In Praise of Those Who Save

This talk by President Uchtdorf was given to the men at the Priesthood session of Conference.  I found it very encouraging and it gave me a few tips I am wanting to ponder and journal my thoughts.  These are some of the things that impressed me the most.

I loved the analogy he gave of building a marriage pebble by pebble, action by action.  “By adding pebbles of kindness, compassion, listening, sacrifice, understanding and selfishness, eventually a mighty pyramid will begin to grow.”  He continues by explaining, the building process may be slow and we have all of forever to build it.  This really affected me.  It reminded me I am weak and imperfect, and the progression of the creation of a pyramid, pebble by pebble, will take a long time. Acts of kindness, selfishness and compassion make the building procedure a means to strengthen, guide and develop our relationship in the eternities.

He also spoke about how as families we are all from the same genes, but we are all unique spirits.  We need to “celebrate our differences and appreciate them for adding richness and constant surprises to our lives.”  I personally sometimes find the family overwhelming at times.  We might disagree on how things, such as, when bedtimes should be, or we might have contention in the home over the chores we have asked them to complete.  Reminding myself, my children are here to bring our family eternal happiness, constant surprises and richness to our earthly journey might comfort me enough to help me through these tougher times.

 Something else the moved me was when he talked about charity.  “Whatever problems your family is facing, whatever you must do to solve them, the beginning and end of the solution is charity, the pure love of Christ.”  This also really hit me as I pondered the struggles in our own extended family.  Many family members are not speaking to each other or myself because of difference of opinion.  This strife has made Christmas, family get-togethers and even community events in our small town tough.  Knowing charity is the answer to our problem is wonderful, having the required charity for all the members involved is harder.  This is something I will have to work on.

 

These are just al few of my ponderings and impressions I had from President Uchtdorf.  I pray I will be able to have charity, remember richness and constant surprises are part of our earthly journey and each little pebble is what will build lasting relationships.    

Reference:  In Praise of Those who Save