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

Hiding from God Under our Pavilions

President Henry B. Eyring

I have been preparing to give a lesson to the high priests tomorrow. The assigned October 2012 General Conference talk is one from President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency. He titled it "Where Is the Pavilion?" It was the anguished question Joseph Smith once asked while he was incarcerated in the dungeon cellar of Liberty Jail in the cold damp Missouri winter of 1839. He believed God had abandoned him.

There are times in our lives when we, like Joseph Smith, feel betrayed and abandoned by God. President Eyring suggests God never abandons us. Rather, it is we who separate ourselves from His loving watch care and desires to bless us by what President Eyring defined as "a pavilion of motivations." It's an interesting choice of words. What is it about our motivations that separate us from God? He expanded with the thought, "Our own desires, rather than a feeling of 'Thy will be done,' create the feeling of a pavilion blocking God."

"God is not unable to see us or communicate with us, but we may be unwilling to listen or submit to His will and His time," observed President Eyring.

This matter of submitting our will to the will of our Heavenly Father is tricky stuff, to be sure. It seems God is determined to help us understand that we, as little children, must submit our will to him "as a child doth submit to his father," since it comes up so often in Holy Writ. In another passage, we are admonished, "Cast off your sins, and [do] not procrastinate the day of your repentance; . . . humble yourselves before the Lord, and call on his holy name, and watch and pray continually, that ye may not be tempted above that which ye can bear, and thus be led by the Holy Spirit, becoming humble, meek, submissive, patient, full of love and all long-suffering; having faith on the Lord; having a hope that ye shall receive eternal life; having the love of God always in your hearts, that ye may be lifted up at the last day and enter into his rest." (Mosiah 3:19; Alma 13:27-29).

Being submissive and meek makes us keenly aware of our blessings. I felt to say based upon my own life experiences with President Eyring, "I was blessed to know that whatever success I had in my career and family life was a gift from God."

This week marked a "dubious" milestone for Patsy and me. Our eldest grand-daughter Tessi gave birth to an infant daughter. They named her Quincy Aida Wood. That makes five generations of our family now living on planet Earth! What a breathtaking thought! This little girl threatened an early arrival a couple of months ago, but as we united our faith and prayers as a family on her behalf her delivery was delayed until she could be born full-term at a healthy 8 lbs. 1 oz. with a full head of black hair! I don't think we ever recover from the miracle that is birth, no matter how many times we witness it. And our gratitude finds a way to expand exponentially.

Sometimes we lose sight for a season of our blessings. President Eyring suggested that happens when "[our] desires for professional success might have created a pavilion that would make it hard for [us] to find God and harder for [us] to listen to and follow His invitations." He reflected, "My personal ambitions might have clouded my view of reality and made it hard for me to receive revelation."

As you reflect on your own life, how often can you find a time when "my desire to know and do His will gave me a soul-stretching opportunity?" I thought of one in recent years. My world had turned upside down almost overnight when a long-sought fulfillment was snatched away at the finish line. I found myself adrift in the aftermath of the worldwide financial meltdown, having to search for employment late in life.

I reached out for help from the Employment Resource Center sponsored by the Church. To make a long story shorter, I was invited to accept a calling with Patsy as a senior missionary couple to serve as the Chair of the Professional Placement Program. I found it so ironic. I wasn't considering myself retired and certainly not eligible to be called a "senior" missionary. I still had years of work ahead of me. However, I learned a valuable lesson about service. It could not have come at a worse time in our lives. I needed to focus on my own employment needs. How was I to be able to give precious time I didn't feel I had to serve others in their search? As I helped others network into new opportunities, I found few were helping me. "Where was I to find answers to my own problem?" we wondered frequently. I learned that service to others of any kind is rarely convenient.

As the months in that assignment unfolded we found marvelous fulfillment not only in helping others, but it seemed our own prayers were being answered. Marvelous lasting relationships with those we served were forged out of the fires of our shared adversity. I was fond of reminding those who showed up week after week, "Look around, you're in good company. Don't let your temporary unemployment situation define you."

And so it was. My heart was drawn out continually as I watched the suffering of those we served. My own appreciation for my blessings was heightened. I found joy again. From the joy came new hope for the future. None of it happened overnight. In fact, it has taken years since it all happened to fully appreciate just how blessed we have been. And isn't that true for all of us? We are rarely able to discern the blessings while we are in the crucible of our suffering. Only looking back do we fully appreciate that we were not consumed in the fires of adversity, only singed a little.

