Since I spend most of my time thinking about how cool I am (just. kidding.), I thought it would be a good idea to attend a class called, “More Fit for the Kingdom: Approaching the Lord in Humility,” taught by Sandy Jensen and David Marsh. Here are some of my notes (Warning: I took lots of notes in this class. Get a snack if you need to. And for some reason, I had a lot of trouble with spacing on this post. Please forgive.):
Humility is to recognize gratefully our dependance on the Lord. We know where our true strength lies. Humility Brings Power.
The first speaker used the story of Enos from the Book of Mormon to teach lessons about humility. She broke the story down into 4 segments, assigned each one a key word, and the words together form a sentence.
1. “I”: Enos 1: 1-4.
1 Behold, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man—for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it—
2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.
3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.
4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.
Like Enos, we must recognize our standing, our existence before God. We must establish communication. We are totally dependent upon the Lord.
2. “Will”: Enos 1:26.
26 And I saw that I must soon go down to my grave, having been wrought upon by the power of God that I must preach and prophesy unto this people, and declare the word according to the truth which is in Christ. And I have declared it in all my days, and have rejoiced in it above that of the world.
Wrought– being shaped because of turning our will over to God. In doing so, we don’t lose our identity; We find our true identity. It’s like decluttering our soul.
3. “Trust”: Enos 1:5-6.
5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.
God only speaks truth; Be confident in what he says. D&C 112:10: “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers.”
4. “Love”: Enos 1:9-12.
9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them.10 And while I was thus struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into my mind again, saying: I will visit thy brethren according to their diligence in keeping my commandments. I have given unto them this land, and it is a holy land; and I curse it not save it be for the cause of iniquity; wherefore, I will visit thy brethren according as I have said; and their transgressions will I bring down with sorrow upon their own heads.11 And after I, Enos, had heard these words, my faith began to be unshaken in the Lord; and I prayed unto him with many long strugglings for my brethren, the Lamanites.12 And it came to pass that after I had prayed and labored with all diligence, the Lord said unto me: I will grant unto thee according to thy desires, because of thy faith.
It is commonly misunderstood that humility means making ourselves small and lowly. Humility is not about bringing ourselves down; it’s about lifting those around us up.
Sentence: I. Will. Trust. Love.
1 John 4:16: “God is love.”
Humility is a cardinal part of a Christ-like character. He discussed what the Savior taught us about humility:
- The Savior led by serving. Phillipians 2:5-7: “Let this mind be in you, which was also in Christ Jesus: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God: But made himself of no reputation, and took upon him the form of a servant, and was made in the likeness of men:” Matthew 20:25-28: “But Jesus called them unto him,and said, Ye know that the princes of the Gentiles exercise dominion over them, and they that are great exercise authority upon them. But it shall not be so among you: but whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister; And whosoever will be chief among you, let him be your servant:”
- Brother Marsh told a story that as a newlywed, he would come home and be a little disturbed that his wife was receiving revelation about the family while he was gone. He felt like he should do that as the provider and “patriarch” of the family. Then as he thought about it, he realized that, duh, (he was making fun of himself as he told the story.), of course she’s going to receive revelation about caring for the children. She’s with them all day. It just makes sense. He said that through that experience he learned that (and I love this): “My responsibility as a provider was to protect her ability to receive revelation.” Seriously, one of my favorite ideas from this talk; I shared it with Matt right away because it needs to be taught in every Elder’s Quorum class in the church!
- The Savior served with all his might. In referring to the Atonement in D&C 19:18-19, the Savior said, “Which suffering caused myself, even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and spirit—and would that I might not drink the bitter cup, and shrink,— Nevertheless, glory be to the Father, and I partook and finished my preparations unto the children of men.” Brother Marsh claimed that the Savior did not ask to escape the suffering, but asked that he would not shrink, or draw back. It was a deep thought I had not considered before, and I’m still trying to think that one through.
- The Savior did not get credit for everything. People didn’t recognize what he was doing or even who He was. Matthew 16: 13-14: “When Jesus came into the coasts of Caesarea Philippi, he asked his disciples, saying, Whom do men say that I the Son of man am? And they said, Some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.” The humble don’t get much publicity or praise. Think of all these great folks in the scriptures who barely get any mention at all: Sam, Aaron, Omner, Himni, Zeezrom, Joseph & Mary, Elkinah and Hannah….
- Humble people are merciful and practice love. Awesome quote by President J. Reuben Clark, quoted by President Monson:
“I believe that our Heavenly Father wants to save every one of his children. I do not think he intends to shut any of us off because of some slight transgression, some slight failure to observe some rule or regulation. There are the great elementals that we must observe, but he is not going to be captious about the lesser things. “I believe that his juridical concept of his dealings with his children could be expressed in this way: I believe that in his justice and mercy, he will give us the maximum reward for our acts, give us all that he can give, and in the reverse, I believe that he will impose upon us the minimum penalty which it is possible for him to impose.”
Diapers and Divinity 
Seriously, you are the best note taker in the world. I’m not a good note taker anymore. I got over that in college.
This is one of the classes I wish I would have gone to.
I really have felt that nudge of needing to “know that the Lord cannot lie.” To make covenants with him, and then believe him. Trust. I’m getting there.
I have also felt the truth of that last statement. The Lord is so grateful for our service. I am still receiving powerful blessings for things I did as a child. I am often stopped by this. I mean, when does it run out? I beleive he does reward us openly when we serve. He is so giving and gracious.
My blog roll finally accepted your link so I can now see more easily when you update. It would never work and always kept you at the bottom for some reason. Now it works.
yay! I love the new look too! Do you do all of your site code and design yourself? I seriously have been trying to figure out somethings to change my layout and it is not easy.
I love that you are sharing so much from women’s conference. I cannot wait to live closer to it next year! I will definitely be coming back tonight to read up on your notes. Thanks for sharing!!
I love the last quote!! It’s nice to think of it like that, isn’t it?
That last quote really is great. Gives me a lot to think about. What an interesting class.
Wonderful notes. I really like that concept about husbands being the provider…