Saved by a Good Samaritan

In Luke chapter 10 we read of a certain lawyer who inquired of the Savior, 'Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?' Christ, the master teacher, answered by asking the lawyer what was written in the law of Moses. The lawyer recited: 'Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbor as thyself.'

Christ commended the lawyer for his response, but the scripture states that this particular lawyer was 'willing to justify himself' and so, as lawyers sometimes do, he began looking for a loophole. Such loopholes, then as now, are often found in the way words are defined. The lawyer inquired again of the Savior, 'who is my neighbor?'

Most of us are familiar with the parable of the Good Samaritan that the Savior related on this occasion. It is the story of a certain man who was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho when he fell among thieves and was left half dead. Lying naked on the side of the road he was passed over by a priest and a Levite before a despised Samaritan bound up his wounds and took him to an inn, promising to compensate the innkeeper for whatever expenses were necessary to heal the injured man.

The parable provided a powerful answer to the lawyer's attempt to rationalize. Everyone is our neighbor and we are expected to treat all people with love and mercy, regardless of status or prejudice. The message of the parable is so clear it is impossible to misunderstand the point and the lawyer's inquiries ceased.

There is also a deeper meaning hidden in this parable that may not have been lost on the lawyer. We have to study and ask questions to find what would have been common knowledge to those in ancient Israel. For example, why did the Savior specify in a hypothetical story that the journey was made from Jerusalem to Jericho? Why was the journey made by a certain man, rather than just any man? Why did the thieves take even the man's clothes-- wouldn't that be hard to do on a highway between major cities without getting caught?

A topographical map reveals that Jerusalem, the holy city, sits in the mountains more than 3,000 feet above Jericho's location below sea level. The man in the parable went from a high, holy city to a low place, got beat up, wasn't helped by the administrators of the law of Moses, then was healed by a man who was despised because his heritage was half of the chosen race and half from the impure world of the Gentiles.

Starting to sound familiar?

The lawyer, and each of us, are the certain man in the Savior's parable. We come down to this earth from God's presence and are battered by life's difficulties and our own sins. As fallen men and women we are helpless ('naked'), unable to heal our own souls and unworthy to return to God's presence. Even the rites of the sacrament symbolized in the Passover or the ordinances of the temple cannot save us of their own accord.

As the Samaritan bound up the wounds of the man in the parable, our Savior, Jesus Christ, is the perfect physician of body and soul. He was born of Mary as the Son of God to atone for our sins and break the bonds of death through his resurrection. Isaiah testified:

Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows: yet we did esteem him stricken, smitten of God, and afflicted. But he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities: the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed (Isaiah 53:5-6).

Finally, an inn is a temporary place of refuge that is open to all. This life is a temporary state away from our heavenly home in God's presence. The Savior brings us into his church to be cared for while we are here. He also promises us, as hosts of those who may be lost or injured in our stewardships, that he will repay all that we give to bring health of soul to those we serve.

With the additional meaning in this parable, Christ again addressed the lawyer's primary question, 'what shall I do to inherit eternal life'. The answer for the lawyer, and for all of us, begins with believing in Christ as our personal Good Samaritan and Savior. It is His Atonement that gives meaning to the sacrament and other ordinances of gospel law. It is He that binds up our wounds and takes away our pains, our sorrows, our remorse, and our weaknesses. It is with his stripes that we are healed.

Don't Be A Goat

In Matthew 24, Christ outlines several of the signs of his Second Coming. This chapter is significant enough to our day that the Joseph Smith translation of Matthew 24 is published in the Pearl of Great Price as Joseph Smith--Matthew.

The very next chapter, Matthew 25, contains three parables used to teach the same principle of preparedness. Just as we see Matthew 24 as a significant chapter at least partially because of its repetition, the repetition of the principles taught in Matthew 25 should be seen as an indication that these principles are significant to our salvation.

The first of these parables is the parable of the ten virgins. Elder Oaks pointed out in 2004 that these virgins were all invited to the feast, an indication that these virgins are symbolic of the members of the Church prior to the Second Coming of Christ. Of ten virgins waiting for admittance to a wedding feast, only five of the virgins in the parable were prepared with enough oil for their lamps to enter the feast when the bridegroom came. The other five, who had gone to get more oil, were denied entrance upon their return. This parable concludes with the warning to, "Watch therefore, for ye know neither the day nor the hour wherein the Son of man cometh" (Matthew 25:13).

The second parable is the parable of the talents. In this parable, a man gives each of his three servants a respective number of talents. When he returns, he is pleased to find that two of his servants have doubled their allotment. The third, unprepared servant had done nothing with the talents he had been given and is chastised for not even collecting the interest on the investment given to him. The talent of the third servant is then given to the first with the warning that unprofitable servants will be cast into outer darkness.

Finally, we read that Christ shall come again he will divide the sheep from the goats. The sheep, as metaphors for the faithful who were prepared for Christ at his coming, will then inherit the kingdom of God while the unfaithful, unprepared goats will go away into everlasting punishment (v. 34, 46).

In the third parable encouraging us to be prepared for the Second Coming, Christ teaches us what we must do. That is, Christ teaches us how to be a sheep instead of a goat. After teaching that he will separate the sheep from the goats and put the sheep on his right hand, he says:

Then shall the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me. 


This is, then, the key. Service to Christ is how we can be prepared for the wedding feast, multiply our talents and be counted with the sheep. To be absolutely clear, Christ continues:


Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee? And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.


The point here is one with which we are all familiar. Those who will be saved in the Kingdom of God will not be the selfish, but the servants. As we are willing to serve Christ by serving those around us, we will be prepared for the Second Coming of Christ and will be on his right hand. This is a task that is within our grasp-- if you just have the wisdom to not be a goat.

The Gardens of Our Hearts

There are many times in scripture when you and I are compared in metaphor to the trees of an orchard or the grain of the field. One such occasion is in the third chapter of Matthew when John the Baptist preaches in the wilderness of Judea. John's growing popularity had become a concern for the ruling classes who had gained power and wealth by subjecting the people to often ridiculous additional rules and regulations cloaked as inspired additions to the Law of Moses.

Speaking to these ruling classes, but also to all of us, John declared: "If ye receive not [the preaching of him whom God hath sent] in your hearts, ye receive not me; and if ye receive not me, ye receive not him of whom I am sent to bear record; and for your sins ye have no cloak. Repent, therefore, and bring forth fruits meet for repentance" (JST Matthew 3:34-36).

Like a tree or a staff of grain, each of us bears the fruit of our labor. Worthy actions and desires are equivalent to good fruit in the metaphor. John reminds us that true repentance includes receiving God's word in our hearts and then changing our actions so that we may again be worthy of the Lord's harvest. Lest we think we can repent half-heartedly or offer impure fruits to the Lord, John reminds his listeners that "the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire" (Matthew 3:10).

A lot can be and has been said about how we can change our actions, but John's repentance flowchart dictates that we focus first on planting the right seeds in good ground or, in other words, cultivating righteous desires in our pure, receptive hearts. This is also the focus of another agrarian metaphor, the Parable of the Sower, which Christ shared with an audience similar to John's. In the parable, which could also be called the Parable of the Soils, a sower goes out to plant seed in his field. Some of the seed falls into the road, some onto rocks, some into patches of weeds and some onto good ground where it can grow strong and bear fruit.

Two of the soils in this parable-- the rock and the road-- are hard and impenetrable. People with similarly hardened hearts may appear do everything right on the surface, but ultimately are unable to produce good fruit because they lack the depth of conviction and the ongoing spiritual nourishment to support their testimonies through tough questions or a difficult season in life.

Likewise, if we plant desires in our hearts that are not consistent with the word of God, even if they seem to be good at the time, we may find one day that the fruit we hoped to grow has been suffocated by other plants. The Savior taught that "where your treasure is, there will your hearts be also" (Matthew 6:21). We cannot plant our fields with corn and then be surprised when there's no wheat to harvest.

