Every time I give a talk, I always post it for others to read so I will be posting mine and I will try to summarize Josh's to the best of my ability because he never writes his talks down.
Mine:
In my life, I have always believed that everything happens for a reason whether we know instantaneously or we know years after the fact. There is a divine purpose in all of life's details. If I were to go into why I think the details happened, sometimes even as minute as they may be, I could spend hours or maybe even days connecting all the details together. I remember telling my roommate one evening, for over 2 hours, every minute detail about the relationship my husband and I had knowing there had to be a greater purpose then where he and I were at that moment in our lives.
That is the beautiful aspect of this life, we have a Heavenly Father who knows the outcome and has considered the right placement of every minute detail about everything in this life that we live in, whether we understand it or even like it. We have a Heavenly Father who see's the greater picture and plans to do what is best for us, best for the world, and ultimately best for his kingdom.
If you have not guessed already, I have been asked to give a talk about the restoration and the second coming. The specific talk I was asked to base my talk on is from the October 2005 General Conference by Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles titled, "My Hand Shall Be Over Thee." If you have not read this talk, you should! It is very interesting.
This talk states many things that had to occur in order for us and the church to be where we are today. As a convert, and sometimes being the egocentric person I am, it was only until a few months ago I was able to apply what I knew to be true for me or others around me, that all things happened for a reason, and applied to something much greater than myself and my life. Between Elder Hales talk and the Sunday School lesson, I am going to summarize to the best of my ability what I've learned (which is not a strong suite!)
The gospel was established with Adam. Our Savior sacrificed his life for us. After his apostles were persecuted or martyred, the world fell into spiritual darkness. The bible was originally written in Hebrew and Greek. A man named Jerome translated it into Latin. Later John Wycliffe translated it from Latin into English. This scared some of the church leaders at that time because people could interpret the bible for themselves or that people would no longer feel the need to go to church. In translating, Wycliffe was considered a heretic. A moveable printing press was created and America was found. Later, William Tyndale thought the bible would be more accurate with a direct translation, so he translated the bible from Hebrew and Greek into English. He was warned by his friends that he would be killed for doing so, but he remained undaunted. Political change occurred and bibles were placed in every parish church. Later Tyndale's translations became apart of the King James Version which is not surprising it is the version accepted by the church because Tyndale was quoted telling a man, "If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth a plough shall know more than thou dost." Eventually people came to America to escape religious persecution. Over a century later, Americans had the Bill of Rights and shortly after Joseph Smith was born. With Joseph Smith came the final restoration beginning with the First Vision. Within a short amount of time he began to translate the Book of Mormon. He read and desired to know more about baptism and so the Aaronic Priesthood was restored and then later the Melchizedek Priesthood. The Book of Mormon was printed, Joseph was inspired with more revelation resulting in the Doctrine and Covenants. Soon Kirtland Temple was built and dedicated. Joseph was given more priesthood keys and conferred the keys to his apostles and said that the keys will never be taken for this Earth again. Joseph and his brother within months were martyred. If you notice, as each event occurred, the time between each was more frequent until it felt as though it was moving at a fast pace. Since the Second Coming is at hand, whether we realize it or not, these connections will continue to be placed together at a rapid pace.
I was listening to talk radio earlier this week. I have no clue what show I was listening to or who the host was, but the man made an interesting point. In Roman times when religious and moral values were dropping, there was a man who stood and kept these values alive and valiant. The host kept asking, "Is there a leader, a man, someone, who can lead us in these days at this time?" He kept asking this questions and all I could think of was "YES!" Then after about a minute, the host said with a disappointing tone, "no." In that moment, all I could think about is that we have a man, we've had many, and we have many yet to come that will be a prophet of this church. Our prophets, past and present, have directed and guided us because they have revelations for all members of the church. (What a BIG responsibility considering out church is wide spread, all over the world and not just in one nation.) The messages are relayed to us and we as people with agency decide how we must live our lives in this ever-changing world. We have a prophet, apostles, and other church leaders who stand valiantly and keep the morals and values we know and are taught to be true alive. If there is ever a day, they will always be here to help lead us in the right direction. We have even been promised by Joseph Smith this authority will never be gone from us again.
If you haven't done so already, follow the prophet and words he stresses. Do those things that should be a priority in your life. Keep you religious and moral values high and spread that love and responsibility unto others. When others within the world see this, they will notice there is not just one man, but a whole church that will lead us to eternal and everlasting life. As Robert D. Hales said, "The Lord expects us to be as faithful, as devoted, as courageous as those who went before us. They were called to give their lives for the gospel. We are called to live our lives for the same purpose. In these last days we have special reason to do so." Two paragraphs later he asks, "Do we have the eyes to see that the events and prophesies of our time are preparing us for the Savior's Second Coming?"
We have been foretold of the life to come. We have been foretold this leads to the Second Coming. If we listen and we watch, we know of the future we have ahead. But, we know if we hold strong and faithful we will be blessed and we know we should not fear because Jesus Christ conquered the world. We know that Jesus knows from the end to the beginning and as a teacher, I love that. We teach with the end in mind so we know what steps we need to take to make sure our students learn what is needed to prepare them for the final test, project, or whatever it may be so I love how Jesus knows from the end all the way to the beginning; there fore my hand shall me over thee.
How comforting to know that Heavenly Father and Jesus know every minute detail, that their hands are over us, blessing us, and comforting us; that they have a plan that includes each and every single one of us and that is connects together to lead us to a greater purpose, the Second Coming.Josh's:
His was based on a talk given by President Gordon B. Hinkley in the October 2007 General Conference titled, "The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain."
He started his talk with how much the church has grown, where there are members, churches, and temples located, and where our missionaries serve. He said it is not just up to the missionaries and the church leaders to roll the work forward, it is up to all members of the church. He talked to three groups: the youth, the "older" members, and the "newer" members. He asked the youth to not only be valiant in their work with 21st century media, but to not forget to have real conversations so when they do serve a mission they know how to talk and relate to people. To the older members, he asked us to look around. He said we all probably know someone who is not here today, whether it is a friend, a family member, or someone we home-teach or visit-teach. He asked us, "What are we doing to help them come back?" He gave an example of himself when he was less active and said if it wasn't for his home teachers, he is not sure he would be back today. To those who are not members, what are we doing? We do not need our message to be perfect, we just need it to be simple and possibly give them hope in this degrading world. And to the new members, what a perfect time for you to share the message. Again it doesn't need to be perfect, but it can be as simple as come and see. You can converse with other what brought you to the church and maybe bring others to the church at the same time. The main idea of the talk is what are WE doing to make sure this church and Heavenly Father's work moves forward.
I wish I could have written his word for word, but like I said he does not write his talks so it makes it hard to do.
I am very glad we were able to talk today and on this specific subject. I personally just feel more comfort and peace.
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