Oh man, we are slacking HARD when it comes to the Bearrie Devo. YIKES. I'll recommit and try to do better.
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Here is a good Russian word:
Фишка "fishka" - one's 'thing'; something that someone is REALLY good at or something that someone always does. Ex: Billy is awesome on stage - acting is totally his fishka.
We were talking in my Book of Mormon class about past, modern-day prophets. We were listing them and stating what their fishka was. You know, the classic, "President Hinckley is 'The Temple Man' and President Kimball looks like Yoda" and etc.
Then he said, "well what about Monson?" A few things were thrown out... service, immediate action on personal revelation, compassion, widows... but in the end we said we wanted to wait and see. The professor said that sometimes we have to wait until a person DIES before we can see what their "thing" was.
BUT, I don't think this is always the case. I don't buy that we have to wait to read our own obituaries to discover what our talents are and the REASON that we are sent to Earth at this time and place.
So I started asking myself some questions: how do we find our fishka? How do we know what our talents are?
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Here is a good Russian word:
Фишка "fishka" - one's 'thing'; something that someone is REALLY good at or something that someone always does. Ex: Billy is awesome on stage - acting is totally his fishka.
We were talking in my Book of Mormon class about past, modern-day prophets. We were listing them and stating what their fishka was. You know, the classic, "President Hinckley is 'The Temple Man' and President Kimball looks like Yoda" and etc.
Then he said, "well what about Monson?" A few things were thrown out... service, immediate action on personal revelation, compassion, widows... but in the end we said we wanted to wait and see. The professor said that sometimes we have to wait until a person DIES before we can see what their "thing" was.
BUT, I don't think this is always the case. I don't buy that we have to wait to read our own obituaries to discover what our talents are and the REASON that we are sent to Earth at this time and place.
So I started asking myself some questions: how do we find our fishka? How do we know what our talents are?
Here are a few resources that I have come up with to answer this question:
As latter-day saints, we have the real blessing of patriarchal blessings. Talk about a HUGE hint in the pursuit of our own fishka. We can read these things and understand a lot about ourselves.
Here is what President Monson said about these blessings in his 1986 October conference:
"Your patriarchal blessing is yours and yours alone. It may be brief or lengthy, simple or profound. Length and language do not a patriarchal blessing make. It is the Spirit that conveys the true meaning. Your blessing is not to be folded neatly and tucked away. It is not to be framed or published. Rather, it is to be read. It is to be loved. It is to be followed. Your patriarchal blessing will see you through the darkest night. It will guide you through life’s dangers. Unlike the struggling bomber of yesteryear, lost in the desert wastes, the sands and storms of life will not destroy you on your eternal flight. Your patriarchal blessing is to you a personal Liahona to chart your course and guide your way."
Here is the link to the whole talk - For sure worth the read (and also really fun to see the young Tommy M.) Your Patriarchal Blessing: A Liahona of Light
Here is another part of the same talk that I really enjoyed:
"In Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice finds herself coming to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire Cat, of whom Alice asks, “Which path shall I take?”
The cat answers, “That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t really matter which path you take.”
Unlike Alice, each of us knows where he or she wants to go. It does matter which way we go, for the path we follow in this life surely leads to the path we shall follow in the next."
We know where we want to go. And because of that, we are able to get REAL help from our Patriarchal Cheshire Cats.
So these blessings are one source of help when it comes to tracking down our fishka. But, what else can we do?
I think a big part of it comes from asking ourselves, "What comes easy to me?" "What do I do that people ask, 'how do you do that!?'" "What do I do nearly perfect?"
When we do this, we can understand a bit more of the question, "Why am I here right now?" Personal pondering is huge.
And then, once you get that answer, if you build it, they will come! If we can stick to these things that we are good at... if we magnify our talents... then we can do what we are supposed to in this life! We can fulfill the purpose of our existence in our unique position in time and space! And that is the goal, right?! We all want to live up to what we were "made" for.
Another thing that I have seen play a HUGE role in my life, is prayer. DUH, right? But not always! At least in my own life, I sometimes think that I should "just know" how I should act in a certain situation... or I should "be able to handle this on my own." And, usually, when I go the "on my own" route, I quickly realize that I am NOT okay alone. I need the help of the Lord.
"Think of it: the absolute Supreme Being, the most all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful personage, encourages you and me, as insignificant as we are, to converse with Him as our Father. Actually, because He knows how desperately we need His guidance, He commands, “Thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private.”
As latter-day saints, we have the real blessing of patriarchal blessings. Talk about a HUGE hint in the pursuit of our own fishka. We can read these things and understand a lot about ourselves.
Here is what President Monson said about these blessings in his 1986 October conference:
"Your patriarchal blessing is yours and yours alone. It may be brief or lengthy, simple or profound. Length and language do not a patriarchal blessing make. It is the Spirit that conveys the true meaning. Your blessing is not to be folded neatly and tucked away. It is not to be framed or published. Rather, it is to be read. It is to be loved. It is to be followed. Your patriarchal blessing will see you through the darkest night. It will guide you through life’s dangers. Unlike the struggling bomber of yesteryear, lost in the desert wastes, the sands and storms of life will not destroy you on your eternal flight. Your patriarchal blessing is to you a personal Liahona to chart your course and guide your way."
Here is the link to the whole talk - For sure worth the read (and also really fun to see the young Tommy M.) Your Patriarchal Blessing: A Liahona of Light
Here is another part of the same talk that I really enjoyed:
"In Lewis Carroll’s classic, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland, Alice finds herself coming to a crossroads with two paths before her, each stretching onward but in opposite directions. She is confronted by the Cheshire Cat, of whom Alice asks, “Which path shall I take?”
The cat answers, “That depends where you want to go. If you do not know where you want to go, it doesn’t really matter which path you take.”
Unlike Alice, each of us knows where he or she wants to go. It does matter which way we go, for the path we follow in this life surely leads to the path we shall follow in the next."
We know where we want to go. And because of that, we are able to get REAL help from our Patriarchal Cheshire Cats.
So these blessings are one source of help when it comes to tracking down our fishka. But, what else can we do?
I think a big part of it comes from asking ourselves, "What comes easy to me?" "What do I do that people ask, 'how do you do that!?'" "What do I do nearly perfect?"
When we do this, we can understand a bit more of the question, "Why am I here right now?" Personal pondering is huge.
And then, once you get that answer, if you build it, they will come! If we can stick to these things that we are good at... if we magnify our talents... then we can do what we are supposed to in this life! We can fulfill the purpose of our existence in our unique position in time and space! And that is the goal, right?! We all want to live up to what we were "made" for.
Another thing that I have seen play a HUGE role in my life, is prayer. DUH, right? But not always! At least in my own life, I sometimes think that I should "just know" how I should act in a certain situation... or I should "be able to handle this on my own." And, usually, when I go the "on my own" route, I quickly realize that I am NOT okay alone. I need the help of the Lord.
Prayer allows us to get more specific answers that perhaps our patriarchal blessing didn't cover in detail. We can get real time answers from God! Like Elder Scott said in his talk about prayer:
"Think of it: the absolute Supreme Being, the most all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful personage, encourages you and me, as insignificant as we are, to converse with Him as our Father. Actually, because He knows how desperately we need His guidance, He commands, “Thou shalt pray vocally as well as in thy heart; yea, before the world as well as in secret, in public as well as in private.”
Prayer is a real guide in finding out the reasons of our placement in the Plan of Salvation. What is our role?
Anyways, let's trust in God as we try to navigate this life and some of the tougher questions that it throws at us.
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