Sunday, September 14, 2008

Elder Bednar comes to town.

Today we had the privilege of having Elder Bednar speak at our stake conference. Dan and I were really excited to have a member of the Quorum of the Twelve come to our meeting. I wanted to write down a little bit of his message because it touched us so much. Not to get too cheesy on everyone, but it really is amazing how much the Lord knows us and what we need to hear. Today, the nail was hit right on the head with Elder Bednar's words for our little family. He talked about how, "Happiness is not the absence of a load, happiness is bearing the right load." By load, he meant our burdons and responsibilities in life. He explained that so many times in our lives we think, I will be so much happier when school is over, or the kids are older, or I have more money, or ____ insert whatever it is that may be our "load", is over or gone. But he wanted us all to realize that no matter the time in our lives, we will always have a load, but it is important that we fill our lives with the important and right loads in order to make us the happiest. Not that we aren't grateful and enjoy our lives right now, but so many times Dan and I have said, we can't wait for school to be over and he has his career going and we have a house, and, and, and..... the list goes on and on. Elder Bednar talked about when he was in school getting his Ph.d, his professor told him that he didn't think he could finish his schooling because he had 2 young children and a wife at home and it would just be too much for him to do. His time was too divided. He said he used to lay awake at night and say to his wife, "How can I do this? I have 2 children and I am the Young Men's president and the early morning seminary teacher. Everyone else in my class is unmarried with no kids or outside responsibilities. All they have to do all day is study." Dan and I looked at each other and smiled. I can't tell you how many times Dan has laid awake at night, with these similar worries and said to me, how can I do it all? Out of the 5 people in Elder Bednars Ph.d program, he was the only one who graduated! Wow, how inspiring is that? He also told us specifically to never let studying be an excuse for not fullfilling our church responsibilities. Yikes! Another one we needed to hear. Not that we don't try, but there is always room for improvement. To conclude his message, he talked about how we should not just avoid bad, but do and become good. Our new family motto! We plan to make a few changes, because no matter what the "load" is in life, and there always is one, it's time to start choosing more of the right loads.

7 comments:

Janika said...

Thank you so much for sharing--since I am not in that Stake anymore. Could you please post this (or some modification of it) on the coppellrs blog. For either my email/phone (I may still be on the ward list, too) Contact Windy Moikeha. She should also have an email I sent her with the password and ID.

Susan said...

You are becoming such a little sage! Sure miss you and your sweet face. Thanks for putting up with an absentee husband. I am proud of you two though for making time for eachother, that is wise. Love you Lindsey for all the good things you are!

Elle said...

Hey this is Nick Luekenga. My wife stumbled accross your blog so I thought I should say Hi. You can check out my wifes blog and see our twins if you like. Good to see everything is going so well.

Rachael said...

Thanks for sharing! It sounds like it was a great talk and it is always nice to be uplifted and motivated to change some habits. :) Glad all is going well! And PS, you are VERY LUCKY Dan doesn't watch sports! It's on all the time. Ugh... :)

Chablis said...

It looks like you guys are happy in Texas! Your house is gorgeous, I LOVE the stripes!!

Toby and Tammy said...

Lin,
What a great post! I too get caught up in the "when ____, then ___" and I need to quit. Thanks for the reminder to find the important "loads" in life. Love and miss you!

Erin said...

Fun to read your report of the meeting. Wasn't it awesome!

I hope all is going well with the new job and life. We need to get together again. Give me a call if you need a friend in the evenings when Dan is studying. Jimmy is pretty booked as well these days.