Gerrit W. Gong: No One Sits Alone

Welcome to Inklings. I am Emily Bell Freeman and I'm so excited to welcome you to a space where you and I get to experience a hint of something more together. This is a community where we lean into discussions that will help us obtain a bedrock understanding of the doctrines of Christ. Not overnight, but every day better. Strength gathered over time. There is a place for you here. Looking forward to spending this semester with you as we embark on a journey focused on becoming his.

Good morning Inklings. So happy that you're here. We love Thursday mornings. And I'm just getting my scriptures. If you wondered where I was, I was just trying to find my scriptures. Does anyone else have the same trouble where you just have to run around the house and figure out where you were using your scriptures last?

That was my morning this morning. And then I've had my grandkids here all week. So also the place where I usually put my phone was missing. So who loves me crawling around on my hands and knees in my dress? Just trying to get everything ready for inklings. I think to myself sometimes, does anyone else do this when you look at Instagram? And Instagram is just giving you a one second shot of life.

But who wanted to see the five minutes that happened before the one second shot? I think about that all the time. So meanwhile, I'm now not crawling around on the floor anymore. I have found my scriptures and...

we can start, which is going to be so good. So let's say where we're going to be today. We are going to be in... Elder Gong's talk, No One Sits Alone. I'm so excited for this talk. This is such a good one. And we're going to just visit one of my very favorite scriptures in Luke. that i'm sure we visited before and we will visit again because i just love thinking about this um this idea of the gathering um that's one of my favorite

things in the whole world. So we have so much to think about and so much to do. And now let me just get our friend for the day. So let me get our companion. And then we are just going to die. Good morning. Good morning.

Binding my scriptures was taking longer than we had anticipated. Oh my gosh, Emily. I just, it was so funny when you texted and said, let me describe my scriptures. I just thought that is so Emily. Like we can't have a conversation without you having your scriptures in your hand, which I love. So true about me. So I have my scriptures and now we were just turning to the talk, which is no one sits alone. And this is Amy, Amy.

introduce yourself again. She's been here before, so she's not new, but it's just fun to have a refresher. I'll take off my grandma glasses since I'm 50 now and I can't do anything. I'm Amy Antonelli MacArthur. I work with HXP, which is the humanitarian organization that takes kids out in the world to do service and to help strengthen their testimonies. And Amy is so much fun and if you have young adult kids, they especially love her.

So I wanted to start, I have been doing this thing the last two semesters, Amy, where I take my general conference notebook. Rio crafted this for me because this is so how my brain wants to do general conference. And then we just love Rio is so good at, at thinking things through. And then.

making them happen. In fact, I was talking to her last week and I was like, here is the thing that we have this little group that what our favorite thing to do is just simplify what it looks like to be spiritual. and make it so it just makes sense in your life. And so I'll sit down with Rio all the time and be like, this is how I want my general conference to work. What can you do for me?

Cuterio now makes me a notebook that I can take my notes in in order of general conference. But then I rip out all the pages. So when she makes me the wide margin. general conference that we're all using and it's not an order remember because we just kind of do the order we feel compelled to do which is what was making it tricky when you couldn't rip the pages out of your journal and so

Now you can marry your that with this. So I always start out with what was my impression? What did I write down? What were the things that felt so important to me? That's a great idea.

Because remember what what elder Bednar taught us when you're taking notes at conference It's more important what you feel and spirit teaches you than what they actually say because you're going to get what they say four days after conference but what were the impressions that came what were the thoughts that you were like oh this talk is making me think this is what i need so cool

And some of the standouts for me here on this page then helped me go back into there and say, okay, what was I loving about what he was saying that felt really... critical and important. And there's so many scripture stories we could go to. And we kind of wish we had time to do all of them. The Good Samaritan, Jacob 5. Luke 14. I mean, he's just, I was Mosiah 18. I was just writing down scriptures as fast as you could talk to. I was like, these are the places that teach this doctrine.

um that he's talking about that he's telling us about um so we'll see how many of those we dive into or at least mention and think about and we can we can go back to them um but I love that he started out with a fortune cookie. That was so funny. The audience loved that, too. You could hear the congregation just laughing, imagining Elder Gong with his little white gloves. I know. And I'm such a fortune cookie girl. Are you?

