Mary Anne and I are honored to be here this afternoon for this wonderful assignment. I am in the process of writing my personal history. I have entitled one of the chapters, "Look What She Did With Me." Mary Anne is one of the greatest blessings of my life.
Whom you choose to marry will have such a great impact on your future as you build a home and family. I am glad she saw some potential in me and was willing to take a chance. We graduated from BYU on May 29, 1970, and we were married a week later on June 5th in the Idaho Falls Temple. It has been a wonderful journey for both of us. Much more wonderful than either of us ever imagined.
I grew up in Rexburg. I attended Rick's College-now BYU-Idaho. I had wonderful teachers, and my years here were filled with rich experiences. Likewise, I am sure you have marvelous teachers and are making meaningful memories. President Gilbert and his family are a great blessing to you. Find a way to learn from them and from everyone you associate with here.
Some time ago, I was invited by our granddaughter, Rachelle, to speak to her seminary class at Woods Cross High School. We spent a wonderful hour together. That day I was asked one of the best questions that I have ever been asked. That question was: "What do you know now that you wish you had known at my age?" Today, I would like to share with you some great truths that I know now that I wish I had known at your age.
The Most Important Organization in Time and Eternity is the Family, and at the Core of that Organization is Marriage.
President Russell M. Nelson taught: "While salvation is an individual matter, exaltation is a family matter. Only those who are married in the temple and whose marriage is sealed by the Holy Spirit of Promise will receive the highest degree of celestial glory, or exaltation...All church activities, advancements, quorums, and classes are a means to the end of an exalted family...The earth was created and this Church was restored so that families could be formed, sealed, and exalted eternally."[1]
And President Howard W. Hunter added: "No blessing, including eternal marriage and an eternal family, will be denied to any worthy individual. While it may take somewhat longer, perhaps even beyond this mortal life, for some to achieve this blessing, it will not be denied."[2]
Lorenzo Snow taught us the importance of being sealed in the temple. He said: "When two Latter-day Saints are united together in marriage, promises are made to them concerning their offspring that reach from eternity to eternity. What else could man wish? A man and a woman in the other life, having celestial bodies, free from sickness and disease, glorified and beautiful beyond description, standing in the midst of their posterity, governing and controlling them, administering life, exaltation and glory, worlds without end."[3]
In light of these teachings, we must understand our primary purpose is to form an eternal family. Now is the time for you to be establishing or preparing for an eternal marriage.
One of the keys to a great marriage is to include the Savior in your relationship. That starts when you become serious in the dating process. Let me share a poem by Perry Tanksley, entitled "Marriage Takes Three."
I once thought marriage took
Just two to make it go.
But now I am convinced
It takes the Lord also.
And not one marriage fails
Where Christ is asked to enter,
As lovers come together
With Jesus at the center.
But marriage seldom thrives
And homes are incomplete,
'Til He is welcomed there
To help avoid defeat.
In homes where Christ is first,
It's obvious to see,
Those unions really work.
For marriage - it takes three.[4]
Let me share with you what I would have done differently if I had understood this great truth before I married and had a family. In the white, blank pages in the front and back of my scriptures, I would have written at the top: "The most important organization in time and eternity is the family." Then, I would have looked around at the people I knew and I would have carefully observed the great marriages and great families that I admired. I would have taken the time to meet with the parents of those great families and asked for suggestions on how to create a great marriage and a great family like they had. What advice did they have for me? What specific practices and traditions did they have in their families that helped them to be strong? I would have listened to their wisdom, and I would have recorded it in my scriptures. Then I would have reviewed that list regularly.
Had I done this, I would have had a better understanding early in our marriage of how to be a better husband and father. I would not have made so many mistakes. There are too many divorces in this world, and there are things we can do to fix that problem. Alma said: "By small and simple things are great things brought to pass."[5]
Developing Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and Living a Christ-centered Life are Divine Principles
As taught in Preach My Gospel: "Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is the first principle of the Gospel. Having faith in Christ includes having a firm belief that He is the Only Begotten Son of God, and the Savior and Redeemer of the world. We recognize that we can return to live with our Heavenly Father only by relying on His Son's grace and mercy. When we have faith in Christ, we accept and apply His Atonement and His teachings. We trust Him and what He says. We know that He has the power to keep His promises. Heavenly Father blesses those who have faith to obey His Son."[6]
"Faith leads to action, including repentance, obedience, and dedicated service. When you have faith in Jesus Christ, you trust the Lord enough to follow His commandments-even when you do not completely understand the reasons for them. You accomplish what the Lord wants you to accomplish. You help bring about good in your own life and the lives of others. You are able to do miracles according to the Lord's will. Your faith will be made manifest through diligence and work."[7]
There is an important reason why faith is the first principle of the gospel. Faith establishes the conduit of communication between you and heaven. With that line of communication wide open, your faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can guide you to a Christ-centered, celestial life. The process begins with your personal application of the teachings of the Savior.
