Sister Marjan Boom
When Joseph Smith wrote down his history, he told us that there was “a war of words” and a “tumult of opinions.” [1]
Well, it was not only during his time that there were so many words and so many opinions! (And it isn’t only during election time either.)
Satan knows that we connect better to heaven during the quiet times of our lives, so he will do everything to disturb those times of peace—and he is very good at it.
One of his tactics is distraction. And often, we don’t even recognize that it is a distraction because we are so busy doing good things. For example: We turn on the TV while doing our exercises. We plug in our earphones and listen to a CFM podcast while cleaning or traveling.
We are doing good things, but sometimes it is necessary to have some quiet time and connect to God.
It says in Psalms 46: “Be still and know that I am God.” [2]
Have you noticed that when you try to focus on something important, other good things distract you?
One day I was studying my scriptures and reading about Jesus healing the sick, and I thought, “Oh, my sister is sick. I will give her a call and see how she is doing.” I pick up my phone, and I see a message from FamilySearch, telling me that today my great-great grandfather, Johannes Pannekoek, is celebrating his birthday. Pannekoek is the Dutch word for pancake, so I think, “Pancakes! It’s been a while since we had pancakes—do I have the ingredients and what else do I need from the store?”
Do you see how easy it was to go from “studying the scriptures” to “making a grocery list”? And all those things are not bad things, but they keep you away from the most important things.
Elder Scott said, “Satan has a powerful tool to use against good people. It is distraction. He would have good people fill life with ‘good things’ so there is no room for the essential ones.” [3]
So, focus on the essential things in your life. Keep Christ at the center.
When you have your personal morning prayer and evening prayer, you can never stray too far away.
I love that President Nelson told us that “our prayers can be—and should be—living discussions with our Heavenly Father.” [4]
That sounds so personal and intimate. And you know, Heavenly Father and His Son are personally involved in your life.
Years ago, Elder Ballard said something during general conference that touched my heart. I printed it out so I can see it often. It reads, “The Lord knows you . . . He is aware of your concern and . . . He loves you—intimately, personally, deeply, and forever.” [5]
I love my Savior. I am so grateful for His Atonement that allows me to be forgiven of my sins as I repent, and to receive strength through His enabling power.
In Luke 1:37 it says: “Fear not, . . . for with God nothing is impossible.” I love that, and I know this to be true. We can do all things through Christ, who loves us intimately, personally, deeply, and forever. Of this I testify, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder Hans T. Boom
“I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me.” [6]
With that knowledge we might ask ourselves, “So what about me, what is expected of me, and do I need to do all things at the same time?”
We live in an interesting world with so much information coming our way and such a high expectation that we, at times, might find ourselves in a situation where we don’t know what to do first or last. This might even result in doing nothing at all and becoming discouraged and depressed.
So, let’s take a good look at what we could do to function well and accomplish what needs to be accomplished.
First, it might be wise to work on our relationship with our Savior Jesus Christ and have that on top of our list. When we get to know Him better, we will be able to understand our role in life better.
From an early age, I have received my witness that God lives, and that Jesus is the Christ. I cannot say that I always believed that this was the true Church. Growing up, I had some struggles with that, but it did not stop me from going to church, even though the motivation was my love for my parents at that time. Getting to know my Savior has been a wonderful journey that is still ongoing and deepening.
Growing up, I suffered from asthma and often was gasping for air. During times like that, I would turn to my Savior for help. How grateful I am for challenging circumstances in our lives where we truly have an opportunity to draw closer to heaven.
Once you start working on your relationship with Christ, you will notice that the strengthening part is taking place immediately and can only deepen.
You will get to know yourself better in the process and come to be more confident about yourself. You will have more self-esteem because of your special relationship with Christ.
As a result of this relationship, you will want to do better and be better.
Now, let’s go back to the question of what is expected of me and do I need to do all things.
Looking at everything that needs to be done and everything that we would like to do, we need to learn how to categorize in good, better, and best. [7] We also need to understand that it will always be difficult to balance our lives. The best explanation I have received on this topic was from Elder Bednar explaining that it is like being in the circus where they have plates on sticks, and they give each plate a good spin and then they watch and just run to the plate that is about to fall off to give it a good spin again. [8] Another thought I cherish comes from Elder Holland when he was visiting a meeting in Paris as a newly called apostle. He advised us that, in the prioritizing process, we can ask ourselves this question, “Am I sealed to this?” We are sealed to our spouses and our children, and they remain with us forever and so they need to be our priority always.
The sealing of a man and a woman takes place at an altar, which represents how we will need to make sacrifices to make this eternal marriage work. We might have to give up on something or some ways we spend our time to be able to make the marriage the best possible experience and last forever.
We also need to understand there are times and seasons.
While I was serving as an Area Seventy and our children had left the home, my wife would visit the temple at least weekly. I would have loved to go with her weekly but that was just not possible since I was more engaged with the living for that moment. So, there is a time and a season for everything.
Life cannot be all about work, and it cannot be all about play; there needs to be a certain balance. I would like to give you a personal example.
