Last night I was assigned to give a 15 min talk in sacrament on Pres Cook's conference talk. The title is "I want ya to know, we had a hard time." It is about trials in our lives and how to use the atonement to press forward. I need to personalize it. Suggestions?? THX!!
phrog
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I can only tell you my personal experiences - I'm thinking about forgiveness and how the adversary can use our mistakes to make us believe that we've already messed up so there's not much point in trying anymore......I have learned that if I want forgiveness, I have to be willing to give forgiveness - not only to others, but also to myself. Without learning this step, the atonement can be unreachable.
Or how about God will help us with just about anything at all, but somewhere along the way we have to make the choice of a direction and move our feet. Because of free agency, without making that choice and deciding which direction we want to go, God is bound to wait until we do.
The one thing I learned through it all is that I don't know what I need...but God does. If it had been up to me, I'd not have gone through any of the hard stuff. I like it soft and easy on the whole - but I am stronger and know better where I stand and what my beliefs are because of the things I went through.
The scripture 'all of these things are for your good' got me through a lot.
Anyway - good luck.
flowergirl
That was a good article in the Ensign a couple of months ago. I don't know what your life experiences are at this time. Draw on something that was hard for you to overcome. Maybe it was hurt feelings that you had over a misunderstanding, maybe an argument you had with a family member. You don't have to go into detail where it would make someone uncomfortable who you may be talking about but tell your story. Then say what you did spiritually to get over the issue. Maybe you forgave someone and it was hard. Perhaps you tried to see things from another persons point of view so you could try to be a better friend or mother. You may want to give a little synopsis of what the atonement is. Remember you are talking to all ages so you want to keep it where an 8 year old could get something out of it and so could a 60 year old. Just speak from the heart. I always enjoy the talks where someone opens up and admits that they don't know it all and that even they struggle. You could throw in Jesus' struggles so that we all could take advantage of the atonement and what a great gift that is to all of us. Good luck and don't be nervous. You'll do great.
rac
Yes, I enjoyed his talk. That was a really cute story he used to start his talk.
Obviously, we don't know your hardships but it won't take you too long to find a few, we all have them. Once you settle on a couple of stories about yourself, you need to tell how you overcame them. What pulled you through. Of course relate that to some scriptures that talk about overcoming hardships. Probably my favorite is Joseph in Liberty Jail where Jesus tells him to be of good cheer because his suffering will be but a small moment. Christ suffered more than all of us and we are not better than him.
Overcoming a sin can be a hard time and prayer and confession and doing the Lord's will can get us through it.
Camping stories are metaphors for spiritual things. Hard times can be both.
Best wishes.
I just got a great Haircut
http://www.ldsces.org/inst_manuals/doc-gosp/manualindex.asp
I hate getting too personal. But since you were told to I would try to relate your personal trials with the doctrine of how important it is to our growth, and how important it is to our purpose in life. From that link I provided there is a good chapter "Purpose of Earth Life"...I think...that has a great explanation of it.
How can we grow and advance with out them? How can we come to empathize and relate to others and more importantly the Savior if we didn't have them? Or how could we come to understand how important the Atonement is to us as it provides healing and the chance to conqueror the trials. Stuff like that. Like a map. There wouldn't be a need for faith if we weren't tried and with out faith we couldn't recieve blessings because that is part of how God grants them to us. Our faith in him and asking. Make sense?