Temple Bound
God's children are searching in greater numbers for answers and hoping for miracles as they look to Jesus Christ for relief. On 'Temple Bound,' hosted by Will Humphreys, explore how temples offer not just solace but also powerful tools for navigating these turbulent times through faith in Jesus Christ.
Tune in every Monday to hear Will Humphreys engage with guests who bring inspiring stories, profound teachings, and insights into accessing divine guidance through temple service.
Each episode promises to enrich your understanding and strengthen your connection to the Savior in unique and transformative ways.
Whether you're seeking answers, yearning for peace, or in need of a miracle, 'Temple Bound' is your weekly spiritual refuge, helping you anchor your soul to the Savior. Join us on this sacred journey to deepen your faith and discover the blessings of temple worship.
Temple Bound
Confidence in the Presence of God with Michelle Bentley
In this insightful episode, we welcome back Michelle Bentley to delve into President Russell M. Nelson's recent April 2025 General Conference address, "Confidence in the Presence of God." In a world often filled with doubt and negativity, President Nelson's message offers a powerful path to developing a deep and abiding confidence in our relationship with the Lord, not just in the future, but in our daily lives right now.
Key Discussion Points:
- Temple covenants are deeply connected to the principles of charity and virtue.
- The temple is a place to learn and live charity, strengthening our spiritual connection and confidence.
- President Nelson calls for charity towards all people, exemplified by the accepting nature of the youth.
- Building individual confidence contributes to the collective gathering of Israel.
- Ether 12 highlights that the Lord uses our weaknesses to make us strong through humility and faith.
- A personal story illustrates receiving help and finding spiritual growth in unexpected challenges.
- The takeaway is that confidence in God's presence should feel like a comforting and familiar relationship built on studying His life and teachings.
We hope this discussion has helped you consider how to cultivate greater confidence in the presence of our loving Heavenly Father and Savior. If you found these insights valuable and want to explore more topics like this, be sure to follow or subscribe to our podcast so you don't miss future episodes! We appreciate you listening and joining our community.
Today's guest is Michelle Bentley, one of our recurring powerful guests, who today we're going to be talking about President Nelson's most recent April 25 General Conference Address about confidence in the Lord. You guys, it is so easy to lose confidence in today's world, right, we have these horrible things happen to us. Where we make mistakes, the adversary is in our ear, as we learned from Dennis Deaton, constantly trying to tell us that we're not enough and that we're big failures. But this is the opposite of that. Today, we're going to learn how we can not just develop confidence in the Lord tomorrow, but how to develop confidence in the presence of the Lord today. Tomorrow, but how to develop confidence in the presence of the Lord today. President Nelson is going to just completely open up how we do that, and Michelle has done a fantastic job of tying in different elements in ways that I did not think of until today. So, guys, buckle up and enjoy the show. Let's get right into this. Michelle, I am so excited about this talk that you picked. So which talk did you pick?
Speaker 2:and why Confidence in the Presence of God by President Russell M Nelson, and it was given in our last, most recent general conference.
Speaker 1:Yes, today is May 4th For those people who are listening. The 4th may be with you, and you made the comment that maybe you should come down dressed with Princess Leia. I did ask you if.
Speaker 2:I could come in my Princess Leia braids. I didn't get a yes and I didn't get a no.
Speaker 1:I was waiting to see what would happen.
Speaker 2:I didn't wear them, but we can still have fun with that.
Speaker 1:We'll definitely have a good time regardless, and that talk was so great because that wasn't that long ago as we're recording this. This was just whatever, however many weeks that was ago, and what a powerful talk. I love that you picked this talk because there's so much gold being mined in here, especially as it pertains to the temple, so let's kick it right off with, like, some of your initial thoughts in the talk and some things that inspired you about it.
Speaker 2:Yeah, standouts.
Speaker 1:Yeah, please.
Speaker 2:Um, that is like a little bit of pressure, though, because we're going to be chatting the most recent message from the prophet of the Lord that's living on the earth right now, and so I don't take this topic or this message who this message was given by lightly. Like this is important and crucial for the world to hear, so I just have to like preface that like I come to this into this talk and this discussion with just great respect for understanding that Russell M Nelson is a prophet of God.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I can feel the reverence that you're bringing to this, and it's interesting because that word, reverence, was also mentioned in this last talk by Elder Suarez, talking about how reverence is the foundation of all these spiritual things. And so what an appropriate way to start this off, because President Nelson we forget sometimes is the prophet of the world. He's not the leader of the church, he's God's mouthpiece to the world, and so what he spoke was divine revelation for all of God's children to hear right out of the gate.
Speaker 2:Right, which is this message? The title of his talk is Confidence in the Presence of God. Yeah, and I want to jump a little bit into his talk but then go right back to the beginning, but he says confidence in the presence of God right now. That is something we can have right now, every day, and he's going to help us understand actually what that looks like, and I think it's easy for us to think of a moment in time or confidence in the presence of God when I return to my heavenly home.
Speaker 2:It's some future date, but I think, as we discuss this, the fact that he's going to teach us that it's something we can have ongoing and receive the blessings of that relationship every day of our lives. And so, yes, there'll be a very real reunion that will happen, but as we focus on letting that confidence grow on the daily, it's just going to bless our lives throughout.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Like throughout and always. I'm going to put a plug for my daughter because that's her message. Like she likes to say throughout and always is what our relationship with with God looks like. So, um so I work with the youth a lot. I teach seminary, so I'm with them every day during the week, and he starts off with the youth. So he says here I'm especially inspired by our youth. They are seeking their ancestors and performing ordinances in the temple. The rising generation is rising up as stalwart followers of Jesus Christ.
Speaker 1:Isn't that amazing that he spent the very beginning just acknowledging this rising generation and how powerful they are. That was such a cool inspiration as a parent just being like, yeah, it is inspiring what they're facing and what the choices are that they're making in the face of that, that pressure that none of us have ever had. It's such a different thing.
Speaker 2:Right and I this is true Like yes, when president Nelson speaks, he's going to speak truth, and I just feel like you want to just stand up and clap when he says that, because one is true and two, it's joyful, it's hopeful and it's inspiring and uplifting for us, for them, but also for us. And I just had the thought, like can we have some conversations with our youth about that comment, Like hey, do you know how awesome you are and can I show you why and where that is said? And just to pull this talk out and just share with them that little snippet. I mean share the whole message, but like that snippet and be like, yeah, this is that you're awesome and this is why you're awesome, and then just to see what their reaction is.
Speaker 2:Like let them feel that compliment that comes from the prophet and let them just feel good about themselves and like what they're doing. Yeah, and it's always do more of that.
