John D. Amos: The Good News Recipe

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 the semester with you as we embark on a journey focused on becoming His. Good morning everyone. Welcome to Inklings. Happy Thursday. That's one of my favorite days of the week now because I love when people say happy Thursday to me. And we're actually having such a happy talk today. So that is what you have to look forward to. As we're getting ready to start, and let me tell you where we're going to be. We will be in the Good News Recipe by Elder Amos. and then we're gonna go to Acts 12 is where we'll be for the scripture and but who loves when what we're talking about is good news that's made me so happy when I read the title so we're trying to have good news with Elder Amos. And I also want to be thinking a little bit about what does good news actually look like? And what in a life, and what's the good news you need right now in your life. So these are some of the things that I've just been thinking about. Also, it is so fun because it was, he wanted to keep talking about recipes and who was feeling like they needed to make dinner before they could read this talk because I don't know why, but he made me so hungry. So he started out talking about gumbo, remember? That's how he started. And then I love that he talked about serving a mission with his wife and that one of their traditions was when the missionaries all came on their last night, what they spent that last night doing was cooking together. And they all learned how to make this recipe that they had come to love, it sounds like, over their mission. And then they learned this recipe and then they took the recipe home with them. And for me, that was probably the greatest takeaway of this whole entire talk, although there were so many good things in here that I loved. But I just want to think for a minute about that wisdom, what happened there and the culture that they were creating. Because sometimes in order to really experience good news or to live in a good news mentality, it actually requires the culture to be good. And I love that what they had somehow created in their mission was this recipe, this gumbo that they all ate and they all knew and they all loved so much that they, at the very last night, they all came together and then they had a class where they learned how would they make that when they got home. And then they left with this, this remembrance, this thing, a card or whatever the recipe came on that they took home with them. And I love that that card was a number of things. It was number one, I served in this mission. I, this was my community. I was part of this, right? It just became like a way of creating unity, but also like this card that was like, I belong. And I belong to the Louisiana mission. And what the Louisiana mission looks like is gumbo. And I brought that home with me. And now I know how to actually make that gumbo. And it made me start thinking about when in our life, in our family, in our church community, in the calling that you have right now, what is the culture that is being created there? And what is it that makes people actually want to be part of that community, that they actually want to be part of that. So much that they want to take something from that community with them when they leave. And this is kind of the thought that I've been thinking about all week as I've been thinking about this talk that was coming up is in order to create a good news recipe, you really need a good news culture. And that culture is going to come with things that you could recognize about it. My kids always love to tease about different things. And one of their favorite things to do is to talk about if this happens, If I ever win the lottery or if I, whatever, then they'll say this line, there will be signs. And I love the thought of that, that if something good were to just come upon me unexpectedly, that line, there will be signs that you would be able to see in me that good news from that community that I was living in. And so what are those signs? What does that look like when you're in that kind of situation? And how do we help create that situation in our homes or in our communities where people, first of all, want to be known as, I came from this. And second of all, what is the good news they take with them every time they leave. So as we think about this talk, I want to start in Acts 12. This is one of my favorite stories in scripture because it just gives me a giggle. And we don't have a lot of scriptures where you end up laughing by the time you're in the middle of the story, but this is one that every time I just get such a giggle by the time I'm in the middle of this story. And you're experiencing what's happening here, and you're going to wonder why do I think about that at the beginning, because the beginning does not start with good news, everybody. So just so you know, we're not starting with good news. We are in Elder Amos' talk, if you're just joining us, and we're going to be in Acts 12, and we're actually going to start in Acts 12. And yes, we're going to talk about Rhoda, but before we talk about Rhoda, let's talk about what is happening. So we're going to end with good news. We're not starting with good news. What happens is, it tells us in verse one, about that time, Herod the king stretched forth his hands to vex certain of the church. This is how we start. And he took James and he killed James, the brother of John, with the sword. And when he saw that that pleased all the Jews, he decided he would take Peter also. And so now Peter is in prison, it tells us. And he was going to bring him forth after Easter to the people. And so Peter was kept in prison. But meantime, the whole time he's in prison, it tells us in verse five, and this is important, Here's one of the things about when you're reading scripture and particularly stories. There's often little parts of the story that become really important in later