Elder Ardern recently reminded us that planting the right seeds in our hearts requires our attention and intention. "With the demands made of us," he said, "we must learn to prioritize our choices to match our goals or risk being exposed to the winds of procrastination and being blown from one time-wasting activity to another" (A Time to Prepare, October 2011). If we truly desire the things of God, we may find it necessary to do a little weeding from time to time to keep our growth on track.

Finally, the prophet Alma expounded how to plant the right desires in our softened hearts. "If ye give place, that a seed may be planted in your heart," he taught, "behold, if it be a true seed, or a good seed, if ye do not cast it out by your unbelief, that ye will resist the Spirit of the Lord, behold, it will begin to swell within your breasts; and when you feel these swelling motions, ye will begin to say within yourselves-- It must needs be that this is a good seed, or that the word is good, for it beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me" (Alma 32:28).

He continues, "If ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root; and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life. And because of your diligence and your faith and your patience with the word in nourishing it, that it may take root in you, behold, by and by ye shall pluck the fruit thereof, which is most precious, which is sweet above all that is sweet, and which is white above all that is white, yea, and pure above all that is pure; and ye shall feast upon this fruit even until ye are filled, that ye hunger not, neither shall ye thirst" (Alma 32:41-42).

In the words of Elder Oaks, our "desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. The desires we act on determine our changing, our achieving, and our becoming" (Desire, April 2011). The desires we plant in our hearts determine the fruit we will eat now and in eternity.

Each of us has many desires competing for our attention each day. Some, such as desires to meet physical needs, may be strong without much effort from us. Others depend more heavily on our nurturing. In all cases, the desires we consider most important are most likely to be transferred into action. This includes overriding compelling physical desires to go camping, to fast or to work through the night; or allowing unrighteous desires to overcome our want of health, honesty or virtue.

Of course, ultimately we decide what desires are allowed to take root in our hearts; but the Lord has promised that we will yield the fruits of what we plant. "A just God," Alma taught, "granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life" (Alma 29:4).

From the farmer's point of view it may seem obvious that planting the right seeds in good ground is essential to yielding a profitable crop, but very few inherit such conditions. What do we do when we find patches of rocky or weed-filled ground in our garden? How can a person change what they treasure or have already planted in order to eventually harvest that field of wheat or orchard of delicious fruit?

Around the turn of the 20th Century, Robert Butchart moved from Ontario to Vancouver Island, Canada. He was among the first to develop and sell cement that could be packaged in sacks rather than barrels and Vancouver Island's rich limestone deposits were an integral part of his formula. He constructed his first quarry and cement plant in 1904 and would soon become a primary supplier of cement to rapidly developing cities from San Francisco to Seattle.

Robert's wife, Jennie, was the company's chemist. She was also a homemaker who cared very much for the sweet peas and roses planted at her family home near the quarry. As the limestone deposits were exhausted, Jennie determined to create something of beauty from the enormous pit that mining had left behind. She had tons of topsoil carted in to line the bottom of the abandoned quarry. Then she began to plant.

Jennie Butchart planted terraced flowers, white poplars and Persian plums. As more deposits were exhausted, she planted a Japanese garden and ivy that climbed up the quarry walls. She planted Tibetan blue poppies, California Redwoods, a private garden, a rose garden and two Italian gardens. Robert collected ornamental birds for the gardens and began assigning cement plant staff to help with weeding and maintenance. Little by little the garden grew and with growth came notoriety.

Today, Butchart Gardens is one of the five most renowned gardens in the world. 550 staff care for the 55-acre garden that receives more than a million visitors annually from around the world. Tourists come to tour the gardens, to take in an outdoor symphony concert or fireworks show, to ride the carousel with their kids and to enjoy the wonderful and awe-inspiring natural scenes unique to Butchart Gardens.

We may feel at times like our hearts, in whole or in part, are as hard and empty as an exhausted mining quarry. It may seem impossible to grow anything good or that all or part of us is just destined to be an empty limestone pit. While these feelings may be very real for us and even duly justified, they are tragically limited in their scope. We too often see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today; but our Heavenly Father, Elder Wirthlin has taught, sees us in terms of forever. Like Jennie Butchart, He looks at the empty hole in our hearts, sees the majestic gardens we can grow and then makes it possible for us to start planting.

Inevitably, we will all have to lay down some new soil from time to time. We do this as we decide we want to want to. In Alma's words, "behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words" (Alma 32:27). We break apart the stony ground and prepare it for planting as we set aside our cynicism in order to hear and feel the testimonies of the faithful.

The scriptures speak about this change in terms of what we seek. "When people [in the scriptures] are described as 'having lost their desire for sin,'" Elder Oaks has taught, "it is they, and they only, who deliberately decided to lose those wrong desires by being willing to 'give away all [their] sins' in order to know God." The Lord has taught that we should seek earnestly the best gifts (D&C 46:8) and that we will find what we diligently seek (1 Nephi 10:19) and consistently pursue.

When we have prepared our hearts and aroused our faculties to live the teaching of the gospel the best we can, our desires will sprout and begin to grow. We will begin to see how paying tithing, serving others and living the commandments beautifies our lives. We will defend time dedicated to studying the scriptures, serving others and building family relationships against even the most appealing intrusions and continue to nourish righteous desires through our faith and persistent effort.

"What we insistently desire over time is what we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity," Elder Maxwell has taught. "Only by educating and training our desires can they become our allies instead of our enemies" (According to the Desire of [Our] Hearts, October 1996). Every day the world will try to influence our desires to buy something, click on something, play something, read or watch something. We must consistently seek to refine, purify and elevate our desires; to train them to be wheat instead of turning to corn.

As we plant more of the word of God in our hearts, we will be increasingly able to see what the completed garden will look like. The vision of what we can become will increase our desire and power to act enormously. Like Jennie Butchart, we will want to plant more gardens and to share what we have found with others. The transformation in our hearts will be as if we had been born again.

Along the way, we will learn a simple formula that will help us receive the blessings we seek from the Lord. The formula is recorded by Enos, among many others, who prayed "with many long strugglings" for his cousins, the Lamanites, "and labored with all diligence" to that end. The Lord recognized Enos' desires and efforts. "I will grant unto thee according to thy desires," the Lord responded to Enos' prayers, "because of thy faith" (Enos 1:11-12).

It is by grace we are saved after all we can do; and it is the faithful combination of our righteous desires and diligent efforts that will yield the blessings of the Lord, including the fruits of repentance, peace and prosperity that will enrich our lives on earth and forever after. "Let us remember," Elder Oaks taught, "that desires dictate our priorities, priorities shape our choices, and choices determine our actions. In addition, it is our actions and our desires that cause us to become something, whether a true friend, a gifted teacher, or one who is qualified for eternal life."

The Parable of the Gems

With a new year comes new hope, new Sunday school curriculum and new resolutions to read and study the scriptures the way we know we should be. This parable, adapted from the LDS Church Education System training for seminary and institute instructors, may help with that last part:



There once was a young woman who dreamed she was walking along a quiet and secluded beach searching for gems in the sand. As she knelt down and began raking her finger slowly through the warm surface, the tiny grains of sand glittered invitingly in the sunlight. Before long, she noticed a colorful gem and picked it up. 

Not wanting to lose it, the young woman carefully stuck the sparkling gem in her pocket for safekeeping. Eagerly returning to her search, she quickly discovered more gems resting just beneath the surface. As she collected the gems, she began to wonder if there were more gems hidden deeper in the sand. Determined to find out, she began to dig. With effort, time and patience, she was rewarded again and again with breathtaking jewels.

Each time she found a new gem, the young woman held it under the sunlight and studied it carefully. She turned each one over in her fingers, exploring its many shapes and facets. She thoughtfully and patiently examined the gems she had found and soon began to appreciate the unique qualities and characteristics of each one. Feelings of attachment to her new-found treasures began to grow within her.

