WEBVTT 00:00:04.260 --> 00:00:06.660 Paisley: Hey everybody, welcome back Paisley imperfect here 00:00:06.660 --> 00:00:09.600 again today, and I'm going to talk about something I pretty 00:00:09.600 --> 00:00:12.900 much talk about in every episode. But now I have proof. 00:00:13.200 --> 00:00:18.240 Let me explain so President Holland's talk back in April, 00:00:19.740 --> 00:00:24.620 motions of a hidden fire. It really hit me, as I'm sure it 00:00:24.620 --> 00:00:30.200 did most people. But the part that really hit me kind of in 00:00:30.200 --> 00:00:33.860 the chest, really was this part. He said, virtually all my 00:00:33.860 --> 00:00:37.220 experience in the hospital during that first period is lost 00:00:37.220 --> 00:00:41.080 to my memory. What is not lost is my memory of a journey 00:00:41.140 --> 00:00:44.260 outside the hospital, out to what seemed the Edge of 00:00:44.260 --> 00:00:48.040 Eternity. I cannot speak fully of that experience here, but I 00:00:48.040 --> 00:00:51.400 can say that part of what I received was an admonition to 00:00:51.400 --> 00:00:55.840 return to my ministry with more urgency, more consecration, more 00:00:55.840 --> 00:01:01.020 focus on the Savior, more faith in His Word. It wasn't the 00:01:01.020 --> 00:01:04.980 experience part they hit me. We've been we've talked about 00:01:04.980 --> 00:01:09.840 miracles and sacred experiences, and I am absolutely fine leaving 00:01:09.840 --> 00:01:15.900 that part alone. Obviously I'm curious. Who isn't, but that is 00:01:15.960 --> 00:01:19.500 a personal sacred experience between him and his heavenly 00:01:19.500 --> 00:01:22.460 Father, and not something that he needs to share with me or the 00:01:22.460 --> 00:01:27.020 rest of us. Frankly, over the pulpit, what hit me in the chest 00:01:27.020 --> 00:01:33.080 was the admonition part, because my thought was, if Elder Holland 00:01:33.140 --> 00:01:42.820 needed to be admonished, what hope is there for me. Where do I 00:01:42.820 --> 00:01:46.900 stand? And honestly, that's kind of been weighing on me a little 00:01:46.900 --> 00:01:50.680 bit for the last six months. But the other day, I was scrolling 00:01:50.680 --> 00:01:52.720 through Pinterest, I didn't really know how to address it 00:01:52.720 --> 00:01:56.260 here, and so I've just kind of been letting it stew for a 00:01:56.260 --> 00:01:59.800 little bit. But the other day, I was scrolling through Pinterest 00:01:59.800 --> 00:02:06.420 and came across this, this quote from President Hinckley. And I 00:02:06.420 --> 00:02:09.120 need to get more into President Hinckley stuff, because he was 00:02:09.120 --> 00:02:13.380 so funny and he was so fun and he was so cheerful all the time. 00:02:14.160 --> 00:02:17.820 But he said, it isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It 00:02:17.820 --> 00:02:21.260 all works out. Don't worry, if you do your best, it will all 00:02:21.260 --> 00:02:26.300 work out, put your trust in God and move forward with faith. And 00:02:26.720 --> 00:02:30.620 so I thought that while prepping for this episode, I would go and 00:02:30.620 --> 00:02:35.540 try and find where that quote originally came from. But as I 00:02:35.540 --> 00:02:39.620 was doing that search, I came across another talk that I just 00:02:39.680 --> 00:02:45.760 loved and that is relevant. So I'm going to come back to 00:02:45.760 --> 00:02:49.360 President Hinckley in a little while, and instead, I'm going to 00:02:49.360 --> 00:02:54.940 talk about this talk from 2016 it's by Elder J Devon Cornish of 00:02:54.940 --> 00:02:59.740 the 70 and it's called, am I good enough? Will I make it? 00:03:01.000 --> 00:03:03.360 Obviously, it'll be linked in the description, because 00:03:03.420 --> 00:03:06.420 everybody needs to go and read or listen to it themselves. He 00:03:07.200 --> 