Counsel from a Prophet

by William Jackson on 2004-11-07

Hereʼs to already being spiritually filled before 8:30 in the morning.

This morning, this beautiful, chilly, crisp fall morning, Elder David A. Bednar, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints was in Austin at my chapel, and I was one of the many who were invited to hear him speak. Elder Bednar is the youngest and newest apostle, and was previously the President of Brigham Young University-Idaho. Or is he still the President? I need information, siblings.

Anyway, being in the same room as one of the apostles is a really amazing experience. I think I must be quite lucky, because I had the opportunity to hear from President Packer and Elder Ballard while I was in England. That time was extra-special because there were two apostles there.

Here are a few of the themes that Elder Bednar spoke about:

• Learn to be appropriately alone in a crowd
  At school, or just about anywhere really, foul language is the worst. But I can learn to cast it out of my mind and not let it affect me. I can have the spiritual discipline to maintain the Lordʼs standards even when I am surrounded by temptation.
• All the righteous desires of my heart will be given to me
  With the world going the way it is, itʼs easy to wonder about whether I will have the chance to get married and raise a family. The Lord has promised that I will receive these righteous desires, but I must trust his timing.
• Good things can begin with me
  Elder Bednar said that he did not grow up in a household where his family read scriptures and prayed together every day. But he wanted that for himself, so he decided that those good habits and traditions would begin with him. In contrast, I had an amazingly wonderful influence in my home growing up. We did read scriptures and hold family prayers (almost) every day. My parents were examples of righteous living. Itʼs up to me now continue those traditions on my own and when I have a family of my own.
• The Lord knows the world in which I live
  He sent me here because he needs me. He did not send me here to get caught in Satanʼs trap, which is, “Iʼm here to be entertained.” I am here to become a tool that the Lord can use. I am here to choose to follow him. We may think agency is given to us so we can do whatever we want. Wrong. The purpose of agency is to give us the opportunity to choose God. I exercise agency by choosing to enter into covenants with God, such as baptism. Through those covenants I promise to obey Godʼs commandments.