Faith, Patience, and the Plan of Becoming
We existed before we were born. There are some important things we know about that and a lot that we don’t. We know that we’ve always existed, at least as some form of intelligence, and that God didn’t just create intelligence or matter “out of nothing.”
We know that God has a body of flesh and bones and that he somehow formed for us bodies of spirit that are in the form of his own physical body. Through this, or perhaps before, he became our father and is the father of our spirits. He was not alone in this. Though we know little about our Heavenly Mother, it is essential to understand that we are the spiritual offspring of Heavenly Parents, both male and female.
Gender is critical to who they are–and to who each one of us is. Each of us “is a beloved son or daughter of heavenly parents.” “Each [of us] has a divine nature and destiny.” “Gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose.”
Therefore, attached to our gender are qualities of our nature (what we are), our purpose (why we are), and our destiny (where we’re going). To be a daughter of God is wonderful, purposeful, majestic, and divine. To be a son of God is wonderful, purposeful, majestic, and divine. They are equal. They are not the same.
As children of Heavenly Parents, the intended destiny for each of us–without exception: male or female, black or white, gay or straight–is to become like our Heavenly Parents. Men like our Heavenly Father. And women like our Heavenly Mother. Our intended destiny is to gain their respective capacities and perfections, to love and lift in ways that they do, and to experience joy and happiness in ways only they can. They experience joy and happiness in the most complete senses of those words. They invite us to follow their path to realizing that same ability.
To help us fulfill our destiny of becoming like them, Heavenly Father created a plan. This involved creating an earth for us. For reasons I don’t understand, earth is the place where we can gain a physical body, no matter how briefly we’re here. It is apparently also the only place where physical ordinances can be performed–by us or for us–that open certain doors and activate certain powers on our behalf. If we survive infancy and are accountable, earth is also that place–intentionally more distant from our Heavenly Father’s immediate presence–where we can gain experience through agency and adversity.
The Plan addresses potentially problematic concepts that seem to pre-date the plan. These include agency, justice, and accountability. Without some compensating intervention, our failures with agency will cause us to permanently separate ourselves from our Heavenly Father and from our destiny of becoming like Him. Jesus volunteered to resolve the demands of justice for our mistakes and failures, but with conditions for us. We would have to believe and trust in Him; we would have to develop a humble, broken heart and an enduring attitude of contrition.
We would have to become formally devoted to Jesus and to our Father in Heaven and to living laws that are consistent with being like them–such as those called out in the Baptismal, Endowment, and Sealing ordinances. While the resurrection is a free and universal gift, overcoming the penalties of our sins is not–all of God’s grace notwithstanding. We can only fulfill the plan to become like our Heavenly Parents through sincere faith and repentance and by fulfilling the terms of our baptism and temple covenants.
Not everyone liked the plan. Consistent with the apparently inviolable nature of agency, we were not forced to accept it. A war was waged. This was surely a war fought to persuade, not to force. I imagine that the casting out of the third part of the host of heaven was more about the natural consequences of badly used agency than it was about the wrath of an angry God. The God who weeps, surely must have wept at the refusal of so many of his children to trust in Him and His plan–a challenge each of us still faces.
You and I chose our Heavenly Father’s plan and placed our full reliance on the Savior.
Now I want to reiterate something here… Our goal in this life is not merely to return to God. The Book of Mormon teaches that we’re all going to do that, anyway. And, since we were already with Him in the pre-existence, being sent away from Him merely to see if we could make it back, doesn’t make a lot of sense to me. There was from the beginning a greater and clear purpose–the understanding of which is key to navigating many difficult topics that challenge people’s faith today: the goal is for us, as sons and daughters of God, to become like Them. By definition, becoming means that how I am tomorrow will be different than how I am today. Becoming means changing.
The goal has always been to change–from the incomplete versions of ourselves that we currently are–to complete versions of ourselves, with all the abilities and capacities of our Heavenly Parents, male and female. Heavenly Father’s goal for us, which we accepted and even fought for, is for us to become something different than we were in the pre-existence–and something still different than we are now.
To say that who or what I am today is who or what I must be in eternity is to deny the significance and nature of God and reject the wonderful possibility of becoming like Him. God does love you and me today, as we are. That does not mean that his hopes and plans and invitations for each of us is limited to our current stage of development.
The outcome we should pursue is not one that doubles down on our current natures–for “the natural man is an enemy to God”–but rather the outcome of having our natures changed by coming to the Savior and meeting His conditions. It is not by digging our heels into who we are today that will bring us to the greatest conclusion, but by yielding what we are today to the enticings of the Holy One.
Also important: Because Heavenly Father’s plan is perfect–and because the Savior’s Atonement is infinite–our destinies can be realized independent of our circumstances in mortality. You can be short or tall, rich or poor, black or white, gay or straight, talented at this or talented at that… One primary thing will determine our outcome–and it is not our current condition or circumstances. It is our agency. God will not force any of us. We will choose–either our full destiny–or some diminished, though still positive, version of it.
Note that God, Himself, is subject to the law of justice. Alma 42 tells us that if God attempts to ignore or work around justice, He will cease to be God. But because of the Atonement of Christ, we can trade the worst consequences of our sins for devotion to and a covenant relationship with Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father.
The role of the Church in this process should not be overemphasized. Nor should it be underemphasized. The Church is not God. But fulfilling our destiny requires a covenant relationship with God that is specifically and consciously entered into by both parties. That covenant relationship must be formalized through a properly authorized physical act (an ordinance) on the earth. The Church is the steward of God’s authority on the earth and is the only entity authorized right now to bind us and God to each other in that covenant relationship through which He can help us become as He is.
