Sunday, May 15, 2011

Sunday thoughts

I have a lot of notes from Women's Conference – a lot of good fodder for Sunday thoughts. One of my favorite talks was the very first one, by Virginia Pearce (one of President Hinckley's daughters). I love to hear her speak.

She started out by introducing the theme of the conference, taken from Alma 37: By small and simple things are great things brought to pass. I love this scripture, and felt like the conference theme was just what I needed to hear.

  • Keep is small. Keep it simple. Give it time.
  • Our very smallness, our fragileness, allows God to work through us.
  • Prayer is a small and simple practice by which great things are brought to pass.
  • Prayer rests on the principle of faith.
  • Prayer is an expression of agency, a deeply personal choice.
  • When things are at their worst, they then become their absolute best.
  • We must be washed off thoroughly by the storms of life before we can return to our God.
  • All things shall work together for our good. (D&C 98:1-3)
  • Pray that He will consecrate our performance, our trials, for our good.
  • Even our past experience can be consecrated for the welfare of our souls.
  • Through humble prayer, our will and the will of the Father can become one. It unifies us with the Lord.
  • Praying for one another knits our hearts together in unity and love.
  • Sometimes, through prayer, even our righteous desires are modified.
  • The act of praying changes us – as we work through our feelings, make choices, submit.
  • If we were to wait always for a clear answer, we would be wasting time. Pray in faith and move forward.
  • When such a thing happens, you may want to express gratitude – it is a sign that the Lord has trust in you.
  • If we pay attention, we will see that He frequently puts his signature on small events of the day:
I'm here.
I care about you.
Everything will work out.
Trust me.
  • Even greater than the miracle of being able to manipulate life's events is the miracle of developing a relationship with our God.
  • Prayer does call down the powers of heaven.

7 comments:

Neighbor Jane Payne said...

I, too, love Sister Pierce's thoughts and expressions.

This is plain poetic:

"We must be washed off thoroughly by the storms of life before we can return to our God."

I like that idea, it's a nice alternative to thinking that storms are drowning you. No siree. They're just washing us off.

Susan said...

I always love to read your notes. They're way more thorough than mine! I really needed this reminder . My week with Ben has been very challenging and Saturday I nearly broke! I will need to review these notes daily in order to make the progress that I want.

I do love your notes. I love you too.

Jill said...

It's too funny that we both posted our notes from her talk today! You got more complete sentences than I did and stuff I missed. I had already forgotten so much of this, that it makes me thankful I have notes at all!

Charlotte said...

One of the things that struck me most was that prayer is a very sacred act of agency. I love that, and I feel more empowered in my life when I remember that. I love reading your notes—it's amazing to me how different notes from the same talk can be!

jt said...

I'm so glad you and Jill have posted these notes since I couldn't go! I really like this talk, having never actually heard it, but still..

crystal said...

This post made me cry; I needed it greatly. Thank you :)

Denise said...

I love it when you share your notes! This makes me realize that I need to go back and review mine.

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...