I am glad to be with you today. You are my friends, students, and colleagues. I hope to share with you a few things of great value to me. The first is the testimony of Christ, His gospel, His church, and His prophets. Maybe you have always believed these things, but haven't clearly recognized the Spirit, so you are not sure that you know these things. The first story is for you.
I grew up in a faithful Mormon family in the mission field, in the southern Bible belt, where there was a good deal of misinformation about Mormons, requiring strong defense. Family activities revolved around church service and driving west to visit the relatives. Serving in the church was a major commitment. Our branch stretched 60 to 80 miles in diameter, and district meetings were 100 miles away. Picking up people for church took hours. But the Lord brought us there to build His kingdom. That branch area has now become a stake of Zion.
But back to my story. Racial unrest in my high school caused me to leave for college a year early. During my first year of university I met challenges that made me want to know for myself, absolutely, the truth of the things I believed. My religion teachers encouraged the quest by assuring us that the revelations and gifts of the gospel are for all of us, not just special, privileged people. They also quoted Joseph Smith saying, "Make yourselves acquainted with men who, like Daniel, pray three times a day toward the temple."[1]
So, I began fasting frequently, and praying formally an extra time, at midday, while my roommate was in class. One midday several months into the experiment, I was again being very honest with the Lord about my need to know, and there came upon me an exceedingly sweet, powerful, full-of-love influence that seemed to enter into every molecule of my body and record indelibly there that Jesus is the Christ, that Joseph Smith and our current prophet are truly prophets of God, and that the gospel which I had been taught from youth up was true—priesthood authority, the Atonement, the Book of Mormon, the temple, the great plan of happiness—they are all true and right.
That sweet influence of light and love stayed with me for about 24 hours. Under its influence, I was filled with love and saw the world and even my fellow men differently. I was amazed that, although I felt very different, I did not appear different to others. I felt changed. Though there have been other experiences since then, that experience has remained a touchstone in my life. It did not come easily, but I know that I know. No knowledge you gain here will be of more importance than the knowledge of the truth of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and His church. Do whatever it takes to gain this knowledge.
For all of us, testimony is the beginning of a journey. For those who joined the church in the early days, testimony was the beginning of their journey to Zion—a journey filled with hardships and challenges, but a satisfying journey, for on it they obtained the promises that would assure them of the blessings of eternity. We, too, have now begun our journey to Zion.
Just as we begin an academic journey by registering for classes, we begin our spiritual journey when we register for the Lord's program by covenanting with Him in baptism. We sign up for additional instruction from the Lord through the covenants of the sacrament and the temple. When we sign up, we sign up to be transformed, both individually and as a group. Our sign-up also declares that we are willing to play a significant role in the Lord's latter day work of preparing for the second coming, because the service we render is a major factor in our transformation process. Of course, the benefit we get from the Lord's courses depends heavily upon our doing well our heavenly homework and attending His classes—church and institute. If we listen to our teacher—the Lord and His Spirit—attentively, and do our heavenly homework faithfully, we will gradually become "conformed to the image of His Son."
So changed, when we go forth into the world, we will go forth with his power upon us, in other words, with His name and nature upon us. His name represents and includes His nature, power, and attributes. As His servants, we will do things "in His name," meaning "in His power, nature, and authority." And when we speak or close a prayer in His name, there will be attached to that prayer or speech the power that is His. The whole universe honors Him, and runs under His power and His name. Each week in the sacrament we say we are willing to take upon us His name—His nature. In time, He puts His name upon us, as he did upon Abraham—think of the temple—"Behold, I will lead thee by my hand, and I will take thee, to put upon thee my name, even the Priesthood of thy father, and my power shall be over thee."[2] The Lord promises guidance, companionship, power, and protection.
When an individual is transformed, he becomes a Zion person. When a group is transformed, we see a Zion society. Elder D. Todd Christoffersen stated in conference that the destiny of the church, as the "Kingdom of God" on the earth, "is to establish Zion in preparation for the return and millennial rule of Jesus Christ."[3]
I believe one of the purposes of BYU-Idaho, situated "on the edge of nowhere," as President Hinckley said is to be a seedbed of Zion, a gospel greenhouse, where we start, incubate, and nurture Zion seedlings that will be planted throughout the earth to prepare for the second coming. We are gathered here to learn and practice Zion, the gospel. When we leave here, we are to take Zion with us, no matter our major. That means we need practice and experience here. So, what would Zion look like at BYU-Idaho? We are partly there. What can we gain that we don't yet have?
