Sister Christy Huffaker-Bernat
Link to the talk : He Truly Loves Us by BY ELDER PAUL E. KOELLIKER
I want to summarize the story in the children’s book You Are Special by Max Lucado:
The Wemmicks are small wooden people carved by a woodworker named Eli. Each Wemmick is different in appearance. Every day the Wemmicks do the same thing which is to give each other stickers-- either dots or golden stars. They give dots to other Wemmicks if their paint is scraped, their wood is chipped or if one does something foolish. Conversely, the star stickers are given for beauty or talent. Punchinello, the protagonist, is a Wemmick who tries to execute fun tricks and good things but falls short and so the other Wemmicks give him dots. Sometimes he gets more dots because people see that he has a lot of them. Punchinello is sad and doesn’t want to be in his community. He starts to think less of himself. Then he meets Lucia. She is like no other Wemmick! She has no stickers.--they just don’t stick to her. Punchinello wants to be like her. She suggests that Punchinello visit his maker, Eli the woodworker. It takes courage for Punchinello to seek out Eli but he does and a lovely dialogue of love ensues. Eli explains to Pulchinello that he has been waiting for his visit and that the stickers only stick if you let them/ if they matter to you. He tells Pulchinello, “You are special because I made you and I don’t make mistakes.” When Punchinello leaves, his heart starts to believe what Eli shared and thats when a dot falls off of him.
Sisters, you are Special. and Heavenly Father loves you. Your lives have meaning and purpose and if you remember nothing else, remember your divine worth.
Another book I want to reference is Andy Andrews book The Butterfly Effect. In this book Andrews tells us of Edward Lorenz who presented a hypothesis to the New York Academy of Science in 1963. His theory stated that “A butterfly could flap its wings and set molecules of air in motion, which would move other molecules of air, in turn moving more molecules of air-- eventually capable of starting a hurricane on the other side of the planet” (p.6). His ideas were laughed at and this “buttterfly effect” became a combination of myth and legend in comic books and such. But Andrews states that thirty years later “colleges and universities worldwide came to the conclusion that the butterfly effect was authentic, accurate and viable” (p.8). “Soon after it was accorded the status of a ‘law.’ Now know as The Law of Sensitive Dependence Upon Initial Conditions, this principle has proven to be a force encompassing more than mere butterfly wings” (p.8). The book continues with real life examples of how what one person does matters and can even change life, social conditions and history (an excellent little read).
Again you are special and your life has meaning and is important.
The main focus of my lesson is Elder Paul E. Koelliker’s April 2012 Conference Address, “He Truly Loves Us” but before honing in on the talk, I ask, “Is your life free of adversity? Are you 100% problem free?” On a few occasions I’ve had a sister tell me that doesn’t want to be with us in Relief Society because everyone looks perfect and/ or she just can’t relate. I’ve since wondered how often do we judge others outside appearance against the feelings that we are experiencing inside at the moment? I’ve been further pondering this as I’ve been healing from knee surgery and watching some of the Olympics. The athletes are amazing and we see them at their peak. We see a few top athletes win medals but we don’t often know of the adversity that they’ve faced or the time and energies therein engaged. I enjoyed a news interview where Michael Phelp’s coach Bob Bowman told of some of the things he would do to help prepare this decorated athlete for the unexpected in his training. He told of filling his goggles with water so that Michael couldn’t see and then at the last Olympics in the Butterfly 200m that happened! But Michael has trained for the unexpected and has continued to train that way this past year and now he is the most decorated Olympic swimmer ever. Adversity does make us stronger. But how do we weather it? And “How has the gospel helped you deal with problems?”, and “How do we feel God’s love when going through a problem?” I welcome feedback on those questions.
Elder Koelliker presents some rather parallel questions in his talk as he references the questions of two missionaries, “How can we help each individual develop a desire to know more about Heavenly Father? How do we help them feel His Spirit? How can we help them to know that we love them?” I think all these questions are connected.
Per Elder Koelliker a key answer is to navigate through or around worldly distractions and nurture a real desire which invites us to feel the power of God’s love. He cites 1 Nephi 2:16, where Nephi “...having great desires to know the mysteries of God,... did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers.” Elder Koelliker states, “Awakening the desire to know enables our spiritual capacities to hear the voice of heaven. Finding a way to awaken and nurture that desire is the quest and responsibility of each of us.... As we feel that desire stirring in our hearts, we are prepared to benefit...” He then leads into the scripture in Doc&Cov 52:14 where we are told that “Satan is abroad in the land and he goeth forth deceiving...” and “to combat this distracting influence, the Lord said that He would give us ‘a pattern in all things, that (we) may not be deceived’.” What are the patterns in your life? What are your best practices? What gospel patterns can you identify at work?
Elder Koelliker states the following about patterns and their importance:
Patterns are templates, guides, repeating steps, or paths one follows to stay aligned with God’s purpose. If followed, they will keep us humble, awake, and able to discern the voice of the Holy Spirit from those voices that distract us and lead us away. the Lord then instructs us, “He that trembleth under my power shall be made strong, and shall bring forth fruits of praise and wisdom, according to the revelations and truths which I have given you (Doc& Cov 52:17)”
Some patterns identified in this talk are humble prayer, helping others, the pattern of the family, enduring to the end and the Savior’s pattern of love (see the talk!) .
Elder Koelliker states that when we identify and strive to follow the Lord’s directives in these patterns, we are yielding to God’s will we will feel His Spirit. He further states the following:
“What is the ultimate means by which we can enjoy the gift and power of the Holy Ghost? It is the power that comes by being faithful disciples of Jesus Christ. It is our love for Him and our fellowman. It is the Savior who defined the pattern of love when He taught us, “A new commandment I give unto you, That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another (John 13:34).”
And President Gordon B. Hinckley also said on this subject, “To love the Lord is not just counsel; it is not just well-wishing. It is a commandment..... Love of God is the root of all virtue, of all goodness, of all strength of character, of all fidelity to do right” (“Words of the Living Prophet,” Liahona, Dec. 1996, 8).
In Elder Koelliker’s talk, he talks about love expanding and within the pattern of family and children added there is “seemingly no end to the expansive capacity to love.” This love comes from Heavenly Father who knows and loves us individually,equally and fully. Elder Koelliker states that “the feeling of love from our Heavenly Father is like a gravitational pull from heaven. As we remove distractions that pull us toward the world and exercise our agency to seek Him, we open our hearts to a celestial force which draws us toward Him.”
So, I think the questions raised in this lesson all connect and basically reduce to desire and love. Those two ingredients can help create patterns. My hope for you? That you will feel special and know your life has meaning-- much more that what you might think. I hope that you will desire to nurture your knowledge and self worth by seeking after positive patterns--as outlined in the scriptures and by prophets and by our Savior’s example. I hope that we can all get rid of negative distractions that don’t let us feel the gravitational pull from heaven. We are loved by our Heavenly Father. We all experience different things and have different talents and life goings-on. May we be inspired by the good around us i.e. the Olympics now, and let these events motivate us to spiritually prepare for the unexpected. May we evaluate where we are individually, and desire to progress and feel the influence of God’s love and the Spirit in our lives.
Loads of love,
Sister Christy Huffaker-Bernat
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