A tale of two Sisters

[boyando]

A few of you may know that Elphaba is my older Sister. And though we are on opposite ends of the spectrum, when it comes too the Church and politics, I really love and respect her. Those of you who know her personally, know that she is full of love and compassion for just about everyone. Those of you who know her only from what she writes, may feel differently. I, of coarse, know her personally.

If you will allow me, I would like to brag about my other Sister. My younger Sister, recently, gave a talk in her Stake Conference, that was very close, in my eye's,to perfect. She posted it on her blog (were I read it) and I felt inspired to share it with all of you.

Luscious Chaos

Do yourself a favor and go read Stake Conference Shakes Part Deux. You will thank me later. :)

Boyando

Edited January 29, 2009 by boyando

[Palerider]

A few of you may know that Elphaba is my older Sister. And though we are on opposite ends of the spectrum, when it comes too the Church and politics, I really love and respect her. Those of you who know her personally, know that she is full of love and compassion for just about everyone. Those of you who know her only from what she writes, may feel differently. I, of coarse, know her personally.

If you will allow me, I would like to brag about my other Sister. My younger Sister, recently, gave a talk in her Stake Conference, that was very close, in my eye's,to perfect. She posted it on her blog (were I read it) and I felt inspired to share it with all of you.

Luscious Chaos

Do yourself a favor and go read Stake Conference Shakes Part Deux. You will thank me later. :)

Boyando

I did not know you were related to my favorite Liberal.....LOL!!!!!!!

I enjoy having a good argument with her about politics.....:D

[Maxel]

That is an awesome talk! I had no idea that Michelangelo was reluctant to paint the Sistine Chapel...

Food for thought.

[Palerider]

Yes I do agree....the talk is awesome....:)

[lusciouschaos]

Thanks for the shout out. I have received as much feedback about giving the talk off the cuff as the message of the talk.

You are a wonderfully supportive brother.

[Elphaba]

My brother posted the transcript of a talk my sister gave at a Stake Conference, but I think it is lost in that particular thread. I know many of you would enjoy it immensely, so I am re-posting it in the SHARE forum, where I think more people will read it.

A few words about my sister: She is literally a genius, and masters any task she takes on. I've gone to business meetings with some of her fellow employees, and they just gushed about her, which didn't surprise me at all.

She is a remarkable mother, and is raising her children to be fabulous adults. I've always envied her ability to do this.

She also has an extremely strong testimony of Christ. She has mentioned to me the comfort she feels, and how joyous her life is because of her beliefs. Her testimony, in my opinion, is her core, and while I have never had the spiritual experiences she has had, I believe her experiences are real. I don't know what they are, but I've seen how vital they are to her very being.

As is common among siblings, we don't agree on everything. Though we've not discussed it, she passionately supports Proposition 8, and I passionately oppose it. But I think that is okay, as expressing our passions, without rancor, will teach us to respect each other's beliefs without dismissing them. In other words, while I was opposed to the proposition, she was strongly in support of it, so much so that she became an activist, and I respect that a great deal.

Okay, enough gushing. Again, members of the Church will enjoy her talk immensely; however, I believe non-members will be moved as well.

Stake Conference Talk, part deux

. . . .

President Ahlstrom asked me to speak today during the Stake Christmas concert. He said that he debated whether to wait until after Christmas to give the assignment because he didn’t want to ruin my holiday. I am grateful for the early assignment. It made the time more meaningful as I searched for a message to share, I found my heart more open to the loving messages of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

This morning I would like to talk about the value of submitting our will to the will of our Heavenly Father and the blessings of obedience.

One challenge with this topic is that the audience assumes one of two things about the speaker.

One, the speaker has mastered the topic and seeks to share his wisdom. Or two, that this is an area in which the speaker struggles and is seeking to improve. For me, I openly admit, it is the second.

I decided on this topic while watching a program on Christmas Day about Michelangelo and the painting of the Sistine Chapel. What interested me greatly was the fact that when Michelangelo received the commission to paint the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel, he tried everything within his power to be get out of the assignment. Interesting as we ponder some of the challenging callings each of us has had.

