Mathew Stones

I Love Aaron.

Every six months our church has a global conference where the leaders of the church teach and reinforce doctrines that will help us to be happier people. We had one of these conferences this last fall and the church has recorded the messages and put them on the Internet for us to listen to whenever we want. I love to listen to these recordings on my MP3 player while I ride my bike to work.

On Monday morning last week I listened to a talk by an Apostle name David Bednar who spoke about being more diligent and concerned at home, specifically about expressing love to our family members and showing that love by our actions.

On Monday afternoon last week I listened to another talk by an Apostle named Dieter Uchtdorf who talked about The Love of God.

On Tuesday last week I listened to a talk by another Apostle named Dallin Oaks who spoke about the connection between God’s love and his laws.

I also think it was a tender mercy from God that Tuesday night I happen to find yet another talk by another Apostle named Joseph Wirthlin from 2008 who spoke about taking difficulties and loving them.

With these four talks I learned about the love God has for us, the love we can have for Him, the love we can have for each other and the love we can have for experiences.

I have great faith that Heavenly Father was preparing my mind and heart for Aaron’s death by guiding my studies to these talks about love.

I’d like to share a brief description of a plan that Heavenly Father has for us called the plan of happiness and also talk about the highlights of these talks on love and how love is an integral part of God’s plan for us and for Aaron.

We believe in God and that he is our literal Father in Heaven. He is the father of our spirits. And as our father, he loves us. Elder Uchtdorf said, “Think of the purest, most all consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount – that is the measure of God’s love for you.”

It is because of that love that our Heavenly Father created this plan of happiness or the plan of salvation.

The plan had several ingredients including this earth, our bodies, a law and most importantly, the ability to chose whether we would obey that law or not. When we chose to obey this law, we are given all the happiness that God has and we are able to live with him.

However, with even a single sin, we are unable to receive this gift. I actually made Mylie, my daughter, cry when I explained this concept to her a couple years ago. I asked her if she wants to live with God. She said yes. Then I asked her if she has any sins. She said yes. Then I told her that she can’t live with God and she began to cry. But then I told her of a special part of God’s plan of salvation, which includes a Savior who allows mercy. I explained that because of God’s love, he sent his son, Jesus Christ, to pay the penalty for our sins. All we need to do is follow his example and teachings. I asked Mylie if she would follow Jesus’ example and his teachings and she said yes. This made her happy. It makes me happy too.

Now I’d like to share a couple thoughts and quotes from these talks on love:

Elder Uchtdorf said that “God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous of forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, God’s love encompasses us perfectly.”

He goes on to explain that “God loves every one of us even those who are flawed, rejected, awkward, sorrowful or broken. This means that regardless of our current state, there is hope for us. No matter our distress, no matter our sorrow, no matter our mistakes…”

Elder Uchtdorf finished his remarks by saying, “Heavenly Father’s love for His children is the core message of the plan of happiness, which plan is made active through the Atonement of Jesus Christ – the greatest expression of love the world has ever known. How clearly the Savior spoke when He said that every other commandment hangs upon the principle of love.”

I really enjoyed reading the words of Elder David Bednar whose talk about love centered more around the love we share at home. He said, “We can become more diligent and concerned at home by telling the people we love that we love them. Such expressions do not need to be flowery or lengthy. We simply should sincerely and frequently express love.”

He said, “We should remember that saying ‘I love you’ is only a beginning. We need to say it, we need to mean it, and most importantly we need to consistently show it. We need to both express and demonstrate love.”

President Thomas S. Monson recently counseled: “Often we assume that the people around us must know how much we love them. But we should never assume; we should let them know. … We will never regret the kind words spoken or the affection shown. Rather, our regrets will come if such things are omitted from our relationships with those who mean the most to us.”

Elder Bednar finished talking about love by saying, “Feeling the security and constancy of love from a spouse, a parent, or a child is a rich blessing. Such love nurtures and sustains faith in God. Such love is a source of strength and casts out fear. Such love is the desire of every human soul.”

To finish my thoughts on love I want to turn to Joseph B. Wirthlin’s talk from 2008. His talk was about taking tough situations and loving them for the growth they provide.

He said, “in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser and happier as a result.”

He said, “Learning to endure times of disappointment, suffering and sorrow is part of our on-the-job training. These experiences while often difficult to bear at the time, are precisely the kinds of experiences that stretch our understanding, build our character and increase our compassion for others”.

I’d like to close with this quote from Elder Wirthlin: “God so loved the world that he gave his only begotten Son.’ The Lord Jesus Christ is our partner, helper and advocate. He wants us to be happy.”

I have a testimony of God’s love. I know he wants us to be happy. I know he wants Aaron to be happy. I have a testimony of His mercy.