moments of the story that you just want to be collecting as you go. This is one. We find out in verse five that prayer is being made without ceasing from the church of God for Peter. Okay, so let's just pause before we go any further. And I want you to just imagine the church and the people in the church. They've just lost James. Okay, so that's true. And now Peter has been taken. And because they saw the reaction from James, they know what's ahead of them, right? They're thinking, we know what's ahead of us. And so now they've decided to pray without ceasing, morning and night, and they've all gathered together. We're going to find out in a minute. So everybody, all of them are together and they're praying without ceasing. This is what's happening. And so it tells us in verse six, when Herod would have brought him forth the same night before Herod was going to bring him forth, Peter was sleeping. Now, again, we just want to be imagining what does this look like? So it tells us he was sleeping between two soldiers and he was bound to, uh, with two chains. And then there were the keepers before the door that kept the prison. So there's like no way Peter's going to escape. He's sleeping in between two soldiers and then there's soldiers at the door and he's chained. Okay. So he's not going anywhere except in verse seven. It says, behold, the angel of the Lord came upon him and a light shined in the prison. And he smoked Peter on the side and raised him up saying, arise up quickly. And his chains just fell off from his hands. And the angel said to him, get dressed and put on your sandals. And so he did. And then he said, follow me. And so he went out and he's following him. And he didn't think it was an angel. It tells us he thought it was a dream in verse 90, that he didn't think it was real, but he's just going along with it in his, what he thinks is a dream. And when they were past the first and second ward of the prison, they came to the iron gate that leadeth under the city, which opened to them of its own accord. and they went out and they passed on through one street and then the angel disappeared. Okay. So this is what is happening. So now somehow Peter has got himself out of prison and, and there must come a moment where he's like, this is not a dream. This is like, this is for real. And so it tells us in verse 11. So when Peter was come to himself, he said, now I know of a surety that the Lord has sent his angel and has delivered me out of the hand of Herod and from the expectation of the people of the Jews. And when he had considered this thing, okay, let's think what he's considering. If you are Peter, okay, it's the middle of the night, you've just escaped from prison. What your immediate thought If it you if you standing in the middle of that dark street What is the immediate thought in that moment And I think my immediate thought would be someone's gonna come after me. And so I need to like, I need to go somewhere where I can get off this street and get into safety, right? Does this seem like the thought that you would be having? so he goes to mary and it tells us in verse 12 um mary the mother of john whose surname was mark where many were gathered together praying okay so this is one of the places where a lot of people from the church have gathered and they're praying and remember we know about their praying they're praying night and day because we learned that earlier so someone's going to be awake in the house because they're just praying nonstop. And then this is the best part. And Peter knocked at the door of the gate. And can you imagine the panic? Like, let's just imagine the panic for a minute that he's like, I, I like, I need to get in there. That's what he has to be thinking. Because at any moment, someone could be coming down the street to me. And so he knocks on the gate. And a damsel comes to listen named Rhoda. I always think this to myself when I read this story that all of us can look back in our lives and think of our most embarrassing moment we've ever had. And how would you like it if yours was recorded for all time in scripture? I also, that's when I start getting a little giggle because I'm like, poor Rhoda. So Rhoda comes to listen. And it tells us in verse 14, when she knew Peter's voice, she opened not the gate for gladness. Like she was so happy and she doesn't open the door. She runs back into the house and tells everyone Peter's standing at the gate. Now, first of all, what do you think if you're Peter? You're like, open the door, right? Like you're looking over your shoulder. And meanwhile, well, Rhoda's like, we have been praying for this. We have been praying for this. And she just goes running in to tell everyone who is praying, Peter's standing at the gate. And they told her, you are mad. But she kept telling them, no, I know. I heard his voice. Then they said to her, it can't be Peter. It has to be an angel. And I want to just pause for a moment right here because good news is standing at the gate. It's standing at the gate. And isn't it interesting? And this is what I've been just wrestling with is, isn't it interesting that good news can be standing at the gate and yet you can go back into that room where everyone is crying and praying. And I mean, what are they praying for? For Peter to be released. That's what they're, they're actually praying for Peter to be standing at the gate. That's exactly what they're praying for. And so Peter just keeps knocking. Who loves that line in Acts 12 verse 16. But Peter continued knocking. He's like, you guys, let me in, right? And so finally, when they had opened the door and saw him, they were astonished. But he beckoned unto them with the hand to hold their peace. And then he told them this story about how the Lord had brought him out of prison. And I love that it tells us in verse 18, as soon as it was day, there was no small stir among the soldiers of what had become to Peter. And I wanted to start with a story. I