Calling all editors!

The following is the first draft of my ward conference talk to the Relief Society sisters. I will be giving it over and over and over again. I would love it if you would read it, and make comments. Editorialize, as it were....Tell me what parts don't really make sense; don't flow together. You can tell me good things too :o)

It is great to be here with you beautiful sisters today and I’m looking forward to hearing what you have to say about our topic today. What a great topic we have: happiness and rejoicing.
I brought one of my very best friends with me today. Since I met her, my life has changed so much for the better. She has given me insights and directions that keep me going on the right path, and believe me, that makes me very happy. I would like to introduce you to Gia the Guia. (Bring out GPS) I spent a good deal of my life very lost until Santa gave Gia to me a couple of years ago, and I could get really sappy about how happy I am that I have her with me now.
Just as Gia is my tool that points the way as I drive, The Book of Mormon can be an even better friend and tool, that Christ Himself has given us, to point us to Him and the way to be happy.
Not long ago, as I was reading in 2 Nephi chapter 5, verse 27 caught my attention: “And it came to pass that we lived after the manner of happiness.” The manner of happiness. “What is the manner of happiness, and am I living after the manner of happiness?” I asked myself.
Joseph Smith said, “Happiness is the object and design of our existence”. We all want to be happy, right?
I would like to try an experiment with you. I would like to put this little scripture under the microscope and examine it together. I’ll say each word and I would like you to call our synonyms or phrases that come to your mind when you hear the word. In the interest of time, we’re not going to raise hands; just speak up. We’re going to skip over “And it came to pass” and start with

We – (all of us, together)
Lived – (spent our lives, our days, our hours, with friends, family, co-workers)
After – (object of action, following, characteristic manner of, obeying)
The - (only)
Manner – (style, custom, HABIT, behavior, method, pattern)
Of
Happiness (good feeling, joy, contentment, blessed, delight, cheerful

Let’s see what else the Book of Mormon teaches us about happiness. We’ve all seen visual interpretations of Lehi’s dream. Let’s look at it this time through the eyes of “searching for happiness”. We see the traveler (us) holding on the Iron Rod (word of God), wading through the wilderness (the world; our lives) to reach something that seems far away (the tree with fruit). Let’s read again about the tree and the fruit (1 Nephi 8:10): “And it came to pass that I beheld a tree, whose fruit was desirable to make one happy.”
This fruit will make us happy! And we want to be happy, right? Let’s find out more about this fruit. (2 Nephi 2:9) “Wherefore, he (meaning Christ) is the firstfruits unto God, inasmuch as he shall make intercession for all the children of men.” Christ and His atonement is THE fruit that will make us happy. Nothing else will take us there.
A young man was employed by a farmer, who asked the young man to open the headgate for the irrigation water at a specific time: 2 PM. This was a contraption, that included a wheel that looked similar to a steering wheel; all he had to do was turn the wheel, the gears would shift, and the gates would open up to let the water into the irrigation ditches, and send water to the thirsty crops. The young man arrived at the headgate at the appointed time, and went to turn the wheel, but it wouldn’t turn. He pulled and strained, and heaved and huffed, and it would not budge. Time went by; it was now 2:15. The water should have been flowing for 15 minutes by now. He tried everything he could think of. He pounded on it, and eventually ran to get a crowbar and started beating on it, breaking off some of the spokes. It still would not turn. At about 2:45 PM, the farmer drove up to find this young man furious and sweating, and no water in the ditches. “What’s going on?” he asked. “The headgate’s broken. Won’t turn! It’s broken!” “It’s not broken!” the farmer said. He walked over and started turning the wheel, which turned very easily. The young man had been turning it the wrong way! It hadn’t once occurred to him that he was turning it wrong. How long would he have to turn the wheel the wrong way before the water would go through the gates? Forever! It never would have turned. It’s the same thing with happiness. We need to point ourselves to the truth about Christ, His atonement, and God’s laws to get the promised blessings of happiness.
In Mosiah 2: 41 we read: “I would desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending happiness. O remember, remember that these things are true; for the Lord God hath spoken it.” Did you notice that he repeated the word “remember”? That is how we develop those the habits that we talked about earlier.
What are some righteous, obedient habits that we can live that will bring us happiness?
1. Family – father at tree of life, beckoning to fruit
2. Scriptures – help us understand plan of happiness; we don’t know everything, but we know a lot; Sister Beck – we are half of the plan.
3. Prophets – ancient and modern; what are modern prophets telling us?
4. Preparedness: (2 Nephi 5:14) – spiritual, education, cooking, sewing, gardening, reading, music, fun, financial
5. Work: manual labor, sense of accomplishment
6. Temple: teaches of His plan- provides ordinances essential to obtain promised blessings.
7. (Church) service – inside and out of church; look after one another
8. Prayer: President Hunter quoted the Psalmist saying “My voice shalt thou hear in the morning, O Lord; in the morning will I direct my prayer unto thee, and will look up.” Good habit; to look up every morning, in our joys as well as afflictions.

All these habits are easy to acquire and practice, right? They are if we have the desire.
Some of you might know that I play the cello; I’m a cellist with the Loudoun Symphony. Some years ago I was taking a lesson, and having trouble staying in tune. Intonation is a big problem for players of stringed instruments. You have the find the note every time; you can’t just play a key and the note sounds. My teacher was getting a little frustrated with me, and he said, “It’s easy to play in tune; you just have to have the desire.” My first instinct was to say “Yeah, right”. But the more I thought about it, he was absolutely right. If you really want something badly enough, you will do anything to get it. Christ helps us understand what our ultimate desire should be: in 3 Nephi 11:11, He says, "I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning." The desire to obey and submit our will to the Lord's will makes all the difference. Alma shares his testimony of this to us in Alma 32:27: “If ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.” And then the promise in verse 42: “And because of your diligence and your faith, and your patience…by and by ye shall pluck the fruit …which is most precious, which I sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure about all that is pure, and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst.”
I love the Book of Mormon. I testify that it will point us to that most pure fruit, which is Christ, and that knowing the truth about Christ and His atonement makes us happy.