69. Seeing with an Eye of Faith

A talk I gave in the Bountiful Twentieth Ward at Michael’s missionary farewell on Sunday, August 30, 1992, before he began his mission to the Brazil Manaus Mission. Concerning the writing of the talk I recorded the following in my journal that same day: “Last Thursday about 4:30 in the morning I awoke with some thoughts running through my head about seeing with an eye of faith and felt the distinct impression that I was to get up right then, as opposed to waiting until a more reasonable hour, to look up some scriptures and start writing a talk for sacrament meeting. Between 4:30 and 6:30 that morning I wrote the following talk and was exhausted the rest of the day and the next day. After writing it, I didn't look at or even think about the talk until last night when I read it to Michael to see if it still sounded as good by the light of day as it did at 4:30 in the morning. It did, and I read it today in sacrament meeting, the first time I've ever read an entire talk in church. This is the talk. . . . Tonight as I was telling Claudia the circumstances of coming to write the talk, and the obvious inspiration involved, she was touched deeply by what I said about her efforts during the nineteen years Michael has been growing up and took it, I think rightly so, as evidence of the Lord's love and acceptance of her efforts. That’s a nice feeling to have.”

I am thrilled beyond measure that Michael has been called to Brazil, where I served twenty-plus years ago, to a land and among a people that I love dearly. I want all of you here today to know that it has been a great privilege and blessing in my life these past nineteen years to be honored to be the father of Michael Adam Cleverly. He is a covenant child, prayed here by his mother, who like Hannah of old promised him to the Lord and His service.

The Book of Mormon contains an imagery, an insight into faith that, as far as I can tell, is unique in all of our scriptures. In three places it refers to seeing “with an eye of faith.” As far as I can find, that phrase occurs nowhere else in the scriptures.

Alma, speaking to the Saints in Zarahemla, asked these penetrating questions, which are well for each of us to ask ourselves: “Do ye exercise faith in the redemption of him who created you? Do you look forward with an eye of faith, and view this mortal body raised in immortality, and this corruption raised in incorruption, to stand before God to be judged according to the deeds which have been done in the mortal body?” (Alma 5:15; emphasis added).

And then, about a decade later, this same Alma, preaching among what the record calls “the poor class of people” (Alma 32:2), compares the word to a seed and invites the people to experiment upon it, and says—“And thus, if ye will not nourish the word, looking forward with an eye of faith to the fruit thereof, ye can never pluck of the fruit of the tree of life” (Alma 32:40; emphasis added).

And finally, nearly five centuries later, as Moroni abridges the record of the Jaredites, he writes this inspired summary: “And there were many whose faith was so exceedingly strong, even before Christ came, who could not be kept from within the veil, but truly saw with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith, and they were glad” (Ether 12:19; emphasis added).

Looking forward with an eye of faith. Seeing with their eyes the things which they had beheld with an eye of faith.

Let me give two simple illustrations of this principle: In the opening chapters of the Book of Mormon, we read how after traipsing through the desert for some eight years, Lehi and his and his often-less-than-enthusiastic family come to the borders of the sea (to a land, by the way, which they called Bountiful), and little brother Nephi is commanded to build a ship. Nephi knows nothing about building ships. Surviving in the desert, perhaps yes; but building ships, nothing. I don’t know about you, but if I were to build a ship and had that huge ocean staring me in the face, it would take a remarkable leap of faith to want to get in the thing after it was finished and worry about whether it was going to make it.

But Nephi doesn’t hesitate for a minute. Earlier he had seen a panoramic vision of the future of his people upon the promised land, and so he moves forward with what the Lord has commanded him. He has seen with an eye of faith. If his descendants are on the promised land, they apparently have to get there somehow, so he knows the ship won’t spring a leak fifty miles out from shore and everyone drown in the depths of the sea. He has seen with an eye of faith.

