It may not be easy to live a celestial life, but in the BYU-Idaho devotional address on May 4, 2021, the speaker outlined six suggestions on what can be done.
Doug Thompson is the IT business officer at BYU-Idaho. His eight suggestions are:
1 – Discern between right and wrong
2 – Pray often
3 – Attend church meetings
4 – Listen to the counsel of our prophet and apostles
5 – Avoid evil and all of its appearances
6 – Make and keep sacred covenants
7 – Guard against spiritual apathy
8 – Do hard things.
Thompson said these are “not new or earth-shattering concepts” but they can help each person to become closer to their Savior.
“Remember, as good as we plan, life might take us in a different direction,” Thompson said in his devotional address. “Life will not always offer you an easy path. Keep spiritual apathy out of your life, constantly seeking spiritual nutrients to avoid the urge to quit.”
In an interview with BYU-Idaho Radio, Thompson elaborated on some of the concepts. He said even if going to the temple isn’t available right now because of the pandemic, you can still keep the principles of the temple and the covenants made there in your heart.
“If you think about the endowment ceremony. If you think about sealings, you think about the initiatory process. I think you can envision the steps of going through each of those and what you learn from the beginning to where we're at, helps you to keep that in mind,” Thompson said.