This weekend has been the General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. For me, this began with going to my wife's mission reunion Friday evening. It was essentially an opportunity for her to see her friends from her mission and to listen to a few words from her mission president. I appreciated what he had to say and would like to take an opportunity to write about one of the items he touched on.
In 3 Nephi 10, the voice of the Lord spoke to those who had been spared after the great destructions that took place among the Nephites and the Lamanites at the time of the Savior's death. The Lord reminds them of the times that he has cared for them and the house of Israel in the past. He reminds them in verse 5: "...How oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not." In verse 6 he goes on: "O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart."
As my wife's mission president spoke of this imagery used by the Lord, I thought, how true this is for all of us. Our Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ want the best for us. They want us to be happy and to find joy in our lives. Because we are mortal, we make mistakes. We are not perfect. Our Father knew that this would be the case and prepared a way, through the atonement of Jesus Christ, that we could repent and be made clean and relieved of the weight of our mistakes, our sins. However, as I am continuing to learn, the atonement was made not only to pay the price of sin, but to help us in overcoming any and all obstacles and trials that come our way.
While I have always had a decent grasp of these ideas and doctrines, at the moment, I have come to the realization that I have not taken full advantage of the atonement. I am an individual who likes to try to be fully self-reliant and as such, I am always very reluctant to ask for help or to accept it from others. As I have mentioned in my other blog, I am participating in a seminar called Power 90. A week and a half ago, my group had our ropes course. One of the most important concepts that I have been contemplating as I left the class that day is the fact that, in my life, I have developed the attitude of not wanting to inconvenience others by asking them for help, or not expecting to receive help as a rule. At the ropes course, we had a challenge of climbing up and over a log that was suspended between two trees about 8 or so feet up in the air. Our entire team needed to get over. I ended up volunteering to be the last to go over. There were two other guys that had been on top of the log helping everyone in getting over. With no one to help in pushing me up from below, these two guys had to pull me up and help me over. I did what I could to help, but there really was no way I could have done this without their help. I felt bad that I had needed to rely so much on them. Yet, why do I feel this way? Why should I let this continue in my life? People in my life are like these two awesome guys who helped me and all of the others in our group in accomplishing this task. I have friends and family who love and support me and are willing to help (even if it is in letting me just talk out my ideas or in giving words of encouragement). I need to let them help and support me. There is strength in numbers. Now, this change won't happen over night, but now that I am aware of it, I can begin to make the change.
The spiritual application of this principle is the same. Our Savior Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven love each of us and desire that we succeed in life. If we let them, they will gladly and willingly be a part of our lives. They will walk beside us and lift us up. That is one of the promises from baptism and partaking of the sacrament: "...That [we] may always have his Spirit to be with [us]."
As I walk away from this wonderful and powerful weekend and conference, I seek to walk more with my Savior, to be a better disciple of Jesus Christ.
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