Welcome to winter semester 2019.
We hope you had a wonderful Christmas and that you have a prosperous year.
On Christmas Eve several years ago, the Kim family, who were members of our ward, stopped
by our home to give us a gift.
They are from Korea, and they are incredibly talented.
Sister Kim is a pianist, Brother Kim plays the flute, and each of their children play
a stringed instrument.
They are all accomplished musicians.
That Christmas Eve they entered our home with their instruments in tow—with the exception
of Sister Kim, who used our piano.
Their gift to us was a musical performance of Christmas carols in our living room.
Words cannot adequately express how beautiful and heavenly it was.
I have to admit that I was a little sad when they concluded their performance.
Imagine my joy when the following Christmas Eve, the Kim family stopped by our home to
perform again!
This time, however, when they were packing up their instruments to leave, Brother Kim
informed us that they would return the following Christmas Eve to perform, but they expected
us to be prepared to perform something for them.
Of course we wanted them to return, so we agreed.
After they left our home, Kevin and I quickly assessed our situation.
We had one year to come up with something very special that we could perform for the
Kim family, and we knew that, in reality, we really needed much longer than a year!
After some thought, however, Kevin and I decided that we could sing a Christmas carol for them
in Korean.
We chose “Silent Night” because it was one song I thought I could play on the piano
while everyone else sang.
Then we asked a friend who had served his mission in Korea to write out the Korean words
for “Silent Night” phonetically so that we would at least have a chance of pronouncing
the Korean words correctly.
When the next Christmas Eve arrived, our little choir—which consisted of our family and
friends who were at our home that night—practiced the song a few times before the Kims arrived.
We were as prepared as we could be for our performance.
The Kims arrived, and after we had waited a whole year, it was finally time for us to
perform for them.
I sat down nervously at the piano and began playing, and our choir began singing “Silent
Night” in Korean.
We managed to get through the first line of the song just fine.
The Kims sat and listened politely.
Then we made it through the second line just fine too.
The Kims sat with pleasant looks on their faces.
I knew that we were on the home stretch, and I was feeling pretty good about our performance.
And that is when it ­happened—the part of “Silent Night” that goes “sleep in
heavenly peace” (Hymns, 2002, no.
204).
Well, as soon as the choir sang the word sleep, every member of the Kim family—who had been
sitting there watching and listening to us very quietly, respectfully, and graciously—burst
out in delightful glee.
It was at that moment the Kim family realized we were singing in Korean.
Evidently, prior to that moment they had had no idea what language we were attempting to
sing.
There are people we know who have gifts and talents that are very obvious—like the Kim
­family—and others, like us, whose gifts and talents may not be so obvious.
For example, we obviously had neither the gift of music nor the gift of tongues, but
we still had the gift to appreciate the music and the talents of others.
Whether they are obvious or not, however, we have all been given gifts and talents.
As stated in section 46 of the Doctrine and Covenants:
There are many gifts, and to every man is given a gift by the Spirit of God.
To some is given one, and to some is given another, that all may be profited thereby.
Note that no one is excluded.
“Every man [and woman] is given” at least one gift—and likely many more.
One of the things I would urge you to do this semester is to seek to discover and develop
previously undiscovered gifts you may possess.
Section 46 of the Doctrine and Covenants lists a number of specific gifts that God’s children
may be given:
To some it is given by the Holy Ghost to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God.
To others it is given to believe on their words.
. . . To some it is given . . . to know the differences of administration.
And again, it is given . . . to some to know the diversities of operations.
And again, . . . to some is given . . . the word of wisdom.
To another is given the word of knowledge.
And again, to some it is given to have faith to be healed;
And to others it is given to have faith to heal.
And again, to some is given the working of miracles;
And to others it is given to prophesy;
And to others the discerning of spirits.
And again, it is given to some to speak with tongues;
And to another is given the interpretation of tongues.
The list is quite extensive—long enough to give us hope that we might have at least
one of those gifts.
But it is clear that as long as that list is, it is not exhaustive.
Elder Marvin J. Ashton taught that there are other gifts that are “not so evident but
nevertheless real and valuable.”
Among the “less-conspicuous gifts” Elder Ashton identified were
the gift of asking; the gift of listening; the gift of hearing and using a still, small
voice; the gift of being able to weep; the gift of avoiding contention; the gift of being
agreeable; the gift of avoiding vain repetition; the gift of seeking that which is righteous;
the gift of not passing judgment; the gift of looking to God for guidance; the gift of
being a disciple; the gift of caring for others; the gift of being able to ponder; the gift
of offering prayer; [and] the gift of bearing a mighty testimony.
I am confident that there are even more of these kinds of overlooked and underappreciated
gifts given to each of us.
As Bruce R. McConkie once stated, “Spiritual gifts are endless in number and infinite in
variety."
So the question is, How do we find and develop our particular talents, especially those we
may not be currently aware of?
The Doctrine and Covenants provides two keys to this endeavor.
First, we are to “seek . . . earnestly the best gifts."
We can pray and ask God to help us discover and develop our gifts.
One way to do that is by being more aware of the things in which we need to progress
and by asking God directly for help in recognizing and responding to that need.
President George Q. Cannon admonished:
If any of us are imperfect, it is our duty to pray for the gift that will make us perfect.
. . . No man ought to say, “Oh, I cannot help this; it is my nature.”
He is not justified in it, for the reason that God has promised to give strength to
correct these things, and to give gifts that will eradicate them.
If a man lack wisdom, it is his duty to ask God for wisdom.
We were fortunate to have our family with us during the Christmas holiday.
Our six-year-old granddaughter Ainsley was always willing to bless the food when asked.
I noticed that each time she prayed, she would include in her prayer, “Please bless me
with the gift of honesty.”
When I asked for her permission to use her example in my talk, I inquired why she was
asking for this particular gift.
She told me that she was having a problem with telling the truth and that her father
had told her that she could pray for help.
She excitedly told me that since she has been praying for the gift of honesty, she is doing
much better at telling the truth.
Not only is she gaining the gift of honesty through her earnest plea for help, she is
gaining the gift of faith in knowing that her prayers will be answered as she puts her
trust in Heavenly Father.
Earnestly seeking to know what gifts we need by asking God will often help us discover
and develop previously unknown gifts that God is willing to bless us with.
The scriptures indicate that in addition to seeking earnestly after our unique gifts,
we need to “always [remember] for what they are given,” which the Lord says is “for
the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh
so to do; . . . that all may be profited thereby."
Our gifts are given to benefit others.
If we want to discover and develop our gifts, we have to be willing to share them with others.
The Kim family was blessed with the gift of music in such great measure in part because
they were willing to share it with others, including those, like us, who lacked that
particular gift.
As we look for opportunities to uplift and bless others, we will likely find new gifts
and talents that are lying ­dormant and just waiting to be discovered through service.
Finally, one of the things that may keep us from discovering and developing our gifts
is that we sometimes unfairly compare our seemingly inadequate talents to the refined
gifts of others.
Elder Ashton made this observation:
One of the great tragedies of life . . . is when a person classifies himself as someone
who has no talents or gifts.
. . . For us to conclude that we have no gifts when we judge ourselves by stature, intelligence,
grade point average, wealth, power, position, or external appearance is not only unfair
but unreasonable.
Our experience with the Kims made it clear that we did not have the same gift of music
that they had developed so well.
However, we could still appreciate and be uplifted by the beautiful music that the Kims
shared, and that was its own gift that edified both us and the Kims.
May we all experience the joy of discovering and developing the many gifts God has granted
us individually is my prayer, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.