I also learned perhaps the most valuable lesson of a lifetime. "We can't insist on our timetable when the Lord has His own." While we often have an agenda for goals being reached on the timetable we set for ourselves, God is often interested in a completely different timetable with eternal objectives. We are in such a rush to get things done here and now, and He is willing to wait upon the harvest a bit longer. Said President Eyring, "We remove the pavilion when we feel and pray, 'Thy will be done' and 'in Thine own time.' His time should be soon enough for us since we know that He wants only what is best."

It seems God is willing let us simmer on the back burner as long as it takes for us to submit. He is willing to be invited to move us to the front burner when we are ready to accept His judgment for what is best for us. "Submitting fully to heaven's will. . ., is essential to removing the spiritual pavilions we sometimes put over our heads. But it does not guarantee immediate answers to our prayers." And I found that to be the case also. When you're building for eternity, it takes time for the cement to cure a bit in the weather.

Who could doubt the time it took for Abraham and Sarah? God had purposes in mind that had to be fulfilled first before the promised blessings were realized in their lives. "Those purposes included not only building Abraham and Sarah's faith but also teaching them eternal truths that they shared with others on their long, circuitous route to the land prepared for them. The Lord's delays often seem long; some last a lifetime. But they are always calculated to bless. They need never be times of loneliness or sorrow or impatience. Although His time is not always our time, we can be sure that the Lord keeps His promises." I wondered how many childless couples there are today, and how many single women, who would give anything for the promised blessing of posterity. Sarah-like faith is to be prized as we wait upon Him. And that requires patience.

Paul reminds us, "For ye are all the children of God by faith in Christ Jesus. For as many of you as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ. There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise." (Galatians 3:26-29).

Abraham-like, we are often required to remove our "pavilions of motivations" by waiting patiently upon the Lord for His promises to be fulfilled. The harvest will come, even unto the fifth generation. Of that, I am sure.

The Mormons Organize to Serve

Many have observed the Mormons in action when disaster strikes anywhere in the world. I have to smile when I hear people say, "I don't believe in organized religion." In the case of Mormons, we organize ourselves to serve others. Here's how it's done:

(Click on the infographic for larger size and more details)

God Succors His Children

January is traditionally the ward conference season in the Church. Mormons do meetings well. We slice and dice our meetings in lots of different ways -- by the general church membership, auxiliary conferences, priesthood meetings, regions, stakes, wards and branches. Meetings and conferences are us.

President Spencer W. Kimball

A few weeks ago we were attending a ward conference where a deeply devoted stake president was speaking. He told a story I want to share here because it demonstrated so beautifully the principle President Spencer W. Kimball taught many years ago:

“God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it is usually through another person that he meets our needs. Therefore, it is vital that we serve each other in the kingdom. The people of the Church need each other’s strength, support, and leadership in a community of believers as an enclave of disciples. In the Doctrine and Covenants we read about how important it is to ‘… succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees.’ (D&C 81:5). So often, our acts of service consist of simple encouragement or of giving mundane help with mundane tasks, but what glorious consequences can flow from mundane acts and from small but deliberate deeds!” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church, 82).

This stake president is like so many priesthood and auxiliary leaders in the Church. He's an ordinary man, humble and possessed with a testimony of his Savior Jesus Christ that is clearly anchored in his heart and soul. They, like each of us, are undershepherds of the true Shepherd. Leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are lay leaders drawn from their various congregations to serve for an undetermined period of years. They serve without compensation, meaning they are not paid in dollars, but I can attest they receive much more than they give because they serve their flocks with love and concern.

He told of going to a small town in northern Utah on a weekend road trip with his wife. While she was looking through antiques in a small shop, he was drawn to a used book store next door. He immediately had my attention. Nobody loves the bowels of Zion Book Store more than I. It's where I found my copy of Foxe's Book of Martyrs in that dingy basement catacomb -- original hard cover, perfect condition and I consider it a treasure of inestimable value. I love old book stores, just like this good man does.

As he wandered the aisles, he was drawn to a box that obviously contained a "quad" edition of the scriptures containing all the standard works we publish to the world as the collected canon of God's word -- the Holy Bible, the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price. In one bound volume, he expected to find what he was looking for, since the box was clearly labeled and showed little sign of use. It was marked for sale for $5.

