"Don’t worry about how inexperienced you are or think you are, but think about what, with the Lord’s help, you can become."
If you’ve been following Garrett’s letters since he was transferred in to the office as the Financial Assistant, you’re aware of how he has struggled and felt unprepared as well as unsuited for this position. Last weekend’s email, however, had a completely different tone. I just wanted to post a portion of the talk that President Eyring gave, “Preparation in the Priesthood: I Need Your Help”, which is the talk that Garrett referenced in his email. This is truly one of those talks that hit home, and obviously made a big impact on Elder Hanke. It brought tears to my eyes to read it; I am so grateful for and humbled by what seems to be a “divine message” for our missionary who so needed to receive this inspiration and direction.
A portion the talk given during Priesthood Session in October 2011 General Conference by President Henry B. Eyring:
A portion the talk given during Priesthood Session in October 2011 General Conference by President Henry B. Eyring:
So part of the priesthood preparation we will have in this life will be opportunities to serve and teach others. It may include being teachers in the Church, wise and loving fathers, members of a quorum, and missionaries for the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord will offer the opportunities, but whether we are prepared will depend on us. My intent tonight is to point out some of the crucial choices necessary for priesthood preparation to succeed.
Good choices both by the person training and the one being trained depend on some understanding of how the Lord prepares His priesthood servants.
First, He calls people, young and old, who may appear to worldly eyes, and even to themselves, to be weak and simple. The Lord can turn those apparent shortcomings into strengths. That will change the way the wise leader chooses whom to train and how to train. And it can change how the priesthood holder responds to the development opportunities he is offered.
Let’s consider some examples. I was an inexperienced priest (17/18 year old) in a large ward. My bishop called me on the phone one Sunday afternoon. When I answered, he said, “Do you have time to go with me? I need your help.” He explained only that he wanted me to go as his companion to visit a woman I did not know, who was without food and who needed to learn how to manage her finances better.
Now, I knew that he had two seasoned counselors in his bishopric. Both were mature men of great experience. One counselor was the owner of a large business, who later became a mission president and a General Authority. The other counselor was a prominent judge in the city.
I was the bishop’s newly called first assistant in the priest’s quorum. He knew that I understood little about welfare principles. I knew even less about financial management. I had not yet written a check; I had no bank account; I hadn’t even seen a personal budget. Yet, despite my inexperience, I sensed that he was deadly serious when he said, “I need your help.”
I have come to understand what that inspired bishop meant. He saw in me a golden opportunity to prepare a priesthood holder. I am sure that he did not foresee in that untrained boy a future member of the Presiding Bishopric. But he treated me that day, and all the days I knew him over the years, as a preparation project of great promise.
He seemed to enjoy it, but it was work for him. On our return to my home after we visited the widow in need, he parked the car. He opened his well-worn and heavily marked scriptures and he gave me kindly correction. He told me that I needed to study the scriptures and learn more. But he must have seen that I was weak and simple enough to be teachable. To this day I remember what he taught that afternoon. But even more, I remember how confident he was that I could learn and be better—and that I would.
He saw beyond the reality of who I was to the possibilities that lie inside someone who feels weak and simple enough to want the Lord’s help and to believe that it will come.
I know I'm just the mom, but I'm still saying, "Wow... this talk hit the nail on the head". J
Here is a link to the talk, if you want to read it in its entirety (or you can cut/paste in browser):
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