Oh, totally. I cannot. It makes me sad that a lot of them, I don't know if it's culturally appropriate now or what, now that people have figured out that they're not actually Chinese, but it makes me kind of sad that we don't, it's more and more. Restaurants don't do it. And I just love it. It's an American tradition, I guess, that I love. And for some reason, I just love that little message that was going to come to you.

and how many um i i just sometimes i wish we were in a whole room so we could see all of us but just this is what i want to know how many of you have gotten a fortune and um held onto it for like months, like taped it on your bathroom mirror or your, you just carry it around as if we got one right when Greg was diagnosed with cancer that I was like, this is my like.

thing i'm holding on to is this funny little message that was just you know how they're all kind of the same thing you will make it through this journey with happiness or totally um and that's how, um, that's how I think we look, we look at those things in there. It's just so fun to be like, Oh, and here is today's message for you. Um, so I love that. And then I love that. He's going to take us into.

the, um, the scriptures from that moment. So let's dive into the talk first and what were, what were some of your favorites? Oh my gosh. Well,

I think just because of HXP, this talk really hit home to me, just because I've spent the last 10 years traveling around the world and seeing the saints in so many different environments and different cultures. And hearing...

Just hearing I think actually this hit home for me for two reasons one because of that and two because I've been single I just barely got married in May and so I think really like hit home to me to what it feels like to sit in a congregation alone, you know, and I feel like I can speak to both sides of this really, really like from a place of personal experience.

And I think the thing that stood out to me when I first started reading it, most of all, is just this point that he's making that this, the gospel of the restoration.

the restored gospel of jesus christ it finds us everywhere it finds us no matter where we are no matter where we are in the world and i had this like memory of this one time a couple of years ago i was in africa and i was really sad about something i was really upset and for some reason i was in this little village walking around by myself and i came across this church it wasn't really a church you know it was like a

like a four pillars with like a thatched roof on top of it but it was a church you know it was like a really holy place where people gathered to worship and they were there were villagers in there that were gathered to sing the lulutation you know the african worship music and i just had this like sweet moment that like no matter where we are in the world that I believe in a God who...

finds me and sees me and that goes for every single one of those people in that village and every person that we see in Cambodia or in the Pacific Islands or in you know Jerusalem or wherever we go this church Jesus Christ gathers. He brings us together. And I think this idea... that we were sent here, each one of us, each one of the women that are gathered with us today were sent here at this time, at this point.

you know, in the gospel because we have the capacity and the responsibility to gather and to make sure that nobody ever sits alone in our tables, regardless of. their circumstances of their lives or the cultures that they come from god sent each of us on earth all over the world together to be here at this time oh that's and so true

And I love that thought. Elder Gong is so good at this idea of coining these phrases. And it started when he talked about the Good Samaritan and the Inn. And yeah, I'll remember that talk. But it's just it's so much a part of who he is. And I loved this thought of like, no one sits alone. And I think No matter where you've been in your life, we've all had that moment. We all have. I can think of two standout moments where I walked into a room with a lot of people.

But it's the loneliest I've ever felt in my life on both of those occasions. And that is an interesting thing about having a faith community because we do show up every week for... for together we get we gather every week but that doesn't mean we don't feel loneliness as we're having that that gather and And I think that's a real thing that we like have to be conscious about. And we're looking around and we're trying to make sure part of what Jesus did so well is to notice.

what most of us, what would have been unnoticeable to most of us, you think about the widow and her mite in that crowded place, that busy, busy place. But what stood out to him was that one widow. And how do we get eyes like that? How do we learn to live like that? Which I think is so interesting and kind of what he's teaching us as we go through.

um well i i know i think that's so interesting too that he he kind of puts all of us in the in in god's in right he puts god is the innkeeper and he says like who how are we sort of showing up and loving god and loving people and how are we like is that the focus i guess that's one thing that i would say is

I think as a single woman in a family ward for probably three decades, I had really different experiences. And I would say largely that.