Speaker 1:Totally. I think it goes back to the whole theme of this discussion today, which is confidence in the Lord. You know being a youth in this world. They don't know what they don't know about how different their environment is. And so, going back to what you said at the beginning, recognizing the prophet as the prophet of the world for every man, woman, child and maybe having a moment with our kids to help really build that piece of it up and being like, yeah, do you ever think about that? He's not the leader of the church, he is God's mouthpiece to all of God's children, all the 8 billion of us on the planet right now, and look what he said. And then going into what you said and using that first paragraph as an acknowledgement, and then we can layer in our own praise and just say yeah, we are so proud of you.
Speaker 1:I had a moment recently I'll just quickly share. I had a out point with one of my older kids on vacation and it was a pretty challenging moment where there was a little resistance.
Speaker 2:I'm trying to be really respectful about my that was like a Star Wars reference. Good job.
Speaker 1:Okay For today's episode. We are going to mention every time we say something that ties to Star Wars. Okay, Good job.
Speaker 1:So there was resistance and anyway, I was really really frustrated with it and I did that thing that I felt I used to lose my temper pretty intensely and this time, over years, I've gotten better at just being real direct and just saying hey, listen, this is the action, this is the consequence. Is that what you want? Because here's what I think about it, regardless of whether or not you're ready to hear that kind of a coach singeing the eyebrows of the football, but in a loving way. And then later we were on our own walking to dinner and there was just that awkward tension that exists. After there was that kind of confrontation and I just turned to him and I just said I know how.
Speaker 1:I can't even imagine how hard it is to be you in some of these situations that you're in.
Speaker 1:I just want you to know two things are true at the same time.
Speaker 1:Number one you are one of the most amazing human beings I've ever met, and what you do every day inspires me in this way and it gives very specific, tangible examples. And sometimes it's hard for all of us to keep it together. So you can also count on me to be the other guy to really make sure that when we go too far, I can pull you back and I love you and, like the rest of that evening, we just talked and like had this really deep conversation in a way that that was just to me. That's like the Savior's love being manifest in real time, because, you know, that's not going to happen without the Holy Ghost. That's only through the Holy Ghost that those moments happen. So leveraging these opportunities to praise our children is just so vital, and recognizing that it's coming from the prophet of the Lord gives, hopefully, an opportunity for us to really acknowledge them, to build them up, starting with that foundational layer of confidence that we want to have within ourselves and in the Lord.
Speaker 2:Right, and I would predict too that having these kinds of conversations with our youth and I mean, yes, we're focusing on the youth in the beginning of the talk, but with anybody and it seems to have a very contagious effect, right, like when we have those kinds of complimentary conversations and we back it on like, well, let me tie this to who you are, like your divine identity it's. We feel so good in that moment that it's just you want to share that. You want to share and give that feeling to other people as well.
Speaker 2:And so that would be my prediction that, as we have these conversations with those we love, you know we're talking about the youth they're going to want to share it yeah right going back to president nelson being the prophet of the world, like let's spread this message that he's proud he does talk specifically, that he's inspired because of the increase, the, the uptick this like focus that the youth are having on temple and family history work which I know is a really really sweet spot for you Totally.
Speaker 1:I was so thrilled when he did that. When he said that, I was like yes, because we want to reinforce this positive behavior, this rebranding of sorts of how temples are seen.
Speaker 2:Right. So this last week in seminary, actually, one of our class discussions, one of our lessons was on temple and family history work with youth and it was interesting. We just started with just this open discussion and I asked my class. I said tell me what this is looking like. Can we just have a conversation? Because I would love to hear what your experiences are and what you're drawing from these experiences of you being in the temple, Because right now their experience is going and doing baptisms and confirmation work, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost for others and that ordinance of baptism, and can I just share some of their comments.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Okay, I took note of them because they're kind of incredible. So one of them said, like first thing out of her mouth, she's like oh, sister Bentley, I love to talk about the temple. This is a freshman, right Like before she even said anything, she goes, this is my favorite thing to talk about. And that just set the whole tone. And one of them said I like to go to the temple alone. I don't go with friends, I go alone. That's my time with the Lord.
Speaker 1:Interesting, and how old is this person?
Speaker 2:That person was a freshman.
Speaker 1:Oh, my word.
Speaker 2:Yeah, 14, 15.
Speaker 1:Unbelievable maturity, spiritual maturity. All I could think about was my perspective of the temple at their age. That was nowhere near that Right.
Speaker 2:Yeah, okay, here's another one. I go with friends. So here's a different experience. I go with friends because, well, in other words, it's cool to see my friends in the temple. So the comment was okay, I see him at school sports, like outside, but then to see my, my friends, in that setting is the neatest thing ever.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:Right, as we're doing the Lord's work. It's fun, is what they said. Um, another student. This is awesome. Okay, the student is also a freshman. The student said when he wakes up early for anything else whether it's sports or something for school or mom wakes them up super early. He's like I drag the whole day. All I can think about is when am I going to get a nap? He goes. I'm just a goner. All day long he goes, but when I wake up early to go to the temple I'm never tired.
Speaker 1:Wow.
Speaker 2:He's like I just have a different level of energy. It's a different way to start my day.
Speaker 1:What a palpable like testimony for him to see the connection between his service and the blessings.
Speaker 2:Right, Um, okay, here's another one. Um, it was a great discussion. If you can't tell, Um, this student is a sophomore, no freshman. And she said, um, she goes to the temple every week and she's like I love when I get there I get to see my friends. So I was like, oh, so you go with your friends. She's like no, actually I'm talking about the temple workers. She's like they love me. I know they love me and I go and they are my friends, they're my people.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:So she has the standing appointment and that's what she's looking forward to. Um, okay, this one's really powerful.
Speaker 2:This is a senior, and this student shared how well this, this um youth, just recently was baptized wow super recently, and so she was able to share what it was like for her to go through for the very you know, go and do baptisms and confirmations for the first time and do baptisms and confirmations for the first time, and just the energy that she had explaining this experience was just again contagious, and she talked about how she's the only member in her family right now and how that is a little that's difficult she wants her mom there.
Speaker 2:She wants her family there with her, experiencing these things with her. But she said, when I'm there, I feel family. I feel that I'm home, like a different kind of home than you know. She loves her family and they've been really supportive. But she said, when I'm in the temple, I just family's the only word that she can feel. And she's so anxious to start doing this work for her ancestors.
Speaker 1:That's a powerful one, I think. That really hit me hard. I just I'd never had realized how it was feel like to go to the temple without family. I mean, I go to the temple by myself, right, but like I think about the first time I, you know, received my endowments or baptisms, or especially the first of those different temple trips how we're just kind of used to having. Many of us are blessed to have had family with us in that journey, or, you know, whenever Heather and I can coordinate schedules and I get to go with her, it feels like a date. It's so much more special because it's like you know, we'll do ceilings and just have little inside jokes around what's going on and just that little fun, intimate connection that people don't have. But how special that even without that temporal family presence, she has a celestial family experience.
