I am grateful to speak to you today on another great day at BYU-Idaho. I pray that the Holy Spirit will be with us as I share with you things I have learned from the devotional talks I have given during my service at BYU-Idaho. My focus is on four themes from those talks I feel are especially important and relevant today: 1) the redeeming and strengthening power of the Atonement of Christ; 2) acting with faith in Christ; 3) obedience of the heart and soul; and 4) the eternal family.
Theme #1: The Atonement of Christ
On his second day in the MTC, a young missionary knew that he could not go another hour without talking to the president of the MTC. There were things in his life he should have cleared up with his bishop at home, but had not. And so, he turned and headed to the president's office. In that moment the young missionary began a journey of repentance, humility, and hope.
The path was not easy. He went back to his home ward and faced the same people who had sent him off on his mission the week before. He got a job, began working with his bishop, and lived at home. Those months were his Gethsemane. He suffered. He felt guilt, sorrow, and pain. And there were times, especially at night, when he felt lonely and discouraged. But he never gave up. He spent a lot of time in the scriptures and on his knees.
Day after day, night after night, over many days and weeks, the redeeming and strengthening powers of the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ became a living reality in his life. The Savior reached out and took hold of that young man and changed him from the inside out. When he went back into the mission field he was on fire. He became a mighty elder in Israel.
Sue and I were eyewitnesses of the power, love, and grace of Jesus Christ in that young missionary's life. That missionary was our son Michael.
I know that marvelous blessings flow into our lives through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I bear that witness today because I want the Atonement of Christ to work more powerfully in your lives. I want you to be converted more deeply unto the Lord so that in your trials, that surely will come, you, too, will experience the Savior's redeeming and strengthening power.
In Gethsemane and on Calvary, Jesus took upon Himself our sins and suffered the "whole law of the demands of justice"[1] for us. He felt in His pure and sinless soul the searing torment of "a perfect knowledge of all our guilt and our uncleanness."[2] He suffered the agony of "[death] as to things pertaining unto righteousness"[3] and the "awful chains"[4] of Satan's power and captivity.[5] In that magnificent act of love and sacrifice, Jesus suffered "pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind"[6] and indeed, "the pains of every living creature, both men, women, and children, who belong to the family of Adam."[7] In the words of Isaiah:
Surely he hath borne our griefs, and carried our sorrows;
. . . he was wounded for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities; the chastisement of our peace was upon him; and with his stripes we are healed.[8]
Brothers and sisters, there is no sin, no guilt, no shame, no fear, no loneliness, no heartache, no loss, no depression, no sadness, no terror, no pain, no challenge, no weakness that Jesus has not experienced and overcome. He has all power over all things.
If you turn to Christ and repent of your sins, He will forgive you and cleanse you and change your heart. This is the redeeming power of the Atonement. If you turn to Christ when you face challenges and need capacity beyond your own, He can strengthen you and magnify your capacity. This is the strengthening power of the Atonement. Sue and I saw both of these powers at work in our son. He needed the redeeming power to cleanse him from sin and change his heart. But he also needed spiritual healing and comfort, patience, courage, and diligence far beyond his native capacity. He needed both the redeeming and the strengthening power of the Atonement of Christ in his life. He turned to Christ and found that power, and so can you and I.
If you come unto Christ and are faithful to your covenants, Jesus will sanctify all of your mortal experience to your blessing both now and forever. Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, you may become more and more like Him—you may walk in the newness of life, His sons and daughters, clean, pure in heart, filled with the pure love of Christ, blessed with joy and happiness and peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come.
Theme #2: Acting with Faith in Christ
In 1982 my father and mother submitted their papers to serve a mission. When the call came, it was a shock to my mother. They were called to serve in the Philippines Davao Mission. When my mother saw where they were going, she exclaimed, "No! You've got to call them and tell them we can't go to the Philippines. Don't they know you have asthma? And I don't want to deal with all those lizards and bugs."
My father reminded my mother that she had always encouraged him never to turn down a call from the Lord. She knew that was true, but that didn't make her feel any better. One night a few days later she woke my dad up at about 2:30 a.m.
She said, "Did you hear that voice?"
"No, I didn't hear any voice."
