Fulfillment: "For the Strength of Youth" Pamphlet is Revised

This recently concluded General Conference had many wonderful developments and exciting announcements. Among them was the complete revision of "For the Strength of Youth" pamphlet that was put into use a long time ago. In 1965, (the year I graduated from high school), with its introduction it seemed to me to be little more than a reincarnation of the law of Moses. Now, happily, the Church (and its youth) have progressed to a point of observing a higher and holier path that sheds the "shoulds" and "shouldn'ts" and replaces them with adult choices and promised blessings instead.

Many years ago I met with a member of the Seventy, who is a close personal friend. He had been given an assignment to search out ways the Church could help the youth, and asked for my suggestions in a letter from me that he requested. I quote in part from that letter. At lunch we spoke about what I called “the disconnect” between the moral standards outlined in the “For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet and the actual behavior we are witnessing in the trenches among the youth in the Church. I realize this might come off as sounding near heretical now, but bear with me.

In my letter back to him, I wrote: 

Elder M. Russell Ballard is at the forefront of a new initiative – “raising the bar” for missionary service. Rather than something “new,” it has the feel to me of yet another “retrenchment” into what the Lord has required all along. The exercise of our free will and the accountability for our individual choices is at least as old as the pre-existence.

Some examples of the “disconnect:” 1) When my son who now serves as a missionary in Brazil recounted with his friends on graduation night how many in their high school senior class population of nearly 120 had not had sexual intercourse during high school, they counted less than ten girls and less than twenty boys – and that statistic in a predominantly homogenous LDS community! 2) We routinely have young men return early from missions to clear up pre-mission moral transgressions. 3) Just yesterday I talked to the mother of a young man not in our stake. He is preparing to leave again after a year’s wait, when “some things he didn’t clear up before he left” were disclosed after three weeks in the MTC. 4) Returned missionaries who were once faithful and faith-filled leaders in their missions come home and completely leave the Church (four in our stake in the last year that I know about).

How does the Church close this “disconnect” gap? Do the leaders at the local level understand WHY this disconnect exists? I believe too much reliance on “For the Strength of Youth” is merely a modern reincarnation of the ancient law of Moses with little power to inspire the youth of the Church today. If my informal non-scientific “polls” among my acquaintances are any indicator, the current approach is failing to achieve the desired outcomes.

I’m guessing here (I can only make assumptions until someone confirms to me how it actually happened), but maybe local leaders in the Church indirectly produced “For the Strength of Youth.” In observing the youth in their wards and stakes falling off the strait and narrow path, local leaders must have been crying out for help. I would guess the phone banks and in boxes at Church headquarters were lit up with calls and letters from local leaders demanding that the General Authorities “give us some guidance so we can tell the youth what to do.” In other words, it was a complete capitulation that as modern Israel we couldn’t handle the consequences of more freedom, so we reverted to having someone else (the General Authorities) tell us what to do in every circumstance the local leaders could imagine.

I wonder if the creative genius behind “For the Strength of Youth” wasn’t something like a modern replay of what happened anciently when Israel demanded that the prophet Samuel appoint a king to rule them:

Then all the elders of Israel gathered themselves together, and came to Samuel unto Ramah,

And said unto him, Behold, thou art old, and thy sons walk not in thy ways: now make us a king to judge us like all the nations.

But the thing displeased Samuel, when they said, Give us a king to judge us. And Samuel prayed unto the LORD.

And the LORD said unto Samuel, Hearken unto the voice of the people in all that they say unto thee: for they have not rejected thee, but they have rejected me, that I should not reign over them.

According to all the works which they have done since the day that I brought them up out of Egypt even unto this day, wherewith they have forsaken me, and served other gods, so do they also unto thee.

Now therefore hearken unto their voice: howbeit yet protest solemnly unto them, and shew them the manner of the king that shall reign over them.

And Samuel told all the words of the LORD unto the people that asked of him a king. . .

[Samuel then spells out in detail what a king would actually do to them, all of which sounds like descriptions of slavery, and still they were not dissuaded]

And Samuel heard all the words of the people, and he rehearsed them in the ears of the LORD.

And the LORD said to Samuel, Hearken unto their voice, and make them a king. . . (1 Samuel 8:4-22).

So maybe (I can only surmise) the modern Church took steps to “hedge up the way” by outlining acceptable behavioral standards, because the people demanded it. Perhaps the General Authorities simply responded out of love to the demands of local leaders who assumed an “encyclical” from 47 East South Temple would solve everything. There is so much more comfort, it would seem, in being told what to do than having to accept individual accountability that leaves no one to blame but ourselves. In 1990 (when the pamphlet underwent a revision), it would appear we took a big step backward.

In 1980, twenty-three years ago [now forty-two!] when the consolidated meeting schedule was first introduced, the possibility of failure was raised. I believed at the time this was a monumental address portending the very conditions we observe in the Church today. It was delivered at General Conference by Elder Dean L. Larsen, then serving in the Presidency of the Seventy. In part he said:

". . . The existence of laws, regulations, and procedures has never been sufficient to compel men to obedience. Productive obedience comes through the exercise of free will. Elder Albert E. Bowen of the Quorum of the Twelve once said:

“'It is a truism that no law is any better than the people who administer it. Howsoever well framed a law may be or however worthy its purpose, it can degenerate into utter futility unless wisely administered by those sympathetic with its purposes' (The Church Welfare Plan, Sunday School manual, 1946, p. 115).

". . . Today we are being encouraged to accept greater responsibility for the allocation of our time, for our spiritual development through personal and family study of the gospel, and for giving loving Christian service. We must be willing to respond to this new challenge. Our willingness to accept this added accountability will exert an influence that will reach far beyond our Sunday worship service and religious life.

"Unless we retain a vibrant desire to be free, and unless we understand and practice the principles that give life to essential freedoms, we have little reason to hope they will endure. If we allow ourselves to accept dependency and regulation and to cease valuing independence and self-accountability, then we are vulnerable to the forces that destroy freedom. If righteousness is judged primarily by the degree to which one responds to programmed activity, then a condition develops within which opportunities for progress decline. The resulting tragedy affects the mortal potential of man and has a profound effect on his eternal possibilities as well. [HOW PROPHETIC!!]

"Programmed behavior cannot produce the level of spiritual development required to qualify one for eternal life. A necessary range of freedom and self-determination is essential to one’s spiritual development. With an understanding of correct principles and an intrinsic desire to apply them, one must be motivated within himself to do many good things of his own free will; for, as the revelation says, the power is in him wherein he is an agent unto himself (see D&C 58:27-28).

". . . In his concluding remarks at the April 1979 general conference, President Kimball said:

“'The basic decisions needed for us to move forward, as a people, must be made by the individual members of the Church. The major strides which must be made by the Church will follow upon the major strides to be made by us as individuals. …

“'… Our individual spiritual growth is the key to major numerical growth in the kingdom' (Ensign, May 1979, p. 82).

"I rejoice in the spirit and intent of this instruction from a living prophet. I see in it the purposeful effort to preserve our individual accountability in the context of our Church membership and religious life.

"When members of the Church exercise self-determination in their application of gospel principles they need not relax in their compliance with these principles. In fact, optimum progress can only occur when conditions are ideal for it, and these conditions must include the necessary degree of freedom and self-accountability. Anything less will guarantee stunted spiritual growth.

"We must understand that as freedom for unrestricted development is enhanced, the possibilities for failure are also increased. The risk factor is great. The ideal cannot be achieved otherwise. Celestial attainment can be reached in no other environment.

