I'm an anomaly. I got asked to speak in Stake Conference and loved it. I didn't say I wasn't nervous, but I really did enjoy prepping and speaking.
Here's a *quick* run down on my talk.
D&C 59:9 . . . "that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world"
In our society we hand out marks frequently:
- When you enter Lagoon you're given a hand stamp that says you belong to this park for the day.
- When you are born, the nurses put a band on you that says you belong to this mother and father.
- When you become engaged, you become marked by a ring.
- A basketball player is marked by the jersey he wears.
The scriptures record several instances where a people were given a distinguishing trait or marked:
- Lamanites marked with a dark skin (Alma 3:6)
- Amlicites marked themselves with red in their forehead (Alma 3:4)
- Cain had a mark placed on his (Genesis 4:15)
- When the Israelites were under bondage in Egypt, they were told to put a mark above their doors so that the destroying angel would pass them by (Exodus 12:7)
What is the purpose of putting a mark on an individual or group of people? (Alma 3:8) The Lord needs a people who are different from the world.
We likewise mark ourselves by the covenants we make and keep. When we enter into a covenant with the Lord, he puts his mark on us. WE ARE HIS!
In the beginning the Lord laid out a plan where he offered blessings for obedience to his commandments. He knew we would get distracted by the things of the world and would need to be reminded regularly of our covenants and promises. These regular reminders occur in our sacrament meetings and at the sacrament table.
Spencer W. Kimball: "We do not go to Sabbath meetings to be entertained or even solely to be instructed. We go to worship the Lord. If the service is a failure to you, you have failed. No one can worship for you; you must do your own waiting upon the Lord."
When we come to all our meetings on Sunday, we are telling the Lord how we really feel about him. It is an outward manifestation of an inward commitment; it is an indication of the depth of our conversion. We are marking ourselves in a way that tells the world WHOSE we are. The Lord told Moses in Exodus 31:16, "Wherefore the children of Israel shall keep the Sabbath, to observe the Sabbath throughout their generations, for a perpetual covenant. It is a sign between me and the children of Israel forever . . . "
- Our great-grandparents called it the Holy Sabbath Day (Exodus 16:23)
- Our grandparents called it the Sabbath Day.
- Our parents called it Sunday.
- We simply call it the weekend.
- WHICH GROUP DO YOU FALL IN LINE WITH?
So would you like to get more out of your Sunday meetings, particularly sacrament meetings?
1. PREPARE YOURSELF: Alma takes his missionary friends on another mission to the Zoramites who were not doing the right things. When he gets there he finds a group of people who have been cast out and because of that are willing and ready to hear the word of God?
Once you realize that the Holy Ghost is the real teacher than you are prepared to learn. (Shared a story by Wendy Watson Nelson found here.
2. BE ATTENTIVE: don't stay up late and don't eat a big breakfast . . . it makes you sleepy!
3. Try keeping a CHURCH JOURNAL instead of playing the dot game.
4. Keep the ELECTRONIC DEVICES at home. This one suggestion may be what my entire talk will be remembered for. I had several people afterwards tell me how they put away their phones after that. That wasn't my intention, but just to make them aware how most often technology gadgets are used for texting and games more than for worshipping. Even this morning when President Morris was opening the morning session, he called me out and said that he was only checking the time on his phone; he wasn't texting. :)
KSL did a news feature where they took a photo of a classroom and asked us to guess how many kids were texting. I guessed maybe 2 of 3 that I could see. The answer was all of them. If there is one thing I have learned in the years that technology went boom, it's that we need time for quiet, to reflect, to allow the spirit to do his work. I wish the youth would understand how important it is to take out the earplugs, turn off the tv, and unplug the internet. Sacrament meeting is one of those places where we can sit and meditate, but it is simply too hard when we bring those distractions with us.
I think at this point I made a quick reference to the sacrament table and how it had been brought to my attention recently that when the bread and water trays are set up and the white cloth is draped over them, it kind of looks like a body. You may never look at the sacrament the same when you look at it that way.
One of the blessings of attending sacrament meeting is that it does keep us unspotted from the world. It gives us power to stay on the right course. We can be like Nephi of old who said, "I will go and do as the Lord commanded." And if you read his very last words at the end of 2nd Nephi, he says, "I must obey." Wow! What a powerful example of obedience. When we are obedient, the Lord will bless, not eye for an eye, but a thousand times over, more than we can receive.
"When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power. (Pres. Benson)
