Our Savior Knows You and Loves You
Sister Susan A. Bangerter
Good afternoon brothers and sisters. It is a privilege and a delight to be here with you. The sacred feeling of the Holy Ghost is present here, and I shall never forget how I feel right now. Thank you.
There is a verse in the 1 Nephi 11 that I would like to explore with you this evening. Nephi has just heard his father, Lehi, teach of his vision of the Tree of Life and testify by the power of the Holy Ghost. Nephi wanted to understand this vision for himself and believed the Lord would help him and sure enough, in verse two, Nephi states, “And the Spirit of the Lord said unto me: Behold, what desirest thou? And I said: I desire to behold the things which my father saw. And the Spirit said unto me: Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken? And I said: Yea, thou knowest that I believe all the words of my father.” [1]
It impresses me that in his youth, Nephi believed all that his father taught him. He believed all the words of the prophet, Lehi. But what touches me the most about his conversation with the Lord is found in verse five. After the Spirit of the Lord asks Nephi, “Believest thou that thy father saw the tree of which he hath spoken?” Nephi replies, “Yea, Thou knowest.”
Nephi understood that the Lord knew him personally. This is the source of Nephi’s unconquerable faith, his strength and courage. The Lord knows us personally too. He knows our thoughts, our trials, our concerns, our prayers. He is our advocate to the Father. The Savior knows me, and He knows each of you.
Elder Bangerter has asked me to share a deeply personal experience with you today. A few years ago, while we were living in St. George, Utah, I received a phone call. I could see on my caller ID that it was my dad. I had rarely heard from my father over the last 50 years, so I went to a quiet room for the call.
When I was just seven years old, while living in New York, my dad drove away for a new life with a new wife, leaving my mom, my four brothers, and myself. I’m certain he never looked back. My mom needed help, so she moved us to Salt Lake City to live by her sister, where we could be surrounded by good people and raised in the gospel. She worked two jobs and wore herself out each and every day. She taught us to trust in the Lord. Over the years, we were blessed to have wonderful ward members, great youth leaders, and bishops care for and love us.
My dad on the other hand, only took care of himself, not thinking of others. He was an alcoholic but eventually stopped drinking and smoking for health reasons. Now, we know from the scriptures, [2] from teachings of the prophets, [3] and from personal experience that we can’t really feel joy unless we are serving others. We grow when we look outside of ourselves and help others. But he had been caught in this sad, selfish state of looking inward for 90 years.
So, I answered the phone. He said, “Hi Susan, I just want to let you know that I’m getting baptized.” I said, “Dad, you have to go to church and stuff like that!” He chuckled and explained that he had been for months. Two missionaries had been teaching him about God, families, and eternal life. The ward and bishop had made him feel so welcome at church. The phone call ended quickly as he had many people to call. I walked out to our family room and announced to my husband and family that my dad was getting baptized. We were in disbelief . . . but we rented a 15-passenger van, loaded everyone in, including my brother and his wife, and drove to Bakersfield, California, to see it with our own eyes.
We made it in time, and there he was, dressed in white, standing between these two elders. I’m so very grateful they did not overlook a 90-year-old man who needed peace, who had children and grandchildren who had been praying for him for over 50 years.
I love everything about the gospel, but the cleansing ordinance of baptism and the redeeming power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ has been confirmed to me in this very tender way. My dad then moved to St. George, Utah, to live with my brother and be closer to us. He came to visit almost every day, and each time he would tell me, or my husband, or one of our six sons, how sorry he was that he had missed our whole lives and that it would be different now. He expressed love over and over and talked of going to the temple and becoming an eternal family . . . words I never imagined I would hear in this life.
One day, I was planting flowers, and he sat in his walker next to me, offering this same apology. I listened again until he finished and said, “Dad, thank you for your apology. You need to understand that our Heavenly Father has always known you, and me, and when you were not there to take care of me, He took care of me. He gave Mom the strength she needed to care and provide for us. I forgave you so long ago. Our Savior has too. He has always known you, Dad. He loves you, and so do we.”
I testify that the gospel of Jesus Christ can change a man. I testify that it can and will. Thank you for the good things you are doing in life, preparing for the temple and attending the temple often. Our Savior does know you personally.
You may wonder, “I am not perfect, I make mistakes, can I be worthy? Yes. We can be perfect with little things, start with daily prayer, pay a full tithing, have a meaningful fast, and forgive others. In doing these things, I know that you will experience the joy and peace available to us when we choose to love and when we choose to forgive.
