True Friends} Part Two

Good Morning, or Good Afternoon, or Good Evening, 

this post should take approximately four to six minutes to read from start to finish.

This post is focuses on a April 2002 General Conference talk and it is called, "True Friends" by Henry B. Eyring. This post is part two. I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the talk and I hope you will learn something new.

Brother Eyring mentioned the following, "There are limits on what friends can do to help the ones who must endure. It is the new members who must pray. It is they who must rely on the strength they will receive in answers to their prayers. They must choose for themselves in faith to be baptized, trusting in their perfect friend, the Savior. They must choose in faith in Him to repent, to be humble and contrite.

They must choose to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. The words of confirmation into the Church are an invitation: “Receive the Holy Ghost.” And that choice must be made not once, but every day, every hour, every minute. Even when the Holy Ghost comes and inspires them what they should do, doing it or not is a choice. Even when they read the scriptures regularly, it takes a choice to “feast upon the words of Christ.”

And even the feast is not nourishing without a choice to do what the words of Christ tell them to do. With faith and obedience practiced long enough, the Holy Ghost becomes a constant companion, our natures change, and endurance becomes certain.

"Anything is possible when you have the right people
there to support you." - Misty Copeland.

The member must make the choices, but the true friend is vital. There are important ways for us to share the new member’s burden that it may be bearable. We can love, listen, show, and testify.

First, we must love them. That is what the Savior does. We can do it with Him and for Him. He showed us the way in His mortal ministry. .. “This is my commandment, That ye love one another, as I have loved you. “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends. “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you.

.. The Savior watches over the struggling member as a friend. He laid down His life for all of us. He loves us and will grant us, if we are faithful, the gift of feeling a part of His love for them. ..

Second, we must listen to the new member with understanding and empathy. That also will take spiritual gifts, since our experience will rarely parallel theirs. It will not be enough to say, “I understand how you feel,” unless we do. But the Savior does. He is prepared to help you be a friend who understands even those you have just met, if you ask in faith. Before He was born, prophets knew what He would do to be able to help you be a friend for Him. ..

Third, we must be an example for the new member. We can feast upon the word of God. We can ask for and live for the companionship of the Holy Ghost. We can be obedient out of our faith in Jesus Christ. And in time we can become an example of a disciple who is born again through the Atonement. It may be gradual. It may be hard for us to discern in ourselves. But it will be real. And it will give hope to the new member and to all those we befriend on the path to eternal life.

Fourth, we must testify of the truth to the new member. It must be sincere, and it is best when it is simple. It is most helpful when it is about the reality and mission of the Savior, about our Heavenly Father’s love, and of the gifts and companionship of the Holy Ghost. And it is essential to testify that the Father and the Son appeared to the young Joseph Smith and that the full gospel and the true Church have been restored by heavenly messengers. The Holy Ghost will confirm those simple declarations as truth.

The new member will need that confirmation, again and again, even when we are not there to testify. Should they choose to reject the companionship of the Holy Ghost, he or she will not endure. But that is true for all of us, wherever we are and however faithful we have been. All of us will be tested. And all of us need true friends to love us, to listen to us, to show us the way, and to testify of truth to us so that we may retain the companionship of the Holy Ghost. You must be such a true friend.

.. And your friendship to even one new member may, in this life and in the next, cause hundreds or even thousands of their ancestors and their descendants to call you blessed. .."

If you would like to read the whole talk in your own time, here is the link below.
www.lds.org/general-conference/2002/04/true-friends

Stay tuned until next time.

True Friends} Part One

Good Morning, or Good Afternoon, or Good Evening, 

this post should take approximately three to five minutes to read from start to finish.

What's your definition of true friends? Do you think that you choose friends wisely?

This post is focuses on a April 2002 General Conference talk and it is called, "True Friends" by Henry B. Eyring. This post is part one. I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the talk and I hope you will learn something new.

Brother Eyring mentioned, ".. The Savior warns that if we start along the path and go far enough and then fail and deny Him, it would have been better if we had never begun. ..  It is to keep the promise we made in the waters of baptism “to bear one another’s burdens.” It is to be a friend.

These words of President Hinckley energize me: “I hope, I pray, I plead with you, every one of you, to embrace every new member of the Church. Make a friend of him or her. Hold onto them.”

President Hinckley can’t be there as a friend for every new member. But you can be there for at least one. All it takes is to feel something of what they feel and something of what the Savior feels for them. .. All it takes is a friend to bring such a mighty change in one’s life.”