Last year, I had the opportunity to participate in the reorganization of three single adult stakes. During the weekend of each Stake Conference, we spent Saturday morning visiting five apartments in each of those stakes. Not one apartment had a picture of Christ in their living room. Not one was having apartment prayer or scripture study, or family home evening. We taught them the importance of being Christ-centered in every facet of their lives-especially in their apartments.
One of the apartments we visited included one new convert, two returned missionaries, and one student who had been less-active. The new convert saw me in the Sunday session of stake conference and said, "I have never felt closer to my roommates than when we read the Book of Mormon and prayed together last night. The Spirit was in our apartment." Do you want the Spirit to reside in your home or apartment? Do you hold apartment or family prayer? Do you read the scriptures together? This is the perfect time to begin these practices that you will apply in your family and home.
A while ago, Mary Anne and I had the opportunity to attend an art show at BYU featuring famous artists and their paintings of the Savior.
This painting by Heinrich Hoffman, called "Portrait of Christ," hangs in our living room. It is the same painting that President Monson has hung on the wall across from his desk. He looks at it often and asks: "What would He do?"
Heinrich Hoffman commented about this painting, "Originally I had painted it for myself, and only because of the persuasion of friends I exhibited it in my studio. I wanted to hang it over my bed and when I went to rest in the evening, it should look at me, earnestly scrutinizing, and ask: 'Have you lived this day in my spirit according to my commandments?'" After he sold the painting in 1904, Hoffmann commented that he felt as though "something sacred was missing" and felt, as he said "the absence of my Savior's eyes looking at me."[8]
Having a picture of Christ in our living rooms will help us to live lives that are Christ-centered.
The Companionship of the Holy Ghost is the Greatest Gift That Mortal Man Can Enjoy
Throughout my life, I have come to understand that the companionship of the Holy Ghost is the greatest gift that mortal man can enjoy. One of the most important things you can do at this moment of your life is learn to listen to the Holy Ghost and follow Him.
In an interview on the Mormon Channel, Elder Craig A. Cardon of the Seventy, shared the following: "From the time of the birth of our first child, present in every prayer that we offered was a plea that our children would learn to recognize the voice of the Lord and have the courage to respond to it. My role as a father was to help them connect with their Eternal Father. To remind them that He would always be there."[9] This is our prayer for each of you today: that you will learn to recognize the voice of the Holy Ghost and have the courage to respond to it.
The Savior promised the Twelve the gift of the Holy Ghost as recorded in the book of John: "But when the Comforter is come, whom I will send unto you from the Father, even the Spirit of truth, which proceedeth from the Father, he shall testify of me"[10] "Without this gift, they were not ready for their ministries and all they would face."[11] If we do not learn how to listen to and follow the Holy Ghost, we will not reach the Celestial Kingdom. We live in a difficult world and the Holy Ghost will help keep us safe, and on the path back to the presence of the Father and the Son.
The Holy Ghost is the Testator, Revelator, Sanctifier, Holy Spirit, Holy Spirit of Promise, Spirit of Truth, Messenger of the Father and the Son. Parley P. Pratt said this about the Holy Ghost:
The gift of the Holy Ghost quickens all the intellectual faculties, increases, enlarges, expands, and purifies all the natural passions and affections, and adapts them, by the gift of wisdom, to their lawful use. It inspires, develops, cultivates, and matures all the fine-toned sympathies, joys, tastes, kindred feelings, and affections of our nature. It inspires virtue, kindness, goodness, tenderness, gentleness, and charity. It develops beauty of 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.[12]
What great power the Holy Ghost has! Does this give us a vision of what the Holy Ghost can do for us? I recently made a list of some things the Holy Ghost can help us with:
By the power of the Holy Ghost, a person receives a testimony of Jesus Christ, His work, and the work of His servants.
He is a cleansing agent.
Elder Robert D. Hales states that "the Holy Ghost provides personal revelation to help us make major life decisions about such things as education, missions, marriage, children, where we will live...and so on."[13]
- He brings hope and comfort.
- He endows us with spiritual gifts.
- The Holy Ghost reveals the truth of all things.
- He teaches the joy of service which makes us happy.
- The Holy Ghost takes away fear.
- The Holy Ghost can help us with our studies.
- He helps us to become like the Father and the Son.
Melanie Wellman tells a story in the Liahona entitled, "Who Needs My Help?"
