Conversion

The Challenge to Become by Dallin H. Oaks 

http://lds.org/ldsorg/v/index.jsp?hideNav=1&locale=0&sourceId=f0b26169b62fe010VgnVCM100000176f620a____&vgnextoid=f318118dd536c010VgnVCM1000004d82620aRCRD


This article was mentioned by one of the presenters at Time Out for Women that Robbin and I attended last weekend.  When I read it, it really hit home for me.  I really appreciated the part where he says that going through the motions is not the point, I find myself doing that a lot. 

" It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become." 

I so often forget that the point of this life is to become someone, someone Heavenly Father will endow with all He has....I get caught up thinking that this life is just one never-ending to-do list.


"The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan by which we can become what children of God are supposed to become. This spotless and perfected state will result from a steady succession of covenants, ordinances, and actions, an accumulation of right choices, and from continuing repentance. “This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God” (Alma 34:32)."

I love that he says that our spotless and perfected state will result from a steady succession of covenants, ordinances, and actions...an accumulation of right choices and continuing repentance.  This life really is a proccess, there are no one time big decisions that are total deal breakers...or at least very few...and even when we make those mistakes our salvation depends on what we continue to do, what we repeatedly do...it is a proccess and we have to continually make the decisions that save us, create us.  I liked that thought...it's easier to move forward if I realize that the mistakes I made in the past are not the only opportunities to make decisions and the only chances I had to prove what kind of person I am.....I get to continue to do that as long as I live.

"Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become. As we do so, we should remember that our family relationships—even more than our Church callings—are the setting in which the most important part of that development can occur. The conversion we must achieve requires us to be a good husband and father or a good wife and mother. Being a successful Church leader is not enough. Exaltation is an eternal family experience, and it is our mortal family experiences that are best suited to prepare us for it."

He talks about the difference between having a testimony and being converted, and I found it really interesting that he points to the way we treat our families as an indication of whether we are really converted.

"Our needed conversions are often achieved more readily by suffering and adversity than by comfort and tranquillity"   Don't we all know this part?  I forget when I am suffering...and do a lot of why God?  He is just trying to help me to become what He would have me be....and I just complain about being uncomfortable.  Someday I'll learn.   "Through the justice and mercy of a loving Father in Heaven, the refinement and sanctification possible through such experiences can help us achieve what God desires us to become."

I also liked what he says about Charity being a condition or a state of being, it is what we strive to become rather than an act.  He says we are challenged not only to do what is right but to do it for the right reason....for the pure love of Christ.

Read the part about the parable of the vineyard.  This part touched me because I have a sister for whom many tears have been shed and many prayers have been offered. 

"This parable teaches us that we should never give up hope and loving associations with family members and friends whose fine qualities (see Moro. 7:5–14) evidence their progress toward what a loving Father would have them become. Similarly, the power of the Atonement and the principle of repentance show that we should never give up on loved ones who now seem to be making many wrong choices.
Instead of being judgmental about others, we should be concerned about ourselves. We must not give up hope. We must not stop striving. We are children of God, and it is possible for us to become what our Heavenly Father would have us become."

Sisters, thanks so much for sharing your thoughts and articles with me these last few weeks.  I pray that we may hear His voice instead of the voice of the world, and may do things in His way instead of by the ways of the world.