52 Life-Changing Questions From The Book of Mormon by Brad Wilcox - 01

© 2013 John Hilton III and Brad Wilcox.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without
permission in writing from the publisher, Deseret Book Company (permissions@deseretbook.com), P.O.
Box 30178, Salt Lake City Utah 84130. This work is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not
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trademark of Deseret Book Company.
Other books by John Hilton III
The Little Book of Book of Mormon Evidences
Please Pass the Scriptures
How? Essential Skills for Living the Gospel
Other books by Brad Wilcox

Raising Ourselves to the Bar
The Continuous Atonement
The Continuous Conversion
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Hilton, John, III, author.
52 life-changing questions from the Book of Mormon / John Hilton III, Brad
Wilcox.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 978-1-60907-579-8 (hardbound : alk. paper) 1. Book of Mormon—
Devotional literature. 2. Christian life—Mormon authors. 3. Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints—Doctrines. I. Wilcox, Brad, author. II. Title. III.
Title: Fifty-two life-changing questions from the Book of Mormon.
BX8627.H525 2013
289.3'22—dc232013019438
Printed in the United States of America
Edwards Brothers Malloy, Ann Arbor, MI
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
To our grandparents—
John and Janet Hilton, Jack and Jaynie McEntire, Ray and Grace Wilcox, and
Ed and Mary Camenish
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction
1 Wherefore can ye doubt?
2 Shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord?
3 How is it that ye have forgotten?
4 Knowest thou the condescension of God?
5 Thou rememberest the twelve apostles of the Lamb?
6 Have ye inquired of the Lord?
7 What meaneth the rod of iron?
8 Whither shall I go?
9 How is it that he cannot instruct me?
10 Why should my heart weep?
11 Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?
12 Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of man?
13 Whom shall I send?
14 Is not Calno as Carchemish?
15 Doth he say, “Depart from me”?
16 Who seeth us?
17 Know ye not that there are more nations than one?
18 Murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word?
19 After ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if
all is done?
20 What could I have done more for my vineyard?
21 Believest thou the scriptures?
22 Lord, how is it done?
23 Are we not all beggars?
24 How knoweth a man the master whom he has not served?
25 What teach ye this people?
26 Who shall be his seed?
27 Have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your
fathers?
28 Have ye received his image in your countenances?
29 Do you look forward with an eye of faith?
30 Can ye feel so now?
31 Are ye stripped of pride?
32 How do ye suppose that I know?
33 Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?
34 How long shall we suffer?
35 Believest thou in the power of Christ unto salvation?
36 Why do not angels appear unto us?
37 Have we not great reason to rejoice?
38 Who can glory too much in the Lord?
39 Why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have
been called?
40 What evidence have ye that there is no God?
41 What shall we do?
42 Do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only once in a week?
43 Have ye not observed the steadiness of thy brother?
44 Is not a soul at this time as precious unto God?
45 Why have ye gathered yourselves together?
46 Will ye not now return unto me . . . that I may heal you?
47 How be it that ye have not written this thing?
48 Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God?
49 For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and
forever?
50 Who can comprehend the marvelous works of God?
51 What will ye that I should prepare for you?
52 Have miracles ceased?
Conclusion
Sources
Acknowledgments
We are grateful to our grandparents for passing their testimonies of the

Book of Mormon to us and all their descendants.
We thank our wives, Lani and Debi, for their examples, love, and
support. We couldn’t do what we do without them. We also thank our
families.
Wendee Wilcox Rosborough’s and Jaclyn Nielson’s careful editing of
the manuscript made a difference. We appreciate them for all their extra
miles. We are also indebted to Laurel Christensen Day, Cory Maxwell, Chris
Schoebinger, Lisa Mangum, Vicki Parry, Chrislyn Woolston, and the entire
team at Deseret Book, Time Out for Women, and Time Out for Girls.
Finally, we express gratitude to the Sunday School general presidency,
Russell T. Osguthorpe, David M. McConkie, and Matthew O. Richardson,
for all they do to improve learning and teaching in the Church.
Introduction
Has a question ever changed your life?

A woman named Janice shared an experience in which a question
changed her life. She was sitting in a church meeting, studying Philippians
4:8, which says, “Whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest,
whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are
lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if
there be any praise, think on these things.”
As she pondered this verse, she felt the Holy Spirit say to her, “What
about your soap opera? Is there anything honest, pure, or lovely in it?”
Janice was shocked. She loved her soap opera. She had watched it for
eighteen years! But as she pondered these questions, she had to confess that
there was little in the program that was lovely or of good report or
praiseworthy. She felt the Spirit whisper another question: “So what are you
going to do about it?”1
Janice later referred to what she had heard from the Spirit as a life-
changing question. She made the decision to give up her soap opera, and she
found that her decision made a profound difference in her life.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks wrote about a completely different question that
changed his life:
“During my first five years as Brigham Young University president I was
one of about five leaders who had weekly coordination meetings with Neal
A. Maxwell, then commissioner of the Church Educational System. One day
he began our meeting by asking, ‘What would you like to be remembered for
after you are released from your present positions?’ . . . Pondering this
inspired question taught me an important lesson. I applied it not only to my
employment but also to my position as a father.”2
Questions can be powerful. Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “The restored
gospel of Jesus Christ gives us abundant answers. But Jesus also asked some
searching questions which tell us even more about the stretching journey of
discipleship.”3 Indeed, “the power of a good question is of inestimable
worth,” wrote Elder Tad R. Callister. “It is like an . . . alarm clock that
awakens us out of our mental doldrums. It is a catalyst that jump-starts our
mental engines.”4
Where can we find these questions that will awaken us out of mental—
and spiritual—doldrums? A good place to begin is the Book of Mormon.
President Ezra Taft Benson taught:
“The Book of Mormon . . . was written for our day. The Nephites never
had the book; neither did the Lamanites of ancient times. It was meant for us.
Mormon wrote near the end of the Nephite civilization. Under the inspiration
of God, who sees all things from the beginning, he abridged centuries of
records, choosing the stories, speeches, and events that would be most
helpful to us.”5
We wonder if, in addition to the stories, speeches, doctrines, and events,
Book of Mormon authors selected questions that would also be most
beneficial for us in our day. The Book of Mormon contains 543 questions,
many of which may serve as alarm clocks, prompting us to wake up and think
carefully. While some questions, such as “Will they not testify that ye are
murderers . . . ?” (Alma 5:23), may not apply to our lives, others, such as
“Are we not all beggars?” (Mosiah 4:19), merit our careful consideration.
Interesting Facts about Questions in the Book of

Mormon
Did you know that . . .
• Sixty-one different individuals in the Book of Mormon—including
prophets, missionaries, investigators, and apostates—ask questions?
• Alma 5 has the most questions (forty-two!) of any chapter in the Book
of Mormon? (Alma 30 is a distant second with twenty-two.)
• Alma the Younger asks the most questions in the Book of Mormon? He
asks 103 questions, or nineteen percent of all the questions in the book. Even
if Alma 5 were not included, Alma the Younger’s questions would total more
than anyone else’s in the Book of Mormon. (Nephi is in second place with
forty-one questions.)
• The most commonly asked question has to do with how people
remember—or forget—the Lord? Variations of this question appear twenty-
six times.
• Jesus Christ asks thirty-five direct questions in the Book of Mormon?
In this book, we present fifty-two questions—one for each week of the
year. We briefly discuss the context of each question and then focus on how
pondering and applying the question may impact our lives.
On the cover of this book is depicted a tree—a tree made up entirely of
questions. It is easy to notice the trunk and the leaves that make up the outside
of the tree, but let’s not forget the rings of growth inside. Our hope is that the
questions in this book will sink inside each one of us and motivate us to
become what God wants us to be. Spiritual “rings of growth” are not easy to
see, but they are the true evidence that the questions in the scriptures have
made a difference.
That’s why we must take seriously Zeezrom’s query: “Will ye answer
me a few questions which I shall ask you?” (Alma 11:21). Only as we spend
the time to think deeply about the questions asked in the Book of Mormon
will the Spirit help us find answers—answers that, when internalized and
acted upon, have the power to help us grow and change our lives.
Notes
^1. Janice Carleton, “The Question That Changed My Life,” The Word among Us, 2012; available at
http://wau.org/resources/article/re_the_question_that_changed_my_life/.
^2. Oaks, Life’s Lessons Learned (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 61.
^3. Maxwell, “Answer Me,” Ensign, November 1988, 31.
^4. Callister, “Teaching the Atonement,” Religious Educator 3, no. 1 (2002): 56.
^5. Benson, “The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion,” Ensign, November 1986, 6.
1
Wherefore can ye doubt?
1 Nephi 4:3
When Nephi was trying to convince his brothers to try to obtain the
brass plates from Laban, he said, “Now behold ye know that [what I say] is
true; and ye also know that an angel hath spoken unto you; wherefore can ye
doubt?” (1 Nephi 4:3). Laman and Lemuel had seen an angel—yet they still
had doubts. Some people today are in a similar situation—they are in a
position where they should know, but they remain unsure.
“Could I . . . uh . . .” The dark-haired elder approached his teacher at the
Missionary Training Center and shifted his weight awkwardly. “I mean, I
was wondering . . . if we could talk.” The teacher had just finished teaching a
class, and the group was enjoying a short break.
“No problem,” the teacher assured him. They walked down the hall,
away from classrooms and companions for a moment. The teacher had
noticed how this elder’s enthusiasm had waned as his time in the MTC had
increased.
“It’s about what you said in class,” the missionary began quietly. “You
know, about building yourself before you can build others. Well—” He
hesitated. “Well, I . . . ” He paused again. His averted eyes did little to
disguise the tears that were welling inside them. “I always thought I knew the
Church was true till now.” He shrugged his shoulders and sighed. “I came on
this mission to tell people what I know.” His voice was husky with
suppressed emotion. “But now I’m not sure. I’m just not sure. . . .” His voice
trailed off.
“You’re not sure you know?” the teacher asked, filling in the blank in the
elder’s sentence. The missionary nodded. Tears glistening on his lashes
brimmed over. Suddenly, communication between student and teacher went
beyond the foreign language the missionary was studying and the English
language they shared. They were at the I-feel-what-you-feel level. The
missionary brushed his tears away with the back of his hand. As the teacher
watched, he remembered when he, too, wondered if God were there and
what on earth he had gotten himself into when he had chosen to serve a
mission. He spoke quietly to the missionary, “There was a time in my
mission when I felt exactly the same way.”
The missionary looked up. “Really?” he asked. His teacher seemed so
confident and sure of himself. He spoke with ease the foreign language the
young missionary was struggling to learn. He bore a strong and powerful
testimony to the group often and with great sincerity. The missionary could
hardly imagine his teacher ever feeling the doubts that were flooding over
him.
“I feel like a terrible elder,” the missionary said. “I have so many
doubts. You must think I’m wrong and weak.”
The words shocked the teacher, and he responded, “Wrong? Weak? Are
doubts wrong? Are questions a sign of weakness? No. Didn’t Joseph Smith
himself doubt and question as he learned?” The teacher opened his Pearl of
Great Price to Joseph Smith–History and read: “In the midst of this war of
words and tumult of opinions I often said to myself: What is to be done? Who
of all these parties is right or are they all wrong together? If any one of them
be right, which is it, and how shall I know it?” (Joseph Smith–History 1:10).
The teacher looked up from the page and said, “If doubting and
questioning are wrong, then the whole missionary system of the Church is
wrong, for isn’t it our invitation to the world to escape tradition’s chains and
test present beliefs against revealed truth? Don’t we openly invite people to
doubt and question?”
Hugh Nibley wrote that we should “unblushingly try to prove or
disprove things.”1 Doubts are not necessarily wrong, and they can definitely
be a step toward the right. Questions are not a sign of weakness but a sign of
growth. The weak are not discovered by their questions but by when they
stop questioning. People are not wrong when they doubt but when they fail to
do something about their doubts. American educator Robert L. Ebel wrote,
“[We] must earn the right to say, ‘I know’ by our own thoughtful efforts to
understand.”2
The teacher looked at the missionary and continued, “The scriptures
themselves tell us to ‘prove all things,’ but the learning process is not
complete until the test is done, experiments are finished, and conclusions are
drawn. ‘Prove all things; hold fast that which is good’ [1 Thessalonians
5:21]. Joseph Smith didn’t understand, so he ‘inquired,’ and he ‘received.’”3
The teacher wondered how he could express to the discouraged
missionary the joy of having a testimony. How could he convince him that,
instead of being a source of discouragement, his doubts could motivate him
to new learning he had never dreamed of before? How could he express the
overwhelming satisfaction of finally finding answers? He opened his mouth,
hoping to say something profound, but all that came out was, “Hang in there.
It’s worth it. I promise.” Those words certainly didn’t sound all that
wonderful or convincing.
But it was enough for the missionary. He looked up and smiled. “Thanks
for understanding,” he said. “I’m glad you’re not mad at me.”
“Mad?” asked the teacher. “How could I be mad? I am proud of you for
being honest. I am proud of you for reaching out for help. I am proud of you
for not giving up. Now, break’s over. We’d better get back to class.”
While all of us may face unanswered questions that may cause us to
doubt, we do not need to be afraid because there are things we do not fully
understand. President Joseph F. Smith put it this way: “It is no discredit to
our intelligence or to our integrity to say frankly in the face of a hundred
speculative questions, ‘I do not know.’”4 In fact, “uncertainty is a necessary
precursor to new discoveries and new creation.”5
Robert L. Millet explained the way he handles doubts:
“One thing I have learned through the years is not to become
preoccupied with unanswered questions, not to obsess over them, not to
allow them to make me spiritually dysfunctional. . . . I have learned to place
many items on the shelf for the time being to allow time and study and
seasoning and maturity either to prepare me for an answer down the road or
to prepare me not to receive an answer, perhaps even in this life.”6
All of us have doubts—doubts about the future, doubts about decisions
we have made or will make, doubts of a thousand kinds. But these doubts do
not need to destroy us—answers will come. One woman spent long hours
pondering struggles she was having with her testimony. As she weighed the
assurances she had previously felt with the doubts she was currently
encountering, she felt prompted to turn to the scriptures. As she did so, her
scriptures fell open to Doctrine and Covenants 6, and she read these words:
“If you desire a further witness, cast your mind upon the night that you cried
unto me in your heart, that you might know concerning the truth of these
things. Did I not speak peace to your mind concerning the matter? What
greater witness can you have than from God?” (D&C 6:22–23). She felt the
Spirit wash over her, and her doubts were replaced by faith.
Sometimes our doubts are quickly resolved, and sometimes we have to
put them “on the shelf” for a time. But one thing is certain: the Lord has done
great things for us and our ancestors and He will continue to do great things
in the future. As Nephi said, “Let us go up; the Lord is able to deliver us,
even as our fathers” (1 Nephi 4:3). Even though there may be things we do
not fully understand, we can move forward as Nephi did, trusting in the God
who has always stood by us.
Wherefore can ye doubt?
Notes
^1. Nibley, Of All Things!: Quotations from Hugh Nibley, ed. Gary P. Gillum (Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book, 1993), 139.
^2. Ebel, “What Are Schools For?” in Emerging Educational Issues: Conflicts and Contrasts, ed.
Julius Menacker and Erwin W. Pollack (New York: Little, Brown, 1974), 76.
^3. Smith, History of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, ed. B. H. Roberts, 2d ed. rev.
7 vols. (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1932–51), 1:170.
^4. Smith, Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1939), 9.
^5. Wendy Ulrich, The Temple Experience (Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2012), 178.
^6. Millet, Holding Fast: Dealing with Doubt in the Latter Days (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book,
2008), 75–76.
2
Shall we not be diligent in keeping the
commandments of the Lord?
1 Nephi 4:34
Most Primary children can recite the story of how Nephi obtained the
brass plates from Laban. It’s usually a favorite, and some even like to include
all the graphic details about Nephi slaying Laban as he was commanded by
the Lord. They may not, however, be as familiar with what happened next:
how Nephi went undercover and, dressed in Laban’s clothes, convinced the
servant Zoram to bring the plates and follow him outside the city. When
Zoram discovered Nephi’s true identity, he was afraid and wanted to run
away, but Nephi was “large in stature.” He seized Zoram and promised him
that if he chose to join with Lehi and his family, not only would they spare his
life but he could be a free man (1 Nephi 4:30–33).
Adults and children alike may overlook the reasoning Nephi used to
convince Zoram to follow them into the wilderness and “tarry with [them]
from that time forth” (1 Nephi 4:35). Zoram went not because Nephi was
strong or even because he had been promised freedom. Any bandit could
have held Zoram down and promised him freedom if he didn’t tell others
what had happened. Nephi told Zoram that the Lord had commanded them to
do what they had done that night, and then he asked Zoram, “Shall we not be
diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord?” (1 Nephi 4:34). That
question provided a new perspective for Zoram, and it can do the same for
each of us today.
Nephi didn’t ask only “Shouldn’t we keep the commandments?” He
asked, “Shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord?”
Noah Webster’s 1828 American Dictionary of the English Language is very
helpful because its definitions of words are contemporary to the time of the
translation of the Book of Mormon. The 1828 dictionary defines diligent as
“constant in effort or exertion to accomplish what is undertaken.” Thus our
goal isn’t just to keep the commandments sporadically but to be constant in
our efforts to do so.
We live in a time when obedience to commandments is not a high
priority for many people. Some do not believe commandments exist, and, as
Elder D. Todd Christofferson has said, “Sadly, much of modern Christianity
does not acknowledge that God makes any real demands on those who
believe in Him.”1 Too many people in the world see God as a kind of butler
who serves them when summoned or a therapist who makes them feel good
about themselves.2 The titles of recent books by Christian authors seem to
verify this perspective, for example, The Pressure’s Off: Breaking Free from
Rules and Performance and The Gospel of Yes.3 Elder Neal A. Maxwell
was correct when he stated that people seem to “demand an undemanding
God.”4
On the other hand, some Christians believe that, rather than abandoning
the commandments, what is needed is a new generation of Christians who are
bold enough to actually live the gospel. One author went so far as to call such
Christians “restorers” and charged them to have a different mentality than
generations past. He called for a “next generation” of Christians to show the
world how living Christian lives makes sense and offers the only hope the
world has.5 That author may not agree with us, but we have a name for this
“next generation” of Christians: Latter-day Saints.
Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints testify that
the restoration the author called for has already taken place. Since 1830,
Latter-day Saints have known that God does indeed require our obedience,
sacrifice, and commitment to live the gospel. He requires our time, talents,
and treasure. He calls for self-control, self-discipline, best efforts, and hard
work. He wants us to be diligent in keeping the commandments.
Nephi’s question can also be read in a way that emphasizes the
importance of the fact that God is the one issuing the commands: “Shall we
not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord?” (1 Nephi 4:34;
emphasis added). The question to consider is not if God has given us
commandments and expectations. That’s pretty clear. The question to
consider is why? And frankly, the reasons He has given us commandments
are pretty clear as well. One simple reason is that the commandments give us
guidance and direction. The Lord said, “I give unto you a new commandment,
that you may understand my will concerning you; or, in other words, I give
unto you directions how you may act before me, that it may turn to you for
your salvation” (D&C 82:8–9; emphasis added). The commandments are
directions that help us know what we should do.
One day, John was feeding some giraffes at a zoo. In spite of the posted
sign, which said, “Do not get too close to the giraffes,” John leaned in for a
picture. As a result, John received a headbutt from the giraffe. Rules are in
place for a purpose and so are commandments.
Another reason we are given commandments is that “wickedness never
was happiness” (Alma 41:10). God calls for our obedience so that we can be
happy here and in the hereafter. As we take each little step to show faith,
repent, make and live sacred covenants, seek the Holy Ghost, and endure to
the end, we are not “earning” our way into heaven. We are practicing living
the happy life our Father lives.
Jesus said, “Follow me” (Matthew 4:19) and “Keep my
commandments” (John 14:15). Doing God’s bidding is not a burden; it is a
blessing. King Benjamin wrote that God “doth require that ye should do as he
hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you”
(Mosiah 2:24). God’s law is not a laborious load; rather, it is an illustration
of His love. Living His commandments is an illustration of our love for Him.
In fact, the Apostle John wrote, “For this is the love of God, that we keep his
commandments: and his commandments are not grievous” (1 John 5:3).
If we view God’s requirements as being too much to ask, maybe it is
because we do not yet see through His eyes. A God who asks nothing of us is
making nothing of us, and that is not the case with our God. Everyone
struggles occasionally to “obey with exactness” (Alma 57:21). But Nephi’s
question can be a powerful reminder to us to be diligent in or be constant in
our efforts to keep God’s commandments.
Shall we not be diligent in keeping the commandments of the Lord?
Notes
^1. Christofferson, “As Many As I Love, I Rebuke and Chasten,” Ensign, May 2011, 97.
^2. Kendra Creasy Dean, Almost Christian (New York: Oxford, 2010), 17; and Christian Smith and
Melinda Lundquist Denton, Soul Searching (New York: Oxford, 2005), 118–71.
^3. Larry Crabb, The Pressure’s Off: Breaking Free from Rules and Performance (Colorado Springs,
CO: Waterbrook Press, 2012); and Mike Glenn, The Gospel of Yes (Colorado Springs, CO:
Waterbrook Press, 2012).
^4. Maxwell, Men and Women of Christ (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1991), 5.
^5. See Gabe Lyons, The Next Christians: Seven Ways You Can Live the Gospel and Restore the
World (Colorado Springs, CO: Multnomah, 2012).
3
How is it that ye have forgotten?
1 Nephi 7:11
In 1 Nephi 7, Nephi was facing yet another rebellion from Laman and
Lemuel. In three verses, Nephi asks the same question three different ways:
“How is it that ye have forgotten that ye have seen an angel of the Lord?” (1
Nephi 7:10). “How is it that ye have forgotten what great things the Lord hath
done for us, in delivering us out of the hands of Laban, and also that we
should obtain the record?” (1 Nephi 7:11). “How is it that ye have forgotten
that the Lord is able to do all things according to his will, for the children of
men, if it so be that they exercise faith in him?” (1 Nephi 7:12).
The most commonly asked question in the Book of Mormon concerns
what people have either remembered or forgotten. For example, Alma asks,
“Do ye not remember that our father, Lehi, was brought out of Jerusalem by
the hand of God? Do ye not remember that they were all led by him through
the wilderness? And have ye forgotten so soon how many times he delivered
our fathers out of the hands of their enemies, and preserved them from being
destroyed, even by the hands of their own brethren?” (Alma 9:9–10).
Forgetting and remembering are very important topics of discussion!
We must remember the many things God has done for us. When we are
unsure about the future, we must remember the past. When we can’t see His
hand in our current lives, we must remember when we have seen His hand
clearly before.
Wendee was a young woman who thought she might never marry. Her
self-esteem was high, and she knew she would be an excellent wife and
mother. But she had never dated anyone seriously. On her “down” days, she
had to realistically face the fact that, as much as she wanted marriage and a
family of her own, this blessing might be denied her. Imagine her joy when
finally a worthy man came into her life, seemingly out of the blue and amid
many “coincidences” that could be nothing short of the Lord’s doing. She
recognized God’s hand in bringing her and her husband together.
As a young wife, Wendee feared she would be unable to have children.
Not only had she and her husband prayed and fasted, but they had sought help
from fertility specialists. No one could explain exactly why the couple had
not yet been able to conceive. Wendee’s heart longed for a child, and she
knew their biological window was closing quickly. Imagine her joy when she
finally announced to her husband that she was pregnant. Yes, she had been
taking medication, which is how many people would explain the good news.
However, she and her husband knew that the conception had little to do with
medication and everything to do with God answering their prayers. She gave
birth to a son and once again recognized God’s hand in her life.
As a new mother, Wendee was dealing with lack of sleep and similar
adjustments when suddenly her husband lost his job. The economy crashed
and finding meaningful employment became nearly impossible. Wendee’s
husband applied for hundreds of positions without success. When he was
called for an interview, her hopes soared. When he was not chosen, her fears
overwhelmed her. One year of unemployment passed, and, as their savings
dwindled, Wendee’s concerns increased. As a couple they were determined
to press forward with faith and find joy in the moment, but Wendee felt out of
control and helpless. “Is God aware of us? Does He even care? Does He see
how desperate we are? Why are others finding work and we aren’t?”
Wendee’s questions were many, and they came from the depths of her soul.
Two years passed with only part-time work for either of them here and there.
As she looked forward and saw nothing on the horizon, Wendee was
becoming angry. How long would she be expected to pray for the same
blessing?
During this time, Wendee often read this scriptural question and answer
from Isaiah: “For can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not
have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not
forget thee, O house of Israel. Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of
my hands; thy walls are continually before me” (1 Nephi 21:15–16). Instead
of being comforted, she felt abandoned. Was she the one child the nursing
mother was forgetting? Was she the only one He had not “graven . . . upon the
palms” of His hands? Were her walls, barriers, and challenges really
continually before Him? If so, why were His blessings so long in coming?
The greatest peace Wendee found came as she stopped looking forward
and instead looked back. She had to remember that marriage had seemed
impossible, but the Lord had fulfilled her dream. Having children had
seemed hopeless, yet the Lord had given her a child. She had to trust that if
the Lord had helped these seemingly impossible dreams come true in the
past, He would one day fulfill all of His promised blessings. At the time of
this writing, the job still has not come, but it will. Wendee is learning to trust
that the Lord will never forget her. She feels certain that a time will come
when she will be able to look back and again see God’s hand and purposes
in her life. God has promised, “I [will] not forget thee” (1 Nephi 21:15). If
He doesn’t forget, we shouldn’t either.
How is it that ye have forgotten?

4
Knowest thou the condescension of
God?
1 Nephi 11:16
When Nephi desired to know the interpretation of the things his father
had seen, he was asked by an angel, “Knowest thou the condescension of
God?” (1 Nephi 11:16). Nephi responded, “I know that he loveth his
children; nevertheless, I do not know the meaning of all things” (1 Nephi
11:17).
Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines the word condescension as a
“voluntary descent from rank and dignity, a relinquishment of just rights and
legitimate claims.” “The condescension of God,” then, refers to the fact that
Christ voluntarily relinquished His heavenly rank and status to become
mortal and descend below all things (D&C 122). He chose to come to earth
and perform the Atonement. God chose to let Him. Both Heavenly Father and
Jesus condescended to help us because they knew that Christ is our only
hope.
This concept was taught to Nephi as the angel showed him the Savior’s
birth, baptism, and ultimate sacrifice, during which Christ would be “lifted
up upon the cross and slain for the sins of the world” (1 Nephi 11:33). Elder
Robert D. Hales stated, “God knows all things. His Son, Jesus Christ, was at
His right hand and participated with Him in the creation of this world and
many other worlds. This is the same Jesus who came to earth as a babe in
Bethlehem. This is what the scriptures mean when they speak of the
condescension of God.”1
But it is not enough to simply know the definition of a word and apply it
in a general way to Christ and God. The question “Knowest thou the
condescension of God?” can be thought of as factual question, such as “Do
you know the square root of nine?” or “Do you know the factual details about
the Atonement?” But the word know has multiple meanings, as in “Do you
know this person?” meaning “Are you personally acquainted with this
person?” Perhaps the question “Knowest thou the condescension of God?”
may more closely resemble the question “Are you personally acquainted with
the condescension of God?”
Nephi’s younger brother Jacob taught, “It is by . . . his great
condescensions unto the children of men, that we have power” (Jacob 4:7;
emphasis added). Do we know that power? Are we personally familiar with
the Savior’s willingness to descend below all things—not just for everyone
else but for us personally? It is easy to see the worth of others’ souls as great
in the sight of God (D&C 18:10), but sometimes it is a little more difficult to
acknowledge the worth of our own soul. Nephi said, “The Lord in his
condescension unto the children of men hath visited men in so much mercy”
(2 Nephi 4:26). Have we felt His grace—His enabling power—in our own
lives? Have we recognized His mercy?
Some recognize Christ’s condescension when they seek a priesthood
blessing and hear words of comfort, peace, and faith. Others sense it when
they feel frightened and inadequate but receive reassurance that God has a
plan for their lives even though things may not be turning out as they had
hoped. It comes to some as they are given strength or perspective to face
adversity, such as when they lose a loved one to death or sin. At one time or
another, all of us are forced to grapple with all the what ifs, could haves, and
should haves of mortality.
Perhaps we feel the condescension of God when we run out of
rationalizations and have to face ourselves in the mirror, knowing full well
that our bad choices and sins have hurt others as well as ourselves. It is in
those moments of godly sorrow that we appreciate the mercy Christ extends
so lovingly. It is in those moments when we feel especially thankful—not just
that Christ condescended to come in the meridian of time and descend below
all things but that He condescends to come and descend below all things for
us now. He does not wait until we are worthy—He comes to help us become
worthy. He descends below us in our weakness in order to nudge us forward
and lift us upward.
One sister wrote of how Christ descended below His rank and dignity to
help her family: “I married my husband in the temple many years ago. We
served in the same mission, and I assumed that we would be happy together
serving in the Church and raising our children. Then he started making selfish
and sinful decisions that hurt our family deeply. He gave up on the Church
completely and retreated to the fringes of family life. I did my best to keep
my covenants and raise our children in the Gospel, despite their father’s
‘non-example.’” For years, this sister kept hoping her husband would one
day wake up and realize how far he had drifted, how unhappy he was, and
how broken his family had become. It never happened. Finally she told him
she wanted a divorce. When he asked why, she explained that he had not only
broken every temple covenant he had made but he had also broken her heart.
The husband grudgingly offered to speak with a marriage counselor if
his wife would cancel her appointment with the lawyer. She wrote, “At the
therapy session I told him how much I wanted him to become part of the
family again and to come back to Church. He said he was never going to set
foot in the Church again. We had been over this same ground so many times
before. I was finished. The marriage—if you could call it that—was over.”
The husband said, “You’re throwing me out of my family.”
His wife responded softly, “No, I’m not. You left our family years ago
when you decided your covenants no longer mattered.”
He said, “If we divorce, I’ll lose everything.”
She replied, “Don’t you see that you already have?”
“But you want me to be perfect,” he said.
“No,” she answered, “I am not asking for perfection. I just want to know
that you care about me, about God, about our future. I want the smallest
indication that you are willing to try.”
Finally, he asked, “What do I have to do not to lose you?”
At last, this sister felt her husband sincerely cared. She said, “Get help
—help to break your bad habits, help to get a temple recommend. Sell off
some of your expensive toys and get us out of debt.”
She wrote, “I never could have predicted what came next. He called the
bishop and set up an appointment to talk to him. I always knew that it would
take something catastrophic, such as his mother’s death, for his heart to be
softened. But that happened years ago, and it didn’t move him in the least.
Now he actually called the bishop.”
This sister was not naïve. She knew that she and her husband and family
had a long way to go, and she knew it would not be easy. But something
motivated her husband to call the bishop. Something motivated him to want to
try again. Something motivated her to give him another chance. She wrote, “I
feel the power of God working in our lives. If ever a family needed to access
the power of Christ’s atoning sacrifice, ours does. Christ has worked
miracles for so many, and now He is working one for us.”
This sister is realizing the Savior has descended below all things, not
just for everyone in general but for her and her loved ones specifically. He
did it for each of us personally. He does it for you.
Knowest thou the condescension of God?
Note
^1. Hales, “In Remembrance of Jesus,” Ensign, November 1997, 25.
5
Thou rememberest the twelve apostles
of the Lamb?
1 Nephi 12:9
In 1 Nephi 11, an angel shows Nephi the Twelve Apostles of Jesus

