"Have You Ever?" "No, I've Never."

That question and its response are resounding again and again this year in Utah. We have been in a sustained drought here in the West, and this winter we have been literally buried in snow, the likes of which tests the memory for recalling another winter that's been this intense. The winter of 1983-84 comes to mind when the temperatures in May soared into the 90's for several weeks and all the snowmelt came down in a hurry. There were pictures of water running down a sandbagged State Street in Salt Lake City, because the infrastructure back in the day was not sufficient to handle the runoff. I was an elders' quorum president back then, and we were being called out routinely to sandbag several homes in our ward threatened with flooding.

Fast forward to today. Overnight we had over fourteen inches of snow, and our ward worship services were cancelled. It's all our plow guy can do to stay ahead of all the snow that continues to fall. We worshipped at home today, and were grateful for the authorization to administer the sacrament in our home. The two of us sang hymns, partook of the sacrament, studied in Come Follow Me, and watched the Tabernacle Choir broadcast. Then we bore our testimonies to one another in an intimate setting of our home. It was a rare spiritual feast, and we were so grateful to have each other as we looked outside and watched the snow continue to fall all around.

I am acutely aware and thankful beyond expression for the wisdom of our leaders who called out this audible early this morning via e-mail. How blessed we are on several fronts. We have study materials designed for home-centered, Church- supported curriculum to bless our lives. The intrusion of COVID-19 was the first indication that the direction toward more focus on our home worship would be needed, and the Church made provision to satisfy that need.

In addition, President Russell M. Nelson has been persistent in his repeated invitations to increase our spirituality to enable us to receive enhanced and more frequent revelation in our daily lives. 

Couple that with the ongoing revelation about our temple worship that has made it more spiritual and more instructional than ever before. And no, I have never felt more inspiration and more pure revelation from my Savior Jesus Christ than what I am receiving each time we attend the temple. Nothing has been left unattended, and nothing has been overlooked in enhancing the temple experience. I am so grateful to President Nelson for his leadership.

Our home is safe, warm and is indeed a sanctuary, not unlike a temple. Today, my dear companion and I prayed, partook of the sacrament and bore our testimonies to one another. What a blessing it is to have a faithful helpmeet and spiritual soulmate on a day like today. We are blessed beyond measure, and I am so grateful. I ache for those who are not so blessed that lie beyond our reach today because of the heavy snowfall. I pray that those who are closer can be raised up to bless them.

I am thankful for the technology that ties us together with family on days like today. After I brushed the snow out of the satellite dishes, I was able to send out e-mails to everyone to assure them we were safer than they might otherwise imagine. When you are of a certain age (which I now am), our children are rightfully concerned for our welfare and wellbeing. 

I testify of the divinity of our Eternal Father in Heaven, our Savior Jesus Christs and the Holy Ghost who bears witness to my soul of their true identity and my relationship with them. I am grateful for that knowledge that anchors my soul and provides much-needed perspective on the overall plan of salvation for all God's children.

I am grateful for the Prophet Joseph Smith, who laid the foundation for the Restoration of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. On days like today I am in awe of all the "overcoming" that had to be done to assure our pleasant circumstances here in 2023. I testify the Church is the true manifestation of the ancient Church that came out of the garden of Eden and was established later in Christ's day.

My soul reverberates with the truth that President Russell M. Nelson is God's prophet on the earth today. All the living Apostles today hold the relevant priesthood keys to facilitate the work of the kingdom of God on earth today. You may rely upon them and you may trust them to do God's will in all things.

My testimony runs as deep as the twelve foot drifts out my back door this morning. 

An Easter Testimony

I have remarkable children and grandchildren. This evening we had a video chat, then a story followed in an e-mail I eagerly share with all of you:

My children have a mild obsession with the reenactment of ordinances. They can be found almost daily, filling their tool boxes with little bits of bread to gingerly pass to each member of the family. Then last week I found them "baptizing" each other on the front lawn. I don't know where the fixation started, but I'll take it over playing war or any other number of less-desirable make-believe games, so I have yet to discourage their rituals.

This week has been hard on me. Last week I was an unshakable pillar of strength and patience. It seemed that nothing could get me down in the midst of lots of circumstances that could have. I don't know what changed, but this week my patience and coping are nil. I don't understand why sometimes we cope so much better than other times, but whatever the reasons, I have been running on empty for several days. By the time afternoon hit here I was tied in knots and my fuse was incredibly short. I couldn't cope with the incessant crying of my one-year-old, and the toddlers were doing their best to ensure I blew a gasket by dinnertime. My nerves were shot and I was officially spent. In a frustrated swoop, I grabbed my crying baby from the floor for the umpteenth time and put him on the counter so he could look right into my eyes. "I cannot handle you crying all day long every day, Gideon!" I said to him and yet to no one all at the same time.

