Lately...

I have been reading talks from the oh-so smart and oh-so spiritual, Neal A. Maxwell. He has spoken on so many different topics, and yet, when I read them side by side, they all seem to perfectly intertwine. He is such a deep thinker.  His words baffle me at times.  Reading and re-reading his insights about various topics has humbled me in a big way.

The first talk:
"Meekness—A Dimension of True Discipleship"

I found this talk from a former mission leader. Gotta love being in a Facebook mission!  I kind of briefly  mentioned this thought in a Facebook post, but earlier in my mission, I desired the attribute of meekness so badly! It was such a hard concept to grasp, and even harder to acquire. It is neat that I have come full circle and I am interested in obtaining the attribute of meekness again. 

It seems so easy to get concerned about yourself  in today's world. Meekness lessens and eliminates thoughts of self. It is a freeing virtue. One line that was especially poignant to me was,

 "Without meekness, the conversational points we insist on making often take the form of “I”—that spearlike, vertical pronoun." 

Ah! How poetic! And true! How often do we use the word "I?" After I read this talk it seemed that I was hyper-aware of how often I talked about myself! I'm not saying it's bad to share your thoughts and experiences with others by any means! But next time you are in a conversation, consider how eager you are to share something about yourself, redirecting the attention back to you.

Later on in the talk, he says, 

"Among the meek there is usually more listening and less talking." 

This goes hand in hand with the quote above! Conversations with others are some of the best places to practice being meek.  Oh what we can learn from listening to others!

A few more gems: 

"The meek think of more clever things to say than are said. And it’s just as well, for there is so much more cleverness in the world than wisdom, so much more sarcasm than idealism."

"The meek are filled with awe and wonder with regard to God and His purposes in the universe. At the same time, the meek are not awestruck by the many frustrations of life; they are more easily mobilized for eternal causes and less easily immobilized by the disappointments of the day."

All in all, learning more about the Christlike attributes gives me two consequences. 1. I realize how far away I am from being perfect in that attribute. 2. I realize how incredible my Savior is! He exemplifies and personifies ALL of the good attributes in the world!

I love Jesus Christ with all my heart and I hope as I  learn more about him, I will be more motivated to become like Him.

There's nothing like serving the Master. Whether that's on a full-time mission, as a parent, child, spouse, student, aunt, uncle, teacher, or friend, HE HAS WORK FOR YOU TO DO!

So go and do! Like Nephi! You will be blessed beyond comprehension. Trust me. I know because it's happened to  me!