Magnify your calling Highland Point (Cottonwood 5th) Sept. 4th

A mother, wishing to encourage her young son’s progress at the piano, bought tickets to a professional piano performance. When the evening arrived, they found their seats near the front of the concert hall and eyed the majestic Steinway waiting on stage. Soon the mother found a friend to talk to and the boy slipped away. At eight o’clock, the lights in the auditorium began to dim, the spotlights came on, and only then did they notice the boy, up on the bench, innocently picking out “Twinkle, Twinkle, Little Star.”

His mother gasped, but before she could retrieve her son, the master appeared on stage and quickly moved to the keyboard. He whispered to the boy: “Don’t quit—keep playing.” Leaning over, the pianist reached down with his left hand and began filling the bass part. Soon his right arm reach around the other side, encircling the child, and he improvised a delightful obligato. Together the old master and the young novice held the crowd mesmerized.

In our lives, unpolished though they may be, it is the master who surrounds us, and whispers in our ear time and again: “Don’t quit—keep playing.” And as we do, he augments and supplements until a work of amazing beauty is created.
Good Morning Brothers and Sisters. My name is Jasmine Dickerson. At the request of my husband I’m going to take a few minutes to introduce our family. My husband’s name is Taylor and my son’s name is Brayden. I like cheese enchiladas, scrap booking, and the color red. Taylor likes dishes with pumpkin it them, Kenpo karate and the color blue. We both love to play games. Brayden came into our family on the Fourth of July, 2003. He is perfecting his ability to walk and has recently discovered he likes hard-core sugar such as that found in smarties. He enjoys playing with other little people, especially when they have toys he hasn’t seen before.
Taylor and I have been married for five years. We met on a blind date that actually worked. This fact is even more impressive if you know that the date took place three days after Taylor returned from his mission. I don’t know if any of you remember what you were like right after coming home from a mission. Taylor had the privilege of serving in Tacloban Phillipines, were he wasn’t so fond of the food. We doubled with another couple and for our date the girls took the guys (both recently returned missionaries) to the grocery store to let them choose anything that they wanted us to cook for dinner. Sometimes I still marvel that we had a second date even though I saw Taylor actually hug a box of dried scalloped potatoes and drool over grapes on our first date.
Luckily, we did have that second date and we were serious about six months later, but we had to put a hold on the dating while I spent a semester at the BYU Jerusalem center. Once I got back, we were engaged and then married about a year after we met.
Taylor studied pre-physical therapy at UVSC and I graduated from BYU with a degree in Business Finance. Taylor is currently pursuing a clinical doctorate in Physical Therapy at the University of Utah and I graduated from the U with my Master’s in Business last May. We have just moved from Holliday and are pleased to find ourselves in the Highland Pointe apartments and in this ward.
One of the first things we noticed about this ward was the friendliness. The second thing we noticed was that it seemed most people were new to their calling. Maybe that’s why the bishopric suggested we speak on service or magnifying our callings. Or maybe, he asked us to speak on this topic because he had just given us new callings and wanted to make sure we got the point.
Elder Henry B. Eyring points out three things to remember about our callings. The first is that Callings are from God, the second, we can use personal revelation in our callings, and the third, The Lord will magnify us as we magnify our responsibilities.
1. “First,” Elder Eyring declares, “you are called of God. The Lord knows you. He knows whom He would have serve in every position in His Church. He chose you. He has prepared a way so that He could issue your call. The person who was inspired to recommend you for this call didn’t do it because they liked you or because they needed someone to do a particular task. They prayed and felt an answer that you were the one to be called.”
As we read in Article of Faith number five, “We believe that a man must be called of God, by Prophecy and by the laying on of hands by those who are in authority to preach the Gospel and administer in the ordinances thereof.”
Isn’t it awesome that we can know our callings are from God? We have the blessing of knowing, just as modern and acient prophets that God is taking a role in our lives. We learn from the scriptures the importance of knowing the Divine Nature of our callings. Paul had a testimony of the divine nature of his calling, He declared that God “hath saved us, and called us with an holy calling, not according to our works, but according to his own purpose and grace, which was given us in Christ Jesus before the world began” (2 Tim. 1:9). Nephi declared that he could do what ever God commanded, for he knew that God would prepare a way for him to accomplish the thing which had been commanded (1 Nephi 3:7). And once Alma the Younger was convinced that he had a divine calling to share the gospel, he was able to covert the most humble of the Nephites.
Elder Eyring expands on the idea of being called of God by explaining “You are called to represent the Savior. Your voice to testify becomes the same as His voice, your hands to lift the same as His hands. Further, “Your call has eternal consequences for others and for you. In the world to come, thousands may call your name blessed, even more than the people you serve here. They will be the ancestors and the descendants of those who chose eternal life because of something you said or did, or even what you were.”
President John Taylor also cautioned us about the eternal nature of our callings, “If you do not magnify your calling, God will hold you responsible for those you might have saved, had you done your duty.” (Monson, Ensign 1986)