Speaker 2:Isn't that beautiful. And she calls it her other home her other home.
Speaker 1:huge shout out to all of you temple workers who are currently listening by the way, who are befriending these young kids who may not know that they're making a difference, and or helping these newly baptized members of our church who don't have family members going, making them, helping them feel that spirit of family Way to go, and to all of Michelle's kids who are currently listening to this. You guys are so amazing. What an incredible group of students you guys you have over there.
Speaker 2:They are. They're fantastic. The last comment I have to share well, two is a lot of them said you know I'd like to just go sit in the parking lot. I like to make that a place where I can go and ponder and pray and feel the spirit and if it's a busy day and I didn't have time to go in and do the work in there, I like to go to the grounds. I'll just end with this, this comment. One of my students said she likes goals and she likes setting goals. She's like that's just part of who I am. Then she said the temple is helping her understand how important goal setting is and those are her most important goals. She goes to the temple.
Speaker 1:Such maturity. Like I'm taking notes in my mind going oh yeah next time I set goals, go to the temple with those goals. I've never done that Right. What a powerful connection. To find the eternal perspective on these temporal and spiritual goals that I'm creating, to get the connection and connect and the power.
Speaker 2:Unbelievable and that what she's learning there and what she's feeling there is helping her understand what kind of goals she should set. Okay, so I got to put another plug again, Like you guys, the rising generation is rising.
Speaker 1:Yeah, they are.
Speaker 2:So you take what President Nelson said in conference and then just go have a conversation, it's true, Go have a conversation with the youth. It's true, and it was interesting to watch in my two classes. These conversations go back and forth and you can see them again. It's contagious, feeding off one another and be like, oh, I like that idea. Or, you know, I'm going to try that. Or there was another one who kind of raised their hand and I was like who, okay, who's going to take this kiddo with them?
Speaker 1:And they're like, yeah, you can come with us on Wednesdays, you know come with us that kind of thing so yeah, and I feel just the urge to kind of say to the audience members who have kids who are not into the temple dragging their feet maybe they go to church, like I totally get that side of it and just want to say to recognize that they're never going to it's normal for I think teenagers to to hide any element of that, for some teenagers to hide that from their parents they might there's more going on inside that half baked cake that they have going on than parents realize.
Speaker 1:I recognize that as two of my kids have left the house, my second being on a mission. Just the idea of like so much stuff that I thought he didn't care about or knew about, to see him now like teaching me about that later in life, is like oh, there was something more going on there. So just, you know the patience and recognizing it's a collective generation. Yes, and I would say some of the most powerful kids are the ones who are maybe giving their parents the idea that they're not into this stuff. Like I think there's there's a range of what's going on here, but it's all positive in the end, I agree.
Speaker 2:And there was a comment. You know, one of the students who's a junior was like I don't, I don't go very often, but when I go, this is the my experience that I've had, you know. And so it is. It's very varied, it's not a cookie cutter one size fits all. It was great to just take a poll and you know I'm at the end of the year, I'm we're very comfortable as a class. So it was just this quick hey, who wants to know more about how to set up an appointment or how to take, how to figure out how to take a name? Who wants to maybe figure out how they can make the temple more part of their lives? And hands went up, so.
Speaker 2:I think it's okay to just have these conversations, these check-ins start with a compliment that president Nelson said and then just have these conversations like where are you at, how are you feeling about this, and you know yeah, and I think for me it's been important to realize, to not have to have expectations, but not to bring that to the table in those discussions Like for me, it's a matter of like when it comes to church, I've refused to make anything gospel related a battleground.
Speaker 1:I have standards in our home, right Like this. It's not that I'm not going to like uphold certain elements, but when it comes to their personal relationship with the savior, it's more of that, that, more of a coaching hat that I try to wear, I get more success. And when I come in from a place of curiosity and high praise, you're amazing what's this like for you? And then, not taking for granted this thing that you said about you did a poll for simple little things Like how do you set an appointment? We had a previous guest talk about how he did um temple interviews.
Speaker 1:Uh, recommend interviews for kids. And when they're in that environment they're like I'm sorry, what's that law of chastity again? So like they don't, you know, it's kind of, you know, start really simple. I think I know when we've hit it, when the kids roll their eyes and say, come on, I know how to do that that's when we know, okay, we're at a good starting point. Then let's go above, to that next degree, because maybe they don't know how to schedule an appointment or why we even do baptisms for the dead. I think we take it for granted that they live in this church, that they're just getting taught everything and maybe they don't really get it at all.
Speaker 2:Right, there can be holes in our spiritual education Totally Definitely.
Speaker 1:Okay, well, let's talk about confidence. Confidence is such a big thing. This is such an important piece of that. First of all, what does confidence in the Lord mean to you?
Speaker 2:Yeah, I love that question. I feel like confidence in the presence of the Lord, or in the presence of God. It just means not being caught unawares. I think it's this just very tangible understanding of kind of where we each stand. I just don't think it's going to be this surprise. Well, I really don't.
Speaker 2:I don't think it's going to be like oh, did I make it, did I not? Oh, whoops, I thought I was going to make it. No, you're in that line over there. That's doesn't describe the God that I know and the God that I love.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:You know it's, he's not I do. I know that God is not tricky, that I love, right. You know it's, he's not, I do. I know that God is not tricky, yeah, and to me that feels tricky if it's like, oh, I wonder what's going to happen. You know where I'm going to land in the next life.
Speaker 2:I think there's so much revealed to us and we've been taught that one of the greatest skills Julie B Beck taught that one of the greatest skills we can develop in this life is knowing how to receive personal revelation. So that is confidence to me in having those conversations with our heavenly father and asking questions like how am I doing? Like how, just those check-ins like are, are there areas where I can improve? Um, that conference talk by Elder Lawrence. What lack I? Yet you know what? What like I let? Yet, and it's been my experience that it is always given in a vein of love, right, and it will be taught to us in a way that we win and and how we'll be ready to receive that correction. But I just think confidence is knowing where we stand as we go.
Speaker 1:And I bet it's better than we think. I will tell you, the biggest gift I've had in doing this podcast has just been more of this awareness of the Savior's mercy, like, if there's one thing I've taken home from this podcast over the over this last number of months is this idea that, like, I'm just beginning to scratch the surface of his love and mercy and his, how proud he is of us individually, how we beat ourselves up in so many different ways for, especially as parents, right, like how hard it is to in our minds to to ever come close to being enough, but we are so much more than enough because we're his and it's such a beautiful thing, so that confidence is maybe less about becoming confident and more about just becoming aware of what already is in our relationship with our savior.