He did not want the commission for a couple of reasons:

At the time Michelangelo received the request from Pope Julius to paint

the ceiling he had just completed the statue of David and had developed an excellent reputation as a sculptor. He was at that time already working on another project for the Pope, the creation of his tomb, an extravagant design with over forty statues. Painting held little interest for Michelangelo. He was at home with a chisel in his hand and he confided in a friend that he fully intended to spend the remainder of his life carving

the magnificent tomb.

However, the main reason Michelangelo did not want the job was a political one. He believed that a rival, Donato Bramante, a favorite architect of Pope Julius II, was attempting to set him up for a fall to elevate Bramante’s preferred artist, Raphael. Michelangelo stated:

Bramante wants to prevent me from sculpting, an art at which I am perfect; He wants to force me to paint in fresco, so that everyone will see that I paint worse than his friend Raphael.

Michelangelo begged Pope Julius, almost to the point of angering the pontificate, to give the commission to another. The Pope refused to rescind the commission and remained adamant that no one but Michelangelo paint the grand ceiling.

Initial attempts to paint the ceiling were disastrous. He avoided everyone, including the Pope, for fear of being asked to show the work. He had not yet learned how to properly cure the frescos and the paintings were developing mold on the wet plaster.

Michelangelo would more than once suffer poverty and frustration at the hands of the pope. It seems that at various times Julius failed to advance him the funds necessary to work on the immense project. In a letter to his family, Michelangelo wrote:

I myself am quite concerned, for this Pope hasn’t given me a single grosso for a whole year, and I am not asking for any, for my work is not progressing in such a way as to make me think that I deserve anything.

The physical tortures Michelangelo withstood would have destroyed lesser men. First, understand that the majority of the work Michelangelo performed he did while lying on his back upon a scaffold fifty feet in the air. The close proximity of the ceiling, the transferring of images onto the vault walls, and the painting itself greatly weakened him physically. For months afterward he could read a letter only when he held it above his head. Beyond the difficulties of sight, the master had to contend with backaches and cramps within his limbs. Being withdrawn from the sunlight gave Michelangelo a sickly complexion and his inconsistency in eating gave him a gaunt look.

By withstanding the difficulties and completing this masterpiece, Michelangelo climbed to the top of the art world just as he climbed the scaffolding in the Sistine Chapel. Each step brought him closer to heaven.

The masterpiece contains more than 400 life-sized figures and took 4 years to complete.

Despite that extreme hardships and pain during the project, Michelangelo is quoted as saying,

Many believe - and I believe - that I have been designated for this work by God… I work out of love for God and I put all my hope in Him.

Today the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel is Rome’s most famous tourist

attraction visited by close to 20K people a day, many waiting hours is extreme heat and driving rain for a chance to visit this stunning work of art.

Thinking of this story causes me to ponder the relationship of miracles and the surrender of our will or agency.

Agency is one of God’s most precious gifts. Christ is our Lord and Master and we are free. All Christ wants of us is that we be willing to surrender that agency back to Him.

Elder Boyd K. Packer, testifies of the power and blessing of this surrender:

Obedience–that which God will never take by force–He will accept when freely given. And He will then return to you freedom that you can hardly dream of–the freedom to feel and to know, the freedom to do, and the freedom to be, at least a thousand fold more than we offer Him. Strangely enough, the key to freedom is obedience.

He continues:

Perhaps the greatest discovery of my life, without question the greatest commitment, came when finally I had the confidence in God that I would loan or yield my agency to Him–without compulsion or pressure, without any duress, as a single individual alone, by myself, no counterfeiting, nothing expected other than the privilege.

In a sense, speaking figuratively, to take one’s agency, that precious gift which the scriptures make plain is essential to life itself, and say, “I will do as thou directs,” is afterward to learn that in so doing you possess it all the more.

Obedience is more than keeping the rules. It is the willingness to place yourself on the Lord’s errand. Praying and pondering each day to know what he would have you do with your time, resources and talents.

In Romans 8:17, Paul declares man’s potential:

to become “heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” God’s will is to glorify man. Christ, our elder brother, is the example of both man’s potential and obligation.

