Come Quickly

It was late November, and winter had come early. I had spent the first part of the day on the ski-slopes with my brothers, because it was the first day of the ski season, and also our first day of Thanksgiving break. We had gone to visit my grandparents, and I was weary and sore. I strained to listen to my grandma’s feeble voice as my cousins raucously played in the basement. I struggled to remain alert as her speech was hardly audible, and I was drowsy. She had been in a wheelchair for years, and was always shaking with Parkinson’s. Her mind was still there, but it took an eternity for her to express anything. Between sentences she would occasionally pause to gently slurp Ensure-her primary form of sustenance-through a straw. The liquid was dried in yellowish beads on her cracked lips and I couldn’t keep my mind on what she was muttering. So I excused myself quickly, assuming she would be in better shape the next time I saw her, and I could talk to her then.

The day after Thanksgiving my Grandma had a stroke. At 11, I wasn’t quite sure what that meant, but it sounded bad. I tried to brush off the thoughts that started coming to my mind. I hadn’t ever known anyone that had died, so that was just a morbid thought to have, right? The next day we got a phone call, and my Mom answered the phone. When I saw the look on her face I knew something was wrong. I rushed to the caller ID and discovered that it was my Grandpa Nielson. When my Mom hung up she turned and started speaking. As the words spilled from her mouth I felt empty inside. The words blurred in my ears, and try as I might to unhear them I knew their meaning instantly. But it wasn’t until I reflected on the last time I had spent with my Grandma that the full wave of emotion hit me. I was filled to the brim with regret. I surely should have shared more than a few cursory seconds with her a few days previously, but how could I have known? The only solace I found was in my belief that I could meet her again after this life, and over the years, I let it go.

Recently (now that more than a decade has passed) my wife and I were driving with my Grandpa to visit my parents. My niece, Julia, had just been born, and was named after my Grandmother. Consequently, we began to talk about her. My Grandpa stammered off intermittently while we talked to him, his once sharp mind clouded with cobwebs. Yet he recalled with precision the last days of his beloved wife’s life, though it has now been many years. His eyes looked wistfully through mine, into a seemingly not-so distant past, and I could feel that his life had passed away as if it were a dream.

He spoke of the last night they had spent together. It was uneventful, and they were watching the news. She told him she wanted to go to bed, but he wanted to stay up to see the score from a basketball game. So he carried her to the bedroom and went back to watching the news. That was the last time he heard her voice. The next morning she was lethargic and comatose, and my Grandpa called the ambulance.

They had a family dinner planned the next day with my aunt, and my Grandpa was back and forth between the hospital and helping set up for my aunt’s dinner. Then around four in the afternoon my Grandpa got a call from my uncle who was at the hospital, and he merely said “come quickly.” Before my Grandpa could arrive she had already slipped beyond his reach. As my Grandpa reflected on it, he groaned, feeling that he should have known to cancel the dinner so he could have been there in his wife’s passing moments.

My Grandpa started his next sentence, “Julia always…” and then stuttered off. I had barely noticed, but he hadn’t struggled for words at all as he reflected on his beloved companion. We drove on, and soon the topic had passed, but his difficulty expressing himself brought back the memories of my Grandmother so many years earlier. The importance of each moment was deeply impressed on me, and I resolved to make the moments that I had with my family count. But as I pondered further, I realized that even my Grandfather, one of my greatest role models, had been unable to give a final farewell as he wished. Although it is our accumulation of many moments with family and friends that matter, for some reason the final moments-no matter how trivial- always weigh the heaviest on our minds.

Perhaps that reason is that we remain uncertain of our ability to resolve the meaninglessness of those parting moments. As much as my Grandfather believes (and I believe) the words of the Book of Mormon prophet Alma that ‘there is a time appointed that all shall come forth from the dead’ and Paul’s that ‘as in Adam all die, so in Christ shall all be made alive’, these words provide only hope and not complete assurance. In this life we still walk by faith, not by sight, as faith has never been a perfect knowledge. And so, part of our human experience is being separated from those we love, looking forward with hope to our reunification, with an incomplete yet resolute faith.

Doubt Not, Fear Not

Wrestling the Future

I lie awake in my bed wrestling within my own thoughts about the future direction I must go. My current responsibility is to teach the Gospel of Jesus Christ to those whom I have been called to serve. But what about that day when I wake up and am forbidden to put the tag on again? I need a plan, I must be prepared. So there I lay, pondering anxiously about which runway that will give my life flight.