We married a year after returning from my mission. Coming home, I still had to do my military service, and when that part was finished, I started working full time. I met Marjan at a YA summer camp shortly after returning home from my mission and we got married a year later. We were poor but happy newlyweds with no car but wonderful bicycles. We lived about an hour away from the stake center by public transportation, and the stake conference was coming up. The cost for me to go to the priesthood leadership session of that conference would equal a week’s groceries. Besides that, I felt I needed to stay with my sweetheart since we just gotten married, and I needed to hold her hand all the time. On the stake conference Saturday morning, while I was comfortably sitting on the couch—yes, we managed to have a couch after some weeks—she asked me why I was not getting ready to go to the priesthood session. I told her I did not want her to feel lonely without me. Well, you should have seen the look on her face when she told me that, as a priesthood leader, my place was to be in that conference meeting. I am so grateful for her directing me in the right way, otherwise I would not have been standing here addressing you today.
Yes, our priority should be the one we are sealed to, but we should not use this as an excuse and miss out on growing experiences that make us better.
On the other hand, some hide behind a calling or study or work to not have to perform their duties in the home. Just look at what is important at that given time
Let’s heed King Benjamin’s counsel not to run faster than we have strength. [9]
Don’t compare yourself with others and their performance. This is between you and your Heavenly Father, and He just wants us to do the best we can.
Jacob, another Book of Mormon prophet, in paraphrasing Isaiah, warned, “Do not spend money for that which is of no worth, nor labour for that which cannot satisfy.” [10]
It is not about how much you can make, it is more about having sufficient for your needs and spending time and money on things that are of eternal worth.
Please get your priorities straight and discuss them with your Father in Heaven as did Nephi: “And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things.” [11]
With better access to temples than we have ever had before, we,too, can “go into the mountain” and receive guidance and direction for our lives.
Another important element is how we can remain close, or get closer, to Heavenly Father and our Savior Jesus Christ, to receive answers to our prayers and be comforted through the Holy Spirit.
We already discussed that we need that personal relationship with the Savior to be able to do all things when called upon or desire to do so.
In Alma 36–38, Father Alma is teaching his sons Helaman and Shiblon. In these chapters, we read four times “that inasmuch as we keep the commandments of God we shall prosper in the land.” [12]
That promise is mentioned over and over again in the Book of Mormon. We simply need to keep His commandments so He can bless and prosper us. [13]
President Nelson has said that immorality is one of the quickest ways to lose a testimony and that it can complicate life quickly. He has also said that many of the adversary's most relentless temptations involve violations of moral purity. [14]
In April 2018, President Nelson said, “Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of increased purity, exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon, and regular time committed to temple and family history work.” [15]
Did you notice that he specifically mentioned the Book of Mormon as our ongoing daily source to draw from?
Never allow yourself to go into the desert without enough water, and never go through life without a sufficient supply of living water.
Daily scripture study and daily prayer are the way to hold on to the rod and to be able to hear His voice. And let’s not forget about daily repentance or, in other words, daily trying to do better and to be better.
Alma provides his sons with some profound teaching on personal prayer: “Counsel with the Lord in all thy doings, and he will direct thee for good; yea, when thou liest down at night lie down unto the Lord, that he may watch over you in your sleep; and when thou risest in the morning let thy heart be full of thanks unto God; and if ye do these things, ye shall be lifted up at the last day.” [16]
Not just a casual here and there but in all thy doings. Heavenly Father and his son Jesus Christ are interested in everything you do.
When I met Marjan for the first time, right after my mission during that YA summer camp, I immediately had butterflies. She was sitting in front of me during a devotional, and even though I really tried hard to listen to the speaker, I was distracted.
That night, I knelt by the bedside and asked my Father in Heaven if she was someone I could marry and if He would make that known to me. Well, He did make that known to me, and to her too. And you all know the end of that story.
Now let’s move on and take a look at what has been prepared for us in order to accomplish all things and where our strength comes from.
As members of His Church, we are blessed with the gift of the Holy Ghost. I imagine that most of us here received that gift at the age of eight and that it has felt so natural that we really don’t know what it would be like without the constant guidance of the third member of the Godhead. You might want to ask a convert fellow student and let him or her explain to you what it was like to go without the gift of the Holy Ghost.
In 2018, President Nelson stated, “In the coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.” He pleaded with us to increase our spiritual capacity to receive revelation. [17]
I believe that the day has arrived when we can no longer discern what is true or not without the influence of the Holy Ghost. Think about what artificial intelligence can do these days. Besides the role of comforter and testifier of truth, filling us with hope and calming our fears, He is also the sanctifier.
Elder Christofferson explains this further in his general conference address of April 2009, “The Power of Covenants.” He teaches that sanctification is the process of Christ’s Atonement cleansing us, healing us, and helping us become more Christlike—but it is only through the Holy Ghost that we can access Jesus Christ’s sanctifying power. “The gift of the Holy Ghost . . . is the messenger of grace by which the blood of Christ is applied to take away our sins and sanctify us.” [18]
Let me try to explain this a little better. If you understand how a combustion engine works, then that can help. Besides the big engine, we have a small electric motor that we call the starter motor or, in this case, the Holy Ghost. Once we turn the key or push the starting button, the electric starter motor starts to run and will make the big engine move so that it eventually will continue by itself and bring us where we need to be in relation to the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
The Sanctifier, the Holy Ghost, also acts as a Gardener, helping us to pull out weeds in our lives but also to plant flowers instead of weeds.
