1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:02,000 Welcome back to his house today. You're just kidding me. 2 00:00:02,000 --> 00:00:03,440 And we're going to do a little conference review. 3 00:00:03,760 --> 00:00:06,520 In case you're not familiar, General Conference is 2 days, 4 00:00:06,520 --> 00:00:09,200 the beginning of April and October, where our church 5 00:00:09,200 --> 00:00:11,560 leaders talk to us over the course of a weekend. 6 00:00:11,560 --> 00:00:12,800 So there's a couple different sessions. 7 00:00:12,800 --> 00:00:15,520 You can watch it online, and there's just several speakers 8 00:00:15,520 --> 00:00:17,680 that are talking about what Jesus has been putting on their 9 00:00:17,680 --> 00:00:20,920 hearts lately. And so it's a really sacred and 10 00:00:20,920 --> 00:00:23,760 special weekend for us as members of our church because we 11 00:00:23,760 --> 00:00:26,720 believe that these prophets and apostles are literally speaking 12 00:00:26,720 --> 00:00:29,920 the words of God and trying to help us understand what he wants 13 00:00:29,920 --> 00:00:32,360 us to know. But with that being said, like 14 00:00:32,360 --> 00:00:35,960 this weekend is not necessarily the format of general Conference 15 00:00:35,960 --> 00:00:37,600 is not necessarily built for young moms. 16 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:39,440 Like that doesn't mean the messages are, of course, the 17 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,440 messages are things that we can benefit from. 18 00:00:42,440 --> 00:00:45,640 But I was laughing, talking to Venom like this is so much 19 00:00:45,640 --> 00:00:49,720 rougher as a young parent than it was five years ago when I was 20 00:00:49,720 --> 00:00:52,320 single and I could listen uninterrupted. 21 00:00:52,320 --> 00:00:55,320 I could prep the way I wanted to just to give you a little 22 00:00:55,320 --> 00:00:58,640 insight into how our week was. We had family in town for like 3 23 00:00:58,640 --> 00:01:02,360 or 4 days while they were here. My daughter Eve got like she had 24 00:01:02,360 --> 00:01:04,640 a high fever. So we are navigating that and 25 00:01:04,640 --> 00:01:07,640 trying to keep their kids safe. And then like as that was 26 00:01:07,640 --> 00:01:10,040 happening, like we had a lot of family things going on where we 27 00:01:10,040 --> 00:01:12,520 were like trying to, I don't know, we had like some extra 28 00:01:12,520 --> 00:01:14,400 phone calls we had to do to take care of things. 29 00:01:14,400 --> 00:01:17,360 And then, and then while that was happening, like I got a 30 00:01:17,360 --> 00:01:19,360 little bit of a cold and then it was like Easter prep and 31 00:01:19,360 --> 00:01:22,040 conference. And it was just like this blur 32 00:01:22,040 --> 00:01:24,160 of a week. And so typically in the past, 33 00:01:24,160 --> 00:01:27,080 like I have loved to like write down questions and really prep 34 00:01:27,080 --> 00:01:30,160 and like really like pray leading up to journal conference 35 00:01:30,160 --> 00:01:33,600 to try to prep my heart to hear what God wants me to hear. 36 00:01:34,160 --> 00:01:38,040 And to be completely frank with you, like coming out of journal 37 00:01:38,040 --> 00:01:40,720 conference weekend this time, my brain just felt blank. 38 00:01:40,720 --> 00:01:43,160 Like I heard the messages. There were things that stuck out 39 00:01:43,160 --> 00:01:45,440 to me that in the moment felt impactful. 40 00:01:45,760 --> 00:01:48,160 But like as I was coming out of the weekend, I couldn't remember 41 00:01:48,160 --> 00:01:50,760 a single thing that I learned. And it was honestly really 42 00:01:50,760 --> 00:01:52,200 discouraging. And that's part of the reason I 43 00:01:52,200 --> 00:01:54,160 wanted to talk about this because I figure if I'm feeling 44 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:57,080 like that and I was like really trying to listen, I'm sure there 45 00:01:57,080 --> 00:01:59,880 are other people who who are also feeling like that and other 46 00:01:59,880 --> 00:02:02,560 moms who are feeling a little bit discouraged coming out of 47 00:02:02,560 --> 00:02:03,880 conference. And I'm not sure how to make 48 00:02:03,880 --> 00:02:05,560 conference something that's meaningful. 49 00:02:05,560 --> 00:02:08,080 Still in this phase. There have been times in my life 50 00:02:08,080 --> 00:02:10,000 where I have studied conference in depth. 51 00:02:10,000 --> 00:02:12,400 They published all of the the talks like the written out 52 00:02:12,400 --> 00:02:14,720 version. And so luckily we're able to 53 00:02:14,720 --> 00:02:17,240 like take those and study them and read them over and over 54 00:02:17,240 --> 00:02:19,720 again or listen to them. And there have been, there have 55 00:02:19,720 --> 00:02:21,760 been years in my life where I've really done that really, really 56 00:02:21,760 --> 00:02:24,520 well. And the last two have not been 57 00:02:24,520 --> 00:02:26,720 that way. And I've tried like I've set 58 00:02:26,720 --> 00:02:28,520 goals and sometimes it just hasn't happened. 59 00:02:28,520 --> 00:02:32,560 And so this is a good reset for me to, to think about that. 60 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:36,440 And I'm, I'm grateful to have the chance to try to put this 61 00:02:36,440 --> 00:02:37,640 into words. All of the thoughts that I'm 62 00:02:37,640 --> 00:02:40,320 having about conference, coming out of it feeling a little bit 63 00:02:40,320 --> 00:02:43,280 discouraged because there were such good talks, there were such 64 00:02:43,280 --> 00:02:47,160 good messages. And yeah, like it's just 65 00:02:47,160 --> 00:02:50,280 sometimes you just kind of feel a little bit lukewarm is the way 66 00:02:50,280 --> 00:02:51,560 that I've learned to describe it. 67 00:02:51,560 --> 00:02:53,840 Like in this phase of motherhood, sometimes my 68 00:02:53,840 --> 00:02:55,240 spirituality just feels lukewarm. 69 00:02:55,240 --> 00:02:57,280 It's like it's not super negative, it's not super 70 00:02:57,280 --> 00:02:59,880 positive, it's just kind of there and it's not that's taking 71 00:02:59,880 --> 00:03:01,160 away from my life. It's not something that's adding 72 00:03:01,160 --> 00:03:03,240 to my life. I'm just like, I wouldn't say 73 00:03:03,240 --> 00:03:05,760 surviving 'cause I feel like a lot of the time I am having 74 00:03:06,120 --> 00:03:07,880 meaningful thoughts and meaningful moments. 75 00:03:07,880 --> 00:03:11,160 But if I'm comparing it to how it was in the past, it would 76 00:03:11,160 --> 00:03:14,200 feel very discouraging because it's just not the same. 77 00:03:14,200 --> 00:03:17,120 Like we like we talk about the Holy Spirit as like a still 78 00:03:17,120 --> 00:03:20,040 small voice, somebody like this spirit that whispers to us and 79 00:03:20,040 --> 00:03:22,640 like teaches us if we're still. And like there's that verse in 80 00:03:22,640 --> 00:03:25,000 the scriptures that says be still and know that I am God. 81 00:03:25,000 --> 00:03:28,120 And in this phase, like you're not still, you're constantly on 82 00:03:28,120 --> 00:03:31,040 the move chasing kids, giving them snacks, throwing bingo 83 00:03:31,040 --> 00:03:33,440 cards at them during conference, trying to like just keep 84 00:03:33,440 --> 00:03:35,680 everybody at Bay so that you can hear something. 