Speaker 2:If we're aware, to it yeah and love.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right, you talked on mercy, but, like I think, confidence in the Lord is understanding his love for us, understanding those attributes and those characteristics, those parts of his personality that just infuse in us this undeniable understanding of how great we are because we are his and because of what he's done for us. That's confidence to me, wow.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that's beautiful. All right, so me setting you up a little bit here. So how does President Nelson define the path for us to get confidence?
Speaker 2:Okay. So he's really great at that. He talks about how he met our recent great grand, great granddaughter. Okay, that's really cute and I love this part. It says she, so we'll go into that. But I also think that he is helping us understand that you know, if we look at confidence kind of on a continuum and we want it to be something that is continuous and even increasing, there are going to be times where we're going to feel like we lack it too. So that's kind of where he's going with this.
Speaker 1:So it's normal to feel a lack of confidence in that journey of increasing confidence is what you're saying.
Speaker 2:Right, and what's going to trigger that? He says she meaning his great granddaughter-in-law. Like each of us, will face challenges. We all will experience illness, disappointment temptation and loss. These challenges can knock our self-confidence.
Speaker 2:However, disciples of Jesus Christ can have access to a different kind of confidence, and I just wanted to touch on that area, if that's okay for a minute, these moments when we feel like, you know, we don't have the confidence, or maybe we have questions, or maybe we're misunderstanding things about God that are preventing us from having, you know, an increase in our confidence, if we can, you know, an increase in our confidence, um, if we can. I Doctrine and Covenants 42, verse two, I think, is a great way to help us understand this. Um, and this is where the prophet Joseph, he's starting to um talk to some elders of the church and I believe that they're getting ready to go out and teach and preach and share. And so Doctrine and Covenants 42, verse two, says and preach and share. And so Doctrine and Covenants 42, verse 2, says again I say unto you, hearken and hear and obey the law which I will give unto you.
Speaker 1:And maybe this is the teacher in me, but can you find like the yes?
Speaker 2:the definition. No, not the definition, but like the chemistry in there right Like the H2O. There's a hearken, there's a hear and an obey.
Speaker 1:Like the formula.
Speaker 2:The formula Thank you, yes, um, and I think that's so beautiful.
Speaker 1:because then we think well, how long can we survive?
Speaker 2:without water? How do you know off the top of your head yeah, it's three days. Yes, okay, that's really good, it's three days. How long do you think a person can survive in Arizona, where we are in the desert, without water?
Speaker 1:Fast Sundays are testing my limits, like sometimes around four o'clock at least dramatically. I act like I'm dying. So there's that Exactly.
Speaker 2:So, right on average, three days, and so we can ask ourselves how long can we survive spiritually without the effort on our part of hearkening, hearing and obeying the voice of the Lord? Right, we're not going to last very long.
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:So, with that said, that definitely is meaning like that's where our spiritual hydration comes from.
Speaker 1:Spiritual hydration.
Speaker 2:That's where we need to be and those are the things that we can do. I love when the gospel spells things out for me. I like to know my part. Yeah, I also like to know heaven's part, and that is in doctrine covenants 41. One. So now we kind of know our part. This harken here and obey.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And then 41,. One says and this is the Lord speaking, harken in here, oh you. My people say, if the Lord and your God, ye, whom I delight to bless the greatest of all blessings, delight to bless with the greatest of all blessings. Okay, so super simple. We hearken here and obey, and the Lord loves to what?
Speaker 1:Bless, us Bless us.
Speaker 2:That's what brings him joy, that's Moses 139, right, this is what makes him happy, is to delight, but he wants to give us not just blessings, the greatest of all blessings. Um, and that takes me to kind of this idea of like, well, what happens? Because president elson says you know, there's going to be times where we feel like our confidence, you know, is shaky or it's, you know, it can knock our confidence, or his words, and that can be a really scary spot to sit in, but there's always a remedy. Um, there is a quote by elder D D Todd Christofferson and and I I'll share this in just a second. But sometimes we feel like, okay, what if I am doing the hearken and the hear and the obey and the blessings aren't coming.
Speaker 1:Right, it's gotta be so hard and we all experience elements of this, but it's. But for some, I have a good friend of mine as you're talking, michelle, I was thinking of who's um who left the church and then he was like man, I did everything, I served my mission, I got married in the temple, I did the things it my wife left me. I was like this can't be true and he left. But it's interesting because over that was 20 years ago and the more we talk, the more he still wants to talk about these things. You know, it just shows you that everyone has their path.
Speaker 2:But we can all get our confidence not to a degree where we can doubt everything, including ourselves Exactly, and it really can. I think we all have had experiences with that in some varying degree or another, and I think that's part of you know, working and wrestling on our relationships with with heaven. Um, but sometimes when we get in those situations, like you said, sometimes we doubt and we can get upset, we can get frustrated and we think, oh, I, like you just said, I am doing all of the things the best I can.
Speaker 2:We're not perfect, but I'm doing all of the things and the greatest of all blessings, or the blessings that I want that we like to call the greatest of all blessings. There's a difference there that we'll get to in a second. Okay, Like they're not coming. And, um, elder Christofferson warns us. He says we ought not to think of God's plan as a cosmic vending machine where we won select a desired blessing, two, insert the required sum of good works and three, the order is promptly delivered. And so sometimes we get into this kind of habit or routine or expectation, because we all love Amazon and that's just the mindset that we get in right. Like this is what we do. Um, but president Nelson's going to teach us that the confidence that we're receiving by doing these things as a different kind of confidence, Um, so I love to learn by analogy, so I'm going to give you an analogy.
Speaker 1:Okay, love to hear it. Okay, here we go.
Speaker 2:So imagine, in this room there's a big giant vending machine right here. Okay, it has all the salty snacks, the sweet snacks, okay.
Speaker 1:It's fast Sunday, so let's not get so descriptive right now. No one's going to hear me salivating on the microphone. But yes, all the treats, they're all represented, all the hostess cupcakes.
Speaker 2:I'm so sorry, I did not think that.
Speaker 1:No, they're all represented. All the hosts as cupcakes. I am so sorry, I did not think that. No, yeah, I love this vending machine Keep going.
Speaker 2:I'm not sure where the camera is, but I wish everyone could see Will's face in this moment. Okay, there's Gatorades on the bottom, let's go. All of the things it's right here.
Speaker 1:Okay.
Speaker 2:And so Will. If you look at the vending machine, what would be your number one pick?
Speaker 1:right now right now all of them, I would probably start with a gatorade, for sure okay, you want a gatorade yeah all right.
