Friday, April 8, 2011

"Use Your Hands"

This last weekend was General Conference for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Twice a year, members of our chuch gather to hear our prophet, Thomas S. Monson, and other church leaders speak on various topics to strengthen our faith and give us heavenly guidance in our day-to-day lives.

One of those talks addressed the topic of sharing the gospel in this social media-rich age. "[P]erhaps the Lord's encouragement to "open [your] mouths" (Doctrine and Covenants 60:2) might today include "use your hands" to blog and text message the gospel to all the world! But please remember, all at the right time and at the right place..." (Waiting on the Road to Damascus, Dieter F. Uchtdorf).

When President Uchtdorf spoke these words, I felt like he was talking directly to me. Starting this blog began as a prompting of the Spirit that I tried to ignore, but inevitably couldn't. While I love just writing about anything and everything, whether or not anyone reads it, I also feel like the purpose of this blog should be to make people's lives better, and I can do that by sharing the greatest treasure I've ever been given--the gospel of Jesus Christ. I'm lousy at talking to people about the gospel, but writing about it is one thing that I can be good at.

I realize that most of the four or so people who read this blog are already members of my church, so any gospel-sharing I do will probably be preaching to the choir, but the beauty of the Lord's work is that He can take small and simple things and work miracles with them. I will do my meager part, and let the Lord work His miracles, trusting that there is nothing He cannot do.

Said President Uchtdorf, "[W]ith the blessing of modern technology, we can express gratitude and joy about God's great plan for His children in a way that can  be heard not only around our workplace but around the world. Sometimes a single phrase of testimony can set events in motion that affect someone’s life for eternity."

Amen.

You can find the full text of President Uchtdorf's talk and all the Conference messages here. (I hope that link works.)

The church is true!
The Brown-Eyed Girl

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