The Power of Simple Principles

This was a good week.  I celebrated my 34th birthday with my family.  It was the first birthday I've celebrated at home since 2011, and so it was nice to be here again.

As I teaching my D&C class a few weeks ago, we came to D&C 131:5-6, which teaches the Saints about the meaning of having their calling an election made sure.  Since I know next to nothing about the subject, I cited this famous quotation from the Prophet Joseph Smith:  "The other Comforter spoken of is a subject of great interest, and perhaps understood by few of this generation.  After a person has faith in Christ, repents of his sins, and is baptized for the remission of his sins and receives the Holy Ghost, (by the laying on of hands), which is the first Comforter, then let him continue to humble himself before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by every word of God, and the Lord will soon say unto him, Son, thou shalt be exalted.  When the Lord has thoroughly proved him, and finds that the man is determined to serve Him at all hazards, then the man will find his calling and election made sure, then it will be his privilege to receive the other Comforter, which the Lord has promised the Saints" (Joseph Smith, TPJS, 150).

After reading the Prophet's quotation, I talked to the class about the pattern that the Prophet had laid out in order for us to make our calling and election sure, or to receive the sure promise of eternal life. It is a rather simple pattern, laid out in several places throughout the holy scriptures.  1) We must obtain faith in Jesus Christ.  2) We must repent of our sins.  3) We must be baptized by immersion for the remission of sins.  4) We must receive the gift of the Holy Ghost and enjoy the comfort that He brings.  5) We must endure to the end, which the Prophet defines as continuing to humble ourselves before God, hungering and thirsting after righteousness, and living by the words of God.  In other words, we are to live the simple patterns of the gospel that we teach to even the youngest primary children and the newest converts to the gospel.  As we do so, we receive the promise that in God's own time and way, He will give us the promise of eternal life.

It's not altogether uncommon for us to joke about these so-called "Sunday School answers," and to hope to learn about the so-called "deeper doctrines," generally including this principle of making one's calling and election sure.  And yet, the Lord continues to repeat this timeless simple message to us throughout his words.  When God wanted to teach Adam the gospel following the fall, these are the things that He taught him (Moses 6:51-68).  When Nephi wanted to give his last discourse to his people and commit his final testimony to writing, these are the things that he taught (2 Nephi 31, particularly verses 17-21).  And when the Savior came to visit the Nephites, fulfilling countless prophecies, His first words were about faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end (3 Nephi 11:31-41).  In fact, I have a sneaking suspicion that when He comes again to reclaim His throne upon this earth, His first words to the assembled billions will be of faith, repentance, baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.

The simple truth is that these simple truths we teach to the youngest primary children and the newest investigators and converts, are the most profound and transformative doctrines that heaven has to offer us in this life.  If we are wise, we never leave the first principles and ordinances behind in our quest for doctrinal understanding and scriptural truth.  None of us has mastered the principle of faith, which is the very power by which the world was made.  None of us has fully repented of all our sins and overcome all imperfection through the Atonement.  None of us has outgrown the baptismal covenant, which we desperately need to renew each Sabbath day.  None of us completely enjoy the full promise of the Gift of the Holy Ghost, which is that we may "always have His Spirit to be with us."  These are the tasks that encapsulate enduring to the end.  It is only through continually humbling ourselves before God, learning how to hunger and thirst after righteousness consistently, and then feasting upon and living by every word of God that we begin to learn the depth of each of these simple principles.

Regardless of where we may be along the path back to our Heavenly Home, there is much for us to learn.  The danger comes when we think that we know it all.  May we all learn to more fully "press forward with a steadfastness in Christ" (2 Nephi 31:20) that we may one day hear those choice and holy words: "Son or Daughter, thou shalt be exalted."

Brett

Content with the Things Allotted unto Us

Some talks simply stand out from the very second they are given, and we never forget them.  For me, Elder Neal A. Maxwell's April 2000 talk, "Content with the Things Allotted unto Us."  He gave that talk at the conference right before I began my mission.  The day previous, my Nana Haycock had passed away.  Hence, I find it remarkable that this particular talk stood out to me and has remained with me during all this time.  Although it's lessons have blessed me during the previous 15 years, they have come to hold even greater meaning to me during the past year.

