Happiness is Your Heritage!

Last night I went with my mom and my sister Kristina to Salt Lake to attend the General Relief Society Meeting. Members of the Relief Society General Presidency spoke as well as Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf. Their talks were inspiring and I came away with two thoughts that I want to become a part of me.

The first was from Sister Julie Beck's message, she said "We can do the work of the Lord in His way when we seek, receive and act on personal revelation. Without personal revelation we can not succeed, if we heed personal revelation we can not fail." She then quoted Elder Maxwell who taught that receiving personal revelation requires, "serious mental effort on our part. Revelation is not a matter of pushing buttons, but of pushing ourselves, often aided by fasting, scripture study, and personal pondering. Most of all revelation requires us to a have sufficient degree of personal righteousness so that on occasion revelation may come to the righteous unsolicited." I believe our Father in Heaven is anxious to communicate with us on a personal level, he has guidance for us, but I'm afraid I put far too much energy into getting things done "my way" instead of exerting the energy to seek the wisdom of "His ways." I'm going to work on that.

The second thought came from Elder Uchtdorf's talk. (Sa Cebuano para sa mga gwapa.) He talked about finding happiness through service. I know I am happier when I focus on other people. And when I feel discontent and empty, a little soul searching helps me to realize that I'm simply too self-absorbed. The notion that we will be happier when we serve others seems rather counter intuitive and is an unlikely path for someone who is struggling for inner peace. But that is why we need the help of the gospel, we need the wisdom of the Almighty to show us a better way. The vain ambition of self-seeking is also self-destructive. When we understand that God lives and that we are literally His children we can trust His wisdom and His path. He is perfect and has perfect happiness, like Elder Uchtdorf taught, "Happiness is your heritage." In other words, happiness belongs to us by simple reason of our birth, if we will but do our part and accept this great inheritance.