"We have inspired leaders today who are reconfirming the fact that there is no ultimate safety in programmed security where others assume accountability for our direction and performance. [I believe this sentence strikes at the heart of the entire matter.]

"Those who insist that a Church program exist for every contingency and need are as much in error as their counterparts who demand that government intervene in every aspect of our lives. In both instances the ideal balance is destroyed with a resultant detriment to human progress.

"These are essential truths which our leaders are reinforcing for us today. These are challenging truths. They demand much of us. They press us to make our lives better by our own initiative and by our own efforts. They make no unconditional promises. . ." (Dean L. Larsen, “Self-Accountability and Human Progress,” Ensign, May 1980, 76, emphasis mine).

Elder Larsen warned us about relying on “the law,” but as a Church we ignored the message. Rather than risk failure in behavior among our youth we reverted to “tell us what to do, give us behavioral standards, we welcome the bondage of the law because we worry the youth are not ready to live in the Spirit.” Once I even had an earnest young woman blurt out in a question/answer session in a fifth-Sunday combined presentation, “So tell us, can we drink Coke or not?” What a sad self-imposed indictment on ourselves, and how tragic in light of Elder Larsen’s prophetic warning.

Even as late as this month’s Ensign, there is a profound First Presidency Message from President Faust, who reminded us again:

"The challenge Jesus issued was for people to replace the rigid, technical 'thou shalt not' of the law of Moses — needed by the spiritually immature ancient children of Israel — with the spirit of the 'better testament. . .' The New Testament is 'a better testament' because so much is left to the intent of the heart and of the mind and the promptings of the Holy Spirit. This refinement of the soul is part of the reinforcing steel of a personal testimony of Jesus Christ. If there is no witness in the heart and in the mind by the power of the Holy Ghost, there can be no testimony." (James E. Faust, “The Surety of a Better Testament,” Ensign, Sept. 2003, 3, emphasis mine).

Despite these specific invitations to live the higher law, sacrament meeting after sacrament meeting in recent years since 1990, has lauded the merits of the pamphlet, as though measurable and observable improved behavior were the end goal we were seeking. The youth in the Church are symbolically whipped week after week with “shoulds” from the pamphlet. We shifted responsibility from ourselves as teachers and leaders at the local level, and defaulted to “this inspired pamphlet.” Except from a select few local women leaders, rarely do I hear true doctrine, however. The underlying “WHY” doctrine is always conspicuously absent in these uninspired sermons. President Packer has observed that teaching true '. . .doctrine can change behavior quicker than talking about behavior will.' (See Boyd K. Packer, “Washed Clean,” Ensign, May 1997, 9). I believe the proper indictment rests not with the General Authorities, but with the members – so few of whom understand and can teach true doctrine.

When the respective presidents of the Young Men and Young Women’s organizations were interviewed by an Ensign staff writer following the introduction of the new pamphlet, I invite you to look for even one underlying true doctrinal principle that buttresses their endorsement. (See “The Lord’s Standards Haven’t Changed,” Ensign, Sept. 1991, 7). Both mention how welcomed boundaries are by the youth, but the minute you go down the path of defining acceptable behavioral standards the unintended consequence is that some imaginative young people will begin to parse meanings and immediately move to the outer markers.

I always thought what I’m now going to share with you was nothing more than an urban legend, until I received a phone call from a young married woman in my ward one Sunday afternoon. Enough time and distance has passed that no one would guess her true identity, and I have long ago forgotten her name and face (the blessing of diminished memory).  She asked if she could come to my office for an interview. I had spoken in sacrament meeting the week before about the principle of repentance, and when she arrived she poured out a story through sobbing and exquisite pain that stunned me. While a student at BYU, she along with two of her single friends and three other single young men had gone to Las Vegas for a long weekend. When they arrived they paired off and went to a marriage chapel on the Strip and each couple was “legally and lawfully wedded.” They engaged in unrequited and unrestrained sexual activity for four days and nights, then as they were leaving Las Vegas went back to the same marriage chapel and had all three marriages annulled. They took an oath of silence – they agreed never to discuss the matter again. They convinced each other it was all perfectly legal in every way.

Five years later and after the birth of her second child, the agony of her secret was too heavy to carry any longer. She had gone right to the edge of the “legal definitions” of her covenants, had peered into the abyss, then had slipped over the edge. Something I had said in my talk the week before had finally helped her muster the courage to come forward and begin again. So that’s the danger, I believe, of even making the attempt to establish comprehensive behavioral standards – why not teach that the Holy Ghost may truly govern people’s spiritual lives instead?

Why do I know how much power this approach of living by the Spirit can have in people’s lives? Because I have witnessed its power to change and influence for better the lives of those who are closest to me. What follows is merely the latest in a long list of examples that could be cited. I told you about a dear family member’s current incarceration in a federal prison. He is excommunicated presently, but cannot wait for the day of his rebaptism. For my birthday he sent along a letter that included these hopeful lines:

". . . I feel like I'm truly seeing the gospel again with new eyes, and in answer to the blessing I was given the Spirit has not been withheld. In fact, I believe that the Spirit flows more deeply now that my vessel has been cleansed. I can't wait for a renewed life and membership in the Church. I'm not done yet, Dave. I know that the Lord still has more for me to accomplish, and perhaps that work will require the lessons I've learned in order to fulfill it properly. . ."

It is my belief his lessons in the Spirit came relatively late in life, in part (he is ultimately accountable) because of his perception he was subjected to a heavy-handed behavioral emphasis in his home growing up.  That might explain my obvious prejudice and passion for this topic.

When outward appearance matters more than inward purity, you can bet the cleansing of the vessel when it finally comes will be attended with unimaginable firepower!

May I paraphrase what Paul taught? (See the JST):

O foolish [members of the Church], who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you?

This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the [“For the Strength of Youth” pamphlet], or by the hearing of faith?

Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by [teaching from some modern-day reincarnation of the law of Moses]?

[Paul then teaches that Abraham’s hopes and dreams of having posterity were fulfilled because of his faith, not the observance of the law of Moses that came 430 years later.]

. . . Is the [pamphlet] then against the promises of God? God forbid [it was conceived with the best intentions in the world to help guide the youth]; for if there had been a [pamphlet] given which could have given life, verily righteousness should have been by [the pamphlet without the need for anyone’s faith being exercised].

But the scripture hath concluded all under sin [because the pamphlet cannot possibly begin to list every single bad human behavior into which fallen mortal people will display, and none can live the demands of the pamphlet perfectly which is why we have a Savior], that the promise by faith of Jesus Christ might be given to them that believe.

But before faith came, we were kept under the [standards as set forth in the pamphlet], shut up unto the faith which should afterwards be revealed [we relied on the pamphlet to guide our youth, and we forgot it’s really the Holy Ghost that must guide them].

Wherefore the [pamphlet] was our schoolmaster until Christ, that we might be justified by faith [so isn’t it about time to move on and truly “raise the bar” by teaching Christ’s perfection, not our own failed attempts at the perfect observance of behavioral standards?].

But after that faith is come, we are no longer under a schoolmaster [let’s burn the silly pamphlet and teach Christ and the need for our faith in his perfection instead].

For ye are all the children of God by faith in Jesus Christ [and as such are heirs to the promises made to Abraham through faith].

For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.

There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female; for ye are all one in Christ Jesus.

And if ye are Christ's then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise. (JST Galatians 3:1-29, emphasis mine).

