Elder Parker's Talk in Aarhus Ward on Humility

Today was the first time Elder Parker spoke in Sacrament Meeting in Denmark.
He was delighted to talk on being humble!  

Talk Notes:

I started by telling a story from my childhood about a big, strong man, my father, and how he responded to three years of drought on our ranch on the shores of the Great Salt Lake in Utah.  I remember my father kneeling with our young family, and pleading to the Lord to bless our family during this very trying time.

“Lord, Is It I?”

By President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Second Counselor in the First Presidency

It was our beloved Savior’s final night in mortality, the evening before He would offer Himself a ransom for all mankind. As He broke bread with His disciples, He said something that must have filled their hearts with great alarm and deep sadness. “One of you shall betray me,” He told them.

The disciples didn’t question the truth of what He said. Nor did they look around, point to someone else, and ask, “Is it him?”

Instead, “They were exceeding sorrowful, and began every one of them to say unto him, Lord, is it I?”¹

I wonder what each of us would do if we were asked that question by the Savior. Would we look at those around us and say in our hearts, “He’s probably talking about Brother Johnson. I’ve always wondered about him,” or “I’m glad Brother Brown is here. He really needs to hear this message”? Or would we, like those disciples of old, look inward and ask that penetrating question: “Is it I?”

In these simple words, “Lord, is it I?” lies the beginning of wisdom and the pathway to personal conversion and lasting change.

Alma 5:13 Says  

13 And behold, he preached the word unto your fathers, and a mighty change was also wrought in their hearts, and they humbled themselves and put their trust in the true and living God. And behold, they were faithful until the end; therefore they were saved.

 14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

President Uchtdorf goes on to say:

In this age of self-justification and narcissism, it is easy to become quite creative at coming up with excuses for not regularly approaching God in prayer, procrastinating the study of the scriptures, avoiding church meetings and family home evenings, or not paying an honest tithe and offerings.

My dear brethren, will you please look inside your hearts and ask the simple question: “Lord, is it I?”

When President Gordon B. Hinckley shared his talk on "the B’s" with us, he indicated that the fifth B was to Be Humble.

"There is no place for arrogance in our lives. There is no place for conceit. There is no place for egotism. We have a great work to do. We have things to accomplish. We need direction in the pursuit of our education. We need help in choosing an eternal companion.

The Lord has said, “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers” (D&C 112:10).

What a tremendous promise is given in this statement. If we are without conceit and pride and arrogance, if we are humble and obedient, then the Lord will lead us by the hand and answer our prayers. What greater thing could we ask for? There is nothing to compare with this."

President Uchtdorf says:

Have you allowed “the god of this world” to darken your minds to “the light of the glorious gospel of Christ?"

My beloved friends, my dear brethren, ask yourselves, “Where is my treasure?”

Is your heart set on the convenient things of this world, or is it focused on the teachings of the diligent Jesus Christ? “For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.”

Elder Parker shared an experience in 1975:

WHAT IS MOST IMPORTANT TO YOU?   STUFF

At a professional conference in the San Francisco Bay area a presenter invited each person in the group to share one item they had on them that meant a great, great deal to them.  This was a relatively small group of about twenty men.

Many started out by talking about worldly possessions.  

One pulled out his keys and talked about his fancy, expensive sports car down in the parking lot.

One had keys to a beach house

One had a membership card to a San Francisco yacht club.

One had a school ring - Stanford -  and spent a great deal of time talking about Stanford and his graduate program, and how it was the most meaningful thing he had ever done in his life.

Very, very worldly stuff for the most part.

Me-  I just sat there amazed, thinking.  How worldly these men all were.  Is this really what is most important to them?  Then I thought what was most important to me and what I had on me."

I thought of:

My temple recommend

My wedding ring

My family picture

My key ring with my consecrated oil attached

I thought about these and many other things I carry with me at all times.

What was I to share when it came my turn?  I decided to share my wedding ring and picture of my family.  At that time it only included my sweetheart and our first little baby girl, Robyn.  I told them about not just one of the most important things in my life, but about what was the very most important thing in my life. 

I was happy to see that the conversation seemed to change after I shared my feelings.

What do you carry on you that means a great, great deal to you?  Is it worldly?  Is it eternal? Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.

President Ezra Taft Benson said  in his great lecture on pride,

 “God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or we can be compelled to be humble."

Alma said, “Blessed are they who humble themselves without being compelled to be humble.” (Alma 32:16.)

Let us choose to be humble.

We can choose to humble ourselves by conquering enmity toward our brothers and sisters, esteeming them as ourselves,

We can choose to humble ourselves by receiving counsel and chastisement

We can choose to humble ourselves by forgiving those who have offended us.

We can choose to humble ourselves by rendering selfless service.

We can choose to humble ourselves by going on missions and preaching the word that can humble others.

We can choose to humble ourselves by getting to the temple more frequently.

We can choose to humble ourselves by confessing and forsaking our sins and being born of God.”

President Uchtdorf concluded his remarks with the following:

Brethren, we must put aside our pride, see beyond our vanity, and in humility ask, “Lord, is it I?”

And if the Lord’s answer happens to be, “Yes, my son, there are things you must improve, things I can help you to overcome,” I pray that we will accept this answer, humbly acknowledge our sins and shortcomings, and then change our ways by becoming better husbands, better fathers, better sons.  (And may I add better, wives, daughters and mothers.)

I concluded with some thoughts he wrote soon after the tragedy of 9/11 in America.  "Being Thankful in All Things"  (See Thanksgiving prayer in next post)