In 2011 President Dallin H. Oaks gave a talk called Desires.

In it he explains that “desires

dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices and choices determine our actions” or our
agency. Desires really do go hand and hand with agency. When we have righteous desires, we
choose righteous things. When Aaron was teaching the Lamanite King, the king asked “What
shall I do that I may be born of God” and “have this eternal life?” (Alma 22:15). Aaron replied, “If
thou desirest this thing, … if thou wilt repent of all thy sins, and will bow down before God, and
call on his name in faith, believing that ye shall receive, then shalt thou receive the hope which
thou desirest”. Righteous desires help cultivate righteous faithfulness which turns into righteous
action. By actively seeking out the Lord, we shift into a righteous mindset, through that we
NEED to actively seek out the Lord. In Psalm 37:4 it reads “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and
he shall give thee the desires of thine heart”. So when we act in faith with righteous desire, the
Lord blesses us.
Now I was to shift my talk a little bit and talk to the youth. As a youth, I know many and have
experienced myself the feelings of great inadequacy. I think sometimes we feel like we need to
be constantly doing 100% in the gospel and the church. and then when we slip up, we feel
unworthy and get really discouraged. And that is where I have seen a lot of youth leave the
church. They feel like they won’t be enough and they can’t get it right so the church just must
not be right for them. Watching this breaks my heart because this mindset is just not true. In
Alma 32: 27 it reads “But behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an
experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even 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.” The Lord knows us. He knows us so well. He knows that we
are going to slip up and mess up and sin all the time. So all he asks is for just a desire. Just to
start with the smallest desire to believe. The reason he’s asking this is because he knows that if
we keep that small desire to believe, that desire will turn in to faith that gets larger and then
ultimate turns into action. The righteous action that leads us closer to Christ. All the Lord asks is
for us to strive to believe. As long as we seek to desire and try to let it as alma says “work in us”
the Lord will make up the difference and help us grow our capacity for faith, hope and charity. As
longs as we seek to do so. Brad Wilcox said “The Lord has said the gifts of the Spirit are “given
for the benefit of those who love me and keep all my commandments, and him that seeketh so
to do.” So not just those who act, but those who seek to act. I have a little story about desires.
So this year is my senior year, and I am in the theater’s department at my school. Ever since I
was younger my biggest goal for theater was to get the lead role in my senior year musical. So
as this years musical was announced and the auditions approached. I found myself tell my mom
often “ I’ve never wanted something so bad” I had such a staring desire to get this part. That
strong desire turned into great action. I worked so hard on learn all I could about the musical,
preparing my voice to be able to sing the role and etc. So I know I had to prepare physically and
mentally for this audition. But I also knew that I had to prepare spiritually. I had this huge desire
to get the role, but I had a higher desire to align my will with the Lords. I knew that if I prepared
myself by truly tried to gain an eternal perspective and really really trying to align myself with the
Lords will that whether I got the part or not, I would be okay. And I walked into that audition with
full peace of mind knowing that I had done all I could do. I had latex if our in the table and now it
was the Lords will that was stepping in. I ended up getting the part and the Lord blesses me in
so many way through that process. Now I believe that my desire to work hard and to get the role
was a righteous desire. The lord had blessed me with talents that I was able to cultivate and
grow. But sometimes we may have some righteous desires that don’t end up happening. And
that is why it is imperative that we align our will with the Lords. Because when we do, no matter
the outcome, we will be okay and we gain that eternal perspective. I am so grateful for this
gospel and I am so grateful for the Savior in my life. He helps me cultivate those righteous
desires that turn into righteous actions that ultimately return us to our father in
heaven….testimony