Sequoia Trees

Yesterday we had a regional conference for church. 

President Ballard was the presiding general authority there. 

I loved his talk! 

And I can mostly say that, because 3 of my family members were out in the hall, not distracting me, and I could actually listen to him.

In fact, his talk may have been the only one I heard. Hahaha

Logan and I enjoyed it. 

One thing he talked about was a story of some Sequoia trees. 

I have been to Sequioa National Park twice in my life. Once with my family when I was younger and again 5 years ago when Jeff and I went together. 

Sequoias are the biggest trees in the world! 

There is NO WAY you can visit them and not be influenced by their greatness. 

They are SOOO big!

Obviously they left an impact on me, because I decided to take Jeff there when we went to California for my graduation trip.

So why was President Ballard talking about Sequoias? 

He made an analogy between these beautiful trees and members of the church. 

Sequoias don't burn. They can't be eaten by bugs. 

They can live for over a thousand years! 

They are VERY resilient. 

Likewise, strong members of the church can appear very resilient as well. We can have a good testimony, we can be doing good things in our life, we can appear to be very strong. 

President Ballard went on to tell a story about some Sequoia trees that were planted down at BYU. 

One of them died! 

How is that possible? These trees are made to last hundreds and HUNDREDS of years.

That Sequioa died, because the water line that had previously been sustaining it was pushed and moved when the campus went to construct a new building. 

It died due to lack of water. 

There are so many ways that we can dehydrate ourselves from living the way the Savior would want us to live. There are so many ways that we can spiritually die.  

President Ballard talked particularly about letting too many negative influences slowly creep into our lives.

Seemingly stalwart and steady members of the church can leave due to those influences taking their spiritual water away. 

This has happened to several people I care about. 

Listening to President Ballard gave me a renewed conviction to maintain and strengthen my faith in Christ. 

We actually have to WORK at keeping our spirituality watered... or it can slip and fall so easily. 

Especially with the shouting and craziness that the world has to offer, it's so easy to listen elsewhere. 

Social media is blaring in our faces however much we let it do so. That influence can bog us down so quickly. 

I know that I need to fortify my faith and be strong, so my family can be strong. 

I have little souls depending on me. 

Jeff and I are excited to implement the Come Follow Me curriculum in our home next year. 

I have felt like this new program will be SO beneficial to my family. 

It will be extremely good for ME as a mother. 

I know God lives. 

I cannot stare at the grandeur of His creations and think otherwise.

I know my Father in Heaven wants me to be happy. I know that He has given me every reason and every way to be SO happy. 

Because of Jesus Christ we can be happy. We can be forgiven. We can be saved. To me that means security. What else is going to bring more peace? 

I am so grateful for inspired leaders of the church who are a mouthpiece for God. They tell us what He wants for us. 

How incredible is that?