wanted to think about the story before we dive into this talk, because how many of us have good news at the gate. And for whatever reason, we're just not opening the door to go out and unlatch the gate and let that good news in. And I think because, and I would love to hear what your thoughts are of why that happened, but I think sometimes we allow our mortal mind to say, This is, I know how this is going to go. I, we saw how this went, right? We know what happened with James. And so we know how this is going to go and, and we'll pray, but we know how this is going to go. Um, I feel like maybe sometimes that's the reason, or maybe the answer comes in the way you wouldn't expect it to come. Maybe it was because they thought a judge would come and a trial would be had. And they were praying that this is, this is how this is going to go is like this. This is the, um, the way the miracle will happen. And no one was thinking about the angel. No one was thinking about sneaking him out of prison at night because everybody knew how many people were surrounding him. Um, and so maybe that's why they were like, no, this can't be right because it wouldn't happen like this. This isn't how it would happen. Um, and I love even Rhoda so much. I love that moment when she's like, listens and, and then she's like, it is Peter. and then her good news is so big that she runs into the house to talk about it without bringing the good news uh with her into the house and then you just love peter just keeps like knocking except for i'm sure he wasn't i'm sure he was like you guys get me in the house right get me in the house. And I want to think about that today. How do we let the good news in? What does that actually look like as we go through the story? But also, let me just say this. Do you love Rhoda so much right now when you think about that story? And who loves her in there just convincing that group, like with her words, she's just trying to convince them with her words that Peter is out of prison when she could have actually just gone to the gate and, and brought him in and she wouldn't have had to convince anybody. And, um, I just, I think for the whole rest of Rhoda's life, everyone wanted to be like this. You guys, do you remember that night when Peter got out of prison and poor Rhoda is like, don't tell this story again. And now it's recorded forever in Acts 12. It makes me so happy. Rhoda is one of my all-time favorite women in the scriptures. And maybe because it's that thought about and for gladness. She just ran in the house. She was so excited. I love that someone is saying, I'm sure there was so much joy and laughter. I think that has to be true all night long of just telling that story over and over again. So now I want to dive into this talk, this good news recipe talk, and think about what can we learn from Elder Amos. And one of the things that happened for me with Elder Amos' talk, and I wonder if this happened for you, is he had pulled together for us almost like a recipe box these really great quotes from over time from a lot of different speakers. and it kind of was like we were just flipping through these like collection of really great quotes and I don't know how many of you did this but I did um went back and read the talks where he pointed us I went back to Elder Gilbert's talk about the parable of the slope I went back into President Nelson's talk and read about that and and that there were just little things that he had pointed us to, to help us understand just what good news looks like and how we access it. He talks about, he begins with this video that President Nelson taught, which is scriptures are God's recipes for happy living. And when I, when I read that, that I thought about Rhoda, because I was like, oh my gosh, that is so true. And it really is, if you think about, if you were to make a list right now of where are the happiest stories in scripture, what are they? What are some of these good news at the gate moments that just are, everything is, everything's going to work out. Greg and I at night lately have been watching this series and I keep trying to tell my kids about it and they think it is so crazy that we're so invested in this series that we're watching every night and for real we can't wait. We watch the clock to make sure we leave ourselves enough time, 45 minutes for this little series and the reason why we love the series so much is no matter what, it ends happy every time. It's not always happy in the middle, but I know in the last two minutes of the story that I'm going to be able to go to bed happy. Everything's going to somehow stitch itself together and it's all going to work out. and the scriptures are that same way as we go through the scriptures we see oh the series you guys are going to die laughing this will tell you exactly what age I am because how many of you grew up reading James Harriet all creatures great and small did anyone read those books I was for sure going to be a veterinarian when I grew up. Like no doubt about it because James Harriet. Um, and like I was 19 when I decided I wasn't going to be a veterinarian. That's how much I love James Harriet. So anyways, PBS has this series of all creatures, great and small, and it's just happy. It just is so happy. And I love that in the scriptures, we have that same, like, remember when President Hinckley used to tell us, it's all going to work out. It is all going to work out. It maybe doesn't feel like it's going to work out, but it's going to work out. And the scriptures, although they're filled with warnings and they're filled with counsel, and we can read that in there. We see that happening in there, but they're also filled with hope, with this idea that it's all going to work out in the end. And there are certain stories where we do read about, like I love in the Book of Mormon when it talks about there never was a time of greater happiness than that time. I love reading Mary Magdalene when Jesus