Ajpacaja 5/13/25 T Toc
Guatemalan names and letters5/17/25 Sat. 7:08pm Hello Brandon, tomorrow is Fast Sunday! Yep, the 3rd Sunday of the month. We had stake conference with Elder Morgan the first Sunday. Then Mother’s Day last Sunday. I forgot to start my fast Friday night. Oops. @ Some things are absolutely phenomenal like my stake president and this talk. I am putting it first so you don’t get bored and stop reading. ha. @ I am going to read it again and put my comments in []. Hope you feel uplifted and amazed. Vern
Stake Conference General Session
Pres. Beau Brandon Barney
May 4, 2025
“Finding Joy in the Gospel”
(Fully Engaging in the Gospel)
FLR: Growing up I loved watching College Football and going to the games.
Over the past few years, however, it’s really changed, and I’ve lost a lot of interest in it.
College football has introduced something they refer to as NIL and the Transfer Portal.
For those that may not be familiar, let me explain. College student athletes are now able to receive compensation for
use of their name, image, and likeness. And, if for any reason they are unhappy with their current school, they can
transfer at virtually any time without penalty via the transfer portal. (A player can enter in hopes of making more
money or seeking a better opportunity at another school.)[v-I just learned about this last year. I was absolutely floored! What happened to red shirting and loyalty to your school? gone. . . ]
Recently, a certain football player at a university felt like the grass and the money might be greener at another
university. So, he decided to enter the transfer portal. He felt he could find a more enjoyable experience elsewhere.
Unfortunately, for him, the experiment backfired. He is now at a university where he will end up making only about ½
the money he was earning before, and about ¼ of what he thought he was worth.
Like this transfer portal, I worry that some members of the Church (us or people we love) may not currently be
experiencing the joy of the gospel. They may therefore be tempted to risk stepping out into the world’s “transfer
portal” as it were, seeking joy in something outside the gospel, only to later be disappointed to find that they had
access to the greatest joy all along, but just weren’t choosing to fully experience it.[Brandon, We had 12 people to my class Thursday night. I sent out a reminder of what our study chapters were: 3N1-7 Thursday morning and not one person had anything to share at the beginning of class when we were invited, except for me. So sad.]
For example, when we are baptized, we are baptized by immersion. Symbolically we are committing to be all in with
Jesus Christ and His restored gospel—fully immersed. We committed then to stand as witnesses of God at all times,
and in all things, and in all places that we may be in even until death. We committed to be life-long disciples who
were all in. However, we may not have completely understood the significance of that covenant. And if we’re not
careful, we could go through the motions learning only the dance steps of the gospel, yet not experiencing the music
or the joy of the gospel in our lives.[B, I found a movie called ALL IN on youtube. I did not send it to Roger Eves, but I did send him a text during this talk because he loves the phrases: I’m engaged, I’m all in. All in, is so cool. And so simple to say! After Stake Conference I asked him how many times he must have come to my mind if it happened everytime I heard, all in.]
Brothers and Sisters, there is so much joy to be had in the gospel of Jesus Christ. Today I’d like to speak of just a
couple of ways we can choose to be all in and therefore experience the joy of the gospel fully in our lives.
Before I do however, I would like to acknowledge the reality that many struggle with a variety of mental health issues
and may struggle to feel anything at times,[Thank you, thank you BBB! This has been me my whole life as far as the HG is concerned!] especially joy. My heart goes out to you dear souls whom I love so much.
Therefore, I want to be very clear. Today I am not talking only about feeling joy, but about experiencing joy.
Let me explain, throughout the scriptures we see people who experience the joy of the gospel in a variety of ways. In
D&C 8:2-3 the Lord Himself tell us that He will tell us in our minds and our hearts by the Holy Ghost which shall
come upon you and which shall dwell in our hearts. Now, behold, this is the Spirit of revelation. The Lord wants all of
us to hear Him. He desires to reveal His will, His love, and His truth to all of us and He does so in a variety of ways.
Far too often we talk only about feeling the Spirit. But we don’t often talk about thinking the Spirit. Much of how the
Lord chooses to communicate to us is through the thoughts and impressions in our minds, not only in our hearts or
through our feelings. I testify that we can experience the joy of the gospel regardless of our circumstances. As
President Nelson has said:
President Nelson: When the focus of our lives is on Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what
is happening—or not happening—in our lives.[This really opened my mind Brandon. I am living in joy. Living in the gospel is having the blessing of joy all around us whether or not we feel it. It is a place, a life style, a culture, and for some a feeling.] (Joy and Spiritual Survival)
Today I could talk about the joy of worship, scripture study, sacrament, temple, and a host of other things that will
allow each of us to experience joy in the gospel more fully as we take the time to make those things a priority. But
today because of time I simple want to talk about:
The Joy of Covenant Belonging
(Belonging-Identity, choosing to be a disciple, serve-outward focus)[Covenant confidence-Soares-v]
Brothers and Sisters, I worry that some people may feel like they have to be perfect to be a member of this church.
They may even feel like they somehow don’t fit in at church or don’t feel like they belong because they feel like they
don’t fit some ideal latter day saint mold, because of marital status, family situation, personal struggles, etc.[B, I just sent that thought to Mike & Julie Stauffer who have been inactive because of a dependency on alcohol. They are my back door neighbors and we have been friends for 30+ years.]
Elder Uchtdorf:
…if you ever feel like you don’t quite fit in, please know that you are not alone.
