“The many priesthood men I observed while growing up taught me that providing priesthood service to others is not dependent upon a particular title or specific calling or formal position in the kingdom. Rather the opportunity arises from and is inherent within the fact that one has received the priesthood of God.”

How many times have I thought about the callings I would like to have?  How many times have I thought I could do a better job in this calling or that?  How many times have I been critical about how someone is running their calling?  Too many by all accounts.  I think this quote gives the proper perspective on things.  We (I) should be more concerned about working, regardless of what calling I happen to have at the time.

I also think that each of us probably has work to do that is independent of the callings we have.  Yes, callings are important, but surely we have some work to do that is of a higher nature than a calling?  After all, callings always change, they are always temporary.  But our real work must always be there, always be calling out to us.

“I promise you that your achievement of the Duty to God Award will provide you with a living testimony that will sustain you throughout your life.”

“The choices you make today will directly influence the number and kinds of opportunities you will have in the future. Each daily decision will either limit or broaden your opportunities.”

The first quote I pulled from this talk is more just for me than anything.  Since we live outside the US, Scouting is not an option for him, so achieving the Duty to God award takes it place.

The second is more an expression of my own personal philosophy.  I have learned that early decisions either limit or expand our opportunity.  And the sooner we become able to think about our choices in a good, rational, righteous way, the better off we will be.

“Satan’s increasing influence in the world is allowed to provide an atmosphere in which to prove ourselves. While he causes havoc today, Satan’s final destiny was fixed by Jesus Christ through His Atonement and Resurrection. The devil will not triumph.”

“Even now, he must operate within bounds set by the Lord. He cannot take away any blessing that has been earned. He cannot alter character that has been woven from righteous decisions. He has no power to destroy the eternal bonds forged in a holy temple between a husband, wife, and children. He cannot quench true faith. He cannot take away your testimony. Yes, these things can be lost by succumbing to his temptations. But he has no power in and of himself to destroy them.”

The first paragraph reminds me of Lehi’s discourse early on in the Book of Mormon.  And it is important to realize at the heart of why evil is allowed to exist is our need to be tested and hopefully pass the tests to become more like our Heavenly Father.

The second paragraph gives tremendous hope.

“It is human nature, I suppose, to seek elsewhere for our happiness. Pursuit of career goals, wealth, and material rewards can cloud our perspective and often leads to a lack of appreciation for the bounteous blessings of our present circumstances.”

It is human nature to look everywhere else.  This search for novelty seems to be at the root of many of our ills.  A teen starts smoking because he belives there is joy, coolness, or acceptance there.  We seek for gratification of lusts because we think we find pleasure and happiness in fulfilling those desires.  The problem is all things that lead away from our Heavenly Father are desensitizing at first, then addicting, always eroding our ability to feel the Spirit, and finally fatal to our souls.

“One habit that prevents inner peace is procrastination. It clutters our minds with unfinished business and makes us uneasy until we finish a task and get it out of the way. We are at peace in our Church callings when we do the work at the proper time instead of waiting until the last possible moment. This is true of going to the temple often, performing our home teaching and visiting teaching assignments, preparing lessons and talks, and doing other assignments.”

I am the absolute WORST when it comes to procrastination.  So it is only natural that I should find a quote on this character flaw.  And here Elder Wirthlin ties it to inner peace, and I can testify that when I put things off, I am almost always thinking, “I should be doing such and such.”

In a real way, putting something off never really puts anything off, I end up spending much more time thinking about it than if I had just done it right then.

“The gospel in its fulness was revealed to Adam, and undoubtedly all religious practices are derived from the remnants of the truth given to Adam.”

I have always known this!!  It is good to have it said by an Apostle though.

The first time this fact really hit home for me was about a month after I had gotten home from my mission.  It was late and I was watching some old black and white film set in England.  A court scene started, and there was a judge sitting in a lofty chair.  I was startled to see that the judge’s outfit, the costume they put the actor in, was an almost exact copy of the temple clothing worn during the endowment session, except his robe which was black.

I wondered how this could be.  I thought that part of the reason behind copying was that when people saw ancient Israel, saw what they did as they came into Canaan, saw how the Lord blessed them, that they copied the outward symbols in an attempt to borrow some of that power and authority.

But again, it is nice to have an Apostle say it too.

“The members of the Twelve strive to live according to the promptings of the Spirit. They speak their mind. However, they are also good listeners and speak when moved upon by the Holy Spirit. Their posture in quorum meetings is to listen and sense the directing power of the Spirit, which always leads to a unity of decision.”

As I pulled this quote, the one thought in mind was, “This is how I should be and how I shoud run any meetings with committees and/or presidency meetings.”  Although, in the past I have either listened to determine what I was going to say, or I was far to introspective and was not really paying attention.

Part of the problem I suppose–at least for those of us who are not as good as others–is that phrase “speak their mind”.  I know we get our hackles up when we feel challenged, get defensive, and start listening for a chance to get our own back.  I wonder what it would be like to speak my mind without causing others to get defensive.  I wonder what that would sound like?