.. He introduced his friend to the missionaries. He saw that his friend was baptized and received the gift of the Holy Ghost. He took his friend, even before baptism, to where he would study the scriptures and thus be nurtured by the good word of God.

Even before baptism he helped his friend discover this promise: “Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.” The words must have told him to buy scriptures, which he did. .. 

"Sometimes our preoccupation is on having friends. Perhaps we should focus on being a friend." - Elaine S. Dalton.

.. We know from the scriptures what caused those changes in him. He had to be praying with faith in the Savior. He was receiving testimony and directions through the Spirit. And then he was not only doing what he was inspired to do but he was asking God to let the Atonement work in his life.

Nephi, describing that miracle of change and what brings it, said this:

“And now, my beloved brethren, I perceive that ye ponder still in your hearts; and it grieveth me that I must speak concerning this thing. For if ye would hearken unto the Spirit which teacheth a man to pray ye would know that ye must pray; for the evil spirit teacheth not a man to pray, but teacheth him that he must not pray.

“But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul.”

.. When we are called to serve, we can pray for the Holy Ghost to be our companion with assurance it will come. When we ask in faith, a change can come in our natures both for the welfare of our souls and to strengthen us for the tests we all must face."

Stay Tuned until next time.

Insights, Recognized, and Acknowledged Friendships Throughout My Life

Good Morning, or Good Afternoon, or Good Evening, 

this post should take approximately three minutes to read from start to finish.

I would like to share with you, of my insights about friendships and how did I recognized friendships over the past years of my life. Most times, I saw myself constantly learning something new with most friends that I have met throughout my life.

Insights:

Meeting and making instant connection with new friends, why not? It can be easy to some people while it can be difficult to others. Sharing the common interests or similar interests with someone, seems easy to some people while it can be difficult to others. Getting out of comfort zone, seems easy to some people while it can be difficult to others. 

I know that some friends would comment "congratulations" whenever they see a social media post of their friends who recently got into a new relationship - boyfriend and girlfriend, who recently got engaged, who recently got married and who recently gave birth. Some people would also comment "congratulations" whenever they see a social media post of their friends who recently got accepted into a new job, and a new employment position. Those types of "congratulations" does means a lot to people. 

I know that not some friends doesn't know how they can effectively support their friends' own business/s. Wouldn't it be just simple to just share their friends's business/s via words of mouth?

"Hard times will always reveal true friends."

Recognized and Acknowledged: 

I have been able to recognized different type of friendships over the past years since I was in teen years. I always had different type of friendships, I had friends who has the same religion as me and I had friends who isn't church members of the same religion as me. 

I still do have friends who I have met during my years in primary schools, and my years in High School. 

I still do have some friends who I have met during EFY in Brisbane 2012, SMYC in Brisbane 2014, stake youth conference and stake youth dances. I still do have some friends who I have met during Annual Priest and Laurel's Balls and Annual YSA Balls.

I still do have some friends who I have met during YSA dances, YSA devotional firesides and YSA Conventions, Perth - 2014 and Gold Coast - 2016. I still do have some friends who I have met at times when I went to Brisbane Latter-Day Saint Temple and during institute classes. I still do have some friends who I have met elsewhere such as during my travels, while I was employed, and so. forth. 

I already acknowledged who my close friends, my best friends and who my true friends are by knowing that they are always there for me, even at times when they can't, they are always here with me in spirit. I know it's a good feeling for me that I know that I can rely on them, a lot. 

Over the years; I acknowledged that some people who goes through their friends list and unfriend bunch of people on Facebook, I acknowledged that some people goes through their following list and followers list, and they have unfollowed bunch of people and removed their followers on their Instagram. I have done those things. I learned to always choose friends wisely, I have recognized who my true friends are and worked out how many friends do I want to keep on Facebook. 

As I have experienced different stages throughout my life thus far; I have gone through losing friends, losing trust, certain amount of people who doesn't respect my feelings, and listening to different opinions what people think is best for me to follow. 

Stay Tuned until next time.

What Is a Friend} Part Two

Good Morning, or Good Afternoon, or Good Evening, 

this post should take approximately three minutes to read from start to finish.

This post focuses on October 1972 General Conference talk and it is called, "What Is a Friend?" by Marvin J. Ashton. This post is part two. I hope you will learn something new while reading throughout this post.