The Church is run by human beings. Revelation is real, but it doesn’t come as a constant, detailed, complete set of instructions to Church leaders. We should not allow the mistakes of human Church leaders to separate us from the priesthood keys which they can exercise on our behalf. A mistake made by a Church leader does not prove that he holds no priesthood keys. It reflects that he is human.
We neither worship Church leaders nor claim they are infallible. Church leaders do, however, have a special relationship with God’s authority which gives them a perspective that is different from yours and mine. When our opinion of something contradicts theirs, we should pause before concluding that we’re right and they’re wrong. We should especially pause before letting that difference remove us from the blessings we can enjoy when they turn priesthood keys on our behalf and on behalf of those we love.
One of the sillier common criticisms of our Church is that we have a sense of exclusivity, meaning you have to be a “Mormon” in order to get to heaven. In fact, we believe every single son or daughter of God will have an informed opportunity to enter into a covenant relationship with their Heavenly Father and Savior. Passing through the pearly gates will have little to do with “church membership,” per se, and much to do with the legitimacy of mutually binding covenants.
Mortality is fickle. It is full of beauty, joy, wonder, and miracles. It is also difficult and painful. While it is true that blessings follow obedience, the often embraced companion to that idea–that an exemption from pain or hardship also follows obedience–is horribly misleading. We must try to learn to accept this to avoid being spiritually blindsided when it happens. No amount of faith, repentance, and devotion may spare any of us from pains and tragedies that faithful disciples don’t “deserve.” Just ask Abinadi, Joseph Smith, the original twelve apostles, or some deeply faithful members of our own stake. Do blessings follow faith, repentance, and devotion? Absolutely. Are those blessings sometimes material? Yes. Are they sometimes immediate? Yes. But often they are not material and often they are not immediate. Faith and repentance bring rich and immediate rewards, but some blessings will be received in eternity.
We must not lose sight of the fact that our goal is to become like our Heavenly Parents, which involves yielding ourselves to a process whereby our very natures are changed. This process is not comprised of checklists. The Pharisees attempted the idea of checklist salvation and where did that get them?
Checking a list of do’s and don’ts will not punch our golden tickets into the Celestial Kingdom. Not even ticking all the boxes of receiving each of the saving ordinances will do that. Success is more about becoming than it is about doing–at least in the Pharisaical sense that so easily slips into our thinking. Should we keep the commandments? Yes! “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” But ours is not a doctrine of formulaic or checkbox salvation.
Neither do we believe in relative rankings and outperforming our neighbors. God does not judge on a curve. We believe in loving our neighbors, not in comparing ourselves to them–or them to us. Each of us should become like our Heavenly Parents via the covenant path, but individual experiences along that way will vary.
The questions we should ask ourselves are less about the check boxes and more about the attributes we’re developing. We should ask… Do I truly love God and put Him first in my life? Do I strive to emulate the Savior? Do I love the people I encounter–including those different from me–or who aren’t nice to me? Am I honest? Am I humble? Am I meek? Am I kind and compassionate? Do I strive to serve and to lift? Am I learning patience? Is my heart soft enough to forgive those who harm me and those I love?
“We believe that through the Atonement of Christ, all mankind may be saved, by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.” (The phrase “all mankind” is radically inclusive.)
I suspect it is not, technically, the saving ordinances that will save us–but, rather, the change that God brings about within us when we strive to live the principles connected to those ordinances and to being in a true covenant relationship with Him. This involves effort from us–and is why complacency is a sin–and striving (even when we fail!) is a virtue. Perfectionism sounds helpful, but it is not.
Obedience probably doesn’t save us because we’re checking boxes, but because it creates the conditions in which God can bring about the change we came here for. It is true that we are tested in life, but I imagine this life is less about a pass-fail test than it is about learning and becoming.
What happens after this life? Again, we know a little–and there’s a lot we don’t know. We know there is a separation between the faithful and the less faithful in the spirit world. We know the gospel is taught there. We know that ordinances performed on earth can be accepted there. We know there will be a resurrection and a judgment. All will be resurrected. But not all resurrected bodies will be identical. We know that Jesus will be our judge–and our mediator and even our advocate. It’s been suggested that that process will look more like our being invited in than being kept out. It seems that, in the end, only one thing will keep us out–and that is the agency that we started with.
We do not know exactly how long the process will take between death and something that may be considered a final judgment. Nor do we know the extent of what can happen within that process. We know that we are already invited to become perfect like our Heavenly Parents–but since we obviously don’t achieve that in this life, there is some additional process of continued becoming. We know that we should look on our present situation with a sense of urgency and be anxiously engaged–avoiding the sin of complacency — but with faith and trust instead of spiritual anxiety.
We’ve all heard the phrase, “You can’t take it with you.” That is certainly true of material things, but there is a long list of things we can take with us, including: our covenants; our knowledge and experience; our history of choices, desires, and priorities; our character development; some aspects of our “sociality”; our priesthood; and our continuation along the plan of salvation–or, maybe it could be called the Plan of Becoming. We will definitely take with us what we have, so far, become.
What is the point of all this? The point is this… You and your loved ones are children of perfect Heavenly Parents. They love each one of Their children. They have provided a plan whereby we can become like Them. We know some fundamental, important things about that plan, but our missing knowledge of many details invites us to trust.
We should exercise faith and patience with the things we don’t yet know. We should trust our Father in Heaven and our Savior and their love–and stick with the plan we accepted–not merely because we accepted it, but because its authors are not missing any knowledge, they love us, and they know where the plan will bring each of us if we stick with it. We should exercise faith and repentance; we should understand and try to keep our covenants; and we should strive to grow in Godly attributes, always leading with love.
I testify that we have a Father in Heaven and a Savior. I testify that if we will follow their plan with faith and patience, we will become like them with a fulness of joy, even if we don’t currently see how to connect all the dots to getting there. Hence, faith. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
On Modesty
From stake video message, October 2022.
