transcript

Speaker 1:
[00:02] Welcome to Inklings. I am Emily Belle Freeman, and I'm so excited to welcome you to a space where you and I get to experience a hint of something more together. This is a community where we lean into discussions that will help us obtain a bedrock understanding of the doctrines of Christ. Not overnight, but every day better. Strength gathered over time. There is a place for you here. Looking forward to spending this semester with you as we embark on a journey focused on becoming his. Good morning, everyone. Happy Thursday. Welcome to Inklings. So excited to be here. We were on just a second ago, and Instagram is having a little bit of trouble. I received a notice saying it was having trouble. So I wanna first make sure the sound is working. So if you can hear, will you say is the sound working now? Because we're having, it feels like Instagram is having some glitches. So if the sound is working, now I'm gonna try and get our guest again.

Speaker 2:
[01:19] And.

Speaker 1:
[01:27] The sound is working. Okay, so that part is working.

Speaker 2:
[01:32] Awesome.

Speaker 1:
[01:33] And there is Hillary. We did it. We figured it out. Sometimes Instagram has a little bit of trouble getting everything right. So we-

Speaker 2:
[01:42] Okay, I'm glad it was them, because when it didn't work, I was like, great. See, there we go again. I'm no good at technology. I knew I would jinx it.

Speaker 1:
[01:50] I know. I, when as soon as they said the sound was not working, I was like, okay, this is not a Hillary problem. This is an Instagram problem. So everyone, this is my really good friend, Hillary, who is joining us for Inklings this semester, which will be so fun. Hillary, we should introduce who you are, and we should tell how we met. That would be so fun because we've been friends for so long.

Speaker 2:
[02:21] So when did you, I lived in Lehigh, you moved into the neighborhood slash ward. What year did you move to Lehigh?

Speaker 1:
[02:28] 2003.

Speaker 2:
[02:30] Oh, OK. Well, then we moved there about the same time. So we've been friends for 23 years. And I remember somehow we were both out in the neighborhood. And remember I said to you, are you taking applications for new friends? And you're like, that was your reaction. You just laughed like that.

Speaker 1:
[02:50] You guys, she said it dead serious. And I've never met her in my life before. I was driving home from my first Sunday of church. And you waved me down. You flagged me down.

Speaker 2:
[03:02] And I pull over and I rolled out my window.

Speaker 1:
[03:05] And she just says, dead serious. Are you taking applications? So right away, I'm like, you know how your mind starts going. Is she thinking I'm teaching piano? Is she thinking I'm mowing lawns? Is she like, what am I taking applications for?

Speaker 2:
[03:20] This is what I'm thinking. So I pulled out the paperwork and here we are. I was accepted.

Speaker 1:
[03:24] It's exactly what happened. And now we've been friends ever since. Our favorite thing to do together is walk. But now Hillary lives 10 hours away, just kidding, 45 minutes, but it feels like 10 hours away. So when we can, we go for a walk.

Speaker 2:
[03:44] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[03:45] So that is so fun. And I was talking to Hillary this past week and I was like, you should come on Inklings. And now everyone, here she is. Yay. Three united. So tell us about your kids and your grandkids and like, what do you do in your life? What is happening?

Speaker 2:
[04:07] You know, it's funny, once you become a grandma, when someone's like, tell me about yourself, that's the thing you lead with. I'm a grandma. My grandma name is Mubba. It's not a delicate, cute name like Mimi or Nana. But Mubba, I got because my oldest daughter, her husband, I would call him Bubba. And then he started calling me Mubba. And that became my grandma name. And we have five grandkids, one boy that's three, two twin girls, identical twin girls there, a year and a half. That's Kenzie's kids. And then Callie has two daughters. And it's just so fun to be a grandma. Like that's all like what I lead with. I'm a grandma.

Speaker 1:
[04:53] That is so fun.

Speaker 2:
[04:54] Love being a Mubba. I love hanging out with my girls. The oldest three are married. Marlee got home from a mission last year. And she served in Toronto.

Speaker 1:
[05:05] And loved it.

Speaker 2:
[05:06] And she loved it. It was hard, no doubt about it. You know, week to week, I'm like, is this the week she's gonna wanna come home? But she made it through and she had some fabulous experiences.

Speaker 1:
[05:18] Oh, that is so awesome.

Speaker 2:
[05:20] Yes.

Speaker 1:
[05:21] So it has been our history, Hillary and I, to love on our walks, to talk about gospel topics. That's always been true for us. And just dive deep and think about what could we learn and how would our life change as we wrestle topics together. So Hillary has been so busy historically, and I've been so busy historically, and there was a short time where we did teach together for like a year. And so this is so fun for me because it's just my favorite thing to do. I wish we were actually walking. What if we had Inklings walks on those days?

