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

Five Loaves of Bread and a Few Small Fishes

Last week I had the opportunity to teach Sunday School in my ward.  Part of the lesson I was able to teach was on the Savior's feeding of the five thousand.  As evidenced by the image taken out of a bible stories book, this is a story that we are all familiar with and know from the time we are young.  Sometimes these stories that we are so familiar with can lose the power that they ought to have in our lives because we assume that we have heard it all before.  At least I know that I've done this before.  In the process of tuning out, we miss the opportunity to hear messages that we hadn't heard before.  Gratefully last Sunday, I was willing to look closer and listen to the comments of others in the class which helped me to see greater meaning in this story.

I'm impressed by the fact that this story originates with an act of compassion and grace.  The Savior had just learned of the death of his friend and cousin, John the Baptist, and had gone by ship "into a desert place apart" (Matt 14:13), seemingly wanting to be alone to mourn.  But the people followed Him and He was "moved with compassion toward them" (Matt 14:14) so that he healed their sick and then taught them until it began to grow late.  The disciples began to worry and told the Savior to "send the multitude away, that they may go into the villages, and buy themselves victuals," prompting the Savior's response, "They need not depart; give ye them to eat" (Matt 14:15-16).  Ever the Teacher, the Savior was trying to help His disciples understood that they had more to offer to the Father's children than they had as yet understood.  In terms of spiritual nourishment, the Savior was trying to remind his disciples and the people that it would be these Twelve men to whom they would soon directly look for spiritual bread.  At the same time, He wanted those disciples to understand that they had access to priesthood power beyond what they had accessed to that point.

Still trying to understand how they were to feed the multitudes, the disciples remarked that they did not have enough money to buy bread for everyone, and all that could be found among the multitude were the "five barley loaves, and two small fishes" (John 6:9) that a young boy had brought with him.  "But what [were] they among so many?" (John 6:9)  Their query prompted the Savior's response, "Bring them hither to me" (Matt 14:18) and the resultant miracle by which those five barley loves and two small fishes not only fed, but "filled" the multitudes with enough and to spare left over.

At times in our lives, each of us are like the multitudes, the disciples, and the young boy.  Like the multitudes, we come to the Lord in search of healing and then in search of nourishment.  At times we may have almost nothing we can contribute to the whole.  For whatever reason, our best efforts still keep us focused upon our own need for healing and nourishment from heaven, and for these things we have come to the Lord.  We go to the Temple in search of answers.  We go to our knees with the weight of the world hanging upon our shoulders.  And we beseech heaven's comfort and aid.  We want to do more, but in those moments, the best we can sometimes do is to make it through the next day with the Lord's help.

Like the disciples, we sometimes have the ability to see beyond our own concerns to the needs and challenges of others.  We are filled with compassion toward them and we want to know what we can do to help, but despite the best of our efforts to come up with ideas, we are left without adequate solutions.  And then when the Lord instructs us, "Give ye them to eat" (Matt 14:16), we wonder how we will ever accomplish that monumental task.

And then there is the small boy, who for one reason or another had brought five small barley loaves and two small fishes with him.  It was likely all that he had.  Perhaps they were to be his own dinner that evening.  Perhaps he was intending to sell these meagre provisions to help provide for his family.  Whatever the case, he was asked to bring them unto the Lord; to sacrifice his all for the betterment of the whole.  And he likely wondered, as did the disciples, "What are they among so many" (John 6:9)?  Surely others had more to offer.  Surely his contribution was not enough to make the difference.  And yet, with faith beyond his years, this young boy gave all that He had to the Lord and His servants in hopes of blessing the whole of those who were there.  And as is always the case, whatever we bring to the Lord in sacrifice and consecration is blessed, multiplied, and increased to meet Heaven's needs.   In the eternal scheme of things, many of us probably have only five loaves of bread and a few small fishes to contribute to the Lord's Kingdom.  We wonder how He could ever do anything with so little. And yet, as we consecrate these small offerings to Him, He will find a way to make more of these offerings than we can possibly imagine.  With them, He can feed the hungry, clothe the naked, and bring comfort to the disconsolate.  All that we have to do is place our few loaves and fishes upon the altars of consecration.  In the process, we too will be filled beyond what we thought we could expect.

Brett

Chapel Cleaning and Consecration

This last week my Doctrine and Covenants class was in D&C 124, a wonderful--albeit very long--revelation that includes some important instructions regarding the construction of the Nauvoo Temple.  The Lord instructs the Saints to send "swift messengers, yea chosen messengers" to the scattered Saints, "and say unto them: Come ye, with all your gold and your silver, and your precious stones, and with all your antiquities; and with all who have knowledge of antiquities, that will come, may come, and bring the box tree, and the fir tree, and the pine tree, together with all the precious trees of the earth; and with iron, with copper, and with brass, and with zinc, and with all your precious things of the earth; and build a house to my name for the Most High to dwell therein" (D&C 124:26-27).  In other words, the Lord wanted all of the Saints to come and contribute what they had to the construction of that important edifice.  The Saints were asked not only to bring their means, but also their labor and skills to help build the Lord's house.  Hence, when they walked into the temple to receive their endowments and other blessings, they would see the places where they had labored and perhaps even the items that they had consecrated to the kingdom to furbish the Temple.

