Settle This in Your Hearts

People have all kinds of reasons for not doing all kinds of things in life. Some won't go to war. Some don't want to work. Some excuse their way out of responsibility. Some claim to be too tired, ill, busy, poor, or self-conscious to get involved. Some claim self-importance and talent only for bigger things. There are those content to let somebody else do it and others who simply talk up a storm about love or peace or investing one's humanity. Yes, there are all kinds of reasons and all kinds of people.

That is the introductory paragraph to an article by Leon R. Hartshorn about President Heber J. Grant (New Era, January 1972). President Grant was the seventh president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and widely known as a man without excuses. "If it wasn't an easy task," Hartshorn explained, "he worked to bring about the proper result anyway. He tackled the impossible with enthusiasm, rising to the challenge in seeming glee."

One of the best-known stories about President Grant is about how he learned to play baseball. As the only child of his widowed mother, President Grant wrote of his childhood that he "grew more or less on the principle of a hothouse plant, the growth of which is 'long and lanky' but not substantial. I learned to sweep, and to wash and wipe dishes, but did little stone throwing and little indulging in those sports which are interesting and attractive to boys, and which develop their physical frames."

As a result, when he finally joined a baseball club he was assigned to play with boys two age groups younger than his own because he didn't have the strength to run, bat or even throw a ball to the next base. He was teased by the other boys and it would seem he had many good reasons to quit. He wasn't very athletic and clearly baseball wasn't his thing. Besides, did he really need to endure the verbal abuse of his peers or the embarrassment of playing with kids much younger than himself? Wouldn't his time be better spent helping his widowed mother or developing talents he was already inclined to do well?

People have all kinds of reasons for not doing all kinds of things in life, but not Heber J. Grant. He later stated, "So much fun was engendered on my account by my youthful companions that I solemnly vowed that I would play baseball in the nine that would win that championship of the Territory of Utah."

President Grant started saving his tips from shining shoes and soon had enough to buy a baseball. "I spent hours and hours throwing the ball at Bishop Edwin D. Woolley's barn, which caused him to refer to me as the laziest boy in the Thirteenth Ward. Often my arm would ache so that I could scarcely go to sleep at night. But I kept on practicing and... eventually played in the nine that won the championship of the territory and beat the nine that had won the championship for California, Colorado, and Wyoming" (Presidents of the Church Student Manual, (2012), 122-29).

President Grant's unwillingness to excuse himself from difficult tasks aided his rise in business and helped him to be a trusted instrument in the Lord's work. This principle of success is illustrated again in the Parable of the Great Supper. Speaking to a group of lawyers and Pharisees, Christ taught:

A certain man made a great supper, and bade many: And sent his servant at supper time to say to them that were bidden, Come; for all things are now ready.

And they all with one consent began to make excuse. The first said unto him, I have bought a piece of ground, and I must needs go and see it: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have bought five yoke of oxen, and I go to prove them: I pray thee have me excused. And another said, I have married a wife, and therefore I cannot come.

So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind.

And the servant said, Lord, it is done as thou hast commanded, and yet there is room. And the lord said unto the servant, Go out into the highways and hedges, and compel them to come in, that my house may be filled. For I say unto you, That none of those men which were bidden shall taste of my supper (Luke 14:16-24).

There may be times when our reasons are valid and we ought to excuse ourselves; but when it comes to living the gospel, we will always forfeit blessings when put other priorities above the Lord. In the Savior's words, "Whosoever doth not bear his cross, and come after me, cannot be my disciple. Wherefore, settle this in your hearts, that ye will do the things which I shall teach, and command you" (JST Luke 14:27-28).

President Grant solemnly vowed to play on the baseball team that won the territorial championship before he could throw a ball to the next base or swing a baseball bat, but he was successful because he began with end in mind and worked diligently toward his goal. Just as a surgeon doesn't make an incision without a plan for closing it and a track star doesn't start a race without knowing where the finish line is, we should settle in our hearts what our lives will be about. Will we accept the Lord's invitation to be his disciples or will we make excuses to justify our absence? Though we will not speak at our own funerals, we determine to a large degree what others will say by the way we live our lives with or without excuse.

If we decide to be disciples of Christ, there will certainly be hard times ahead. That path has never been easy. We bear our cross when we face those challenges we don't want to face with faith in God's plan for us. Christ did not say he would suffer in Gethsemane as long as he didn't miss the game or die for us unless it would embarrass him in public. Rather, he put aside even his best excuses to do the will of the Father. As the cross is a symbol of Christ's death, we bear our cross when we live and die for him, for others, and for the gospel.