When he opened the box, however, he was surprised to discover an original patriarchal blessing with the signature of the patriarch who had lovingly prepared it for the recipient, a common practice in the Church. At the top was the name of a young woman, and all her personal information, including birthdate, an address and the names of her parents. He felt like someone who had just stumbled onto the scene of an accident, wanting to run away, but drawn mystically to what he held in his hands.

His dilemma was resolved when he heard a still small voice whisper softly to his heart, "Read it." It was two pages. As a stake president, he explained to his audience, he is at liberty to go to Church headquarters where copies of the patriarchal blessings of his stake members are deposited if he chooses to. He explained he had never done that, feeling he did not want to intrude on those sacred promises, considering them to be private and personal. He resisted the prompting to read it, then finally felt an urge to learn more and insert himself into the life that had been presented to him an a very innocuous happenstance not of his own making. The voice gently whispered, "She needs you."

As he read the two page blessing, he was drawn into the magnificent promises the patriarch had made to this daughter of our Heavenly Father. He knew the parents whose names appeared at the top of the blessing would be imagining the worst and probably needed comfort. It was obvious the scriptures had been a gift because there was an inscription in the front pages with loving counsel from her parents.

So a thousand thoughts then flooded his mind. Is she alive? Is she missing? Did she come to harm? Had she left the Church and renounced her faith? Were these spiritual treasures simply lost, misplaced or left behind and somehow mysteriously placed on the shelf where he found them? What was the answer? He wondered.

After standing and letting the Spirit soak over him in his quiet reflection, he decided to buy the book and the contents of the box - $5 for a set of scriptures and a patriarchal blessing was a small price to pay to return it if he could to this precious daughter of God. He felt like a messenger on a mission now.

He returned home the next day, but not before locating the parents in a town not far away from the bookstore. When he dialed a number he traced to the name and address on the patriarchal blessing, a female voice answered. "I'm calling for Susan (not her real name)," he sheepishly offered.

The woman responded, "She hasn't lived here for many years, may I ask who's calling?"

"I'm President Smith (not his real name)," he replied. "I am holding in my hand the quad set of the scriptures you must have given her, along with her patriarchal blessing, and I wanted to get it back to her if you can tell me how to contact her."

There was a long pause, then, "So, she gave that away too. . ." and her voice trailed off in tears.

He drove to their home later that night and visited with her parents. Susan had left home to go to school, and had cut off all contact with her parents. They didn't know where she was or what might have happened to her. Her spiritual heritage, represented by the book and the patriarchal blessing, had been rejected.

As Susan's mother lovingly stroked the leather binding with her daughter's name inscribed on the cover, then re-read Susan's blessing, her eyes filled with tears again. Here was the evidence suggesting what this dear mother had always hoped could not have happened. This grieving mother had not heard from her daughter for a number of years.

She thanked President Smith for his loving care of these priceless treasures. She told him she was still filled with hope that Susan would someday come home again to claim her spiritual inheritance.

President Smith testified to us that he was humbled to be the instrument in this experience. Like him, as the Spirit whispers to each of us, we may be also be called upon to help another in need. We are His hands here on earth to succor His children.

The Shepherd knows His sheep, and we are the undershepherds.

Four Simple Ideas for the Unemployed

It seems a worthy topic for a Labor Day weekend, when the national unemployment numbers took another upward tick last week. 

In our voluntary assignment at the Employment Resource Center, we see again and again the principles of pure religion playing out in welfare service in 2010. 

The earliest foundations of the Welfare Plan of the Church were laid in 1935 in the midst of the Great Depression.  Harold B. Lee, a young stake president (age 32 when he was called) in the Pioneer Stake, is often credited with the earliest experiments to help his unemployed adult male population.  But there was never any doubt in his mind where the inspiration came from to create the Welfare Plan.

In his journal, under date of April 20, 1935, Harold B. Lee records: 

"I was called into the office of the First Presidency, where with President Heber J. Grant and President David O. McKay (President Clark then being in the East, but they had had some communications with him so that all members of the Presidency were in agreement) I discussed the relief situation in the Church and various methods of handling the same. President Grant said he wanted to take a 'leaf out of Pioneer Stake's book' in caring for the people of the Church. He expressed dissatisfaction with the then existent program of social service investigations. He said that there was nothing more important for the Church to do than to take care of its needy people and that so far as he was concerned, every thing else must be sacrificed [so that] proper relief [could be] extended to our people. I was astounded to learn that for years there had been before them, as a result of their thinking and planning and as a result of the inspiration of Almighty God, the genius of the very plan that was waiting and in preparation for a time when, in their judgment, the faith of the Latter-day Saints was such that they were willing to follow the counsel of the men who lead and preside in this Church. My humble place in this program at that time was described."

