So last night was an interesting and wonderful experience. Something that our church emphasizes is getting together with your family once a week to have an activity in which the members uplift each other and learn more about this wonderful gospel. It's called family home evening. Typically, it happens on Mondays, but they can be any day of the week. Well when you're at school and single, you don't exactly have a family to do this with. Not to make us feel left out, the ward assigns FHE groups. We have assigned girl and guy leaders, loving called the FHE dad and mom.
Last night was Monday, meaning it was FHE night. We got to go to the home of one of our ward leaders and have a lesson there. With a little bit of a mixup, a lesson wasn't planned, so it fell to our FHE dad to come up with a lesson on the spot. By one of the best on the spot lessons I have ever had...or even one of the best lessons I have ever had.
He talked about a message by President Uchtdorf, called Saints for All Seasons. It is a wonderful talk about how we have different seasons of our lives. Jarrett brought up the point that we don't want to have a constant season of all happiness and spiritualness. There is very little growth during that time. It is during the difficult seasons that we do the most growth.
He also talked about a principle, using Michael Phelps as an example. How much work does Michael Phelps put into swimming? He has taken very little days off, working hard to become the best. But he wasn't always at that point. He went through different levels of learning how to swim. First he had to master floating without drowning. Then he had to begin learning the aspects of a certain stroke. All the way up to now working hours a day to only become half of a second faster in his next race. He is now to the point where he has to constantly work at the little things to be the best.
The same is with our spiritual ability. We have to learn how to first feel the Holy Spirit and to recognize it. Then to know it's promptings. To act upon the promptings. All the way up to knowing the scriptures, being able to bear testimony of it, and listen to the personal revelation that we can receive daily. This comes during our seasons and trials of life. We have to learn how to rely on the Lord, to use the atonement to receive strength, and listen to the Holy Ghost to know what it is that we need to do next.
After this discussion he had a wonderful thought to share with us a powerful movie, called
He then related how the parts of the movie relate to the Atonement.
Who is the limbless man? Us
Who is the circus master? Christ
Sometimes when we are having difficulty and all we can do is cry out for help, he says to us that we can manage. Then when we exert effort, we learn how to swim. He is there helping us along to gain confidence and belief in ourselves. Then he knows when to step back and watch us turn into butterflies.
What does the butterfly represent? Well there are several answers. Jarrett's was true conversion. Once a caterpillar is a butterfly, it can't go back. When we are truly converted to the gospel, we have no desire to go back to where we were. We only want to go forward in faith.
I personally thought of freedom and happiness that comes from the gospel. We are limited when we aren't doing what the gospel asks of us. But when we have changed our ways and became faithful and true to our beliefs, that is when we are truly free and happy. Like a butterfly.
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