After searching for a while, the young woman gathered her gems together and held them up to the sunlight. She was filled with awe as the light danced off the gems in a rainbow of colors. As the young woman sat appreciating the beauty of the gems, she looked up and saw her father approaching. Smiling warmly, he said, "I've been watching you dig in the sand. What did you find?"

The young woman eagerly displayed the handful of gems. Her father then asked, "Now, what will you do with your treasures?"

When we open the scriptures, it is as though we were standing on the beach with the young woman. The context and content of the scriptures are the warm sand beneath our feet.

While it can be pleasant just to read the stories in the scriptures, we won't find any gems until we start to dig. As we look for details in the context and content of the scriptures, we'll find valuable principles to guide our lives and enlighten our understanding. Elder Richard G. Scott taught, "As you seek spiritual knowledge, search for principles. Carefully separate them from the detail used to explain them. Principles are concentrated truth, packaged for application to a wide variety of circumstances. A true principle makes decisions clear even under the most confusing and compelling circumstances" (Aquiring Spiritual Knowledge, October 1993).

Some principles will be easy to find. As we read the Parable of the Good Samaritan, for example, we will notice the obvious message that we should be kind to all of God's children. Other principles will require us to dig deeper. Questions will help us in our search. Who is the certain man in that parable? Why did the Savior specify that he was traveling from Jerusalem to Jericho? Did it have to be a Samaritan? What is the significance of the Samaritan's offer to pay any cost to heal the man? (Read more about this topic here.)

When we find true principles, we can hold them up to the light of the gospel to continue exploring their truths and implications. It may help to write those principles as short statements in the margins of our scriptures or in a study journal. As we expand our understanding beyond the context where the principle was found, we will be able to see how each principle applies to our past and present experiences. More importantly, we can begin to feel the truthfulness of each one.

Finally, after each exciting session of digging on the beach, we will have the opportunity to ask ourselves how we can use and apply what we have learned. When we are diligent in applying the principles of the gospel to our lives, we will have more experiences we can use to reinforce our testimonies and add light to future study sessions.

Our scripture study will be enriched as we seek to understand the context and content of the sections we read, identify doctrines and principles, and then work to better understand, feel and apply those principles. We may also find that we're better motivated to continue studying because we will see those principles changing our lives and it will be fun-- like digging in the sand at the beach.

Gathering the Wheat from the Tares

As official opposition to Jesus Christ's ministry grew, he taught for a time using only parables (Mark 4:34). Through simple stories of everyday objects and situations, the Master Teacher openly shared divine truths that went undetected by his oppressors (Bible Dictionary, "Parables").

Many of Christ's parables teach about the kingdom of heaven. This is, in itself, a masked reference to his church. The kingdom of heaven, Christ said, is like a mustard seed, leaven, a treasure hidden in a field, a pearl of great price and a fishing net. Each analogy subtly prophesies of the growth of the church from a seed to a great tree, from kneaded dough to a risen loaf, from an empty net to one that "gathered of every kind" (Matthew 13:47).

Christ also understood that growth would not come without opposition. In the parable of the wheat and the tares, he prophesies about the spreading of falsehood and wickedness, apostasy, and the eventual gathering of the elect prior to Christ's return in the latter days. He taught:

The kingdom of heaven is likened unto a man which sowed good seed in his field: But while men slept, his enemy came and sowed tares among the wheat, and went his way. But when the blade was sprung up, and brought forth fruit, then appeared the tares also.

So the servants of the householder came and said unto him, Sir, didst not thou sow good seed in thy field? from whence then hath it tares?

He said unto them, An enemy hath done this.

The servants said unto him, Wilt thou then that we go and gather them up?

But he said, Nay; lest while ye gather up the tares, ye root up also the wheat with them. Let both grow together until the harvest: and in the time of harvest I will say to the reapers, Gather ye together first the tares, and bind them in bundles to burn them: but gather the wheat into my barn (Matthew 13:24-30).

Most people in ancient Israel would have been very familiar with the process of growing and harvesting wheat. It is, in a way, a purifying process as cut wheat is bound in bundles and left to dry in the field, pounded and threshed to separate the seed heads from the stems, and then winnowed or dropped on a breezy day to separate the heavier grain from the useless chaff. When the wheat is harvested, the field is burned to eliminate weeds, discard leftover straw, control pest populations, and prepare for a new crop.

Despite their familiarity with harvesting wheat, Christ's disciples struggled to understand the gospel principles in the parable. When the crowds and Pharisees were gone, they asked the Lord for an interpretation of the parable of the wheat and the tares.

The Lord explained that the field represented the world. Christ and his servants, the apostles, would sow good seeds as they taught the gospel throughout the nations of the world. After the seed was planted, "as men slept," there would be a great apostasy that would introduce tares in the field.

Tares are a weed that looks like wheat until it matures. They have a bitter taste and cause dizziness and vomiting if eaten separately or when mixed with bread (McConkie, Doctrinal New Testament Commentary, 1:296). The tares represent evil doctrines and those who spread them.

In the latter days, at the time of the harvest, the wheat, or the righteous, will be separated from the tares. The Lord explained to the Prophet Joseph Smith:

Behold, in the last days, even now while the Lord is beginning to bring forth the word, and the blade is springing up and is yet tender-- Behold, verily I say unto you, the angels are crying unto the Lord day and night, who are ready and waiting to be sent forth to reap down the fields; But the Lord saith unto them, pluck not up the tares while the blade is yet tender (for verily your faith is weak), lest you destroy the wheat also. Therefore, let the wheat and the tares grow together until the harvest is fully ripe; then ye shall first gather out the wheat from among the tares, and after the gathering of the wheat, behold and lo, the tares are bound in bundles, and the field remaineth to be burned (D&C 86:4-7).

As the Lord prophesied, we live in a time when wheat and tares are growing together in every corner of the world. In "a wheat and tares world," Elder Neal A. Maxwell once noted, "lust openly parades as love, license cleverly poses as liberty, and raucous sounds mockingly masquerade as music" (April 1993). Rather than talking with our neighbors, we watch talk shows and use social media in solitude. Legislation and violence are used against women and children to protect personal profit and convenience rather than to defend women and children. Many people turn to drugs and alcohol to "tune out" the world rather than striving with faith to overcome it. It can be especially difficult to tell the difference between a wide variety of religious teachings and beliefs that often cite the same scriptures.

With eyes to see and ears to hear, there are many gospel principles we can learn from the parable of the wheat and the tares. We can learn about waiting on the Lord's timing and the urgency of growing our faith. There are lessons about judgement, obedience, patience, and living with others in our church congregations. Perhaps most important is the work of gathering, assigned to the Lord's latter-day apostles, in which we are allowed to participate.

As wheat is gathered out of the field, so Christ prayed in gratitude that our Heavenly Father had given the Holy Ghost to those chosen "out of the world... because of their belief in [Christ]" (3 Nephi 19:20). He continued, "Father, I pray not for the world, but for those whom thou has given me out of the world, because of their faith, that they may be purified in me, that I may be in them as thou, Father, art in me, that we may be one, that I may be glorified in them" (3 Nephi 19:29).

Christ offered a similar prayer for his disciples in Jerusalem. He repeated and clarified in that prayer that he prayed "not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from evil" (John 17:15). He prayed for unity, joy and sanctification through the word of God "that they may be made perfect in one" and "be with me where I am" (John 17:6-24).

Gathering the righteous out of the world is clearly more than baptizing them into any particular church. President Joseph Fielding Smith taught that "even in the Church the tares are to be found. It is the tares which are to be gathered up and burned from all over the world, but those in the Church will also be gathered out and find their place in the fire. The Savior also bore witness of [this. When] speaking to the Nephites he said: 'For it shall come to pass, saith the Father, that at that day whosoever will not repent and come unto my Beloved Son, them will I cut off from my people, O house of Israel' (3 Nephi 21:20)" (Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:354.).

