The Life and Teachings of Elder David Allan Bednar

The Biography of Elder David Allan Bednar

            The one thing that stuck out to me the most about Elder Bednar’s life was the his father was not a member of the Church, but later joined the Church after Elder Bednar came home from his mission. What an amazing experience that must have been for him. I thought it was interesting that his father made it a priority for his sons to attend church even though he, himself was not a member. I loved his desire to know and use the scriptures the way he had watched President Lee use them during the meeting in the temple while he was on his mission. I also loved the statement about his quiet boldness. This statement for me is a perfect example of how two words separately can mean two different things, but together they mean something far greater than they do individually. I also loved the story about the red suspenders. Children say some of the cutest things, and I am reminded of my time as a Primary Teacher, which is a time I will cherish for the rest of my life.

The Testimony of Elder David Allan Bednar

            The one thing which stuck out to me the most about Elder Bednar’s testimony was that on the restoration of the Priesthood. Being that both my parents are temple workers, I loved that Elder Bednar also spoke of not just the restoration of the Priesthood, but also that of Priesthood keys. I also loved that he bore his testimony on the banks of the Susquehanna River. I love Pennsylvania, being hat my dad was born there and I still have family who live there, it holds a special place in my heart as one of my favorite places in the world when you also consider all of the Church History that took place there. Also being that I just recently went through ten generations of family names, I decided to go back to my cousin’s blog and go through the other side of the family history and go through all of the names on that side as well. For me, the Priesthood is really all about family ties. The Priesthood is what ties and bind our families together. I also loved that Elder Bednar used the scripture speaking of the things bound on earth are bound in heaven and the things loosed on earth are also loosed in heaven. One of my favorite scriptures, but for the life of me I can’t remember the reference off the top of my head.

Recent Teachings

Elder David Allan Bednar, Bear Up Their Burdens with Ease, April 2014 General Conference, Sunday Morning Session

Key Doctrine and Principles:

·         Adveristy

·         Atonement

·         Covenants

·         Trials

Favorite Quotes and Why They Matter to Me:

·         “Each of us also carries a load. Our individual load is comprised of demands and opportunities, obligations and privileges, afflictions and blessings, and options and constraints. Two guiding questions can be helpful as we periodically and prayerfully assess our load: ‘Is the load I am carrying producing the spiritual traction that will enable me to press forward with faith in Christ on the strait and narrow path and avoid getting stuck? Is the load I am carrying creating sufficient spiritual traction so I ultimately can return home to Heavenly Father?’”

o    I loved this quote because it just spoke to me about the load I am currently being asked to bear. Some of the recent things I have been going through, including being asked to not attend the YSA Ward for six months, have at times seemed like they are a punishment for the trials which I have been asked to bear. They are a burden and a load, but it is so hard to understand why I would be asked to go through such things, only to have to go through them again when they are a direct cause of the trials I am currently facing, and thereby adding to the trials which I now face. It is at times like these that I must remember that all things happen for a reason, as well as these trials are preparing me for something greater.

·         “Sometimes we mistakenly may believe that happiness is the absence of a load. But bearing a load is a necessary and essential part of the plan of happiness. Because our individual load needs to generate spiritual traction, we should be careful to not haul around in our lives so many nice but unnecessary things that we are distracted and diverted from the things that truly matter most.”

o    I am completely guilty of believing “that happiness is the absence of a load.” There have been many times in my life have I truly felt happy, only to have my legs cut out from underneath me because of something which I thought I had overcome. Prior to the current trial I am now facing, I was happy, truly happy, but then out of nowhere I am hit with a trial that shakes me to my very core and makes me question why the thing which I have worked so hard to overcome have to come back to haunt me now. This quote helps me to understand that although I may have been happy, really truly happy, I was distract from what matters most.

·         “There is no physical pain, no spiritual wound, no anguish of soul or heartache, no infirmity or weakness you or I ever confront in mortality that the Savior did not experience first.”

o    I loved this quote for reason I can’t begin to explain. The pain our Savior went through in the Garden was for me, and He felt everything that I am going through, everything I have gone through, and everything that I have to go through. He did so for me so that He could be ther for me when no one else would or could be there for me.

Past Teachings

Elder David Allan Bednar, The Hearts of the Children Shall Turn, Ensign and General Conference (through the LDS Gospel Library App), November 2011 (General Conference October 2011, Saturday Afternoon Session)

Key Doctrine and Principles:

·         Family History

·         Priesthood

·         Technology

·         Temples and Temple Work

Favorite Quotes and Why They Matter to Me:

·         “Many of you may think family history work is to be performed primarily by older people. But I know of no age limit described in the scriptures or guidelines announced by Church leaders restricting this important service to mature adults. You are sons and daughters of God, children of the covenant, and builders of the kingdom. You need not wait until you reach an arbitrary age to fulfill your responsibility to assist in the work of salvation for the human family.”

o    Again, guilty as charged. As a child I hated it when my mom would be on the computer doing family history work and I would want to get on to play a game. It annoyed me to no end. I couldn’t understand the importance of people who were dead. Then I turned twelve and gained a little bit more of a better understanding of the importance of family history when I started going to the temple to do baptisms. But I would still be annoyed when my mom would be on the computer doing family history work and I would want to play a game. Then my grandfather died, follow by my Great-Uncle Joe Leah. A year later I went to the Los Angeles Temple to do baptisms for my Great-Aunt Marie Leah, Uncle Joe’s wife and my dad’s aunt, and another family member, while my brother did the baptisms for our grandfather and our Great-Uncle Joe. I remember seeing both my Uncle Joe and my Grandpa Bob at the temple that night. I also saw my Aunt Marie there, but I didn’t know it was her until I saw a picture of her many years later. Now more than ten years later I have truly started understand the importance of family history and temple work, but I can trace this understanding back to that one event in the Los Angeles Temple.