Speaker 2:
[06:07] And we could wear cameras on our heads.

Speaker 1:
[06:09] Yes, that would be perfect. Yeah, so, okay. So what we're going to do is just dive in. This week is a little different, everyone, because we're doing two talks, and we usually only do one talk. And the reason why we're doing two talks is because it's so intriguing to me that we had two prophets. Both speak about the exact same thing in such a short amount of time. And I want to think about, I mean, we don't have to think that hard. I was just going to say, I want to think about what's happening in the world right now that would cause two prophets. We want to speak on the same thing. But then as soon as I said that, I was like that, obviously, we can see what is happening in the world right now. So it just is a crazy time. And I did this thing where as I listened to both, I read both, and then I had this prompting to write down both side by side and see what felt similar. And this was so interesting. You, everyone, you might want to try that today. And my rule, because you could have just rewritten all of both talks. But my rule when I sat down is I was just going to pick one word to describe every paragraph only. That's it. So I just gave myself these one words and went through. And just for fun, I thought we might start out with, I'm going to read you both lists. And so we can be seeing, OK, what felt similar in their approach and in what they were saying. So I'll start with President Oaks. He gave his talk on Easter, which is interesting. And these are words that I wrote for him. Toxic, great commandment, Samaritan, enemy, manifest love, story about a nurse, don't surrender, balanced love and law, poor forth love, peacemakers, bishop, the story about the bit or the call out, the invitation to bishops, the invitation to youth, the invitation to reduce human suffering, the invitation to mothers and fathers, even to take care of those who aren't your own. The invitation to missionaries, a mighty change of heart, avoid contention, the language and methods of peacemakers, avoid harshness, seek to be holy, live like Jesus. That was President Oaks list, okay? And hopefully as I read that, you were like, oh yeah, I remember that part, I remember that part, I remember that. Okay, now President Nelson, this was interesting, Hillary and I were talking about this. He gave his talk on Palm Sunday. I just feel like there must be something important about Easter, compelling this type of a message. Then he tells the story of a surgeon, how civility and decency has disappeared. There's evil speaking and fault finding. Then he says, contention never leads to inspired solutions. He talks about being examples. Blessed are the peacemakers, our enemies. The disciples love one another. We need to build, lift, encourage and inspire. No contention, how we treat each other. Then he gave examples of divorce and missionary who returns early, and social media, and differences of opinion. And then his call was a call to charity, but not peace at any price. To lay aside bitterness, that the temple could help. We would be a light on a hill. The gospel is the largest net. There's room for everyone, and that we would live as disciples. So did you notice some of the words that were like an overlap of both of those talks? And I'm just interested in the similarities, but also the why. Why this topic and why now? So what are your thoughts as you've studied?

Speaker 2:
[10:34] When we listen to that in conference, Elder, or President Oaks, I'm still doing that, calling him Elder Oaks sometimes, President Oaks, my husband said, we must not be getting it because he, and referring to President Nelson's talk about peace, we need to do this again. Like we're not, we're not stepping up like we're supposed to be. We need this message again. And I think that that was a message that weaved through a lot of conference was, we need to step it up.

Speaker 1:
[11:08] That's so true.

Speaker 2:
[11:09] Yeah. I mean, there were a lot of similarities in the talks, of course. And as you were reading your list, one that just seems so random, but maybe not so random. President Oaks refers to the nurse. President Nelson had an experience in the operating room. And it is interesting that we can learn how to be peacemakers in everyday settings and in life. One of the things that I loved from when he was, when President Nelson was talking about that situation in the operating room, I had to read this sentence twice. He said, it landed in my forearm. And I'm like, wait, in? Not on, in this blade that had been contaminated. And he described it as he being horrified by this dangerous breach of surgical practice. And then he talks, the next sentence says, gratefully, I did not become infected. And that is powerful because, yes, physically, he did not become infected. But sometimes we become infected by the things that we're witnessing in the world, or in our communities, or in relationships. And it's a challenge to us to not become infected.

Speaker 1:
[12:33] That is so good. That actually is so good. And I had the same thought as you when you were like, it's so interesting that one was a nurse and one was a doctor, which made me think of healing. And those examples become that symbol of rooms where people find healing. That's what was supposed to be happening there. And so when you think about that healing, and then think about what you just said, not being affected, because when we become infected with that, our immediate response isn't always peace, right?