Christ. One chapter later, the angel refers to these men, asking Nephi, “Thou
rememberest the twelve apostles of the Lamb?” (1 Nephi 12:9). He wanted
to make sure Nephi knew who those individuals were.
Similarly, when Paul wrote to the Thessalonians, he said, “And we
beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among you, and are over
you in the Lord, and admonish you; and to esteem them very highly in love for
their work’s sake” (1 Thessalonians 5:12–13). It is vital for us to know those
whom Christ has called as His Apostles.
Before Elder Neil L. Andersen was a member of the Quorum of the
Twelve, he served as a member of the Seventy. On one occasion, he found
himself among a group of deacons in the southeastern United States. “Who
are your favorite ball players?” Elder Andersen asked. The boys responded
by telling him about every player on the Atlanta Braves baseball team. They
knew the starting lineup, who the home-run leader was, the pitcher with the
best record, and even those on injured reserve. Elder Andersen then asked
the boys if they knew the names of those serving in the First Presidency and
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. No response. Elder Andersen recalled,
“Finally, the name of the prophet was spoken. With some encouragement, the
last name of one of the counselors in the First Presidency surfaced. No other
names were known.”1
As fun and interesting as it is to follow the careers of professional
athletes, we need to spend a little more time focusing on the players on the
Lord’s team. While athletes can motivate and inspire us with their talents and
accomplishments, those who are called as Apostles can teach us truth, warn
of dangers ahead, and lead us to live in a way that will bring happiness today
and forever. They are seers. They “can know of things which are past, and
also of things which are to come, and by them shall all things be revealed, or,
rather, shall secret things be made manifest, and hidden things shall come to
light, and things which are not known shall be made known by them, and also
things shall be made known by them which otherwise could not be known”
(Mosiah 8:17).
As we learn about the examples and teachings of the Twelve Apostles,
our lives are enriched, and our testimonies are strengthened. Our witness of
the Redeemer is rejuvenated by those who are called to be “special
witnesses of the name of Christ in all the world” (D&C 107:23).
When Paul wrote to the Ephesians about the organization of the Church,
he taught that it was “built upon the foundation of apostles and prophets,
Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone” (Ephesians 2:20).
Christ continues to call Apostles in our day—they direct His Church,
receive revelation from Him, and seek to do His will. Compare that
understanding with what was written about a pastor who arrived in a new
community and was interviewed by a reporter for the local paper: “He has
no specific plans for his ministry with the congregation, but said he will do a
lot of listening to where people are and where they want to go.”2
One man arrived at the Salt Lake City airport and found people in
commotion. He approached a gate agent and asked what was going on. The
agent explained that a famous singer had just arrived at the airport and was
turning heads and drawing a lot of attention. The man smiled at all the fuss
and did his best to maneuver through the crowds and cameras surrounding the
singer. He picked up his bags and headed out of the building toward the
parking lot. That was when he saw Elder Russell M. Nelson and some
members of his family entering through the same doors from which he was
leaving. The man was excited to recognize an Apostle of Jesus Christ.
Just then a woman approached Elder Nelson and said, “You once visited
our stake.” Elder Nelson kindly stopped and spoke with this sister. The man
stood to the side and watched the exchange.
When the conversation ended, Elder Nelson looked around to locate his
family members and noticed the man looking at him. A little embarrassed, the
traveler said, “God bless you, Elder Nelson. God bless you for the good you
do.” Elder Nelson smiled and said, “Thank you.” He then turned to catch up
to his family, passing another group of men who were joking with each other,
laughing loudly, and swearing. Just as the group passed Elder Nelson, one of
the men let out a string of swear words that was most offensive.
The traveler watched all of this unfold, and he cringed as he heard the
coarse language. He thought, “Those men have no idea they are walking right
by an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.”
When he arrived at his home, the man told his wife about the experience.
“How sad it is,” he said, “that a famous singer can walk through the airport
and everyone knows who he is, and then an Apostle can walk through the
same airport and go almost unrecognized.”3 Surely the singer has great
talents and many enjoy his music. Still, what importance does that have in
relation to our eternal salvation when compared to the special witness of an
Apostle of Jesus Christ?
While speaking to young adults prior to his call to the Quorum of the
Twelve, Elder Neil L. Andersen posed some significant questions that may
prompt us to consider how well we know the modern Apostles and their
teachings:
“If I were to hold up a picture of these Brethren, would you recognize
each of them? We rarely pay close attention to someone we do not recognize
or know.
“Could you share with me the counsel given by the First Presidency and
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles from [the most recent] general
conference? . . .
“Could you identify [their] concerns [in] the First Presidency messages
in the Ensign and Liahona during [the last few months]?
“Perhaps more important, could you share with me a recent decision
where you changed something in your life because of counsel received from
one of these 15 men?”4
These are important questions. Can we answer each of them
affirmatively? If not, what steps will we take to do so?
Thou rememberest the twelve apostles of the Lamb?
Notes
^1. Andersen, “Teaching Our Children to Love the Prophets,” Ensign, April 1996, 46.
^2. “Church Has New Pastor,” Herald, October 2, 1988, 24.
^3. Correspondence in possession of Brad Wilcox.
^4. Andersen, “Hold Fast to the Words of the Prophets,” Church Education System fireside address,
March 4, 2007; available at www.lds.org/library/display/0,4945,538-1-4095-1,00.html.
6
Have ye inquired of the Lord?
1 Nephi 15:8
After Nephi had experienced his great vision of the tree of life and the
ministry of Jesus Christ, his older brothers approached him. They didn’t
understand some of the teachings of their father, and when they asked Nephi
to explain them, he asked, “Have ye inquired of the Lord?” (1 Nephi 15:8).
When we have problems, we also may turn to friends or family members
and seek their advice. This is a valuable part of the process of studying
things out, but do we sometimes forget to inquire of the Lord? The phrase
“inquired of the Lord” appears several times in the scriptures—and with
only one exception, the Lord answered the person’s inquiry (1 Samuel 28:6).
Whether the question concerned family, temporal concerns, or spiritual
matters, the Lord responded. Consider the following examples:
King Mosiah had a question about his family. He needed to know if he
should allow his sons to go on a mission to the Lamanites. He “went and
inquired of the Lord. . . . And the Lord said unto Mosiah: Let them go up”
(Mosiah 28:6–7; emphasis added).
On several occasions, King David pled with the Lord for the wisdom to
know how to handle military conflicts. “And David enquired of the Lord,
saying, Shall I go up to the Philistines? wilt thou deliver them into mine
hand? And the Lord said unto David, Go up” (2 Samuel 5:19; emphasis
added).
When Alma was faced with a vexing ecclesiastical dilemma, “he went
and inquired of the Lord what he should do concerning this matter. . . . And it
came to pass that after he had poured out his whole soul to God, the voice of
the Lord came to him” (Mosiah 26:13–14; emphasis added).
Mormon heard that some of his people were preaching the false doctrine
of infant baptism. He “immediately inquired of the Lord concerning the
matter. And the word of the Lord came” (Moroni 8:7; emphasis added),
explaining that this practice is incorrect.
Joseph Smith wrote, “My object in going to inquire of the Lord was to
know which of all the sects was right, that I might know which to join”
(Joseph Smith–History 1:18; emphasis added). The Lord answered Joseph’s
humble request in a marvelous, world-changing way. Later, the Prophet
received many revelations contained in the Doctrine and Covenants because
he “inquired of the Lord.”
Like these examples from scriptures, there are times when each of us
must inquire of the Lord: Should I take this new job? Should I move my
family to a different area? Should I marry this person? Should we have
another baby? Answers to such questions require personal revelation. Elder
Dallin H. Oaks has written, “Latter-day Saints believe in personal
revelation. Like many others, I have experienced it. Again and again my life
has been enriched and my decisions have been guided by a loving Heavenly
Father who answers our prayers for assistance.”1
These answers may come in different forms, but they come (D&C 8:2–3;
6:14; 85:6). They come according to God’s timetable, but they come (D&C
88:68). They often come “line upon line; here a little, and there a little”
(Isaiah 28:10), but they come. Elder Gerald N. Lund said, “I have never
personally heard an audible voice. . . . I have a friend who did. What came to
him in that audible voice is no more important than what comes in the quiet
whisperings of the Spirit. It is what comes, not how it comes that matters.”2
We need to remember to inquire of the Lord. James Earl Campbell, a
patriarch in the midwestern United States, was concerned about a situation
that had surfaced. He counseled with the stake president, but they were both
baffled. The patriarch had never encountered this type of problem before. In
fact, he had never even heard of such a thing.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie had ordained Brother Campbell and invited
him to call if he ever needed help. Knowing Elder McConkie’s busy
schedule, Brother Campbell hesitated to make the call. But if ever there were
a moment when he needed help, this was it. He called, and Elder McConkie
greeted him warmly. The Apostle listened attentively and courteously, letting
this patriarch explain the situation in great detail. He even asked questions to
clarify certain points. Then, when the patriarch had finished, Elder
McConkie said, “It looks like you need to take this to God. He will tell you
what to do.” The two men said their good-byes.
Brother Campbell recalled, “At first, I was quite disappointed. I had
hoped that Elder McConkie would be of more assistance.” Then the man
pondered the conversation and realized that Elder McConkie had done him a
great service.
Brother Campbell concluded, “This Apostle pointed me toward my
Father in Heaven. In my rush to solve the problem I had turned to priesthood
leaders and overlooked the ultimate priesthood leader. I knelt in prayer and
soon a resolution to my unique problem presented itself.”3
Elder Robert D. Hales taught the same principle when he wrote:
“We often receive wise counsel from Church leaders about how to serve
in our Church leadership callings. Yet sometimes we underestimate our right
and capacity to receive revelation ourselves, for any calling we may hold,
and for every aspect of our lives. I once received a call from Johannes
Wondra, president of the Vienna Austria Stake at the time. He had a list of ten
very good questions for me. I listened carefully to his list of questions and
replied, ‘If I knew the answers to those questions, President, I would be the
president of the Vienna Austria Stake.’ President Wondra understood my
point and later used it as an Area Seventy in teaching other priesthood
leaders about their ability to receive inspiration for themselves.”4
In her book A Return to Virtue, Sister Elaine S. Dalton shared an
experience that demonstrates the importance of inquiring of the Lord. After
she had given a talk in which she mentioned that she runs marathons, a young
man from Singapore e-mailed her. Sister Dalton wrote, “He wanted to know
if I thought it was all right to run a marathon on Sunday. He explained that he
was an avid runner and an active member of the Church and that he was
training for the Singapore Marathon, which was held on a Sunday. . . . He
wanted me to advise him as to what he should do.”5
Sister Dalton replied that she could not make that decision for him. She
encouraged him to be prayerful and decide for himself. She then quoted 1
Samuel 2:30, which reads in part, “But now the Lord saith . . . for them that
honour me I will honour.”
Several years later, Sister Dalton was assigned to do some auxiliary
training in Singapore, and the brother who greeted her at the airport was the
very man who had written her about running on Sunday. She was happy to
meet him in person and asked if he had run the marathon. Sister Dalton wrote,
“He responded eagerly that he had! I smiled and said, ‘Congratulations!’ But
in my heart I was sad—it seemed like I hadn’t quite gotten my point across,
and I regretted not being more direct in my reply. Then he added quietly, ‘But
I did rather poorly. I ran it all alone on Saturday in the traffic.’”6
This brother inquired of the Lord. He received his answer. The patriarch
inquired of the Lord and received his answer. Johannes Wondra inquired of
the Lord and received an answer. But what about when we inquire and feel
that we have received no response? Most of us know what a “yes” answer
feels like. It may feel like what the scriptures call a burning in the bosom
(D&C 9:8), or it may come as a feeling of peace or tranquility (D&C 6:23).
We probably also know what a “no” answer feels like. The scriptures call it
a stupor of thought (D&C 9:9). These signals are often clear and easy to
interpret—like seeing a green light or a red light when you are driving. The
only way you can really go wrong is to stop at a green light or drive through
a red light.
But what about a yellow light? What about when we pray and do not
receive a clear “yes” or “no”? We may receive a “maybe” answer—or no
response at all. Does that mean the Lord doesn’t care about us or that the
question we are struggling with is not important enough for Him to guide us?
Although we often interpret “yellow light” answers in this way, those may
not be the messages God intends. Instead of viewing a yellow light answer as
evidence that God is distant and doesn’t care about us or our concerns, one
possibility is that we may view it as evidence that God trusts us. We’ve made
good decisions before, and He knows we can make good decisions again.
Other possibilities are that perhaps the Lord wants us to gather more
information or that the timing is not right.
Elder John H. Groberg taught, “Because [the Lord] knows we need the
growth, he generally does not point [out the clear direction]. But if [a
decision] is wrong, he will let us know—we will feel it for sure. I am
positive of that. So rather than saying, ‘I will not move until I have this
burning in my heart,’ let us turn it around and say, ‘I will move unless I feel it
is wrong.’”7
As with a yellow light in traffic, the best thing to do may vary,
depending on the position of the car at that moment. However, as a general
rule, when Heavenly Father sends us a yellow light, we may consider moving
ahead. Elder Richard G. Scott promised, “God will not let you proceed too
far without a warning impression if you have made the wrong decision.”8
We can and must inquire of the Lord. He will give us the revelation we
need and the strength to move forward even when we are uncertain. He has
said, “Because thou hast inquired of me . . . thou art blessed” (Mosiah
26:19).
Have ye inquired of the Lord?
Notes
^1. Oaks, Life’s Lessons Learned (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 81.
^2. Lund, “Personal Revelation and the Process of Conversion,” Religious Educator 3, no. 1 (2002): 26.
^3. James Earl Campbell, “Personal history of James Earl Campbell” (unpublished manuscript); used by
permission.
^4. Hales, Return: Four Phases of Our Mortal Journey Home (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2010),
91–92.
^5. Dalton, A Return to Virtue (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2011), 79.
^6. Dalton, Return to Virtue, 80.
^7. Groberg, “What Is Your Mission?” 1979 Devotional Speeches of the Year (Provo, UT: Brigham
Young University, 1980), 97–98.
^8. Scott, “Using the Supernal Gift of Prayer,” Ensign, May 2007, 10.
7
What meaneth the rod of iron?
1 Nephi 15:23
In 1 Nephi 15, we read a question posed by Nephi’s “brethren . . . [as]

they were disputing one with another concerning the things which [Lehi] had
spoken unto them” (1 Nephi 15:2). They were discussing Lehi’s dream, and
they asked, “What meaneth the rod of iron which our father saw, that led to
the tree?” (1 Nephi 15:23). Nephi answered that “it was the word of God.”
Nephi knew that the word of God was vital. He had seen in vision that the
only ones who reached the tree of life were those who held to the iron rod (1
Nephi 11:25). He told his brothers that “whoso would hearken unto the word
of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish” (1 Nephi
15:24).
It is common to interpret “the word of God” as referring to the
scriptures. This is undoubtedly one correct interpretation, but popular Latter-
day Saint author Brent L. Top provided another perspective.1 He presented 1
Nephi 15:24, about holding to the iron rod, in connection with the New
Testament scripture that reads, “And the Word [meaning Jesus Christ] was
made flesh” (John 1:14). Understanding the connection between these two
scriptures allows us to visualize grasping the iron rod as taking hold of the
arm of Jesus Christ. The only way any of us can make it to the tree of eternal
life is by holding on to the Savior and being infused with His power
(Philippians 4:13).
Brother Top learned this in a very meaningful and personal way. When
he was called to serve as a mission president, he found the demands of the
position to be much more difficult than any previous calling he had been
given. A sense of inadequacy enveloped him as he and his wife participated
in the new mission presidents’ training seminar. Brother Top wrote, “As I
looked around the room at the other mission presidents and their wives, I felt
like I didn’t belong—that I was out of my league, that I was a struggling T-
ball player and they were all-star major leaguers. . . . I was overwhelmed
with feelings of self-doubt and fear that I would ‘mess up.’”2
The training was meant to help and comfort him, but instead, he found
the next few days terrifying and overwhelming. The list of “gotta do’s” and
“oughta be’s” seemed like a mountain of impossible expectations that he
could never conquer. When he arrived in his mission, things got worse. The
demands seemed relentless, and there was more to learn and do than Brother
Top had time or energy for. He wrote, “Sometimes I felt that being a mission
president was like playing the Whack-a-mole game at the arcade—you
whack down one problem and immediately two more pop up. Instead of
experiencing the joy the Lord has promised to those in His service, I felt
bogged down, overburdened, and burned out. I wasn’t sure I would survive
three years.”3
Brother Top knew that comparing his weaknesses and inexperience with
others’ strengths and experience was not a good idea. Still, he couldn’t keep
himself from falling into the trap. “We aren’t doubling our baptisms like the
_______ Mission,” he thought. “I should be more like President _______.”
“We are not doing all we should be doing.”4
All the pressure Brother Top was feeling built up until finally everything
came crashing down upon him—the problems, the pace, the self-doubt all
intensified until, one Sunday morning, Brother Top found he literally could
not get out of bed. He later wrote, “I shook uncontrollably. My heart was
pounding. I couldn’t stop crying. The thought of having to do one more thing
or go to one more meeting or speak in one more setting filled me with a
profound sense of dread.”5
As he shared this very personal experience, Brother Top called it a
“breakdown.” He described it as “a breakdown of confidence, a breakdown
of hope, a breakdown of faith. It was not only a physical and emotional crisis
for me, but a spiritual one as well.”6
In Matthew we read that Peter saw Christ walking on the water and
desired to join Him. But then the winds and waves overwhelmed the
Apostle, and he allowed them to draw his attention away from Christ. He
started sinking and called out, “Lord, save me” (Matthew 14:30).
On that fateful Sunday morning, Brother Top felt that he, too, was
sinking, and he cried out to the Lord to save him. Just as Christ rescued Peter,
He also rescued Brother Top. “I had to learn how to grab hold of the
outstretched hand of the Savior,” wrote Brother Top. “I had to learn through
personal experience how to allow Him to rescue me.”7 Brother Top said that,
for him, this meant learning to think more about his Savior and feel more
grateful to Him. It meant serving, learning, trusting, and enduring. In this way,
Brother Top felt “strengthened by the hand of the Lord.”8
Our personal learning may include the same lessons. It may include
additional ones. Heaven’s tutoring is personalized to individual needs and
circumstances. However, one thing is the same across all experiences—
Peter’s, Brother Top’s, and each of ours: We can’t do it alone. Christ is the
vine. We are the branches. Without Him we can do nothing (John 15:5).
In Isaiah 41:13, the Savior promised, “I the Lord God will hold thy right
hand.” Brigham Young University president Cecil O. Samuelson said to his
students, “Because of the necessity of agency and choice, we must be the one
to grasp, figuratively or literally, the extended hand. It is that outreached hand
that we call grace.”9 These words give new meaning to a favorite hymn:
Guide us, O thou great Jehovah,

Guide us to the promised land.
We are weak, but thou art able;
Hold us with thy pow’rful hand.10
Speaking of the rod of iron, Nephi said, “Whoso would hearken unto the
word of God, and would hold fast unto it, they would never perish; neither
could the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary overpower them
unto blindness, to lead them away to destruction” (1 Nephi 15:24). This
statement is true of the word of God as found in the scriptures, and it is true
of the Word of God, Jesus Christ. We can hold fast to them and be
strengthened through every trial and temptation.
What meaneth the rod of iron?
Notes
^1. 1. Top, When You Can’t Do It Alone (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2008), 111–14.
^2. Top, When You Can’t, 4.
^9. Samuelson, “Be Ye Therefore Perfect,” Brigham Young University devotional address, September 6,
2011; available at http://speeches.byu.edu.
^10. Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985), no. 83.
8
Whither shall I go?
1 Nephi 17:9
In 1 Nephi 17, Nephi was given a difficult commandment from the Lord.
The Lord said to him, “Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I
shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters” (1 Nephi
17:8). What would we do if the Lord asked us to build a ship capable of
crossing a great ocean?
We might be tempted to ask questions such as “Why should we build a
ship?” “How should we do it?” “Is there a ship-building kit I can purchase
from the hardware store?” Nephi, however, asked a very different question.
He said, “Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may
make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto
me?” (1 Nephi 17:9; emphasis added). Notice that Nephi did not ask where
to get tools—he asked where he should go to find ore so that he could make
his own tools.
Commenting on this verse, Elder L. Tom Perry said, “I have sometimes
wondered what would have happened if Nephi had asked the Lord for tools
instead of a place to find the ore to make the tools. I doubt the Lord would
have honored Nephi’s request. You see, the Lord knew that Nephi could
make the tools, and it is seldom the Lord will do something for us that we can
do for ourselves. . . . He expects His children to be self-reliant to the degree
they can be.”1
One way we can apply this principle in our lives is to faithfully act
when the Lord calls. Rather than say, “Why should I go?” or “How can it be
made easier?” we can simply ask, “What guidance wilt thou give?” or
“Whither shall I go?” Albert Benzion, a stake president in Florida, shared a
story from when he was a young married man. He and his wife had just had
their first baby. At that time, the Church asked members to make donations, in
addition to tithing, for a new meetinghouse, and the ward he was attending
had fallen short in the amount they were supposed to pay. A member of the
stake presidency came to church and asked the priesthood holders to pay
what was lacking. He promised the brethren that the Lord would return to
them three times the amount of money they donated.
President Benzion did not ask, “Why should I pay extra money?” or
“How will I be repaid?” Instead, he took out his checkbook, looked at the
balance, and wrote a check for all that he had. He didn’t know how they
would pay the rent or buy food or diapers—but within two weeks he closed
a large financial deal, in which he made more than three times the amount he
had donated.
Sometimes it can be challenging to act on the directions we receive. In
the New Testament, the Savior taught a multitude that He was the Bread of
Life and that whoever ate of that bread would live forever. Afterward He
was asked a question, one that did not reflect the same faith that Nephi had:
“Many therefore of his disciples, when they had heard this, said, This is an
hard saying; who can hear it?” (John 6:60).
We will all be faced with difficult situations in which the Lord asks us
to do things that push us far outside our comfort zones. It may be in church—
accepting a calling, giving a talk, or serving a mission. It may be in our
families—forgiving an offense, caring for a loved one, or consistently having
family prayer. It may be in our personal lives—standing up to peer pressure,
breaking bad habits, or sharing our testimony with a friend. No matter what is
asked of us, we have a choice. We can say, “This is an hard saying; who can
hear it?” or we can respond as faithful Nephi did.
Whither shall I go?

Note
^1. Perry, “Becoming Self-Reliant,” Ensign, November 1991, 64.
9
How is it that he cannot instruct me?
1 Nephi 17:51
When we read that Lehi’s family traveled for eight years in the
wilderness and waded through “much affliction” (1 Nephi 17:1), we can only
imagine how joyful they were to finally arrive at the beautiful seashore in the
land they called Bountiful because of its “much fruit and also wild honey” (1
Nephi 17:5). No wonder Laman and Lemuel were upset when Nephi
announced that he was commanded to build a ship, and they would have to
leave. The land Bountiful probably was “promised land” enough for Laman
and Lemuel. They murmured against Nephi, saying, “Our brother is a fool,
for he thinketh that he can build a ship; yea, and he also thinketh that he can
cross these great waters” (1 Nephi 17:17).
Nephi reminded his brothers that the Lord commanded Moses to bring
the children of Israel out of bondage and part the Red Sea. He reminded them
of manna that came from heaven and water that came from a rock. He then
asked, “If the Lord has such great power, and has wrought so many miracles
among the children of men, how is it that he cannot instruct me, that I should
build a ship?” (1 Nephi 17:51).
How easy it is to believe the Lord instructed Moses and that He parted
the sea for him. How easy it is to believe that the Lord provided manna for
the Israelites. How easy it is for us today to believe the Lord instructed
Nephi to build a ship that carried his family safely to ancient America. How
difficult it is sometimes for us to believe the same Lord will also instruct us
and help us through our sea of problems and across our oceans of challenges.
In the cemetery in Soda Springs, Idaho, there is a headstone bearing the
name Philip Beus. His parents were taught the gospel by Lorenzo Snow in
Italy and were converted. They journeyed across the world for their new
faith. The family settled in Ogden, Utah, but their son Philip eventually
created a home for his own family in southeastern Idaho.
In the winter of 1890–91 there was a horrible diphtheria epidemic that
claimed the lives of many of the early settlers. Sickness quickly spread
throughout the community, and the situation became so dangerous that many
families were quarantined to their homes and farms. The local doctor
traveled from family to family doing all he could to help. Today, we have
access to immunizations that protect children from diphtheria, and if people
contract the sickness they can be treated with antibiotics. In Philip Beus’s
day, doctors could do little more than suggest fluids and bed rest and offer
medicine to help clear blocked air passages.
Philip and his wife watched their children struggle against the sickness.
They wiped their children’s brows when they burned with fevers, cuddled
them in blankets when they had chills, and dried their tears when swallowing
became more and more painful. Worried glances were exchanged between
the parents as they heard their children’s breathing become more difficult and
their coughs dangerously hoarse. The doctor left some medicine that was
supposed to open bronchial airways, and Philip obediently administered the
liquid. But it didn’t do enough. Helplessly, Philip and his wife watched as
sickness claimed three of their eight children.
They hardly had time to mourn their deceased children because the
others were in such desperate need. Philip approached one of his sons,
Michael Edmund, with a spoonful of medicine. The boy—who had watched
his siblings take the same medicine—looked up at his father and, through his
tears, asked, “Do I have to take that medicine now and die, too?”
Philip’s heart broke. “No,” he said. “No, you don’t.”
Philip ran to the barn and poured out his heart to God. He grieved for his
children who had died, and he feared for his entire family. With great
sincerity of heart, he prayed, “Heavenly Father, I don’t know how to help my
children breathe easier, but you do. Please instruct me. Teach me what I must
do.”
The answer that came was totally unexpected: the child should ingest
some chewing tobacco. Philip was quarantined and could not go to a store.
He wrote a note to his neighbor and nailed it to the fence post dividing their
property. The neighbor saw the note, and he thought the request for chewing
tobacco was rather odd—especially coming from Philip, who lived the Word
of Wisdom. Nevertheless, the neighbor hurried to buy a plug of tobacco and
dropped it off at Philip’s farm.
Philip placed some of the tobacco in the mouth of his dying son. In
response to the foreign substance, the boy began coughing violently and
throwing up, effectively clearing his airways. With this treatment, the boy and
the rest of his siblings survived the epidemic. Philip later testified that he
knew he had received personal revelation because what he was instructed to
do was so different from anything he would have thought of on his own.1
Nephi bore a similar testimony: “Now I, Nephi, did not work the
timbers after the manner which was learned by men, neither did I build the
ship after the manner of men; but I did build it after the manner which the
Lord had shown unto me” (1 Nephi 18:2). When Lehi and his family safely
reached the promised land, they knew it was not because of what Nephi
knew about building ships. They knew it was because of what the Lord had
taught Nephi about how to build a ship (1 Nephi 17:13). When Philip Beus
saw his son recover from an epidemic that took the lives of three of his other
children, he knew it was not because of a stroke of good fortune or because
of his own ideas. He knew he had been instructed of the Lord.
The same is true for each of us. We all face difficult trials. But we, like
Nephi, can “go into the mount oft, and . . . pray oft unto the Lord” (1 Nephi
18:3). As we do so, the Lord will show us “great things” (1 Nephi 18:3).
God has great power and has given revelation to His children in the past. He
can and will instruct us today.
How is it that he cannot instruct me?
Note
^1. Charlotte Gunnell, “Personal history of Philip Beus, by his granddaughter” (unpublished manuscript,
1959). The three Beus children who died were Clarence Paul (died February 10, 1891), Mary
Venoa (died February 12, 1891), and Louis Learon (died February 18, 1891).
10
Why should my heart weep?
2 Nephi 4:26
The period of time shortly after the death of Lehi must have been
particularly difficult for Nephi. Not only was Lehi his beloved father but
when Lehi was alive, he had been a close confidant and guide for his son.
They had supported each other, but now Lehi was gone.
Nephi wrote, “Not many days after [Lehi’s] death, Laman and Lemuel
and the sons of Ishmael were angry with me because of the admonitions of
the Lord” (2 Nephi 4:13). It was at this low point that Nephi poured his heart
out to the Lord in a prayer that is recorded in 2 Nephi 4. After expressing
deepest feelings of despair and frustration, Nephi’s feelings began to change.
He then shared some of the most poignant questions in the Book of Mormon.
Consider one of them: “Why should my heart weep and my soul linger in the
valley of sorrow, and my flesh waste away, and my strength slacken, because
of mine afflictions?” (2 Nephi 4:26).
There are times when each of us can relate to Nephi’s discouragement.
Adversity arises, circumstances change, challenges come, and those we love
make choices that break our hearts. We feel alone, and we are filled with
despair. In such moments, it would be well for us to echo Nephi’s rallying
cry: “Why should my heart weep?” Nephi chose to recognize the Lord’s
blessings to him and the support and strength he had received through all of
his trials. His desperate cries turned to praise for the Lord and rejoicing in
His goodness.
Focusing on our blessings can help us avoid self-pity and feelings of
hopelessness. Expressing gratitude in moments of despair may provide us a
great spiritual boost and help us move forward with improved perspective
and hope. Nephi focused on the goodness of God to him in the past (2 Nephi
4:20–25), and he also did something else. He turned to God for strength in
the present. He cried out, saying, “May the gates of hell be shut continually
before me, because that my heart is broken and my spirit is contrite! O Lord,
wilt thou not shut the gates of thy righteousness before me, that I may walk in
the path of the low valley, that I may be strict in the plain road!” (2 Nephi
4:32). We in the modern day may also turn to God even when we are in the
depths of despondency.
Sister Janice Kapp Perry is a beloved Latter-day Saint composer who
has given the Church some of its most memorable and meaningful songs.
Members worldwide have been touched and uplifted by “A Child’s Prayer,”1
“I’m Trying to Be Like Jesus,”2 “I Love to See the Temple,”3 “We’ll Bring
the World His Truth,”4 and “Love Is Spoken Here.”5
In her autobiography, Songs from My Heart, Sister Perry told about how
earlier in her life she supplemented the family income by typing at home for
students and professors. One day, she noticed she could not always control
her index finger on her left hand. The problem worsened over the years. Her
wrist would not support her hand, and her hand often hung limply at her side.
She could extend only her thumb and pinky finger. This made it difficult for
her to play the piano and compose music. She prayed fervently, cried, and
had priesthood blessings. She submitted to many medical treatments,
surgeries, and therapies, all aimed at restoring control in her left hand. She
visited forty different doctors over the years but found no diagnosis or cure.
Some days she would cry out in frustration, “Why? Why this test? Why my
hand, when I am trying to write music to glorify thee and build the kingdom?”
A friend suggested visiting a blind osteopath, Dr. Iliff Jeffrey, to try
physical therapy on her arm and hand. As he worked on her twice a week,
she often complained about her problem while the doctor listened patiently.
Sister Perry wrote, “Then one day, in a truly defining moment, I realized the
irony of my complaining to a blind man. I felt humbled and ready to be taught
for the first time. Dr. Jeffrey, sensing the change in me, began to teach me
about accepting this handicap more gracefully.”6
He explained to Sister Perry that such tests make us more dependent on
the Lord. He reminded her there would be a time of healing, whether in this
life or the next. Finally, he promised, “If you will endure this test with a
humble heart, there will come a time when you wouldn’t trade having the use
of your hand again for all the important lessons you have learned from being
without it.”
Sister Perry wrote, “This good doctor helped me greatly in my quest to
find peace in this matter, and I wanted to write a song to honor him for his
attitude of faith.”7 That’s when she wrote “The Test.”8 The first verse was
written specifically for Dr. Jeffrey.
Tell me, friend, why are you blind?

Why doesn’t He who worked the miracles
Send light into your eyes?
Tell me, friend, if you understand,
Why doesn’t He with power to raise the dead
Just make you whole again?
It would be so easy for Him.
I watch you and in sorrow question why.
Then you, my friend, in perfect faith reply,
Didn’t He say He sent us to be tested?
Didn’t He say the way would not be sure?
But didn’t He say we could live with Him
Forevermore, well and whole,
If we but patiently endure?
After the trial, we will be blessed
But this life is the test.
Sister Perry said, “Twenty years have now passed, and I can finally say
that adversity has been my friend, teaching me things I could have learned no
other way.”9
Too many raise an angry fist toward heaven at the very time they should
be extending an open hand to receive the help God so willingly offers. When
tests and trials come, we can do what Sister Perry did, what Dr. Jeffrey did,
and what Nephi did, and turn to heaven for strength. With Nephi, we can say,
“I will praise thee forever” (2 Nephi 4:30), “Wilt thou make a way for mine
escape before mine enemies!” (2 Nephi 4:33), and “Lord, I have trusted in
thee, and I will trust in thee forever” (2 Nephi 4:34).
Why should my heart weep?
Notes
^1. Children’s Songbook (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1989), 12–
13.
^2. Children’s Songbook, 78–79.
^3. Children’s Songbook, 95.
^6. Perry, Songs from My Heart (Sandy, UT: Sounds of Zion, 2000), 73.
^7. Perry, Songs from My Heart, 73.
^8. Perry, “The Test”; used by permission.
^9. Perry, Songs from My Heart, 73.
11
Wilt thou make me that I may shake
at the appearance of sin?
2 Nephi 4:31
As Nephi poured out his heart to the Lord in 2 Nephi 4, he asked a

series of questions relating to sin.
“Why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh?” (2 Nephi 4:27).

“Why should I give way to temptations, that the evil one have place in
my heart to destroy my peace and afflict my soul?” (2 Nephi 4:27).
“Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?” (2 Nephi
4:31).
There is a level of validation and comfort for us to be found in knowing

that even Nephi faced temptations. Even the mighty prophet who stated
boldly “I will go and do” found himself tempted.
Some may wonder what sins and temptations the prophet Nephi could be
referring to. But perhaps an even more important question is, “How did
Nephi resist temptation?” One clear answer is that he prayed for the capacity
to overcome. Nephi’s pleading question “Wilt thou make me that I may shake
at the appearance of sin?” is one we can all personalize.
None of us is perfect, and one of the reasons we’re here on earth is to
learn to overcome our weaknesses. As the Apostle Paul declared, “All have
sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). But, like Nephi,
we can seek to overcome our sins, line upon line. We are all at different
places in our spiritual capacities and desires, and some of us may feel more
of a pull toward certain bad choices than others do. Perhaps we can place
varying degrees of attraction to a particular sin on a continuum.
Some people commit a particular sin so regularly that they begin to

enjoy it. Others may intentionally commit the sin but feel guilty about it and
wish they hadn’t. Some control their actions so that they don’t commit the sin;
however, they still find the idea of the sin to be attractive.
A missionary arrived for his interview with the mission president. He
could not hide his discouragement. He was not depressed about his
investigators or anything going on at home. It was the comments of other
missionaries that had gotten to him.
“Did someone tease you or hurt your feelings?” his president asked.
“No, it’s not that,” he replied.
“Then what is it?”
“President, you know I had to do some serious repenting before I joined
the Church and was allowed to serve my mission. I had made a lot of
mistakes before I was baptized.”
“Are the other elders ridiculing you for that?” asked the president.
“No,” replied the missionary. “They’re actually envious of me. They
say, ‘You’re so lucky. You got to break the commandments and still get
baptized, go through the temple, and come on a mission.’” The elder leaned
forward, placing his elbows on his knees, and shook his head. “They just
don’t get it, President.”
He was right. These other young men who had grown up in the Church
weren’t sinning, but sin certainly looked attractive to them. They had yet to
experience the stage of the continuum that Nephi prayed to attain—they didn’t
yet “shake at the appearance of sin.”
We’ve heard of converts to the Church who were former smokers. Once
they quit, they actually get sick when they smell cigarette smoke. We also
know converts who were drinkers who have been sober for so long that the
thought of going back to the way they were frightens them. A chain-smoker or
someone who loves alcohol may think it’s impossible to get to a point where
these cravings seem contemptible—but it can happen when people come to
love feeling the Spirit so much that they don’t want anything to jeopardize
that.
In the Book of Mormon, Alma gave a description of people who shook
at the appearance of sin. He wrote, “Now they, after being sanctified by the
Holy Ghost, having their garments made white, being pure and spotless
before God, could not look upon sin save it were with abhorrence; and
there were many, exceedingly great many, who were made pure and entered
into the rest of the Lord their God” (Alma 13:12; emphasis added).
Sin had become repulsive to them. They shrank back at its sight. This
can happen to us today. A young woman shared how she had once pinned
something on Pinterest, thinking it was funny. However, she later felt
uncomfortable, realized it was vulgar, and she took it down. A man
expressed that violent movies that once appealed to him now drove away the
Spirit. We can all arrive at a point where sin is unattractive. President Henry
B. Eyring taught us how we can arrive at a state where we shake at the
appearance of sin:
“The pure gospel of Jesus Christ must go down into [our] hearts by the
power of the Holy Ghost. It will not be enough for [us] to have had a
spiritual witness of the truth and to want good things later. It will not be
enough for [us] to hope for some future cleansing and strengthening. Our aim
must be . . . to become truly converted to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
...
“Then [we] will have gained a strength from what [we] are, not only
from what [we] know. [We] will become disciples of Christ. [We] will be
His spiritual children who always remember Him with gratitude and in faith.
[We] will then have the Holy Ghost as a constant companion. [Our] hearts
will be turned outward, concerned for the temporal and spiritual welfare of
others. [We] will walk humbly. [We] will feel cleansed and [we] will look
on evil with abhorrence.
“That mighty change is reported time after time in the Book of Mormon.
The way it is wrought and what the person becomes is always the same. The
words of God in pure doctrine go down deep into the heart by the power of
the Holy Ghost. The person pleads with God in faith. The repentant heart is
broken and the spirit contrite. Sacred covenants have been made. Then God
keeps His covenant to grant a new heart and a new life, in His time.”1
All of us feel the tug and pull of the world. Even Nephi said his heart
groaned under the weight of sin. And yet the Lord can and will strengthen us
to help us resist temptation. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has said, “If we want it
dearly and deeply enough, that enemy can and will be rebuked by the
redeeming power of the Lord Jesus Christ. Furthermore, I promise you that
the light of His everlasting gospel can and will again shine brightly where
you feared life had gone hopelessly, helplessly dark.”2
Just as Nephi cried to the Lord, through our constant pleadings we can
move forward along the continuum. We can continually progress. When we
slip back, we can try again until we arrive at the point where we shake at the
very appearance of sin. This sanctification process takes time, but we can
enjoy the blessings of the Spirit and progress just as Nephi did.
Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?
Notes
^1. Eyring, “We Must Raise Our Sights,” Ensign, September 2004, 17.
^2. Holland, “Place No More for the Enemy of My Soul,” Ensign, May 2010, 46.
12
Who art thou, that thou shouldst be
afraid of man?
2 Nephi 8:12
We sometimes ask our students, “Which prophet was quoted more than
any other in the New Testament?” They answer correctly, “Isaiah.” Then we
ask, “So how could we dare present to the world another testament if it did
not also quote, and quote heavily, from Isaiah?” The question always gives
them pause, since many have not yet come to appreciate Isaiah’s teachings.
The book of 2 Nephi is seen by too many as a blockade through which they
have to fight their way in order to continue forward in the Book of Mormon.
In contrast with this idea, it appears that Nephi gave Isaiah a central role in
communicating key parts of his message.1 The writings of Isaiah are not a
roadblock—they are revelation! As we study and grow, we will gain more
gratitude for Isaiah’s words, for “great are the words of Isaiah” (3 Nephi
23:1). His words can be likened to us today (2 Nephi 11:8).
For example, in 2 Nephi 8:12, Isaiah asked, “Behold, who art thou, that
thou shouldst be afraid of man?” The context for this question is an
accounting of the great things the Lord has done—and will do—for the
people of Israel. It is as though the Lord is telling them, “You have seen the
great things I have done with my mighty power. Why are you afraid of what
man can do?”
There are many scenarios that may cause us to fear. We asked several
adults to tell us how they feel about this scriptural question and how the
concept of being afraid of what others will think or do may apply to them.
Consider some of their responses:
“Isn’t the most obvious adult Latter-day Saint experience of peer
pressure expressed in our downright skittishness about sharing the gospel?
We’re so afraid of others’ reactions that we won’t speak up.”
“As I got older and was still dating, I ran into a lot of peer pressure from
would-be suitors who, even though they claimed to believe the same things I
did, somehow had a very different idea about the law of chastity. I remember
one guy in particular whom I was very enamored with who really put the
pressure on, and I felt myself giving in to an extent. One day, I said to myself,
‘I cannot believe I am thirty-plus years old, and I am giving in to peer
pressure!’ I put an end to the relationship very shortly after.”
“We have children who are very involved in sports. The adult peer
pressure to act a certain way, cheer a certain way, dress a certain way,
practice or play on Sunday and backbite each other as parents or families has
been enormous!”
“I am currently serving as bishop of a small ward in Indiana, and I have
been thinking a lot about cultural pressures in the Church. I have even made
our ward theme for the year ‘Love, Diversity, and Inclusion’ in response to
the tendency for people in the Church to be very closed and peculiar in
relation to our friends and neighbors who are not members.”
“In the past, when I was working, and now, as I watch my husband’s
business demands, I see the business world includes a lot of peer pressure
regarding expectations and competition that are very similar to what we
experienced in our teenage years.”
“It’s hard now, with everything on Facebook and Pinterest, because I
find myself constantly comparing myself to other people. I feel like I have to
have a perfectly cooked meal every night or do arts and crafts with my kids
every day or sew all their clothes in order to be a ‘good mom.’ It’s not direct
peer pressure, but it’s peer pressure of a different kind. I just try to remind
myself that what I see on Facebook are just snapshots of people’s lives and
not the full picture.”
“I think there is a great deal of peer pressure in material things, such as,
Do I have a nice enough car and house so the ward doesn’t look down on
me? Do I go on enough vacations not to feel like a loser? Am I wearing the
right clothes? Am I keeping up with the Joneses?”
There are many possible ways in which we might look around and be
afraid of what others will think of us. But we do not need to fear. Isaiah also
said, “The Lord is near, and he justifieth me. Who will contend with me? Let
us stand together. Who is mine adversary? Let him come near me, and I will
smite him with the strength of my mouth” (2 Nephi 7:8). Despite the many
scenarios which might create in us worry about what others think, God
expects us to live with integrity by being more concerned with what He
thinks. He has said: “You should not have feared man more than God.
Although men set at naught the counsels of God, and despise his words—Yet
you should have been faithful; and he would have extended his arm and
supported you against all the fiery darts of the adversary; and he would have
been with you in every time of trouble” (D&C 3:7–8).
We all feel afraid and insecure at times. We wonder if we really have
what it takes to be successful in a given situation. We don’t want to be
rejected, teased, or embarrassed in front of other people. Somehow we have
missed an important message: When an angel appeared to Zacharias in the
temple, he said, “Fear not” (Luke 1:13). When an angel came to young Mary,
he said, “Fear not” (Luke 1:30). When an angel appeared to the shepherds, he
said, “Fear not” (Luke 2:10).
Moroni got it right when he declared, “Behold, I speak with boldness,
having authority from God; and I fear not what man can do; for perfect love
casteth out all fear” (Moroni 8:16). How can we be more like Moroni and
“fear not what man can do”? How can we remember the Lord’s admonition
to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery, when He told them, “Look unto me in
every thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C 6:36)?
Our purpose must be more important than our fears. It’s the same thing
that a young mother realized when she was in a college class discussion on
the topic of fear. When she admitted she was terrified of heights, the teacher
asked, “Would you ever venture out onto the ledge of a tall building?”
“Never.”
The teacher asked, “What if your child were out there and you needed to
save him?”
The mom immediately said, “If my child were in danger, I would do
anything.” Everyone in the class was amazed at how quickly she could go
from “never” to “anything.” The difference came from seeing a bigger
purpose.
President Gordon B. Hinckley wrote, “Self-discipline . . . virtue . . .
obedience to the commandments of God. These may be difficult but they are
possible under the motivation that comes from an understanding of truth.”2
At Jesus’ death His Apostles were spiritually disoriented. After three
years of being sustained and uplifted by Christ’s presence, they were on their
own, confused and afraid. What changed these frightened Apostles into
confident, heroic leaders who changed the world? There is but one answer—
the sure knowledge that Christ had risen from the grave. The message of
Christ’s living reality was of greater importance than their fears and it had to
be shared. Their grasp of that larger purpose changed them—and us—
forever. Truth gives the perspective that allows us to stop hiding behind our
fears. Purpose provides power!
Ultimately, all fear must be replaced with faith. In the third verse of the
hymn “Do What Is Right,” we are encouraged to be “faithful and fearless.”3
Along with telling us what to do, perhaps this text is also reminding us how
to do it, for we can indeed be more fearless as we are more faithful. We
learn that confidence is not simply a matter of personality or even practice. It
is a matter of trust. We have to trust that God is there and that He will help
us. And we must trust that He has a much greater purpose for our lives than
we sometimes realize, and He can make all things work together for our
good.
But can we continue to trust even when people are threatening us or
when they are laughing and pointing their fingers? We must. Elder Neal A.
Maxwell assured us that being pointed at shouldn’t worry those who are
pointed in the right direction.4
People certainly made fun of Joseph Smith and misunderstood his
motives. They hurt him and those he loved. Did that stop him? What about
Nephi? Mormon? Moroni? People belittled and abused them, too. In Old
Testament times the crowds laughed and pointed at Noah, but in the end it
wasn’t Noah who missed the boat! In New Testament times, nonbelievers
cast Stephen out and stoned him. Paul was ridiculed and reviled, and the
Lord told him, “Be not afraid, but speak, and hold not thy peace: For I am
with thee” (Acts 18:9–10). No wonder the same Apostle courageously
declared, “I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ,” and “I can do all things
through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Romans 1:16; Philippians 4:13).
Joseph Smith was not alone. Neither were any of the ancient prophets
and apostles and neither are we. God’s love casts out all fear. As long as
God is with us, we can face anything.
Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of man?
Notes
^1. See Joseph M. Spencer, An Other Testament (Salem, OR: Salt Press, 2012), for example, pages xii–
xiii, 33–40.
^2. Hinckley, Be Thou an Example (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981), 137.
^3. Hymns of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1985), no. 237.
^4. Maxwell, “From the Beginning,” Ensign, November 1993, 20.
13
Whom shall I send?
2 Nephi 16:8
Nephi recorded several chapters from Isaiah, whose teachings contain

many powerful questions. One of these questions occurred in a vision Isaiah
received while he was in God’s presence—and God needed a messenger.
Isaiah recorded, “I heard the voice of the Lord, saying: Whom shall I send,
and who will go for us? Then I said: Here am I; send me” (2 Nephi 16:8).
“Whom shall I send? . . . Who will go for us?” How do we hear these
questions today? Perhaps we’ve attended meetings in which a leader will ask
questions such as “Who will go to the cannery on Tuesday?” and “Who will
meet at the stake center to set up chairs?” At times questions like these are
met with silence. How much better it would be if instead, when a leader
asked for help, we responded, “Here am I; send me!” The following
interactions convey what this response would look like.
Elders quorum president: “Who will help the young men collect food for
the food bank this Saturday at 7:00 a.m.?”
You and me: “Here am I; send me!”
Relief Society president: “Who will take dinner to the Smiths on
Tuesday?”
Sunday School teacher: “Who will share a personal experience?”
A professor at Brigham Young University taught his class the principle
behind this verse. The next class period, when he asked for a volunteer for
the opening prayer, a student quickly said, “Here am I; send me!”
Of course, this principle does not indicate that we should take on more
work than we can handle. King Benjamin taught, “See that all these things are
done in wisdom and order” (Mosiah 4:27). This verse suggests simply that,
sometimes, there may be more opportunities to offer service than we realize.
Perhaps one reason that we don’t respond by saying “Here am I; send
me” is that the task at hand seems to be relatively trivial. We may feel put out
by the small things we are asked to do and we say, “If it were important, then
I would make time for it, but this little task doesn’t really matter.” President
Thomas S. Monson once quoted this poem in general conference:
Father, where shall I work today?

