Gary Palmer's Challenge

I am been seeking patiently to see who would have the faith to give me something to update our blog with for a while. Many honorable people have come and gone, but Gary Palmer, a high counsel member, had the faith to inspire this entry, which I hope will more fully cement the principles and admonitions that he taught. I was impressed at how he seemed to hearken to the commandments of our Stake President to express his love for our diligence in the Gospel, the building of God's Kingdom on Earth. The talk that he was assigned to review with the Ocean Branch was spoken in General Conference last October by Robert D. Hales, which he titled "Waiting upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done." I have found that not many people type up their talks, with is good, showing their faith in the Gift of the Holy Ghost, but I want to publish the talks which are hidden in our computers, since they were told only once or so. If you have talks, you can send them to me. I am alexnhicken@gmail.com.
Waiting upon the Lord is an interesting idea. Apostle Elder Hales explained.


"What, then, does it mean to wait upon the Lord? In the scriptures, the word wait means to hope, to anticipate, and to trust. To hope and trust in the Lord requires faith, patience, humility, meekness, long-suffering, keeping the commandments, and enduring to the end.
To wait upon the Lord means planting the seed of faith and nourishing it “with great diligence, and … patience."


Expounding on the topic, Gary explain the mindset learned by, the President of the Quorum of the Apostles, Boyd K. Packer. "Do whatever you want Lord. Here I am."
Jesus Christ is the greatest example of this topic, suffering everything that man can do to him without murmuring or rebelling against his Heavenly Father.

"He exercises His agency to accept and carry out our Heavenly Father’s plan. The scriptures teach us that through His youth, He went “about [His] Father’s business” and “waited upon the Lord for the time of his ministry to come.” At the age of 30, He suffered sore temptation yet chose to resist, saying, “Get thee behind me, Satan.” In Gethsemane, He trusted His Father, declaring, “Nevertheless not my will, but thine, be done,” and then He exercised His agency to suffer for our sins. Through the humiliation of a public trial and the agony of crucifixion, He waited upon His Father, willing to be “wounded for our transgressions … [and] bruised for our iniquities.” Even as He cried out, “My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?” He waited upon His Father—exercising His agency to forgive His enemies, see that His mother was watched over, and endure to the end until His life and mortal mission were finished."


A main principle expounded up is living in our difficult trials of life, trusting that God's wisdom is good for us. When Joseph Smith was falsely accused and thrown in Liberty Jail, he questioned "O God, where art thou?" He had suffered for months away from his family and friends with horrible situation of a frozen shelter in winter and very poor living conditions. God did comfort him, answering his prayer in Doctrine and Covenants section 121. I wish to quote parts of it, but I don't want miss the depiction of the greatest love and compassion of our Heavenly Father.
The pioneers of our church are exemplar of the fruits of waiting upon the Lord. The saints settled in multiple cities, looking for the promised safety, but their adversaries sought to drive them out of all their homes. The faith of the Saints were tested and proven faithful to build high on the mountain top the temples of our God. The wisdom of the Martin handcart company is always question, since they would have failed to arrive in Utah in the depths of winter, but God was with those most faithful saints all the way. Gary Palmer spoke of a church film, showing seventeen miracles for them.
We may question many thing that happen in life. Why me?

"As we ask these questions, we realize that the purpose of our life on earth is to grow, develop, and be strengthened through our own experiences. How do we do this? The scriptures give us an answer in one simple phrase: we “wait upon the Lord.” Tests and trials are given to all of us. These mortal challenges allow us and our Heavenly Father to see whether we will exercise our agency to follow His Son. He already knows, and we have the opportunity to learn, that no matter how difficult our circumstances, “all these things shall [be for our] experience, and … [our] good.”

Concluding his talk, Gary Palmer committed us to study the great scriptures that Elder Hales quoted in his speech. There is 47 of them. They are full of the wisdom of God, and the pondering thereof will bless your life. He invited us to record our revelation in our study of each one. I will put the references in this document to conclude this article.



1.  Moses 4:2.


2.  Luke 2:49.


3.  Joseph Smith Translation, Matthew 3:24, in Bible appendix.


4.  Luke 4:8.


5.  Luke 22:42.


6.  Isaiah 53:5; Mosiah 14:5.


7.  Matthew 27:46; Mark 15:34.


8. See Luke 23:34.


9. See John 19:27.


10. See John 19:30.


11.  Doctrine and Covenants 121:1.


12.  Psalm 37:9; 123:2; Isaiah 8:17; 40:31; 2 Nephi 18:17.


13.  Doctrine and Covenants 122:7.


14.  Doctrine and Covenants 121:1.


15.  Psalm 30:5.


16.  Matthew 6:10; 3 Nephi 13:10; see also Matthew 26:39.


17.  Alma 32:41.


18.  Matthew 6:10; Luke 11:2.


19.  2 Nephi 32:5.


20.  Romans 5:3.


21.  Doctrine and Covenants 67:13.


22.  Alma 45:17.


23.  2 Nephi 31:20.


24.  Moroni 6:4.


25.  Doctrine and Covenants 109:44.


26.  Alma 1:25.


27.  Alma 34:41.


28.  Hebrews 10:35.


29.  Doctrine and Covenants 98:3.


30.  Job 19:25–26.


31.  Job 13:15.


32.  2 Nephi 28:30.


33.  2 Nephi 28:30.


34.  Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay (2003), xviii.


35.  Matthew 25:40.


36.  Mosiah 3:19.


37.  Matthew 26:38; see also verses 39–45.


38.  Alma 7:11.


39. See Luke 22:43.


40. “In Memory of the Crucified,” Hymns, no. 190; see also 3 Nephi 11:11; Doctrine and Covenants 19:18–19.


41.  Matthew 26:42.


42. See Doctrine and Covenants 76:107; 88:106; 133:50.


43. “Where Can I Turn for Peace?” Hymns, no. 129.


44.  Psalm 121:4.


45.  Doctrine and Covenants 84:88.


46.  Isaiah 40:31.


47.  Matthew 26:42.