This spoke to me today

My religion class today was on talents.

I was left feeling kinda...      bwwaaaahhhhg...   

(aka - not so awesome)

I was re-reading some of the material.. and these spoke to me

Elder Marvin J. Ashton of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: 

“One of the great tragedies of life, it seems to me, is when a person classifies himself as someone who has no talents or gifts.  When in disgust or discouragement, we allow ourselves to reach depressive levels of despair because of our demeaning self-appraisal, it is a sad day for us and a sad day in the eyes of God.  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...   

God has given each of us one or more special talents... It is up to each of us to search for and build upon the gifts which God has given.  We must remember that each of us is made in the image of God, that there are no unimportant persons.  Everyone matters to God...”

 Elder M.Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

 “Ask your Heavenly Father to bless you with faith and courage, and He will help you endure any challenges you may face. He will help you overcome loneliness, feelings of desperation and hopelessness, setbacks of a personal, emotional, financial, and even spiritual nature; or will strengthen you when you are simply feeling overwhelmed by all of the demands for your time and attention. He will give you the ability to serve faithfully in every assignment you receive from your local Church leaders. Your faith and your knowledge of the restoration of the gospel will give you the strength to be faithful and true to the covenants you have made with the Lord, and to share your strengths and talents gladly to build up the Kingdom of God here on the Earth! Brothers and sisters, your testimony of Jesus Christ is the most important anchor that you can have to help hold you, steadfast and immovable, to principles of righteousness, regardless of the challenges and temptations that may come in the future.”