Greetings, my dear brothers and sisters—
To come to a college campus on a beautiful fall afternoon is an exhilarating experience at any age, even at mine! We toured your campus briefly today and I compliment you on the wonderful world you have all helped create here at BYU–Idaho. I admire very much your exceptional president, David Bednar, and his wife, Susan, and thank them for the key roles they play and for their significant contributions to the university community.
I honestly feel there is something about the spiritual climate here that is quite unique. I base my feelings in part on the spiritual growth I have observed through the years in some members of your faculty and staff who were associates of mine over 40 years ago in school and the mission field. As I have encountered them periodically during the intervening years, I have always come away with the feeling that their spiritual growth and maturity far exceeded my own. I hope you all appreciate and are taking full advantage of the gift you have been given through your admission here.
Now, I always worry whether, at my age, I have anything of value to say to younger members of the Church. My obsolescence was brought forcefully to my attention several years ago when our oldest son was in high school. I noticed one morning he was in the vicinity of my clothes closet, so at breakfast I gently inquired whether I owned anything he considered worthy of wearing. “Relax, dad,” he said, “We’re having ‘Nerd Day’ at school tomorrow!” I knew then my vintage was on its way out!
I have a message to share with you today and I pray that the Holy Ghost will carry it from my heart to yours. I know that it’s only when our hearts change, that we really change.
An Experience in Rochester
About ten years ago my wife and I and four of our eight children had the privilege of serving a mission together in Rochester, New York. The New York Rochester Mission covers the area where the Church was restored and includes the Sacred Grove, the Hill Cumorah, the Smith Home and Farm, and the restored Whitmer Family Cabin in Fayette where the Church was organized in 1830. It was a great place to serve and we used to tell our missionaries, “Your mission is the mission all other missions testify of!” Sounds a bit prideful, doesn’t it?
One day, about a year into our mission, a caller telephoned the mission office asking to speak to the mission president. I came on the line and a pleasant-sounding gentleman asked if I was the mission president for the Church in the Rochester area. When I said I was, he introduced himself and said he was calling as the chairman of a committee established by the Catholic Diocese in Rochester to study and make recommendations concerning how young adult Catholics could be strengthened in their faith and church activity. He said his committee had begun its work and had discovered that by far the most religiously active young adults in the Rochester area were the Latter-day Saints. He asked if I would appear before his committee and share our Church’s program for young adults.
Now, you can imagine what a request like this does to the pulse rate of any red-blooded mission president! I immediately had visions of converting the members of that committee and then advancing with our missionary army on the entire membership of the Rochester Diocese! Keeping my composure and trying not to sound overly eager, I said I would do my best to help, but wanted to think for a day or two about what I might profitably share with his committee. Over the next few days, as I thought about what it is that produces committed, active young single adults in the Church, I realized there wasn’t a single program or handbook I might share to help our good Catholic neighbors with their challenge.
In fact, as I thought about it, I realized that the climate for the spiritual growth of a person born into this Church often begins even before birth when a loving mother and father are preparing for the arrival of a new baby. The anticipation parents feel, the preparations they make, and the prayers they offer for the healthy development and birth of a new baby help set the stage for what will follow. Even the circumstances of a baby’s birth—being received and instantly loved by grateful parents and often by adoring siblings and grandparents—must send vitally important messages to a new baby’s soul.
But that’s just the beginning. Think about those initial days and nights when a new baby is cuddled, rocked, fed, sung to and doted over. And, based on our own experience with our eight children, every day at least a prayer or two for each child goes heavenward. Additional patterns of gospel living begin to establish themselves as the child grows. The young child first observes and then gradually begins to participate in family prayers and home evenings. Exasperated parents may feel that on any given Monday evening they may have done more harm than good, but even our family is evidence that the cumulative effect of 18 or 19 years of fairly ordinary family home evenings can work wonders. At some point family scripture study plays a role. And, even if a family specializes in only the first part of the Book of Mormon—as ours has—there is much to be gained.