It is no coincidence that you are here on the earth at this time! Do you think the Lord did not know what days you would be born in? or what positive influence you could have on others? That there would be social media you could use for good! The Lord’s way! And to raise a righteous family in the last days.
President Russell M. Nelson declared, “Your Heavenly Father has known you for a very long time. You, as His son or daughter, were chosen by Him to come to earth at this precise time, to be a leader in His great work on earth.” [4]
I testify to you that our Savior knows you and loves you. Of these things I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Believe in Yourself as a Child of God
Elder Steven R. Bangerter
I had a bad dream; I dreamt I was a college student and was excited to go to wake up on a Saturday morning and go and hear my favorite speakers, Elder Uchtdorf, speak at a devotional. But when I showed up there was somebody named Elder Bangerter standing at the pulpit. I feel like I should apologize to you. But we do love you and we bring the love of Elder and Sister Uchtdorf, who love you as well. They love you, they remember you in their prayer, they think of you, and they love this great, great university.
We’re so pleased to be here with President and Sister Meredith. I hope you cherish them. We love them. They’ve been raised up for a time such as this to serve you here at this beautiful university. And to all of you administrators, faculty, staff, and you dear students who make this possible, God bless you. We love you. We’re so grateful to be with you. [VP1]
The title of my message this evening is “Believe in Yourself as a Child of God and in Your Capacity to Do Good in the World.”
We gather this afternoon in the midst of this great university, yet the title of the message is not “believe in yourself as a student,” that topic is best left to actual qualified educators. The confidence spoken of here, this evening, is of a higher order than the kind of confidence that comes through excelling in the midst of competitive business management courses or in any of the great lectures in the halls of academia. It is a different kind of confidence than that which develops through countless hours spent buried in books on management techniques, physics, chemistry, or calculus during late-night hours in the deepest bowels of the library.
I don’t mean by this to minimize the importance of academic endeavors and their impact on feelings of confidence. Certainly, hard work and study are elements that combine to develop wonderful attributes of self-confidence. However, an imbalanced focus on those efforts as the primary source of one’s confidence too often results in developing attributes of pride, self-centeredness, even arrogance that canker the soul and poison the most meaningful relationships in our lives.
Those who lose themselves too deeply in studies alone as a source of personal confidence risk becoming as those described by Jacob in the Book of Mormon, who declared: “When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves.” [5]
As university graduates, one day much of the success you experience will be related to your level of confidence, but I speak not of the kind of confidence the world typically thinks of. Rather, I speak of a quiet, peaceful assurance that wells up from within and is quicker to raise up others around you than it is to directly raise you up. It is confidence grounded in moral principles and values that cause you to look outward, more than to look inward. To look for how you might lift others, instead of searching for how others can lift you.
Accordingly, this evening the source of confidence of which I speak is confidence that is revealed by the Holy Spirit and has its origin in God, our Heavenly Father, the Father of our spirits.
The intimate experience of the Holy Spirit revealing in a personal way the close, familial connection between us, as children of God, and God, our Heavenly Father, occurs in unanticipated ways and typically in unexpected moments. It is grounded in our divine nature as spiritual offspring of God.
The prophets and apostles have declared in our day: “All human beings—male and female—are created in the image of God. Each is a beloved spirit son or daughter of heavenly parents and, as such, each has a divine nature and destiny.” [6]
Many years ago, I attended Arizona State University, majoring in Religious Studies. In the midst of our studies, we received a semester-long assignment to draft a lengthy research paper known as an exegesis. We were to take a few words of scripture, sometimes a full verse or more, and study the literary, linguistic, political, cultural, historical, and religious background of the verse, to understand, as best as we can in our day, the author’s intent at the time the verse was written.
I selected for my paper a familiar verse of scripture from the first chapter of Genesis that states: “God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them.” [7] Near the end of the semester, we turned in our lengthy papers. On the day they were handed back the papers were at the front of the lecture hall on a table in a large stack—and returned to us alphabetically. The professor called us up individually, one by one. My name was not called. I remember growing nervous—since my last name begins with the letter “B” I should have been one of the first students called up. I remember nervously wondering, “Where is my paper?” Finally, reaching the last paper on the table, our professor paused, holding it in his hands. He declared, “Now, we have a paper written from a most interesting perspective. We will now invite Mr. Bangerter forward to present and defend his paper during the remaining 40 minutes or so of our class.”