Speaker 2:So you're gonna walk up to the vending machine and you're so sorry, you're gonna put in your money, okay, and that is your hearken, that's your hear, that's your obey, right, you're gonna put your money in and you're gonna press e5 for my white gatorade.
Speaker 1:yes, my polarized gatorade got it your. My polarized Gatorade Got it your white frost Gatorade Okay.
Speaker 2:So you push that. E5 is Gatorade, okay, and out pops trail mix.
Speaker 1:This is feeling like my life. Sometimes I feel like I get a cactus, but anyway, so I get my trail mix. Got it yeah.
Speaker 2:You get your trail mix. Okay, and let me explain. The trail mix Like this is not even the ones with M&Ms in it, like you get raisins.
Speaker 1:Wait a minute. Where are we going with this analogy? I'm just kidding.
Speaker 2:So I get trail mix, you get raisins and raisins is a bad word in my family Like that is what you get and you wanted the Gatorade.
Speaker 1:Sure.
Speaker 2:Okay, so what do we sometimes do when the vending machine pops out what we don't want?
Speaker 1:I kick the machine.
Speaker 2:We kick it, we pound on the glass, right, we go like this because we're like I can see the Gatorade, or we reach our hand up because we are trying to get the Gatorade.
Speaker 1:It's what we want.
Speaker 2:It's what we want. So we try and reach up and we like put our hand in and hopefully it doesn't get stuck. And we're trying to get it. It's not happening. We go to the side of the machine, we find the complaint number because we want to complain Like I didn't get what I want. I want my money back.
Speaker 1:These efforts didn't work Right Got it.
Speaker 2:And you are stuck with a bag of little bag, by the way of raisiny trail mix trail mix. Okay, and sorry for anyone listening that that would be your first pick. No judgment, okay, but we can get really upset about that. And if we go back to the verses that we just read right, does it mean that our hearken, hear and obey wasn't enough?
Speaker 1:No.
Speaker 2:Okay, and what does the Lord want to give us?
Speaker 1:The ultimate, the best blessings, the greatest, the greatest.
Speaker 2:So what is that trail mix? It's what I need.
Speaker 1:It's what we need and what does the vending machine represent? Who?
Speaker 2:does it represent the Lord? Yeah, and the process of being in this. You know this relationship that it's not, you know, interaction, or it's not?
Speaker 1:transactional.
Speaker 2:But sometimes we get really upset when we want Gatorade and that's what he gives us. So, this confidence that President Nelson is talking about confidence in the presence of the Lord, I think is when we get to a point where we press E5 because we want Gatorade and then there's one more button, and that button says or something better.
Speaker 1:Huh.
Speaker 2:And I feel like that button when we say something better is exercising our faith and our confidence that our Savior loves us perfectly and enough to give us the trail mix because he knows that is the greatest of all, that blessing that we need at that time in our lives. Um.
Speaker 1:I love that. I just have to say what a beautiful analogy, because I think it takes us away from this thing of transactional relationship that we tend to look for in life, because that's how we're trained, especially in the latter days, and it leads us toward transformational relationship. So transactional is I want to push the button, I want my Gatorade. Transformation is I'm doing the best I can and the Lord's. That's part of this.
Speaker 1:The paradox of the relationship is the Lord is asking us to go figure out our own problems Some, many times. Sometimes he gives a specific guidance, but many times it's go figure it out and then I go and go. Great, this is what I need. I need the Gatorade, or maybe it's, maybe it's a Gatorade for my, my child, and this is like clearly in my mind what I want for them. And then I get that trail mix, that confidence is knowing that that trail mix is the transformation that I'm desiring and that what I'm looking for is more of a transaction. And that's okay, like it's okay to want the Gatorade, because sometimes he gives us that thing, but many times there's there's. He see, obviously with a 10 million foot perspective, he sees around corners that we don't even know exist. So when he gives us that thing to trust in it, the confidence is oh great.
Speaker 2:I wondered, I wonder how this is going to bless me more than what I was looking for initially, exactly, and I feel like that's another great definition of what it means to have confidence, to trust that what comes out.
Speaker 2:And then sometimes you know, maybe you press the button for the Gatorade and we've all been there where the little spiral thing just keeps spinning and it's not coming, it's stuck, and so then we can also have confidence in the Lord's timing, that, okay, yeah, the Gatorade is going to come, because I am watching you hearken, I am watching you here, I am watching you obey, but not yet, and that not yet is the greatest blessing that we need right then in our lives. I feel like a great example of this is the Prophet Joseph Smith, and I feel like there was a time where we have recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants where he kind of pounded on the vending machine you know a little bit and it's when he's in Liberty Jail. It's in March of 1839. And he's in Liberty Jail and he's been there with others for months at this time and right, not the outcome he wanted no like, probably worse than trail mix, with reasons right not to make light of it but no, definitely not what he was wanting sure
Speaker 2:and definitely not what he wanted for the saints at that time. He knew that he was there and they were being persecuted and going through so many struggles. And we go back and we read and we study that time and how helpless he felt because he wanted to help them and he wanted the blessings to be given to them. And so we see him kind of describe here in Doctrine and Covenants we're in 121 and verses one through six. I'm not going to read the whole thing, but just a couple of phrases. See if this feels a little bit like vending machine and at the same time I think it's really really beautiful to watch that that the prophet Joseph isn't going to like you'll see him here reveal that he knows so much about God. It's not this like oh you, you know the vending machine doesn't work or doesn't exist kind of situation. If we're thinking about the vending machine, as you know, our loving heavenly father and our savior, jesus Christ, um, and this process.
Speaker 2:But some of the things he says is God, where art thou? Where are you? Okay, it feels like you're hiding. Show me where you're hiding, right. Where's that pavilion? Um, how long is your hand going to be stayed right? Like, when is that Gatorade going to drop? Um, and why are these blessings being withheld? Um, he asks again how long are the saints going to suffer? Please stretch forth your hand. Um, let your. I mean, I love this part. He's like can you let your angle anger be kindled against our enemies?
Speaker 2:So you see the prophet Joseph trying to solution here, and here's the outcome that he would like or that he thinks is going to be best Let thy sword avenge us of our wrongs. Just remember us. Remember us, god. And then this is what in verse now we're in seven and eight, but this is like what comes out of the vending machine in this moment. We're in seven and eight, but this is like what comes out of the vending machine in this moment.
Speaker 2:It's the Lord speaking my son, peace be unto thy soul. Thine adversity and thine infliction shall be but a small moment, and then, if thou endure it well, god shall exalt thee on high. Thou shalt triumph over all thy foes. That's what comes out Right and it I believe that that's true for each of us as we go through this process of of learning confidence in the presence of God. I know that he loves us. I know that he loves us. He delights in blessing us with the greatest of all blessings. It's us being willing and ready and learning how it takes time. And for anybody that's feeling like maybe life is giving them trail mix when they want something else, it takes time, I think, for all of us to come to that place and to see God's hand in the blessings that don't look like the blessings we wanted.
