Thank you so much for that beautiful musical number. I love how the hymns we sing and the special musical presentations that are shared with us in these devotional meetings so consistently invite the Spirit to be with us. Thanks to all of you gifted musicians, for sharing your talent with us.
Dear Brothers and Sisters. Borrowing a phrase of scripture, I consider this both a great and terrible opportunity for me to be here with you today. Believe me I much prefer to sit where you are sitting. I had no idea when I started teaching here just over a year and a half ago that the invitation to speak at a devotional could ever be given to me. Sincerely though, I am very grateful for the opportunity and responsibility that I have been given to share some thoughts with you today. I have humbly sought to be guided by the Holy Ghost in my preparations for this meeting. I express appreciation to many friends, family members, and even students who have prayed for me and encouraged me in this assignment.
I pray that we might all feel the influence of the Holy Ghost through this meeting, and seek to keep it with us throughout this day. Please strive to listen for spiritual promptings that you personally might receive today and take note of what you can and should do to follow those promptings. My main objectives are to help us feel the spirit, that we might be buoyed up, inspired and encouraged and that we might all become more motivated to do our best to use all of the wonderful resources our Heavenly Father has provided to help us all be successful today, tomorrow and throughout our mortal lives.
Before I proceed, I want especially you students to know that I love you. Something very special happened to me on my first day of teaching on this campus. On that September morning as I was reflecting on the awesome opportunity and responsibility that had been given to me, a great feeling of love overcame me. This experience has happened many times since that day. It is a gift from my Heavenly Father. It is a feeling of love from Him and a love for the students of this university. Even though I don't know many of you, I feel a special love for you and I desire to do all that I can to help you find success and joy during your educational experience here at BYU-Idaho.
I testify that our Father in Heaven is aware of each one of you. Now hopefully most of you already know this but there are possibly some of you that question whether He truly is aware of you. I assure you that He loves you and wants you to be successful in all of your righteous desires. He wants you to be happy and to have joy in this life and in the eternities. I know that this is true because I have felt of His love and witnessed His dealings with me, with family members and many others. Most importantly I know it is true because the Holy Ghost has very strongly witnessed to me that it is true.
Because of the great love that our Father in Heaven has for us, He has provided the means for us to learn and to become more like Him by experiencing mortality on this earth. We know that it is His work and His glory to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of His spirit children.[1] And as Lehi taught, we know that "Men are, that they might have joy."[2] A necessary part of Heavenly Father's plan or the plan of happiness for His children is that we be given the gift of agency, the ability to choose to either follow His plan and receive joy or choose some other way which will not provide the joy He desires that we receive. In this way our mortal life is a test as to which route we will take, the one that leads back to our Father in Heaven and eternal joy or the one that takes us away from Him. As His sons and daughters we have been given many gifts or resources to help us through our mortal journey. I will refer to these as divine gifts from God. Some of these gifts are:
- Prayer - the ability to communicate regularly with Father in Heaven.
- The Holy Scriptures - the words of the Lord given to us through His prophets.
- Commandments and promised blessings for obedience to them.
- Priesthood ordinances and covenants and associated blessings.
- The Gift of the Holy Ghost and the personal revelation we can be given to guide our individual choices.
- Spiritual Gifts given to us through the Gift of the Holy Ghost
- The Atonement of Jesus Christ including
- The associated principles of repentance and forgiveness
- The power of the atonement to ease our burdens
- The promise of the resurrection
We live in a difficult time as you know. The forces of evil are working throughout the world to combat the plan of Heavenly Father. Oh how we need His help today! I believe that we who are blessed to live in this the final dispensation of the fullness of times and especially those who enjoy the blessings of membership in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints have the opportunity to receive more divine gifts than any people of any other dispensation. For example some of these include:
- The miraculous restoration of the gospel through the prophet Joseph Smith and the organization of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- Better access to the teachings and spiritual guidance we can receive through living apostles and prophets.
- Incredible access to ancient and modern scripture and especially the teachings and the power of the Book of Mormon.