85 00:03:36,080 --> 00:03:38,440 And so then to come out feeling like, Oh, maybe I actually 86 00:03:38,440 --> 00:03:41,440 didn't get anything, it can easily translate to in your 87 00:03:41,440 --> 00:03:43,280 head, like maybe God wasn't talking to me. 88 00:03:43,960 --> 00:03:47,560 And I think that's just like a dangerous place to go because of 89 00:03:47,560 --> 00:03:50,200 course he's talking to you. We're just so busy. 90 00:03:50,200 --> 00:03:51,880 Sometimes it's hard to to hear those things. 91 00:03:51,880 --> 00:03:56,160 And so I think that conference for moms is actually more 92 00:03:56,160 --> 00:03:58,520 impactful in the six months after conference instead of 93 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:02,240 maybe the weekend of like, I remember as a young adult, like 94 00:04:02,240 --> 00:04:04,360 just home for my mission that the weekend of conference 95 00:04:04,360 --> 00:04:06,600 itself, like I was like on a spiritual high. 96 00:04:06,600 --> 00:04:09,880 Like I would come out of it feeling like so motivated, like 97 00:04:09,880 --> 00:04:12,600 I had so many insights. I had like a notebook full of 98 00:04:12,600 --> 00:04:14,760 pages and pages and pages that I had written of things that I 99 00:04:14,760 --> 00:04:18,680 feel like God was telling me. And like I tried to take notes 100 00:04:18,680 --> 00:04:22,040 this time and I got a few notes, but like it wasn't anything 101 00:04:22,040 --> 00:04:23,240 substantial. It wasn't anything that I'm 102 00:04:23,240 --> 00:04:25,360 going to look at again, because it was just kind of like jotting 103 00:04:25,360 --> 00:04:27,680 down what people were saying, not necessarily what I feel like 104 00:04:27,680 --> 00:04:30,960 God was speaking to me. And I think that like in the 105 00:04:30,960 --> 00:04:33,520 past, maybe that the actual weekend itself was like the 106 00:04:33,520 --> 00:04:36,640 spiritual momentum in the spiritual high that I needed. 107 00:04:36,640 --> 00:04:39,320 And I think in this phase, like it's actually gonna be the six 108 00:04:39,320 --> 00:04:42,000 months after that really changed me and impacted me. 109 00:04:42,000 --> 00:04:45,040 And so I'm setting a goal. I'm gonna help you guys are 110 00:04:45,040 --> 00:04:48,480 gonna keep me accountable. Like I really want to dive in 111 00:04:48,480 --> 00:04:51,000 and treasure up the words of conference in the next 6 months. 112 00:04:51,000 --> 00:04:54,680 So hopefully today we can just kind of talk about like how we 113 00:04:54,680 --> 00:04:57,640 can actually do that in this phase and also just understand 114 00:04:57,640 --> 00:04:59,280 like why, why that would be important. 115 00:04:59,280 --> 00:05:02,640 And so I always start with the question like, what has the God 116 00:05:02,640 --> 00:05:03,680 been putting on your heart lately? 117 00:05:03,680 --> 00:05:07,480 And to be completely honest, like this morning, I woke up and 118 00:05:07,480 --> 00:05:09,240 I knew I was going to record this episode during nap time 119 00:05:09,240 --> 00:05:11,080 today. And I was thinking about it and 120 00:05:11,080 --> 00:05:13,480 I was just like, I honestly just feel blank. 121 00:05:13,480 --> 00:05:15,040 And I think that's important to acknowledge that. 122 00:05:15,040 --> 00:05:18,120 Like I'm talking about on this podcast every single week, like 123 00:05:18,120 --> 00:05:19,800 God's putting this on my heart. God's putting this on my heart. 124 00:05:20,080 --> 00:05:22,200 And there are often days where I'm recording the podcast where 125 00:05:22,200 --> 00:05:25,280 I'm like racking my brain, like, what is God actually teaching me 126 00:05:25,280 --> 00:05:27,680 right now? Like, I don't know if I can pull 127 00:05:27,680 --> 00:05:30,400 out like a specific lesson that he has been teaching me. 128 00:05:30,840 --> 00:05:33,200 And so sometimes it ends up being like a scripture that I've 129 00:05:33,200 --> 00:05:35,200 read that like relates to the episode 'cause that's kind of 130 00:05:35,200 --> 00:05:37,200 like the episode topic has been on my heart lately. 131 00:05:37,200 --> 00:05:40,800 But it's not always like I'm having these specific like 132 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:44,800 lessons that God is teaching me. And like this morning as I was 133 00:05:44,800 --> 00:05:47,280 driving to the gym, I was literally like, I don't know, 134 00:05:47,280 --> 00:05:51,360 like I, the last week I haven't like sat down and read my 135 00:05:51,360 --> 00:05:53,760 scriptures consistently. Like I've tried, like I've tried 136 00:05:53,760 --> 00:05:55,960 to read a couple verses here and there when I can and I've tried 137 00:05:55,960 --> 00:05:59,320 to pray the best way that I can, but I have not been feeling like 138 00:05:59,320 --> 00:06:00,840 super spiritual in the last week. 139 00:06:00,840 --> 00:06:05,240 Like it's felt very lukewarm, very like just neutral. 140 00:06:05,480 --> 00:06:08,160 And I think that that's OK. Like there are just some weeks 141 00:06:08,160 --> 00:06:09,880 like that. And I think that I've learned 142 00:06:09,880 --> 00:06:11,400 just not make that mean anything. 143 00:06:11,400 --> 00:06:13,160 It doesn't mean that God doesn't care about me. 144 00:06:13,440 --> 00:06:15,040 It doesn't mean he's not teaching me. 145 00:06:15,560 --> 00:06:17,960 And it definitely doesn't mean that he's not speaking to me. 146 00:06:18,440 --> 00:06:21,200 And I think that God understands when we're when we're in these 147 00:06:21,200 --> 00:06:23,360 weeks, in these seasons of motherhood where we are giving 148 00:06:23,360 --> 00:06:26,840 everything to these kids. And sometimes that takes time 149 00:06:26,840 --> 00:06:28,320 away from the time that we can give him. 150 00:06:28,320 --> 00:06:31,040 But as I was thinking about this and, and driving, like there was 151 00:06:31,040 --> 00:06:34,280 one word that came to my head. And sometimes one word might be 152 00:06:34,280 --> 00:06:37,240 what God is trying to tell you. And today for me, that word was 153 00:06:37,240 --> 00:06:39,880 optimized. And as I was thinking about that 154 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:42,400 word more like it just popped in my head as I was like praying 155 00:06:42,400 --> 00:06:46,080 and like, OK, God, like I'm trying to like do this podcast. 156 00:06:46,080 --> 00:06:47,440 I want to know what you're teaching me. 157 00:06:47,440 --> 00:06:50,240 I'm listening to all of conference and I still don't 158 00:06:50,240 --> 00:06:52,520 feel like there's any specific message that you're giving me. 159 00:06:52,840 --> 00:06:54,600 And this word optimize just popped into my head. 160 00:06:54,600 --> 00:06:56,480 And I think we think about like optimize sometimes as like a 161 00:06:56,480 --> 00:07:00,200 negative thing 'cause it's like this multitasking idea of like 162 00:07:00,320 --> 00:07:02,480 you're not really in the moment, like you're optimizing every 163 00:07:02,480 --> 00:07:04,760 second. And like, that's not really what 164 00:07:04,760 --> 00:07:06,280 it felt like when I was thinking about this word. 165 00:07:06,280 --> 00:07:09,080 I just was thinking about how I cannot add more hours to the 166 00:07:09,080 --> 00:07:11,280 day. Like I physically cannot add 167 00:07:11,280 --> 00:07:12,360 time to the day. I tell Ben every day. 168 00:07:12,360 --> 00:07:14,800 Like I just need, like in Harry Potter, like the time Turner, 169 00:07:14,800 --> 00:07:16,880 I'm like, I need that. I need that every day because I 170 00:07:16,880 --> 00:07:19,000 don't have enough time in the day to do what I need to do. 171 00:07:19,720 --> 00:07:22,880 But I've realized as I was thinking about this word, like 172 00:07:23,080 --> 00:07:24,720 I'm already doing a lot of things in the day. 173 00:07:24,720 --> 00:07:27,320 And what if I just optimize the things I'm already doing to 174 00:07:27,320 --> 00:07:30,240 double up and like do two things at a time. 175 00:07:30,240 --> 00:07:33,480 So like, for example, like often I'm making a trip to McDonald's 176 00:07:33,480 --> 00:07:35,840 or Sonic to get a drink. I wish that wasn't a thing that 177 00:07:35,840 --> 00:07:38,360 I did often, but it is. And I'm working on that. 178 00:07:38,360 --> 00:07:39,800 But that's a whole different episode. 