And then, in my hour of frustration and exhaustion, the sacrament arrived. Three-year-old Noah quietly walked into the kitchen and held out the offering. "Just one piece, mommy," he gently reminded me. The irony wasn't lost on me. It was Thursday, the day before Good Friday, and the anniversary of Christ's original introduction of the sacrament in that sacred upper room. In that moment I accepted my son's emblem, I was reminded of what I'd covenanted to do just last Sunday. I had covenanted to always remember my Savior, and yet in those hours and days of exhaustion and weariness, how easily do I forget? How easily do I forget that He died for me? He gave His life so I don't have to carry the burdens and responsibilities of life alone. His atoning sacrifice is not just for the big challenges and trials of life, but for my seemingly insignificant challenges that chip away at my spirit and my peace daily. The crying baby, the fighting toddlers, and the unswept floor are all swept up in Him and His precious gift.

That is what I remember as I celebrate His life and His death - that His precious offerings matter in every moment and every detail of my life. It is in those simple moments that I need to accept His sacrificial gift with gratitude, and strive to always remember Him.

An important "part" of my life

 In the Church we repeat the same series of lessons every four years in Sunday School based upon the scriptures.

In prieshood quourms and Relief Society meetings we are studying the updated version of the Gospel Principles manual.  Today in our priesthood lesson we reviewed the organization of the Church.

Too often, I fear, we who have been in the Church most of our adult lives discount the power of repeating the lesson material, claiming it's all been done before, we've heard it all our lives, and there is nothing new under the sun.

For these reasons, many absent themselves first from the temples (that never changes much either), then their absence at stake meetings follows.  Eventually, because of indifference it becomes easier to be absent at Sunday meetings.  Weeks stretch into months, months into years and soon they find themselves losing interest all together in the ongoing miracles of the Restoration.

"Because of indifference, one dies before one actually dies," observed Elie Wiesel.  He also said, "Indifference, to me, is the epitome of evil."

I picked Wiesel for a quote about indifference because of his praiseworthy journey from the abyss of hopelessness accompanying Hitler's occupation of Europe during World War II and the subsequent atrocities of the concentration camps to his eventual embrace of God and his renewal in overcoming the effects of it.  Wiesel became a beacon light of hope for many who lost their way during those days, and remains an inspiration for those who seek hope and faith. 

It is worthwhile for a moment to pause and remember what this man had to deal with in his life, when indifference would have been more desirable than hope.

In 1940, Romania lost the town of Sighet following the Second Vienna Award. In 1944, Wiesel, his family and the rest of the town were placed in one of the two ghettos in Sighet. Wiesel and his family lived in the larger of the two, on Serpent Street. On May 16, 1944, the Hungarian authorities allowed the German army to deport the Jewish community in Sighet to Auschwitz Birkenau. While at Auschwitz, his inmate number, "A-7713", was tattooed onto his left arm. Wiesel was separated from his mother and sister Tzipora, who are presumed to have died at Auschwitz. Wiesel and his father were sent to the attached work camp Buna, a subcamp of Auschwitz III Monowitz. He managed to remain with his father for over eight months as they were forced to work under appalling conditions and shuffled between three concentration camps in the closing days of the war. On January 29, 1945, just a few weeks after the two were marched to Buchenwald, Wiesel's father was beaten by a Nazi as he was suffering from dysentery, starvation, and exhaustion. He was later sent to the crematorium, only months before the camp was liberated by the Third Army on April 11.

J.K. Rowling, who brought Harry Potter to life, also learned to battle off the effects of indifference, and offered:  "Indifference and neglect often do much more damage than outright dislike."  She now admits indifference as a destitute single mother nearly cost her life, and that she came "very, very close" to committing suicide in the years before Harry Potter became a global bestseller. What saved her?  Her daughter, Jessica.

Over the years we have had many lessons about the organization of the Church on April 6, 1830.  Many years ago as a teacher of one of those gospel doctrine lessons in Sunday School, I felt impressed to ask the question that had been on my mind for a week as I thought about the lesson.
 
The question is this one, and of course, it’s a pure hypothetical – “What if the Church had never been organized?”
 
The other corollary questions are, “What if there had been no Restoration?"
 

"What if there had been no Joseph Smith?”
 
I asked the class to think about how their lives would be different if none of those things had happened. After some initial discussion, they all concluded that life’s purposes as we have come to understand them in our lives in the Church would be totally pointless.
 
I reminded them, many people stand to bear testimony in this Church and include words to this effect – “The Church (or the gospel) is an important part of my life.” After posing the questions I did, then discussing them, I think people began to understand that the Church is more than an important “part” of our lives – the Church, this Church, the only true and living Church on the face of the earth with which the Lord is pleased, IS life.  (See D&C 1:30).
 