As I was teaching these verses, it hit me that we don't really do this the same way anymore.  Wisely, the Lord has not asked me to donate my construction "skills."  When I donate to the Temple fund, I don't know which of the many temples my meagre contributions are going towards.  Other than a small patch of grass on the south side of the Mount Timpanogos Temple that I helped to lay in 1996, my experiences don't match those of the Saints who built the Nauvoo Temple with their blood, sweat, skill, and treasure.

But yesterday as I was cleaning the chapel at 8:20 in the morning, the Lord taught me how I could be like those early saints.  Admittedly I have never really enjoyed chapel cleaning.  It is always early in the morning on a Saturday when I would rather be sleeping in, and so sometimes I have not contributed to that task with the kind of willingness that I ought to have manifested.  As I was vacuuming carpets yesterday morning, though, my mind went back to those verses in D&C 124.  In an instant, I began cleaning with a different kind of dedication.  I was cleaning the Lord's house where both I and others were to worship the following day.  I wanted it to look beautiful.  I wanted it to look like and feel like the house of the Lord, and that meant taking the time to vacuum up those extra crumbs that were harder to get up.  It was a lesson to me about consecration.  Giving up a few minutes of extra sleep or study was hardly a great sacrifice, but it would allow myself and others to worship the Lord in greater reverence.  I could walk into the chapel and see the areas where I had cleaned, consecrating my small offering to the Lord in holiness.

We talk about the Law of Consecration as a big thing, a grand idea that is full of excitement and possibilities.  But most of the time, consecration is picking up a hammer in 1843, or picking up a vacuum in 2015.  It is paying our tithing freely, and then giving of our time and efforts freely to make Zion and her houses presentable to the Lord.  We build Zion by giving what we can, the best that we can, wherever and whenever we are asked.  We build Zion wherever we are, and then when we see those small tokens of our devotion, we are reminded that we give of ourselves because we love God and desire to worship Him in reverence.

Brett

Keep Moving and Keep Building

This morning as I was studying my scriptures, I came across some passages in D&C 124 that struck me.  The Lord began this revelation by telling the Prophet, "Verily thus saith the Lord unto you, my servant Joseph Smith, I am well pleased with your offering and acknowledgments, which you have made; for unto this end have I raised you up, that I might show forth my wisdom through the weak things of the earth.  Your prayers are acceptable before me; and in answer to them I say unto you, that you are now called immediately to make a solemn proclamation of my gospel, and of this stake which I have planted to be a cornerstone of Zion, which shall be polished with the refinement which is after the similitude of a palace" (D&C 124:1-2).

As I read these verses, the historian in me couldn't help but think about the context and how these words may have made Joseph feel.  This revelation came to the Prophet on January 19, 1841.  Two years earlier, he had been incarcerated in a hellish prison, not knowing whether he would ever get out or what would become of him.  By January 1841, however, the "beautiful city" on the Mississippi river was beginning to take shape.  This revelation included yet more plans for the construction of a temple, this one to be the most majestic that the Saints had yet undertaken.  Furthermore, as these verses discussed, Nauvoo was to become "a cornerstone of Zion," polished and gleaming with "the refinement which is after the similitude of a palace."  Most importantly, the Lord was pleased with Joseph's efforts and accepted those efforts and prayers.

In contemplating these circumstances, I couldn't help but think about the "dark, dirty, and loathsome" prison that Joseph had been kept in during the winter of 1838-1839.  I thought to myself, "How was he able to go from the hell that was Liberty Jail and the debacle in Northern Missouri, and automatically begin again to build yet another city to the Lord?  How was he able to move on from a disaster to build a beautiful city, crowned with a Temple?"

The early history of this Church is one of perpetual movement and perpetual building.  In 1830, the Saints were compelled to vacate their homes in New York to move to Kirtland, and then, in part, to Jackson County, Missouri.  In 1833, the Saints were forced to vacate Jackson County under the threat of terror and violence.  After having built and dedicated a beautiful temple in Kirtland, the Saints were forced to vacate their homes and temple in 1838, moving to Far West, Missouri.  Within months of establishing homes in Far West, the Saints were expelled from the state of Missouri, necessitating the construction of yet another city at Nauvoo beginning in 1839.  And even then, after completing their majestic Temple at Nauvoo, they were once again compelled to move, and once again build another city.