"As a college student, I heard a wonderful Relief Society lesson on service. The teacher said, 'If you pray for Heavenly Father to open your eyes to the needs of others so you can help them, He will do so.'"
"That sentence stayed with me. I wanted to serve others but hadn't thought to ask Heavenly Father for help. So, I decided to give it a try. The next morning I knelt and prayed, 'Heavenly Father, if there is anyone who needs my help today, please let me know.' I finished my prayer and headed to class."
"Amid the hustle of the day, I forgot my prayer. During the afternoon I went to the grocery store. As I stood in line to pay for my groceries, I noticed an elderly woman who used a cane for support. I smiled at her and glanced at the groceries she was buying. I thought, 'How is she going to get those groceries into her house?'"
"With some frustration I countered, 'But what can I do? Follow her home?' I had an immediate strong feeling that this idea was correct, so I gave in and drove down the road after her. I kept thinking, 'This is crazy! Why am I following this woman home?' Soon we arrived at her apartment complex. I ran over to her and asked, 'Can I help you with these groceries?'"
"Puzzled, the woman looked at me and asked if I lived nearby. I told her I did not. 'Do you work here?' she asked."
"I explained that I had seen her in the grocery store and had worried about how she would carry all those groceries into her home. At that point she looked up at me with tears in her eyes and said, 'I was wondering the entire way home how I was going to get my groceries into my home.'"
"Later, as she drove home, Sister Wellman's eyes blurred with tears. She had experienced the wonderful influence of the Holy Ghost touching two lives."[14]
To have the Holy Ghost active in our lives requires specific things:
- We must want it and pray for it.
- We must keep our covenants.
- We must be obedient.
- We must be diligent and respond when the Spirit directs us to act.
Last Sunday, as we partook of the sacrament, we heard these words "always remember Him and keep His commandments...that they may always have His Spirit to be with them."[15] What happens during the sacrament and sacrament meeting is important in our relationship with the Holy Ghost.
I received the following letter from Elder Lazcano, a missionary serving in Argentina: "I am writing to share with you the miracles that the Lord has done that have changed my life. While you were in Panama you said to me, 'Write down what the Spirit teaches you as you study Preach My Gospel.' Thanks to you, the principle of revelation has been planted deeply in my heart."
"When I had been on my mission for only six months, I was called as a trainer. One day my new companion asked me, 'Why do you have your planner and a little book under your pillow?' I told him, 'Because I write down what I learn from the Holy Ghost during the night.' He didn't seem to understand what I meant."
"That night my companion woke up in the middle of the night and saw me sitting at the table, writing in my planner. He asked, 'Elder Lazcano, what are you doing?' I told him, 'I am recording revelation.' My companion was touched and he knew by the Spirit that this principle was true. From that evening on, we each wrote what we learned from the Holy Ghost and worked hard to live according to what we had been told. Elder Clarke, I know that the Lord speaks to us. This work is true."
I have a book of inspiration that I carry with me. I have learned that the Holy Ghost will always teach me. If I write down the promptings and do what He directs, He keeps talking to me. Do you have a book of inspiration?
We Should Spend Time on the Things That Matter Most
Elder Robert D. Hales recently said: "When you cannot do what you have always done, then you only do what matters most."[16]
Elder Dallin H. Oaks said it in his way: "We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families."[17]
In my life, I have learned that spending time on the most important things really does matter. If we are not careful, we will spend time on things that don't really matter and many times things that will be harmful.
We all have 24 hours a day, seven days a week, and how we use that time will determine our success and happiness in this life and in the life to come. The following quotes may help us in our journey to do the most important things with our time:
- "Your greatest resource is your time" -Brian Tracy
- "Time is money" -Benjamin Franklin
- "The great dividing line between success and failure can be expressed in 5 words: 'I did not have time.'" -Franklin Field
- "Lost time is never found again" -Benjamin Franklin · "Minutes are worth more than money. Spend them wisely." -Thomas P. Murphy
- "If you want to make good use of your time, you've got to know what's most important and then give it all you've got." -Lee Iacocca
- And Henry David Thoreau: "As if you could kill time without injuring eternity." (Walden, 1971, p. 8)
As we learn to use our time wisely, we learn that diligence is more important than intelligence. Chapter 8 in Preach My Gospel has many great truths and practices on how to prioritize your time and set goals. Steve Allen, director of the Missionary Department, shared the following experience with me:
"A few years ago, I attended a mission presidents' seminar in Burbank, California. The local mission president had arranged for two of his proselyting missionaries to drive me from the chapel to the Burbank Airport on a Saturday afternoon. When I got into the vehicle, I noticed that the junior companion was seated in the back seat and seemed to be disconnected from the world. The driver, who had been out for about 18 months, saw his task as being a chauffeur. Neither of these missionaries knew that I was the managing director of the Missionary Department. They simply viewed themselves as taxi drivers. We had 15 minutes until we would arrive at the airport."
