Stake Conference Address June 2019

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President Mark Sabey Saturday Evening:

Facing Your Fears


We can all learn something from these RS leaders.  I love it when church leaders and members, instead of trying to appear like their lives and families are perfect, are real and open and vulnerable. That approach gives so much more hope and encouragement.  It helps us to feel that we are not alone. 

What I learned from that video is that none of us is immune from difficult challenges. Since life is an experiential test, the hard times are the ones that matter. The quality of our lives and power of our faith is largely determined by how we respond to difficulties and challenges.  

Picture this scene with me in your mind’s eye.  The Savior and apostles are out on the water in a ship and a great storm comes upon them, waves are beating on the ship and filling it with water.  To the apostles, all is chaos and danger. They are frantic and afraid. The Savior, by contrast, is in the back of the ship quietly and peacefully sleeping on a pillow.  The apostles awaken Him, and they say, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” That one question, “carest thou not that we perish?” is so typical of how we feel when we are afraid.  

The last two words were, "we perish," we are dying. They were not really dying, the ship was still afloat, the apostles were not in the water drowning, but they were afraid of dying. Fear tends to look beyond the reality to the worst case scenario, and fear makes us experience the worst case scenario again and again and again, without resolving it. 
As Shakespeare said in Julius Caesar, “A coward dies a thousand times before his death, but the valiant taste of death but once”.  Our fears go around and around in our heads, creating knots in our stomachs and a dark and dismal picture of the future, destroying our peace and our sleep.    

And when we are afraid, we often ask similar questions of God.  Carest thou not? Don’t you care about me? Why are you sleeping? Why aren't you protecting me?  Why aren’t you fixing this problem? Why did this storm have to happen? We feel like God let us down because our daughter is suffering, or we are lonely, or that accident happened, or this loved one had cancer.    

In response to the apostles’ question, Jesus arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.  
40 And he said unto them, Why are ye so fearful? how is it that ye have no faith?  

The Savior was telling them that they did not need to be so afraid, but could have chosen faith rather than fear.  The Savior was not a big fan of fear. The command to “Fear not” is found 87 times in the scriptures. Fear tends to be unproductive and to reduce our effectiveness. 

We have many legitimate concerns.  We worry about our children and other family members or friends.  We feel the anguish of their failures or faithlessness, their addictions or sickness, their mental illness or disability, their unemployment or divorce, their pains or sorrows.  We have many causes for concern in our world, in our nation and in our social fabric right now. There are enough difficulties and worries in anyone’s life to feel overwhelming at times.  

So how do we face the challenges and sorrows of life without being overcome by fear? 

I have one simple suggestion that can be applied to whatever is your greatest fear right now.  It came from my brother Jim who believes that we need to embrace the curriculum of life and thank God for our challenges and trials.  When our daughter was suicidal, I was waking up a lot at night in fear. Going to check on her. I was so stressed that I became less effective in my work, in my calling, and in my relationships with her and others. In my prayers, I would ruminate about what had caused this problem, I would worry about her, and I would ask for her mental illnesses to be healed.  I just wanted things to go back to normal happy family life, but she was not healed. After my brother Jim observed that I seemed very distressed, he asked me: “Don’t you trust the promises of the gospel?” At first I did not appreciate the suggestion that I was lacking in faith, but as I thought about it, I decided that I should try a different approach. Instead of distressing about the worst possible event that might happen, I should face that possibility and explore in my mind and heart, if it does happen, if my daughter kills herself, would I still trust the promises of the gospel? So I thought and prayed about it, and explored how the gospel doctrines and promises would apply in that situation. Ultimately, I concluded that I did trust the promises of the gospel and that, in the long run, all would be well.  By working through the worst case scenario in prayer, I was able to see more light. Maybe it was light at the end of a long dark tunnel, but it was light. I was able to feel God’s love again despite this challenge. I was no longer held hostage and stifled by my fears, and I was able to engage in the day to day challenges we were facing more productively. Instead of ruminating during prayer, I was able to ask God to help me understand what I could do that would be helpful. I came to know that our Savior truly did descend below all things, even filthiest depths and the darkest abyss, through death and beyond, so that He could be in and through all things, the light of truth. It was as though He said to me, “Peace, be still,” and the storm within me was calmed.

Based on that experience, this is my suggestion for dealing with fear.
Go to the Lord in prayer, face your fears directly, including even the worst case scenarios, explore the doctrines and promises of the gospel as applied to your situation, and, with God’s help, ultimately resolve your fears by receiving God’s love and by trusting His promises.  If you do this, you will hear the Savior speak to your heart, “Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” You will come to realize that gospel doctrines and promises can help in all situations, and that the future is bright. All will be well. In a coming day all our wounds will be healed, all our tears will be wiped gently and lovingly away, and we will have beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, and a fullness of light and peace and love. I testify that it will be so, with such gratitude for my Savior, in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

 President Mark Sabey Sunday Session:

REVELATION, REPENTANCE AND A CULTURE OF REPENTANCE

In a recent BYU devotional, Elder Corbridge pointed out that we tend to focus on the gap between our actions and our beliefs, but the real challenge is the gap between our beliefs and the truth. Let me repeat that. We tend to focus on the gap between our actions and our beliefs, but the real challenge is the gap between our beliefs and the truth.  I found that very interesting and have been thinking about it. I have always tended to think about my efforts to improve as trying to make my behavior match what I believe in. But what if the real problem is that I don’t really believe in the higher standard of conduct or that I do believe things that are untrue and that impair my ability to live at a higher level?  It seems reasonable to think that, if we really believed what is true, our behavior would more naturally and readily conform. He gave as an example, a person viewing pornography who believes that it is not hurting anybody else. He is simply wrong. He believes something that is not true. If he truly and deeply held beliefs that were more accurate, more true, it would help his behavior to change.