By the time a child is 18 months old, he or she qualifies to attend the nursery during Primary time. This is a big step for the child and a big relief for the parents! Here a child feels the love and influence of teachers outside its family, has opportunity to socialize with other children, and broadens its knowledge of gospel teachings, often through music. In all the world is there anything more stirring to one’s soul than to watch and listen to young boys and girls singing “I am a Child of God?” I think not, especially if they are one’s own.
At age three a young member of our Church begins to attend Primary, attaining at long last the elevated status of a Sunbeam. I know it may seem peculiar, but even in my advanced years I can still remember the innocent joy and spiritual stirrings I felt as a young child in what was then called Jr. Sunday School, enthusiastically singing with my peers, “Jesus Wants Me for a Sunbeam!” A child progresses from a Sunbeam to several years of “Choosing the Right,” then to being a Valiant and all too soon that special rite of passage—graduation from Primary—occurs.
What an exciting moment it is at age 12 when a child becomes a Young Woman or Young Man. The Personal Progress and Duty to God Programs give direction and spiritual substance to impressionable minds and hearts. Just think of the wonder of a 12-year-old boy being entrusted with a portion of God’s authority, the Aaronic Priesthood. During those important, formative years from 12 to 18 every young man and young woman has numerous opportunities to speak, teach, lead, sing, dance, play, serve, socialize, be taught, and even perform baptisms for the dead in holy temples. In addition, four solid years of scripture study begin at age 14 in the seminary programs of the Church. Usually, in the late teens, young people develop a desire to receive their patriarchal blessings. What a thrill it is to have a patriarch bless us in God’s name and share through inspiration the direction our life may take if we faithfully choose God’s ways.
Although I have described it only partially, this rich and well-defined path that children and youth walk at home and in Church is inspired and designed to prepare our young men for the oath and covenant of the Melchizedek Priesthood and both young men and women for the higher ordinances of the temple, including eternal marriage. At 19 for young men and 21 for young women, the possibility exists to serve a full-time mission. Can we even begin to measure what it means in terms of spiritual growth for those involved and for the Church generally to have nearly 30,000 honorably-released missionaries returning home each year from missions? I believe there is nothing quite like it in all the world.
I could go on, but suffice it to say, after a few days I called my Catholic friend back and said: “I have something I can share with your committee, but I doubt you will want it.”
“What do you mean?” he asked.
“Well,” I said, “Upon reflection, I have concluded that in order to have the faithful, active young people you’re seeking, you’ll need to adopt Mormonism in its entirety.” He chuckled and said, “That isn’t quite what I had in mind.” I told him I assumed that would be the case and we amiably agreed to part company.
My intent in telling this story is to convey to some small extent the deep feelings of affection and appreciation I feel for the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and the Church that was organized to administer it. I believe deeply in the Lord’s own declaration that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is “the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth with which [the Lord is] well pleased,” speaking, as He Himself added, “unto the church collectively and not individually.”[1] Obviously, none of us is perfect, but God’s church and its teachings and the way of life it commends, are.
The Pearl of Great Price
The feelings I have about the inestimable worth of the gospel and the Church are captured in the Savior’s parable of the Pearl of Great Price: “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto a merchant man, seeking goodly pearls: Who, when he had found one pearl of great price, went and sold all that he had, and bought it.”[2] Pearls have always been highly valued and prized. The merchant in this parable was seeking “goodly pearls.” When he found the pearl that excelled all others, he “sold all he had” and bought the pearl of great price. Note well that the price to be paid is one’s all.
My desire today to testify of the great worth of the gospel and the Church is in part born out of my fear that in this information age, with so much competing for your time and attention, and with the world pressing in so mightily upon you, you will be tempted to minimize the unequaled value of what you have been given and may unwittingly exchange it for something of far lesser value. It would be a sad day indeed if what you lost during your college years was far more important than what you gained.