Wheat is not gathered into the barn for the barn's sake, but for its own preservation and the glory of the owner of the farm-- the householder. Paul taught that God "might gather together in one all things in Christ" (Ephesians 1:10). We are gathered as we believe in Christ, repent of our sin, covenant through baptism for the remission of sins, and are sanctified by the gift of the Holy Ghost. This is the way we may be "made perfect in one" and with the Lord where he is. 

The ancient American prophet Moroni admonished: "Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ... And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot" (Moroni 10:32-33).

In the multi-step process of harvesting the faithful, temple ordinances further separate the righteous from the world. Through additional covenants to live the laws of obedience, sacrifice, the gospel, chastity and consecration, our hearts and minds are instructed to greater unity, joy and sanctification. We are encouraged to discard the chaff in our lives that we may be among the Lord's chosen-- clearly distinguishable from the tares of the field and gathered up before the field is burned.

Christ taught these doctrines in a simple parable about harvesting wheat. He invited his disciples to help plant good seeds and he invites us to join in the harvest.

"Therefore," he declared, "if ye have desires to serve God ye are called to the work; For behold the field is white already to harvest; and lo, he that thrusteth in his sickle with his might, the same layeth up in store that he perisheth not, but bringeth salvation to his soul" (D&C 4:3-4).

The Cautionary Tale of James Covill

James Covill had been a baptist minister for about forty years when he approached Joseph Smith just a few days after a conference in Fayette, New York, in 1831. Then and there he covenanted with the Lord that he would obey any command that the Lord gave to him through Joseph Smith the Prophet.

The Lord approved of the covenant of Reverend Covill, saying: "Behold, I say unto you, my servant James, I have looked upon thy works and I know thee. And verily I say unto thee, thine heart is now right before me at this time" (D&C 39:7-8). The Lord responded to the covenant with two commandments, each tied to specific blessings that were conditional on James Covill's fulfillment of the commandment given.

The first commandment was to enter in by the gate; to be baptized and receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. The Lord promises that if James Covill will hearken to this command, God would wash away his sins, provide "a blessing so great as you never have known", and give Mr. Covill a greater work to do.

The second commandment was the greater work promised with the fulfillment of the first: James Covill should be called serve a mission in Ohio. Again conditional blessings are offered for Mr. Covill's obedience. If James Covill would serve a mission and help the Lord keep his covenant to the house of Israel, the Lord promises that "power shall rest upon thee; thou shalt have great faith, and I will be with thee and go before thy face" (v. 12).

In Matthew 13, Christ teaches the parable of the sower. In the parable, seeds that were sewn into good ground grew into plants and brought forth fruit. Yet, some of the seeds that were sewn never grew into plants but were eaten by birds, choked by weeds, or unable to take root because of hard, stony ground. Expounding the parable to his disciples, Christ explained, "he that received the seed into stony places, the same is he that heareth the word, and anon with joy receiveth it; yet hath he not root in himself... [and] when tribulation or persecution ariseth because of the word, by and by he is offended" (v. 20-21).

So it was with James Covill. Speaking of James Covill, the Lord explained to Joseph Smith and Sidney Rigdon that "he received the word with gladness, but straightway Satan tempted him; and the fear of persecution and the cares of the world caused him to reject the word" (D&C 40:2). President Joseph Fielding Smith explained that James Covill "was convinced of the truth... However, when he withdrew from the influence of the Spirit of the Lord and had time to consider the fact that he would lose the fellowship of the world, and his place and position among his associates, he failed and rejected the promises and blessings which the Lord offered him" (Church History and Modern Revelation, 1:174).

Like James Covill, the Lord has extended wonderful promises and blessings to each of us. These blessings are extended through patriarchal and other priesthood blessings; covenants made through baptism, ordination, endowment, and/or marriage; the scriptures, conference talks and modern revelation through living prophets; and personal prayers and covenants with the Lord. These and other blessings are within our grasp, if we will hearken to the voice of the Lord. For "when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated" (D&C 130:21, see also D&C 82:10).

We can be like Naaman of old, who obtained his greatest desire and was cured of leprosy by humbly following the word of God given through his prophet, Elisha. Or we can fear the world-- fear losing friends, fear appearing out of step with modern science or 'intellectual' thought, fear the ridicule or persecution of those in the great and spacious building-- and, by letting go of the iron rod that is God's word, forfeit the marvelous blessings the Lord is wanting and ready to give us.

If there is a blessing you desire in your life, I urge you to study and pray to know how you might obtain the righteous desires of your heart. If there is a commandment the Lord has given to you, generally or specifically, I invite you to obey with full vigor of heart and soul that you may see the blessings of God sprout and grow and bear fruit.

I know that God lives, that we are His children, and that he has prepared blessings "so great as [we] have never known" for each of us. For if we know how to give good gifts to our children, "how much more shall your Father which is in heaven give good things to them that ask him" (Matthew 7:11)? The choice is ours.

My hope for you and for me is that we will keep our hearts right before the Lord, filled with faith and courage, that the Lord may prosper you and I with our greatest desires and the riches of eternity through our humble obedience. If we will obey, it will be so.

Finding Reality in a Fake World

Four years ago, I wrote a post about how worldly mirages can lead us away from the gospel path, the people we want to be and the lives we want to live. I quoted President Benson then, who said, "Without [Christ] we would be lost in a mirage of beliefs and worships, born in fear and darkness where the sensual and materialistic hold sway. We are far short of the goal he set for us, but we must never lose sight of it; nor must we forget that our great climb toward the light, toward perfection, would not be possible except for his teachings, his life, his death, and his resurrection" (April 1964).

Many years before I wrote my post, Elder Packer shared a parable that illustrates the same principle illuminated by President Benson. The parable was shared again by Elder Stephen Owen in a recent conference. He said Elder Packer told of a severe winter in Utah when deep snow had driven the deer very low into some of the valleys. Seeing that the deer were out of their natural habitat, some well-meaning agencies tried to respond by bringing in hay for the deer to eat. Unfortunately, many of the deer were later found dead. Those who handled the animals afterward said that their stomachs were full of hay, but they had starved to death. The deer had been fed, but they had not been nourished.

Considering this parable left me thinking again about how much in the world is not real. We make fake food (what Michael Pollan calls, "edible, food-like substances"), play fantasy sports and read fake news. There are drugs for fake highs and alcohol for induced relaxation. Many of us use social media to make pseudo-connections and act as fake experts.

Many people in the world have fake relationships, including "romantic" relationships that are the fantasized result of pornography, masturbation, online chats or one-night stands. We play electronic games that give us fake success as we pretend to be sports team managers, army snipers or home remodelers. We say this is virtual or simulated reality, but there isn't much reality in it at all.

Fake wrath is a thing now with angry mobs who are mad only because they've been told they are supposed to be. Fake victimhood is a thing too, especially when someone else has a turn doing something well. The news now reports fake disasters, fake emergencies and fake threats. There are fake religions, fake causes, fake truth and fake science. It's literally unbelievable.

In most cases, fake things are relatively simple to detect because they are hollow. They are positioned to appeal to the natural man or woman in each of us-- to prey on primal reactions and manipulate our thoughts and behavior-- offering little substance beyond sensual pleasure. Our physical instincts are powerful, which is why these temptations can be difficult to overcome even when we detect them.

Reality is the remedy for a fake world. Prophets have repeatedly plead with the saints to put down our devices, avoid pornography like an insidious disease, be slow to offense and abstain from drugs and alcohol. While the devil deals in deceptions, the Lord whispers simple truths to sober minds. 

The Prophet Jacob taught anciently: "The Spirit speaketh the truth and lieth not. Wherefore, it speaketh of things as they really are, and of things as they really will be; wherefore, these things are manifested unto us plainly, for the salvation of our souls" (Jacob 4:13).

Elder David A. Bednar added, "Obedience opens the door to the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. And the spiritual gifts and abilities activated by the power of the Holy Ghost enable us to avoid deception-- and to see, to feel, to know, to understand, and to remember things as they really are" (Things as They Really Are, May 2009).