The talk centers around the marvelously introspective musings of Alma in Alma 29.  We are all familiar with them.  Alma begins this soliloquy with the statement, "O that I were an angel and could have the wish of mine heart, that I might go forth and speak with the trump of God, with a voice to shake the earth, and cry repentance unto every people!  Yea, I would declare unto every soul, as with the voice of thunder, repentance and the plan of redemption, that they should repent and come unto our God, that there might not be more sorrow upon all the face of the earth" (Alma 29:1-2).  I think at times we can all relate to Alma.  He wishes that he had the power to share the gospel with greater influence and to touch the hearts of those throughout the world.  He wanted to emulate his own angelic minister, whose voice had been "as it were the voice of thunder" with power to shake the earth (Alma 36:7).  His whole life had changed when "God sent his holy angel to stop [Alma and the Sons of Mosiah] by the way" (Alma 36:6), and now he wanted to similarly bless others.

But in the midst of rhapsodizing about his potential influence if he were called to be an angel, Alma declared, "But behold, I am a man, and do sin in my wish; for I ought to be content with the things which the Lord hath allotted unto me.  I ought not to harrow up in my desires, the firm decree of a just God, of i know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he alloteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction" (Alma 29:3-4).  Alma then declares, "Why should I desire that I were an angel, that I could speak unto all the ends of the earth?  For behold, the Lord doth grant unto all nations of their own nation and tongue, to teach his word, yea, in wisdom, all that he seeth fit that they should have. . . . I know that which the Lord hath commanded me, and I glory in it.  I do not glory of myself, but I glory in that which the Lord hath commanded me; yea, and this is my glory, that perhaps I may be an instrument in the hands of God to bring some soul to repentance; and this is my joy" (Alma 29:7-9).

Elder Maxwell states that Alma makes "a significant spiritual journey" within these nine verses, arriving at "acceptance without self-pity."  Alma had come to realize that "performance is what matters, not the size of the stage."  Further, he had come to understand that "if we press too much, too often, and too hard for enlarged personal roles, we could actually shrink the field of action needed by others."  In being called to an angelic ministry, perhaps others would have had their opportunities to spread the good news of the gospel diminished.

But others would not have been the only ones who might have been diminished if Alma had been called to an angelic ministry at the time that he desired it.  Alma himself, might have been diminished  by that high and holy calling.  At the time, Alma seems to have been unaware of the challenges that his young son Corianton was experiencing in his heart--challenges that would soon materialize into moral transgressions.  If Alma had been called to an angelic ministry at that time, it would have come at the cost of a later and precious opportunity to counsel Corianton in his sins, leading him back to faith and repentance.  Certainly other conversions and saving contributions would have resulted from a calling to be an angel, but none of them could have compared with the conversion of his own son.  Indeed, the calling to be a father was higher and holier than the calling to be an angel.  And the opportunity to emulate his own angelic father whose soft words of testimony had been the words that actually precipitated the beginning of Alma's journey toward hope in Christ, exceeded the opportunity to emulate the angelic words of thunder that had first caused Alma to consider his own ways.

At that time, Alma did not know what he would know just a couple of short years later.  He didn't understand why God had designed to keep him closer to home with what seemed like a more mundane ministry.  But God knew the purpose of His designs.  God knew why it was important for Alma to stay closer to home, preaching more often in familiar congregations than among other nations, kindreds, tongues, and people.  All Alma knew was that the Lord's answer to his desires at that time had been "No," and that there must have been a purpose for that answer.  And so, in faith, he waited, continued to testify among those to whom he had been called, and continued to rejoice in the successes of others who had been called to the seemingly more exotic fields of labor.  In time, Alma was "taken up by the Spirit" (Alma 45:19), perhaps having received this long-sought-after calling.  But before that happened, he made his greatest impact, teaching his own struggling son, within the walls of his own home.

May we all learn to be "content with the things allotted unto us," trusting in God's plan and in his purposes.