Speaker 1:I love that, and I think to add to that because I'm feeling super inspired by this concept is I think that's one of the things that happens when we go to the temple regularly that we are, of course, connected to our father in such an intimate way, but we're given these glimpses of what real life is.
Speaker 1:This thing that we're doing now isn't the real life that we're we're having.
Speaker 1:This is, this is the dream, and when we die, we wake up, and when we're in that state of clarity and awareness, we remember why we were excited to come to this earth, that we knew that this was the way to become like this person that we didn't have, we didn't like. Right now, we forget what Christ is like and we get glimpses through the scriptures and we're learning to have this relationship, but we knew him and so when we knew him and it was like all we ever wanted was just to be like that guy, the one who the perfect embodiment of love that we were willing to come down here and take these things on, so that when we hit that trail mix yeah, it's discouraging, but it's the discouragement that serves us it's that choice that we get of like, wow, this isn't what I was asking for, but when we go to the temple, we're reminded. Well, what we really want isn't to be satiated right then, in that moment, to break that fast, what we're looking for is the buffet.
Speaker 1:Oh, that's so good and that buffet only happens because of the Savior and it happens after this life. So, no matter what we are given and the Lord does, he fills us throughout this life. But that's not what this life is and some blessings only come after we pass away. But it's not passing away, it's waking up. Oh that's so good.
Speaker 2:I love that so much. That is so good. Um yeah, in back to the talk. Um, president Nelson does. He talks about the prophet Joseph. He said the Lord told the prophet Joseph that our confidence can wax strong in the presence of God. This is possible, and so if we're ever in that place where we're feeling that we're lacking, let's be assured that we're not going to sit there, that there are things we can do to increase that, and definitely the temple is part of that. And that's when President Nelson says this is like we can feel his confidence right now.
Speaker 1:Yeah, right where we are in our progress. I love that idea and, again, I think this is the big thing. This has been on my mind all day, Michelle. This thought of like be perfect even as I, is so daunting and that's why it feels so intimidating to have confidence in the presence of God. But then we realize that progress is the path of perfection, and so we're. As long as we're progressing, we are in that path of perfection. And it's not a perfect feeling experience. It's messy at best.
Speaker 1:And so that temple and all these things help us remember these things.
Speaker 2:And to also remember that having confidence that grows inside of us and in our relationship with God means that when there is that actual reunion, it's not going to be us being there and being like I did it on my own, like I did it. He is with us the entire process. So having confidence in the presence of God happens throughout, right, so we can look for him and watch for him, expect him to be there.
Speaker 1:Interesting.
Speaker 2:Right. And I think the more that we look for him in our messy and in those places where we could just like our minds could say I should not be confident right now, I shouldn't be confident Right when we turn, and we remember what we know about him and his love for us, that confidence can immediately grow and so it is. It's that throughout kind of experience.
Speaker 1:You mentioned it with Joseph Smith, right, he reveals his relationship in those verses because he's confident the Lord is hearing him. There's no doubt in those. It's like where are you? It's not like, oh, did I do something wrong? It's like you get that I'm an imperfect being, you'd never leave me. So where are you hiding? And, by the way, can you do these different things? Because I know you're hearing me even though I don't you're not. You know, it's like all these different elements, that confidence I think that's a beautiful demonstration I'd never seen or thought of before is how confident he is in the Lord and his relationship with the Lord by calling him forth in a way, expecting an answer. And guess what? He got an answer, you know, and it wasn't again, it was trail mix.
Speaker 2:It's trail mix, but like that trail mix not only blessed the prophet joseph, but it blessed the saints at that time and it's blessing generation. It's blessing the world because we have that revealed doctrine yeah, we have revealed doctrine now about when we want gatorade and we get trail mix.
Speaker 2:That god is there right so I'm so grateful for that moment. It's hard to watch anybody go through something hard, and I can't imagine what the Prophet Joseph truly experienced in those horrible conditions at Liberty. But look how good the fruit was from that experience, and it continues to bless us.
Speaker 1:In the numbers of 15 to 20 million members and expanding worldwide. Yeah, it's a very relatable section.
Speaker 2:It is a buffet, Um. And so president Nelson continues and he talks about cause. You were saying, well, president Nelson's going to teach us how to have this confidence, and he does that. He said. I'm referring to praying with confidence that heavenly father hears us. So we just talked about that. Um, he understands our needs better than we do. That's being like, okay, I've got the trail mix, Maybe I'll start to like raisins. I'm referring to having confidence that he this is present, Nelson still that he loves us more than we can comprehend and he sends angels to be with us and with those we love. So, again, in those moments where we feel like our confidence is lacking, we're not alone.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Boy, we are not alone. We are never alone, and that is like a whole other episode you should have about, like the involvement of angels helping us in our journey back home. Okay, there we go. I am referring to having confidence that he yearns to help each of us reach our highest potential, when I thought about these ways and then President Nelson's going to go in and he's going to talk about charity and virtue in great depth. So if you're listening to this, actually go listen to his talk.
Speaker 1:Yeah, pause here. This is meant to be a supplement to that. If you have to choose between this and that, listen to that, choose the talk.
Speaker 2:But for sake of time. He's going to go and he's going to talk about charity and virtue and how these beautiful attributes and how these beautiful truths and abilities and skills I guess we could call them that Christ-like attributes he's going to teach how they will help us increase our confidence. And when I thought about that and thinking about the temple as well, because, you know, temple bound, right here we go I thought about the five covenants that we make in the temple and I'm like I want to see these. I'm curious, I want to see these five covenants that we make under this overarching umbrella of charity and virtue. So charity um the church on the church website. I love this definition. It says in the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, charity is defined as the pure love of Christ. It is selfless, christ-like love that is everlasting and enduring. Charity is not just an emotion. Everlasting and enduring Charity is not just an emotion, okay, but also an active force that inspires individuals to love and serve others, especially those in need, isn't that great.
Speaker 1:I love that definition.
Speaker 2:I do too right. It's more than an emotion. It leads us to action, it leads us to movement, it leads us to becoming more like our Savior, because charity is the pure love of Christ. It is Christ Now virtue. In the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, virtue is understood as a pattern of thought and behavior based on high moral standards. It encompasses chastity, moral purity and a commitment to living in accordance to God's commandments. Chastity, moral purity and a commitment to living in accordance to God's commandments. So if you think about the covenants that are made in Latter-day Saint temples the law of obedience, the law of sacrifice, the law of the gospel, the law of chastity and the law of consecration love like charity and virtue are found in every single one of those.
