Stake Conference

I don't understand why people act like I'm crazy when I tell them I go to church for three hours every Sunday. It's like they think Church is a form of torture or something. I will admit that some Relief Society lessons can be a bit much, like the ones about how we should all be mothers at age twenty, but for the most part, Church is a very enjoyable experience. Like today, for instance.

Today was Stake Conference, which always makes for an excellent church-going experience, and not just because of the lack of that third hour. Our Stake President is such a character that there's practically never a dull moment. And he speaks VERY loudly into the microphone. Remember learning about the "inside voice" in kindergarten? Yeah, he missed that day of class. So you couldn't fall asleep even if you wanted to. Plus his talk contained some excellent advice to the men of the stake: "man up and ask girls out." Classic. Never saw that coming in a BYU singles' stake conference.

My favorite talk today was actually given by one of the counselor's in the Stake Presidency, President Brinton. He began with a well-known story. Well, I'd never actually heard it before, but I was able to find it with ease on the Internet, so it must be fairly familiar. It's called "A Tool of the Devil": "Once upon a time it was announced that the devil was going out of business and would sell all his equipment to those who were willing to pay the price. On the big day of the sale, all his tools were attractively displayed. There were Envy, Jealousy, Hatred, Malice, Deceit, Sensuality, Pride, Idolatry, and other implements of evil display. Each of the tools was marked with its own price tag. Over in the corner by itself was a harmless looking, wedge-shaped tool very much worn, but still it bore a higher price than any of the others. Someone asked the devil what it was, and he answered, "That is Discouragement." The next question came quickly, "And why is it priced so high even though it is plain to see that it is worn more than these others?" "Because," replied the devil, "It is more useful to me than all these others. I can pry open and get into a man's heart with that when I cannot get near him with any other tool. Once I get inside, I can use him in whatever way suits me best. It is worn well because I use it on everybody I can, and few people even know it belongs to me." This tool was priced so high that no one could buy it, and to this day it has never been sold. It still belongs to the devil, and he still uses it on mankind."

I'd never thought of Discouragement in that way before. I figured it was just a normal emotion that everyone feels at some point in their lives, but this gave it a whole new spin. Discouragement really is a gateway emotion, for lack of a better term, because once you get down about something, it opens the way for all sorts of doubts to creep in. Scary thought? I think so. Sometimes it seems like I can't help but be depressed about my day. How on earth do you combat that?

Well, President Brinton had an answer for that. After thoroughly scaring the entire stressed-out-college-student audience, he presented a solution: always remember the enabling power of the Atonement. No matter what happens, be it mistakes we make, doubts we have, or problems we face, we always have the sacrifice of our older brother to carry us through, as long as we're willing to take part in it. That is a comforting thought. And any comforting thought is worth being thankful for.