This week I saw proof that the adversary is works so hard. Throughout my whole mission and life I have seen it, but right now its different. Something great is about to happen because he seems to be everywhere we look.
We are teaching two sisters named Julia and Mimi. They have a sick mom who cant be left and Mimi works a lot. So we have had the opportunity to teach Julia a lot, and she is reading in The Book of Mormon and has strong desires to be baptized. But we haven't been able to get her or Mimi to church. Last week Mimi had work, and Julia was going to come but when she woke up no one was home. So she had to stay with her mom. This week Mimi had to work again. Julia even told us "Mimi has never had the Sunday morning shift before you started coming. The devil is working so hard." But Julia would still be able to come because the one other person that knows how to take care of her mom is Mimi's husband and he would be there. But on Sunday morning we got a call from the member who was supposed to pick her up, and she said she went to her house but she didn't bring her because she would have to be home by 11:40 (church starts at 11). So we called Julia and she said no, that she can be home by 12:30. So we quickly got a member to go get her with us, good thing she lives 5 minutes from the chapel. and she was able to make it to sacrament! In the car she told us that her brother-in-law never has work on Sunday morning and that they called him at 11:45pm Saturday night to ask him to come in on Sunday! We were blessed to find a member who was on her way out to go to another ward and she was able to take her home! It was such a blessing to have Julia there! We worked harder and smarter then the adversary and won!
This week has been hard in the sense that everyone we have met is going through something tragic. Its hard for me to see. Sometimes you wish you could just force the gospel on them of give them the knowledge and conversion that you have- but you cant.
Life is hard for the same reason that school is hard or that becoming a pro athlete is hard, because we must learn we must improve. This isn't eternal life, this isn't the best part. This is what will make the next part so much better. Endure and remember perfection is pending, but we must try. How do we do it?
As a missionary my favorite 'go to' scripture is Helaman 5:12. Typical....but it has so much depth.
12 And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
Did you know that Jesus Christ Himself literally tells us in The Book of Mormon just HOW we bulid our lives upon that rock.
He came to the Americas He instituted the Sacrament and said:
10 And when the disciples had done this, Jesus said unto them:Blessed are ye for this thing which ye have done, for this is fulfilling my commandments, and this doth witness unto the Father that ye are willing to do that which I have commanded you.
11 And this shall ye always do to those who repent and are baptized in my name; and ye shall do it in remembrance of my blood, which I have shed for you, that ye may witness unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you.
12 And I give unto you a commandment that ye shall do these things. And if ye shall always do these things blessed are ye, for ye are built upon my rock.
13 But whoso among you shall do more or less than these are not built upon my rock, but are built upon a sandy foundation; and when the rain descends, and the floods come, and the winds blow,and beat upon them, they shall fall, and the gates of hell are ready open to receive them.
So we must partake of the sacrament weekly....but in order to partake of the sacrament we must follow the commandments.
One of my zone leaders taught me to be built on a sandy foundation can mean that we are built on a lot of little rocks. Ex: social media, obsessions (tv, exercising, school, shopping etc...), worshiping others (bloggers, celebrities...etc), The list goes on and on.
What else? The Book of Mormon- It is light!
16 And blessed be he that shall bring this thing to light; for it shall be brought out of darkness unto light, according to the word o f
God; yea, it shall be brought out of the earth, and it shall shine forth out of darkness, and come unto the knowledge of the people;and it shall be done by the power of God.
Going to the Temple: 22 And we ask thee, Holy Father, that thy servants may go forth from this house armed with thy power, and that thy name may be upon them, and thy glory be round about them, and thine angels have charge over them;
23 And from this place they may bear exceedingly great and
glorious tidings, in truth, unto the ends of the earth, that they may
know that this is thy work, and that thou hast put forth thy hand,to ful
fill
that which thou hast spoken by the mouths of the
prophets, concerning the last days
.
All of this sounds overwhelming and hard! But the good news is we have a Savior, and we cant do it without Him and we shouldn't even try. Just last week I was feeling this way, its too much. I thought its easier here but what about one day when I am back surrounded by the "real world" and then I read this:
"
One of the most terrifying dilemmas in the universe consists of two facts.The first is expressed in Doctrine and Covenants 1:31: “I the Lord cannotlook upon sin with the least degree of allowance.” [D&C 1:31] That meanshe can’t tolerate it. He can’t blink or look the other way. The other fact isvery simply put: We all sin. If the equation consisted of only those twofacts, the conclusion would be inescapable: As sinful beings, we can neverenter God’s presence.
