An Unexpected Path and Successfully Failing | Peggy S. Worthen and Kevin J Worthen | 2015 скачать в хорошем качестве

An Unexpected Path and Successfully Failing | Peggy S. Worthen and Kevin J Worthen | 2015

In our quest for perfection, how we respond when we fail will determine how well we will succeed. https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/kevin-... https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/peggy-... https://speeches.byu.edu/collections/... http://speeches.byu.edu BYU President Kevin J Worthen and his wife, Peggy S. Worthen, delivered this devotional address on 6 January 2015. © Brigham Young University. All rights reserved. "In my patriarchal blessing I am admonished not to shy away from opportunities to share the gospel. When I first read this many years ago, I realized I needed to make a change in my life. At that time one of the things that I feared most was having to stand up in front of a group of people to teach a lesson or to give a talk. I know that this is not an uncommon fear, but I realized that somehow I had to overcome it because it was something that Heavenly Father wanted me to do—it was a commandment specifically for me, given in my patriarchal blessing. I then made it my goal that whenever I was asked to teach a lesson or give a talk I would not “shy away” from it but would willingly accept the invitation. I am still apprehensive about teaching a lesson or giving a talk, especially in a place as big as the Marriott Center, but I know that it is something Heavenly Father wants me to do, so I have faith that, if I try, He will help me. In the last general conference, Elder Carlos A. Godoy told of his personal experience in using his patriarchal blessing to evaluate his goals: At the end of the 1980s, our young family was made up of my wife, Mônica, two of our four children, and me. We lived in São Paulo, Brazil, I worked for a good company, I had finished my university studies, and I had recently been released as bishop of the ward where we had lived. Life was good, and everything seemed to be as it should be—until one day an old friend came to visit us. At the conclusion of his visit, he made a comment and asked a question that unsettled my convictions. He said, “Carlos, everything seems to be going well for you, your family, your career, and your service in the Church, but—” and then came the question, “if you continue to live as you are living, will the blessings promised in your patriarchal blessing be fulfilled?” [Godoy, “The Lord Has a Plan for Us!” Ensign, November 2014] As a result of this question from his friend, Elder Godoy paid attention to his patriarchal blessing and made some necessary changes in his life that would help him realize Heavenly Father’s promised blessings for him. We can similarly benefit from regularly reading our patriarchal blessings. This practice will help keep our goals and our lives in line with Heavenly Father’s plan for us. The third consideration that is significant in setting goals is to allow for flexibility. It is important that we learn to adjust to change. We need to learn not to panic when things don’t go exactly as we have planned. One thing I have learned is that there is no such thing as an uninterrupted pathway to the goals we make. As someone once observed, there is no freeway to perfection. We usually face detours or unexpected events that occur while trying to achieve our goals. When I think of detours and unexpected events, I am reminded of Highway 6 in Utah, a road with which I am very familiar. This stretch of highway is between the mouth of Spanish Fork Canyon and my hometown, Price, Utah. If you have ever traveled from Provo to Moab to visit Arches National Park or farther south to Lake Powell, you have driven on this stretch of highway. It is a very beautiful, scenic canyon and one of my favorite drives. Occasionally rockslides can block lanes of traffic, and drivers have to adjust their travel in minor ways to accommodate this. Sometimes, however, there are even greater unplanned changes in the route. In April 1983 a massive mountain slide completely covered the highway as well as the main line of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad. The slide blocked the flow of the Spanish Fork River, creating a natural dam and flooding the entire area. Because of this mountain slide, traffic had to be diverted for many months as a new section of highway was being built. Anyone who wanted to travel in that direction had to take a route that was twice as long. It was, indeed, very inconvenient. However, what resulted from this mountain slide was a four-lane highway that was much safer than the narrow two-lane highway that had existed before the mountain slide." - Peggy S. Worthen