People have all kinds of reasons for not doing all kinds of things in life. The Lord challenges us to settle in our hearts now whether we will follow him when the prophet says something we don't like, when we're tempted to watch popular but offensive movies and television shows, or when we need to repent of our sins or forgive someone else. He challenges us to settle in our hearts now whether we will be disciples like President Grant or if we're too tired, ill, busy, poor or self-important to attend the Great Supper of blessings he has prepared for us.

Yes, there are all kinds of reasons and all kinds of people. Who are you going to be?

Planning for Success

Before any of us were born there was a great council in heaven to plan for the earth on which we live, our mortal lives and our eventual exaltation. Planning, including setting and reaching goals, always has been and always will be an essential part of gospel living. Elder Ballard has famously taught that, “If we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential.”

Goals, plans and resolutions can be difficult to implement. We often begin like the people of Lehonti that summited a mountain to avoid unnecessary war: “fixed in [our] minds with a determined resolution” (Alma 47:6) to lose weight or read our scriptures or get out of debt. It seems like everything is going to go our way. This is the year we reach our goal!

And then the rationalizations start. Soon, we find ourselves willingly walking down the mountain… and into a trap.

We’ve all been there; but unlike Lehonti’s army we don’t have to stay there. If you’ve had trouble setting or keeping meaningful goals that help you excel in life, perhaps a return to the core principles of planning will help you find a more successful approach. Here are five keys to setting resolutions that are both extraordinary and reachable.

First, planning of any sort starts with a vision of what the future looks like. Proverbs teaches that “where there is no vision, the people perish” (29:18). In case it isn’t obvious to you, breaking resolutions within three days counts as perishing—and it could just be because you haven’t thought about it enough.

Before you set a single goal, take time to dream. What will you look like if you lose that weight? How will you feel getting that big promotion? How will your demeanor change if you read your scriptures consistently? How will your relationships be if you make time for date night or playing with your kids? What would life be like with children that have been taught to be independent or the financial standing to retire and serve a mission?

Think about who you want to become and fall in love with that version of yourself. This is a critical step in the process—and often the most neglected. Goals are not expectations to live up to but possibilities to live into; just as God “created all things… spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth” (Moses 3:5), we have to visualize our possibilities before we can make them reality.  Even if you don’t set any goals at all for a month or two months or three, make sure you can see the light at the end of your tunnel.

Next, with your vision in mind, you can begin developing plans to become your future self. If you are working toward a new career or a big promotion, what additional education or experience do you need? How will you change your diet or find more time to exercise to reach your fitness goals? When will you practice playing the guitar, speaking in public, hitting your golf ball into the fairway or cooking in a dutch oven?

No matter our goal, we should always have a plan that outlines how we will be successful. The oft-quoted axiom is true: failing to plan is planning to fail.

I learned this as a young missionary in Central Europe. Elder Perry was our area president and his office was ten steps across a parking lot from the stake center where many of our meetings were held. He loved to come to our meetings, even when he wasn’t scheduled to make an appearance, and he would always take the time to shake all of our hands.

While shaking hands, Elder Perry would often ask us about our plans: plans for our areas; plans for our missions; and plans for life after our missions. We learned quickly that “I’m not sure yet” wasn’t an acceptable answer. “Always have a plan,” he would say. Your plan may change from time to time, but always have a plan you are committed and working to achieve.

Our plans will likely include friends, family, coworkers and others upon whom we will rely to reach our vision. Life’s greatest successes and eternity’s greatest joys can only be reached by people working interdependently. You should identify your role in the plan and the role you will ask the people around you to play. Your role in whatever plan you conceive is your personal mission statement.

When you have laid out your vision and identified the major steps along the way, the third key to setting reachable resolutions is to begin to walk toward your goal. We don’t need to see every detail to start. Planning of any sort is a faith exercise. As we begin striving in the direction of our vision, the details will become clearer.

Like many students, I started college without a clear idea of what I wanted for a career. I first enrolled as a physics major. Then I decided to be a pilot. By my sophomore year I had decided to go to graduate school. I wasn’t entirely sure whether I would go to medical school or business school or law school, but I knew I wanted to be a professional something. I chose to study economics because it was a rigorous study that would help me get into whatever graduate school I chose.

