Spiritual Gifts

In this episode, Cydni and Sher explore a variety of spiritual gifts and how to recognize and cultivate them. Sher shares a story about the misuse of Coke, while Cydni reflects on the misuse of the abbreviation "LDS."  This episode is "Spiritual Gifts",  and we are so glad you're here! 

This Week's Challenge
We challenge you to discover and develop your spiritual gifts, recognizing their power to uplift and inspire those around you. Through reflection and faith, you can cultivate these gifts to make a meaningful difference in your life and the lives of others.

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Show Notes

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Transcript

Episode 104 - Spiritual Gifts

Cydni: [00:00:00] I just wanna tell you something right now. Yeah. So Iana told me that she told her classmates uh, family secret about us. She's like, I told them that dad has a little bit of LDS in him.

I was like, excuse me? She's like, yeah, he's a little LDS. And I was like, a little LDS and she said, wait, what does LD stand for again? Latter Day Saint. And she's said, oh no, not that. So then I got worried. I was like, wait, what is she trying to say? And she's like, OCD. I told them he has a little OCD in him. Good job. E got a little LDS on Watch out for that one. Got a little LDS in them. . 

Sher: Okay. Cydni. Last week we started talking about spiritual gifts and accepting them from God, this is all part of our quest to research happiness this year. And we decided that we wanted to investigate spiritual gifts just a little bit more. we thought that we should define what a spiritual gift is. So I found a [00:01:00] few quotes defining spiritual gifts and the first one is from elder Marvin j Ashton. And he explained that a spiritual gift is a special blessing or ability given by God for the purpose of uplifting and inspiring his children. Then Elder Bruce r McConkey explained further that spiritual gifts are powers, abilities, and capacities granted to men and women by the Lord through the Holy Ghost.

 So what we can learn from that is spiritual gifts are gifts from God, and he grants us these gifts through the power of the Holy Ghost. But there is an expectation that comes along with it. We are expected to use our gifts to uplift and inspire his children. C. S Lewis explained it like this. God bestows gifts upon his children, not for their own gain, but so that they may share in his work and spread his light. So God is going to share his spiritual gifts with us and. He expects us to share them with others. That's the purpose of spiritual gifts [00:02:00] he shares with us, but then we need to follow him and share them with other people just like he does. 

Cydni: But that's so simple for what it actually is, because you think to yourself. Is this really a spiritual gift that I have or is it in my head? So you have to deal with doubt. I personally feel like that one guy who wants to bury the talent, he's like, I got this one talent. I'm gonna bury it, keep it nice and safe, be, living in fear forever. That's more relatable to me than just a simple sentence of being like, Hey, we gotta use our gifts to uplift others. it's said so easily. But to actually do it is so hard. 

Sher: Correct? I mean, I'm just reading the definition.

Cydni: I practiced and I know we're gonna get into some spiritual gifts, but just to break that up and go outta order again, that's a spiritual gift to mine, is the opposite of order.

Sher: Well, as we've learned you've gotta use it or else you're gonna lose it. 

Cydni: Right? So I'm using it right now. I read that the gift of exhortation. Means to encourage and uplift. And I love that very much. I practice [00:03:00] because my oldest has a game in a few hours for lacrosse and he doesn't wanna go.

So I was just like pumping him up. I was like, come on, bro. You've been putting so much work and effort into it. You've got this. sometimes on your worst days, you do your best work and then I asked him, I was like, so, do you feel encouraged right now? And he said. No, and I was like, okay, that's interesting. I just wanted to know if it was a spiritual gift of mine or not. And now I know that it's not. So I found out through effort that , I'm not encouraging. In fact, he said I wasn't helping at all. But you have to narrow it down. Like what is my spiritual gift? I don't know. Let's start from the top. Is it this? No. What's next? 

Sher: I like that you just have a checklist. I do. Just going through everything. 

Cydni: Yes, I do. 

Sher: Since you brought it up, why don't we just go ahead and talk about what are spiritual gifts that God gives us?

Cydni: That's a great idea because I had a thought. I listened to the talk that you had written down by Elder Ashton and he lists so many. So I have an idea. Sher, I'm going to say the gifts and you have to say yes or no if you think you have it. 

