Fulfillment
My dear young friends, I am grateful to be with you this morning and appreciate you making time to attend this devotional. I pray that what I share today will prove practical and meaningful. I remember what it was like to sit where you now are sitting. A few years ago I was an engineering student at the University of Utah trying to plan my future--how will I make a living? whom will I marry? where will I live? I wanted a happy and fulfilling life, but the future seemed uncertain. I imagine each of you can relate to those feelings. College can be a turbulent time, and happiness and fulfillment can seem difficult to attain.
The world tries to convince you that it has the answers to obtaining fulfillment in life. Last year alone, U.S. companies spent nearly $500 billion dollars advertising a variety of products and services that promise to make you happy. It has been reported that the average city-dwelling American is exposed to thousands of advertisements in a given day. Your lives are saturated with messages about how you should look, what you should wear, and who you should be. The pitch is usually that you will have greater self-esteem and more fulfillment if you have that hair or those clothes or that car. It is difficult for even the most committed disciple to be completely free from the pull of all these messages; and though not all of them are bad, certainly their promise of fulfillment is hollow.
The gospel of Jesus Christ teaches just the opposite. To find yourself, the Savior taught, you must lose yourself.[1] Fulfillment is found not in materialism or self-gratification but in sacrifice and service in a great cause, especially when that service stretches us or challenges us.
For example, raising a righteous family is challenging. For both fathers and mothers, it is a selfless commitment of time, hard work, and sacrifice unlike anything else you do. It can be exhausting physically and emotionally. In today's society, this serious work has been discounted. Many selfishly delay or avoid marriage and child bearing. Ironically, they are cheating themselves of fulfillment.
My brother Gary was very committed to raising a righteous family. He didn't let his education, career, or other interests distract him from that commitment. He worked hard and sacrificed to provide for his family. After a full day's work, he proactively helped his wife care for the children. When they were little, he changed their diapers, bathed them, and put them to bed. When they grew older, he helped with their schoolwork and supported them in their activities. He loved his children. He was concerned about their welfare and development. He taught them the gospel and helped them live it. He fasted and prayed for them. He made sure that family scripture study and prayer were a daily practice. He was a great example of a true family man. Finally, after 40 years of active and successful parenting, his last child was married in the temple.
On a beautiful October morning, our family gathered in a sealing room at the Newport Beach California Temple. My father performed the sealing ordinance for Gary's daughter Andrea and her husband, Trent. After the ceremony, Gary expressed deep satisfaction and joy. He felt that raising his children and seeing them married in the temple had been his most important work on earth. Considering his single-minded effort and devotion to raising a righteous family, it was clear why he felt that way.
Three months later, almost to the day, we received the shocking news that Gary had been killed in a car accident. Following his memorial service, we gathered in the living room of his home. His daughter Julie was inspired to read Gary's patriarchal blessing to us. The blessing spoke of the great work the Lord had appointed and prepared him to fulfill. It promised him that his life would be protected until it had been completed. These inspired blessings and promises given to Gary as a 19-year-old now comforted his family. We felt that he truly had fulfilled his work on earth.
This is true fulfillment in its ultimate sense--to gain eternal life, to be with our family in the presence of Heavenly Father. It requires our very best efforts and a lifetime of hard work, sacrifice, and service. Even this, however, is not enough. We need the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He said, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me."[2] The only way that we can truly be fulfilled is in Christ.
Come unto Christ
The Book of Mormon bears powerful witness of this truth, perhaps nowhere more dramatically than in the final chapters of Nephite history.
We read that following the Savior's appearance in the Americas, both the Nephites and Lamanites were all converted to the Lord. They enjoyed over 100 years of righteousness, peace, and prosperity. During this time, Mormon wrote that families "were blessed according to the multitude of the promises which the Lord had made unto them."[3]
Slowly however, some began to deny Christ and set their hearts instead on the "fine things of the world."[4] Wickedness and unbelief spread. Pride hardened hearts. Contention replaced peace. Disciples of Christ were despised and persecuted. Ongoing wars resulted eventually in the complete annihilation of a nation.
Certainly, the Book of Mormon stands as a witness of Christ and of the calamity people suffer when they leave Him to seek fulfillment elsewhere.