- Access to special educational opportunities provided by the church such as we have here at BYU Idaho.
- Access to sacred temples and the added blessings associated with temple ordinances, covenants and temple service.
Truly, Father in Heaven has given us many gifts to help us through our mortal journey. All of these things He has freely given but we have the choice whether we will actually receive them. What does it really mean to receive a gift? Can a gift be given and yet not received? Of course it can and unfortunately it is often the case for many of us. So what does it mean to truly receive a gift from Father in Heaven? The word "receive" as I am using it here is a verb. As I'm sure you know, a verb is a word that expresses an action. In this case to receive is to take possession of a gift and utilize it. Of what use is a gift if it is not received? The Lord has stated "For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receive not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift."[3]
Do we truly recognize and receive the gifts God gives to us, or do we sometimes forget about and neglect them? Do we rejoice in the gifts He has given? Does He rejoice in our receipt and use of His gifts to us? Now please note that I am including myself in these questions. I, like probably many of you can do better at receiving and rejoicing in the gifts that I have been given by Father in Heaven. Unfortunately when we neglect or do not take full advantage of these gifts we forfeit some of the guidance and help that He wants us to have and we may personally slow or pause our progress in our journey to be prepared to return to His presence. We could be missing much of the growth and joy that we could otherwise experience by utilizing these gifts. This is illustrated well by the Savior's parable of the talents. The two individuals who utilized and increased upon the gifts that they had been given were greatly rewarded while the individual that did nothing with his gift, gained nothing and as a result lost the gift he had been given.
I would like to review five of the gifts that Father in Heaven has given us with the hope that by considering them we might be reminded and perhaps better appreciate what we have been given that we might strive to improve our use of these divine gifts.
1. Prayer
One of the greatest gifts Heavenly Father has given to all of us is the opportunity to communicate with Him. Knowing what you do about prayer, can you imagine for a minute what it would be like if you did not have the ability to converse with Him? Yet, I'm sure that many of us undervalue this great gift. Father in Heaven knows our wants and needs but wants to hear from us often. Let us remember the experience of the brother of Jared in the Book of Mormon and how "for the space of three hours did the Lord talk with the brother of Jared, and chastened him because he remembered not to call upon the name of the Lord."[4] How can we better receive and show our appreciation for this gift? We can improve the quality and sincerity of our prayers. We can pray more often. We can listen more intently for answers and guidance sent in answer to our prayers and follow the guidance we receive.
2. Holy Scripture - Especially the Book of Mormon
Have you ever pondered about how blessed we are in this dispensation to have more scripture available than probably any other people who have ever inhabited this earth? In addition to that great blessing, we also have easier access to scripture than any other people. Many of us even have access to all of the standard works in our pocket. What a great gift to be able to have such easy access to the word of God, given to his children through holy prophets throughout the ages. Are we utilizing the unparalleled access we have to the scriptures by studying them daily?
We are especially blessed in this dispensation to have the Book of Mormon - Another Testament of Jesus Christ. This book of scripture was written for our day. It is literally another testimony of our savior Jesus Christ along with the Holy Bible. It teaches us about the mission of the Savior and how we can apply His atonement in our lives. Here is one of my favorite scriptures from the Book of Mormon regarding our Savior:
"Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ; and if by the grace of God ye are perfect in Christ, ye can in nowise deny the power of God. .....
"If ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ and deny not his power, then are ye sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which is in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot."[5]
What a great promise regarding the role of our Savior Jesus Christ and how we can become holy, even without spot!
One of the most important roles of the Book of Mormon is assisting people in gaining a testimony of the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. I have seen this happen in the lives of many people and have experienced it myself.
