The talk I wish I'd have given

First, I explain:
Today I spoke in sacrament meeting. I was speaking with Reece, my neighbor and a YSA in the ward. We had been given the topic "Choose you this day" from Joshua 24:15, and also the title of several general conference talks including one from last October by Elder Renlund of the Quorum of the 12 Apostles. (It's a wonderful talk. He has such a way of stringing together doctrines and principles in such a logical and linear way that they just flow seamlessly one to the next and he covers such an array of topics in one talk, tying them all back in with the central theme. I should've just gotten up and read that, it would've been better. But, that also would've been weird so it's probably better I didn't.)
I was meant to speak first, but Bishop said "we're going to switch things up and have Reece speak to us first". It was good for Reece to go first because he had written out his talk and I had only written out scriptures, quotes, and thoughts from my studies. As he spoke I heard many of the thoughts I'd had myself and would've mentioned (I thought) in my talk if I'd gone first. His talk was beautiful and poetical. Then I got up and my thoughts all gave way to a lack of organization and out came a stream-of-consciousness thought vomit of a talk.
People said it made sense. I asked many of them. They were all very complimentary about it. And one sister even said she had something touch her deeply in it, so at least it wasn't a complete waste. But I felt it. It was not good. Not the sort of good I'm used to. It was one long train wreck of a talk that was barely coherent. I said a train wreck, I think a multi-car pile up is more like it. I recognized the wreck as I was speaking but I didn't know how to fix it. I was in fight or flight mode and I just kept chugging on because I didn't know how to get it out of the mess and back on track, the tracks of the quotes and scriptures and thoughts I had prepared. In my panic my logical calm abandoned me and instead of saying "Ok, I'm going to shift gears" and start over with a sensible direction I just tried to connect the thoughts to the last one to say something meaningful, trying to steer it back to Elder Renlund and the things I'd studied, but it just never made it. I rambled. It's to late for me to give the talk directed by the spirit to lift and inspire the souls at sacrament meeting today the way I wanted to. But, perhaps I can pay a bit of penance and put my frustration to rest by giving here, in type, the talk I wish I 'd given at church today.

If you're interested in listening to the actual talk given I tried to embed it but failed so you have to click the link:  Talk given June 16, 2019


"Choose You This Day"

There's a primary (children's) song that begins

I lived in heaven a long time a go, it is true. Lived there and loved there, with people I know, so did you. Then, Heavenly Father presented a wonderful plan- all about Earth and eternal salvation for man.

Before coming here to earth, you and I lived with our Heavenly Father and each other, but as spirits. We learned and grew but had limitations. As spirits we could not obtain the glory our Father had. He had a body, he was perfect, and had a family- and we weren't and didn't. To be able to continue to progress and gain these blessings for ourselves Heavenly Father laid out his plan. We would leave his presence. We would come to earth in mortal bodies and make choices so that we might learn through our experience to know the good from the evil and to learn how to choose the right and leave the bad. We would be left to choose for ourselves, and that would invariably mean we'd make mistakes that if left unremedied meant we would not be able to obtain the glory of life like and with our Heavenly Father, which was the whole purpose of the plan. So, Jehovah was chosen to be our Savior. He would provide the way for us to have the experience we need in life, to be able to "act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon" and still be reconciled with the demands of justice and the requirements of exaltation. Armed with this plan we agreed to follow Christ and were sent to earth. But, for the sake of the plan we couldn't remember our life before. "Heavenly Father's goal in parenting is not to have His children do what is right; it is to have His children choose to do what is right and ultimately become like Him." said Elder Renlund in his October 2018 conference address. To accomplish this we have to learn and complete the rest of the plan by faith. In the words chosen by Elder Renlund from the Mary Poppins musical "[we've] got to do the next part on [our] own".

In Joshua 24:15 the prophet speaks to his people who are trying to decide how they will live their lives. "Choose you this day" he says. I like the vagueness of "this". "This day" could have many interpretations. We have once chosen to follow Christ and accept him as our Savior and began our way on through our Father's plan. Now we are here and the question arises, in this day- the day of our mortality and forgetfulness- will we choose Him still? Well, we are here at church this Sunday. Most of us have chosen to be baptized and accept the teachings and commandments found in the Restored Church of Jesus Christ. So, we're off to a good start. If we continue, and stay faithful, enduring to the end, we are promised eternal life. This choice is ours. Elder Renlund teaches a profound eternal truth when he said "Agency allows us to choose to get on the path, or not. It allows us to get off, or not. Just as we cannot be forced to obey, we cannot be forced to disobey." So, will you choose to stay on the path? I hope each of us in our hearts just shouted out "Yes!" but how can we be sure? I've been listening to Saints Vol. 1 through the Gospel Library app and the number of saints in the early days of the restoration who witnessed miracles and wonderful things of God but then later abandoned the church, some even fighting against it, makes me wonder- how can I be sure?

