What is Something Prophets Have Shared That Brought You Closer to the Savior?

Amelia, a granddaughter, asked this question the other day as I was headed out to the Orem Temple for an endowment session. I was officiating for a great uncle four times removed who was born in 1704 in Lincolnshire, England. It was yet another glorious, full session.

As I was leaving I held the entrance door open for a man dressed in his whites. He was seated in his automated wheelchair, his temple clothes in a suitcase on his lap, and then I noticed he had no feet. There was no one assisting him, but I was immediately humbled by just the sight of him coming to the temple, independent and faithful.

President Harold B. Lee

To answer Milsie’s question as I pondered it, I decided to isolate my response to the teachings of my Prophet Grandfather, Harold B. Lee. He was the 11th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, and he had a singular imprint on my soul. I longed to be as knowledgeable in the scriptures as he was. He anchored his soul in the scriptures all his life, as noted below. It was through him that I gleaned the desire to become as he was, and I slowly came to know that it required consistent and systematic effort over the course of a lifetime to become as he was. I feel his eyes upon me even after all these years, and I pray I may continue to endure in faith in my Lord Jesus Christ to the end.

His grave marker in the Salt Lake City Cemetery

Of course, there are many, many prophets to whom I could turn for the answers, but I want to capture the essence of this preeminent progenitor, for all of us this morning so you may become more familiar with who he was and what he taught.

“I once had a visit from a young Catholic priest who came with a stake missionary from Colorado. I asked him why he had come, and he replied, ‘I came to see you.’

“‘Why?’ I asked.

“‘Well,’ he said, ‘I have been searching for certain concepts that I have not been able to find. But I think I am finding them now in the Mormon community.’

“That led to a half-hour conversation. I told him, ‘Father, when your heart begins to tell you things that your mind does not know, then you are getting the Spirit of the Lord.’

“He smiled and said, ‘I think that’s happening to me already.’

“‘Then don’t wait too long,’ I said to him.

“A few weeks later I received a telephone call from him. He said, ‘Next Saturday I am going to be baptized a member of the Church, because my heart has told me things my mind did not know.’

“He was converted. He saw what he should have seen. He heard what he should have heard. He understood what he should have understood, and he was doing something about it. He had a testimony.” (Stand Ye in Holy Places [1974], 92–93, emphasis added.)

“I bear you my testimony that I know the Savior lives, that the most powerful witness you can have that He lives comes when the power of the Holy Spirit bears witness to your soul that He does live. More powerful than sight, more powerful than walking and talking with Him, is that witness of the Spirit by which you shall be judged if you were to turn against Him. But it is the responsibility of all of you, as well as my responsibility, to get that testimony established. We are constantly asked, just how does one receive revelation? The Lord said in a revelation to the early leaders, ‘I will tell you in your mind and in your heart by the Holy Ghost. It shall dwell within you. This is the revelation by which Moses led the children of Israel to the Red Sea and on across it.’ (See D&C 8:2–3.) When that Spirit has witnessed to our spirit, that’s a revelation from Almighty God.” (Address given at Lausanne, Switzerland conference, 26 Sept. 1972, Historical Department Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 8.)

“Not many have seen the Savior face to face here in mortality, but there is no one of us who has been blessed to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism but that may have a perfect assurance of His existence as though we had seen. Indeed, if we have faith in the reality of His existence even though we have not seen, as the Master implied in His statement to Thomas, even greater is the blessing to those who ‘have not seen, and yet have believed’ (John 20:29), for ‘we walk by faith, not by sight’ (2 Corinthians 5:7). Although not seeing, yet believing, we rejoice with joy unspeakable in receiving the end of our faith, even the salvation of our souls (see 1 Peter 1:8–9).” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 93.)

“Can we sum it up and say then, that any person who has received a true testimony has received a revelation from the living God, or else he would not have the testimony? Anyone who has a testimony, then, has enjoyed the gift of prophecy, he’s had the spirit of revelation. He has had the gift by which the prophets have been able to speak things pertaining to their responsibilities…

“The Lord help us all to strive to gain that testimony most vital in our preparation to know. When finally we get that one divine thought that Joseph Smith was and is a prophet and that the gospel is true, all the other seeming difficulties melt away like heavy frost before the coming of the rising sun.” (“Church and Divine Revelation,” 1954, Historical Department Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 17, 23, emphasis added.)

“Now when our missionaries go out, we say to those among whom they labor, ‘We are not asking you to join the Church just to put your name on the records. That is not our concern. We come to you offering you the greatest gift the world can give, the gift of the kingdom of God. This is here for you if you will only accept and believe.’ Now that is our challenge to the world. ‘We can teach you the doctrines of the Church of Jesus Christ and bear testimony of the divinity of the work, but the witness of the truth of what we teach has to come from your own searching.’

“We say to our people whom we teach, ‘Now, you ask the Lord. Study, work, and pray.’ This is the process by which people are brought into the Church, and it is the same way that from the beginning the honest in heart everywhere have been brought into the Church.” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 135–36.)

“As Jesus lifted up his eyes in prayer as ‘his hour was come,’ (see John 17:1) he gave expression to a profound truth that should be full of meaning to every soul: ‘And this is life eternal, that they might know thee, the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent.’ (John 17:3.) While this expression has deeper significance than I shall discuss here, I should like to take one thought from it. How can you know the Father and the Son? … We begin to acquire that knowledge by study. The Savior counseled us to ‘Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me.’ (John 5:39, see also Moses 6:63 and 2 Nephi 11:24.) Therein will be found a history of God’s dealings with mankind in every dispensation and the works and words of the prophets and those of the Savior himself as given ‘by inspiration of God,’ as the Apostle Paul said, ‘and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness: that the man of God may be perfect, thoroughly furnished unto all good works.’ (2 Timothy 3:16–17.) Youth should let no day pass without reading from these sacred books.

“But it is not enough merely to learn of his life and works by study. It was the Master who replied in answer to the question as to how one might know of him and his doctrine: ‘If any man will do his will, he shall know.’ (John 7:17.) Would you think an authority on science to be one who had never experimented in a laboratory? Would you give much heed to the comments of a music critic who did not know music or an art critic who didn’t paint? Just so, one like yourself who would ‘know God’ must be one who does his will and keeps his commandments and practices the virtues Jesus lived.” (Decisions for Successful Living [1973], 39–40; paragraphing added, emphasis added.)

“The acquiring of knowledge by faith is no easy road to learning. It demands strenuous effort and a continual striving by faith…

“In short, learning by faith is no task for a lazy man. Someone has said, in effect, that such a process requires the bending of the whole soul, the calling up from the depths of the human mind and linking it with God — the right connection must be formed. Then only comes ‘knowledge by faith.’” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 331.)

Here’s one of my favorites that hangs in a frame on my office wall as a reminder of the precious fruit that is a testimony:

“Testimony is as elusive as a moonbeam; it’s as fragile as an orchid; you have to recapture it every morning of your life. You have to hold on by study, and by faith, and by prayer. If you allow yourself to be angry, if you allow yourself to get into the wrong kind of company, you listen to the wrong kind of stories, you are studying the wrong kind of subjects, you are engaging in sinful practices, there is nothing that will be more deadening as to take away the Spirit of the Lord from you until it will be as though you had walked from a lighted room when you go out of this building, as though you had gone out into a darkness.” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 331.)

“That which you possess today in testimony will not be yours tomorrow unless you do something about it. Your testimony is either going to increase or it is going to diminish, depending on you. Will you remember your responsibility, then? The Lord said, ‘If any man will do his will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself’” (John 7:17). (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 331, emphasis added.)