So now when I want to change something in my life, I am trying to explore what beliefs I am holding that are not true. What untruths do I believe that contribute to my lower level of behavior.  With that background which suggests that what we truly believe makes all the difference, I want to explore two primary truths that we may struggle to believe deeply enough. If we firmly believed these truths, they would open up great opportunities for joy and happiness.   

The Truths of Personal Revelation

The first truth is that personal revelation is a reality, and it is the pearl of great price. Because of His great love for us, God will provide revelation to each one of us to help us know what is true and revelation to continually guide and bless our lives and the lives of others.

This truth is stated again and again in the scriptures.  Ask and ye shall receive. Knock and it shall be opened unto you.  If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God who giveth to all men liberally.  The very foundations and beginnings of the restored gospel are based on this truth of personal revelation.  And this is the truth that unlocks all other truths.  

Let me give you a recent example of revelation:

During ward conference in the Southglenn ward, Sister Jena Fleming shared a recent experience I thought was quite beautiful, so I asked her permission to share it with you today. Jena has a Catholic friend, Jen, who moved to Colorado from California. They have children the same age and became good friends. Jena attended the Lamb of God performance on Tuesday, and while she was enjoying the performance, she thought, “I should have invited Jen. The next day, Jena kept getting the impression again again to invite Jen to Lamb of God.  Although Jena was not previously planning on attending another performance, she finally gave in to the promptings and texted Jen and asked her if on Thursday she would like to attend a performance about Jesus Christ's life. Jen quickly texted back “Yes! I would love to!!” On the way to the performance, Jen told Jena, “Although you could not have known this, as I was praying and pleading and asking Jesus how I could get to know Him better, my phone ‘binged’ with a new text message. When I finished praying, I looked and there was your invitation in direct answer to my prayer.”

My dear Brothers and Sisters, there is a God in heaven who loves all of his children and who hears and answers our humble, pleading prayers, a God who helps us to know how we can bless others.

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland taught, “The first great truth of all eternity is that God loves us with all of His heart, might, mind, and strength” (“Tomorrow the Lord Will Do Wonders among You,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2016, 127).

President Nelson has said about revelation:

“The privilege of receiving revelation is one of the greatest gifts of God to His children.”
and
“Does God really want to speak to you? Yes!” 

Our feeling of connection with God and our ability to receive understanding, knowledge, and direction from heaven is the Pearl of Great Price.  It is the one thing of most value. It is the key to our search for truth and happiness.  

In a parable, Jesus compared the kingdom of heaven to 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.  Matthew 13:45-46.

Our connection to God, including communication from Him, is that pearl of great price.  It is worth whatever price we must pay to obtain it. King Lamoni’s father recognized this and prayed:  “I will give away all of my sins to know thee,” and he experienced a dramatic conversion in which the wicked spirit was rooted out of his breast and he was filled with joy.  

I have longed for that kind of sudden conversion where God would take away my weaknesses and sinful tendencies. I wanted to fall to the ground overcome by the Spirit and wake up a changed man. But, it never happened that way for me, not dramatic and not sudden.  I struggled on feeling somewhat distant from God for many years. Sometimes I wondered, if God is real, why am I having such a hard time connecting?  

So why was I having a hard time connecting?  I thought the problem was the gap between my beliefs and my behavior.  If only I were more valiant or more righteous or more diligent. But the real answer is that I believed things that were not true. Satan the accuser had his way with me.  Satan is always very determined to prevent us from feeling God’s love and prevent us from receiving revelation, and Satan is good at what he does. His mists of darkness include the following false beliefs, lies that he instills with subtlety into our minds:

  • Lie #1:  My life must be in perfect order, or at least I have to be living the gospel at a higher level, before God will provide help and revelation to me.    

  • Lie #2:  I am not significant or important enough for God to speak to me.

  • Lie #3:  God is not interested in my day to day life. He intends for us to live our lives mostly without His involvement, and He will intervene only rarely.
  
  • Lie #4:  Because I have not had spiritual experiences like others or church callings like others, it means that God is not pleased with me or not inclined to provide revelation to me.  

  • Lie #5:  If I have not heard a voice in my head or seen a vision or felt an overwhelming emotional conviction, God has not spoken to me. 

I experienced all of these false beliefs at various times and many of them at the same time.  These false beliefs took a long time to overcome, but challenging them and replacing them with truth has made all the difference.  The key truths that I started to sincerely believe that helped me feel a greater connection with God and begin to recognize and receive revelation included the following:

  • Truth #1:  God loves us His children, and there is evidence of God's love all around us.  

  • Truth #2:  The fact that God sent His Son to atone for our sins means that God loves us as we are, even when we are sinning or weak.  He just wants to be involved and to help us.

  • Truth #3:  A relationship with God is a real relationship.  Real relationships grow only as we invest in them by spending time and honestly communicating.

  • Truth #4:  God invites us to serve in His kingdom and to strive to build beautiful Zion, because it is through that gentle apprenticeship that He shares with us all that He has.  Revelation is most likely to come as we are striving to love and serve and minister to others (as in Sister Fleming’s case). 

  • Truth #5:  For many good reasons, revelation from God is usually  by means of a still, small voice. God generally will not yell at us and force himself upon us.  We have to use our agency to open the door and invite Him in. Our relationship with God, more than any other relationship is about becoming, and one of the things he wants us to develop is greater sensitivity.  So, he is not likely to hit us over the head with a big stick when he communicates, but prefers to gently whisper into the depths of our souls to help us develop needed sensitivity.

  • Truth #6:  Since there were five lies, I had to have at least six truths, Right?  This one is from President Nelson’s great talk on revelation, and is something I am still working on.  We can grow in our ability to receive revelation, as we pour out our hearts in prayer, listen quietly, write down our impressions, act upon them, and repeat this process again and again.       