What is the true doctrine? Nephi said it best: “. . . if ye will enter in by the way [baptism], and receive the Holy Ghost, it will show unto you all things what ye should do. Behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and there will be no more doctrine given. . .” (2 Nephi 32:5-6, emphasis mine). I believe ALL THINGS really means ALL THINGS. A “should” from the quiet whisperings of the Holy Ghost is very different than getting “should on” by an uninspired youth leader on Sunday armed with a pamphlet.

We can only close the gap in the disconnect, I believe, by teaching and emphasizing the true doctrine of Christ. At the highest priesthood echelons in the Church there is marvelous encouragement and instruction along these lines, and I wouldn’t change a thing. But the danger now is that spiritually lazy and unconverted local leaders and members of the Church (if my premise is correct) have insisted upon the creation of a pamphlet that closely resembles “more than” the doctrine of Christ. It seems “a sandy foundation.” In this next passage, the Savior has just finished speaking to the Nephites during his first appearance among them. He has spoken about doing away with contentions over the points of his doctrine, carefully enunciating what he calls “my doctrine” in these words:

And this is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me; and I bear record of the Father, and the Father beareth record of me, and the Holy Ghost beareth record of the Father and me; and I bear record that the Father commandeth all men, everywhere, to repent and believe in me.

And whoso believeth in me and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned.

Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and I bear record of it from the Father; and whoso believeth in me believeth in the Father also; and unto him will the Father bear record of me, for he will visit him with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

. . . And whoso shall declare more or less than this, and establish it for my doctrine, the same cometh of evil, and is not built upon my rock; but he buildeth upon a sandy foundation, and the gates of hell stand open to receive such when the floods come and the winds beat upon them.

Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth. (3 Nephi 11:32-41, emphasis mine).

Then in our dispensation the Lord again reiterated this simple idea to the Prophet Joseph:

And this I do that I may establish my gospel, that there may not be so much contention; yea, Satan doth stir up the hearts of the people to contention concerning the points of my doctrine; and in these things they do err, for they do wrest the scriptures and do not understand them.

Therefore, I will unfold unto them this great mystery;

For, behold, I will gather them as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if they will not harden their hearts;

Yea, if they will come, they may, and partake of the waters of life freely.

Behold, this is my doctrine — whosoever repenteth and cometh unto me, the same is my church.

Whosoever declareth more or less than this, the same is not of me, but is against me; therefore he is not of my church.

And now, behold, whosoever is of my church, and endureth of my church to the end, him will I establish upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them.

And now, remember the words of him who is the life and light of the world, your Redeemer, your Lord and your God. Amen. (D&C 10:63-70, emphasis mine).

Sometimes it seems the very gates of hell are opened wide and are prevailing against our youth. Perhaps like Alma we need to try the merits of the word of God (see Alma 31:5). President Benson, as we observed over lunch, certainly challenged the members of the Church to embrace The Book of Mormon. It isn’t like we haven’t already heard how to help the youth at least a gazillion times.

And now in October, 2022, the deliverance has finally come institutionally. Listen to these blessed words:

“The best guide you can possibly have for making choices is Jesus Christ. Jesus Christ is the strength of youth,” taught Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in Saturday morning’s general conference session. “So the purpose of For the Strength of Youth is to point you to Him. It teaches you eternal truths of His restored gospel — truths about who you are, who He is and what you can accomplish with His strength. It teaches you how to make righteous choices based on those eternal truths.”

As Elder Uchtdorf said, “It’s also important for you to know what For the Strength of Youth does not do. It doesn’t make decisions for you. It doesn’t give you a “yes” or “no” about every choice you might ever face. For the Strength of Youth focuses on the foundation for your choices. It focuses on values, principles, and doctrine instead of every specific behavior. …

“I suppose the guide could give you long lists of clothes you shouldn’t wear, words you shouldn’t say, and movies you shouldn’t watch. But would that really be helpful in a global church? Would such an approach truly prepare you for a lifetime of Christlike living?”

The First Presidency summarized the whole matter in these words as a preface to the new revision:

Our dear young brothers and sisters,

We love you and we have confidence in you. You are truly among Heavenly Father’s choice spirits, sent to earth at this time to do important things.

There may be times when you don’t feel strong or capable. That’s normal. Especially in those moments, turn to the Savior. He is the “strength of youth.”

This guide will help you build a solid foundation for making choices to stay on the covenant path. It will help you prepare to make sacred covenants in the temple, prepare to serve a mission, and find joy in following Jesus Christ throughout your life. We hope you feel that you belong in the Savior’s Church and have power from Him to fulfill His purposes for you. (Emphasis mine).

We know God lives. It is our prayer that you will stay firmly on the covenant path that leads back to your Father in Heaven. As you do, you will be an influence for good, sharing the gospel joyfully and preparing the world for the Second Coming of the Savior.

The First Presidency

Click on the link for the full text of the pamphlet.

The Queen is Dead, Long Live the King

Queen Elizabeth II

Yesterday marked the end of the lavish and extensive farewell to Queen Elizabeth II, the longest-reigning British monarch in history. She was on the throne of England for 70 years. It's hard to imagine now that her predecessor King George III was the object of so much hatred and vitriol for the American revolutionaries, given the universal outpouring of love for her from all around the world. History is a cruel teacher sometimes, but all that is now seemingly forgotten in the annals of time.

In 2015, she became the longest-living monarch. She quipped that she had never aspired to that distinction. She died at age 96. There isn't anyone on earth, probably, who wouldn't like to believe she will be reunited with her king consort husband Prince Philip, who lived until he was 99 years old. Now they lie side by side in Windsor Castle. That thought persisted with me all week. Death comes to each of us, whether commoner, king or queen. One thing is certain - eternal life is linked inexorably to temple covenants, available to all, but only through authorized servants of God.

I served a mission for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in England from 1967 to 1969, and I have long been an admirer of the Queen. I taught many of her commoners while there. Some of them joined the Church, and all would eventually testify of the hope they discovered in the temple covenants available to them. I suspect the spirit world will be an awakening for her and for Prince Philip as they learn how they may indeed be linked eternally to each other through sealing ordinances if they desire it. 

So many of us are casual observers of the monarchy. Few people can even articulate what all the pageantry, symbolism and ceremonies are surrounding it. One commenter on my Twitter feed observed, "Nobody does pomp like the British." He is right. If it is simplicity you crave, don't look for it inside the dominion of the crown. 

I have also been pondering if enough time has passed in England for the subjects to have forgiven the treatment Princess Diana received at the hands of her husband, Prince Charles. Incompatibility and extramarital affairs brought their ill-fated marriage to divorce. It was a scandal only worthy of British royalty. Now after a lifetime of waiting, King Charles III ascends the throne. His son William and his two grandsons ensure the monarchy will live on into the future.

As I pondered the events in England, I found the timing of the announcement yesterday of the location of the new Heber City Temple to be perfect. We concluded our stake conference in Kamas on Sunday, and reference was made that no one yet knew the location of the new temple. We will be in the Heber City Temple district when it is completed, so naturally we have discussed its location with much anticipation for a year since its initial announcement. In the temple we perform proxy ordinances such as baptisms, initiatory, endowments and sealings for our kindred dead family members. It is a work that will be ongoing for generations to come throughout the millennium. It is in the temple we are promised we can be together as families forever, sealed and bound to one another into the eternities ahead. It is more than an idle thought for us, and it is more than speculative. It is a certainty with us if we are true and faithful to our covenants.