This topic has been on my mind for quite some time. I’ve mentioned that publicly on a couple of occasions and somebody told me the other day to finally get off my duff and say whatever it is I have to say. So here I am to say a few words about the quality of modesty—which is much more a trait of character than it is a manner of dress or undress.
It seems to me that modesty was a topic we would often hear spoken of in the Church—maybe 10, 20, 30 years ago—but which is seldom addressed today. When it was spoken of, it was almost always (in my memory, at least) spoken of in the sense of wearing sufficient clothing to cover our bodies in the right places—but was seldom spoken of in terms of its broader meaning. I think that discussing modesty so narrowly—without the context of its broader meaning—left people with too little understanding of the ”why” issues behind modest dress.
Dressing modestly is important. It’s very important. And it’s very important for everyone, male and female. The topic of modest dress as it relates to men and boys has been heavily under-addressed in my view. Modest dress absolutely applies to men and boys. It is important for women and girls also.
But let’s put modest dress in the context of the whole word.
Helpfully, the Church’s website defines modesty as “an attitude of propriety and decency in dress, grooming, language, and behavior.” It adds, “If we are modest, we do not draw undue attention to ourselves. Instead, we seek to ‘glorify God in our body and in our spirit.’”
The ideal example of modesty in its broadest sense was, of course, Jesus, who was constantly trying to deflect the praise and credit given to him and redirect it toward his Father in Heaven whom he sought to glorify. He didn’t do this by pounding his chest and pointing to the sky when he did well or by kneeling in prayer on national television. He certainly never celebrated himself through a “missionary farewell.”
Modesty in its total sense is closely related to other God-like attributes such as humility and meekness. One does not imagine a meek, humble person trying to draw attention to themselves, being loud or flashy or visibly self-absorbed. Perhaps the charge we receive in the temple to avoid lightmindedness and loud laughter refers in part to living our lives in ways that reflect attitudes of modesty.
Modesty seems to be born from a proper understanding of ourselves and who we are—including our gifts and potential—and our weaknesses and limitations. A modest person sees in themselves seeds of divinity, of potential, of strength and has respect for who they are—such respect that they do not degrade themselves by untoward dress, language, behaviors, and self-spotlighting.
A modest person also sees that other people are equally important and divine—and that God, himself, stands so far above us in terms of his development and perfections that we are each small in comparison to him and ordinary in comparison to others—which, again, demotivates us from trying to place ourselves above or beyond others.
A modest person neither over-estimates nor under-underestimates his or her significance relative to God or to others.
Immodesty, including in language and behavior (and dress), is distracting and incompatible with the Spirit of God.
The pursuit of immodesty is also self-destructive. Our true value is found in knowing our place and relationship to God. It is found in learning to see ourselves as He sees us. It is found in relying on His strength and on His abilities and His perfections more than on our own. When we seek to establish our value based on how we are heard or seen by others, it only leads to forms of attention that do not provide the healthy sense of value and the healthy perspective on our importance that we could all enjoy.
Immodesty is also related to a negative word we hear in the temple: defile. To defile something is to turn it from holy to profane. It is to take something with divine significance and de-value it.
In the temple, we are told that if we are faithful and do not defile the garment, then wearing it will bless and protect us. (Personally, I don’t think the protection spoken of there is particularly physical. Jesus said to fear not the things that can hurt the body but to fear the things that can hurt the soul—and I think the protection provided by the garment is consistent with that. Perhaps it may help protect us physically also—we certainly hear stories from time to time of such things—but I doubt that’s the primary point.)
We would defile the garment by treating it with indifference or by reducing its value or significance in our own hearts. We would defile the garment by failing to hear and receive the message that God is trying to send to us by giving it to us to wear night and day.
When we are immodest in dress, we may defile the garment by minimizing it, which can occur in many ways.
When we are immodest in words and behavior, we may not defile the garment directly, but we do distract from things of the Spirit and we do defile the things of God. Jesus said to the Nephites, “Hold up your light that it may shine unto the world.” That would sound like an invitation to immodesty and to drawing attention to ourselves if it weren’t for the next sentence, which says, “I am the light which ye shall hold up—that which ye have seen me do.”
John the Baptist said, speaking of Jesus, “He must increase, but I must decrease.”
To be modest is to hold up the light of Jesus. Not by holding up the light—or the language, dress, or behavior—that says, “look at me,” but by having the quietly strong and humble attitude of looking to Him and gently trying to help others do the same.
I believe that modesty is an attribute of strength, and that immodesty is an attribute of weakness. The outward signs of modesty or immodesty—whether behavior, language, or dress—are simply outward signs of the quiet strength we either have or we lack.
Each of us, however, can gain that quiet strength by exercising faith in the Savior and faith in our Heavenly Father’s plan for our happiness. We gain strength by understanding that we really are His sons and daughters—and by understanding that we really are (or can be if we’re not already) in a covenant relationship with Him whereby we are bound to Him and He is bound to us. We gain that quiet, internal strength by repenting and by exercising faith that sincere repentance leads to forgiveness. We gain that quiet, resolute strength by recognizing the presence of the Holy Ghost and seeking more of it.
Brothers and Sisters, each of us has true, powerful reasons for acknowledging our value in full humility and strength—and of recognizing also our weakness and our dependence on God. But our God loves us and will lift us if we will turn to Him in humility.
May we each do so. May we be filled with gratitude for God’s kindness to us and for the possibilities he provides us. May we be filled with a sense of our value, born of a proper understanding of who we are—and may we be filled with humility for who we aren’t yet and for our dependence on our Father, our Savior, and the Holy Ghost. May we thrive with a proper and healthy sense of self that is reflected in our words, our dress, and our behavior. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Your Testimony
My comments today are mostly directed toward young people. But I’m going to talk to you like adults and I’m going to be as plain and frank as I know how to be. I want to talk to you about your testimonies.
