Talks that Spoke to Me

This month's Ensign (Aug 2011) there is a talk by L. Tom Perry.  He quotes Spencer W. Kimball a few times, and they are great quotes.

In contrast to this secular lifestyle, President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985) taught us the importance of seeking knowledge from God:
“In proper sequence, first comes the knowledge of God and his program, which is the way to eternal life, and then comes the knowledge of the secular things, which is also very important. …
“... Mortality is the time to learn first of God and the gospel and to perform the ordinances. After our feet are set firmly on the path to eternal life we can amass more knowledge of the secular things. …
“Secular knowledge, important as it may be, can never save a soul nor open the celestial kingdom nor create a world nor make a man a god, but it can be most helpful to that man who, placing first things first, has found the way to eternal life and who can now bring into play all knowledge to be his tool and servant.”

That quote was good, and I know when I was getting my bachelors degree I always had time for my homework as long as I studied my scriptures first and attended the temple regularly. While Brent was doing his MBA, he decided to read the entire LDS standard works in a year, once he did that he seemed to have the time to meet all his obligations.  Work was such a mess, homework was getting done, and the kids and I were finally getting some attention.  But the quote I loved was this:

President Kimball reminded us of the importance of consistent scripture reading when he said: “I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that … no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away. If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance narrows and the spirituality returns.”

I just love it.  A few weeks before that I read that talk I read, Boyd K Packer's May 2011 Conference Talk, and I've been thinking about it ever since. I love the first paragraph.

It has been 400 years since the publication of the King James Bible, with significant contributions from William Tyndale, a great hero in my eyes. The clergy did not want the Bible published in common English. They hounded Tyndale from place to place. He said to them, “If God spare my life, ere many years I will cause a boy that driveth the plough shall know more of the Scripture than thou.” 

As President Packer said that is has been fulfilled ten fold, by ever child who reads the Book of Mormon and Bible, but I was more thinking of Joseph Smith when I first read it.
The whole talk was good in my opinion, and inspired me I marked it all up in my magazine, but I've also dwell on the last paragraph.

If you are carrying some burden, forget it, let it alone. Do a lot of forgiving and a little repenting, and you will be visited by the Spirit of the Holy Ghost and confirmed by the testimony that you did not know existed.

I think maybe I'm always thinking about forgiveness.  My husband is a master at forgetting and forgiving.  His ability to forgive is always inspiring to me. I'm the opposite I love to hold grudges, to hold on to them until the fester and grow.  But between my husband's righteous example, and my father's wise counsel when I was a teenager I'm learning the blessing of forgiving and forgetting.  I remember my dad teaching me, "what does this have to do with your relationship with the Lord?"  Inevitably the answer is nothing, and with that knowledge you can move on your spirituality.