And my love flowed warm and free.
Then He pointed out a tiny spot
And said, “Tend that for me.”
I answered quickly, “Oh no; not that!
Why, no one would ever see,
No matter how well my work was done;
Not that little place for me.”
And the word He spoke, it was not stern;
He answered me tenderly:
“Ah, little one, search that heart of thine.
Art thou working for them or for me?
Nazareth was a little place,
And so was Galilee.”1
Sometimes opportunities to reply “Here am I; send me” come to us at the

end of a tiring day, when we are just about out of energy. President James E.
Faust taught, “Some of the most rewarding times of our lives are those ‘extra
mile’ hours given in service when the body says it wants to relax, but our
better self emerges and says, ‘Here am I; send me.’ (2 Nephi 16:8).”2
One college student related such an experience. She said:
“It was one of the craziest weeks of the semester! I was in the middle of
my second round of midterms, my family was coming in a few days, my sister
was getting married in one week, my brother had just had his second baby,
and I had to get things all set up to leave for Thanksgiving break. Life was a
little crazy. After driving back on Sunday from seeing the new baby, I went to
my compassionate service committee meeting at the home of a fellow sister
in the Relief Society. We were discussing various topics when she asked
who would be willing to make or give something to one of the sisters in our
ward whose birthday was that week. There were five other girls in the room,
so I immediately began to rationalize why I should be exempt from having to
volunteer. My life was busy enough as it was. Then in my mind the words
came softly, ‘But “Here am I; send me.”’
“I had prayed earlier that semester to be more receptive to the Holy
Ghost and willing to act on the promptings I received. And there it was
before me. I had a prompting and a choice. I then raised my hand and said I
would do it.
“Was my week hectic? Yes. Was it easy? No. But the Lord blessed me as
I chose to apply the teachings of the gospel in my life, and all was well.”3
Many of the opportunities to say “Here am I; send me” simply relate to
making righteous choices. Speaking at a BYU devotional, Elder M. Russell
Ballard spoke directly to the women in the audience, saying:
“If you are wondering if you make a difference to the Lord, imagine the
impact [you have] when you make commitments such as the following:
“‘Father, if you need a woman to rear children in righteousness, here am
I, send me.’
“‘If you need a woman who will shun vulgarity and dress modestly and
speak with dignity and show the world how joyous it is to keep the
commandments, here am I, send me.’
“‘If you need a woman who can resist the alluring temptations of the
world by keeping her eyes fixed on eternity, here am I, send me.’
“‘If you need a woman of faithful steadiness, here am I, send me.’
“Between now and the day the Lord comes again, He needs women in
every family, in every ward, in every community, in every nation who will
step forward in righteousness and say by their words and their actions, ‘Here
am I, send me.’
“. . . We need women who will stand up for truth and righteousness and
decry evil at every turn and simply say, ‘Lord, here am I, send me.’ . . .
“My question is, ‘Will you be one of those women?’”4
We likely won’t have the opportunity that Isaiah had—to stand in the
presence of the Lord and personally volunteer to undertake an important
mission. However, every day the Lord has important missions for us to
accomplish. Perhaps today, for example, the Lord has a mission for
somebody to visit a needy family, to help a neighbor, or to lend a listening
ear. By being spiritually sensitive, we can discern what our missions are and
say, “Here am I; send me!” Elder H. Bruce Stucki said, “I believe our
Heavenly Father and I trust Him, and when He reveals to us, speaking
through our living prophet today, that we need to do more, and more of us
need to become involved in the work of bringing souls unto Christ, then we
need to step forward and say, ‘Here am I; send me.’”5
Whom shall I send?
Notes
^1. Meade MacGuire, in Jack M. Lyon, Linda Ririe Gundry, Jay A. Parry, and Devan Jensen, eds., Best-
Loved Poems of the LDS People (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1996), 152; see also Thomas S.
Monson, “The Call of Duty,” Ensign, May 1986, 39.
^2. Faust, “I Believe I Can, I Knew I Could,” Ensign, November 2002, 52.
^3. Correspondence in possession of John Hilton.
^4. Ballard, “Women of Righteousness,” Ensign, April 2002, 70, 73.
^5. Stucki, “The Faith of a Sparrow: Faith and Trust in the Lord Jesus Christ,” Ensign, November 1999,
45.
14
Is not Calno as Carchemish?
2 Nephi 20:9
If you were just skimming this book’s table of contents looking for
questions that sounded interesting, you might not have picked this one! Once
you realized that this question was not a typo, you might have thought, “What
on earth is that talking about?” Understanding a little background behind this
question can give it powerful relevance in our lives.
In 2 Nephi 20 (compare Isaiah 10), Isaiah prophesied about Assyria, a
superpower country at the time that had been an instrument in the hands of the
Lord in destroying many nations. In verses 8–11, we hear the voice of the
king of Assyria, boasting of his accomplishments in conquering other places.
He says, “Is not Calno as Carchemish? Is not Hamath as Arpad? Is not
Samaria as Damascus? As my hand hath founded the kingdoms of the idols,
and whose graven images did excel them of Jerusalem and of Samaria; shall I
not, as I have done unto Samaria and her idols, so do to Jerusalem and to her
idols?” (2 Nephi 20:9–11).
Calno, Carchemish, Hamath, Arpad, Samaria, and Damascus were all
cities that Assyria had conquered, and the king of Assyria was in essence
saying, “Just as I have destroyed all of these other places, so will I destroy
Jerusalem.”
The Lord did not appreciate the king’s blustery boasts. The king of
Assyria had said, “By the strength of my hand and by my wisdom I have done
these things; for I am prudent; and I have moved the borders of the people,
and have robbed their treasures, and I have put down the inhabitants like a
valiant man” (2 Nephi 20:13; emphasis added). In other words, he was
emphasizing that he, the king of Assyria, was the mighty one who had
accomplished all of these things, when in fact, he had only been an instrument
in the hand of the Lord.
The Lord pinpointed this pride by asking, “Shall the ax boast itself
against him that heweth therewith? Shall the saw magnify itself against him
that shaketh it?” (2 Nephi 20:15). The king of Assyria was like an ax. He
was a tool, an instrument. The Lord had used him to cut down nations who
needed to be humbled. Should the ax boast about his accomplishments? No, it
was the one swinging the ax—in this case the Lord—who had really done the
work.
Thus, the Lord said, “I will punish the fruit of the stout heart of the king
of Assyria, and the glory of his high looks” (2 Nephi 20:12). Because the
king of Assyria had been prideful, the Lord would humble him. Several
decades later, his superpower nation was destroyed.
The Assyrian king’s boastful question “Is not Calno as Carchemish?”
essentially asks, “Just as I’ve accomplished one thing, why can’t I
accomplish another?” Sometimes we may pridefully believe that we have
accomplished some great thing and that we can go forward and do whatever
it is that we want to accomplish, not realizing that our previous success came
from God. Stephen R. Covey taught a valuable insight in his book The Divine
Center. He pointed out that after Moses’ incredible encounter with God, as
recorded in the Pearl of Great Price, Moses realized that “man is nothing”
(Moses 1:10). This may sound quite negative at first—it certainly doesn’t
sound like a self-esteem builder. At least not until we consider the context in
which Moses came to that realization. Remember that God had withdrawn
His presence from Moses so he could experience what it was like to be
without God’s sustenance and strength. Brother Covey wrote, “The term
nothing, in this context, does not mean worthless or valueless, for Moses’
infinite worth and value had already been magnificently communicated to him
in ways which far transcended anything he had ever experienced or
visualized. Nothing meant powerless.”1 And truly we are powerless without
God. Surely this is what King Benjamin was teaching when he admonished
the people to “always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your
own nothingness” (Mosiah 4:11).
The Lord’s question to the king of Assyria, “Shall the ax boast itself
against him that heweth therewith?” teaches this essential principle: We are
instruments in the hand of the Lord; He is the one who gives us the
strength to accomplish all things. One day in a seminary class discussion of
this principle, a young woman took issue with the idea that God should
receive the credit for the things she did. She said, “I’m on the softball team,
and I’ve worked hard to practice and get better. If I hit a home run, it’s my
hard work that deserves the credit. I’m the one who swung the bat!” Another
class member said, “But God is the One who gave you the strength to play,
the courage to keep on trying, and the opportunity to participate in the first
place.” It can be hard for adults, as well as for teenagers, to acknowledge the
Lord’s hand in their accomplishments. But we can do it.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson is an excellent example of one who
understands the principle that we are only instruments in God’s hands. In his
first general conference address after being sustained as a General Authority,
he said, “As I have agonized in recent hours over the acceptability and
adequacy of my offering upon the altar of him who gave his all, it has come
to me that I must focus outwardly, that as I seek the interest of his flock and
lose myself in their service, his grace shall be sufficient for me. I so commit
myself unreservedly. . . . At the outset of this ministry, I acknowledge that
anything I may achieve will be by virtue of the power and the grace and the
gift of God. I am not, in Isaiah’s words, the ax that shall ‘boast itself against
him that heweth therewith’; I am not the saw that shall ‘magnify itself against
him that shaketh it’ (Isaiah 10:15).”2
Let us praise God. We glory in the fact that He allows us to be
instruments in His hands. We can spend less effort outlining our great
usefulness and more time becoming effective tools God needs us to be.
Is not Calno as Carchemish?

Notes
^1. Covey, The Divine Center (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982), 172–73.
^2.. Christofferson, “I Know in Whom I Have Trusted,” Ensign, May 1993, 83.
15
Doth he say, “Depart from me”?
2 Nephi 26:25
Brad shares the following story:

“I was at a youth conference in a distant city, and on the first day of the
conference I noticed a young man standing all by himself. He appeared to
have no friends and was searching for an excuse to leave the conference. On
the other side of the room was a young man who also looked uncomfortable
and out of place. So I grabbed each of the boys, introduced them to each
other, and emphatically said, ‘You will be friends!’
“The strategy was not tactful or typical, but it worked. Throughout the
conference they stuck together and had a wonderful time. During the closing
dance one of the boys came up to me and said, ‘Brother Wilcox, my new
friend and I are having a pizza party tonight and we wanted to know if you’d
like to come.’
“I said, ‘I’d love to come!’
“The young man then said, ‘Can I borrow a quarter to go order the
pizza?’ That was back when pay phones were the only option.
“‘Sure,’ I said. ‘My bag is over there. Go and get some money to make
the call.’
“I kept dancing with the other youth and half an hour later I felt another
tug on my jacket. ‘Brother Wilcox,’ my young friend said, ‘the pizza is here.
Can I borrow thirteen dollars to pay for the pizza?’
“‘You want me to pay for the pizza?’ I thought with a smile, ‘Let me
invite you to my pizza party!’ To the young man I said, ‘Of course you can
have the money—just go get it out of my bag!’
“The young man didn’t move. Tears welled in his eyes as he looked at
me and asked, ‘Really?’
“I answered, ‘Absolutely! You are worth so much more than thirteen
dollars.’
“‘Aw, man,’ he said, ‘if I had known that, I would have ordered
pepperoni!’”
At that youth conference there were two young men who felt out of
place, but because they connected with a friend who cared, their experience
was completely changed for the better. Because a leader paid them some
attention (and a little money), they left the conference uplifted.
It could have been different. All of us have seen instances when people
were left out—but this is not the Savior’s way. Describing Christ, Nephi
said, “Behold, doth he cry unto any, saying: Depart from me? Behold, I say
unto you, Nay; but he saith: Come unto me all ye ends of the earth, buy milk
and honey, without money and without price” (2 Nephi 26:25).
Does Christ say to anyone “Depart from me?” No, He does not! We
probably don’t either—not consciously. But perhaps there are subtle ways in
which we send this message. Imagine nonverbal gestures or facial
expressions that communicate the message “Depart from me.” We can all
picture them too quickly and too clearly.
John remembers the following experience:
“One evening my wife, Lani, was at a meeting and I was helping all our
young children go to sleep. All but one of them were in bed, and I was
looking forward to some downtime so I could check Facebook and see the
latest news. But that last child didn’t want to go to bed!
“Instead, she wanted to tell me about a story she was writing in school.
She described the story in great detail—and at great length. After about five
minutes I was really tempted to pull out my phone and start multitasking. But
then I realized that looking at my phone while she was talking to me might
communicate to my daughter a message similar to ‘Depart from me.’ So I
patiently listened, and listened, and listened some more.
“At the end of her description she asked, ‘Well, Dad, do you like my
story?’
“‘I love it, honey. You have great ideas!’ I truthfully replied.
“She smiled and said, ‘Dad, you’re the first person who has ever
listened to my whole story.’
“She gave me a big hug and went to bed. I thought a lot about the
privilege I had of getting to be the first one to ever hear her whole story. I’m
so glad I didn’t say, through word or body language, ‘Depart from me.’”
Nephi answered his own question. He told us that Christ does not say,
“Depart from me” but instead lovingly invites, “Come unto me all ye ends of
the earth” (2 Nephi 26:25). We can emulate the Savior as we warmly
encourage others to be with us. We can also remember His open arms when
we feel alone and forgotten. Sometimes we are not the leader or the dad.
Sometimes we are the boy planning a pizza party and hoping someone will
come. We are the little girl wanting so desperately to tell her whole story to
someone who will listen without judging or criticizing. Sometimes we are
outside the circle, wanting someone to recognize and validate our worth.
That’s when we need to remember we are worth more than thirteen dollars to
the Lord. He not only wants to hear our whole stories but He is willing to
help us write them.
A student teacher was upset because the children had misbehaved when
she was being observed by her supervisor. After the lesson, she dismissed
the children to recess and began to cry.
“What’s wrong?” asked the supervisor.
“Jesus hates me!” she sobbed.
“Jesus doesn’t hate anyone,” the supervisor consoled.
“Not that Jesus,” she said, pointing up. “That Jesus!” she explained,
pointing to a little boy on the playground who happened to be named Jesus.
When we feel hated and abused or unvalued and ignored, there is One
who always stands with arms outstretched. He doesn’t tell us to go away—
He invites us to come unto Him.
Doth he say, “Depart from me”?

16
Who seeth us?
2 Nephi 27:27
President Ezra Taft Benson taught that “the Book of Mormon exposes the
enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention. It
fortifies the humble followers of Christ against the evil designs, strategies,
and doctrines of the devil in our day.”1 Toward the end of his ministry, Nephi
alerted future readers to some of the strategies Satan employs. One of his
tricks includes the diabolical twin questions “Who seeth us?” and “Who
knoweth us?” (2 Nephi 27:27). In other words, “Who is watching us? Who
knows what we’re doing? Nobody is watching us. No one will see. No one
will know. We can do whatever we want.”
This behavior is sometimes seen in little children. They sneak cookies
from the cookie jar, thinking that they will never be discovered, but the trail
of cookie crumbs and the chocolate smeared on their faces are dead
giveaways. Such behavior may be cute in toddlers, but in adults it becomes
dangerous.
A person may begin to view pornography thinking that nobody will see,
nobody will know. He rationalizes that just a little won’t hurt, and he will
never get caught, so it’s no big deal. But he knows, and God knows. Just
those two knowing is enough, but in today’s world of instant communication
and electronic tracking systems, many more can quickly become aware of
what we are doing.
We used to be puzzled by a statement in the Doctrine and Covenants that
“the rebellious shall be pierced with much sorrow; for their iniquities shall
be spoken upon the housetops, and their secret acts shall be revealed” (D&C
1:3). But now in an age of satellite dishes on the housetops and secret acts
revealed on the Internet, it is much easier to understand the scripture.
Consider the following examples.
On December 27, 2010, a thief walked into a bar in Salt Lake City and
stole a scanner. This scanner was used to check identification, and, while it
was of little value to the thief, it had great value for the bar owner. He could
not legally operate without it and would now have to pay nine hundred
dollars to replace it.
The bar owner checked the surveillance tape and found that it clearly
showed a man stealing the scanner. While the bar owner didn’t recognize the
man, he knew that somebody would. He uploaded the video to YouTube and
Facebook and asked for help in identifying the thief. Within forty-eight hours
the thief called to say that he would return the scanner because he was
embarrassed that his image had been posted online as the one who stole it.2
Also in 2010, there was a large riot in Vancouver, British Columbia,
following a hockey game. Wild looting and vandalism spread throughout the
city, much of it captured on video by cell phones. Several people posted
footage online. An individual calling himself “Captain Vancouver” collected
images and videos of people rioting and posted them online in an attempt to
bring public shame to them for their misconduct. His idea was that while the
court system may or may not deliver justice to these people, a type of quick
justice could be achieved by posting online their illegal acts.
While we might debate whether or not Captain Vancouver’s methods
were appropriate, the fact remains that in this day and age, everything we do
can easily be captured on video. The cell phones we carry with us can
record every conversation, as well as snap a photo or video at a moment’s
notice. Truly we live in a time where our every deed can easily be known—
and shouted from the rooftops. While Satan slyly asks, “Who seeth us? And
who knoweth us?” we know that our actions are known and that we will be
held accountable for them. Elder Richard G. Scott stated, “Satan strives to
convince one that sins can be hidden from others, yet it is he that causes them
to be revealed in the most compromising circumstances.”3
A bit of advice from years gone by seems even more relevant today:
“Never do anything that you wouldn’t mind having published on the front
page of the newspaper!” But fear of others knowing our secrets is not an
effective long-term motivation for righteous living. The possibility of a
Captain Vancouver out there with a cell phone may not discourage some
people. In fact, during the Vancouver riots some of the vandals themselves
posted their own images on the Internet, bragging about their misconduct.
If our motivation to live worthily is simply to avoid getting caught, we
are missing the whole point of the gospel. Like the Pharisees of old, we
would be more concerned with appearances than we are with the state of our
hearts.
Robert L. Millet wrote, “What would I do if no one could see me? How
would I conduct my life if, like Frodo Baggins, I could slip on a ring and
become invisible? . . . Would my actions be any different if I were invisible?
Now let’s make the question even more interesting; what if no one could see
me, not even God? . . . What if I were left to myself without any human or
divine influence (including the Holy Ghost) and I were allowed to simply
live according to my whims and wishes? How differently would I act?”4
He then went on to explain that true righteousness is not just measured
by our actions—public or private. It is measured by our desires. “True
righteousness is what we have become, what we are, who we are.”5
Satan’s questions are “Who seeth us?” and “Who knoweth us?” (2 Nephi
27:27). Our reply must be “It doesn’t matter.” The closer we are to our goal
to become like Christ, it simply won’t matter who sees us because we will
have nothing to hide.
Who seeth us?
Notes
^1. Benson, “The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God,” Ensign, January 1988, 3.
^2. See http://www.ksl.com/?nid=148&sid=13820233.
^3. Scott, “To Be Free of Heavy Burdens,” Ensign, November 2002, 87.
^4. Millet, Coming to Know Christ (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012), 46–47.
^5. Millet, Coming to Know Christ, 47.
17
Know ye not that there are more
nations than one?
2 Nephi 29:7
Near the end of his record, Nephi quoted a series of questions from the
Lord. One particularly powerful question is this: “Know ye not that there are
more nations than one?” (2 Nephi 29:7). The Lord was reminding
unbelievers there are many different nations who have received and recorded
the word of the Lord. “I bring forth my word unto the children of men,” He
said, “even upon all the nations of the earth” (2 Nephi 29:7).
Not only did Jesus command His disciples to go into all the world
(Matthew 28:19; Mark 16:15–16) but He Himself visited His “sheep” on
other continents (3 Nephi 16:1–3). The Book of Mormon is stunning
evidence of this truth, and someday we will receive records of other nations
who have also heard His voice (2 Nephi 29:13). Clearly, the Lord is no
respecter of persons (D&C 1:35); in other words, He values all of His
children equally. If we are to liken this question—“Know ye not that there
are more nations than one?”—to ourselves, we will understand that He
would like us to follow His loving example. Perhaps one way to approach
this question on a more personal level is to consider that we are members of
a worldwide church—part of a global community, not just a local one.
There is an old joke that goes like this:
Q: What do you call somebody who can speak three languages?
A: Trilingual.
Q: What do you call somebody who can speak two languages?
A: Bilingual.
Q: What do you call somebody who can speak one language?
A: American.
The world is a bigger place than just one country. The 2006 National
Geographic-Roper Survey of Geographic Literacy presented college-age
students with a blank map of the Middle East and asked them to identify the
following countries: Israel, Iraq, Saudi Arabia, and Iran. The chart on the
following page shows the results of the survey.
President Howard W. Hunter taught, “As members of the Lord’s church,
we need to lift our vision beyond personal prejudices. We need to discover
that supreme truth that indeed our Father is no respecter of persons. . . . Do
you imagine our Heavenly Father loving one nationality of his offspring more
exclusively than others? As members of the Church, we need to be reminded
of Nephi’s challenging question: ‘Know ye not that there are more nations
than one?’”1
Our friend Jennifer Brinkerhoff Platt told us of a trip she took to
Ethiopia to assist local citizens to improve their wells and irrigation. “To see
the looks on their faces and experience their gratitude was an incredible
experience,” she said. Not only does Jennifer know where Ethiopia is on a
map but she knows Ethiopia. She knows the people, loves the culture, and
sees the needs. That which she now knows through her experience she has
come to love.
Although everyone will not be able to travel the world working in
humanitarian causes, we can all learn about other countries. In fact, the Lord
has commanded us to do so. He stated,
“Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you, that you may be
instructed more perfectly in theory, in principle, in doctrine, in the law of the
gospel, in all things that pertain unto the kingdom of God, that are expedient
for you to understand;
“Of things both in heaven and in the earth, and under the earth; things
which have been, things which are, things which must shortly come to pass;
things which are at home, things which are abroad; the wars and the
perplexities of the nations, and the judgments which are on the land; and a
knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms—
“That ye may be prepared in all things when I shall send you again to
magnify the calling whereunto I have called you, and the mission with which
I have commissioned you” (D&C 88:78–80; emphasis added).
There are more nations than one. Learning about them will, as the Lord
said, prepare us to better fulfill the missions He has in store for us.
In 2003, when Brad was called to preside over the Chile Santiago East
Mission, his two youngest children were in the sixth and seventh grades.
When Brad and his wife first told them of the call, both the kids screamed,
“Noooo!” and started to cry. It was a huge step outside their comfort zones to
go abroad, attend a new school, and learn a new language. They mustered all
the faith and courage they could and began their grand adventure.
Now they look back at their initial reactions with laughter and at their
time in Chile with joy. Whitney, Brad’s daughter, later wrote, “It was a hard
adjustment at first, but I came to love that country with all my heart—even the
smog and the crazy public buses that crisscrossed the city and the stray dogs
that ruled the streets. I learned so much in Chile, and my time there gave me a
broader perspective of the world.” Similarly, David, Brad’s son, wrote,
“Not only did I learn to love Chile, but I gained an appreciation for blessings
I enjoy in my home—simple things I’d taken for granted before.”
David grew up and served his mission in Japan, where his world was
expanded yet again. He said, “Since I already spoke Spanish it was a shock
to be called to Japan, but I knew it was right and began learning Japanese.
On my mission, I taught people in Japanese, English, and even Spanish
because I met a family from Peru living in Japan.”
Whitney was called to Spain, and she was excited to have another
chance to use her Spanish there. However, she found out she didn’t have to
wait until she arrived in Europe. When her visa didn’t come right away, she
served for a time in Arcadia, California, where she also used her Spanish
regularly.
A student at Southern Virginia University, Garret Bernal, completed an
internship in Washington, D.C., during which he was able to help make
arrangements for a luncheon being held for the wives of many foreign
ambassadors living in that capital city. When the day of the event arrived, he
was asked to greet the guests and help them find their places. Because he
served his mission in Ukraine, he greeted the wife of the Ukrainian
ambassador in her native language rather than English. This led to a
friendship between them and left the woman very impressed with Garret and
the Church. Months later, Garret suggested the Ukrainian ambassador be the
featured guest at the Washington D.C. Temple’s 2012 Festival of Light. At the
urging of his wife, the ambassador accepted. The evening arrived, and the
ambassador was invited to throw the switch to turn on thousands of
Christmas lights on the temple grounds. Many visitors were in attendance.
The visitors’ center was filled with traditional Ukrainian decorations. Elder
Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve gave the opening remarks.
He was followed by the Ukrainian ambassador who expressed sincere
gratitude for the Latter-day Saint temple in his country and the work of the
missionaries and members there. He promised his full support for the
Church.
Garret and many others in attendance that night had never before heard
such warm and sincere remarks about the Church from an ambassador. Who
knows how many lives will be affected because one young man could greet a
woman in her native language?
We are not suggesting that everyone run out and take a geography course
or learn a foreign language. But we do have a mandate from the Lord to
receive a “knowledge also of countries and of kingdoms.” President Gordon
B. Hinckley said, “The sun never sets on this work of the Lord as it is
touching the lives of people across the earth. And this is only the beginning.
We have scarcely scratched the surface. We are engaged in a work for the
souls of men and women everywhere. Our work knows no boundaries. Under
the providence of the Lord it will continue. Those nations now closed to us
will someday be open. That is my faith. That is my belief. That is my
testimony.”2 Perhaps by developing a deeper interest in other people’s
cultures, or extending a hand of fellowship to individuals from other
countries, we will be able to be a part of taking the gospel into all the world.
Know ye not that there are more nations than one?
Notes
^1. Hunter, "All Are Alike Unto God," Ensign, June 1979, 72, 74.
^2. HInckley, "The State of the Church," Ensign, November 2003, 7.
18
Murmur ye, because that ye shall
receive more of my word?
2 Nephi 29:8
Toward the end of his record, Nephi wrote of the coming forth of the
Book of Mormon in the latter days. He prophesied that many Gentiles would
treat the book lightly, saying, “A Bible! A Bible! We have got a Bible, and
there cannot be any more Bible” (2 Nephi 29:3). Nephi recorded the Lord as
saying, in response to this criticism, “Murmur ye, because that ye shall
receive more of my word? Know ye not that the testimony of two nations is a
witness unto you that I am God, that I remember one nation like unto another?
Wherefore, I speak the same words unto one nation like unto another. And
when the two nations shall run together the testimony of the two nations shall
run together also” (2 Nephi 29:8). The context tells us that the question
“Murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word?” is directed
toward those who do not want to receive the Book of Mormon, or those who
claim that because they have the Bible they have already received enough of
the word of God.
Most Latter-day Saints do not complain about receiving more of God’s
word. In fact, many Latter-day Saints are eager to receive more—witness the
numbers who flock to general conference, for example. Perhaps, for faithful
members, the question “Murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my
word?” might mean something entirely different.
Perhaps one way we murmur at receiving more of the word of God is
when we receive the same teachings over and over. Maybe we have listened
to general conference hoping to hear something new, such as a commandment
to pack our bags and move to Missouri. Instead, we hear familiar themes
such as “Teach the gospel in your homes,” “Avoid pornography,” or “Pay
tithing.”
Maybe we murmur when we learn that the Sunday School or Relief
Society lesson is about faith—again. At times like these we have a choice:
we can choose to murmur about our opportunities to hear the word of God
repeated, or we can choose to learn something new through the Spirit.
President Henry B. Eyring explained this concept: “You may not know
who your . . . teacher[s] . . . will be next Sunday . . . , but you can . . . pray
specifically that the Holy Ghost will come to them as they prepare to teach,
and again as you sit at their feet to listen. . . . I know it works. . . . I think you
can have faith and confidence that you will never need to hear an
unprofitable sermon or live in a ward where you are not fed spiritually.”1
A man once asked President Spencer W. Kimball, “What do you do
when you find yourself in a boring sacrament meeting?” After a moment of
silence, President Kimball said, “I don’t know. I’ve never been in one.”2
His attitude certainly should make us think twice about our own
perceptions of Church meetings. Elder Gene R. Cook, who related this story,
said, “That’s interesting, isn’t it? That tells me that the real meeting was
between President Kimball and the Lord. . . . If you enter a meeting with your
heart prepared to be written upon by the Lord, then that will happen.”3
Whatever the meeting is, if we enter with our hearts prepared, we will
be fed spiritually. Murmuring about hearing more of the word of God will not
help us prepare to be taught.
Another way we might murmur about receiving more of the word of God
is through our attitude toward daily scripture study. One brother of our
acquaintance had developed a good habit of daily personal scripture study,
and his family’s scripture study consisted of reading a few verses each day
from the Book of Mormon. Then this brother’s bishop invited the ward
members to read three pages each day from the Book of Mormon. If they did
so, they would finish the Book of Mormon twice in one year.
The brother grumbled a bit. He was already spending time in the
scriptures, and to try to shepherd his family through three pages of the Book
of Mormon a day seemed like a lot to ask. But, with his wife’s
encouragement, this family took the bishop’s challenge and began to read
three pages each day. The brother later said, “Increasing the amount our
family studied really was beneficial for our children. I don’t know why I was
so upset about the invitation to make God’s word a bigger part of our lives.”
We are incredibly blessed to live in a time in which access to God’s
word is so readily available. We can read it in books and hear it at church;
we can download general conference talks from the Internet, and, in many
cases, we even have the scriptures on our phones. God has given us these
resources so we can drink more deeply from His words—not so we can be,
as our friend Anthony Sweat says, the “blessed generation” that gets to play
video games. Let us seek out every opportunity to drink deeply from the well
of the Lord’s words.
Murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word?
Notes
^1. Eyring, To Draw Closer to God (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997), 16, 24.
^2. In Gerry Avant, “Learning Gospel Is Lifetime Pursuit,” Church News, March 24, 1990, 10.
^3. Avant, “Learning Gospel,” 10.
19
After ye have gotten into this strait
and narrow path, I would ask if all is
done?
2 Nephi 31:19
Conversion is sometimes difficult to define because it is so multifaceted.