It seems to me that testimonies are a bit like baseball. In a baseball game, you’ll find yourself at times surrounded by teammates out in the field or safe in the dugout together—yet there come moments when you stand all alone at the plate. Just you and the pitcher and nobody to lean on. Others may cheer you on, but nobody but you will be able to stop that fastball before it crosses over for a strike—or hits you in the ear.
Similarly, each of you will need to make your own independent decisions regarding matters of faith, testimony, and the Church.
The Church is True?
I worry about the oft-repeated statement, “I know the Church is true.” It is said positively, of course, and with good intentions. It affirms (albeit vaguely) an acceptance of the Church. But I worry that it creates a framework for judging the Church unfairly—because if it’s “true,” it must then all be true, and if, then, anything or anyone is amiss, then the whole thing must apparently, after all, not be true.
Let me give some examples:
- The Church teaches doctrines that are true. Does that mean that every statement made by every Church leader in the history of the Church is correct? No. Does it mean you’ll never hear a false comment or teaching in a Church meeting on Sunday? No. But does an incorrect statement in the classroom or even from the pulpit negate the fact that the Church teaches doctrines that are true? No, it does not.
- Or… The Church is led by apostles and prophets who receive revelation and inspiration. That is true. Does that mean that God provides for them a constant stream of highly specific, detailed instructions such that their own judgment and biases never contribute to their decisions and they never err? No. But does an erroneous judgment, even by a Church leader, negate the fact that the Church is led by inspired men who hold legitimate priesthood keys that can bless you and your family? No, it does not.
- One more… The Church teaches that we should love our neighbors—that we should be Christ-like and full of charity. That is true. Does that mean that no church-going neighbor of yours will ever be judgmental, thoughtless, insensitive—or maybe just flat-out rude and offensive? No. But does a church-going neighbor’s poor behavior mean the Church is a driver of civic unrest and therefore false? No, it does not.
The Church is a divinely inspired and divinely authorized institution run by humans. The humanity in the Church sometimes obscuring its divinity no more negates that divinity than clouds obscuring the sun reduce the importance of the sun.
Great Truths
In the doctrine of the Church of Jesus Christ, there are, as President Nelson recently taught, three great truths:
- We are, in a very literal sense, children of Heavenly Parents.
- Our Father in Heaven desires a covenant relationship with us wherein He and we commit to each other—in a very deep way through which the greatest blessings of eternity become available to us.
- Jesus Christ helps us overcome the issues that prevent us from completing that covenant path on our own if we will receive and follow Him.
Critical to those great truths is this: The Church plays an essential role in connecting us with these truths, as it is only through the ordinances of the restored priesthood that we can make the necessary covenants with our Father and formally commit in the Savior’s way to discipleship to Him.
A loving Heavenly Father, the Covenant Path, and Jesus as our Savior. These three things are each true and correct. I “know” that through a host of experiences. But your turn to stand at the plate, largely by yourself, is coming. You will need to know for yourself. So how do you find out?
Primary Questions
Let’s start with distinguishing between what Elder Corbridge calls the Primary and the Secondary questions—or, in other words, the “critically important” and the “important but not nearly critically so” questions. Let’s also acknowledge the “difficult” questions, which I think should get a category of their own.
The critically important, or “primary,” questions revolve around the three great truths just mentioned. Here they are again in a little different order and in the form of questions…
- Does God really exist, and, if so, what is the nature of my relationship with Him?
- Is Jesus really my Savior? Do I even need a Savior? If God is really a loving father, won’t he just forgive my mistakes anyway?
- Does the Church, in fact, play an essential role in my relationship with my Heavenly Father and the Savior? More specifically: Are the ordinances and covenants offered to all of humanity by the Church truly essential for me?
Those are the primary questions. Those are the ones you’ll need to answer.
Secondary Questions
“Secondary” questions include such things as:
- Where did the Book of Abraham come from?
- Why does the Book of Mormon talk about horses?
- Why isn’t every account of the First Vision identical?
- Why do changes in the Church sometimes coincide with social and political pressures?
- Why are temple ordinances similar to masonic rituals?
- Et cetera. It’s a long list.
For a person who is positively settled with the primary questions, the secondary questions are distantly secondary because answers to them come with relative simplicity—and because they are outside the core issues of our relationship with God. A person’s anxiety over the secondary questions will typically be proportional to their uncertainty regarding the primary questions.
Further, it is a myth that one must first answer the secondary questions before he or she can answer the primary questions. There is an easy answer to the Book of Abraham question, for example, but I don’t need to know it before I can conclude that God is my Father, that covenants matter, and that Jesus is my Savior.
Difficult Questions
What about what I would call the difficult questions? These include such things as:
- How can the Savior’s Church deny temple marriage to gay couples or transgender individuals—especially when Jesus, himself, during his life, championed those who were rejected by others?
- How do we explain polygamy—past and… future? And should we be worried about it?
- Why did the Church go for so long withholding priesthood and temple blessings from black people? Why did it go for any amount of time doing that?
These questions always—but today more than at any time in the history of the world, perhaps—strike at the very dead center of our sensibilities regarding equity, fairness, and justice—and that makes them more difficult. They are also difficult because any specific, Church-centered answers to them involve important unknowns.
If we can’t answer the primary questions positively, we will see these difficult issues as irreconcilable conflicts between the Church’s claim to priesthood authority and the virtue of equity.