As these truths became more firmly entrenched in my heart and mind and displaced false beliefs, the mists of darkness decreased and I felt closer and closer to God.  I was able to feel His love more and more. I was able to stop looking beyond the mark and begin to recognize revelation through the still small voice. The change was gradual and took place over a long period of time. Now, looking back, I am so glad that I did not give up or leave the Church. 

To those who are currently struggling with faith and revelation as I did, I get it, and you are not alone. Faith is perhaps more challenging now than it has ever been. My loving advice is this: Don’t let secondary questions determine your course of action.  Don’t get caught up in the endless secondary questions on the internet to the exclusion of the primary question. Rather, focus first and foremost on “the one thing,” the pearl of great price. Although the internet may seem to be all-knowing, and therefore God-like, it cannot provide a real connection with the living God. That must be obtained with no intermediary and without the distraction of a screen. Before trying to figure out the truth about various topics, figure out whether there is a source of truth and revelation. 

Since God will not force himself upon us, faith will always be a choice.  So choose to believe, try the experiment, move forward in diligence and humility, and I promise that, over time, you will come to feel God’s love for you. Once you have a real connection with God, then you will know how to discern spiritual truths beyond the one, most important question.  But, without that foundation of connection with God and revelation, you have no reliable way to know spiritual truth. I witness to you that if you will focus on investing in and obtaining the pearl of great price, a glorious future awaits. Our heavenly parents and their son Jesus Christ have such brilliant intelligence, such tenderness, and such abundant love.  That divine connection, and revelation from such glorious beings, bring such joy!

OK,  that concludes my discussion of the first great truth, the truth of personal revelation.
We are on the home stretch now, so let’s stand up and stretch.

The Truths of Repentance
The second great truth is the truth that regular repentance is joyful and hopeful and the key to our progression and happiness.

President Nelson has been challenging some of our false beliefs about repentance. At our most recent general conference, he said:

Too many people consider repentance as punishment—something to be avoided except in the most serious circumstances. But this feeling of being penalized is engendered by Satan. He tries to block us from looking to Jesus Christ, who stands with open arms, hoping and willing to heal, forgive, cleanse, strengthen, purify, and sanctify us.

“Does everyone need to repent?” The answer is yes. 

When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. We choose to grow spiritually and receive joy.... 

For most of our married life when we were raising our children, Lisa and I tried to take an annual retreat for a couple of days or a weekend, just the two of us. It was mostly catching up on rest and having fun, but the most important part of each retreat was a detailed discussion of how things were going in our marriage and family, and setting of goals for moving forward. We often revisited the same issues year after year.  How can we have less contention in our home? How can we work better with a difficult child? How can we make family scripture study better? What we are doing now is not working very well, so let’s try something different. Seems like we said that every year. What would make our weekly date nights better? Although these discussions started with prayer, a sincere plea for God’s help, we did not think of it as repenting, but that is what we were doing.   We just thought we were setting goals, trying to stay happily married, and trying to raise a family. But what I remember most is the hopeful feeling we had after setting goals. We had a path forward, and, who knows? It just might work this time.  

Repentance is so hopeful.  We were placed on earth to act and not be acted upon.  When we repent and strive, we are taking charge of our destiny and moving forward with God’s help.

Several weeks ago, I began to feel distant from God and uninspired in my calling.  I realized that I had been so busy with travel, work and church commitments, and distracted by sports or netflix in the late evenings, that I had not regularly taken time to immerse myself in the scriptures and prayerfully yield my heart to God.  I realized that I had been very engaged and active, but it amounted to trying to build a tower of babel to heaven, on my own power, without God’s help. I needed to repent, seek forgiveness for my neglect, and renew my relationship with God. One of the best ways to think about repentance is the act of returning to our relationship with God again and again.  I am so grateful and pleased that God receives me back willingly and helps me feel His love and strength. Jesus encircles me in the arms of His safety and love, and I become warm and hopeful again.

At our last coordinating council meeting, Elder Priday shared what President Nelson said during a meeting with general authorities prior to our last General Conference:

“If we understood the doctrine of repentance, we would joyfully run towards it.  When we run away from repentance, we are marooned.”  

Elder Priday charged us to teach the doctrine of repentance.  That doctrine starts with the fact that each one of us is a unique son or daughter of God who will not be perfect in this life. Repentance is a principle of progression that is pleasing to God. Joseph Smith taught that in order to exercise faith unto salvation, one must have “An actual knowledge that the course [one’s] life . . . is pursuing is according to [God’s] will.”  If you are regularly repenting and trusting Christ’s mercy as you take the sacrament and as you pray, yielding your heart and listening for God’s voice, striving to make progress in your connections with God and others, you can have complete confidence that the course of your life, the direction you are heading, is pleasing to God. And that is all that is expected of us. You do not have to wonder about your standing with God.  You can know that, regardless of your current faults and weaknesses, regular repentance and striving makes you fully worthy before God. Jesus Christ will cover our faults, claim us as His own, and invite us into heaven, if we simply trust Him, come to Him as a little child, and strive to do the work of the kingdom. You do not have to be at a particular level of righteousness when you die, because striving forward on the path of repentance will take you where you need to be over time.  Ages and aeons after this life, you will fill the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, because you learned how to repent and embraced the path of repentance. On the path of repentance you can live your life with the assurance that all will be well and you will have a glorious future. You can press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope. 

A Culture of Repentance
Since repentance is so hopeful, and helpful and joyful, I want to conclude my remarks by talking about what we can do to create a joyful culture of repentance in this stake.  

I have invited Sister Fredericks, Stake Relief Society President, to come up and share a recent experience she and her son Ryden had that exemplifies a culture of repentance. 

And a child shall lead them.  Instead of saying what he was expected to say, Ryden was open, honest, and vulnerable. He spoke from where he really was, which is so much more impactful. When we are open and real about our struggles and challenges, we help people so much more than when we try to appear all shiny and perfect.  