Speaker 2:
[13:12] And I think the harder response is peace. The easier response is to react in a way that's like, and it's almost satisfying to be a little bit snappy back or a little bit rude back. Something that in that moment, it feels like you should be able to, but then afterwards, you don't feel good. But it's harder to control your words, your thoughts, your reactions.

Speaker 1:
[13:37] That is so true. And I think, I think you almost have to practice peace. It's something that we, in the world we live in, you have to intentionally decide, oh, I actually want peace to be part of my life, to be part of my character, to be part of my everyday, because it actually isn't peaceful. It's loud, it's busy, it's overwhelmed. It's a lot of people giving opinions in a lot of spaces all the time. 24 hours a day, you can read somebody's opinion, and it usually isn't peaceful. It usually is loud or controversial or, you know. You are someone who I would say part of your characteristic is to be inclined toward peace. That just seems to be part of your nature that you were like, you came with, you were born with that, wanting to avoid contention and almost seek peace at all costs. So it would be so interesting to know, like, is that something you prepare for or something you practice? Or is that just like part of you, of who you are?

Speaker 2:
[14:58] Okay. Well, that's a really nice thing for you to say. As you were saying that, I wonder if, I don't know that that's like necessarily my natural reaction. But as you were saying that, I'm like, I guess it's true because I don't like contention. I avoid contention because I just don't, I don't thrive in it. You know what I mean? So maybe, maybe just because I'm afraid of contention, the natural, the natural result is, I'll try to be more peaceful about it. But one of the things that I was thinking about when I read that situation in the operating room that President Nelson shared, it took me to something that I read earlier this year in Enos, and I pulled it up here so that I could share it. It's a really good visual of the difference and what it might look like in being a peacemaker, and what it looks like to not. So Enos is describing that they wanted to teach the Lamanites, they wanted to resolve conflict there, they wanted to be able to share what they knew. With them, and he says in verse 20 of Enos, he says, and I bear record that the people of Nephi did seek diligently to restore the Lamanites unto the true faith in God. So they really were, they really did have a good message. They had a peaceful message. They had a message that was important for the Lamanites to hear. So they were actively trying to help, right? And a lot of us do that. We're trying to be good and be nice and do good. And here's how he describes what things looked like in the Lamanite community. And listen to these words. It sounds a lot like right now. And it sounds like a lot of the words that were in these talks. But our labors were in vain. Their hatred was fixed. And they were led by their evil nature that they became wild and ferocious. And a bloodthirsty people, full of idolatry and filthiness, feeding upon beasts of prey, dwelling in tents and wandering about in the wilderness, with a short skin girdled about their loins and their heads shaven. And their skill was in the bow and in the scimitar and in the axe. And many of them did not, did eat nothing, say that were raw meat. And they were continually seeking to destroy us. Okay, lots of words that describe contention and not getting along. Then very next verse, that first verse that I just read is a really good visual of sometimes what our world looks like right now.

Speaker 1:
[17:54] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[17:54] Then here's the next visual. And it came to pass that the people of Nephi did till the land and raise all manner of grain and of fruit and of flocks and herds and flocks of all manner of cattle and every kind, and goats and wild goats and also many horses. Don't you visualize that field and you just sort of fill yourself, almost your shoulders coming down and you're almost relaxing. It's an interesting visual to me of all the hatred and everything going on in that first verse. And then all of that, no, they just work the land. Kind of like when you go on a road trip and you need to get away from the things that are bothering you and that are weighing you down and you drive into the fields and all of a sudden, you just feel more peaceful, more calm. And I just think that when we, you look at the Lamanites and how they were approaching, they probably thought their message was good and important too. Like how they were, you know, the thing that bothered them, that was important to them. And then you look at what was important to the Nephites and Enos' people and it just has more of a calming effect. I don't know if I'm actually explaining that, but I thought that was such a powerful vision.

Speaker 1:
[19:14] Yeah, it is so powerful and it is so interesting when you read them side by side because I anticipated what was going to happen is so that all of these, this thing going on that was all this contention and distraction and anger and these hard feelings. And my immediate thing was like, and so they sent a delegation over to try and resolve this. And I love that they were like, no, they just were like, you know what? Focus somewhere else right now. Just till the land. That's what you're going to do right now. Just work the land and build up where you can build. Yes.

Speaker 2:
[19:56] Not authentic to what you would do. Don't change. Don't go, you know, become like that. Just do it your way, which was to stay calm, to till the fields.