“The Master was saying, and I am saying to you today, that the rains of disaster, the rains of difficulty, the floods and winds of severe trials are going to beat upon the house of every one of you. There will be temptation to sin, you will have hardship, you will have difficulty to face in your life. The only ones that will not fall when those tests come will be those who have their houses founded upon the rock of testimony. You will know no matter what comes; you will not be able to stand on borrowed light. You can only stand on the light that you have by the witness of the Spirit that all of you have the right to receive.” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 140.)

As a newly called Apostle in April, 1941, he once described his testimony this way many years later looking back:

“I come to you today as a special witness charged with, above all else, the responsibility of bearing that witness. There have been intimate circumstances when I have known with a surety. When I was searching for the Spirit to deliver a talk on the Easter theme [in 1941], the resurrection of the Lord, I closeted myself, read the four gospels, particularly down to the Crucifixion, the Resurrection, and I had something happen to me. As I read, it was as though I was reliving, almost, the very incident, not just a story. And then I delivered my message and bore testimony that now, as one of the least of my brethren, I, too, had a personal witness of the death and the resurrection of our Lord and Master. Why? Because I had had something burned into my soul that I could speak with a certainty that is beside all doubt. So can you. And the most satisfying thing in all the world, the greatest anchor to your soul, in time of trouble, in time of temptation, in times of sickness, in times of indecision, in times of your struggles and work, [is that] you can know with a certainty that defies all doubt that God lives.” (Education for Eternity, “The Last Message” lecture given at the Salt Lake Institute of Religion, 15 Jan. 1971, 11, emphasis added.)

“You, too, can know that your Redeemer lives, as did Job in the midst of his temptation to ‘curse God, and die,’ (see Job 2:9; 19:25) and know also that you, too, can open the door and invite Him in ‘to sup with you.’ (See Revelation 3:20.) See also yourselves one day as resurrected beings claiming kinship to Him who gave His life that the rewards to mortal men for earthly struggle and experience will be the fruits of eternal life even though as measured by human standards one’s life’s labors seemed to have been defeated.” (In Conference Report, April 1958, 136.)

This next teaching reverberates within me too. There is a fellowship in suffering that only those who have experienced it acutely can know fully. He knew because of the suffering he experienced in the decade of the 60s with the deaths of his beloved companion Fern, and his daughter Maurine, just how painful death of a loved one could be. And now, so do I. I have also buried my wife and a daughter.

“I know … what it means to have the shattering devastation of loneliness with the snatching away of a loved one. Over my years, I have been called and tried to comfort those who mourn, but until I had to repeat those very things to myself that I have been saying to others, then only did I come to sense something that was far beyond words, that had to reach down to the touchstone of the soul before one can give real comfort. You have to see part of you buried in the grave. You have to see the loved one die and then you have to ask yourself — Do you believe what you have been teaching others? Are you sure and certain that God lives? Do you believe in the Atonement of the Lord and Master — that He opened the doors to the resurrection in the more glorious life? Sometimes when we stand in the stark nakedness all alone, it’s then that our testimony has to grow deep if we are not going to be shattered and fall by the wayside.

“As the wife … of Job said, ‘Why don’t you curse God and die.’ (See Job 2:9.) But in the majesty of Job’s suffering, he gave expression to something that I think no funeral service is quite complete without repeating. He said, ‘I know that my redeemer liveth, and that he shall stand at the latter day upon the earth; and though after my skin worms destroy this body, yet in my flesh shall I see God; whom I shall see for myself, … and not another; though my reins be consumed within me.’ (Job 19:25–27.) You folks today, if you know that you have anchored your souls in that divine testimony that He lives and that at the latter day He will stand upon this earth and you will meet Him face to face — if you know that, no matter what the risks and the responsibilities and the tragedies may be — if you build your house upon the rock, you won’t falter. Yes, you’ll go through the terrifying experience of sorrow over a lost loved one, but you won’t falter; eventually you’ll come through with even greater faith than you ever had before.” (Address given at the funeral of David H. Cannon, 29 Jan. 1968, Historical Department Archives, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, 5–6, emphasis added.)

“The path to [exaltation] is rugged and steep. Many stumble and fall, and through discouragement never pick themselves up to start again. The forces of evil cloud the path with many foggy deterrents, often trying to detour us in misleading trails. But through all this journey,” assured President Lee, “there is the calming assurance that if we choose the right, success will be ours, and the achievement of it will have molded and formed and created us into the kind of person qualified to be accepted into the presence of God. What greater success could there be than to have all that God has?” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, 69–70.)

“Isaiah said: ‘But now, O Lord, thou art our father; we are the clay, and thou our potter; and we all are the work of thy hand.’ (Isaiah 64:8.)

“I’ve read that verse many times but had not received the full significance until I was down in Mexico a few years ago at Tlalcapaca, where the people mold clay into various kinds of pottery. There I saw them take clay that had been mixed by crude, primitive methods, the molder wading in the mud to mix it properly. Then it was put upon a potter’s wheel and the potter began to fashion the intricate bits of pottery, which he was to place on the market. And as we watched, we saw occasionally, because of some defect in the mixing, the necessity for pulling the whole lump of clay apart and throwing it back in to be mixed over again, and sometimes the process had to be repeated several times before the mud was properly mixed.

“With that in mind, I began to see the meaning of this scripture: Yes, we too have to be tried and tested by poverty, by sickness, by the death of loved ones, by temptation, sometimes by the betrayal of supposed friends, by affluence and riches, by ease and luxury, by false educational ideas, and by the flattery of the world. A father, explaining this matter to his son, said,

“‘And to bring about his eternal purposes in the end of man, after he had created our first parents, and the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, and in fine, all things which are created, it must needs be that there was an opposition; even the forbidden fruit in opposition to the tree of life; the one being sweet and the other bitter.’ (2 Nephi 2:15.)

“It was the Prophet Joseph Smith who said, speaking of this refining process, that he was like a huge, rough stone rolling down the mountainside, and the only polishing he got was when some rough corner came in contact with something else, knocking off a corner here and a corner there. But, he said, ‘Thus I will become a… polished shaft in the quiver of the Almighty.’ [History of the Church, 5:401.]

“So, we must be refined; we must be tested in order to prove the strength and power that are in us.” (Stand Ye in Holy Places [1974], 114–15.)

This was his message in his inaugural press conference after he had been set apart and ordained as the new President of the Church in 1972:

“‘Keep the commandments of God,’ for therein is the one course that brings that inward peace of which the Master spoke when He bade farewell to His disciples: ‘These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.’ (John 16:33) So may each of you, in the midst of the turmoil all about you, find that heavenly assurance from the Master who loves us all, which puts to flight all fears when, like the Master, you also have overcome the things of the world.” (“A Message to Members in the Service,” Church News, 2 Dec. 1972, 3.)

When Harold B. Lee was President of the Church, he and his wife were visiting missionaries across the country.

Harold: How are you doing, elders?

Elders: Wonderful. Thank you for visiting us.

Harold: It’s my pleasure. You’re doing great work out here.

Before their trip was finished, President Lee felt impressed to return home.

Harold: I’m not feeling very well. I think we should go home as quickly as possible.

Joan: I think so, too. We’ll just have to miss the rest of our appointments.

President Lee and his wife were soon on an airplane headed for Utah. During the flight, he thought he felt someone touch him.

Harold: Did someone just touch my head?

Joan: I didn’t touch you.

President Lee looked up, but no one was there. Later, President Lee felt hands on his head again. He knew that he was being blessed by angels, but he didn’t know why.

When they arrived home, President Lee was feeling worse.

Joan: I’ll call the doctor.

President Lee went to the hospital. Doctors found that an ulcer inside his body was bleeding badly. If he had started bleeding on the airplane, he could have died.

During General Conference, President Lee told the members about his experience.

Harold: I know that there are divine powers that reach out when all other help is not available. Yes, I know that there are such powers. (See Ensign, July 1973, page 123, emphasis added.)