The Church is a hospital for the sick and wounded. Christ is the great physician, the healer.  Despite the fact that we are all wounded in some degree or another, we also try to serve as physician assistants.  Imagine you are there in the classroom down the hall with a broken leg, and the physician’s assistant comes in and doesn’t really pay enough attention to you to understand the severity of your injury.  Instead, since it is clear that the problem is with your leg, the physician’s assistant says, I work out every day and it makes my legs stronger, look how well my leg works. Yep, I ran three miles this morning. I hope this has been helpful to you. 

A culture of repentance is a culture of compassion that seeks first to understand. Really good physician assistants have deep faith in Christ’s healing power, and they minister from their blessed position as a repentant soul, and they share with others their gratitude and faith which is firmly centered in Christ.  

When we lead and teach in the Church, we correctly think we should lead and teach by example.  What that does not mean is that we should try to appear as paragons of virtue to others.  It just means that we should practice what we preach. But, according to the doctrine of Christ, we preach nothing but faith unto repentance.  So our talks and lessons should come from our experience of striving and repenting. If we will be open, real and vulnerable in our teaching it will have a powerful impact, just as Ryden’s talk had an impact.  

In a culture of repentance we can ask each other for help and we can support each other in the changes we want to make.  Several weeks ago, I asked President Blaylock to help me with losing some weight. That may not be the most important thing, but we had Elder Klebingat come to our stake conference two years ago, and he had really good exercise and eating habits. Then Elder Hathaway came and he was a vegetarian who exercised regularly.  I thought maybe the Lord is trying to tell me something. Then President Nelson in his talk on repentance suggested that we should take better care of our bodies. I have not been successful over the years of trying on my own, so I asked for help. President Blaylock lost about 80 pounds and has kept it off for four years. He knows how to do this. He helped me understand what it takes to make a long term difference. I now have on my phone the same app that he used, and I am checking in with him.  With his help and support, I really think I will be more successful this time around. 

It is my prayer that we will bear one another’s burdens as we develop a culture of repentance, and that our hearts will knit together in unity and love in Zion! 

 President Blaylock Saturday Priesthood session:

Talk – “Striving within the Arms of Safety and Love”
Saturday Priesthood Leadership Session (15 June 2019)


Introduction

Thank you, Brother Griffin for your talk this afternoon. I am hopeful that I can add, with your help, to what Brother Griffin has said. I would like to begin with two scriptures. In the first scripture, Nephi has just been commanded by the Lord to build a boat to carry his people across the waters towards the promised land. This is Nephi’s response. 

 “Wherefore, I, Nephi, did strive to keep the commandments of the Lord, and I did exhort my brethren to faithfulness and diligence.” (1 Nephi 17:15)

In the second scripture, Lehi is speaking to his family as his time is near to lay down “in the cold and silent grave” and “go the way of all the earth.”

 “But behold, the Lord hath redeemed my soul from hell: I have beheld his glory, and I am encircled about eternally in the arms of his love.” (2 Nephi 2:15)

    The subject of my talk today is “Striving within the Arms of Safety and Love.” How can we strive as Nephi did while being encircled about, as Lehi describes, in the arms of his love – the love of our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ?

Body

What Does Striving Look Like?

“What Does Striving Look Like for Us as Individuals?”

    We are first going to watch a three minute clip from President Nelson’s talk “We Can Do Better and Be Better” in the priesthood session of this past General Conference. As you listen to President Nelson word’s, consider the question “What does striving look like for us as individuals?” After we watch the video, we will get together with shoulder partners to discuss the question and then ask a few of you to report on your discussion. 

    • Video – Russell M. Nelson, “We Can Do Better and Be Better,” April 2019 General Conference (2:58-6:08)

“What Does Striving Look Like for Us as Individuals?”

    Now, I would like for you to get together with 2-3 brethren and discuss the question. You will have 3 minutes. I will then ask a few of you to report

    • Report – all of those whose first name in earliest in the alphabet, please stand up. Pick four to report. [If there is time, ask if anyone has a comment to add.]

    • Thoughts (distill into a few principles)
    • Repentance is individualized. Seek to understand what I need to do
    • Daily repentance is the pathway to striving
    • The Savior does not expect perfection
    • We are not doing it alone, we have the Savior’s help
    • We can choose to change

The Arms of Safety and Love

    Now, let’s move on to the second part: the arms of safety and love. Lehi described himself as encircled about eternally in the arms of his love. How does that feel? In my personal experience and in watching other families, I have often seen a glimpse of that feeling in a mother’s love for her children. I felt it in my own home growing up. I have seen it in my wife, Cheryl’s, relationship with our children. I remember the day before our youngest son, Nathan, who returns home from his mission in three days [not that it is on my mind], was beginning kindergarten. It struck me that for the first time in 23 years, Cheryl would be without a pre-schooler at home. Our children and their needs and concerns have always taken priority over any task that she was working on and often even her personal time. They have felt safe in her arms and today as adults often call her for advice or just to be reassured that they are doing OK. When my daughter, Stephanie, who has three young children, has had a difficult day, her husband will ask her if she has called her mom that day. If not, he suggests she call Cheryl.

    Our ultimate safety is in the arms of God’s love and in our Savior’s love for us. Paul taught “… I am persuaded, that neither death, nor life, nor angels, nor principalities, nor powers, nor things present, nor things to come, nor height, nor depth, nor any other creature, shall be able to separate us from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.” (Romans 8:38-39) Sister Bonnie D. Parkin, former general Relief Society president, taught the Relief Society sisters: 

“… we must first allow ourselves to be encircled by God’s Love. We do this best by embracing the Savior’s eternal atonement. … When we allow ourselves to feel ‘encircled about eternally in the arms of His love,’ we feel safe, and we realize that we don’t need to be immediately perfect.”

    Now, I would like to give you two minutes to ponder in silence when you have felt God’s love in your life. I will sit down so that I can do the same. At the end of the two minutes, I will get up and continue.