179 00:07:39,800 --> 00:07:44,400 So if I'm going to Sonic to get a drink, can I get a drink for 180 00:07:44,400 --> 00:07:45,840 somebody else and take it to them? 181 00:07:46,000 --> 00:07:48,320 Like just doubling that up, like I'm already doing this thing. 182 00:07:48,520 --> 00:07:52,920 Can I add on another habit, like habit stacking, but like doing 183 00:07:52,920 --> 00:07:54,520 two things at the same time? Like it's not like you're just 184 00:07:54,520 --> 00:07:58,120 reading the scriptures and then it's not the people talk about 185 00:07:58,120 --> 00:08:00,920 this idea of habit stacking where it's like you as you're 186 00:08:00,920 --> 00:08:02,880 eating breakfast, then you also just read your scriptures right 187 00:08:02,880 --> 00:08:05,040 after and that's that's great. And that's kind of the same 188 00:08:05,040 --> 00:08:06,600 idea. But I think the idea that came 189 00:08:06,600 --> 00:08:09,680 to my head as I was praying this morning was like, if I'm already 190 00:08:09,680 --> 00:08:12,560 unloading the dishwasher, can I just listen to a conference talk 191 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:15,160 while I'm doing that? If I'm going to the gym and 192 00:08:15,160 --> 00:08:17,920 taking my kids to daycare, which I did this morning or the first 193 00:08:17,920 --> 00:08:20,080 time in like 5 months and it was awesome. 194 00:08:20,200 --> 00:08:23,680 But part of me feels, part of me is like it took me two hours 195 00:08:23,680 --> 00:08:25,480 instead of just like the 30 minutes in my garage. 196 00:08:25,480 --> 00:08:28,320 But it's OK. But while I took my kids to the 197 00:08:28,320 --> 00:08:31,200 daycare, I, they give you 2 1/2 hours at the daycare, I only 198 00:08:31,200 --> 00:08:34,120 exercise for like 45 minutes. And then I just got me thinking 199 00:08:34,120 --> 00:08:36,919 like, what if I did this twice a week and I brought my scriptures 200 00:08:36,919 --> 00:08:39,280 and read my scriptures for 10 minutes after I finished working 201 00:08:39,280 --> 00:08:41,280 out and just got this uninterrupted time. 202 00:08:41,520 --> 00:08:44,240 Or like, I also showered at the gym today 'cause I was like, why 203 00:08:44,240 --> 00:08:47,440 not like just shower without my kids, like running around. 204 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:50,440 And I had the thought, like if I'm already showering at the gym 205 00:08:50,760 --> 00:08:54,120 and my kids are taken care of, like, can I just respond to four 206 00:08:54,120 --> 00:08:57,280 texts while I'm doing this, Like while I'm getting dressed? 207 00:08:57,880 --> 00:09:00,800 And I just had this realization, like, what if I just optimize 208 00:09:00,800 --> 00:09:03,040 the things I'm already doing? What if I just took these 209 00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:06,240 opportunities to double up and like give things to God? 210 00:09:06,240 --> 00:09:08,400 Like if I'm already at the gym, give 10 minutes of that to God. 211 00:09:08,400 --> 00:09:10,640 If I'm already, if I'm getting dressed and have a second to 212 00:09:10,640 --> 00:09:14,320 myself, send a text to somebody who needs something like I just 213 00:09:14,320 --> 00:09:17,440 think sometimes I'm so in my head like time starved that I'm, 214 00:09:17,560 --> 00:09:19,440 I don't feel like I have time to add things in. 215 00:09:19,640 --> 00:09:21,800 But what if I'm just optimize the things I'm already doing? 216 00:09:21,800 --> 00:09:24,600 So as we're talking about general conference, like that is 217 00:09:24,600 --> 00:09:26,760 what I was just thinking about this morning and trying to 218 00:09:26,760 --> 00:09:29,120 ponder like, how can I actually do conference? 219 00:09:29,120 --> 00:09:31,960 Like how like yes, the weekend itself is over, but that doesn't 220 00:09:31,960 --> 00:09:35,000 mean that I'm not going to learn from these messages still. 221 00:09:35,000 --> 00:09:38,800 And how can I actually do that? And I just felt encouraged 222 00:09:38,800 --> 00:09:42,320 thinking about this idea of optimizing that I can actually 223 00:09:42,400 --> 00:09:45,200 just add things into what I'm already doing and that can be 224 00:09:45,200 --> 00:09:48,840 enough. And so if any of this resonates 225 00:09:48,840 --> 00:09:50,600 with you and you're feeling like, Oh my gosh, that feels 226 00:09:50,600 --> 00:09:52,440 like me. I hope that we can all just kind 227 00:09:52,440 --> 00:09:55,960 of learn together how how we can make conference meaningful for 228 00:09:55,960 --> 00:09:58,880 the next 6 months and not feel discouraged that maybe it wasn't 229 00:09:58,880 --> 00:10:00,320 meaningful over the past weekend. 230 00:10:00,320 --> 00:10:03,800 Because that's just life. And there is some conference 231 00:10:03,800 --> 00:10:06,320 weekends that you're gonna come out feeling like that was for 232 00:10:06,320 --> 00:10:07,840 me. And there's some conference 233 00:10:07,840 --> 00:10:09,960 weekends you're gonna come up feeling like God didn't say 234 00:10:09,960 --> 00:10:11,800 anything to me. And I don't think that's because 235 00:10:11,800 --> 00:10:14,880 God's not speaking. It might be because we have a 236 00:10:14,880 --> 00:10:17,040 million things on our mind or it's been a long week and we're 237 00:10:17,040 --> 00:10:18,720 not always able to prep the way we want to. 238 00:10:19,080 --> 00:10:22,280 But six months is long enough to actually get a lot of this. 239 00:10:22,280 --> 00:10:27,480 So the first thing I wanted to read was what President Oaks 240 00:10:27,480 --> 00:10:30,600 said at the end of conference. So this is our profit President 241 00:10:30,600 --> 00:10:32,600 Oaks, the conference box are not published yet. 242 00:10:32,600 --> 00:10:34,040 So I had to go listen to this and write it down. 243 00:10:34,040 --> 00:10:36,600 So I hope that I wrote it down right. 244 00:10:36,600 --> 00:10:40,760 But he said the Spirit of the Lord has inspired all of us to 245 00:10:40,760 --> 00:10:43,360 concentrate our worship, focus our learning, and unite our 246 00:10:43,360 --> 00:10:46,040 testimonies on the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ and His 247 00:10:46,040 --> 00:10:48,800 Father's plan for our eternal increase and joy. 248 00:10:49,000 --> 00:10:51,520 And then he goes on and says, as the messages from this 249 00:10:51,520 --> 00:10:54,280 conference are published, we invite all to study and ponder 250 00:10:54,280 --> 00:10:57,320 them prayerfully and to act in faith on the principles they 251 00:10:57,320 --> 00:10:59,720 explain. The Lord has promised unto him 252 00:10:59,720 --> 00:11:02,640 who receiveth. I will give more as we treasure 253 00:11:02,640 --> 00:11:05,080 up and act upon the teachings of this conference. 