fire side

Elder Uckdorf came and talked to us... Here are my notes

The ugly duckline story
unushually large, and ugly
but it can swin, and so it simply assumes that the poor thing is disfigured
desides that it would be better for his family if he ran away
did run away, almost died, sees swans and is afraid the swans might kill him because he is so ugly
He follows them, and then sees the reflection of a beautiful swan, he is the most beautifl
HE HAS DISCOVERED WHO HE IS TRULY IS
confusion comes from not understanding who we are
to many go through life not knowing their potential beyond imagination
discovering who we are is apart of life
were? who? why? understand with heart and soul, not mind only
questions that reach into spritual things require spirtitual help
Church members know them because: power of the Holy Ghost (God gives freely to his children)
this allows you to see your own reflection in the water
"more beautiful and glories than you can imagine"
this knowledge: change present, future, contance
Questions affecting young saints around the world
I am unhappy and depressed. Some times the world looks like it would be a better place without me...
get help for yourself, and if you know someone who needs help be a true friend
"To be or not to be. That is the question," Shakespear was wrong
there are other options beyond that contridiction
i would have Hamlet turn to the audiance and say "knowing that i am child of God. What need I do and be to live up to that poential?That is the quetstion."
remember were you came from, and were you are going next time you get sad; these things are conected to serving God, and fellow man
YOU don't need to wait for permission to fill your heart with happiness
dance, study, work, serve, ex. all together. GET TO KNOW PEOPLE
I am so lonely. Will I ever find my soul mate?
"I have a number of things I want to say on this subject, but lets start... lets start"
the one person who is perfect for you
women who discovers a geni bottle; askes for world peace, geni says anything but that
askes instead for someone who is... the geni considers that for a moment and then desideds to do something about world peace
I think that I feel in love with my wife the first moment I saw her; but if she married someone else
she was not the one chance of happiness, and I was not hers
No one is perfect; the only perfect people you might know are those you don't know very well
do not lower your standards; if someone is willing to acept me imperfect as I am then I should put up with theirs
must creat perfection together; falling in love is a wonderful feeling
that magic spark needs continuned sparking; the couple makes it happen; it takes work
Once you committe to being married your spose becomes your soul mate, and you must keep it that way. The search for a soul mate is over when you have made that choice.
Years after Uckdorf first met his wife she said, "you have matured scence the last time I saw you," with this news I moved quickly
GET TO KNOW MANY OF THEM, is the secret
JUST ASK don't simply HANG OUT, nothing wrong, but you need to get to know individuals
there are those of you in the church who will never marry, there is no way to identify with this great dispear
prayers are heard, I don't know why some are answered one way and not others, the path is drawn continue
"I say Joyfully endure to the end,"
Do not wait for someone to make yourlife complete, and seek fullfillment in serving and improving yourself
Can I remain faithful?
Inter tropical transversion; billowing colums of clouds, could not look at them without being impressed with the lightening and darkness
AVOID THEM, no matter how beautiful those storms look they can kill you
Temptation would not be temptation if it did not look inticing, and fun
DO NOT FLIRT WITH PORNOGRAPHY
Doubts in questions and principles?
Is it allright to have questions about the church
Inquiry leads to truth: Joseph Smith
You will rearly find revelation with out a question procedding it
God can give us answers to questions we ask, and the answers to questions we should have asked
Some might feel embarased
it is a precurser of growth; ask with real intent; Holy Ghost will answer
DOUBT NOT, when you get an answer bulild upon it and let it become solid
"my thoughts are not your thoughts... but my thoughts are higher than you thoughts,"
Asking questions; excersise your faith everday, apply those principles you have in question
There are going to be voices telling you that you are an ugly duckline.
You are not ordinary beings, but glorious and eternal
REMBER WHO YOU ARE, WERE YOU CAME FROM, AND WERE YOU ARE GOING
God speaks to you through prophets, the Chruch is directed by Jesus
Today I may speak to you with imperfection, and in a German acent
What you feel in your heat is from a member of the God Head
What you must do and be to see your true refelction

Darwin and God

Putting God into Darwin was such an eye opening lecture for me. I have been turning the idea of evolution over in my mind for the past few months that I have been at BYU. Earlier this month I even asked my Book of Mormon professor if there was any doctrinal or quotes from church officials about evolution. He gave me a pamphlet that had several quotations emphasizing that God tells us why we were created, and that we were created, but he dose not explicitly say how or when. The basic idea was that these two things (how and when humans were created) did not relate to the plan of salvation. I agreed to the point that there are other doctrinal subjects more prevalent, and I should possibly spend more time studying them out. Yet, the theory of evolution remained on the edge of the thought, and today I feel like there were lots of answers.
First I appreciated the distinction between faith and science. I must clarify this point as not the superstition of science and faith, but the distinction. The last section of his slideshow he explained that we (mankind) has the rights to interpret scientific evidence how we want. In order to fully understand truth and in essence God instead of ignoring scientific evidence I need to interpret ate it.
I was so glad that he brought evidence to the table. The genetics slides that were explained on my thinking level, pictures of bones, era bones were from, fused human genetics, and the proper definition of Devine Intervention. There is no way to deny the facts, and I would not want to. Please understand that I was not anti-evolution prior to this lecture. I was completely lost.
There seemed to be no actual evidence for Devine Intervention. To top it off they lied. I understand that the lecturer’s perspective is that Devine Intervention is wrong, and so he want to portray them as wrong, but the various books changed the names and ignored evidence was embarrassing.
What struck me the most was the clarification of what a genetic mistake is. When the lecturer broke down a species would become extinct under the theory of evolution if it did not mutate, or evolve I realized that is a Godly principle. If something or more clearly someone does not evolve themselves to become better, enrich their life, and get ride of unneeded attributes they fall behind and become “extinct”. Evolution would fit into God’s plan. I still want to think it all out, because lets face it I got an entire life to think about it. I only listened to one very educated source today, and there are so many more places to learn about evolution and creation. Catch up with me in a few thousand years when I am a little more divine and I will let you know what I have figured out about the two theories.