If we at BYU-Idaho live and practice Zion—and we read that Zion can only be built up on the principles of the celestial kingdom[4]—then our lives and the whole campus will be filled with light. When we teach and when we study, enlightenment will fill our minds and illuminate our subjects. We will learn more quickly and more clearly. Our classes will be filled with light. And we will have light in our personal lives and surroundings. Our interactions will be Zion-like, based on celestial principles. Our faith and hope will grow and flourish. Miracles will be frequent among us, even in our personal lives.
Each summer for the past five years, I have watched the establishment of a mini-Zion in the Nauvoo Pageant cast. Participants come together for just two weeks, and with just a little demonstration and instruction, they start living as a Zion society, which they just transfer onto the pageant stage. The effect is powerful, because it is real. Certainly pageant conditions are challenging: heat, mosquitoes, lack of sleep, but all "seek the interest of their neighbor"[5] and are happy to help each other in the cause of the Lord. Their unity in purpose calls down blessings much greater than would come to one individual alone.[6]
The society where people keep all the commandments, hearken to the Lord, and have the light and power of God, is Zion—the kind of Zion that the Lord is pleased with, that he unites with heaven, like the City of Enoch. If we really sanctify ourselves, and live the gospel, we can have heaven in our lives. Always very practical, Brigham Young said, "Do we realize that if we enjoy a Zion in time or in eternity we must make it for ourselves? ...When we conclude to make a Zion we will make it, and this work commences in the heart of each person...he must sanctify himself..." We don't have to wait until we are old, either!
D&C 133:17 calls us to this preparation: "For behold, the Lord God hath sent forth the angel crying through the midst of heaven, saying: Prepare ye the way of the Lord, and make his paths straight, for the hour of his coming is nigh,"[7] and a similar verse adds "repent, repent."[8]
Because we have joined the latter-day restoration, we are privileged to work on God's path-straightening "crew," under the direction of his appointed officers, to aid in the preparations for the second coming of Christ. Our charge is to take the message of preparation—repentance—to all, and to make His paths straight by getting the rocks and obstacles out of the King's road. Today, in awe, we watch His earthly path straighten as impenetrable walls come down, and nation after nation opens for the gospel and temples.
But there is also a path to be cleared to our hearts, a road within that allows his light and power to come into us and prepare us to "abide the day" of His coming. We must clear away the piles of worldly trash, non-heavenly entertainment, false precepts, destructive emotions, and sins, so they don't block the path of the light—and so they don't take up space in our hearts that would instead be filled completely with the Spirit of God. The path to our hearts must be free and clear to allow his light to flood in and fill us.
Recently, I watched a health professional shine a small laser beam through a treatment remedy to transport the frequency of the remedy into a person who needed it. There were no obstructions so the power of the light shining through the remedy picked up and carried the remedy's frequency into the person. In a similar way, the light of God, the Spirit, shines through and illuminates divine truth—the remedy we need—and carries it into us, to help heal us. The path must be clear and straight.
Sometimes when a powerful light is applied to a substance, the light overcomes and consumes the substance. Scriptures warn that the presence of God will consume the unprepared. However, scientists have discovered an exceptional circumstance. When all the molecules of the substance are perfectly lined up, the light and power that previously would have melted and destroyed the substance simply makes it translucent and radiant. Lining up the molecules is analogous to our trying to be perfectly obedient, or lining up our hearts with God's will. Could we be translucent and radiant? When Moses descended from Sinai, his face shone. When Joseph Smith received section 76, his face shone. Nephi aligned himself and prepared himself to receive greater light by praying his heart would be softened to believe his father's vision. "Who may abide the day of [the Lord's] coming?"[9]
Can you see, now, that the honor code is just a means to help us get our hearts "lined up," so that we can handle more light? It is the Lord's desire to bless us with greater light, but we must be prepared to receive it. We read in Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, "God has not revealed anything to Joseph, but what he will make known unto the Twelve, and even the least Saint may know all things as fast as he is able to bear them..."[10]
It seems clear that the first key to receiving what the Lord is anxious to give us is obedience—being willing to do the will of God—to receive His guidance in faith when it is given, and obey it. President Ezra Taft Benson said, "When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power."[11] Obedience to the Lord and his appointed messengers—His prophets and His Spirit, opens the spillways of heaven to begin pouring out His light on us. The obedience that brings the blessings of heaven includes obedience to the small promptings and nudges we receive to guide our personal lives. This obedience is how we "seek... the Lord to establish His righteousness"[12] instead of establishing our version of righteousness.
