Speaking on the revelation contained in Doctrine and Covenants, section four, David O. McKay said,
“When that revelation was given to the Prophet Joseph Smith, he was twenty-three years of age. The Book of Mormon was not yet published; no man had been ordained to the priesthood. The Church was not organized; yet the statement was made and written without qualification that ‘ . . . a marvelous work is about to come forth among the children of men.'”
April 1952
General Conference
In our family reading we came to the end of the fourth book of Nephi.
I find the last two verses interesting,
And it came to pass that when three hundred and twenty years had passed away, Ammaron, being constrained by the Holy Ghost, did hide up the records which were sacred—yea, even all the sacred records which had been handed down from generation to generation, which were sacred—even until the three hundred and twentieth year from the coming of Christ.
And he did hide them up unto the Lord, that they might comeagain unto the remnant of the house of Jacob, according to the prophecies and the promises of the Lord. And thus is the end of the record of Ammaron.
When Ammaron closed up his record and hid it, it appears that he was fully expecting to be the end of the line. Can you see this old man, run down by the wickedness of everyone around him? The Spirit had instructed him to hide it away. What a weight, to put the pen down on the record and to think your done.
Perhaps it was for the safety of the record. Seldom was the record keeper just the observer. He probably was vocal and perhaps to keep the record safe he had to hide it and walk away. I don’t think it hard to fathom that perhaps there were many who were seeking the life of Ammaron and the gold upon his plates were written.
But there’s one hope. A boy, a sober boy, one who the Spirit whispers to Ammaron is worthy as a keeper of the plates. He intrusts him with a holy secret and charge to carry on as recorder, as witness to the end. This boy, who by his 17th birthday will be the commander of the Nephite armies, will have to watch it all unravel.
The events that surround the end of the Book of Mormon are some of the saddest and tragic in all scripture, but so many of the messages are so hopeful and so full of light looking forward to our day. Like what Ammaron saw in Mormon, Mormon saw in us–the potential for good. The potential to take care and cherish the record.
Like Mormon we stand outnumbered in a world of unrest with very few moral anchors. Mormon and Moroni represent to me what it means to have a perfect brightness of hope in Christ. What lessons can we learn from this father and son?
Russel M. Nelson, speaking on repentance and conversion, made this interesting connection with temple and family history work,
“’Jesus wants me for a sunbeam’? Yes! And you too! He also wants us as bonding blacksmiths—creating celestial welding links—to curb the curse of family fragmentation. The earth was created and temples provided so that families can be together forever. Many, if not most, of us could repent and be converted to more temple and family history work for our ancestors. Thus, our repentance is necessary and essential for their repentance.”
“Repentance and Conversion”
April 2007 General Conference
Elder D. Todd Christofferson spoke on the importance of temple an family history work and what it says about our testimony of the Savior. He said,
“The principle of vicarious service should not seem strange to any Christian. In the baptism of a living person, the officiator acts, by proxy, in place of the Savior. And is it not the central tenet of our faith that Christ’s sacrifice atones for our sins by vicariously satisfying the demands of justice for us? As President Gordon B. Hinckley has expressed: “I think that vicarious work for the dead more nearly approaches the vicarious sacrifice of the Savior Himself than any other work of which I know. It is given with love, without hope of compensation, or repayment or anything of the kind. What a glorious principle.”8 [“Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley,” Ensign, Jan. 1998, 73.]”
…
Our anxiety to redeem the dead, and the time and resources we put behind that commitment, are, above all, an expression of our witness concerning Jesus Christ. It constitutes as powerful a statement as we can make concerning His divine character and mission. It testifies, first, of Christ’s Resurrection; second, of the infinite reach of His Atonement; third, that He is the sole source of salvation; fourth, that He has established the conditions for salvation; and, fifth, that He will come again.”