* * *

I will conclude this entry by stating to Amelia and to all my posterity that I do know I have grown closer to my Savior Jesus Christ by studying ALL the sermons of President Harold B. Lee throughout my life. I have given you only a small sample here. He has inspired me, continually and eternally, because of my relationship to him as his eldest grandson. He called me “Skipper,” which was his nickname suggesting I needed to set the example for my younger siblings and cousins (there were 10 of us). He explained I was to be the one who would “set the sail” for our mortal journey together. I was initially intimidated about that role, trust me, but I learned to grow into it because he had designated it for me.

I have outlived him in the number of years we were in mortality, and now I often reflect about what seemed his premature death when he was taken home on December 26, 1973, the day after Christmas. Maybe it’s only because I am a slow learner - certainly slower than he! Whatever the case, I inexorably draw closer to the day when I will depart this earthly existence.

Before that day occurs, I want to enjoy my remaining days sharing with each of you in this format. It has been a labor of love to assure you how much YOU are loved. If it is determined to be only a fraction of how much Harold B. Lee loved me, then I will be content.

Harold B. Lee and his "Skipper"

What Are Your Ideas About Studying the Old Testament?

I reflected upon this question overnight after someone at Church asked me to give them some tips as they looked at the course of study in “Come, Follow Me” Curriculum for next year. My grand-daughter Katelyn, I noted, also asked this question recently.

Let me be so bold as to state that the Old Testament has seldom been the preferred book of scripture, for most Latter-day Saints. Only as it comes up in the four-year rotation do we dare to dip our toes in the seemingly murky waters, compared to the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price. Even the New Testament is more understandable and enjoyable — we tell ourselves.

I was blessed many years ago in the “old” Church to teach Gospel Doctrine for four consecutive years every Sunday. I know who was the most blessed of all, and it was me. The Old Testament is an acquired taste for sure. You can’t begin to love someone without that first kiss, and the scriptures are no different.

Grandfather Lee and Me on His Birthday

My first introduction to the Old Testament came back in the days when I was studying the scriptures topically, and my study of Zion led me directly into the ancient scriptures first to see if I could understand what the Lord had in mind in the establishment of Zion. My quest for knowledge became insatiable. I remember so well my Grandfather Harold B. Lee’s observation, when asked by one of his Brethren how he had become such a revered scriptorian. “There are no royal roads to learning,” he responded.

By that statement, he meant everyone had to search out the truth in the scriptures for themselves. His knowledge could not be automatically transmitted by birthright to any of his posterity, and I got that message very early in my life. It motivated me to begin my own quest that began with a contest (which I won in my junior year) in Seminary to read the Book of Mormon. In the mission field there was little emphasis in my labors to read and study the Old Testament. We were focused almost exclusively on the Book of Mormon. There again, I found myself winning the contests among the elders and sisters, all of which proved less than satisfactory, I can now admit.

I was well into our married lives before the Old Testament “hit my radar,” and I must affirm my topical study of Zion is what triggered me because of its foundational emphasis in the history of the world in setting the stage for the latter-day Zion and all the prophecies associated with it.

So my counsel, for what it’s worth, is to select a topic or topics that interest you most from Biblical history, and delve into the pages that way. Along your path, don’t be surprised if you chase down some rabbit holes you hadn’t expected to find. I know I did, and it all worked to my blessing and benefit.

Eventually, in my manual search for Zion (there were no computer search engines back in the day) I would move through the Old Testament page by page until I had highlighted every occurrence of the word “Zion” and then “ZION” and then “Sion” until I had satisfied my curiosity. I was just naïve to think such an exhaustive search would somehow qualify me as an expert in the subject of Zion. I certainly had no academic credentials to suggest that was true, just an overactive curiosity to drive me forward in the wee hours of the night and early morning.

My Finding in the New Testament

One quick example I have cited before. When I discovered the actual dimensions and the location of the city of the latter-day Zion in the scriptures, it was late one night and I was exhilarated beyond imagination. I cross-referenced the Old and New Testament with the Doctrine and Covenants and the Book of Mormon, and I was rewarded a hundredfold in my estimation. I showed my Dad, who excitedly took my findings to Elder Bruce R. McConkie who casually stated he had seen it “many years ago.”

My experiences in scripture study have confirmed the “no royal roads” observation of Grandfather Lee. Don’t EVER compare yourself against someone else. We are all in a different place, and now we have a whole Church synced and dialed in on the same study format each year. It took years of concentrated reorganization and recalibration at Church headquarters that started way back in the day of “Church Correlation” spearheaded by Grandfather Lee under President David O. McKay’s leadership to bring us to this point under the “Come, Follow Me” Curriculum. Gospel scholarship is a vast ocean upon which we each launch our little dinghy and hope to stay afloat for as long as we are able. Don’t be discouraged, and press forward through the Old Testament this year with the enthusiasm of new discoveries you haven’t even considered before. You will be rewarded beyond your wildest imaginings.

My Christmas Angels

I testify to all my posterity, growing in number now each year, that when we put forth our best efforts, the Lord blesses us by multiplying and magnifying our talents. It is a lifetime quest, and I’m still on the journey with you. He blesses us exponentially.

Someday . . .

On another topic, I had a phone call from my son Mike this morning. He’s escaped from the confines of his home chasing deer who are running a few miles from his home for more pictures. He had a total hip replacement recently, and we discussed being careful and wise in his post-surgery exertions. Then he reminded me that tomorrow is our infant daughter Adrienne’s death date anniversary, December 9th, 1992. Thirty-three years ago!! Seems impossible to me now. Somebody check that math! We had her in mortality for a short 49 days, seven weeks of seven days, and then she was escorted home to her spirit-world home.

Now, I think of all those who are with her there, and that leads me to think about my own mortality. I’ve outlived most of my progenitors now, and I am routinely drawn to my thoughts about all of them these days. How much more time will I need to prepare myself for their company? 

I don’t know the answer to that question, but what I do know for sure, Katelyn, is that the Old Testament characters we will be reading about this coming year lived VERY LONG LIVES on this earth. We can learn from their experiences, I am certain.

"My Favorite Scripture"

My 93 year-old father continues his tradition of writing to his former missionaries twice a year at General Conference time. His labor of love becomes increasingly taxing on his diminishing physical strength, but as you will note below, his mental acuity is still very much in evidence. I am so grateful for his thoughts in this latest post.

We all have a favorite scripture(s), and Dad encourages us all to share the reasons why in his latest missive. I hope you will all take a moment and offer some reflective insights on what and why you may value a particular scripture passage. Enjoy!


Beloved Missionaries:

George Frederic Handel

George Frederic Handel, one of the world’s most celebrated musicians, performed as a violinist and organist at an early age. After composing his first opera in Germany, he went to the center of the operatic world and composed operas and chamber music in Italy.

In 1711, at the age of 26, he moved to England where initially his works gained some acceptance, but with changing public tastes in music his style ultimately became outdated. He found it difficult to stay solvent. Under great pressure, he frantically wrote four operas within 12 months, but it took its toll on him, and the 52 year-old composer suffered a stroke. His right arm was paralyzed temporarily and a doctor told his secretary that he thought Handel’s brain had been permanently damaged.

Nevertheless, he recovered his health at the Aachen, Germany hot springs, and was delighted later to find he could again play the organ. Encouraged, he moved again to England and resumed composing, but his works were not well accepted and creditors again pushed him into the depths of despondency.

