oh my goodness, Tom murdered someone!" or "Can you believe so-and-so wasn't faithful?!" I hope I'm getting my point across, it doesn't have to be a huge thing to have one of the six above items happen to you. Some people have been upset over their name spelling in the mission calls, some over milk and cream.

This is when we have to remember that for ourselves, and every other person that we interact with is (drumroll please!) IMPERFECT!

In the April 2013 General Conference, Jeffery Holland (member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gave this wonderful talk titled Lord I Believe.) I will only quote a part of it for this blog, and I expect to quote more of it as time goes on.

So be kind regarding human frailty—your own as well as that of those who serve with you in a Church led by volunteer, mortal men and women. Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work. As one gifted writer has suggested, when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all. Those finite vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving. Isn't that the truth?

So since we've talked about what we should do if we want to be deceived, let me make a list for things that we should do to not be deceived.

1. Humble yourself (or be humbled) - (Ether 12:27) Notice that it says "I will show unto them their weakNESS" not "weakNESSES". 

2. Know who the Lord has called to lead the church. - Quick Spanish lesson. There are two types of "know" verbs in Spanish. Saber, which is to have knowledge of; and conocer, which is to personally know and be familiar with (usually used with "knowing" a person). I would submit that if we "knew" the leaders of our ward in both of these senses it would be easier to follow them, and accept that they make mistakes just like us. 

3. Study the scriptures and the doctrine. 

4. Recognize that the things of God ALWAYS edify and/or inspire. 

5. Apply the Lord's pattern for protection from deception. (Steps 1-4 all over again). 

I really enjoyed Sunday school today, and was really grateful for the lesson! (If you couldn't tell.)