Now, before you all look at each other and ask why he asked a nineteen year old freshmen straight out of high school to talk to you Return Missionaries and second, third, or fourth year college students about work and self-reliance, listen to the spirit. I’m not the teacher, or the speaker today, merely a vessel through which the Spirit of the Lord would like to teach or remind you of something today. That being said, I have prepared this talk in hopes that someone here today will benefit from my thoughts and it is my prayer that something will touch your heart for the better today.
In typical “mormon” fashion, I decided to gather some research on the definition of “Work and Self-reliance” first. I turned to Google.
Work was defined as both a noun and a verb:
n. activity involving mental or physical effort done in order to achieve a purpose or result
v. to be engaged in physical or mental activity in order to achieve a purpose
Self-reliance is defined to be a noun:
n. reliance on one’s own powers and resources rather than those of others
While Google is a fantastic resource for information, I distinctly remember a speaker at EFY counseling us that God is not in Google and my Literature teacher in high school begging us to read deeper into the meaning behind the text, so I delved a little deeper. I believe that although work and self-reliance have to do with physical effort in college and employment, most of you have probably figured that out long ago and don’t need pint-size up here telling you to do your homework on-time or to work harder at your job. So I decided to try and find the spiritual side of “Work and Self-reliance” and came up with these definitions:
Work is the act of spiritually progressing towards the Savior and obtaining our divine potential.
We will come back to self reliance in a minute.
I decided to further break work down into four aspects:
Want or desire to progress
Obedience to the commandments
Repentance and utilizing the atonement daily
Keep moving forward with faith
If you didn’t notice while I was listing these steps, they are an acronym for WORK, so hopefully that makes it a little easier to remember. Work consists of: W.O.R.K. All aspects require effort. If you will remember, the first definition specifically says that “work is an activity involving mental or physical effort” This makes perfect sense, seeing as work is how we progress and this life was given to us in order to progress and the act of progress requires effort, because we have all heard that this life wasn’t meant to be easy, only worth it. Furthermore, in my American Heritage class, we learned about Thomas Paine’s “American Crisis I” which states, “what we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.” Although Paine was speaking of the cost of freedom during the revolutionary war, it still applies today. The purpose of this life on Earth is to gain Eternal Life and live with God again. If that purpose was easily attainable, we would not regard it with the same reverence or esteem it deserves. Heaven is a place to we should strive to enter and requires effort on our parts in order to obtain.
Now I can see the wheels turning in your minds, if work is the effort and process with which we progress through life, what is self-reliance? Aren’t we supposed to rely on our Savior, and not ourselves? Here is what I think. Self-reliance is relying on your personal testimony and having faith for yourself that God will help you through each day. I know that seems like a bit of a stretch from the original definition, so let me explain where my wire-ball of a girl’s brain went with that. Self-reliance was defined by google as “reliance on one’s own powers and resources rather than those of others.” Seeing as this is the world’s definition, we must define for ourselves what “powers” and “resources” mean to us. Heavenly Father has given us a few powers to exercise on this earth, but the one tool he has given to each of us is the power of our testimony which is strengthened through the resources of faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. Thus, Self-reliance is reliance on one’s own testimony and faith rather than those of others.
Many apostles and members have spoken of this very subject within just the past year. In an address at BYU during Education Week this summer, Neil L. Anderson cautioned members that we are approaching times where we “cannot stand on borrowed light.” Likewise, Brother Vern P. Stanfill shared his personal story of light during General Conference just two weeks ago:
Quote: "Not long ago, my wife and I decided that we should more fully experience the beauty of an area close to our home in northwest Montana. We determined to take our bicycles to the Hiawatha Trail, a converted rail line that crosses the beautiful Rocky Mountains between Montana and Idaho. We anticipated a fun day with good friends, enjoying the natural beauty of the area.
We will come back to self reliance in a minute.
I decided to further break work down into four aspects:
Want or desire to progress
Obedience to the commandments
Repentance and utilizing the atonement daily
Keep moving forward with faith
If you didn’t notice while I was listing these steps, they are an acronym for WORK, so hopefully that makes it a little easier to remember. Work consists of: W.O.R.K. All aspects require effort. If you will remember, the first definition specifically says that “work is an activity involving mental or physical effort” This makes perfect sense, seeing as work is how we progress and this life was given to us in order to progress and the act of progress requires effort, because we have all heard that this life wasn’t meant to be easy, only worth it. Furthermore, in my American Heritage class, we learned about Thomas Paine’s “American Crisis I” which states, “what we obtain too cheap, we esteem too lightly.” Although Paine was speaking of the cost of freedom during the revolutionary war, it still applies today. The purpose of this life on Earth is to gain Eternal Life and live with God again. If that purpose was easily attainable, we would not regard it with the same reverence or esteem it deserves. Heaven is a place to we should strive to enter and requires effort on our parts in order to obtain.