254 00:11:05,080 --> 00:11:08,040 The Lord will continue to teach and inspire us with personal 255 00:11:08,040 --> 00:11:11,880 revelation and guidance. I promise this to each of us as 256 00:11:11,880 --> 00:11:14,440 we follow the directions of the servants of the Lord and look to 257 00:11:14,440 --> 00:11:19,720 God and live. OK, this was like 1 section this 258 00:11:19,720 --> 00:11:22,280 I did hear this like at the very end we were like, OK, the 259 00:11:22,280 --> 00:11:25,040 prophets talking like everybody listen up, you know, and it's 260 00:11:25,040 --> 00:11:27,320 like the very last talk, the last two minutes of conference. 261 00:11:27,320 --> 00:11:30,440 And I did hear that invitation and I thought to myself, I, I 262 00:11:30,520 --> 00:11:33,640 need to treasure this, I need to find a way to do this. 263 00:11:33,640 --> 00:11:36,840 And so I just want to kind of break up this, this little 264 00:11:36,840 --> 00:11:39,400 paragraph for a second. First of all, the invitation is 265 00:11:39,760 --> 00:11:43,360 study the messages, ponder them prayerfully, and act in faith on 266 00:11:43,360 --> 00:11:44,760 the principles that they're explaining. 267 00:11:45,520 --> 00:11:47,280 So that's like 3 invitations right there. 268 00:11:47,440 --> 00:11:53,880 Study, ponder and act. And I think that that is like 269 00:11:53,880 --> 00:11:56,680 the perfect template for us as we're moving forward to think 270 00:11:56,680 --> 00:11:59,320 about how can I do these three things, study, ponder and act. 271 00:11:59,680 --> 00:12:03,360 And, and then he says, and as we treasure them up, which I think 272 00:12:03,360 --> 00:12:07,160 treasuring them up is actually just the result of study, ponder 273 00:12:07,160 --> 00:12:08,320 and act. Like if you're doing all three 274 00:12:08,320 --> 00:12:11,880 of those things, then naturally these messages are going to 275 00:12:11,880 --> 00:12:14,960 become a part of you, which I think is what treasuring means. 276 00:12:15,200 --> 00:12:17,680 And then the promise, I love this part. 277 00:12:17,680 --> 00:12:20,040 My mom when I was little, she would always talk about if and 278 00:12:20,040 --> 00:12:21,880 then promises like in the scriptures you read a lot, it 279 00:12:21,880 --> 00:12:24,120 says like, if you do this, then you'll do this. 280 00:12:24,480 --> 00:12:28,000 And, and so I've always like looked for those two words as I 281 00:12:28,000 --> 00:12:30,200 studied my scriptures. And so this is the promise. 282 00:12:30,200 --> 00:12:34,120 So it's like if you study, ponder and act, which is in turn 283 00:12:34,120 --> 00:12:37,000 treasuring up then. And he says the Lord will 284 00:12:37,000 --> 00:12:40,360 continue to teach and inspire us with personal revelation and 285 00:12:40,360 --> 00:12:44,320 guidance. And I desperately, desperately, 286 00:12:44,320 --> 00:12:46,760 desperately want personal revelation and guidance. 287 00:12:47,360 --> 00:12:50,600 And I love this. I love this about the restored 288 00:12:50,600 --> 00:12:55,640 church and the restored gospel that we know that God is a God 289 00:12:55,640 --> 00:12:58,440 of promises, that he is bound to do what he says if we keep our 290 00:12:58,440 --> 00:13:00,320 part. That is what covenants teach us. 291 00:13:00,320 --> 00:13:02,560 It's like if we do this, then we're going to get this. 292 00:13:02,560 --> 00:13:05,040 And he is with us every step of the way helping us. 293 00:13:05,080 --> 00:13:08,200 And so I love this concept that like I have such a strong 294 00:13:08,200 --> 00:13:11,240 testimony of these if and then promises that like if I do this, 295 00:13:11,600 --> 00:13:12,760 then he's going to bless me with this. 296 00:13:12,760 --> 00:13:16,440 And if I'm doing my part, I can count on him doing his part. 297 00:13:16,680 --> 00:13:19,880 So like if I am studying and pondering and acting on these 298 00:13:19,880 --> 00:13:24,200 messages, I can 100% count on Him giving me personal 299 00:13:24,200 --> 00:13:26,880 revelation and guidance. Even if I'm feeling blank, even 300 00:13:26,880 --> 00:13:29,800 if I'm feeling lukewarm, even if it feels like He's not talking 301 00:13:29,800 --> 00:13:34,640 to me at all in my life. I can count and 100% believe 302 00:13:35,040 --> 00:13:37,840 that He is doing that in my life and acting even if I'm not 303 00:13:37,840 --> 00:13:39,600 seeing it. And then He just closes with a 304 00:13:39,600 --> 00:13:41,440 little mic drop, which I'm just going to read it again. 305 00:13:41,440 --> 00:13:44,760 I promise this to each of us as we follow the directions of the 306 00:13:44,760 --> 00:13:46,600 servants of the Lord and look to God and live. 307 00:13:46,600 --> 00:13:49,320 He is telling us this is how you look to God and live. 308 00:13:49,840 --> 00:13:53,200 You study the words that God is telling you, you ponder them in 309 00:13:53,200 --> 00:13:56,400 your heart and then you act. So I just wanted to start with 310 00:13:56,400 --> 00:13:58,720 that because I feel like it just sets it up perfectly for us to 311 00:13:58,720 --> 00:14:00,920 understand how we can actually treasure these things up. 312 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:03,720 And I found this quote that said this is not from conference. 313 00:14:03,720 --> 00:14:07,320 It's just a random quote. It's from much on a daily Wyo. 314 00:14:07,320 --> 00:14:09,400 I don't know if I said that right, but it says true wisdom 315 00:14:09,400 --> 00:14:12,240 is like an ocean. The deeper you go, the greater 316 00:14:12,240 --> 00:14:15,520 treasures you'll find. And I have seen that in my life 317 00:14:15,520 --> 00:14:18,640 when I have studied conference, like on my mission. 318 00:14:18,640 --> 00:14:21,480 OK, let's just, you know, let's just go back for a few years. 319 00:14:21,480 --> 00:14:23,400 So like 7 years ago when I was a missionary. 320 00:14:23,720 --> 00:14:27,360 Was it 7 years ago? Oh my gosh, have I been home for 321 00:14:27,360 --> 00:14:29,200 my mission? I'm so old. 322 00:14:29,200 --> 00:14:31,120 This is so crazy. I've been home for my mission 323 00:14:31,120 --> 00:14:32,600 for seven years. So this was like 8 years ago. 324 00:14:32,760 --> 00:14:35,080 I was on my mission. I served in Estonia. 325 00:14:35,080 --> 00:14:37,360 I was in a city called Tolling. It's the capital city. 326 00:14:37,840 --> 00:14:42,200 And I can still remember like this, this transfer of my 327 00:14:42,200 --> 00:14:45,280 mission is cemented in my brain like it is one of the most 328 00:14:45,280 --> 00:14:48,760 sacred times in my life because I was putting in the work to 329 00:14:48,760 --> 00:14:51,240 really come closer to God. Like yes, of course as a 330 00:14:51,240 --> 00:14:55,040 missionary you are, but this specific transfer of my mission 331 00:14:55,040 --> 00:14:58,240 is like the transfer of my mission where I, when I think 332 00:14:58,240 --> 00:15:00,080 about mission, my mission, that is what I think about. 333 00:15:00,480 --> 00:15:03,160 And I remember like I was in this little apartment telling I 334 00:15:03,160 --> 00:15:06,040 was speaking Estonian. My 2 companions were Russian 335 00:15:06,040 --> 00:15:08,240 speaking missionaries. So I was teaching by myself in 336 00:15:08,240 --> 00:15:09,200 the Estonian lessons. OK. 337 00:15:09,200 --> 00:15:12,640 So I was really like needing guidance because we were 338 00:15:12,640 --> 00:15:15,280 teaching a lot of amazing people like I had to do all by myself. 