Supreme Court Gets It Right in Overturning Roe v. Wade (finally)

Yesterday, June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned the fifty-year abortion ruling effectively legalizing abortion in all fifty states. They simply referred abortion law back to the states, where it should have been all along, according to the majority opinion written by Justice Samuel Alito. What yesterday's ruling does not do is outlaw abortion. The Justices in the majority believed the states' elected representatives should make their own laws, removing from the Supreme Court the responsibility not granted to them in the Constitution. There will be continuous debate on this issue going forward into the November mid-term elections and beyond. Contrary to popular misguided opinion that is being trumpeted from the streets, this ruling will do far more to protect the rights of women nationwide than it will to curtail those rights.

What we believe about abortion determines much of who we are as individuals and as a nation. We are about evenly divided if the deadlock in the Senate over the number of Republicans and Democrats is an indicator. Abortion is carefully defined as "Pro-Choice" in one camp, and "Pro-Life" in the other. 

Truthfully, since Roe v. Wade was upheld fifty years ago, America has killed more fetuses in the womb than any other civilized nation on earth. A woman's choice begins with the decision to have unprotected sex, not when she doesn't like the consequences of an unwanted pregnancy after the fact of conception. There are exceptions that are attempted to be carved out of laws prohibiting abortion, but those laws will now be written by the individual states going forward. 

This legal concept of "states rights" is embedded in the concept of "federalism" as defined by our Founding Fathers. I have written about it extensively in the past. They held that the federal government should only be granted limited powers, while reserving to the states the broader powers that would assure the governed should have a larger voice in the local government closest to them. We must reject the loose and inflammatory rhetoric that will ramp up this summer, and anchor our public debate to the underlying core principles written in the Constitution. That is the path the Supreme Court has opted to follow, and I endorse their leadership.

The key elements of the majority opinion, in my view are these:

We hold that Roe and Casey must be overruled. The Constitution makes no reference to abortion, and no such right is implicitly protected by any constitutional provision, including the one on which the defenders of Roe and Casey now chiefly rely — the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment. That provision has been held to guarantee some rights that are not mentioned in the Constitution, but any such right must be “deeply rooted in this Nation’s history and tradition” and “implicit in the concept of ordered liberty.” Washington v. Glucksberg, 521 U. S. 702, 721 (1997) (internal quotation marks omitted). . .

It is time to heed the Constitution and return the issue of abortion to the people’s elected representatives. “The permissibility of abortion, and the limitations, upon it, are to be resolved like most important questions in our democracy: by citizens trying to persuade one another and then voting.” Casey, 505 U. S., at 979 (Scalia, J., concurring in judgment in part and dissenting in part). That is what the Constitution and the rule of law demand.

You can read the entire text of the opinion here.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints believes in the sanctity of human life. Therefore, the Church opposes elective abortion for personal or social convenience, and counsels its members not to submit to, perform, encourage, pay for, or arrange for such abortions.

The Church allows for possible exceptions for its members when:

• Pregnancy results from rape or incest, or
• A competent physician determines that the life or health of the mother is in serious jeopardy, or
• A competent physician determines that the fetus has severe defects that will not allow the baby to survive beyond birth.

Even these exceptions do not automatically justify abortion. Abortion is a most serious matter. It should be considered only after the persons responsible have received confirmation through prayer. Members may counsel with their bishops as part of this process.

The Church’s position on this matter remains unchanged. As states work to enact laws related to abortion, Church members may appropriately choose to participate in efforts to protect life and to preserve religious liberty.

Fathers Matter

 I have been focused this morning on the 12 fathers in our extended family in the next generation, and the three additional fathers in the generation after that. I am deeply humbled by how they have far exceeded my performance as a father, as I look back on all the years since we were married. In every particular they have excelled and continue to bless the lives of their wives and their children.

It is characteristic of this generation, perhaps, that when circumstances get difficult too many fathers abandon their families and move away from their responsibilities and seek what may appear to be easier paths. However, for those who keep after it and stay the course, there are immeasurable blessings in store both here in this life and in the life eternal beyond.

Last week we attended an endowment session in the Jordan River Temple, and then two sealing sessions after that. We were reminded by one of the sealers that perhaps we all knew each other in the pre-existence, and we may have met people who knew their time on earth would not come at a time when the fulness of the gospel ordinances would be available to them. Perhaps they approached us in the pre-existence and asked us to do that proxy ordinance work for them. We readily agreed, and week by week we go now and perform that ministering labor on their behalf. Will they accept our efforts? Of course they will. They are our progenitors. We have the fulness of the gospel among us in this dispensation, and we are their seed. Embedded in our souls is the spiritual DNA we inherited from them. In that session I offered the observation to the group that had come to me just that morning as we sat pondering the scriptures in the chapel before the endowment session began. I read in Moses in the Pearl of Great Price:

And it came to pass, as the voice was still speaking, Moses cast his eyes and beheld the earth, yea, even all of it; and there was not a particle of it which he did not behold, discerning it by the Spirit of God.

And he beheld also the inhabitants thereof, and there was not a soul which he beheld not; and he discerned them by the Spirit of God; and their numbers were great, even numberless as the sand upon the sea shore. (Moses 1:27-28).

I also suggested this process might be similar to that which the Savior surely must have experienced in the Garden of Gethsemane when He suffered alone for the sins of everyone, even for all the souls on all the worlds on which they had lived and He created, "worlds without end." The atonement is individual and it is infinite and eternal. It touches everyone with the exclusion of no one, and He knows each of us personally. He knows our names, and He knows our circumstances. He loves us and He will succor us individually as we reach out for His help. We are never left alone and we are never left comfortless. It's the reason we have a prophet in our midst who is pleading for us to cultivate our relationship with God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, and to get on and to stay on the covenant path.

"For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man." (Moses 1:39).

So, on this Fathers Day 2022, let me offer my congratulations to all the fathers who are doing their best to honor their covenants and to help their children find and then stay on the covenant path. It is a great work in this generation to do the work of bringing to pass the mortality of children, and to work in the gospel harness with God the Father and Jesus Christ who will add to our work their work of immortality and eternal life.

If you are one who is seemingly on the brink of walking away, I encourage you to stay the course, pray for the help to sustain you, and seek professional help if needed. There is nothing "out there" to surpass your role as father in the lives of your children. They will repay you a hundred fold in the years ahead.

Thursday Wash Line

Today, random thoughts have been brewing. Chief among them is that today is Yogi Berra's birthday. To the uninitiated it may seem inconsequential in the larger scheme of things, but to me he was a childhood hero. From Little League through high school baseball and beyond I always sought out number "8" to wear on my uniform, because, like Yogi, I was a catcher. Some said that to strap on all the gear required to be a catcher was to suit up in the "tools of ignorance." But Yogi inspired me. So did Johnny Bench later on. Roy Campanella was another favorite of mine. Call me stupid, but I relished having a complete view of the field and being involved in every single play on the diamond. I got to call the pitches, throw out runners, block home plate against charging base runners attempting to score, and contribute my bat to the lineup when it was our turn to hit. I love baseball, and Yogi was the personification of goofiness, odd ball quotes and World Series greatness. The reason Yogi held so many World Series records was the Yankees got to the World Series A LOT in those years. Perhaps the triumph of his career was the game where Yogi caught Don Larsen's perfect game five in the 1956 World Series against the dreaded Brooklyn Dodgers. That's a highlight memory I have never forgotten. 

