"Be Not Afraid"

At noon yesterday students filled the chapel of the Institute eager to hear our friend Professor Powell speak. (Actually, I learned at the Forum that he is also the President of a stake here in Cedar City - so I'm going to call him President Powell from here on out.) The gathering opened with a musical number by the Songs of the Heart choir. They were all dressed in their bright green polos, lookin' super sharp. The song the choir sang was pretty awesome and once they were finished, Professor Powell began his talk.

 

From the very beginning he had everyone's attention. He's a pretty loud dude and an animated speaker. Nobody was bored. He had us laughing about his courtship with his wife and the next second captivated by his conversion story. In the introduction of his talk he bore his testimony of the truthfulness of the gospel - something rather unconventional. People usually save that for the end. But what I loved the most about Pres. Powell's talk, was its effectiveness in causing me to be introspective. It motivated me to want to make some changes in my life and that  is what I believe these Forum's are about.

So.... though I didn't plan on it, I have decided to do a little spotlight on the talk and share some of the things Powell said so that those of you that may have missed it can get a little something from it anyway:

WHEN MAKING DECISIONS:

1) Go directly to the Lord.

2) Stop thinking you must be perfect. 

Pres. Powell expounded on the "perfectionism" problem many Latter-day saints face and encouraged us to be O.K. with not always getting everything right in our lives. He warned that many people will hesitate in making a decision because they fear it may not be the right and perfect choice. He bluntly said, "Get over that."

3) Stop taking counsel from your fears.

 I love that he said this. He also shared this quote from President Packer:

 “You must learn to walk to the edge of the light, and then a few steps into the darkness; then the light will appear and show the way before you.”

I'll share one last thing that kind of rang true with me yesterday, too. President Powell quoted that scripture where Jesus says, "Be not afraid." and then the one where he states, "Let not your heart be troubled." Powell explained how we usually understand these phrases as words of comfort to the persons Jesus is speaking to. But, perhaps it is not just that. Perhaps it is a commandment. Jesus is commanding us to let go of fear. I guess I hadn't thought of it like that before and I appreciated Pres. Powell's insight.

There was much more to be taken from the talk, but there ^ is just a little highlight.

After the Forum, Brother Lefevre and his wife handed out ice cream sandwiches and everyone went on with the rest of their Friday - including Professor Powell who literally had to run across the street to get to a class who was waiting for him to show up and teach. 

Friday Forums are awesome. I'm excited to see who the next one will be by. Happy day y'all.