How can we know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is working in our lives? The answer is simple: If you have felt the influence of the Holy Ghost during this day, you may take that as evidence that the Atonement is working in your life. [19]
In Doctrine and Covenants 46, we can read that, through the Holy Ghost, we can receive other gifts, such as the knowledge that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, or the belief in the words of those who know, or the gift of healing, or the faith to be healed, or speaking in tongues, and many more. [20]
Let’s look at Parley P. Pratt’s explanation: “The gift of the Holy Ghost quickens all the intellectual faculties, enlarges, expands, and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use.
“It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity. It develops beauty of a person, form, and features. It tends to health, Vigor, animation, and social feeling. It invigorates all the faculties of the physical and intellectual man. It strengthens and gives tone to the nerves. In short, it is, as it were, marrow to the bone, joy to the heart, light to the eyes, music to the ears, and life to the whole being.” [21]
On top of this magnificent gift, we can receive the gift of the endowment when we go to the house of the Lord and when we make and keep the five covenants of obedience, sacrifice, the law of the gospel, chastity, and consecration.
Some of the gifts we receive as we keep the covenants include: [22]
1. Greater knowledge of the Lord’s purposes and teachings
2. Power to do all that God wants us to do
3. Devine direction and protection as we serve the Lord, our families, and others
4. Increased hope, comfort, and peace
5. Promised blessings now and forever
What glorious blessings these are and what amazing gifts we have received from our loving Heavenly Father, who wants us to succeed in life and return to his presence.
I would like to share with you a personal experience that I had while serving as an Area Seventy years ago. When I was called by the Area President, he asked me how my German was. I told him that I could order a schnitzel.
He said that was nice, I would not go hungry, but he invited me to read the Book of Mormon in German. And that is what I did between receiving the call in December and being sustained during the April conference.
Shortly after, I started my service in the Europe Area and received a phone call asking if I would be ready to visit a district conference on short notice. I told our Area President that I could do that. Then he told me that the district was located in the eastern part of Germany where they do not speak any English. He said there will be no one to translate for you. He quickly ended the phone call before I could change my mind.
The worst part was that I needed to call the district president to discuss the conference. Marjan prepared the computer with Google Translate for me, and I knelt down and pleaded with the Lord to help me. Well, we had an hour-long conversation in German, and Marjan and our youngest son, Hyrum, were amazed.
A week later, we traveled to the Erfurt District and held all the meetings in German. On Sunday, my nephew, who was serving a mission there, joined the congregation. He later told me that it went well but that I made one big mistake. I thought I asked the parents to testify to their children, but instead, I asked the parents to make more children. I used gezeugen instead of bezeugen. As good faithful Germans, they kept straight faces.
Well, I hope to return there someday; they might have a stake.
On several occasions, I have received a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. And not only about the cleansing part, but also that we can receive power that enables us to do what we could never imagine doing.
I have felt that power time and time again in my life, and especially when I am out of my comfort zone.
My beloved brothers and sisters, please know that you can do all things through Christ, and let that knowledge bless your lives forever. Of this I testify, in the name of our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Joseph Smith History 1:10.
[2] Psalm 46:10.
[3] Richard G. Scott, “First Things First,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2001, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2001/04/first-things-first.
[4] Russell M. Nelson, “Think Celestial!,” Liahona, November 2023, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/10/51nelson.
[5] M. Russell Ballard, “Watch Ye Therefore, and Pray Always,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/10/41ballard.
[6] Philippians 4:13.
[7] Dallin H. Oaks, “Good, Better, Best,” Ensign or Liahona, November 2007.
[8] David A. Bednar, “Sometimes we reflect on all of our responsibilities at home, school, work, and church,” Facebook, April 19, 2021, https://www.facebook.com/davida.bednar.
[9] Mosiah 4:27.
[10] 2 Nephi 9:51; see Isaiah 55:2.
[11] 1 Nephi 18:3.
[12] Alma 36–38.
[13] Mosiah 2:22.
[14] Russell M. Nelson, “Think Celestial!,” Liahona, November 2023, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2023/10/51nelson.
[15] Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2018, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2018/04/revelation-for-the-church-revelation-for-our-lives.
[16] Alma 37:37.
[17] Russell M. Nelson, “Revelation for the Church, Revelation for Our Lives.”
[18] D. Todd Christofferson, “The Power of Covenants,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2009, https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2009/04/the-power-of-covenants.
[19] Henry B. Eyring, “Gifts of the Spirit for Hard Times,” BYU Speeches, September 10, 2006, https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/henry-b-eyring/gifts-spirit-hard-times/.
[20] Doctrine and Covenants 46.
[21] Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, 9 ed. (Deseret Book, 1965), 101.
[22] General Handbook 27.2.