A second illustration: Nineteen years ago this Wednesday, Claudia lay in a hospital bed in Provo with her firstborn son in her arms, just hours old, counting his fingers and toes (as I suppose new mothers do), but even more importantly thinking ahead, among other things, to this very day. She was planning in her mind the future course of his life, envisioning his serving a mission, looking forward with an eye of faith. And so what does she spend the next nineteen years doing? The kinds of things the Lord’s prophets have told parents to do to get their sons ready and worthy to serve missions. She has acted in faith, seeing with her eyes the things which she had beheld with the eye of faith.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that faith was a principle of action and a principle of power. It is the Lord’s intent to save us. That’s what His work is all about. That’s what He’s promised to do. And He has sufficient power to do what He says He will do.

The only thing, as I understand it, that can prevent His saving us is our own selves, because He’s granted us our agency and we’re busy choosing every moment of our lives whether we want Him on the one hand or the things of the world on the other. We can’t have both. They’re mutually exclusive.

And that is another principal message of the Book of Mormon: we can set our hearts on the Lord, or we can set our hearts on the world and its riches and fine apparel and spacious buildings and the lusts of the flesh and on and on. But we can’t have both. We have to face one direction or the other.

Elder Boyd K. Packer, in an address some years ago to priesthood leaders, asked the question: “Which way do you face?” We can’t face both directions.

So, what do we see with our eye of faith? Do we envision, as Alma taught, “Can you imagine to yourselves that ye hear the voice of the Lord, saying unto you, in that day; Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth?” (Alma 5:16).

Can we look forward with an eye of faith and imagine ourselves saved in the celestial kingdom of God? I suspect that if we can’t, we may not in fact be there. Because, if there is any message at all I get from the Book of Mormon, it’s that the Lord will give each one of us exactly what we desire.

And that brings us down to the precise reason Michael is going off to Brazil to preach the gospel. In the first section of the Doctrine and Covenants, the Lord says that “the weak things of the world shall come forth and break down the mighty and strong ones” (D&C 1:19), and He’s talking of course about missionaries just like Michael, and one of the reasons is “that faith also might increase in the earth” (D&C 1:21).

And the reason that the Lord wants faith to increase in the earth is so that more of His children will come unto Christ and be saved. Faith leads to repentance, and repentance leads to the ordinances of the gospel—starting with baptism—and that’s how a person comes unto Christ.

The doctrinal basis of missionary work is contained in the Savior’s statement to Nicodemus: “Verily, verily, I say unto thee, Except a man be born of water and of the spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). The kingdom of God referred to here is the celestial kingdom.

Let me quote here from a talk Elder Dallin H. Oaks gave earlier this summer to new missionaries and mission presidents at the MTC:

“We do not preach and teach in order to ‘bring people into the Church’ or to increase the membership of the Church. We do not preach and teach just to persuade people to live better lives. We honor and appreciate the many ministers and others who are involved in the kind of ministry that makes bad men good and good men better. That is important, but we offer something more. You can qualify for the terrestrial kingdom instead of the telestial kingdom without the aid of this Church. We are concerned with a higher destination.

“The purpose of our missionary work is to help the children of God fulfill a condition prescribed by our Savior and Redeemer. We preach and teach in order to baptize the children of God so that they can be saved in the celestial kingdom instead of being damned in a lesser kingdom. We do missionary work in order to baptize. That is the doctrinal basis of missionary work” (“Baptism, the Atonement, and the Doctrinal Basis of Missionary Work,” MTC devotional message, June 23, 1992, 2).

Let me digress here for a moment. The eleventh chapter of 3 Nephi in the Book of Mormon records the initial message the resurrected Savior gave when appeared to the Nephites. Just think what the Nephites had been through: cataclysmic destructions had just rearranged the entire landscape (I think that was to get their attention), and now the Savior is there and speaking.

We don’t have the time today to read it, but 13 times in that eleventh chapter the Savior uses the word baptism. For 600 years the Nephites had been looking forward to this moment: their prophets taught about it in their conferences, the faithful Nephite parents had mentioned it in their family home evenings, and here He is (the very God of the universe), and He talks to them over and over and over about baptism:

“And whosoever believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God” (3 Nephi 11:33).

And so to continue quoting from Elder Oaks:

“Our preaching and teaching is unto baptism. . . . Our missionary work and our baptisms are designed to offer all mankind the means of overcoming what we call spiritual death.

