Written by April Tribe Giauque
Beacon of Light From the Pulpit Podcast
Short Story
PRIDE or HUMILITY?
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints General Conference in October 2024 was a firehose of spiritual power, joy, warnings, and preparation for the IMPENDING Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. As the words of living prophets and apostles washed over me and my note-taking lengthened, I thought, It is time to change.
I have studied the conference talks for years. I prayed to know the apostles and prophets better, and the Lord said, “Study their words.” Their words take priority in my life, so I dive in, cross-reference, make spreadsheets, etc. I love the following six months I spend studying the talks to follow the prophets' warnings and prepare my family as Satan continues to unleash his darkness on the world.
With all that being said, I thought I would rush President Nelson’s talk, but instead, I was directed to study Elder Bednar’s talk, “In the Space of Not Many Years.”
Honestly, I felt a little strange. I thought, “Are you sure?” *Sidenote—LOOK AT ME! Questioning the Spirit (it’s embarrassing). I stopped, swallowed, and I plunged in. I was brought to my knees within about three sentences of Bednar’s talk. As soon as Elder Bednar said, “President Benson.” I had a life-flash moment. I was brought back to when I was 12 years old and listening to President Benson talk about the Book of Mormon. Then, the next word that surfaced in me was “Pride.”
My feet broke out in a quick sweat. Now I know why I needed Elder Bednar’s talk first. To prepare for the Beacon of Light From the Pulpit, I need to humble myself to receive the teachings that are right for me. I was also reminded of a dream I had when I was eight years old that taught me this, and it was like a perfect storm bringing it all together. Then, I realized that his talk was about choosing pride or humility. The Lord gives me the best tender mercies. Anyway…..
Elder Bednar said to Read the Book of Helaman
I stopped studying the talk and jumped into the Book of Mormon. I didn’t want to follow my pride. With a few clicks from talk to scripture (I love technology), I felt prompted to read chapter 6. My eyes were pulled to verses 34-40.
My heart and mind were torn open with those words. Here’s what happened.
Helaman 6:34-35
We can all fall prey to our pride. How, why? What will happen, and how will we protect ourselves? Stay humble by praying and knowing that God is our Father and that we are His children. We know nothing, and He knows all.
We are the ones who kick ourselves out of the church and run away from Jesus because we follow the temptations, doubts, fear, and loneliness of Satan, thinking that in the direction of darkness, we will find more and more light. Aren’t we silly people?
I want to not loop anyone in on this but myself. I am misguided, excited, and prideful, maybe not in big ways, but the small stuff trips me up. I pray that I repent daily to remain humble, stay with God, and build love within our families.
It's the simple things. Like last night, I worked all day and stayed after school for three hours for PTC, and I still needed to come home and fix dinner for everyone. The Satan/Shame Shadow thought was popping in my head and trying to whisper, "You have to work all day, and you have to do all the cooking, and no one really cares or appreciates it. You did it all, you, you, you..."
Did you see where that voice was trying to take me? It's trying to fill me with pride and anger to be grumpy with my family for not feeding themselves, taking on their responsibility, etc.
It is really ridiculous. They are my family. I love them. Yes, I was tired, but I also ate the meal, and we spent family time together. So, who, in the end, benefited? We all did. I could go downstairs and grumble and think that I am so unique and have to do it all—Ahem, PRIDE—or I could just take a breath and humble myself, talk, cook, and share the time with my family because I love them.
Love God, and He will teach you how to love your people. They (the relationships) are this world's joy and gift. So, with love and a smile, I prepared dinner and loved listening to the family.
Helaman 6:36-37
Suddenly, I was thrown from the Good becoming Evil to the Evil becoming Good! (That is a general statement, not a judgment of individual people, but I think you get the point).
This is a striking difference from the Lamanites. They followed the Spirit of the Lord. They were humble and listened. They were guided and taught love and truth because they were "willing" to believe in the Lord's words.
The Lamanites hunted and took down the evil band of robbers. They did not entertain them or wonder about them. They simply and efficiently removed them. After they removed the evil, they replaced it with the teaching of Jesus, the Gospel, the truth, and light! That way, the people would not listen, give heed to, or follow the darkness and go off on forbidden paths to be lost.
As the Lamanites did this, the band of robbers was utterly destroyed from among them.
I stopped reading and asked myself, “Do I find the evil in my life (the tiny small stuff, too), and so I hunt it down or root it out, or do I allow it to fester?” I started making a mental list of things and found peace that I had been doing that (not completely or perfectly, but with effort and consciousness, I could answer yes—-boy, that felt good). Then I heard the spirit whisper to me, “That is why we are told to repent daily.” Man, he makes it so clear and simple—humbling.
My heart shouted, “Let me help teach this to my children!” I prayed for guidance for all my children. Suddenly, the Spirit helped me recall (another thought came from Elder Bednar’s talk in April 2010). I thanked the Lord and asked for help talking to my kids in these natural ways about the Book of Mormon.
Helaman 6:38-40
However, the Nephites, on the other hand, built up and gained by giving all their freedom and money to the Gadianton robbers.
This is so parallel to what is happening in the United States government. It is the last place of democracy. We are ripe and ready for destruction.
There is news story after news story about it all.
1) Americans have not educated themselves on the Constitution and how freedom works. We are looking for a Savior in the arms of flesh, and the only Savior is Jesus.
2) We are lost in our ways to gain gain and laziness. We want the latest, cutest, and most significant, not Him. We must humble ourselves and follow the prophet guiding us back toward God: go to the temple, repent daily, renew covenants each week at Church, pay to tithe, read scriptures, and pray, pray, pray. This leads us to serve and love others, which places others above our needs, and the Lord will take care of that.
3) The American people must repent and root out evil, but we must also do it in our families.
4) The destruction of the family has been raging for over 40 years, and the warning from the prophet came in 1995. The lies and sneakiness of Satan are no longer hidden. It is out in the open.
5) 40 million+ babies have been murdered over the past two decades by abortion. We are people who kill babies. We are headed for destruction.
6) Our leaders have had their lives shot at and tried to be killed, but God's love and grace are protecting them. We need to fight for light, hope, and freedom so that God can accomplish his work on the earth.
7) can the county be saved? Can God's people be saved? We would all need to be humble enough to turn to God, repent, and not just say, "We are sorry," but we would have to change our ways.
Right now, we are in an awful state and ripening for everlasting destruction unless we individually repent and follow God. Gulp! Let’s do it now.
If we follow the Lord, repent, and put in the effort, we will stay humble so we can stay connected, move toward God, and prepare for the Second Coming. Well, that’s the direction I hope to stay in.
I could go on even more. In fact, I was just finishing up my study of Elder Bednar when I was alerted to a few more articles and FB posts from him about a few more talks that he wants us to review so we are prepared—and to help prepare our youth! Satan is going ham on the world right now; we must turn away, follow the light, protect ourselves, stay humble, and follow the Lord.
Thanks y’all for listening.
Forever Shining,
April
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