Talents vs Abilities

Dearest Mother,

You really are super amazing! Thank you for sharing about Celeste. I really appreciate it:)
I remember Celeste. She was so nice. I think that is the best thing ever that she got to go to the temple to be sealed with her family before she passed away. And it truly is a miracle that it was able to happen so quickly. Her family is definitely blessed for that. I also love that the sister who was on a mission was able to be home for that sealing. That made me cry! But in a good way:) This is really is the message that we share. Families can be together forever! I am sad that she is no longer here on earth to be able to experience the things in the rest of her life. Her death is sad because she was so young, but her faith was so strong that I have no doubt as to where she is now, and I know that she will still have that opportunity to have a family of her own because that is a promise that Heavenly Father extends to all of His children. Because of Jesus Christ, and the sacrifice he gave, we have been promised eternal happiness. Eternal life, with God, with a FAMILY. I love my Savior. I love the things He has done and continues to do for each of us every single day. He is amazing. The Hymn I Know that my Redeemer Lives is probably one of my most favorite, because everything in it is exactly what He is to me. It is my testimony! You should listen to it, and pretend I am singing it, because I am in my head:) Here is the link so you can go straight to it:)

This actually reminds me of the training I received a little bit ago from President Cottle, that I then shared later with the other missionaries. It was about our talents vs our abilities. To start off, President Cottle had us try to write down the top ten of our talents in 30 seconds. That was really hard, and most didn't even get 5. He then asked us to reevaluate our list and ask ourselves if they were really talents or were they abilities, and what the difference was? Upon further reflection and lots of scriptures, President Cottle explained that everyone has many abilities. He went to the parable of the talents in Matthew 25, and had us read it. They were given talents according to their "several ability" not just their single ability, but their many ability. In short, he explained that the difference between the two was that talents are abilities used in service of the Lord. Take singing for example. If we are only ever in school choirs and never church choir, then its just an ability not a talent, no matter how well we sing. On the flip side, even if all you can play is one note at a time on the piano, and you play in church, it is a talent. Then he explained again the idea of the monetary price of talents. (These are his figures, some of them might be wrong. Or at least that was the disclaimer her told us.)
1 talent=76.5 POUNDS of Gold.
1oz of gold=$500
so therefore,
1 talent=$6,000 or about 16.5 years of work
2 talents=$12,000 or about 33 years of work
5 talents=$30,000 or about 82 years worth of work
We each have different capabilities and different abilities given us. Some of us can only use it for 16 years, like Celeste. Some of us have the capability of using it for 82 years. However the reward for each is exactly the same. Because they were faithful over a "few things" He made them ruler over "many." God knows our hearts. He knows our abilities. He gave us the capability to use those abilities as talents, but has then given us the agency to choose whether or not we will. Remember that.
How will you use your abilities?

Love you so very much!
-Sister Monica Walker