Now I can see the wheels turning in your minds, if work is the effort and process with which we progress through life, what is self-reliance? Aren’t we supposed to rely on our Savior, and not ourselves? Here is what I think. Self-reliance is relying on your personal testimony and having faith for yourself that God will help you through each day. I know that seems like a bit of a stretch from the original definition, so let me explain where my wire-ball of a girl’s brain went with that. Self-reliance was defined by google as “reliance on one’s own powers and resources rather than those of others.” Seeing as this is the world’s definition, we must define for ourselves what “powers” and “resources” mean to us. Heavenly Father has given us a few powers to exercise on this earth, but the one tool he has given to each of us is the power of our testimony which is strengthened through the resources of faith in our Savior Jesus Christ. Thus, Self-reliance is reliance on one’s own testimony and faith rather than those of others.
Many apostles and members have spoken of this very subject within just the past year. In an address at BYU during Education Week this summer, Neil L. Anderson cautioned members that we are approaching times where we “cannot stand on borrowed light.” Likewise, Brother Vern P. Stanfill shared his personal story of light during General Conference just two weeks ago:
Quote: "Not long ago, my wife and I decided that we should more fully experience the beauty of an area close to our home in northwest Montana. We determined to take our bicycles to the Hiawatha Trail, a converted rail line that crosses the beautiful Rocky Mountains between Montana and Idaho. We anticipated a fun day with good friends, enjoying the natural beauty of the area.
We knew our ride along the magnificent 15-mile (24 km) trail would include trestles stretching over deep canyons and long tunnels penetrating rugged mountains. So we prepared ourselves with lights strapped to our helmets and bicycles.
Those who had gone before warned us that the tunnels were dark and that we needed really strong lights. As we gathered in front of the massive stone opening of the Taft Tunnel, a caretaker explained some of the dangers of the trail, including deep ditches along the edges, rough walls, and complete darkness. Impatiently, we pushed forward into the tunnel. After we had ridden only a few minutes, the predicted darkness engulfed us. The lights I brought proved inadequate, and the darkness soon overwhelmed them. Suddenly, I began to feel anxious, confused, and disoriented.
I was embarrassed to admit my anxieties to my friends and family. Although an experienced cyclist, I now felt as though I had never ridden a bicycle. I struggled to stay upright as my confusion increased. Finally, after I did express my discomfort to those around me, I was able to draw closer to the more powerful light of a friend. In fact, everyone in the group began to form a tight circle around him. By staying close to him and relying for a time on his light and the collective light of the group, we pushed deeper into the darkness of the tunnel.
After what seemed like hours, I saw a pinpoint of light. Almost immediately, I began to feel reassured that all would be well. I continued to press forward, relying on both the light of my friends and the growing pinpoint of light. My confidence gradually returned as the light grew in size and intensity. Long before reaching the end of the tunnel, I no longer needed the assistance of my friends. All anxiety disappeared as we pedaled quickly toward the light. I felt calm and reassured even before we rode into the morning full of warmth and splendor.” End Quote.
In his story, each bicyclist brought his or her own flashlight and had prepared themselves for the coming darkness, but were inadequately so when total darkness arose. They relied upon their own lights and then banded together in order to progress through the tunnel. This is not to say they relied on one another primarily. If each cyclist had relied on one another solely to supply the light, one or maybe even none of the cyclists may have brought a light in the first place and the total darkness would have consumed them all. Because they each acted in self-reliance, their lights were present and they were able to thwart the darkness with their combined light. LIkewise, if we continually find ourselves relying on others to supply the light for our testimonies, the darkness of the world will overcome us and we will be wholly unprepared for the trials that lie ahead. We must gain our own testimony and take faith in our Savior in order to prevail against the adversary and endure to the end. The next question we must ask ourselves, is how do we accomplish this?
In Self-reliance, we rely upon our own testimony and faith, so the real question is, where do we place our faith and what do we have faith in? The most obvious answer, and the only place we should turn to for faith, is Christ and His Atonement. In order to spiritually progress and find our way Home, we must submit our will to the Father’s and trust completely in him. This is much easier said than done…This submission is something I have struggled with recently, because I like to have order and stability in my life. I had my life pretty much planned out after I graduated. I was going to come to school for a semester, submit my papers a week after school began, receive my call by my nineteenth birthday, and be out on my mission by the time winter semester started. Things haven’t all gone according to plan however. My nineteenth birthday has passed and I have yet to submit my papers. Some medical problems have arisen, that I could not foresee halting the progress of my papers. It has caused me to question my decision to serve a mission right now, and has required that I place my will in the Father’s hands and let him perform his works and grace. I have shown him that I have a want and a desire to serve, I have been obedient in keeping His commandments, I have repented and utilized His atonement and continue to do so daily, and I am doing my best to keep moving forward. I have gained my own testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel, and now it is time that I place my faith and trust in him and remember that everything happens according to the timing of the Lord. I know that the people that I need to reach out to will be there when I arrive, and I am starting to wonder what it is that I need to learn here before I leave that will help me be a better vessel for the Lord whilst I am on my mission.