My experiences came from the headspace that I let myself be in when I walked into that building. You know what I mean? If I walked into that building and I sat down and I was alone, and believe me, I did this, where I... looked around and i just i can't believe nobody's coming to sit next to me and like i feel so angry and all upset with everybody like why are they just letting me sit here by myself i'm such i'm and then and you just

felt so dark, you know, and so frustrating and sad. And then there were other days when I walked in and my focus was, I am here, I have something to contribute. And my focus was like, who's sitting alone?

like who who do i need to go sit next to who do i need to take care of and and sometimes the answers that would come to me was a mom with 15 kids you know it wasn't necessarily just the people that were like physically alone it was whoever needs to feel like loved and that would change my experience when i walked into the building i wasn't i think we as

sisters have a personal responsibility to both like feel what we feel but also like think about where those narratives are coming from and if the narrative is Look at how badly people are treating you, and I'm not sure that that narrative is coming from God. The God that I know that I love is someone that says, like, I love you so much. You have so much value. Now can you help me help?

other people feel that same value because I, I want them to feel that too. Yeah. That's so good. Um, I love when he wants to talk about that, what you're saying, the good Samaritan and we have that.

moment where he makes all of us into the end. We become the end. And I don't know why, but I love the thought of being the end, of being that place.

paragraph 15 when he says the spirit of room in the inn includes no one sits alone and I just I love that thought of what does that actually look like what does it look like in a congregation what does it look like in a release society what does it look like in a young women's class that idea of bringing people I was talking to Grace and a bunch of her friends a while ago and we were talking about how we get people to show up at things.

So they, as we were talking, they were like, this is the interesting thing is when you say to someone, do you want to go somewhere on Friday night? Do you want to go with me to this on Friday night? Usually, and I had not registered this. People's first inclination will be to ask who's going, not whatever. Isn't that so interesting? Like, well, what is it? Where are you going?

It's interesting that a first inclination is, well, who's going? And then what are you going to come second? And that helps us realize how important companionship actually is, how important...

People are, and it's interesting. I love when we, when president Nelson said some time ago, we're preparing for the second coming and he was so like, just. forthright about it, two conferences in a row. And the second coming is one of my favorite topics. You guys all know this about me. And so as soon as he said that, it made me want to start.

Watching and and being more intentional about watching for signs That it it would be the second coming and what are the things we should be watching for and then What are the prophecies and what are the things we should be preparing for and how do we enter in to that time? And what are the things we should be cautious of? And it's interesting because you remember one of the signs is that men's hearts would wax cold. And there's something that I've always wondered about.

relationships in the last dates? What would happen and what would cause something like that to happen? And as I have just been watching and keeping my eyes open and thinking about it.

um i think one of the things that interests me is what's happening with ai right now and what's happening with ai that is of interest and a little bit scary is how much of a person ai is becoming and we actually speak in language as if ai is a person and not just a person but like our person our go-to that's that's the place where we're living and so um we might call it he well he told me you know and not it isn't it interesting that we're like he told me this is what's happening and um

And people are calling it a companion. They're referring to it as a companion. And it was interesting. Grace yesterday called me and I was driving home and she was like, Mom. I need your help. I need you to think through something with me for years. Grace has been talking about buying a jukebox. I know this is not surprising to.

Do anybody who knows she lives in the 90s? Literally, Grace is talking about buying this jukebox. It's just this ongoing conversation of our life. And she'll even go and look at them and see what she thinks about them. And then...

And it's just it kind of is grace right now is to be having these conversations. So she called me up and she's like, I found one. I found one. I think this is a really good one. And she was trying to tell me about it and how it worked. And she'd gone to see it. Couldn't figure out how to turn it on. And so...

