Be Prepared

Once upon a time, I was a little girl. (Forever ago, and hard to believe, but yes.) And when I was a little girl, I had to take piano lessons.
OH... how I HATED piano lessons... Practicing, practicing, practicing... It was super frustrating. I would want to do other things, but my parents said...
                               
                                            "NOT UNTIL YOU PRACTICE THE PIANO."

I remember specifically telling them, "Piano is worthless! I will NEVER use it in my life!!" I wanted to quit SO bad!! Honestly truly. And I would have. But they refused to let me. No matter how hard I tried. No matter how hard I begged. No matter how hard I rebelled.
Do you know what they would say to me?

                                                       "YOU'LL THANK US ONE DAY."

The nerve! I thought they were crazy. "That will be the day..." I would think to myself...
...................................................................................................................................................................
THANK YOU, MOM AND DAD, FOR MAKING ME PRACTICE AND FOR NOT ALLOWING ME TO QUIT!!!!! (There. I said it...)
I've played a lot on my mission. I've played for people who needed a last minute pianist. I like to write music. It's my stress reliever. I've played in church. I've played for fun. Piano is worth EVERYTHING to me now.
It's a gift that I treasure.

We all have gifts. And each gift that we have is a gift from our Father in Heaven. And He EXPECTS us to develop them!
This morning, as I was reading the Book of Mormon, I ran across a story that reminded me of my experience learning the piano.  Again, it is still in Mosiah! (I love Mosiah... :) )

BACKTRACK!
In this story, there is a King. His name is Benjamin. He has 3 sons, but I want to focus on Mosiah, I'm guessing he's the oldest son. In Mosiah 1:2-3 (I'm cutting it a little, because I want to show you the cool part.)
"...And he (meaning King Benjamin) caused that they (meaning his sons) should be taught the language of his fathers, that thereby they might become men of understanding...
And he also taught them concerning the records which were engraven on the plates of brass (meaning the scriptures) saying: My sons, I would that ye should remember that were it not for these plate, which contain these records and these commandments, we must have suffered in ignorance, even at this present time, not knowing the mysteries of God."

Think about this for a second... Can you imagine young Mosiah, with his father. I can imagine it...

King Benjamin: Son, it's time for you to do language study.
Young Mosiah: AWWWW DAD!! Not again! I'm TIRED of studying!!! Can I quit??
King Benjamin: Nope! You'll thank me one day...

FAST-FORWARD! (I'm going to try and condense this story as best as I can... Please forgive me!)
Many years later! Young Mosiah is now King Mosiah. He is a righteous king. A smart king! A wise king! And he has the gift of interpretation of languages. (Most likely from PRACTICING all growing up.) And one day, King Mosiah sends some of his best servants to find a specific land.

Long story short (too late...) his servants go out, and they find this land. Not only do they find this land, but they find that there is a group of people there, that are actually their descendants. And not only THAT, but they have MORE RECORDS (scriptures) that they had found... But they cannot understand the language! The servant told this people, that their king knew how to translate and can understand different languages. The group of people were overjoyed, and this is what they said (Mosiah 8:19):

"...Doubtless a great mystery is contained within these plates, and these interpreters were doubtless prepared for the purpose of unfolding all such mysteries to the children of men."

MODERN DAY TRANSLATION: "YES!!! Someone who can translate! And thank goodness he has been prepared to use his gift! It is NO COINCIDENCE!"
And so, it goes on the explain that King Mosiah was able to read the records, and understand them, and translate them. And thus, we have the story of the Brother of Jared in the book of Ether in the Book of Mormon. (Also a fantastic story! READ!)

SO! SHA-BAM! What did I learn from this??
-Heavenly Father has given us ALL gifts that we are expected to use and develop to benefit OTHERS. Not ourselves. And as we use our gifts, we will be able to bear one another burdens, and help each other.

BUT HOLD!! IT'S NOT DONE YET!!!
Think on this:
          WHAT IF MOSIAH HAD NOT DEVELOP HIS TALENT? WHAT IF HE HAD QUIT??
Then it could be possible, that we wouldn't know the story of the Brother of Jared.
Or, even if the Lord had chosen someone else, Mosiah wouldn't have had the opportunity to use his gift.

We all have gifts. And we ALL need to develop them. Everyone has DIFFERENT gifts. Some people have the gift of entertaining. Some have the gift of listening. Some have the gift of compassion and charity. Some have the gift of patience. And there are COUNTLESS others.

So, here's your challenge. Write down some of the gifts you have. Write them down, and think of how you can use them, to benefit someone who is in need today. Be that opportunity to help Heavenly Father. Be dependable. Be that person that can say, "I'm ready. I'm prepared. What do you need me to do?"

Because, I can guarantee you, someone needs you skill.

And, just like I did to my parents, you will thank Heavenly Father for the gifts that He has given you one day.

Mosiah 8:18
"Thus God had provided a means that man, through faith, might work mighty miracles; therefore he becometh a great benefit to his fellow beings."
:)