Do I return to the school that had given me so much confidence in myself. Providing personal opportunities that never would have been imagined at another institution. Or do I take into consideration that with the age change of missionaries perhaps the other school has less attendance allowing a greater opportunity to get accepted. What about my friends at my first school who I have known since young ages. I need them still don’t I? Their support is more then they will even know. To transfer schools is more than just an educational adjustment. Its life changing in every sense.

The struggle is real, reasons to stay are valid, the reasons to transfer are worthy. My heart is torn between the future opportunities at the new school are there, the safe and known opportunities at the first school are there and will be there should I choose to return. As I fought back and forth that particular night, the answer came soft and quickly. I was to at the very least apply to the new school and the feeling was clear that I would be accepted. 

I was honestly appalled. I didn’t really want that answer. For the last 16 months of my life I had been teaching exhorting and inviting people to follow the promptings of the spirit. Now it was time to live what I was teaching. Act upon the impression and walk with faith. The inner struggle almost instantly ceased to be a worthy struggle if I would only trust the spirit. It still requires faith, but its easier to set aside the “what ifs” and just move forward with faith. 

Doubt Not, Fear Not

High School can try a young wavering heart. Its a time when youth are either grasped tightly to the teaching of the Gospel or holding on loosely to the coat tails of a peer. They may come to seminary just so mom and dad will hand them the keys, they will come so that they can enjoy their friday night. Occasionally the lesson may prick their heart, but they will fight it and sit there forcing themselves to fight the spirit and what its teaching them. 

It was a privilege to be on the council that would be responsible to find a scripture that would be used as our year theme. Something that would help students feel the love of their Father in heaven and his confidence in them. Prayerfully we as a council came to the conclusion of Doctrine and Covenants 6:36 “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not fear not.” 

It was our hope that this scripture could help those that were only there come to a greater knowledge of God. That it would help those students that already were engaged find faith and hope in the things they still doubted. This verse did just that. Little did we know the role it would play for those in the council. One lost his brother and the other her mother during our senior year. They were able to lead by living this verse and clinging to its doctrine. Other students admired that and together as seminary students we grew in our faith and trust of the Savior that year.

Wild Study

The clock almost seems to be screaming 8:00am. Its december and the heater is failing to do its job. My cold clammy hands are hurrying to handle the neck tie. My feet frantically search for my slippers and as i race down the stairs my hands steal the blanket from the bed. Once at my desk i fall to my knees. My mind is at home, back in high school, does that girl still care about me? Multiple off topic things dance across my minds stage. I try to gather my thoughts to my purpose in being on my knees. That is to find through all the heavy wave lengths going on my Heavenly Father. Asking him for help and guidance as I am about to embark yet again on  trek. 

Its a trek with an unkept trail, without a finish line, it could have many beautiful land marks to stop and enjoy or it could be a constant steady course. I conclude our conversation and take my seat at the desk. As I begin to open my Book of Mormon I feel the journey beginning. I don’t know where I will be taken. I read with spiritual eyes and a desire to learn and grow. 

This is my wilderness every day for 1 hour. Its me and God, our time to have an interview, for me to be taught by the master. Often times I am lost in the wilderness of scripture and pondering. I have found my sacred grove each time I kneel at that desk, that I open my scriptures and let God come to me and endow me with the power and knowledge I desperately need that day. 

Elder Richard G. Scott Connects Faith to Power

In the Sunday Afternoon Session, Elder Richard G. Scott spoke in a sermon which he titled, “Make the Exercise of Faith Your First Priority”. This talk had an overarching theme of positivity and rising above adversity. It seems Elder Scott can speak on this topic with great authority because of the personal trials he has faced. He often mentions the passing of his wife Jeanene Scott who died in May of 1993 and it's easy to see how this has influenced him in his sermons and in other life experiences.

During this October General Conference Session, speakers from many different backgrounds spoke on topics of their choosing. The average length of time for each talk given was approximately fifteen minutes. This length of time allows one to adequately analyze such a sermon for rhetorical techniques that are not superficial, but that stem throughout the entire length of the talk.