"Well, I have heard the same voice three times tonight. It said, "Why are you worrying? Don't you know that I know he has asthma? I will take care of him and you. Get yourself ready to serve in the Philippines."
My mother and father went forward with faith in the Lord and had a marvelous experience in the Philippines. My father served as the first counselor in the mission presidency, and he and my mother trained hundreds of missionaries and thousands of faithful Latter-day Saints in preparation for the coming of wards and stakes on the island of Mindanao.
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the gospel. The scriptures teach us that "faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen."[9] When we have faith in Christ, we look forward with the eye of faith[10] and we see the remarkable promises of the redeeming and strengthening powers of the Atonement coming to pass with sharpness and clarity. These promises come alive in our minds through the power of the Spirit. Our hope in the power of Christ then becomes what the scriptures call lively,[11] bright,[12] and excellent.[13] This is the hope that is an anchor to the soul.
In times of trial (and in every other time) these marvelous blessings can be ours when we look forward with the eye of faith and take righteous action. However, looking forward with the eye of faith in times of trial is not easy. The natural man in us looks forward with the eye of fear and sees only darkness, failure, and pain.
Fear does not come upon us slowly. It springs up in us quickly and can cloud our perspective and our vision. As the Lord taught the Prophet Joseph Smith, the eye of fear leads us to "[set] at naught the counsels of God, and [follow] after the dictates of [our] own will and carnal desires."[14] Fear can lead us to take unrighteous action, and it can paralyze us. It can cause our hearts to fail us so that we shrink from our trials. It can cause us to react to our trials with denial, anger, resentment, and self-pity. This is why the Savior said so many times, "Fear not."[15] Fear does not go away easily. It resists our efforts to overcome it. It reoccurs easily. However, with faith in Christ and personal determination we can declare: "I am not going to look forward with the eye of fear. I am going to look forward with the eye of faith, and take righteous action."
When we see the future with faith and hope in Christ, and when we act on that faith, divine light and power flow into our lives. That light and power activate the bright, shining shield of faith in the armor of God that "[quenches] . . . the fiery darts"[16] of the adversary. In the strength of the Lord we can move forward to do what He wants done, paying no heed to ridicule and scorn, taking no counsel from our fears, setting doubt aside, overcoming discouragement with hope, and resisting temptation with our faith in Christ. Jesus Christ is our shield.
Theme #3: Obedience of the Heart and Soul
Every morning when I walk onto this campus, I feel the Spirit of the Lord. Every time I attend a meeting, conduct an interview, or teach a class, I feel that wonderful Spirit. Brothers and sisters, the Holy Ghost ministers on this campus. It is one of the greatest blessings we enjoy in our association at BYU-Idaho. It is a precious gift.
We enjoy the blessings of the Spirit here because the vast majority of the people who work and study here live in accordance with this remarkable scripture in the 64th section of the Doctrine and Covenants:
Wherefore, be not weary in well-doing, for ye are laying the foundation of a great work. And out of small things proceedeth that which is great.
Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind; and the willing and obedient shall eat the good of the land of Zion in these last days.[17]
When we obey the commandments of the Lord with heart and soul, especially small and simple acts of goodness, kindness, and righteousness, the Holy Ghost ministers to us and the Lord strengthens us to accomplish His great work.
Obedience of the heart and soul embraces all of who we are—our behavior and our attitudes, our actions and our desires, our diligence and our love. That kind of willing obedience connects us to Christ in a powerful way and brings His Spirit, love, power, and joy into our lives. A casual, reluctant, surface kind of obedience will not do. The Lord requires of us obedience that is exact, willing, and deep. He wants obedience of the whole heart and soul.
President Ezra Taft Benson beautifully described the difference between reluctant and heart-and-soul obedience this way:"When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power."[18] I believe the great key to developing heart-and-soul obedience is to be obedient in small and simple things. I have in mind small things like keeping the Sabbath Day holy, saying our prayers, telling the truth, paying our tithing, keeping the Word of Wisdom, being kind to others, avoiding profanity, and keeping our promises, including living all the standards in the Honor Code.