“. . . Baptism is a requirement, but why? Why is it necessary to be baptized in this way and by one holding authority? I do not know. But what I do know is that the remission of sins is only made possible by the atoning sacrifice of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and that he has prescribed that condition, again and again. His sacrifice paid the price for my sins, and he has prescribed the conditions upon which I can be saved by his payment. That is reason enough for me.

“. . . As the prophets of this dispensation have told us, the missionaries’ purpose of being in the mission field ‘is to save souls, to baptize converts,’ which is to open the doors of the celestial kingdom to the sons and daughters of God.

“No one else can do this.

“Other churches cannot do it.

“Good Christian living cannot do it.

“Good faith, good desires, and good reasoning cannot do it.

“Only the priesthood of God can administer a baptism that will satisfy the divine decree that ‘Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God’ (John 3:5).

“The doctrinal basis of missionary work is the word of God, revealed in every age, that man cannot be saved in the celestial kingdom without the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, and that the only way to lay claim to the merits of that atonement is to follow the command of its author: ‘Repent, and be baptized every one of you’ (Acts 2:38).” (“Baptism, the Atonement, and the Doctrinal Basis of Missionary Work,” MTC devotional message, June 23, 1992, 3, 8).

Now, let me conclude with this instruction from the Lord, given through the Prophet Joseph Smith in June 1829, nearly a year before the Church was organized: “And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father” (D&C 15:6; 16:6).

That applies to all of us. And may that be our happy lot is my humble prayer. I want all of you here today to know, as I think you do, that I love the Lord Jesus Christ, I love His gospel, I love His servants, and I delight in His word. I close with just one verse of a hymn that I have come to love very much:

And when I think that God, his Son not sparing,
Sent him to die, I scarce can take it in,
That on the cross my burden gladly bearing
He bled and died to take away my sin,
Then sings my soul, my Savior God to thee,
How great thou art! How great thou art!
(Stuart K. Hine, Hymns [1985], 86)

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

58. A Final Word

An article I wrote in Bountiful, Utah, in late December 1986 and published in the January 1987 issue of Die Lange Zeit. This message was based on a talk I gave on Sunday, December 28, 1986, in the final sacrament meeting of the year in the Bountiful Twentieth Ward, Bountiful Utah South Stake. I was serving at the time as the second counselor in the bishopric.

The Prophet Mormon spent fifty years of his adult life in reviewing, selecting, abridging, and summarizing a thousand years of Nephite records. It must have been a glorious experience. At the same time he witnessed the sad destruction of his people.

As he came to the closing moments of his own life, knowing that soon he would stand before his Maker to answer for the unique mission that had been his, what were the final thoughts running through his mind? What was the final message he wanted to leave as he closed his record? What would be the last thing he would choose to say to those of us who lived in our day?

Of all the things he might have chosen to write, his final message was a simple one:

“Therefore repent, and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and lay hold upon the gospel of Christ, which shall be set before you, not only in this record [the Book of Mormon] but also in the record which shall come unto the Gentiles from the Jews, which record [the Holy Bible] shall come from the Gentiles unto you.

“For behold, this [the Book of Mormon] is written for the intent that ye may believe that [the Bible]; and if ye believe that ye will believe this also; and if ye believe this ye will know concerning your fathers, and also the marvelous works which were wrought by the power of God among them.

“And ye will also know that ye are a remnant of the seed of Jacob; therefore ye are numbered among the people of the first covenant; and if it so be that ye believe in Christ, and are baptized, first with water, then with fire and with the Holy Ghost, following the example of our Savior, according to that which he hath commanded us, it shall be well with you in the day of judgment. Amen” (Mormon 7:8–10).

This brief closing message is in a nutshell the good news of the gospel of Jesus Christ: have faith in Christ, repent of our sins, be baptized, first with water and then with the Holy Ghost, and endure in faith to the end. If we do these things, it shall be well with us in the day of judgment. It is the very same message heralded by the angel at the first coming of Jesus: “I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people” (Luke 2:10).

The Prophet Joseph Smith said it in another way: “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” (Teachings, 121).

On another occasion the Prophet declared: “And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!

“For we saw him, even on the right hand of God; and we heard the voice bearing record that he is the Only Begotten of the Father” (D&C 76:22–23).

Elder Bruce R. McConkie’s final testimony, borne less than two weeks before his death, was especially moving to any who heard it:

“As pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person.

