Ilean Hansen Poulson Testimony

Mother's can continue to teach long after 

the Lord has taken them home.

I was asked to speak today on being Firm and Steadfast

 as spoken of by Elder Christofferson 

in General Conference Oct 2018. 

The following is the outline of my talk.

Mother's testimony is a part of it.

Sacrament Meeting Talk 12/8/2018

“Firm and Steadfast in the Faith of Christ” 

Elder D. Todd Christofferson

1.   (Prayer of the Zoramites.)

15 Holy, holy God; we believe that thou art God, and we believe that thou art holy, and that thou 

wast a spirit, and that thou art a spirit, and that thou wilt be a spirit forever.

16 Holy God, we believe that thou hast separated us from our brethren; and we do not believe in 

the tradition of our brethren, which was handed down to them by the childishness of their fathers; but we believe that thou hast elected us to be thy holy children; and also thou hast made it known 

unto us that there shall be no Christ.

17 But thou art the same yesterday, today, and forever; and thou hast elected us that we shall be 

saved, whilst all around us are elected to be cast by thy wrath down to hell; for the which holiness, O God, we thank thee; and we also thank thee that thou hast elected us, that we may not be led 

away after the foolish traditions of our brethren, which doth bind them down to a belief of Christ, 

which doth lead their hearts to wander far from thee, our God.

18 And again we thank thee, O God, that we are a chosen and a holy people. Amen.

 Alma 31: 15-18

(sit down, a pregnant pause)

2.     Paraphrase and Read Alma’s prayer following the Zoramites.

Alma 31:19-38

3.   ( Zoramites and our shortened worship service.)

4.   Are we like Alma or the Zoramites after we were told about the 2 hour Sunday meeting schedule?

That was a shortened worship service. Just think, we could shorten our 120 minutes of meeting starting in January to 97 minutes if each brother in our ward came up, offered the prayer and then sat down and probably less than 60 if we didn’t count those that were visiting somewhere else that day, and then again even shorter if we had our 12 infants be responsible to offer the prayers.

 I don’t believe that is what has been intended by the announcement of shortened worship services on Sunday. However do we sometimes think, “another hour to watch football or another hour on the lake, or another hour to do what we want to do.

5.     (Lamanites and being Firm)

Let’s look at another section of the Book of Mormon.

“And thus there became a great inequality in all the land, insomuch that the church 

began to be broken up; yea, insomuch that in the thirtieth year the church was broken 

up in all the land save it were among a few of the Lamanites who were converted unto the true faith; and 

they would not depart from it, for they were firm, and steadfast, and immovable, willing with all 

diligence to keep the commandments of the Lord.”

     3Nephi 6:14

6.   (Elijah by Elder Christofferson)

Elder Christofferson after relating the story of Elijah and the priests of Baal suggested that if Elijah were to return in our day he might say;

“Either God, our Heavenly Father, exists, or He does not, but if He exists, worship 

Him.”

“Either Jesus Christ is the Son of God, the resurrected Redeemer of 

mankind, or He is not, but if He is, follow Him.”

And might I add:

“Either Russell M Nelson is a true and living Prophet today, or he is not, but if he is, follow his counsel and guidance which he receives from Jesus Christ.”

7.   (How to stay firm and shortened Sunday meeting schedule)

So how are we to rain firm and steadfast like those Lamanites and as suggested by Elder Christofferson?

I suggest we become like the Lamanites rather than the Zoramites by being converted unto the true faith and not departing from it. I find it quite inspirational to read about the Lamanites that were converted in the Book of Mormon that they never did turn away from the church after being converted.

We have been given the direction from our prophet on how to become converted in this manner. We have been given a shortened meeting schedule on Sundays so that we can spend more time;

 first, to learn the gospel more deeply for ourselves and,

second, to teach our families to believe more deeply and to develop strong testimonies that will carry them through the trials that will come to them as Satan tries to draw them away as he did the people of Nephi after having had so many testimonies of the truthfulness of the gospel as taught to them by their prophets.

8.   (2,000 warriors mothers) & Mother’s Book of Mormon

Let’s look back again to the Book of Mormon for some instruction on how to remain firm and steadfast and immoveable and this is what Sister Poulson referred to so well.

 We are told by Helaman in speaking of the 2,000 stripling warriors:

Now they never had fought, yet they did not fear death; and they did think more upon 

the liberty of their fathers than they did upon their lives; yea, they had been taught by 

their mothers, that if they did not doubt, God would deliver them.

48 And they rehearsed unto me the words of their mothers, saying: We do not doubt 

our mothers knew it.

What do we learn from this? The mother’s had taught their son’s about God and Christ. They were taught so well that they did not fear death but rather believed that if they were faithful that they would be protected. Now I would venture a guess that their home evenings were probably not any easier to hold then than they are now but they apparently did it and probably not just one day a week.

My mother taught me also

 Read Mother’s testimomy in her Book of Mormon

 Elder Christofferson continued by stating:

“Most of us find ourselves at this moment on a continuum between a socially motivated participation in gospel rituals on the one hand and a fully developed, Christlike commitment to the will of God on 

the other. Somewhere along that continuum, the good news of    the gospel of Jesus Christ enters 

into our heart and takes possession of our soul. It may not happen in an instant, but we should all be moving toward that blessed state.”