You may have heard on this campus comments from a student who does not understand the importance of obedience to small and simple things. For example, you may have heard a young man or a young woman say: "We decided to allow our girlfriends (or boyfriends in the case of the young woman) in our bedrooms, and it has worked out fine. Nothing bad has happened. We just act like adults."
The purpose of the visiting standard in the Honor Code is to protect you from devastating sin and help you develop the discipline, unselfishness, self-control, and spiritual strength so important to a celestial marriage. This young man and his girlfriend (or the young woman and her boyfriend) feel that being alone with each other in his (or her) bedroom is no big deal. They have crossed over into Satan's territory where the ground slopes downward and is very slippery. They are in great spiritual danger.
Please remember, obedience in the small things creates a spirit of obedience in all things. Moreover, obedience in the small things brings the Spirit into our lives, strengthens our faith in Christ and our resolve to do His will. It opens our hearts to Christ and blesses us with the strength and discipline to withstand temptations to violate the law of chastity, succumb to greed and materialism, or fall into apostasy. Obedience in the small things prepares us to give our hearts to the Lord so that we will accept and fulfill the increasingly demanding personal assignments and commandments that will come to us from the Lord all through our lives.
My dear brothers and sisters, I hope and pray that you will give your heart to the Lord and follow Him. If you strive to be obedient in the small things, the Holy Ghost will be with you. You will act with faith in Christ to never do anything, or go anywhere, or say anything, or watch anything that would drive the Spirit away. You will be a blessing to everyone on this campus. And you will be ready to obey whatever the Lord commands with all your heart and soul all through your life.
Theme #4: The Eternal Family
In The Family: A Proclamation to the World, living prophets teach us true doctrine about our eternal identity as husbands and wives, mothers and fathers of an eternal family. Through the Atonement of Christ, you and a beloved eternal companion can create an eternal family, experience the joy of heaven on earth, and return to the presence of Heavenly Father "crowned with celestial glory,"[19] "raised to endless happiness to inherit the kingdom of God,"[20] "in [whose] presence is fulness of joy."[21] The prophetic window of the proclamation gives each of us a beautiful picture of what our future holds. These blessings come at different times to different people. In mortal life we often encounter unexpected delays and disappointments. But it is good to have in front of us a vivid picture of our divine destiny as sons and daughters of God. That picture is real. If you are faithful, every one of you will realize that destiny.
The greatest experience of your life will be to stand with your eternal companion at the head of your eternal family. With the power of the holy priesthood in your life and in your marriage, you will love, guide, direct, and teach the children God entrusts to your care. United as eternal companions, and with the Lord Jesus Christ and His divine power, you will create a celestial marriage and an eternal family.
Brothers and sisters, your eternal family needs you to keep your covenants. You, your spouse, and your children will need the powers of heaven that will come into your family only through your faithfulness. You need to be faithful and obedient now so that you will be ready then.
I know this is true of my own experience. Two weeks after our third child was born, I came home from graduate school to find the house in chaos. Our first two little ones were in the process of destroying our apartment, and Sue was sitting on the couch trying to comfort the crying baby. She, too, was in tears. I knew she was discouraged and depressed. I gave her a hug and then started to clean up when the Spirit whispered to me, "Give your wife a blessing."
So, right there in the midst of all that chaos, Sue sat on a chair while I placed my hands on her head. In that moment the Spirit of the Lord enveloped us. I spoke a blessing that was given to me of the Lord. The blessing was full of words of astonishing breadth and power. Sue received promises of strength and capacity and sweet blessings about our children and our family here on earth and in the eternities.
I saw my wife the way her Heavenly Father sees her. I came to understand who she really is; I saw her eternal identity and her divine destiny. I knew that if we were faithful to our covenants, we would have an eternal family and our children and grandchildren would call her blessed. When I finished, I hugged her for a long time. It was a glorious experience of the Holy Spirit and priesthood power. It came because despite our weaknesses and limitations, we were faithful, and the Lord blessed us.