Marvin mentioned the following, "Please share this recent experience I had while visiting in South America. I was traveling with a mission president 200 miles from his office. Word reached him one of his elders was in the hospital with a ruptured appendix. His condition was grave because of the six-to seven-hour delay in getting medical attention. The mission president gave immediate instructions by telephone, getting the best physician possible, leading sixty missionaries assembled in zone conference in united prayer. He and his wife were at the elder’s bedside the following morning. Prayers continued, medical attention increased, companions took turns sitting at his bedside around the clock. Parents in Idaho were notified. “The best is being done for your son. We feel he will make it. Please have your family join us in our prayers.”

Here was friendship in action. Here was a friend at work. Here was an example of leaving the ninety and nine for the immediate attention of the one.

"A friend Cares. A friend Shows love. A friend Listens.
A friend Reaches out." - Thomas S. Monson.

No greater reward can come to any of us as we serve than a sincere “Thank you for being my friend.” When those who need assistance find their way back through and with us, it is friendship in action. When the weak are made strong and the strong stronger through our lives, friendship is real. If a man can be judged by his friends, he can also be measured by their heights.

How can we help a friend? An Arabian proverb helps us answer: “A friend is one to whom one may pour out all the contents of one’s heart, chaff and grain together, knowing that the gentlest of hands will take and sift it, keep what is worth keeping, and with the breath of kindness blow the rest away.”

Yes, a friend is a person who is willing to take me the way I am but who is willing and able to leave me better than he found me. ... I pray God to help us to be friends. We need God’s friendship. He pleads for ours. God lives. He is near. He is available."

Feel free to read the whole talk either now or in your own time, here's the link below.
www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1972/10/what-is-a-friend

Stay Tuned until next time.

What Is a Friend} Part One

Good Morning, or Good Afternoon, or Good Evening, 

this post should take three to five minutes to read from start to finish.

This post focuses on October 1972 General Conference talk and it is called, "What Is a Friend?" by Marvin J. Ashton. This post is part one. I hope you would learn something new as you read throughout this post. 

Marvin mentioned the following; "This day I greet you wherever you are as friends. ... 

Acts of a friend should result in self-improvement, better attitudes, self-reliance, comfort, consolation, self-respect, and better welfare. Certainly the word friend is misused if it is identified with a person who contributes to our delinquency, misery, and heartaches. When we make a man feel he is wanted, his whole attitude changes. Our friendship will be recognizable if our actions and attitudes result in improvement and independence.

It takes courage to be a real friend. Some of us endanger the valued classification of friend because of our unwillingness to be one under all circumstances. Fear can deprive us of friendship. Some of us identify our closest friends as those with the courage to remain and share themselves with us under all circumstances. A friend is a person who will suggest and render the best for us regardless of the immediate consequences. 

... It is well for us to be reminded that we are friends to ourselves when we keep our lives unspotted from the sins of the world and leave ourselves better tomorrow than we are today. It is a worthy daily goal to be a true friend to one’s self. Our responsibility to the widow and the fatherless is to accept them as we find them, but to not leave them without improvement. Ours is to lift the heavy heart, say the encouraging word, and assist in supplying the daily needs.

Aren’t we something less than a friend if we have the gospel of Jesus Christ and are unwilling to share it by word and example with a family, a member, neighbor, or the stranger? Aren’t we something less than a friend if we have a testimony of the gospel of Jesus Christ and are unwilling to share it?

FRIEND
F - fight for you, R - respect you, I - involve you, E - encourage you,
N - need you, D - deserve you, S - save you.

A friend is a possession we earn, not a gift. ... Let me share with you quickly a few of the many “friend” references in the Doctrine and Covenants referred to by our Savior: “And again, verily I say unto you, my friends … “Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you."

“… my friends, behold, I will give unto you a revelation and commandment. …” (D&C 103:1.)

“… my friends, fear not. …” (D&C 98:1.)

“… I will call you friends, for you are my friends, and ye shall have an inheritance with me.” (D&C 93:45.)

I bear you my witness that our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is our friend. In his loving processes of command, rebuke, greeting, revelation, encouragement, and long-suffering, he daily proves this. Certainly he is willing to take us the way we are, but he wants to leave us improved in his word and his paths.

... It was Emerson who said, “The only way to have a friend is to be one.” No one can be a friend until he is known. A friend is a person who will really take the time not only to know us, but to be with us. One of the finest presents you can give anyone is your best self.

Joseph Smith gave us a glimpse of his measure of friends when he said, “If my life is of no value to my friends, it is of no value to me.” ... A friend in the true sense is not a person who passively nods approval. A friend is a person who cares."

Stay tuned until next time.