Mormon and Moroni witnessed the final destruction of their people, understanding fully that it was the result of forsaking Christ. Is there any surprise that in the concluding chapters of the Book of Mormon, these prophet-writers focus so intently on Christ? They knew that it was now too late to save their own people but that their record would cry from the dust to our dispensation. Moroni's final exhortation is especially powerful:
"...Come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God."[5]
We come unto Christ through ordinances and covenants that anchor our heart to the Savior. When you were baptized, for example, you covenanted to take upon yourself the name of Jesus Christ, always remember Him, keep His commandments, and serve Him to the end. You renew this covenant each time you partake of the sacrament.[6]
Not surprisingly, you feel closest to Christ as you keep your covenants.
Sacrifice
Keeping covenants is not always easy; it often requires sacrifice. But we do so willingly because of promises like this one:
"Verily I say unto you, all among them who know their hearts are honest, and are broken, and their spirits contrite, and are willing to observe their covenants by sacrifice--yea, every sacrifice which I, the Lord, shall command--they are accepted of me. For I, the Lord, will cause them to bring forth as a very fruitful tree which is planted in a goodly land, by a pure stream, that yieldeth much precious fruit."[7]
Christ's life was fulfilled by His sacrifice, and so is ours. Those for whom the Savior sacrificed are the precious fruit of His life. He will cause us to be fruitful when we do the same.
What is the precious fruit of your life?
To my wife, Robyn, and me, nothing is more precious than our children and grandchildren. There was a time when we didn't think we would have children. Following our marriage we went seven years longing to have a baby. Finally, we were able to adopt our daughter Christy, and life changed dramatically for us. Robyn left a demanding job to do something she found was much harder yet much more fulfilling--motherhood.
When Christy joined our family, we decided to buy some expensive furniture that we could pass down to our posterity as heirlooms. A beautiful hardwood highchair and brass canopy crib soon adorned our home.
Then another miracle happened. Three months after adopting Christy, we got the great news that Robyn was expecting a baby! She gave birth to a little boy the next year. We discovered that our little boy had a tendency to be a bit more destructive with expensive furniture! One day, our son decided that it would be great fun to hang like a monkey from the slender canopy on the crib. As you might imagine, the weight of our little monkey caused the brass poles to collapse, and our heirloom crib was ruined. Later he stood on the highchair, knocking it backwards and crashing it against the buffet. Gratefully, he wasn't hurt, but the chair was ruined!
So much for heirlooms! We learned quickly that material things can turn to junk in an instant. Everything we bought afterwards was the cheapest we could find, and we began to focus on spiritual things we could pass on to our posterity.
Our family grew. We were blessed with two more boys. Now we are welcoming grandchildren into our family. Parenthood is not easy, but could there be more precious fruit to fulfill your life than a righteous posterity?
Most of you are not parents yet, but perhaps many of you have served missions. If so, you know that missionary work really is hard work! There is rejection and disappointment. Discouragement can easily set in. However, these are small sacrifices for the privilege of helping someone come closer to Christ.
On my mission, I sometimes wondered why the fruit of our work wasn't more immediate. We spent hours in the hot Brazilian sun knocking on doors and talking to as many people as we could. Some of those days were difficult, and to be honest, they didn't always feel particularly fulfilling. But other days were richly rewarding as I caught a glimpse of how the gospel of Jesus Christ can change lives.
Over the years after my mission, I lost touch with many of the people I had taught and baptized. Imagine my surprise one evening when our doorbell rang and there stood the son of a man I had baptized 35 years earlier in Brazil. His son was a returned missionary, sealed in the temple, and raising a righteous family. Words cannot describe the depth of fulfillment I felt that evening as he tearfully expressed thanks for bringing the gospel to his family. Since then I have embarked on a wonderful journey to reconnect with every person I baptized. What I have learned is that the precious fruit of missionary work grows even sweeter with the passing years.
We can easily lose opportunities like these if we are not careful. This is one reason Moroni warned, "Deny yourselves of all ungodliness." What is ungodliness? It is anything that is contrary to the divine nature. It includes everything from the grossest sins to unrighteous words or thoughts. It includes the toxic ungodliness of pornography; it could be idleness, mediocrity, and being distracted from our important duties. Today's world is saturated with ungodliness. To be fruitful, to find true fulfillment, we must be willing to sacrifice anything in our lives this is ungodly.
Serve
Moroni also taught, "Love God with all your might, mind and strength." The more you love God, the more you want to be pure. You love more people and you love them more deeply. You want to be fruitful. You serve with your full capacity and you work to increase that capacity-to become everything you can be and to utilize every resource you have been given. You identify and develop your spiritual gifts, and you seek additional gifts that you can use in the service of others. You seek to grow the way the boy Jesus did: "in wisdom and stature, and in favour with God and man."[8] You pursue education, maintain physical health, enhance your social skills, and deepen your spirituality-all with the pure intent to bless others.