So, perhaps you can understand why I felt my heart pound within me as I stood and then walked down those steps to the front of the auditorium. It was not the presentation of the paper that gave rise to the concern, but the poignant questions I knew would follow. Those questions soon came as I completed my presentation, which as you can imagine, spoke from a theological perspective distinct to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In the moments that followed, I felt the comforting, strengthening, and inspiring influence of God’s Holy Spirit wash over me. That day, in that moment, a calming sense of peace washed over me, filled my mind, calmed my pounding heart, and informed my witness that day. You see, within just a few minutes all questions, consuming the remainder of that class session, focused on our divine origin as children of God and our literal understanding of the doctrine of divine parentage and divine potential. I spoke that day from a position of truth, so the Comforter, whom the Savior promised God would send, [8] did come to me and did, in those moments, comfort my heart and my whole soul and did reveal what it means to know I am a child of God. [9]
Revealed knowledge of our divine heritage is the foundational source of confidence that comes as a blessing from God. As such, being a blessing from God, it is inseparably connected with obedience to specific commandments declared by God.
The Lord directly, plainly taught Joseph Smith the secret to living a life blessed with inner confidence. In a tender moment, the Savior declared to Joseph: “Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion.” [10]
These verses describe the intersection where confidence and our divine heritage as children of God are found. It is in the private times of our lives, in the private recesses of our thoughts, where confidence is borne of the Spirit as a blessing from God. As a blessing received through the power of the Holy Ghost, confidence is granted in return for our obedient efforts to maintain wholesome, productive, charitable, kind, and holy thoughts. Through our affirmative efforts to obey God’s commandments and bless the lives of others along the way, we come to know we are heirs of God, endowed with seeds of His attributes. Confidence is one of those attributes, and it is most perfectly manifest and experienced in and through the life, teachings, and atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, the Only Begotten Son of God.
What kinds of thoughts am I referring to? Well, of course, I mean thoughts that are morally clean, honest, and filled with integrity. But this afternoon, I focus on thoughts that lift others around you. We live in a competitive world—and that competition is perhaps nowhere more prevalent than in the university setting. It is even sometimes referred to as a “dog-eat-dog” existence, filled with continual competition to climb the academic ladder, to achieve higher status, position, title, eventually one day the corner office, higher pay, and on, and on, and on it goes.
Yet my experience is that too often we see among the highest achievers in professional life those with the lowest self-confidence. Corner offices, fancy clothes, expensive cars, and big expense accounts are used to cover an inner longing for lasting peace and enduring joy.
Lasting peace and enduring joy are at the foundation of real confidence, and they come as we recognize and embrace our divine heritage as children of God. Speaking of this divine legacy in his writing to both scholars and Christian saints in Rome, the apostle Paul taught in New Testament times: “The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God: And if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ.” [11]
The type of confidence I’m describing grows within us and has its origin in divine spiritual DNA that sprouts and grows when we make righteous, holy commitments to ourselves and to God during the private times of our lives and then keep those commitments during both the private and public times of our lives.
Earlier I spoke of the confidence that grows within us as we strive to lift those around us. There is a sweet, tender but powerful example of this in the New Testament. John, the cousin of Jesus, had been sent by God to prepare the people for the coming of Christ. In this regard, John was a forerunner. John’s fame in the land had grown, and people traveled great distances to see him and to be baptized by him—yet, in the midst of that fame, John deflected their adoration and refocused them on Jesus using an illustration drawn from the covenant of marriage. Referring to Jesus as the bridegroom and himself as a friend of the groom, John said: “He that hath the bride is the bridegroom: but the friend of the bridegroom, which standeth and heareth him, rejoiceth greatly because of the bridegroom’s voice: this my joy therefore is fulfilled.” [12]
Where did John’s joy and happiness come from? It came from the joy of preparing the way for Jesus. It came from his selfless efforts to prepare the way for the Son of God.
May I draw an analogy to you—to the success and to the level of confidence you will experience in your personal and professional lives. As you endeavor to lift others around you, those efforts will lift you. Learning to look outward toward lifting the burdens that so heavily weigh upon others will be like freeing yourselves from chains of excessive introspection that sometimes consume our lives. Self-absorption churns and churns within the heart and mind of those who are consumed with thoughts only of themselves. To be free from that, to feel the inner peace God desires you to have, instead of looking at others as rungs on a ladder for you to step on as you raise yourselves to higher ground, search for ways to be the one who lifts others to higher ground. Ultimately, you will find that they will, in turn, lift you. Others will see your actions, and your selfless reputation will motivate them to want to be near you. They will want to be influenced by your goodness. They will want to be lifted up by you and they will want to lift you. They will see in you the selfless attributes of leadership. In these relationships, your confidence and, hence, your inner peace and enduring joy will grow.
