Stake Conference

Elder Larry R. Lawrence 

Dear Brothers and Sisters,

Today I had the wonderful opportunity to go to my local stake conference, where Elder Larry R. Lawrence from the quorum of the seventy spoke. Along with Elder Lawrence, we had many other speakers address us. Today the message I wish to share with you is what I learned from them today.

President Camp, our stake president spoke about when he was young, he lived on a farm and he had to help his dad make furrows for watering. He explained that his father was very particular about making sure his furrows were nice and straight; not crooked. The way to do this was by first choosing an object across the field to focus on; line up the tractor nose and never take his sight off that object. Then after the first furrow was made he had to line up the tractor with the path he had already made and keep his paths straight. If he got distracted for even a little bit, the furrows became crooked. He compared this to our lives, how we have to focus our lives on the Savior and every path we walk must line up with His so we can make it back home if we endure till the end.

President Kilpack, the mission president for the mission area I live in, shared this scripture that goes along with President Camp's talk. Isaiah 40: 3-5; 29-31

"3 ¶The voice of him that crieth in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make straight in the desert a highway for our God.

 4 Every valley shall be exalted, and every mountain and hill shall be made low: and the crooked shall be made straight, and the rough places plain:

 5 And the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together: for the mouth of the Lord hath spoken it."

"29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.

 30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:

 31 But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint."

President Camp shared 5 ways we can keep our paths straight:
1- Follow the Prophets and Apostles
2- Study Holy Scriptures
3- Participate in Temple Worship
4- Sabbath Day Observance
5- Being Honest

As our concluding speaker, Elder Lawrence spoke about how we can keep Satan from getting in the way of doing the things President Camp instructed us to do. He reminded us that we are all in the midst of an ongoing spiritual war, and we cannot afford to be distracted. He reminded us that in order to adequately fight the war against sin we need to know the enemy's tactics. He shared with us 4 of these tactics and how we can fight each one. They are as follows:

1- He uses direct temptation. The way we fight this is by: sending him away. We have power as Christ's people to say to Satan: "Satan leave me alone! Get away!" Christ did this when He was praying to the Father and Satan was trying to tempt Him. Jesus then, after casting out the devil, quoted scriptures to fill Himself with the Spirit. It is very important that we study, and memorize scripture daily.

2- Satan uses lies and deception. Satan will often tell us that we need to try everything "just once" to experience everything. THIS IS A LIE! We fight this by never trying harmful and potentially addictive things such as drugs, pornography, etc. Not even once!!

3- Satan uses contention to get to us. We must fight this by stopping and making peace, solving the problem right away to halt all contention and anger. We must not seek fault in others.

4- Lastly, Satan uses discouragement to hurt us. We must fight this evil by recognizing that our loss of joy is coming from Satan and doing something to change it. We must be happy. We need to do things to keep us happy and healthy such as exercise, listening to inspiring music, saying sincere prayers, and receiving priesthood blessings. We must learn to bridle our tongue, because Satan only knows the words we speak, not our thoughts. So we must not murmur so the enemy does not find our weakness'.

To conclude, we must always remember that we are in the middle of a war, and we CANNOT afford to become distracted. Remember that if we are on the Lord's side, we will win. Do not quit now, we are almost there. Stand strong. I know that Heavenly Father will help us and love us. We need to remember whose side we are on and fight valiantly and courageously until the end. I know that we can do this. I add my testimony to that of Joseph Smith, and our living Prophet today, Thomas S. Monson that He Lives. He loves us, and He will help us. I know these things are true.

In the name of Jesus Christ,
Amen

Love,
Samantha