Eyes to See: Seeing with your Spiritual Eyes

 

- President Todd Poulson, Layton South Stake Presidency

DELIVERED AT WOMEN'S CONFERENCE: EYES TO SEE ON MARCH 11, 2023

Sisters – so thankful to be with you this morning. What a wonderful conference this has been. It is a great sight to look out at all of you. We as a stake presidency are thankful for your goodness and express our love and appreciation to each of you. Thankful for the time you have set aside this morning to attend this conference and allow the spirit to teach you. We all have been blessed by attending.

Elder Uchtdorf once said, “You are choice daughters of our Heavenly Father, and you are a great power for good. You will make the world a better place.”

The YW theme states that you are a beloved daughter of Heavenly Parents, with a divine nature and eternal destiny. The RS theme reminds us that you are beloved spirit daughters of God, and your lives have meaning, purpose and direction"

These themes and Elder Uchtdorf remind us of your Divine heritage. We all are children of a Heavenly Father who loves us and wants us to have joy in this life. He sent his son - our brother - Jesus Christ to earth to prepare the way that we can return and live with him. We are blessed to live when the fullness of the gospel is here upon the earth to give us guidance and direction. You have a vision of your purpose on earth and desire to nurture and influence those around you.

I work as an Occupational Therapist. One of my patients is Carol Jean. She is blind and would ask me to describe myself. I said I am this Tall & this old and about my family. She said No, what do you look like. She wanted to develop a mental picture in her mind of what I looked like, so she could SEE me when we meet. Helen Keller said, "The only thing worse than being blind is having sight but no vision."

Mom and the picture of Christ. Are we doing everything we can to as it states in 2 Nephi 25 by “talking of Christ, rejoicing in Christ, and prophesying of Christ” so we can see him - not with our mortal eyes but with our spiritual eyes.

During our stake temple and family history week I attended a class by Chuck Easton about the origin of the temple ordinances. He shared with us some insightful verses from D&C 76

5 For thus saith the Lord—I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end.

6 Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory.

7 And to them will I reveal all mysteries, yea, all the hidden mysteries of my kingdom from days of old, and for ages to come, will I make known unto them the good pleasure of my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.

8 Yea, even the wonders of eternity shall they know, and things to come will I show them, even the things of many generations.

9 And their wisdom shall be great, and their understanding reach to heaven;

10 For by my Spirit will I enlighten them, and by my power will I make known unto them the secrets of my will—yea, even those things which eye has not seen, nor ear heard, nor yet entered into the heart of man.

In order to be enlightened by the spirit we often need to find quiet time. We need to disconnect from distractions of the world. We need to prioritize the search for knowledge. We need to set aside the good and better things of this life and devote a portion to the best.

Sisters - it is my prayer that you will see yourself as the Savior sees you- You will see and know of your divine heritage and potential. I pray that we might all see others as Christ sees them. That we will be less judgmental and more kind and compassionate. Charity truly never faileth. And may we see the Savior as our brother - our redeemer - who gave his life that we might all have Eternal Life.