She was like, so mom, this is what I'm trying to figure out. It's this much money. Here's what does work on it. And she's listing it to me. What is working? And, and we're kind of having this conversation back and forth of what should she do? And then, um, She says to me, oh, wait, wait, let me just ask chat. And so she put into chat and.

And all of a sudden, chat is talking to me and Grace now. And this is a really great price for this. If this and this and this is working, then this is a still. The least it would have been is this. And the most it could be is this. And at the end... Then chat wanted to say, yes, you should buy the jukebox. And I said to Grace, as we're going through this conversation, I was like, Grace, you are freaking me out right now. And she was like, why?

And I said, because what you're making me think to myself is we're going to get to a point where this thing is going to start making all our decisions for us. so logical it's so like thinking it through that it's it's taking away your agency because it's telling you this is the right thing to do with really not a lot of thought from from you and What if people forget how to pray and Grace started laughing so hard because I I like downward spiraled so fast in that moment

And she was like, Mom, I'm not praying about a jukebox. I wouldn't ask chat about something that I'm praying about. But I said to her, Oh, I know that. But what I just witnessed. four minutes now has me thinking to myself how do we help create real true companionship And going to actual mentors and and not just with people who are next to us, but also with God, that kind of companionship and thinking through that.

um people people may get masked by the thought that i actually do have a companion um in this um and you're all putting things up in the comments about all of the statistics that are coming out right now in a thing, in a thing that has no emotion and it has no ability to actually connect in an emotional or spiritual way with us. Does anyone else have this thought that you're like, how do I help protect my kids and my grandchildren and my family and my neighbors from something that will never?

give them that fullness of intimacy or, or really relationship? How do we help protect against that? And I was thinking yesterday after the conversation with grace, How do we start right now putting in place protections because otherwise in two years from now, what does this actually look like? And what could we learn from Elder Gong that would help us?

Oh, my gosh. I am so glad you brought that up, Emily. President Freeman, I love calling you President Freeman. I feel like that is seriously, I love that President Elder Gong actually called that out in this talk where he says, you know social media and artificial intelligence can leave us yearning for human closeness and and human touch we want to hear each other's voices we want authentic belonging and kindness and i feel like

So our friend Davis Smith, who's a mission president right now in Brazil, he made the bravest post on LinkedIn a few weeks ago where he commented on the fact that... ChatGPT is introducing erotica now into its stuff, and Davis just blasted him. He said, this is the most irresponsible use of capitalism. Like, this is going to hurt people, not help people. And in one of the comments, which it just had an amazing response, so many people, both in and outside of our church, agreed.

and one of but one of the responders actually referenced elder bednar's talk um things as they really are 2.0 and he talked and in which elder benar really talked about really warned us about how this First of all, let me be clear. He talked about AI like it's an amazing thing and it really is like we're not vilifying it. It's an amazing thing. But like you said, how do we start now?

by making sure that we use it properly and not let it replace our human connections and our connection with God. And one of the things Elder Bednar warned us about was that it actually really can easily do that even in a marriage. it can feel like you're not being unfaithful because it's just a thing but it can actually replace the human connections that you have because everything in it is geared towards

making you feel like your personal needs are satisfied in every way and i love pulling it back now all of that to this talk I think it's actually not just like a fluffy thing that Elder Gong is saying. We have to be aware of our human connections. We can't let people sit alone. And that's not just because it's nice. It's actually like... a critical piece of the gospel of jesus christ that we love each other and that an ai if we let it if we let this wonderful thing become negative

it can be something like a false substitute and Satan is so good at those. We know that by now. Well, and that thought of then men's hearts waxing cold. Yeah. Yeah, totally. Not used to what relationship.

etiquette even is or what it should look like I want to think for a minute in Luke 14 I just want to go to Luke 14 for a minute because we learned some really interesting dynamics from what happens in this in this parable that Jesus is telling and I love that the first thing that happens is this this thought this idea plan a party that's what happens this man wants to actually gather people to his home and I think it's important for us to think about that to remember that that that's part of

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is gathering. And are we making room for that in our life? I feel like one of the things that... One of the negative impacts that COVID gave to us was we didn't gather and we kind of got used to not gathering. We got used to just staying home and we became comfortable.

with that idea and so even i find myself and i love gatherings but i will sometimes just be like oh i think i'll just stay stay home and realizing there is something important about inviting people over, about extending invitations for people to... to come together, to gather. And that's what happens in verse 16 of Luke 14. A certain man makes this great supper and he invites many.