This is the spring from which real confidence flows.
In 1993, with the vigor of my newly made attorney’s oath and the energy that came from my recent graduation from law school and passing the bar exam, I received an unanticipated assignment one morning as a brand-new lawyer. That morning I was summoned into my supervising partner’s corner office and assigned my first jury trial—I was only a few months out of law school. Pleadings were complete, discovery had already been accomplished, even pre-trial documents had been submitted.
I should have foreseen what was to come when I picked up the file to prepare for my first meeting with my newly assigned clients and read their name: “The Church of Soldiers of the Cross of Christ.” They were a faith-filled zealous group, deeply committed to their beliefs. I prepared anxiously during every waking hour over the days that followed. Just a week later, I arrived early at the courthouse, filled with nervous tension for the first day of trial when we would argue last-minute motions, conduct jury selection, and give opening statements. It all filled my mind and consumed my thoughts. You know the feeling, kind of like when you show up for a semester-long comprehensive organic chemistry or calculus final exam. Filled with those kinds of feelings, I exited the elevator on the 6th floor of the courthouse. I was immediately met by an angry bailiff. I recall the top of my head came to about the level of the big shiny badge on his uniform. As I looked up at him, he said, with great tension and angst in his quivering voice “Mr. Bangerter, the judge wants you in his chambers now. I will escort you.” Then I saw it. Lining the long courthouse hallway, on both sides, was church member after church member, shoulder to shoulder, and all dressed head to toe in white. They broke out in song singing, “Onward, Christian Soldiers!” as we walked between them. By this point, any confidence I had upon arriving at the courthouse was entirely gone, leaving behind a big empty space that seemed to fill my mind.
As we entered the judge’s chambers, I was greeted by a red-faced, clearly very bothered judge. He yelled, “Mr. Bangerter, what is your church during in my hallways?” My response was immediate. I had feared he would ask a hard question. I felt such relief that the answer came so clearly and easily. I blurted out, “Oh, your honor, it’s not my church, that’s my client. My church is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints!” The Judge was disarmed by the candor and naivete of my reply; it seemed to melt his icy countenance. He then smiled and said softly, “Please, Mr. Bangerter, just tell them to leave the courthouse now and let me help you to know how you will do that.” He then got up from his chair, walked around his desk, and sat next to me. He said, “Go out to the hallway, thank them for their support. Ask them respectfully now to go on with their day and help them understand that their numbers would more likely intimidate the jury than endear the jury to them. Go down the stairway with them—lead them. Gather them again, and tell them you will update them every evening on the outcome of the day.”
That day, a judge who could have squashed me, instead took time to lift me. It worked; it worked just as he said it would. I got through that experience, but to this day, the clearest memory I have of that trial happened in the beginning with a judge kindly stepping down from his high position and sitting between me and the opposing attorney bringing peace to my heart and lifting me to accomplish something I did not think I could do.
I learned that day that whatever station or status we achieve in life, we can always take time to pause and lift another. This is God’s pattern. And so, He lifts us in the private times and in the public times of our lives to experience the reality of our own divine heritage.
The Lord taught, “The Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.” [13]
It is clear to me that Peter, the Lord’s Apostle in the meridian of time, came to understand and gain strength from the reality of his divine heritage. Called from humble circumstances as a lowly fisherman, he became a confident son of God and leader of the Church of Jesus Christ.
Allow the Spirit to open a vision within your mind of that historic day on the shores and on the Sea of Galilee as recorded in Luke 5. The Savior’s ministry had just begun. He had been led into the wilderness by the Spirit where he had fasted 40 days. Having overcome Satan’s despicable temptations, Jesus emerged performing miracles in Capernaum, healing Peter’s mother-in-law and teaching in the synagogues of Galilee.
Now, the people are gathered on the shores of Gennesaret, also known as the Sea of Galilee. The people pressed upon him, the scripture says, but he worked his way through them, moving toward two empty boats and fishermen nearby washing their nets. Jesus entered one of the boats and had Simon thrust the boat out away from the shoreline, and Jesus sat for a time and taught the people. Then Jesus made was must have been a most befuddling request of Simon. He asked Simon to go to where the water was deep and drop his net.
