|
VIEW PERSONAL BELIEFS
|
|
POSTED BY:
|
lds_sister2
|
|
DATE:
|
02.05.2010 |
|
SUBJECT:
|
Meeting an Apostle |
|
LOCATION:
|
Riverside, United States
|
|
I just had one of the best experiences of my life tonight. I had the privledge of getting see Elder M. Russell Ballard speak at a YSA Fireside in the Riverside Stake of California. I even got to share a few words with him and shake his hand. This is my first experience meeting one of the living Apostles, and an amazing one.
From the moment he walked into the room, the crowded Chapel and Cultural Hall went silent and everyone stood. It was if the room got brighter and I swear the presence of the Spirit got so thick that I almost had a hard time breathing. When he sang The Spirit of God as the opening hymn, my heart opened wide, like the first time I felt the Spirit over two years ago when I was praying and got baptized two weeks later.
One of the most memorable things I will always remember about Elder Ballard is how funny the man is. He told so many hilarious stories from his mission, a time with President Hinkeley while in the Temple, and even about how cool he is. I don't remember ever laughing so hard from a joke in one of the General Authority's talks. He wanted to speak to us about only one thing. About kindling our desire to know. To do all we can to prepare ourselves for the Lord so he can use us in the building of the Kingdom. He started talking about his mission, and being a new missionary. He wished he had spent more time preparing himself before having not even read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover yet.
He wants our generation to be prepared, and to always having a desire to learn more about the mysteries of the Kingdom of God. There is a great work to still be done, and the Lord will call on us at one point or another. How do we fortify ourselves to fight off temptation? By kindling our desire to know. With this desire, we will have the power to withstand Satan and his temptations. He shared something from Matthew. "Take heed that no man deceive you." With all the media out there today it is so easy to run into temptation. He commanded us to read the 8th chapter of Mormon, which I have yet to do. I wanted to write about my experience first.
He then shared a verse from the Book of Matthew. I didn't get what verse it was, but it's a familiar enough verse you guys will remember it. It's when Christ is talking about gathering all the sheep on his right hand, and the goats on his left. "You don't want to be a goat. Have you ever met a goat? They are crazy." LOL. He then related a story about watching the shepherds in Jerusalem. All the sheep are kept in the same place, yet, when called by their shepherd, their sheep come. The sheep know their shepherd's voice. Goats do not. It is the sheep that will be told by Christ, "Inherit the Kingdom prepared for you."
Those that are YSAs right now, the future of the Church in on our shoulders. We are the future leaders. We must have that DESIRE so we can PREPARE for the callings that we will fulfill in the future. The future leaders will have integrity, courage, witness, testimony and desire. These are the things that we must be a example of. By staying anchored in the church, we will be prepared when the Lord calls us to serve. If our desire burns brightly. A line must be set and we will not cross it because we want to be prepared for the Lord.
He started talking about the ages of all the Apostles. "We may be a bunch of old men, but we are still pretty cool. We know what's going on." LOL.
Know what the lines are that the Lord has set and we will be fortified. Then he invoked a blessing on all of us. To have the desire to know and learn about the Kingdom of God. By doing so, making decisions will become easier. Following the commandments will be easy. We must be leaders in our own families, especially those who may be the only member in our family. We have the duty of being an example. To show them what it means to be a Disciple of Christ. Have an instinctive desire to know, and we will hear the shepherd's voice. And the Lord will say to the sheep, "I know them."
Anyway, that's what Elder Ballard talked about. LOL. It's such a great talk, right? In a way, it's exactly what I needed to hear. I love it when that happens. When you are at a point when you have to make an important decision, when you are at a crossroads, when you are at Church, you seem to hear exactly what you need to hear to take the right road. After being disqualified from the Army because I have an auto-immune disease, I've been confused about where to go next. In all of the preparation I did to go into the military, it always felt right. I prayed about it, and never got a No. Or perhaps it was one of those times where I got no answer at all.
But hearing him talk, about preparing yourself to serve the Lord, it was as if, just like one of my friends said who is leaving on her mission this week. It was as if the Spirit sat in my lap. What a feeling! It in fact brought me to tears, and everything became clear. Right after I was baptized, I knew I wanted to share my feelings and experiences with the world. And when I got my Patriarchal Blessing a few months later, my desire to serve enhanced, knowing that I would serve a full time mission. I couldn't wait for that one year mark to hit. But when that year came, I knew I was not prepared yet. I am not sure why, but I knew it. I know why now. I was not prepared enough in the gospel. I didn't have the experience that I needed yet. I had went to be challenged in the gospel.
And now that I have, that desire to serve has come once again. I thought it was in the military. But I was wrong. Sitting there, listening to Elder Ballard, with the Spirit sitting on my lap, I felt like the Holy Ghost took my cheeks in his hands and directed my eyes in the right direction. Like he was saying "Hello! Go that way, chica!" LOL.
So here I am, just turned 24, knowing I have to prepare for a mission. Nothing has ever felt so right before. And when I went up to the stand to shake Elder Ballard's hand, I knew that I heard the Spirit right. Thank you Elder Ballard for speaking to us tonight. Now I know what I have to do.
|
|
|
|
FairLDS.org
LDS.org
MormonWiki
Mormon Encyclopedia
FARMS