Late one August afternoon in April, 1741, Handel went for a long walk. Upon his return, he found that a poet and previous collaborator, Charles Jennens, had left him a manuscript with a request that he put his libretto to music. The text quoted abundantly from Isaiah and the New Testament, unfolding the birth, ministry, crucifixion and resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. It was to be an oratorio. Handel was apprehensive as he turned the pages of the text, but the glorious scriptures “Comfort Ye”, “For Unto Us a Child is Born”, and “He Shall Feed His Sheep Like a Shepherd”, chased away his gloom and he felt uplifted as he read the mighty conclusion “Worthy Is The Lamb”. He could not write fast enough to keep apace with the inspiration he felt as he commenced his composing.

Even though he composed profusely, Handel has become world renowned because of just this one masterpiece, “Messiah”, an oratorio which he wrote when 56 years of age, in just three weeks during the summer of 1741. He humbly acknowledged the inspiration of the Almighty by saying of his work, “God has visited me.”

I first became acquainted with this wonderful music when I sang alongside my father in the chorus of the Salt Lake Oratorical Society. The performance was a community tradition, then held in the Salt Lake Tabernacle each year on the Sunday nearest to New Year’s Day. Guest artists and celebrated conductors from New York and London were imported to head the casts. I came to love the music and I later found the texts also were forever imprinted in my mind.

Brent, top center, 1942

In 1942, I left for my mission to Texas, and was immediately assigned for the summer to visit the isolated members of the church to upgrade their records and perform neglected ordinances. My introduction to missionary work was going “without purse or scrip”, depending for meals and lodging on the generosity of strangers while en route to the next member’s distant home. In this stretching manner I learned what true faith really is, which was a perfect introduction to my ministry.

At the end of the summer, we settled into work in the city where at last I could begin an organized study of the gospel. I never had the benefit of Seminary or Institute classes, so I was just then becoming acquainted with the scriptures. I commenced my studies in the New Testament, because Texas was part of the “Bible Belt” where people were more inclined to listen to one who quotes from the Bible.

I hadn’t advanced far along in my early morning private studies until I came to Matthew 11:28-39. The text overwhelmed me with familiarity:

“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give ye rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.”

With the words pulsating to Handel’s music, my heart was penetrated. I found I knew already from the “Messiah” the gospel texts before I found their scriptural origins. I became enveloped for the second time with the overwhelming power of the Holy Ghost. Humble, and moved by the Spirit, I wrote in the margin of my Bible the word, “Beautiful”, to frame my emotional response. That headline has remained in my Bible ever since to remind me of this wonderful witness of the Holy Spirit.

Helen and Brent Goates, 1975

In 1975, I was presiding over the California Arcadia Mission with Christmas approaching. A sudden
phone call came from our daughter-in-law Janie, and without warning or explanation she asked, “Dad, what is your favorite scripture?” Pressed for an immediate answer, I instinctively replied, “Matthew 11:28-30.”

The conversation was forgotten, but before Christmas came we received in the mail the words of this favorite scripture beautifully woven in needlepoint. It has always been one of our most treasured Christmas presents. Sister Goates had the art piece framed and it has been featured in our mission home, and ever since then in the dining room of our homes in Salt Lake City. I have marveled many times at the popularity of this scripture, as it has been a theme of many conferences.

But one’s favorite scripture must offer more than just poetic and emotional rewards. A doctrinal basis must be explored to find the real treasure. In my scripture the question was: “What is the meaning of ‘rest’ in this promise?” Was the key word “rest” a condition or a place? A condition is suggested similar to Alma’s description of the reward for the faithful in Paradise, who will rest from all their cares and sorrows (Alma 41:12). Or is it the ultimate place in eternity with God and Christ?

Elder Bruce R. McConkie (1915-1985) taught, “The rest of the Lord, where mortals are concerned, is to gain a perfect knowledge of the divinity of the great latter-day work.” President Joseph F. Smith, also speaking of mortality, said it is “rest from the religious turmoil of the world.” But in eternity, McConkie said, “It is entering into the presence of the Lord.” The climax for me came from latter-day scripture which relates how the Israelites under Moses failed to enter “into His rest”, and then provided the definition, “which rest is the fulness of His glory.” (D&C 84:24).

The evolution of discovering and comprehending and then living for the blessings of my favorite scripture has been a lifetime work. Now, what is your story? Have you written it and shared it with your family? As I have shared my scriptural odyssey with you, I hope you will do likewise for your loved ones.

Always your friend,

President L. Brent Goates

Your Most Precious Object

In recent years I've enjoyed helping my father edit his semi-annual missive to his former missionaries in the California Arcadia Mission. This is his way to keep in touch with them after these many years since their service together. Many of these missionaries have raised families of their own by now, sent their own sons and daughters into the mission field, seen them married in the temples, and now those children have children of their own too. His has been a long legacy of faithful service to the Church, as he outlines in this latest edition of "Heartlines" - 

April 2014

“YOUR MOST PRECIOUS OBJECT”

              We were greatly blessed –

- to be able to raise our family in a comfortable, large and spacious home on the Avenues of Salt Lake City, not far from my work at the L.D.S. Hospital. The three-level home had multiple exits on the second story level, some more dangerous than others. It was important to us that our children knew where to go in case of an emergency. So, on one occasion we devoted a Family Home Evening to conducting a fire drill to teach this possibly life-saving lesson.

Besides the life-saving preparation there was another very important outcome to be realized. A searching test question was added asking each person to decide which object they would choose to preserve, above all others, if they had but one, not more than two, minutes to quickly take possession of it before the menacing flames would envelop them. The answer to that question would declare this chosen object to be their most-prized possession. It was then, and still is, a most perplexing question. I could imagine that my daughter might choose her violin; her mother, maybe a diamond ring, but it would, of course, vary with each person and the decision might change as values are altered by maturity. But in my case, my choice has been unchanged over most of my life, for reasons I will explain.

Les Goates family as Brent
prepared to leave on his first mission

In 1942, I was called to serve in the Texas Mission. I had just completed my sophomore year at the University of Utah. Economic times after the Great Depression of the 1930s were still difficult and employment had just begun to improve with the stimulation of World War II.

My father, Les Goates, was employed by the Deseret News as sports editor. It was difficult for him to financially meet the expenses necessary to send his first boy on a mission. When it came time to provide for my scriptures, he gave me his own Triple Combination which had his name, Lesley Goates, embossed on the cover.

All through my two-year mission I studied from this sacred book and found therein the truths of the gospel which gave me a testimony of its divine message. Therefore, every page was treasured, and most of them were marked up with my notes in the margins. This same Triple Combination was with me through the next 23 years as my gospel scholarship broadened. It had been an instrument through which true revelation flowed. Therefore, it was to me priceless.

During the years of 1964-67, I served as a member of the General Priesthood Home Teaching Committee, traveling to teach the program with General Authorities at weekly stake conferences. In the Fall of 1967, a new level of general leadership was announced and many of us serving on one of the four General Priesthood Committees were called to be among the first appointed Regional Representatives of the Twelve. We came to the closeout of our last Home Teaching Committee stake visits on the weekend of September 23-24, 1967. Because the Brethren were reluctant for me to be far from the hospital on weekends, most of my assignments had been to nearby Utah stakes. But on this last appointment I asked to be sent to the most distant stake assigned to a conference. It turned out to be the Taber Stake in Western Canada. I was to accompany then-Elder Thomas S. Monson of the Council of the Twelve, who would preside at the conference.

We left on a Friday, spent that night at the Country Club Motel in Great Falls, Montana, then on Saturday we rented a car and drove about three hours to Taber. The assignment was one of the most satisfying and memorable experiences ever, and after completing our work at the Taber Stake we retraced our route and boarded a plane for home at Great Falls.

When our flight was underway, I brought out my scriptures to read. Seated next to me was Elder Monson, who noted the dilapidated condition of my Triple Combination. He turned to me and said, “Brent, your scriptures are falling apart and are hardly hanging together. If you will let me have the book for ten days I will recondition it and return it to you looking like new with a new binding and cover.” Elder Monson’s profession was in the printing and publishing field. He had previously been president of The Deseret Press, and still had connections there. So, reluctantly, I parted with the book.