This brings me to a second interpretation of the phrase "choose you this day"- today. Each today, choose Christ. So, how can I make sure I endure to the end to receive the promised blessings? Well, choose to. No one can force me off the path- not even Satan and his lies. Each day I choose to remember the miracles I've experience. I choose to remember and believe the witnesses I've received of the truthfulness of the Gospel. Each day I choose to keep the commandments because I choose to believe in the promises given with them. Each day I choose to study the word of God through prophets and apostles and His chosen leaders found in the scriptures, general conference, and other places. Each day choose to spend time talking with Heavenly Father in prayer. As Pres. Uchtdorf once taught: true love is spelled "T-I-M-E" so pray and read and ponder to show and grow your love for Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Choose to spend your time on that rather than on things of less value.
Pres. Oaks urged us to "consider how we use our time in the choices we make viewing television, playing video games, surfing the internet, or reading books and magazines." Do we choose to do these things in a time allotment that is consistent with their eternal importance? Or are we so busy "entertaining ourselves to... spiritual death" that we grow distant from our Savior and his Spirit? That is a question I've wrestled with repeatedly throughout my life. I'm grateful for our prophet's invitation to take a fast from social media. I don't use many social media sites, but it shines a light on the amount of time in general I spend on the internet so the most recent time we were invited to fast it wasn't facebook I was focused on but just time wasting/life absorbing habits that were sucking the life out of my life and leaving it empty and blah- mainly stemming from the internet. So I gave up YouTube among other things and reminded myself to use my time better things than trivialities. Just to clarify, YouTube is not inherently bad, neither is social media. But, it is not worthy of the time most of us bestow so graciously upon it each day. (Which do you spend more time on daily, social media or the scriptures? I know I have work to do there.) We're never going to be perfect at using our time only for the best things to do each second of the day- fact. But, as we strive to improve our discipline in that area we will enjoy more of our Father's love and approval for our choices and we will be more satisfied with our life.
Then, above all, when we have done our best- or sometimes maybe not the best- do we choose to be humble and seek for refining and strengthening from the Atonement? Do we choose to repent and work towards becoming like our Heavenly Father bit by bit? It is by these daily choices that our choice of a lifetime comes to fruition and we gain our eternal reward that we set out for. "So, choose faith in Christ; choose repentance; choose to be baptized and receive the Holy Ghost; choose to conscientiously prepare for and worthily partake of the sacrament; choose to make covenants in the temple; and choose to serve the living God and his children".

As I read one choice that came up again and again was the choice to not only live the gospel and seek our exaltation, but to share what we know and seek that all men might partake of the waters of life, as we have been blessed to. Brothers and Sisters- I 100% include myself in this- we must do better. If you are anything like me, you are not like Sister Harding and can't just strike up a conversation with the grocery clerk about the Book of Mormon. But the Lord is not asking for us to all force ourselves to be Rosie. He's asking us to love him and love our fellow men and forget ourselves and go to work. I find, almost always, when I miss a chance to share something I know about the gospel it's because I was thinking about myself. In the novel Pride and Prejudice, Lady Catherine lectures on the importance of practice for becoming a great pianist. Later, Elizabeth Bennett turns this around on William Darcy when he admits that he does not have a talent for speaking to those he is not well acquainted with. She replies that perhaps he should take his aunt, Lady Catherine's advice- and practice. Last conference Elder Uchtdorf taught us that we should 1. Draw close to God, 2. Fill our heart with love for others, 3. Strive to walk the path of discipleship, 4. Share what is in your heart, and 5. Trust the Lord to work his miracles. Those are choices that we all can make each day to become more like our Savior who never stopped, and still hasn't, seeking to bring his Father's children back to Him. As we make those simple choices it will help us and others "choose this day" and return to our Father one day. "Remember," Elder Uchtdorf said, "the Lord has never required expert, flawless missionary efforts [or ministering efforts]. Instead the Lord requires the heart and a willing mind"

Finally, we can choose this day, the sabbath day, to serve the Lord. Much has been said in recent years about keeping the Sabbath day holy and making it a delight. This is something I have recently recognized a personal weakness in and I'm seeking now to understand better what that means and how to do that. I think I might not be alone in this, especially with the recent changes that have been made to our Sunday meeting schedule. In preparing for this talk I studied Elder Oaks' talk "Good, Better, Best" from 2007. I found a very interesting passage in there "But, here is a caution for families. Suppose Church leaders reduce the time required by Church meetings and activities in order to increase the time available for families to be together. This will not achieve its intended purpose unless individual family members- especially parents- vigorously act to increase family togetherness and one-on-one time." Again, that was over 10 years before the introduction of Come Follow Me for individuals and families and the change in the Sunday meetings. Kinda blows my mind (it's like they're prophets or something, am-I-right?). So, now the Church leaders have reduced the time required by Church meetings. How are we choosing to fill that time? Are we using it to study Come Follow Me? Are we using it to spend time with family and loved ones? Are we using it to minister and lift those around us? Are we using it to sleep? to scroll through social media? I confess I have not vigorously acted to make the best use of that time, but I am now choosing to do something about it and I am choosing to make different choices on Sunday to better show to my Father and to my Savior that they are important to me and I want to know them better. And I think that's really what we're asked to do in the end, is just keep trying. The choice is ours. That being said, I testify that as we are "careful" and "not casual" about this commandment we will be blessed in the 6 other days of the week to have the time and energy to make the right choices and accomplish every needful thing. I have been blessed for my attempts to honor the sabbath day and I know our Father is proud each time we seek to improve and come closer to him and our Savior through our choices on this day.

Brothers and Sisters, our Father doesn't want to tell us every thing that we should do. He has a plan for you and me, but that plan includes us choosing where to go, what to do, and who we will be. In the grand scheme of things as well as the daily questions he wants us to make choices, but he wants us to make the best choices- not the good or better ones. He's given us repentance for those inevitable mistakes- large and small- and a Savior who loves and helps us every step on the way. As we strive to make these best choices and follow our Savior's example we will "develop the attributes of godliness, [return] to our Heavenly Father, and [receive] enduring joy." and "We will become our best self", what could be worth more than that? It's not always easy, the call of the world is loud and persistent but I promise it is worth it. The Plan of Salvation is real, and we truly can have joy in this life and eternal life in the world to come- if we but so choose. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.