"I prayed and asked Heavenly Father if there would be some way that I could connect with these two missionaries, particularly the driver. I felt impressed to ask him if I could look at his planner. He nonchalantly handed me the planner and kept driving. In glancing through the planner, it was very clear that he was using it simply as a scheduling tool and that he did not understand chapter eight of Preach My Gospel. I thanked him, handed back his planner and prayed again."
"In a few moments, I felt impressed to ask him this question: 'Elder Smith (not his real name), if I were to share with you an idea, which if you followed, would earn you three to four times more money over the course of your lifetime than you were going to make, would you be interested? For example, if over the course of your lifetime, you are going to earn $10 million, this idea will help you earn $30 million.' He thought about it for a moment and then responded by restating my question, 'You have an idea that if I do it, it will earn me three to four more times more money over the course of my lifetime than I am going to make?' 'Yes.' He responded, 'Yes, I would be interested.'"
"I said, 'I am willing to share this idea with you on one condition, that you promise me you will do exactly what I teach you.' This caused some pause on his part, and when he finally responded, with about nine minutes to go to the airport, he said, 'So, you have an idea, that if I do it and I promise you I will do it, that it will earn me three to four times more money over the course of my lifetime. But you won't share it with me unless I promise to do it, correct?' 'Correct.' He again thought about it for several minutes and said, 'Alright, I promise. I will do exactly what you say.' And so I told him that it was obvious from his planner that he does not understand chapter eight of Preach My Gospel. I told him that it was developed by a very skilled team of people who understand how to use time wisely and that it has been hailed by many professional people as one of the finest pieces of work on the topic."
"I invited him, beginning that day, to reread Preach My Gospel chapter eight and make a list of all the principles in the chapter. Then, to begin living the principles with exactness. I said, 'Your goal is to become a Preach My Gospel chapter eight missionary. If it says to do something in that chapter, you do it. Make it a part of who you are. If you do this and apply it to your life, you will earn three to four times more money than you are going to on your current course.' He said that he would do it and we parted company."
"I did not expect to hear back from Elder Smith, but about seven or eight months later, I received a letter from him, thanking me for that invitation. He said he had done exactly as he promised. He studied chapter eight and had indeed become a Preach My Gospel chapter eight missionary. He said his only regret was that he had wasted the first 18 months of his mission without this experience. He said the last six months were glorious, and there was no question in his mind that he will earn at least three to four times more money than he would have; but more importantly, he has learned how to set goals, make plans, be accountable, and achieve at a much higher level than before."[18]
On this journey to become like the Father and His Son, we need to spend our time on that which matters most or on the best things.
Forming celestial habits and obeying Christ's teachings is not easy. We need to remember:
- The most important organization in time and eternity is the family and at the core of that organization is marriage.
- We should develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and live a Christ-centered life.
- The companionship of the Holy Ghost is the greatest gift that mortal man can enjoy.
- We should spend time on the things that matter most.
These truths will help us on our journey to return and live with the Father and the Son.
Notes
[1] Russell M. Nelson, "Celestial Marriage," Ensign, November 2008
[2] Howard W. Hunter, "The Church is for All People," Ensign, June 1989
[3] Lorenzo Snow, The Deseret Weekly, 3 April 1897, 481
[4] Perry Tanksley, "Marriage Takes Three," http://www.godswork.org/inpoem47.htm
[5] Alma 37:6
[6] Preach My Gospel, 61-61
[7] Preach My Gospel, 116
[8] Rosemarie Muller, "Heinrich Hoffmann: Painter of Christ," Self-Realization Magazine, Winter 2004
[9] "Gospel Solutions for Families," Mormon Channel, Episode 58
[10] John 15:26
[11] Holy Bible, King James Version, Bible Dictionary, "Holy Ghost"
[12] Parley P. Pratt, Key to the Science of Theology, 9th ed., 1965, 101
[13] Robert D. Hales, "The Holy Ghost," Ensign, May 2016
[14] Melanie Wellman, "Who Needs My Help?" Liahona, September 2000
[15] Moroni 4:3
[16] David A. Bednar, "Chosen to Bear Testimony of My Name," Ensign, May 2015
[17] Dallin H. Oaks, "Good, Better, Best," Ensign, November 2007
[18] Allen, Stephen B., "Becoming a Chapter 8 Preach My Gospel Missionary"