comes out of the tomb. I love reading Peter diving into the water to swim to Christ And then even just the little vignettes of the woman who touched his robe or these other little stories that just remind us that in God great plan eventually it is all going to work out That's just true and we might be in the middle of the episode right now where you're like how are the writers going to resolve this? I don't know. And many of us will be in that middle moment. But even in that moment, we can know that it's going to work out. You guys, sorry for the last two weeks. It has been so crazy and I can't even tell you the craziness. And so between me and Rio, we have not done a good job about getting the reading out. But I will put it up again this week before I put up the video. So you have all of that there. Um, because if you're my mom, you're going to cut those pictures out and put them, she puts them in our Inklings journal. And so she has a full reminder of everything that we were setting every week. So I will get those up today before I get the video up. Um, I love that president Nelson reminded us, um, that the scriptures are God's recipes for happy living. And then I have been thinking so much lately. Has anyone else been thinking about this or is it just me? But every so often, I just want to think about Marjorie Hinckley so much. And just why was she so happy all of the time? And that little giggle and that sense of humor that just came out whenever it wanted to. And she had this way of just lifting us. She was so good at lifting us. So anyways, I just, I love that thought. And then he talked about President Nelson saying at the end of his life, when they asked him, how have you lived so long? What did you eat? And what's your secret? And he said, the secret's called the scriptures. You might read them and try them. And I love that he's like, just get in there. Um, just, just get into this secret ingredient, which is the scriptures and see if that can bring good news into your life. Um, then he talked about, um, the, um, an example where he had a missionary who came in and just was like, I can't, I can't do this anymore. It's, this isn't working. Um, and he, um, they said a little prayer, which I love. And this, I loved this part too, so much about elder Amos when he says in paragraph 13, I honestly didn't know how to respond. And I love that he played out for us. So this is what I did because I actually didn't know what to tell him. I like, have you ever had that moment when you're talking to someone and they're like, I need help with this. And your mind is like, yeah, you do. There's just, I have nothing. And I love that he said after a brief moment, I love that little just pause of like, is anything going to come? No. He asked if it was okay for us to kneel together in prayer for guidance from the spirit. And so they knelt down. And after the prayer, we continued kneeling for a short time. And then we sat in our chairs and he opened up the scriptures. And I love that what we learned from him explaining the situation as much as I love what we learned from what he is about to teach. I loved it in that moment. He was like, I actually don't know what to do right now. And that pause of like waiting to see, is something going to come? And then when nothing came, I love that he just kneels down and they say a prayer. And then again, I love that they just kind of stay on their knees for a minute to see, is something going to come? and then they sit up and they open the scriptures and they turn to um one of our favorite scriptures Moroni 7 45 and um read about charity suffereth long and is kind and envieth not um and um then I love that when he reads that to the missionary the missionary just starts crying like he's not like oh thank you that's exactly what I need I love that the missionary's answer is just burst into tears and say, that's really hard to do. Um, that it's not like it's coming easy. The good news is not coming easy right now in this moment. And, um, and I love that the mission president is like, it actually is. And, um, but the Lord was going to help him. And, and then we love that he goes out and he, and the mission president gives him ideas of what he's supposed to do in 17. But then he writes back after the next few weeks and in paragraph 19, he says, not only can I see the improvement in weekly letters, but I could also see it in the weekly letters of his companion. And so the next time they come back together, he said, I saw a night and day difference in his countenance and spirit. And so I just simply asked elder, is it true the charity never faileth? And he responded with a big smile. Yes. And by small and simple things are great things brought to pass. And I love that. I mean, he could have asked a million questions, but who loves that? The question that he's asked is the thing that the missionary thought was too hard to do. Um, just to have charity and that that's, that is the testimony. That's the good news that he had received is that charity would never fail. I loved also this part and I thought a lot about this quote that he talks about at the end because we studied this so intently and I can remember our study of it when we did it and it's something that still comes back to me and for many of you, I think you'll have the same experience, but it was when President Nelson taught us about personal revelation. And I just want to think about this for a minute because we talked about last week how President Oaks spoke at BYU and how interesting that he wanted to point us back to what President Nelson had said years ago, which is in a coming time, if we didn't know how to receive personal revelation, we actually wouldn't be able to make it through what was coming. And I thought about that a lot. I've also thought about this, that not only did he tell us, listen, you're going to need to be able to receive personal revelation, but I love that he taught us how. And I went through this twice