It is not necessarily synonymous with membership or activity in the Church.
As Nephi spoke of the doctrine of Christ, he asked, “After ye have gotten into
this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is done? Behold, I say unto you,
Nay” (2 Nephi 31:19). The journey of conversion continues long after
baptism and goes deeper than attending meetings. Sunday School general
president Russell T. Osguthorpe wrote, “Conversion is not a one-time event.
It is a lifelong quest to become more like the Savior.”1
Nephi’s answer to the statement “I would ask if all is done” was this:
“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).
A man named Hal Jones provided an example of one who was willing to
press forward and endure. Hal was a successful businessman who made his
home in California. A vacation trip with his wife, Barbara, found them in the
Salt Lake City airport with a long layover. Hal suggested they go see the
Mormon temple. Barbara protested because she was Catholic. Hal said,
“Just think of it as a historical monument.”
During their visit to Temple Square, Barbara had a very spiritual
experience, and she felt that she had finally found something she had been
looking for. Hal did not feel the same way. Missionaries on Temple Square
sent a referral to missionaries in California, who arrived at the home of the
Jones family. Hal received them graciously, but he made it clear that he had
no intention of joining the Church. Barbara and the children loved the
missionaries and the ward members and were quite happy with all they were
learning. Hal still refused to accept the challenge to be baptized, and he
would not permit his family members to be baptized. After yet another “no,”
his daughter, who was a young teenager at the time gave her father an
ultimatum: “If we are not going to get baptized then I am going to smoke and
drink.”
Hal turned to Barbara and said, “Call the missionaries and tell them to
fill the font.” Hal joined the Church with his family, but he did it mostly for
the children. He liked the youth programs and seminary classes. He liked the
Church’s teachings about family unity, hard work, and self-sufficiency. He
didn’t even balk at paying tithing. He viewed tithing as a sort of dues one
pays for being part of such a wonderful organization. When his employees
asked this hardened and tough businessman why he joined The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he said, “Any fool can see that it’s the best
thing to ever happen to America.” Hal had entered into the strait and narrow
path, but there was much more ahead of him.
Through the years, Hal was touched by the friendship and example of
members of his ward and stake. He saw boys and girls leave on missions and
come home much more confident and mature. He faithfully performed his
home teaching and read the Ensign from cover to cover each month. He
enjoyed reading Church books and attending general conference. People who
knew him were amazed to see what a different man he was becoming.
In order to join the Church, Hal had given up alcohol—not an easy
sacrifice for a man who had been a drinker from a very early age. Friends
were shocked to see that he stuck with his commitment. Other changes were
more subtle. His language became less harsh, his interactions with people
more gentle, his donations to those in need more generous. He prepared
himself to go to the temple and was sealed to his family. He had the
opportunity to meet several General Authorities, and he found in them
qualities he wished to emulate. He supported his own children and many
others on missions. Those who knew Hal Jones when he first came into the
Church marveled at the transformation. Was he perfect? No. He still had his
share of rough edges, but the sanctification process Hal had experienced was
amazing. Hal’s conversion wasn’t a one-time event, and it wasn’t complete
the day he was baptized. But he continued the journey.
Elder David A. Bednar taught, “True conversion brings a change in
one’s beliefs, heart, and life to accept and conform to the will of God (Acts
3:19; 3 Nephi 9:20) and includes a conscious commitment to become a
disciple of Christ.”2 From his first visit to Temple Square to his death over
twenty years later Hal Jones changed his beliefs, his heart, and his life to
accept and conform to God’s will. He demonstrated a conscious commitment
to become a disciple of the Savior. We, too, can experience an ongoing
conversion as we, in small and simple ways, “press forward with a
steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of
God and of all men. . . . feasting upon the word of Christ” (2 Nephi 31:19–
20).
After ye have gotten into this strait and narrow path, I would ask if all is
done?
Notes
^1. Osguthorpe, "One Step Closer to the Savior," Ensign, November 2012, 96.
^2. Bednar, "Converted unto the Lord," Ensign, November 2012, 107.
20
What could I have done more for my
vineyard?
Jacob 5:41
Jacob recorded for us the allegory of the olive tree. In this allegory, the
lord of the vineyard worked tirelessly to cultivate good fruit from a
sometimes stubbornly uncooperative vineyard. After multiple attempts to
salvage the fruit of the tree, the lord of the vineyard saw that the trees “had
all become corrupt” (Jacob 5:39). “The Lord of the vineyard wept, and said
unto the servant: What could I have done more for my vineyard? . . . Have I
slackened mine hand, that I have not nourished it? Nay, I have nourished it,
and I have digged about it, and I have pruned it, and I have dunged it; and I
have stretched forth mine hand almost all the day long, and the end draweth
nigh. And it grieveth me that I should hew down all the trees of my vineyard,
and cast them into the fire that they should be burned. Who is it that has
corrupted my vineyard?” (Jacob 5:41, 47).
The lord had done everything he could, and still his vineyard was
corrupt. Perhaps we, too, can relate to the feeling of laboring toward a
distant aim, full of faith and hope that everything will work out. But
sometimes things go wrong. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland poignantly illustrated
what some of the modern disappointments might look like:
“I think of young mothers and fathers who are faithfully having their
families while still in school—or just newly out—trying to make ends meet
even as they hope for a brighter financial future someday. At the same time, I
think of other parents who would give any earthly possession they own to
have a wayward child return.
“I think of single parents who face all of this but face it alone, having
confronted death or divorce, alienation or abandonment, or some other
misfortune they had not foreseen in happier days and certainly had not
wanted.
“I think of those who want to be married and aren’t, those who desire to
have children and cannot, those who have acquaintances but very few
friends, those who are grieving over the death of a loved one or are
themselves ill with disease. I think of those who suffer from sin—their own
or someone else’s—who need to know there is a way back and that
happiness can be restored. I think of the disconsolate and downtrodden who
feel life has passed them by, or now wish that it would pass them by.”1
People facing the situations described by Elder Holland could be
tempted to give up. Perhaps they have worked faithfully to achieve goals that
now seem impossible. They cry out, “What more could I have done to get
married?” “What more could I have done to raise faithful children?” “What
more could I have done to stay healthy?” “What more could I have done for
my vineyard?” The servant’s reply to this question is instructive for us today.
When the lord of the vineyard asked, for the third time, “What could I have
done more for my vineyard?” (Jacob 5:49) the servant answered, “Spare it a
little longer” (Jacob 5:50).
“Spare it a little longer.” Don’t give up. Keep on trying. Yes, you’ve
done everything you know how to do and it still hasn’t brought the success
you wanted. “Spare it a little longer.” Keep trusting in the Lord. Elder
Holland taught, “There is help. There is happiness. There really is light at the
end of the tunnel. . . . To any who may be struggling to see that light and find
that hope, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will
improve.”2
In this same talk, Elder Holland recounted a bittersweet experience from
his earlier years. He and his young wife, with their two small children, had
packed all of their possessions into an old car and a small trailer and were
heading across the country to attend graduate school. They drove thirty-four
miles when steam erupted from their car, and they had to pull over. Elder
Holland walked three miles to the nearest town to get water to fix the
problem, and then they drove it slowly back home and got it inspected.
After receiving a clean bill of health from the mechanic they again set
out on their journey. Thirty-four miles later, at exactly the same location,
steam poured from the hood, and Elder Holland began anew the three-mile
journey to town. You can imagine his frustration. He was a young father who
was supposed to be providing for and protecting his family on a 2,600-mile
journey across the country, and they could not get more than thirty-four miles
without car problems.
But Elder Holland didn’t give up. He kept on trying. Help was provided,
and eventually he and his family made it to Connecticut—but not in that car!
After sharing this story, Elder Holland recounted how, thirty years later, he
and his wife drove to exactly the same spot. This time there were no car
troubles, no difficulties, only happy memories of the past three decades. He
then said,
“In my mind’s eye, for just an instant, I thought perhaps I saw on that
side road an old car with a devoted young wife and two little children
making the best of a bad situation there. Just ahead of them I imagined that I
saw a young fellow walking toward [town], with plenty of distance still
ahead of him. His shoulders seemed to be slumping a little, the weight of a
young father’s fear evident in his pace. . . . In that imaginary instant, I
couldn’t help calling out to him: ‘Don’t give up, boy. Don’t you quit. You
keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of
it—30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be
all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.’”3
These words ring out to us. As we put forth our best efforts, we still may
not realize our deepest desires, and we may be tempted to cry out, “What
more could I have done?” Remember the advice of the servant in the
allegory: “Spare it a little longer.” Or, as Elder Holland said, “Don’t you
quit. . . . Keep trying. . . . Trust God and believe in good things to come.”
What could I have done more for my vineyard?

Notes
^1. Holland, “An High Priest of Good Things to Come,” Ensign, November 1999, 36.
^2. Holland, “High Priest,” 36.
^3. Holland, “High Priest,” 37–38.
21
Believest thou the scriptures?
Jacob 7:10
Toward the end of his ministry, Jacob was faced with an anti-Christ
named Sherem, who contended “that there should be no Christ” (Jacob 7:2).
Sherem “preached many things which were flattering unto the people; and
this he did that he might overthrow the doctrine of Christ” (Jacob 7:2).
In responding to Sherem’s false teachings, Jacob asked him a simple
question: “Believest thou the scriptures?” (Jacob 7:10). When Sherem
answered yes, Jacob said, “Then ye do not understand them” (Jacob 7:11).
While we are not anti-Christs like Sherem was, perhaps sometimes we don’t
believe the scriptures, or if we do, we do not understand them.
It’s interesting that Jacob asked, “Do you believe the scriptures?” rather
than “Do you believe in the scriptures?” This is the same kind of distinction
that Stephen E. Robinson drew between believing in Christ and believing
Christ. He said:
“Brothers and sisters, to have faith in Jesus Christ is not merely to
believe that he is who he says he is, to believe in Christ. Sometimes, to have
faith in Christ is also to believe Christ. Both as a bishop and as a teacher in
the Church, I have learned there are many that believe Jesus is the Son of
God and that he is the Savior of the World, but that he cannot save them. They
believe in his identity, but not in his power to cleanse and to purify and to
save. To have faith in his identity is only half the process. To have faith in his
ability, in his power to cleanse and to save, that is the other half. We must not
only believe in Christ, we must believe Christ when he says, ‘I can cleanse
you and make you celestial.’”1
Perhaps this same distinction applies to the scriptures. A person might
say, “I believe in the Book of Mormon.” But do we really believe the Book
of Mormon and recognize that its promises are real for us? When we read the
account of Alma praying for strength and then being strengthened by the Lord
(Alma 31:31–38), do we say “I believe in that account. I believe that Alma
was a real person and this happened to him”? Or do we say, “I believe that
account. I believe that I can pray for strength and the Lord will strengthen
me”?
One woman was beginning to doubt promises she had received in
priesthood blessings. But she found comfort when she discovered two verses
of scripture, both of which she took to be God’s words to her:
“I will remember my covenant which I have made with my people” (3
Nephi 20:29).
“I will remember my covenant unto you” (3 Nephi 16:12; see also 1
Nephi 17:40; 19:15; 2 Nephi 3:5; 29:1; 3 Nephi 29:3, 8; Mormon 5:20; 8:23;
and Ether 4:15).
This sister realized that she needed to really believe the scriptures, and
that helped her believe the promises she had been given in her blessings.
Sherem’s problem went beyond believing or not believing. He did not
understand the scriptures. Even though he apparently had read them, he still
believed “that there should be no Christ” (Jacob 7:2). While most Latter-day
Saints may have a fairly good understanding of the scriptures, we can all
benefit from trying to get more out of them.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson gave several important keys for reading
the scriptures in such a way that we draw deep spiritual strength from their
words:
“You should care more about the amount of time you spend in the
scriptures than about the amount you read in that time. I see you sometimes
reading a few verses, stopping to ponder them, carefully reading the verses
again, and as you think about what they mean, praying for understanding,
asking questions in your mind, waiting for spiritual impressions, and writing
down the impressions and insights that come so you can remember and learn
more. Studying in this way, you may not read a lot of chapters or verses in a
half hour, but you will be giving place in your heart for the word of God, and
He will be speaking to you.”2
When we read the scriptures in the way Elder Christofferson described,
it helps us understand their messages and feel their spiritual impact. We
begin not only to believe in the scriptures but we really believe the scriptures
and feel their power in our lives.
Believest thou the scriptures?
Notes
^1. Robinson, “Believing Christ: A Practical Approach to the Atonement,” Brigham Young University
devotional address, May 29, 1990; available at http://speeches.byu.edu.
^2. Christofferson, “When Thou Art Converted,” Ensign, May 2004, 11.
22
Lord, how is it done?
Enos 1:7
After Jacob passed away, his son Enos faced a crisis of faith. At the
beginning of his record he tells us of his wrestle before God, saying,
“I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often
heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk
deep into my heart.
“And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I
cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all
the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise
my voice high that it reached the heavens.
“And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven
thee, and thou shalt be blessed” (Enos 1:3–5).
In astonishment at this gift of forgiveness and grace that had been given
to him, Enos asked, “Lord, how is it done?” (Enos 1:7). Many of the
questions in the Book of Mormon are asked rhetorically—but this is not one
of them. Enos really wanted to know how it was possible that he had
received forgiveness of his sins, and the Lord replied, “Because of thy faith
in Christ” (Enos 1:8). Notice the response was not just “because of thy faith”
but “because of thy faith in Christ.”
Faith in Christ continues to lead to repentance and forgiveness in our
day. Sandra was a strong Latter-day Saint who had, in a moment of
weakness, committed some serious sins. For months afterward she continued
to attend church and faithfully perform her duties. But what she had done
gnawed at her conscience until she found herself in tears in her bishop’s
office, confessing what she had done and asking how she could be forgiven.
Her bishop understood and testified to her that she had done the right
thing by confessing. He spoke to her about the Atonement and helped her set
some goals to draw closer to God. As Sandra moved forward through the
repentance process, she felt her “guilt was swept away” (Enos 1:6). How
was it done? The answer for Sandra was the same as it was for Enos:
through her faith in Christ. Faith in Christ leads to repentance and helps us
feel of the miracle of forgiveness. Amulek called this having “faith unto
repentance” (Alma 34:15).
Some would argue that people change every day without any knowledge
of—let alone faith in—Christ. But just because we are not aware of Christ’s
capacity to carry us does not mean that He does not do so. The story is told
of a little girl who wanted to help her mother bring groceries in from the car,
but she was too small. She finally set her sights on the milk jug and decided
she was going to carry it “all by herself.” She couldn’t, so finally Mom
picked up the little girl and the milk and headed into the kitchen. The girl
proudly declared to her father, “Look! I’m carrying the milk all by
myself!”—all the while being held securely in her mother’s arms.1 As we
make changes in our lives it is not by our own power that we succeed. We
are not doing it “all by ourselves.” Recognized or unrecognized, God and
Christ are there, every step of the way.
A father wept after his wife and children were killed by a drunk driver,
but he was able to forgive the perpetrator of the crime. “How is it done?” A
younger sister felt sorrow because of the choices made by her older brother,
and, even though the situation was out of her control, she was able to find
peace. “How is it done?” A mother yearned for her deceased child, and,
although she saw no vision, she was comforted. “How is it done?” In every
case the answer is the same—through faith in Christ. We all struggle with a
variety of vexing challenges—and through faith in Christ we will be blessed
to overcome.
Lord, how is it done?
Note
^1. “Lesson from a Milk Jug,” Ensign, July 2008, 48–49.
23
Are we not all beggars?
Mosiah 4:19
John recalls the following experience from his youth:

“As a BYU student, I was in an English class in which we were
discussing welfare. I expressed the opinion (which I held at the time) that
there should be no welfare. The conversation went something like this:
“Teacher: ‘What if there is a person who is out of work and he has no
way to support himself or his family?’
“Me: ‘He should get a job!’
“Teacher: ‘What if he can’t get a job?’
“Me: ‘If he tries hard, he can find a job. Where there is a will, there is a
way.’
“Teacher: ‘So, in other words, you’re saying his situation is his fault,
and you shouldn’t feel any obligation to help him out. He’s in a mess of his
own making. He deserves to suffer.’
“Me: ‘Exactly.’
“Teacher: ‘That’s interesting. Let’s see what King Benjamin taught about
that in the Book of Mormon.’
“The teacher then opened the Book of Mormon and read Mosiah 4:17–
18: ‘Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery;
therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor
impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments
are just—But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath
great cause to repent. . . .’
“Me: ‘Uh . . .’
“I had nothing to say!
“I don’t remember what happened after that, but that exchange had a big
impact on me! I recognized that I was a pretty selfish teenager. Whether or
not the government or the Church should provide welfare is not the point of
this story. For me, it was a realization that I needed to look more carefully at
my views about helping others.”
King Benjamin asked his people—and us, “For behold, are we not all
beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the
substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for
silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? And behold, even
at this time, ye have been calling on his name, and begging for a remission of
your sins. And has he suffered that ye have begged in vain?” (Mosiah 4:19–
20).
Does this mean that we should give money to every panhandler we
meet? Maybe—or maybe not. But this scripture can help us realize that we
shouldn’t be cavalier about dismissing the needs of those who suffer. One
man carries some protein bars with him to give to beggars who cross his
path. He feels better about donating food rather than cash on such occasions.
When another man sees a needy man or woman he can’t reach because the
person is across the street or several lanes of traffic away, he reminds
himself to add in a few more dollars to his next fast offering or makes a
donation to the local food bank. One woman carries gift certificates to hand
out that are redeemable at a local restaurant. All of us can find ways to do
something. Consider these three verses:
“Think of your brethren like unto yourselves, and be familiar with all
and free with your substance, that they may be rich like unto you” (Jacob
2:17).
“Give to him that asketh thee, and from him that would borrow of thee
turn thou not away” (3 Nephi 12:42).
“He that oppresseth the poor reproacheth his Maker: but he that
honoureth him hath mercy on the poor” (Proverbs 14:31).
Brad remembers the following experience:
“I grew up in Ethiopia, Africa. My family encountered needs on every
side and begging hands reaching out to us at every turn. As a child of six or
seven, I asked my father why we could not help everyone in need. He
explained that our own resources were not endless. We had to give in a wise
way or we would soon be part of the problem instead of part of the solution.
He explained that by paying fast offerings, we could unite our efforts with
those of others and make a much bigger difference than any of us could by
giving alone. I have vivid memories of our small branch making donations to
a school for orphans and a hospital for young teenage girls expecting babies.
With such images imprinted unforgettably in my mind, it has never been
difficult for me to pay my fast offerings.”
In the years since his childhood, Brad has recognized other personal
benefits of paying fast offerings and making donations to humanitarian aid
and other Church-sponsored causes. One is being able to give freely from the
heart without judging. It is not up to us to decide if a person’s needs are
legitimate or fabricated or if our donations are fostering self-sufficiency or
dependence. Freed from such burdens, we are able to give generously from
our hearts and leave difficult decisions to the judges in Israel.
The question “Are we not all beggars?” may apply in many other
situations. What about the coworker in need of a listening ear? What about
the widow who needs somebody to invite her over for dinner? What about
children who need somebody to read them a story? Will we share our time
and energy with them? What about those who need forgiveness? It is easy to
read the parable of the prodigal son and identify with the older brother, who
remained at home while his younger brother went off the deep end. We fail to
realize that because of the older brother’s lack of charity in God’s eyes, he,
too, was a prodigal who was in danger of losing his inheritance. One son lost
his in riotous living, the other in the emptiness of a cold and unforgiving
heart. We need to remember that we are all beggars—totally dependent on
love, goodness, and grace we cannot earn and do not deserve.
King Benjamin answered his own questions, and ours, by stating, “If
God, who has created you, on whom you are dependent for your lives and for
all that ye have and are, doth grant unto you whatsoever ye ask that is right, in
faith, believing that ye shall receive, O then, how ye ought to impart of the
substance that ye have one to another” (Mosiah 4:21).
Our “substance” includes time as well as money, and, while we have a
limited supply of both, we all have something we can offer. God consistently
hears our pleas for both temporal and emotional support—how can we not
do the same for others?
Are we not all beggars?

24
How knoweth a man the master
whom he has not served?
Mosiah 5:13
King Benjamin exhorted his people to be “steadfast and immovable,

always abounding in good works” (Mosiah 5:15), not in an effort to earn
their way into heaven or to impress God but to learn about heaven and let the
sacrifices of God and His Son be more impressed upon them. Emulating the
good works of the Savior has always been the essence of true worship, for
this is one way we come to know Him. King Benjamin asked, “How knoweth
a man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him,
and is far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?” This vital question
contains a key to eternal life, for Christ taught that eternal life is knowing
God (John 17:3). To know God, we must serve Him—not because we have
to and not because we owe Him but because we love Him and desire to be
closer to Him.
As the Savior concluded the Sermon on the Mount, He taught, “Not
every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of
heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven” (Matthew
7:21). He then warned His listeners that good works alone will not suffice.
He taught that there would be many who would try to show “wonderful
works” as evidence that they should enter His presence on their own merits,
without acknowledging their dependence on Christ or the need for saving
ordinances at the hands of His authorized servants. The Savior’s response in
the New Testament may seem harsh: “And then will I profess unto them, I
never knew you” (Matthew 7:23). The Joseph Smith Translation offers a
more accurate rendering of the Savior’s words: “And then will I say, Ye
never knew me” (JST Matthew 7:33).
Our friend, Anthony Sweat, came to know the Lord by serving Him. He
wrote, “When I started my mission to La Paz, Bolivia, I was a tall, lanky,
nineteen-year-old who was as thin spiritually as I was physically.”1 He had
read the Book of Mormon and had a testimony, but when he arrived in
Bolivia he still went through a difficult transition. He found his bed too short
and the food too unfamiliar. The high altitude made it hard for him to breathe,
and the poverty that surrounded him was difficult to witness. He felt
homesick, lonely, and frustrated.
The following are actual quotes from his missionary journal:
“March 14th—I’m scared. I’m in culture shock! I’m just glad the day is
over. Help me, Father. I need comfort.”
“April 16th—I need the Lord so bad right now. I’ve truly been
humbled.”
“April 21st—Right now more than ever in my life I’m doubting if this
Church is true, and that God loves us.”
“April 23rd—“I’m having serious doubts about this whole mission
thing.”
“May 15th—Let’s see how much more trials the Lord will try me with. I
just don’t get it all sometimes.”
His concerns were serious, but Anthony kept waking up and working
each day. He kept moving forward in faith. He began to worry less about
himself and more about the people around him. He later wrote, “I started to
really receive charity. I started to feel God’s love for me, and my love for
God and His goodness grew. It didn’t happen to me all at once. . . . It
happened little by little, week by week, month by month.”2
Notice how his journal entries started to change:
“July 21st—I’ve never felt the Spirit stronger in a discussion, or felt
more lifted up by angels and the Spirit, than I did during this discussion. . . .
God just put the words into my mouth with such confidence and power.”
“August 5th—God has really helped me and comforted me with his
Spirit. . . . It’s amazing how God works.”
“August 14th—It’s weird, all I want to do now is give charlas
[discussions], and charlas, and charlas, and have the people accept it and
get baptized.”
“November 18th—It truly amazes me the way God blesses us. All week
we have been praying to find a new family to teach who is ready for the
gospel, and now we’ve found them. . . . I love this work.”
At the beginning of his mission the Master knew Anthony, but by the end
of his mission Anthony had started the process of coming to know the Master.
President Henry B. Eyring promised: “We come to love those we serve. If
we choose to begin to serve the Master out of even a glimmer of faith, we
will begin to know Him. We will come to know His purposes for the people
we serve for Him. Even when they do not accept our offer to serve them, we
will feel His appreciation if we persist.”3
How knoweth a man the master whom he has not served?
Notes
^1. In John Bytheway et al., Suit Up (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013), 69.
^2. In Bytheway et al., Suit Up, 71.
^3. Eyring, “As a Child,” Ensign, May 2006, 16.
25
What teach ye this people?
Mosiah 12:27
When Abinadi rebuked the wicked King Noah and his priests, he asked,
“What teach ye this people?” (Mosiah 12:27). He chastised them for failing
to live what they taught and also for failing to point people to Christ. He said,
“Ye have not applied your hearts to understanding; therefore, ye have not
been wise” (Mosiah 12:27). We all have multiple opportunities to teach
others in our homes, wards, stakes, and communities. In whatever setting in
which we teach, perhaps we can all consider anew Abinadi’s question:
“What teach ye this people?”
Few members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
recognize the name Harry Hale Russell, even though all of us—and our
ancestors—owe him a great debt of gratitude. He developed and supervised
the Temple Index Bureau, which helps Saints avoid duplication as we
perform ordinances for the departed in temples across the globe. Today,
computers and the Internet have streamlined the work of the Temple Index
Bureau, but the original ideas and organization that Brother Russell
developed years ago are still in use.
It is interesting to know that Brother Russell wasn’t always a Church
member with a passion for family history. Harry Russell was born in 1869 in
Wyoming, where his father was a frontier doctor. As Harry grew he was sent
to live with relatives in Iowa and Ohio in order to obtain a proper education
and training to become a pharmacist. In 1881, when he received word of his
father’s death, Harry determined to return to the West and help care for his
mother. They settled in Conejos, Colorado, where Harry established a
pharmacy and was one of the most highly educated men in town.
It was there he met and married a member of the Church named Dollie.
Together they were responsible for bringing the telephone and electricity to
their small community. When missionaries traveled through the area, Dollie
fed them, but Harry felt sorry for these “ignorant” men who had been so
“deceived” that they actually accepted something as “fraudulent” as the Book
of Mormon. Harry finally determined to read the book in an effort to
disprove it. Instead, his own intellectual honesty forced him to accept the
truth of what he read. Harry finally allowed his children to be baptized, but
he could not join himself because he smoked. This did not stop the local
bishop from extending a calling to him to teach Sunday School.
Harry was thrilled at this opportunity to show off his eastern education
and introduce the members, many of whom were not well educated, to some
of the great thinkers, writers, and philosophers of the world. Abinadi may not
have been happy with Harry’s answer to the question, “What teach ye this
people?” Likewise, his bishop told him, “You must teach only Church
doctrine. You must teach from the scriptures. You must teach the principles
and ordinances of the gospel and the life, mission, and Atonement of the
Savior.”
Harry was deflated, but he was obedient. He taught Church doctrine, and
as he did so, he taught not only his students but also himself. On July 7, 1912,
Harry was baptized. He had always been a heavy smoker who rolled his own
cigarettes from a pouch of Bull Durham tobacco. To his wife’s dismay, he
smoked right up until midnight before the day of his baptism. Then he never
smoked again. When he was tempted, he would look at the little sack of
tobacco and say, “Who is stronger—you or me?” Harry lived the Word of
Wisdom throughout the rest of his life and was undeviating in his commitment
to live all the principles of the gospel.
Such is the power of true doctrine. Harry altered his beliefs, broke a
lifelong habit, and changed his entire life. This transformation was not
because of the great thinkers, writers, and philosophers of the world. He had
read and studied their words from his youth, but they did not motivate
significant life changes in Harry. It was true doctrine—the teachings of Jesus
Christ—that led him to God and made all the difference.1
President Boyd K. Packer taught, “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.
Preoccupation with unworthy behavior can lead to unworthy behavior. That
is why we stress so forcefully the study of the doctrines of the gospel.”2
Harry knew the Book of Mormon was true, but knowledge alone was not
enough. Elder Dallin H. Oaks reminded us, “To testify is to know and to
declare. The gospel challenges us to be ‘converted,’ which requires us to do
and to become. If any of us relies solely upon our knowledge and testimony
of the gospel, we are in the same position as the blessed but still unfinished
Apostles whom Jesus challenged to be ‘converted.’ We all know someone
who has a strong testimony but does not act upon it so as to be converted.”3
Teaching and testifying are not enough. We need to live the doctrine. The
priests that Abinadi taught said to him, “We teach the law of Moses” (Mosiah
12:28). But Abinadi replied, “If ye teach the law of Moses why do ye not
keep it?” (Mosiah 12:29). Learning and teaching true doctrine helped Harry
Hale Russell act and make changes in his life.
Like Brother Russell, we can teach true doctrine. We can also invite
those we teach to make changes in their lives. Our objective as gospel
teachers is not to teach content alone; it is to help our students change their
lives. President Thomas S. Monson said, “The goal of gospel teaching . . . is
not to ‘pour information’ into the minds of class members. . . . The aim is to
inspire the individual to think about, feel about, and then do something about
living gospel principles.”4
One early-morning seminary teacher developed a pattern of regularly
giving her students invitations to act. She consistently followed up with them
and asked them to share with each other how acting on the doctrine they had
learned was changing their lives. In doing this, she was following the counsel
of Preach My Gospel, which states, “Rarely, if ever, should you talk to
people or teach them without extending an invitation to do something that
will strengthen their faith in Christ. . . . People will not likely change unless
they are invited to do so . . . Extending an invitation without following up is
like beginning a journey without finishing it or buying a ticket to a concert
without going into the theater. Without the completed action, the commitment
is hollow.”5
It is easy to show up to teach a class and bluff our way through the
lesson—if our job is to deliver content alone. But what would Abinadi say
about that approach? There is so much more for us to do as gospel teachers.
Sunday School general president Russell T. Osguthorpe taught, “Learning for
conversion is a continual process of knowing, doing, and becoming.
Likewise, teaching for conversion requires key doctrine, invitations to
action, and promised blessings. When we teach true doctrine, we help the
learner to know. When we invite others to action, we help them to do or live
the doctrine. And when the blessings come that the Lord has promised, we
are changed.”6
What teach ye this people?
Notes
^1. Janath Russell Cannon, “There Is a Destiny” (unpublished article). Harry Hale Russell is Brad
Wilcox’s great-grandfather.
^2. Packer, “Little Children,” Ensign, November 1986, 17.
^3. Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, November 2000, 33.
^4. Monson, Conference Report, October 1970, 107.
^5. Preach My Gospel (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004), 196,
200.
^6. Osguthorpe, “One Step Closer to the Savior,” Ensign, November 2012, 96.
26
Who shall be his seed?
Mosiah 15:10
“Have you been born again?” Many of us have been asked this question
by Christian friends, and sometimes it can be difficult to know how to
answer. Do members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
believe in being born again? We do! Perhaps this concept is most clearly
explained in the book of Mosiah, where it is taught in three different settings.
Speaking to King Noah and his priests, Abinadi asked a very important
question: “Who shall be [Christ’s] seed?” (Mosiah 15:10). The answer to
this question is at the heart of what it means to be a Christian. Noah
Webster’s 1828 dictionary defined seed as “progeny; offspring; children.” So
the question Abinadi asked is “Who will be Christ’s children?”
Abinadi was not talking about a literal posterity but a spiritual one.
Abinadi’s answer to this question was, “Whosoever has heard the words of
the prophets . . . all those who have hearkened unto their words, and believed
that the Lord would redeem his people, and have looked forward to that day
for a remission of their sins, I say unto you, that these are his seed, or they
are the heirs of the kingdom of God” (Mosiah 15:11).
Thus, Abinadi taught that the seed of Christ are “the righteous, those who
follow the prophets.”1 Being born again means becoming Christ’s seed—His
children—and His seed are those who follow the prophets. If you are a
believer in Christ who follows the prophets, you are on the path to being
born again.
Abinadi’s teachings about the seed of Christ are recorded between two
other accounts that teach the same principle in slightly different ways. At
approximately the same time Abinadi was preaching to Noah in the land of
Nephi, King Benjamin addressed his people in the land of Zarahemla. After
his powerful discourse, the people said, “We are willing to enter into a
covenant with our God to do his will, and to be obedient to his
commandments in all things that he shall command us, all the remainder of
our days” (Mosiah 5:5).
Notice King Benjamin’s response: “And now, because of the covenant
which ye have made ye shall be called the children of Christ, his sons, and
his daughters; for behold, this day he hath spiritually begotten you; for ye say
that your hearts are changed through faith on his name; therefore, ye are born
of him and have become his sons and his daughters” (Mosiah 5:7; emphasis
added).
When we teach our students at Brigham Young University about Mosiah
5:7, they are sometimes confused by the phrase “children of Christ.” They
know they have a Heavenly Father (the Father of our spirits) and an earthly
father (the father of our bodies), but they wonder how they can also be “the
children of Christ.” We explain that becoming the spiritual children of Christ
means accepting Christ’s salvation and being spiritually reborn. Thus, King
Benjamin’s term “the children of Christ” is synonymous with Abinadi’s
teaching about the seed of Christ. In both cases they are talking about Jesus
Christ as the father of our rebirth—our spiritual salvation. This is what it
means to be born again.
Not many years after King Benjamin and Abinadi taught, Alma the
Younger and the sons of Mosiah went about seeking to destroy the church of
God. An angel stopped Alma in the way and called him to repent. Alma fell
to the earth, and for three days and nights, he lay as if he were dead. When he
arose, he had completely changed; notice what he said and how it relates to
being the seed, or spiritual children, of Christ: “The Lord said unto me:
Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds,
tongues and people, must be born again; yea, born of God, changed from
their carnal and fallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of
God, becoming his sons and daughters” (Mosiah 27:25; emphasis added).
In speaking of being “born of God,” Alma was talking about spiritual
rebirth, with Christ as the father of our spiritual salvation. And he told us that
this is something that is essential for everyone—“all men and women . . .
must be born again.”
The seed of Christ. Children of Christ. Born of God. Born again.
These phrases are synonymous terms referring to spiritual rebirth, and as
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said, “Much of the Book of Mormon is directed
toward provoking such a rebirth in its readers.”2
Many Latter-day Saints love Michael McLean’s The Forgotten Carols.3
One of the beloved songs is about Joseph, Mary’s caring and devoted
husband. The song tells of a person who recognized Joseph and asked,
“Aren’t you Jesus’ father?” In the song Joseph responded, “I was not His
father. He was mine.” How could Christ be Joseph’s father? Through the
Atonement Christ was to become the father of Joseph’s spiritual rebirth, his
being born again.
It’s important to know that being born again normally doesn’t happen
overnight. President Ezra Taft Benson taught, “For every Enos, and for every
King Lamoni, there are hundreds and thousands of people who find the
process of repentance much more subtle, much more imperceptible. Day by
day they move closer to the Lord.”4 Elder David A. Bednar further
explained, “Spiritual rebirth . . . typically does not occur quickly or all at
once; it is an ongoing process—not a single event. Line upon line and precept
upon precept, gradually and almost imperceptibly, our motives, our thoughts,
our words, and our deeds become aligned with the will of God. This phase
of the transformation process requires time, persistence, and patience.”5
While spiritual rebirth comes gradually, it is something all of us can
actively seek. When Abinadi asked, “Who shall be [Christ’s] seed?” we
hope that all of us will resoundingly answer, “I am Christ’s seed. I am a child
of Christ. I have been born again!”
Who shall be his seed?

Notes
^1. Merrill J. Bateman, “The Power to Heal from Within,” Ensign, May 1995, 14.
^2. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2006), 188.
^3. McLean, The Forgotten Carols (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1998), 56, 105–6; used by
permission.
^4. Benson, “A Mighty Change of Heart,” Ensign, October 1989, 5.
^5. Bednar, “Ye Must Be Born Again,” Ensign, May 2007, 21.
27
Have you sufficiently retained in
remembrance the captivity of your
fathers?
Alma 5:6
When Alma was trying to strengthen the members of the Church in his
day, he spoke of repentance and keeping the commandments, of being born
again and cleansing their garments through the blood of Jesus Christ.
However, he spoke of something else first. He spoke of their heritage. He
spoke of his father and the beginnings of the Church in his day at the Waters
of Mormon. He spoke of how these early members were in bondage and
captivity but were delivered by the power of God. In one discourse, Alma
asked forty-two questions, and the very first ones he asked are these: “Have
you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your fathers? Yea,
and have you sufficiently retained in remembrance his mercy and long-
suffering towards them?” (Alma 5:6). He focused the people’s attention on
the great things that the Lord had done for their ancestors. Consider the
message of the poem “Pride’s Peak” by Brad’s mother, Val C. Wilcox:
Atop the summit of this peak