“I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears.

“But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God’s Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way” (Ensign, May 1985, 11).

50. The Scriptures

A talk given by Rebecca Cleverly on Sunday, August 30, 1981, just four days after her seventh birthday, in the Primary of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward, Bountiful Utah South Stake. The talk was printed in the September 1981 issue of the Family Journal. At this time Rebecca was starting as a second grader at Bountiful Elementary.

Today I am going to talk about the scriptures. In our family we have a scripture reading contest. Each person who can read is supposed to read the scriptures every day. And when we read for ten days without skipping a day, we get a prize. But when we skip a day, we have to start all over again.

In our Church we have four scriptures—the Book of Mormon, the Bible, the Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants.

Now I’m going to read you a story from the Bible about Jesus:

“And when Jesus departed thence, two blind men followed him, crying, and saying, Thou Son of David, have mercy on us.

“And when he was come into the house, the blind men came to him: and Jesus saith unto them, Believe ye that I am able to do this? They said unto him, Yea, Lord.

“Then touched he their eyes, saying, According to your faith be it unto you.

“And their eyes were opened” (Matthew 9:27–30).

I love to read the scriptures all by myself with no help. And I know that they are true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

46. Faith

A short talk given by six-year-old Rebecca Cleverly on Sunday morning, March 29, 1981, in the Primary of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward, Bountiful Utah South Stake. She wrote her talk in her journal the same day, and it was later published in the April 1981 issue of the Family Journal. Rebecca at the time was a first grader at Bountiful Elementary.

Today I’m going to talk about faith. Faith is obeying Jesus Christ, our moms and dads, and being kind to one another.

I’m going to tell a story about Joseph Smith. Joseph Smith didn’t know which church was the true church, so he went to talk with God. God said none of the churches were right. I know that Jesus made the true church through Joseph Smith.

I want to bear you my testimony, and I know this church is true. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

45. Faith, the First Principle of the Gospel

A talk given by seven-year-old Michael Cleverly on Sunday morning, February 1, 1981, in the Primary of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward, Bountiful Utah South Stake. The talk was printed in the March 1981 issue of the Family Journal. Michael at the time was a second grader at Bountiful Elementary.

“We believe that the first principles and ordinances of the gospel are: first, faith in the Lord Jesus Christ; second, repentance; third, baptism by immersion for the remission of sins; fourth, laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost” (Articles of Faith 1:4).

Today I’m going to talk about the first principle, faith. Faith means believing in Jesus Christ and believing and doing the things Jesus has told us.

I’m going to tell about David and Goliath. When David arrived at his brothers’ camp, one of his brothers showed him Goliath. David said he would fight the giant. The next morning David got five smooth stones from the brook and put them in his shepherd’s pouch. When Goliath was almost to David, David ran toward him and let go of his sling. One of the stones hit Goliath between the eyes.

David beat Goliath because he had faith in God. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

38. Miracles

An account of my missionary homecoming report in the Nampa Fifth Ward, Nampa Idaho Stake, on Sunday afternoon, January 10, 1971. I had returned from Brazil three weeks earlier—on Saturday, December 19, 1970. This account was adapted from an entry in the journal I started after my mission. In my original journal I only recorded an outline of what I talked about; the portions that appear here in brackets were added as notes when I was preparing my missionary journal for publication.

During sacrament meeting this afternoon I was the featured speaker as I gave a report of my mission. Rather than just talking about my mission per se, I spoke of faith and developed the theme “Miracles” and used incidents from my past two years to illustrate that theme.

The Spirit was present as I shared faith-promoting experiences and bore testimony, and animated by that Spirit I was able to speak with an unusual degree of fluency. After 45 minutes I was just getting started but had to stop to let the other ward in. Throughout the day I had prayed diligently that the Spirit might attend. I think it did.

Bishop Jensen informed me after the meeting that it had been the quietest meeting in a long while. I responded, “I probably put everybody to sleep.” He assured me that it was quite the contrary. Several other people remarked about how reverent it had been for a change.

Just before I stood to speak, “He That Hath Clean Hands” was sung as a special musical number. Coincidentally, that same number was sung right before I spoke 28 months earlier as I was preparing to begin my mission.

