You're just not smart enough . . . so there!

K, warning, long post---but OH, SOOOO worth it to read!!

We had the greatest Stake Conference last week. We were blessed to have a visit from an apostle, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who was accompanied by Elder Wilford W. Andersen from the Seventy. At the Saturday night adult session, Elder Andersen told us that we need to have more humility. He said that humility is not recognition of our weakness; it is an understanding of the true source of our strength or power. He also said that faith without works is dead--and he really means work! He told us that often we want others to do the work. An example of this is when we as members pray that the missionaries will be sent to those souls searching for the true gospel. And the missionaries pray that the members will help them find those souls looking for truth. Both are praying for someone else to do the work. WE need to do the work. We are not supposed to ask Heavenly Father to bless our neighbor who is struggling, but we are to ask Heavenly Father to help us be humble and willing so that He can use us to be a blessing in that person's life. He also told us that because we live the gospel, we are spared a lot of trouble and sadness in our life.

Elder Holland was amazing. He talked about an author, Elie Wiesel, who wrote a book called "Night." The author was a Holocaust survivor and wrote about his experiences. Several years ago when Elder Holland was president of BYU, he invited Mr. Wiesel to speak to the students. Elder Holland related the term "Night" to all of our despair, sadness, trials, etc. He said that "the night will pass because this is a gospel of light." He told us if we are tempted to leave the church in our struggles and want to tell the Lord that we've had it, then we better not dare. In fact he said it in a very strong, forceful, almost yelling voice, "DON'T YOU DARE GIVE UP!" and "DON'T YOU DARE LEAVE THIS CHURCH!" He even was shaking his hand at us. I know it's hard to describe, but it was spoken with such conviction, emotion and testimony that you only felt love and hope as he spoke. He told us that "we will be happy again." He went on to say, "When hard times come, square your shoulders, pull up your socks, and endure. Just face it and you will pull through."

He then told us emphatically again, "DON'T YOU DARE tell yourself that God doesn't love you." He said that when we cry, God cries. He told us that every single prophet in history, including the Savior, had to deal with very hard times but they endured. He asked us if we think that God didn't love Joseph Smith. We all, of course, know that He did. Look at all the trials that Joseph Smith went through. He lost children, was tarred and feathered, was sick, and was ultimately killed. Do we even think for a second that Heavenly Father didn't love him? Elder Holland then repeated the comparison that if God loves his prophets, and they go through so much, then how can we say he doesn't love us when we go through trials. He shared that President Hinckley is very sick, tired, lonely, etc. and yet do we even believe for a second that he is not loved by God. Of course, not. We know the truth. I just know he spoke truth and comfort. He then related the story of Jesus calming the stormy seas and quoted the scripture, "Peace be still." That has always been one of my favorites. I even have a picture of it in my music room.

Elder Holland finished by saying that "when we are in stormy weather, we need the man who can control the winds and the waves. Who is this man--indeed!" He mentioned that his favorite name for Jesus is in Revelations 22:16 where He is called "the bright and morning star" (which is the sun). This was then related back to our "nights" that affect us. And what better way to fight "the night" than "the sun." They changed the closing song to "Behold Tis Eventide." The words of that song "Oh, Savior stay this night with me. . ." just were so beautiful after his talk on our own "nights."

And here's the best part of Stake Conference. Okay, on Sunday morning Jordan was determined to shake Elder Holland's hand. So we got up and left for stake conference at 6:45 arriving at about 7:05 a.m. It didn't even start until 10:00. We were able to get seats in the chapel. As Elder Holland spoke to the youth he said that the youth need to pay a tithing of sorts with their lives. He just wants 10 years (whether it be ages 12-22 or 14-24) of their lives to be devoted to the gospel. He wanted them to devote these years to listening to their leaders and parents and do the things they ask of them and teach them to do. The gist was basically "Adults know better!" He then finished off by saying, (now this is the best part):

"We've been your age. You haven't been ours. We know more. We have more experience. You're just not smart enough to make some decisions on your own. . . so there!!" Everyone laughed, but we knew he meant business by what he said. He, like President Hinckley, has a great sense of humor. He had a great way of connecting with the youth. I noticed all of my kids perk up and listen intently as he was speaking, even though we had been there for 5 hours. In fact, all the youth around me were listening intently to what he had to say.

He ended his talk with a blessing on all of us. It was very touching, and I don't know if there was a dry eye among all who were there. Oh, I wish you all could have been there, it was so beautiful. Jordan said it best, "You could feel the Spirit so strong as he spoke."

Well, Jordan was up on that stand shaking Elder Holland's hand as soon as the Amen was said on the closing prayer. (Tanner and Trevor followed their brother's example and quickly went up on the stand to shake hands also.) I love that he dreams of shaking an Apostle's hand and not some movie star's. Chase also got to shake his hand since he was sitting in the foyer with friends when Elder Holland walked into the building. He shook every youth's hand that was there. And one more cute side note story. Trevor obviously was feeling the spirit too, because in the middle of Elder Holland's talk, he came up to me and fervently expressed that he needed to go up and "bear his testimonies" too. So he bore his testimony to me and then went down the row and told Jerel too. There was also some other drama that Trevor went through, but you'll have to ask me about that one. It's not fit for a blog. lol