I view all time stretched out beneath
Where distant blue-gray mistiness
Soft-swirls into a victor’s wreath.
Now haughtily I face the wind
And boldly posturing I cry,
“I reached this height all by myself!”
But then, as though in quick reply,
My lowered gaze begins to trace
The twisting trail from valley floor—
A carefully laid path worn smooth
By feet of those who came before.1
There are countless stories of ancestors who paved the path for us.
Louisa Gwyther, for example, was born in England in 1827. She was the
daughter of a Baptist minister. The family was educated and wealthy. As a
child Louisa read the Bible, but she felt confused at the contradictions she
saw between what Jesus taught and the religious practices that surrounded
her. She was twenty-two years old when she met the Mormon missionaries
and attended the meetings they held. Her confusion melted away as she
realized this was what she had been waiting for; she was secretly baptized
one week after her first contact with the missionaries.
In the middle of a big storm, Louisa climbed down a rope from her
second-story bedroom window in order to meet with others who also desired
baptism. On November 18, 1849, the missionaries had to break the ice in a
stream to baptize her. When her secret became known, she was disowned and
cast out for joining what her father called “a low-down set of people.”
Louisa was forced to make her own living as a maid and seamstress.
She met George Taylor at a Church meeting, and the two were married
on October 19, 1853. They had two daughters and desired nothing more than
to gather with the Saints in Utah. George finally determined to go ahead of
the family to America, where he could earn money and send for his wife and
family to join him. When he arrived in Virginia, he fell sick, and it took him
longer than anticipated to earn the money for his family’s passage. Finally,
just as the Civil War was starting, he sent for his wife and daughters.
Before Louisa left England, her father sent her sister to plead with her to
denounce her church and leave her husband. Her family promised that her
daughters would be well cared for and educated in the finest schools. Louisa
told her sister she appreciated her father’s concern, but she knew the gospel
was true, and she would rather work her fingers to the bone than give it up.
Louisa and her girls traveled from England to New York, but they could
afford only the most meager accommodations. There was little food and
much sickness throughout their voyage. At long last, the family was reunited
with George, who didn’t waste any time moving his family west.
Crossing the plains was hard on all of them—especially the two girls,
who walked the whole way. A baby son was born to Louisa and George, and
only with heaven’s help did he survive the trek. Louisa, still weak from her
journey across the ocean, a difficult pregnancy, and childbirth, told her
husband she wondered if she had the strength to carry on. She told him he
may very well have to take the girls and their baby son to Zion by himself.
He quietly reminded her of the way she had stolen away from her
parents and been baptized in a frozen stream. He reminded her of when he
first saw her at Church services. He was an usher, and she had long dark hair
that she wore in ringlets. She wore a dress of silk and satin. George had told
his friends that she was the girl he wanted to marry, and they told him she
was obviously far above his station. Nevertheless he had won her love.
George reminded his wife of all they had sacrificed in order to reach
their goal of gathering with the Saints in Zion and of their years of living
apart—all for the goal of being able to rear their family among believers and
far from the ridicule and persecution they had faced in England. “We are so
close,” George told his discouraged wife. “We cannot stop now.” His words
gave Louisa strength, and she was able to keep going despite her complete
and utter exhaustion. The family arrived in the Salt Lake Valley on September
24, 1862—and they all arrived together. George and Louisa are Brad’s great-
great-grandparents.
Speaking of pioneers such as these, President Gordon B. Hinckley said,
“They were travel-worn, these pioneers. . . . But here they were, looking
down the years, and dreaming a millennial dream, a grand dream of Zion.
You are familiar with their story. You are the fruit of all their planning and of
all of their labors. Whether you have pioneer ancestry or came into the
Church only yesterday, you are a part of this whole grand picture of which
those men dreamed. Theirs was a tremendous undertaking. Ours is a great
continuing responsibility. They laid the foundation. Ours is the duty to build
on it. They marked the path and led the way. Ours is the obligation to enlarge
and broaden and strengthen that path until it encompasses the whole earth.
What a marvelous thing it is to have a great heritage.”2
All of us have ancestors who helped us get to where we are today. When
we begin to take the blessings we enjoy for granted, perhaps we need to
spend more time reflecting on the lives and testimonies of those who have
gone before. When we stand atop our peaks of pride and are tempted to cry,
“I reached this height all by myself,” let us lower our gaze and see the path
that has been carved out by others. Their sacrifices demand our respect,
gratitude, and humility. Let us ponder again Alma’s question to members of
the Church in his day.
Have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your

fathers?
Notes
^1. Wilcox, “Pride’s Peak” (unpublished poem); used by permission.
^2. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997), 450–51.
28
Have ye received his image in your
countenances?
Alma 5:14
As Alma addressed Church members in Zarahemla, he asked, “Have ye

received [God’s] image in your countenances?” (Alma 5:14). This question
has been the topic of many talks, devotionals, and songs. President James E.
Faust recounted the following experience:
“I recently recalled a historic meeting in Jerusalem about 17 years ago.
It was regarding the lease for the land on which the Brigham Young
University’s Jerusalem Center for Near Eastern Studies was later built.
Before this lease could be signed, President Ezra Taft Benson and Elder
Jeffrey R. Holland, then president of Brigham Young University, agreed with
the Israeli government on behalf of the Church and the university not to
proselyte in Israel. You might wonder why we agreed not to proselyte. We
were required to do so in order to get the building permit to build that
magnificent building which stands in the historic city of Jerusalem. To our
knowledge the Church and BYU have scrupulously and honorably kept that
nonproselyting commitment. After the lease had been signed, one of our
friends insightfully remarked, ‘Oh, we know that you are not going to
proselyte, but what are you going to do about the light that is in their eyes?’
He was referring to our students who were studying in Israel.”1
You don’t have to travel to Israel to find examples of people with
Christ’s image in their countenances.
Chantelle Ledingham was a Latter-day Saint young woman living in
Provo, Utah, and, like many young women, she earned money babysitting.
One day she received a rather urgent call: Would she come to Sundance ski
resort and tend a baby that same evening? She would be getting home at a
rather late hour. Chantelle checked with her parents, and they agreed that she
should perform this service.
When she arrived at Sundance, Chantelle discovered the baby she would
be tending belonged to a famous singer who was giving an important concert
in Utah that night. The nanny who usually accompanied the star had missed
her plane and would not be arriving until the next day. The singer was
threatening to cancel the concert at the last minute because she did not want
to leave her baby with a stranger. Someone at the resort knew Chantelle and
recommended her as a babysitter. Still, the star insisted she would not leave
her baby with the girl if she didn’t feel comfortable with her. But the minute
the singer looked at Chantelle, she said, “You have a glow about you. Your
eyes just shine. I feel totally comfortable leaving my baby with you.”
How does one receive Christ’s image in his or her countenance?
Perhaps one key is to desire to have Christ more than the world in your life.
A quick perusal of the most-often visited sites on the Internet indicates the
priorities of many people in the world: wealth, sexual gratification, power,
and entertainment. Obviously, the desires of too many are off-base. But, even
among believers, are there those who don’t want to appear to be too
different? Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “Some . . . are more concerned with
the preservation of their public image than with having Christ’s image in their
countenances!”2 The students in Israel and Chantelle in Provo desired to live
differently from the world and thus were able to make a difference in the
world.
One way to “desire Christ” more than the world is by seeking the gift of
charity. Mormon wrote, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the
Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which
he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ;
that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be
like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we
may be purified even as he is pure” (Moroni 7:48).
Desiring Christ and being filled with His love will help us receive His
image in our countenances. Repentance is also a vital part of the process.
Sister Elaine S. Dalton wrote, “As you draw close to the Savior, His infinite
Atonement makes it possible for you to repent, to change, to be pure, and to
receive His image in your countenance.”3
In Doctrine and Covenants 130:1, we read, “When the Savior shall
appear we shall see him as he is. We shall see that he is a man like
ourselves.” At the Savior’s second coming, some will be surprised to
discover that He has a perfected and resurrected physical body. However,
for Latter-day Saints on that sacred day, the question will not be how much
the Savior looks like us but how much we have come to look like Him. Will
He see His image in our countenances? Will He see His light shining in our
eyes? “And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him
who enlighteneth your eyes” (D&C 88:11).
Have ye received his image in your countenances?
Notes
^1. Faust, “The Light in Their Eyes,” Ensign, November 2005, 20.
^2. Maxwell, “Repentance,” Ensign, November 1991, 31.
^3. Dalton, Shine! (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2012), 43.
29
Do you look forward with an eye of
faith?
Alma 5:15
Another question that Alma asked the people of Zarahemla is “Do you
look forward with an eye of faith?” (Alma 5:15). What does this mean, and
how can we look forward with an eye of faith?
The phrase “an eye of faith” appears only two other times in the
scriptures (Alma 32:40; Ether 12:19). Part of looking forward with an eye of
faith is the spiritual ability to see ahead and keep moving forward even
though we do not know for certain what will happen. For example, Alma
taught that we should “nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith
to the fruit thereof” (Alma 32:40). In other words, even though we may not
yet be able to see the results of the spiritual efforts we are making, we should
continue to make those efforts. In time, we will be able to taste of the sweet
fruit that we once saw only with “an eye of faith.” Moroni taught, “There
were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came,
who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the
things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad” (Ether
12:19).
Elder David A. Bednar gave a description of faith that can help us better
understand what it might mean to “look forward with an eye of faith.” He
described three elements of faith as “(1) faith as the assurance of things
hoped for which are true, (2) faith as the evidence of things not seen, and (3)
faith as the principle of action in all intelligent beings.”1
Elder Bednar explained: “I describe these three components of faith in
the Savior as simultaneously facing the future, looking to the past, and
initiating action in the present, . . . True faith is focused in and on the Lord
Jesus Christ and always leads to action.”2
Perhaps we could visualize this statement with the following diagram:
Let’s imagine a person faced with an important decision. As she prays

about what to do, she has a small impression to move forward in a certain
direction. She does not yet have a sure knowledge about what to do, only
quiet “assurance” from the Holy Ghost. As she looks back over her life, she
sees many times when she has followed promptings from the Spirit and things
have worked out. This is “evidence” that can help her take “action” in the
present and move “forward” with an eye of faith. As she does move forward,
acting in faith, things will work out—and what was initially an “assurance”
will turn into “evidence” that will help her continue to take action in the
future when faced with similar situations. Elder Bednar provided this
explanation:
“Faith as the evidence of things not seen looks to the past and confirms
our trust in God and our confidence in the truthfulness of things not seen. We
stepped into the darkness with assurance and hope, and we received
evidence and confirmation as the light in fact moved and provided the
illumination we needed. The witness we obtained after the trial of our faith
(Ether 12:6) is evidence that enlarges and strengthens our assurance.”3
John shares the following experience of when he was blessed to see
“with an eye of faith”:
“I was called to serve in the Colorado Denver North Mission, English
speaking. Early in my mission I served in an area where there were many
Spanish-speakers. I learned a simple door approach in Spanish and enjoyed
attempting to communicate with others in that language. I felt a small spiritual
impression that when I returned from my mission I should learn Spanish.
“I remembered that prompting, and when I returned home, I enrolled in
Spanish 101. It was a hard class, but I had seen evidence in my life
previously that following promptings was a good thing, so I kept moving
forward. I used every opportunity I could to practice my Spanish, and I felt
impressed to seek opportunities to move to a Spanish-speaking country so
that I could significantly increase my fluency. While I was enrolled in
Spanish 102, I made numerous contacts with internship providers in a variety
of countries, but nobody wanted to hire me. I even volunteered to work for
free, but nobody accepted!
“I was discouraged, but I realized that perhaps the timing was not right.
In retrospect, I can see that was the case. The summer I wanted to be abroad
was the same summer I began courting Lani, the woman I eventually married.
Six months later, we were engaged, and she and I began discussing the
possibility of moving to Mexico after we were married so that we could
develop our language skills together.
“At the time, I was taking twenty-two credit hours and working twenty
hours a week. I didn’t have time to do the legwork necessary to find an
internship. But I e-mailed a few of the contacts I had made the previous year,
and almost immediately a situation arose in which Lani and I could work for
an educational institution in Mexico for three months, beginning shortly after
we were married. We were even able to get financial support to cover the
costs of the trip.
“Looking back, I saw that at least part of the reason I had felt prompted
to seek for opportunities to work in a Spanish-speaking country the previous
year had been to lay the groundwork so that Lani and I could go to Mexico
together.
“We had a wonderful experience, and by the end of that summer I was
fluent in Spanish. After we returned to the United States, I was called as a
ward mission leader. In that calling I had several opportunities to speak
Spanish as I invited people to come unto Christ.
“Four years later, I received an e-mail, which was sent to all of the
employees of Church seminaries and institutes. The e-mail said that they
were looking for a person to coordinate the seminary and institute programs
in Miami, Florida. A requirement for the position was the ability to speak
Spanish. As I read the e-mail, I felt certain that I should apply.
“Within seventy-two hours I was offered the position, and our family
moved to Miami shortly thereafter. We had incredibly wonderful experiences
during the time we lived there, and I truly believe the opportunity for our
family to be in Miami at that time was divinely orchestrated.
“On my mission I felt an impression to learn Spanish. I didn’t know
what would happen—I just had an ‘assurance’ that I should move forward
with an eye of faith and take ‘action’ in the present. I did so, and years later I
see ‘evidence’ that I had pursued the right course.”
Looking forward with an eye of faith can give us power to make hard
decisions in the present, knowing that great blessings will come in the future.
One young couple faced a difficult decision about where they should be
married. Because none of their parents could enter the temple, they would
have no family members present if they chose to marry there. Despite this
circumstance, this young couple looked forward with an eye of faith and
were married in the temple. In the intervening decades, they raised a
righteous family and have seen each of their children marry in the temple.
Because they acted in faith, their posterity has been richly blessed.
It is not always easy to look forward with an eye of faith. President
Dieter F. Uchtdorf explained, “We don’t always know the details of our
future. We do not know what lies ahead. We live in a time of uncertainty. We
are surrounded by challenges on all sides. Occasionally discouragement may
sneak into our day; frustration may invite itself into our thinking; doubt might
enter about the value of our work. In these dark moments Satan whispers in
our ears that we will never be able to succeed, that the price isn’t worth the
effort, and that our small part will never make a difference. . . . [But] God
will bless you and open the eyes of your understanding so you can see the
end from the beginning.”4
Things may look dark—but they will get better. We can look toward the
future with an assurance that things will work out because we can look to our
past and see evidence of the ways in which the Lord has helped us
previously. This will give us the strength to take action in the present and
move forward “with an eye of faith.”
Do you look forward with an eye of faith?
Notes
^1. Bednar, “Seek Learning by Faith,” address to Church Education System religious educators, February
3, 2006, Ensign, September 2007, 62.
^2. Bednar, “Seek Learning,” 62.
^3. Bednar, “Seek Learning,” 62–63.
^4. Uchtdorf, “See the End from the Beginning,” Ensign, May 2006, 43.
30
Can ye feel so now?
Alma 5:26
When speaking to Church members in his time, Alma asked, “If ye have
experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of
redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” (Alma 5:26). Almost
every serious reader of the Book of Mormon can connect with this question
here and now. But one thing we may overlook is how significant that question
might have been to the people—particularly the older ones—to whom Alma
was speaking.
In about the year 125 b.c., King Benjamin gave a powerful discourse to
the people in the land of Zarahemla. After hearing this message, the people
cried with one voice: “The Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent . . . has wrought a
mighty change in us, or in our hearts” (Mosiah 5:2; emphasis added).
Alma’s discourse took place in the same city of Zarahemla forty years later.
So perhaps some of the people to whom Alma spoke of “a change of heart”
had in fact, a generation earlier, testified that they had felt this change. Some
who once experienced powerful purification no longer sang that song.
Speaking to members of the Church today, Elder Quentin L. Cook also
asked, “Can ye feel so now?”1 He said, “Some are casual in their observance
of sacred covenants. Others spend most of their time giving first-class
devotion to lesser causes. Some allow intense cultural or political views to
weaken their allegiance to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Some have immersed
themselves in Internet materials that magnify, exaggerate, and, in some cases,
invent shortcomings of early Church leaders. Then they draw incorrect
conclusions that can affect testimony.”2
As Alma’s words were particularly potent for the older generation of his
audience, it is likewise vital for modern-day parents and grandparents to
continually be able to sing the song of redeeming love. Elder Jeffrey R.
Holland taught, “We can hardly expect the children to get to shore safely if
the parents don’t seem to know where to anchor their own boat.”3 We can
anchor our boats in truth and feel the spirituality we once felt.
No matter what has dulled the drive that once led to a changed heart and
originally motivated us to sing the song of redeeming love, those feelings can
be revived. This applies across a wide variety of circumstances. For the
teenager who misses the feelings he had at youth conference, the question is
“What were you doing then that you are not doing now?” For the individual
who doubts his testimony, the question is “What were you doing differently
when you felt a firm testimony that the gospel is true?” For the former bishop
who has left the Church because he no longer feels needed, the question is
“What were you doing when you acted in your calling that you stopped doing
when you were released?” For the married couple who believes their
marriage has lost its spark, the question is “What were you doing earlier in
your relationship that you are no longer doing?”
One young man left the Missionary Training Center because he had
never had the courage to confess previous sins to priesthood leaders. When
the truth surfaced, the young man spent the next few years repenting and
striving to break bad habits. Though he never met the man who would have
been his mission president in person, the two corresponded regularly by e-
mail and phone calls. The young man never served in the boundaries of the
mission, but the mission president still considered him “his missionary.”
Several years later, the mission president accompanied the young man
when he finally received his recommend and returned to the temple. Later,
the mission president was thrilled to be invited to the young man’s sealing to
his wife. Some years later, the two saw each other again. The young man had
a calling and was moving forward with his education. Still, he felt
remorseful at having missed his mission. In private, he told his mission
president, “I just can’t shake the feeling that I let the Lord down because I
never served.”
His president explained, “The past is important and the regrets we feel
are very real consequences of the poor choices we have made. Still, I think
the Lord is more concerned about what is than what was.” The president told
the discouraged young man that he knew of another elder who served
valiantly, was released honorably, but had since left the Church. He said,
“You feel bad because you didn’t make it through your mission, but he made
it through and did not continue after that. He can’t show me a current temple
recommend the way you can. He has not chosen to marry in the temple the
way you have. He is not active and contributing in his ward the way you
are.”4
Sometimes our regretful remorse can almost overpower the song we
currently want to sing. We can’t change the past, but we can repent, learn
from it, and move forward. Elder Quentin L. Cook said, “My sincere prayer
is that each of us will take any necessary action to feel the Spirit now so we
can sing the song of redeeming love with all our hearts.”5
Can ye feel so now?
Notes
^1. Cook, “Can Ye Feel So Now?” Ensign, November 2012, 6.
^2. Cook, “Can Ye Feel So Now?” 7.
^3. Holland, “A Prayer for the Children,” Ensign, May 2003, 86.
^4. Correspondence in possession of Brad Wilcox.
^5. Cook, “Can Ye Feel So Now?” 9.
31
Are ye stripped of pride?
Alma 5:28
In a modern revelation, the Lord said, “Beware of pride, lest ye become

as the Nephites of old” (D&C 38:39). Alma was aware of the pride of the
Nephites. One pointed comment he made to the people of Zarahemla was,
“Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not
prepared to meet God” (Alma 5:28). Just after this question, Alma made a
related query: “Is there one among you who is not stripped of envy? I say
unto you that such an one is not prepared; and I would that he should prepare
quickly, for the hour is close at hand, and he knoweth not when the time shall
come; for such an one is not found guiltless” (Alma 5:29). Modern prophets
have also made the connection between pride and envy.1
John humorously recounts a time when he and Brad spoke together at
a special event for youth and some envy set in:
“As I was preparing to speak, a young woman shyly approached,
carrying her camera. ‘That’s so cute,’ I thought. ‘She wants to take her
picture with me.’
“She said to me, ‘Are you Brad Wilcox?’
“‘No,’ I said. ‘He’s the second speaker.’
“‘Oh,’ she said. And she turned and walked away to find Brother
Wilcox. I was so embarrassed! For a moment I was envious of Brad, and I
realized how quickly pride and envy can set in!”
Alma’s questions about pride and envy can provide us with the
opportunity to reflect on our lives and the degree to which we have
eliminated pride. All of us struggle, to one degree or another, with some
aspect of pride. President Ezra Taft Benson said, “Pride is the universal
sin.”2
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf explained that “At its core, pride is a sin of
comparison.”3 The tendency to compare is common—we look at others and
say, “I wish I had his perfect life,” or “At least I’m not as bad as that
person!” Some of these comparisons border on the humorous—like the
woman who had a sign in her kitchen that said, “Lord, if you can’t make me
skinny, please make my friends fat!”
One way in which many young people are compared is with grades.
Suppose a boy received a ninety percent score on a test and felt happy with
it. He turned to his neighbor and said, “What grade did you get?” She said, “I
got a hundred percent!” Suddenly, the grade the boy received didn’t seem so
great, and envy set in.
Or what about the opposite case? A girl received a C on a test and felt
somewhat discouraged. She asked a friend, “What grade did you get?” He
said, “I failed that test.” “Ha, ha,” she says, “I’m smarter than you!”
Why is it that in these instances the students’ feelings about their own
grades changed when they looked at someone else’s? While these
illustrations might pertain to school situations, most of us can find similar
examples in our lives of how our perspective about the good—or bad—has
been changed by comparing what we have—or don’t have—with others.
C. S. Lewis put it this way: “Pride gets no pleasure out of having
something, only out of having more of it than the next man. . . . It is the
comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Once
the element of competition has gone, pride has gone.”4
How can we tell if we are becoming prideful or if there is an element of
unrighteous competition in our lives? Elder Kim B. Clark provided several
“red flags” of pride. He asked:
“Do you find yourself critiquing the talks in sacrament meeting?
“When adversity strikes, do you hear a voice inside that says, ‘Why
me?’
“Do you react to prophetic counsel by ignoring it, being upset by it, or
interpreting it to suit your own desires?
“If someone you know receives something good, do you hear a voice
inside saying, ‘What about me?’
“Do you find ways to let others know of your success without appearing
to boast?
“If someone corrects a mistake you made, do you feel defensive and
resentful?
“When someone does something that creates inconvenience for you, do
you feel annoyed?”5
These questions illustrate the pervasive problem of pride. Although it is
difficult to eliminate pride, that is what we are required to do. Alma did not
ask, “Have you made a few efforts not to be so prideful?” He asked, “Are ye
stripped of pride?” Webster’s 1828 dictionary defines stripped as “pulled or
torn off; peeled; skinned.” How intriguing that these synonyms all have
connotations that are painful. To have something “pulled or torn off,” to be
“peeled,” or to have a “skinned” knee does not sound fun. Perhaps becoming
stripped of pride is similar. It may not be a pleasant process to pull, tear,
skin, or peel off every particle of pride. But it’s something we must strive to
do in order to prepare to meet God. In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus said,
“Blessed are the poor in spirit: for theirs is the kingdom of heaven”
(Matthew 5:3). A footnote for this verse helps us define “poor in spirit”:
“poor in pride, humble in spirit” (Matthew 5:3b).
President Ezra Taft Benson taught us how we can become poor in pride
and humble in spirit:
“God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble or
we can be compelled to be humble. . . .
“We can choose to humble ourselves by conquering enmity toward our
brothers and sisters, esteeming them as ourselves, and lifting them as high or
higher than we are. (See D&C 38:24; D&C 81:5; D&C 84:106.)
“We can choose to humble ourselves by receiving counsel and
chastisement. (See Jacob 4:10; Hel. 15:3; D&C 63:55; D&C 101:4–5; D&C
108:1; D&C 124:61, 84; D&C 136:31; Prov. 9:8.)
“We can choose to humble ourselves by forgiving those who have
offended us. (See 3 Ne. 13:11, 14; D&C 64:10.)
“We can choose to humble ourselves by rendering selfless service. (See
Mosiah 2:16–17.)
“We can choose to humble ourselves by going on missions and
preaching the word that can humble others. (See Alma 4:19; Alma 31:5;
Alma 48:20.)
“We can choose to humble ourselves by getting to the temple more
frequently.
“We can choose to humble ourselves by confessing and forsaking our
sins and being born of God. (See D&C 58:43; Mosiah 27:25–26; Alma 5:7–
14, 49.)
“We can choose to humble ourselves by loving God, submitting our will
to His, and putting Him first in our lives. (See 3 Ne. 11:11; 3 Ne. 13:33;
Moro. 10:32.)”6
That’s quite a list. On most days, completing even part of President
Benson’s directions may seem impossible. That’s why we love the
concluding words to his message: “Let us choose to be humble. We can do it.
I know we can.”7 We can do it! Are we stripped of pride? Not yet, but we
can be working diligently on choosing to be humble.
Are ye stripped of pride?
Notes
^1. Dieter F. Uchtdorf, “Pride and the Priesthood,” Ensign, November 2010, 55–58; and Ezra Taft
Benson, “Beware of Pride,” Ensign, May 1989, 4–7.
^2. Benson, “Beware of Pride,” 6.
^3. Uchtdorf, “Of Things That Matter Most,” Ensign, November 2010, 56.
^4. Lewis, Mere Christianity (New York: Macmillan, 1952), 109–10.
^5. Clark, “Are Ye Stripped of Pride?” Brigham Young University devotional address, September 29,
^6. Benson, “Beware of Pride,” 6–7.
^7. Benson, “Beware of Pride,” 7.
32
How do ye suppose that I know?
Alma 5:45
After Alma the Younger had served as the chief judge and the high priest
of the Church for several years, he noticed that iniquity was entering the
Church and hindering the progress of its members. Alma decided to confer
the responsibilities of the judgment seat on another man. He “retained the
office of high priest unto himself” so that he “might go forth among his people
. . . that he might preach the word of God” and bear “pure testimony” to them
(Alma 4:18, 19).
Not only did Alma preach and testify of what he knew to be true but he
also explained how he came to know the truth for himself. He asked, “And
how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?” (Alma 5:45). His answer
provided insight for those listening to him then and to us in our day as well.
He did not dwell on the fact that he had seen an angel. Instead, he said, “I
have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself”
(Alma 5:46). The knowledge of which he spoke came from the Holy Spirit of
God.
We live in a time when declarations of faith are doubted and even
ridiculed on all sides. This makes some members of the Church a little shy
and nervous about using the words I know when speaking of spiritual truths.
One person said, “I don’t like it when people stand in testimony meetings and
say, ‘I know,’ because you can’t know stuff like that. You can believe or have
faith, but you can’t know!” We respectfully disagree.1
Jesus Christ used the word know when He affirmed, “And this is life
eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom
thou hast sent” (John 17:3; emphasis added), or when He said, “Ye shall
know the truth, and the truth shall make you free” (John 8:32; emphasis
added). Like Alma, we can know, but we need to remember that there are
different kinds of knowledge: knowledge through experience, knowledge
through study, and knowledge through revelation. Though we may sometimes
feel that our knowledge is incomplete, that doesn’t mean that we don’t know.
Just because a gas tank isn’t full doesn’t mean it’s empty. With every drop of
experience, study, and revelation, we fill our tanks a little more, and we can
say, “I know.”
We gain gospel knowledge—or a testimony—through experience as we
participate in Church activity and interact with other members. We attend
sacrament meeting and partake of the sacrament. We worship the Savior and
learn of Him. We sing hymns, prepare and give talks, and participate in
interviews. We attend classes and activities. We know what it is like to be a
Latter-day Saint because we have experienced it firsthand. And though we
may not always recognize it, the Spirit is there, and He helps us receive
knowledge. Even the youngest Primary children can legitimately bear a
strong testimony based on experience. Jesus taught, “If any man will do his
will, he shall know” (John 7:17). People who “do” by being active in the
Church know much more than they may give themselves credit for. Even if
they have not yet received an intense spiritual witness, they can still stand
and bear testimony from their experience.
President Boyd K. Packer taught the following:
“A testimony is a testimony, and it should be respected, whether it is
small or large. We become taller in our testimony like we grow in physical
stature and hardly know it is happening, because it comes by growth.
“I know that the gospel is true; the Spirit is there. . . .
“You’d think there would be a better way for one of the Twelve to bear
testimony, but we’re left to bear it in the same way our little grandkids do in
Primary—just to say we know it’s true.”2
We gain knowledge, or a testimony, through study as we learn the
revealed word of God and find answers to our questions (Alma 17:2). Again,
the Spirit is present in this process, though we may not always recognize it.
For instance, people who study the gospel with the missionaries often start to
gain a sense that all the puzzle pieces are finally fitting together. They receive
a confirmation of ideas they have always felt to be true, and they discover a
broader perspective than they have had before.
Brad shares the following experience of gaining a testimony through
study:
“While serving as a young missionary in Chile, my companion and I
were walking down a street in the city of Los Andes. Across the way, a lady
leaned out of her window to shake a blanket and said, ‘Good morning,
elders.’ She then disappeared into her house. I was surprised by her greeting.
I walked up to the door, knocked, and when the woman answered, I asked,
‘How did you know us?’
“She invited us in and explained that she and her husband had been two
of the first people baptized in that community many years earlier. They had
loved the Church until one day they became offended. They now attended
another church. ‘Now we know the Mormon Church is not true,’ she said,
retrieving a book titled something like Everything You Want to Know about
the Mormons and written, of course, by a non-Latter-day Saint author.
“I glanced at the first few pages. I wasn’t an expert in Church history,
but I knew Joseph Smith did not claim to see two angels named Urim and
Thummim! ‘Not all of this is true,’ I said to the woman. ‘Look, if you want to
know about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, talk to us. We’ll
help you.’
“That was the beginning. In the weeks that followed, my companion and
I watched the members of this family add to their testimonies. They had
joined the Church earlier, but relying only on experiences in the Church was
not enough to see this sister and her family through when the going got rough.
Now, because they had also studied hard and found answers on their own,
they each could say, ‘I know through study.’”
The third type of knowledge is testimony that comes through direct
revelation—when the Holy Spirit bears witness to our spirits and we
recognize it. (The Spirit probably testified of truth to us during our earlier
experience and study, but we may not have realized it.) Alma spoke of how
he had gained knowledge through revelation. He said, “[These things] are
made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and
prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do
know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest
unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me”
(Alma 5:46).
Spiritual revelation is crucial in the quest to know of a surety. As
President Joseph Fielding Smith said, “When a man has the manifestation
from the Holy Ghost, it leaves an indelible impression on his soul, one that is
not easily erased. It is Spirit speaking to spirit, and it comes with convincing
force.”3
One evening, after a testimony meeting at an Especially for Youth
gathering, a handsome young man with tears streaming down his face
approached his leader and said, “I know. I know. I have learned for myself.”
The leader was struck by what he said because it was almost exactly
what Joseph Smith said when he walked out of the grove and into his home in
1820. As Joseph leaned against the fireplace, his mother asked what the
matter was. He replied, “Never mind, all is well—I am well enough off.” He
then said, “I have learned for myself” (Joseph Smith–History 1:20).
Joseph had received a testimony by revelation. Yet even his powerful
and world-changing testimony came by degrees. Before the grove, there was
the groundwork. Before the pillar of light, there was the prayer. Before the
revelation, there was the reading. We see from this example that all three
types of knowledge worked together for this young prophet. Joseph’s
experiences and study had built the faith, humility, and obedience necessary
for him to receive a perfect knowledge of God’s existence.
Even without a vision, however, those who have felt the Spirit can stand
with President Joseph F. Smith and declare, “I have received the witness of
the Spirit of God in my own heart, which exceeds all other evidences, for it
bears record to me, to my very soul.”4
Elder Dallin H. Oaks declared, “One of the greatest things about our
Heavenly Father’s plan for His children is that each of us can know the truth
of that plan for ourselves. . . . We can receive that knowledge directly from
our Heavenly Father through the witness of the Holy Ghost. When we know
spiritual truths by spiritual means, we can be just as sure of that knowledge
as scholars and scientists are of the different kinds of knowledge they have
acquired by different methods.”5
Whether knowledge comes from experience, study, personal revelation,
or some combination of these sources working together, we have the right to
say, “I know.” Our gauges may not measure a full tank, but we are not on
“empty,” either. And the level of our testimony tanks can continually
increase. No one gets to a full tank of gas without adding to it along the way.
And just as cars don’t run forever on a single tank of gas, testimony tanks
must be filled and refilled regularly. It’s up to us. When it comes right down
to it, each of us puts gas in his or her own tank—or, like the virgins in the
Lord’s parable, oil in his or her own lamp (Matthew 25:1–13).
How do ye suppose that I know?
Notes
^1. Brad Wilcox, “You Can Say, ‘I Know,’” New Era, February 2013, 20–23.
^2. Packer, “How Does the Spirit Speak to Us?” New Era, February 2010, 3.
^3. Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957–66), 2:151.
^4. Smith, Joseph F. Smith (manual), Teachings of Presidents of the Church series (Salt Lake City: The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 1998), 201.
^5. Oaks, “Testimony,” Ensign, May 2008, 26.
33
Knowest thou that the righteous
yieldeth to no such temptations?
Alma 11:23
Zeezrom was a wicked man “who was expert in the devices of the
devil” (Alma 11:21). Zeezrom told Amulek that he would give him a large
amount of silver if Amulek would simply deny the existence of a Supreme
Being. Amulek responded, “Why tempt ye me? Knowest thou that the
righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?” (Alma 11:23).
One way we might interpret Amulek’s question is to ask, “Knowest thou
that the righteous yieldeth to no financial temptation?” If we read Alma 11
carefully, we see that Zeezrom was offering Amulek forty-two days’ worth of
salary to deny God. Let’s say Amulek’s salary was equal to one hundred
dollars per day. In that case, he could have made $4,200 simply by denying
his testimony. But the righteous yield to no such temptations.
It’s highly unlikely that someone will approach us and offer us $4,200 to
deny our testimonies—but there are other ways in which Satan may tempt us
to deny God for money. Cheating on taxes, illegally copying files, not paying
tithing, or spending an excessive amount of time working instead of focusing
on our families or other priorities are all possible ways we might be tempted
to trade the treasures of God for the tricks of Satan. President Gordon B.
Hinckley told about a woman from Brazil who refused to give in to financial
temptation. The woman recounted her story:
“I remember a time when I . . . faced serious financial difficulties. It was
a Thursday when I received my salary. When I figured the monthly budget, I
noticed that there wouldn’t be enough to pay [both] my tithing and my
university. I would have to choose between them. The bimonthly tests would
start the following week, and if I didn’t take them I could lose the school
year. I felt great agony. . . . My heart ached. I had a painful decision before
me, and I didn’t know what to decide. I pondered between the two choices:
to pay tithing or to risk the possibility of not obtaining the necessary credits
to be approved in school.”
The woman pondered, prayed, and ultimately chose to pay her tithing,
but she was left wondering what would happen with her tests. While at work
the next day she felt that no solution would be forthcoming. Her employer
was quite strict, and it did not seem that he would be willing to advance her
any additional funds. The woman continued:
“The working period was ending when my employer approached and
gave the last orders of the day. When he had done so, with his briefcase in
his hand he bid farewell. . . . Suddenly, he halted, and looking at me he
asked, ‘How is your college?’ I was surprised, and I couldn’t believe what I
was hearing. The only thing I could answer with a trembling voice was,
‘Everything is all right!’ He looked thoughtfully at me and bid farewell again.
Shortly thereafter the secretary came to the woman and informed her that
her employer had decided to begin paying for all of her college expenses.
The Lord had opened “the windows of heaven” (Malachi 3:10).1
By resisting the temptation to postpone paying tithing, this young woman
was greatly blessed. The same is true for each of us. Amulek said that the
righteous “yieldeth to no such [financial] temptation.” We might ask, Do the
righteous lower their standards for other reasons? Do the righteous yield to
any temptations? Earlier in the Book of Mormon, we learned about those
who loved God so much they had “no more disposition to do evil, but to do
good continually” (Mosiah 5:2). Does this mean they were never enticed
again? Surely not, since they would have further opportunities to exercise
their agency. Does this mean they never made another mistake or had another
bad day? No. They probably messed up just like we do, since they were
living in the same fallen world in which we live. The important point is not
whether they slipped but the fact that they didn’t want to.
In the dedicatory prayer for the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet Joseph
prayed, “And when thy people transgress, any of them, they may speedily
repent” (D&C 109:21; emphasis added). Notice that Joseph didn’t say, “If
thy people transgress”; rather, he said “when.” We are all going to transgress
—but we can speedily repent and regain our resolve to press forward.
When we slip, instead of saying, “We have failed,” let’s try to say, “We
have not yet succeeded.” Instead of saying, “Look how far there is to go,” we
can try to say, “Look how far God and Christ have brought us.” Instead of
saying, “We can’t keep our covenants,” we can say, “We are not keeping them
perfectly now, but with heaven’s help we can learn.” Instead of saying, “We
can’t walk on water,” let’s try to say, “At least we got out of the boat!”
Jaime Holmes told of how her son, Taylor, loved stickers when he was
young.2 He loved to put them all around the house and all over himself. One
day he was sporting a new sticker on his shirt right in the middle of his chest.
He got the sticker from the packaging for a new pair of socks. The sticker
read: Stain-resistant sole.
When Taylor showed the sticker to his mom, she instantly smiled. Taylor
asked her, “What’s so funny? What does it mean?” Jaime explained that there
is another word that sounds like sole, but it is spelled differently: s-o-u-1.
Jaime challenged her son to keep wearing the sticker and let it remind him to
resist bad choices so he could keep his soul—his body and spirit—clean.
Perhaps each of us ought to put a sticker that says “stain-resistant soul”
on our shirt to help us resist temptation. Repeating the phrase “The righteous
yieldeth to no such temptations” can help steel our souls against Satan’s
blows. But even wearing a sticker or reciting Amulek’s words probably
won’t keep us from slipping up and making mistakes now and then. When that
happens, we must not become discouraged. We must maintain our righteous
desires even if our actions lag a little behind them.
Satan doesn’t win just by getting us to cross the line. He wins by
convincing us there is no way back. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ,
though, we can refuse to stay in enemy territory.
When Zeezrom tempted Amulek, Amulek asked, “Why tempt ye me?
Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?” (Alma
11:23). When Satan tempts us, we can be stain-resistant souls and respond
with the very same question.
Knowest thou that the righteous yieldeth to no such temptations?
Notes
^1. Hinckley, “We Walk by Faith,” Ensign, May 2002, 73–74.
^2. Jaime Holmes and Brad Wilcox, “Taylor’s Special Sticker,” Friend, April 1998, 40–41.
34
How long shall we suffer?
Alma 14:26
Alma and Amulek endured an incredibly bitter trial. They had faithfully
preached to the people of Ammonihah, but their words had largely been
rejected. In one of the most shocking displays of brutality in the Book of
Mormon, the leaders of Ammonihah burned the wives and children of the
men who believed. They forced Alma and Amulek to watch this martyrdom
before throwing them into prison.
We next read that the lawyers and judges of Ammonihah “did mock
[Alma and Amulek] for many days. And they did withhold food from them
that they might hunger, and water that they might thirst; and they also did take
from them their clothes that they were naked; and thus they were bound with
strong cords, and confined in prison . . . [and] they . . . thus suffered for many
days” (Alma 14:22–23; emphasis added). Notice that the phrase many days
is repeated. From these verses it is possible to surmise that they were
imprisoned and dealt with their deplorable conditions for a period of several
weeks (Alma 8:27; 10:6; 14:23).
The scriptural account continues: “The chief judge over the land of
Ammonihah and many of their teachers and their lawyers went in unto the
prison where Alma and Amulek were bound with cords. And the chief judge
stood before them, and smote them again, and said unto them: If ye have the
power of God deliver yourselves from these bands, and then we will believe
that the Lord will destroy this people according to your words. And it came
to pass that they all went forth and smote them, saying the same words, even
until the last” (Alma 14:23–25).
Can you imagine enduring such persecution? Have we read this account
so frequently that we have become desensitized to what this might have felt
like? This was a horrific experience. This is the context in which Alma and
Amulek rose to their feet, with Alma crying out, “How long shall we suffer
these great afflictions, O Lord?” (Alma 14:26).
We may never have to endure the extreme conditions that Alma endured,
but sometimes we ask a similar question. Perhaps we have endured our own
set of struggles that never seem to end. Perhaps our struggles include illness,
the death of a loved one, shattered dreams, or seeing family members make
poor choices time and time again. Perhaps we want to cry out as Alma did,
“How long shall we suffer these great afflictions, O Lord?”
Many of the trials we face are not a direct negative consequence of
choices we have made. Alma and Amulek were doing the right thing in their
preaching, and yet they suffered. This is similar to the situation faced by the
Book of Mormon prophet Jacob. He watched his older brothers Laman and
Lemuel bind their brother Nephi with cords. He likely heard them breathe out
murderous words against their own parents. To Jacob, Lehi said, “In thy
childhood thou has suffered afflictions and much sorrow, because of the
rudeness of thy brethren. Nevertheless, Jacob, . . . God . . . shall consecrate
thine afflictions for thy gain” (2 Nephi 2:1–2).
Jacob had not done anything to bring about the trials he received. While
some trials come because of our own sins, in many cases our trials stem from
natural events in life or from the choices of others. At times we will receive
trials that, though they are excruciatingly difficult, they may, in the words of
Elder Richard G. Scott, provide “experiences that stimulate growth,
understanding, and compassion which polish [us] for [our] everlasting
benefit.”1
One key to enduring all trials well is found in Alma’s words after he
asked the question “How long shall we suffer these great afflictions?” He
stated, “O Lord, give us strength according to our faith which is in Christ,
even unto deliverance” (Alma 14:26). Two verses later, we read that “the
Lord had granted unto them power” (Alma 14:28). Alma did not pray for his
problems to disappear; rather, he prayed for the strength to endure and
successfully overcome them.
Similarly, when Nephi was tied with cords and left by his brothers to be
devoured by wild beasts in the wilderness—which was not a trial of his own
making—Nephi prayed, “O Lord, according to my faith which is in thee, wilt
thou deliver me from the hands of my brethren; yea, even give me strength
that I may burst these bands with which I am bound” (1 Nephi 7:17; emphasis
added). Like Nephi and Alma, we can pray for the strength to overcome the
trials we face. Christ’s Atonement will not only cleanse us from sin but it can
be the source of strength as we face our sufferings.
In the histories of pioneers, we read of a group of men who prayed for
strength to overcome trials they faced. These men bravely volunteered to
help the Willie and Martin handcart companies make it to the Salt Lake
Valley. These volunteers faced severe trials similar to those faced by the
handcart pioneers themselves. It was a brutal winter, and wild game was
scarce. Soon there was nothing to eat except cowhide. Daniel W. Jones
recounted his recipe for their survival: “After scraping [the cowhide], boil
one hour in plenty of water, throwing the water away which had extracted all
the glue, then wash and scrape the hide thoroughly, washing in cold water,
then boil to a jelly and let it get cold, and then eat with a little sugar
sprinkled on it.”2
More important than the recipe was the prayer Daniel W. Jones and the
others offered just before eating: “We asked the Lord to bless our stomachs
and adapt them to this food.”3
Commenting on this account, Elder David A. Bednar said, “My dear
brothers and sisters, I know what I would have prayed for in those
circumstances. I would have prayed for something else to eat. ‘Heavenly
Father, please send me a quail or a buffalo.’ It never would have occurred to
me to pray that my stomach would be strengthened and adapted to what we
already had. What did Daniel W. Jones know? He knew about the enabling
power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He did not pray that his
circumstances would be changed. He prayed that he would be strengthened to
deal with his circumstances. . . . The enabling power of the Atonement of
Christ strengthens us to do things we could never do on our own.”4
A few years after his experience in Ammonihah, Alma faced another
trial. He and other missionaries were about to embark on a difficult
expedition to the Zoramites. As Alma prayed before they began their
missionary labors, he asked, “O Lord, wilt thou grant unto me that I may have
strength, that I may suffer with patience these afflictions which shall come
upon me” (Alma 31:31). Alma didn’t pray to avoid problems or difficulties;
instead, he prayed for strength to overcome them.
Just a few verses later, we learn that God answered his prayer: “And the
Lord provided for them that they should hunger not, neither should they thirst;
yea, and he also gave them strength, that they should suffer no manner of
afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ. Now this was
according to the prayer of Alma; and this because he prayed in faith” (Alma
31:38; emphasis added).
As we experience intense trials, we must know there is hope. While we
may cry out, “How long shall we suffer?” we must know that divine
assistance is close at hand. Alma asked this question of the Lord, but he also
recognized the Lord as his source of strength, help, support, and peace.
How long shall we suffer?
Notes
^1. Scott, “Trust in the Lord,” Ensign, November 1995, 16.
^2. Jones, Forty Years among the Indians (Salt Lake City: Juvenile Instructor Office, 1890), 81.
^3. Jones, Forty Years, 81; emphasis added.
^4. Bednar, “In the Strength of the Lord,” Brigham Young University devotional address, October 23,
2001; available at http://speeches. byu.edu.
35
Believest thou in the power of Christ
unto salvation?
Alma 15:6
The same Zeezrom who tempted Amulek later realized his errors and
wanted to change. Sick with a burning fever, he sought for Alma and Amulek
(Alma 15:5). Despite Zeezrom’s earlier wickedness and all the devastation
he had caused, Alma did not hesitate to bless him. He reached out, took
Zeezrom by the hand, and asked, “Believest thou in the power of Christ unto
salvation?” (Alma 15:6). It seems that, in this instance, Alma was talking
about Christ’s power not only to save Zeezrom physically but also to save
him spiritually.
Being saved through the power of Christ is a powerful principle. An
evangelical Christian friend asked a young Latter-day Saint, “Have you been
saved?” The young Church member responded, “What do you mean by that?”
The evangelical Christian became upset and claimed that the Mormon’s
response was clear evidence that he was not Christian as he claimed to be.
The evangelical said, “You don’t even know if you have been saved.” In
actuality, the Latter-day Saint’s response showed a much deeper, fuller, and
more comprehensive understanding of Christ and His salvation than his
evangelical friend realized.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks taught, “Good Christian people sometimes attach
different meanings to some key gospel terms like saved or salvation. . . . As
Latter-day Saints use the words saved and salvation, there are at least six
different meanings.”1
First, saved means saved from death. We believe that our spirits live on
after we die and that one day—because of Christ—we will be resurrected (1
Corinthians 5:5). Our spirits will be reunited with our bodies, which will be
immortal, perfected, and glorified.
Second, saved means saved from sin. We believe Christ came to take
away the sins of the world (John 1:29) and that, because of His Atonement,
we all have been given the opportunity to repent and thereby be forgiven,
cleansed, and made better.
Third, saved means born again. We have accepted Christ as our personal
Savior and Lord. We have entered into a covenant relationship with Him and
have taken His name upon us. We “confess” with our mouths and “believe” in
our hearts that He lives (Romans 10:9–10). We believe that all men must be
“born again” (John 3:3; Alma 36:24, 26) and that Jesus Christ is the father of
our spiritual rebirth because He makes such a rebirth possible (Mosiah 5:7).
Fourth, saved means saved from darkness and ignorance. We believe
Christ is our example in all things. He taught us with His word and showed
us by the way He lived how to be happy in this life and eternally. He said, “I
am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but
shall have the light of life” (John 8:12). He doesn’t always clear our path,
but He does illuminate it. We believe Christ’s strength is perfect to help us in
our weakness (2 Corinthians 12:9), and He will succor and strengthen us in
our infirmities (Alma 7:12).
Fifth, saved means the assurance of a kingdom of glory. We believe that,
because of Christ’s Atonement, we will all return to God’s presence to be
judged and ultimately to dwell in a kingdom of glory (1 Corinthians 15:40–
42). All, except for a very few, will dwell in heavenly kingdoms, the least of
which is far superior to our mortal state (John 14:2). In Doctrine and
Covenants 76:43, we read that Christ “glorifies the Father, and saves all the
works of his hands, except those sons of perdition who deny the Son after the
Father has revealed him.”
Sixth, saved means being exalted and obtaining eternal life. This
understanding of salvation is unique to Latter-day Saint doctrine. In Moses
1:39 we read, “Behold, this is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the
immortality and eternal life of man.” Immortality means living forever, but
eternal life is different. Elder Bruce C. Hafen wrote that eternal life refers
not to length of life but to quality of life and “involves the long-term,
difficult, gradual development of the capacity to live like Christ.”2 Elder
Marion D. Hanks taught, “Salvation and exaltation, I believe, are not matters
of heavenly bookkeeping, but of the qualifying of the soul that comes with
knowing the Lord.”3 The ultimate goal is not just to return to God but to
become like Him.
Elder Oaks wrote, “This salvation requires more than repentance and
baptism by appropriate priesthood authority. It also requires the making of
sacred covenants including eternal marriage, in the temples of God and
faithfulness to those covenants by enduring to the end. If we use the word
salvation to mean ‘exaltation,’ it is premature for any of us to say that we
have been ‘saved’ in mortality. That glorious status can only follow the final
judgment.”4
The highest degree of glory referred to by Elder Oaks is not a prize for
the perfect. It is the future state of all who are willing to be perfected in
Christ. There we will live with our families and other loved ones forever.
What did Alma mean, then, when he asked Zeezrom, “Believest thou in
the power of Christ unto salvation?” (Alma 15:6). Was he asking if Zeezrom
believed he would be resurrected? If he believed he could be cleansed from
his sins? If he believed he could be born again and start a new life in Christ?
Was he asking if he believed that Christ’s teachings and example could
comfort and help him in his “great tribulations” (Alma 15:3)? If he believed
that he could return to the presence of God and live like God eternally?
We do not know exactly what was in the minds of Alma or Zeezrom
when this question was asked, or what connotation of saved or salvation they
were thinking of. But we do know that the answer to all of these questions is
that our salvation lies with Christ, our Redeemer. And we do know that
Zeezrom’s response was, “Yea, I believe according to thy words” (Alma
15:9). “And then Alma cried unto the Lord, saying: O Lord our God, have
mercy on this man, and heal him according to his faith which is in Christ.
And when Alma had said these words, Zeezrom leaped upon his feet” (Alma
15:10–11).
The Lord is salvation. The name Jesus means “God is help” or
“Savior.” Elder Oaks confirmed, “In all of these meanings, or kinds of
salvation, salvation is in and through Jesus Christ.”5 King Benjamin taught,
“There shall be no other name given nor any other way nor means whereby
salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of
Christ” (Mosiah 3:17). Likewise, the Apostle John testified, “For God sent
not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through
him might be saved” (John 3:17). Christ’s salvation is real. It is powerful.
And it applies to each of us.
Believest thou in the power of Christ unto salvation?
Notes
^1. Oaks, “Have You Been Saved?” Ensign, May 1998, 55.
^2. Hafen, “The Value of the Veil,” Ensign, June 1977, 13.
^3. Hanks, “Willing to Receive,” Ensign, May 1980, 30.
^4. Oaks, “Have You Been Saved?” 57.
^5. Oaks, “Have You Been Saved?” 55.
36
Why do not angels appear unto us?
Alma 21:5
When the sons of Mosiah began their mission, they split up at the
borders of the land of the Lamanites. We often hear of the great success that
Ammon had; but his brothers endured mighty trials. Aaron preached in a city
called Jerusalem, where he was confronted by an Amalekite who asked,
“Hast thou seen an angel? Why do not angels appear unto us? Behold are not
this people as good as thy people?” (Alma 21:5). This question was asked of
Aaron in a confrontational, antagonistic manner, but in our day, many may
genuinely and humbly wonder, “Why haven’t I had the experience of seeing
an angel?”
Some of our students have asked, “If angels appeared to Joseph Smith,
why don’t they come in answer to my prayers?” Before responding, we have
found it helpful to clarify why these young people want to see an angel. One
student said, “I just think it would be cool.” When granting answers to
prayers, God does not seem to reward mere curiosity; He requires
preparation and sincerity. God’s purposes for providing spiritual experiences
go far beyond entertaining us.
Another student said, “I think it would strengthen my testimony and help
me be a better person.” Did the manifestation of angels strengthen the
testimonies of Laman and Lemuel? Did it help them improve? In 1 Nephi
3:31, we read, “After the angel had departed, Laman and Lemuel again began
to murmur.” Marjorie Pay Hinckley, wife of President Gordon B. Hinckley,
said, “I have not heard angels sing . . . , nor have I witnessed any other
spectacular miracle. And I am grateful. My testimony has been fed by small,
simple, and sometimes seemingly unimportant experiences. I think this is as it
should be.”1
Another student told us, “I want an angel to appear to my brother so he
will turn his life around.” This is a righteous desire. Alma’s father prayed for
his son, and an angel did appear to him. But even a heavenly visitation does
not guarantee change. The Savior explained that usually those who reject the
testimony of scripture and living prophets will also reject the testimony of
angels were they to appear to them (Luke 16:31). Even if an angel does not
appear to those we love who are lost, we can and should continually pray for
and minister to them (3 Nephi 18:22–32).
Still another student said, “I’d like to see an angel like Joseph Smith did.
He was younger than I am when he saw one. Doesn’t God love me as much
as he loved Joseph?” This comment echoes that of the Amalekite who
contended with Aaron: “Hey, aren’t Lamanites just as good as Nephites?”
Visitations from angels are not given as a rite of passage when we have
reached a certain age. God’s love for you is not measured by whether or not
you have seen an angel.
One student said, “I would just like God to send an angel to tell me what
to do.” The student’s desire for revelation is admirable, but perhaps he
should seek direction through scriptures and living prophets and through the
Holy Ghost, sources that the Lord has already provided. President Joseph
Fielding Smith wrote, “A manifestation of an angel, or even of the Son of
God himself, would impress the eye and mind, and eventually become
dimmed, but the impressions of the Holy Ghost sink deeper into the soul and
are more difficult to erase.”2 Perhaps this is why Elder Neal A. Maxwell
said, “Having daily access to the Spirit . . . is better than periodic
miracles.”3
Another student said, “I would love to receive the ministering of angels
just to know I am not alone.” Many, like this student, who desire the
ministering of angels may have already received it several times and simply
been unaware. Elder Bruce C. Hafen wrote, “Frequently, angelic visits . . .
are very quiet—sometimes so quiet that those who receive the manifestation
are unaware of all that is taking place. This limited awareness should cause
no surprise. For reasons bound up in mortality’s very purpose, God has
deliberately drawn a veil between our world and the world of the angels.
That veil involves the root principle of faith.”4
Most students realize that if they are honest about why they want to see
an angel, those needs and desires usually can be—and are being—met in
other ways. Still, don’t we believe in seeing angels? Don’t we believe Jesus
when He said, “Ask and ye shall receive” (D&C 4:7)? Indeed, we do. We
may have already “entertained [them] unawares” (Hebrews 13:2), and one
day when we are prepared enough and have reason enough to see them,
perhaps we may. Many have.5 Joseph Smith said, “God hath not revealed
anything to [me], but what He will make known unto the Twelve, and even
the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them.”6
Elder Bruce R. McConkie taught that the keys to personal revelation are
searching the scriptures, keeping the commandments, and asking in faith. He
said, “Any person who will do this will get his heart so in tune with the
infinite that there will come into his being, from the ‘still small voice’ the
eternal realities of religion. And as he progresses and advances and comes
nearer to God, there will be a day when he will entertain angels, when he
will see visions, and the final end is to view the face of God.”7
Sparks of faith can grow into flames of spiritual knowledge. However,
to the unprepared and unproven, these flames can be dangerous. Hugh Nibley
taught that the Lord is reticent to reveal too much too quickly in order “to
protect sacred things from common misunderstandings and to protect the
unworthy from damaging themselves with them.”8 In Alma 32:19, we read,
“More cursed is he that knoweth the will of God and doeth it not, than he that
only believeth and falleth into transgression[.]”
Perhaps visitations are kept from most of us for the same reason that we
do not give children keys to the car. The kids may want them and even beg
for them, but we know they are not yet ready for the responsibility that comes
with them. Keys are given to those who show themselves to be stable and
mature.
Speaking of a spiritual manifestation he received, President Boyd K.
Packer said, “Such an experience is at once a light to follow and a burden to
carry.”9 No wonder we are told in Doctrine and Covenants 67:13–14, “Ye
are not able to abide the presence of God now, neither the ministering of
angels; wherefore continue in patience until ye are perfected. . . . In mine
own due time, ye shall see and know.”
Differing levels of knowledge bring differing levels of accountability.
Learning “line upon line” (2 Nephi 28:30) protects us from a fullness of
accountability before we are ready. Gospel scholars have taught that “it is the
will of the heavens that all men receive truth according to their ability to
decipher and digest eternal verities. . . . This concept demonstrates both
divine wisdom and mercy . . . ; the Lord would never want to drown one in
living waters!”10
Along with protecting us from a level of accountability that we are not
prepared for, God also safeguards our agency by not parting the veil too
quickly or too often. Elder Bruce C. Hafen said, “The Lord has used the
highly visible forms of his power very sparingly—enough to leave us with
clear witnesses, but not enough to compel us to believe.”11
Thus far, we have discussed the heavenly angels that we have not seen.
But let us not forget that there are earthly angels all around us. Elder Jeffrey
R. Holland said, “When we speak of those who are instruments in the hand of
God, we are reminded that not all angels are from the other side of the veil.
Some of them we walk with and talk with—here, now, every day. Some of
them reside in our own neighborhoods.”12
Instead of asking why we have not seen angels, we can focus on
developing the celestial qualities that angelic beings already possess.
Perhaps we can try more often to recognize the angels who are already in our
midst. And instead of dwelling on receiving the ministering of angels, let us
determine to minister to others as angels would.13 Perhaps we can be the
angels for whom someone else is desperately seeking.
Why do not angels appear unto us?
Notes
^1. In Virginia H. Pearce, Glimpses into the Life and Heart of Marjorie Pay Hinckley (Salt Lake
City: Deseret Book, 1999), 204–5.
^2. Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 5 vols. (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1957–66), 2:151.
^3. Maxwell, The Neal A. Maxwell Quote Book, ed. Cory H. Maxwell (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft,
1997), 211.
^4. Hafen, The Believing Heart (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1990), 102.
^5. Donald W. Parry, Angels: Agents of Light, Love, and Power (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2013),
especially “Angels Minister with Love to Mortals,” 57–214.
^6. Smith, Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith (Salt Lake City: Deseret
Book, 1938), 149.
^7. McConkie, How to Get Personal Revelation, Brigham Young University Speeches of the Year
(Provo, October 11, 1966), 6.
^8. Nibley, Since Cumorah (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1967), 107.
^9. In Lucile C. Tate, Boyd K. Packer: A Watchman on the Tower (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1995),
60.
^10. Joseph Fielding McConkie and Robert L. Millet, Sustaining and Defending the Faith (Salt Lake
City: Bookcraft, 1998), 99.
^11. Hafen, The Believing Heart (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1990), 8.
^12. Holland, “The Ministry of Angels,” Ensign, November 2008, 30.
^13. L. Tom Perry, “The Priesthood of Aaron,” Ensign, November 2010, 91–94.
37
Have we not great reason to rejoice?
Alma 26:13
In Alma 26, when he was speaking about his missionary service among
the Lamanites, Ammon used the words joy and rejoice more than a dozen
times. He exulted, “How many thousands of our brethren has he loosed from
the pains of hell; and they are brought to sing redeeming love, and this
because of the power of his word which is in us, therefore have we not great
reason to rejoice?” (Alma 26:13; emphasis added).
Sharing the gospel isn’t always easy. In fact, when Ammon and his
brothers decided to preach to the Lamanites, their friends mocked them,
saying, “Do ye suppose that ye can bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of
the truth? Do ye suppose that ye can convince the Lamanites of the
incorrectness of the traditions of their fathers, as stiffnecked a people as they
are; whose hearts delight in the shedding of blood; whose days have been
spent in the grossest iniquity; whose ways have been the ways of a
transgressor from the beginning?” (Alma 26:24). Part of the amazing success
of the sons of Mosiah was that they triumphed even when others discouraged
them from trying.
Although difficulties can come with sharing the gospel, it is worth it.
President Ezra Taft Benson said, “No joy is equal to bringing another to the
light of the gospel.”1 Those who receive the gospel also experience great joy.
When Dann Gooding, a young man from England, first heard of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, he thought “that it was rubbish.”
But at the time, he was dating a Latter-day Saint girl, and he wanted to keep
her family happy, so he agreed to meet with the missionaries. Secretly, he
thought that by finding out more about the Church he could prove to his
girlfriend she was wrong. He said, “My plan backfired on me when the
missionaries taught the Joseph Smith story and I started reading the Book of
Mormon. A few months later, I was baptized.”
This young man and his girlfriend eventually went their separate ways,
but he has stayed strong in the Church. In fact, he is currently preparing to
serve a full-time mission. He wrote, “Recently my family has had some
really serious problems. But I have never felt my Savior’s love and
protection as much as I have during this difficult period. My short time in the
Church has been amazing, and I have never been happier.”
This young man sees many of his friends from school getting into trouble
with the law for shoplifting and losing their futures by choosing to become
involved with drugs and gangs. He sees young people with whom he once
played as a child never smiling anymore. They are miserable because of the
choices they have made, and this young man says, “I have never been
happier.”
Not only have his choices made him happy but they have also made the
girl and the family who first suggested he meet with the missionaries happy.
They have also made the missionaries who taught him happy and the families
who supported those missionaries happy. The list goes on and on.
Early Latter-day Saint missionaries taught the gospel to a young woman
named Jane. Jane accepted their message, and despite opposition from her
family, left home and eventually settled in Salt Lake City. Although her life
was tragically cut short in 1851 when she was twenty-two, her son, Levi
Mathers Savage, had a numerous posterity. Today, thousands rejoice because
of Jane’s decision to join the Church and the decision made by missionaries
to serve in Jane’s town and share the gospel with her.
Ammon asked, “Have we not great reason to rejoice?” We have many
reasons to rejoice, and among the greatest are that we have the gospel in our
lives and can share it with others. Ammon could have said, “Hey, we went
through some pretty hard times. We have been abused, misunderstood, and
ridiculed.” All of that would have been true. He could have asked, “Have we
not great reason to be upset and complain?” That would have been a
legitimate question, considering their incredible trials and challenges. But
that’s not the question he asked—he chose to find the joy in his experiences.
When Brad arrived in Chile to preside over the Santiago East Mission,
he and his wife met with Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, who was living there and
directing the work in Chile at the time. He welcomed them and offered
encouragement as they began their responsibilities. He explained the
challenges facing the mission, but when he concluded the interview, he
offered this piece of advice: Don’t miss the joy. Debi recalled, “He leaned
very close to us, put his hands on our shoulders, and said with a smile,
‘Don’t miss the joy.’ Those were the words that rang in our ears as we faced
every responsibility, challenge, and change. Those words became something
of a personal motto for us and helped get us through the hard times.”
The Wilcoxes are thankful that they, along with many of their
missionaries, did not miss the joy. There were plenty of things to complain
about, but they were determined to find the joy that comes from sharing the
gospel with others.
Have we not great reason to rejoice?
Note
^1. Benson, “Counsel to the Saints,” Ensign, May 1984, 44.
38
Who can glory too much in the Lord?
Alma 26:16
As Ammon’s missionary service among the Lamanites drew to a close,