already this week where I was like, am I still doing this? We learned this. We talked about this. We worked on this together, but are we still doing it? So here's what he said to do. And I just want to go in order. I want you to think about this in order, especially if you're in the middle, if Peter hasn't started knocking on the door yet. Is this what your prayers look like? Is this how you're engaging with the Lord? So I love that he says this first, pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns, your fears, your weaknesses. Yes, the very longings of your heart. So I just want to stop right there for a minute and just think about that. Think about your prayers recently. And I love when he reminds us, you are praying in the name of Jesus Christ. Remember name could be translated as authority. We're praying in the authority of Jesus Christ for that concern, that fear, that weakness, whatever the longing of our heart is. And I think sometimes we're so quick to start our prayer and say what we need. And then how often are you just so fast at, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen. Or how often do you, at the end, just claim that privilege of, I'm praying in the name of Jesus Christ for this thing that I'm carrying right now. And then he says, so one is pray in the name of Jesus Christ. But do you remember what number two is, and we saw this mission president do it. We saw Elder Amos do it. Second, he said, listen. So then I want to ask you, first, when was the last time you prayed with like real intent? But then second, when is the last time you listened? And it's interesting because sometimes we are just on the run. Well, at least I am on the run. And so I do remember to get my prayer in. And I feel like I'm praying all day long. But when I read this talk, I was like, am I leaving enough time to get my listening in? Because praying in and of itself is not going to be sufficient. That's what the prophet told us. We need to be able to be actually receiving personal revelation as we pray. And so this listening part all of a sudden becomes really critical to the experience, but there's more. And then listen. And then number three is write the thoughts that come to mind. Okay. Now that's the thing that I want you to be thinking of is where are you doing that? Where, where is that actually happening? Um, maybe some of you have a prayer journal that you write, you, you write down what you're praying for, and then you write down what's coming. Um, my neighbor, Tasha, this is one of my favorite things that has ever happened in my life. I went to her house one day and we had to go get something out of her laundry room and we walked in and she, there was Sharpie marker written all over her entire laundry room, all four walls. And I was like, oh my heck, what happened? And then it was her handwriting. I, we've been friends since ninth grade. So then I was like, wait a minute, this is, what did you do? And she said to me, this is my room where I come to pray when I'm doing the laundry. And I've just started writing my prayers down on the walls in Sharpie marker. And then that's where she's been having her prayers. It was a lot of prayers, everyone. It was the whole laundry room. And I was like, but what are you going to do? I mean, your walls are almost full. And she said, oh, every January I repaint the laundry room. And then I start again. And I love the thought of that kind of intention with prayer. I told Rio a couple weeks ago, I need you to make me a set of papers that I can put up that is just my prayer room Or in the traditional Christian faith some of those women will call it their war room That where they go in to pray And I cannot repaint my laundry room every week, but I could put up some pretty papers and write on those papers. And then it could become a keepsake of what that year looked like. and maybe that's something that interests you. Rio is a dear friend of mine, dear, dear friend of mine. In fact, I was just thinking about this the other day. When I very first got married, Greg's sister and then another friend, we all were married at the same time and we would just run into each other randomly at times. And the other woman's name was Janet and that is Rio's mom. So when Rio was born, everyone who knows that Rio and I are friends, when Rio was born, um, I like held her. I, we were like friends when she was growing up and meantime, um, she's such a great designer. So she's the one who helps us put together all of our, well, this Rio does Rio makes this for me every year. This is what we love about Rio is I call Rio and say, could you just make me this? And then she's so good at doing it. So everyone needs a friend like Rio. And actually everyone has one because you all have Rio the same as I do. Um, okay. So now we're learning back to the talk. We took a little diversion back to the talk. So pray first, then we need to be making time for listen. Then, um, we need somewhere where we can write the thoughts that come to mind. And so it might be a journal. It might be your laundry room. Um, it might be just papers that you hang up where you can have that moment of just engaging over and over, because I think what is true is we wish it, all it took was one prayer, but sometimes it takes 1000 prayers, um, before the answer comes. And so I love that thought about write the thoughts that come to mind. I've told you before, let's go on a trip. I've told you before how I have been keeping my notes. This is why I told Rio, I need a pretty paper because mine is looking like this right now. Um, of I just, did it show? I didn't, I didn't turn my camera around in case I broke Instagram, but were you able to see. I just have this little corner in my house where I'm just trying to write down all of these things that I feel like I need to be holding on to right now. And so I love that idea of are we keeping track of, are we writing the thoughts that come to mind? And then he said, as