Have the confidence to stand out

Hello there! Sorry I wasn't able to get this post up yesterday like I said I would! It was a busy weekend! Phew!

I absolutely love this talk by Sister Dibb! She has so much emotion, and so much expression, I think it would be almost impossible not to feel the spirit when listening to this talk!

Whenever I reread or listen to conference talks, it's seems that there is always one phrase or sentence that really sticks out to me that I didn't notice before. This is one of the reasons why I love to review the talks and I feel it's important; the first time I listen to the talk I feel the overreaching message that they are trying to convey, but when I go back and review, I find beautiful gems of revelation that are just as true as that overarching message, but just didn't penetrate the first time through. For this talk, it was one of her very first sentences: "The blessings you receive because of your goodness affect not only your lives but also my life and the lives of countless others in profound but often unknown ways." Brothers and sisters, there is power in this phrase! When I read that I just had to stop and think about all that this implies. When we are righteous, we receive blessings from God, but that's not where the story ends! Those blessings, though given to us, continue on like a ripple and bless other people as well! And then they are blessed, and their blessing ripple out to bless even more people! We know that one of the mandates of this church is that we must serve others, and though we all must continue in our efforts and duties to those around us, I find it so comforting to know that by being righteous and blessing my own life, I can serve others as well! It's like double dipping. Only this kind is acceptable.To me, the rest of the talk is an expounding on the kind of blessings we can give ourselves that also reach out to bless others.

I love her catchphrase. Who doesn't? It so simple and concise, but so powerful. I also love the imagery she gives of having this catchphrase printed on her t-shirt. We all care a lot about what other people think about us, and probably one of our biggest concerns in this area is our appearance. We dress for ourselves, but we also dress for others. Our dress says something about ourselves, and tells others what we want them to think about us. By having this catchphrase symbolically printed on her t-shirt, she is declaring to the world what she believes, and what she wants people to think about her. And her catchphrase is the perfect way to not only bless ourselves, but others as well! This phrase belongs to someone who has the confidence to stand out.

I'm A Mormon. How hard is this for us to admit sometimes? It's not that we go out of our way to hide our religion, but sometimes we shy away from admitting it. I'm sure many of us have had times where we felt uncomfortable because activities or conversations around us were not in line with our standards. I know that I have. Sometimes I have the courage to say, 'can we talk about something else,' or 'can we talk about something else?' But other times I simply faded into the background, and try my hardest to ignore it. Not because it didn't bother me, but because I was too afraid to stand up and say anything. I was thinking about what others would think of me, instead of what the most important person, Christ, would think. Was he ashamed or disappointed in me at those times? I can't help but think he was a little bit. I know that he always loves me, and all of us, but at those times I'm sure he felt sadness that I did not have the courage to stand out and stand up. What blessings could I have added unto myself? What if there was someone else in the crowd who also felt uncomfortable and also could have been blessed? I want to strive harder to stand up for what I know a Mormon should be and believe in.

I know it. "Are we as well versed in gospel truths as we are in our studies, careers, hobbies, sports, or our texts and tweets? Do we actively seek to find answers to our questions by feasting on the scriptures and the teachings of the prophets? Do we seek the confirmation of the Spirit?" I think these are great evaluating questions to ask ourselves. And really, what better way is there to bless ourselves than by continually learning more and more about the gospel? And in turn, how easy it is to bless others when we have knowledge that we can pass on!

I live it. Once we have that knowledge, we have got to go out and live it! I can't stress that enough! It's far too easy sometimes to talk about how great Sunday was or how great conference was and then forget that we have a responsibility to go out and do the things we have learned! That's why we go to college, right? So that we can learn things that we will eventually do for a career. It's the same way with the gospel! We learn it not just because it's nice, or because it makes us feel good; we learn it because we must use it! We must be doers of the work!

I love it. I love it when the talks at conference intersect and compliment each other, because it's then that you know that they are true doctrine. The first thing I thought about as I heard this last sentence of Sister Dibb's catchphrase was Elder Cook's talk that he gave right before hers. I gave thoughts at length about this talk in the previous post, but basically, he talks about this love of the gospel, and how we must strive to keep it in our lives! He also gives great ways in which we can do this, so go back and give his talk another listen!

I feel so much gratitude to Sister Dibb for giving this talk. It has given me the desire to increase my courage and confidence to stand out. I feel motivated to do this because I know that it will bless more than just me. As she says, it will bring forth blessings in countless and profound ways. I may not be able to see all these blessings, or ever know that they are occurring, but I have a testimony that what she says surely will come to pass. Knowing that, how could I not strive to do better? I hope that we all can have the confidence to stand out. We have wonderful opportunities before us, so let's go out there and put them on our t-shirts! I'm a Mormon. I know it. I live it. I love it!