There is nothing more real than our Creator, Redeemer and Advocate, Jesus Christ. He lives. He made all that is real. His Atonement is real and powerful. His gospel leads us down the path of truth to real happiness, real peace and real strength that we can enjoy in this life and after we die. He fulfills all of his promises; and with his help, each of us can discover what is real in our lives.

Our world is filled with mirages and misleading, though appealing, philosophies. Some would try to convince us that we can live our lives as if at a dessert buffet, gluttonously filling our hearts, minds and bodies with guilty pleasures and sweets that have no nutritional value. Choosing to follow the world will leave us in a hungover state of spiritual lethargy and darkness. We may gain information or entertainment for awhile, but we will be left with feelings of emptiness, loneliness, dissatisfaction, and of being unacceptable to God, to ourselves and to others. Our souls will slowly die of spiritual starvation.

As disciples of Christ, we must choose instead to follow our Savior, Jesus Christ. As we fill our lives with real things that are uplifting, true, faith-inspiring and good, the light of the gospel will illuminate what is real. "If your eye be single to my glory," the Lord taught, "your whole bodies shall be filled with light, and there shall be no darkness in you; and that body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things" (D&C 88:67).

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul-- We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things (Articles of Faith 1:13).

Lost and Found

"Black Sheep" by Julie Rogers

In the fifteenth chapter of Luke, as elsewhere in the New Testament, orthodox Pharisees murmured about Jesus Christ's interactions with sinners. They disapproved of his willingness to receive and share a dinner table with those they considered unclean and lost souls.

Christ responded to the Pharisees' criticism in this instance with three parables. In the first, a shepherd leaves his flock of 99 sheep to find one that had wandered off. The second parable is about a woman who lit a candle and cleaned her house to find a coin that she had lost. Finally, the Parable of the Prodigal Son tells of a son who wastes his inheritance with riotous living but is received with joy when he returns to his father's house.

Each of these parables is really about lost souls. It is instructive to note that the sheep, the coin and the prodigal son were each lost in a different way. The sheep wandered from its flock, perhaps not even noticing it was drifting from the others until it couldn't easily find the way back. The coin was lost because of the neglect or insufficient caution of someone else, not unlike the effect a wayward parent may have on their children. The Prodigal Son rejected his father's counsel and became lost through his own rebellion.

The parables illustrate how the sheep, the coin and the prodigal son were also found in different ways. The sheep that wandered into the wilderness was in the stewardship of a shepherd. "Wilderness" in the scriptures is often symbolic for "the world". The Joseph Smith translation of these verses clarifies that the shepherd left his flock of sheep in a safe place (not in the wilderness) and then went into the wilderness to search for the lost sheep. In a similar way, we may have opportunities to minister to those in our stewardship who have drifted away from gospel activity. Our efforts will be to bring those who are lost in worldly living back into the relative safety of the church. With this story, Christ is directly admonishing the Pharisees, who had a direct ecclesiastical responsibility for the lost souls they so disdained.

In the second story, the woman who lost a coin put nine other coins in a safe place before searching for her missing piece of silver. In this case, the woman was directly responsible for losing one of the coins and finding it required more light and a cleansing process. If we lead others away from Christ, we must repent and do all we can to restore their faith and standing before him. As we seek the Savior's influence in our lives he can provide direction and inspiration that will help us find those we have lost. This story was also an invitation to the Pharisees to search within themselves and fill their lives with light so they could find truth.

Finally, the Prodigal Son had to search within himself until he "came to himself" and desired to return to his father. He had known what was right and chose to waste his inheritance living contrary to that knowledge. It also had to be his choice to humbly return to the home of his father.

In every case, there is rejoicing when what was lost is found. "Joy shall be in heaven over one sinner that repenteth," the Lord taught as a lesson of the lost sheep's return to the flock. When the woman finds the lost coin, she rejoices with her neighbors and the Savior says that the angels of heaven rejoice as well. Those angels exult because of their devotion to the Savior, but also because they are our friends and family, our parents, grandparents, brothers and sisters. Of course they rejoice, just as the Father rejoices at the return of the prodigal son and hosts a celebration in his honor.

In the end, the sheep, the coin and the prodigal son are all restored to the place where they had been before they were lost. Unlike the sheep and the coin however, the father of the prodigal son explains to a more faithful posterity that the prodigal's inheritance cannot be restored. This cautionary note seems to say that though we may repent in the spirit world after death, our inheritance cannot be restored at that point. We may live with God again, a fact worth great rejoicing, but we cannot inherit eternal life nor inhabit the highest degree of His Celestial Kingdom. In the parable, the son who had been faithful and kept his inheritance is told that he will inherit "all that [the Father]" has.

The Lord taught Abraham, "And they who keep their first estate shall be added upon; and they who keep not their first estate shall not have glory in the same kingdom with those who keep their first estate; and they who keep their second estate shall have glory added upon their heads forever and ever" (Abraham 3:26). In the context of this verse, our mortal lives are our second estate. We can waste them with a Vegas lifestyle or addicted to various things, like the prodigal; but life can also slip away into distraction and passivity, indecision and apathy. It isn't enough to not be bad-- we must be good, like the faithful son who worked for his father all of his life.

The three parables about the lost speak to each of us as both sinners and rescuers. At times, all of us begin to wander from what we know is right. Perhaps we do not pray or study our scriptures for a time. We rely too heavily on ourselves and what we want to do. We are offended by someone at church or choose to do things we know are wrong because they seem fun or pleasurable or impressive to others. We are all charged of God with seeking for those who are lost.

This is true socially and within ourselves. In the depths of our hearts, we sometimes find that individual elements of our testimonies of the gospel may be lost for a time. If we do not fast or pray, we may lose our testimonies of the power of fasting and prayer. Sometimes elements of our testimonies may drift almost undetected. At other times, we may consciously battle with difficult questions about church history, gospel doctrine, life challenges or current events. It is in these times that we most need to light a candle in our lives, repenting and inviting Christ's presence to shine more brightly within us so we can see clearly to find what we have lost.

The Lord calls all of us to watch after those in our stewardship. Whether sharing the gospel with those wandering without a knowledge of the truth or finding those who have wandered, great joy is in store for those who do the Lord's work.

"Remember the worth of souls is great in the sight of God;" the Savior said. "Wherefore, you are called to cry repentance unto this people. And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father! And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!" (D&C 18:10, 14-16).

Christ invited the Pharisees to seek after the lost so that one day they could rejoice together at the Lord's table. He invites us to continue his work so that we can join Him and his angels when they kill the fatted calf for a great celebration of our return into His presence.

Knowing God Through Covenant Action

In the time of the New Testament, Jewish weddings often began in the evening. After the groom had paid the price for betrothal, he could spend a year or more preparing a bridal chamber. On the evening when the chamber was completed, and without any other warning about the day or time when the wedding was prepared, a trumpet and a shout heard across a small town would tell the bride that the groom was on his way to fetch her. Ten bridesmaids, hearing the trumpet, would gather outside the bride's home with lamps glowing to light the groom's path inside. The bride would then be collected and carried on a litter as the groom led a procession back to the his home for a seven-day wedding feast.

In the Parable of the Ten Virgins, the wedding trumpet sounds at midnight, long after anyone would have expected. The bridesmaids, who are all asleep, scramble to get to their places. In the process, five of the bridesmaids realize they are out of oil and miss the procession to the wedding feast entirely. Procuring oil at that time of night was nearly impossible, but when they finally had what they needed they went to the groom's home to join the wedding feast. To their surprise, they were turned away because, as the groom explained, "Ye know me not" (JST Matthew 25:11).

Of course, we are represented by the bridesmaids in the parable and the Lord is the groom. We can prepare for his second coming as we reflect his light and walk a procession of covenants that lead us back to him. To enter into his kingdom and the place prepared for us and his church, we must come to know "the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom [he] hath sent" (John 17:3).

We learn about God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, through scripture study and the words of living prophets. These are the map. As we follow their counsel, we will find the treasure of truly knowing God through our actions.

