I’m posting this before I even give this talk, but I figure none of you will actually read this until my talk is given. So…..if you are interested in reading the talk I delivered today in Sacrament meeting, feel free to
I’ve been asked to speak today on Standing Strong and Immovable As I’ve pondered and prayed on this for the last few weeks, I realized that the ability to write a talk was just not coming to me. As I read talks and quotes and scriptures, I had a hard time putting into words what this meant to me. Thankfully, I have some wonderful friends and family members who are more wise than I and gave me some good insights and things to think about.
So what does it mean to stand strong and immovable? I asked myself that very same question many times. Here is what I came up with, with the help of others of course!!
1-To be strong and immovable means that you do not compromise what you know to be right, no matter what the world says.
2-It means that we read and understand what the prophets tell us to do and do it.
3- It means that you stay true to the Lord when everyone around you is changing their values and justifying their actions.
4- It means that you understand your role as a son or daughter of Heavenly Father and fulfill that role with happiness and love.
5- It means that you share the gospel with others in an effort to build and strengthen your own testimony.
6- It means you are in the service of your fellow beings unceasingly.
That is my own list derived from my own thoughts and those of my friends and family members. Now lets turn to the scriptures and leaders of the church.
I started out by reading the talk “What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best: Stand Strong and Immovable” By Julie Beck. In this talk she is addressing the women of the church specifically but I think what she says can be applied to all. She says that we need to be strong and immovable in 3 areas of our lives.
1-Stand strong and immovable in faith
2-Stand strong and immovable in family
3-Stand strong and immovable in relief
She suggests ways we can accomplish these.
To be strong and immovable in faith we should:
-make and keep covenants with Him
-be worthy and worship in His temples
-study His doctrine in the scriptures and the words of the prophets
-qualify for, recognize and follow the Holy Ghost
-share and defend his gospel
-participate in sincere personal and family prayer
-live principles of self reliance and provident living
Sister Beck then says ‘These are essential things which must be done before the nonessential things. These are simple, indispensable practices that almost seem mundane when we talk about them. However, they are marks of discipleship…..No one can do these things for us-these are personal practices and habits that set us apart as strong and immovable for that which is correct.’ End quote.
I know in my life, when I am most diligent in the “mundane” things of the gospel, I’m happier and my family is happier.
As a couple we have decided to take family prayer and scripture study very seriously. From the time that Jaime was a little girl we did these two things. As life and schedules changed, we decided early morning would be the best time for scriptures. Pretty much all the children were awake and alert and there were less distractions from outside influences at this early morning time. After years of this habit, things got a bit hard. Some children wanted to sleep later, some children were too hungry to focus, one child had already been up for a while and just wanted to play and get on with the morning. Instead of standing strong and immovable during this rocky time in our family scripture study, we chose to move the time to the evening, even though we knew that only the older 3 would still be awake. It was a disaster!! After 2 months of only reading scriptures once, we realized that this was not working for our family. Even though the morning study time seemed to be hard, we were doing it. We were having gospel discussions every morning and our children were gaining a good habit of scripture study. We were blind to these blessings while we struggled through the hard times, but now we see what we lost by letting ourselves be moved from what we knew was right. We must stand strong and immovable even when the road seems rocky, even when we don’t think our efforts make a difference. It is during the hard times that we need to rely on the Lord even more for strength to continue to stand strong and immovable. As a family we are once again doing our morning ritual. It will take some getting used to again, but we know it is right and necessary for building a stronger family bond and giving our children an anchor when they have rocky times in their lives.