you repeat this process day after day, month after month, year after year, then I love this. You will grow into the principle of revelation. And so I love this thought. It's this cycle, right? Elder Scott actually added to this cycle, which was pray and then listen, and then write the thoughts that come to mind. And then Elder Scott would do that twice in a row. And then at the end, he would ask this question, which I love, um, is there more? And I love that invitation to be like, okay, I I'm trying to do my part. I'm praying, I'm listening, I'm writing things down, but I love how Elder Scott taught us to just take that little pause and just like, did I get it all? Is there more? Um, you know, is there, is there something that I've missed that I need to know? And I think, um, that becomes a really important cycle. Also hard. A really hard cycle. Because sometimes we just want to tell God, here, this is the best way to fix it. If you could just do it like this, then this is how the miracle could work. These are the steps of how we could get there. How many of you have done this before where in your mind, I think this is how we got in the Rhoda situation is I think those saints were probably like, this is what will have to happen. And they were laying out this, this is how the miracle will come logically. And it, it actually, God doesn't always work in logic. Sometimes he works in angels and that's the part I love about, is there more? Is there something I don't know or I'm not seeing or is there another way? I keep going back to last week when we talked about that effectual door in section 112. I have loved that verse my entire life, my entire life. I have loved it. I always just imagine this room of a million different doors and he's just going to be like, here, go through this one next. And in my mind, they're painted so happy with bright colors and like, you can't wait to see what's going to be behind the door. This is how I've always imagined, um, that's that verse. but last week when I got into the Hebrew behind that word effectual I'm so intrigued right now that what he's going to open is a working door a door that you can actually walk through that's what he's going to do and I have found myself thinking about that all week this week and I don't know why, but in my mind, the thought of having 50 colorful doors seems funner, right? And it's almost as if like, well then, and if this one doesn't work, then I'll do that one, and then I'll do that one, and then I'll do that one. And there's this odd comfort in 50 doors. And the thought for me this week of thinking, okay, he's going to open up a working door, and I actually can't figure out how he's going to do it. I can't, I don't know how that's actually going to work. Requires a lot more trust than 50 fun doors. Um, it actually means, all right, I'm going to hand this to you and I'm going to let you, um, I'm going to let you open that door and I'm going to trust that we're going to be able to walk through it. And some of you are asking where that was last week. Doctrine and Covenants 112, 19 is the verse that that's in. And I love that someone wrote in the comments, we like to have options, but we only need one that works. And isn't that so interesting to think about trusting God that much that we just need this one door that he's going to open up for us and it's going to actually work. Which is an interesting thought when we were talking about Rhoda, who forgot to open the door, right? And what if that is the lesson for today? What if that is what we need to be thinking about is, have we forgotten to open the door? Is good news knocking? And would this, what President Nelson taught us about engaging and praying and learning to receive personal revelation, is that what it's going to take for us to be able to open that door? So as we think about all of this, as you think about Rhoda and as you think about Elder Amos and as you think about that good news recipe and as you think about President Nelson and what he's teaching us, there's so many things to pull together from this as we think about each of those things and I think for me, the greatest learning has come by thinking, what is the culture that I'm creating right now? What does that actually look like? And what is the recipe? What is the belonging piece? What is the thing that unifies us in our family and in what that's looking like right now. I love the thought of what he taught about that. And then second, that thought of what we learned from Elder Amos, taking the time to pray and to pause and to turn to the scriptures and see if we can't allow the Lord to lead us through that working door. Because I think he will do that. And then that last little bit of good news knocking. And I just love when Rhoda goes up and it tells us in that verse, and she just hearkened to see who it was. And that thought about, are we listening? Are we aware? Are we like prepared for the good news that's waiting at the gate? Are we prepared to actually recognize it and bring it in? So, so many good things to think about. Hard. I mean, it sounds so happy, but it's hard to actually do it, to work through it. But I love the pattern that he's teaching us of how do we encounter the hard situations and actually let the good news in. So lots of good things to think about this week. And maybe it all begins, this is what I'm thinking, with that being really intentional right now about prayer and listening and writing it down. What might we learn in this one week from that invitation from the very end of Elder Amos' talk? So, so many good things. So many promises and we needed a happy talk this week. So, so many good things to think about. Have a really good week. And then I will see you again next week. And hopefully me and Rio are going to get the reading up sooner. It feels like it's going to be a calmer week, but how do you ever know? So, see you next Thursday. 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. you