My two year old LOVES I Spy books. If you haven't seen one, it is basically page after page filled with objects of all sorts of sizes, shapes, and colors. You are given direction to find specific items on the page and it takes a while for your eyes to scan and find these items. But they are always there. Once you spot them, the next time you look at the page the rest of the other items on the page don't seem to matter as much and your eyes know to skip over them and go right to the desired items.
It occured to me as I was listening to conference in April how much life is just like an I Spy book. Our lives are filled with so much noise and nonsense things to spend our time and energy on. But the 'key' or direction given to help guide us and know what to look for in life is here to help us pass up the noise. I find it in scriptures and conference talks. Prayer and personal revelation. Things like that.
Here are just a couple quotes from Thomas S. Monson, The Prophet, from April's conference.
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To understand the meaning of death, we must appreciate the purpose of life. The dim light of belief must yield to the noonday sun of revelation, by which we know that we lived before our birth into mortality. In our premortal state, we were doubtless among the sons and daughters of God who shouted for joy because of the opportunity to come to this challenging yet necessary mortal existence.5 We knew that our purpose was to gain a physical body, to overcome trials, and to prove that we would keep the commandments of God. Our Father knew that because of the nature of mortality, we would be tempted, would sin, and would fall short. So that we might have every chance of success, He provided a Savior, who would suffer and die for us. Not only would He atone for our sins, but as a part of that Atonement, He would also overcome the physical death to which we would be subject because of the Fall of Adam.
My counsel for all of us is to look to the lighthouse of the Lord. There is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost but what its beacon light can rescue. It beckons through the storms of life. The lighthouse of the Lord sends forth signals readily recognized and never failing.
It occured to me as I was listening to conference in April how much life is just like an I Spy book. Our lives are filled with so much noise and nonsense things to spend our time and energy on. But the 'key' or direction given to help guide us and know what to look for in life is here to help us pass up the noise. I find it in scriptures and conference talks. Prayer and personal revelation. Things like that.Here are just a couple quotes from Thomas S. Monson, The Prophet, from April's conference.
***
To understand the meaning of death, we must appreciate the purpose of life. The dim light of belief must yield to the noonday sun of revelation, by which we know that we lived before our birth into mortality. In our premortal state, we were doubtless among the sons and daughters of God who shouted for joy because of the opportunity to come to this challenging yet necessary mortal existence.5 We knew that our purpose was to gain a physical body, to overcome trials, and to prove that we would keep the commandments of God. Our Father knew that because of the nature of mortality, we would be tempted, would sin, and would fall short. So that we might have every chance of success, He provided a Savior, who would suffer and die for us. Not only would He atone for our sins, but as a part of that Atonement, He would also overcome the physical death to which we would be subject because of the Fall of Adam.
My counsel for all of us is to look to the lighthouse of the Lord. There is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost but what its beacon light can rescue. It beckons through the storms of life. The lighthouse of the Lord sends forth signals readily recognized and never failing.
