President Dieter F.
Uchtdorf
“Four Titles”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
General Conference
April 2013 Priesthood Session
As I began
reading this talk I was very aware that it was given at the Priesthood session,
but I knew that I would still be able to get something important from it that
could help to change my life in a positive way. President Uchtdorf spoke about
the different titles that Priesthood holders have. These titles include: Son of
Heavenly Father, disciple of Jesus Christ, healer of souls, and heir of eternal
life. These titles are all very powerful and while one applies only to
priesthood holders, the rest can apply to everyone in some way.
The first
title is son of Heavenly Father and this is very powerful. As I read it I
applied it to my life by saying that I am a daughter of Heavenly Father. This
title is very important. As President Uchtdorf says, “No matter what else we
are or do in life, we must never forget that we are God’s literal children.” We
will always be a child of God and that is something that we should remember. It
is not always easy to carry this title because, as President Uchtdorf says, we
are not perfect and this title implies a lot. He goes on to say that the Lord
understands this. He compared each of us to a toddler. We try things over and
over again, but still fall short. Just as we would never scold a toddler for
falling while trying to walk, our Father will never scold us for making
mistakes. He keeps pushing us forward and wants us to try again and to lean on
Him.
The second
title he talks about is that we are each a disciple of Jesus Christ. As a
disciple, “…we recognize that none of us are perfect, we do not use that fact
as an excuse…” This is very powerful. When we do as this quote says, we will be
able to come closer to the Lord and be a “more refined follower” of the Lord.
President Uchtdorf makes another very powerful statement when he clearly says
that the Church is not for men and women who are perfect, but is for people
just like each of us. It is important to remember that we are in the church to
become more perfected, but this does not mean that we will all be the same. We
are different and will always be that way. We all have our agency and this
alone makes it obvious that we are going to be different. We need to follow the
Savior throughout our life. In order to be a disciple, this is exactly what we
need to do.
The third
title is healer of souls. This title is meant more for those who hold the
priesthood. The priesthood gives worthy men the ability to give blessings and
to help heal those that are sick or afflicted. President Uchtdorf says, “The
restored gospel of Jesus Christ blesses lives not just when we believe it—but
much more when we live it.” This is important to remember because priesthood holders
need to use their priesthood and follow the promptings of the Lord.
The fourth
and final title is heir of eternal life. We all have the opportunity in inherit
eternal life and President Uchtdorf makes it very clear that we need to pay
more attention to the things we do daily. We need to prepare for the honor of
being His heir. We also need to realize that we are all wanted and needed in
the church. Priesthood holders are always needed in the church and no one
should feel unwanted.
We are all
important to our Heavenly Father and it is vital to remember this. I am so
grateful for this talk and the clarity that it gave me of who I am and what I
can become. I hope that we can all realize that we are children of God,
disciples of Jesus Christ, heirs of His kingdom and, for priesthood holders,
healers of souls.
“The Hope of God’s Light”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
General Conference
April 2013 Sunday Morning Session
No matter
where we are, we can have the Light of Christ shining in the room. President
Uchtdorf gave a wonderful talk of the way the light can always overcome the
darkness. He started by telling about a painting of a dark room with light
coming through the open door. After this he told a story of a woman who grew up
in an abusive home, but in early adulthood she found the church and finally had
the Light of Christ in her life. President Uchtdorf said regarding this story,
“…the best path for healing was to understand and accept that darkness
exists—but not to dwell there. For, as she now knew, light also exists—and that
is where she chose to dwell.” It is important for us to stay in the light and
help bring others into it as well.
As
President Uchtdorf continues his talk, he reminds us that we need to cleave to
the light. It is real and we can all have it in our life. The light can help us
through even the most difficult situations and we need to learn to always have
the Lord on our side in order to keep the light in our life. However, it is
important for us to remember that we must put forth an effort to keep this
light in our life. President Uchtdorf says, “…Spiritual light rarely comes to
those who merely sit in darkness waiting for someone to flip a switch.” We have
to work toward being righteous and keeping the commandments in order to keep the
light in our life.
In order to
open our eyes to the hope of God’s life, President Uchtdorf gave us three
things that we need to do. The first thing he said to do was to start where we
are. We are all imperfect but the Lord does not require us to be perfect right
now. “We don’t have to wait to cross the finish line to receive God’s
blessings.” There is no better place to start than right now. If we wait until
we are better to start, we will never get there. We need to start and the
moment we do, the hope of His light will come into our life and get stronger
every day.
The second
thing he said to do is turn your heart toward the Lord. We need to acknowledge
our shortcomings but make sure to turn to the Lord for help and guidance. We
need to pour our heart out to Him and make Him a great part of our life. We
need to ask for His support and for strength to do as we need to do.
The final step is to walk in the light. The
Lord does not like to see us stumble, but He is also there to help us and wants
to help us to become who we were designed to be. I recently had my mom tell me
something similar to this. She said to be what the Lord wants us to be. In
order to do this, we need to walk in the light and follow the path that has
been laid out for us.
At the end
of his talk, President Uchtdorf shared a story about a congregation in West
Africa. They were all extremely poor but the light of Christ in their lives
made them happy people who would do anything for the Lord. During their meeting
the lights went out and the whole congregation began singing songs in the dark.
It was a very spiritual moment for President Uchtdorf and his wife. We need to
come to the light and remember, “Darkness will not gain victory over the light
of Christ.”
I was very
touched by this talk and I could really feel the spirit as I thought about the
different parts of the talk. I know that the light of Christ is in our life and
we need to work to keep it in our life.