339 00:15:15,280 --> 00:15:17,400 So I was desperately praying for guidance. 340 00:15:17,720 --> 00:15:20,800 And I remember like, because we were in this trio situation, 341 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:23,360 like we didn't have enough desks in the apartment. 342 00:15:23,360 --> 00:15:25,280 So I would study at the kitchen table. 343 00:15:25,960 --> 00:15:29,760 And in this specific apartment, the kitchen table, the window 344 00:15:29,760 --> 00:15:31,880 looked out and there was this medieval tower. 345 00:15:31,920 --> 00:15:34,920 And every morning at sunrise, the medieval tower would play 346 00:15:34,920 --> 00:15:38,200 the national anthem, like, and so every day when I was studying 347 00:15:38,200 --> 00:15:41,000 my scriptures, the national anthem would play and it was 348 00:15:41,000 --> 00:15:42,840 like this castle wall in this medieval tower. 349 00:15:42,840 --> 00:15:48,320 It was like so surreal. But I have specific memories of 350 00:15:48,440 --> 00:15:52,160 that transfer because my mission president encouraged us to study 351 00:15:52,160 --> 00:15:54,440 one conference talk a day when you're a missionary and in our 352 00:15:54,440 --> 00:15:58,040 church, like you get one hour a day to study and like ponder on 353 00:15:58,040 --> 00:15:59,960 the words of God, whether that be the scriptures, conference 354 00:15:59,960 --> 00:16:03,240 talks, whatever. So for 30 minutes a day, I would 355 00:16:03,240 --> 00:16:06,840 study the Book of Mormon, which is an companion scripture of the 356 00:16:06,840 --> 00:16:08,240 Bible. It's another testament of Jesus 357 00:16:08,240 --> 00:16:10,560 Christ. It's Jesus talking to people in 358 00:16:10,560 --> 00:16:12,920 the Americas after his resurrection, before his 359 00:16:12,920 --> 00:16:14,960 erection resurrection the same time that it's happening in 360 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:17,960 Jerusalem. But I would study the Book of 361 00:16:17,960 --> 00:16:20,800 Mormon for 30 minutes. And then for the 2nd 30 minutes, 362 00:16:20,800 --> 00:16:24,680 I would study a conference talk. And I didn't just like read the 363 00:16:24,680 --> 00:16:28,280 conference talk. I was like like deep diving into 364 00:16:28,280 --> 00:16:32,040 this conference talk, like trying to like understand all of 365 00:16:32,040 --> 00:16:35,160 the connections the speaker was trying to make and all the 366 00:16:35,160 --> 00:16:37,280 things that the speaker had understood to write this 367 00:16:37,280 --> 00:16:41,200 conference talk. And it changed me completely. 368 00:16:41,480 --> 00:16:45,240 Like I still can tell you like four or five of those conference 369 00:16:45,240 --> 00:16:47,320 talks from that conference and what they talked about and how 370 00:16:47,320 --> 00:16:49,920 it impacted me because they were just part of me. 371 00:16:49,920 --> 00:16:53,520 I treasured them up. It was so impactful. 372 00:16:53,520 --> 00:16:55,560 That was the conference where President Nelson invited all of 373 00:16:55,560 --> 00:16:57,560 the women to start the Book of Mormon and finish it by the end 374 00:16:57,560 --> 00:16:59,080 of the year. So this was like 3 months to 375 00:16:59,080 --> 00:17:02,720 finish the Book of Mormon and I was religiously reading my Book 376 00:17:02,720 --> 00:17:05,480 Mormon on like every single bus. I was like bringing with me 377 00:17:05,480 --> 00:17:08,880 everywhere and I finished it. And he promised specific things 378 00:17:08,880 --> 00:17:12,160 that I saw happen in my life. And so I feel like that is where 379 00:17:12,160 --> 00:17:15,280 I really got this testimony of like when you treasure up 380 00:17:15,280 --> 00:17:17,240 conference talks like it will change you. 381 00:17:17,800 --> 00:17:20,800 And since like I haven't done that very well. 382 00:17:20,800 --> 00:17:24,160 I did work at a company called the Good News brand a few years 383 00:17:24,160 --> 00:17:25,240 ago. They are amazing. 384 00:17:25,240 --> 00:17:27,520 If you haven't looked this up, this is like a very, this is not 385 00:17:27,520 --> 00:17:31,080 sponsored, just like a shameless plug for them because I am 386 00:17:31,200 --> 00:17:33,880 obsessed with that company. They focus on conference. 387 00:17:33,880 --> 00:17:36,840 So they have three podcasts that all go over conference talks. 388 00:17:36,840 --> 00:17:39,400 They have like different materials that help you study 389 00:17:39,400 --> 00:17:41,360 conference better. This has been a really long 390 00:17:41,360 --> 00:17:43,560 tangent, but basically I just wanted to say like, I know the 391 00:17:43,560 --> 00:17:44,880 power of studying conference talks. 392 00:17:44,920 --> 00:17:47,040 I've seen what happens when I actually take the time to 393 00:17:47,040 --> 00:17:48,200 treasure out these conference talks. 394 00:17:48,280 --> 00:17:50,560 And I want that in my life. And it's been harder to do that 395 00:17:50,560 --> 00:17:52,320 as a mom. But I think that it doesn't have 396 00:17:52,320 --> 00:17:55,440 to be the exact same amount of like I obviously don't have an 397 00:17:55,440 --> 00:17:58,720 hour to study every day, but I don't have to do that to get the 398 00:17:58,720 --> 00:18:01,760 same treasure out of it. And God can make up the 399 00:18:01,760 --> 00:18:03,600 difference. Like that is what we know about 400 00:18:03,600 --> 00:18:07,280 Jesus is that his enabling power, his grace can make what 401 00:18:07,280 --> 00:18:09,600 we have enough. The five loves and the two 402 00:18:09,600 --> 00:18:13,480 fishes were not enough to feed 5000 people, but with him it was 403 00:18:13,480 --> 00:18:15,800 enough. And so if we only have 10 404 00:18:15,800 --> 00:18:18,880 minutes to give, that can be made enough and made into 405 00:18:18,880 --> 00:18:21,240 treasure for us. OK, So what are some ways we can 406 00:18:21,240 --> 00:18:23,080 actually do this? One thing I love about the Good 407 00:18:23,080 --> 00:18:26,120 News brand is that they put out a schedule at the beginning. 408 00:18:26,160 --> 00:18:28,680 They call it a semester like the six months, but they put out a 409 00:18:28,680 --> 00:18:30,720 schedule at the beginning of the six months, the semester. 410 00:18:31,080 --> 00:18:32,880 And every week there's a different common stock they're 411 00:18:32,880 --> 00:18:35,160 studying. It's not an order like the of 412 00:18:35,160 --> 00:18:38,200 the talks being given. And so it's a little bit like a 413 00:18:38,200 --> 00:18:41,440 unique schedule, but it's a free download on their website and I 414 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:42,840 will link that in the show notes. 415 00:18:43,120 --> 00:18:44,880 But every week they pick one conference talk and then they 416 00:18:44,880 --> 00:18:48,480 have three different podcasts that talk about this exact same 417 00:18:48,480 --> 00:18:50,480 conference talk. I'm just going to go over them 418 00:18:50,480 --> 00:18:53,200 because as I worked there, like I edited these reels, like I 419 00:18:53,200 --> 00:18:55,640 really worked on these podcasts a lot and I just feel like 420 00:18:55,640 --> 00:18:57,960 they're so awesome. So the first one is This is 421 00:18:57,960 --> 00:18:59,680 Kingdom. This is Kingdom is more targeted 422 00:18:59,680 --> 00:19:02,400 towards like teenagers and young adults, but I actually love 423 00:19:02,400 --> 00:19:04,680 listening to This is Kingdom in my phase of life because it's 424 00:19:04,680 --> 00:19:08,240 like 10 to 15 minute podcast episodes and they're just taking 425 00:19:08,760 --> 00:19:11,440 the concepts and the conference talk and, and talking about it 426 00:19:11,440 --> 00:19:13,840 for 10 minutes, like deep diving into it for 10 to 15 minutes. 