If we can answer the primary questions positively, then, even though the difficult issues remain difficult, we will be willing to trust in a loving Heavenly Father who has a plan for His children—all of his children; we’ll be willing to trust in the power of an infinite Atonement; and we’ll be willing to trust in the merger of divine inspiration and human imperfection that both inform Church leaders—but with emphasis on the former.
(With regard to any question that seems difficult to us, it is important to remember that we don’t share the same perspective as Church leaders—and we definitely don’t share the same perspective as God.)
Gaining a Testimony
So, then, back to the important primary questions. How do I settle them and gain a testimony? I suggest you do five things.
First, take a positive approach. Too much skepticism that the world is round—or that the earth revolves around the sun—only impeded people’s ability to recognize the truth. The opposite of such a mistake, though—blind faith—is not the answer. We should most definitely be thoughtful! But a person’s approach to testimony must involve some desire and willingness to believe—and must include the fair and objective approach we should always take toward learning and truth-seeking.
Unless your name is Saul or Alma—and I don’t know any Sauls or Almas in our stake—an antagonistic approach to the question of the Church’s validity will only land you where you started. A desire to exercise faith—which Alma speaks of in the Book of Mormon—and an open mind are not mutually exclusive concepts.
Second, begin to learn how the Spirit communicates with you. The scriptures point out that the “voice” of the Spirit is still and small and gentle. It is not in the windstorm, the earthquake, or the fire. It is subtle. It is with you more often than you perhaps realize. It can speak to you in your mind and your heart. We experience the Spirit at different times in different ways and we are each different. It comes exceedingly seldom in an unmistakable vision or audible voice. It is quiet.
Why is this so? Why doesn’t God just speak loudly and unmistakably clearly to us? Because, I suppose, if He was going to do that, we might as well have just stayed with Him where He could personally instruct us. But we were separated from Him for a reason—to struggle and learn with agency and opposition and choices—and to learn to walk by faith. God will communicate with us, but not in a manner that imposes excessive influence over our agency.
Nevertheless, you can learn to discern—and constantly improve at discerning—both the presence and the absence of the Holy Ghost—especially as you strive to keep your baptismal covenant. For me, I would describe the Spirit best as feelings of love, clarity, and quiet approval. And I would describe the absence of the Holy Ghost as feelings of emptiness, negativity, and being alone.
Third, learn, ponder, and pray. Prayer is an essential element of seeking a testimony—but so is trying to understand what you’re praying about. You’ll need to study. Since billions of people and thousands of years haven’t settled the question of the Bible’s value, you’ll want to focus your studies on the Book of Mormon and on the words of living prophets. If those are true, then the Bible is also, even if not in every small detail.
Jesus said, “Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.” The Book of Mormon also tells that we should ask God if the Book of Mormon is true and that “by the power of the Holy Ghost ye may know the truth of all things.” This does not mean that we simply ask God a question and he drops down a note with the answer on it from heaven. You will need to work to discern an answer, the timing of which is uncertain.
Fourth, live the gospel. The importance of this cannot be understated. Jesus said, “If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or… [not]”. We should also place a lot of weight on this statement from Joseph Smith, who said that “a [person] would get nearer to God by abiding by [the] precepts [of the Book of Mormon], than by any other book.”
If you want to know if the Book of Mormon is true, you don’t need to stress over the secondary questions related to it, you need to live what it teaches. You won’t learn Spanish by speaking English and you won’t learn how to shoot a free throw by watching others do it. You’ll need to jump in. It is no small thing that the Book of Mormon is the “keystone of our religion.” Its power is most effectively unlocked when we try to live its teachings.
Fifth, consider the fruits of living the actual teachings of the Church—as opposed to misperceptions, misinterpretations, cultural flaws within the Church, or criticisms of the Church. What does the restored Church teach, encourage, and sometimes prod me to do? It tries to help me…
- Be a good husband
- Be a good father
- Be a good neighbor and a contributing citizen
- Serve others
- Develop Christlike attributes such as kindness, compassion, mercy, patience, and love
- Practice living by optimism, faith, and hope
- Be healthy—and become physically and emotionally self-reliant
- Strive for growth and improvement—while at the same time being kind and fair toward myself
- Seek learning
- Care for the poor and alleviate suffering
- Accept my value, potential, and lovability—and that of others
- Accept peace for the eventual resolution of the things that hurt or worry me
- And other good things.
One of the reasons the secondary questions are so distantly secondary is because—though they are often wielded as weapons of criticism against the Church—the strength of those weapons diminishes quickly in comparison to the good the Church brings about in the lives of individuals and families who embrace the Church’s actual teachings.
My Testimony
There are many good and important questions. Some are primary. I encourage you to settle the answers to those in your hearts and minds and then continue with them as you learn and grow.
- We do have a loving Father in Heaven.
- The covenants we make with Him through restored priesthood authority and ordinances are of utmost importance.
- Jesus Christ is our Savior.
I testify—from the basis of my own study, ponder, and prayer; my own interactions with the Holy Ghost; and the fruits I see born out in my life as I strive to keep my covenants—that God is our Father, Jesus is our Savior, and our Church-provided priesthood covenants matter, a lot, in our relationships to Them. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
The Infinite Power of the Atonement
[Stake Conference, October 2019]
The Book of Mormon uses the adjective “infinite” eleven times. Many Book of Mormon prophets spoke of the Savior’s “infinite goodness,” as well as of his “infinite mercy” and “infinite grace.” Nephi and Alma each made multiple references to the “infinite atonement” that would be brought about by the Savior—and also to His “infinite sacrifice.”
I am concerned that we sometimes place limitations on the Savior’s “infinite atonement,” which do not, in reality, exist. If and when we do that, we deprive ourselves of peace and of the joy Elder Christofferson spoke of in General Conference last weekend.
