Speaking in Church!

Friends,

I got a call last night around 8pm from the first counselor in our bishopric. It was somehow not surprising because another friend from the ward was at our house because she and I were going to have a friend-date and get out of the apartment and he had just called her and asked her to speak in a couple of weeks and he had mentioned that they still needed people for the meeting the next day and she told us when she got off the phone. Not 10 minutes later--seriously--my phone starts to ring and it is the first counselor in the bishopric. He asks me to speak in Sacrament meeting. Tomorrow. (Which was of course today.) My topic was raising the bar on a personal level, or raising our personal bar. It was a great topic because it's really been on my mind what I can do to make sure I make progress in the important aspects of my life. I don't want to just sit around and do nothing with my life. Anyway, I really felt inspired as I prayed to know what I should share with the members of my ward and also what I should learn. It was really nice to feel the Spirit. I advocate praying before you give a talk. :)

Here are the main points of my talk:
1. Sometimes the bar is raised for us-like when we are baptized and make covenants-but sometimes we need to choose to raise the bar and set our goals high.
2. Example of the pole vaulter who was consistently clearing the minimum standard for his high school state meet or something. His father (Elder Perry) asked him why he didn't raise the bar and he said "because I might miss." His dad replied "if you never raise the bar how will you ever know your potential?" Wise words because let's be honest, sometimes we fall down--sometimes we don't clear the bar. But how will we know what we are capable of until we push ourselves a little outside of our comfort zones?
3. Our ultimate goal should be to live with Heavenly Father again. That is a really lofty goal.
4. Where am I now? Here I really think that covenants are the key--what have I promised and am I doing the things that I have promised to do? If not, well then there is something to work on here isn't there.
5. Where can I improve? I thought of a few categories where change is possible and often needed:
-personal testimony. If you don't believe in the Gospel, your goals won't get very far.
-relationship with the Godhead. We need to pray and really seek out answers and revelation.
-relationship with others-family members, friends, and the people around us.
-Education/employment. Go for it--get something out of your classes or your job. Go for your passions!
-physical aspects. Help keep your body clean and healthy so that the Spirit will be comfortable there. Modesty is included here.
6. What can I do today to accomplish my goal tomorrow? It is so important that we take small steps and keep raising the bar. When we accomplish goals we feel good about ourselves and will want to keep doing things and accomplishing goals and therefore we will make progress.

I think these are good things to think about and I hope that I will continue to make progress on some of these things. I certainly have room from where I am now to where I would like to be.