The marvelous blessings of an eternal family come through acting with faith in Jesus Christ and in Heavenly Father's plan. However, in the days in which we live, our faith in Christ and in the Father's plan are now being and will be tested. We live in a time when the forces of darkness are attacking marriage and the family and thus God's eternal plan. President Monson has called us to stand for truth with courage, even as we avoid contention and act with grace and civility.[22] The most important way we stand for the truth about marriage and the family is to live it. And that means acting with faith in Christ in the face of fear, doubt, ridicule, or even persecution. I know from my own experience that everything about becoming a husband or wife and a father or mother in an eternal family is an act of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. Looking for your eternal companion, finding that companion, and deciding to marry are acts of faith. Deciding to have children is an act of faith. Rearing children in love and righteousness is an act of faith.
Getting married and having children is not about money or skill. It is about faith. These are acts of faith in Jesus Christ, in His atoning sacrifice, and in His redeeming love. These are acts of faith that the Savior can change your heart, lift your burdens, and strengthen your capacity with His almighty power.
I saw all of these principles come together one day as I sat in a temple sealing room. There I watched as a young man and young woman were sealed for time and all eternity. I knew the young man, and I knew of the path he had traveled. His life had been full of the pain and heartache of sin. Some of that pain he had brought on himself; some had come by the actions of others. However, he had humbled himself before the Lord, repented of his sins, and sought the redeeming and strengthening powers of the Savior.
I knew the Lord Jesus Christ had blessed that young man with His forgiveness and His grace. He was about to be sealed in the temple of the Lord to a marvelous young woman. I looked across the room at the young man's mother. I could see on her face pure joy as tears flowed down her cheeks. I knew also the path the young woman had walked. I knew of her goodness and her great faith that had sustained her in difficult hours.
As I watched this beautiful scene, there came into my mind a thought I knew was from the Holy Ghost. These are the words I felt:
"This is why He did it—this is why Jesus suffered the crushing agony of the Atonement—so that this young man and this young woman could be clean and worthy, healed and whole, sealed forever by His power as husband and wife in the new and everlasting covenant of marriage.
"This is why the Father sent His Son to suffer and die for us. This is why the Father and the Son appeared to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove and called him to be the great prophet of the Restoration. This is why Joseph received the power to translate the Book of Mormon; why he received the keys of this dispensation, including the sealing power; why he received the ordinances and covenants of the temple and revelation upon revelation establishing the Lord's true and living Church on the earth.
"This is why from the days of Joseph Smith until this very hour the Lord has called living prophets to stand where Joseph stood, to hold the keys Joseph holds—so that you and I could be blessed with prophetic counsel and guidance, with spiritual gifts, with sacred ordinances in holy temples, with courage and faith to walk in the light, with repentance and forgiveness, with the power and authority of the keys of the priesthood of God. It is so we might qualify for all the blessings of the temple of the Lord, be sealed to a beloved eternal companion, and have our children sealed to us forever in eternal life with our Father in Heaven."
That is why.
Notes
[1] Alma 34:16
[2] 2 Nephi 9:14
[3] Alma 5:42
[4] 2 Nephi 28:22
[5] Richard G. Scott, "He Lives! All Glory to His Name," Ensign, May 2010
[6] Alma 7:11; Jesus came into the world with a unique heritage. Coupled with His sinless life and His submission to His Father's will, His parentage gave Him ultimate spiritual purity, holiness, sensitivity and discernment housed in a physical body subject to all the experiences of mortal life. Jesus experienced what mortal beings experience, but He felt those experiences more acutely, more intensely than mortals do
[7] 2 Nephi 9:21
[8] Isaiah 53:4-5
[9] Joseph Smith Translation (JST) Hebrews 11:1 (in Hebrews 11:1 footnote 1b)
[10] Ether 12:19
[11] 1 Peter 1:3
[12] 2 Nephi 31:20
[13] Ether 12:32
[14] Doctrine and Covenants 3:4
[15] Luke 8:50; Doctrine and Covenants 6:33; Doctrine and Covenants 50:41; Doctrine and Covenants 122:9
[16] Ephesians 6:16
[17] Doctrine and Covenants 64:33-34
[18] In Donald L. Staheli, "Obedience—Life's Great Challenge," Ensign, May l998, 82
[19] Doctrine and Covenants 101:65
[20] Alma 41:4
[21] Psalms 16:11
[22] Thomas S. Monson, "Be Strong and of a Good Courage," Ensign, May 2014