My husband just leaned over to me and said, "Can you feel the Spirit here?" And it is a wonderful opportunity to be here and partake in that blessing together with you. As I was looking out on the audience, I thought, "who is here?" and maybe you can show by a raise of your hands if you fit into any of these categories. It won't be comprehensive, but how many of you are enrolled in school here at BYU-Idaho right now? How many are full time students? And part time students? How many will graduate within the next year? How many have been on missions? And how many of you have a mission call or are anticipating a mission call soon? How many of you have been endowed in the temple? How many are married? How many have children? How many have grandchildren?
How many woke up tired this morning? That covers me. I was nervous all night long about this opportunity and to top that off, we had to drive up here, and as you get closer to Rexburg the anticipation and the worry increases. It sort of adds to the tension. But thank you for being here. This talk is primarily for those of you who are enrolled in school here. But I think it touches on all of us.
As I served on the Church Board of Education, I thought often about the interest the First Presidency has in the rising generation in the youth of the Church and how much of the Lord's storehouse and resources goes into building this generation. Often times when I'm with younger members of the Church I'll say, "Why are you so special? Why do you think you get so much of the Lord's storehouse invested in you?" And if I were to open that up to your comments right now, I'd probably get the same replies I often get. You might say, "We're the rising generation and we're special. The future of the kingdom depends upon us. And we were valiant before we were born" and so on. But I want you to know that when I was your age a long time ago they use to tell us the same things.
They used to tell us that we were special; that we were the amazing generation born on the earth. And I have wondered sometimes as I have listened over the years, did the Church leaders have it wrong then? Or did we just not measure up? And as I've studied that question, I've come to the realization that what makes you special is the covenants you have been permitted to make with the Lord and the responsibility you have. You're not special because of your age or the time on the earth you were born. Thousands of years ago the apostle Peter was telling the members of the Church, "you're special, you're part of this chosen generation."[1] And it has something to do with the covenant s that you've been permitted to make.
As I've thought about this opportunity since last November when President Clark called me, I have pondered and prayed throughout that time, and every so often I'd get a thought and I'd write it down on a piece of paper and put it in my folder. That's been my practice to collect the thoughts that come in my prayers and in my moments in the temple and then as the time gets closer I'll pull those out and study them. I was surprised to find that I had over half a dozen references to the same scripture and the same teaching. And I realized that the Lord has an interest in me focusing on something with you.
Many of you as you indicated have served missions; and some will be serving missions. Many of you have raised your hands and said you have been endowed in the temple and you've made temple covenants. And I hope that what I speak about today will help increase your understanding of the temple and the covenants that are made there and explore some of the instructions that were given to Adam and Eve when the Lord sent them down to earth.
Now, Adam and Eve were beginners. We learn in Genesis that they were the first covenant keeping man and woman--the first sealed couple. We've been told this by our prophets and apostles. If you think back, all the way back to them, you realize they didn't have the teachings of Isaiah, they didn't have the teachings of Nephi, they didn't have the Doctrine and Covenants, and they didn't have any manuals or seminary teachers. They had a specific purpose and covenant to keep but they didn't have all the rich treasure trove of teaching that you have had in your lives. As the Lord began teaching Adam and Eve, He needed them to remember His instructions so simply and so clearly that they could carry it around in their heads and remember, and live His instructions to them.
So, the first instruction He gives them, (you can find this in Genesis chapter one if you want to follow along) He said:
And God said, Let us make man in our image, after our likeness: and let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over the cattle, and over all the earth, and over every creeping thing that crept upon the earth.So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him; male and female created he them. And God blessed them, and God said unto them, be fruitful, and multiply, and replenish the earth, and subdue it: and have dominion over the fish of the sea, and over the fowl of the air, and over every living thing that moveth upon the earth.[2]
The Lord's first instruction to Adam and Eve was to be fruitful. What does that mean to be fruitful, to live a fruitful life? This life of multiplying and replenishing, subduing, having dominion, is a godlike life. It is a way of living to prepare for life with our Heavenly Father. To be fruitful! Is that not a simple instruction? If you can understand that you could learn how to be like God.
Be Fruitful
Let's explore the meaning of some of these words, "being fruitful" and then some of the following words that were given with that. To be "fruitful" means to produce an abundant yield; a harvest; an outcome or a product. And ultimately our lives are the fruit that the Lord gathers in. In Jacob 5, you can read that wonderful allegory about a harvest and getting the natural fruit, which is most precious to the Lord, and most precious from the beginning. When our lives yield abundantly the gospel principles of faith, obedience, repentance, hope, charity and so forth, we start to become that fruit that the Lord speaks of--that natural fruit with godlike qualities in our lives. How to be fruitful is then described in the words that follow.