At a time when I desperately needed friendship and belonging, I felt lonely and displaced.
Here on earth, most of the differences we notice—the differences some of us use to categorize each other—have to
do with earthly things: physical appearance, nationality, language, clothing, customs, and so on.
But “God does not view things the way people do. People look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the
heart.”
From His perspective, there is one category that comes before all others: child of God. And we all fit perfectly in this
one. (Elder Uchtdorf, April 2025, GC)
Elder Kearon: (Added)
You are a child of God. This is not just a nice song we sing. Will you please accept, open, and receive this gift of
knowledge and understanding from Him? Will you hold it close as the precious treasure it is? Re-receive this gift, or
perhaps truly receive it for the very first time, and let it transform every aspect of your life. This is the more excellent
way God has prepared for you through the gift of His Son. You really are that you might have joy! (April 2025)[This is one I really struggle with. I know you do/did too.]
One of my favorite scriptural examples of this is the story of the Samaritan woman at the well in John 4.
John 4 (The Woman at the Well)
v.4 (Must needs go through Samaria) -Jesus purposely went out of His to meet her where she was.
v.6 (6 th hour) noon (Hiding from everyone else, didn’t fit in with the other women, society, etc.)
v.7 A woman, of Samaria (lowest possible social status at the time)
v.13-19 (There’s no lasting substance or joy in what the world has to offer) The only true, lasting belonging and joy
comes through Jesus Christ and His gospel.
Where did this woman seek belonging? Where did she actually find it?
v.25-26 (We must come to recognize Him for who He truly is)
v.28-29, 39, 41-42 (As we come to discover true belonging in the Savior, we will leave the things of the world behind
and invite others to come and see and belong for themselves).[v-Come and see, come and belong, come and serve. B, KarenJane knows you love to serve.]
Elder Holland: With divine imperatives of love and faith, repentance and compassion, honesty and forgiveness,
there is room in this choir for all who wish to be there. “Come as you are,” a loving Father says to each of us, but He
adds, “Don’t plan to stay as you are.” We smile and remember that God is determined to make of us more than we
thought we could be. (“Songs Sung and Unsung”, April 2017, GC)[I smiled when he said, We smile. ha]
Recent Experience in the Temple: I recently had an experience in the temple that may seem simple, but it was
absolutely profound for me.[I love the word absolutely. I use it for emphasis.] I was performing the initiatory ordinance for some of my ancestors. Two of the ordinance
workers were young men. I know one and had recognized the other from previous temple experiences. One of the
young men struggles with feelings of same gender attraction yet chooses not to act on those feelings and obeys the
law of chastity. The other young man has a deteriorating brain disease. Much of his normal functionality continues to
decline over time. He wears glasses because his eyesight is deteriorating. He has to talk more slowly, because his
speech is declining, and this most recent time I noticed he was using a cane and was struggling significantly with his
balance, where he hadn’t the last time I saw him in the temple. He told me that this was a more recent struggle, but
that it wasn’t a big deal. He didn’t complain about his condition or his circumstance. Instead, both young men are
finding great joy in serving and belonging in the temple and witnessing that brought me such great joy. I truly stood
on holy ground.[Can you hear the intensity in his words, Brandon. near tears.]
Sister Camille N. Johnson: Testified: (We) can be whole while (we) wait for healing if (we) are wholehearted in our
relationship with Him. (April 2025 GC) In other words, we can be perfect in Christ (in our covenant relationship with
Him right now), until one day we can eventually be perfect like Christ. [phenomenal! another word fave.]
President Nelson: “Every man and every woman who participates in priesthood ordinances and who makes and
keeps covenants with God has direct access to the power of God.”[i love god’s power!]
Elder Holland:
“The FUTURE of this world has long been DECLARED; the final outcome between GOOD and evil is already
KNOWN. There is absolutely no question as to who WINS because the VICTORY has already been posted on the
SCOREBOARD. The only really strange thing is all of this is that we are still down here on the FIELD trying to decide
which TEAM’S JERSEY we want to wear!”[giggle]
Elder Maxwell: Let us once and for all establish our residence in Zion and give up the summer cottage in
Babylon.
Conclusion: My dear Brothers and Sisters, may we be unashamed to wear the Lord’s jersey, to be different than the
world so we can make a difference in the world as lifelong disciples of Jesus Christ. Let us leave our worldly
“waterpots” behind.[woman at the well reference]
I testify of the joy we all can experience in the gospel of Jesus Christ regardless of our current circumstances. If we
will make the time to truly worship Him through our studying of the scriptures, as we gather together each Sabbath
day to partake of the ordinance of the sacrament, and as we worship in His holy house, I testify that we will receive a
much better NIL deal. As we take His name upon us, have His image engraven in our countenance, when He
appears we will be like Him.[wow, what a brilliant connection he made!] We will be joint heirs with Him in receiving all that the Father hath. This is something the
world simply cannot offer us.
My dear Brothers and Sisters, may we choose not to sell our birthright blessings for a mess of worldly pottage.
Instead, may we step fully into the transformational portal that is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. [transformational portal, is this as good as I said it was?] I testify you will be
transformed, and you will never hunger or thirst for anything else. I so testify humbly in the sacred name of Jesus the
Christ. Amen.[7:50 I loved it Brandon. I loved travelling/journeying through it again with you. :)] Next, here are the things I thought work recording in the last 6 weeks.] @@@
