God's Greatest Creation

Recently, my wife Amelia brought our second baby into the world, Ana Ruth. My wife and two other women will all be the mothers of newborns by the close of August. Mothers who sacrifice not only their body, but their lives in the raising of children are often unheralded heroes. I'm sure I could show more appreciation to my wife for the work and effort that goes into her being a mother. Truly, women hold a "preeminent role" in our faith, as Elder Quentin L. Cook declared. Using the definition of preeminent, women are eminent above or before others; superior; surpassing. Gratefully, "neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord" (1 Corinthians 11:11). 

We men can glean some of the greatness of our superior counterpart. I was once in a meeting with another apostle, Elder Richard G. Scott, who put up a powerpoint slide of a woman being showered on with light from Heaven and the man beside her trying to glean some of the llight from her. The slide made people laugh, but the idea always stuck with me. Women who fulfill their part in God's plan are such inspiring examples to us oft ogre-ish men. At least with women's help and God's, we men can fulfill our divine potential. Thank you to all you women who sacrifice so much to be mothers and wives, especially to Amelia.

Even Harder Than a Mission

So the other day I talked to one of my close friends, Jordan, who is newly married. We hadn't talked in a while so it was a complete shock to hear him talk way differently than he would have before he was married. He talked about how he was invited to go houseboating and how if his wife were in a similar situation he wouldn't want her to go boating with a bunch of guys. I marvelled at how because he is now married he now makes decisions based with his wife in mind as well. What's surprising is that prior to marriage Jordan would do pretty much anything his friends were doing, but now because of a better friend than all of these, his wife, appeasing the friend group pales in comparison. It's just amazing how much marriage can change a person. It's so true what Elder Scott said in last general conference, that "marriage provides an ideal setting for overcoming any tendency to be selfish or self-centered."

Of course marriage, though it is great, is not a walk in the park either. My NY mission president would say that marriage is harder than a mission. My mission was real hard. And I'll agree that marriage is harder, but just as the mission saw great rewards and blessings that far outweigh the hardships endured, so too is marriage. I'm grateful that the Lord led me to Amelia and that as we strive to include the Lord in our lives, we'll continue to overcome all that comes our way and grow more in love and joy.

Choosing Our Wills and Aspirations

One of the talks I really liked from last General Conference was Elder Oaks' about desires. He said that "desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming." I suppose this talk was one of my favorites because one of my favorite scriptures is Mosiah 16:12-13. These verses read:

"Having gone according to their own carnal wills and desires; having never called upon the Lord while the arms of mercy were extended towards them; for the arms of mercy were extended towards them, and they would not; they being warned of their iniquities and yet they would not depart from them; and they were commanded to repent and yet they would not repent.

And now, ought ye not to tremble and repent of your sins, and remember that only in and through Christ ye can be saved?"

Now, the main reason I really love these verses is because of the repetition of image of the arms of mercy being extended to us. As much as we reject the Lord, He repeatedly tries to offer us mercy. Yet, I also like how it mentions the idea of carnal wills and desires. No matter how much I grow in the gospel, I still feel like I have carnals wills and desires that cause me to fall “short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). Though, I hope, over time as I continue to repent these carnal ways will become less and less, I think that we will just by the fact that we’re mortals, always have to fight the carnal man within us.

I guess I take hope in the fact that though we may be always imperfect and will continually struggle to purge the carnality within us, we can and must be helped by the Savior. Another favourite scripture of mine counsels us that we should “remember...that it is only in and through the grace of God that ye are saved” (2 Nephi 10:24). I’ve definitely made the mistake of thinking that I could perhaps do it on my own, repent and live righteously without the Lord’s help. In fact, I once told God to let me do it on my own, just to prove that I could. I can tell you that I fell farther and faster away from the Lord as a result.

I have felt that as I come closer to the Lord, through repentance and when I feel the Spirit in abundance, that I “have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). I suppose it’s a never-ending process, our improvement and progression, and that the desires we cultivate and nurture will determine what we will choose.