We become familiar to him as we serve others (Mosiah 2:17). As we exercise the faith to repent and make covenants, we become his sheep and are known of him and learn to recognize his voice (Mosiah 26:21-27, John 10:14). In doing the Lord's will, which we often learn through quiet revelations to our mind and heart, we prepare our light for the procession back to His heavenly kingdom (Mosiah 5:13-15, 3 Nephi 14:21-23).

We do not know the day nor the hour when the Son of God will return; but through faithful, covenant action we can be prepared to hear his voice and be known of him.

The Parable of the Pearl and the Box

Our area's mission president shared a parable with us at stake conference. He said he heard it from a general authority at a training session. I've since found it other places online, including in a talk by Elder Boyd K. Packer in 2000, Elder Bednar's book, Act in Doctrine, and a 2017 Facebook post by Elder Renlund, but it made an impression and bears repeating here.

There was a certain man who sought after precious jewels. After a great search, he found a perfect and very large pearl. The pearl was the prized jewel in his collection and of greater worth than all the other jewels he had ever found.

The man decided he wanted to share his treasured discovery with the world, so he hired an expert craftsman to build a display box for the pearl. The box was superbly made with ornate woodwork and lined with blue velvet. It was a box worthy of the treasure it held.

When the man put his pearl of great price on display, he watched as people came to see it. As they admired the box, many commented on the quality of the woodwork or the beauty of the blue velvet. Each saw the beautifully crafted box, but very few even noticed the valuable treasure inside.

The man was very sad that so many people-- people who could have rejoiced with him at the great treasure he had found-- could not even see the great pearl because they were so focused on the box.

The prophet Jacob wrote that the ancient Jews suffered from spiritual blindness, "which blindness came by looking beyond the mark" (Jacob 4:14). We can also mistake beautiful temples, robust church programs, innovative technologies, and friendly wards and branches for the pearl of great price. 

Edwin Markham once wrote:

We are all blind, until we see

That in the [universal] plan

Nothing is worth the making if

It does not make the man.

Why build these [buildings] glorious,

If man unbuilded goes?

In vain we build the [world], unless

The builder also grows.

In reality, even the church itself with its priesthood, rites, ordinances and covenants is part of the ornate box designed to hold and present that which is of greatest value. These may be closer to the mark, it is true, but one can become so focused on even very good and necessary things that they forget why they are doing them.

The mark of the gospel is the Savior, our Lord Jesus Christ. He is the pearl of great price. Without his life, his suffering, his death and his resurrection, the church with its beautiful buildings and robust programs and books of scripture would be as hollow as an empty box.

Because Christ lived a sinless life, atoned for us and was resurrected, the box is not empty and the gospel is not hollow. Through faith in Christ, we can repent, be baptized and receive a remission of our sins and the gift of the Holy Ghost. Faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ gives us the power to overcome temptation, sin and death; to be united forever as families; and to benefit from church programs designed to build individuals and families.

If we accept the two great invitations of the scriptures-- to hear the teachings of Christ (Mark 9:7) and to come to Christ (Matthew 11:28)-- we can avoid spiritual blindness. We will be able to see how the prophets and the programs and the scriptures lead each of us closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ.

As we, like Jacob's family, "talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies," we will find that we're not only following a program or a prophet. We are not only engaged in the work of building a church for Christ; He is engaged in the work of building each of us.

Staying on the Path with the Word of Christ

Follow in His Footsteps
by Liz Lemon Swindle

If you knew your time on earth was coming to a close, what would you tell your children, your friends and your loved ones to help them with their sojourn here? If you could write just two or three pages that you knew would be read by faithful seekers of truth for thousands of years, what would you include on those pages?

In the final chapters of 2 Nephi, the prophet for whom that book is named had that very opportunity, which he used to summarize the gospel plan. The primary purpose of our life on earth is to qualify to return to live with our Heavenly Father. Our physical bodies, the tests and trials we endure, and everything else that is part of living here on earth is ancillary to this main objective.

Nephi explains in 2 Nephi 31 that the path that leads us back to our Heavenly Father begins with living the gospel. Scripturally defined, this means we are striving each day to have faith, to repent of our sins and correct our mistakes, to make and keep sacred covenants such as baptism and to be worthy of and willing to listen to the voice of the Holy Ghost. This is how we find the path.

“And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you, Nay: for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.

“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:19-20).

Nephi emphasizes here that we find our faith through the word of Christ and that, once we have found the path that leads to eternal life, we start walking along the path by “feasting upon the word of Christ” and enduring to the end. He emphasizes this again in Chapter 32, in which Nephi explains how to stay on the path once you have found it.

“Angels speak by the power of the Holy Ghost; wherefore, they speak the words of Christ. Wherefore, I said unto you, feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do.

“And now I, Nephi… am left to mourn because of the unbelief, and the wickedness, and the ignorance, and the stiffneckedness of men; for they will not search knowledge, nor understand great knowledge, when it is given to them in plainness, even as plain as word can be… But behold, I say unto you that ye must pray always, and not faint; that ye must not perform any thing unto the Lord save in the first place ye shall pray unto the Father in the name of Christ, that he will consecrate thy performance unto thee, that thy performance may be for the welfare of thy soul” (2 Nephi 32:3, 7, 9).

As we begin walking the strait and narrow, we will undoubtedly find it is not a well-groomed trail. Rather, it is a wilderness trail and there are obstacles along the way. We should not be surprised if, from time to time, our trail has a strenuous incline or we are required to cross a stream of doubt or the way becomes rocky and it is difficult to know which way we should go.

In such times, it is critical that we stay on the path. As a teenager, my father, brother and I endeavored to backpack across the Uintah mountain range in Utah. The first couple of days went well. As we reached the summit of Bell Pass however, my dad suggested we leave the path and take a shortcut. He had been looking at the map and he was confident he had found a better way. My brother and I were less confident, but we agreed and began walking across the rugged mountain tundra. After about three hours of walking, we came to a large cliff. There was no way around it, we were unequipped to repel down it and we were now out of water and nowhere near reaching our camp.

To make a long story short, with great effort we eventually made it back to the trail and found drinkable water, but our so-called shortcut put us so far behind schedule we never made it to our planned destination. Ending up in “some other place” is not the outcome we want for our life’s journey. We must stay on the gospel path, as Nephi directs, by receiving the words of Christ delivered through the Holy Ghost in response to our study and our faith. As we study the scriptures and the teachings of living prophets and ask the Lord our questions in prayer, we will learn the principles and receive the revelation we need to stay on or return to the path despite the obstacles.

Finally, in Chapter 33 Nephi explains that when we have entered the path and made some progress, we will have the charitable desire to share what we have found with our families, our friends, and the world. The first thing I usually do after I have found a great hiking trail is text my brother or post pictures on social media so my friends and family can share the incredible views. In essence, once we are converted, we will want to do missionary work to bring others onto the trail and help convert all of God’s children.

Not coincidentally, all of these principles are illustrated in Lehi’s dream. The faithful in the dream felt their way toward the truth and then clung to the iron rod, which is the word of God, through mists of darkness and the mocking of the world. Then, when Lehi tasted of the fruit to which the word of God led him, he immediately turned and looked for his family so they could taste it, too.

Now I’d like to remind all of us of Nephi’s words and suggest a few things we can do to lengthen our stride and improve our rate of progress toward the kingdom of God, whatever that rate might presently be. “For ye have not come thus far,” Nephi taught, “save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him… Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2 Nephi 31:19-20).

Sometimes when you start to get tired on a long hike, it helps to think about how far you’ve already come. On my own spiritual journey, that includes a time when I was 17 and I decided to take Moroni up on his promise regarding the Book of Mormon. I was working three jobs at the time and would often come home very tired, but I wanted and needed to know for myself. I found that it took some time before I could really settle into the text without my mind wandering, so I committed to read four chapters each day. I would pray before I read and I would pray after I read. By the time I crawled into bed the cares of the day had melted away, but after weeks of reading at least four chapters each night I still didn’t feel I had received an answer.