Speaker 1:
[20:07] Yeah. Which isn't always our first inclination. Sometimes we start feeling a little bit frantic, then we start acting frantic, and then we're saying things that might feel frantic because we're leveling up to where they're at. And I love that it was almost a total removal from that situation, where it just was like, nope, I want you to do something different, which is actually hard. When you were talking about the road trip, it made me think. Remember when I was in Israel and I had broke my leg at my ankle, but I wanted to do that Jesus Trail so badly. And I had been for a year planning that, and my level of excitement was like so high, and I was going to do that no matter what happened. This is what I was going to do. I was going to get it all in. I just was going to embrace that moment. And I know this is shocking to all of you, but sometimes I have a really lot of energy. And it was one of those moments where I just was like, I got out of the car and I was like, in it. I was in it. We were going to do all of it. And I just was, and we got this guide named Maya. And she was just really calm, which was nice because a normal, not calm person would have been like, you actually can't do this. And you could have had that contention. But her response to me was, we'll see. We'll see if you can do it. So she didn't immediately tell me that I was wrong or out of my mind or crazy. She just was like, we'll see. And so we start going and like the beginning where we started wasn't easy. It wasn't like we were just on this dirt road. It was boulders in the path that you couldn't move because the boulders were gigantic. And so I was having to take my scooter around and around and around. And I was just going at my pace and everyone had run ahead and I had already set my mind that was gonna be fine. And I was just gonna go at my pace. And she just walked with me. She just walked with me and walked with me for a long time as we're going up this hill. And finally, there must have been a moment in her mind where she was like, okay, I think she's committed. I think she's gonna do this. And she just reached in her bag just so quiet. And she tied this little rope to the front of my scooter. She didn't even really say anything. And then she just went a couple steps ahead of me and she just started to pull. And it was so interesting because all day long, she kind of was this like peaceful presence. That's what she was. And she was just like sustaining me in my effort to do the thing I felt really strongly about. And I won't ever forget when we got to lunch. And she had taken us to this little place where you sat outside under this little orchard was there. And you walked through the orchard to get there. And we were sitting and we were eating lunch. And you know me really well. So you know my personality was like, okay, how long are we like, how long do we need to take for lunch? And then what's next? Like what is coming? And in my mind, I'm like getting all ready. And she just looked at me for a minute. And she said, Emily, right now we're having lunch. And she just kept eating. And I said, I know. And I just at lunch want to be thinking about where are we going next? And she just sat there for a minute. And then she said, Emily, right now we are having lunch. And she just sat back. And I was like, that is a pace of life that I actually am not accustomed to. But I was like, okay, right now we're having lunch. I just sat back and I put my leg up. And I was like, I'm just gonna be like, having lunch right now. And I have never forgotten that one line. I mean, there's a lot of things I remember from that walk. But that one line of like, hold on, we're having a pause. We're like enjoying our lunch. In fact, at one point she told me, we're gonna let it digest. And in my mind I was like, that could take hours.

Speaker 2:
[24:35] Yeah, that's a couple hours. One of the things I love that you just said about Maya, Maya was here this morning. She quietly solved the problem too. She came up with a solution when she tied that rope to your cart. And maybe she didn't think of that right at the beginning. Maybe it took a minute for her to just see what you were gonna do. Then the solution came. And I think a lot of times we panic and we do get contentious, because we don't know a solution. And we can't, but what, how can we solve this problem? And when we just come or open our minds to maybe what's a possible solution, be curious. Remember when President Nelson in his talk was talking about how even his counselors can talk about things that they necessarily don't agree on, but they can do it in love, because they know they love each other. They're probably confident that a solution can be found. Sometimes we panic and we get mean or snippy, because it's not like we want to be, it's just that we're worried, or is this going to get solved? Yeah, it's going to work out a way we want it. And I love that example of Maya just being like, I can bring a solution to this. I can bring an idea to this. And sometimes that helps diffuse.

Speaker 1:
[25:51] I love that. So it might be fun now to just dive in to some of like standouts, favorite quotes, favorite, like, and let's just say, go in either talk. We won't do one and then the other, but just like as you read through for you in your life, what were standout moments either when you were reading or when you were listening at conference, were there places that you just were like, oh, I needed this right now. This feels important to me right now.

Speaker 2:
[26:28] Okay, yeah, there's a couple of them that I love. And one of them is the scripture in Matthew that they both quoted from. But I say unto you, they both use this scripture. Yes.

Speaker 1:
[26:38] Yes.

Speaker 2:
[26:39] But I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you and persecute you. So the word, one of the words I was like, wait, what does that mean to bless people? So I looked it up. And that means to genuinely have a desire for their good. The key is what's best for them. So that made more sense to my mind. So if you were just to highlight those four words, love, bless, do good, oh, that's two words, pray. Those are really nice things to do for other people. But actually, look at the good you're doing for your own self and becoming more Christ-like by loving, blessing, doing good and praying. The first is advice for us to do for someone else. But by doing that, you're actually benefiting yourself as well. You're becoming more like the Savior by doing those things.