As an undergraduate student, I was often tempted to stray from the path I had chosen. The recreation management majors, after all, spent their days hiking and rafting, or at least I assumed they did; meanwhile, I was sitting in the library trying to figure out why the entire Greek alphabet was involved in my econometrics formulas. With the help of frequent prayers and a wife with more sense than I have, I managed to make it to my senior year studying economics. I still didn’t know what I was going to do for graduate school.

One day at church, an inspired conversation with a friend introduced me to a graduate program I hadn’t previously considered. I researched and applied to several programs, including one that I attended. Excellent advisors and mentors have helped me make wiser choices along the way and introduced me to the career field I have pursued.

Each decision along my path has taught me more about myself and clarified the details of my vision of the future. I still do not see every step along the way, but starting to walk down the path has helped me learn to discern opportunities that will move me toward my vision from distractions that would leave me wandering around the same metaphorical block or losing sight of my ultimate goals.

A vision, appropriate plans, and the faith to start walking are necessary but insufficient elements for long-term success. The fourth key to extraordinary and reachable resolutions is to identify our core values.

This summer, my family took a trip to New York State. We had never been before and talked excitedly for months about our visions of seeing Niagara Falls, the Statue of Liberty and the Hill Cumorah Pageant. As we began to plan however, we soon learned that it was just as important to plan our route as it was to plan the destinations we wanted to see. Did we want to take toll roads or drive around them? Was there a more efficient route that allowed us to see more? Where would we stop to sleep each night?

Our core values help us know which way to go when we face decisions in our lives. When traveling across New York, my family chose places to stay based on the safety, price and proximity to the attractions we wanted to see. These factors made it easier to decide when and where we would stop for the night. Your family may have chosen to stay somewhere with more amenities or an even lower price based on what is important to you. In the same way, our values help us know what decisions to make to get the outcomes we are seeking.

Of course, sometimes we make decisions that are inconsistent with our values. We stay in a dirty hotel even though we can’t stand it and end up not sleeping well. Or we buy something we think we want only to regret the purchase later. Explicitly identifying our core values helps us strategically and consciously improve our decisions so they can propel us toward our vision more effectively.

Because each of us is unique, explicitly stating our values only works if we are authentic to what is really important to us. This is not the place for aspirational statements. Values are not goals and the values we want but don’t yet have won’t help us.

As someone who does strategic planning for my organization for a living, I had tried more than once to develop a vision with a plan and stated values for my family—and more than once it had failed to catch on. My research for those plans indicated that faith, love, knowledge, opportunity and action were five values often stated in one way or another by families I admired. The trouble is, that’s not a very convincing argument for three kids ages five and under.

Looking closer at who we are as a family revealed that we are a family that values adventure. We are devout and family-oriented. We are independent and love to learn. Honestly, these values sound a lot like the ones I had researched, but the researched values were not personal or authentic to our family. Now when we come to a fork in the road, or even just want to find something to do for the weekend, we decide to do the adventurous thing—and we’re happier and making greater progress toward our family vision because of it.

Finally, we all must ultimately realize that success is not earned—it is given. The fifth key to successful resolutions is to trust completely in God and recognize his hand as the giver of life’s greatest successes.

In the Old Testament we read of a conflict between Gideon’s 32,000 men and 135,000 Midianites (Judges 7:1-3). Despite being desperately outnumbered, the Lord told Gideon, “The people that are with thee are too many for me to give the Midianites into their hands, lest Israel vaunt themselves against me, saying, Mine own hand hath saved me” (v. 2). Only after the Lord commanded Gideon’s army be reduced to a mere band of only 300 men—less than one percent of its original size and now outnumbered 400 to 1—did the Israelite soldiers trust enough in God to be victorious.

How would you pray if you knew the odds were stacked against you as they were against Gideon’s army? How would you converse with the Lord if you knew your life was on the line and it was impossible for you to save it yourself? If we will pray with that same earnestness, nothing will be impossible for us.

This is the same lesson the Lord taught the sons of Mosiah. After serving fourteen years as missionaries, Ammon celebrates their successes among the Lamanites. The key to their success is in verse 22 of Alma 26:

Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which have never been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls unto repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance (emphasis added).

Many of us talk about our goals as if we just need to try harder or muster more discipline or resolve; but muster as we may, how often do we set the same goal over and over and over again? Ammon did not earn his greatest successes and we will not earn ours. Our willpower alone is not enough. If it were, we would have already done the things we dream of doing.