Speaker 2:Most definitely Covenants right.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:And so I think President Nelson is giving us a great insight and way to say okay, if we want to increase our charity, if we want to increase our love, we will find that within the covenants we make in the temple. We will find that in our relationship with God, as we make these covenants with him.
Speaker 1:That's beautiful.
Speaker 2:I just loved that connection. It just opened up these covenants so much to me.
Speaker 1:Yeah, and it's interesting because even before we get received, the endowment you know, in the initiatory virtue is mentioned very specifically in virtue and charity.
Speaker 1:And it's interesting because we learn about virtue and charity throughout the whole, everything we do in the temple.
Speaker 1:But we are a living example of charity by virtue of us just being in the temple.
Speaker 1:So we're learning about our covenants through this lens of charity, as we are acting in charity for our ancestors. So it's it's this thing about learning as we're doing, we're modeling the thing that we're learning in greater depth about, which opens us up to receive a greater portion of the spirit of the Lord, which reminds us of one thing over and over again how special we are and how much we're loved, which builds our confidence. So confidence is such an interesting concept for this episode, michelle, because I look at it as confidence in the Lord, confidence in his actions, confidence within ourselves that when we're doing our best and perfectly, that because of the Savior we're enough and that we're able to trust that trail mix is going to feed us and teach us what we need to until we can get to the buffet. All these elements of it are fantastic and, I think, the temples. The president nelson started and finished that talk specifically about temples and how these all things all tie together. So, yeah, what else do you see there in this talk regarding this element?
Speaker 2:um, I love how he said well, he goes talking about charity again. Um, I thought really um poignant that he said we will have charity for those from all walks of life.
Speaker 1:Yes.
Speaker 2:Um, and he, he prefaces that with like having charity and desiring charity. We will grow in this. It becomes a part of our nature. But it's not a surprise to anybody that we live in a very conflicting world.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And he says charity towards all men is essential to our progress. Charity is the foundation of a godly character. I think about, obviously. I think about the youth all the time in my home and the ones that I spend time with every day in seminary, and President Nelson has given them a great responsibility and a great charge. He's called them the youth battalion, in that they are to gather Israel, and something really unique that I see with them is this charity that I feel is just so innate in them, in this generation, that makes them so special and is allowing them to rise is. I don't feel that they like to gather Israel. I feel like they're seeing Israel differently than maybe past generations, like they don't judge Israel. They're not judgy about Israel.
Speaker 2:Yeah, because they can't gather Israel if they're judgmental if they're segmenting them into in terms of like classes yeah, like you don't see that, the same as maybe in past generations that's interesting they see the person, they see, and, and they just don't see, maybe, things that past generations have seen, and I just think it's actually one beautiful, but it's also a great example to the rest of us of how to gather israel like we can watch our youth lead out on this right. They just are like some of the things that maybe we would have seen as obstacles or indicators, like I don't know. I don't know, Maybe I'm just thinking about myself. No, I really think that's true.
Speaker 1:Generationally there's been a huge gap. Look at our grandparents, like how they would refer to people, and then you think about our generation and then you look at the kids. This is a generation that defends acceptance.
Speaker 2:Right.
Speaker 1:To a degree that truly, it can be used to help us gather Israel, because it's not. There aren't these social economic barriers that used to exist. I think part of what's good about social media is that it's connecting people across the world and helping equalize some of the differentials that we didn't have when people felt really far away. Yeah, but there's something like you're saying that's true about this idea that, like no, this is part of the spiritual blessings of this generation. They are way more accepting and loving in a general sense than any generation before it, and so it's part of that gathering of Israel, and I love that you're tying that in here towards the end of this episode that, as we're getting confidence in the Lord, that it's all about gathering too, this idea of gathering Israel so that we can confidently come together as a family again and be in the presence of our Lord, but it starts with us as individuals, right.
Speaker 2:Right and we can. I love that comment that you just said that we're helping each other because we can. We can help each other. Increase in our confidence.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:Right and that looks like a lot of different ways. I know we're kind of wrapping up here, but if we go to Ether 12, I love how we see in this story here this great example of this idea of someone recognizing you know Moroni's recognizing confidence in other people.
Speaker 1:Right.
Speaker 2:And at the time he's like, okay, we might be really really good. This is in the book of Mormon, in ether 12. He's like we might be really really good in speaking, Like my. He's kind of saying like my confidence in speaking and sharing the gospel in a work to build the kingdom is really good, sharing the gospel in a work to build the kingdom is really good, but my writing not so much.
Speaker 2:It's awful, he's like it's not so good, and he goes on and he starts talking about like well, moses was really confident in bringing the law right, and all of these things are ways that he's recognizing people are strong in building the kingdom, so Moses is good in bringing the law forth.
Speaker 2:Alma and Amulek they made the prison walls fell fall yeah right and he's like, okay, nephi and Lehi, like they were really confident and were had this great ability in having hearts change. He talks about Ammon, how the Lamanites, you know, were able to do 180 because of, like, his abilities and confidence right to bring people into the kingdom. He talks about the brother of Jared. So if we go into 26, I feel like this is just a great way to kind of like wrap this up. So he's just being super vulnerable and being like, yeah, but I can't write. Right, I can't write. And wouldn't it be really good to feel confident in writing? Because that confidence in writing he's connecting that with his confidence in God and in the work that he wants to do for God.
Speaker 1:Got it.
Speaker 2:So he says in 26, well, the Lord answers back to him because he kind of has this conversation Fools mock, but they shall mourn and my grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness.
Speaker 2:And then 27 is the one that we all love. Yeah, like we love this scripture because I feel like it just hits our vulnerable hearts. It hits our vulnerability when we feel weak, when we feel less than and the Lord does not allow those emotions to last very long, like not even a verse long, because he's going to say and if men come unto me, I will show unto them their weakness. And can we say there that, like maybe how we would rate our confidence in the presence of God you know, I don't know on a scale of one to 10, it's going to vary at times depending on what we're going through and the efforts we're putting in and how we're recognizing and different life experiences. But we might feel weak there sometimes. That could fill in this blank, fill in this. And he says I give unto men weakness that they may be humble. Um, that's trail mix, right.
Speaker 2:How did you feel when you wanted the Gatorade and I told you you got trail mix?
Speaker 1:So disappointed right.
Speaker 2:How did you feel when you wanted the Gatorade and I told you you got trail mix.
Speaker 1:So disappointed, right You're humbled right, it's true, disappointment is that like decrease of, just like pride, so that sometimes with disappointment comes that natural tendency to feel humbled for sure.
Speaker 2:Oh, man, I didn't get what I wanted.