Sher: Oh, that will just [00:04:00] be easy. I'll just say no all the way down. No, you 

Cydni: have some of them. Don't be a liar. that is a gift of Satan. I don't do that. You have to be honest. Also, I added some of my own. You might know which ones but I'm not gonna say which ones are his and which ones are mine. I think if someone really wants to know, they can go and listen to the talk themselves. 

Sher: All right. Bring it on. 

Cydni: Gift of asking. No gift of listening. 

Sher: No 

Cydni: gift of a still small voice. Sometimes I was wondering, does that mean like we are quiet or like you could listen to the spirit? I took it as listening to the spirit. Oh. It was no, either way for me though. Gift of being able to weep. 

Sher: To cry. Oh yeah. I'm a baby. 

Cydni: Oh, that one was me too. I was like, we got one. We got one. I could cry, Gift of avoiding contention. No, that was for you. I answered for you. What are you talking about? I avoid contention.

Oh, you do? Yes, ma'am. Gift of avoiding duties. Of avoiding duties. Yeah. And responsibilities. And also gift of avoiding people that you don't wanna talk to when you see 'em in the store, because you do not wanna say hello to [00:05:00] someone that day. I have that one. Yes. That one might have been a made up one.

Sher: Oh really? Yeah. But avoiding duties and responsibilities wasn't made up. Okay. It was, exactly. Avoiding 

Cydni: contention was real. Right. Gift of being agreeable most of the time. Okay. gift of seeking, that which is righteous. Yes. Gift of not passing judgment. Yeah, , gift of being able to ponder yes sometimes gift of a mighty testimony. Yes Gift of the Holy Ghost. Yes. Gift of anxiety. No gift of overthinking. 

Sher: Nope. are you describing yourself now? 

Cydni: No gift of describing yourself. No gift of waking up at 3:00 AM to think about something you said in 2018? No. Oh, that was a yes for me. Gift of cringe. Gift of Yap. Gift of forgetfulness. It's combined. 

Sher: you know, Cydni, it's interesting that you would say that because I feel like I used to be pretty good at remembering things, and you were not. And then after I had a stroke, now [00:06:00] we're both on the same level and neither of us can remember anything. So I think that means that we're more agreeable and for forgiving. And less judgmental because we can't remember anything. 

Cydni: Yeah. The gift of forgetfulness is just like flowing through us. Mm-hmm. like the good natured women that we are. I was going to say gift of forgetfulness like 12 times. I thought that'd be funny, but I forgot actually that I was going to do that 

Sher: and I wouldn't have remembered that you said it 

Cydni: and then that would've been a mess. There's a whole lot more, but I figured you probably had some and so you could go next. Thank you for doing that. Rapid fire, spiritual gift adventure. 

Sher: You're welcome. Thanks for putting it together, Cydni. You're welcome. I'm just gonna review some of the spiritual gifts I mentioned last week. In Romans chapter six, verse 23, we're given the gift of eternal life in two Nephi chapter two, verse six through eight. It explains that we also are given the gift of redemption. In Isaiah chapter 53, verse five, it says, but he was wounded for our transgressions. He was bruised for our iniquities. The chastisement of our peace was upon him, and [00:07:00] with his stripes, we are healed. In James chapter one, verse five, it says that God will give us wisdom if we ask of God, and he's willing to give wisdom to us liberally. In John chapter 14, verse 27. Another gift is peace that he leaves with us. And President Monson said about that peace like hope is a gift of God. It is a peace that surpasses all understanding found through faith in Jesus Christ. So in that one quote, the gifts that President Monson explains that we have our peace, hope, and faith, and that's all made possible because of our Savior, Jesus Christ.

One Corinthians chapter 12, there's a huge long list similar to the one that you just went over ish we're given the gift of the word of wisdom, of knowledge. , faith of miracles, of prophecy. discernment and languages are just a few. And then in D & C it lists a whole bunch. And these include knowing that Jesus Christ is the son of God. The gift to believe on their words, the gift [00:08:00] of administration, which means you are good at organizing and leading diversities of operation, which is to decipher whether those organizations or groups or people are of God or not.