And there's a couple things when you read a parable that are of interest. And one of my favorite is every character, every person who's written into the story. They have a symbolism attached to them that becomes critical to understanding the story. And so one of the things that I love doing is looking at what is the character of the man? who planned the party. And starting from the very beginning and then going all the way to the end, what is the character of this man?

And so let's just think about that for a minute before we even go to the story, because we know the story really well. But we learn right away that he makes a great supper. And he invites many. So maybe we would write down he's inclusive. He's an includer. He wants everyone to come. And he's going to have... And it feels like even more than enough. So maybe he has a really abundant nature, it feels like, might be true of this man.

And so he tells his servant, go out and tell everyone who was invited to come because everything is ready. And so I love this also. How much time has he put in? What did he do for the getting ready? That he put in that work. so that it would be exactly what you hoped it would be. He had prepared. That's what we learn. And then he says, tell everyone to come.

And he goes out and then remember, no one can come because they either just got married or they bought this new field or they have these oxen. I mean, it's just the business of everyday life is going on and that's what's happening.

So he comes and he tells his master those things. And I also love this part is that the master's instant reaction. to finding out that no one can come is that he's angry. And I, what that tells me is he cares. He actually cared about the people who. were supposed to come, that he wanted them to be there, that he was invested in those relationships, even with those people who weren't going to come.

I just want to think how many of us in that moment, like just go to that spot of you that is so real, but how many of us in that moment would have gone to our room and slammed the door and said, I'm never planning a party again. If people aren't going to come, why did I go to all that, that work? And that isn't what happens here. I love that. He like, he has that moment of like,

Feeling bad that nobody wants to come like he has genuine emotion. He he actually cared about that But then I love that he just immediately part of what his character is, is to pivot or to be adaptable, to be like, okay, well, all right, go out then and get the maimed and the halt and the blind. Like his immediate response after anger is compassion. That's what we learn about this man who's planning the party. I have all this food. I could...

I could do something with this. So let's see who, who could we help? How can I help? I love that. That's kind of his, um, His thought process. And so the servant goes out and he gets all those people and he brings them back in and then watch what we learn again. He says in 22, Lord, it is done as thou has commanded. And yet.

there is room. There's still room. We have room for more. And I love that the man who planned the party didn't just say, well, this is good enough and the food is getting cold. This will be fine. I love that he's like, okay, let's see. We've reached out to everyone we could within the city. So go outside of the city. Go past the hedges. Go out into the... outside of the city walls to the people in the margins, let's invite them to come. And he uses a word that is compel.

It's an interesting word. It means to urge or to plead with. I love to think of this, that that man probably went out there and was like, oh, we're having a... we're having this big thing and you're invited to come and that the people were probably like, Oh no, no. I think you have the wrong person. I don't ever get invited to stuff like this. I don't think you know who I am because he wouldn't want me.

Like, I love the thought that the man who's planning the party is like, you are going to have to tell them we want them here. Like we saved a place for them. There is room for them. We're planning on them. There's this like. radical generosity that is going to start coming into play right now. Oh my gosh. I got to write that word. That's so good. That is just, and it's unexpected. It's just, it's like just so.

um, bring them in, you know, that they're, they're going to be part of what's happening now. And then he tells why at the very end, he says in verse 23, That my house may be filled. That's what he wants to do is fill the house. It's this idea of there's room for everyone. There's enough.

for everyone that there's no scarcity mentality happening here there is this like abundant those words that we see are great and many and filled like these are the words that are coming out of this parable is this idea of there's there's room for more here and how do we learn

to live in that kind of mentality so so two thoughts there the first being this is the father this is the god we worship This is what we have to keep in mind is this is how he's entering into relationship with us is with those kind of words. Great and many and filled and. I saved a place for you. And who else can we bring this idea of inclusion? That's the God we worship. And I think that's such a beautiful thing to think about that.