…
“By identifying our ancestors and performing for them the saving ordinances they could not themselves perform, we are testifying of the infinite reach of the Atonement of Jesus Christ”
“The Redemption of the Dead and the Testimony of Jesus”
October 2000 General Conference
Sister Elaine S. Dalton spoke on the
importance of turning our hearts and the work of saving the dead. She said,
How can the promises made to the fathers be planted in the hearts of the children? How can the hearts of the children be turned to their fathers? This can happen only when we understand our identity and roles in this work and remain worthy and prepared to enter the temple and act on behalf of those who have gone before.
Brigham Young said: “We have a work to do just as important in its sphere as the Savior’s work was in its sphere. … We are now called upon to do ours; which is to be the greatest work man ever performed on the earth.” [Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe (1954), 406.]
“We Did This For You”
October 2004 General Conference
President David O. McKay spoke on what we can do to take upon us ‘His yoke’ in a world of trouble and tribulation. He said,
“First—We can set an example of uprightness; be honest in all our dealings; avoid vulgarity and profanity; demonstrate to our neighbors and to all whom we meet that we live clean, honorable lives.
Let your light so shine among men that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven ( Matt. 5:16).
Second—Let us strive for peace and harmony in the home. If we cannot keep quarreling, bickering, and selfishness out of our home, how can we even hope to banish these evils from society?
A true Mormon home is one in which if Christ should chance to enter, he would be pleased to linger and to rest.
Third—Having at least striven for a good character, having a home environment that is creditable, we may then consistently discharge our duty as authorized representatives of the Lord Jesus Christ to declare to the world that the conditions that will bring peace and comfort to the individual, to the family, and to the nation, are found in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. These can be named and understood and as easily practiced with resultant contentment and peace as are the evils and vices that bring tribulation.
Summarized these fundamentals are: An acceptance of Christ as Savior and Redeemer; a moving, soul-consciousness of the existence of God, and that he is our Father in Heaven; a daily life consistent with such a knowledge; a love for one’s fellow men.
In other words, as the Savior summarized the law and the prophets:
Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind . . . and thy neighbor as thyself ( Mark 12:31-32).”
“The Significance of World Trends”
October General Conference, 1947
President Harold B. Lee taught,
“Where else can you go for guidance? Where is there safety in the world today? Safety can’t be won by tanks and guns and the airplanes and atomic bombs. There is only one place of safety and that is within the realm of the power of Almighty God that he gives to those who keep his commandments and listen to his voice, as he speaks through the channels that he has ordained for that purpose.”
Closing Remarks
General Conference October 1973
At the end of General Conference in 1973, President Harold B. Lee said,
“Now, you Latter-day Saints, I think you have never attended a conference where … you have heard more inspired declarations on most every subject and problem about which you have been worrying. If you want to know what the Lord would have the Saints know and to have his guidance and direction for the next six months, get a copy of the proceedings of this conference, and you will have the latest word of the Lord as far as the Saints are concerned.”
Closing Remarks
October 1973 General Conference
Yesterday (Saturday), we had the opportunity to participate in a session at the Jordan River Temple on behalf of some ancestors in my family. I personally found anything in the temple becomes a little more meaningful when I do it on behalf of my family.
As we were returning to the locker rooms to change back into street clothing, we were invited to assist in some sealings. We were happy to help. We got to help husband and wife seal some of their family, including the wife’s grandmother to her parents.
As we were passing a group as they were finishing their time helping in sealings, a younger guy–somewhere in his twenties–turned to the others and remarked with some excitement, “Now, I’ve got to work on my family history.”
Getting to work with the Family History department over the past couple months, that statement was exciting. This young man was experiencing what we hope more and more people experience: a turning of the heart. It’s not about the genealogies and pedigree charts and microfilms anymore. These are important and help support the work, but the real power of family history is in that statement. A desire to know and bless your ancestors. A desire to connect and extend the promises of the temple to their deceased family members.
President Lorenzo Snow spoke on the importance of education and learning.
“It is not only our privilege but it is necessary that we receive these things and gather these new ideas.
The whole idea of Mormonism is improvement—mentally, physically, morally and spiritually. No half-way education suffices for the Latter-day Saint.”
Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Lorenzo Snow, Chapter 1: Learning by Faith
This is the essence of the talk I gave on December 30, 2012 in the Little Cottonwood 9th Ward.