00:03:10.080 starts with a personal experience. He was coming out of 00:03:10.080 --> 00:03:13.620 medical school, was doing a pediatric residency at a 00:03:13.620 --> 00:03:19.080 hospital, and he was trying to write the admission order for a 00:03:19.080 --> 00:03:24.560 10 year old boy with pneumonia. And he said he was alternately 00:03:24.560 --> 00:03:29.120 sobbing and falling asleep. And have you been that tired? I've 00:03:29.120 --> 00:03:35.600 been that tired before, as the brand new mom of twins, there 00:03:35.600 --> 00:03:39.680 are days I just don't even remember, because I was so tired 00:03:40.100 --> 00:03:47.140 that I cried and just just alternating between sobbing and 00:03:47.140 --> 00:03:51.820 crying. So here's this kid, essentially, this young man who 00:03:51.880 --> 00:03:54.940 who just came out of medical school, he's trying to write 00:03:54.940 --> 00:03:59.080 this admission. He's trying to do the admission paperwork for a 00:03:59.080 --> 00:04:03.900 10 year old boy. And he's just, he's struggling, and one of the 00:04:03.900 --> 00:04:06.720 senior residents notices that he's struggling, and so he comes 00:04:06.720 --> 00:04:10.260 over and asks him how he's doing, and he pours his heart 00:04:10.260 --> 00:04:16.440 out. And the senior resident says to him, you know, we all 00:04:16.440 --> 00:04:18.840 think that you're doing an excellent job, and someday 00:04:18.840 --> 00:04:23.240 you're going to make a fantastic doctor. And he said that that 00:04:23.600 --> 00:04:26.480 even though he didn't feel like it at the time, that that 00:04:27.260 --> 00:04:31.760 changed, that changed him. It made a world of difference to 00:04:31.760 --> 00:04:36.980 him. And then he said this, as with my own experience, our 00:04:36.980 --> 00:04:40.900 members often ask, Am I good enough as a person, or will I 00:04:40.900 --> 00:04:44.020 really make it to the celestial kingdom? Of course, there is no 00:04:44.020 --> 00:04:47.620 such thing as being good enough. None of us could ever earn or 00:04:47.620 --> 00:04:51.940 deserve our salvation. But it is normal to wonder if we are 00:04:51.940 --> 00:04:55.300 acceptable before the Lord, which is how I understand these 00:04:55.300 --> 00:04:58.660 questions. Sometimes, when we attend church, we become 00:04:58.660 --> 00:05:01.560 discouraged even by. Sincere invitations to improve 00:05:01.560 --> 00:05:05.640 ourselves. We think silently, I can't do all these things, or I 00:05:05.640 --> 00:05:10.680 will never be as good as all these people. And for those of 00:05:10.680 --> 00:05:13.800 you who have been hanging out with me long enough, we know we 00:05:13.800 --> 00:05:17.820 have a giant list from President Kimball and President Nelson on 00:05:17.820 --> 00:05:20.840 all of the things that we need to work on to become better 00:05:20.840 --> 00:05:24.920 versions of ourselves, right? The list gets longer every time 00:05:24.920 --> 00:05:28.100 we have a general conference, every time the Liahona comes 00:05:28.100 --> 00:05:36.800 out, our lists just get longer and longer. But that's okay. We 00:05:36.800 --> 00:05:41.200 also know that those that those thoughts, am I ever going to be 00:05:41.200 --> 00:05:44.080 good enough? I'm never going to be able to get all of those 00:05:44.080 --> 00:05:48.160 things done. Those thoughts come from Satan. He's constantly 00:05:48.160 --> 00:05:54.700 trying to make us feel like we are not good enough. But also 00:05:54.700 --> 00:05:57.760 notice, especially in this example, that elder Cornish 00:05:57.760 --> 00:06:01.680 gives that Satan uses other people. So so Satan uses other 00:06:01.680 --> 00:06:04.260 people to make us feel bad, where Heavenly Father uses other 00:06:04.260 --> 00:06:12.360 people to make us feel good. Satan uses them by planting 