The song, often sung by Sister Jessie Evans Smith, the wife of our Prophet, President Joseph Fielding Smith, in her distinctive contralto voice, is based on a poetic Old Testament passage:

The earth is the Lord’s, and the fulness thereof;
The world and they that dwell therein.
For he hath founded it upon the seas,
And established it upon the floods.

Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?
Or who shall stand in his holy place?
He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart;
Who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity,
Nor sworn deceitfully.

He shall receive the blessing from the Lord,
And righteousness from the God of his salvation.

Lift up your head, O ye gates;
And be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory shall come in.

Who is the King of glory?
The Lord strong and mighty,
The Lord mighty in battle.

Lift up your heads, O ye gates;
Even lift them up, ye everlasting doors;
And the King of glory shall come in.

Who is the King of glory?
The Lord of hosts,
He is the King of glory.
— Psalms 24:1–5, 7–10

The mention in this psalm of ascending into the hill of the Lord and standing in his holy place is clearly a reference to the temple, the House of the Lord, “the mountain of the Lord’s house” (Isaiah 2:2; 2 Nephi 12:2), a place of holiness and peace and beauty, a place of covenant and learning.

And the answer to those questions—who shall ascend? and who shall stand?—is likewise clear: he that hath clean hands and a pure heart, one who is worthy, one who has been cleansed by the atoning blood of the Savior, the King of glory.

And that leads us to miracles, the subject of my talk. The Book of Mormon gives us an insight into the relationship between being clean and working miracles: “And we know our record to be true, for behold, it was a just man who did keep the record—for he truly did many miracles in the name of Jesus; and there was not any man who could do a miracle in the name of Jesus save he were cleansed every whit from his iniquity” (3 Nephi 8:1).

I began my talk quoting Moroni, who wrote, “And again I speak unto you who deny the revelations of God, and say that they are done away, that there are no revelations, nor prophecies, nor gifts, nor healing, nor speaking with tongues, and the interpretation of tongues;

“Behold I say unto you, he that denieth these things knoweth not the gospel of Christ; yea, he has not read the scriptures; if so, he does not understand them.

“For do we not read that God is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and in him there is no variableness neither shadow of changing?

“And now, if ye have imagined up unto yourselves a god who doth vary, and in whom there is shadow of changing, then have ye imagined up unto yourselves a god who is not a God of miracles.

“But behold, I will show unto you a God of miracles, even the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob, and it is that same God who created the heavens and the earth, and all things that in them are” (Mormon 9:7–11).

I continued, using this much of my simple outline:

Sister Hinckley’s comments on miracles [Sister Marjorie P. Hinckley, when she was with us in Rio de Janeiro in September 1969, spoke of the miracle of the missionary system. She said she never worried about her sons while they were serving missions, just when they returned home did she begin to worry again (see journal entry for Sept. 8, 1969).

A year later, when she was with us in Recife, she spoke of the modern-day miracles she had been seeing, including the growth of the Church and its members. Just the previous Sunday, she related, she had seen the third stake in São Paulo organized. South America holds a special spot in her heart. She compared the work here to the construction of a great building. Sometimes an elder may feel he has done nothing on his mission, but hundreds before have felt the same. In reality, they have all placed their bricks into the edifice, and the kingdom grows (see journal entry for Sept. 10, 1970).]

My learning Portuguese, my first day alone with another junior missionary, my becoming a senior companion [In connection with this point, I quoted what the Lord said to Moroni: “My grace is sufficient for the meek, that they shall take no advantage of your weakness;

“And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

“Behold, I will show unto the Gentiles their weakness, and I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth unto me—the fountain of all righteousness” (Ether 12:26–28).]

Growth of the Church in São Paulo and Rio de Janeiro [Less than five years earlier the first stake was organized in São Paulo, the first in all of South America. Now there were three stakes. And Rio was moving toward having a stake.]

Yolanda’s conversion [Maria Yolanda de Souza and her eight-year-old son Marcos joined the Church in less than three weeks from the time we first knocked on her door. I had the privilege of baptizing her on my 20th birthday (see various journal entries from July 1969). At some point after she started receiving the missionary lessons, she related to my companion and me that she had seen the two of us in a dream before we first came to her door.]