I've been silent on this page about the tragic war going on in Ukraine. Russia, more specifically Vladimir Putin, has once again shown its true colors as an aggressor in the region. Whatever justification he uses for his attempted invasion has fallen short in the midst of widespread reports of civilian casualties. Many believe he should be assassinated or at the very least held to account as a war criminal. The Ukrainians have stood up to attempts to overrun their country. Whatever your political persuasion, there could be no justification that stands up to close scrutiny of Putin's motives. Senator Mitt Romney (R-UT) was ridiculed when he ran for President of the United States for asserting his belief that Russia was at the nexus of evil in the world. His views then now have proven prescient. Sensing a weak resolve on the part of American leadership, no doubt, Putin has pushed the envelope when it comes to gaining any favor in the world community for his actions. Indeed, Finland and Sweden have now announced they are seeking NATO membership to help bolster their defense against any future attempts by Russia to overrun their sovereignty. Until the Savior Jesus Christ comes again, we have been warned and forewarned about "wars and rumors of war." We see it playing out every night on the news.

I read this morning that broccoli has properties within it that prevent against COVID-19 and all its variants. Patsy has long advocated the benefits of broccoli, and of all the vegetables available to her broccoli has been her go-to choice forever. We did get fully vaccinated against the virus, but who's to say the reason we never got COVID-19 was because we consumed so much broccoli? It may be the perfect food. Never doubt the wisdom of Patsy when it comes to broccoli.

The leaked proposed majority opinion memo from Justice Samuel Alito of the Supreme Court over what appears to signal the imminent repeal of the controversial Roe v. Wade abortion law has caused a nationwide furor as both sides of that debate are at it again with a new fury. The houses of the justices are being routinely picketed daily right now in an attempt to sway the seeming resolve of the justices to overturn the law. The upcoming midterm election looms in November. Until then it will seem there are no other issues on the agenda for candidates. The rhetoric will be difficult to hack through in search of what is in the best interests of Americans on this issue. Prepare for a raucous and disruptive summer leading into the midterms.

We put a new roof on our house recently. It took them only three days from start of finish. The crew showed up early each morning, and they worked until the sun went down. In contrast, I am watching the house building project next door that goes painstakingly slow. Today the excavation company is working (as they have for many days) to sift through boulders to salvage fill dirt. It seems it takes so long to make something worthwhile and long-lasting. War and all the destruction and waste that accompanies it can decimate whole cities and countries in a matter of days. I hope and pray we may always be on the side of building and creating something that lasts and endures. It is better to create than to decimate.

I do not know the meaning of all things, but like Yogi, I know "it's tough to make predictions, especially about the future."

He Is Risen! He Is Risen, Indeed!

The historic events of the Easter season revolve around the Son of God. His last week of mortal life began with Palm Sunday, where throngs crowded the narrow streets of Jerusalem to welcome the Messiah. They cut palm tree branches and with their outer garments covered the ground on which He entered the city on the back of a donkey. It was a triumphal entry into the city and marked the beginning of a week never to be repeated again, because there never would be another Savior. He is the Only Begotten Son of the Father. Many knew Him and worshipped Him openly on that Sunday. He proceeded to the temple where He cast out the money changers and cleansed it for a second time.

Of course, the population was divided in their opinions about Him. Later that same week many would stand in the open courtyard and shout, "Crucify Him! Crucify Him!," as the Romans bowed to the wishes of the Jewish leaders who accused Him of blasphemy before the Roman governor, Pontius Pilate. Only Roman law could render the capital punishment required that they demanded. And what was His crime? That He dared to declare himself as God's Son. And there were witnesses!

It seemed Christ and all the prophets who came before Him and those who came after Him would be destined to the same fate. When a prophet speaks truth it divides the people. It has not changed in our day, nor should we expect that it would.

The Savior, seeking to prepare His Apostles for His impending death and resurrection, took them into an upper room nearby to share the Passover Saddar meal with them. He taught them and introduced the ordinance of the sacrament emblematic of His body and blood that would be offered as a sacrifice to satisfy the demands of justice. He broke the bread and instructed them: "Jesus took bread, and blessed, and brake it, and gave to them, and said, Take, eat: this is my body. And he took the cup, and when he had given thanks, he gave it to them: and they all drank of it. And he said unto them, This is my blood of the new testament, which is shed for many." (Mark 14:22-24).

He was betrayed to the Roman troops and the other Jews who came for Him later in the Garden of Gethsemane. His Apostle, Judas Iscariot, "one of the twelve, went before them, and drew near unto Jesus to kiss him. But Jesus said unto him, Judas, betrayest thou the Son of man with a kiss?" (Luke 22:47-48). For the pre-arranged fee of thirty pieces of silver (the cost of a common slave) the act was done.

Christ was scourged, beaten, tried before Romans and the Jewish hierarchy, and ultimately Pilate washed his hands of the matter, stating that Christ was innocent but he bowed to the wishes of the mob. Christ was nailed by His hands and His wrists and His feet to a crude wooden cross. He was mocked, spat upon and crucified on the hill known as Golgotha outside the city walls after enduring the agony He suffered in Gethsemane where he bled from every pore. (See D&C 19:15-19). 

His body was taken down in haste by His followers because evening was coming on and they wanted to complete the burial before Shabbat began at sundown. The tomb was donated by Joseph of Arimathea. A large round stone was placed in front of the opening to prevent, as they supposed, His loyal followers from coming later to retrieve the body and claim the resurrection He had prophesied would happen. The tomb was empty three days later, and the glorious resurrection was a reality.

On the morning of the third day, "the first day of the week cometh Mary Magdalene early, when it was yet dark, unto the sepulchre, and seeth the stone taken away from the sepulchre." (John 20:1). She encountered two angels in white sitting where the body of Jesus had lain. She turned and saw a man she supposed to be the gardener, and then she recognized Him as the risen Lord. He instructed her to go back into the city and to tell the remaining Apostles what she had witnessed. 

They met later that night, and "the doors were shut where the disciples were assembled for fear of the Jews, came Jesus and stood in the midst, and saith unto them, Peace be unto you. And when he had so said, he shewed unto them his hands and his side. Then were the disciples glad, when they saw the Lord." (John 20:19-20).

Thomas of Didymus, one of the Apostles, was absent that night, but later saw with his own eyes the risen Lord. He encouraged Thomas to feel the prints in his hands and the scar in His side, and admonished, "be not faithless, but believing." (John 20:27). "Thomas, because thou hast seen me, thou hast believed: blessed are they that have not seen, and yet have believed." (John 20:29).

Enjoy this Easter concert by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square:

It is my witness that Christ reveals Himself to us each day of our lives if our eyes are open and our ears attuned to His spirit. When we attend the temple He further reveals Himself, even to those of us like Thomas who have not seen but believe. 

Last week, our assigned high councilor, Bill Atkin, who works and travels extensively throughout the world for the Church's legal department, told us of a needlepoint piece of art he had picked up during his travels in Ukraine. He explained a traditional Easter greeting in the Greek and Russian Orthodox Church is the exclamation “He is risen!” and the traditional response is “He is risen, indeed!” The words are sometimes accompanied by the exchange of three kisses on alternate cheeks, depending on the church. In the Orthodox and Catholic churches, the greeting is called the “Paschal greeting” and is a very old custom.

It would be a worldwide phenomenon indeed, if we could all greet each other routinely wherever we live with the faith inherent in that tradition.