00:06:12.360 --> 00:06:17.160 little thoughts in our ears, whispering things in our ears, 00:06:17.160 --> 00:06:20.240 like you're never going to be as pretty as she is, or you're 00:06:20.240 --> 00:06:26.600 never going to have it as well together as she does. And so he 00:06:26.600 --> 00:06:30.800 uses, he uses other people to try and build a sense of 00:06:30.800 --> 00:06:34.880 contention or resentment within us, and Heavenly Father uses 00:06:34.880 --> 00:06:39.200 them to help build us up. Elder Cornish said, Please, we must 00:06:39.200 --> 00:06:42.520 stop comparing ourselves to others, we torture ourselves 00:06:42.520 --> 00:06:46.660 needlessly by competing and comparing. We falsely judge our 00:06:46.660 --> 00:06:51.820 self worth by the things we do or don't have and by the 00:06:51.820 --> 00:06:57.340 opinions of others. So let me ask you this question, have you 00:06:57.340 --> 00:07:03.840 ever felt fulfilled by comparing yourself to someone else. Have 00:07:03.840 --> 00:07:06.180 you ever when you compare somebody to when you compare 00:07:06.180 --> 00:07:11.460 yourself to someone else? One of two things, at least in my 00:07:11.460 --> 00:07:14.700 experience, one of two things happens. You either feel like 00:07:14.700 --> 00:07:18.300 you're not as good as them, or you feel like you're better than 00:07:18.300 --> 00:07:22.940 them. Both of those thoughts are dangerous, and both come from 00:07:22.940 --> 00:07:29.960 Satan. Neither one ever works out very well. Elder Cornish 00:07:29.960 --> 00:07:32.480 gives us something else that we can pick can compare ourselves 00:07:32.480 --> 00:07:37.040 with. Instead, he said, If we must compare, so if you have to, 00:07:37.700 --> 00:07:41.920 if we must compare, let us compare how we were in the past, 00:07:42.100 --> 00:07:46.180 to how we are today, and even to how we want to be in the future. 00:07:46.720 --> 00:07:49.240 The only opinion of us that matters is what our Heavenly 00:07:49.240 --> 00:07:55.540 Father thinks of us. And then he says this, please sincerely ask 00:07:55.540 --> 00:07:59.860 him what he thinks of you. He will love and correct but never 00:07:59.860 --> 00:08:04.620 discourage us. That is Satan's trick. So if you want to know 00:08:04.620 --> 00:08:13.140 ask, it seems too simple, right? Also, elder Cornish kind of just 00:08:13.140 --> 00:08:16.860 kind of as a side note here, he gives us a clear indicator on 00:08:16.860 --> 00:08:19.920 whether our thoughts are coming from the Holy Ghost or coming 00:08:19.920 --> 00:08:26.660 from the adversary. If they are giving us courage and hope, then 00:08:26.660 --> 00:08:29.960 they're coming from God through the Holy Ghost. If they are 00:08:30.020 --> 00:08:34.580 discouraging or depressing us, those are not thoughts that our 00:08:34.580 --> 00:08:36.800 Heavenly Father wants us to have. Those are not thoughts 00:08:36.800 --> 00:08:39.500 that he would give us. Those are thoughts that come from Satan. 00:08:40.880 --> 00:08:44.620 Okay, so if we ask our heavenly father what he thinks of us, I 00:08:44.620 --> 00:08:53.380 have a feeling that we will feel loved and cared about so so much 00:08:53.380 --> 00:08:57.520 so our Heavenly Father loves us so much that he will tell us the 00:08:57.520 --> 00:09:01.380 things that we need to work on, and he will give us the tools, 00:09:01.380 --> 00:09:03.840 the resources, the people that we need to be able to work on 00:09:03.840 --> 00:09:13.020 those things. He will help us see our progress and help us 00:09:13.020 --> 00:09:19.140 learn those things that we need to become better in a hopeful 00:09:19.200 --> 00:09:23.960 and encouraging way, but we still have to put in the effort 00:09:24.260 --> 00:09:27.380 we don't get to just ask and then be like, Okay, 00:09:27.560 --> 00:09:33.080 now I