It's a story that hardly seems fair.  This constant movement and the constant need to build new homes and new temples seems almost unbearable.  But those who remained and those who built the kingdom were the ones who were willing to keep moving and keep building.  They didn't allow the experiences of Kirtland and Jackson County prevent them from building Far West.  Nor did they allow the experiences at Far West and Haun's Mill prevent them from building Nauvoo.  Nor did Nauvoo prevent the building up of Salt Lake.

May we all keep moving and keep building, no matter the experiences of the past.

Brett

Where One Door Closes

Honore Daumier, Don Quixote in the Mountains

There is a line in the novel Don Quixote that has come to hold great meaning for me.  Speaking to his friend Sancho, Don Quixote noted that the proverbs we so often quote in this life are true, being "drawn from experience itself, mother of all knowledge."  Don Quixote then states that one proverb in particular is true, namely the proverb which states "if one door closes, another will be opened" (Cervantes, Don Quixote, chapter 21, paragraph 2).

I first remember hearing this proverb in 2004.  At the time I was a Junior at BYU and I was enrolled in the second of three courses for training potential seminary teachers for the Church.  I had wanted to be a seminary teacher since I had been in high school.  I had planned for it, hoped for it, prepared for it, and prayed for it.  But in the Fall of 2004 I found myself teaching a class of 15 year olds at Timpview High School for 10 days and I began to realize that the ability to teach teenagers was simply not a skill that I possessed.  No matter how much planning, preparing, praying, or hoping I did, I did not possess the ability to captivate those students.  Everything I had worked towards seemed to come crashing to the ground.  A couple of weeks after the ten day experience had ended, I received a letter in the mail explaining that I had not been invited to continue in the program, and included with that letter was a copy of President Howard W. Hunter's talk "The Opening and Closing of Doors."  It was in this talk that I first really heard this short proverb.

In that masterful sermon, President Hunter taught:  "Doors close regularly in our lives, and some of these closings cause genuine pain and heartache.  But I do believe that where one such door closes, another opens (and perhaps more than one), with hope and blessings in other areas of our lives that we might not have discovered otherwise."  President Hunter then went on to state, "We are not always wise enough or experienced enough to judge adequately all of the possible entries and exits.  The mansion that God prepares for each of his beloved children may have only certain hallways and banisters, special carpets and curtains that he would have us pass on our way to possess it. . . . Our detours and disappointments are the straight and narrow path to Him."

Inspiring though it was, at the time, this was not the talk or the counsel that I wanted to receive.  I didn't want to hear about doors closing, and I didn't want to think about other doors opening.  This was the thing that I had prepared for and wanted for years, and now it was over.  But time and experience proved two things: 1) It was a blessing that that door had closed on me, no matter how much I had wanted it to remain open; and 2) Other doors--better doors for me--did indeed open, providing new opportunities and blessings.  Teaching seminary is a wonderful profession, and I look upon those teachers I had in high school as trusted mentors who helped me to discover important talents, a burning testimony, and an abiding love for the word of God.  But I don't know that I ever could have been truly happy teaching seminary.  My personality and teaching style were always more accustomed to a collegiate audience.  My love of research and history required a collegiate audience. I did not see the opened doors immediately, but in time I did find opportunities for added study and growth under the tutelage of trusted mentors and advisors, as well as in the company of friends whom I would never have met if the door to seminary teaching had not been closed.  In the past ten years, I have had so many opportunities for growth and learning, opportunities that it would have been tragic to have missed out upon.  And so, while it took time, I came to understand the great importance of closing doors.

In many ways, 2014 was another year of closing doors for me.  And like 2004, I found the closing of these doors to be an immensely difficult experience--indeed, the pain I felt at the closing of these doors far outstripped the pain of ten years earlier.  Perhaps I can be forgiven if I admit that during the fall and early winter of 2014, in some moments, I felt as if the Lord had forsaken me.  My world had once again come crashing down, and I wasn't sure that any other opened door could ever possibly make up for the one that He had closed.  I'm ashamed to admit that I was, in those moments, the epitome of one of little faith.  But as I sit here this Sunday afternoon, I am beginning to see that once again that "where one door closes, another will be opened," even if it takes us some time to see which doors are beginning to open.

This past Monday, I received word that one of these promised doors had opened.  Through the Lord's goodness, I received a one year appointment as an intern with the Joseph Smith Papers Project, a position that will provide me with added skills and opportunities, as well as networking, good pay, and time in which to complete my dissertation.  I'm incredibly grateful for this blessing, and anxious for the opportunity to spend more time researching the Prophet of the Restoration!

And so today, I find myself again grateful for the truth that "where one door closes, another will be opened."  Difficult as it is to see some of the doors in our lives close, I am grateful for a God who knows me better than I know myself, and who knows which blessings I stand in need of in order that I might grow.

Brett