Joseph Smith gave this advice to Brigham Young at Winter Quarters in 1847:
Tell the people to be humble and faithful and be sure to keep the Spirit of the Lord and it will lead them right. Be careful and not turn away the small still voice... Tell the brethren to keep their hearts open to conviction so that when the Holy Ghost comes to them, their hearts will be ready to receive it.[13]
Getting the obstacles out of our hearts will "make straight the path" of the Lord's light into our hearts. We will still need to ask for God's light, but it will come so much more readily; our spiritual healing and transformation will accelerate! And when we operate "in the Spirit," the Spirit will expand and enhance our contribution, just as the loaves and fishes were expanded to feed a multitude.
As we work to learn the Spirit, remember there are three types of voices we will hear:
1. Our own voice, as we weigh and consider.
2. The Spirit, often very brief, with direct commands or suggestions.
3. Evil, usually arguing against a prompt or nudge we just received.
Joseph Smith listed characteristics of the Spirit:
The Spirit of the Lord will whisper peace and joy to their souls, and it will take malice, hatred, envying, strife, and all evil from their hearts; and their whole desire will be to do good, bring forth righteousness, and build up the kingdom of God.[14]
I tried an obedience experiment one day when I knew I would not be distracted by deadlines. "Today," I said, "I will try to do whatever the Spirit seems to direct." I felt nudged to revisit some of my visiting teachees and tried to follow the nudges all day. I got almost nothing done on my long to-do list, but the next morning when I opened my scriptures to a passage that was usually very run of the mill, it now seemed filled with incredible, powerful spiritual light. It is clear that if we work to obey his voice, the Lord will pour down his light on us. That light will be a protection against the evils of the world, spiritually and physically, just as the divine cloud and pillar were a defense for ancient Israel. Protection promised to Zion is real.
If it feels hard to identify promptings, it may be because of false beliefs and fears, which cloud or block the path of light. Here are some common false premises:
1. "I am not good enough." But, if you are willing to do God's will, you are good enough. He will help you, guide you, and transform you.
2. "I can't because of my circumstances." This is victimitis. If Nephi had played the victim, he would have said, "I can't because Laban is impossible," or "I can't because my brothers won't help," or "I can't because I have never been taught how." But, in the Lord's setup, our challenging circumstances are perfect to teach us the truly important things.
3. Another false premise is: "I always fail." On our own, we often fail. But, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me."15Nephi said, "I will go and do."[16] We must not discount the wagonloads of help we receive from beyond the veil. As Elisha said, "They that be with us are more than they that be with them."[17] Of the 12 spies Moses sent to Canaan, 10 came back truthfully saying, "There are giants, this is scary, we could fail." Two rejoiced in God's promises.[18] We must believe God. He has promised victory. Focusing on the scary parts won't help. "When the earth begins to tremble, bid our fearful thoughts be still."[19]
I remember my world trembling in a state of overwhelm one September. I had just finished a very stressful time preparing and sending off a family member to work overseas for the first time. I came straight home and launched into my long list to be completed before school started on Monday. I wasted no time, but Saturday night arrived much sooner than it should have, and my list was not done, particularly staking the leaning peach tree, which I knew would never get done once school started. Tired and spent, I literally cried to the Lord, explaining that I had done my best but was greatly distressed that there was not time to stake the tree. It was too dark now for me to do it, and very late. As I worked to finish the house chores before Sunday, I began hearing noises outside, but when I started to look out, I thought, "Oh, it is just a neighbor making some noise." When I awoke Sunday morning, I saw my tree beautifully staked. I had never spoken to any of my neighbors about staking the tree. I believe it was a gift from God to soothe my troubled heart.
4. Another falsehood is: "They won't want me." The Lord definitely wants you. He has a plan for you and also a mission for you to do, just like the heroes who go on a great journey to save their people against great odds. He even sends angels to help. If you stick with it, you will be transformed and capacitated for the work. Converts can be transformed, and so can any of us.
5. A tricky premise is: "I am not perfect." None of us are. That is true. But the resultant fatalistic attitude that leaves Christ out of the picture is a worldly lie. All have sinned and come short of the glory of God, but through Christ, we can conquer. Perfection is possible, but only through Him.
