I missed class this week for a meeting at the MTC that promised a “special guest.” I was hoping for an apostle, wishful thinking, but was only slightly disappointed to listen to Brad Wilcox. He began by asking us why we had needed to serve missions and shot down the common answers. He compared the common responses to when missionaries teach people that the purpose of the Plan of Salvation is to return to live with God again. He asked, “If our purpose is just to return to live with God again, why did we leave in the first place!?” After helping us to feel a thirst for more knowledge, he taught us what it means to be “children of the birthright.” The fact that we have a change of shoes, extra clothes, electricity, and college education distinguishes us as some of the most richly blessed people on the face of the planet. The abundance we have been given is accompanied by expectations and responsibilities to bless others. We are responsible to prepare the earth for the return of our King. However, it is easy to get distracted by countless other important things. Now what? I am recommitting myself to daily, morning scripture study so I can remember what matters most throughout the day.
http://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/04/we-are-doing-a-great-work-and-cannot-come-down?lang=eng
Hi Cade--Thank you for sharing that. That sounded like it was awesome--I just hope you get all your questions answered for the exam and do well on it.
ReplyDeleteThat message was a very powerful message. We are not merely trying to just "get home", but to return with a purpose and a plan. If you think about it, it would have been like the early Saints only putting their sites on getting to Zion (Utah) and that was going to be it, not thinking about the whole society that they would have to establish after they arrived.
In life, I think we do the same with many of our goals. All I need to do is...finish high school and get to college, then it will all be better, or finish college and get a job, then everything will be perfect. In actuality, we set goals will little regard for what comes after we reach the goal and find ourselves ill prepared for what follows when we could have been preparing ourselves for it if we had just thought about what we need to do after we reach the goal. You see this with many professional athletes. They get their "big deal" and then several years after they are done playing, they are broke because they didn't have a plan put together for what happens AFTER their playing days (because many of them did NOT finish school or even try when they were there, so they have no degree to fall back on.)
Again, I loved this message and I am really going to take it to heart as well. Good luck on your exam!