he praised the Lord, saying, “I will rejoice in my God . . . , for in his strength
I can do all things. . . . We have reason to praise him forever, for he is the
Most High God. . . . Therefore let us glory, yea, we will glory in the Lord;
yea, we will rejoice, for our joy is full; yea, we will praise our God forever.
Behold, who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of
his great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the
children of men? Behold, I say unto you, I cannot say the smallest part which
I feel” (Alma 26:11, 12, 14, 16; emphasis added).
We cannot glory too much in the Lord! Recently the two of us were
asked to make lists of the greatest miracles we have seen in our lives. As we
began compiling our lists, we were overcome with the goodness of the Lord
in extending mercy to us. Putting in one place the multiple manifestations of
the Lord’s marvelous might in our lives was a truly humbling experience. We
found that taking the time to compile examples of and contemplate the Lord’s
hand in our lives led us to glory in the Lord. We would each like to share one
of the experiences on our lists.
John’s memory:
“In May 1998, my companion and I had an appointment to teach a first
lesson to Jeff McGee. Jeff was not a member of the Church. He was fourteen
years old, and his mother, a member, had not been to church for years. His
father was not a member.
“We arrived on time, knocked on the door, and nobody answered. We
knocked again. No answer. We were disappointed but not terribly surprised.
Many people didn’t keep their appointments. As we got in the car to drive
away, we remembered a direction our mission president had recently given
the missionaries: whenever somebody missed an appointment, we should put
a Church pamphlet on the doorstep with our phone number on it.
“I don’t think either of us was particularly motivated to go put that
pamphlet on Jeff’s door. I think we both felt that Jeff, like a lot of teenagers,
probably wasn’t that interested in meeting with us, and it was simply a waste
of our time to work with him. It was only out of sheer obedience that we took
a flyer to his door.
“When we returned to his door, we were surprised to see Jeff open it! It
turned out that he had been asleep. He was awakened by our knocking but
had not made it to the door until that moment. He invited us in, assured us he
was interested, and received the first lesson.
“That was the first of many lessons with Jeff McGee. A month later, Jeff
was baptized and his mother became active.
“I was scheduled to go home on August fifth, and I wanted desperately
to have the blessing of participating in at least one more baptism before
ending my mission. I worked extra hard in June and July, but we couldn’t find
anyone who was interested. One of the people we had tried to teach was
Jeff’s dad, but both Jeff and his mother told us that he was very much against
the Church and made fun of them for attending.
“One week before I was to return home, I had all but given up hope of
one last baptism. It seemed that this was one blessing that the Lord would not
provide for me. My companion and I went to share a final message with Jeff
and say good-bye.
“After visiting with this great young man and his mother for about ten
minutes, we heard the front door open, and in came Jeff’s father. Ed McGee
was a very large and intimidating man. We shook hands with him, but he
didn’t say much.
“Being a bold missionary, I told Brother McGee that we had brought a
lesson to share with the family that night and invited him to listen and
participate. He said no. ‘But, Brother McGee,’ I said, ‘this is a special
message.’
“‘Oh,’ he said. ‘Okay, I’ll listen.’
“And it was a special message. The Spirit was in the room as I invited
Ed McGee to be baptized. He paused, and then he said sincerely, ‘Yes, I
would like that very much. I’ve noticed a big change come over my wife and
Jeff, and I would like to be baptized.’ This was on a Tuesday, and we invited
him to be baptized on Sunday. He accepted.
“The next few days were wonderful. Usually, a baptism would not
happen this quickly, but we spent a lot of time with the McGees that week,
preparing Brother McGee for baptism. His baptismal service was a beautiful
event, and three days later, I went home. My prayer had been answered.
“That would be a good story in and of itself, but there’s more. Fourteen
months later, I was madly in love with Lani Olsen. The only problem was
that she wasn’t in love with me. We had been dating off and on, and at that
time we were ‘off.’ The only bright spot in my life was that one of my former
missionary companions and I made plans to drive back to Denver to witness
the sealing of Brother and Sister McGee to each other and the sealing of their
son, Jeff, to them. It turned out, though, that my former companion was unable
to go, and so I would have to go alone. And then I had an idea.
“I invited Lani to join me and others who were gathering at the temple
with the McGee family—and she did! It was a wonderful experience, and
shortly thereafter Lani told me she was ready for a more serious relationship.
Six months later, we were in the Mount Timpanogos Utah Temple being
sealed to each other.
“When I think of this chain of events, I think of the phrase ‘Who can
glory too much in the Lord?’ If we hadn’t taken the pamphlet to Jeff’s door,
we likely would not have gone back to teach him. I wouldn’t have been able
to participate in Jeff’s baptism. Or his father’s. Or their family’s sealing. I
would have had no reason to take Lani to Denver. That special chain of
events greatly blessed my life. Like Ammon, I cannot say ‘too much of his
great power, and of his mercy, and of his long-suffering towards the children
of men!’”
Brad’s memory:
“I had the marvelous opportunity of serving a mission as a young man in
Chile and then returning to that same country twenty-five years later on
another mission. I visited the areas in which I had formerly served. It was a
bittersweet experience. Some of the converts had stayed strong, serving in
the Church, being sealed in the temple, and sending their children on
missions. Some had left the Church completely. I went to great lengths to
locate one man who had been baptized with his wife when their children
were young. He had even served as branch president for a time. I really
wanted to find him and see how his family was doing. Imagine my sadness
when I found out that he had not participated in the Church for over twenty
years and had absolutely no interest in ever returning. His children, now
grown, didn’t even know their father had ever been a member. I shed tears of
joy when this man was first baptized, and now I shed tears of sorrow for the
loss.
“Not long after my sad reunion with this brother, I was asked to speak at
the ward in which I had served for eleven months as a young missionary. It
was a special experience for me to reconnect with members I had known
who were still there and meet many new friends. After the meeting, a young
man greeted me. ‘You baptized my mother,’ he said. He didn’t look at all
familiar, so I asked, ‘Are you sure?’ He told me her name, and I did
remember her but I could not remember him. Suddenly it hit me. He was the
baby who cried all the way through every lesson I taught his mother. ‘You
were el llorón [the crybaby]!’ He laughed at my recollection. I had
wondered at the time if his mother could ever feel the Spirit because of him.
“‘Where is your mother now?’ I asked.
“‘She passed away many years ago,’ he said. ‘But I have stayed strong
in the Church and served a mission. I’m now serving as a stake clerk.’
“I thought the noisy baby was just a nuisance getting in the way of his
mother’s progress. How shortsighted I had been! This ‘crybaby’ had been a
future stalwart Saint.
“This encounter gave me great perspective and great hope. Perhaps,
many years down the road, one of the children of the inactive former branch
president would come up to me and say, ‘You visited our house when I didn’t
even know my father had ever been a Mormon, and that sparked an interest in
me. I have since come into the Church.’ Who knows? If God can turn a
crybaby into a faithful stake clerk, ‘who can say too much of his great
power?’” (Alma 26:16).
Just as Ammon looked back on his missionary service and marveled at
the majestic power of the Lord, we may pause and ponder on the works the
Lord has wrought in our lives. And it is not just the big experiences that can
cause us to rejoice. We must watch for the countless small and simple ways
the Lord blesses us and puts in motion chains of events that He alone can
arrange. Stopping to reflect on these events reminds us how continuously
God’s “great power” and “his mercy” are actively working in our lives. As
each of us reflects on our experiences, both those of a daily variety and the
more amazing ones, we will say with Ammon, “My heart is brim with joy,
and I will rejoice in my God” (Alma 26:11).
Who can glory too much in the Lord?

39
Why should I desire more than to
perform the work to which I have
been called?
Alma 29:6
Have you ever received a phone call from a member of the bishopric,
and you knew you were going to receive a calling? What thoughts ran through
your mind? Were there certain callings that you hoped you would receive? Or
not receive? On one occasion, John and his wife were being interviewed by
a counselor in their bishopric. The counselor was talking with both of them
but had not been clear about which one of them was going to receive a
calling. So when he said, “We’d like to extend to you the calling of Mia Maid
adviser,” John said, “I accept.”
“Actually,” the counselor said, “the calling is for your wife.” Everyone
laughed.
Sometimes we may desire a calling different from the one we currently
have. Perhaps we desire to do more and feel to cry like Alma the Younger,
“O that I were an angel, and could have the wish of mine heart. . . . I would
declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan
of redemption” (Alma 29:1–2). We’d all like to shake the earth and sound a
trump—anything to wake up the slumbering world and focus others on what
truly matters most.
But later Alma said, “[I] do sin in my wish” (Alma 29:3). How can that
be? Shouldn’t we want to cry repentance unto every people and bring souls
to God? Of course we should. Those desires were not wrong for Alma, and
they are not wrong for us. But, as Alma went on to say, we “ought to be
content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto” us. In other words,
we should be content with our present callings, whatever they may be,
knowing that is where the Lord would have us serve at this time and place in
our lives.
Here’s something to think about: If we were called to an important
position of leadership tomorrow, would we start taking more notice of the
newcomers in the ward? There is no need to wait for a calling to reach out to
those who need to feel included. Let’s not put off doing good deeds until we
get set apart to do it. Mother Teresa said, “Do not wait for [others]. Do it
alone. Person to person.”1 We don’t need a calling to become more
Christlike. In Doctrine and Covenants 117:11, we read the Lord’s
instructions to Bishop Newel K. Whitney: “Be a bishop unto my people, saith
the Lord, not in name but in deed.” This can be interpreted to mean that we
do not need to be called as bishop to lovingly reach out to ward members.
We can ask ourselves, “If I were the bishop, would I treat ward members
more kindly?” If so, let the kind actions start!
Sometimes we do fall prey to Alma’s “sin” of wishing for a different
calling, thinking it would allow us to do more. Privately we might tell
ourselves, “Surely I could do a lot of good if I had a more visible or
prestigious calling.” That’s when we, like Alma, need to ask, “Why should I
desire more than to perform the work to which I have been called?” (Alma
29:6).
Elder Clayton M. Christensen shared an experience that has a lesson that
may be beneficial for many of us. Brother Christensen wrote about the day he
was driving to work and suddenly felt a strong impression that he was going
to receive an important new calling. A few weeks later, he learned that a
particular leader in the area where he lived had announced he was moving.
Brother Christensen put two and two together and concluded that he would
be called to take the leader’s place.
Later Brother Christensen wrote, “But that’s not what happened. I
learned that another man was asked to serve in this position. I was just
crushed—not because I had ever aspired to a hierarchical position, but
because I always have aspired to play an important role in strengthening [the]
church. Somehow I felt that if I had been given this role, I would have been
in a position to do more good for more people than if I weren’t in the role.”2
Brother Christensen admits now that this whole experience threw him
into something of a personal crisis. He knew he could have done well in the
calling. He believed he had been prepared and had even received a
prompting about a new calling. However, his personal confusion soon
yielded to increased perspective: We are wrong to assume that people who
preside over more people are more important than people who are leaders of
fewer people. Brother Christensen remembered that God, who presides over
more than anyone, still focuses on the worth of each individual.
Brother Christensen wrote, “While many of us might default to
measuring our lives by summary statistics, such as number of people
presided over, number of awards, or dollars accumulated in a bank, and so
on, the only metrics that will truly matter to my life are the individuals whom
I have been able to help, one by one, to become better people.”3
This perspective caused Brother Christensen to change. He said, “With
this sense of my most important calling, I began to fast and pray that God
would give me opportunities daily to bless and help people. As I acted upon
the promptings I received, it was as if God spoke to me more frequently
because He knew I was listening. This period in my life proved to be one of
extraordinary spiritual growth. There is a calling far higher than that of stake
president, bishop, or Relief Society president. It is to be a doer of good, a
disciple of Christ, an intermediary through whom God answers others’
prayers.”4
In her book Lighten Up!, Sister Chieko Okazaki described the meaning
of the Japanese word kigatsuku. She said, “Kigatsuku means an inner spirit
to act without being told what to do. . . . Kigatsuku is a principle of
enormous power. It taught me that, even as a child, not only could I recognize
good without needing someone to tell it to me, but I also had the power to
perform good.”5
We can serve in kigatsuku ways no matter what our calling might be.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf explained, “Those who seek to lead may feel
they are capable of doing more than what they are currently asked to do.
Some might think, ‘If only I were a bishop, I could make a difference.’ They
believe that their abilities far surpass their calling. Perhaps if they were in an
important position of leadership, they would work hard at making a
difference. But they wonder, ‘What possible influence can I have as merely a
home teacher or a counselor in the quorum presidency?’ . . . There is a better
way, taught to us by the Savior Himself: ‘Whosoever will be chief among
you, let him be your servant’ (Matthew 20:27). When we seek to serve
others, we are motivated not by selfishness but by charity.”6
As President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Your obligation is as serious in
your sphere of responsibility as is my obligation in my sphere. No calling in
this church is small or of little consequence. All of us in the pursuit of our
duty touch the lives of others. . . . Whatever your calling, it is as fraught with
the same kind of opportunity to accomplish good as is mine.”7 With that
perspective in mind, all callings offer wonderful chances for meaningful
service, and true followers of Christ realize that service opportunities are
endless and all around us—whether we have callings or not.
Why should I desire more than to perform the work to which I have been
called?
Notes
^1. In Brad Meltzer, Heroes for My Son (New York: HarperCollins, 2010), 47.
^2. Christensen, How Will You Measure Your Life? (New York: HarperCollins, 2012), 202.
^3. Christensen, How Will You Measure, 203.
^4. Christensen, “My Ways Are Not Your Ways,” Ensign, February 2007, 59.
^5. Okazaki, Lighten Up! (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1993), 107.
^6. Uchtdorf, “The Infinite Power of Hope,” Ensign, November 2008, 54.
^7. Hinckley, “This Is the Work of the Master,” Ensign, May 1995, 71.
40
What evidence have ye that there is no
God?
Alma 30:40
Brad’s son Russell served his mission in Spain. He and his companion
taught a man who, like many in the world, claimed he didn’t believe in God.
The elders explained that a serious study of the Book of Mormon could
change his views. The man said, “You can’t prove God exists.”
Russell said, “And you can’t prove He doesn’t.”
The exchange sounded a lot like one that happened anciently between
Korihor and Alma: “And then Alma said unto him: Believest thou that there
is a God? And he answered, Nay” (Alma 30:37–38). Then Alma asked,
“And now what evidence have ye that there is no God . . . ? I say unto you
that ye have none, save it be your word only” (Alma 30:40).
The man in Spain then said something Korihor didn’t. He said, “I
wouldn’t prove God doesn’t exist even if I could. You are so happy with
your belief. I wouldn’t want to ruin that for you.”
Russell said, “I’m glad you recognize we are happy, but that is a result
of knowledge and not of ignorance. I’m not happy because I exist in a bubble,
sheltered by my fantasies from the harsh realities of the world. No way! My
happiness is because I know the truth, and I choose to live according to that
knowledge. I know God is real, and He loves me. You can know, too. We
don’t have to guess or wonder. We don’t have to just cross our fingers and
hope. We can know.”
Russell was right. We, like Alma, can testify, “I know there is a God”
(Alma 30:39).
While Korihor had no evidence that there was no God, Alma testified,
“I have all things as a testimony that these things are true; . . . ye have the
testimony of all these thy brethren, and also all the holy prophets? The
scriptures are laid before thee, yea, and all things denote there is a God;
yea, even the earth, and all things that are upon the face of it, yea, and its
motion, yea, and also all the planets which move in their regular form do
witness that there is a Supreme Creator” (Alma 30:41, 44; emphasis added).
We have ample affirmations that God truly lives. Like Alma, who used
the planets to demonstrate his testimony of God, one woman wrote of how
the planet Earth was also a testimony to her that God is real: “The Earth is
located the right distance from the sun. Consider the temperature swings we
encounter, roughly -30 degrees to +120 degrees. If the Earth were any further
away from the sun, we would all freeze. Any closer and we would burn up.
Even a fractional variance in the Earth’s position to the sun would make life
on Earth impossible. The Earth remains this perfect distance from the sun
while it rotates around the sun at a speed of nearly 67,000 mph. It is also
rotating on its axis, allowing the entire surface of the Earth to be properly
warmed and cooled every day.”1
Perhaps because of all the evidence that surrounds us, the Psalmist
wrote, “The fool hath said in his heart, There is no God” (Psalm 14:1). Truly
all things testify of Christ (Moses 6:63). Yet many in the world still claim
faith is evidence of weakness—a crutch to support those too weak to face the
bleakness of life. They say God is nothing more than a man-made defense
mechanism, and they dismiss religion as a collection of feel-good folktales
and borrowed myths. As often as we have heard such opinions, they fail to
convince us, partly because we have seen so much evidence in the lives of
believers that testify that God is real.
When Brad’s father-in-law passed away, the nurse in the intensive care
unit could see the difference between believers and nonbelievers. He saw the
Gunnell family deal with their father’s passing. They made difficult decisions
with great unity and love. He watched as all the brothers and brothers-in-law
surrounded their dad and gave him a blessing. He saw a wife at peace as she
said tearful and tender good-byes to her husband. Right down the hall,
another man was passing away and the same nurse saw the opposite—family
members fighting and blaming each other and the hospital workers. Those
family members felt only anger and uncontrollable grief. In their room he saw
weeping and wailing—literally. Later the nurse said, “In one room there was
darkness, despair, and hopelessness. In the other, there was light, hope, and
joy.”
The evidence was clear: Nonbelievers in one room, believers in
another. Misery in one room, happiness in the other. The nurse examined the
evidence, and it strengthened his faith in God.
Elder Robert D. Hales testified, “Brothers and sisters, you may already
know, deep in your soul, that God lives. You may not know all about Him yet
and do not understand all His ways, but the light of belief is within you,
waiting to be awakened and intensified by the Spirit of God and the Light of
Christ, which you are born with. So come. Believe the testimonies of the
prophets. Learn of God and Christ. The pattern to do so is clearly taught by
prophets of old and prophets today. Cultivate a diligent desire to know that
God lives. This desire leads us to ponder on the things of heaven—to let the
evidence of God all around us touch our hearts.”2
What evidence have ye that there is no God?
Notes
^1. Marilyn Adamson, “Is There a God?”; available at
http://www.everystudent.com/features/isthere.html.
^2. Hales, “Seeking to Know God, Our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ,” Ensign, November
2009, 31–32.
41
What shall we do?
Alma 32:5
As Alma was teaching the Zoramites, those who were poor came to tell
him they had been cast out of the synagogue.” The one who was the foremost
among them said . . . , we have no place to worship our God; . . . what shall
we do?” (Alma 32:5; emphasis added). On another occasion, when Nephi
and Lehi were cast into prison with the Lamanites, a cloud of darkness came
over them all. The Lamanites asked, “What shall we do?” (Helaman 5:40;
emphasis added). Note that they didn’t ask, “What shall we know?” or “What
shall we think?” They asked, “What shall we do?” This is a vital question
for each of us.
John explains:
“One day on my mission, my companion and I were driving from
Laramie, Wyoming, to Fort Collins, Colorado, for a zone conference. We
were late, so I decided to speed up a bit. My companion noticed and said to
me, ‘Elder Hilton, you’re speeding.’
“I said, ‘I know.’
“My companion said, ‘Speeding is against the law.’
“I said, ‘I know,’ and I kept on speeding.
“He said, ‘I have a testimony that you should stop speeding.’
“‘Well, I don’t have that testimony,’ I replied.
“A couple minutes later, I heard sirens and saw red lights flashing in my
rearview mirror. As I pulled over, my companion said, ‘Looks like
somebody’s going to get a testimony.’
“I got a ticket that day, but I did not gain a testimony of not speeding. As
I’ve reflected on that experience—and tried to gain that testimony!—I’ve
realized that Christ taught, ‘If any man will do his will, he shall know of the
doctrine’ (John 7:17; emphasis added). You don’t gain a testimony by
breaking the commandments, but by living them.”
Thus, the question “What shall we do?” is important because as we do,
we become. President Howard W. Hunter explained it this way: “Action is
one of the chief foundations of personal testimony. The surest witness is that
which comes firsthand out of personal experience [see John 7:16–17]. . . .
This, then, is the finest source of personal testimony. One knows because he
has experienced.”1
Because doing is vital to gaining a testimony, as gospel learners we
need to take action. Listening to the talks and musical numbers at church is
like having soft wool placed over us. It feels nice and fluffy, but when we
walk out the doors, the wind can blow it right off. In order to make that wool
valuable, we have to do something with it; we comb it, card it, spin it, and
turn it into a wool coat. If we act on the “wool” we’re given, we see it
transformed into something that will not blow away when the winds come,
something that will keep us warm and protected through every storm. We can
take the words we are given at church and ask ourselves, “What shall I do to
apply what I have heard?” As we act, what we learn sinks down into our
hearts and becomes a part of who we are.
Because doing is vital to gaining a testimony, when we teach, we should
strive to encourage learners to act on the truths we teach. A Sunday School
teacher was concerned about the youth in her class. She wanted the doctrine
of the Godhead to sink into the hearts of her students and make a difference in
their lives. She planned a lesson that included quotes from general
conference talks and examples from the scriptures that describe the
relationship of the three members of the Godhead to each other and to us. She
reviewed her presentation several times and finally shared the concepts with
her husband for his feedback. He said, “Good job. It’s obvious you have
learned a lot because you’ve done a lot, but all you’re asking of those kids is
that they sit, listen, and not disturb you. The one who does the work does the
learning.”
This feedback was hard to hear because she had spent so much time
preparing, but she knew he was right. She dove back into her preparations
and determined she would ask the youth to do what she had done. She
divided them into groups and gave each group a talk from general
conference, with the assignment to find parts related to the Godhead and
share them with the other groups. Instead of having them read the scriptures
she had found, she walked them through the Topical Guide and asked them to
find their own scriptures about the Godhead and mark them. She said, “I
invite you to select one of these verses to memorize. As you do, I promise
you will feel the Spirit testify of truth in your heart.”
She was afraid the youth would become disruptive or complain about
having to become involved. On the contrary, they enjoyed the experience and
were too busy to disrupt. In the weeks that followed, she kept encouraging
them to memorize their selected scriptures and praised them when they
recited them to her.
The next month in fast and testimony meeting, one of the teenagers in her
class stood and said, “Our Sunday School teacher challenged us to memorize
a scripture about the Godhead, and I chose a verse from Joseph Smith’s First
Vision. The only reason I was doing it was that I knew she would ask about it
in the next class. But as I said Joseph Smith’s words over and over, the Spirit
touched me. I know the Prophet saw a pillar of light, and within that light
there were two personages.” This teenager’s testimony was stronger than it
once was because he did more than he once did.
Perhaps the most important point about this question—“What shall I
do?”—is to realize that this is a question that each of us can, and should, ask
the Lord directly. President Henry B. Eyring said, “If you have had trouble
getting answers to your prayers, try asking today, ‘What is there that you
would have me do?’ That prayer will be answered if you are sincere and if
you listen like a little child, with real intent to act.”2 When faced with
difficult decisions, we can ask the Lord, “What shall I do?” and follow the
guidance we receive. At the start of each day, we can humbly ask the Lord if
there is something He would like us to do that day.
The impoverished Zoramites and the imprisoned Lamanites were given
answers when they asked, “What shall we do?” Those who acted on their
answer were blessed with additional light as well as the strength to choose
the right and become better. The same will be true for us.
What shall we do?
Notes
^1. Hunter, Conference Report, April 1967, 115–16.
^2. Eyring, “Choose to Be Good,” Brigham Young University devotional address, November 12, 1991;
available at http://speeches.byu.edu.
42
Do ye suppose that ye must not
worship God only once in a week?
Alma 32:11
Alma and other missionaries hoped to reconvert the Zoramites, a group