Speaker 1:
[27:39] And it's so interesting to think about love. That is like a I'm giving. Bless, I'm giving. Do good, I'm giving. Pray is so interesting because that is a little bit of a go in your closet, go in your wherever. And it makes me think to myself is part of what he was teaching us is those three things are not always going to be easy. And so it prayer is a part of being able to love at this level, because it may not always come easy to you. And, and especially when he was like praying for those who and then who he's telling you you're praying for, you're like, Oh, yeah, that's, that's hard. That might require both of us, me and him to be able to do what is being asked here.

Speaker 2:
[28:37] It reminds me to you just said this. And and President Oaks said, quote, living worthy to meet Christ is no easy task. Like it's not easy to try to be a peacemaker. I remember a time when I was facing a situation that did have a lot of contention in it. There wasn't a way to resolve it. There could not be a conversation, which sometimes that can take care of it. But in this case, there couldn't. There was nothing I could do except for pray. So every time this situation came into my mind, and stressed me out, or made me lose sleep, I just said a quick prayer. Bless me, bless that person, help it to resolve. It was a short prayer, and then I let it go. And it took a year of just regularly praying over and over, and then it was gone. It was gone. It slowly melted away. I never was able to talk to the person, but I genuinely feel love, forgiveness, and it's forgotten.

Speaker 1:
[29:38] Yes.

Speaker 2:
[29:39] And I do believe that when we do team up, like you were saying, with Heavenly Father and pray, even when it is hard, he can somehow resolve it for us.

Speaker 1:
[29:48] Yeah. It's so true. It's making me think of a scripture, and we were going to go to the Good Samaritan, but everyone, what if we just veer off course for a minute? Because it's making me think of this scripture that we never teach. Never. You might have never even heard the name of it. But right next to Hebrews, so you want your New Testament, that is what you want. Right next to Hebrews, there is a book of scripture that is one page long, just one page. And depending on who you listen to, you either call it Philemon or Philemon. You could say either way. This is probably one of my most favorite books of scripture ever. Like, you know how you have books that you love like Esther? I love that book. You have those, Helaman, I love the whole book of Helaman so much. And this, Philemon, is one of my favorite. And look, you really can see that it is. I just love almost every single verse in this. And what happens in this story is so interesting. I'm just going to tell you the story, and then I'm going to get to the part that I love. This is what happens in this story. Paul has been in prison. And while he's in prison, he meets this man named Onesimus. And he learns the story of this man. And the story of this man is he was working for Philemon. And he was just one of the people on this great estate, or whatever you call big pieces of land in the New Testament. And just one day, he just up and left. And he's the type of person that eventually lands himself in prison. So that is going to tell you a little bit about who he is. And when he gets out of prison, Paul tells him, you need to go back to Onesimus. And that's part of you reconciling how you wronged him. So you need to go back to him. And I'm sure Onesimus was so nervous. And so Paul says, I'll write a letter to Philemon for you. And you will hand deliver the letter. That's what's going to happen. So, he writes this letter. And Philemon is the letter that Onesimus carries to him and gives him. And so it starts out that he's writing to him. In verse 3, he says, grace to you and peace. And I think, my God, I know you and I'm hearing great things about you, your love and your faith towards Jesus and toward all the saints. And like all these good things are happening. They're becoming effectual because of all these good things that you're doing in Jesus Christ. This is how the letter is starting. And then he's going to go into this moment. And before I tell you this moment, I just want you to think about this. If you're Philemon and you're now working in the field because you've lost one of your people who's helping you around, one of your servants, and you look up one day and you see him walking back, what's your immediate reaction in that moment? And I just, I love to be like when he looks up and sees him, you go into that protect mode, you go into that resentment mode, you go into, do you know what you did to me? And almost like a get off my property mode. That seems like that would be where we would go first. But he comes up and he doesn't even say a word to you, he just hands you a letter. And the letter says this, that I'm writing you, he tells you in verse 10. Well, he starts in verse nine, which I love. He says this, for love's sake, I beseech you. That's how he begins. And he tells him it's not gonna be convenient, what I'm about to ask, which don't you love that he just starts out and he's like, I know this is gonna be hard. So you know, I know, I know the emotions you have right now. I know what you're thinking. And then he says this to him, I beseech thee for my son Onesimus, which I have begotten in my bonds, which in time past was to you unprofitable. But I'm telling you, he's about to be profitable to you and to me. He tells him, I have sent him back to you again so that you could receive him. And then he tells him in verse 16, I don't want you to take him back as a servant. I actually want you to take him in as a brother, beloved, especially to me. Now, let's just pause for a minute. That means he doesn't eat with the servants. He doesn't sleep with the servants. He doesn't work all day long with the servants. That means he eats at Philomon's table. He sleeps in Philomon's house. He does the work of the family. That's what Paul is asking. So this isn't like just, will you just give him a spot back on the farm? This is like, will you adopt him into your house? And he says, I need you to actually welcome him in as if he were me. That's what I want. That's how I want you to treat him. And in verse 18, if he has wronged you, or if he owes you something, put that on my account. I will repay it. Just let me have joy of you having confidence in your obedience, knowing that you will do more than I say. And then he says this, and prepare me also a lodging. Like I love it. He's like, I'm a little nervous how this is going to go. And I'm coming right behind him. Prepare. I will be there. I'm gonna like, I'm not making you do this for yourself. And then this is the line he says that makes me think about what you were just teaching. For I trust that through your prayers, I will be given unto you. That prayer of like, I'm not going to be able to do this. I don't want to do this. I don't know why Paul is asking me to do this. I love that Paul's like, I know what your prayers are going to be. And I trust that as you pray, I'm going to be able to come. Because I think this Onesimus is important. He's important to the work. He's important to the church. He's so important. I need you to actually bring him in. And as I read this, I thought to myself, each of us has someone who it would be hard to take in, just to bring in. And can you imagine if they came to you and they had a letter, and the letter was signed by Jesus, and it said, I know this isn't going to be convenient, but for love's sake, I am asking you for this, my son, who I know, I've seen him in his struggles, so I know who he is, and I've sent him to you that you would receive him as a brother, beloved, that you would like take him in. In fact, receive him as if you were receiving me. And then I love this part. If he has wronged you or if he owes you something, put that on my account, I will repay it. But let me just have joy in you, having confidence in your obedience, that you will also do more than I say. And prepare me also a lodging, for I trust that through your prayers, I will be sent to you. And he ends saying, and my grace will be with your spirit. Don't you love that idea of working through peace and resolution?