“Your Wonderful Journey Home”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
General Conference
April 2013 Young Women Meeting
When I
first began to read this talk by President Uchtdorf, I was unsure exactly what
he was going to talk about. As I got further into the stories he shared, I
realized the importance of what he had to say.
He began
his talk by sharing a personal story of when he was a boy living in East
Germany. His father was falling under scrutiny and it was decided that the
family needed to take a journey to West Germany. The family split up and went
different ways in order to get to West Germany. President Uchtdorf was with his
mother and they had to travel through the mountains in order to get to safety.
This is a very real journey that his family took in order to be safe, but there
are also many other journeys that people take. He spoke about Dorothy, Scrooge,
a Chinese Monk, and Bilbo Baggins. They all had a journey they needed to take
and we too have a journey to take. He says, “I believe that every life is a
collection of individual ‘journey stories’.”
Each of us
is here on earth as part of our journey and that is what President Uchtdorf
wants us to realize. In the premortal life we made the decision to leave your
Father in Heaven to come to earth in the hope to one day return to him. Each
person on earth made this decision and will one day realize what they need to
do to return home. Each one of us wants to make it home but we often wonder how
we will be able to do that.
Fortunately,
we have a loving Father who wants us to return to Him and wants us to succeed
in this journey. Just like other journeys we have seen people experience, we
have received a map or guide to help us know what we need to do and where we
need to go. This map is given to us in three forms. They are: the scriptures,
words of the apostles and prophets, and personal revelation. This map is the
gospel of Jesus Christ and if we follow it, we will make our way home from our
journey. President Uchtdorf speaks of three messages that come from our map
that will guide us home.
The fist
message is to not fear. The Lord is with us throughout our journey. President
Uchtdorf says, “You are not alone on this journey. Your Heavenly Father knows
you. Even when no one else hears you, He hears you.” This is so important. This
life and journey is not easy, but the Lord is there and wants to help us make
it through each day in the best way we can. A quote that he said that really
touched my heart is, “He sees you not as the world sees you; He sees who you
really are. He looks on your heart. And He loves you because you are His
child.” I love this because it really shows that the only person I need to
worry about is the Lord and He will not unfairly judge me.
The second
message is to love one another as the Lord loves each of us. In the premortal
existence we all spoke the same language, and as President Uchtdorf says, this
language is love. Love is the most powerful language in the world and it is
understood by everyone. When we serve others, we will begin to speak with the
language of love and show others that Christ-like love through service to
others.
The last
message is to be of good cheer. It is not always easy to be patient or deal
with the difficulties of life but if we willingly and joyfully use the map that
has been given us, we can grow into the person the Lord hoped we would be.
This was a
very powerful talk and it made it very clear to me what I need to do in order
to make my journey back home to my Father in Heaven. I love my Heavenly Father
and the things He does for me in my life. I am so grateful for the map He has
given me so I do not feel lost and alone in this life.
“The Infinite Power of Hope”
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
General Conference
October 2008
We have all
heard of the three words faith, hope, and charity. Sometimes these simple words
can be difficult to understand. President Uchtdorf spoke on these, but
emphasized hope. Once again, he told a story of his family. He told of when his
mother left he and his siblings on a train to go get some food. When she came
back, the train was not where it was supposed to be. Although she was extremely
worried and afraid she would never see her children again, she also had hope.
She prayed to find the train and had hope that she would. After searching the
entire train yard she found the train and her children.
President
Uchtdorf explains that without hope there would be no faith or charity and vice
versa. All three of these rely on each other. He compared hope to one leg of a
three-legged stool with faith and charity being the other two legs. He wants us
to realize that hope is a gift from the Spirit. We are able to have this hope
because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Hope helps us feel so many things.
Some of these include peace, mercy, rejoicing, and gladness. It is such a
blessing to be able to have hope in my life.
When we
think about the importance of hope, we also wonder why there is despair.
President Uchtdorf reminds us that there must be “an opposition in all things.”
While we have faith, hope, and charity, we also have doubt, despair, and
failure. When we think of despair we think of a staircase that does down and
seems to go on forever. On the other side, hope is like a beam of light that
goes up forever and pierces any darkness around us.
President
Uchtdorf then continues to talk about hope and what it is. He says, “Hope is not
knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise
to us. It is confidence that if we live according to God’s laws and the words
of His prophets now, we will receive desired blessings in the future. It
is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. It is manifest in
confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance.” As we read this we
also think of faith. Right as I began to think about faith, President Uchtdorf
makes sure that we understand that we cannot have hope without faith. If we do
not believe in Christ, we cannot hope that he will be with us.
Another thing
President Uchtdorf wants us to understand is that we can have hope for things as well as hope in things. We often have hope for future events and have hope in things that help us to live through
each day. Both of these are a blessing and give us a light in our life.
As he finished
his talk, he tells us, “Never surrender. Never allow despair to overcome your
spirit.” We need to keep this in mind to help us through each day. Hope is what
helps us to stay happy and to keep pushing through hard times.
I am so
grateful for this talk. It really means a lot to me because the differences
between faith and hope have always been muddled for me. President Uchtdorf
makes it very clear and this talk really helped me to understand more about
hope and why it is important in life. It is also a good reminder that faith,
hope, and charity go hand-in-hand. I
know that we have been given the opportunity to feel hope and we need to always
remember that there is hope in Jesus Christ and that He is always there for
each one of us.
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