427 00:19:14,240 --> 00:19:16,200 I listen to it when I'm making breakfast sometimes and it's 428 00:19:16,200 --> 00:19:18,880 like, OK, like I got I got something out of that. 429 00:19:19,000 --> 00:19:20,440 They also have one called Revival. 430 00:19:20,440 --> 00:19:22,640 I don't know if they're still doing that one, but that one is 431 00:19:22,640 --> 00:19:25,120 like 25 minutes. And so it's just like a little 432 00:19:25,120 --> 00:19:26,600 bit longer if you're wanting a little bit more. 433 00:19:26,600 --> 00:19:28,480 And then the third one is called Inklings. 434 00:19:28,600 --> 00:19:31,400 And Inklings is like more of an institute class. 435 00:19:31,400 --> 00:19:33,600 So it's like a deep dive into these conference talks, like 436 00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,520 pulling out the themes, pulling out like scripture stories, like 437 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:39,440 it's a full hour institute class every week. 438 00:19:39,760 --> 00:19:42,400 And it is awesome. Like as a mom, Inklings has been 439 00:19:42,400 --> 00:19:44,200 one of the things that has really helped me to feel like 440 00:19:44,200 --> 00:19:45,560 I'm deep diving into scriptures the most. 441 00:19:45,560 --> 00:19:47,680 So if you're not already doing Inklings, like listening to 442 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,600 Inklings, that would be one that I would recommend listening to. 443 00:19:50,600 --> 00:19:53,720 Inklings also is kind of this community where they recommend 444 00:19:53,720 --> 00:19:57,040 and like encourage people to make like a book club, but for 445 00:19:57,040 --> 00:19:58,960 general conference talks. And that this is something I 446 00:19:58,960 --> 00:20:00,920 haven't done, but I think would be really helpful. 447 00:20:01,240 --> 00:20:04,160 It's like create a group of people that you can get together 448 00:20:04,160 --> 00:20:05,760 with once a week or once a month. 449 00:20:05,760 --> 00:20:07,040 Maybe you just pick one talk a month. 450 00:20:07,280 --> 00:20:09,360 Maybe that's what you do. Maybe that's all you feel like 451 00:20:09,360 --> 00:20:11,920 you can handle and that's great. Like that is so much better than 452 00:20:11,920 --> 00:20:14,640 not doing anything at all. But pick like one talk a month 453 00:20:14,640 --> 00:20:17,240 or one talk a week and like get together with some girls or some 454 00:20:17,240 --> 00:20:19,480 moms. And like maybe on a Sunday 455 00:20:19,480 --> 00:20:21,960 morning you have breakfast or something and you talk about 456 00:20:21,960 --> 00:20:24,680 what you've been learning. And like that is so awesome For 457 00:20:24,680 --> 00:20:27,720 me, I'm going to try to pick one talk a week And then I'm going 458 00:20:27,720 --> 00:20:30,600 to like try to listen to it multiple times a week or read it 459 00:20:30,960 --> 00:20:32,720 just like the same talk. Like sometimes we feel this 460 00:20:32,720 --> 00:20:34,880 pressure to switch it up. Why would we not just treasure 461 00:20:34,880 --> 00:20:38,200 up one thing in depth before moving on to the next thing? 462 00:20:38,880 --> 00:20:40,640 And so I want to try to do that once a week. 463 00:20:40,640 --> 00:20:42,120 Just pick the talk. Maybe I'll follow the good news 464 00:20:42,120 --> 00:20:43,720 brand schedule. Maybe I'll do my own thing. 465 00:20:44,000 --> 00:20:46,560 Not sure yet, but I'm going to pick one talk a week and then 466 00:20:47,040 --> 00:20:48,720 I'm going to listen to it while I'm already doing things. 467 00:20:48,720 --> 00:20:51,240 I'm not optimize my time. So like if I'm already unloading 468 00:20:51,240 --> 00:20:53,760 the dishwasher every morning, I might just add that into my 469 00:20:53,760 --> 00:20:55,640 daily routine of like unloading the dishwasher. 470 00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:56,920 My mom said that's what she does. 471 00:20:57,240 --> 00:21:00,240 I feel like that's a good way to like stack that habit or like 472 00:21:00,240 --> 00:21:02,400 driving, like if I'm driving ready and then I think one or 473 00:21:02,400 --> 00:21:04,920 two days a week, I will actually try to study that and read it. 474 00:21:04,920 --> 00:21:07,680 And my mom is a great example of setting general conference. 475 00:21:07,680 --> 00:21:11,080 I'm talking about her a lot. But she said that like one thing 476 00:21:11,080 --> 00:21:13,640 that she does is she'll read a conference talk and then she'll 477 00:21:13,640 --> 00:21:16,640 read all the footnotes for the week, like As for scripture 478 00:21:16,640 --> 00:21:18,480 study. And so that's one thing that I 479 00:21:18,480 --> 00:21:20,600 feel like we could do. And then on my mission, like 480 00:21:20,600 --> 00:21:23,160 when my mission president asked us to read this conference talks 481 00:21:23,160 --> 00:21:26,720 every day, he also asked us to pick 3 lines from that 482 00:21:26,720 --> 00:21:29,560 conference talk each day that felt like they were directly for 483 00:21:29,560 --> 00:21:32,480 us. And so by the end of the, I 484 00:21:32,480 --> 00:21:35,600 don't know, however many months we did this for, I had like this 485 00:21:35,600 --> 00:21:40,480 list in the back of my notebook with all of these like 1 liners 486 00:21:40,480 --> 00:21:41,800 that felt like they were just for me. 487 00:21:42,160 --> 00:21:44,840 And then at the end of that, he has just like choose three to 488 00:21:44,840 --> 00:21:46,400 focus on for like the year or something. 489 00:21:46,400 --> 00:21:48,320 And I'm not saying we need to do that, but like, what would 490 00:21:48,320 --> 00:21:51,120 happen if every time we read a conference talk, we picked one 491 00:21:51,120 --> 00:21:53,880 line and like, put it in a phone note or like put that one line 492 00:21:53,880 --> 00:21:57,000 as our phone screensaver or like wrote that one line on a note 493 00:21:57,000 --> 00:21:59,320 card and like put it on our mirror for the next week. 494 00:21:59,320 --> 00:22:02,120 Or like today when I had that word optimize come to my mind, I 495 00:22:02,120 --> 00:22:05,320 like put it inside my cupboard on a note card so that every 496 00:22:05,320 --> 00:22:07,960 time I'm getting my kids a snack, I see that note card and 497 00:22:07,960 --> 00:22:11,160 remember, like, OK, how can I optimize and like add something 498 00:22:11,160 --> 00:22:16,160 else into my my day? And I think that as we do that 499 00:22:16,160 --> 00:22:18,600 those messages and those words that feel like they're for us 500 00:22:18,600 --> 00:22:21,320 are going to become part of us. And that is what it means to 501 00:22:21,320 --> 00:22:23,440 ponder. Like if you were thinking about 502 00:22:23,440 --> 00:22:26,200 something throughout the day, that was what it means to 503 00:22:26,200 --> 00:22:28,760 ponder. And so yes, like study the 504 00:22:28,760 --> 00:22:30,720 common stocks, like listen to them, read them. 505 00:22:30,720 --> 00:22:33,400 But then also this pondering asset, I think, comes in small 506 00:22:33,400 --> 00:22:36,600 ways as we just make those messages part of our day. 507 00:22:36,600 --> 00:22:40,800 And so, like, my grandma growing up always had a quote from 508 00:22:40,800 --> 00:22:43,080 General Conference, like taped on every mirror in the house. 