Elder Monson was true to his promise. He returned to me a completely restored book neatly bound with a beautiful new leather cover, this time bearing my own name embossed in gold letters.

Almost every day in the subsequent 47 years, I have turned these pages seeking guidance and revelation for my life’s journey. This book has become my precious companion, and has endured a lifetime of scrutiny and research, accompanied by prayer. How can one put a price on a treasure like that? It is truly irreplaceable, and still is the most precious object which I would first of all preserve from the flames.

And now, what about you? What is your most precious object? If all else were to be destroyed, what would you choose first to save?

Always your friend,

          President L. Brent Goates

The Devil's Advocate

I started to make a comment to Rich in the last post, and as usual it turned into another post, since the allocation of words for a comment was exceeded (a common failing of mine). Verbosity can be such a burden.

Your comment about the electronic versions of scriptures is worth expanding. I've settled on the convenience of taking my iPad when I don't have a teaching or speaking assignment. However, what I've observed in others attempting to use them from the pulpit while giving a talk, teaching a class, or giving a presentation in the stake center with the big screen is that there is invariably a technology hiccup of some kind. The downtime while we wait for the interruption to be corrected is always awkward and tends to drive the Spirit right out of the meeting. For that reason I always use my "low-tech" version of the scriptures when I talk or teach.

But even then it's important to be easily familiar with your tools as you transition from scripture to scripture when you are being guided by the Spirit in what you say in your teaching. We've all witnessed speakers fumbling with notes or losing their place when reading their talks word for word, and that too can be distracting. "Read yourself full, think yourself empty, speak yourself clear," is still good advice in preparation for a speaking, teaching or presenting assignment.

Since we're all amateurs in the Church where there is no paid clergy, as I see it the only answer is to become familiar with the tools we use, whatever our personal preference may be, in fact, so familiar that for all of us we can aspire to the day when we're all finishing each others' sentences because we all know what we know from the same sources. That blessed day will come when we all have come to know Him.

Joseph Smith

"This principle" — that of having one's calling and election made sure and of being sealed with the Holy Spirit of Promise — "ought (in its proper place) to be taught," the Prophet Joseph said, "for God hath not revealed anything to Joseph, but what he will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them, for the day must come when no man need say to his neighbor, know ye the Lord; for all shall know him (who remain) from the least to the greatest. How is this to be done? It is to be done by this sealing power, and the other Comforter spoken of, which will be manifest by revelation." (TPJS, 149).

The scriptural passage alluded to by the Prophet in this statement is from Jeremiah, who stated: "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah: Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the Lord: But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the Lord, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people. And they shall teach no more every man his neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, Know the Lord: for they shall all know me, from the least of them unto the greatest of them, saith the Lord: for I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more." (Jeremiah 31:31-34). When that day finally arrives, we will have ceased doing home teaching and visiting teaching ;-)

We live in a time when it seems the membership of the Church is being sifted and separated and families are divided in the debate. In case you're living under a rock and unaware, the critics are among you in your own congregations everywhere and even among your aunts, uncles and cousins in your families. There have always been critics of the leaders of the Church - ALWAYS! The great divide that is setting up over LGBT issues and women and the priesthood, while often interesting to observe and debate among ourselves, is really nothing new at all. "Equal rights" is such an appealing notion, isn't it? And because I doubt there's a family left on earth that hasn't identified at least one family member with same-gender attraction tendencies, we're all enlisted in this latest skirmish. The topics may change, new advocates may arise, but the critics never seem to subside. However, I'm going to stand with Joseph Smith and his successors.

The Brethren are not on trial here. God our Eternal Father is not on trial, nor is our Savior and Redeemer, the Lord Jesus Christ. He was already dispatched to a cruel Roman cross and those who opposed Him thought that would be the end of it. But He arose from the dead. He restored His gospel in these last days. He continues to feel after us and invite us to come unto Him through obedience to His laws, His gospel and His humble servants.

It is we as members who are on trial. It is so much easier to be a critic than a contributor when it comes to building faith among ourselves in the Church. When we take the role of the "Devil's Advocate" to spice the debate and do others a service by "testing their faith," we sometimes fail to recognize the Devil already has millions of willing minions who followed him in the pre-existence and they continue to afflict and torment us here in mortality. The earliest reference I've been able to find for the term "Devil's Advocate" is a canon lawyer in the Roman Catholic Church appointed to argue against the canonization or beatification of a person. Then as now, the reasoning seems to go, let's doubt the motives and goodness of a person first, question everything they represent and let's stand against goodness as the loyal opposition to everything that suggests righteousness. That is so progressive, so smart, so forward-thinking, or so they say! Those who are already doing that as unembodied spirits easily outnumber those of us here on earth in physical bodies today. Why would we ever volunteer to do their work for them?

Satan and his followers are always willing to welcome new Advocates within their ranks. Hey, if you've got a body, you're going to offer them much more than they have. Those who defect here in the second estate and fail to remain valiant in their testimonies of Jesus, and especially when they're offering commentary about their long-standing tendency as individuals to question everything first are valuable assets to Satan's cause! They are easy targets for deception. (See D&C 76:75, 79). Let us not be blinded by "craftiness".

In the sanctuary of our dedicated chapels and classrooms, may I suggest that we seek higher ground and stand with the living oracles first? We all have doubts, but let's doubt our doubts before we doubt our faith, as President Uchtdorf suggested recently:

"To those who have separated themselves from the Church, I say, my dear friends, there is yet a place for you here.
"Come and add your talents, gifts, and energies to ours. We will all become better as a result.
"Some might ask, 'But what about my doubts?'
"It’s natural to have questions — the acorn of honest inquiry has often sprouted and matured into a great oak of understanding. There are few members of the Church who, at one time or another, have not wrestled with serious or sensitive questions. One of the purposes of the Church is to nurture and cultivate the seed of faith — even in the sometimes sandy soil of doubt and uncertainty. Faith is to hope for things which are not seen but which are true. (See Hebrews 11:1; Alma 32:21).
"Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters — my dear friends — please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith. (See F. F. Bosworth, Christ the Healer [1924], 23). We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ." (emphasis mine).

Since that invitation from President Uchtdorf, some are now positing with the most recent federal court judge in Utah striking down Amendment 3 to the Utah State Constitution that the judge has somehow nullified the living prophets among us. "If the prophets were truly inspired," the latest reasoning goes, "why didn't they know the Amendment they advocated would be declared unconstitutional?" Similar arguments were made when Proposition 8 and DOMA were also overturned, but with an important distinction. California's governor made the decision not to challenge the rulings there, but in Utah the Attorney General under the direction of Governor Herbert will make a vigorous defense of Amendment 3, since 2/3 of Utahns voted in favor of Amendment 3 and the will of the electorate in defining marriage cannot be so easily ignored. I know good members of the Church who are now taking public stands on their social media platforms in exultation over the courts' rebukes of the Church. Really? Why?

When one makes a moral argument, as the Church did over gay marriage rights, we must be cautious to make the leap that the legal authority may have the last word. Remember, there is a higher unseen tribunal. It is as though some in the Church never seem to have been introduced to the LAWGIVER, you know, the One the Founders accepted in the founding documents for America who has given us our rights as free men and women.

The Devil's Advocates today would like you to believe they have made a clear and logical argument, except what is NOT clear at this writing is how the appellate courts will decide. Will they uphold the first federal judge's ruling or set it aside? The Tenth Circuit Court and eventually the SCOTUS will ultimately adjudicate the law of the land, but the law of the Lord is the new and everlasting covenant of marriage. THAT law is eternal, unchangeable, unamendable and immutable.