The gift of knowledge, the faith to be healed, the working of miracles, the gift of prophecy, discerning of spirit, speaking with tongues and interpretations of tongues. And then elder Ashton said another gift, which I really like this gift, is listening, being a peacemaker and the gift of patience.

 So there are so many spiritual gifts that our heavenly Father is willing to give us, and he has. Divvying them out. It's like there was some spiritual gift cards and we were playing a hand of spiritual poker, and he dealt all the cards out to us, and so all of us have been given something good.

Cydni: I liked the poker part. That was good. 

Sher: You're not supposed to bet on it though, so that was probably a bad example. I apologize. I used to have a lot of spiritual gifts, 

Cydni: but I lost them. Stayed out too late. you lost your [00:09:00] gifts in a epic poker battle? Yeah, I had so many and now I'm left with just. None. 

Sher: Do you know what I like is that we just keep saying poker. 'cause we literally don't know any poker games. We have a poker set in our house. But do you know the name of it besides Poker Set? Blackjack. Blackjack. There we go. In 21 

Dominoes. Just kidding. There's been a few times where Ben has pulled it out and boys in the neighborhood all sit around and play poker. I am just confessing. It gets crazy in the beer house. So if your kids are coming to our house, they're playing a poker set 

So as we were talking about these spiritual gifts, one of the things that Cydni and I kept coming back to is how do you discover your spiritual gifts? So I did another little scripture quest to try to figure that out. In James chapter one, verse five, it says, if any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God. So if you want to know what your spiritual gifts are, ask God. Pray to him for understanding and, . See what the [00:10:00] Holy Ghost brings to your mind.

Sher: And then in Matthew chapter seven, verses seven through eight it says, ask and it shall be given you. So again, you're actively seeking revelation with God. You're asking him, you're praying to him. You're pondering Elder Henry B. Eyring. Said that recognizing spiritual gifts often happen as we serve others. And then Elder Neil A. Maxwell said gifts are refined through trials and obedience. I don't like that one as much. 

Cydni: I would still prefer an email that would just email me what my gifts are and I'll work on those from there. That would be more convenient. Yes. 

Sher: But as I kept researching this, I just came back to, it's kind of like the Sunday school answers. we need to pray, read our scriptures, plus add some service in there. And that's how you find out what your gifts are. But something that really jumped out at me was this. If we want to know what our spiritual gifts are, the key thing is to practice.

we need to actively seek to discover our gifts and then we need to listen and then [00:11:00] act when prompted by the Holy Ghost. When I think of spiritual gifts, one of the things I thought of was my dad and his gift of problem solving. He practiced it every single day and many times we were traveling or going someplace we had an old crappy truck and it would break down. All the time, Cydni, it was like we didn't go anywhere without our truck breaking down, but my dad could take various parts, trash tools, things he found out on the sidewalk, whatever, and take all of that and piece things that weren't supposed to go together. He could figure out how to put them together and use this junk to fix our truck. I saw him do that multiple times as we were going places. 

Cydni: It really is such a gift to do stuff like that. My brothers are capable of it. I didn't get an ounce of that gift. 

Sher: I didn't either. I can't see how things that are supposed to fit together, fit together, let alone things that aren't.

Cydni: I'm the portion of that that's like, In order to be a problem solver, there must be a problem. My gift is creating the problem. I like this to then help [00:12:00] magnify the other person's problem solving abilities. I

Sher: really like that. That's what I should have been telling my dad. Now it's too late. 

Cydni: You would be nothing without me. Right. And my problems, you would never know. But here I am pulling my weight. So pull yours. 

Sher: where was this? When I was a teenager, he would've loved that. He would 

Cydni: not have backhanded you. 

Sher: All right, so. This one time we were driving along and our truck of course, broke down, but this time the truck caught on fire and my dad yelled for us all to get out of the truck. We all get scrambling outta the truck. He lifts the hood. There are flames just coming off the engine. And my dad yells and his infinite wisdom, he says to me, grab the Coke. Who knew that? Coca-Cola Cydni. Puts out fires. Did you know that? No. 