of people who had fallen away from the truth. The Zoramites would gather
once a week to worship according to their customs. They had built what they
called a Rameumptom, and people would stand on the Rameumptom and
offer a set prayer. After their weekly gathering, the Zoramites “returned to
their homes, never speaking of their God again until they had assembled
themselves together again to the holy stand, to offer up thanks after their
manner” (Alma 31:23).
But not everyone was allowed to worship. A group of poor Zoramites
approached Alma and told him that they had been cast out of the synagogues
because of their poverty, and thus they had no place to worship. When they
asked what they should do, Alma responded with two questions:
“Do ye suppose that ye cannot worship God save it be in your
synagogues only? . . . Do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only once
in a week?” (Alma 32:10–11). These two questions provide us with an
important opportunity for reflection.
There are many opportunities to worship God outside the chapel or
outside the temple. We can seek His presence in nature, in the car, in the
kitchen while we are doing dishes—anywhere! We also readily recognize
that we can and must worship God more than once a week. Our worship
should take place every day!
In answering the Zoramites’ question, Alma spoke specifically about the
importance of scripture study and prayer (Alma 33:2–12). One of the most
significant steps we can take to worship God is to seriously study the
scriptures. It is important not to just read but rather to drink deeply from the
words of the scriptures. How would you respond to the following: “True or
false: If you are too busy to read the scriptures a lot, then you should try to
read at least one or two verses a day”?
Many people would answer, “True!” But is it? Elder M. Russell Ballard
taught: “I have heard many well-intentioned Church leaders and teachers
instruct congregations to find time for daily scripture study, ‘even if it’s only
one or two verses per day.’ Though I understand the point they are trying to
teach and applaud the sincerity of that conviction, may I gently suggest that if
we are too busy to spend at least a few minutes every day in the scriptures,
then we are probably too busy and should find a way to eliminate or modify
whatever activities are making that simple task impossible.”1
Do we take the time to really worship the Lord through a daily study of
His word? Consider these powerful teachings about why and how we should
study our scriptures:
“There is a power in the book [of Mormon] which will begin to flow
into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of [it.] You will
find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to
avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and
narrow path. The scriptures are called ‘the words of life’ (see D&C
84:85), and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon.
When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life
in greater and greater abundance.”2
“As I think about your schedules and the pressures you face at this time
in your lives, I can understand why scripture study can so easily be
neglected. You have many demands pulling at you. . . . But I plead with
you to make time for immersing yourselves in the scriptures. [Combine]
scripture study with your prayers. Half an hour each morning privately
studying, pondering, and communicating with your Heavenly Father can
make an amazing difference in your lives. It will give increased success
in your daily activities. It will bring increased alertness to your minds.
It will give you comfort and rock-steady assurance when the storms of
life descend upon you.”3
Truly, through our scripture study we can worship more than once a
week!
Alma also focused on the importance of prayer. He quoted from the
prophet Zenos, who taught that we should pray constantly, wherever we are,
and he promised that God would hear our prayers. The lyrics to the
following song teaches this principle:
My Place of Prayer
Moses sought the Lord
Close to Sinai’s sky,
On mountain or in meadow,
So do I.
Many kneel beneath
Ceilings vaulted high,
In churches and in temples,
So do I.
Wherever I may be,
Sometimes on bended knee,
Alone or in a crowd
With head held high or bowed
Almost anywhere
Becomes my place of prayer.
Asking blessings on
Simple daily fare,
A dining chair becomes my
place of prayer.
Cradling my child,
Sick and needing care,
A bedside there becomes my
place of prayer.
Wherever I may be,
Sometimes on bended knee,
Alone or in a crowd
With head held high or bowed
Almost anywhere
Becomes my place of prayer.
—Val C. Wilcox4
While scripture study and prayer are vital parts of daily, ongoing
worship, there is another important component to consider. Addressing the
Zoramites who asked the question about where to worship, Amulek echoed
Alma’s testimony of prayer, and then he added this important caveat: “I say
unto you, do not suppose that this is all; for after ye have done all these
things, if ye turn away the needy, and the naked, and visit not the sick and
afflicted, and impart of your substance, if ye have, to those who stand in need
—I say unto you, if ye do not any of these things, behold, your prayer is vain,
and availeth you nothing, and ye are as hypocrites who do deny the faith”
(Alma 34:28). Thus Amulek taught that an important part of worship is the
service we give (Mosiah 2:17).
Consider this statement from Joseph Smith: “I told the brethren that the
Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone
of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its
precepts, than by any other book” (Introduction to the Book of Mormon).
Notice that Joseph didn’t say that we would get closer to God by just reading
the Book of Mormon, but by abiding by its precepts, or in other words,
living the principles it teaches.
Brad shares this experience of how reaching out to someone in need
made a difference in his worship:
“It was a hectic Sunday, as usual. I was turning in materials at the
meetinghouse library window when a certain sister came around the corner.
She and her daughter had moved away from our ward years earlier, and she
had returned for a visit.
“This woman’s daughter, whom I shall call Cami, had been my friend all
through high school. In fact, she had even been a part of our early-morning
seminary carpool. I knew her well.
“‘Is Cami with you?’ I asked. There was a long pause.
Quietly the sister began, ‘You see, Brad . . .’ Her words were strained.
‘Cami didn’t like our new ward. . . . I mean . . . she wasn’t well accepted
there. She met up with some friends from another church. She hasn’t joined
their church yet, but she’s been attending it for months.’
“I could only imagine the torment inside this mother as she saw her
daughter turning away from the gospel.
“‘Brad, you know where that church is, don’t you? Please go pick her
up. Give her a ride home. Talk to her.’
“‘All right.’ I accepted her plea without even thinking about what I was
committing to do. We said good-bye, and I was halfway to my car when I
remembered we had guests coming to our family dinner, and my home
teaching companion had said he had made some appointments for that
afternoon.
“As I approached the other church, I heard a closing hymn through open
windows. I had always known this particular church was there, but I had
never been inside. I climbed the steps to the front door and entered the
building. There was one long aisle up the center of the high-ceilinged chapel.
Luckily, I spotted Cami quickly. The wooden floor creaked as I stepped
toward her, but my footsteps were muffled by the organ and the united voices
of the congregation. During the rousing final chorus, I sat on the bench in
front of Cami. I turned my head to catch her eye and winked.
“After the service, I accompanied Cami from the building and offered
her a ride home. She was quiet. Finally, in the car, she asked in a defensive
tone, ‘What were you doing in there?’
“‘That’s funny,’ I said, ‘that’s exactly what I was about to ask you.’ I put
the key in the ignition but didn’t start the car. ‘It’s been a long time,’ I said,
turning sideways in my seat.
“‘My mom put you up to this.’ Cami sat stiffly, her clenched hands
gripping the Bible in her lap. She was quiet again.
“I asked, ‘What happened? What’s going on?’
“‘Look, I can go where I want. I’m not doing anything wrong by coming
to this church.’
“I agreed. ‘Think of how many churches Joseph Smith went to. He had to
sit in on a lot of meetings before he found the truth.’
“Cami stared ahead. ‘But,’ I continued, ‘once he had the true church, he
didn’t leave it. Even when there were problems in his ward, and people who
didn’t know him or treat him just right.’
“Cami finally relaxed into the seat. ‘Boy, Mom sure has a big mouth.’
“As I drove Cami home, we talked about the Book of Mormon,
priesthood authority, living prophets, baptism. Cami had a lot of questions,
and I did my best to answer them.
“I had been sure I would miss our family dinner, and I did. I also missed
my home teaching appointments, but Cami needed my time.
“‘I’m glad you came today,’ she said. ‘I wasn’t at first, but I am now.’
“I pulled up in front of the house Cami and her mother rented. ‘I’ll drop
by and see you next week, Cami.’ She opened the door and stepped out.
“‘Well, if I’m not here, I’ll probably be at the church,’ Cami stated. ‘The
Mormon church!’
“I started home. The autumn sun was setting. I eased my car to a stop at
the intersection. I was ready to shift gears and drive on when I felt a voice
whisper to my soul, ‘Thank you.’ I sat up straight. Was I sure of what I was
feeling? I shifted gears and drove another block, where once more a stop sign
detained me. Afraid I was making the feeling up, I tried to let it slip away,
but it wouldn’t. It was there. ‘Thank you.’ The words were unspoken yet
understood very clearly. I felt a distinct impression that gratitude was being
communicated. For one private moment, I felt my Heavenly Father’s
appreciation in a very real way.”
The answer to Alma’s question “Do ye suppose that ye must not worship
God only once in a week?” is a resounding “No!” We can and must worship
the Lord throughout the week—any time and any place, or, even better, at
every time and in every place. We can do this through searching the
scriptures, praying, and then being living witnesses of Christ—showing by
our actions and our service to others that we live what we believe. God
notices and appreciates this sincere worship.
Do ye suppose that ye must not worship God only once in a week?
Notes
^1. Ballard, When Thou Art Converted (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2002), 68.
^2. Ezra Taft Benson, “The Book of Mormon—Keystone of Our Religion,” Ensign, November 1986, 7.
^3. M. Russell Ballard, “Be Strong in the Lord and in the Power of His Might,” Church Education
System fireside address, March 3, 2002; available at http://speeches.byu.edu.
^4. Wilcox, “My Place of Prayer”; used by permission.
43
Have ye not observed the steadiness of
thy brother?
Alma 39:1
Alma the Younger had three sons: Helaman, Shiblon, and Corianton. He
took his two younger sons, Shiblon and Corianton, on a difficult mission to
the Zoramites. Even though Shiblon had to endure stoning, he bore it
patiently; Alma commended him, saying, “I have had great joy in thee
already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence, and thy patience and
thy long-suffering among the people of the Zoramites” (Alma 38:3).
Unfortunately, Corianton was not as faithful as his older brother. While
serving as a missionary, Corianton indulged in immoral activity, which
caused many Zoramites to disbelieve Alma’s words. In reproving Corianton,
Alma said, “Have ye not observed the steadiness of thy brother, his
faithfulness, and his diligence in keeping the commandments of God? Behold,
has he not set a good example for thee?” (Alma 39:1).
These questions can inspire important insights for each of us. Spiritually
speaking, we are all surrounded by many brothers and sisters who are setting
incredibly good examples. If we can observe and learn from them, our lives
will be greatly enriched. Elder David A. Bednar spoke of the importance of
being “quick to observe”: “Mormon, even in his youth, is described as being
‘quick to observe’ (Mormon 1:2). As you study and learn, . . . I hope you
also are learning about and becoming quick to observe. Your future success
and happiness will in large measure be determined by this spiritual
capacity.”1
The spiritual gift of being “quick to observe” may apply to noticing the
good things others are doing and implementing those positive characteristics
and choices in our own lives. If we are quick to observe, we can learn from
the examples all around us, as Alma admonished Corianton. And these
examples do not necessarily have to come from the people living close by.
Consider what we can learn from this experience shared by Elder Jeffrey R.
Holland:
“The Punta Arenas Chile Stake is the Church’s southernmost stake
anywhere on this planet, its outermost borders stretching toward Antarctica.
Any stake farther south would have to be staffed by penguins. For the Punta
Arenas Saints it is a 4,200-mile round-trip bus ride to the Santiago temple.
For a husband and wife it can take up to 20 percent of an annual local income
just for the transportation alone. Only 50 people can be accommodated on the
bus, but for every excursion 250 others come out to hold a brief service with
them the morning of their departure. Pause for a minute and ask yourself
when was the last time you stood on a cold, windswept parking lot adjacent
to the Strait of Magellan just to sing with, pray for, and cheer on their way
those who were going to the temple, hoping your savings would allow you to
go next time? One hundred ten hours, 70 of those on dusty, bumpy, unfinished
roads looping out through Argentina’s wild Patagonia. What does 110 hours
on a bus feel like?”2
When we are quick to observe, we can see the inspiring example these
Latter-day Saints provided as they made enormous sacrifices to attend the
temple. If we struggle to attend the temple because it might take a few hours
out of our busy day, perhaps we should listen to Alma’s words: “Have ye not
observed the steadiness of thy [brothers and sisters in Punta Arenas], . . .
[their] faithfulness, and [their] diligence in keeping the commandments of
God?” (Alma 39:1).
John shares the following experience:
“When I was a young father, I heard a talk in church by a man who spoke
about interviewing his children on a regular basis. Up until that point in my
life, I had never done any interviews with my children. But I admired this
man and felt that this was a positive practice that I could and should
implement. So beginning that month, I started holding regular interviews with
my children, and that has been an important part of our family routine ever
since. Trying to follow the example of this brother from church has greatly
blessed my life.”
There is great power to be found as we find heroes to whom we can
look and say, “If he can do it, I can do it.” Our friend Randal Wright shared
the following story:
“When I first began college, I struggled financially. Jobs were difficult
to find in Idaho until potato season came along. Two of my friends and I were
excited when we got a job in a potato cellar. We mistakenly thought it would
be an easy way to make money. All we had to do was use a large [shovel] to
scoop potatoes to a conveyor belt. Each scoop weighed only about twenty-
five pounds—not heavy at all. The first day on the job, I found that the
twenty-five pounds began to feel like fifty pounds after the first thirty
minutes. By the end of the first hour, it felt like each scoop weighed at least
seventy-five pounds, with the weight increasing with each raise of the
shovel. One of my roommates quit that first day. He said that he didn’t need
money that badly. That night, I was so exhausted and sore that I fell into bed.
“The next day after classes, two of us went back to work. My friend quit
before the day was over, and I wanted badly to join him, but I had to have the
money. With each scoop, I wanted to walk out the door, but I didn’t quit.
What kept me going? The man on the other side of the conveyor belt from me
was probably seventy years old but worked like a machine. Every time I
wanted to quit, I looked at the old man and kept going because I was not
going to let him beat me.”3
As we observe the steadiness of our brothers and sisters, we find heroes
we can emulate: “If she can be honest, so can I.” “If he can stand up to peer
pressure, so can I.” “If she can have a cheerful attitude in the face of
hardship, so can I.” The list goes on and on. Of course, the greatest hero of
all is the Savior. Thinking of Him gives additional meaning to Alma’s
questions: “Have ye not observed the steadiness of thy brother . . . ? Behold,
has he not set a good example for thee?” (Alma 39:1).
Have ye not observed the steadiness of thy brother?

Notes
^1. Bednar, “Quick to Observe,” Brigham Young University devotional address, May 10, 2005; available
at http://speeches.byu.edu.
^2. Holland, “Abide in Me,” Ensign, May 2004, 30–32.
^3. Wright, Achieving Your Life Mission (Springville, UT: Cedar Fort, 2009), 109–10.
44
Is not a soul at this time as precious
unto God?
Alma 39:17
As Alma counseled his wayward son, Corianton, he realized that

Corianton did not believe that so much information could be known about the
plan of salvation before Christ’s coming. In response to this concern, Alma
asked, “Is not a soul at this time as precious unto God as a soul will be at the
time of his coming?” (Alma 39:17). In other words, “Why wouldn’t God
reveal things far in advance? Souls today are just as precious as those in the
future.” Today, people ask similar questions in reverse: “Why would Christ
walk among the people in ancient Israel and ancient America and perform
miracles for them and not walk among us and perform miracles for us?” In
other words, is not a soul at this time as precious unto God as a soul who
lived when Christ was on the earth?
Each of us is precious to God—and we should treat each other that way.
Sometimes the people in our lives can frustrate us. At times it may be a
spouse, a child, a coworker, or the clerk at the grocery store (do you always
seem to pick the slowest line, too?). It’s easy to lose our patience and not see
people as souls who are precious to God. Perhaps we are in such a rush that
we start to view other people as obstacles in the way of our important
objectives, when actually our most important objective should be to care for
these people. When we see others for the precious souls they truly are, that
perspective can change the way we act.
Sister Chieko Okazaki wrote, “Usually we get up in the morning and
define our lives by tasks. . . . Now, lists are important. I have long lists
myself. But I want you to think about it in a different way. . . . Our real job is
to be fully present to whomever we are with while we are doing the task. . . .
Perhaps you have to go to the store. Then your job is to be a pleasant
presence on the street with the other drivers, to greet the clerk at the store
with a smile, and to thank the person at the check-out stand sincerely. You can
minister to these people while you are carrying out a task of administration.”1
Given how busy we are, reaching out to others is not easy—even for the
best of us. Consider this experience told by Elder Robert D. Hales:
“I recall one occasion when I exchanged greetings at work with a
colleague. ‘How are you?’ she asked.
“‘Fine,’ I replied automatically. ‘How are you?’
“‘I’m not so good,’ she replied. ‘My mother just died.’
“I’m embarrassed to admit that I was already thinking ahead to my busy
day, so her reply just rolled over me, and I continued walking toward my
office.
“But my friend stopped me and asked, ‘Did you hear what I just said?
My mother died, and you were the one person here I thought I could talk to
about it.’
“This woman was not a member of the Church, but she knew enough
about me and my beliefs to know that I might be able to help her in her time
of grief. Yet I had been so consumed with my own concerns that I had not
listened. I would have missed the chance to comfort and lift this friend
altogether if she had not persisted.”2
Perhaps one place where it can be difficult at times to see people as
precious souls instead of as obstacles is in our homes with our children.
John remembers:
“My wife and I had put the children to bed early in anticipation of some
adult couples coming to our home for a game night. Our oldest child,
however, was not cooperating. He insisted on coming to the party. I reasoned
with him, explained to him, and even attempted to bribe him—all to no avail.
I felt frustrated. This six-year-old boy was standing between me and an
enjoyable evening with my wife and our friends.
“We were at a total standoff when I looked differently at my son. I
realized his soul was precious. As I saw my son sitting dejectedly in his bed,
something happened inside of me. I asked myself, ‘What is he feeling? How
am I contributing to this feeling? What could I have done to prevent it? How
can I help?’ I gave him a hug. We continued to talk—our positions had not
changed, but my feelings of love for him had changed. Our conversation took
a different tone and we were able to work out a solution that both of us felt
good about.”
The next time people annoy us or we hardly notice them because we are
busy texting, we must stop and look at them differently. See them for who
they really are—souls that are precious to God. It will change the way we
feel and change the way we act.
For some of us, it is difficult to recognize that our own souls are
precious. Some may look at others and feel that those people are great,
worthwhile individuals, but they themselves are not.
John describes one encounter he had:
“I remember talking with a college freshman at Brigham Young
University. She was bright and capable but utterly miserable. She criticized
herself constantly and felt she was not measuring up to everything she
expected of herself. She said that her roommate was more popular than she
was and went on more dates than she did. Others in her major danced better
than she could and got better grades than she did. She struggled with health
challenges that others did not face. ‘Why am I so stupid?’ she asked. ‘Why
am I just a piece of broken-down garbage?’ My heart hurt for her, not only
because she couldn’t see the wonderful things she was doing and the
wonderful person she was becoming but mostly because she couldn’t see
how precious her soul was to God. Sometimes we treat ourselves worse than
we would ever dream of treating others.”
When we begin to feel downcast, we can take to heart these words from
Elder M. Russell Ballard. Speaking specifically to women—although his
words can be applied to men as well—he said, “We believe in you. We
believe in and are counting on your goodness and your strength, your
propensity for virtue and valor, your kindness and courage, your strength and
resilience. We believe in your mission as women of God. We realize that you
are the emotional (and sometimes spiritual) glue that holds families and often
ward families together. We believe that the Church simply will not
accomplish what it must without your faith and faithfulness, your innate
tendency to put the well-being of others ahead of your own, and your
spiritual strength and tenacity. And we believe that God’s plan is for you to
become queens and to receive the highest blessings any woman can receive
in time or eternity.”3
When you start to feel discouraged, when you are tempted to think that
you are just a “piece of broken-down garbage,” remember your soul is
precious to God. He is aware of your intellect, your talents, your
achievements—both public and private. He wants you to feel that you are of
value, that you are of worth, that you have your own unique contribution to
make in this world. You are precious to Him, simply because you are His.
Is not a soul at this time as precious unto God?
Notes
^1. Okazaki, Stars (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004), 54–55.
271.
^3. Ballard, “Here Am I, Send Me,” Brigham Young University devotional address, March 13, 2001;
45
Why have ye gathered yourselves
together?
Helaman 7:13
Nephi, the son of Helaman, led the Church at a difficult time. The
coming of the Savior was close at hand, and yet the Nephites were proud and
full of iniquity. Feeling deeply discouraged, Nephi climbed a tower in his
garden to pray. People passing by noticed the prophet praying and began to
gather on the street below. When Nephi ended his prayer, he asked the
multitude, “Why have ye gathered yourselves together?” (Helaman 7:13). He
then called upon the people to repent and told them of the sorrow in his heart
because of the hardness of theirs (Helaman 7:14, 18).
We live in a time when the Second Coming draws ever closer. Corrupt
judges and leaders incite the people against religious values and moral
standards just as they did in Nephi’s day. One glance through a newspaper or
a perusal of the most-often viewed sites on the Internet verify that what
Nephi said to his people still applies in today’s world: “Ye have set your
hearts upon the riches and the vain things of this world, for the which ye do
murder, and plunder, and steal, and bear false witness against your neighbor,
and do all manner of iniquity” (Helaman 7:21).
Nephi took advantage of the fact that people had gathered near his
garden. He called them to repentance, hoping that would help to disperse the
darkness that had settled over them. Today’s Saints are surrounded by a
world of spiritual darkness, and we take comfort in being able to gather
together. Elder David A. Bednar summarized the reasons for gathering
together: “What are the fundamental purposes of gathering? The Lord gathers
His people to worship, to build up the Church, for a defense, and to receive
counsel and instruction.”1 Coming together strengthens us and allows us to
receive blessings, both spiritual and temporal, that we could not receive on
our own.
Two missionaries met a woman at a store and began a conversation with
her. They were surprised to find out she was already a member of the Church
but had been inactive for many years. They invited her back to church, and
she came with her teenage son. He loved the Church and fit in quickly with
the youth group. He enjoyed attending seminary and reading the Book of
Mormon, and it was not long before the boy wanted to be baptized. The
missionaries and his mother were happy, but his father was not. He said,
“That’s fine if my wife wants to attend that church, but I don’t want my son
involved.”
The missionaries approached their mission president and asked if he
would please speak to the father and help him see it would be good for his
son to be baptized. “I’ll do my best,” the mission president said, and a
meeting was arranged.
When the time came, the first words out of the father’s mouth were, “So
what does my kid get for being a Mormon?”
“Salvation,” the mission president responded with a smile.
“Don’t talk to me about salvation,” said the father. “Any church can
promise salvation—mansions in heaven and streets paved with gold—
because no one knows who can really deliver and who can’t. Talk to me
about right here and now. What does my kid get for being a Mormon?”
The mission president explained, “The benefits of Church membership
are spiritual in nature, but I understand your concern, so let’s set those
spiritual advantages aside for just a moment and speak about additional
benefits—temporal benefits—of being a Latter-day Saint.”
He then pointed out that the Savior had said, “By their fruits ye shall
know them” (Matthew 7:20), and he began to outline some of the “fruits” of
the Latter-day Saint lifestyle. Based on United States statistics, one of the
fruits is longer life. Mormons are healthier than most people and live longer
than the national average. One study reported that Mormons live ten to eleven
years longer.2
Another fruit is better education. “Latter-day Saints have a significantly
higher level of educational attainment than does the population of the United
States as a whole.”3 Those with higher levels of education report an enriched
quality of life and increased satisfaction with life. Most Mormons enjoy
these blessings.
Another benefit enjoyed by members of the Church is stronger marriages
and families. Those who are married in and attend the temple regularly have
a divorce rate far below the national and world average.4 Latter-day Saint
families struggle with many of the same challenges that confront all families,
but in general they deal with them from a long-term perspective that makes a
difference.
The last benefit that the mission president pointed out to the questioning
father was the international circle of support and friendship found within the
social network of the Church. Not only do these connections strengthen and
help members but they also allow members to reach out in service to many
others. “Your son will have the opportunity to connect with others around the
world in multiple ways,” he told him.
The father was impressed enough that he allowed his son to be baptized,
and he even attended the baptismal service. But as he watched his son
dressed in white being led into the font by a missionary, the father was not
thinking about longer life or better education. As he watched his boy
reverently and sincerely make covenants with God, the father was not
thinking about stronger marriages and international networks of friends.
Instead, he felt the Spirit so strongly that the next time the missionaries came
to his home he did not leave or pretend he wasn’t home. He let them teach
him. When they challenged him to read the Book of Mormon, he did not make
a joke out of it as he had before. He actually read it.
Before long, the mission president was invited to another baptism—the
father’s. When the mission president approached the man dressed in white,
he asked good-naturedly, “So what do you get for being a Mormon?”
The man smiled sheepishly and responded, “Salvation.”
As this man and his family gathered themselves together with the Saints
they began to experience the “fruits”—both those in the short term, the long
term, and those that would last into eternity. Although this family—and all
Latter-day Saints—will face difficulties, by congregating with other Church
members they will be able to worship, build up the Church, defend
themselves against darkness, and receive instruction. Let us embrace
opportunities to gather together.
Why have ye gathered yourselves together?
Notes
^1. Bednar, “The Spirit and Purposes of Gathering,” Brigham Young University–Idaho devotional
address, October 31, 2006; available at
http://www.byui.edu/Presentations/transcriptions/devotionals/2006_10_31_bednar.htm.
^2. James T. Duke, Latter-day Saint Social Life: Social Research on the LDS Church and Its
Members (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1998); see also studies
by James Enstrom.
^3. Terrell H. Bell, “Educational Attainment,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow, 4
vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 2:446–47.
^4. Kristen L. Goodman, “Divorce,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1:391–93.
46
Will ye not now return unto me . . .
that I may heal you?
3 Nephi 9:13
There was great destruction on the American continent at the time of