But that is not all there is. There is the atonement of Jesus Christ—thatglorious plan by which this dilemma can be resolved.
And the amazing thing is that the Atonement works in practical ways.
Believing Christ
When my son Michael was six or seven, he did something I thought waswrong. He is my only son, and I want him to be better than his dad was.So when he slipped up, I sent him to his room with the instructions,“Don’t you dare come out until I come and get you!”
And then I forgot. Some hours later, as I was watching television, I heardhis door open and tentative footsteps coming down the hall. I slapped myforehead and ran to meet him. There he was with swollen eyes and tearson his cheeks. He looked up at me—not quite sure he should have comeout—and said, “Dad, can’t we ever be friends again?” I melted and pulledhim to me. He’s my boy, and I love him.
We all do things that disappoint our Father in Heaven, that separate usfrom his presence, his Spirit. There are times when we get sent to our
r
ooms, spiritually though not physically. When that happens, wesometimes lift up our eyes and say, “O Father, can’t we ever be friendsagain?” The answer, found in all the scriptures, is a resounding “Yes—through the atonement of Christ.” I particularly like the way it is put inIsaiah 1:18: “Come now, and let us reason together, saith the Lord:though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow.” [Isa. 1:18]
To have faith in Jesus Christ is not merely to believe that he is who hesays he is. It is not merely to believe in Christ; we must also believeChrist. Both as a bishop and as a teacher, I have heard several variationson a theme of doubt. Some have said, “Bishop, I’ve sinned too horribly. I’llbe active in the Church, and I hope for some reward. But I couldn’t everhope to be exalted after what I’ve done.” Others have said, “I’m weak andimperfect. I don’t have all the talents that Brother Jones (or Sister Smith)does. I’ll never be the bishop (or the Relief Society president). I’m justaverage. I expect my reward in eternity will be a little lower than theirs.”
All of these are variations on the same theme: “I do not believe Christ cando what he claims. I have no faith in his ability to exalt me.”
I once counseled a man who said, “Bishop, I’m just not celestial material.”Well, I’d heard those words once too often, so I said, “You’re not celestialmaterial? Welcome to the club. Not one of us is! Not one of us qualifies onour own for the presence of God. So why don’t you admit your realproblem? Why don’t you admit that you don’t believe Christ can do whathe says he can do?”
He got angry. “I have a testimony of Jesus!”
I said, “Yes, you believe in Christ. You simply do not believe Christ. Hesays that even though you are not celestial, he can make you celestial—but you don’t believe it.”
Why He Is Called the Savior
Sometimes the demand for perfection drives us to despair. More than adecade ago, my wife and I were living in Pennsylvania. Things seemed tobe going well. I’d been promoted in my work and was also serving in thebishopric. Janet had given birth to our fourth child, had graduated fromcollege, had passed the CPA exam, and had been called to serve as ReliefSociety president. We were busy but happy, and I thought we were doingthe right things.
Then my wife began to feel an overpowering sense of discouragement.She asked to be released from her callings, and try as I might, I could notget her to tell me what was wrong.
One night, after two weeks of being prodded by a sometimes insensitivebut worried husband, she finally said, “All right. You want to know what’swrong? I can’t do it anymore. I can’t get up at 5:30 in the morning to bakebread and help my kids with their homework and do my own homework. Ican’t do my Relief Society stuff and get my genealogy done and sew andgo to the PTA meetings and write the missionaries. …”
She added, “I don’t have the talent that Sister Morrell has. I can’t do whatSister Childs does. I try not to yell at the kids, but I do. I’m not perfect,and I’m never going to be perfect. I’m afraid I’m not going to make it tothe celestial kingdom.”
I said, “Janet, I know you have a testimony. …”
“Of course I do! That’s what’s so terrible. I know the gospel’s true. I justcan’t do it. I’ve tried and I’ve tried, but I can’t do it all, all of the time.”
