Q&A with Elder Bednar

This past weekend I had the privilege of participating in a morningside devotional with Elder Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. In place of a more traditional talk, he opened up the devotional for a question and answer session! Similar to other opportunities I've had to interact with and be taught by general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Elder Ballard, Elder Andersen, and others) it was an inspirational morning. And like those times, the whispering of the Spirit tells me that though I learn to love them even more as I am instructed at their feet, I do not need to meet the 15 men we call prophets, seers, and revelators to know that they are exactly that.

Some traditional Elder Bednarism's came up--some of his areas of emphasis include taking notes of impressions rather than what is actually said (he calls it the small plates versus the large plates), being an agent to act rather than an object, studying the Book of Mormon with a topic/question in mind and how he learned to honor the priesthood from his non-member father. Even though those are familiar words of wisdom from Elder Bednar, the impressions I felt specifically were a tender mercy. I want to share just a few parts of that.

* There is no such thing as "free" agency- that term never appears in the scriptures. What we are normally referring to is "moral agency", the ability to choose between right and wrong. We should never forget that it's not free.

* One sister stood up and asked what she can do to her less-active family as she worried about ever being sealed to them. His response was brief, at first. "It begins with you." He then expanded saying that before we even get to the idea of starting our own family and beginning those traditions, our faithful keeping of covenants and renewal of ordinances will strengthen our families. Elder Bednar went on to share a story from his life. Growing up his father was not a member so the first time he had family prayer and family home evening were as a husband. After their first son was born, he had colic and Elder Bednar took care of him at night (Sister Bednar was very sick during the pregnancy). Having not had the example of a Melchizedek priesthood holder growing up, he found himself asking, " What would it be like if I read the sections about the priesthood in the Doctrine and Covenants to my son? What would it be like..." Elder Bednar pointed out to us that often what we see as disadvantages are really opportunities to seek out divine guidance and to learn. Again he emphasized the importance of remembering covenants and ordinances and that will exert a powerful influence on all family members.

* About halfway through the devotional, Elder Bednar asked us a question- What were we learning from the format of the questions and answers? One brave humble young man stood and admitted that he learned he was not prepared. He had not come with questions, not that we knew what the format would be, but in his heart he had brought no question to ask the Lord during this opportunity. Humbly, he told us that he would not let it happen again and would strive to be prepared at all times to gain guidance and inspiration. What a good reminder for all of us!