Speaker 2:
[38:38] And that perspective that you just shared, what if we got a letter from the Savior in preparation for that? And I almost feel like these two talks, those are our letters. Those are our letters. That's the prophet, the prophets asking us to please, please do that for each other. And what would be the benefit if they hadn't, if Paul hadn't written the letter, Onesimus hadn't had a chance to be forgiven? What's the good that could come from that? But think of all the good that could come from forgiveness, from love, from second chances, from accepting. And it reminds me in President Nelson's talk, you asked what one of my favorite lines is. I love this one. The best is yet to come for those who spend their lives building up others. Yeah, good things are gonna come if we can just muster the strength to try to love and forgive and pray for each other and accept that letter and bring that person in. And if we can't do it for, you know, that person, maybe in the time being, well, there's two thoughts. Elder President Oaks said, there's no better way. Well, it was David O. McKay that said this and President Oaks was quoting him. There's no way better way to manifest love for God than to show an unselfish selfish love for one's fellow men. And then you tie that to the best is yet to come for those who spend their lives building up others. One reason to be a peacemaker is because it shows that we love God. Another reason to be a peacemaker is because it helps good to come into our lives. The best is yet to come when we do that. So if you can't, if right now you don't have the strength to do it for that person who's wronged you or that situation that's contentious, start by doing it for God and start by doing it for yourself, and then maybe, because you know good things are to come.

Speaker 1:
[40:41] Yes, that's so good. I love that thought. And the fact that it is a work, like, were you interested in how many of the words in these two talks were like, get to work, like get out there, do this, try this, be this, act like this. There were such action talks, which is interesting because you feel like peace is a be still, you know, like, yeah. But the words in here are not like sit back.

Speaker 2:
[41:14] Yeah, President Nelson said build, lift, encourage, persuade, inspire. It's exactly what you're talking about. That takes work, that takes effort.

Speaker 1:
[41:22] Yeah, yeah. Yeah, we're going to have to engage in order to be able to do this. And I love the words when President Oaks said, learn the language and methods of peacemakers.

Speaker 2:
[41:37] Yes.

Speaker 1:
[41:38] Think about those two things. Right when he said that, I was like, I'm so interested in the choice of words right there. First, learn the language of a peacemaker, which I think we've talked about that today, of just that like choosing not to engage at that level of contention, of language that will not propel the argument, but will lift instead. But methods, I'm so interested in, what is the method of a peacemaker?

