Sunday Thoughts

Yesterday was our annual Stake Relief Society Women's Conference and our special guest speaker was Brad Wilcox. This was my first time hearing him speak and it was a treat. Our book club read his book The Continuous Atonement so I was familiar with his writing style and knowledge of the subject, but hearing him speak added even more dimension and clarity. Here are my notes...

• Remember that the Atonement isn't just a miracle because it means we will be resurrected and can receive comfort during our trials; it is a miracle because it means we can be transformed!
• Why do we have to face trials in the first place if it's only about being comforted? We can be transformed through our trials and be better than we were before because of having gone through them.
• Come unto Christ and be perfected in Him means to come unto Christ and be like Him.
• Our goal is to become more like Christ, not just to get to Him.
• We don't have to make our burdens presentable to the Lord, He is with us all along the way.
• Christ's light surrounds us and moves us forward as we strive to be like Him.
• Come unto me, come as you are, right here, right now...not when you're finally worthy but while you're still struggling.
• There is purpose in bearing your burdens in the first place.
• You're not a hypocrite, you're a disciple. You're not perfect but are struggling and trying to be better every day.
• 2 Nephi 25:23, "after" is a preposition of separation rather than time.
• We do all we do because we love God, but we need to remember He loves us. He doesn't care about the offering, He cares about the offerer!
• One of Satan's strategies is to whisper in our ears that if we're not perfect we're failing.
• Our consistent offerings (of service and sacrifice) to the Lord help us to transform ourselves.
• We forget who is making all we do possible (like a jockey thinking he won the race).
• Nothing doesn't mean worthless, it means powerless. (We are nothing without God.)
• We focus so much on our to-do lists we forget why God gave them to us in the first place. Everything we do is to help us become more like Him.
• No unclean thing can dwell with God but no unchanged thing will want to because they won't feel comfortable being with Him.
• It's not about height it's about growth.
• A covenant is not a cold contract but a warm relationship between two hearts.