Saturday, December 7, 2013

Entrepreneurial Journal Entry - Week 11



It’s been a crazy week. I’ve been so busy that I haven’t had time to work on school until tonight. So I’ve just been doused in a major amount of incredible information. Most of which I’m still very emotional about. I don’t know what part of this week’s material is best to highlight. It has all been very humbling and inspiring.

We had a great talk given by Muhammad Yunus – Microlending: Toward a Poverty-Free World. I remember reading about him many years ago. I was just as fascinated by his work then as I was tonight. His insight and faith in the ability for us to become a world without poverty is so inspiring. I am amazed the ability for some people to be able to see the big picture and the ability to accomplish it. His work reminded me of President Hinkley’s ability to also see the world free from poverty. It isn’t an undertaking that is possible overnight, but he was able to see steps that can lead to the fulfillment of such a world with the implementation of the Perpetual Education Fund.

We moved from this inspiring article to an incredible talk given by Elder Gay – Entrepreneurship and Consecration. I think it’s safe to say that this is actually a life-changing talk. I talks about no matter how successful we are and what wonderful things we do with our money, if our focus isn’t on what the Lord would have us do, we will not be where the Lord intended us to be. Nor will we be considered successful in an eternal perspective. Our aim must always be to do His will in our temporal and spiritual activities. He shared a great quote that his father had on his wall as he worked as an extremely successful CEO for Howard Hughes:

In the days of service all things are founded.
In the days of special privilege all things are deteriorated.
In the days of vanity all things are destroyed.

He taught that Business has a two-fold purpose:
1.      To provide for our basic needs.
2.      To rescue others as directed by the Lord.

He also shared with us President Monson’s desire for the leaders of the church: He wants them to make their singular priority to awaken in the members of the church the need to rescue. Elder Gay then emphasizes that as we engage in business we need to do so with the intent to help others.
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After this we were given to small videos to watch each of which talked about the importance of our focusing on the intent to help others; to make a difference in the world.

Our material ended with an incredible talk by President Monson – Constant Truths for Changing Times. This talk highlighted many important needs for us to implement in our lives. Some of the needs were: The importance of Family Home Evening and the need to teach our children. To raise them to improve the future of our world. He taught about the need to stay out of debt, live within our means, to not be complacent, to not judge others, to listen and communicate with our children, treat our spouses with respect, be a good example to our kids, learn of our heritage. He also said something I’d like to quote:
Remember that ofttimes the wisdom of God appears as foolishness to men, but the greatest single lesson we can learn in mortality is that when God speaks and a man obeys, that man will always be right.

What an incredible week of uplifting and humbling material to learn from.

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