Multiply
Think of the word "multiply". Multiplying means to increase in number, amount or extent or degree. As you read and study the scriptures and the words of the prophets you know you are meant to increase your talents and multiply your abilities. We are here to share the gospel and multiply the number of God's children who make covenants with Him. If you've been to the temple you recognize that the Lord has given a direct command to bear and rear children: to multiply the number of family members in our own families through marrying and having children. Multiplying is a godlike principle that helps us be fruitful.
Replenish
The word "replenish" means to make full or complete, to resupply or to nourish. As we've studied the gospel, we learn we are to feed our spirit, we feed our bodies and take care of them, we teach our families, we build the kingdom. And we fill our lives with things that inspire and lift. This connotes learning and improving minds and homes. As you go to class here and you learn about chemistry or psychology or the Book of Mormon, you are replenishing and building that supply that the Lord has given you. Replenishing also connotes completing the covenants and making sure that they occur in your lives. When you partake of the sacrament each week you are replenishing as you renew that covenant, that blessing in your life, the Atonement. So the concept of replenishing adds to your fruitfulness . And it's a tremendous godlike principle.
Subdue
The word "subdue" means to bring under control, to vanquish or conquer. In the gospel we are asked to conquer evil in our own hearts and lives and to vanquish fear and control our thoughts. We are asked to triumph over adversity in our lives and subdue the challenges that come. In our own lives and families and homes we are expected to subdue all evil influences. So we get all this instruction about use of time and media and being careful about what we're learning and putting into our minds because we have to subdue the things that are not correct. It is a lifelong effort to subdue unhappy thoughts and worries about things that don't matter and unrighteous thoughts and opinions. But that's one of our responsibilities, is not just to subdue the earth, and the things that are in the earth, but to subdue everything that prevents us from becoming what our Heavenly Father expects us to become.
Dominion
What does having dominion mean? Having dominion means having authority or sovereignty, control or ownership. It means to rise above something and master it. Dominion connotes leadership. And again in a gospel sense, it is our responsibility to master our mortal weaknesses and thoughts and things that bring us down. To have dominion has direct relation to our families and our authority and sovereignty and responsibility to direct and to teach in our families.
Dress and Keep
Let's go to Genesis chapter 2 to verse 15, "And the Lord took the man, and put him into the Garden of Eden to dress it and to keep it."So, what did those two words mean, when Adam and Eve were told to "dress and keep"? To dress means to adorn or cultivate, to shape or clean, to plan and to teach. It's a very active word connoting something in our lives or our families--the people around us. We need "dressing" to adorn, to make things better and to take care of them. It takes planning and thoughtfulness. "Keeping" also means to take charge, to maintain in good order, to protect and defend and guard against any bad thing.
Review of the definition of being fruitful
As you look at these over-riding concepts, think of a loving Heavenly Father who wanted to direct His first covenant couple to live a life He would have them live in order to prepare for life with Him. And He said to Adam and Eve:
"Be fruitful; multiply and replenish, subdue and have dominion, dress and keep."
You see how simple those instructions are. As Adam and Eve could remember those words, then they would start to have a more godlike life.
Now these instructions we also learn in Abraham. (I love the Book of Abraham. You're getting just a skimming of some of the study I've had. But if you want to, go back and learn more about what these words mean, read Genesis. Read Moses. Read Abraham. Read what the prophets have said about these instructions and see how the Lord has applied them.) But in the time before we came to the earth, this is in chapter 3 verse 23 where:
God saw these souls...
That's us.
And he stood in the midst of them and said: These I will make my rulers; for He stood among those that were spirits, and He saw that they were good; and He said unto me; Abraham, thou art one of them; thou wast chosen before thou wast born.
And then in verse 25, he said:
We will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.
So we were sent here to earth to prove ourselves, to see if we would do those things that would help us have a fruitful life. This is not a concept of a sedimentary, static life. It connotes work and effort. As we read in Moses, chapter 5, the beginning of that wonderful chapter, when Adam and Eve left the Garden after the Lord had driven them out:
Adam began to till the earth, and to have dominion over all of the beasts of the field, and to eat his bread by the sweat of his brow, as I the Lord had commanded him. And Eve, also his wife, did labor with him.
This idea of being fruitful took effort on the part of Adam and Eve.
Our Environment Today
Now let's read about some of the things you are confronting in the world today. If you want to turn to 2 Timothy, chapter 3, we'll just skim over some of that. Because when you go to the temple you get instructions and you have to live in the world, the real world today. So in the last days, it says, in verse 1:
Perilous times shall come. For men shall be lovers of their own selves, covetous, boasters, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, unthankful, unholy, without natural affection, trucebreakers, false accusers, incontinent, fierce, despisers of those that are good, traitors, heady, highminded, lovers of pleasures more than lovers of God.
