Mormon Conference: Continue in patience, President Uchtdorf
As it happens almost each time, this last General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormon Church) seemed to me to have been the best ever. Others have expressed to me the same feeling.
Several talks were among my favorites, but the one that I was most impressed (or perhaps the one I needed to hear the most) was Continue in Patience by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf.
As a home teacher, that talk was the essence of the message that I was asked to share with one of the families I visit, and that talk was also the first one I felt I should discuss with my family.
President Uchtdorf started it by mentioning a relative old experiment,
In the 1960s, a professor at Stanford University began a modest experiment testing the willpower of four-year-old children. He placed before them a large marshmallow and then told them they could eat it right away or, if they waited for 15 minutes, they could have two marshmallows.
He then left the children alone and watched what happened behind a two-way mirror. Some of the children ate the marshmallow immediately; some could wait only a few minutes before giving in to temptation. Only 30 percent were able to wait.
It was a mildly interesting experiment, and the professor moved on to other areas of research, for, in his own words, “there are only so many things you can do with kids trying not to eat marshmallows.” But as time went on, he kept track of the children and began to notice an interesting correlation: the children who could not wait struggled later in life and had more behavioral problems, while those who waited tended to be more positive and better motivated, have higher grades and incomes, and have healthier relationships.
What started as a simple experiment with children and marshmallows became a landmark study suggesting that the ability to wait—to be patient—was a key character trait that might predict later success in life.
I can honestly say that I had to learn quite a bit of patience during my life, and I also now that I still need to improve. However, at least I understand and believe in this principle and I work hard to improve.
It is important to understand that
patience (is) far more than simply waiting for something to happen—patience required actively working toward worthwhile goals and not getting discouraged when results didn’t appear instantly or without effort.
There is an important concept here: patience is not passive resignation, nor is it failing to act because of our fears. Patience means active waiting and enduring. It means staying with something and doing all that we can—working, hoping, and exercising faith; bearing hardship with fortitude, even when the desires of our hearts are delayed. Patience is not simply enduring; it is enduring well!
and what is impatience then?
Impatience, on the other hand, is a symptom of selfishness. It is a trait of the self-absorbed. It arises from the all-too-prevalent condition called “center of the universe” syndrome, which leads people to believe that the world revolves around them and that all others are just supporting cast in the grand theater of mortality in which only they have the starring role.
Link to the video, Continue in Patience