Acres of Diamonds
In the late eighteen and early nineteen hundreds, a Baptist minister by the name of Russell Conwell traveled our country over giving a public lecture entitled “Acres of Diamonds.” In fact, if you can imagine, he gave essentially the same talk, lasting an hour or more, over 6,000 times (his wife must have been as patient as mine)!
The essence of his classic talk is found in the legend of Ali Hafed, an ancient Persian.
Ali, blessed with a farm and many orchards, was nevertheless discontented. He wished for greater wealth. So he sought out the village priest and asked for guidance.
The priest advised him to look for a river with white sands. There he would find diamonds—many diamonds. So Ali left his family with neighbors, sold his farm, and went in search of diamonds. For years Ali searched, never returning to his family.
Ultimately, Ali walked into the ocean’s waves, willfully ending his life—penniless and broken in spirit.
While Ali was searching for his great wealth, the new owner of Ali’s farm continued making it a productive piece of land. One day, as his camels were drinking from the river that ran through Ali’s property, he saw a strange rock. Pulling it out of the stream and examining it, he was in awe. It was a very large diamond.
That farm became the site of the world’s largest diamond mine! Right there in Ali’s back yard was the river with white sands the priest had spoken of.
The obvious metaphorical point of Mr. Conwell’s lecture (and someone must have found it useful if he gave it over 6,000 times for pay) is that it is often human nature to think there is greater good “out there somewhere” than we are able to recognize close to home. Had Ali Hafed remained at home and dug under his own cellar, or underneath his own wheatfields, or in his own garden, he would have had “acres of diamonds” instead of wretchedness, starvation, and death by suicide in a strange land.
With all the feeling I can muster, I beg of you young Latter-day Saints—as concerns your faith and activity in the restored gospel and Church—please stay at home. The pearl of greatest price is within your grasp. You need only to spend your days giving “your all” for it and in that process you will gain “peace in this world and eternal life in the world to come.”[3]
Reasons to “Stay at Home” in the Gospel
I’d like now to share a few of the reasons (call them pearls or diamonds, if you wish), why I’ve “stayed at home” in the gospel of Jesus Christ. I hope you will find them compelling and helpful in your own efforts to “stay at home.”
The Gospel Embraces All Truth
I begin with a story whose authenticity I verified just last week with Elder Henry B. Eyring. His father, also named Henry, is renowned as a scientist and teacher, but once he was just a young freshman boy leaving home to attend the University of Arizona. At that time his wise father counseled him: “Henry, don’t worry about your faith. As a Latter-day Saint you don’t have to believe anything that isn’t true.” That is a priceless bit of advice. It led to a personal philosophy that guided Henry throughout life. When he encountered apparent conflicts between science and his religion, he assumed he either didn’t know enough about the gospel or about the science and he worked and waited for greater knowledge about both.
I am grateful to have lived my life with the confidence that the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Nevertheless, as the Apostle Paul taught, “we see now through a glass darkly,” knowing much only in part.[4] But as Paul assured the Corinthians, “But when that which is perfect is come, then that which is in part shall be done away.”[5] I have this same assurance. Whenever questions are raised about the DNA of the Book of Mormon peoples, or some obscure point of Church history, or the age of the earth, or the Church’s position on same gender marriage, or any of the other issues that sometimes perplex members of the Church, I quietly take Paul’s teachings to heart. I know that when the full truth is known (and I know that day will come), it will be consistent with and completely vindicate the doctrines and teachings of this Church. The Prophet Joseph coined his own “diamond” metaphor on this very point. Said he:
"I combat the errors of ages; I meet the violence of mobs; I cope with illegal proceedings from executive authority; I cut the Gordian knot of powers; and I solve mathematical problems of Universities: WITH TRUTH, diamond truth, and God is my ‘right hand man’."[6]
The Gospel is Inclusive
Something else I hold very dear about the gospel is its “inclusive” nature. I am told someone once asked Carl Sandburg what the ugliest word in the English language was. He reportedly said he thought it was the word “exclusive.” The inclusive spirit of the gospel begins for me with our Heavenly Father’s offer to share with us all that He has,[7] on condition that we give Him all we have. We sometimes speak of “sacrificing” for the good of God’s kingdom, but how can it be termed a sacrifice when we, during our brief lifetimes, offer up what amounts to a few handfuls of alms and what we are promised in return is “worlds without number” forever?