In our preparations we were invited to consider the talks given at conference over the past year and Brother Sorensen we could even tie it back to the Savior. I tease, but I am glad for that little reminder that all we do is based on the Savior Jesus Christ.
In my personal study I just finished rereading the most recent conference and my thoughts have turned to the twin talks of Elder Holland and Hales, focused on John chapter 21 in their addresses. In our time together I would like to bring those together and share some things I learned by studying them side by side. Before we start I’d like to share something I heard in an address that I hope sets the stage for the rest of the discussion.
Pool Story
When I was at the MTC in Provo, the following story was related by a brother who spoke at a Sunday Devotional. He spoke of a business trip he took to Boston where he had the opportunity to bring some of his grandchildren along. Being from the Salt Lake area so this was quite the trip for them.
After his meetings had concluded, he brought the grandkids together and said, ‘Okay, we are here in Boston, we can do anything you want. We can go to a baseball game, we can go see the Atlantic Ocean, go see historical sites or whatever you guys want to do…’
Each day they were there when this question was posed, the response was the same.
‘Grandpa, we just want to play in the hotel pool’ So, for three days, 1,000 miles away from home, they went to the pool.’
In summarizing the experience and relating it to us, this brother remarked, “Sometimes we are content with the wonderful and pass up the truly remarkable.”
He made the comparison to how we sometimes approach all the Lord’s many blessings and promises. He tells us, ‘seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be open to you?’
But sometimes in our own way, we say, ‘Well thanks, but I’ll just go to church, read the scriptures and say my prayers.’ ‘I just want to play in the pool.’ As wonderful as these things are, they only scratch the surface of what the gospel of Jesus Christ can offer us when we truly take upon us His name (with all that that implies).
A Different Body of Water
So we come to Elder Holland and Elder Hales and John chapter 21: to the events surrounding a different body of water and the lessons we can learn there and, perhaps, how they can help us have truly remarkable experiences in our lives.
Come with me the shores of Galilee.
I’ll begin with Elder Holland’s commentary,
Their Lord and Master, their Counselor and King, was crucified. His mortal ministry was over, and the struggling little Church He had established seemed doomed to scorn and destined for extinction. His Apostles did witness Him in His resurrected state, but that only added to their bewilderment. As they surely must have wondered, “What do we do now?” they turned for an answer to Peter, the senior Apostle.
Here I ask your indulgence as I take some nonscriptural liberty in my portrayal of this exchange. In effect, Peter said to his associates: “Brethren, it has been a glorious three years. . . But that is over. He has finished His work, and He has risen from the tomb. He has worked out His salvation and ours. So you ask, ‘What do we do now?’ I don’t know more to tell you than to return to your former life, rejoicing. I intend to ‘go a fishing.’” And at least six of the ten other remaining Apostles said in agreement, “We also go with thee.” John, who was one of them, writes, “They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately.”
You will recall that three years previous that on these same shores was where Christ had first come to Peter and his brethren.
“And he saith unto them, Follow me, and I will make you fishers of men.
Elder Hales taught,
As Christians today, we have the opportunity to act straightway, immediately, and decisively, just as Peter and Andrew did: “they forsook their nets, and followed him.” We too are called upon to leave our nets, to reject worldly habits, customs, and traditions. We are also called to forsake our sins.”
And so you and I, have started down this road of discipleship. Elder Hales continues,
This change, called conversion, is possible only through the Savior. Jesus promised: “If men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. … And my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.”5 As we are made new in Christ, our very natures change and we no longer want to go back to our old ways.
Even so, faithful Christians will always be blessed to experience difficulties and disappointments. When these refining challenges come, we may be tempted to return to our old ways. After the Savior’s Crucifixion, He appeared to the women and told them that the brethren would find Him in Galilee. When Peter, the senior Apostle, returned to Galilee, he also went back to what he knew—to what he felt comfortable doing. “I go a fishing,”6 he explained, and took several disciples with him.