“It is challenging but vital to remain firm and steadfast when we find ourselves being refined “in 

the furnace of affliction,”¹⁹ something that comes soon or late to all of us in mortality. Without God, 

these dark experiences tend to despondency, despair, and   even bitterness. With God,  comfort 

replaces pain, peace replaces turmoil, and hope replaces sorrow. Remaining firm in the faith of 

Christ will bring His sustaining grace and support.²⁰ He will convert trial into blessing and, in Isaiah’s words, “give … beauty for ashes.”²¹

9.     (Personal Spirituality Tracker) SPIRITBIT

I bought a Fitbit two years ago to track my exercise or more specifically my heart during my sleep and my steps during the day. I wanted to know just how far I traveled on any given game day at the stadium or in the arena. I think the longest day has been somewhere around 18 to 20 miles with the most sets of stairs being at 101. (I was truly exhausted at the end of that day.) Each day it starts over at exactly 12:00 am and it isn’t until I receive an email on Monday that I find out which day had the most steps, so on days when work keeps me past 12 am I look at it as close to 12 as I can and the write that down and add the remaining steps when I go home.

As I was pondering my talk I realized that it would pretty cool to have a spirituality tracker or a Spirit Bit. Something to help keep track of prayers, of how many tender mercies, spiritual experiences, and promptings I had received on any given day and especially when talking about the gospel or attending church. I figured that the biggest days would probably happen twice each year as I listen to conference and have those spiritual steps come into my mind and heart. But that probably shouldn’t be the case since almost instantly I can listen to them again and again and there always a lot of times on Sundays that I receive plenty of them.

But then I realized that the Lord has given me a spirit bit. Each morning as I pray for guidance through my day, my slate is cleared at the end of the day and the tracking starts anew the next morning. I begin to start a count of those spiritual promptings and then each night I can account for those experiences as I give thanks to my Heavenly Father in prayer for those special experiences that He gave to me to remind me about Him and our Savior Jesus Christ and to strengthen my testimony. And then record them in a PERSONAL JOURNAL I thought about some of those things that would register each day as I would see the sun rise and see flowers in bloom or even see the earth replenished with life giving water as I gaze out over the 20 inches of new snow. I would worry about how to remove it later and then realize in that too I am given a chance to rack up a few more things on my spirit bit as I could serve my neighbors helping them to clear the snow.

10.        Come Follow Me

We will be given more instruction in the third hour today on the way we can become like to mothers of those young men as we follow our Prophet Russell M Nelson and use the “Come Follow Me” help that we have or will receive.

Come Follow me gives us direction of how to study starting each Monday and going through each day of the week so we can be prepared to share what we have learned the following Sunday in our quorums and classes and then to return home and discuss what we learned that day before starting the process all over for the next week.

4 Goals for COME FOLLOW ME

· Deepening conversion to Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthening faith in Them.

· Strengthening individuals and families through home-centered, Church-supported curriculum that contributes to joyful gospel living.

· Honoring the Sabbath day, with a focus on the ordinance of the sacrament.

· Helping all of Heavenly Father’s children on both sides of the veil through missionary work    and receiving ordinances and covenants and the blessings of the temple.

11.        Conversion is our goal

…we’re not just looking for new information; we want to become a “new creature” (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). This means relying on Christ to change our hearts, our views, our actions, and our very natures.

…the kind of gospel learning that strengthens our faith and leads to the miraculous change of conversion doesn’t happen all at once. It extends beyond a classroom into an individual’s heart and home. It requires consistent, daily efforts to understand and live the gospel. True conversion requires the influence of the Holy Ghost.

…We should seek after whatever invites the influence of the Spirit and reject whatever drives that influence away—for we know that if we can be worthy of the presence of the Holy Ghost, we can also be worthy to live in the presence of Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

12.  Ideas to Improve Your Personal Scripture Study

·      Look for truths about Jesus Christ

·      Look for inspiring words and phrases, write them in a study journal

·      Look for Gospel Truths

·      Listen to the Spirit

Pay attention to your thoughts and feelings, even if they are unrelated to what you are reading.

Those impressions may be the very things that your Heavenly Father wants you to learn.

·      Liken the Scriptures to your life

·      Ask questions as you study

·      Use scripture study helps

·      Record your thoughts and feelings

·      Study the words of Later-day prophets and apostles

·      Share Insights

·      Live by what you learn

President Thomas S. Monson said: “As we read and ponder the scriptures, we will experience the sweet whisperings of the Spirit to our souls. We can find answers to our questions. We learn of the blessings which come through keeping God’s commandments. We gain a sure testimony of our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, and of Their love for us. When scripture study is combined with our prayers, we can of a certainty know that the gospel of Jesus Christ is true. … As we remember prayer and take time to turn to the scriptures, our lives will be infinitely more blessed and our burdens will be made lighter” (“We Never Walk Alone,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013, 122).

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