Then it came. One of my jobs was delivering pizza and I had just dropped off a pair of pies for someone in my ward. I was listening to the radio, as I often did. As I drove past the cemetery, suddenly my soul was illuminated with a powerful and clear impression that the Book of Mormon is true and that I needed to prepare to serve a mission. For a few moments these thoughts drowned out my music and I knew my prayers had been answered because I had been studying and developing my intent and capacity to act when an answer did come.

Three years later I sat in the kitchen of Brother and Sister Gruenewaelder for a simple evening meal. I had been studying Joseph Smith History and somehow that topic had prevailed at the table that night. After dinner, my missionary companion and I recounted again the story of Joseph Smith’s First Vision. As I testified that Joseph Smith had, in fact, seen God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, the spirit again came powerfully to my soul and I knew for certain that these things were true.

This summer it has been my privilege to be studying the New Testament. Reading in Luke Chapter 19, I read a version of the parable where the Lord gave his servants ten pounds, five pounds or one pound and then went away for a while. This was, I assume, long before Brexit, when it may have still been reasonable to be dealing in pounds. As you know, those with ten or five pounds doubled their investments, while those with only one pound did not act and lost what they had been given.

Reading Luke’s version, the Lord’s command before he departed stuck out to me. “Occupy till I come,” he told his servants; or, as the Greek translation in the footnote advises, “Do business till I come.” The words of another scripture came to my mind as I read and I remembered that the Lord has told us in our dispensation to be “anxiously engaged” in good causes, and particularly in establishing Zion preparatory to his Second Coming. In that moment I also had a few ideas of things I could be doing to be more anxiously engaged in the Lord’s work.

When the going gets tough and I start to feel spiritually tired or doubt starts creeping into my thoughts, it helps me to remember that the word of Christ has taught me and guided me as often as I would listen. He has led me to the gospel, to the Church, on a mission to faraway Germany, to a wife that is beautiful in every way, to a family that brings me joy, to meaningful work I enjoy, to truths that keep me grounded when the world is in commotion, and to be here speaking with you today.

Now, if we have found our way to the path that leads us back to our Heavenly Father, it is my responsibility and yours to start walking and keep walking. It’s not enough to stand at the trailhead and it’s not enough to have a good couple of days and then decide at the top of a pass that we’re going to head off in our own direction! If we are going to reach our desired destination, and I hope none of us would aim for anything less than exaltation, we must press forward along the path by feasting upon the word of Christ.

The word of Christ is found in the scriptures, the teachings of modern prophets, and the personal revelation we receive through the Holy Ghost. When we feast upon the word of Christ, we will do more than simply read the words. Rather, we will use divinely inspired resources like the topical guide, the bible dictionary, scripture cross references, seminary and institute manuals, and so forth, to seek to understand the stories and details in the scriptures. Then we will seek to identify and better understand both stated and implied doctrines and principles in the text.

A doctrine is a fundamental, unchanging truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ (Gospel Teaching and Learning: A Handbook for Teachers and Leaders in Seminaries and Institutes of Religion, 1.3). Elder Boyd K. Packer taught that “True doctrine, understood, changes attitudes and behavior. The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior” (“Little Children,” Ensign, November 1986, 17). As we learn and apply the doctrines of the gospel in our scripture study, we are more likely to live consistent with the laws that govern our happiness.

Likewise, Elder Richard G. Scott has taught that “Principles are concentrated truth, packaged for application to a wide variety of circumstances. A true principle makes decisions clear even under the most confusing and compelling circumstances” (“Acquiring Spiritual Knowledge”, Ensign, November 1993, 86).

For example, as a freshman in college I learned in my introductory economics class about the principle of sunken costs. That principle says that if I spend $25 on nonrefundable movie tickets for Friday night and then learn there’s a party where I’d rather be, I should go to the party. I’ve spent the $25 either way and so the best choice is the one that brings me the greatest utility or makes me happiest. More generally, decisions are best made looking forward rather than looking backward.

The same principle holds true when we have sinned. We compound our sin when we decide what to do next based on the sins and errors committed in our past. The Lord invites us to come to him, to let our scarlet-sin-stained garments be cleansed white as snow, and to be anxiously engaged in doing good moving forward rather than turning to salt looking backward.

Another principle I have learned is that a study of the doctrines and principles of the gospel in scripture and prophetic teachings unlocks personal revelation. I’ve heard it said that if we want to talk to God we should pray; and if we want God to talk to us, we should read our scriptures. I have experienced this in my own life, as illustrated earlier, and I testify now to you that it is true.

As we seek to find and understand doctrines and principles in our study, we will be like the young woman who began digging in the sand at the beach. Very soon, she found a precious gem in the sand and held it up to the sun to inspect its brilliant light. Thrilled with her discovery, she put the gem in her satchel where it would be safe and continued to dig. She soon found another gem, and another, and another. Some of the gems were only just below the sand’s surface, others were further down, but each shone brilliantly when the young woman held it up to the light of the sun and added it to the collection she had in her satchel.

The sand in this parable is like the stories and contextual details in the scriptures. As we begin to ask questions and search for greater understanding, we are digging in the text and we will soon find that the Holy Ghost will illuminate shining principles that will lead us down the path toward our Heavenly Father. We may have to dig longer for some and less for others, but all the principles we need for our lives are waiting in the word of Christ for us to find them.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, “Brothers and sisters, the scriptures offer us so many doctrinal diamonds. And when the light of the Spirit plays upon their several facets, they sparkle with celestial sense and illuminate the path we are to follow” (“According to the Desires of [Our] Hearts,” Ensign, November 1996, 21).

Just as digging at the beach every day could soon build a collection of treasures, a regular study of the scriptures brings edification.

The word edify comes originally from the Latin roots aedes, meaning a dwelling or a temple, and facere, meaning to make. Therefore, to edify relates to building a temple and means to build or strengthen spiritually. A temple is built brick by brick or stone by stone, but when it is completed it is a beautiful and sacred refuge where God himself may dwell. Physical strength comes workout by workout or day by day filled with hard work, but over time we find we are able to do more without tiring. Likewise, as we consistently study the word of Christ, we will find that with edification comes also joy, peace, enlightenment and desires for righteous living that we can use to build a happy and fulfilling life.

In addition to our regular scripture study, sometimes we find ourselves on rough patches of trail that we don’t know how or don’t have strength enough to cross on our own. These patches are given to us as a gift to help us seek and obtain greater edification that the Lord is ready to give us. At a recent BYU-Idaho devotional, Sister Sheri Dew taught that “once [we] have received a spiritual witness of the truths that form a testimony, even [our] thorniest questions about our doctrine, history, positions on sensitive issues, or the aching desires of your hearts, are about personal growth. They are opportunities for [us] to receive personal revelation and increase [our] faith” (“Will You Engage in the Wrestle?, May 2016).

Some of those thorny questions might include things like:

- Why am I the only one in my family who struggles to believe?

- Will the Lord ever forgive me for breaking my covenants?

- Why is life so hard sometimes?

- Is a prophet infallible?

- Did Joseph Smith really have more than one wife?

- How do I know if I’m receiving revelation?

- Why can’t women be ordained to the priesthood?

- What if the Church’s position on gay marriage bothers me?

- How do I understand the temple when I can’t ask questions about it?

- How do I raise my children to be righteous in an evil world?

We can approach these spots in the path as doubters, who look for a quick excuse to turn around or leave the path altogether, or as seekers ready to put forth the effort to learn by study and by faith. Seekers know that they have not “come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him” and that questions or hard times do not erase the word of Christ we have already received into our testimonies. On the contrary, rough patches in the trail provide a renewed opportunity to spend some time digging at the beach, as it were, to be edified, and to take a few more steps toward our ultimate goal of returning to live with our Father in Heaven.