The Greatest Love Story in the Universe

Today is Valentine's Day. It's the season of love. We spoke yesterday in our sacrament meeting at the request of the bishopric. They asked us to address the topic of eternal marriage and eternal life. 

So that started me thinking about what the greatest love stories in the universe might be. Would we think about a famous couple in history like Cleopatra and Mark Antony? Or Robin Hood and Maid Marian? Or maybe the fictional characters of Romeo and Juliet? Or Joseph and Emma Smith? Or how about John and Abigail Adams? What about Abraham and Sarah? Or even Dave and Patsy?

Then I looked a little deeper into the ramifications of love. It has to be more than platitudes in cards and candy shaped like hearts, or boxes of chocolates and dozens of roses. The greatest love of all involves a willingness to sacrifice all for the ones we love. If you're me, it could mean making a bed with way too many throw pillows on it. It means forsaking all others and focusing our affections on those for whom we have such natural affinity that we will willingly give all for them regardless of the cost.

Given those simple thoughts, I have to conclude that the greatest love story in the universe involves the love our Father in Heaven exhibits for each of His children in offering to them exaltation through the intervention and atonement of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ. Over the span of a lifetime it has settled on my heart that the magnitude of that gift is truly incalculable. Through Him we overcome spiritual and physical death. Would any of us like the role of being the Father and standing by as He watches His Son brutally tortured and nailed on a crude wooden cross and hung to die while bystanders ridiculed and tormented Him? Or would any of us volunteer to take the Savior’s place as the One crucified for all the sins of all the children of God? The cost seems too enormous to pay, either as the Father or the Son. But each paid that cost for us.

When we are born into mortality we come as William Wordsworth expressed it:

Our birth is but a sleep and a forgetting;

The Soul that rises with us, our life’s Star,

          Hath had elsewhere its setting

               And cometh from afar;

          Not in entire forgetfulness,

          And not in utter nakedness,

But trailing clouds of glory do we come

               From God, who is our home:

We lived as premortal spirits with our Father in Heaven. We knew Him. We spoke with Him. We were tutored by Him. Pure and innocent we were, but we yearned for a mortal experience where we could take upon ourselves a physical body and learn to distinguish for ourselves between good and evil. We knew there were risks, and we knew there would be hardships to endure, but none of that deterred us. We knew since the fall of Adam and Eve that a Savior and Redeemer would be provided to allow us to repent and do better day by day if our faith in Jesus Christ were in evidence. We knew we would be free to choose. We were among the seraphic hosts of heaven who shouted for joy when Adam and Eve were cast out of the Garden of Eden into the lone and dreary world. As we grow and develop, experiencing all the challenges, trials and temptations of mortality, we can be forgiven if we wonder now what everyone in heaven was shouting for joy about.

We progress to the day of baptism, when we pass through a “gate” and enter into the covenant path that stretches out before us as far as the eye can see ahead. We hear it referred to as “the strait (or straight) and narrow path” and we are anxious to walk in light and truth. (See 2 Nephi 31:15-21).We are given the promise of a spiritual guide, even the Holy Ghost, the third member of the Godhead, as our constant companion to help us discern between truth and error. We stumble along the path in spite of our gift of the Holy Ghost, and we are surprised at how weak we are in our mortal bodies, but we get back up and continue walking in faith.

As we fail at this or that endeavor in life, we are reminded of the blessed assurance that we are redeemed in this world as soon as we repent. But the atonement is not reserved alone for sinners. We can find comfort in the days of our fears, our anxiety and our disappointments of all sorts. We are promised divinity lies ahead of us in spite of ourselves or the unkindness of others. So we struggle on, at times feeling all alone, in the hope deliverance can be obtained.

We wonder how we, so feeble and pathetic, can possibly be worthy of such heavenly intervention, but we grow and develop until we meet our eternal companion and we go to the temple of the Lord together. We are amazed at how marvelously delicious this other person is, as though he or she was the part we had been missing that now makes us complete. Truly, this is love, we think. There can be nothing better than this, we assert.

We marry in God’s temple. We are promised eternal life, or the life which God our Father lives. Indeed, “Eternal” is one of His names. We can live “Eternal’s life” if we are faithful to the gospel covenants we make. We begin this step in our progress by taking upon ourselves the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. We are “sealed” to one another. I love that word “sealed”. There is something so permanent in the word. We are sealed for time and for all eternity with power to come forth in the morning of the first resurrection, clothed in glory, immortality and eternal lives. 

We are also admonished to “cleave” unto one another in marriage and to become “one flesh.” We are commanded, “Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shalt cleave unto her and none else.” (D&C 42:22). Jacob also promises, "Wherefore, my beloved brethren, I beseech of you in words of soberness that ye would repent, and come with full purpose of heart, and cleave unto God as he cleaveth unto you." (Jacob 6:5). “Wherefore, it is lawful that he should have one wife, and they twain shall be one flesh, and all this that the earth might answer the end of its creation.” (D&C 49:16). We are told if we are faithful we “shall inherit thrones, kingdoms, principalities, and powers, dominions, all heights and depths.” (D&C 132:19). 

But the sealing is conditional, conditioned upon being sealed by the holy spirit of promise. (D&C 132:19). None of us can deceive the Holy Ghost. When he places his seal of approval on our sealing, then it is binding. The promises in the sealing ceremony are big ideas. There is nothing small about it. There are no half-measures. What more is there beyond what God promises - that we will become in time joint-heirs with Christ possessing ALL that the Father hath.

Back in December, Patsy and I were on Temple Square. We looked down into the gaping chasm surrounding the Salt Lake Temple as it is thoroughly being renovated. The banner on the fence proclaims, "Thinking Big." I looked at the scope of the current project and I thought, "Yes, President Nelson is indeed thinking big here." Then just as quickly I had the thought that President Brigham Young must have also been thinking big back in his day. What in the world would have possessed him to consider such an enormous task of building that temple in the middle of nowhere? But Brigham had a vision. He saw that magnificent structure standing where he designated with his cane that it should stand, and they set to work. For forty years those early pioneers toiled at the task without any readily available materials, tools or engineering expertise. Brigham was thinking big, indeed!

Brigham described his vision of the Salt Lake Temple:

This I do know - there should be a Temple built here. I do know it is the duty of this people to commence to build a Temple. Now, some will want to know what kind of a building it will be. Wait patiently, brethren, until it is done, and put forth your hands willingly to finish it. I know what it will be. I am not a visionary man, neither am I given much to prophesying. When I want any of that done I call on brother Heber - he is my Prophet, he loves to prophesy, and I love to hear him. I scarcely ever say much about revelations, or visions, but suffice it to say, five years ago last July I was here, and saw in the Spirit the Temple not ten feet from where we have laid the Chief Corner Stone. I have not inquired what kind of a Temple we should build. Why? Because it was represented before me. I have never looked upon that ground, but the vision of it was there. I see it as plainly as if it was in reality before me. Wait until it is done. (Brigham Young, April 6, 1853 General Conference, Journal of Discourses, Vol.1, pp.132 - 133).

Then I recalled how details of the creation are given in each endowment session in the temples. It's not merely His prophets who are big thinkers, the God of Heaven, Jehovah and Michael were also big thinkers. There is nothing small about their plans for us. We are promised that all the blessings of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are ours if we follow the covenant path leading to exaltation and eternal life. These are all big ideas, much bigger than we are capable of obtaining on our own. The Abrahamic Covenant is summarized in the Pearl of Great Price, (Abraham 2:8-13). How many stars in the heavens, and how many sands on the shores? Big ideas if you're numbering your posterity in eternity.

