I love general conference and the counsel we receive. I am amazed and awed at the way the Spirit can teach us by emphasizing certain talks, phrases, or just a word and then bringing them back into our hearts and minds after conference. Many wonderful things were said October 6 and 7 and I look forward to reading and listening to the talks again and again - then pondering and praying so I can be taught by the Spirit. Here's something that keeps coming back to me - perhaps because I've had the same reaction Linda Burton discusses. Linda Burton is the new Relief Society president for the whole Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This means she has stewardship not only for the millions of women in the church but also for all the women of the world. No wonder she was feeling hurried and frazzled and had many to-dos on her list!!!
From Linda K. Burton - "A few weeks ago, I was hurried and frazzled, with too many to-dos on my list. I had hoped to go to the temple that day but felt I was just too busy. As soon as that thought of being too busy for temple service crossed my mind, it awakened me to what I most needed to do. I left my office to walk over to the Salt Lake Temple, wondering when I was going to recapture the time I was losing. Thankfully, the Lord is patient and merciful and taught me a beautiful lesson that day."
Linda Burton went to the temple. She encountered a young woman who hadn't been to the temple very often. The young woman asked Sister Burton for assistance. The words the woman used were exactly what Sister Burton had said and done decades earlier when she was new to temple worship.
Said Sister Burton, "How could she ever have known that those words were exactly what I needed to hear? She didn’t know, but Heavenly Father knew. He had observed my greatest need. I needed to serve. He prompted this humble young sister to serve me by inviting me to serve her. I assure you that I was the one who benefited most."
One of the things that amazes me about this story is that Linda Burton's to-do list was probably all about service. She has accepted a calling to minister to the women of the world. As important as those tasks were, what she really needed was a reminder that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know her personally. She needed a tender mercy to give her the strength and love to do what she has been asked to do.
Did Sister Burton "recapture the time" she was "losing?" No, but she gained something much more important. Away from her office and to-do list, she could be receive a message from her Heavenly Father via the Holy Ghost.
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Questions to myself - How can I use this lesson and insight in my own life? How often have I thought I'm too busy to pray, to study scriptures, to serve someone? How often have the to-dos on my lists made me feel too busy and overwhelmed? Have I taken on so many good things that I am running faster than I have strength?
I like to think that most of the time I heed promptings with a willing and Christ-like heart. But I can't say it's 100%. Sometimes I have reluctantly put aside "my" own plans and heeded a prompting out of duty. Even though my heart wasn't fully into it, I am often blessed with a tender mercy.
I am grateful for prayer, scripture study, Sunday worship services and classes - all these take me out of the world and put me in a place and frame of mind where I am more receptive to the Spirit so I can be taught and reminded who I am, why I am here, and what comes after this life.
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