It was a long night. At last we came to understand what was wrong. Werealized, after talking together, that Janet was trying to save herself. Sheknew that Jesus is an adviser and a teacher. She knew that he is anexample, the head of the Church, our Elder Brother, and even God. Sheknew all that, but she did not understand His role as the Savior.
We all fail at living the full celestial level. That’s why we need a Savior. The
Lord says, “Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after
righteousness: for they shall be filled.” (Matt. 5:6.) We frequentlymisinterpret that verse. We think it means “Blessed are the righteous.” Itdoes not. When are you hungry? When are you thirsty? When you don’thave the object of your desire. It is those who don’t have therighteousness that God has—but who hunger and thirst after it—who areblessed, for if that is the desire of their hearts, the Lord will help themachieve it.
Becoming One with Christ
Perfection comes through the atonement of Jesus Christ. That happens aswe become one with him, a perfect being. It is like a merger. If you take asmall, bankrupt firm that is about to go under and merge it with acorporate giant, what happens? Their assets and liabilities flow together,and the new entity that is created is solvent.
This is similar to what happens spiritually when we enter into a covenantwith the Savior. We have liabilities; he has assets. So he proposes acovenant relationship. Jesus is sometimes called the Bridegroom and theChurch the Bride, because of their close association under the covenant.After the covenant is made, I become one with Christ, and as partners wework together toward my exaltation. My liabilities and his assets flow intoeach other. I do all that I can do, and he does what I cannot yet do. Fornow, in partnership we are perfect, through His perfection.
What heavier burden is there than the demand we sometimes place onourselves to be perfect now, in this life? But Jesus proposes: “Come untome, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly inheart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
Trust Me
Nephi was one of the great prophets, yet he recognized his need for theSavior. In 2 Nephi 4:17–18, we read of his anguish: “O wretched man that
I am! Yea, my heart sorroweth because of my flesh; my soul grievethbecause of mine iniquities.
“I am encompassed about, because of the temptations and the sins whichdo so easily beset me.” [2 Ne. 4:17–18]
Did Nephi understand his mortal condition?
Oh, yes. But the key to his greatness is what comes next: “Nevertheless, Iknow in whom I have trusted.” (2 Ne. 4:19.)
I had a friend who used to say frequently, “Well, I figure my life is halfover and I’m halfway to the celestial kingdom, so I’m right on schedule.”
One day I asked her, “What happens if you die tomorrow?” It was the firsttime the thought had occurred to her.
“Let’s see, halfway to the celestial kingdom is … mid-terrestrial! That’snot good enough!”
We need to know that because of the covenant we have made with theSavior, if we should die tomorrow, we still have hope of the celestialkingdom. That hope is one of the promised blessings of our covenantrelationship. Yet many of us do not understand that promise or takeadvantage of it.
When our twin daughters were young, Janet and I decided to teach themto swim. I started with Rebekah. As we went down into the public pooltogether, I thought, “I’m going to teach her to swim.” But she thought,“I’m going to drown!” The water was only three and one-half feet deep,but Becky was only three feet tall. She was so terrified that she began toscream and kick. She was unteachable.
Finally, I held her close and said, “Becky, I’ve got you. I’m your dad. I loveyou. I’m not going to let anything bad happen to you. Now relax.” Andbless her heart, she relaxed. She trusted me. I put my arms under her andsaid, “Okay, now kick your legs.” And she began to learn how to swim.
Spiritually, some of us are so terrified by the questions “Am I celestial?Am I going to make it?” that we cannot make any progress. We’re petrifiedby our fear. But if we’re trying to follow his teachings and payingattention, we can almost feel the Savior’s arms around us and feel thoseassurances as the Spirit whispers of the Savior’s love for us: I love you.Trust me. And if we do trust him, he can begin to help us live the gospel.It is as if he supports us, whispering through the Spirit: Okay, now attendsacrament meeting. Very good. Now accept a call to serve. And so webegin to make progress.
Alma 34:14–16 makes it clear that Christ’s atonement was infinite andeternal. As such, it enables mercy to overpower justice so we can have thefaith to repent. “And thus mercy can satisfy the demands of justice, andencircles [us] in the arms of safety.”
“The arms of safety”—that is my favorite phrase from the Book ofMormon.