It is interesting to note the way in which Elder Scott draws attention to the ability that the individual has been over the trails of life. Indeed, this seems to be what the basis of his sermon is created. For example, he encourages fathers and mothers saying, “safeguard your children by arming them morning and night with the power of family prayer.” There is a reoccurring theme of doing things which give you and your family strength over trails.

Photo From: deseretnews.com

It is interesting to compare this talk with a talk also given by Elder Scott from the April 2003 called, “The Sustaining Power of Faith in Times of Uncertainty and Testing”.

When comparing these two talks, there pops out a common word that is repeated over and over. The word POWER becomes a motif that is used in every section of each sermon! Consistent with the theme of individual strength over trials, Elder Scott uses word choice such as “power of family prayer”, “powerful blessings”, “faith-filled power”, and “power of the Atonement”.

What is the effect of these rhetorical elements? By using theme, motif, and word choice which connote power that are accessible to the listener, the listener becomes encouraged and is able to see the ability which he has to immediately change and affect his daily life. It is this commonality in Elder Scott’s speaking that lends him such great power in helping the listener learn, grow, and come closer to the Savior.

Limhi's Hope Speech

My section was Mosiah 6 through Mosiah 14. There are multiple oratories:

Mosiah 7:9-11 Limhi introduces himself to Ammon, Amaleki, Helem, and Hem. He asks why Ammon and his friends approached him.

Mosiah 7:12-13 dialogue: Ammon introduces himself

Mosiah 7:14-15 dialogue from Limhi

Mosiah 7:18-33 sermon from King Limhi to his people

Mosiah 8:7-12 dialogue from Limhi to Ammon

Mosiah 8:13-14 dialogue from Ammon

Mosiah 8:19-21 Limhi praises God and quotes Abinadi (see footnote)

Mosiah 11:20-25 Abinadi prophesies

Mosiah 11:27-28 King Noah's dialogue

Mosiah 12:1-8 Abinadi prophecies

Mosiah 12:9-6 The people of King Noah speak to him

Mosiah 12:18 Noah commands to speak to Abinadi

Mosiah 12:20-Mosiah 14:12 is the priests, the King, and Abinadi all having a conversation where Abinadi prophesies to them about their wickedness.


I chose to focus on Mosiah 8:18-33 in my section.
Here King Limhi has called all of his people together so he can talk to them about their afflictions and how their bondage is the consequences of their fathers' wickedness.
King Limhi establishes his ethos talking about "the God of Abraham and Isaac, etc." and he also talks about the God who sent the Jews through the Red Sea on dry ground. By doing this, he shows his knowledge of the past and of the scriptures(which he quotes at the end), and how he knows what he is talking about. Then he hits their emotions with pathos when he talks about how many souls have died fighting for their freedom, how much they have to give, and how hard it is to be in bondage.
The arrangement of this sermon is interesting. He starts by telling them that they need to put their trust in God and he will deliver them from bondage if they keep the commandments. Then he explains how their fathers got in bondage, and how transgression got them into bondage, and then he ends with reminding them to put their trust in God and He will deliver them. He did this to establish hope for his people because they love him.
The kairos of this passage is important because Ammon has come and brought hope to the people who are in bondage.

Messages of Faith, Love, and Personality

There is a man who was a family friend who lived down the street from me growing up. He called (and still to this day calls) me “Lizzy Lou”—my favorite nickname of my childhood, and one that is associated with endearment. I have always looked up to this man, and then he became my bishop, and now currently serves as the Stake President of my home stake. This man is a wonderful man, and because I know this, I pay close attention to his words when he speaks. I know that he has a message prepared for me, and that it is directed by the spirit.

Canyon View Stake Center

On numerous occasions his talks have included similar items that truly help me to listen, understand, and grapple with life messages that need to be applied to me personally. He asks questions—and only answers some of them. Other questions he leaves unanswered, for us to do the work to find the answers that best suit us. He tells stories; stories that leave me captivated, hanging on every word; and stories that dig into my soul and find similar events that are going on in my life. His stories accompanied with his testimony of love and faith, have a way of getting more than one message across. Another aspect dealing with his presentation, is on occasion he will let a tear or two slip. When he shows emotion, it shows power. It shows the power of the Holy Ghost testifying of the principle or truth of which he is speaking. He is not a blubbering baby who is hard to understand. He is a strong, faithful man, who has a pure and steady testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ. His questions, stories, and emotions bring power to his addresses, and I’m sure help more people in the audience than just me.

-Lizzy S.