509 00:22:43,080 --> 00:22:46,200 And my mom started to do that. And I'm just becoming my mom and 510 00:22:46,200 --> 00:22:47,640 my grandma. Like, I think I'm gonna start 511 00:22:47,640 --> 00:22:49,760 doing that. People always feel like the 512 00:22:49,760 --> 00:22:51,680 older you get, the more you'll say things that are like, Oh my 513 00:22:51,680 --> 00:22:54,120 gosh, I am my mom. Like that is feeling like me 514 00:22:54,120 --> 00:22:56,120 lately. But I think I will start taping 515 00:22:56,120 --> 00:22:59,360 these messages onto my mirrors. The other thing is like, listen 516 00:22:59,360 --> 00:23:02,120 to it with your kids around. I feel like we sometimes feel 517 00:23:02,120 --> 00:23:03,760 like we have to separate these things. 518 00:23:03,760 --> 00:23:07,400 But like, optimizing could also mean like listening to it with 519 00:23:07,400 --> 00:23:10,000 your kids around and telling them like, this is who this is. 520 00:23:10,000 --> 00:23:12,360 Like optimize that moment to tell them, like teach them about 521 00:23:12,360 --> 00:23:14,440 the prophet. Like testify to them about why 522 00:23:14,440 --> 00:23:17,520 you want to listen to the prophet and then like teach them 523 00:23:17,520 --> 00:23:18,640 what that common talk is talking about. 524 00:23:18,640 --> 00:23:21,320 President Oaks common talk was about loving and sharing that 525 00:23:21,320 --> 00:23:23,400 love with other people. Like help your kids see like, 526 00:23:23,400 --> 00:23:25,000 OK, how can we love somebody today? 527 00:23:25,000 --> 00:23:26,280 Like, let's go get a drink and so on. 528 00:23:26,280 --> 00:23:28,880 I can take it to somebody else. You know, that is what that 529 00:23:28,880 --> 00:23:32,640 optimized word meant to me today is just like, how can I just not 530 00:23:32,640 --> 00:23:34,600 separate all these things in my life, like mold them all 531 00:23:34,600 --> 00:23:38,440 together so that my life is just becoming this like treasuring 532 00:23:38,440 --> 00:23:40,880 experience instead of just feeling like, OK, right now I'm 533 00:23:40,880 --> 00:23:42,600 studying and then I'm like making breakfast and I'm doing 534 00:23:42,600 --> 00:23:44,440 this. Like how can I just bring it all 535 00:23:44,440 --> 00:23:46,760 together into one? If we're listening to these 536 00:23:46,760 --> 00:23:49,960 talks over and over again, if we're like studying them 537 00:23:50,160 --> 00:23:52,840 alongside of listening to them, it might be repetitive, but 538 00:23:53,240 --> 00:23:54,720 repetition is actually so important. 539 00:23:54,720 --> 00:23:56,720 Like how many of the conference talks talked about ministering, 540 00:23:57,400 --> 00:23:59,560 how many of the conference talk talked about like loving people? 541 00:23:59,560 --> 00:24:02,720 Like that is why repetition is important because then it gets 542 00:24:02,720 --> 00:24:04,080 in your brain more. So if we're listening to the 543 00:24:04,080 --> 00:24:06,720 same conference talks over and over again, it's going to become 544 00:24:06,720 --> 00:24:09,160 part of us more. And I think the most important 545 00:24:09,160 --> 00:24:11,840 thing is acting, which this is the part that really I'm really 546 00:24:11,840 --> 00:24:13,760 bad at. I'm, I'm pretty decent, like 547 00:24:13,800 --> 00:24:16,480 reading and studying. But then the acting part is 548 00:24:16,480 --> 00:24:17,600 like, it's always been hard for me. 549 00:24:17,600 --> 00:24:20,120 Like back in the day when personal progress was a thing. 550 00:24:20,120 --> 00:24:23,160 And they'd say like, OK, for three weeks, think about this 551 00:24:23,160 --> 00:24:24,560 every day. Like I would get to the end of 552 00:24:24,560 --> 00:24:26,640 the week and I'd be like, I didn't think about that. 553 00:24:26,640 --> 00:24:29,040 It's really tricky for me to act in that way for some reason. 554 00:24:29,520 --> 00:24:32,440 And I think that acting can literally be like choosing one 555 00:24:32,440 --> 00:24:33,880 thing. Like like I said, like if you're 556 00:24:33,880 --> 00:24:35,600 reading the talk about ministering, if you're studying 557 00:24:35,600 --> 00:24:38,080 this talk about ministering and like you're really trying to 558 00:24:38,080 --> 00:24:41,440 like administer the way that Jesus did to somebody in your 559 00:24:41,440 --> 00:24:44,160 life, then as you're reading the conference talk, like just 560 00:24:44,160 --> 00:24:45,400 optimize something you're already doing. 561 00:24:45,400 --> 00:24:48,560 Like if you're already going to Chick-fil-A for lunch, grab a 562 00:24:48,560 --> 00:24:50,760 lemonade for somebody. If you're already, I'm talking a 563 00:24:50,760 --> 00:24:52,600 lot about drinks, probably 'cause I'm thirsty right now and 564 00:24:52,600 --> 00:24:57,000 I haven't had like a real lunch. So sorry about that, but if 565 00:24:57,000 --> 00:24:59,400 you're already like going to the park, if you're already going on 566 00:24:59,400 --> 00:25:01,720 a walk, like invite somebody to go on a walk with you. 567 00:25:01,720 --> 00:25:04,720 Like we do so many things as a mom that I'm sometimes like, why 568 00:25:04,720 --> 00:25:07,280 am I not just inviting somebody else to come along? 569 00:25:07,760 --> 00:25:10,400 So I feel like for me, that's what acting is going to look 570 00:25:10,400 --> 00:25:13,600 like is like trying to just add that action into something I'm 571 00:25:13,600 --> 00:25:15,400 already doing. One more shameless plug for the 572 00:25:15,400 --> 00:25:16,880 Good News brand. If you like to have paper 573 00:25:16,880 --> 00:25:19,720 copies, like obviously we have all the digital copies like on 574 00:25:19,720 --> 00:25:21,400 the app, on the phone, like also library app. 575 00:25:21,880 --> 00:25:24,200 But if you are somebody like me who really likes to have a paper 576 00:25:24,200 --> 00:25:28,120 version, the good News brand has a free download for like a wide 577 00:25:28,120 --> 00:25:31,200 margin version of the conference talk. 578 00:25:31,200 --> 00:25:33,760 So it's like if you're wanting to study and have space to take 579 00:25:33,760 --> 00:25:37,560 notes, you can download that and then print it out at your house. 580 00:25:37,560 --> 00:25:39,320 Or you could like take it to like FedEx or somewhere and 581 00:25:39,320 --> 00:25:41,040 print it out. Sometimes I've just downloaded 582 00:25:41,040 --> 00:25:44,120 the PDF and like drawn on the wide margin on my iPad. 583 00:25:44,200 --> 00:25:46,840 Or the church sends out free magazines. 584 00:25:46,840 --> 00:25:49,200 Like you just have to go in on their website and sign up and 585 00:25:49,200 --> 00:25:51,080 then they'll send you a magazine with all the common stocks 586 00:25:51,080 --> 00:25:53,080 printed off. So both of those things can be 587 00:25:53,080 --> 00:25:55,640 helpful too if you're like wanting to write out notes. 588 00:25:56,000 --> 00:25:58,120 But I think the biggest takeaways for me are just the 589 00:25:58,120 --> 00:26:00,000 treasuring of conference does not have to be overwhelming. 