I know that this gospel is true, and that as we place our trust in the Lord, He will see us through. I know that He has gone through everything we will go through and that He will uphold His children in the last days. I have faith in Him and in His plan.
I would challenge each of you to put WORK into practice and rely on your testimony and faith in our Savior Jesus Christ to get you through each day, one step at a time.
I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
Those who had gone before warned us that the tunnels were dark and that we needed really strong lights. As we gathered in front of the massive stone opening of the Taft Tunnel, a caretaker explained some of the dangers of the trail, including deep ditches along the edges, rough walls, and complete darkness. Impatiently, we pushed forward into the tunnel. After we had ridden only a few minutes, the predicted darkness engulfed us. The lights I brought proved inadequate, and the darkness soon overwhelmed them. Suddenly, I began to feel anxious, confused, and disoriented.
I was embarrassed to admit my anxieties to my friends and family. Although an experienced cyclist, I now felt as though I had never ridden a bicycle. I struggled to stay upright as my confusion increased. Finally, after I did express my discomfort to those around me, I was able to draw closer to the more powerful light of a friend. In fact, everyone in the group began to form a tight circle around him. By staying close to him and relying for a time on his light and the collective light of the group, we pushed deeper into the darkness of the tunnel.
After what seemed like hours, I saw a pinpoint of light. Almost immediately, I began to feel reassured that all would be well. I continued to press forward, relying on both the light of my friends and the growing pinpoint of light. My confidence gradually returned as the light grew in size and intensity. Long before reaching the end of the tunnel, I no longer needed the assistance of my friends. All anxiety disappeared as we pedaled quickly toward the light. I felt calm and reassured even before we rode into the morning full of warmth and splendor.” End Quote.
In his story, each bicyclist brought his or her own flashlight and had prepared themselves for the coming darkness, but were inadequately so when total darkness arose. They relied upon their own lights and then banded together in order to progress through the tunnel. This is not to say they relied on one another primarily. If each cyclist had relied on one another solely to supply the light, one or maybe even none of the cyclists may have brought a light in the first place and the total darkness would have consumed them all. Because they each acted in self-reliance, their lights were present and they were able to thwart the darkness with their combined light. LIkewise, if we continually find ourselves relying on others to supply the light for our testimonies, the darkness of the world will overcome us and we will be wholly unprepared for the trials that lie ahead. We must gain our own testimony and take faith in our Savior in order to prevail against the adversary and endure to the end. The next question we must ask ourselves, is how do we accomplish this?
In Self-reliance, we rely upon our own testimony and faith, so the real question is, where do we place our faith and what do we have faith in? The most obvious answer, and the only place we should turn to for faith, is Christ and His Atonement. In order to spiritually progress and find our way Home, we must submit our will to the Father’s and trust completely in him. This is much easier said than done…This submission is something I have struggled with recently, because I like to have order and stability in my life. I had my life pretty much planned out after I graduated. I was going to come to school for a semester, submit my papers a week after school began, receive my call by my nineteenth birthday, and be out on my mission by the time winter semester started. Things haven’t all gone according to plan however. My nineteenth birthday has passed and I have yet to submit my papers. Some medical problems have arisen, that I could not foresee halting the progress of my papers. It has caused me to question my decision to serve a mission right now, and has required that I place my will in the Father’s hands and let him perform his works and grace. I have shown him that I have a want and a desire to serve, I have been obedient in keeping His commandments, I have repented and utilized His atonement and continue to do so daily, and I am doing my best to keep moving forward. I have gained my own testimony of the truthfulness of this gospel, and now it is time that I place my faith and trust in him and remember that everything happens according to the timing of the Lord. I know that the people that I need to reach out to will be there when I arrive, and I am starting to wonder what it is that I need to learn here before I leave that will help me be a better vessel for the Lord whilst I am on my mission.
I know that this gospel is true, and that as we place our trust in the Lord, He will see us through. I know that He has gone through everything we will go through and that He will uphold His children in the last days. I have faith in Him and in His plan.
I would challenge each of you to put WORK into practice and rely on your testimony and faith in our Savior Jesus Christ to get you through each day, one step at a time.
I leave these things with you in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
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