Please don’t misunderstand here: the decision seekers make to use difficult questions or experiences to enhance their gospel study is not only about preserving past investment, though we should not easily decide to walk back down the path, but like my decision to go to the party instead of the movie I’d already paid for, it is a forward-looking decision. Seekers know that what may be a small difference of attitude today can determine whether they reach their destination at the end of the trail or find themselves lost in the wilderness at the top of an impassable cliff. Seeing the future on the horizon with an eye of faith, seekers know that rough patches are just rough patches, that the gems they need are already on the beach, as it were, and that, like the view from the top of a mountain that I am anxious to share with all of Facebook, the best is yet to come.

In summary, brother and sisters, I submit that each of us have only come as far as we have along the trail through the word of Christ and our future progress is dependent upon our willingness to feast upon the word. We enhance our study as we seek to understand the context and content, identify and understand doctrines and principles, and then ultimately gain a testimony of and apply those principles.

What good is a satchel full of gems relegated to the attic of our minds? Rather let us do business until he comes, anxiously applying what we have learned to our lives, that the treasures we find may be added upon at his return. As we press forward with a firm grasp on the iron rod, we will be edified and find the strength and joy we need for our lives.

Sacrament Meeting Talk (as written, at least) 7/10/2016

The Parable of the Town Drunk

There's a story of a town drunk that had two sons. One of the sons was very successful in business and in life; the other was a no-good drunk like his father. When people inquired why the second son had become a drunk, he'd say, 'What else would I be? Look who my father is!' Tellingly, when those same people would ask the first son why he was so successful, he'd answer, 'What else would I be? Look who my father is!'

Each of us have different circumstances in life. Some have had a difficult past, others face hard situations today, and most of us will find ourselves in difficult circumstances at some point in the future. The Lord has taught us through the prophet Lehi that it isn't our circumstances, but our choices that matter: 'There is a God, and he hath created all things, both the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are, both things to act and things to be acted upon... Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself' (2 Nephi 2:14, 16).

Lehi continued:

And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given. Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself (2 Nephi 2:26-27).

In a way, we face the same choice as the sons of the town drunk. We can make an excuse of our circumstance and allow ourselves to be acted upon, or we can  "gird up our loins" and use the redeeming power of the Atonement to act for ourselves. We can allow the passions of our flesh to determine our destiny, or we can have the strength through Christ to be anxiously engaged in good causes and a disciplined life.

This is the choice we face every morning when we get out of bed. What will you choose today?

A Time to Prepare

In the October 2011 General Conference, Elder Ian S. Ardern delivered an address titled, 'A Time to Prepare'. It was an excellent talk worth reviewing again and again. In his remarks, Elder Ardern reminded us:

Time is never for sale; time is a commodity that cannot, try as you may, be bought at any store for any price. Yet when time is wisely used, its value is immeasurable. On any given day we are allocated, without cost, the same number of minutes and hours to use... What time we have we must use wisely.

Though it often seems like we own the time that is granted to us, the Lord has made it clear that he is very interested in how we use that time. He has instructed us to 'cease to be idle' and to be 'anxiously engaged in a good cause' (Alma 38:12, D&C 88:124, D&C 58:27). President Brigham Young taught that 'we are all indebted to God for the ability to use time to advantage, and he will require of us a strict accounts of [its] disposition' (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 286). Indeed, the Lord has said that 'he who is faithful and wise in time is accounted worthy to inherit the mansions prepared for him of my Father' (D&C 72:4).

While our choices certainly determine how we use our time, clearly our relationship with time is one of stewardship. The gift of time we receive from our Heavenly Father is also a responsibility and an opportunity to prove our ability to manage ourselves well.

In the parable of the talents found in Matthew 25, Christ taught us something about how stewardship assignments work. The master of the house gave three of his servants some coins to invest while he was away. Two of the servants had doubled the investments assigned to their care to the pleasure of their master. 'Well done, good and faithful servant,' the master told them. 'Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.'

The third servant hid the coin given to him in the dirt. The master of the house was angry with this servant's slothfulness and took away this servant's stewardship, casting him out of the house.

As the stewards of our time, the Lord has commanded us that we 'shalt not idle away [our] time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent' (D&C 60:13). We are idle when we are 'uninvolved in righteous works'. The For the Strength of Youth pamphlet explains a few of the reasons why: 'Idleness can lead to inappropriate behavior, damaged relationships, and sin.' It continues, 'One form of idleness is spending excessive amounts of time in activities that keep you from productive work, such as using the Internet, playing video games, and watching television.'

Elder Ardern had the same message last October. He said:

The poor use of time is a close cousin of idleness. As we follow the command to 'cease to be idle', we must be sure that being busy also equates to being productive... I sense that some are trapped in a new time-consuming addiction—one that enslaves us to be constantly checking and sending social messages and thus giving the false impression of being busy and productive... Electronic games and cyber acquaintances are no lasting substitute for real friends who can give an encouraging hug, who can pray for us and seek after our best interest.

Perhaps this kind of idleness--when hours are wasted while appearing or even believing we a busy--is more dangerous than the bored image of idleness as a void of activity. In a recent CES Fireside, Elder David A. Bednar shared a similar concern as Elder Ardern. He said:

Sadly, some young men and young women in the Church today ignore 'things as they really are' and neglect eternal relationships for digital distractions, diversions, and detours that have no lasting value. My heart aches when a young couple—sealed together in the house of the Lord for time and for all eternity by the power of the holy priesthood—experiences marital difficulties because of the addicting effect of excessive video gaming or online socializing. A young man or woman may waste countless hours, postpone or forfeit vocational or academic achievement, and ultimately sacrifice cherished human relationships because of mind- and spirit-numbing video and online games...

I raise an apostolic voice of warning about the potentially stifling, suffocating, suppressing, and constraining impact of some kinds of cyberspace interactions and experiences upon our souls. The concerns I raise are not new; they apply equally to other types of media, such as television, movies, and music. But in a cyber world, these challenges are more pervasive and intense. I plead with you to beware of the sense-dulling and spiritually destructive influence of cyberspace technologies that are used to produce high fidelity and that promote degrading and evil purposes.

If the adversary cannot entice us to misuse our physical bodies, then one of his most potent tactics is to beguile you and me as embodied spirits to disconnect gradually and physically from things as they really are. In essence, he encourages us to think and act as if we were in our premortal, unembodied state. And, if we let him, he can cunningly employ some aspects of modern technology to accomplish his purposes. Please be careful of becoming so immersed and engrossed in pixels, texting, earbuds, twittering, online social networking, and potentially addictive uses of media and the Internet that you fail to recognize the importance of your physical body and miss the richness of person-to-person communication. Beware of digital displays and data in many forms of computer-mediated interaction that can displace the full range of physical capacity and experience.

 

In the Book of Mormon, Alma taught Zeezrom that though we all die, this life is a 'probationary state; a time to prepare to meet God' (Alma 12:24). Brigham Young taught that when we do meet God, we will be expected to give an accounting of that time. And Christ taught that if we are accounted worthy, we may be admitted into the 'joy of the lord' where we will be made 'rulers over many things' because of our wise stewardship.

Our use of time matters. With so many warnings to use our time well, we should be careful to put first the things that matter most, particularly our families and our relationship with our Heavenly Father. I join my testimony to Elder Ardern's:

I know our greatest happiness comes as we tune in to the Lord (see Alma 37:37) and to those things which bring a lasting reward, rather than mindlessly tuning in to countless hours of status updates, Internet farming, and catapulting angry birds at concrete walls. I urge each of us to take those things which rob us of precious time and determine to be their master, rather than allowing them through their addictive nature to be the master of us.

To have the peace the Savior speaks of (see John 14:27), we must devote our time to the things that matter most, and the things of God matter most. As we engage with God in sincere prayer, read and study each day from the scriptures, ponder on what we have read and felt, and then apply and live the lessons learned, we draw nearer to Him... 

Time marches swiftly forward to the tick of the clock. Today would be a good day, while the clock of mortality ticks, to review what we are doing to prepare to meet God. I testify that there are great rewards for those who take time in mortality to prepare for immortality and eternal life.