Relief Society Lesson - Two Perspectives

Spiritually Defining Memories

By Elder Neil L. Andersen

Kess Larsen - South Relief Society

When I think of spiritual defining memories I usually think of the blessing where I felt I am a literal child of Heavenly Father, the time my father told me to never give up, the blessing where I felt my ancestors there supporting me. I usually think of the moments that were filled with intense emotions that you want to hold onto forever and write down. Elder Anderson told many of those stories in his talk, but what about the man he mentioned that said he had never had one of those experiences. It is possible he was looking for something more grand and wasn’t receiving what was there for him to take. I think a lot of us are feeling more like that man these days. Sometimes it is hard to focus on spiritual things when there are so many other important things to think about, or maybe we are asking and asking while diving deep into connection with Heavenly Father and not getting or seeing the answers. In thinking of spiritually defining moments I think I need to slow down and listen. Just like any relationship, understanding how you communicate with each other is important. Also knowing that the way you communicate with each other, like everything else, will change too, and we need to listen and adjust.

Amy Wilcox - North Relief Society

… “When personal difficulties or world conditions beyond our control darken our path, the spiritually defining memories from our book of life are like luminous stones that help brighten the road ahead”.
  Many of us may think that we don’t have a spiritually defining moment.  President Dallin H. Oaks responding to a man who claimed never to have had such an experience, counseled, “perhaps your prayers have been answered again and again, but you have had your expectations fixed on a sign so grand or a voice so loud that you think you have had no answer”. 

I wonder how many of us feel the same way as this man.  We are expecting something so grand, that the small answers we receive we think, no that can’t be it-I’m waiting for the BIG grand answer, while missing all the signs pointing us to Gods answers. We expect the big booming voice-not the small assurance that is a spiritually defining memory.  I feel some of these can be something as simple as getting a prompt to call someone and following through with that prompt. We may never know why we were prompted to call them-maybe by answering the prompt and calling them they were given the gift of a spiritually defining memory.   

Four years ago, I had a prompt to call my great aunt-simply to tell her I was coming over that night to irrigate.  I usually never called her during the day while at work.  I thought I would make a quick call, go back to work.  When she answered the phone, she said “hello” however right after she started talking gibberish. I asked if she was okay, and she answered “no”.  Arriving at her house after racing out of work and driving 15 minutes away my sister and I found she was in medical distress.  She ended up having had a stroke that took her ability to speak. Had I not answered the prompt, I’m not sure how long it would have been until it was discovered she had had a stroke.  We grew closer after her stroke. What a testimony builder it has been to have had that experience with her.  She is now 95. She and I have a close relationship, helped in part of this experience.

While we can’t choose the timing of receiving these defining moments, President Henry B. Eyring gave this counsel in our preparation: “Tonight and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my (family)?  Faith, obedience, humility, and real intent open the windows of Heaven.

President Dallin H. Oaks explained what real intent means.  He said it is something like this: “I do not ask out of curiosity, but with total sincerity to act on the answer to my prayer.  If Thou wilt give me this answer, I will act to change my life.  I will respond”.  How many of us have said to someone, “you are in my thoughts and prayers”?  Too often we pray for others to receive assistance from someone else, rather than us.  Praying and helping is something different.

Elder Andersen encourages us to embrace your sacred memories.  Believe them. Write them down. Share them with your family. Trust that they come to you from your Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son.  Let them bring your patience to your doubts and understanding to your difficulties.   …And when someone sets their spiritually defining moments aside, and is lost or confused, we turn them toward the Savior as we share our faith and memories with them.

One of President Monson’s favorite quotes is from Scottish poet James M Barrie: “God gave us memories, that we might have June roses in the December of our lives” The Lord knows we can’t have the good all the time, but during the hard times we have our spiritually defining memories to get us through. 

