Elder Bednar's Visit to St. Petersburg.

This Wednesday, Elder Bednar visitted the Saints in St. Petersburg and held a special fireside for them. It was so neat! I got to shake his hand! I'd just like to summarize his message for all those who may never get to hear it. I will also insert my viewpoints on it:

First, to the Non-Members:

Elder Bednar: You may be wondering why our members and our missionaries care to share with you the message of the gospel. I can best explain this desire with a story of 2 of my sons. When my sons were about 3 and 4 years old, my wife and I were watching them at the window as they played outside. The youngest son of the two, fell and hurt his elbow. Upon seeing him to be not badly hurt, we just watched to see what the older son would do. The elder boy took the younger by the shoulder and herded him inside, where he scooted a chair to the sink. He washed the blood and dirt from the wound on the elbow, all the while calming the wails and tears of the brother. The elder then took a brand new tube of ointment from the cupboard, and squeezed nearly the entire tube onto the younger brother's arm, from wrist to shoulder (despite the wound being on only the elbow). The elder then proceeded to put nearly an entire box of band-aids on the younger, again, from wrist to shoulder. After all was finished, the two boys happily went outside to play again, the younger carrying the rest of the unused ointment and band-aids with him. The younger then met his little friends and began to grease up and bandage their unhurt elbows, just as he had seen his older brother do. This little story illustrated to my wife and I exactly why we, as members of the Church, choose to share the gospel. We have had an elder brother, our Savior Jesus Christ, administer to our wounds and attend to our needs. And so we have decided to share the same message of comfort and the same remedy for life's pains. We know this is the true gospel, and want to share the joy of it with everyone.

To the Members of the Church

Elder Bednar: I believe there is one topic that many members of the Church do not understand regarding the Atonement of Jesus Christ. To Atonement entails two things: the repentance of sins, and the strengthening endure and to do what is right. The latter is what we often fail to understand. The Atonement can help give us the strength to get through our trials. Perhaps we are an ailing elderly person who prays for the pain to be lifted; despite the many fervent prayers, sometimes, the pain remains. What is then to be prayed for, is the strength to live through it. Nephi, a prophet of the Book of Mormon, was often put to the test by his 2 elder brothers, Laman and Lemuel. At one time, the brothers had Nephi bound. Nephi prayed to God not that God would send someone to strike his brothers, or release him from his bondage, but that Nephi himself would have the strength the break the bands. This is Bednar opinion, but I do not believe the ropes were magically weaker or just fell off of his wrists. I believe the power of the Atonement gave Nephi the strength to burst the bands that were about his wrists. God did not send an angel, or did not miraculously remove the bands himself, but gave Nephi the power to burst them. There is another story in which the people of Alma were in bondage by the Amalekites (?). Heavy burdens were put on their backs. In Mosiah 24:15 it says "...the Lord did strengthen them that they may bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit patiently and cheerfully to all the will of the Lord." The burden was not different, but the people were different. The Lord strengthened them that they could become stronger than normal and bear their burdens with ease. Our burdens may be trials, illness, or temptations. We cannot ask for a temptation or weakness to be removed, but we can ask that the Lord give us strength to overcome the temptation, and He will do it. Our prayers should be like that of the Savior's: "God, let this cup pass from me, but not as my will, but thine be done. Please give me the strength to bear it." And although the trial will still be there, we will be able to cheerfully overcome and endure.
There is another principle that goes hand in hand with this. It is that of agency. In our lives, we may act or we may be acted upon. If we pray that God will send someone to fix our problems, to help dig us out, then we are asking God to act upon us and we are not appropriately using our agency. But if we instead pray that God will sustain us and give us strength, then we are using our agency and choosing instead to act. This is how it should be done. We can be strengthened through our trials and temptations. We will be strengthened, if we just ask. Now, there are some of you who may be thinking: "This is all true for the elderly woman sick with age, or the young single adult in school, or the young married mother, but it couldn't work for me." I swear to you, to everyone who hears these words, this is for you. And if you think it's not, you are wrong. I promise that the power of the Atonement can strengthen ALL who seek it and ALL who need it. And everyone in this world does.

Just Some Thoughts From Coley:

First of all, I hope I remembered his talk correctly. That was the basic gist of it, although I'm positive he said it all more eloquently. I would just like to add what I believe this strengthening power is. At times, I have mistakenly had the attitude: The whole world is falling apart, what does it matter if the Church is true or not? But I have realized recently, that it is simply the exact opposite. There was a conference talk spoken some time ago with the title, "It's true, isn't it? Then what else matters." And that's the way it is. The Church is true. So what else matters?

I was also listening to the talk Elder Uchtdorf gave this October General Conference. He said, "But how does [the world's problems] affect us as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints? Are we living with apprehension, fear, and worry? Or have we, amidst all of our challenges, not reason to rejoice? ...Wherever you live on this earth and whatever your life’s situation may be, I testify to you that the gospel of Jesus Christ has the divine power to lift you to great heights from what appears at times to be an unbearable burden or weakness. The Lord knows your circumstances and your challenges. He said to Paul and to all of us, 'My grace is sufficient for thee.' And like Paul we can answer: 'My strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me.''' This goes along with Elder Bednar, that the gospel of Jesus Christ can lift us out of our weaknesses and trials. But is life simply just being strong and miserably bearing our problems? Elder Uchtdorf goes on to say, "...Therefore, enduring to the end is not just a matter of passively tolerating life’s difficult circumstances or 'hanging in there.' Ours is an active religion, helping God’s children along the strait and narrow path to develop their full potential during this life and return to Him one day. Viewed from this perspective, enduring to the end is exalting and glorious, not grim and gloomy. This is a joyful religion, one of hope, strength, and deliverance... there will be days and nights when you feel overwhelmed, when your hearts are heavy and your heads hang down. Then, please remember, Jesus Christ, the Redeemer, is the Head of this Church. It is His gospel. He wants you to succeed. He gave His life for just this purpose. He is the Son of the living God.

"He has promised: 'Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest' (Matthew 11:28).

"'For the mountains shall depart and the hills be removed, but my kindness shall not depart from thee' (3 Nephi 22:10). 'I have mercy on thee, saith the Lord thy Redeemer' (3 Nephi 22:8).

"My dear friends, the Savior heals the broken heart and binds up your wounds. Whatever your challenges may be, wherever you live on this earth, your faithful membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the divine powers of the gospel of Jesus Christ will bless you to endure joyfully to the end." So as I read this talk and listened to Elder Bednar, I learned something important. We have trials, yes. And I have spent so much time feeling sorry for myself because of my share of them. I have begged and pleaded with the Lord to remove the horrible pain of my trials. But I have forgotten that the Lord not only can strengthen me so that I will not be totally miserable, but He will lift me up so that I may be totally exultant, and may rejoice in His gospel. If we can just see how amazing His gospel is, and see things from "an elevated viewpoint", we can realize as Elder Uchtdorf said, that we have a big reason to rejoice. The Church is true, and we have that truth. That's a very big reason to not only hang in there while we bear the tumult of our storms of trials, but to also have total joy and happiness and rejoice in the life we live. Life is for joy, not misery. We can be happy as we endure. That's pretty cool to me.