    Brethren, I invite you to remember the times you felt God’s love in your life and seek to more fully recognize His love for you. 

    The Lord said to ancient Israel and he says to us, “Yea, I have loved thee with an everlasting love: therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee.” (Jeremiah 31:3) In his talk a few years ago of the laborers in the vineyard, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland said:

    ”This parable … is not really about laborers or wages any more than the others are about sheep and goats. This is a story about God’s goodness, His patience and forgiveness, and the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ. It is a story about generosity and compassion. It is a story about grace. It underscores the thought I heard many years ago that surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it… I testify of the renewing power of God’s love and the miracle of His grace.”


Combining Striving and the Arms of Safety and Love

    Now, let’s combine striving with being within the arms of safety and love. I asked President Sabey for his thoughts regarding what striving in the arms of safety and love looks like and he said he thinks of it as an apprenticeship within the family business: loving, lifting, blessing, compassionate, not worried about losing our job [or our place in the family]. The first thought that came to my mind was that I wasn’t sure I would want to be in a family business with my brothers. I love them, but we are different and I could see some challenges. However, the family business that he was describing is our heavenly family that has a perfect father and a perfect older brother. 

    In December 1832, 2 ½ years after the Church was organized, Joseph Smith received a revelation to build a temple in Kirtland, Ohio. They were to “…establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God…” Consider their circumstances.  Most members of the Church lived humble lives. They worked many hours to provide shelter and food for their family. At the time, there were approximately 2,700 members of the Church, roughly the same size as the Littleton Colorado stake.  

    Six months later, on June 1, 1833, they had not yet started building the temple” and Joseph received another revelation.  Listen carefully to these words from D&C 95:1, 3:

“Verily, thus saith the Lord unto you whom I love, and whom I love I also chasten that their sins may be forgiven, for with the chastisement I prepare a way for their deliverance in all things out of temptation, and I have loved you---
For ye have sinned against me a very grievous sin, in that ye have not considered the great commandment in all things, that I have given unto you concerning the building of mine house;”

Notice a couple of things. First, in His chastisement, the Lord declares three times His love for Joseph Smith and for the members of the church. In addition, He promises blessings: (1) that their sins may be forgiven and (2) that in chastisement He prepares a way for deliverance in all things out of temptation. Wouldn’t we love to find deliverance out of temptation. How did the early latter-day saints respond to the chastening from the Lord?  Four days later, they began hauling stone and digging trenches in preparation for the building of the temple.  Hyrum Smith and Reynolds Cahoon began digging the trench by hand. Many made extraordinary sacrifices to participate in the building of the Kirtland Temple. The building of the temple culminated in its dedication three years later with many heavenly manifestations, of which Orson Pratt later declared:

“God was there [in the Kirtland Temple], his angels were there, the Holy Ghost was in the midst of the people . . . and they were filled from the crown of their heads to the soles of their feet with the power and inspiration of the Holy Ghost, and uttered forth prophecies in the midst of that congregation, which have been fulfilling from that day to the present time.”

As followers of Jesus Christ, we are asked to do hard things. Striving is not easy. It takes us out of our comfort zone and pushes us beyond what we may want to do. I was reading through a portion of my missionary journal recently and was reminded that serving a full-time mission is hard work. There were times of discouragement and disappointment. I felt inadequate in my ability to speak Spanish. I made many mistakes and it was very humbling. One time, when I was serving in the mission office as the mission financial secretary, I wrote a letter to Salt Lake explaining a problem we were having and signed the letter. I received a letter back from Elder Royden G. Derrick, a member of the First Quorum of the Seventy, asking that President Fernandez, my mission president, sign the letters. Yet, it was a time of immense personal growth and of strengthened faith that has blessed me for 40+ years. 

I spoke briefly two years ago of one of my missionary companions, Carlos Trobat. Carlos was introduced to the gospel and joined the church at age 18. He was the only member of his family. In his early 20’s, he was called to serve a mission and was my companion for four months in Goya, a small town in northern Argentina. I learned much from him and we had a joyful and productive time together. Two and a half years ago, on his birthday, I spoke with him for the first time in 40 years. He talked to me of his family and his life. This is a picture of Carlos’ family (his wife, Olga, three sons, two daughters-in-law and five grandchildren) taken on June 12, 2016, the day he was ordained a patriarch. His decision to join the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints changed his life and his family’s life. 

    The heavenly family to which we belong changes our lives. We have a God who loves us beyond our current comprehension to understand and a Savior who, as President Russell M. Nelson recently taught, stands with open arms, hoping and willing to heal, forgive, cleanse, strengthen, purify, and sanctify us.

Conclusion

Invitation and Testimony

    I would like to leave you with an invitation. Striving is an individual sport. What I need to change is different from what you need to change. A willing heart and mind and a practice of daily repentance is what the Savior asks of us. My invitation is to pray and ask what is hindering your progress in becoming who you want to become and then, with the Lord’s help, begin making the changes necessary to do better and to be better. We will falter along the way and need to make corrections. That is part of Heavenly Father’s plan for us. Keep striving.

    TESTIMONY
  • Our Heavenly Father and Our Savior, Jesus Christ, know us and love us.
  • Jesus Christ atoned for our sins. His grace is sufficient for each of us.
  • We can find peace and safety in the arms of their love.
   