Antonio’s conversion [I do not now recall what I may have said about Antonio’s conversion. In fact, we baptized and confirmed two Antonios within a single month: 40-year-old Antonio José Pimental on October 5, 1969, and 59-year-old Antonio Fernandes Costa on October 25, 1969. I am not certain which one I was even referring to, although probably the latter. He progressed in his investigation quite quickly. On the day of his baptism and confirmation, I wrote, “His testimony has grown much, and his faith is waxing strong” (see journal entry for October 25, 1969).]

My serving as mission historian: baptism in Vitória, general conference [I do not remember what I said about serving as recorder-historian, nor the baptism in Vitória, nor general conference.]

Blessing of Richard (not psychological) [This undoubtedly refers to Richard Tenório, who was born with glaucoma and had to have his eyes operated on. He was Sônia and Simone’s baby brother. Aldo Tenório and I gave him a priesthood blessing on June 21, 1970, before his family took him to Belo Horizonte for an eye operation. On July 18, the day they left for Belo, we had a special fast for the little guy. On July 28 I recorded in my journal, “Good news arrived today. We saw Sônia, who was bubbling with joy and happier than ever. She received word from Belo Horizonte that Richard had been operated on with everything going well. Our prayers have been answered.”]

Drunk piano salesman [On Wednesday, October 22, 1969, my companion and I had the following experience, which I recorded in my journal on October 25: “Late Wednesday afternoon as Elder Staker and I were tracting, we encountered a drunken piano salesman who thought we were Baptist ministers. He dragged us into his home, or little shop, and had me play one of the pianos there. All I could play without music was ‘We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet,’ and so I did exactly that. As we were trying to leave, in came a very dark Negro who was Baptist, in every sense the epitome of a crente. We finally made the point that we were Mormons, to which the Baptist replied, ‘That’s alright. As long as you profess Jesus, you’re saved.’ That sort of philosophy irks me, and we graciously made every effort to excuse ourselves and be on our way, which we were allowed to do after I had played the same hymn once again.” I am not sure what point this experience contributed to the talk I was giving on miracles.]

Miracle of change: Gilberto and what he was 10 years earlier [Gilberto da Silva was baptized and confirmed on December 13, 1969, when he was 53 years old. On New Year’s Eve I recorded in my journal, “This evening we visited in the home of Gilberto da Silva, the irmão we baptized a few weeks ago. I am gladdened to see his progress. He is a simple uninstructed man but warm in friendship and love. He reads the Book of Mormon slowly but understands and enjoys it. It is difficult to tear him away from the chapel after meetings (as if we cared to) because he loves to meet with everybody present. His lovely wife, Laura, has not yet been able to attend church and therefore has not yet been prepared for baptism. She cannot read but seems to understand well what we have explained to her.”

On January 15, 1970, I recorded, “In our visit with Irmão Gilberto da Silva we spoke of baptism and some of the beautiful concepts, promises, and blessings associated therewith. He has now been a member one month and spoke of the joy and peace and happiness that already have come to him. His face fairly beams with happiness. His eyes sparkle with joy. His sweet wife, not yet a member, said she has seen the change in him since his baptism. I have noted it also, as I have seen in so many cases already: The gospel works miracles in the lives of those who accept it, for the gospel comes in power and not just in word. The Spirit’s influence is felt and its gifts and blessings are spread abroad in the lives of the faithful.”

Gilberto was among a handful of members who came to the Galeão International Airport in Rio on December 16, 1970, to see me off as I was leaving Brazil.]

Family home evening [I do not remember what I said on this occasion regarding family home evening. I had ample evidence from my mission, particularly during the time I served in Maceió, that home evening could be a great blessing to a family.]

Answered prayer: Elder Brockbank’s eight-step Book of Mormon program [In a zone conference on November 20, 1969, Elder Bernard P. Brockbank, as Assistant to the Twelve, presented a Book of Mormon missionary approach. I wrote in my journal on November 21: “Brother Brockbank’s talk was an answer to much pondering and many prayers on my part: How can we effectively use the members? How can we put the Book of Mormon to better use to make it the great converting tool it was meant to be?