know. Now, show me what I gotta do. Do it for me. That's 00:09:33.080 --> 00:09:36.200 not how that works either. Alder Cornish quotes President 00:09:36.200 --> 00:09:39.320 Hinckley, and he says, All the Lord expects of us is to try, 00:09:39.680 --> 00:09:43.900 but you have to really try. And really is italicized, you have 00:09:43.900 --> 00:09:48.640 to really try. He defines really trying like this. This is elder 00:09:48.640 --> 00:09:52.300 Cornish defining really trying. He says really trying means 00:09:52.300 --> 00:09:54.880 doing the best we can, recognizing where we need to 00:09:54.880 --> 00:09:58.960 improve, and then trying again. By repeatedly doing this, we 00:09:58.960 --> 00:10:02.340 come closer and closer. To the Lord, we feel his spirit more 00:10:02.340 --> 00:10:08.400 and more, and we receive more of His grace or help. That sounds 00:10:08.400 --> 00:10:12.960 like the definition of daily repentance, didn't we? We just 00:10:13.140 --> 00:10:15.540 talked about that when we've talked about daily repentance a 00:10:15.540 --> 00:10:18.540 couple episodes back, right? So I don't know about you, but it's 00:10:18.540 --> 00:10:23.120 all coming together. All these things are all coming together. 00:10:24.020 --> 00:10:26.360 We've talked about daily repentance. Now we're talking 00:10:26.360 --> 00:10:30.560 about President Hinckley calls it really trying. And then elder 00:10:30.560 --> 00:10:33.920 Cornish says all we have to do to receive this heavenly help is 00:10:33.920 --> 00:10:37.520 to ask for it and then act on the righteous promptings we 00:10:37.520 --> 00:10:40.840 receive. So we ask our Heavenly Father What we need to do to 00:10:40.840 --> 00:10:45.160 improve, and then we act on it, daily repentance, really trying. 00:10:46.420 --> 00:10:49.360 He does caution us, though. I mean, what would a general 00:10:49.360 --> 00:10:51.460 conference talk be without a little bit of caution or 00:10:51.460 --> 00:10:56.260 warning? Right? He says this talking about the opportunity 00:10:56.260 --> 00:10:59.260 that we have for daily repentance and heavenly help. He 00:10:59.260 --> 00:11:03.720 says this does not mean in any way that sin is okay. Sin, it 00:11:03.780 --> 00:11:08.340 always has consequences. Sin always harms and hurts both the 00:11:08.340 --> 00:11:12.600 sinner and those affected by his or her sins. And true repentance 00:11:12.600 --> 00:11:17.640 is never easy. And the worst kind of sin is premeditated sin, 00:11:17.640 --> 00:11:22.160 where one says, I can sin now and repent later. I believe that 00:11:22.160 --> 00:11:25.100 this is a solemn mockery of the sacrifice and sufferings of 00:11:25.100 --> 00:11:30.500 Jesus Christ. Then he quotes from Alma, from the Book of 00:11:30.500 --> 00:11:33.320 Mormon. In Alma, Chapter 4110, Behold, I say unto you, 00:11:33.320 --> 00:11:37.520 wickedness never was happiness. But he explains why, and I love 00:11:37.520 --> 00:11:41.680 his explanation. He said one of the reasons that Alma statement 00:11:41.680 --> 00:11:45.700 is particularly true is that with repeated sinning, we 00:11:45.700 --> 00:11:49.480 distance ourselves from the spirit, become discouraged and 00:11:49.480 --> 00:11:53.080 then stop repenting. So all of the things that we were just 00:11:53.080 --> 00:11:56.080 talking about, all of these things that provide courage and 00:11:56.080 --> 00:12:04.500 hope and forward progression, they all stop. They all stop 00:12:04.620 --> 00:12:10.860 when we decide that I'm just going to do this I can repent 00:12:10.860 --> 00:12:17.700 later, when we stop repenting and stop listening, also, that's 00:12:17.700 --> 00:12:21.920 when pride sets in. We start to rationalize and justify our own 00:12:21.920 --> 00:12:26.540 behavior, our thoughts, our actions, our excuses, all of the 00:12:26.540 --> 00:12:30.440 things we start to rationalize and justify them. It becomes an 00:12:30.500 --> 00:12:35.060 I didn't do anything wrong, situation or mindset which 00:12:35.060 --> 00:12:39.380 continues to push us further from who we can become. Elder 00:12:39.380 --> 00:12:43.480 Cornish says what we cannot do is rationalize rather than 00:12:43.480 --> 00:12:47.620 repent. It will not work to justify ourselves and our sins 00:12:47.620 --> 00:12:51.100 by saying, God knows it's just too hard for me, he accepts me 00:12:51.100 --> 00:12:57.100 like I am. That sounds familiar. That sounds an awful lot like we 00:12:57.100 --> 00:13:00.480 are trying to tell God that His rules are dumb, they're too 00:13:00.480 --> 00:13:03.060 hard, and we're not going to follow them, and we still expect 00:13:03.060 --> 00:13:06.420 for him to give us all of the rewards, as though we did follow 00:13:06.420 --> 00:13:09.600 the rules. We talked about that a couple episodes back in the 00:13:10.800 --> 00:13:16.980 love and laws episode, so I'm not going to get into all of 00:13:16.980 --> 00:13:19.860 that right now. President oaks did a great job of putting that 00:13:19.860 --> 00:13:24.500 to rest. You can go check that one out. Elder Cornish continues 00:13:24.560 --> 00:13:27.440 talking about really trying, so we're putting the 00:13:27.440 --> 00:13:30.440 rationalization. We're putting the rationalization the 00:13:30.440 --> 00:13:33.860 justification. We're putting that away because we are trying 00:13:33.860 --> 00:13:37.160 to focus on becoming better, and we're trying to focus on forward 00:13:37.160 --> 00:13:40.100 progression. And forward progression does not come from 00:13:40.100 --> 00:13:43.660 rationalization and justification. Really trying, 00:13:43.660 --> 00:13:49.600 elder Cornish says means we keep it. We keep at it. Sorry, really 00:13:49.600 --> 00:13:54.160 trying means we keep at it as we fully come up to the Lord's 00:13:54.220 --> 00:13:58.060 standard, which is clearly defined in the questions we are 00:13:58.060 --> 00:14:01.260 asked in order to get a temple recommend. So if you need to 00:14:01.260 --> 00:14:03.660 know what the standard is, go check out the temple recommend 00:14:03.660 --> 00:14:06.480 questions. That's the standard that our Heavenly Father expects 00:14:06.480 --> 00:14:10.980 us to live to. And if you have a temple recommend, a temple 00:14:10.980 --> 00:14:16.380 recommend, congratulations, you're there, that does not mean 00:14:16.380 --> 00:14:19.620 that you're perfect. I have a temple recommend. I am not 00:14:19.620 --> 00:14:25.940 perfect, far from perfect. Instead of expecting the Lord to 00:14:25.940 --> 00:14:30.620 come to us, it's too hard. He'll forgive me later. We need to 00:14:30.620 --> 00:14:35.060 come to him a little bit at a time, every day, daily 00:14:35.060 --> 00:14:38.360 repentance, really trying, moving forward, forward 00:14:38.360 --> 00:14:41.440 progression. That is, that's what started this whole thing, 00:14:41.440 --> 00:14:45.820 right? The quote from President Hinckley. Where did it go? The 00:14:45.820 --> 00:14:48.520 quote from President Hinckley, where he said, 00:14:53.800 --> 00:14:59.800 Oh my goodness, it isn't as bad as you sometimes think it is. It 00:14:59.800 --> 00:15:04.080 All. Works out. Don't worry if you do your best. It will all 00:15:04.080 --> 00:15:09.720 work out. Put your trust in God and move forward with faith a 00:15:09.720 --> 00:15:15.660 little bit at a time every single day. Okay, two more 00:15:15.660 --> 00:15:20.840 quotes from elder Cornish to finish off this episode. Let he 00:15:20.840 --> 00:15:25.160 says, Let me be direct and clear the answers to the questions, am 00:15:25.160 --> 00:15:30.800 I good enough and Will I make it? Are? Are the answers? Yes, 00:15:30.920 --> 