But I also think when I show up at church, when I show up at the inn, when I'm in that place, do I have this heart? Do I have the heart of the great things that we're going to offer there and how many people can come and there is room for more? Is that how I enter in? to relationship. So I don't know. What do you think about this? Oh, Emily, that is just, I love the way you teach the scriptures. That is such a beautiful representation of how I read this too.

and like i i think i referenced it earlier but i i can see myself on both sides of this i can see myself being that at first feeling angry and upset and then hurt and it being about me. And then I love that you talked about pivoting to compassion and like seeing ourselves when I show up at church. am i using words like that like is is my overarching like um my overarching lens that i'm seeing the church through is it one of compassion is it one of many is it filled in my scene but he i have

I am here. I am at this moment. He sent me here to do something. I have a work to do. And that work is to gather Israel, is to gather the people and help them make covenants. And am I showing up that way in a way that like, how many more can I gather? How many more can I?

bring in because I want that house to be filled. I love that. Thank you. That was really beautiful for me. So I appreciate that. Well, and when you think about what does this actually look like, like it sounds beautiful, right? And when you're watching Batman do it, you're like, yeah, that's, yes, I love that. I love that idea. I can see how that would work. But in reality, it's harder than we think.

Because who was coming into the house were people not from that country. They were people not from that city. They maybe didn't speak the same language. Maybe they were people who had been... cast out of the place where they lived before. When you read this parable and then you're like, well, what does this look like for us? It looks like refugees. It looks like immigrants.

It looks like I love that one quote. I can't remember who the apostle was, and you guys will know right away who was like, I love the smell of cigarette smoke in a chapel. This is what it actually looks like. is that kind of, and that's why it's radical generosity, because it's the people nobody else wants to bring in. That's who he's saying.

He's don't just go for what's easy. Don't go for your neighbors. Don't go for the people who live right next to you and their life looks like yours. They're farmers and they are buying oxen and they're getting married. It's, it's. like reach outside of your comfort zone and start bringing in the people who aren't that everyday experience that you're used to. And I think that's...

actually harder. I think what he's asking us to do is it's harder. And, you know, some of us are inclined to, at least I was, and I know you are. To Africa, how can we help? I want to go build that well. I want to go build that orphanage in Mexico. I want to go and do those things. And that's an important work.

That is an important work, but I can remember, and one that I've been involved in, heavily involved in. But I can remember... thinking many years ago when we had the opportunity to bring in the boy from down the street who just actually needed someone to keep him off the streets at night because otherwise he was vandalizing our whole neighborhood.

And he just actually needed someone to help him do his homework because he was failing 16 classes in school, you know, and he needed somebody to actually just take him to.

his sports practices because that got into a place where he wasn't just sitting idle and doing things that that he shouldn't be doing and that turned into what started out as a one or two year commitment then became five and then became a lifetime and um when garrett and i have the opportunity to share our story and i look back at how that worked out. And I often look at Garrett and I think to myself, you are my Africa. You are that humanity.

my life and sometimes that compassion that bringing someone in that allowing room for more that's not an easy thing It's, it's not like we read it in Luke 14 and we're like, Oh yeah, that sounds, I, I should do that. Um, but in reality, sometimes it's, it's going to require something of you. Um, I'll never forget.

being in a parking lot and It was in 2017 and Garrett had just been drafted in the NFL draft and had gone in the first round to the Broncos and I mean, obviously this is a happy time. We came home and all of our family was in the airport with orange and blue streamers and balloons and posters. And it was an exciting time.