Immediately following Moses’ death, Joshua became the new leader of the Israelites. He was uncertain about how to move forward. The Lord explained his vision for Joshua and taught him how to find success: “This book of the law shall not depart out of thy mouth; but thou shalt meditate therein day and night, that thou mayest observe to do according to all that is written therein: for then thou shalt make thy way prosperous, and then thou shalt have good success. Have I not commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee withersoever thou goest” (Joshua 1:8-9).

President Eyring has taught that we “need strength beyond ourselves to keep the commandments in whatever circumstance life brings us.” Like Ammon, we must recognize that we are “nothing” because “as to [our] strength [we are] weak” (Alma 26:12). Even the Savior withdrew from the multitudes at times to pray and receive strength from the angels of heaven (Luke 22:43). If we will do the same, the Lord will be with us always to give us success.

From the beginning the Lord has planned for our every success. He has a vision of what we can become. Through his prophets, he has taught us that “all human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents, and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny” (“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign, Nov. 2010, 129). Each means all of us-- not collectively but rather every one of us individually-- have a divine destiny, or the potential to be like our Heavenly Father and live the life he lives. There are no exceptions. The Lord sees this glorious potential in you and in me.

He has been putting plans in place to help us reach that potential for eons. The Lord told Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations” (Jeremiah 1:5). He planned the creation of the earth, the mortal life that teaches us to repent and serve God, and the opposition in all things that makes our choices meaningful and refines our judgment (Alma 42:4, 2 Nephi 2:11, Moses 3). He planned the families and dear friends that support us and the challenges that teach us valuable lessons. At the center of it all he planned a perfect atonement to pay for our sins and enhance our efforts (Mosiah 14). We shouted for joy in the premortal realm when we learned of the plan that made possible our immortality and eternal life (Job 38:7, Moses 1:39).

The values that guide our path back to Him are contained in His gospel. Faith, repentance, hope, charity, endurance and obedience help us see the straight and narrow path to our divine destiny. Temptations will surely come to stray from that path, but the more we rely on gospel values the brighter they shine and the clearer our vision of what the Lord has in store for us becomes.

Whether you envision a closer and more loving family, a healthier life, achievement in your professional life, or something else entirely, the Lord is anxious to bless us if we will begin walking toward our vision with faith. He has been planning our success for thousands, maybe millions of years and he delights in our progress. If we will rely on him, he will fight our toughest battles. He will go before our face, he will be on our right hand and on our left, his spirit will be in our hearts and his angels will be round about us to bear us up (D&C 84:88).

Through faithful planning we can reach a ripe old age and look back to find we’ve walked a great deal of the path toward our potential. We can prepare to return to live with our Heavenly Father again. And we can succeed in whatever resolution we pursue. 

Praying (and Persevering) for a Promised Land

More than four thousand years ago, two brothers had a dilemma. They lived in a city founded by one of Noah's grandsons in the middle of modern-day Iraq. Both men were fathers and providers for their families. They were righteous men, but the city where they lived had become wicked. They knew the Lord was not pleased with what was going on around them. They also knew that the Lord's pending wrath meant the people would be scattered and their languages confused-- and that they might not ever see, or be able to understand, each other again.

Faced with this difficult circumstance, one of the brothers, whose name was Jared, did what every older brother and fearless leader would do: he delegated. 'Cry unto the Lord,' he told his brother, 'that he will not confound us' (Ether 1:34). When the Lord had promised not to confuse the language of Jared and his brother, Jared asked his brother to pray again for their friends and a third time, accepting that they may be scattered like the rest of their people, for direction on where they should go.

To this third inquiry, the Lord responds that he would, 'go before thee into a land which is choice above all the lands of the earth' (Ether 1:42). Though the land would be choice and their descendants were promised to become the greatest nation on earth, the work didn't stop there. This small group was not yet ready to receive that ultimate blessing. Preparation would take at least, but likely much more than, five more years.

That preparation included four significant moves-- first north to the land of Nimrod, then out into the wilderness 'where there never had man been', on to the land along the beach, where they lived in tents for four years, and finally across the ocean to reach their ultimate goal. Their travels included building barges to cross the water on at least two separate occasions (with earlier builds likely enhancing the quality of the vessels that would cross the ocean), finding and preparing food for themselves and herds of animals they had brought with them, and solving problems of insufficient light, steering, and air on the eight water-tight barges built to cross the ocean. They were spiritually prepared as they sought answers to their prayers, followed the Lord in a cloud across the wilderness and, after they had been faithful for many years, as the brother of Jared saw the premortal Christ and all things from the beginning of the world to the end.