Upon THAT law of holy matrimony - that marriage is a sacred covenant between a man and a woman - rests the eternal plan of salvation. Does one presume to assert eternal law can somehow be altered by popular opinion or a court decision? There is no earthly tribunal in America, even the SCOTUS, that can compel the churches to solemnize a wedding ritual in violation of its religious beliefs under Constitutional safeguards. And certainly, the highest courts in the land will never be able to rule effectively in matters of conscience and righteousness. That's why the Founders were so explicit that America could never be governed except if the people remained righteous. But Satan will not rest. Since the Garden, he has sought to separate the man from the woman, and he has sworn in his wrath he will never retreat.

We are admonished to gather together in our meetings "to AGREE upon my word." (D&C 41:2). When our high priest groups descend into nothing more than a debating society where we mingle the philosophies of men with scripture, and never once during a lesson cite a single sentence from the prophets' teachings that are laid before us, we are opening ourselves up to being deceived. I suspect this is all in fulfillment of sorting out the wise virgins from among the foolish ones. (See Matthew 25). They were all good girls - virgins! - waiting for the Bridegroom. As members the Church in the last days, we are good girls too for the most part. But about half of us tend to be wise, and about half tend toward foolishness.

President Thomas S. Monson

The demarcation line will likely be those who have embraced the word, honored and defended the humble prophets God has raised up from among our congregations to lead us in the latter-days, and who put their covenants ahead of all other considerations. Whenever I am asked who I think the greatest prophet in this dispensation is, most are surprised when my knee-jerk reaction isn't "Joseph Smith," or "Harold B. Lee." They are both dead prophets, and great as they were, the greatest prophet for me will always be the one who is living on the earth and leading the Church TODAY, Thomas S. Monson. And when he is gone, it will be his successor. I find obedience to the covenants we have made with God leaves me no other option in answering that question.

Those who will yet lose their way in the mists of darkness will be those who treat casually the glorious gifts we have received in the Restoration. It's a marvelous flood of light for those who choose to live in the light.

So no matter which version of scripture you favor, electronic or paper, feast upon the word, familiarize yourselves with their contents, and avoid the winds of deception that are blowing at gale force all around you. In this course there is safety, light and LIFE.

Remember - eternal life comes only from the Lawgiver, and it is given on His terms.

How to Become a Gospel Scholar

President Harold B. Lee

To answer that question, which has been posed to me on numerous occasions, I turn once again to President Harold B. Lee for guidance. He was often asked how he studied the gospel and the scriptures, and I frequently heard him answer this way: "There is no royal road to learning." That answer never fully satisfied anyone, I am sure, because it never directly addressed his method for studying the gospel. It only implied it wasn't easy.

During this Christmas season I got a deeper insight into the "how" part of his answer. My father is now in his 92nd year, and still lives in the home Harold B. Lee purchased from James Moyle (Henry D.'s brother) many years ago located at 1437 Penrose Drive in Salt Lake City. I affectionately refer to Dad sometimes as "the curator of the Harold B. Lee museum." Little has changed in that home since Harold B. Lee's occupancy. Only Dad knows how many Harold B. Lee artifacts he still controls, since as his children we never have seen it all and get rare glimpses when he allows.

While we visited with him recently before Christmas, he surprised me yet again by handing me a black well-worn leather-bound notebook. The book itself is 5.5" wide and 7.75" tall, the pages being 4.25" x 7.25". It's curled down on the edges and has three rings inside, holding 167 pages with writing on both sides of most pages. The handwritten outlines of many speeches Harold B. Lee had given during the years of 1927 to 1940, mostly to wards in the Pioneer Stake it seems, are as timely perhaps today as they were then. He was called to the high council in 1927, and spoke monthly in the various wards of the stake as assigned. In 1930, three years later at age 31, he was called as the stake president in Pioneer Stake. These early outlines supply the evidence of his post-mission attempts to organize his thinking around gospel topics.

As my father handed the notebook to me he said he would "loan" it to me. He said there are two more like it covering Harold B. Lee's subsequent Apostolic periods of time, and he is "loaning" one each to my two brothers Jon and Tim. He requested that each of us pick one of our favorite talks, then come prepared to teach him at a family home evening he wants to hold on his upcoming 92nd birthday on a Sunday night. After that night we will "exchange" the notebooks with each other and do it again and again. It gives me so much joy to turn those pages and see his handwriting. Each time I study his outlines I have felt as though I am having a "visit" with him. It gives me a glimpse of his mind and I found several "echoes" of his later speeches as an Apostle in these original notes.

Harold B. Lee laid out his first notebook in 24 topical headings, with tabs separating each topic. The first page under each tab lists as many scriptural references as he could find, interestingly, taken only from the Doctrine and Covenants. He typed the scriptural references on an old typewriter, as shown at the right. One might find his topical headings interesting. I've presented them here as they appear in order in the notebook:

Ministry
Book of Mormon
Revelation
Divinity of Latter-day Work
Restoration
Apostacy [sic]
Faith
Prayer
Testimony
Resurrection
Priesthood
Organization of Church
Law of Consecration
Signs of Times
Gathering of Israel

Atonement
Marriage
Good Counsel
Sabbath Day
Godhead
Persecution
Baptism for the Dead
Pre-existence
Outlines for Talks

As I have reviewed the contents over the past few days and shared it with many of our family, I have come to several conclusions I think are worth sharing.

1. There is no "one right way" to study the gospel. The Holy Ghost bears witness to each of us of gospel truth. Books, study courses and many BYU symposia over the years have suggested "how" to go about studying the scriptures. None of them, perhaps, is the one and only way you should do it. Listen to the Spirit. Unwittingly, I started with studying the scriptures topically as the topics came up in classes. I would exhaust one topic to my heart's content, then move on to the next and the next and the next. The gospel is truly inexhaustible.

2. The key to learning gospel topics is consistency and constancy. If anyone were to pick up my copies of the scriptures, they would find a disorganized mess, a colorful array of multi-colored inks, underlinings, circles, arrows, scripture chains, cross references and notes scribbled all over the pages. But each mark suggests a moment in time when the Holy Ghost helped me to make a discovery for myself. Since my mission days I have always preferred the large pulpit-sized editions because it gave me more room for margin notes.

3. I've always done what Grandfather did with his scriptures - inserting quotes from prophets that illuminate and interpret certain passages. You can do it by putting a line of Elmer's glue on a blank sheet of paper and gently touching the edge of your insert onto the line of glue and then inserting it where you want it within the scriptures. It will permanently be part of your scriptures thereafter, and you will find that the bindings bulge and sometimes can't contain the inserts if you have as many as me. But you'll have a way to speak from them spontaneously thereafter at a moment's notice.

4. However you choose to organize your thinking around gospel topics, the key takeaway is this - you gain knowledge on your own terms, at your own speed, and in your own time. This is what it means to have the Holy Ghost with you as a constant companion. You invite His guidance when you open the word routinely. You can't learn it from Harold B. Lee or anyone else. As you teach the principles of the gospel to others, you "own" those principles for yourself. It is the way, the only way, we will come to a "unity of the faith," as spoken of by the prophets. We must anchor our teachings in the scriptures.

Harold B. Lee was my role model in gospel scholarship and teaching. He had a personal standard he used. If he couldn't answer a gospel question from the scriptures, he would often say, "I don't know, and you can quote me on that." He would only cite quotes from presidents of the Church during the time they were serving as president. I wasn't sure until this week "how" he studied the scriptures, I only knew he had paid a deeply personal price for what he knew. I came to realize I could do the same for myself without having to follow precisely in his footsteps. It didn't matter that I have the precise inserts he used in his scriptures. That way I owned my own testimony and could be independent from his testimony. That was important to me. I never wanted to be his lap dog just because he was my grandfather.