6. A popular false premise is: "The world owes me." Neither the world nor God owes us. God has already given us all we have. We have the opportunity to do things here in the world, but no "birthright" of ease and comfort. Our current earthly birthright is "the sweat of thy face" and a lot of other trouble, all perfectly designed for our hands-on learning experience.
Our fears are usually based on false premises like these. Fears, lurking in our emotional rather than mental areas, can cause us to super control and engage the arm of flesh, blocking the Spirit. The Lord says, "inasmuch as ye strip yourselves of jealousies and fears, and humble yourselves..., the veil shall be rent."[20] Instead of dwelling in fear, we can trust in God—He is the master of bringing about positive results from bad situations. We ask, "where is God's love in this injury or that great disappointment?" God's love is in the healing of it, and in our learning from it. His schooling of us is careful, and guided. Give him the benefit of the doubt. Stick with it. Submit.[21] We have to submit to God to experience the transformation.
Dropping all our falsehood baggage will greatly lighten our load and speed our journey. Purifying our hearts from sin, fears, unbelief, and false premises will let in the light and strengthen us on our trek.
Here are a few other things to help on the journey to Zion:
- Keep the big picture in mind. The goal is salvation, Zion, and eternal life.
- Put aside the world, and worldliness. Worldly distractions dissipate spiritual strength, weaken our concentration on the Lord, and lower our ability to receive his direction. Keeping the Sabbath will aid in putting aside the world. While building the family home, a perceived deadline caused my father to decide he should stay home from church one Sunday to finish spackling the high ceiling in the living room. All appeared to go well, but when the ceiling dried, every nail still showed. For the next 20 years until the ceiling was refinished, those nails reminded us to keep the Sabbath.
- Treat people with love and respect, as people.
- Remembering specific ways the Lord has blessed others in the past will increase our faith. He is just as ready to bless us today.
- Praise, uplift, and appreciate. No grumbling, no "rotten fruit."
Brigham Young said:
In all your social communications, or whatever your associations are, let all the dark, discontented, murmuring, unhappy, miserable feelings, all the evil fruit of the mind, fall from the tree in silence and unnoticed; and so let it perish, without taking it up to present to your neighbors. But when you have joy and happiness, light and intelligence, truth and virtue, offer that fruit abundantly to your neighbors, and it will do them good, and so strengthen the hands of your fellow-being.[22]
Instead of picking at faults, hold up the good that people do; hold up the yet-future good they can achieve, and the way to get there. This encourages people to do good works much more than pointing out failings.
- Sacrifice for the cause. But be sure it is the Lord's version of sacrifice, not our own concoction. He values our offerings most highly when we sacrifice our will to do his will.
- Humility, the correct view of where we are in relation to God and fellowman, makes possible unity. When people become unified under God on earth, the heavenly Zion cannot be withheld from joining them.
- Be real and honest, but respectful. The Lord, and others, can work better with someone who is real. Once, in the moment when I felt anger well up in my heart against a roommate, I called on the Lord, admitting the problem and asking for help. Immediately, the anger totally dissipated. I should call on Him more often! We can be perfect only in Christ. The Lord is pleased to help us when we ask.
Speak honestly with the Lord. Covenants are based on honesty with Him. You can't hide anything from him anyway, and it will give you a lot to talk about in your prayers.
- Pray—Pray longer, and in detail, and the answers often will be clearer. But remember you cannot force revelation—it will come when it will. Just stay open to receive it. When we attempt to force revelation, it is common to receive answers from the wrong source, and peace and light do not attend those messages.
A prayer story: I was not a great singer, but managed by other skills to get in a very fine college choir. For the sake of that choir, I wanted to be a much better singer, so I sought every learning opportunity, and prayed every day, for about ten years, that the Lord would help me learn to sing. Bit by bit, inspirations came as I pondered and practiced—nudges to try things I hadn't thought of, and understandings of how the voice worked. It is one of the Lord's miracles that I now teach voice, and the understandings I have gained continue to bless my life both spiritually and vocally.
Some of my favorite vocally-based premises are these:
- Do the right thing in the present moment, and the future will be much better.
- Let God's light completely in, and it will connect us with our true foundation, Christ.
- If you are connected with your true foundation—the Lord—everything will work much more easily and efficiently.