Many years later, when he himself was President of the Church in 1972, Harold B. Lee described what happened to him after that meeting by quoting further from his journal to the assembled General Priesthood meeting:

"I left the First Presidency's Office about noontime with an assignment to work out a program of relief for the entire Church based upon my experience with the relief problem in the Pioneer Stake, where perhaps the greatest problem of unemployment in the entire Church was to be found.
"Almost in a daze with the magnitude of this assignment over powering me, I drove my car up to the head of City Creek Canyon into what was then called Rotary Park, where I could meditate and determine upon a course that would realize the objective that had been set for me by the Presidency. After I had driven my car as far as I could, I got out and walked up through the trees. seeking a secluded spot, where I knelt in prayer and sought the guidance of an all-wise God in this mighty undertaking. I told the Lord to guide me to conclusions dictated by his will, and that, for the safety and blessing of his people, I must have his direction. "As I kneeled down, my petition was: 'What kind of an organization should be set up in order to accomplish what the Presidency has assigned?'
"Having sought my Heavenly Father, I sat down to pore over this matter, wondering about an organization to be perfected to carry on this work. There came to me on that glorious spring afternoon one of the most heavenly realizations of the power of the priesthood of God, that God had already revealed the greatest organization that could ever be given to mankind and that all that was needed now was that that organization be set to work. It was as though some thing were saying to me: 'There is no new organization necessary to take care of the needs of this people. All that is necessary is to put the priesthood of God to work. There is nothing else that you need as a substitute, and if you use it the temporal welfare of the Latter-day Saints will be safeguarded.'"

 If you are not reminded of those simple beginnings, you may be oblivious to the fulfillment going on around you today.  The priesthood of God is fully engaged.  The leadership of the Church has given the direction in our day about what we should be doing.  As never before, we are living in a volunteer Church.  We are serving one another, loving one another as we never have to answer the extremities in which we find ourselves financially and economically.  There are no government programs needed today, just as there were none needed in the 1930s when the Welfare Plan was launched.

Some of the "founding fathers" who were on the scene attest to its divine origins through the First Presidency of the Church at the time, Heber J. Grant, J. Reuben Clark and David O. McKay:

"With the inspiration of this movement attested to by such witnesses as coming from divine sources, any Latter-day Saint who believes in the principle of continuous revelation cannot fail to heed the call of the prophets 'to set up a system where the evils of the dole will be abolished and where independence, thrift, industry, and self-respect can again be established among our people.'" (Heber J. Grant, October, 1936; "Church Security" by Harold B. Lee, as quoted in The Church Welfare Plan, by Henry D. Taylor, 37).

"I never heard President Grant say that he had seen the Master, that he had seen the Father, or that he had heard a voice about the welfare plan. But that does not mean that he did not have a revelation. . .
"But there is still another way in which revelation comes, and that way is through the ministrations of the Holy Ghost. . . Now I say unto you, that that kind of revelation, revelation of the Holy Ghost, did come to President Grant. Not only in this case, but in others. And through that revelation, inspiration if you wish to call it, from the Holy Ghost, President Grant launched this great welfare plan."  (J. Reuben Clark, Jr., in an address to the Central Utah Welfare Regional Meeting at Brigham Young University, August 3, 1951).

"That Church Security Plan has not come up as a mushroom over night. It is the result of inspiration, and that inspiration has come from the Lord. . . Those who have selfishness in their hearts would like to see it fail, but it is not going to fail."  (David O. McKay at a meeting of the Salt Lake Region, February, 1937).

"I believe I have heard almost all the objections which have been raised against it, and also the labored arguments in justification for not living it. As I have listened to these objections and arguments, I have been painfully aware of the dull spirit in which they have been urged. . .  I believe I have made a rather complete study and I now testify to you that I do know beyond any doubt, by the same power that Peter knew that Jesus is the Christ, that the Church Welfare Plan in its inception was and now is inspired of the Lord; and that the great principles implemented by it are eternal truths, which the saints of God must abide if they are to purify and perfect themselves as the Lord has commanded." (Marion G. Romney, Conference Report, October 1945, 156).