President Russell M. Nelson Talk Excerpt “We Can Do Better and Be Better,” April 2019 General Conference (2:58-6:08)

“Whether you are diligently moving along the covenant path, have slipped or stepped from the covenant path, or can’t even see the path from where you are now, I plead with you to repent. Experience the strengthening power of daily repentance—of doing and being a little better each day.
When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. We choose to grow spiritually and receive joy—the joy of redemption in Him.8 When we choose to repent, we choose to become more like Jesus Christ! 
Brethren, we need to do better and be better because we are in a battle. The battle with sin is real. The adversary is quadrupling his efforts to disrupt testimonies and impede the work of the Lord. He is arming his minions with potent weapons to keep us from partaking of the joy and love of the Lord. 
Repentance is the key to avoiding misery inflicted by traps of the adversary. The Lord does not expect perfection from us at this point in our eternal progression. But He does expect us to become increasingly pure. Daily repentance is the pathway to purity, and purity brings power. Personal purity can make us powerful tools in the hands of God. Our repentance—our purity—will empower us to help in the gathering of Israel.
The Lord taught the Prophet Joseph Smith “that the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only upon the principles of righteousness.” 
We know what will give us greater access to the powers of heaven. We also know what will hinder our progress—what we need to stop doing to increase our access to the powers of heaven. Brethren, prayerfully seek to understand what stands in the way of your repentance. Identify what stops you from repenting. And then, change! Repent! All of us can do better and be better than ever before.” 

Main Points
  • The strengthening power of daily repentance
  • Doing and being a little better each day
  • Choose to change
  • Allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves
  • Grow spiritually and receive joy – the joy of redemption in Him
  • Choose to become more like Jesus Christ
  • The battle with sin is real
  • Repentance is the key to avoiding misery 
  • The Lord does not expect perfection at this point
  • He does expect us to become increasingly pure
  • Daily repentance is the pathway to purity
  • Purity brings power
  • We know what will hinder our progress, what we need to stop doing
  • Prayerfully seek to understand what stands in the way of your repentance. Identify what stops you from repenting
  • All of us can do better and be better

 President Blaylock Sunday Session:

Talk – “Strengthening our Faith in our Heavenly Father 
and in Jesus Christ and in His Atonement”


Introduction

    In announcing a new balance between gospel instruction in the home and in the Church, the First Presidency letter referred to four purposes and blessings associated with this and other recent changes. The first purpose is to deepen conversion to Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen faith in them. I would like to share of few thoughts today regarding steps we can take to deepen our conversion and strengthen our faith in them. 

Body

Learning

    First, we can seek diligently to learn about God and Jesus Christ: who they are, how they see us and their desire for us to connect with them. 

    Elder Jeffrey R. Holland described the type of learning that we should be seeking. He said, “Teaching, learning, and living the gospel are key principles at the heart of growing toward our divine potential and becoming like our Heavenly Parents. Sometimes we call this process eternal progression. Sometimes we call it conversion. Sometimes we simply name it repentance.” He continues, “For gospel purposes I don’t just mean the accumulation of knowledge, … passively listening to a lecture or memorizing facts. I mean learning in the sense of growth and change, of insight leading to improvement, of knowing the truth, which in turn leads us closer to the God of all truth. … This kind of learning is about changing ourselves, about being different because we know more of what God knows.”

    What kind of learning leads to growth and change, to becoming closer to God, to changing our hearts? For me, this kind of learning includes: 

  • Praying to God and asking Him to help me learn what He wants me to learn and then promising to yield my heart to His will.
  • Studying the scriptures and the words of the prophets in a searching manner, seeking to understand how their message applies in my own life. 
  • Taking time to be still and listen, to ponder the words I have read, and 
  • Then acting on impressions I receive with faith.

    The opportunity to study the New Testament together this year with Cheryl has been a remarkable experience for me. In recent weeks, we have both come to our study time prepared to discuss 2-3 teachings in the scriptures that have particularly impressed us and/or for which we have questions. Studying, discussing and learning together has increased my understanding and helped me to apply the teachings to my own life. 

Experimenting on the Word

    Second, we should, as Alma taught, experiment on the word. He taught: “But, behold, if ye will awake and arouse your faculties, even to an experiment upon my words, and exercise a particle of faith, yea, even if ye can no more than desire to believe, let this desire work in you, even until ye believe in a manner that ye can give place for a portion of my words.”

    Elder Charles A. Godoy shared an experience he had while he was serving as an Area Seventy in Brazil. He and his family were on vacation and attended the closest church. In Sunday School that morning, the discussion focused on personal testimonies and the teacher invited class members to share a powerful spiritual experience they had while developing their testimony of the Church. While some brothers and sisters where sharing their experiences, Elder Godoy reviewed his own experience as a convert for what he could share with the class, but he couldn’t think of anything very remarkable in his process of gaining a testimony. It became clear to him that the teacher was expecting him, an Area Seventy, to participate. As time was passing and she was waiting for Elder Godoy to share his powerful experience, he searched his mind again, but he still couldn’t think of anything to the disappointment of the teacher.

    For many of us, our testimonies of the Church and our faith in Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father have not been gained by one or two powerful spiritual experiences. Powerful spiritual experiences do not guarantee that our testimonies will remain strong. Remember Sidney Rigdon who served as a counselor to Joseph Smith and was at Joseph Smith’s side as they experienced the vision of the three degrees of glory recorded in Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Following Joseph Smith’s death in 1844, Sidney Rigdon refused to accept the leadership of the quorum of the twelve apostles and was excommunicated. He returned to Pittsburgh and formed a new church.

    Our experience may be more like that of Elijah who found the voice of the Lord not in the wind, nor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but rather as a ‘still small voice.’ An accumulation of many experiences that are strengthened by the ‘still small voice’ testify to us that what we have learned is true. These experiences begin with, as Alma taught, ‘a desire to believe.’

    An essential element of strengthening our faith in Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, is to choose to have faith and then act in faith. We can direct and focus our thoughts in faithful and trusting ways. Experimenting and exercising are action verbs. Exercising faith may include actions such as:

  • Studying and pondering the scriptures daily,
  • Attending church regularly even if you don’t feel always comfortable in your ward,
  • Serving diligently in a calling that is difficult for you,
  • Looking outward to minister to someone else in a time of personal challenge,
  • Or looking past the comments of a church member who offended you.

