Oregon Lovin' Utah Livin': Life in my favorite season

Each semester our YSA ward picks a ward theme.

This semester, Amber and I met with the Elders Quorum presidents to prayerfully decide on a scripture for Fall semester.

We each brought a few scriptures to the table that we had been thinking about and felt impressed to consider. It was a list of wonderful, inspiring scriptures.

Then we stepped back.

What does the Lord want our ward to know this semester?

We talked about unity. We talked about service. We talked about how we are His (Jesus Christ's) hands. And then it came.

Doctrine & Covenants 4:2-3: "Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day. Therefore if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work."

This scripture wasn't on the list, but it just felt right.

A couple weeks later we gave talks in sacrament meeting to introduce the theme and it was a great opportunity to consider what it meant for me, personally.

Here's part of what I shared:

"Recently in my Doctrine & Covenants class, my professor shared this quote from Elder Holland: “Revelation almost always comes in response to a question, usually an urgent question.”

Well, I had an urgent question these past couple weeks.

How am I supposed to serve God with all my heart, might, mind, and strength when I have school, work, callings, and relationships all competing for the energy of my heart, the focus of my mind, and the extent of my might and strength?

I needed an answer to this question. For weeks I had had the recurring feeling of failure. If I was doing well as a student, I wasn't spending enough time on my calling. If I was doing well magnifying my calling, I wasn't dedicating enough attention to my job. If I was doing well at my job, I was eating cereal for dinner and constantly sleep deprived. It was this endless cycle of never being good enough and always, always, coming up short in something.

I wanted to know how this scripture in D&C applied to me.

And I received an answer in many different ways this week. But I feel impressed to share with you one of those humbling experiences.

· On Thursday my training coordinator at the MTC asked me how I'd feel about having a general authority and his wife and the MTC President and his wife come observe class. After a miniature panic attack, of course I said yes I'd love to have them come.

I was told it would be a grammar lesson, so we decided to review a principle called Past Subjunctive. Let me tell you, I have never prepared so thoroughly and meticulously for a lesson in my entire life.

The day came, they entered the room, greeted the missionaries, then Elder Taylor of the 70 turned to me and said: "Sister Parks, my wife and I would love to see a lesson on prayer and an invitation to an investigator to pray."

Inside: You're kidding me, right.

Outside: Of course!

So, I began to teach. After a few questions and discussion we decided to do a practice and I invited a companionship of elders to come teach me as an investigator.

As I set up the practice, I invited the elders to take out their notebooks and write their observations during the practice; what the elders were doing well and what could be improved.

Immediately, Brother Glazier (manager of the training managers) said: May I make a suggestion?

I said, of course! He looked at the missionaries and said: "Elders, during this practice I want you to focus on the investigator; what she is thinking, feeling, and what she needs to come unto Christ."

And in that moment, it hit me.

You've been evaluating all the wrong things.

There will always be something to improve on with "teaching skills", but that's not the goal. The goal is to help others to come unto Christ.

And beyond my MTC district, I was evaluating all the wrong things in my personal life.

Was I too focused on myself and my own abilities? Have I been so consumed analyzing what I need to change that I’ve missed the entire goal?

It's not a game of: "in what category am I failing this time". It's about helping others come unto Christ.

What if my life was measured solely by how I accomplished that goal?

Apparently the music composer Will Thompson was one step ahead of me in the late 1800's when he wrote:

Have I done any good in the world today?

Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed.

Let's take the example of Jesus Christ: Jesus Christ was a perfect, selfless being because he served everyone he came in contact with, most unplanned opportunities in his path. As it describes in Acts 10:38, He "went about doing good, for God was with him".

God is with us. When we are willing, as our baptismal covenant describes, to go about doing good, he will pour out his Spirit abundantly upon us. I have felt that in my life. He will fill you up.

"All of us can incorporate some service into our daily living. We live in a contentious world. We give service when we don’t criticize, when we refuse to gossip, when we don’t judge, when we smile, when we say thank you, and when we are patient and kind." - Cheryl A. Esplin

I can do that. I can do that in my classes, at work, with my roommates, in my calling, and with my family. He asks that we go about doing good. He asks that we give a little more of our heart, mind, might, strength to His children.

Don't get caught up in the thick of thin things. - President Monson

Back to my original question -- How can I serve God with all I have with so many demands competing for my heart, might, mind, and strength?

I invite us to evaluate ourselves individually based on these questions:

Has anyone’s burden been lighter today

Because I was willing to share?

Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?

When they needed my help was I there?

Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,

A blessing of duty and love.

Only he who does something helps others to live.

To God each good work will be known.

I testify that God loves us individually and knows us; he knows our deepest worries and our highest aspirations. He quite literally lifted me and carried me this week when I needed answers and I needed help. He will never ask anything of us that we can’t accomplish. You are in this ward for a reason. To serve and to be served. I can’t tell you the influence that the members of this ward have had in my life. I know that if we serve with a little more of our hearts, might, minds, and strength, He will give us the capacity to do far more than we could ever do on our own. And I share these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.