There are two general limitations we sometimes create that I would like to speak to. The first involves the Savior’s ability to help us heal and become whole from our own sins, challenges, and failures. The second involves the Savior’s ability to forgive and heal those who have hurt us.
I would like to bear my testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Gospel of joy.
It is true that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. So much so, that, in the absence of miraculous help, there is literally no hope of us returning to Him and experiencing all the goodness that is associated with being with Him. On our own, we are hopelessly lost.
But. We are not on our own. Miraculous help has occurred. Jesus, motivated by complete devotion to His Father—and also by a great love for us, condescended to come to earth, where he gave himself as that “infinite sacrifice” and thereby brought about the “infinite atonement.” Of course, many of the resulting blessings of his sacrifice will be fully realized in our futures. But many of them can be enjoyed now. When we falsely limit the reach of his power and the effects of His atonement, we forgo joy that should be ours now.
Elder Christofferson reminded us of Enos’s father’s reference to “the joy of the saints.” That joy should is fully within your power to experience as you exercise faith and practice repentance. Perfection is not required. Trusting God and striving to align ourselves with Him is. Those are both well within your and my abilities.
Now, first. The effects of the Savior’s infinite atonement are not limited in their ability to make you whole (except by your choices). Twice in just the last two weeks, I have visited with a distraught member who was so sure that he had become spiritually hopeless that suicide seemed like an alternative worth considering. Both believed that they had moved too far away for the Savior to reach them.
Both were wrong.
A favorite scripture of mine asks this question, “What doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift?” And then the answer, “Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him,” and, interestingly, “neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.”
The most wonderful gift imaginable has been bestowed upon you and me on conditions of our acceptance through faith and repentance. It is the gift of the Savior’s miracle. When we receive the gift, we rejoice and experience joy. So does God. When we reject the gift, either through limiting our faith and trust in the Savior or by holding onto our sins, we do not rejoice. And neither does God.
Let me tell you of another experience I have had with individuals on multiple occasions. It is sacred and personal to me. It is related to the three stories we find in Luke 15.
There we read about the lost sheep. That story ends with the Savior saying, “joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth.”
We also read about the lost coin. Similarly, the Savior concludes: “Likewise, I say unto you, there is joy in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner that repenteth.”
Lastly, we read about the prodigal son and the reception he received, including hugs; expressions of love; and a celebration with music, dancing, and merry making.
What I have experienced with people who are sublimely humble and broken-hearted is the joy in heaven over the repentant soul—and the welcoming of him or her into heaven’s arms. I do not know how to articulate how I have experienced this, but it has been as though I could hear it. As if I could hear that “joy in the presence of the angels of God.” And I have felt it in a penetrating way. I know that heaven rejoices over each of us as we turn ourselves toward the Master.
How do you receive the gift and experience joy? You drop the idea that the effects of the Atonement cannot apply to you, no matter how little you may think of yourself or what unpleasant comparison you may make of yourself to others—no matter what situation you are dealing with that you think cannot be overcome. You receive the truth that the power of the Savior extends to you—to your whole you—now and always, as long as we are broken-hearted and striving to follow the Savior and correct our course when we err.
You are not, nor can you make yourself, beyond the Savior’s power.
Second. The effects of the Atonement are not limited in their ability to make others whole who have wronged you, nor in their ability to ultimately make you whole from the wrong you have received from them.
Let me tell you a true story about two families I first became aware of four or five years ago. This may be a difficult story to hear and to appreciate. In both families, there was a father, a mother, and children. In both families, the father tragically committed a heinous crime and was sent to prison. The crimes of these two men were nearly identical and they went into the system at the same time, having received similar sentences from the State of Utah.
Five years ago, I got to know one of these men. I will call him Ken. I became acquainted with the other, whom I will call David, when I happened to attend both of their parole hearings in prison about four years ago. Both were denied parole at that time and given another four years before they could have another hearing with the Parole Board, which they did a few months ago.
I have been impressed by the efforts made by these two men to repent of their sins and become new creatures. I am impressed by their reliance on God and the faith that drives their repentance and their striving for forgiveness. I love them. Particularly Ken, whom I know reasonably well.
One of the lessons in these two men’s stories comes from their respective families’ responses to them over these last ten years or so.
Ken’s children immediately began writing to him in prison about how they missed him and expressed love and support for him. His ex-wife, however, expressed no such support and, as the years went by, the support of the kids faded and ultimately disappeared. Efforts to communicate with the kids from prison went unresponded to. In Ken’s first parole hearing, his family spoke against him. Four years later, they spoke against him again—this time with great bitterness and vitriol—and he was given three more years.
In this family, it does not appear that any healing has occurred within family relationships. On the contrary, there is clearly much pain and what seems to be open and festering emotional and spiritual wounds throughout the family. Dad is left emotionally isolated in prison while children, now adults, no longer know the man they once loved. Nor do they understand or appreciate the changes that have occurred within him. Dad’s only form of comfort, if you could call it that, comes from understanding that it was his own actions that started this tragedy and there is nobody to blame but himself for putting into motion all the pain and negativity that have followed.
David’s family is an interesting contrast.
Shortly after David’s second hearing, just a few months ago, in which he was granted a release that has since occurred, I happened to chat with his wife for a few minutes. That was just a short while before he was to be released and she told me both how excited she was to have him get out of prison and also how nervous she was about the transition and difficult road yet ahead while he remained on parole. I did not sense any bitterness although there is no doubt she has been through terrible pain as a result of his actions. There was both happy and nervous anticipation.