The gospel’s inclusiveness is reflected in another wonderful way. In a revelation explaining why the gospel was restored in these latter days, the Lord gave as one reason that “every man might speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world.”[8] Our family has just completed a three-year assignment in Europe. There, most religions congregations are presided over by a single individual who does almost all of the praying, preaching and teaching, and ministers to the needs of all. There is very little participation by others and consequently very little growth. By contrast, Latter-day Saints are all included in the work of the Lord. “Every man [speaking generically] speaks in the name of God the Lord” and can experience the personal growth and development that comes from participating in a variety of Church callings and activities over a lifetime. A Heavenly Father who desires to give us all that He has certainly wants us to prepare for that moment by becoming all that He is. He knows what it takes to grow to that stature and has organized His Church to help us achieve it.
I think President Hinckley recently captured the essence of this idea as he received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. In expressing his appreciation before receiving the award from President George W. Bush, he said: “I am profoundly grateful. In a larger sense, it recognizes and honors the Church, which has given me so many opportunities and whose interest I have tried to serve.”[9]
Such an inclusive system, by the way, isn’t without risks. Occasionally, the ward organist will hit a clinker, a Sunday school teacher may share some questionable doctrine, or a bishop may make a procedural error. Thankfully, since the rest of us are also just laymen and are “practicing” in our own roles, we will be patient and understanding of such shortcomings!
I think this notion of being included is subtly manifest in the way the priesthood is conferred. At age 12 a young man is given the Aaronic Priesthood, part of God’s authority, often by his father. The father then spends the next six years praying and working for the day when his son will be worthy to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood, which is all the priesthood he can be given. There is no more. At that point, father and son are equals and only their priesthood offices may distinguish them. The noteworthy thing—from my point of view—is that the priesthood “haves” want to include the priesthood “have-nots.” There is no withholding of authority, no conferral of it upon an exclusive few, no desire to create an aristocracy of priesthood leadership in God’s Church. The Lord Himself has declared that “the [Church] hath need of every member, that all may be edified together, that the system may be kept perfect.”[10]
Eternal Marriage and Family Life
Another precious aspect of the gospel is its concept of eternal marriage and family life. Those of us who grow up knowing of these doctrines tend to be quite matter-of-fact about them. Those, however, who join the Church and first hear of these doctrines as adults are often stunned by them and their implications.
One of the choicest associations of our time in Europe was with Helmi Luschin, the 78-year-old widow of Emmo Luschin. Emmo was for over 40 years the Church’s lead German translator. He was a brilliant linguist and a strong-willed and wonderful man. He and his beloved Helmi met after the Second World War. Since both were interested in learning English, they courted by writing each other a letter in English each day and coming together after work in the evenings to read Shakespeare. (I can’t resist asking you to consider how the level of this approach compares with the “hanging-out-together” syndrome so characteristic of current dating culture!)
Helmi told us that shortly after she and Emmo were married in the Catholic Church, he said to her one day: “We’ll be together in heaven.” “Well,” she replied, “I’ve never heard of that.” He then said: “If they don’t have it when we get there, they’ll invent it for us!” A few years later the full-time missionaries knocked on the Luschin’s door in Gratz, Austria. Brother Luschin’s first question was, “What does your Church teach about marriage and family?” The rest, as they say, is history.
I know, as do the Luschin’s, that love, like life, is eternal. I know that the deepest joys and sometimes the greatest sorrows of this life are experienced in the setting of marriage and family. I know that this setting was divinely appointed as a necessary laboratory in which we can acquire the attributes eventually to become like God. My wife and family are pearls of great price to me. I hope to be worthy to possess them forever.