There are times in our lives when we must step symbolically into the overflowing waters of the river Jordan as the ancient Israelite priests did with the ark of the covenant before we receive the promised blessings. Moroni taught that we can receive no witness until after the trial of our faith. 

Many years ago, my mother-in-law contracted Rubella, or German measles, during the early stages of pregnancy. Pregnant women who contract rubella are at risk for miscarriage or stillbirth, and their developing babies are at risk for severe birth defects with devastating, lifelong consequences. Although some symptoms can be treated, there is no cure. Her doctor, who she trusted, recommended that, due to her medical condition and the likely effect on the baby she was carrying, she should consider having an abortion. Her previous child had been born with a heart defect. When she prayed about it, she felt that Heavenly Father wanted her to have this baby and she made the decision to continue with her pregnancy. That child, my wife, Cheryl, was born without any of the symptoms that are common with a mother who has rubella during pregnancy. My mother-in-law was blessed with a healthy baby, but she had to make her decision without knowing what the physical consequences would be for her child.


A Willing Heart

    Third, the only thing we can truly give to God is a willing heart. The many other things we give are the things He has already given or loaned to us. A willing heart requires trusting fully in God; particularly, amid a trial for which we have no easy explanation. Consider Abraham, of whom the apostle Paul wrote to the Romans, “Who against hope believed in hope, that he might become the father of many nations, according to that which was spoken. … He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith …” Isaac was born to Abraham and Sarah when Sarah was 90 years old. Then, as Isaac grew, Abraham received this commandment from Jehovah, “Take now thy son, thine only son Isaac, whom thou lovest, and get thee into the land of Moriah; and offer him there for a burnt offering …” Almost certainly Abraham did not understand the reason for Jehovah’s commandment to take Isaac and offer him as a sacrifice. John Taylor observed that “nothing but the spirit of revelation could have given him this confidence, and … sustained him under these peculiar circumstances.” Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught that “… we will not always understand the role of God’s hand, but we know enough of his heart and mind to be submissive. Thus, when we are perplexed and stressed, explanatory help is not always immediately forthcoming, but compensatory help will be.”

    A willing heart requires humility. When I was a teenager, we woke up one Sunday morning to find that our house had been toilet papered during the night. Cleaning up took longer than normal as there were also cracked eggs on our lawn and driveway. A couple of weeks later, my mother came to me and told me that some of my friends were responsible. They were upset at me because when we played games together I always thought I was right and wanted to do it my way. It was a very sobering experience for me. The recognition of what some of my friends thought about me was difficult to hear but I realized that I needed to change and do better. Change didn’t come immediately. It has been a continuing process for me.

    A willing heart requires that we ask as the rich young man asked of Jesus, “What lack I yet?” We have received promptings over the years as to how we can improve. If you are like me, you have probably taken some of those promptings to heart but still have much more to do. We can’t do it on our own, but God’s grace is sufficient for each of us. As we strive to improve, recognize that we are not expected to improve everything at once. Elder Larry R. Lawrence explained “The Spirit works with us at our own speed, one step at a time, or as the Lord has taught, ‘line upon line, precept upon precept …”

    As we turn our hearts to God and seek to do His will, we will come to know Him. Our connection with God will grow. We will more fully feel His love for us. Our faith in Him and in Jesus Christ will grow. 


A Word of Caution

    To what I have said, I would add a word of caution. Just as seeking spiritual learning, experimenting upon the word and changing our heart deepen our conversion to and strengthen our faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, other patterns can separate us from them. In April General Conference, Elder Neil L. Andersen invited us to see spiritual truths through the perspective of the eye of faith. 

  • When we pick and choose which gospel principles to follow, we diminish our ability to draw closer to God. 
  • When we slip in our daily worship habits of prayer and scripture study, we are less likely to have the strengthening influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives. 
  • When we make small and seemingly insignificant choices that move us away from the Savior and His church, we separate ourselves from the iron rod that guides us to the tree of life and the love of God.
  • When we criticize church leaders and decisions they have made, we create an environment of questioning and doubt that lead us in the wrong direction. 

All of us have made mistakes that turn us away from God and Jesus Christ. One truth that has helped me is the understanding that I can’t change the past. I can repent. I can do better today and in the future. If there is a pattern in your life that is drawing you away from God, resolve to do better.


Conclusion

We visited the redwood forests of northern California in the summer of 2016. Redwood trees can grow to over 300 feet tall and live for 2,000 years. One fact about the redwood trees that surprised me is the shallow nature of their roots. The roots of a redwood tree are typically 6-12 feet deep. The shallow nature of their roots is compensated for by the root’s length. Their roots extend up to 100 feet, spreading far and wide and intertwining with the roots of other redwood trees. The intertwining strengthens the roots and creates a resistance to harsh winds and floods. Similarly, a repeated pattern of exercising faith creates a resistance to the lures of Satan and strengthens our faith in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ. Elder Neil L. Andersen taught, “You are infinitely more precious to God than a tree. You are His son or His daughter. He made your spirit strong and capable of being resilient to the whirlwinds of life.”

    Our Heavenly Father and our Savior, Jesus Christ, stand ready to reach out to us, to heal us, and to bring peace to our hearts. I have a testimony that we have Heavenly Parents who know us and love us. We are their children. I know that Jesus Christ is our Savior. He atoned for our sins, died, and was resurrected. The Church of Jesus Christ was restored in these latter days by the Prophet Joseph Smith. President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God who was called to serve at this time. What a great blessing we have to be living in these days and to see God’s work unfold before us. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ amen.