Jesus Christ, who shows the way in all things, said in John:

I can of mine own self do nothing; …because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father who hath sent me.” God is sovereign and His will and His work and His glory is to help man to rise to his exalted potential–to become like Christ (1 John 3:2), who is like his Father.

While we must accept the Spirit as our guide, we are not His slaves. If we are to be the heirs of God, we must want to follow the whisperings of the holy ghost. We must, ask for His direction, we must seek to understand His prompting, we must knock upon the door of service and give of ourselves to our Father’s children. We must yield our agency to Him who would never take that agency from us.

Most recently we were all given a great opportunity to exercise our agency and follow President Monson’s counsel urging California members of the church to “do all you can” to support Proposition 8.

I was asked to work as a Zip Code supervisor. During those intense 3 months, I thought often of Samuel the Lamanite– what unrecorded experiences, or smaller walls, did he stand on to prepare him to stand on the great wall, risking his life as the arrows flew, to speak gospel truth.

Similar to the preparation to Samuel, we are now being offered opportunities to stand on “small walls” preparing us for things to come. I would like to share two pivotal experiences for me during the campaign:

One day while picking up yard signs at the Hodnetts, I noticed a different type of sign stacked along their entryway. I asked Janet what they were and she indicated that they were wave signs, designed to be held on street corners. It is important to note that at this time, we had completed two house to house voter identification polls and had begun the phoning campaign. These activities were outside the comfort zone of many of our members, including myself.

In my mind, I remember envisioning signs for cheap pizzas and going out-of-business sales. I distinctly remember thinking—this is where I draw the line…

How could I ask the volunteers to wave these signs when I was struggling to envision doing it myself.

At that time, our signs were being stolen almost as quickly as they were put up, we were asked by those leading the campaign to find members willing to stand with the sign on PCH to show our support for the Proposition.

A group of families rose to the challenge, including my own. Pacific Coast Highway is one of those small walls. And interestingly, the thing that seemed most difficult turned out to be fun for the families. Non-members joined us from other churches. There were 1500 volunteers standing for truth that day from San Diego to Long Beach.

Priesthood keys used to unlock the ministering of angels/election weekend: Discuss the change in those helping. Multiple calls made.

I am grateful for the refining experience working on Prop 8. During the process, I received key personal revelation very similar in nature to experiences on my mission:

• Increased clarity and understanding of the plan of Happiness.
• Opportunity to practice learning how to unapologetically stand for truth and state my belief with love, respect and increased compassion for those that do not understand or accept the Lord’s plan for eternal families.
• Understanding that the Lord does not ask me to control an outcome. He asks me to surrender my will to His and be willing to what I can. On the night of the election, before the results were in, I felt such a sweet confirmation of the Spirit that “All was well and that the Lord was pleased with our efforts.

In these days since the election, I feel a more urgent need to increase my personal righteousness. To desire to know “the mind and will of the Lord” for me each day. And to be still enough to hear and be lead as the Lord desires. I can only imagine the type of freedom described by President Packer.

In closing, I wanted to read a quote by Richard G. Scott from this month’s visiting teaching message:

You cannot today remotely imagine what the decision to be unwaveringly obedient to the Lord will allow you to accomplish in life. Your quiet, uncompromising determination to live a righteous life will couple you to inspiration and power beyond your capacity now to understand.

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

I have always been proud she is my sister, and always will.

Elphaba

ADD: Since people are still reading her talk here, I'm going to leave it on this thread. E.

Edited February 2, 2009 by Elphaba

[Guest ceeboo]

Thanks for sharing that :)

You mention someone by the name of Elphaba ????:confused:

Sorry, that name doesn't ring any bells :lol:

Kidding, I truly admire my dear friend Elphie :):)

" Turtles all the way down ":)

Ceeboo ( the Elphaba liker )

[boyando]

I did not know you were related to my favorite Liberal.....LOL!!!!!!!

I enjoy having a good argument with her about politics.....:D

I did not think about it, but not that I have, she is my favorite Liberal, too.

[lusciouschaos]

You are way too generous in your comments about me. One day we will have the discussion about Prop 8. Love you.