The next day after my chat with David’s wife, I was visiting with Ken in prison. David was also in the room being visited by his 20-year-old daughter. As all the visitors exited the prison together, I struck up a conversation with that daughter. I had noticed her and her father, David, talking while they held hands and seemed genuinely happy to be together. I asked her how she felt about her dad getting out soon and she said she was looking forward to it. I asked her if she had always felt so positively toward her father. She said, emphatically, no. I asked her what changed. She said she began visiting him and discovering the changes he was making and that those changes softened her heart toward him.
I left the prison that day feeling heavy for Ken’s loneliness—and simultaneously delighted and privileged to have witnessed some of the healing that had happened in David’s family.
Three times, brothers and sisters, Jesus of Nazareth raised people from the dead during his ministry in Jerusalem.
In one instance, Jesus encountered a funeral procession. The only son of a widow was being buried, and when Jesus saw the mother, he was moved with compassion. He said to her, “Weep not” and then returned the young man to life and to his mother.
On another occasion, the Jewish leader Jairus told Jesus that his 12-year-old daughter was home dying. Before Jesus arrived, he was told that it was too late; she was dead. To which Jesus responded, “Fear not: believe only, and she shall be made whole.” Then, while the scriptures say people “laughed [Jesus] to scorn,” he called the girl to arise and she arose and was reunited with her family.
On the third occasion, Jesus intentionally waited for days after Lazarus’s death before going to him. When he arrived, Lazarus’s sister Martha met him, distraught that Jesus had not come sooner. Jesus explained to her, “He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live.” And, as you know the story, Jesus called Lazarus back from the dead and reunited him with his sisters Mary and Martha.
Why did Jesus return the dead to mortality—and to their families? Obviously, it was not required for their eternal salvation. He did it, I feel quite certain, to show all of us that he has the power not only of the resurrection, but the power to forgive, even when things may seem to us completely hopeless. Before Jesus raised the man sick of the palsy to his feet, he sensed the doubt in others that he had the power to heal both spiritually and physically. He preceded that healing with the words, “They ye may know that the Son of Man hath power on earth to forgive sins.”
Brothers and Sisters, Jesus Christ, the Son of Man, has the power to forgive your sins, the power to forgive those who sin against us, the power to fully heal. Each and all of us can only limit the application of that power (to ourselves) by refusing to accept the gift. We find joy and peace in our lives when we accept the gift, both for ourselves and for others who have hurt us or our loved ones. “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men.” Forgiving others does not mean that we don’t permit appropriate boundaries or consequences, but it does mean accepting the gift of the atonement both on our behalf and on behalf of others. So doing bring peace to our souls.
Perhaps the ultimate blessing from accepting the Savior’s gift as truly infinite is that, through it, we are reunited to our families—both our heavenly, eternal family, and our earthly, hopefully likewise eternal, family.
Jesus Christ is infinite in his goodness, in his mercy and grace, and in all his perfection. He lives. The effects of his atonement are infinite if we receive them. I pray that each of us will. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Caring for the Poor and Needy
[Stake Priesthood Meeting, June 2019]
Brethren, I want to talk to you this afternoon about something that is very important. In recent years and months it has been especially weighing on me. Addressing it with you is a component of repentance that I need to go through as a stake president. It’s also part of the repentance we need to go through as a stake. And, to varying degrees, it may be part of a very important repentance process that you (and perhaps your families) need to go through.
The topic is our responsibility for helping the poor. While it is true that the line between spiritual and temporal matters is very blurry—if it even exists at all—and, to God, apparently it doesn’t—I am not speaking today about our responsibility to care for those who are poor in spirit or who are spiritually lost. Those needs, of course, surround us on all fronts and our responsibilities there are sobering. But that is not today’s topic. Today’s topic is our responsibility for helping the materially poor. Those needs are also staggering. Fortunately or unfortunately, they do not confront us as directly in our immediate community as they do others in other parts of the world.
The Lord’s teachings on this topic are very clear. They are also ubiquitous throughout all canonized scripture both ancient and modern.
At the end of the Savior’s life, he taught the parable of the sheep and the goats. The message of this parable is vivid and should grab our attention. Those who feed the hungry, give water to the thirsty, house the refugee, clothe the impoverished, and minister to the sick and imprisoned… these will enter the Kingdom of Heaven. Those who don’t… will not.
I am sometimes concerned about our responses to the story of the Savior’s encounter with the rich young ruler. You all know the story. The Savior said to him, “Yet lackest thou one thing: sell all that thou hast, and distribute unto the poor, and thou shalt have treasure in heaven.”
While I acknowledge that we are not asked to make vows of poverty in our church—or to literally sell everything we have—nor do we have examples of the Brethren doing such things—I sometimes think that we go through great intellectual gymnastics to figure out how little the Savior’s message to the rich young man applies to each of us. We sometimes do that while looking down on this man—who may or may not have ended up applying the Savior’s counsel better than we do.
Let me remind you that the vast majority of us in this room today are very wealthy. Not a little wealthy. Very wealthy. You are the rich young ruler. And so am I. As I have pointed out before, most of us in this room are, in terms of wealth, in the top tenth of one percent of people in the world. Many are well into that one tenth of one percent. That means that if 1,000 random people were selected from all over the globe and put into a room and you were one of them, some among the 999 faces looking at you would be very hungry; some would be not far from death due to hunger, thirst, or preventable disease; and all would be looking at you as the steward of the greatest amount of resources that could help.
I worry about the Savior’s parable about Lazarus (not the one he raised from the dead; this one was fictitious) and the Rich Man. The story is about the rich man, which, again, is you and me. It goes like this:
There was a certain rich man, which was clothed in purple and fine linen, and fared sumptuously every day: And there was a certain beggar named Lazarus, which was laid at his gate, full of sores, and desiring to be fed with the crumbs which fell from the rich man’s table: moreover the dogs came and licked his sores. And it came to pass, that the beggar died, and was carried by the angels into Abraham’s bosom: The rich man also died, and was buried; and in hell he lift up his eyes, being in torments, and seeth Abraham afar off, and Lazarus in his bosom. And he cried and said, Father Abraham, have mercy on me, and send Lazarus, that he may dip the tip of his finger in water, and cool my tongue; for I am tormented in this flame. But Abraham said, Son, remember that thou in thy lifetime receivedst thy good things, and likewise Lazarus evil things: but now he is comforted, and thou art tormented.
