This Latter-Day Saint is Going to Keep on Trying

Okay, so here's the honest truth-

Lately, I have not been all that great with reading my scriptures... in fact, I'm REALLY bad!!! I have two children with "crazy children" lives and a husband who is a child at heart (yes- he really does act like he's 13, he even admits it, but he's mine and I love him).

 I'm also on the PTA board, the School Site Council, I do my best with a Sunday calling, and I work about 30 hours a week on top of the errands and housekeeping. At the end of the day, I crawl into bed and fall fast asleep without even glancing at the dusty set of scriptures sitting on my night stand.

When I first admitted I was failing at my scripture study, I downloaded an app that would give me a "Scripture-a-Day", but still there are days where I don't even glance at it. Then I had an idea-  Since my daily life won't be changing, maybe studying the conference talks would at least be a small step in the right direction. AND just to really stretch my spiritual muscles, I figured I would blog about it so I had some form of accountability.

So here I go-

My first talk I want to focus on is Elder Renlund's talk from the 2015 April General Conference titled, Latter-day Saints Keep on Trying (https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/latter-day-saints-keep-on-trying?lang=eng). 

Elder Renlund's talk is a beautiful speech on perseverance. My favorite quote is, "God cares a lot more about who we are and who we are becoming than about who we once were. He cares that we keep on trying". He also compares church to a "big hospital" where we all "come.. to be helped". Obviously, none of us are perfect, but deep down we know that the Gospel is. Elder Renlund's reference to the Atonement defines this idea perfectly, because without Christ our efforts would be in vain. And as the talk tells us, "a saint is a sinner who keeps on trying" (Nelson Mandela).   

 

Now, I'm the kind of person who likes order and rules, and when I mess up, sometimes it's easier to just turn my back on the mountains I can't conquer, or just plain want to avoid.  I am definitely not the person who keeps on trying. I'm the type that just gives up and sticks to what is working. AND SO, that night I asked God to help me find an area in my life where He felt I could try a little bit harder.

Ultimately, my inspiration centered on my church attendance. I can honestly say that we almost always make it to church each Sunday, but we are also almost always  late. I like to blame this sad fact on my child-like husband, who without fail always takes longer then myself and my children to get ready, but deep down I know I could try harder too.

So here's what happened, the first Sunday I made being on time my goal- we did really good!!! We even sat in the pews, instead of hiding in the foyer, and sneaking in after the sacrament! Brownie points for all!!

The following Sunday I was scheduled to work (my job requires Sunday work occasionally), but I knew I could count on my hubby to carry the torch- so no worries! Besides... I could refocus the next week...

Unfortunately the next week we had to fumigate our house, and we were homeless for a few days.

Apparently, when I made going to church on time my goal... Life had a fun time getting in the way. 

In the end, you could say that my first month of "LDS General Conference Living" was a GREAT, BIG fail. But the neat thing was I had some unexpected improvements in other ways.

First, I'm also pretty bad at Fast Sundays. I usually realize it's Fast Sunday after I've already finished breakfast.... but this month my family got through with flying colors. Secondly, we've never felt too bad when we've had to make the occasional Sunday run to the store, but out of nowhere keeping the Sabbath day holy was very important to me.   

 

In his talk, Elder Renlund refers to Shakespeare's As You Like It, by relating the experiences of Oliver and Orlando. After Oliver has attempted to hurt his younger brother, Orlando, Oliver's own life is saved by Orlando's efforts. Oliver then repents of his ways, but recognizes his faults as that which made him stronger.    

Obviously, on many levels I can be classified as a pretty poor Mormon- I can't get to church on time, I forget Fast Sundays, we shop on the Sabbath, and I have a problem with daily scripture study. However, if I look back at Elder Renlund's talk, I am inspired to persevere.

And there you have it-

In my first attempt at living the principals set forth in an General Conference talk, I didn't quite meet my big goal of making it to church on time. HOWEVER, I did fail, but only to become "a saint who keeps on trying".

I know God loves me, and that the Savior's sacrifice will help me to return to my Heavenly Father despite my failures. I am so grateful of the Atonement and the living prophets who are here to help me become the daughter God created me to be.

Here's the link to Elder Renlund's talk. I hope you have some inspiration of your own.

 

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/04/latter-day-saints-keep-on-trying?lang=eng