00:15:34.700 you are going to be good enough and yes, you are going to make 00:15:34.700 --> 00:15:38.060 it, as long as you keep repenting and do not rationalize 00:15:38.300 --> 00:15:43.120 or rebel. The God of Heaven is not a heartless referee looking 00:15:43.120 --> 00:15:47.620 for any excuse to throw us out of the game. He is our perfectly 00:15:47.680 --> 00:15:51.880 loving Father who yearns more than anything else, to have all 00:15:51.880 --> 00:15:56.560 of his children come back, come back home and live with him as 00:15:56.560 --> 00:16:00.720 families forever. Our heavenly Father intends for us to make 00:16:00.720 --> 00:16:08.400 it. That is His work and His glory. It is God's purpose to 00:16:08.460 --> 00:16:13.440 help us make it. We still get to choose. We talked about agency 00:16:13.440 --> 00:16:17.580 before too. We still get to choose. He's not going to take 00:16:17.580 --> 00:16:20.420 our agency away and say, you have to make it do all of these 00:16:20.420 --> 00:16:25.640 things. And lastly, he says, I witness to you that if you will 00:16:25.640 --> 00:16:29.660 really try and will not rationalize or rebel, you 00:16:29.660 --> 00:16:34.880 positively are going to be good enough that is acceptable before 00:16:34.880 --> 00:16:38.240 the Lord. You will be acceptable before the Lord. You are going 00:16:38.240 --> 00:16:41.560 to make it to the celestial kingdom being perfect in Christ, 00:16:41.800 --> 00:16:45.220 and you are going to receive the blessings and glory and joy that 00:16:45.220 --> 00:16:48.760 God desires for each of his precious children, including 00:16:48.760 --> 00:16:56.740 specifically you and me. And just to be sure, I actually went 00:16:56.740 --> 00:16:58.960 and looked up the word admonished that President 00:16:58.960 --> 00:17:03.420 Holland used earlier. Yes, it can be used to denote a 00:17:03.420 --> 00:17:07.620 reprimand, a criticism or a scolding, but it can also be 00:17:07.620 --> 00:17:14.100 replaced with advised, taught, warned or counseled. I don't 00:17:14.100 --> 00:17:16.860 want to put words into President Holland's mouth, but I sure feel 00:17:16.860 --> 00:17:20.160 a lot better knowing that admonish, admonished was more 00:17:20.160 --> 00:17:23.600 likely used as strongly counseled from our Heavenly 00:17:23.600 --> 00:17:26.360 Father, letting President Holland know where he can 00:17:26.360 --> 00:17:30.020 improve. And then elder Cornish tells us that we can get the 00:17:30.020 --> 00:17:36.920 same we just have to ask, before you go and ask, please make sure 00:17:36.920 --> 00:17:41.260 that you're ready to really try, because once you know better, 00:17:41.440 --> 00:17:45.460 the expectation is that you will do better. You won't have to do 00:17:45.460 --> 00:17:49.480 it alone, though your heavenly Father loves you and will 00:17:49.480 --> 00:17:52.180 provide all of the tools and necessary things that you need 00:17:52.180 --> 00:17:55.420 to be able to progress along that covenant path and to become 00:17:55.420 --> 00:17:58.720 more like Him, your Savior will be right there with you the 00:17:58.720 --> 00:18:04.800 whole way as he will me, I have a long way to go. It's going to 00:18:04.800 --> 00:18:10.320 be a long path, but a little bit at a time, we just have to keep 00:18:10.320 --> 00:18:13.560 trying. And that is, according to President Hinckley, who is a 00:18:13.560 --> 00:18:17.340 prophet of God, we just have to keep trying. Our heavenly Father 00:18:17.340 --> 00:18:23.480 loves you. He loves me. He wants to see us succeed. Thank you so 00:18:23.480 --> 00:18:27.680 much for being here today. Keep learning, keep growing, keep 00:18:27.680 --> 00:18:31.400 trying just a little bit more every day, and be of good cheer. 00:18:31.760 --> 00:18:33.680 Thanks everybody until next time you.