 So I immediately jumped into the back of the truck where there was a stash of Coca-Cola and I grabbed the Coke and I obediently hand it to my [00:13:00] father. Now, I would like to point out that I did not know that Coca-Cola put out fire. And do you wanna know why?

Because it doesn't Cydni. Oh, no it doesn't. I did not see that twist coming. So my brother, he was standing by, my dad, realizing that I am an idiot and was going for the Coca-Cola, immediately took off running and grabbed my dad's. Coat. Oh, little difference. Yeah, right. Okay.

But I wanna point out something here. I did not question my dad. I just thought, oh, Coca-Cola puts out a fire, and I immediately ran for the Coke. My dad was so good at solving problems that I never questioned him. When it came to a problem like that, I never once questioned that he didn't know the answer to it or how to solve the problem.

Now, the problem here was I was clueless and just that I heard Coca-Cola for some odd reason, but that's how good he was at it, I didn't even question, I mean, any normal person would've said Coke puts out a fire. But no, I so trusted him because he was so good at that [00:14:00] talent there was never a question if my dad said, this is how we're solving the problem,

it always worked. It always did because that was his spiritual gift he practiced it at home and at his job every single day. And that's one of the gifts he had that helped him excel in life was this gift of solving problems. And everybody just trusted him because he was so good at it, and this is what we should be doing in our lives.

I mean, I'm saying this to me that I need to do this. We've all been given spiritual gifts and we need to practice just like he did, so that when we are. Manifesting those spiritual gifts, people are 100% trusting us with it because they know that is our gift from God. Just like I knew that was my dad's gift from my Heavenly Father.

Cydni: A takeaway from that story for me is. How oftentimes it's easier to see someone else's gift than our own. That is so true because I feel like when you are born with it, maybe she's born with it, that you don't recognize it as anything special or good. But when [00:15:00] I think about people, and I think that woman has such a gift of joy and cheerfulness, that is because it's sometimes so much work. To feel cheerful, when you see someone who every time you see 'em, they're just like glowing with joy. I don't know that they would recognize it because that's their whole life or being able to fix stuff is a big deal for those of us who can't fix anything. 

Sher: Yeah, I was always amazed by it. 'cause I can't fix one thing. 

Cydni: So that's part of this as well, is it's okay to tell somebody that they have a gift. It's okay to point out like, Hey Syd, you have a gift? Like we could practice share. What, 

Sher: share? So anyway, the next quote, I have Cydni, just kidding. Cydni. I was too, don't say anything.

Cydni: So really though, speaking of the idea of practicing I think of Titus because he's played soccer his entire life, his entire 12-year-old life, he's been a soccer player, but he's been interested in trying new things. And we found this out this week because he came home and said, Hey, I [00:16:00] have a basketball tournament in a few hours.

were just a little bit shocked 'cause he's never played basketball And honestly, I was pretty excited about this and I called up Ben and I said, you need to get home in time. Titus has a basketball tournament. And he said, I'm sorry, did you say basketball? And it was the best evening.

We went and watched Titus, who was on the B team, he's never played basketball. And he was so excited to be there and he just got out there and he did his very, very best and he was so happy. one thing I love so much about this experience with this topic is he wasn't afraid to fail he had done so much work with another sport. He knew he could play sports and so it gave him a bit of confidence, but he wasn't afraid to admit that, you know what? He doesn't know when he's allowed to dribble or not. He's never had to, and he didn't. There was a few times that we did say dribble the ball and he said, I don't know when to dribble.

And we had such a great laugh about it. But that kid shot three. Shots and scored [00:17:00] all of those points it was amazing. That is amazing. I know. So you never know. You might get out there with your spiritual gift and fail, but you might get out there and realize that you might have a gift there that has been built upon something else completely. So it's okay to fail even with spiritual gifts. I love what president Nelson says about this. He says, I urge you with all the hope of my heart to pray, to understand your spiritual gifts, to cultivate. Use and expand them even more than you ever have. This quote, I deeply love and appreciate and I've put to practice where I pray to understand my gifts and I pray to cultivate them and expand them. And I've seen a little bit of guidance in this and it's been a cool experience and I've been teaching my children to do the same because they're young.