He outlined a program that he worked out by inspiration, emphasizing the eight steps suggested by Moroni’s promise in Moroni 10:4–5. These are (1) read the Book of Mormon, (2) meditate in your heart the things read, (3) ask God the Eternal Father, (4) in the name of Jesus Christ, (5) ask if the Book of Mormon is true, (6) ask with a sincere heart, (7) and with real intent, and (8) having faith in Jesus Christ. We are asked to push the program further, enlisting member help, to give the Book of Mormon its chance to be a witness to all nations.”]

Greatest miracle of all time: the Savior’s atonement, death, and resurrection

Greatest miracle in our day: Joseph Smith’s first vision

My testimony (in English and Portuguese)

I had invited a number of friends, both member and nonmember, to come here the report of my mission. None of them showed up. My brother Jerry, who was very sick, came over from Boise to hear my talk.

16. Put Our Trust in God

A bishopric message published in the May 1997 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.

There is much to be grateful for as we look around and count our blessings—starting with our very lives, our health, our friends and families, our homes, this peaceful community in which we live, our citizenship in this great land of America, our faith, the talents and gifts and blessings a gracious Father has showered down upon us. The list could go on and on.

Appropriately, we are pausing this year to commemorate the sacrifices of our pioneer ancestors. As we reflect on the faith and courage of those who have gone before, we realize that in all the history of the earth, never has a people been blessed with such temporal and spiritual opportunities as we are.

Yet, for some people (and for nearly all of us at certain times in our lives) life can also be full of heartache, disappointment, and hassle. Sometimes there is injustice and hurt. And even death. And things may not seem fair. That’s simply the way life works. It is clearly a part of the test we agreed to before we came here to this earthly school. And, oh, what a test it is at times!

We find a nugget of insight in the Book of Mormon: “For I do know,” Alma taught his son Helaman, “that whosoever shall put their trust in God shall be supported in their trials, and their troubles, and their afflictions, and shall be lifted up at the last day” (Alma 36:3).

Note that our trust in God does not eliminate our trials, troubles, and afflictions. The people of God have always had their full share of them. They are indeed a fact of life. But our trust in God and His purposes allows Him to support us in those very trials, troubles, and afflictions we are called upon to endure. And, if we endure them well, that same trust allows Him to lift us up at the last day.

“My son, peace be unto thy soul,” came the tender words to the Prophet Joseph Smith, who knew more of trials, troubles, and afflictions than any of us will ever likely know. “Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high” (D&C 121:7–8).

Our challenge then is to endure and to trust and, at times, to simply hold on. And to be filled with kindness and gentleness and love unfeigned. And to help and lift and bless those around us. And to live in thanksgiving daily.

15. Faith in Every Footstep

A bishopric message published in the February 1997 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette. The year 1997 was the sesquicentennial celebration of the arrival of the Mormon pioneers in the valley of the Great Salt Lake.

Throughout this year we have a marvelous opportunity to celebrate the pioneer sesquicentennial, which marks the 150th anniversary of the July 1847 arrival of the first pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. “Faith in Every Footstep” is the theme of the year-long celebration.

Reflecting that tens of thousands of those hardy pioneers walked virtually half-way across the continent to reach the Great Basin, the “Faith in Every Footstep” theme reminds us that the pioneering spirit is alive and well across the earth today as hundreds of thousands of new converts each year take the courageous steps necessary to leave the world behind—often at great sacrifice, sometimes alienating family and friends—by taking the name of Jesus Christ upon themselves in the waters of baptism.

Whether or not we are members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, whether or not our own ancestors came across oceans and plains during that pioneer era, each of us here in our own little corner of Bountiful is blessed by the legacy of faith the pioneers left for us. Each of us is benefited by the great inland commonwealth they established here in the tops of the mountains for us now to enjoy.

One of my wife’s distant ancestors—in a letter written to his son nearly two hundred years ago, more than a decade before the restoration of the gospel—wrote an important admonition that every righteous parent would wish for his or her children and grandchildren: “See that you outstrip us in purity of heart and holiness of life.”

This admonition reflects the Apostle John’s sentiment: “I have no greater joy than to hear that my children walk in truth” (3 John 1:4).