Speaker 2:Um, and then the Lord continues my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me, for if they humble um themselves before me and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. And we know that this source, like he's going to reveal unto us our weakness so that he says we will have faith, hope and charity, and that will bring us to christ and will bring us comfort. Yeah, so if we're feeling like our confidence is lacking, we can have complete trust in the word of God, in these words that we just read in Ether, in this talk that says, no, our confidence can whack strong, and it's going to happen as we just, with a true and honest heart, as we do the things that we know that the Lord would want us to do and understand that we're not the Lord would want us to do, and understand that we're not doing them alone. He's going to be there, right with us, in this entire journey, in this entire process. His confidence will come by him and through him.
Speaker 1:I love that I can share. Can I share a quick story that ties to that? I um, I'm so touched by what you said and I had this really strong image of this experience when I was a paw on a youth track, like 15 years ago with my first one.
Speaker 1:I've been on three and so this first one I was just like yeah this is great, and I had these kids and I felt super connected, like it was my responsibility to really help these kids have an experience of a loving mother and father through a difficult three-day journey in the trek in the wilderness and this first night everything went wrong on this trek. Like you know, there's like revisiting and then experiencing the old days. This was an experience. This wasn't like a revisit, this was a full experience, because it rained out of nowhere. The weather was supposed to be better than it was. A storm came in, one of those Arizona flooding storms came and Heather and I are pushing this cart with these eight kids and we're pushing, trying to go up this hill but the the ground had gotten so muddy that it was. It was caking onto our shoes. You couldn't, no one was moving and we spent hours and like literally going feet in hours and people were getting exhausted and you know they had been going all day in the heat and then, all of a sudden, this storm at night and on the side of the road is nothing but cactuses. It's like the worst ever. And so finally they come down. They're like we're going to have to sleep in this, like this is just where we are. We're five to eight miles inside. There's no way we're going back, we're not going forward. You're setting up camp here and we were setting up our cart vertically and then putting a tarp over it and that was what we were going to sleep in and that was really scary because the wind was insane. And Heather and I are just super worried about these kids and, to their credit, there was no complaining. Honestly, I think they were too miserable to complain Like there probably would have been some of them that would have complained, but they were just soaked to the bone, completely just sick of like the experience and exhausted.
Speaker 1:So we got the thing up and we had to get the tarp on there and every paw was out there like pinning things down and I am not good with my hands, like when it comes to like construction things, fixing things around the house. You know the things that women love in a guy. I don't got it. I really was trying to to pin this thing down. I had this mallet and I had these huge spikes and I'm trying to do this in the wind and I can't do it.
Speaker 1:Michelle, I've had lots of humbling experiences, but this was so horrible. This was trail mix on the trail of this horrible trail and I am nailing these spikes. They're not sticking and I have never felt like a bigger failure in my life up to that point. I have actually felt worse since, but in that moment I felt such a failure because I had these kids relying upon me and my wife relying upon me. I was not enough, I couldn't do it and I prayed and I was just please, please, help me. And it was one of the most earnest, sincere prayers I've given.
Speaker 1:And then one of the stake leaders came by and he was exactly what you would imagine in terms of like a guy who knows how to handle these situations and so in the middle of the night he's helping me set these things up, and he didn't do it for me. He was sitting there helping me do it because he wanted me to really figure this out. And I got the stakes in and our kids were sheltered and I remember laying down inside. The kids were just unconscious, like they were passed out, tired, and I came in and I just I fell asleep and it wasn't one of those nights where I felt anything spiritual. That night, as a matter of fact, I rolled out underneath and woke up in the rain like three or four times that night.
Speaker 1:But the next day we got up and the heart and the and the sun was out and the the ground was drying because it's Arizona, it didn't take a lot for it to dry.
Speaker 1:And we got up to the top of the hill and we were soaked, we're soaked through, and our kids were laughing and I remember just thinking there's a connection there because of this, this trail mix experience that we had, that humbled not just me but everyone to really being open to why we were really there in the first place, which was to feel the spirit.
Speaker 1:And so, yeah, I just want to just share that in recognizing that angels will come, that there is help no matter where we are in our life, and that, no matter how much we don't feel like we're enough for others, that it's not even about that, it's just about trying our best and at the end of the day, we'll get to the buffet, which is what we had days later, right At the end of that wonderful treat. So thank you so much, michelle, for being on the show again. I feel like there's a whole nother episode about diving deep into charity and virtue, but for now, thank you for sharing the wonderful thoughts. You vending machine and how we can expect, you know, our relationship to be more transformational versus transactional. As always, as you're, as you're departing, what would you want your kids to know, your grandkids to know, your great grandkids to know about this thing, about confidence in the Lord?
Speaker 2:Oh, I love that you asked questions. To wrap it up, it's just a time to reflect, to reflect, and I think the takeaway that I would want to share after studying this would be how I felt as I dove into these truths from President.
Speaker 2:Nelson, when I think about having confidence in the presence of God, it just feels like home in the presence of God. It just feels like home, it feels familiar, it feels like that will be and is the driving energy that will get me back to him. I would want to share with them that it is relationship. Again, the more I learn about my Heavenly Father and my Savior, jesus Christ, I value my relationship with them, but I rely on it as well. It's a very active, alive and living relationship and obviously there's times in my life where I know that I'm putting in more or making that more of a priority. And boy, the fruits are really sweet when that is happening. And, um, I just want to encourage that.
Speaker 2:This concept and this, this truth of having confidence in the presence of God. It should not feel daunting, it should not feel in um, overwhelming or intimidating. Um, if we could re, we could reword it, not that I'm trying to reword the title of this amazing talk, but it would be something along the lines of having confidence in the presence of God is filling his love, filling how comfortable and familiar and safe that is, and those emotions are going to be founded upon what I know about him, and so, because of that, I want to study him. I want to study his life, his teachings, his work, his mortal ministry, all of the things that he has revealed to us, so that I can, more you know, partake of that, those emotions and those feelings, to feel cozy Right.
Speaker 1:Yeah.
Speaker 2:In that relationship and to enjoy that throughout my life.
Speaker 1:Thank you, michelle. You've been, as always, just such a powerful guest. I can't thank you enough. And, and while we're in that mode of thanking, special thanks to Gatorade and Nathan's Trail Mix for sponsoring today's episode. I wonder like Gatorade's going to go. Wow, there's a huge spike in Gatorade sales in Gilbert Arizona.
Speaker 2:Just the white ones. Just the white ones. We made everyone thirsty today.
Speaker 1:Thank you, michelle, I appreciate you Thanks for having me. Thank you for listening to today's episode. We want to hear from you. What additional show ideas would you like to hear about? What questions do you have in your heart that we can help answer? Please leave those in the show notes of today's episode or over on Instagram. Thank you for your cooperation and helping make this show the best it can be. Until next time.