The Shores of Galilee
At the beginning fo a new year, as we consider fresh beginnings and resolutions, I have found so much personal application in this story. As I considered these experiences, from the pool to the shores of Galilee, I ask myself these questions:
I think in many ways the shores of Galilee and the Pool from my first story represent where we are comfortable, what in the gospel comes easy for us. So when a challenge, uncomfortable task, or hard lesson lies before me, sometimes I find myself retreating to my personal shores of Galilee.
But as the case was with Peter and his brethren, often when we retreat back there, our toils in the night don’t yield much fruit.
Elder Holland continues the narrative,
Their first night back on the lake, they caught nothing—not a single fish. With the first rays of dawn, they disappointedly turned toward the shore, where they saw in the distance a figure who called out to them, “Children, have you caught anything?” Glumly these Apostles-turned-again-fishermen gave the answer no fisherman wants to give. “We have caught nothing,” they muttered, and to add insult to injury, they were being called “children.”4
“Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find,” the stranger calls out—and with those simple words, recognition begins to flood over them. Just three years earlier these very men had been fishing on this very sea. On that occasion too they had “toiled all the night, and [had] taken nothing,” the scripture says. But a fellow Galilean on the shore had called out to them to let down their nets, and they drew “a great multitude of fishes,” enough that their nets broke, the catch filling two boats so heavily they had begun to sink.
Now it was happening again. These “children,” as they were rightly called, eagerly lowered their net, and “they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.”8 John said the obvious: “It is the Lord.”9 And over the edge of the boat, the irrepressible Peter leaped.”
In the Book of Haggai, in the Old Testament, I love these words inviting us to reflect,
Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.
Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wagesto put it into a bag with holes.
Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways,” (Haggai 1:5-7).
I return to Elder Holland,
“Peter had an exchange with the Savior that I consider the crucial turning point of the apostolic ministry generally and certainly for Peter personally, moving this great rock of a man to a majestic life of devoted service and leadership.”
You will recall the Savior’s words,
Peter do you love me? Feed my lambs.
Peter do you love me? Feed my lambs.
Peter do you love me? Feed my sheep.
Elder Hales taught us,
This is the call of Christ to every Christian today: “Feed my lambs. … Feed my sheep” . . .
For many, the call to be a Christian can seem demanding, even overwhelming. But we need not be afraid or feel inadequate. The Savior has promised that He will make us equal to His work. “Follow me,” He said, “and I will make you fishers of men.”10 As we follow Him, He blesses us with gifts, talents, and the strength to do His will, allowing us to go beyond our comfort zones and do things we’ve never before thought possible. This may mean sharing the gospel with neighbors, rescuing those who are spiritually lost, serving a full-time mission, working in the temple, raising a child with special needs, loving the prodigal, serving an ailing companion, enduring misunderstandings, or suffering affliction. It means preparing ourselves to answer His call by saying, “I’ll go where you want me to go; I’ll say what you want me to say; I’ll do what you want me to do; I’ll be what you want me to be.”
Our Weekly Feast
As I have reflected on this experience of the apostles on the shores of Galilee, there’s a pattern that emerged, that I personally would like to take forward into the new year.
Every week I get to come to place where I am very comfortable. It’s a place where I can ‘go fishing’ for truth and insights into the gospel. I get to come to church and come to this sacrament meeting. Here we do not eat fishes, but bread and water. As we partake of the Sacrament, each of us get an opportunity to dine with the Savior.
In the quiet time when the bread and water is passed, I will let the Savior ask me,
‘James, lovest thou me?’ and as humbly as I can, I’ll respond, “Lord, thou knowest that I love thee.”
Then I’ll let the spirit guide in the invitation to follow him, “Feed my lambs, feed my sheep.” I’ll consider my ways and let Spirit help me recognize opportunities to be a disciple of Christ in the coming week.
I trust that as I act on those impressions, the light to see where I can improve will grow. My capacity to serve will increase. Line upon line, I can become the type of disciple Christ needs me to be in my home, in my ward, in work and with all those I meet.
[Testimony/Close]
Featured image courtesy of James Emery via Flickr.
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