But this man walked up to me in the parking lot and he was like, hey, can I ask you a question? And I said, yeah. And he said, I want to ask you about Garrett. And then he said to me, we. We just brought someone into our home. It was his nephew. And he kind of teared up and he was like, it's not easy. And so I'm just seeing where you are right now. And I'm wondering, like, when you started, how was it? And I can remember I my mind did that thing where sometimes you talk about when.

Someone's about to die and their whole life flashes before their eyes. Something similar happened where it was like that one question caused me to look back in in such a like quick. splash of like picture frames of, I can't even tell you how many heart and heartbreaking. moments showed up in my mind at that time. And I just teared up. And then he said to me, I just want to know, I know you're happy right now, but was it hard?

I said to him, it is the hardest thing I've ever done. And I think that's what we don't remember about Luke 14. Loving someone like that with that kind of radical generosity, that's not easy. That's the law of the gospel. That's the law of sacrifice. That's the law of consecration. That's what it looks like to enter into covenant. It looks like that kind of just compassion that causes you to pivot and those detours that you take that were unexpected.

These aren't easy things. It's not like God is saying, this is going to be, this party is going to be easy for you. It's going to be fun. It's going to be comfortable. It's not. Someone had to carry that man who couldn't walk into the party. Someone had to lead the blind man there. Like, can you imagine what that servant looked like? by the time he sat down to eat dinner he had to have been exhausted he had to have been just wasted and worn out like i have been on every corner of this

town and outside the city gates when he finally came in and sat down. But also the joy of being able to look around that table and think, we did it. We did it. We got everyone. We got everyone. And what a miracle that will be. Thanks, Emily. I feel like there's a name in my head right now of somebody that fits that exact description. And I bet you there's a name in the head of a lot of us that are listening to right now. And so.

I'm going to get off of this and I'm going to spend some time in prayer and I'm going to ask what specifically I can do to make that person recognize that. She has a seat at the table. And so thank you for that. And I hope everybody does that. Yeah, because people are saying it doesn't always. It doesn't always turn out. It's an interesting phrase to read. Yeah. And I want to say this as we're thinking, turn out that moment.

That's gonna be when we're on the other side of the veil and we all need to remember that because When you're living this life when you're living this radical generosity life, there's going to be good days and there's going to be not great days. That's just true. And it's going to be every day. That's, that is the way of how it works. And God has planned for that. You think about Jacob five and one of the most oft repeated words in Jacob five is again. And I went back again.

And I went back again. And that's what we should anticipate. Also, this God is a God of second chances. That's why he said, go get the people in the margins. Let's try again. And it might work for four or five days, and then it may not work for four or five months. But guess what? We're going to try again. That's the God we believe in. That's his character. And I think for those of you...

Sometimes we're gonna have the day in the parking lot where we've got the orange and blue balloons and Some days are gonna be that night where you can't sleep because Everything's not going the way you hoped And if you're in the, I can't sleep right now, part of this radical generosity, which will be a lot of us, if that's where you are, I would say to you, go into Jacob Five.

And read it. It's so long. Remember, it's the longest chapter ever. But my invitation would be read it until it is the favorite chapter of scripture you've ever read in your life.

And do the same thing we just did in Luke 14, which was what you're trying to learn is the character of the master. That's all you're trying to learn. We sometimes get caught up. in the servant because we are the servant and that's important that there's important servant lessons for sure in both of these, but just for fun, um, go in and read. uh, Jacob five and look for the character of the master and then start thinking, how could I become more like that? What would.

those characteristics, those attributes, what would those look like in my life right now? And that's going to make a difference because Because this thought of this invitation what he's telling us no one sits alone It's a nice thought it is But the work of it is the work of our lifetime

And that's going to be work that wears us out. That's just true about this call. I remember hearing you say one time that... that's what you want in your tombstone wasted and worn out and i just like every time i hear that phrase i think about what that looks like and i love that idea yeah yeah that is it's from the doctrine and covenants and i just think

That's what I think is when I'm all done, when I get to the other side, I want to look back at this. It's my same thought when I go to Disneyland. Does anyone else have this? And it happens to me when I go to Israel too. If I'm going to be somewhere, I am going to do everything because I can sleep when I get home. So if I'm at Disneyland, let's do that whole thing all day. And I'm like.