They don't know for sure what direction they're gonna go and what their gifts are, and it's not really on their mind right now. It's more basketball and when to dribble. But . I've enjoyed the journey of being their mother and teaching them that they do have gifts.

They have [00:18:00] gifts because God loves them and wants to help them on this journey. And their gift is to help them and it's to help each other and to help those that they will serve in this life. And in this urging from President Nelson, I found as I have studied and written out. Different spiritual gifts that I haven't thought about as spiritual gifts before. It's really helped me to say, I never thought about that, but I can do that. I've never seen it as a gift.

I've never recognized this is a gift because it just feels natural to me. So we would really like to encourage you to spend time writing out all spiritual gifts, looking at this, pondering it, praying to understand , which ones you have, and do what President Nelson has urged us to do, to pray, to understand them, to cultivate them and expand them. And you will see this power working through you in your life to lift up your own family and those around you. 

Or share. There's another way to find out what your spiritual gifts are. You wanna know what that is? Absolutely. Yes you do.

Cydni: There's a quiz available online. I found it. . Of course you [00:19:00] did. I spent time doing gift test.com. It's to discover what your spiritual gifts are. And what are yours? Ooh, I'll tell you, but I really wanted you to know some of the questions because I was having a great time reading some of these and answering. here's one, the willful sin of others really aggravates me. That's a good one. The one ever or five always. Oh, I loved this one. I enjoy starting new churches. I put never. I'll share one more with you and then you're gonna wanna go take this test 'cause it's so exciting. confronting someone with sin in his or her life is not hard for me. 

Sher: Are you serious? 

Cydni: One never or five always. It's never hard for me to point out, someone's sin. Can you imagine?

Sher: No, that's a big nun 

Cydni: Well, I did answer honestly. And for the record, I do not wanna say anything about anyone since I'm barely holding up together over here. But it did say my top one was discernment. evangelism, exhortation. So rock was wrong. 'cause it says that I have the ability to comfort [00:20:00] and uplift. So rock, his heart was hard yeah, blame it on him. He needs the gift of a softer heart. Right. Deeper understanding and mercy. 

Sher: We're gonna call out his sins 

Cydni: publicly, like in the old days. Make him a man. So if you could ask google.com about your spiritual gifts, but not Urban Dictionary. I tried to find a definition and it said, sorry, this page is unavailable. Thank you for that. You're welcome. 

Sher: So Cydni, one of the things that kept coming to my mind as we were talking about , how to figure out our spiritual gifts I kept coming back to the life of Christ and all Christ ever did his entire life and all. He still does now. Do good. He's still trying to help us. He's helping us carry our loads.

How many times have we talked about that he is willing to be yoked with us? He's willing to help us carry our loads and our burdens and our trials. He is constantly doing nothing but serving and extending all of his spiritual gifts to. All of us he just extends all of his spiritual gifts and shares them with everyone.

[00:21:00] And so those spiritual gifts that he has given to us is an extension of him, and he wants us to do what he does with his gifts and share them to uplift and inspire others to share his work and spread his light. 

So when you think about what Christ has done in your life. How he has helped you and shared his love and his joy has carried you through trials, Christ has been there lifting us up through the good and the bad and all the things. When you think of that, and then in return, all he wants back is. For us to share it, to help and inspire and uplift others. That's it. And when you break it down like that, it sounds so easy, but I know it's not because we're not perfect, and we have those moments where instead of having a spiritual gift, I have the gift of why me and temper tantrums here. Here. He wants us to focus on the good spiritual gifts and share them and that's all he asks of me, that seems pretty simple. 

Cydni: And of [00:22:00] course, not to mention there's someone who would really love for you not to use your gifts 'cause that could really mess up his plan.

And so we do have to combat. Doubt and fears to use our gifts because you might get an impression to reach out to somebody, and that's a good impression and it's from God. But right after that, what's gonna come is, why would I do that? That's silly. I don't have time. So in this quest, there is someone who wants you to not use your gifts.