The Gift of the Holy Ghost
I turn now to something else I highly value about the restored gospel. It’s the fact that this Church has the authority to confer upon each of us, following our baptism, the gift of the Holy Ghost. When the Nephite Twelve prayed for that which they most desired, the scripture says, “and they desired that the Holy Ghost should be given unto them.”[11] I know all who take their covenants seriously have that same desire. An experience I had one day interviewing a missionary during a mission tour confirms that truth. I had talked with the fine young elder for 10 or 15 minutes, asking him a series of questions about mission life and the experience he was having. When I was about finished, I asked him if he wanted to ask me any questions. He became very serious and said, “Brother Jensen, as we’ve talked together today and as I’ve answered your questions, have you felt the Spirit of the Lord? Do I have the Spirit?” I think in all my years of interviewing Latter-day Saints I’ve never had a better question posed to me. It told me volumes about that young elder and the deepest desires of his heart.
Interestingly, as we had talked together, I had received the distinct impression that this was a very genuine and good young man, and so I could honestly say to him that I had felt the Spirit. I could tell it was important for him to be reassured and I told him about the group of Lamanites who the Book of Mormon says “were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.”[12]
I want to assure all of you today that through proper priesthood authority this Church can validly confer upon us the Gift of the Holy Ghost. If we live worthily, we will be guided by that Spirit and be entitled to the comfort and spiritual gifts that it brings, including a firm testimony of the truth of the gospel. This will be the case even if we sometimes have doubts about our own spirituality and like the Lamanites, occasionally feel the Spirit and “know it not.”
I hope you are beginning to understand how much I value the restored gospel and why I have “stayed at home” in it. The gospel is so deep, so wide, so all-encompassing that figuratively speaking, I have today barely scratched the surface of Ali Hafed’s diamond mine. If time permitted, I would love to speak of the redemption of the dead, of agency, of Church history, of the unmatched canon of scripture the Church possesses, and of the teachings of living Prophets and Apostles. These and many others, are all additional pearls I prize. But I am constrained due to a recent conversation with my wife. After hearing me speak one Sunday morning, she asked, “Whatever happened to those good, short talks you used to give?” I told her I was older now and knew more, and felt compelled to share that knowledge on every occasion. Looking me straight in the eye she said, “Well, don’t!”
Taking the counsel of my best peer reviewer seriously, I’ll close with mention of the greatest pearl of all. The Prophet Joseph described it as succinctly and powerfully as it can be done. In answer to the question, “What are the fundamental principles of your religion? He said, “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that he died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it”[13]
I am grateful beyond words to belong to a Church that is Christ-centered in its doctrines and practices. He is the substance of our scriptures, our temples, and hopefully our homes and our hearts. I know He is the light, life, and hope of our world and that no one will come to the Father but by Him. Aided by the restoration scriptures, our understanding of the Atonement is clear. We know what He has done for us and what we must do. We are free to repent and prepare for the day when He who was the Beginning will also be the End.
Now, I know a talk like this should do more than just inform and entertain. It should also move us to apply its content in our lives. What would I have us do as a result of our time together today? Very simply, I hope we will all “stay at home” in the gospel, recognize and treasure it as the Pearl of Great Price it is, honestly live it to the best of our ability, and humbly share it with others. To that end I pray for us all. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Doctrine and Covenants 1:30
[2] Matthew 13:45-46
[3] Doctrine and Covenants 59:23
[4] 1 Corinthians 13:12
[5] 1 Corinthians 13:10
[6] Joseph Smith to James Arlington Bennet, 13 November 1843, Nauvoo, Illinois, Joseph Smith, Papers, Correspondence, LDS Church Archives, emphasis added
[7] Doctrine and Covenants 84:38; 76:59
[8] Doctrine and Covenants 1:20
[9] Ensign, September 2004, 75
[10] Doctrine and Covenants 84:110
[11] 3 Nephi 19:9
[12] 3 Nephi 9:20
[13] Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 121