It would perhaps be audacious for me to claim I knew as much as Harold B. Lee. But it is not arrogant to assert my gospel knowledge is the same as his because today I am intimately familiar with all the references he has cited under his topic headings starting back in 1927. I can say that at least Harold B. Lee and I have come to a unity of the faith in the same conclusions, but our paths might not have been identical.

That discovery gives me the assurance that someday we may all begin speaking the same scriptural language in the Church.

Maintaining Our Spiritual Clocks*

Helen and Brent Goates

My father, L. Brent Goates, continues his tradition of writing to his former missionaries every six months at General Conference time. Last night I dropped by his home to see if he needed my help. "No," he replied, "it's all done! I figure as long as I'm able I should be as independent as I can be." Those words are coming from the lips of a man who is now in his 92nd year. It's no small feat for him to produce this semi-annual missive, messages he styles "Heart Lines." He first lines it up on the page in his old IBM Selectric (yes, at least one still exists). He types it several times until it approaches perfection. Then he drives himself to Kinkos to get 100 copies, individually signs each one, then folds them and stuffs each envelope after addressing them, seals them and licks a stamp for each. With very few editing corrections, I share it with his permission:

Almost every person and family has a precious story from their lifetime which is often associated with the possession of some treasured artifact or heirloom. These are tucked away in our memories or attics until some event causes their emergence. To validate this conclusion I refer you to current series on the BYU educational television channel entitled “My Story Trek.” Here the producer goes into a town, neighborhood and finally a house, chosen completely at random, and offers to televise spontaneously their precious story. After some persuasion most people agree to it because they do have a story they want to preserve in memory.

Of our five boys our late son, Drew (1952-2011), was the most sentimental toward family objects and traditions. He once presented to me a list of 14 items, requesting the documented history of each treasured physical possession or family story so he could pass on such a record to his posterity.

Number one at the top of his list was “Grandma’s Mantle Clock.” He had been fascinated by it as a child and talked about it so much my mother donated it to him as a keepsake. It now lies in a protective box where he left it, marked “Grandma’s Mantle Clock – Very Fragile.”

This is no ordinary clock. It’s a windup clock. That is, it is necessary every seven or eight days to wind up the mechanism with a key. If this is not done at such regular intervals, the clock eventually begins to lose time, its chimes become sluggish and off-tone. Finally, it stops until it is rewound again.

Great care is necessary in the rewinding process. If wound too tightly, the mechanism seizes up, or if not tight enough the process must be repeated too frequently. It requires a delicate, sensitive feeling to determine just how much tension is needed without applying too much.

When I think about the times I rewound this clock as a boy growing up in her home, and consider my now-declining physical condition, I think how nice it would be if I could somehow restore my physical powers to their youthful vigor in a manner just as simple as that.

In some ways, and to some degree, I can effect a partial rejuvenation through exercise, rest and proper nourishment. I realize, however, that my physical clock is gradually winding down. My mechanism, “very fragile,” is becoming increasingly sluggish. The chimes are now less vibrant and sometimes a little out-of-pitch (maybe even out-of-sorts too?). Someday, maybe soon, my clock will stop altogether, despite all my efforts to keep it going.

It is so also with the physical clock in each one of us. It is part of God’s plan. Our time in mortality is but one phase of an eternal existence. Gratefully, as our physical clock winds down we have the assurance through Christ’s atonement of a new beginning and even great possibilities as other glorious phases open up.

As I think about these sobering realities, there comes to mind another figurative clock that operates within me. It is my “spiritual clock.” It has some similarities to the physical one. It, too, needs regular winding to stay on time and to keep its true tone. Unlike the physical clock, however, the spiritual one is not necessarily destined for dissolution.

In fact, with proper attention and regular care it grows more vigorous, more perfect in its operation, more clear and resonant in its tones. But this is not an automatic process. Just as with the fragile clock on the mantle, unless there is a regular, careful winding up of the mechanism a spiritual sluggishness develops, the spiritual tone becomes off-key, and unless something is done to correct the winding-down process, the clock can stop.

In today’s spiritually decadent environment spiritual clock that do not receive regular attention can wind down very rapidly. Men are mortal and beset by many human frailties. It is so easy to be caught up with the complexities of life’s pursuits and snagged by ever-present Satanic temptations which lure us into sinful ways.

Thus, all of us must seek the ennobling compulsion to “wind-up” our spiritual clocks. Just as we found exercise, proper nourishment and rest are essential to our physical well-being, so are such religious and spiritual activities as prayer, scripture study and Sabbath worship, partaking of the sacrament and unselfish service to others, all necessary for our spiritual vigor. Without these continuing influences in our lives, our spiritual clocks wind down and we distance ourselves from God.

Consider more deeply these spiritual lifesavers –

PRAYER: Enjoy again “Amulek’s Anthem,” which says in part: “Cry unto him in your houses, yea, over all your household, both morning, mid-day, and evening. . . But this is not all; ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness. Yea, and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him continually for your welfare, and also for the welfare of those who are around you.” (Alma 34:20-27).

SCRIPTURES: “Search the scriptures for in them ye think ye have eternal life; and they are they which testify of me.” (John 5:39).

SABBATH WORSHIP and PARTAKING OF THE SACRAMENT: “But remember that on this day, thou shalt offer thine oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy brethren and before the Lord.” (D&C 59:12-13).

UNSELFISH SERVICE TO OTHERS: The Savior (King) recalls our service, though we may have forgotten, to the hungry, the thirsty, the stranger and prisoner and says: “Come ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. . . Verily I say unto you, inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matthew 25:31-40).

Beloved missionaries: The gospel is true, so let us be true to the gospel by keeping our spiritual clocks in the best of condition. We will be eternally happy if we do so.

*Based on a sermon theme by Elder Dean L. Larsen

Always, your friend,

President L. Brent Goates

Five Steps to True Conversion

To be fully and truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ is to change.  People fear and try to avoid change, typically, because it represents having to move beyond something feeling quite comfortable into something new and strange sometimes.  We are constantly rubbing shoulders with people in the world and within the Church who are converted and those who are not.  You can attempt to tell them apart if you will, but it's hard to tell the difference from the outside.  Some contend Mormons are not well versed in this doctrine of being born again, but The Book of Mormon is full of it.  True conversion depends upon it.  We must change from our carnal and fallen condition into a sanctified son or daughter of God to be truly converted.  Since it is Sunday, as part of your scriptural study today, consider reading all the scriptural passages you can find about the necessity of being born again.

Step One:  All Mankind Must be Born Again

I'll give you a headstart on your reading assignment.  Nicodemus came seeking Jesus at night to clarify this teaching he had heard.  (See John 3:1-21).  But begin your reading in Mosiah 27.  There you will find the account of Alma the younger.  He was visited by an angel in answer to his father's prayer for his welfare and he was smitten and went into a trance.  He was in that condition a couple of days while his father, Alma the high priest, and the members of the Church fasted and prayed for his recovery.  Alma the younger, who had obviously been baptized in his youth, came out of the trance and said, "I have been born again."  This is significant because it appears he did nothing to merit such an outcome.  He explains to everyone that the Lord says that all mankind — men, women, children — have to be born again or they cannot be saved in the kingdom of God.  He's very specific about what is involved here.  He says men must be changed from their carnal and fallen state to a state of righteousness, being born again, becoming the Lord's sons and his daughters.  This is a perfect description of what it means to be truly converted.