Christ’s crucifixion. After experiencing earthquakes, storms, and fires, the
Nephites endured three days of darkness. It was during this time that they
heard the voice of the Savior. While He said many things to the people, He
asked them only one question: “Will ye not now return unto me, and repent of
your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?” (3 Nephi 9:13).
Those listening to Christ’s words likely were in need of great healing.
Some needed physical healing, others, perhaps traumatized by the terrors
they had just survived, were in need of emotional healing. All of them—and
all of us—are in need of spiritual healing. How comforting it must have been
to hear the Savior say, “Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you,
and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who
come unto me” (3 Nephi 9:14).
In some instances, the healing we need is comparatively minor. One man
struggled with feelings of anger. Although he did not outwardly manifest his
feelings, inside he knew they were counterproductive, and he sought ways to
control his temper. Through fasting and prayer he drew closer to the Savior
and felt His “arm of mercy.”
Christ can also heal us in more difficult circumstances, when our sense
of security has been shattered. A woman named Carrie “felt alone and
misunderstood, isolated in the shame, humiliation, and pain of the abuse she
had experienced. In one illuminating moment, she read that the agony of the
Atonement caused the Savior, ‘even God, the greatest of all, to tremble
because of pain, and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body and
spirit’ (D&C 19:18). Carrie realized that she was not alone in her suffering
and that the Lord had suffered far more. And she realized that He had been
sent ‘to heal the broken-hearted’ (Luke 4:18) and that through His Atonement
He could heal her wounded soul.”1
Elder Tad R. Callister wrote, “There is a miraculous rebirth, a spiritual
phoenix that emerges with our acceptance of the Savior and His Atonement.
His spirit heals; it refines; it comforts; it breathes new life into hopeless
hearts. It has the power to transform all that is ugly and vicious and worthless
in life into something of supreme and glorious splendor. He has the power to
convert the ashes of mortality to the beauties of eternity.”2
Christ can also spiritually heal us from the debilitating effects of sin.
Sometimes this type of healing takes time. President Ezra Taft Benson said,
“Most repentance does not involve sensational or dramatic changes, but
rather is a step-by-step, steady, and consistent movement toward godliness.”3
It takes time to get our lives tangled up. We can’t expect them to be
unraveled in a single day. President Spencer W. Kimball wrote, “Certainly
self-mastery is a continuous program—a journey, not a single start.”4
In Preach My Gospel, missionaries are told to be patient with
investigators who are trying to conquer addictions. In an effort to empathize,
missionaries are encouraged to think of a habit they have—something they do
frequently, without thinking, such as cracking their knuckles, adjusting their
glasses, eating too much, or sleeping too late—and then go one day without
doing those things, then a week, and so forth.5 We can likewise be patient
with ourselves in our spiritual healing. The step-by-step approach for
conquering habits can work for missionaries, investigators, and everyone.
Slowly but surely, bit by bit, we can, through the Atonement of Christ, find
forgiveness for the past and strength to press forward into the future. As
Elder Bruce C. Hafen has said, developing a Christlike character “requires
patience and persistence more than it requires flawlessness.”6
One man was discouraged at his one-step-forward-two-steps-back
progress toward breaking bad habits. He said to his bishop, “Maybe I should
just stop coming to church. Who am I to be in such a spiritual place, talking
about spiritual things, when I’m sinning? I’m sick of being a hypocrite.”
His bishop responded, “You’re not a hypocrite because you have a bad
habit that you are trying to kick. You are a hypocrite if you lie about the habit
to your leaders or try to convince yourself that the Church is the one with the
problem for having such high expectations. That’s hypocritical. Being honest
with me about your problems and taking steps to move forward is not being a
hypocrite. It is being a disciple.” That perspective gave the man hope to keep
going.
While the physical healings the Savior performed were often
instantaneous, emotional and spiritual recuperation can take more time. The
emblems of the sacrament consist of a little piece of bread and a little cup of
water. The Lord used a little piece of bread to feed thousands (Matthew 14)
and a little bit of water to create the Grand Canyon. One miracle happened in
an instant, the other took time, but both are miracles.
As we struggle to resist temptations and improve our characters, we can
look down in shame or we can look up for divine help. We can run away
from the Lord or we can run to Him. We know what the Lord desires for us.
Will ye not now return unto me . . . that I may heal you?
Notes
^1. Ann F. Pritt, “Healing the Spiritual Wounds of Sexual Abuse,” Ensign, April 2001, 60.
^2. Callister, The Infinite Atonement (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2000), 206–7.
^3. Benson, “A Mighty Change of Heart,” Ensign, October 1989, 5.
^4. Kimball, The Miracle of Forgiveness (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1969), 210.
^5. Preach My Gospel (Salt Lake City: The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 2004), 190.
^6. Hafen, The Broken Heart (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1989), 186.
47
How be it that ye have not written this
thing?
3 Nephi 23:11
When Jesus visited His followers on the American continent, He

performed mighty miracles and taught many great truths. At one point, He
commanded Nephi to bring forth the record which had been kept. Can you
picture Nephi carrying the record to Christ, feeling a little bit nervous,
hoping that the Savior would approve what they had done? As the Lord
looked at the records, he said, “Verily I say unto you, I commanded my
servant Samuel, the Lamanite, that he should testify unto this people, that at
the day that the Father should glorify his name in me that there were many
saints who should arise from the dead, and should appear unto many, and
should minister unto them. And he said unto them: Was it not so? And his
disciples answered him and said: Yea, Lord, Samuel did prophesy according
to thy words, and they were all fulfilled” (3 Nephi 23:9–10).
One thing modern readers sometimes miss is that Jesus was not talking
about the recording of the prophecy—it had been recorded (Helaman 14:25).
He was talking about the recording of the fulfillment of the prophecy (3
Nephi 23:11), which had only recently occurred. In other words, part of what
Jesus was doing was seeing if the record was up to date.
“Jesus said unto them: How be it that ye have not written this thing, that
many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them? And
it came to pass that Nephi remembered that this thing had not been written.
And it came to pass that Jesus commanded that it should be written; therefore
it was written according as he commanded” (3 Nephi 23:11–13).
Likening this account to ourselves can make us a bit uncomfortable.
How excited would we be if the Lord asked to see the records we have kept?
Is it unnerving for you to imagine having a similar conversation with Him at
some future date? He knows all the blessings, trials, experiences, insights,
and tender mercies that He has bestowed upon us. What if He were to look
over our journals and say, “How be it that ye have not written about these
things?”
God already knows everything about us, so keeping a journal is not to
inform Him but to inform ourselves of the challenges we have encountered,
the lessons we have learned, and the ways in which we have grown—or
need to grow. Along with being a record of our lives, a journal can be a
wonderful tool to help us live our lives on a higher level. It can also be a
resource from which we can teach and edify others.
Someone once asked Brad why he is such an avid journal writer. He
responded, “It’s cheaper than counseling!” Truly, a journal does provide a
safe place where we can explore our innermost feelings and deal with them
appropriately. Journals validate our feelings as well as our observations,
ideas, and dreams. If we are wise, we don’t wait to write until we have
something important to say. Most of the time, it is in the act of writing that we
realize what we have to say and why it’s important.
President Henry B. Eyring shared this insight into the importance of
keeping a record. After describing a day when he was touched by service
rendered to his family by his father-in-law, President Eyring said,
“I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: ‘I’m not
giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.’
“I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some
paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard
in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the
future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. And so I wrote
[down how Grandpa had blessed us], so that my children could have the
memory someday when they would need it.
“I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no
matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day.
Before I would write, I would ponder this question: ‘Have I seen the hand of
God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?’ As I kept
at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I
would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not
recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened
often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what
He had done.”1
As we seek for the hand of the Lord in our lives, we will find it. Writing
down what we see will increase our ability to recognize and remember these
blessings.
President Spencer W. Kimball counseled, “Write . . . your goings and
your comings, your deeper thoughts, your achievements and your failures,
your associations and your triumphs, your impressions and your
testimonies.”2 People sometimes respond by saying, “But I don’t have any
deep thoughts or grand triumphs worth recording. Nothing great or spiritual
ever happens to me.”
Others have felt this same way. On Saturday, June 20, 1942, Anne Frank,
a young Jewish girl who eventually died in the Holocaust, wrote the
following in her personal journal:
“I haven’t written for a few days, because I wanted first of all to think
about my diary. It’s an odd idea for someone like me to keep a diary; not only
because I have never done so before, but because it seems to me that neither I
—nor for that matter anyone else—will be interested in the unbosomings of a
thirteen-year-old schoolgirl. Still, what does that matter? I want to write, but
more than that, I want to bring out all kinds of things that lie buried deep in
my heart.”3
And now millions have read Anne Frank’s diary, very much “interested”
in what this “thirteen-year-old schoolgirl” recorded.
We, too, have things buried deep inside that must find a way out. They
can be freed in our journals. Perhaps our journals will never be published
like Anne Frank’s was. But certainly there are those who will be interested
in what we have to say—particularly our children and grandchildren. We
love reading journals kept by our forebears and have been inspired by their
words.
Even if our own posterity are not interested in reading the things we
write (and they probably will be!), we still benefit from writing them. Like
shooting baskets all alone in your driveway or running all alone on a track,
writing is an activity that does not require an audience beyond yourself to be
worthwhile or enjoyable. When Brad’s in-laws were moving their family
across the country, a tragic moving-van fire destroyed all their belongings,
including family photograph albums and personal journals. One well-
meaning friend lamented, “All that work for nothing!”
Brad’s mother-in-law responded, “Oh, it wasn’t for nothing. The
process we went through writing our journals can never be burned. Every
hour we spent on those books helped to make us the people we have
become.” Indeed, personal journals are an ideal environment in which we
may “become.”
Even if our own personal journals are lost or destroyed, the time we
spend writing in them is not wasted. Our journals help us build our
relationship with the Lord. They are also tools that help us become more like
Jesus Christ and reach our highest potential.
How be it that ye have not written this thing?
Notes
^1. Eyring, “O Remember, Remember,” Ensign, November 2007, 66–67.
^2. Kimball, President Kimball Speaks Out (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1981), 59.
^3. Frank, The Diary of a Young Girl (New York: Doubleday, 1952), 2.
48
Know ye not that ye are in the hands
of God?
Mormon 5:23
Christ’s visit to the Americas had a profound impact on the people that
lasted for generations. For two centuries, the people lived in peace and
prosperity. Then divisions, false churches, and contentions arose, and most of
the people became wicked. At that low point, Mormon led the Nephite
armies again and again in horrific battles against the Lamanites. The “awful
scene of blood and carnage” (Mormon 5:8) he was forced to witness must
have left him totally depleted. Perhaps that was one reason Mormon always
looked toward the future. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland pointed out that although
previous prophets, such as Mormon, “knew they would not succeed in their
day, they were able to continue to labor because they knew we would
succeed.”1
Mormon spoke directly to the Gentiles of the latter days as he reflected
on the Book of Mormon and its coming forth. He asked those who would live
hundreds of years after his time, “Know ye not that ye are in the hands of
God?” (Mormon 5:23). Mormon’s own life was in God’s hands, and he
wanted to make sure that we in the latter days knew this was true for us as
well.
Mormon literally depended on the Lord for physical safety. While we
may not often consider it, our physical lives truly are in God’s hands. King
Benjamin taught that God “is preserving you from day to day, by lending you
breath, that ye may live and move and do according to your own will”
(Mosiah 2:21).
The paths we take in our lives are also in the hands of God, and He can
guide our steps. Elder Richard G. Scott said, “The Lord has a purpose for
you, individually. . . . Discover it and fulfill it. It will likely not be revealed
all at once but will be unfolded line upon line. As you pray and work hard,
you will find threads of understanding that will lead you to the path the Lord
wants you to follow for the greatest enduring, meaningful attainment,
contribution, joy, and peace of mind. Faithfully and courageously follow
those threads of understanding and direction.”2
A woman was debating whether to take a new job. She loved her current
work assignment, and taking the new position meant a lot of uncertainty. But
as she prayed, she felt prompted to move to a new city and take the new job.
It was a leap of faith, but her new job led to many opportunities, and her new
location helped her ultimately find her husband. She was in God’s hands.
A home teacher was frustrated with a person who was willing to meet
with the home teachers occasionally but showed no interest in the gospel.
The home teacher’s frustration increased when he was assigned a new
companion, one he thought would be difficult to work with. He considered
not accepting the new companion, but he reluctantly scheduled their first
visit. Imagine his surprise when he found that his new companion and the
disinterested member they were assigned to teach connected on many levels.
Soon they were having meaningful gospel conversations. The member was
now more than willing to meet—because of the new companion. They were
all in God’s hands.
Along with recognizing that we are in God’s hands, sometimes we need
to realize that He needs us to be His hands. In 2005, Lawrence Kushner and
Gary Schmidt wrote a beautiful little picture book called In God’s Hands.3 In
it they retold a traditional Jewish folktale about a rich man named Jacob,
who had lots of money, and a poor man named David, who had lots of hungry
children. Jacob prayed and was directed to bake bread for God. He
obediently did so and took the loaves to the synagogue. As soon as Jacob
left, David came to the synagogue to pray for food to feed his starving family
and discovered the freshly baked loaves. He thanked God and hurried home
with the bread.
Throughout the following months, the same cycle was repeated several
times. Jacob believed God was eating his bread and David believed God
was baking bread for him and his family. Each man rejoiced to see God’s
hand so clearly in his life. Finally the rabbi, who knew what was happening,
brought the two men together and explained that, indeed, God’s hand was
being made manifest but not in the way the men had assumed. “Instead,” the
wise rabbi told them, “your hands have been God’s hands.”
President Spencer W. Kimball said, “God does notice us, and he
watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our
needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other.”4 Similarly, President
Dieter F. Uchtdorf has taught, “Often, the answer to our prayer does not come
while we’re on our knees but while we’re on our feet serving the Lord and
serving those around us. Selfless acts of service and consecration refine our
spirits, remove the scales from our spiritual eyes, and open the windows of
heaven. By becoming the answer to someone’s prayer, we often find the
answer to our own.”5
God’s work is all around us. We are in His hands, and He will guide us.
We can also be His hands as we serve others.
Know ye not that ye are in the hands of God?
Notes
^1. Holland, Church News, January 20, 2013, 4.
^2. Scott, “Learning to Succeed in Life,” Brigham Young University devotional address, September 15,
^3. Lawrence Kushner and Gary D. Schmidt, In God’s Hands (Woodstock, VT: LongHill, 2005).
^4. Kimball, “The Abundant Life,” Ensign, July 1978, 4.
^5. Uchtdorf, “Waiting on the Road to Damascus,” Ensign, May 2011, 76.
49
For do we not read that God is the
same yesterday, today, and forever?
Mormon 9:9
In August 1995, President Gordon B. Hinckley was interviewed by a

member of the London News Service. The reporter asked, “What is it that
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has, in your view, that makes
it more attractive to some people than the established churches?”
President Hinckley responded, “The Church is a constant in a world of
change. It is an anchor in a world of shifting values. . . . There is a need for
stability.”1
In a world where many churches have changed their standards in an
effort to attract new members, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day
Saints boldly proclaims that the commandments are not dependent on popular
vote or opinion polls. In a world of relativism and situational ethics, we
declare that truth is absolute. Right and wrong exist independent of the latest
legislation. In Mormon 9:9, Moroni asks, “For do we not read that God is the
same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness
neither shadow of changing?”
The clear answer from the Book of Mormon is that God is the same from
age to age. In the beginning of the Book of Mormon, Nephi explains, “He is
the same yesterday, to-day, and forever” (1 Nephi 10:18). And in one of the
final chapters of the book, we hear Mormon declare, “God is unchangeable
from all eternity to all eternity” (Moroni 8:18).
While asserting God’s constancy in an ever-changing society can bring
great security and comfort, it can also give rise to some unsettling questions.
“If God doesn’t change, why have Latter-day Saint doctrines and practices
changed?” one student asked. “We raise our eyebrows when other churches
change to keep up with the times, but haven’t we done the same thing? Do we
think we are less guilty than others because we haven’t made as many
changes or because we make them more slowly?”
Her teacher responded, “The key word you keep using is ‘we.’ We have
never made any changes in the Church. They are made by revelation. God
and Christ lead the Church. Most other churches don’t even claim to be led
by revelation. That sets us apart.”
The student said, “So why has God changed His mind if He is
unchangeable?”
The teacher explained, “We don’t know. Who are we to tell God what
He can or cannot do? He sees a much bigger picture than we do.” The
teacher explained that the student may understand these things better when
she becomes a parent. The instructor then explained that he treated each of
his children differently—not because he had changed or the principles he
wanted to teach his children had changed—but because each child is an
individual with unique circumstances and needs at different points in his or
her life.
It is true that God gives His children “line upon line, precept upon
precept” (2 Nephi 28:30). Throughout the history of the world, God’s
commands have changed according to His eternal purposes. For example,
God commanded, “Thou shalt not kill,” and yet at other times he said, “Thou
shalt utterly destroy” (Exodus 20:13; Judges 21:11; 1 Samuel 15:3). The
practices of circumcision (Genesis 17:8–10; Acts 15) and animal sacrifice
(Moses 5:4–8; 3 Nephi 9:20) ceased because the law was fulfilled through
the Atonement of Christ. Sometimes practices change because God makes
allowances for man’s agency and accountability. For example, God warned
the Israelites of the dangers of being ruled by a king, and yet He allowed
Samuel to anoint Saul because the people persisted in their desire (1 Samuel
9). Jesus told the Pharisees that the Lord’s policy concerning divorce
changed because of the hardness of the people’s hearts (Matthew 19:8).
In our day, the Lord explained, “I, the Lord, command and revoke, as
seemeth me good” (D&C 56:4). We must remember that changes come
through revelation from Him to us—and not the other way around.
While programs and policies may change, many things do not. Church
auxiliaries may be adapted, but eternal principles such as the priesthood and
the family do not change. Policies regarding budgets, activities, and mission
ages may be adjusted, but eternal values, such as obedience and loyalty,
diligence and sacrifice, do not change.
God’s love for us does not change. The Lord said, “I have loved you
with an everlasting love” (Jeremiah 31:5). God’s mercy in being willing to
assist us does not change. He has said, “I will never leave thee, nor forsake
thee” (Hebrews 13:5). God’s power to work miracles in our lives does not
change. Moroni writes, “If ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who
doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined
up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles” (Mormon 9:10).
Because God is our Eternal Father yesterday, today, and forever, we can
have complete confidence in Him.
For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever?
Note
^1. In Sheri L. Dew, Go Forward with Faith: The Biography of Gordon B. Hinckley (Salt Lake City:
Deseret Book, 1996), 580.
50
Who can comprehend the marvelous
works of God?
Mormon 9:16
To “those who do not believe in Christ,” Moroni declared that “God has
not ceased to be a God of miracles.” And then he asked, “Who can
comprehend the marvelous works of God?” (Mormon 9:16). Truly, God has
created many marvelous works—one only has to look into the heavens on a
starry night to realize that the universe is a marvelous work of God.
Moses was one who was blessed to see the creation of the world and all
things pertaining to it. We read that Moses was taken to a high mountain
where he “beheld the world and the ends thereof, and all the children of men
which are, and which were created; of the same he greatly marveled and
wondered” (Moses 1:8). When we stop to think of the majesty of the Lord’s
creations, we, too, marvel and wonder. Consider these words from Elder
Richard G. Scott:
“If we were capable of moving outward into space, we would first see
our earth as did the astronauts. Farther out, we would have a grandstand
view of the sun and its orbiting planets. They would appear as a small circle
of objects within an enormous panorama of glittering stars. Were we to
continue the outward journey, we would have a celestial view of our Milky
Way spiral, with over 100 billion stars rotating in a circular path, their orbits
controlled by gravity around a concentrated central region. Beyond that, we
could look toward a group of galaxies called the Virgo Cluster, which some
feel includes our Milky Way, estimated to be about 50 million light years
away. Beyond that, we’d encounter galaxies 10 billion light years away that
the Hubble telescope has photographed. The dizzying enormity of that
distance is suggested by noting that light travels 700 million miles an hour.
Even from this extraordinary perspective there would not be the slightest
evidence of approaching any limit to God the Father’s creations.”1
Taking time to stop and ponder the marvelous works of God can truly be
awe-inspiring. It can also be intimidating. Some people may feel that given
the scale of God’s marvelous works, they are unimportant. Brad’s daughter
Whitney wrote:
“It’s often easy to feel insignificant when you look at all that God has
created in His infinite timetable. Seeing the vast differences in climates,
people, and cultures just on this earth can be overwhelming.
“Once while camping in the beautiful canyons of southern Utah, the
group I was with hiked rock formations and learned how water had worked
away at the stones for thousands of years to form their current design. At
night, we stared at thousands of stars in awe. At times like these, I’ve had
friends who have commented, ‘With such numerous creations, I don’t think
God knows me or cares about my life.’ What my friends fail to recognize is
the reason for all of God’s creations. Our loving Heavenly Father has made
this miraculous planet for each of us so we may gain experience and find joy.
He has created these things for us.
“How could God put so much thought into the intricate workings of
where we live and then leave us on our own? He doesn’t. Elder Neal A.
Maxwell remarked, ‘When we say God has a plan, he truly has a plan—not
simply a grand scale, but for each of us as individuals.’”2
While God’s creations are vast and limitless, none of His creations are
more important than His children. In fact, after showing Moses the earth, God
said that while the heavens and earth would pass away, His real work and
glory is “to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses
1:39). As Elder Neal A. Maxwell explained, “The same God that placed a
star in a precise orbit millennia before it appeared over Bethlehem in
celebration of the birth of the Babe has given at least equal attention to
placement of each of us in precise human orbits so that we may, if we will,
illuminate the landscape of our individual lives, so that our light may not only
lead others but warm them as well.”3
We have been put in the place where we are, at this time, so that we can
participate in the marvelous works of God. Each one of us is a marvelous
work of God. Moses was allowed to see all of God’s creations. May we be
blessed with a glimpse of how we fit into God’s eternal plan?
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve taught, “I believe
that in our own individual ways, God takes us to the grove or the mountain or
the temple and there shows us the wonder of what His plan is for us. We may
not see it as fully as Moses or Nephi or the brother of Jared did, but we see
as much as we need to see in order to know the Lord’s will for us and to
know that He loves us beyond mortal comprehension.”4
John shares the following experience:
“When I was twenty-one, I wondered what to do with my life. I’d just
finished a mission but now felt a little lost. I felt that I was not living up to
my potential and that there was so much more I should be doing. I blocked
out several hours to ponder on my purpose and try to tap into the vision of
what God wanted me to become. One of the things I felt inspired to do was
start a community service program at Brigham Young University. BYU
already had many service programs, and I wasn’t sure if I could or should
contribute anything more. Nevertheless, with encouragement from the Spirit, I
moved forward.
“The purpose of the program I started was to pair up two BYU students
with one at-risk high school student, with the goal of providing mentoring to
the high schooler. Shortly after meeting my future wife, Lani, I asked her if
she would like to be my partner in the program. An important part of our
courtship was connected to this service.
“I had no idea from the initial promptings what would happen. But I do
know the Lord is aware of the details in each of our lives and will guide us
down the paths that will help us accomplish and become what He would
have us do and be.”
Just as God and His Son created the world for all of us, they have also
created a marvelous and individual plan for each of us. Just as the Creation
happened in stages, our plans will be unfolded to us over time. How tragic
that so many wander aimlessly through life, unaware of God’s plan for them.
While we may not be able to understand everything, we must never ignore the
marvelous works of God, whether it be His works in nature or His work in
our lives.
Who can comprehend the marvelous works of God?
Notes
^1. Scott, “Truth: The Foundation of Correct Decisions,” Ensign, November 2007, 90.
^2. Whitney Wilcox, “He Knows Who I Am,” New Era, October 2012, 26. The quotation from Elder
Neal A. Maxwell is from Deposition of a Disciple (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1976), 45.
^3. Maxwell, That My Family Should Partake (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1974), 86.
^4. Holland, “Cast Not Away Therefore Your Confidence,” Ensign, March 2000, 10–11.
51
What will ye that I should prepare for
you?
Ether 2:25
Before finishing his record, Moroni abridged the writings of Ether, in

which we learn about how the Jaredites were guided to the American
continent many years before Lehi and his family arrived. Before the brother
of Jared was able to finish the ships needed for his oceanic journey, he had
two difficult dilemmas. He had built barges to cross the sea, but because they
were watertight, there was no air and no light. He shared these two
difficulties with the Lord, saying, “And behold, O Lord, in [the barges] there
is no light; whither shall we steer? And also we shall perish, for in them we
cannot breathe, save it is the air which is in them; therefore we shall perish”
(Ether 2:19).
The Lord solved the problem of air for the brother of Jared, telling him,
“Thou shalt make a hole in the top, and also in the bottom; and when thou
shalt suffer for air thou shalt unstop the hole and receive air. And if it be so
that the water come in upon thee, behold, ye shall stop the hole, that ye may
not perish in the flood” (Ether 2:20).
But that still left the issue of light. So the brother of Jared went to the
Lord again. “O Lord,” he asked, “wilt thou suffer that we shall cross this
great water in darkness?” (Ether 2:22). The Lord responded with two
important questions: “What will ye that I should do that ye may have light in
your vessels? . . . What will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may
have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?” (Ether 2:23,
25; emphasis added).
It is interesting that the Lord didn’t simply solve the brother of Jared’s
second problem for him, as He had the first. Rather, he gave the impetus to
the brother of Jared when he said, “What will ye [the brother of Jared] that I
[the Lord] should do?” In other words, “This time, I would like you to think
about it, figure it out, and then come and tell me how I may assist you.”
We learn a similar lesson from Oliver Cowdery’s attempt to translate the
Book of Mormon. Apparently, Oliver had thought that, with minimal effort,
he could translate as Joseph had done. Many of us probably make the same
kind of assumption: we can put forth minimal effort and achieve maximum
results. However, Oliver was told by the Lord, “You have not understood;
you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought
save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in
your mind; then you must ask me if it be right” (D&C 9:7–8).
The phrase “study it out” is significant. In fact, it seems that perhaps the
Lord’s questions “What will ye that I should do?” and “What will ye that I
should prepare for you?” are but another way of saying, “Go work on this.
Come up with a plan.”
How can we apply such verses to ourselves? Elder Robert D. Hales
shared this important insight:
“At various times in our lives, we want answers to questions and
problems to be given us directly, in a manner that would take away our
agency and the blessings that come from exercising faith and waiting upon the
Lord. Some think it would be nice to have ‘spiritual fortune cookies’ to give
us the answers to life’s most vexing challenges. Heavenly Father, however,
wants to help us grow. Therefore, he allows us to be engaged in seeking
answers for ourselves.”1
The idea of “spiritual fortune cookies” is certainly appealing. Clearly,
sometimes the Lord does give us direct instruction, such as when he told the
brother of Jared to put airholes in the tops and bottoms of the barges.
However, as Elder Hales taught, and as the brother of Jared and Oliver
Cowdery learned, sometimes the Lord wants us to do more. We can and
should take initiative in studying things out—whether that means carefully
comparing different graduate schools we could attend, weighing different
opportunities for work, or handling similar situations that arise in our lives.
Sometimes, as we plead with the Lord about our problems, He will respond
by saying, “What do you want me to do?”
Brad shares the following experience:
“As a young missionary, I felt very secure knowing that I was in the
place I should be with the companion I should be with because my mission
president received revelation on my behalf. I never realized what my mission
president went through to receive that revelation I trusted so completely.
Later, as a mission president, I felt the weight of responsibility when making
transfers, and it was often overwhelming. The process of making the next set
of transfers would begin the minute one was announced. It was like plugging
holes in a dam—you would take down the pictures of the elders and sisters
going home and then their companions would need companions, and the
minute you filled those holes, there were more. I studied the situations out. I
often sought input from missionaries themselves in interviews and in
meetings with the local ecclesiastical leaders in the mission. I welcomed
suggestions from my wife, who knew the missionaries well and seemed to be
especially sensitive to their needs. Some changes and assignments just
seemed obvious and logical. Others would become a matter of prayer for
weeks. The night before transfers were to be announced, I would finally
finish the process and pray for confirmation. I felt like the brother of Jared
taking my stones to the Lord—only each of my ‘stones’ had a companion.
Sometimes the confirmation would come. It was as if the Lord touched the
stones. Other times I would be awakened at 2:00 or 3:00 in the morning and
be impressed to make additional changes—some of which did not always
seem logical at all—before the confirmation came and the stones glowed
from the Lord’s touch.”
Those in leadership positions can follow the Lord’s pattern as they
counsel those who come to them. We help them to progress in their own
spiritual growth when we encourage them to study things out for themselves
and take their decisions to the Lord for His confirmation. Instead of simply
telling them what we think or feel is right, we can help them through the
process until they gain spiritual confidence of their own.
God could have directed the brother of Jared to use stones as a source of
light, just as He directed him to put holes in the top and bottom of each boat.
But God chose to have the brother of Jared think things through. Similarly, in
our lives, when we go to God with problems, He may ask us to create our
own solutions. In doing so, He strengthens us—and we can know that He is
always there to inspire and help us succeed.
What will ye that I should prepare for you?
Note
88.
52
Have miracles ceased?
Moroni 7:29
Moroni 7 is Moroni’s record of a sermon given by his father, Mormon.

Mormon asked nine powerful questions in this chapter, one of which is the
pointed query: “Have miracles ceased?” (Moroni 7:29). We know of the
many mighty miracles of the past. We know about the parting of the Red Sea,
the protection given Helaman’s stripling warriors, and the resurrection of
Jesus Christ. We read in scripture of the lame being healed, the deaf
receiving their hearing, and devils being cast out.
But is today still a day of miracles? We testify it is.
In 1953, Elder Matthew Cowley, a member of the Quorum of the
Twelve, shared the following experience:
“A little over a year ago a couple came into my office carrying a little
boy. The father said to me: ‘My wife and I have been fasting for two days,
and we’ve brought our little boy up for a blessing. You are the one we’ve
been sent to.’ I said, ‘What’s the matter with him?’ They said he was born
blind, deaf, and dumb, no coordination of his muscles, couldn’t even crawl at
the age of five years. I said to myself, ‘This is it. This kind cometh not out
save by fasting and by prayer.’ I had implicit faith in the fasting and the
prayers of those parents. I blessed that child, and a few weeks later I
received a letter: ‘Brother Cowley, we wish you could see our little boy
now. He’s crawling. When we throw a ball across the floor he races after it
on his hands and knees. He can see. When we clap our hands over his head
he jumps. He can hear.’ Medical science had laid the burden down. God had
taken over.”1
President Gordon B. Hinckley recounted another miracle of healing:
“I recall once when I arrived in Hong Kong I was asked if I would visit
a woman in the hospital whose doctors had told her she was going blind and
would lose her sight within a week. She asked if we would administer to her
and we did so, and she states that she was miraculously healed. I have a
painting in my home that she gave me which says on the back of it, ‘To
Gordon B. Hinckley in grateful appreciation for the miracle of saving my
sight.’ I said to her, ‘I didn’t save your sight. Of course, the Lord saved your
sight. Thank Him and be grateful to Him.’”2
Of course, there are other kinds of miracles as well. Elder Dallin H.
Oaks stated:
“Many miracles happen to aid individuals in pursuing their personal
family histories. In an issue of the Church News, a woman told how she
returned to her ancestral home in Japan to seek information about her
ancestors. After finding nothing in official records, local libraries, and
cemeteries, she gave up and was driving away empty-handed when she
became lost and somehow drove past a cemetery she did not know existed.
From the car window she saw a familiar name on a tombstone, stopped, and
found many markers with the information she sought.”3
Perhaps one of the reasons we are unaware that miracles still occur is
that they are sacred experiences that people don’t always share openly.
Nevertheless, they happen all the time.
Brad recalls:
“Sister Vivian Cline and I were directing a summer youth program at
BYU. We had transported the teens to Park City in vans driven by college-
age counselors. After a full day of service activities and workshops, we
ended with something fun—a trip down the Alpine Slide. This is a long slide
that goes down an entire mountain slope. Riders are transported to where the
slide begins on ski lifts. Everyone enjoyed the activity, and we were loading
the vans to go back to campus when one of the drivers came to us in a panic
and said, ‘I’ve lost my key.’ Sister Cline asked, ‘When was the last time you
knew you had it?’ The counselor said, ‘When I got on the ski lift.’ I looked
from the parking lot toward the top of the Alpine Slide and realized that the
key was somewhere on that mountainside—a very small needle on a very
large haystack. My heart sank. It was dusk. Soon it would be totally dark. We
were responsible for getting the young people safely back to campus and also
for the vehicle. Sister Cline said, ‘Gather all the counselors for a prayer.’ We
did. We prayed for a miracle and then we spread out and started climbing the
mountain. It was dark enough that I wondered if I would see a key even if it
were right before my eyes. Just as the impossibility of what we were
attempting hit me, I heard someone yell, ‘I found it! I found the key!’ We
gathered to say another prayer—a prayer of gratitude for the miracle we had
witnessed.”
We have witnessed and heard others testify of countless miracles.
Nevertheless, there may be times when things go terribly wrong, and we
genuinely wonder if the day of miracles has ceased. For example, on
September 11, 2001, many people asked, “Where was God? How could God
let such a terrible thing happen? Why did some people miraculously escape
harm and others didn’t? Why wasn’t there a miracle to save the lives of all
the innocent victims?”
Answers to these questions didn’t come quickly or in the emotionally
charged moment. But they came. We know that knowledge about the plan of
salvation and the gift of agency provides essential perspective. We know that
God is all-powerful. He could have stopped the attacks at any moment, but
faith is not simply knowing that God can do something. Faith is also
understanding why sometimes He doesn’t. Moroni reminded us that, along
with being all-powerful, God is also all-knowing (Moroni 7:22). We can
trust Him because He sees the end from the beginning, and He has a plan for
us.
In 1955, then-Elder Spencer W. Kimball addressed the students at
Brigham Young University and spoke of several tragedies that had recently
claimed the lives of innocent victims. He said, “Could the Lord have
prevented these tragedies? The answer is, Yes. The Lord is omnipotent, with
all power to control our lives, save us pain, prevent all accidents, drive all
planes and cars, feed us, protect us, save us from labor, effort, sickness, and
even from death, if he will. But he will not. We should be able to understand
this, because we can realize how unwise it would be for us to shield our
children from all effort, from disappointments, temptations, sorrows,
suffering. The basic gospel law is . . . agency. . . . To force us to be careful or
righteous would be to nullify that fundamental law and make growth
impossible.”4
Elder Dallin H. Oaks explained:
“Most of us have offered prayers that were not answered with the
miracle we requested at the time we desired. Miracles are not available for
the asking. We know this from the Lord’s revelation directing that the elders
should be called to lay hands on and bless the sick: ‘It shall come to pass that
he that hath faith in me to be healed, and is not appointed unto death, shall be
healed’ (D&C 42:48). The will of the Lord is always paramount. The
priesthood of the Lord cannot be used to work a miracle contrary to the will
of the Lord. We must also remember that even when a miracle is to occur, it
will not occur on our desired schedule. The revelations teach that miraculous
experiences occur ‘in his own time, and in his own way’ (D&C 88:68).”5
Speaking in general conference one month after September 11, 2001,
President Gordon B. Hinckley said, “Are these perilous times? They are. But
there is no need to fear. We can have peace in our hearts and peace in our
homes. We can be an influence for good in this world, every one of us.”6
Today is a day of miracles. People are healed, keys are found, prayers
are answered. And finding peace in the midst of turbulent times is itself a
miracle, a miracle that each of us can experience.
Have miracles ceased?
Notes
^1. Cowley, “Miracles,” Ensign, October 2004, 45.
^2. Hinckley, Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1997), 343.
^3. Oaks, “Miracles,” Ensign, June 2001, 10–11.
^4. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle (Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 1973), 96.
^5. Oaks, “Miracles,” 9.
^6. Hinckley, “The Times in Which We Live,” Ensign, November 2001, 74.
Conclusion
In this book we’ve discussed fifty-two life-changing questions from the

Book of Mormon. But this is just a beginning—there are still 491 to go! We
hope the questions we’ve discussed in this book are only the start of your
study of the questions contained in the Book of Mormon. There are many
more important questions to explore. Here are a few examples: “Have ye
obtained a Bible save it were by the Jews?” (2 Nephi 29:6). “Art thou
convinced of the power of God?” (Alma 30:51). “Are not we a remnant of
the seed of Joseph?” (3 Nephi 10:17). And, of course, every deacon’s
favorite question: “Whither shall I go to obtain food?” (1 Nephi 16:23).
Stephen Jones, former Brigham Young University student and a great
friend, spoke to Brad after he graduated and asked, “How can I get more out
of my scripture study?” Brad’s response: “Don’t just read the scriptures.
Respond to them!” At first Stephen didn’t understand, but then Brad
explained that prophets throughout the Book of Mormon have recorded
questions that deserve answers. “Write your answers to those questions!”
Brad admonished.
Stephen was excited. He had never thought of interacting with the
scriptures in this way. The answers he writes to the questions he reads will
not only have application to his life but they can actually change his life. That
is what has happened to us. And isn’t that what the Book of Mormon is meant
to do for everyone?
Here are additional questions to consider.
Verse Question
1 Nephi 17:46 Why is it, that ye can be so hard in your hearts
1 Nephi 21:15 For can a woman forget her sucking child?
2 Nephi 7:1 Have I put thee away, or have I cast thee off forever?
2 Nephi 7:2 Is my hand shortened?
Jacob 2:14 Do ye suppose that God justifieth you in this thing?
Mosiah 2:24 Of what have ye to boast?
Mosiah 12:29 If ye teach the law...why do ye not keep?
Mosiah 12:29 Why do ye set your hearts upon riches?
Alma 5:27 Have ye walked keeping yourselves blameless before God?
Alma 42:25 Do ye supposed that mercy can rob justice?
3 Nephi 17:7 Have ye any that are...afflicted in any manner?
3 Nephi 24:8 Will a man rob God?
Mormon 8:38 Why have ye polluted the hold church of God?
Ether 3:15 Seest thou that ye are created after mine own image?
Moroni 7:40 How is it that you can attain unto faith, save ye shall have hope?
And these questions only scratch the surface. Almost every question in
the Book of Mormon invites pondering and could be addressed from a
variety of angles and different points of view. And let’s not stop with the 543
questions in the Book of Mormon. There are 3,444 questions in the other
standard works, and we receive new inspired questions from God’s chosen
servants in every general conference.
Remember that Elder Tad R. Callister called questions “alarm clocks”
that can “awaken us out of our mental doldrums.”1 Isn’t it time we let a few
scriptural questions ring in our minds and hearts? Isn’t it time we let them
awaken us spiritually so we can move forward toward our worthy goals?
The words quest and question are related. Each question can send us on a
quest—not just for knowledge and motivation but also for insight, wisdom,
and enriched character. Remember the tree on the cover of this book. The
questions in the leaves and on the trunk must be internalized. Ultimately,
pondering and acting on the questions in the Book of Mormon will assist us
in our quest to become more like our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus
Christ.
To download a spreadsheet with all 543 questions in the Book of
Mormon, visit http://seek.deseretbook.com.
Note
^1. Callister, “Teaching the Atonement,” Religious Educator 3, no. 1 (2002): 56.
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52 Life-Changing Questions From The Book of Mormon by Brad Wilcox - 01

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We are grateful to our grandparents for passing their testimonies of the

Has a question ever changed your life?

Interesting Facts about Questions in the Book of

Wherefore can ye doubt?

How is it that ye have forgotten?

Knowest thou the condescension of God?

In 1 Nephi 11, an angel shows Nephi the Twelve Apostles of Jesus

Thou rememberest the twelve apostles of the Lamb?

Have ye inquired of the Lord?

In 1 Nephi 15, we read a question posed by Nephi’s “brethren . . . [as]

Guide us, O thou great Jehovah,

Whither shall I go?

How is it that he cannot instruct me?

Tell me, friend, why are you blind?

Why should my heart weep?

As Nephi poured out his heart to the Lord in 2 Nephi 4, he asked a

“Why should I yield to sin, because of my flesh?” (2 Nephi 4:27).

There is a level of validation and comfort for us to be found in knowing

Some people commit a particular sin so regularly that they begin to

Wilt thou make me that I may shake at the appearance of sin?

Who art thou, that thou shouldst be afraid of man?

Nephi recorded several chapters from Isaiah, whose teachings contain

Father, where shall I work today?

Sometimes opportunities to reply “Here am I; send me” come to us at the

Whom shall I send?

Is not Calno as Carchemish?

Brad shares the following story:

Doth he say, “Depart from me”?

Who seeth us?

Know ye not that there are more nations than one?

Murmur ye, because that ye shall receive more of my word?

Conversion is sometimes difficult to define because it is so multifaceted.

What could I have done more for my vineyard?

Believest thou the scriptures?

John recalls the following experience from his youth:

Are we not all beggars?

King Benjamin exhorted his people to be “steadfast and immovable,

How knoweth a man the master whom he has not served?

What teach ye this people?

Who shall be his seed?

Atop the summit of this peak

Have you sufficiently retained in remembrance the captivity of your

As Alma addressed Church members in Zarahemla, he asked, “Have ye

Have ye received his image in your countenances?

Let’s imagine a person faced with an important decision. As she prays

Do you look forward with an eye of faith?

Can ye feel so now?

In a modern revelation, the Lord said, “Beware of pride, lest ye become

Are ye stripped of pride?

How do ye suppose that I know?

How long shall we suffer?

Believest thou in the power of Christ unto salvation?

Why do not angels appear unto us?

Have we not great reason to rejoice?

As Ammon’s missionary service among the Lamanites drew to a close,

Who can glory too much in the Lord?

What evidence have ye that there is no God?

Alma and other missionaries hoped to reconvert the Zoramites, a group

Have ye not observed the steadiness of thy brother?

As Alma counseled his wayward son, Corianton, he realized that