- When we force—by the arm of flesh—we nearly always get the opposite of what we want.
- If you tune your spiritual resonance to match the Lord, your efforts will be expanded and multiplied by him without additional effort on your part, and they will be much more beautiful and effective than your original contribution.
In my experience, the Lord does marvelous things with the willing and diligent. You are enough. If you seek the Lord, He can work with you. The same Lord who can teach someone to sing, or teach someone to build a boat, like Nephi, or who can transform a New England farm boy into the great prophet of the restoration, can also teach us how to build Zion in our hearts and lives. Joseph Smith said:
The building up of Zion... is a theme upon which prophets... have dwelt with peculiar delight; but they died without the sight; we are the favored people that God has made choice of to bring about the Latter-day glory;... when the Saints of God will be gathered in one... The Spirit of God will also dwell with His people, and be withdrawn from the rest of the nations... The heavenly priesthood will unite with the earthly, to bring about those great purposes; and whilst we are thus united in one common cause, to roll forth the kingdom of God, the heavenly Priesthood are not idle spectators: the Spirit of God will be showered down from above, and it will dwell in our midst...This is a work that... his destined to bring about the destruction of the powers of darkness, and renovation of the earth, the glory of God, and the salvation of the human family.[23]
This is our calling.
Elder Bruce R. McConkie has spoken of physical/spiritual Zion in the last days:
...From the top of the peak where the soles of our feet now tread, we can look forward, crest upon crest, to the Zion of God which one day will be ours if we walk in the course charted by those who have gone before. We cannot see the whole course; many things are hidden from our view. Mountain trails wind through valleys and over crests, around ledges, and through forests. We do not know the length of the journey nor the perils that await us.
We see the Lord break down the barriers so that the world of Islam and the world of Communism can hear the message of the restoration...
We see stakes of Zion in all parts of the earth; and Israel, the chosen people, gathering into these cities of holiness, ... to await the coming of their King.
...We see the Saints of God who are scattered upon all the face of the earth, rise in power and glory, and stand as lights and guides to the people of their own nations.
We see evil forces everywhere uniting to destroy the family, to ridicule morality and decency, to glorify all that is lewd and base. We see wars and plagues and pestilence. Nations rise and fall. Blood and carnage and death are everywhere. Gadianton robbers fill the judgment seats in many nations. An evil power seeks to overthrow the freedom of all nations and countries....
But amid it all, the work of the Lord rolls on. The gospel is preached... The kingdom grows and prospers, for the Lord is with his people.
Amid it all, there are revelations and visions and prophecies. There are gifts and signs and miracles. There is a rich outpouring of the Holy Spirit of God.
...the world is and will be in commotion, but the Zion of God will be unmoved. ...[24]
D&C 65:2, 4-6 declares: "...the stone cut out of the mountain without hands shall roll forth, until it has filled the whole earth."
I imagine looking down on the earth from space, seeing many points of light dotting the earth, representing groups of faithful believing people. The lights grow and spin off new lights, which light up new places or add power to older lights. The points of light multiply, brighten, and grow, until, like the light of the morning coming out of the east, "the Son of Man... [descends]..., clothed in the brightness of his glory, to meet the kingdom of God which is set up on the earth."[25]
May we be ready! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Page 161
[2] Abraham 1:18
[3] November 2015 Ensign, p. 111
[4] Doctrine and Covenants 105:5
[5] Doctrine and Covenants 82:19
[6] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Page 183
[7] Doctrine and Covenants 133:17
[8] Doctrine and Covenants 33:10
[9] Malachi 3:2
[10] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Page 149
[11] Donald L. Staheli, "Obedience—Life's Great Challenge," Ensign, May 1998
[12] Doctrine and Covenants 1:16
[13] Joseph Smith, in Journal History, 23 Feb. 1847
[14] Joseph Smith, in Journal History, 23 Feb. 1847
[15] Philipians 4:13
[16] 1 Nephi 3:7
[17] 2 Kings 6:16
[18] Numbers 13
[19] "Guide Us, O Though Great Jehovah," Hymnal, Page 83
[20] Doctrine and Covenants 67:1
[21] Mosiah 3:19
[22] Discourses of Brigham Young. Page 240
[23] Teaching of the Prophet Joseph Smith. Page 231-232
[24] Bruce R. McConkie, "The Coming Tests and Trials and Glory," April Conference, 1980
[25] Doctrine and Covenants 65:5