President Marble




 Emily Simmons address Saturday evening:

I was asked to share some experiences of how the Come Follow Me program has blessed my family. I was introduced to the Come Follow me program about 3 years ago when I was called to teach the 12-13 year old Sunday school class in my ward. I loved teaching the small group of youth and was truly impressed by their knowledge, thoughtful questions and desire to learn more. A few lessons that stayed with me because of how much fun they were but also the creativity the youth showed was  an object lesson I had found online with stacking cups to teach about Priesthood keys that I thought would just be an introduction to the lesson, but we ended up using the object lesson for the entire time and had so much fun trying to see what happened if we removed any of the cups without the tower falling. This simple object lesson turned into so much more than I had originally planned thanks to the direction of the spirit. We also had quite a few drawing challenges that I always seemed to learn more from the pictures they drew to explain a certain subject. For example the youth drew of a sign with a pit and a shark swimming in it to explain different topics such as obedience and listening to promptings of the Holy Ghost. Through teaching I learned to really love the formatting of the lessons that allowed us to address what the class needed each week. It surprisingly took less time to prepare an actual lesson and I just had additional reading I added for my personal scripture study that truly benefited me more than I’m sure it did the youth that I taught.
The come follow me program has been the youth program for Sunday school and young men and women since 2013. In October conference when it was announced that church would be shortened to encourage time to study the new Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families manual, I was excited to hear that the information would be provided for me to follow at home with my family because I was already familiar with the program from teaching the 12-13 year olds in Sunday school.  The first presidency letter announcing the change stated that “Living by and reading the word of God will build faith in Heavenly Father and His plan of salvation and in the Savior Jesus Christ and His Atonement.”
I’d like to talk about how we incorporated this program into my family
what we’ve learned in doing it
and why it works for us
First a little about my family – I’ve been married for 17 years and have been blessed with 4 children ages 6-12 that are all quite bright and think they know all the answers and can do no wrong. They all have an innate NEED to understand the why to everything so they ask A LOT of questions - so much so that I developed a plan with my daughters therapist when she was younger and would perseverate on a topic for days on end that she was allowed 10 sticky notes a day to ask about 1 topic and when she used them all, she had to wait or ask about something else. She learned patience and to ask better questions. I also learned to be patient and to read between the questions to figure out what she was really trying to understand.  My children also have a very difficult time both sitting still and listening. I have to pick one, I can’t have both which has required me to be VERY creative when it comes to teaching them the gospel. The peaceful images I had of sitting and taking turns reading the scriptures all cuddled together and asking deep thought provoking questions had to be let go in exchange for a more wrestling match meets yelling contest experience where everyone wanted to be heard at the same time. Now that you have a pretty solid picture of the unique challenges in my family I’d like to talk about how we make the Come Follow Me program work. 
At the beginning of the come follow me for individuals and families manual it states: ”The aim of all gospel learning and teaching is to deepen our conversion and help us become more like Jesus Christ. This means relying on Christ to change our hearts, our views, our actions and our very natures. It requires consistent daily efforts to understand and live the gospel.” In our family we focus on the CONSISTENT DAILY EFFORT part to teach and learn together. Each day it looks very different and there are new challenges all the time in accomplishing this as we try to ‘seek after whatever invites the influence of the spirit and reject whatever drives it away.’ A few of the ways we do this are:
First: by asking lots of questions – this comes naturally to my children and rarely can we get beyond a few verses of scripture without interruption. We’ve learned to take their pace through the material and let them pick which section in each weeks material to cover.
Second: we liken the scriptures to them – sometimes this means using silly accents as in when singing the hymn Dear to the Heart of the Shepherd we all use a southern twang “Out in the desert they wander.” We have a lot of fun. On a more serious note we also tell stories from our own lives and of their grandparents/aunts and uncles to help illustrate faith, repentance, answered prayers and Priesthood power.
Third: We love using Book of Mormon central videos and object lessons – We had a object lesson on how saying hurtful things is like breaking an egg. Simply saying you’re sorry can’t return the egg to its original state. Sometimes my children completely miss the point of the lesson and in this instance asked if they could brake some more.
Fourth: We read the manual during a family meal. We generally save the more serious and spiritual topics for while they are eating. When their mouths are full then can’t interrupt and are more likely to listen.
We definitely have a think outside the box approach to how we incorporate this program at home. My children are learning in a way that works for them and they have learned a lot. As I looked through our notes in our Come Follow Me for Individuals and Families manual here are some of the things we’ve learned and tried to change in our household.
We’ve learned that WE are responsible for our own learning that like the parable of the sower we need to be part of cultivating good ground by being kind, fighting less and giving each other more space and quiet time.
We’ve learned that the Lord is with us always and has the power to change us for the good but we have to be willing to be obedient and submit our will to the will of God. The more we put our trust in the Lord the more He will help us reach our potential
We’ve learned about the creation and that God is real including a reenactment of the formation of the solar system
We’ve learned that repentance is more than just saying we’re sorry, we have to have a change of behavior and a change of perspective of others to forgive
We’ve learned that perfect means complete or to reach a distant end and that we show our love to Heavenly Father by being obedient to the commandments
We’ve learned that Christ has the power to bring us peace in our challenges - and we have many and learned to laugh through most of them
We’ve learned about service that we are happier and know what to do and say when we serve him and that He is happy when we search for those who are lost
We’ve learned not to judge others with disabilities and have cultivated tolerance for others as we’d want tolerance for ourselves
Because of the ability to search through the manual and either focus on just one topic, read through a favorite scripture story or search for answers for one question, we have brought the spirit more fully into our home and undertaken the process of change in ourselves.
I know a lot of this sounds very light hearted and fun and I’m sure some of you are asking yourselves how can we feel the spirit through all of this silliness. The interesting part of this is a pattern I see of having a super short fun silly lesson wondering if they even absorbed anything and then noticing seemingly out of nowhere the real understanding and deep comprehension being exhibited by my children around bedtime, at the park, driving in the car or during a movie that will remind them of something they learned. Like my favorite hymn ‘come follow me’ inspires us to do as in verse 5 states:
We must the onward path pursue
As wider fields expand to view,
And follow him unceasingly,
Whate'er our lot or sphere may be.

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