What You Get Depends on You

What a great talk about a fantastic principle! I loved it. And I wanted to share this one part about how we control what we get out of spiritual things.

"Proper worship illustrates how 'Yagottawanna' works. For example, how many of you have assumed the 'bored position' during sacrament meeting? You know the position: bent forward at the waist, chin resting on hands, elbows on knees, staring vacantly at the floor. Has it occurred to you that it is your choice whether the meeting is interesting or not?

"Several years ago I heard about a good brother who described his attitude as President David O. McKay gave the concluding talk of general conference. It was a sultry afternoon, and this was the fifth session he had attended. He was sitting in the balcony, and his mind had a serious wandering problem. He noticed a man sitting in the middle section who had fallen asleep with his head tilted back and his mouth open. It occurred to him that if he were in the roof of the Tabernacle, he could drop a spit wad through one of the vent holes right into the mouth of that sleeping man. What a glorious thought! Following the meeting, he overheard two men talking about their feelings during President McKay’s talk. They were visibly moved by what they had heard. He thought to himself, These two brethren were having a marvelous spiritual experience, and what was I doing? Thinking about dropping spit wads from the ceiling!

"President Spencer W. Kimball said that worship 'is an individual responsibility, and regardless of what is said from the pulpit, if one wishes to worship the Lord in spirit and in truth, he may do so.… If the service is a failure to you, you have failed. No one can worship for you; you must do your own waiting upon the Lord.' (Ensign, Jan. 1978, p. 5.)

-Jack H. Goasling, "Yagottawanna," Ensign, May 1991, p. 45