July 3, 2010

Tonight I am reading Julie B. Beck's conference talk called And Upon the Handmaids in Those Days Will I Pour Out My Spirit. Sister Beck expresses that she feels that there has never been a greater need for faith, personal righteousness, strong families and homes, and never been more to help others in need. If that is truly the case, then I feel humbled and grateful that I have oriented my life to focus on these exact things. I appreciate her reminder that the way to "navigate this life confidently" is through personal revelation. I am learning more and more about how to receive this and I am loving the journey. I remember her saying at Women's Conference that she strives to spend some time in the scriptures every day. That is what inspired me to do this gospel study every day, with paper and pen in hand, which is something she reiterates again in this talk. I love what she said, "Insight found in scripture accumulates over time, so it is important to spend some time in the scriptures every day." It's like a bank account and every day I have spent studying the gospel is depositing insight into my "personal revelation account." I want to have as much as I can deposited into this account. My favorite part of her talk is her measure of success to use. I like this measurement a lot. She says we can know we're "doing well when we develop attributes of Christ and strive to obey his commandments with exactness, when we seek to improve ourselves and do our best, when we increase faith, personal righteousness and strengthen homes and families, seek out and help others in need and when we live to qualify to receive the Spirit and know how to follow it." I liked this quote: "We may still experience disappointments, but we will not be disappointed in ourselves." What a treasure... to so live as to not be disappointed in oneself. That is what I am striving to do and I must say I am pleased with where I am and the way I am growing.