Now, we see something wonderful about both the Savior and Simon. The scripture says: “And Simon answering said unto him, Master, we have toiled all the night, and have taken nothing: nevertheless at thy word I will let down the net. And when they had this done, they enclosed a great multitude of fishes: and their net brake.” [14]
It is remarkable to consider what occurred that morning on the Sea of Galilee. In these few verses, we learn something wonderful about Simon. The Lord directed Simon to go to where the water was deep and, there, cast in his net. Though Simon had fished all night, catching nothing, and though he knew on the Sea of Galilee, the deep water in the morning hours was the worst location and time of the day to fish, he trusted in the Lord saying, “Master . . . at thy word I will let down the net.” [15] Simon’s confidence that morning came from his faith in the Savior’s power to make all things possible.
We also learn something grand about what the Savior experienced that morning. Something that should profoundly affect all of us in how we see ourselves. That morning, when the Savior entered the boat and beckoned Simon to cast out a little way from the shore, what did Jesus see? We know what He didn’t see. He did not see a tired, smelly, unsuccessful fisherman when He saw Simon. At least that was clearly not His focus. Rather, the Savior saw Simon, who would come to be known as Peter, who, though a common fisherman, was foreordained to receive a call to serve as an apostle of Jesus Christ. Jesus saw Peter, who would one day walk a few steps on water, [16] receive keys of the kingdom on the earth from the Savior, [17] lead the apostles after the Savior’s ascension to heaven, be imprisoned for his witness of the Savior and later suffer a martyr’s death. [18] He saw Peter, who as a resurrected being would, with James and John, appear to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery to restore the holy priesthood to the earth. [19]
And so it is when the Lord sees you. Those who accept Jesus Christ and take His name upon them through the ordinances and covenants of the gospel have been foreordained to greatness. [20] That is, to have the opportunity to receive the blessings of all of the saving ordinances of the gospel. [21] And in their obedience to the covenants made in the midst of those ordinances receive all that God has; to take upon them the name of Christ and to become heirs of God through Christ. [22]
As the Lord promised, confidence distills down upon us at the dews from heaven. [23] This happens over time, through the experiences of our lives; often in unexpected ways and in unanticipated moments.
I have come to experience the true source of real confidence as in times of greatest need I trusted in the Lord and received the blessings He promised: “Behold, I will go before you and be your rearward; and I will be in your midst, and you shall not be confounded.” [24]
Because we are children of God, He loves us, and He desires to bless us. Among the precious, comforting blessings He bestows along the path of our lives is the Christlike attribute we call “confidence,” an attribute He will bless you with through His grace and almighty power as you look outside yourself and strive to lift the lives of others around you.
I pray you may feel God’s loving arms around you and His Holy Spirit comforting you. I bear witness He lives and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is His, and the apostles and prophets who lead the Church in our day are called and directed by Him. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] 1 Nephi 11:2–5.
[2] See Mosiah 2:17; Mosiah 4:3.
[3] See Nadine Brown, “Finding Joy in His Service,” Liahona, Oct. 2022; Russell M. Nelson, “Joy and Spiritual Survival,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2016; M. Russell Ballard, “Finding Joy through Loving Service,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2011; Thomas S. Monson, “The Joy of Service,” New Era, 2009.
[4] Russell M. Nelson, “Decisions for Eternity,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2013.
[5] 2 Nephi 9:28.
[6] “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Gospel Library.
[7] Genesis 1:27
[8] John 14:26
[9] Psalms 82:6
[10] Doctrine and Covenants 121:45
[11] Romans 8:16-17
[12] John 3:29
[13] John 14:26
[14] Luke 5:1-6
[15] Luke 1:37
[16] Matthew 14:27-31
[17] Matthew 16:19
[18] Acts 2:14-42
[19] Doctrine and Covenants 27:12-13
[20] Gospel Topics and Questions – Foreordination;
[21] Alma 13:1-9; Acts 17:26; D&C 138:55-56
[22] Romans 8:16-17; Doctrine and Covenants 84:38; 4 Nephi 1:17
[23] Doctrine and Covenants 121:45
[24] Doctrine and Covenants 49:27; Galatians 4:7
[VP1] Revised to match what he said live