There's someone who does want you to bury your gifts, and if I was Satan, I would want you to bury your gifts too. I wouldn't want you to believe in yourself, and I wouldn't want you to. Use your spiritual gifts because then you might encourage someone else to also use their spiritual gift. And then there could be a whole terrible process, a momentum that grows and grows of good and light in this world. And if I was Satan, I would not want anything to do with that. 

Sher: It seems so simple and so easy, and I don't know why we always have to fight but our nature is to fight [00:23:00] against it, 

Cydni: and not to mention it's in every great film that's ever existed, like Frodo, he has Sam to help him get the ring into the volcano. And then there's like the wizards who all get a gift from Dumbledore. He gives them the gift of things that they got. I've seen the movie several. I mean, I've watched, I've read the book. I did not read the book.

Sher: I haven't either or watched the movies. But 

Cydni: you haven't watched the movies? No. They're good. 

Sher: No, they're not. How, 

Cydni: you can't say they're not, that's like saying I don't have a spiritual gift that you've never used before. I've tried to watch 'em. Okay. I watched one. One. I have read one book, the first one, the smaller one, and then I'm done. But the point is this the head wizard gives the mini wizards gifts to get through the journey, and the journey is not easy. And they need each other and they need those gifts that they've been given to get through the challenges that are ahead of them. And when they use those gifts that they've been given, it helps those around them to overcome his name, who shall [00:24:00] not be mentioned. I 

Sher: don't wanna spoil it for you. So that's all I'll say. I'm never gonna watch it. And you probably made that whole thing up 'cause I've never seen it or read it. 

Cydni: Well, I will tell you this, then there is a comedian, his name is Nate, and he does say, I can never remember which is which, when it comes to fiction or nonfiction. I don't know which one's real, which one's not. So I read everything as if it is real. And all I know right now is there's a whole lot of wizard problems going on, and I really appreciated that. So, 

Our hope is that this week you do spend time reflecting on the spiritual gifts that you have been given and to have confidence in them. You are a spiritual being. You are Gods, and he has given you gifts to help your life be more joyful and help those around you.

It is time to step into your spiritual gift. It is time to cultivate and expand them and have a deep confidence. Your abilities and to share those with those in your community. And maybe you build your own church. . We challenge [00:25:00] you to build your own church. 

Sher: No. 

Cydni: And invite Billie Eilish to come to church. If I bought my own church, it would be so bad. 

Sher: Now, thankfully, it's time for our final thoughts. Spiritual gifts are divine blessings given to us by God, not for our own glory, but to uplift and inspire others. As we recognize and develop these gifts, we draw closer to Christ and fulfill our divine potential. 

Discovering our spiritual gifts requires prayer, study, service, and trust in the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Becoming our best self is not about personal perfection, but about following Christ's example, using our gifts to bless the lives of those around us. As we do so, we participate in his work, spread his light. Remember, we're studying how to be happy this year, and this is how we find true joy in the process. This is our prayer 

Cydni: from Cydni and Cher, [00:26:00] 

Sher: spiritual gifts. Oh, whoops. 

Cydni: Glad that was you, not me. Wouldn't it it be ideal if that's how the Holy Ghost talked to us? 

Sher: It would be ideal, like 

Cydni: through text. Don't go on that trip this weekend. And you're like sure about it. Instead of that feeling, you're like, should I go on this? Is that me? Is it something else? Or like, fill your gas tank up with gas and you're like, should I do that? And then you think, no I shouldn't. And then you run outta gas the first time you meet your children's friends', parents, cause you didn't listen. But if he would've just text mm-hmm. It would've been fine, that's not from experience. All right. Are you ready to focus? These are from the Babbler gift of seeking. That would, are you the babbler? Yeah. Okay. And that's kind of funny to [00:27:00] me. 

Sher: I spaced out. I totally spaced out. 

Cydni: That's okay. It's all right. Just 

Sher: Just gimme a summary just for me. I'm sorry. It's fine. 

Cydni: this is fine. sorry. This arrangement's fine. 

I just don't have the gift of tongues and you don't have the gift of interpretation. That's all. And we're still working together. You know we're making it work. Mm-hmm I was saying that what if you have like a You just 

Sher: made me snort. we went off the track. You went off the track, somebody went off the track Have a great week.