The Savior said:  "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy:  I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly."  (John 10:10).

There is nothing we do in this life that is not directly tied in some way to our understanding of the purpose of life and our knowledge of the Restoration through the Prophet Joseph. All our hopes and dreams are tied to our membership in the Church. All our questions are answered in the Restoration. The only ones that aren’t are the ones that don’t matter much.
 
After discussing the hypothetical questions, we reviewed together the word of the Lord in the revelations contained in D&C Sections 20 and 21. There are some powerful doctrines in those two sections, far more impact than we could discuss in the class period.

One of the class members posed one particularly troubling question to me. He wondered, after all that I have taught the ward in recent years, if I believed we can really be sanctified in this life. It was obvious because of the way he asked it, that he did not. 

I walked, once again, to the sacrament table. I lifted the tray of bread, then said, “We talk a lot in the Church about coming to Church each week to renew our covenant of baptism. What were you like on the day you were baptized?”

They all answered, “We were clean and pure.”

I said, “That’s right. And another word for ‘clean and pure’ is ‘sanctified or purified.’ What none of you has yet realized is that you are sanctified each week as you come to this building to partake of the emblems of the suffering of your Savior’s gruesome death on your behalf. The prayers offered over the emblems (or symbols) of the deep meaning behind the sacrament are, '. . .we ask thee in the name of thy Son, Jesus Christ, to bless and sanctify this bread (water) to the souls of all those who partake (drink) of it.'" 

We ask for the emblems or symbols to be sanctified -- but are we not really asking for our souls to be sanctified?

Sanctification, therefore, must be attainable, even though it is a process undertaken throughout our lives.

If you don’t really believe Christ can change you from your intemperate and fallen selves, then why bother coming each week to partake of the sacrament? The promise is that you “may ALWAYS have his Spirit to be with [you]." If you don’t believe it, you really don’t have enough faith in Christ. If you did have enough faith, you would come to understand, as I have come to understand over my lifetime, that his power is sufficient to sanctify us, to purify us, and to perfect us IF WE REPENT.  (See Moroni 10:32-33).

The power lies in his perfection, not ours under the requirements of the laws of the gospel. Compliance with the laws of the gospel is what justification is all about. We are "justified" which is a legal term, when we submit to the outward ordinances of baptism and the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.

But we are "sanctified" when the Holy Spirit begins to dwell within us as the token of the covenant of baptism we make when we are immersed in the water. The Spirit is like a fire to purify us. The ordinance in and of itself has no power. It is merely a symbol of a spiritual rebirth. It is the Spirit of the Holy Ghost dwelling in us that purifies us. 

When I went home from Sunday School that day all those years ago, I wrote those words in my journal, then in a letter to two sons were were serving as missionaries at the time.  I didn't want to lose the memory of what I had learned once again as I taught what could only be described as the "same old, same old" lesson about the organization of the Church.  Today that memory was renewed as yet another fresh revelation.  There is power in repetition.

Joseph Smith said the Holy Ghost is a sanctifier.  You can't be a member of the Church and avoid being sanctified if you fully understand what you're doing when you partake of the sacrament each week. 

After baptism, we are "sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost" (3 Nephi 27:20). If we were to be immersed in water and then never be confirmed a member of the Church and never receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, we would still be in our sins. "You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man," Joseph Smith pointed out, "if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half — that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost" (TPJS, 314; see also 149-50; 360).

Parley P. Pratt wrote that the Spirit "quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands, and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates, and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings, and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity. It develops beauty of person, form, and features. It tends to health, vigor, animation, and social feeling. It invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being" (Key to the Science of Theology, 61, italics mine).

I don’t know how you could understand all that, and still ask the question, “Can we be sanctified in this life?”

Too many quit trying.  They become weary in the battle of mortality.  The enemy consumes them, wears them down, weakens them, then they give up.  That's when the indifference is the strongest.  They are adrift from the anchor of the redeeming sacrifice of their Savior, right where Satan wants them, safe in their shell, never venturing out again into the land of ironies,condradictions and disappointments in their quest for the sanctification He offers. 

C.S. Lewis once wisely observed:  "It may be hard for an egg to turn into a bird: it would be a jolly sight harder for it to learn to fly while remaining an egg. We are like eggs at present. And you cannot go on indefinitely being just an ordinary, decent egg. We must be hatched or go bad."

To be sure, sanctification is a station at which no one arrives in an instant, but it is a process to be incrementally improved upon each week as we come to the sacrament table.

In the end, sanctification is the antithesis of indifference.  When we are indifferent to the majestic possibilities in the Restoration as they affect us personally, the gospel forever remains just an important "part" of our lives.  When we are "hatched" we see it for what it is. . .

. . . it IS life!