And then the children begin arriving in our home. They bring joy unsullied and uncompromised. They grow and eventually they leave us behind to take up their life journeys. We are sad to see them go, but we are also exhilarated to see them take their place in the world without us. Sometimes we see them stumble and sometimes they are saddled with health challenges and they suffer often for years without relief. We see our families sometimes bruised, broken, fractured, and we wonder how any of these promises can possibly be ours to claim. And then we remember that we worship our Redeemer. He mends broken things. We must trust in Him.

And we can pray for them, and we can enlist the faith of those faithful saints who attend the temples and offer prayers for their well-being. We can extend our love and affection. We often wish we could ease those burdens and erase that suffering. In short, we become more and more like our Father in Heaven as we pursue parenthood in mortality, preparing the physical bodies for the spirits created by God and Jesus Christ. (See Moses 1:39). We participate as partners in the creative process by creating the mortal bodies for the eternal spirits of our Father in Heaven to possess: “For behold, this is my work and my glory - to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.” There can be no immortality or eternal life without first obtaining a physical body from our earthly parents.

Truly, there is nothing greater as a demonstration of a Father’s love for His children, than holding out for us an inheritance that spans beyond this life. We can take nothing of this earth’s treasures with us when we die, but in the dying we step forward into the eternal realms ahead and a vast realization of blessings beyond imagination. The magnitude of our blessings is on a scale as unimaginable as staring down into the excavation around the Salt Lake Temple and wondering how any of it can ever be put back together again. Brigham Young had the vision of that building, and so does President Russell M. Nelson. 

How can there be any greater love story than this?

He Already Knows

I bore my testimony last Sunday in fast and testimony meeting in our ward. While I was on my feet at the pulpit a random thought passed through my mind, though I didn't verbalize it in my testimony. The thought was that even though we face a new year in 2022 filled with uncertainty and doubt, maybe even some fear of the unknown, God already knows what lies ahead of us. When we trust in Him we put ourselves in a position to ride the waves that appear threatening, and He will bring us safely through the storms of life unharmed.

There are many who are uncertain about this doctrine of the foreknowledge of God. They seem troubled by it supposing that if God knows the end from the beginning he must certainly know in advance the choices we will make and that somehow negates moral agency. Be assured that even though He knows the sum total of all the choices of all His children in advance, His knowing does not negate our choosing and doing. 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

This morning I was remembering a comment of Elder Neal A. Maxwell, who said to me in the middle of a conversation about the future, "I cannot believe in a God who doesn't know everything."

This morning en route to something else, I stumbled over a letter I wrote some twenty years ago to two sons serving as missionaries, one in Canada, the other in Brazil. It's worth repeating here:

January 28, 2001

I have been studying in depth this week – the lesson I did not give today – about the foreknowledge of God.  This is a concept that blows the minds of most members of the Church, but it is absolutely essential we understand its importance and day-to-day significance in our lives.

It seems we can accept without reservation the proposition the Lord knew in advance wicked men in the last days would seek to thwart Joseph’s translation of The Book of Mormon. Because of His foreknowledge of those events, and how those men would exercise their moral agency unrighteously, provision was made by an all-knowing God to have Nephi prepare a second set of records. The value of the small plates of Nephi cannot be overstated. He also knew enough about Nephi and Joseph Smith to know the exercise of their agency would allow truth to triumph. God’s desire to bring His words through living prophets to their descendants in the last days would be successful.

“The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught. . .”  (D&C 3:1).

God knew in advance about the Flood, and Noah was obedient to the revelations to build an ark on dry ground long before the rain started falling. God knows where the world is headed today – that people in the Church and the world at large are filled within darkened minds because of unbelief and vanity. (See D&C 84:54-56). “Wherefore, I the Lord, knowing the calamity which should come upon the inhabitants of the earth, called upon my servant Joseph Smith, Jun., and spake unto him from heaven, and gave him commandments. . .” (D&C 1:17).

All this is true, and we accept it because it is true. When it comes to our own lives, however, it seems we have trouble connecting the dots. He knows you, Rich. He knows you, Joe. There isn’t anything about your missions and their outcomes that He does not know before you even think about what comes next. Because He knows.

Ask yourself: If I am God and I have created spirit children, how many should I create if I don’t know how big to make the planet upon which they will dwell? Extending that reasoning forward, if I do not know in advance how many of my children will be heirs of the Celestial kingdom, then how shall I make provision for the place in time and space that they will someday occupy? Shall I arrange their lives, pull each and every string, or does my knowing their future choices impede them in any way? These are but a few of the questions that this line of reasoning will take you down, but it is an underlying and integral piece of the truth of our existence.

Let me take you on a short scriptural journey to underscore His knowing, then we’ll discuss the implications and how His knowing intersects with our doing. Relax, this isn’t fatalism, and it’s certainly not predestination, as the conventional wisdom of Calvin and Luther would have it.

We are given the gift of moral agency to exercise in this life. God is not on trial in our lives – we are. There isn’t anything you can do to prove yourself “worthy” to God (remember, remember – always and forever – “worthy” equates to repenting).

We had a lesson this morning urging us to “qualify” for the gift of the Holy Ghost in our lives. And the instructor (who shall remain nameless) never, not once, in the course of the lesson even mentioned repentance as the one and only qualifier for obtaining and keeping the Spirit in our lives to guide us. Last time I checked (and I do that frequently these days) the scriptures are replete (meaning they are full to overflowing) with references about the only thing we must do to be “worthy” of the Spirit in our lives is to repent and come unto Christ.  We are promised He will fill us up with His Spirit if we repent. But that’s a story for another day.

God already knows you and all your choices, because He created you. There should be great comfort in this idea, but it seems to cause more angst than joy. It should not be so. Come with me, and we shall learn together:

But behold, all things have been done in the wisdom of him who knoweth all things.  (2 Nephi 2:24).

O how great the holiness of our God!  For he knoweth all things, and there is not anything save he knows it.  (2 Nephi 9:20).

And this I do [meaning, Mormon is including the small plates of Nephi in the record he is abridging] for a wise purpose; for thus it whispereth me, [notice, only the whisperings of the Spirit at work here – no open visions of the future] according to the workings of the Spirit of the Lord which is in me.  And now, I do not know all things; but the Lord knoweth all things which are to come; wherefore, he worketh in me to do according to his will.  (Words of Mormon 1:7).

And when the time cometh when all shall rise, then shall they know that God knoweth all the times which are appointed unto man [meaning that God even knows the exact moment in time that we will each depart this mortal probation, since this chapter is all about Alma’s teachings on the resurrection].  (Alma 40:10).

And if there be faults [in the writings contained in The Book of Mormon] they are the faults of a man.  But behold, we know no fault; nevertheless God knoweth all things; therefore, he that condemneth, let him be aware lest he shall be in danger of hell fire.  (Mormon 8:17).

By these things [the preceding verses in section 20] we know that there is a God in heaven, who is infinite and eternal, from everlasting to everlasting the same unchangeable God, the framer of heaven and earth, and all things which are in them; 

And that he created man, male and female, after his own image and in his own likeness, created he them. . .  (D&C 20:17-18).

Thus saith the Lord your God, even Jesus Christ, the Great I AM, Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, the same which looked upon the wide expanse of eternity, and all the seraphic hosts of heaven, before the world was made;

The same which knoweth all things, for all things are present before mine eyes.  (D&C 38:2).