Think of that description in terms of what I have just described as a fruitful life of multiplying, replenishing, subduing, dominating, dressing and keeping. In the last days you live in a world that doesn't believe in living a fruitful life. Turn to 2 Nephi 28 verses 20 through 23 where it's describing: "For behold, at that day shall he rage in the hearts of the children of men, and stir them up to anger against that which is good."
So in our day we see cultures of discontent, unhappiness, and misery. That's what is portrayed in popular culture, movies, and often in politics to stir people up against things that are good. Anger is part of this. Verse 21 is another tactic of the adversary, "And others will he pacify, and lull them away into carnal security, saying all is well." I would describe that in our modern terms as apathy. As you look around you in modern culture and how things are portrayed and taught, you will come right up against the idea of apathy. We hear, "Why should it matter? Why do we care? Why bother?" Match that up against a description of being fruitful.
The third tactic of the adversary today, "Others he flattereth away, and telleth them there is no hell; and saying I am no devil, for there is none." This flattery I would describe in our day as entitlement. Entitlement is a concept that is taught almost as a religion across the world today. Measure that against the command to be fruitful. All of these tactics of the adversary are very successful because they make life simpler for people who don't desire to be fruitful, to multiply, replenish, subdue, have dominion, and dress and keep.
The devil's tactics are alive and well today. You can also study them in Alma chapter 30. There are all forms of Korihor abroad in the earth today. An anti-Christ would teach you all kinds of things that would take you off your path and covenant to be fruitful. That's what we're guarding against today. For example, we are facing today increasing opposition to families, to a man and a woman being sealed in the Lord's covenant. Fewer and fewer people are valuing a sacred covenant relationship. We also see much denigration about the idea of multiplying; of families with children, (having children and more family members). [We guard] against anything that gets in the way of parenthood and the idea of increasing the number of the Lord's children in the covenant, [because this opposition] is not according to the Lord's plan and command to be fruitful.
We live today in a telestial world with a celestial obligation. So we have to adapt and we have to work hard to live the Lord's covenant. We know that people, governments, cultures and civilizations that follow the adversary's way of apathy, entitlement, and anger ultimately are destroyed. They're living a life that leads them to extinction. Whereas those who make and keep a covenant with our Heavenly Father live a fruitful life of multiplying, replenishing, subduing and having dominion and dressing and keeping their lives.
Often our daily battle against opposition leaves us too exhausted to do the things in our lives and homes that would help us do all that is "praiseworthy and of good report."[3] Read with me in Moroni, chapter 7, this wonderful way to judge. Verse 16:
For behold, the Spirit of Christ is given to every man, that he may know good from evil; wherefore, I show unto you the way to judge; for every thing which inviteth to do good, and to persuade to believe in Christ, is sent forth by the power and gift of Christ; wherefore ye may know with the perfect knowledge that is of God.
But whatsoever thing persuadeth men to do evil and believe not in Christ, and deny him, and serve not God, then ye may know with a perfect knowledge it is of the devil; for after this manner doth the devil work, for he persuadeth no man to do good, no not one; neither do his angels; neither do they who subject themselves unto him.
Our Savior and Covenant with Him
Now, with the Lord's command to be fruitful, He also knew none of us would be perfect in following that command; that we would need His help, we would need intervention and mercy and miracles. We would not be able to live a fruitful life according to His description unless we were blessed by an eternal power and authority that would redeem and exalt His children. This is where the Savior stepped forward [as described] in Abraham chapter 3 and said, "Here am I. Send me." And He offered to provide an atonement to make up the difference for imperfectly lived lives.
Now, when we go to the temple and make covenants, this is then our promise, and we receive the power and the blessing and the privileges to be able to accomplish this fruitful living. When you go to the temple, you do not go through the temple as if you are going through a drive-up window of a fast food restaurant. You are not going there to take anything out as in people saying, "I'm going to the temple to take out my endowment." We go to the temple to receive our gift. It is an endowment we receive. In the temple we receive the instructions, the tools and all the blessings that allow us to live a fruitful life. A friend recently described the blessings of the priesthood as "the power and authority by which all the blessings of the Lord's Atonement are administered." And we're taught in the book "Daughters in My Kingdom," that Heavenly Father's sons and daughters are equally blessed as they draw upon the powers of the priesthood.[4]
So when you go to the temple, which is the Lord's great university, from now until the last visit you will have in the temple on this earth, you should go with the idea that you are going to pay attention. Pay attention to all that is said and done there; to how it is done; the different responsibilities each person has to help us access Heavenly Father's blessings in our lives. The scriptures, since the time of Adam and Eve, have then become [in part] a record of some of the people who have made covenants with our Heavenly Father and how they've tried amidst opposition to live the commandment to be fruitful, to multiply and replenish, to subdue, have dominion, to dress and keep their lives. In our recent General Conference, Elder Ballard gave a wonderful discourse about the priesthood and the blessings of the priesthood. You can read that before you go to the temple next time and prepare to learn.