The Book of Mormon has been a very special blessing to our family. It has been the focus of our family scripture study since President Benson, in a conference talk in April of 1986, suggested that we read it daily as a family. In that talk President Benson shared a quote by Elder Marion G. Romney regarding blessings that would come from diligent study of the Book of Mormon. I can state that the results promised by Elder Romney have been experienced in our family. That promise was that "if in our homes, parents will read from the Book of Mormon prayerfully and regularly, both by themselves and with their children, the spirit of that great book will come to permeate our homes and all who dwell therein. The spirit of reverence will increase; mutual respect and consideration for each other will grow. The spirit of contention will depart. Parents will counsel their children in greater love and wisdom. Children will be more responsive and submissive to that counsel. Righteousness will increase. Faith, hope, and charity - the pure love of Christ - will abound in our homes and lives, bringing in their wake peace, joy, and happiness."[6]
What a great promise for keeping the Book of Mormon part of our regular scripture study. I am grateful to see our children continue this practice even after leaving home and as they have begun families of their own.
How can we better utilize and show our appreciation for the great gift of Holy Scripture? We should become very familiar with these books through regular study. We should also apply the teachings of the scriptures in our lives. We must also share the Book of Mormon with all who can benefit from its teachings and power. I promise you will find great spiritual strength in doing these things.
3. The Gift of the Holy Ghost
One of the most special gifts that Heavenly Father has given to baptized members of the church is access to the Gift of the Holy Ghost. Think about how special this gift is. It is the ability to receive spiritual guidance in everything we do if we seek for it and are worthy of it. I believe it is a gift that many of us do not truly receive as we could and should.
When we were confirmed members of the church we were told to "Receive the Holy Ghost." As Elder David A. Bednar has taught, "These four words ...are not a passive pronouncement; rather, they constitute a priesthood injunction-an authoritative admonition to act and not simply to be acted upon. The Holy Ghost does not become operative in our lives merely because hands are placed upon our heads and those four important words are spoken. As we receive this ordinance, each of us accepts a sacred and ongoing responsibility to desire, to seek, to work and to so live that we indeed "receive the Holy Ghost" and its attendant spiritual gifts"[7]
Elder Bednar suggested that we need to do three important things to truly receive the Holy Ghost:
- Sincerely desire to receive the Holy Ghost;
- Appropriately invite the Holy Ghost into our lives; and
- Faithfully obey God's commandments and follow the spiritual promptings we receive.[8]
Let us follow this counsel and do better in receiving this tremendously valuable gift.
4. The gift of BYU-I and the Spirit of Ricks
Students, I hope you realize the special gift you have been given in having the opportunity to attend this inspired institution. This school has been made special through the sacrifice of many people through many years to provide an exceptional place of learning by study and also by faith. I love the spirit that we have the opportunity to feel on this campus every day. I hope you truly receive this gift from your Father in Heaven by using every opportunity you have here to learn and prepare yourselves for your important future. Please don't just do enough work in your classes to just get by. Do your very best to implement the inspired BYU-I learning model in your educational experience. If you don't know what the learning model involves then learn about it and apply in your personal study and in-class experiences. I know that it is an inspired plan to help you learn and to help you to assist others to learn. An important way you can show Heavenly Father that you appreciate this gift is to look for other students around you who could use a friend or some help in their learning process. I know that as you take advantage of opportunities to help others you will be blessed with additional guidance and help from the Holy Ghost. Please do your best to learn all that Heavenly Father would have you learn during this short time you are able to learn and grow here at BYU-Idaho.
5. The Atonement of Jesus Christ
Of course the greatest gift that Heavenly Father has given us is the gift of His Son, Jesus Christ.
"For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life."[9]
A critical part of Heavenly Father's plan of salvation was that a mediator would be needed to intercede for all of those who would choose to accept him and follow him. It was at that time that Jesus Christ, our elder brother offered to be our Savior. We are taught in the scriptures that He was prepared from the beginning for this important role. I know that it was due to His love for His Father and for us, His brothers and sisters that He chose to do this for us. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer. He is the promised messiah testified of by ancient prophets. Because of His atonement and resurrection all mankind will be resurrected and receive perfected immortal bodies. As a result of His atonement all mankind can choose to repent and receive forgiveness for sins and transgressions and be found worthy to return to Heavenly Father's presence. Do we remember daily the greatness of these gifts that have been made available to us through the atonement of Jesus Christ? Do we endeavor daily to be worthy of these blessings and do we regularly apply the atonement in our individual lives by exercising faith in Him and by striving to improve in our obedience to the commandments?