Speaker 2:
[42:17] I've been watching some of the comments and people have been listing things you can do. I've seen put their name in the temple. I've seen practice. When we were talking about love, bless, do good and pray, one of the comments summed it up as give, give, give, release.

Speaker 1:
[42:34] Oh, what? That is so good.

Speaker 2:
[42:38] I know.

Speaker 1:
[42:38] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[42:39] People have been listening or been listing ways to learn the methods of being a peacemaker. And I don't think we need to try to do all of them at once.

Speaker 1:
[42:49] Yeah.

Speaker 2:
[42:49] We could just pick one to work on. Or just one little thing. In our own circle of influence, I was thinking about... Let me see if I can find which... Oh, this was another good quote. This is President Nelson. Peacemakers thwart the adversary. And sometimes we feel helpless when the world feels so good, just so much and mean and contentious and full of hate. And you think, what could I even do to make a difference? If we can do little small things in our own circle, in our own families, that bring more peace, that diffuse contention, we really are thwarting the adversary. There's power in all of those little things. If you think of rain coming down, if all the drops are like, I'm just one drop, it's not going to matter. Why should I come down from the clouds? No, every single drop forms, fills.

Speaker 1:
[43:49] That's so good.

Speaker 2:
[43:50] The reservoir, like we need every drop of goodness and kindness and lifting and building. And if we will do that, we really can make a dent in thwarting the adversary. We do have more power than we think.

Speaker 1:
[44:03] Oh, that's so good. And I love as we think about that, those methods we're going to try. And sometimes they're going to work and sometimes they're not. Someone just said, what do you do if a family member won't love this way? And then someone wrote right after it, peacemaking is to choose the higher ground.

Speaker 2:
[44:27] Right.

Speaker 1:
[44:27] And immediately, yeah, immediately sent me back to Enis, where you took us at the very beginning of like, it might not be the right moment. It may not. I mean, we want to resolve things so quickly, but it may not be the right moment. And so you really might have to, choosing the higher ground might be tilling the field. It might just be turning away from the contention right now and just saying, I'm going to work the ground, I'm going to do, I'm just going to go over here and do what I need to do. And then I will try again.

Speaker 2:
[45:03] Right. Because we can't control the other people. We can't always control the situation, but we can do things to bring a measure of peace in our own hearts and minds while we wait and hope for that situation to get better.

Speaker 1:
[45:18] Yes. That's so good. And so I love that idea of sometimes the method is, sometimes the method is to engage.

Speaker 2:
[45:31] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[45:31] And sometimes the method is not to engage right now. It's to till the ground for a minute. And both would be the method of a peacemaker.

Speaker 2:
[45:44] Right. It's always ideal when a conversation that's thoughtful and curious and patient can happen, but not everybody's ready for it.

Speaker 1:
[45:55] You've said that curious twice, and I know you, so I know what you're talking about. But will you teach that principle of, why does being curious help you be a peacemaker? Will you teach that?

Speaker 2:
[46:11] Well, I think it's interesting when you're in a conversation before you can, before you give your opinion or you express what you think, it's really nice to ask questions. And I have found that as I do, before I jump into how I feel about it, I learn as they answer those questions and you find out more about what they're thinking. Why are they maybe feeling that way? What's led them to feel that way? What experiences have they had? And I have found that if I'll just listen as they answer those questions, then the spirit works in me. And I have more clarity added to what maybe I would have thought. And sometimes my whole idea of what I thought I knew changes. And I just think we can learn so much more about situations and about people if we can ask and we can listen more. I love listening.

Speaker 1:
[47:06] Yeah. And just I love how you define it as being curious. Like go into the conversation not set on resolving it, how you think it needs to be resolved. But enter in curious first and ask questions. And then it may help that resolution.

Speaker 2:
[47:27] Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[47:28] That's so good. And when you said it the first time, I was like, oh, that is actually a really important method of peacemakers.

Speaker 2:
[47:36] And you know what I think it does it back to the letter to, from... Fill them on. Yeah, fill them on. He diffused right off the bat. He validated, this is going to be hard. And I think asking those kind of questions helps people feel like, I'm validated in the way that I'm feeling, I'm going to be heard, I'm going to be listened to, and then they kind of soften too. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[48:02] And it's interesting because Paul, as he engaged, he was like, okay, I can feel what you're feeling. I know you. I know the situation. He allowed Phil O'Mon to be seen and known before he engaged in, here's where I think we need to go. And maybe that's part of what has to happen is that allowing someone to feel seen and known, and known means also heard. I know where you are. I'm going to acknowledge where you are. Now, we need to go somewhere from here. But at least let's make sure we both know where we are before we try and go.