Examples of Fruitful Living
Any growing and harvest time requires miracles. As we drove up here today we passed the beautiful farms and ranches and we thought, "what faith it takes to sow the seed and then pray for the right amounts of light and water in order to make that fruit grow so we can have an abundant harvest, a fruitful harvest."
When my parents were married they went on a little car trip for their honeymoon. They decided that they were going to have this family and they needed to know how to take care of their family. My mother was always one who was a planner. So, on a paper sack she started taking notes of their conversation. She said, "What is our family going to be like? What do we want them to accomplish? Do we want our children to be married in the temple? Do we want our children to serve missions? Do we want our children to receive a university education?" And my father on his honeymoon agreed to everything. He even said they should all take piano lessons. So then they said, "Well, in order to do that then we'll have home evening, and we'll have scripture study. We'll go to church every week; we will accept callings and serve. We will teach them the gospel to the best of our ability." When my mother came to the idea of education, my father said, I believe in education but I'm a poor man. So she wrote down "work." "We'll have to teach them to work."
And those principles started to emerge in their family and come into operation in their lives. They didn't know their family would grow to include ten children. They didn't know they would be in the university business for 25 years, and by then the grandchildren were starting to come and get into universities. They didn't know the effort it would take to send out six missionaries, to prepare ten children for temple marriages, and then as the grandchildren came, 65 of them, they felt their responsibility increased. But I have always been touched by that story of my parents who upon making a covenant with the Lord got to work making a plan for how to multiply, replenish, subdue, have dominion, to dress and keep in their family because they had this vision of a fruitful, abundant harvest.
Now, in Moses chapter 7, we read about our time and you'll recognize some of what's happening. In Moses 7, (and 6 too, it's all great) verse 62 says:
And righteousness will I send down out of heaven; and truth will I send forth out of the earth, to bear testimony of mine Only Begotten; his resurrection from the dead; yea, and also the resurrection of all men; and righteousness and truth will I cause to sweep the earth as with the flood, to gather out mine elect from the four quarters of the earth, unto a place which I shall prepare, an Holy City that my people may gird up their loins, and be looking forth to the time of my coming.
Now brothers and sisters don't you just feel this flood coming--of missionaries joining the flood, of a force to go out and multiply the number of Heavenly Father's children in the covenant? Don't you just feel the impact of a fruitful season in the Church--of righteousness and truth sweeping the earth? But, all of that will be for naught if missionaries return from their missions without the vision of truly being fruitful; of multiplying, of replenishing in their own families of creating this covenant in their own lives, and creating homes that will be fruitful unto the Lord. Not all of you came from an amazing, fruitful background. I had a father-in-law who came from difficult circumstances as a young man and he told me several times, "You have two chances for a happy, eternal family. The first one is the one you're born into; and the second one is the one you create. And it's the second one that counts. Don't blow your second chance," he said.
Be Fruitful
So this idea of being fruitful and preserving is important. And the covenants you've made are important. If you'll study in the Doctrine and Covenants about the power that the Lord is giving us through His blessings, you will be amazed. Section 84 in the Doctrine and Covenants teaches us about some of the things that happen in the temple. "This greater priesthood" that administers the gospel and holds the key of the mysteries of the kingdom"[5] even the key of the knowledge of God. Therefore, in the ordinances thereof, the power of godliness is manifest. And without the ordinances thereof and the authority of the priesthood, the power of godliness is not manifest unto man in the flesh." If there were time, I would explore with you the godly power that comes into our lives with each covenant we make and every ordinance we receive. What blessings we have brothers and sisters.
Now, when the Lord comes, those who are standing still in His presence will be the ones who understand this idea of being fruitful. The Savior Jesus Christ came down and performed His magnificent Atonement to enable that idea to be possible and it is within the realm of possibility for every one of us. The Lord told Adam and Eve to be fruitful, to multiply, to replenish the earth, to subdue and have dominion and to dress and keep the world they were introduced into. That is still our challenge, our opportunity, our blessing, but we're not left alone. We have the ordinances and the covenants the Lord has given us that enable us to live fruitful lives.
I bear you my testimony that this is the true restored gospel of Jesus Christ established on the earth by the prophet Joseph Smith, that Joseph truly did enter a grove of trees and kneel and offer a supreme, humble prayer with a great question. And out of that question came a great fruit and flowering, even the gospel of Jesus Christ, fully restored with all the blessings our Heavenly Father would give to His children. It continues today and is led through the prophet Thomas S. Monson. Of that I testify as I leave with you my great love and confidence and my hope that we will all access the blessings and powers of the Savior's Atonement to live fruitful lives. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] 1 Peter 2:9
[2] Genesis: 26-28
[3] Article of Faith 13
[4] Daughters in My Kingdom, p.g. 127
[5] Doctrine and Covenants 84:19-21