Almost every Sunday we have the opportunity to participate in the sacred sacramental ordinance wherein we renew our covenants with Heavenly Father. In the sacramental prayers that are offered for us we hear these words: "...that they are willing to take upon them the name of thy Son, and always remember him, and keep his commandments which he hath given them, that they may always have his spirit to be with them."[10] What a simple but marvelous promise. As we remember the Savior and what He has done for us, and strive to follow His example and keep the commandments, we can have the influence of the Holy Ghost with us always.
The power of the atonement can also help us deal with the challenges, trials and tribulations that come our way in life. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has taught: "...the Savior's Atonement lifts from us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of our disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair. From the beginning, trust in such help was to give us both a reason and a way to improve, an incentive to lay down our burdens and take up our salvation. There can and will be plenty of difficulties in life. Nevertheless, the soul that comes unto Christ, who knows His voice and strives to do as He did, finds a strength, as the hymn says, 'beyond [his] own.' The Savior reminds us that He has 'graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands.' Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, "Come unto me," He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way."[11] I know I have been given added strength to bear burdens and my faith in the Savior has been significantly increased as I have relied on Him during times of trial or tragedy in my life. I am so grateful for all of the great blessings of the atonement.
This past Christmas season the church launched an initiative called "He is the Gift." We were all encouraged to discover, embrace and share the gift that is Jesus Christ. I hope that we can strive to do these things always. Again remember to truly discover, embrace and share the gift of Christ as a way to better receive this supernal gift of God.
I am sure that you will agree that Heavenly Father is very good to us. How can we show our appreciation for all of the marvelous gifts He gives us? I believe you would answer that this can be done by truly receiving His gifts by regularly putting them to use in our lives. We should do our very best to use them to improve ourselves and to use the opportunities we are given to share our gifts and assist people around us. In addition, our prayers should be full of gratitude and rejoicing for all He gives to us. Truly it is our great responsibility to use these gifts as Heavenly Father has intended, for the blessing of all of His children. We should also always remember that "... unto whom much is given much is required...."[12]
In summary, let us recognize and truly receive our divine gifts by:
- Remembering the Savior always and following his example
- Repenting regularly - continuously improve, including
- Forgiving others and ourselves
- Inviting, seeking for and following spiritual promptings from the Holy Ghost
- Regularly studying the holy scriptures, especially the Book of Mormon
- Striving to keep the commandments and all our covenants
- Serving others
- Working hard to learn and prepare for the future
- Sharing our gifts from God with others
In short, let us recognize and properly utilize the gifts he has given us.
My challenge to each of us is to ponder upon and take inventory of the gifts Father in Heaven has given to us. Are there perhaps some that we have undervalued or have not fully received? Let us plan how we will truly receive and use them better to improve our own lives and the lives of those around us.
God our Heavenly Father is real. He loves us His spirit children. He gives us all that we need to be successful and to find joy in this mortal existence and in the eternities. Jesus Christ is the Only Begotten of the Father, our Savior and Redeemer. It is through His atoning sacrifice that we can be made clean and worthy to return to our Heavenly Father's presence with our families. He is at the head of his church and inspires living apostles and prophets to teach and guide all those who will choose to give heed to them. It was through the faith and sacrifice of the Prophet Joseph Smith who did see in vision the Father and the Son, that we are able to partake of blessings of membership in the restored church and also enjoy the spirit and power of the Book of Mormon. Of these things I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Moses 1:39
[2] 2 Nephi 2:25
[3] D&C 88:33
[4] Ether 2:14
[5] Moroni 10:32-33
[6] Quoted by President Ezra T. Benson in General Conference, April 1986
[7] 2010 October General Conference, Sunday Afternoon Session
[8] 2010 October General Conference, Sunday Afternoon Session
[9] John 3:16
[10] Moroni 4:3
[11] General Conference, April 2006, Broken Things to Mend
[12] D&C 82:3