590 00:26:00,000 --> 00:26:02,200 And if you're coming out of Commons again, feeling a little 591 00:26:02,200 --> 00:26:06,560 bit unsatisfied, not because it wasn't amazing, but just 'cause 592 00:26:06,560 --> 00:26:08,960 you didn't feel the way you wanted to feel, then guess what? 593 00:26:08,960 --> 00:26:11,200 You actually have six months to feel that. 594 00:26:11,280 --> 00:26:14,240 And just like motherhood is crazy. 595 00:26:14,240 --> 00:26:17,760 And like, you can go from having this wild tantrum to like a 596 00:26:17,760 --> 00:26:19,680 magical moment in the span of 15 minutes. 597 00:26:19,680 --> 00:26:22,080 Like you can actually go from having this kind of discouraging 598 00:26:22,080 --> 00:26:25,800 weekend to feeling like God is talking to you pretty quickly if 599 00:26:25,800 --> 00:26:27,520 you're willing to like put in that work. 600 00:26:27,520 --> 00:26:33,040 And so I just want to end with this scripture from Mosiah 2. 601 00:26:33,040 --> 00:26:37,760 OK, so this is in the Book of Mormon where King Benjamin is. 602 00:26:38,320 --> 00:26:40,080 It's kind of like the first general conference, honestly. 603 00:26:40,080 --> 00:26:42,960 King Benjamin gathers all the people to come. 604 00:26:42,960 --> 00:26:45,560 He's like sets up a tower. He's talking to all the people. 605 00:26:45,920 --> 00:26:48,480 He's prophesying about Jesus coming. 606 00:26:48,960 --> 00:26:52,440 But before that happens, he is kind of just giving like a 607 00:26:52,440 --> 00:26:55,160 little bit of an intro to what he's going to say. 608 00:26:55,160 --> 00:26:57,960 And he says, my brother and all you that have assembled together 609 00:26:58,240 --> 00:27:00,440 you, they can hear the words which I shall speak unto you 610 00:27:00,440 --> 00:27:02,120 this day. For I have not can manage you to 611 00:27:02,120 --> 00:27:04,560 come up, hit her to trifle with the words which I shall speak. 612 00:27:04,840 --> 00:27:07,320 But you should hearken unto me and open your ears that you may 613 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,160 hear and your hearts that you may understand and your minds 614 00:27:10,160 --> 00:27:12,800 that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view. 615 00:27:13,320 --> 00:27:16,040 And as I read that this morning, I just realized like, that is 616 00:27:16,040 --> 00:27:17,920 what conference is all about. Like they're not inviting us to 617 00:27:17,920 --> 00:27:20,000 come and trifle, which that's a funny word that means like, have 618 00:27:20,000 --> 00:27:21,360 a hard time with. Like it's not like they're 619 00:27:21,360 --> 00:27:23,200 inviting us to come to have a hard time. 620 00:27:23,200 --> 00:27:26,400 Like they want us to come so that we can hearken, so that our 621 00:27:26,480 --> 00:27:28,840 ears can hear, that our hearts can understand. 622 00:27:28,840 --> 00:27:31,080 And this is my favorite 1 So that our minds can be unfolded 623 00:27:31,080 --> 00:27:34,400 to the mysteries of God. And that is exactly what 624 00:27:34,400 --> 00:27:37,040 President Oakes said. It's like if you put this verse 625 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:39,000 next to what President Oakes just said, it's basically the 626 00:27:39,000 --> 00:27:44,640 same invitation, study, ponder, and act so that you can have 627 00:27:44,640 --> 00:27:46,560 personal revelation and guidance in your life. 628 00:27:46,600 --> 00:27:48,200 And it's the same thing. It's like hearken unto the 629 00:27:48,200 --> 00:27:50,880 words, which is just like pondering and acting basically 630 00:27:51,280 --> 00:27:54,200 so that your ears can hear, your eyes can see, and that your mind 631 00:27:54,200 --> 00:27:55,720 can be unfolded to the mysteries of God. 632 00:27:56,120 --> 00:27:58,600 And so if you are in a situation in your life right now where you 633 00:27:58,600 --> 00:28:00,880 are needing guidance, you're needing personal revelation or 634 00:28:00,880 --> 00:28:02,560 you're just like needing difficult story to God. 635 00:28:02,880 --> 00:28:06,120 This is your invitation from the prophet of God to study these 636 00:28:06,120 --> 00:28:09,160 words over the next six months. And I I've just seen in my life 637 00:28:09,160 --> 00:28:12,400 that when I do that, like huge blessings come President Oaks 638 00:28:12,400 --> 00:28:14,920 main talking conference was about charity and love. 639 00:28:14,960 --> 00:28:16,720 And again, going back to inklings. 640 00:28:16,720 --> 00:28:19,160 One thing I love about Inklings is that every semester they pull 641 00:28:19,160 --> 00:28:21,200 out like the invitation from the prophet, like the main 642 00:28:21,200 --> 00:28:24,880 invitation from the prophet from his main address and they turn 643 00:28:24,880 --> 00:28:27,560 that into like the theme of the study for the next 6 months. 644 00:28:28,000 --> 00:28:31,120 And I always love like waiting 'cause they always will do like 645 00:28:31,120 --> 00:28:33,480 a post the night after conference of like what the 646 00:28:33,480 --> 00:28:35,120 theme is going to be. And I always am like trying to 647 00:28:35,120 --> 00:28:36,280 guess what the theme is going to be. 648 00:28:36,280 --> 00:28:38,240 I find myself like while he's talking me like oh it's that 649 00:28:38,240 --> 00:28:39,320 line. Oh it's that line. 650 00:28:39,800 --> 00:28:42,280 I had totally got it wrong 'cause my kids were probably 651 00:28:42,280 --> 00:28:44,800 screaming when he said this, but he said pour forth love. 652 00:28:45,480 --> 00:28:48,440 And he talked in his talk all about charity and ministering. 653 00:28:48,440 --> 00:28:51,040 And I've already found myself like thinking about that through 654 00:28:51,040 --> 00:28:54,000 those 3 words Pour forth love in my day. 655 00:28:54,000 --> 00:28:56,320 Like in the last two days I've been like, OK, how can I like 656 00:28:56,320 --> 00:28:57,840 pour forth love more fully today? 657 00:28:58,120 --> 00:29:00,240 And I think that's what triggered this idea of optimize 658 00:29:00,240 --> 00:29:04,120 is like, how can I bring that idea of pour forth love into my 659 00:29:04,120 --> 00:29:06,440 already the things I'm already doing every Like how can I make 660 00:29:06,440 --> 00:29:08,440 these things more about loving other people? 661 00:29:09,200 --> 00:29:10,480 I didn't even read that talk yet. 662 00:29:10,480 --> 00:29:13,200 Like I listened to it on Sunday. I listened to it yesterday 663 00:29:13,200 --> 00:29:16,200 'cause I was like trying to prep for this episode, but like, I 664 00:29:16,200 --> 00:29:19,080 haven't even read it yet. And like already those 3 words, 665 00:29:19,080 --> 00:29:22,720 just three words from his talk have been impacting the way that 666 00:29:22,720 --> 00:29:24,520 I've been acting and the things that I've been doing. 667 00:29:25,000 --> 00:29:28,640 And if that's what can happen from like pondering and acting 668 00:29:28,640 --> 00:29:31,800 on three words, then imagine what can happen if you're 669 00:29:31,800 --> 00:29:35,080 pondering and acting on all the different talks and the things 670 00:29:35,080 --> 00:29:37,040 that are meant for you from this conference. 671 00:29:37,680 --> 00:29:40,120 And so hopefully this is motivating. 672 00:29:40,120 --> 00:29:42,880 Hopefully you feel seen or heard if this was a tricky weekend for 673 00:29:42,880 --> 00:29:44,720 you and we'll see you next week.