Do Latter-day Saints believe in being saved? Of course we do. That’s whyJesus is called the Savior. What good is it to have a Savior if no one issaved? It’s like having a lifeguard that won’t get out of the chair.
The great truth of the gospel is that we have a Savior who can and willsave us from ourselves, from what we lack, from our imperfections, fromthe carnality within us, if we seek his help. In vision, Joseph Smithdescribed those in the celestial kingdom in these terms:
“These are they whose names are written in heaven, where God and Christare the judge of all.
“These are they who are just men made perfect through Jesus themediator of the new covenant.” (D&C 76:68–69.)
Just men and women—those who hunger and thirst after righteousness—made perfect through Jesus Christ, our mediator.
Give Him All
As my wife and I talked that night about feelings of inadequacy, I gropedfor some way to help. I finally remembered something that had happeneda couple of months earlier. In our home it is now called the parable of thebicycle.
I was sitting in a chair reading. My daughter, Sarah, who was seven yearsold at the time, came in and said, “Dad, can I have a bike? I’m the only kidon the block who doesn’t have one.”
Well, I didn’t have the money then for a bike, so I stalled her. I said, “Sure,Sarah.”
She said, “How? When?”
I said, “You save all your pennies, and soon you’ll have enough for abike.” And she went away.
A couple ofs weeks later I was sitting in the same chair when I heard a“clink, clink” in Sarah’s bedroom. I asked, “Sarah, what are you doing?”
She came to me with a little jar, a slit cut in the lid, and a bunch ofpennies in the bottom. She said, “You promised me that if I saved all mypennies, pretty soon I’d have enough for a bike. And, Daddy, I’ve savedevery single one of them.”
My heart melted. My daughter was doing everything in her power tofollow my instructions. I hadn’t actually lied to her. If she saved all of herpennies, she would eventually have enough for a bike, but by then shewould want a car. I said, “Let’s go look at bikes.”
We went to every store in town. Finally we found it—the perfect bicycle.She was thrilled. Then she saw the price tag, and her face fell. She startedto cry. “Oh, Dad, I’ll never have enough for a bicycle!”
So I said, “Sarah, how much do you have?”
She answered, “Sixty-one cents.”
“I’ll tell you what. You give me everything you’ve got and a hug and akiss, and the bike is yours.” Then I drove home very slowly because sheinsisted on riding the bike home.
As I drove beside her, I thought of the atonement of Christ. We alldesperately want the celestial kingdom. We want to be with our Father inHeaven. But no matter how hard we try, we come up short. At some pointall of us must realize, “I can’t do this by myself. I need help.” Then it isthat the Savior says, in effect, All right, you’re not perfect. But what canyou do? Give me all you have, and I’ll do the rest.
He still requires our best effort. We must keep trying. But the good newsis that having done all we can, it is enough. We may not be personallyperfect yet, but because of our covenant with the Savior, we can rely onhis perfection, and his perfection will get us through.
As Janet and I internalized how the Atonement works, we wept. “I’vealways believed that Jesus suffered and died for me,” Janet said. “But now
I realize that he must save me from myself, from my sins and my
weaknesses.”
I rejoice in the words of 2 Nephi 2:8: “There is no flesh that can dwell inthe presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and graceof the Holy Messiah.” [2 Ne. 2:8] There is no other way. Many of us are
trying to save ourselves, holding the atonement of Jesus Christ at arm’s
distance and saying, “When I’ve perfected myself, then I’ll be worthy of
the Atonement.” But that’s not how it works. That’s like saying, “I won’ttake the medicine until I’m well. I’ll be worthy of it then.”
One of my favorite hymns reads: “Dearly, dearly has he loved! And wemust love him too, and trust in his redeeming blood, and try his works todo.” (“There Is a Green Hill Far Away,” Hymns, 1985, no. 194.)
Truly, we must try to do his works with all that is in us. But then, having
done all, we can trust in his redeeming blood to do for us what we can
not
do for ourselves.
If we will enter into that glorious covenant Jesus offers us and give him all
t
hat we have, holding nothing back, trusting in his ability to make up for
what we lack, he will exalt us. With him pulling with and for us, we can
move forward in confidence toward our celestial home.
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