Brett

Preparing a Prophet

The end of the semester has finally come, meaning that I have been in the process of preparing my final lecture of the semester on D&C 138 and Official Declaration 2.  I knew that one of the things I wanted to do with D&C 138 was to give some background on why this specific revelation may have come to President Joseph F. Smith rather than others.  I knew that his story was critical to the preparation to receive this revelation.  I knew that President Smith had experienced the trial of death more than anyone should ever have to experience that trial, beginning in 1844 with the death of his father when he was just five years old.  I knew that the context of World War One, the 1918 Flu Epidemic, and the death of his son Hyrum Mack Smith in 1918 all played a role in the timing of this revelation.  Further, I knew that at the time of that revelation, President Smith was critically ill himself and would die a little more than a month later, perhaps causing him to contemplate the Spirit World more than usual.

One thing that I hadn't realized, however, was just how deeply personal this story was.  As I studied up on President Smith, I learned that he had lost 13 children during his life, the last being the death of his Apostle son Hyrum Mack.  Wanting to help that number come alive, I decided to choose one of his children and look through President Smith's rich diaries to give a specific example of how difficult this challenge had been for him.  The entries I found were humbling and emotional.  Here are four examples regarding the death of his beloved daughter Rhoda.

“This morning my little Rhoda was again taken suddenly very sick. . . . while in a meeting of the brethren of the Twelve and the attorneys, a messenger brought me word that my little Rhoda was having convulsions.  I hastened home calling for H. J. Richards who accompanied me, and found the baby very sick, although her temperature was only 102.  I administered to her and she seemed better.”

Joseph F. Smith, diary, June 28, 1879.

“Another restless night with the baby. . . . I began to feel alarmed about her.  She is very sick, and my sympathies run away with my faith.  Still I keep administering and exercising all the faith I can, and I believe she will recover.  At least I claim that blessing at the hand of the Lord.  I do not want to bury my children.”  Joseph F. Smith, diary, June 30, 1879.

“I again watched with the baby until 4 a.m. . . . About 11 p.m. the baby commenced coughing and continued without ceasing nearly all the remainder of the night, which completely exhausted her, and this morning we are almost ready to despair at her recovery.  She was never so low before, nor have we ever had a child so low recover.  Still I will hope and pray.  She is a most beautiful, intelligent and attractive little child, and for nearly 1 year has she been the loved pet of all the family.  I have often shrunk from the thought that we loved the little darling too much, for our hearts are set upon her.  And now I pray God to spare her to us.” Joseph F. Smith, diary, July 3, 1879.

“I had scarcely laid down when I was called, as soon as possible I dressed and entered the sick room.  I found my precious, beloved darling beloved one dying.  I took her on the pillow and walked the floor with her, she again revived, but only lingered about an hour and died in my arms at 1:40 a.m.  Now God only knows how deeply we mourn.  This is the 5^th death in my family.  All my little ones most beloved!  O God help us to bear this trial! . . . O! who can tell the aching sorrows of the heart torn and lacerated to the very core by the cruel merciless hand of death!  O! how we loved that brightest, sweetest darling babe!”  Joseph F. Smith, diary, July 6-7, 1879.

As I read those diary entries, I couldn't help but be overwhelmed by the grief that President Smith was experiencing in this moment.  What absolute anguish this must have produced for him.  And he had to go through this experience 8 more times following the death of his little Rhoda.  Surely there must have been days when he wondered why the Lord was continuing to try him with the same kind of heart-wrenching experience.  Surely there was some other way that he could be tried, sparing the lives of his little children.

I don't know all of the reasons why someone would be called to undergo something like that 13 times, but I do know that God never calls His children to pass through any affliction without some greater purpose in that trial.  In the process of these experiences, President Smith's mind surely became fixed upon the Spirit World to which his beloved children had been taken.  Nearing the end of his life, I can only assume that his thoughts turned more and more toward his upcoming reunion with his parents, Rhoda, Hyrum Mack, and his other children who had preceded him in death.  Then, in the opportune moment, God opened President Smith's eyes and gave him answers regarding the place where those loved ones had gone and the work that they were performing there.  I can hardly imagine a more comforting answer.

And so if there are trials and challenges in our lives that just seem to repeat themselves constantly, burdens continually recur, perhaps we can take heart from the story of President Smith.  Perhaps we can know that even while answers may not come immediately, they will come.  And perhaps God is preparing us to see what others have not seen, to know what others have not known, and to experience what others have not experienced, that they too might be blessed by the revelations which flow.

Brett