Uchtdorf - O How Great the Plan of Our God! - October 2016

President Uchtdorf speaks to the church during the October 2016 General Conference.  He speaks about learning to use a personal computer and the struggles he went through to figure it out.  He talks about how difficult it was but over time, how easy it has become.  He talks about all the technology things we have today that were not available years about.

• The more adept I get at technology, the more I take it for granted.
• As we become more familiar with something, even something miraculous and awe-inspiring, we lose our sense of awe and treat it as commonplace.

He warns us not to take for granted the wonderful spiritual blessing we have in our lives just because they are so easily part of our everyday life.

• Taking for granted our modern technologies and conveniences may be a relatively small matter. But, sadly, we sometimes take a similar attitude toward the eternal and soul-expanding doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ. In the Church of Jesus Christ, we have been given so much. We are surrounded by such an astonishing wealth of light and truth that I wonder if we truly appreciate what we have.

He notes that the things of eternity are before us but sometime we act like we are sleepwalking through the journey.

• Life-changing truths are before our eyes and at our fingertips, but sometimes we sleepwalk on the path of discipleship.

He speaks about some of the great truths that the gospel brings into our lives.  He notes several of them that we know only through the truths restored to the earth through the Church of Jesus Christ.

• I am grateful that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ has answers to the most complex questions in life. These answers are taught in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They are true, plain, straightforward, and easy to understand. They are inspired, and we teach them to our three-year-olds in the Sunbeam class.
  • We are eternal beings, without beginning and without end. We have always existed. We are the literal spirit children of divine, immortal, and omnipotent Heavenly Parents!
  • You and I participated in a Grand Council where our beloved Father presented His plan for us—that we would come to earth, receive mortal bodies, learn to choose between good and evil, and progress in ways that would not otherwise be possible.
  • We knew we would sin and make mistakes—perhaps even serious ones. But we also knew that our Savior, Jesus Christ, had pledged to come to earth, live a sinless life, and voluntarily lay down His life in an eternal sacrifice. We knew that if we gave our heart to Him, trusted Him, and strived with all the energy of our soul to walk in the path of discipleship, we could be washed clean and once again enter the presence of our beloved Father in Heaven.

How great it is to have eternal truths made clear through modern-day prophets.  How great it is to know that we have a connection with Heaven in our time.  This great plan of happiness that our Heavenly Father has given to us is so simple.  He has provided a true way for us to find happiness and joy in this life and to prepare for the next life with Him.  How grateful I am for the simple plan that even a three-year-old can understand what God expects of them.  I started this blog to help me on my personal journey of discipleship.  I love how President Uchtdorf asks us if we are sleepwalking on the path of discipleship.  I hope to never find myself taking these truths for granted.  I hope to never find myself not recognizing the amazing gifts that the Lord has given me by allowing me to find the truth of His gospel in this life.  I am not sleepwalking through my journey of discipleship and I hope that you will take steps to assure you aren't either.