Hank Smith:                      00:02                   Hey, welcome to followHIM Favorites. This is where John and I share a single story to go with each week’s lesson. John, we are in the Creation story. In the beginning, Genesis, you’ve told me you have a story.

John Bytheway:               00:14                   Yes, I do. It’s about a painting. Elder Richard G. Scott and President Henry B. Eyring do watercolors. President Packer did amazing art with birds and things. This process of creating, I love that they love to create and we’re talking about creation, but much more recently, Sister Kristen Yee. Do you remember this talk? She said about 10 years ago, I felt impressed to paint a portrait of the Savior. Though I am an artist, it felt a bit overwhelming. You gotta go find this talk because the painting is in there and it is incredible. How was I to paint a portrait of Jesus Christ that captured his spirit? She said, where was I to begin? How could I find the time? I decided to move forward and trust that the Lord would help me, but I had to keep moving and leave possibilities to him.

                                           01:01                   She said, I prayed, pondered, researched, sketched, was blessed to find help and resources. What was a white canvas started to become something more. The process wasn’t easy. Sometimes it didn’t look as I had hoped. Sometimes there were moments of inspired strokes and ideas. And many times I just had to try again and again and again. When I thought the oil painting was finally complete and dry, okay, hang on to your chair, Hank. I began to apply a transparent varnish to protect it from dirt and dust. As I did, I noticed the hair and the painting started to change, smear and dissolve.

Hank Smith:                      01:36                   Ohhh. I remember this.

John Bytheway:               01:38                   Can you imagine? I quickly realized I had applied the varnish too soon, and that part of the painting was still wet. I literally wiped away a portion of my painting with the varnish, oh, how my heart sank. I felt as though I had just destroyed what God helped me to do. I cried and felt sick inside. In despair, I did what anyone would do typically in a situation like this. I called my mother. She wisely and calmly said, you won’t get back what you had, but do the very best you can with what you’ve got. I prayed and pled for help, painted through the night to repair things. And I remember looking at the painting in the morning, it looked better than it did before. How was that possible? What I thought was a mistake without mend was an opportunity for his merciful hand to be manifest. He was not done with the painting and he was not done with me. Isn’t that a great story? If we make a mistake, our creator can recreate us. That’s a beautiful message in this.

Hank Smith:                      02:42                   Wow. That’s fantastic. And it fits the lesson really well. And John, I’m looking at this painting. I don’t know if Sister Yee ever listens to our show, but wow. Wow. She’s like, though I am a painter. That’s a painter.

John Bytheway:               02:55                   No, you’re an amazing painter.

Hank Smith:                      02:57                   Listen to this, John, from President Uchtdorf. He says, you may say I’m not the creative type. When I sing, I’m always a half a tone above or below the note. I cannot draw a line without a ruler, and the only practical use for my homemade bread is a paperweight or a doorstop. If that is what you feel, think again and remember that you are, and he’s talking to women but, you are spirit daughters, and we could add sons, of the most creative being in the universe. Isn’t it remarkable to think that your very spirits are fashioned by an endlessly creative and eternally compassionate God? He goes on later to say, if you feel incapable of creating, start small. Try to see how many smiles you can create. Write a letter of appreciation, learn a new skill, identify a space, and beautify it. There is great work for the Saints to do. I love it. Creation.

John Bytheway:               03:47                   Yeah. There’s a word that I had never noticed the word create was inside of it. That is recreation. When we go on recreation, like, what does it say, wholesome recreational activities in the Proclamation that we are recreating, making new memories of things I thought, oh, what an interesting idea. Recreation is recreating.

Hank Smith:                      04:11                   Yeah, I love it. Well, anybody listening, go create. You’re the child of a creator. Go create. Go make it happen. You can do it. Also, join us on our full podcast. It’s called followHIM. You can get it wherever you get podcasts. We are with Dr. Rebekah Call this week. She is going to teach you some things about Eve you likely have never thought of. It is beautiful. Then come back here next week. We’ll do another followHIM Favorites.