Elder Christofferson

How lucky is this? I come to Vienna for a semester and an Apostle comes over to talk specifically to the Viennese church members. Elder D. Todd Christofferson came to visit this last week and it was a really neat experience. First of all, I didn't have to fight through crowds to see him, talk to him and shake his hand. He quickly was able to make to rounds and see every person in the building that desired to do so and shook everyone's hand. 

As a young adult, I had the opportunity to see him twice. He was at the young adult Family Home Evening where he gave a lovely message about prayer and the importance of consistently doing the small and simple things. Here were a couple of things that particularly stuck out in my mind as I was listening to him.

:: The best kind of prayer is the kind that is led by the Spirit.

:: Mention specific blessings and not just a generic thanks for them all.

It's hard sometimes for me to have my prayers led by the spirit, especially after a long day when my prayers are inevitably led by how tired I am, which then leads to a generic thanking of the many blessings that I received that day. So, basically, Elder Christofferson really nailed my praying patterns and I'm trying to fix that before he finds anything else to get me on. 

Who could not love this man? Seriously.

The next day, we also had a fireside with all of the members in Vienna at which he spoke. He told us about what President Monson asked him to do during his visit. He says that President Monson is very brief and only has a few things that he wants to get across. All the rest is up to his judgment and how the Spirit directs him. 

The first is the importance of marriage. He said that "the women take a risk marrying the men." Well, I guess that no young ladies have been willing to take the risk with me. Maybe someday.

Another is the importance of family. He really stressed doing the small things such as reading the scriptures and praying together. He promised that if we tried to do these with our families, we would create a bond that will sustain us through the hardest time that are sure to come our way. He mentioned Family Home Evening as a great tool to teach and instruct children, as well as a time to simply just spend time with each other. He quoted that "sometimes it's just a family fight that begins and ends with prayer." I thought that was pretty amusing. I'm blessed to have never had that kind of experience with family home evening at my house (Thanks mom and dad!).

He then addressed "What is our message?". This is a tricky question to be asked by people. He came up with the very simple answer of  "Come and see." The best way to learn about anything is to experience it first hand. 

The last thing that President Monson asked him to talk about is the importance of the Holy Ghost. If we are worthy of the Holy Ghost and are sensitive to his promptings, we will always find ourselves on the right path. He mentioned preparing ourselves each Sunday to partake of the sacrament. By preparing ourselves, we are setting ourselves up to receive help and inspiration from the Holy Ghost. Preparation is key to any spiritual guidance and revelation.