Change, talk by dad Stake Conf 2012

Stake conference Fall 2012 Saturday Priesthood Session. 

Topic:  Change

I love Stake Conference.

-      All the great stuff.

-      I feel the Spirit.   I really do. 

-      Get my battery all charged up.

o   Being a member of the church.

o   Among the fellowship of the saints.

o   Opportunities for good works

o   Personal progress

-      Taught true principles

o   One after another after another

o   Each one touches my heart

-      Monday morning comes.

o   I feel great.  I feel really good.  I go off to work. 

o   I don’t remember anything!

o   I don’t do anything differently.

Did I just come to conference to sit, and listen, and make no difference?  My battery all charge up, but nothing happening.     

Brethren, I do not think that we want to be like the Publicans, Lawyers, and Pharisee’s in Christ’s day when he said:  “Where unto then shall I liken the men of this generation?  And to what are they like?  They are like unto children sitting in the marketplace, and calling one to another, and saying, We have piped unto you and ye have not danced; We have mourned to you and ye have not wept.”

Brethren my thoughts today, as we begin this great Stake Conference, are about change.  Real change. 

-      Elder Boyd K Packer of the quorum of 12 Apostles once said, if you are done changing, then you are done.

We all need change. It is the purpose of life to become more like Christ.  To accomplish this, we must change.  

-      But change takes so long!

A recent article in the Ensign expressed a somewhat different point of view.  There it was suggested that change is actually instantaneous.  The thing that takes so long is the deciding to change.  

Do I have the courage to really change?

If we were to model this phenomena mathematically, we might find that it is adequately described by a very simple mathematical formula.   Now some math functions are very complex, like the Schrödinger equation, or the Navier Stokes equations, or simultaneous multivariate, second order partial differential equations.   Those are complex.  But ours is not, it is binary really, a 0 or a 1, like in a computer.   Binary, Y or N.   Am I going to change or not?

Here is the challenge, for you and for me, from the Stake President, pick just one thing or maybe two from the proceedings of the conference, impossible to change everything all at the same time, and:

-      Decide to make a difference in your life.

-      Commit to make a change.   

-      Set aside the next 6 months or until the next Stake Conference to work on it.

Here is some counsel from President Thomas S. Monson about change.  “When we deal in generalities, we shall never succeed.  When we deal in specifics, we shall rarely have failure.  When performance is measured, performance improves, when performance is measured and reported, the rate of performance accelerates.”

Yes, you are going to have to write it down.  Now you can just sit here for the next two days and do nothing or you can write it down. 

-      You are also going to have to be specific.  At least if we believe what President Monson has taught us.  

-      What are you going to do different?  As you listen to the conference, how are you going to decide?  So many good things to choose from.

In a confusing and ever more wicked world it may seem from your perspective that you cannot fix it.  That you cannot stop or even delay the inevitable conclusion.  That could be a discouraging thought.   It reminds me of a teaching we recently received from Elder Neil Anderson of the 12 in a meeting held in Manhattan.  

He relates:

- Sitting across from President Hinkley

- Feeling awkward due to the silence

- Also in adequate due to his recent call to the 12

- “that was a very positive message that you gave yesterday”

- Neil, it is because I believe it.

It is possible to have a positive attitude among the ever darkening influence of the world.   A worthy question, however,  the one aspect of this world that we truly control is our own thoughts and actions.   Let us change the world by beginning with ourselves in our own lives in our own homes and in our own families.    

So lets get back to what we were talking about.  What are you going to change.   This is something that you can do independent of any other person or any other thing.   You are in control.   In looking for the correct answer for you, ask yourself:

-      Why do I want this?

-      How will it help me?

-      Is it good thing?

-      Is it important?

-      Will it bring me closer to God and Christ?

-      Will it improve my relationship with my Spouse? With my Children? With my extended family? With my friends, colleagues, and associates?

Then:  Decide to do it.   Write it down.   This way, on Monday morning, with your battery all charged up, you will have it with you.   You will remember. 

Now you are going to need some help.  You cannot do this on your own.  Pray and let God know your plan “This weekend I came to Stake Conference to learn from the Spirit what things I am going to change for the better.”  Please help me.  

Today I make a difference.  Today I change. 

There were several talks in the recent general conference that relate to change.   I know because I was looking for these.  One in particular was given by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf in the Saturday morning session.  Recall that he spoke about life’s regrets.  “Now is the time for men to prepare to meet God, behold now is the time for men to perform their labors.  Ye cannot say when ye are brought to that awful crisis that I will repent that I will return to my God, nay, ye cannot say this, for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.”   President Uchtdorf counsels,  become now the person that God intends you to be.  Saying “we will do it” is good.  “Doing it” is much better.   Let’s live our lives so that we will not have regrets.   Let’s begin making changes now.  

Consider this.   What are the topics of the Stake Conference?

-      The Stake Presidency has prayerfully chosen these topics. 

-      The speakers were selected with inspiration.

-      The speakers have prepared their talks carefully with prayerful hearts.

-      You are here in attendance out of obedience. 

-      Remember the simple yet clear promises from the scriptures: 

o   I the Lord am bound when ye do what I say…

o   When we obtain any blessing from God it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated…

o   For all who will have a blessing at my hands shall abide the law which was appointed for that blessing. 

o   Whatsoever ye ask the Father in my name it shall be given unto you that is expedient for you.

-      God’s promises apply here today.

-      These talks were prepared for you at this time on this day Nov 3 and 4, 2012. 

Brethren the ground we stand on this afternoon is holy ground, may God bless us as we listen to the messages of the conference.  May God grant each of us the courage to decide to change some aspect of our life for the better, to take an active step to become more like his Son, that we can live our lives without regret.  I so pray, In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.