....................Seek earnestly to discover the talents the Lord has given you. The talents God has given us first become apparent in the interests we pursue. If you are wondering about your talents, make a list of the things you like to do. Include all the activities you enjoy from different dimensions of your life—spiritual, musical, dramatic, academic, athletic, and so on. Study and ponder your patriarchal blessing for insights and inspiration. Consult family members, trusted friends, teachers, and leaders; others often can see in us what we find difficult to see in ourselves.
Sister Rasband, throughout our life together, and Brother Huntsman in my many years of working with him, helped me in this effort. They saw in me gifts and talents that I did not recognize in myself. Choose wisely your friends and mentors, as they will help you identify the gifts and talents you have been blessed with. Listen to your parents and grandparents. They know you well and we are never too old to take the counsel of those who have already travelled the road we are now on.
Eldred G. Smith, former Patriarch to the Church, gave this wonderful counsel: “Everyone has inherent talents. From a study of your [Family History] genealogy, find the talents you have inherited by the things you like to do, and do easily, that some of your ancestors have done. Then become an expert or a specialist in some phase of that field. The Lord will bless your efforts in your studies and in your daily work.”19
................. Let me reassure you my young brothers and sisters, each one of you has been blessed with special talents. Each of you has been blessed with divine talents by our Father in Heaven. He is waiting for you to identify, develop, and magnify those talents He has blessed you with.
..................I remember a wonderful Primary teacher who frequently invited me to read the scriptures in front of the class. I was not comfortable reading in front of the other children. She told me what a nice reading voice I had and how well I read. What she said and the way she encouraged me helped me gain confidence and realize one of my talents from the Lord at an early age. I have often thought since then, that one of her great talents was to help children, especially me at that time, gain the self assurance needed to accomplish, what seemed to be, a very frightening assignment..............
BYU Idaho Devotional
January 25, 2011
Elder Ronald A. Rasband
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