So our callings, which are from God are eternal in nature. Have you ever stopped to think that the posterity of the person you are teaching in Sunday school might thank you for what you have done? Or that the future children of the young man or young woman you invite to activities will be grateful? Who knows? The grandchildren of the person you home or visit teach may thank you. My grandfather was baptized in his 60’s and now has served two missions not only am I thankful for the home teachers that played a role in his conversion, but those he has served with in the mission field can also thank those who fulfilled their callings.
2….The second thing Elder Eyring points out is “The Lord will guide you by revelation just as He called you. But that guidance will come only when the Lord is sure you will obey. To know His will you must be committed to do it. The words “Thy will be done,” written in the heart, are the window to revelation.”
Boyd K Packer says (Nov 1994 Ensign). “You have your agency, and inspiration does not—perhaps cannot—flow unless you ask for it, or someone asks for you. No message in scripture is repeated more often than the invitation, even the command, to pray—to ask. Prayer is so essential a part of revelation that without it the veil may remain closed to you. Learn to pray. Pray often. Pray in your mind, in your heart. Pray on your knees.”
So, personal revelation is a key in knowing how to serve those we are called to serve. In order to receive that revelation we must pray and then listen for the answers. How will the answers come?
The first way answers come to us is through the Holy Spirit. This is a guidance we can count on if we are searching and listening. The second way answers come is through the scriptures allow us to study the live of the Savior and some of his most devoted servants. Eyring says [The scriptures] have doctrine in them which will apply in every time and every situation. Pondering the scriptures will lead you to ask the right questions in prayer. And just as surely as the heavens were opened to Joseph Smith after he pondered the scriptures in faith, God will answer your prayers and He will lead you by the hand.”
Personal revelation can come in many different ways. My last calling was in the primary presidency. I taught sharing time the first Sunday of each month, which meant it was my responsibility to introduce the monthly theme. I know that some teaching ideas I used are ones I would not thought of, had I not asked my Heavenly Father for help and then study church materials.
3. The third thing president Eyring wants us to remember is “Just as God called you and will guide you, He will magnify you. You will need that magnification. Your calling will surely bring opposition. You are in the Master’s service. Eternal lives depend on you. [The Lord] said that facing opposition would be the lot of those He called. The forces arrayed against you will try not only to frustrate your work but to bring you down.
We are blessed when we magnify our callings. One example of this is the Brother of Jared. He was called by the Lord to lead a group to the Promised Land and he did all that he could to fulfill this calling. As part of his responsibilities, he was commanded to find a way to get air and light for the barges that would carry them across the sea. He prayed for an answer. The Lord told him how to get air into the barges and then magnified the Brother of Jared, perhaps through pondering or scripture study, and a solution was found in 16 small, white, clear stones, which were touched by the finger and the power of God to shine forth in darkness. These stones allowed the Brother of Jared to further carry out his calling. (Either 3:1-6)
Perhaps the phrase You don’t realize what you have until it is gone” applies here. Elder Eyring tells this story: “On the day I was released as a bishop, one of the ward members came to my home afterwards and said: “I know you are no longer my bishop, but could we talk just one more time? You have always spoken words I needed and given me such good counsel. The new bishop doesn’t know me the way you do. Could we just talk one more time?”
Reluctantly I agreed. The member sat down in a chair opposite mine. It seemed to be just as it had been in the hundreds of times I had interviewed members of the ward as a judge in Israel. The conversation began. There came the moment when counsel was needed. I waited for the ideas, the words, and the feelings to flow into my mind, as they always had.
Nothing came. In my heart and mind there was only silence. After a few moments, I said: “I’m sorry. I appreciate your kindness and your trust. But I’m afraid I can’t help you.”
When you are released from your calling, you will learn what I learned then. God magnifies those He calls, even in what may seem to you a small or inconspicuous service. You will have the gift of seeing your service magnified. Give thanks while that gift is yours. You will appreciate its worth more than you can imagine when it is gone.”
As Elder Eyring explains, callings of all kinds come with great blessings. Even those of us without a formal calling, can magnify our efforts. Perhaps you have been called to be a mother or a father or a spouse, or maybe, your calling at this time is to endure to the end. We read in D&C 4:3 “Therefore if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work.”

Brothers and sisters, we all have a calling. In fact many of us have more than one. How overwhelming it is to think of magnifying all of those callings and responsibilities we have been given. In the story of the small child at the piano, the audience is captivated by the combined performance of the boy and the master. I testify that to our Savior each one of us is unique. Each one of us has unique talents that we can share with others. We are given callings to help ourselves and others grow. Although at times, we feel that our efforts are merely an attempt at playing a song on the piano, If we can just muster enough strength to plunk out “Twinkle, Twinkle little star to the very best of our ability, the rest will come.