By writing them down, you will also help others through the “December” of their life.  You also might need the reminders.  As we are mostly alone right now during the pandemic, our Heavenly Father is still there for us, he still wants what is best for his children.  God assures us he knows us and loves each one of us. He is blessing us specifically and openly.  We need to turn to Him in our times of need.  Turn to Him when we feel alone.  He is there for us.  He Loves us.

I know God is our loving Heavenly Father.  He knows us personally.  He has given us the opportunity to come to Him.  It is our choice to see the miracles, and trust in his plan.

RS Lesson

Hear Him

by President Russell M. Nelson

 

Nina Hodge - North Relief Society

Toward the beginning of this year, before the pandemic, President Nelson began encouraging church members to think about how we hear the Savior’s voice. In a special invitation presented in February, he invited us “… to think deeply and often about … how … you hear Him?  I also invite you to take steps to hear Him better and more often.”  

As I’ve thought about this invitation to hear the voice of the Savior better and more often, 3 Nephi 11 first came to mind. At this point in the Book of Mormon, the Nephites had just spent several days enduring storms, earthquakes, and thick darkness. This particular chapter begins with the people expressing wonder at the dramatic changes to the land as a result of the previous days’ events and the signs of the Savior’s death. While they were talking together, they heard a voice. Three times they heard the voice, but they did not understand or recognize the voice the first two times they heard it.

It was verse five that first came to my mind as I listened to President Nelson’s invitation to hear the Savior’s voice:  “And again the third time they did hear the voice, and they did open their ears to hear it; and their eyes were towards the sound thereof; and they did look steadfastly towards heaven, from whence it came.”

There is work involved in accomplishing anything. In this example, the Nephites demonstrated the work necessary to hear and understand the voice they heard from the heavens by opening their ears, turning their eyes toward the sound, and looking steadfastly toward the heavens. Then, the message they received was the Savior.  

President Nelson referenced this chapter of the Book of Mormon in his talk, in addition to a few other similar scriptural examples of invitations from the Father to the people to hear His Son. President Nelson offered, by way of explanation, that “[our] Father knows that when we are surrounded by uncertainty and fear, what will help us the very most is to hear His Son. Because when we seek to hear – truly hear – His Son, we will be guided to know what to do in any circumstance.”

Like the Nephites in this example, we are also surrounded by upheaval and uncertainty. The pandemic and resulting social distancing have been very hard on some, and many have felt the financial strain of closed businesses and smaller salaries. Remembering and re-reading this part of 3 Nephi 11, I was struck this time that the voice didn’t just speak once and retreat when no one understood. It came again a second and third time. The voice of our Heavenly Father continued trying to reach the Nephites until they did the work necessary to hear and understand. I believe with all my heart He does the same with us today.

For me, prayer is one form of work that helps me focus more on hearing the Savior’s voice. One of the questions I find myself asking a lot these days is, “What lesson am I not understanding? What do I need to learn that I just haven’t heard yet?” This question helps me focus more on Him – hearing Him and ultimately trying to become more like Him. It takes the focus off of what I think I need or what I want for myself. As I focus on Him, I do find greater peace. That peace is not an absence of hard things or the sudden removal of pain. Those hard things still exist, and pain will always be part of this mortal experience. However, they do not remain the focus. It is as if focusing on the Savior and hearing His voice push the pain and disappointment and struggle of life into the background, and it becomes easier to breathe and relax and find my way back to Him.

President Nelson once again “pled for [us] to do whatever it takes to increase [our spiritual capacity to receive personal revelation.” He promised that “Doing so will help you know how to move ahead with your life, what to do during times of crisis, and how to discern and avoid the temptations and the deceptions of the adversary.” These are likely things we will continue to struggle with throughout the rest of our time in mortality. It brings me comfort to know I can find the direction I need to move forward and handle the challenges that are still ahead. I don’t need to do it all myself. Hearing the Savior’s voice and focusing on Him means I have access to greater strength than I will ever possess on my own; it means I can find peace when nothing around me is peaceful; and it means I can feel His love when I am the most alone.