Paisley: Hi there, Paisley imperfect here to talk about
being still, this is gonna be our topic throughout the month
of June. And I picked this topic because the month of May was a
really rough one for me. I don't want to get into too many of the
details. I think that there are people out there that may not
appreciate it. If I got into too many details. Excuse me, I mean,
I would love to, but I also, I'm not here to hurt people's
feelings, right. Just suffice it to say that I felt all of the
fill all the fields. In May, I was left out, I was blamed for
something that I shouldn't have been blamed for, which led to
some really hurtful gossip. And I had to deal with some other
really difficult things that I really just can't talk about
here. At some point, in the middle of the month, I found
myself on my knees again, just desperate for relief I just
wanted I was just praying hard that some sort of relief would
come. And at some point during this prayer, I just heard the
word simply be still. And it stopped me for a second. And
then I just kept going. It was kind of a little bit of a
downward spiral, to be honest. And still, during this prayer a
few more times I heard be still after three or four more times
of hearing it, I could finally start to feel it. Did I say feel
it? After a few more times of hearing it. I could finally
start to feel it inside to feel it in my soul. Just be still I
needed to calm down. So the next morning I felt like I needed
just another bit of reassurance. I needed a again, I needed that
reminder again to be still. I said another quicker prayer this
time and was able to get that peaceful feeling again. Got up
did my thing. And then when it was time to sit down and start
my day, I pulled out a sticky note. And I wrote down on it be
still it's still right here in front of my store right here on
my docking station for my computer. Just a little sticky
note to remind me to be still I needed to calm down. I needed to
calm down my insides like I was I just felt like I was
everything inside was so messy. turmoil comes to mind
turbulence, just anxiety. I just everything felt so noisy, noisy.
I think that's the word I'm looking for. Everything just
felt so noisy inside. And it was starting to creep past just my
mental state and it was starting to affect me physically. And so
putting this little sticky note right here, just to remind me to
be still helped a lot. I would see it every once in a while as
I was going throughout my day and just take a second to take a
breath and just try and calm everything. Everything down. I
think I mentioned in the makeup plan Monday video that we were
going to start off with elder Bednar's talk called Be still
and know that I am God from this most recent April 2024 General
Conference. But I was as I was reviewing that top oh my
goodness, as I was reviewing that talk again. He makes a
really cool point in there that I want to save that talk for so
we'll look at that later in the month. I don't know if it'll be
later this week or if it'll be next week yet but we'll take a
look at that talk later on. Because like I said there's some
build up that I think we want to take care of on our way there.
So today instead we're going to talk about a different general
conference talk still from April but April 2020. And this one is
called Finding refuge from the storms of life and is by other
Ricardo P Gimenez. I probably am butchering his last name
G-I-M-E-N-E-Z and he goes. And he starts off by telling a story
about how you He was a firefighter or he had just he
was serving in the Santiago Fire Department in Chile. And he was
told to plan to spend the night on New Year's Eve, because there
was always some kind of an emergency or something that
happened on New Year's Eve. He was kind of surprised. But he
did. You know, that was that was his job. That's what he's going
to do. So he stayed the night there. And sure enough, that
night, they got called out on an emergency. He didn't share any
of the specifics of the emergency. But what struck him
was that as they were on their way to this emergency, the he
noticed the people that they were passing on their way. And
these people, he said they were largely unconcerned and
carefree. They were relaxed and enjoying the warm summer night.
And doesn't feel like that sometimes like, we feel like
nobody understands, because we're the only one going through
hard things, or maybe our hard things are worse than somebody
else's. And so we see all of these people enjoying their
lives and having all these good times, and we are struggling.
And just like him, I imagine him in his fire truck with other
people on their way to this emergency and just passing by
all these people and thinking, we are headed to someone whose
life is completely changing right now. There's trouble
ahead. And but these people are happy, and they're carefree. And
they're relaxed and enjoying their life. And I think one of
the things that we need to remember is that sometimes,
sometimes we're those people, sometimes we're the people who
are enjoying their life. And sometimes we're the people who
are struggling with our lives. That was me for me. He also
taught that, quote, The time will come for each of us when we
will face unexpected challenges and storms that will push the
limits of our ability to endure. And then he quotes other hills
as saying, quote, suffering is universal. How we react to
suffering is individual. Suffering can take us one of two
ways. It can be a strengthening and purifying experience
combined with faith, or it can be destructive, a destructive
force in our lives if we do not have the faith in the Lord's
atoning sacrifice. So when we hit that crossroad in our lives,
which we're going to do multiple times, it's not just a once in a
lifetime event. But when we hit that crossroads in our lives, we
have a choice, we can, we can allow that difficulty to be a
strengthening and purifying experience and face it with
faith. Or we can allow it to be destructive. And May was hard,
and I was pushed to my limit. And it truly felt like it was
coming from all sides. I was feeling it from all of the
different things that are that are in my life. And I needed
that reminder, to be still I needed the reminder to be still
and know that I am God. And all things are possible with him,
right? I can I can do this. I can do hard things. And then so
later on elder Gimenez quotes President Nelson is having said,
quote, faith is the antidote for fear. Now, I wasn't afraid. I
wasn't afraid of anything. I was just desperate for relief. But
the outcome was the same. Faith is what took me to my knees.