Speaker 2:
[48:50] And there's something interesting about Paul saying, and I'm going to come too. I'll be there too. Like you guys won't be alone in working this out. I'm going to come to help. I'm going to follow up. Yeah, that I'll get in the middle of it.

Speaker 1:
[49:02] It's intriguing to me. He's like, I don't expect you to carry this on your own or try and figure this out on your own. And it makes me think that, that like my mind wants to go to a bishop and the mount, the mantle of a bishop in helping you reconcile something in your life. That thought that part of the gospel of Jesus Christ is someone coming to walk through that resolution with you is a really common way that Jesus actually works, is sending someone to be like, I'm going to walk you through where you're headed. I'm going to be strength and I'm going to be inspiration and I'm going to be. And it makes me go to, I wonder if we understand that the power of ministering, of being assigned to walk through life with someone. That that isn't just like a tidy way of housekeeping in a ward, that it's actually the work of the Lord, is that an assigned companion to walk with you, along the way? And do we engage like that? Is that how we're engaging? I go back to Maya and her little rope, and she didn't take over my life, and she didn't take over my hike, and she didn't tell me how we were gonna do things, or what it was gonna look like. She just was there. And in moments when she was wiser than I was, she took the lead in those moments. But otherwise, I just walked the Jesus trail. I just walked it. But I loved it for the entire time. She was like, I'm just gonna, I was the most broken in the group. I was the one who was gonna need the most help. And so of the 10 of us, she just quietly came and was like, I'll just walk with her. And if I can get her through it, I can get everyone through it. And isn't that interesting, if you thought of ministering like that?

Speaker 2:
[51:23] Yeah, just quietly looking for what the people that you minister to need and figuratively tying that little rope onto their situation and helping to pull. And when the answer comes, we probably can't solve it. Maybe sometimes we can, but we can be there. We can, in a sense, write that letter by sending a text, giving encouragement. I mean, sometimes I think we have to do something really big, but we don't. It can be a little note. It can be dropping something off that carries people through those times.

Speaker 1:
[51:59] Yes.

Speaker 2:
[52:00] It helps them to get through it. Yeah.

Speaker 1:
[52:01] Yeah, that's so good. So just so many different ways of... It really is the methods of peacemakers. And I love that so many people have written them in the comments. We've talked about a lot here and what we saw in Enos and in Philemon. And if you want a good study, go read the Good Samaritan this morning. Because again, just another one that President Oaks said, I loved when he listed out just four scriptures that he was like, you're going to want to be familiar with these four scriptures. He took us to Matthew, the great commandment to the Good Samaritan, and then to loving your enemies. And I don't think that progression was by chance. I think he was like, here, let me show you what this actually looks like. And then he he taught us so just two really great talks, I feel like.

Speaker 2:
[53:01] Great, I loved reading these. I loved going back to Elder President Nelson and just refreshing my memory. I thought that one's so good.

Speaker 1:
[53:11] Yeah, I pulled out that one scripture that talks about in the mouths of two or three witnesses, shall my word be established? Because I thought to myself, this is one of those moments. We like just witnessed one of those moments where two prophets within three years were teaching us the same principle. And it just makes me want to be like, okay, what Tim said, exactly what Tim said. Okay, what am I going to do? That is going to be different than what I did the first time I heard this talk. At the end, Hillary, everyone always loves to hear how Greg's doing. So I'm happy to report that we are on the other side of all of the side effects, which is making it so that we can actually sleep again. And that is making me so happy. Now we are just in the wait, you guys. We're going to be in the wait probably until the first week of May. So no news, just waiting. And then he'll go in and they'll do the whole scan again and all blood work again. And then I'll have an update at that point. So that, that is all of the news. And then next week we'll be back again. If you didn't get your schedule yet, you can find it at The Good News Brand, has all the whole workbook you can download for free. So you just go there, you can get everything you need. It's Elder Kieran is the next one. So we'll be studying him next week. I can't wait for this. And but then everything you need is there. So if you're, if you're new and you're not quite sure what to do, if you go over there, there's a whole how to study general conference with us that is going to get you set up and ready to go. And then we'll be back again next week. And Hillary, thank you so much. That was so fun.

Speaker 2:
[55:15] That was really fun. Thanks.

Speaker 1:
[55:16] Have a good week, everyone. Thanks for joining me. This podcast is taken from our Thursday Inklings discussions, which happened live on Instagram at Inklings.institute. If you loved being here, I'd love to invite you to go even deeper with me, get reminders, and enjoy first access to all our events and gatherings by going to emilybellefreeman.com/inklings.