The final leg of their 6,000-mile journey isolated three or four adults, if they were divided evenly, with their children and animals in eight windowless, water-tight barges for just over eleven months as they crossed the ocean. The ocean waves were like mountains and the winds were fierce. The craft were tossed and frequently submerged under the water, sometimes only coming up for air after they had prayed for relief. The people, now unified as 'Jaredites', had learned to trust in the Lord, so they filled their time with grateful singing and praises to God.

When they finally landed on the American continent, the 'promised land' they had been working for years to achieve, there was more to be done. After rejoicing and thanking the Lord for what he had given them, they set about the work of dividing the land, tilling it to plant their crops, and establishing a government. Their lives were not likely very easy by our standards, but they had achieved something far greater. 'They were taught to walk humbly before the Lord,' the scripture says, 'and they were also taught from on high'. Becoming what the Lord wanted them to be, and knowing him well enough that he could teach them his will and doctrine, was far a greater prize than even the land they had acquired.

Whether a physical place or a goal to achieve something significant in our lives, each of us is striving toward our own 'promised land'. In our striving, it is useful to take note of the pattern that is prevalent in scripture. Of all the stories of peoples led to promised lands-- be it Abraham, Moses, Lehi, the modern pioneers or one of the others-- each began in the face of a difficult situation. Abraham was nearly murdered by his father; Moses was left for dead in the deserts of Arabia; Lehi was troubled by the prophecies that Jerusalem would be destroyed; and Joseph Smith wrestled with the question of which church he should join.

What separates these men from their peers, why they were led to great blessings and ultimately empowered to obtain 'promised lands' when others facing the same challenges around them were destroyed, is twofold: first, these men took their challenges to the Lord with faith that He would respond; and second, having received an answer from the Lord, they worked hard to accomplish His will for them.

None of these examples initially prayed for a promised land, either. The brother of Jared prayed to preserve the language of his family and friends; Abraham desired to be saved from his father and then to receive the priesthood; the Israelites prayed for freedom; Lehi prayed in behalf of his people; Joseph prayed for truth. Each received the desires of their hearts, but then submitted themselves to the further counsel and direction given by the Lord.

A period of temporal and spiritual preparation ensued in every case. Most of the stories we read in scripture come from these refining periods in the lives of the faithful. The Jaredites wandered over five years to reach their goal, learning shipbuilding and the nature of God as they went; Moses and the Israelites witnessed many miracles and received the Ten Commandments that would be the basis of their government while wandering the desert for 40 years; the early Saints received the restored gospel through the Book of Mormon and learned how to build temples in the 27 years it took to reach the Salt Lake Valley and are still waiting to build the New Jerusalem in Jackson County, Missouri.

It should be no surprise that reaching significant goals also takes significant time and effort. It takes an average of nine months for a baby to be born and an average of eighteen years to teach that baby to be an adult; great companies take an average of four years to define their values and another seven to fifteen years to realize their greatest successes (and five years of research just to figure that out); successful military campaigns are rarely won in a day, the best crops do not come from the first or second or third year of planting, marathons are rarely ran the first time a person gets off the couch, and the faith to see God does not come from a single, thoughtless petition to 'bless the food' or 'drive home safe'. Even when these goals are achieved, it will be following the Lord's guidance for our lives that will bring blessings so great that we will sing grateful praises though we're tossed and submerged by the storms of life.

Like Jared and his brother, we are faced today with the most difficult of circumstances. Though our individual lives have different challenges, we share a fallen, sinful nature that is unworthy to return to our Heavenly Father. Whatever other promises you or I may obtain from the Lord, He has promised each of us a place in His kingdom if we will follow the pattern outlined in scripture.The journey begins with earnest prayers for ourselves and others that we may receive His promise, then requires a significant period of preparation as we repent, receive necessary ordinances and develop the traits and abilities needed to make the final leg of the journey. Finally, if we endure it well, it will be our privilege to go about our Father's business in the promised land of His Celestial Kingdom.

It is God's desire that we all obtain this promise, and with it, all that He has. It is possible if we will follow the example of the prophets by turning to Him in faith and, trusting in His divine wisdom, put our time and effort to accomplishing His will for us.