When you love God, Church callings, home and visiting teaching, and other assignments are not burdens but opportunities to express the love you feel. As a result, opportunities to minister to family, friends, and strangers flow to you every day. When you see them, you act reflexively. And you magnify your ministry by helping others to minister.
Like the Savior, you feel to say, "I will hasten my work." You understand that your work is really His work. With this understanding, you pray with real intent to know His will. You feast on His words. You seek His guidance to know the sacrifices He would have you make. You ask to know whom and how to serve. You seek to be strong in the Spirit.
His Grace Is Sufficient for You
Now, you may think this doesn't sound much like you right now--at least, not all the time. I'd like to speak to those who feel unworthy or unable to do what I have described.
In the months and years after the First Vision, Joseph Smith faced intense opposition. He said that he frequently fell into many foolish errors and often felt condemned for his weakness and imperfections. He sought forgiveness for his sins and follies and prayed to know his standing before God. As he did, an angel appeared, called him by name, and said that he was sent from the presence of God, that his name was Moroni, and that God had a work for him to do.[9]
How comforting and ennobling it must have been to Joseph to know that in spite of his weaknesses, God had a work for him to do. He repented of his sins and served and sacrificed throughout the remainder of his life. He was persecuted. He was thwarted time and again in his efforts to establish a Zion community, but he never gave up. He suffered, but he endured. In the end, he was killed for his convictions. Through his sacrifice and service he became the magnificent instrument of the Restoration. The power of God was upon him, and he was fruitful.
What is the precious fruit of his life? Today, the Church he helped to establish is thriving, and millions are blessed immeasurably.
We all have challenges and adversity in the journey of life. You will make mistakes and feel unworthy. Like Joseph Smith, you will wonder about your standing before God. I testify that He knows you and loves you. No matter what you have done, He has a work for you. He needs you to help Him complete the work He called the Prophet Joseph to do.
If that feels overwhelming at times, remember the Savior's words: "I am the vine, ye are the branches: He that abideth in me, and I in him, the same bringeth forth much fruit."[10] I testify to you today that if you are connected to Christ, you can do anything He asks you to do.
Moroni said, "Come unto Christ and be perfected in him." This is an invitation to be fulfilled in Him. Only through Christ can we become all that we are capable to become. Perfect, as used in the scriptures, means "complete, whole, and fully developed. ... True followers of Christ may become perfect through his grace and atonement."[11]
Elder Russell M. Nelson taught that the process of development extends through and beyond this life. He said: "We need not be dismayed if our earnest efforts toward perfection now seem so arduous and endless. Perfection is pending. It can come in full only after the Resurrection and only through the Lord. It awaits all who love him and keep his commandments."[12]
The Mutual theme for 2014 is "Come unto Christ." As we watch together now the Mutual theme video, please listen carefully to the lyrics of the song.
Fulfilled in Christ - A Testimony
Brothers and sisters, I bear my testimony by the power of the Holy Ghost that the Book of Mormon is true and that Joseph Smith was a prophet. I bear my witness that Jesus Christ is your Savior. He is calling you to come to Him. He loves you. You are His precious fruit. Sense His love and His grace that empowers you to fulfill the work you are to do.
I bear testimony that as you come unto Him and keep your covenants by every sacrifice He asks of you, you will be fruitful. Your sacrifice and service will yield precious fruit. There will be a day when you will kneel before Him, and He will say, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant: ... enter thou into the joy of thy lord."[13] That will be the day when you will see clearly that through your service and sacrifice, and by His grace, you have become like Him. Your joy will be full, and you will be fulfilled in Christ.
I pray that each of you will enjoy this blessing. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Matthew 16:25
[2] John 14:6
[3] 4 Nephi 1:11
[4] 4 Nephi 1:24
[5] Moroni 10:32
[6 ]Mosiah 18:10, 13; D&C 20:37; D&C 20:77
[7] D&C 97:8-9
[8] Luke 2:52
[9] Joseph Smith-History 1:28-33
[10] John 15:5
[11] Guide to the Scriptures, "Perfect," scriptures.lds.org
[12] "Perfection Pending," Ensign, Nov. 1995, 88
[13] Matthew 25:21