Tormented. The word the Savior chose twice to illustrate the fate of those who live without helping the poor is “tormented.” Brethren, let’s avoid being tormented.
It is true that temporal blessings follow obedience. It is not true that our accumulation of temporal blessings is an indication of our righteousness or of our fitness for the Kingdom of Heaven. In fact, the exact opposite may be true.
By show of hands, how many of you know the three things that were referred to in what we used to call “the three-fold mission of the Church”? Some years ago, a fourth item was added to that list. I am very sorry to report—and I apologize to all of you—that from a leadership standpoint, the significance of that fourth item being added was largely lost on me. I ask your and our Heavenly Father’s forgiveness. As a stake presidency, we hope to guide the stake collectively toward repentance in this regard.
Here is the current statement in the Church Handbook of Instructions:
In fulfilling its purpose to help individuals and families qualify for exaltation, the Church focuses on divinely appointed responsibilities. These include helping members live the gospel of Jesus Christ, gathering Israel through missionary work, caring for the poor and needy, and enabling the salvation of the dead by building temples and performing vicarious ordinances.
Caring for the poor and needy is not last in that list. It wasn’t tacked on as an also-ran.
So. Brethren, here is what we have done and what we are going to do:
First. We have long had three high council-led committees providing leadership to the stake for missionary work, gospel teaching, and temple work. We now have a fourth leadership team addressing our “divinely appointed responsibility” to care for the poor and the needy. This team consists of three high councilors and our entire stake RS presidency. Sister Stevens, Stake RS President, chairs this committee. Sister Cyndie Dobson also serves as a specialist on this committee—which has begun organizing and planning.
Second. We have asked every ward to have a Ward Council-led plan involving specific goals for missionary work, gospel teaching, and temple work. The wards have responded well and we are anxious to see those plans and goals come to fruition. By the way, there is good statistical evidence that, as a stake, we are improving in all three areas. And I am one who always looks at data with suspicion. We will also be meeting with Bishops and others to address the question of leadership for caring for the poor and the needy within the wards.
Third. We have communicated to stake members our desire that every individual and family engage in the work of salvation. We have tried to not over-prescribe exactly how individuals and families should participate, knowing that circumstances vary, and that fathers and mothers should lead in their homes. We have, however, promoted three “bulls-eyes,” so to speak for all to consider. Those are: having and pursuing a personal or family plan for missionary work; actively engaging in prayer and scripture study and teaching at home; and taking at least one family name to the temple each year for temple work.
Similarly, we are and will be inviting families and individuals to actively engage in the work of temporal salvation by caring for the poor and needy, whether near us, far from us, or both. Like our missionaryminded.org website which offers dozens of ideas on how individuals and families can participate in missionary work, we will present a wide variety of ways that individuals and families can participate in caring for the poor and the needy and, as with missionary work, we will ask individuals and families to establish their own plans for doing so. Let me give some simple examples of the types of ideas we’ll share:
- People can increase their fast offerings—including teaching our youth and young children to pay fast offerings. I find it pathetic that we don’t teach our children to pay fast offerings—and I am one who failed at that both as a child and, for a long time, as a parent.
- People can engage individually or as families or church groups in service projects found on JustServe.org.
- Families or church or neighborhood groups can gather to put together specific kits and relief packages for distribution to the needy.
- Families who have the time and means can travel out of the country to participate in on-site humanitarian projects.
- Individuals can participate in Self Reliance Groups and help mentor others in the group.
- Families can contribute to the Humanitarian Fund and LDS Charities. Let me add a few comments about this one in particular after we watch the following short video about the origins of LDS Charities…
[video]
There are some things I really like about LDS Charities. One is that all the money we give makes it all the way to the end of the cause. Another is that the Church partners with other charitable organizations and is part of the worldwide community doing good. Another is that the projects it engages in—everything from immunizations to newborn care to water accessibility and emergency response—are the types of products that contribute toward self-reliance and enabling people.
Besides tithing, Church donation slips—whether actual or electronic online—contain only three other categories of giving: Fast Offerings, Humanitarian (which is what funds LDS Charities), and Missionary Work (which is the most important self-reliance program in the world). I would encourage you to counsel with your wives and families, consider the Savior’s teachings, consider what will matter to you when your life is at its end. And give. A lot.
Brethren, in trying to call myself and all of us to repentance on this front, I do not wish to fail to acknowledge the good you are already doing. Please note that while I think we collectively have much work to do in this area, I make no judgments about any individuals. I do not know your personal circumstances. I do not know the extent of anyone’s giving or of their charitable efforts. Those are personal matters between you and the Lord. My interests are in relieving suffering and in keeping us all out of torments!
You are good, faithful men and it is one of the greatest blessings of my life to be befriended and taught and inspired by you. Please take this message home and begin counseling together with your wives and children. We have the birthright with all of its tangible and spiritual blessings. We have a great responsibility and a great work to do. Young men, your importance cannot be overstated. Your own families and many others will be blessed because of you. God has put you in position to do so—no doubt he has done so very intentionally.
The restored gospel is true. Joseph Smith received divine authority. We each bear some of that. Russell M. Nelson is God’s prophet today. Jesus Christ leads him. Jesus heals all who trust Him and submit themselves to Him. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Living "after the manner of happiness" 