He comprehendeth all things, and all things are before him, and all things are round about him; and he is above all things, and in all things, and is through all things, and is round about all things; and all things are by him, and of him, even God, forever and ever.  (D&C 88:41 – also read vs. 5-13).

And I have a work for thee, Moses [or you could say, Joe or Rich], my son; and thou art in the similitude of mine Only Begotten; and mine Only Begotten is and shall be the Savior, for he is full of grace and truth; but there is no God beside me, and all things are present with me, for I know them [antecedent of “them” is “all things”]. (Moses 1:6).

But they [angels] do not reside on a planet like this earth;

But they reside in the presence of God, on a globe like a sea of glass and fire, where all things for their glory are manifest, past, present, and future, and are continually before the Lord.  (D&C 130:7).  [Meaning that time simply collapses for God – there is no past, present, future – it is all the same for him – everything is in the present tense, and that’s how he is enabled to know all things.  And it’s just that simple.]

So what are the implications of these things on our lives here and now? Simply, that God knows the end from the beginning. He knows what will happen, what choices we will make, who we will marry, how many children we will have, where we will live, whether or not we will be faithful, how we will rebel, how we will repent, when, where, who, what – everything. None of it is shrouded in mystery for Him. He knows.

But here is the key element - His knowing does not alter our doing, except to give us perspective. Knowing what we know about His knowing should give us a beacon. If we know He knows, if we know that nothing is hidden, that He even knows the thoughts and the intents of our hearts before we act in any manner, would not our knowing help us want to please Him and to do what He would have us do?

The key is to willingly submit to His good pleasure – to offer ourselves as an offering, all that we are or ever hope to be – to simply say, “Lord, what would thou have me do?” It is the willful surrender of ourselves. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, it is sacrificing the beast within each of us each day on the altar of consecration. He will neither pull our chain, yank on our strings, coerce us in any way to choose. He offers a choice. The choice is what Christ vouched safe to us in His atonement.

We must choose, then He will bless our choices if they are righteous desires. When we ask Him about the things He is interested in – how we can bless others, where He would have us look for lost souls, how we can serve, whom shall we serve – and similar questions, we are led and directed. He does and will intercede in our lives and the lives of those we serve. But it is all based upon our doing, and never altered by His knowing.

Is that so hard? When we ask to consume our asking upon our lusts, or when we ask for signs first before we will believe and exercise our faith, the heavens are as brass over our heads. Those are the active principles of sacrifice and consecration – the very essence of the covenants we make in the temple.

And, oh by the way, I learned yet again in sacrament meeting today that we are not yet "worthy" to live the law of consecration, that we are to live the lesser law of tithing until some as yet unidentified event or circumstance in the future will once again usher in the law of consecration.

Well, that's just so much phooey. The vast majority of the members of the Church have not yet learned this one lesson - that the law of consecration is different than the practice or the policy to implement it through the united order. It is not the current practice or policy of the Church in these last days to live the united order, but will someone please tell me how and when and where the law of consecration was rescinded? Each time I attend an endowment session and listen carefully to the covenant we make to live the law of consecration the words come with no qualifiers.

Salt Lake Temple 

It was not rescinded. In fact, each time we go to sacred places, we covenant before God, angels and witnesses that we will observe and keep the law of consecration in connection with the law of sacrifice, not that we are merely willing to do so when asked. It is explained in simplest terms - that we covenant to consecrate ourselves, and everything else for the cause of the establishment of Zion. Some are troubled that we consecrate to the Church and not to God. The Church on earth is God's kingdom on earth. To me they are one and the same. 

That sounds pretty precise to me, and there are no qualifiers in the words of the covenant that put the covenant in suspension until the practice of the Church returns to some new iteration of the united order. Do not be deceived. After all that Joseph learned about the united order, and all that Brigham Young attempted to implement concerning it, I doubt we are going to suddenly start living it again without warning. Rather, it is here and now as an everlasting law, and it is the law of the Celestial kingdom.

Those who would have a place in that kingdom must abide the same. It is for each of us to learn for ourselves what God would have us know in how to implement the law into our own individual lives. Indeed, we are promised that “the Father teacheth him of the covenant. . .” (D&C 84:48), speaking of the oath and the covenant of the priesthood, which is only another example of widely misunderstood doctrines in these last days.

It was the Savior who taught this principle best. I love the comparative differences and similarities in the JST accounts:

Break not my commandments for to save your lives; for whosoever will save his life in this world, shall lose it in the world to come.

And whosoever will lose his life in this world, for my sake, shall find it in the world to come.

Therefore, forsake the world, and save your souls; for what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?  Or what shall a man give in exchange for his soul?  (JST Matthew 16:27-29).

For whosoever will save his life, shall lose it; or whosoever will save his life, shall be willing to lay it down for my sake; and if he is not willing to lay it down for my sake, he shall lose it.

But whosoever shall be willing to lose his life for my sake, and the gospel, the same shall save it.  (JST Mark 8:37-38).

For whosoever will save his life, must be willing to lose it for my sake; and whosoever will be willing to lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.

For what doth it profit a man if he gain the whole world, and yet he receive him not whom God hath ordained [that would be Christ], and he lose his own soul, and he himself be a castaway?  (JST Luke 9:24-25).

Each rendition of those verses, while slightly different, contains the same enigmatic and seemingly impossible saying – to gain your eternal life, you must be willing sacrifice for my sake while in your mortal probation. Father really does know best. The message for missionaries is simple – give it all up for my kingdom in this world, invest in faith and I will sustain you in whatever righteous desires you may have. There is never going to be a time when life will be as simple, as concentrated, as consecrated, and as Spirit-directed as your time in the mission field, and you have both seen the witness of that truth again and again.

Along those lines, I thought about your older brother Steve and the thoughts he shared with me recently about how he has only now had time to write about his experiences of the last year. I remember him sobbing in my arms only hours after his return from his mission in Mexico. He longed to be free from the contradictions, the challenges and the world into which he had been thrust upon his release from his mission. He was so immediately caught up in the need for a car, for employment, for school, and wonderment about his future prospects in marriage, that whatever respite from the cares of the world he had enjoyed while serving a mission quickly vanished. It took him a year to even get his journal caught up! And so it is – treasure each moment, for they are fleeting. How I wish I could impress that truth upon each missionary when I hear your stories about wasted time and energies spent on trivial pursuits in the mission field among some of your acquaintances.

Now, Rich, I said most of this for your benefit. There will never be a time of greater temptation for you. I know you find that hard to believe, but Satan would like nothing more than to discredit all that you have done up to this point in your mission. We have seen this in the cases of some of your friends who have returned. Your position in the mission does little to insulate you from danger. You must be ever watchful. You still have much to do before you hit the finish line. Hit the tape running full stride. Don’t let up. Give it renewed determination, renewed Spirit, renewed enthusiasm for the work, and rededicate yourself to the goals and the programs of the President.

Do all you can in these remaining months to lift and to inspire those around you. Help them to catch the vision, to serve with an eye single to His glory, and to never look back. Just as you were once the young one in the field, now others will look to you as never before for an example of how to do it the right way. Once again, you are in a position of rare trust and accountability. Cherish these remaining days. Too soon, they will all be gone, and you will be homeward bound.

The goal is to sit in that plane seat contented and satisfied that you did all, that you sacrificed your all, that you withheld nothing in the service that still awaits you. And that, good son, is peace and joy unlike anything there is. Trust in God to lead you to that end result.