The Lord's will had been made known and he had raised up the man to help solve the oppressive problems of the Saints. That Harold B. Lee was a magnificent innovator and a spiritually directed master organizer is abundantly attested by Church history, and those gifts were especially well-illustrated by his part in the development of the Church Welfare Plan.  But it was the leadership of the First Presidency, and their unflagging support that was key to its ultimate launch and subsequent development. 

Today, we are eyewitnesses of the law of consecration in action, as originally envisioned.

In 2010, there are still some misguided ideas about how things work in the Church's Welfare Plan.  Whether you are unemployed yourself or you know someone who is, here are four simple ideas to assist you:

1.  The Employment Resource Center teaches self-reliance in the job search. 

I am still surprised when people call me or e-mail me because they've heard I'm the guy with jobs at the Church.  They want me to hook them up with a job, tell them where to go to find it, and introduce them to all the people I know who are hiring.  I wish it were that easy and sometimes I wish it were true that I know all those people, but it isn't quite that simple.  Instead, the Church has prepared a marvelous resource called the Profession Career Workshop, a two-day revelatory experience designed to reveal the job seeker's skills and strengths to themselves.  Introspection, self-examination, and personal revelation are the key elements of the workshop.  Remember, no law the Lord has given is temporal, not even the job search:  "Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal; neither any man, nor the children of men; neither Adam, your father, whom I created. Behold, I gave unto him that he should be an agent unto himself; and I gave unto him commandment, but no temporal commandment gave I unto him, for my commandments are spiritual; they are not natural nor temporal, neither carnal nor sensual."  (D&C 29:34-35).  For non-professionals without college degrees, the Career Workshop is likewise outlined in the same way with similar principles but different applications.  The job seeker is shown tools to develop power statements, resumes, and cutting-edge suggestions about how to find a job in today's unadvertised job market.  It is powerful and it works, but it is powerful because it reignites the job seeker in his own individual search, not because it hands them a job without effort on their part.

2.  Network or don't work. 

The Church provides the forum for a weekly association with other job seekers.  When I first attended, it resembled what seemed to me to be an AA meeting, everyone standing momentarily and giving something called "Me in 30 Seconds," and I was first amused, then engaged by it, then fully immersed in helping others around me connect with resources I knew with whom I was connecting them.  There is something very counter-intuitive about networking with people out of work to find work.  But a room full of out-of-work people who are seeking employment and having interviews on a regular basis is a very fertile field, it turns out, because they know people with whom they have networked and interviewed who know people who know others who know people who are hiring.  It may be counter-intuitive, but it works, and we provide that opportunity weekly on Monday morings at 8:00 a.m. at the LDS Business College for unemployed professionals who are serious about their job search.  Ours is only one of many networking meetings across the Wasatch Front from Logan to St. George on every day of the week in other centers.  There are 322 Employment Resource Centers worldwide doing the same things.  Find a meeting near you at the local Employment Resource Center, and learn for yourselves the power of networking into your next job.

3.  Support each other in your ward. 

Find out what services or products are being sold by others in your own wards.  Buy from those people you know in your wards and stakes.  If you are remodeling your home or building out your basement, look for people you can employ in your own neighborhood, rather than getting bids from strangers.  If your car needs repairs, turn to a mechanic in the ward.  Support each other, and sustain those who are either underemployed or unemployed.  It's always astounding to me how we come together each week on Sunday in a three-hour block of religious meetings, but few of us know the occupations of our ward members.  We know them only on a superficial level of Brother or Sister so-and-so.  Do you know what everyone does for a living in your ward?  Have you asked them for their help?  Or are you still suffering under the worn-out stigma that unemployment is a condition akin to adultery and unemployed people must have some kind of sickness or illness that is taboo and should to be avoided like one who has leprosy?  It was King Benjamin who offered valuable insight:  Perhaps thou shalt say: The man has brought upon himself his misery; therefore I will stay my hand, and will not give unto him of my food, nor impart unto him of my substance that he may not suffer, for his punishments are just — But I say unto you, O man, whosoever doeth this the same hath great cause to repent; and except he repenteth of that which he hath done he perisheth forever, and hath no interest in the kingdom of God. For behold, are we not all beggars? Do we not all depend upon the same Being, even God, for all the substance which we have, for both food and raiment, and for gold, and for silver, and for all the riches which we have of every kind? (Mosiah 4:17-19).