Because I knew that the only person who really understood
where my heart and soul were, at that moment was my savior. He
was the only one that knew exactly where I was coming from.
And exactly what I was feeling and I I just needed him to tell
me that it was going to be okay. But he didn't tell me that it
was going to be okay. He told me to be still. And I feel now that
he told me that because at the time I was feeling so just
despondent that I couldn't have heard, even if I had been
trying, I wouldn't have been able to hear that still small
voice tell me that it would be okay. Because there was so much
noise inside. I would not have been able to hear or feel that I
needed to be still first. Be still and know that I am God.
We're still not talking about elder Bednar's talk. We're still
talking about elder Gimenez's talk. So we're out of may now
it's June. And I'm hoping that June will be better. However, I
also understand that that will largely depend on me. So here's
another quote from elder Gimenez. We have limited
understanding of the things that happen here on Earth. And often
we do not have answers to the question of why. Why is this
happening? Why is this happening to me? What am I supposed to
learn? When answers evade us, that is when the words expressed
by our savior to the Prophet Joseph Smith and liberty jail
are completely applicable. And I love that he takes these verses
and he tells us that these verses are also applicable to
us. Because think of think of Joseph Smith, in Liberty jail,
think of anybody at the very end of their rope. And that's what
he's doing. He's trying to help us. When we are at the very end
of our rope like I felt that day, we haven't when we are at
the very end of our rope. These words are applicable to us.
Here's what he says this is in Doctrine and Covenants, section
121, verses seven and eight. Okay, and it applies to
everybody. So this counts for you. This counts for me, this
counts for everybody who feels like they are at the end of the
rope. This is what he says, My son, for if I'm going to
personalize this for me, it's my daughter, right? My daughter,
peace be unto thy soul, Thine adversity, and then afflictions
shall be but a small moment. And then if that wonder at will, God
shall exalt the own high. How am I handling my afflictions?
Admittedly, not well, especially not a few days ago, not a couple
of weeks ago, I was not handling these afflictions well, at all.
I was angry. Like I said, I was despondent, I was desperate for
relief. I just wanted it to stop. Now, I need to believe
Jesus, when He says, Come unto me, all ye that labor and are
heavy laden, and I will give you rest. It worked for me that day.
It's worked for me in times past. I don't want to make this
too long. Because that's not the point of this, right? We're
trying to feast on the words of Christ or eat this elephant one
bite at a time. So I don't want to, I don't want to. I'll tell
that story another time, I'm sure. But it worked for me that
day. I prayed and I poured out my heart. And I got be still, I
went to him. After I had done all that I could and just was
feeling that darkness come in, and he's still my soul. I'm
nobody special. I'm not any more special than you are, or anybody
else. So if he'll do it for me, he'll do it for you. Here's
another one. He's elder Gimenez is quoting President Nelson. And
he says, quote, saints can be happy under every circumstance.
When the focus of our lives is on God's plan of salvation, and
Jesus Christ in His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what
is happening or not happening in our lives. Joy comes from and
because of him, he is the source of all joy. Our Savior is the
source of all joy, because he understands where we are coming
from 100% he understands where we are coming from. Now. I know
as well as you do that these things are really a lot easier
to say than they are to do, right? It's hard to be still
when someone is trying to convince your friends that
you're not as awesome as they think you are. It's hard to be
still when you've told your children 50,000 times to put
their shoes on, and now you're late, and their shoes still
aren't on. It's hard to be still when you're being told that your
performance isn't quite as what is what was expected. It's
sometimes it's just, it's hard to be still. There's so much to
do. So many places to go, and an awful lot of people to try and
keep happy. But Alma said, quote, I do know that whosoever
shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their
trials and their troubles and their afflictions and shall be
lifted up at the last day. So if we put our trust in God, we put
our trust in our Savior, we will be supported in our trials and
troubles. He doesn't say that he will take them away. He says
that he will support us we will be supported in our trials and
troubles. So that's our challenge for the month of June.
Learn what it means for us individually to be still for me.
I needed to see it. I needed to take a breath and say Don't my
insights. What do you need? Do you need a sticky note? I have
some more. I can write be still on a sticky note for you. Do you
need yoga, breathing exercises? go swim laps, run a mile. Do you
need more scripture study? Do you need more meaningful
prayers? I mean, who doesn't need more meaningful prayers?
But you get the point, right? The answer is different for you
than it is for me. And frankly, I think I'm about ready for a
little bit more than a sticky note. The sticky note was great.
I think it's time that I took that sticky note to the next
level. Anyway, thank you for hanging out with me today. And
for going over this talk with me. I think it was a really good
refresher to think about other people who may be going through
something hard. We all do. We all go through hard things.
Sometimes we're the person that he passed on the street, who's
enjoying their life, and sometimes we're the person who's
in trouble that he's coming to save. It's going to change and
that's okay. I hope that there's something in this message that
helps to bring you peace and stillness. But even more than
that, I hope that you can find refuge from your own storms and
find that refuge in in and through the Atonement of Jesus
Christ. Thanks, everybody for being here.