Sister Beck continues:
To be strong and immovable in family we should:
-understand and defend the divine roles of women
-embrace the blessings of the priesthood
-form eternal families
-maintain strong marriages
-bear and rear children
-express love for and nurture family members
-accept responsibility to prepare a righteous rising generation
-know, live and defend the doctrine of the family
-search out and perform temple ordinances for extended family members
Sister Beck expounds on this by saying ‘Knowing and defending the divine roles of women is so important in a world where women are bombarded with false messages about their identity…..The only place Latter-day Saint women will learn the whole and complete truth about their indispensable role in the plan of happiness is in this Church and its doctrine….Because families are eternal, we cannot afford to be casual or complacent about those relationships…..families mean work, but they are our great work-and we are not afraid of work.’ End quote
In this world of changing values, it can be hard to raise the eternal, strong families that we so desperately want. This year in primary we are focusing on eternal families and what the primary children can do to help their family now be eternal. I remember as a child this being one of the most important goals to me. I wanted to the be the mother of an eternal family. I received this great desire from my mother. My mother made many unwise choices before she became a member of this church. Because of these past choices, she knew that she would never be part of an eternal family, at least not here on this earth. But she never gave up hope that her children could be part of an eternal family. She never ceased in teaching us the principles of the gospel, a love for the scriptures and a love for God and his prophets. Because of her teachings and unceasing love, all of her children now have the potential of being part of an eternal family. I am grateful for my mother and that she didn’t loose sight of her role as a mother even though her life was not what she envisioned it to be. She never let us loose hope of one day being sealed in the temple to a righteous spouse and having an eternal family.
I also found it interesting that a lot of the other talks, quotes and stories that I found about being steadfast and immovable talked about the importance of family and its role. I believe we are being told that to be steadfast and immovable you derive that strength from your family. Whether you are the parent striving to create an eternal family, or the child that is in the family or a grandparent/aunt/uncle that has an outside influence to the family the family is our greatest source of strength on this earth to withstand the temptations of Satan and to stand strong and immovable.
Sister Beck then talks about being strong and immovable in relief. She says: ‘Our service and the relief that we offer are a sign that we are the Lord’s disciples and we are members of His true restored Church.’ She goes on to say ‘….the greatest and most important work for the women of this church still lies ahead. The earth must be prepared to receive the Lord Jesus Christ and we must help with this preparation in the midst of wars, turmoil, natural calamities, and an increase of evil.’ Lastly she counsels ‘You are each unique and precious. Each of you has your own burdens and challenges, which give you the blessing of turning to the Lord for help. We also have the opportunity to assist the Lord by providing relief for others, which is the greatest, fastest solution to loneliness and hopelessness and a sure way to obtain the companionship of the spirit. All we need to do to start offering relief is to get on our knees and ask….’ End quote
I have a strong and firm testimony of service and providing relief, another great attribute I got from my mom. She taught me that when life seemed to throw challenges and hardships my way I that was when I should look to help others in need. I know that the times in my life when I focused on others-whether that be my own children, or others outside of my home-I was the most happy and spiritually uplifted. I believe that is why Christ was such a happy and content person. I believe that is why He had such a great spirit about him. He was constantly in the service of others. Constantly going about doing good and bringing souls unto His Father. What great joy we can all feel as we follow Christ’s example. How strong and immovable we can be if we focus more on doing good and bringing souls to Christ.
Mosiah 5:15 says: ‘Therefore, I would that ye should be steadfast and immovable, always abounding in good works…’
I think this scripture gives the admonition that being steadfast and immovable requires you to do good works, to be of service and to provide relief. To truly be steadfast and immovable we must abound in good works to all, regardless of our circumstances or theirs.
In 2004 during a world wide leadership training session, President Hinkley had this to say about being strong and immovable in this season of the world: ‘We must not give up. We must not become discouraged. We must never surrender to the forces of evil. We can and must maintain the standards of which this Church has stood since it was organized. There is a better way than the way of the world. If it means standing alone, we must do it.
But we shall not be alone. I am confident that there are millions of people throughout the world who grieve over the evil they see about them. They love the virtuous, the good, and the uplifting. They too will raise their voices and give of their strength to the preservation of those values which are worthy of maintenance and cultivation.’
In closing I’d like to bear my testimony that I know this church is true. I know that I have a Father in Heaven who loves me and knows me individually I know I am a child of God. I know we are all children of our Heavenly Father and that He loves each and every one of us individually I know that being strong and immovable, especially during this time in the history of the world, can be challenging and seem overwhelming, but it can be the greatest thing we can do for ourselves and for our families. I am grateful for my family and the potential to one day live together with our Heavenly Father forever. This is my testimony and prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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