4.  Bear one another's burdens. 

A week ago in our ward, Patsy and I presented a fifth-Sunday combined priesthood and Relief Society lesson about our mission and what we are doing to assist others find work.  I asked for a show of hands at the end in response to the question, "How many of you have family members who have lost their employment in the last two years?"  Nearly every hand in the audience went up.  This week several told me they have encouraged others in their family to contact me and learn more.  That's good.  It's exactly how it happened for me last year.  I told our ward members to go to http://www.ldsjobs.org/ and pass that website along to everyone they know who is looking for work, whether a member of the Church or not.  We are in an economic debacle right now that is NOT the fault of those who have been affected by its ravages.  Companies in survival mode have been laying off people routinely.  I have met many who are in their late 50s or early 60s who are out of work for the first time in their lives.  Company layoff decisions are not always fair.  In fact, they are rarely fair, since there is no such thing as "fair" in this life.  Several senior executives I have met have years of experience, but they represented high-priced salaries on the balance sheet that had to be jetisoned so their companies could survive.  Their jobs were eliminated to cut costs, in some cases only months within full vesting in their retirement pensions, and to say it was their "fault" for losing their jobs is grossly inaccurate.  As I have said before, sometimes there are no good answers to the "Why?" questions.  Some things just happen.  Instead of judging another's circumstances harshly in today's economy, we need to seek ways to bear one another's burdens.  Often all that is needed is a kind word, a friendly smile, and an accepting heart filled with encouragement and love unfeigned. 

President Thomas S. Monson suggested the antidote for our own suffering, when he said recently: 

The Apostle Paul admonished, “By love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13).  Recall with me the familiar words of King Benjamin in the Book of Mormon: “When ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God.”  (Mosiah 2:17).
The Savior taught His disciples, “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it: but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.”  (Luke 9:24).
I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and figuratively lose their lives, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish — and in effect save their lives.  (President Thomas S. Monson, “What Have I Done for Someone Today?,” Ensign, November 2009, 84–87).

We are living in a day, perhaps as never before, when the law of consecration is very much in evidence, at least in the circles in which I travel.  I saw a young man the other day at our networking meeting who was engaging several of the participants with names and contact information of people he knew they should be talking to.  Two of our employers, recent graduates of the program, were there as recruiters for the companies they represent now. 

The ripples in the pond of helping and sustaining one another in consecrated service are widening. 

We are still seeing new people at our meetings who have never been there before.  Each week we greet about twenty-five or thirty new participants who have heard about what we do through word of mouth principally, sometimes from bishops, ward employment specialists, or friends who have come and then told them about it.  In each case, it takes extraordinary faith and courage to show up bright and early on Monday morning dressed in a shirt and tie or Sunday bandbox best for the women.  They are conducting their job search with faith and diligence, following the prescribed path the leaders of the Church have felt inspired to set forward for our day and time.  There is one pragmatic and proven reason:  It works!

We often see people who are not of our faith who come nevertheless because they have been assured they will find what they are looking for, and without cost to them.  About half the people who found employment through applying the program to their job search were not members of our Church last year.  While the unemployment numbers are still high nationwide, we are blessed here in Utah, as I have said before.  Our unemployment numbers are lower than the national average, and there are ample opportunities for those who are willing to put in the work to find the work they are seeking.

There are many in our program who voluntarily assist the job seeker, folks who themselves are looking for work.  The authenticity of the program is in clear evidence to those who come.  These are seasoned professionals who know whereof they speak because they are in the thick of it shoulder to shoulder with those they serve.

I've always loved what President Lorenzo Snow said:  “When you find yourselves a little gloomy, look around you and find somebody that is in a worse plight than yourself; go to him and find out what the trouble is, then try to remove it with the wisdom which the Lord bestows upon you; and the first thing you know, your gloom is gone, you feel light, the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, and everything seems illuminated.” (Conference Report, Apr. 1899, 2–3).

Please take note:  These simple suggestions from prophets are in stark contrast to the TRILLIONS of dollars being squandered in Washington D.C. today.  The problem with having prophets among us is they are too simplistic, too humble, too true.

Only a conniving politician would attempt to give a convoluted and contorted explanation as the justification for the plethora of spending bills we are told are absolutely essential to our economic survival.  BIGGER AND BIGGER GOVERNMENT BORROWING TRILLIONS IS NOT THE ANSWER.

But a living prophet, like his predecessors, has the antidote.  He says, "Go find somebody to serve."

It's just way too simple.  I am a witness, however, that simple is good. . .  and it works.