in my fast walk. And same with Israel. Let's wake up at 7 in the morning and let's not come home until 10 o'clock every night because I just want to soak this in. And do you ever wonder if we'll look back and that's how life will have been?

that we just look back and i just want to say i wasted and wore out my life in the building up of the kingdom of god that's what mortality looked like um for me my grandparents joined the church um when they were adults and they were typical italian immigrants they did not look like the church people you know they were like there was alcoholism in our family my grandfather you know he'd be like where's you guys going you know that's how we talked and um and they

were in the church for like five minutes before they went inactive and they didn't participate my dad luckily stayed active and raised us in the church but for probably 50 years people went after my grandparents like went and talked to them and brought them back and they did not they would come back and then not leave and they were you know for 50 years and then when I was on my mission they

decided they were ready and they got sealed in the temple and 50 years of like looking for these people that did not fit the mold but when my dad died a couple of years ago right before he died he when he woke up suddenly and said, oh, dad was here. And I just, I was praying that Joseph Smith was the one that came and got my dad because my dad loved Joseph Smith so much.

But it wasn't. It was his father who he went after for 50 years. And that idea of like no one sits alone is a work. I love that you say that, but it's a work that is so worth doing. that is the entire focus of my life right now at hxp is how do we gather as many as we can and try and like do what elder gong says in his talk you know strengthen both olive tree roots and branches by gathering and grafting those together from all these diverse locations.

But what a joyful work it is, right? I mean, what an incredible thing. It's hard sometimes, and there's hard days, and for sure, but man, the miracles outweigh the hard, and they come. I testify of that, the miracles come. That is so true because we have to remember God loves that person way more than we're even capable of. And so it's never work that you're doing alone.

He's always as well, more invested than we are in that work. So, so many good things here and things to think about and things to learn. And I think ways to stretch. And that's maybe the hardest of all, because if we're entering into the time that it feels like we're entering into a time when. Actual, real, live, vulnerable and intimate relationships are going to be something we have to work for and something that we're going to have to teach our children and our grandchildren.

women in our relief societies and and the girls and our young women classes that's something that we need to be talking about and teaching about and and helping people understand what that actually looks like and I think that's That is going to be critical to our preparation for Jesus to come again and for the gathering. Oh, I couldn't agree more. I feel like that when Elder Gong says that.

piece of Jesus Christ is meant for us personally it he's talking about like that connection with both other people and with the savior with Jesus Christ yes so good And we have to fight for that. We have to fight for it. We have to teach our kids. We have to fight for it. It's so true. There is a work to be done, a great work, and it's going to require an investment from.

All of us. So look around at your world. Look at your circle. Look at the imprint that you are making wherever you are. I know we come from all different parts of the world. And for some of us, it's the boy five doors down. And for some of us, it's the immigrants that are coming into our country from war-torn places or places where they just don't have... They just don't have...

the life that will allow for them to accept the gospel. And if we could just remember to think in those eyes of God says there's room for everyone. And this is our great work. This is it. is that reclaiming of souls and restoring of lives and just doing the great work that is ours to do. And it's not a selfish work. It's a work that requires us to actually open our heart and enlarge our souls and bring people in. And so what does that look like for you today, for each of us?

What does that actually look like and how could we be better at making sure no one sits alone? Just so many good things to think about. Thanks so much, Emily. That was beautiful. I feel like I really want to spend some time in prayer now and just talking to Heavenly Father about what does my world look like and what does it look like to... come to each other and to the Lord and his in. Yes. Yep. So good. So have a good week, everyone. We'll be back again next week. Bye.

Thanks for joining me. This podcast is taken from our Thursday Inklings discussions, which happen live on Instagram at inklings.institute. If you loved being here, I'd love to invite you to go even deeper with me. Get reminders and enjoy first access to all our events and gatherings by going to emilybellfreeman.com backslash Inklings.