salt talk

Barbara Robarts <motherof8robarts@gmail.com>	Apr 18, 2020, 4:20 PM
to Disney, Ryan, Acadia, Aurora, David, Teresa, Miriam, Ruth, Thomas, Debi, Joseph, Andrew, Benjamin, Bethany, Esther

While my friend Norma and I were FB chatting recently, she mentioned that in the years she had lived where she is now she had never been asked to give a talk until recently.   (she is one of the few people who actually love to give talks)  She was scheduled to speak and then the quarantine, so she didn't.  I asked her what she was going to talk about.  I think she was going to talk about The Proclamation on the Family. Then I asked what was the favorite talk she has given. 

I think Norma told me,instead, about a talk she has thought about and would like to give.  She reminded me of these scriptures

      Matthew 5:13 ¶ Ye are the ^asalt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men.

     Luke 14:34 ¶ ^aSalt is good: but if the ^bsalt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be seasoned?

35 It is neither fit for the land, nor yet for the dunghill; but men cast it out. He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.

    I told her it made me nervous because I am not pure salt. 

She responded: "Knowing that the Savior wants to encourage us and not depress us, I pondered why. President Oaks wrote an article in the Friend about salt in Jesus' time." (I found something in the June 2013 New Era. ) "From that, I thought about the things I know about the properties of salt." (Norma loves science.") In Israel, they still can get salt from areas that have flooded and are drying out. You can mix dirty salt with water. It dissolves , while dirt does not. It will float and can be tilted off or skimmed off. Heat will dry up the water and you will have good salt. "If we have faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, we repent and skim the dirt out of our lives. Baptism with water begins the cleansing process, the Spirit finishes it. Partaking worthy of the Sacrament renews the process. "I don't think Jesus was trying to discourage those of us that are not so pure salt. He wants us to realize that through the action of faith, just like real salt, we can be recovered and made pure by using water (baptism/Sacrament), wind (the Spirit), and the warmth of the sun (Son of God)."

Sounds like a good talk to me. I hope she gives it someday.

The favorite talk I gave was about Corianton, son of Alma. Son of a prophet, sent on a mission, Corianton allowed himself to be distracted. Big time. I have often wondered how the fame of a woman grew so much in a day without the kind of communication we have. I mean everything was word of mouth or written and carried from place to place. I suppose he could have heard travelers talk about her, maybe seen a picture someone had drawn. But it seems strange to me that that would be enough to cause a man to leave his mission and  travel across the country to be with a woman, especially a woman with a bad reputation. He knew he would never be her one true love.  She was not into true love, just "good times" now. But, anyway he left his mission and went off to see Isabel. Alma really tells Corianton off and lets him know how serious his sins were.  Why did Alma rebuke Corianton? He did wrong, but what's done is done, why go on about it?  What was the point of telling him how bad he was?  If he is a loser who has blown his chance at salvation, why bother? Because he could repent and be forgiven!  Because he could be good and clean again!  Corianton repented and was able to be a missionary again and teach people the word of God. Because of the atonement of Jesus Christ, we don't have to  be cast off and forever doomed.  We can repent and be clean again. 

    I see that Norma's talk and my talk were ultimately about the same thing. 

    What is your favorite talk that you have given?  and/ or What is the talk you would like to give? 

     

acadia.roser@yahoo.com	Apr 19, 2020, 1:16 PM (1 day ago)
to me

Happy Sabbath!

I was unaware of the 5 seasons in the Sonoran Desert. That is really interesting, thank you! Recently I learned that the saguaro cactus takes 50 years to develop each arm, so when you see those big cacti with 5 arms then that means they have been around for a very long time! 

My favorite talk was probably my first talk ever when I was 12 about benevolence. It really taught me how to begin your life with Christlike attributes. The talk that I would like to give is about true joy. I will write it and send it to you!

Miriam Robarts	Apr 19, 2020, 7:50 PM (18 hours ago)
to Disney, Ryan, Aurora, David, Teresa, Ruth, Thomas, Debi, Joseph, Andrew, Benjamin, Bethany, Esther, me, Acadia

Those are good talks and they do go together. They could be two parts of one talk.

For my own talk: My favorite is when it's over.