General Conference Talk Excerpts: Oh Remember, Remember
By: President Henry B. Eyring
"My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness"
"When our children were very small, I started to write down a few things about what happened every day. Let me tell you how that got started. I came home late from a Church assignment. It was after dark. My father-in-law, who lived near us, surprised me as I walked toward the front door of my house. He was carrying a load of pipes over his shoulder, walking very fast and dressed in his work clothes. I knew that he had been building a system to pump water from a stream below us up to our property. He smiled, spoke softly, and then rushed past me into the darkness to go on with his work. I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind these words: “I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down."
"I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it."
"I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: "Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?" As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done"
"And the challenge to remember has always been the hardest for those who are blessed abundantly. Those who are faithful to God are protected and prospered. That comes as the result of serving God and keeping His commandments. But with those blessings comes the temptation to forget their source. It is easy to begin to feel the blessings were granted not by a loving God on whom we depend but by our own powers."
"Tonight, and tomorrow night, you might pray and ponder, asking the questions: Did God send a message that was just for me? Did I see His hand in my life or the lives of my children? I will do that. And then I will find a way to preserve that memory for the day that I, and those that I love, will need to remember how much God loves us and how much we need Him. I testify that He loves us and blesses us, more than most of us have yet recognized." On a personal note: I have been re-studying the conference talks intensely in preparation for General Conference which will occur in a few weeks. I have narrowed down a few talks with messages just for me and have recorded those messages in my journal. I have found answers to my prayers. I know if you will put forth the effort, so will you. I'm reminded how important it is to take time now to prepare for the tomorrows that await us. I was reminded of this as I attended the best FHE last night at my sisters house that was centered on the significance of Easter. Placed in Easter eggs was an item along with a scripture, each dealing with aspects of the Atonement and Resurrection of the Savior. My two favorite eggs were: 1) Spices. Scripture attached: Mark 16:1-2, "And when the sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, and Mary the mother of James, and Salome, had bought sweet spices, that they might come and anoint him. And very early in the morning the first day of the week, they came unto the sepulchre at the rising of the sun." Oh how I love the heart of a woman who seeks diligently to serve. They even prepared the spices the night before as any good woman would do. Thank heaven for women :o) I will no doubt think of them on Easter morning when I first wake up. 2) Empty. Scripture attached: Luke 24:6, "He is not here, for he has risen". I loved being able to talk about the significance of this with little ones last night... about how Christ overcame both physical and spiritual death for us and how this is the most significant of all events. How intently they each listened. I will never forget that.