Every single person who has ever been born into this world, who arrives at the years of accountability without being baptized, dies spiritually.  Universally, since the Fall of Adam, according to our revelations, all accountable men, women and children have become carnal, sensual, and devilish by nature.  It is in our fallen nature, imprinted in our very DNA, we inherit the tendency to commit sin.  King Benjamin referred to this condition in Mosiah 3:19 as "the natural man."  To be truly converted is to put off the natural man and to become a Saint by the power of the atoning sacrifice of Christ.  That's an axiom we should hear coming out of the mouths of every Primary child -- "I can become a Saint by the power of the atonement."  It is the definition of being "born again."  We are changed from a carnal and fallen state to a state of righteousness.  I love how the Apostle Paul describes it.  We crucify the old man (Romans 6:6).  We die as to the things of the world and we become alive as to the things of righteousness.  It cannot happen unless and until we receive the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost.

Step Two:  Receive the Holy Ghost

Only in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints can one receive the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost.  It is a supernal gift from Heavenly Father.  He does two things in our lives:  He is a witness to truth and he bears the testimony of the truth.  That is how we get a testimony.  We receive revelation from the Holy Ghost.  Secondly, the Holy Ghost is the sanctifier.  He has power to cleanse and perfect the human soul, to wash evil and iniquity out, and to replace it with righteousness.  As we are sanctified by degrees week by week as we partake of the emblems of the sacrament, we are truly converted.  When we receive the Holy Ghost, we get a testimony.  That member of the Godhead tells us the work of salvation and exaltation is true.  He testifies of the truth to our souls and we grow in light and truth thereafter.

When we receive the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost, we are cleansed from sin and are born again and become converted to the truth.  It's rather a glib statement to assert we always have the constant and unerring companionship of the Holy Ghost, since no one is perfect in this life, but we do the best we can and we have from time to time the unmistakable assurance our walk in life is approved despite our imperfections.  That is what the Comforter is all about.  Though we remain imperfect, we are in that strait and narrow path doing all we can to stay on it.  Our sins are gradually burned out of us, as though by fire.  We often hear the expression "the baptism of fire," meaning the baptism of the Holy Ghost.  That is rich symbolism meaning dross and evil are burned out of human souls as if by fire.  The consequence of this process is the individual becomes a new creature of the Holy Ghost, as Alma explained. So you become a new creature.  There has been a change.  There has been a conversion.  In the past you walked after the manner of the world, but now you walk as becometh a saint of God.

We bear our testimonies to one another routinely in the Church.  We don't do it often enough, however.  We hear people saying all the time, "I know the gospel is true, etc."  In every ward it should be this way.  We strengthen one another when we bear testimony of what we know to be true.  When we have the Spirit of the Holy Ghost burning in our heart and soul like a fire and we bear testimony the work is true, then everybody who hears us who is in tune with the same Spirit also knows and can bear witness of the same things we know.  The speaker and the hearer are edified and strengthened alike.

Step Three:  Testimony

Often times when I was teaching years ago I was more anxious to get the information out than to bear my testimony.  In more recent years things have changed.  I have come to the conclusion there may be only one person in my class or audience who is seeking an answer to a perplexing or difficult problem.  I am trying to so live that I can be the conduit to that answer for perhaps only that one person.  While the doctrine is important to dispense, and all we do in teaching must be founded in true doctrine, the application to our individual lives through the bearing of our testimony is often more critical.  Sharing testimony will help lift up the sagging hands and arms and take the weight off the drooping shoulders.  This is especially true when it comes after a true doctrine has been taught.  The connection between doctrine and testimony is a close one, and the Spirit will bear witness that what has been taught is not only true, but true in that moment of searching and hoping for a much-needed answer.

Step Four:  Conversion is a Process

We often hear about miraculous conversions -- Alma and Paul are examples -- but for most true conversion is a lifetime process.  President Kimball reminded us that oil in our lamps cannot be gathered at the last minute at midnight.  (See Spencer W. Kimball, Faith Precedes the Miracle, 255–56).
Rather, we must be adding oil to our lamps daily to have sufficient light when darkness engulfs us.
 
With most people, true conversion is a process.  We go step by step along the strait and narrow path.  We learn a little here, a little there, we move degree by degree, grace to grace, receiving grace for grace.  And one day, a great distance from where we began, the day finally comes when we can discern in ourselves that the disposition to do evil has for the most part been extinguished within us.  We overcome one sin today and another sin tomorrow.  We gradually perfect our lives a little bit here, then a little bit there.  We patiently await the harvest of good things to come, rather than being self-indulgent in our fallen state.  We overcome in the undertaking.  One day we become, literally, as King Benjamin instructs, saints of God instead of natural men (Mosiah 3:19).

We need to remember and to be patient.  It is not enough to say we have a testimony.  Prisons are full of people who have a testimony, who believe in Jesus as their Savior.  Being truly converted, however, requires an added measure of faithfulness.  We read in the vision of the degrees of glory (D&C 76:71-80) about those who inherit the terrestrial kingdom.  These have a testimony.  But we learn they who are not valiant in the testimony of Jesus, obtain not the crown in the kingdom of our God.  That could mean even some members of the Church who are lukewarm.  Enduring in righteousness in valiant testimony to the end of our mortal probation is required to be truly converted.

There are many in the Church today who know this work is true, but they don't do much about it.  If you railed against the Church in their presence, they would stand up in righteous indignation and defend the kingdom, but they would still have a lot to say about this or that Apostle who ought to keep his mouth shut on this or that topic.  If effect, they put out the "gone fishing" sign on their testimonies and they are persuaded more by the things people say in their pursuit of the things of this world instead of putting first in their lives the things of God's kingdom, the things of righteousness.  They are good people, but not valiant.

The way to be in the celestial kingdom is to be valiant in testimony.  We must work at it.  It must be more than a Sunday exercise.  The whole purpose of the gospel is that it is to become our lives in every particular.  It isn't an important part of our life, it is life.  We are to become involved based upon the guidance we receive from the scriptures.  (See John 15:7-14; D&C 76:5-6).

Step Five:  Self-Examination

Here's a test.  Alma delivered a "test" to his people -- it consists of forty-two questions in the fifth chapter of Alma.  It was designed by Alma to help you know if you have been born again and if you are truly converted.  If you answer those forty-two questions honestly, you will know if you have been truly converted.  You will know if the things of the spirit are as rich and as valuable to you in your life as they were to Alma in his.  Count all the question marks -- there should be forty-two.  Ask yourself the questions.  Take the test.  I've issued this challenge before.

Religion is not just theological or philosophical gas.  It is not just a matter of analyzing and debating a few passages of scripture in high priests group every Sunday.  True religion is a matter of doing something and becoming something.  We often say the things we can see and discern with our five senses are the things in the "real world."  However, the things that are real are out of sight and are only known and understood by applying the gifts of the Spirit to discern them.

"Pure religion and undefiled before God and the Father is this, To visit the fatherless and widows in their affliction, and to keep himself unspotted from the world" (James 1:27).  That's two things:  It is to be doing something by involving ourselves in the lives of others for their betterment and blessing, and it is becoming something -- pure and holy in the doing -- "without spot."

We can thank James for these expressions that we show our faith by our works (James 2:18), and that we are not hearers only, but doers (James 1:22), or should be.  If all that is involved in religion is this matter of theology, of studying and analyzing passages of scripture, then you can be content to be a hearer and a believer.  But if you are a doer, you are up and doing something every day to bless the lives of those around you.  You are a hearer, if all you have is testimony.  Doers, however, add to their testimony a true conversion that includes doing something about what you profess with your lips. 

The Holy Ghost has been given in full abundance in our day.  We have the companionship of that member of the Godhead available to us in all places and in all things to the degree we seek it.

True conversion, then, is being involved in the things of the Spirit.  We participate; we serve; we bless; we feel the promptings of the Spirit; we work miracles; we heal our sick; we receive the gifts and fruits God showers upon His children who seek them.

And thus, we are truly converted.