What greater way could we honor our pioneer heritage than making sure that we walk in truth, with faith in every footstep, and that we outstrip those who have gone before in purity of heart and holiness of life?

11. Angels and Ministers of Grace

A bishopric message written on Monday, January 29, 1996, the day after I was sustained as the eighth bishop of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward in the Bountiful Utah South Stake. The message was published in the February 1996 issue of the Newsette, the monthly newsletter of the Bountiful 20th Ward. Larry Young and Kevin Thueson were my counselors in the bishopric.

In one of Shakespeare’s immortal plays, Hamlet wisely implores, “Angels and ministers of grace defend us!” (Hamlet, act 1, scene 4, line 39). Angels and ministers of grace! All of us need and in fact receive far more help than we realize in our daily lives from the angels and ministers of grace who surround us—on both sides of the veil.

This last Sunday we released a beloved bishopric. Bishop [Gail] Anger and his counselors were just such angels and ministers of grace in the lives of many ward members. We may never know the countless, quiet ways they went about blessing lives and ministering to the needs of people in our ward, but virtually all of us can think back with gratitude on instances of their love and attention in our own lives and in the lives of our families.

The greatest thanks we can give them, the ultimate tribute we can pay them is the way we continue to live our lives in quiet devotion to the cause of the Master whom they loved and followed while serving as our bishopric.

And now you have a new bishopric. We are grateful for the inspiration that lead to our calls and the sustaining vote of confidence we received from the membership of the ward. Your faith and prayers will mean a lot to us as we move forward with the next chapter in the history of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward.

God lives. His beloved Son lives. This is Their work in which we are engaged. They send angels and ministers of grace into our lives to bless us everlastingly. May we, like all who have gone before us, be as the Book of Mormon writer described, “instruments in the hands of God in bringing many to the knowledge of the truth, yea, to the knowledge of their Redeemer. And how blessed are they! For they did publish peace; they did publish good tidings of good” (Mosiah 27:36–37).

May each of us go and do likewise.

10. Searching the Scriptures

A bishopric message written on Thursday afternoon, January 29, 1987, and published in the February 1987 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette. This would be my final message as a counselor in the bishopric. In March 1987, after having served as Bishop Delbert H. Strasser’s second counselor for only twenty months, I was called by President F. Michael Watson to serve as a high councilor in the Bountiful Utah South Stake.

The Savior, during His earthly ministry, taught us the importance of studying the scriptures. He said, “Search the scriptures; for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me” (John 5:39).

On other occasions He taught similarly. To the Nephites He said, “Behold they [the scriptures] are written, ye have them before you, therefore search them” (3 Nephi 20:11).

In our own day He has said, “Search these commandments, for they are true and faithful, and the prophecies and promises which are in them shall all be fulfilled” (D&C 1:37).

Apparently the Lord is serious about our searching the scriptures. Why? So that we might come to know Him better. So that through Him we might have eternal life.

The Apostle John wrote that “these are written, that ye might believe that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God; and that believing ye might have life through his name” (John 20:31).

We know that the Book of Mormon was written for the express purpose of convincing people in our day that “Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations” (Book of Mormon title page).

President Ezra Taft Benson has repeatedly counseled us to make a daily study of the Book of Mormon a lifetime pursuit. From his seeric vantage point, he can see the blessings that will come to us as individuals, as families, and as a people if we make the Book of Mormon a thorough and complete part of our daily lives.

In addition to our daily reading in the Book of Mormon, we have this year the great opportunity of studying the New Testament as the adult curriculum in Sunday School. We have sensed an excitement among ward members as we have begun anew the study of the four gospels. We also deeply appreciate the faithful efforts of our two Gospel Doctrine teachers— Eugene Hamilton and Jody Pratt—who are helping to engender this excitement. Their efforts in their classes each Sunday and their marvelous sermons in sacrament meeting on January 11 are helping to promote the kind of love affair we hope each of you will come to have with the holy scriptures.

As I search the holy scriptures,
Loving Father of mankind,
May my heart be blessed with wisdom,
And may knowledge fill my mind.

As I search the holy scriptures,
Touch my spirit, Lord, I pray.
May life's myst'ries be unfolded
As I study day by day.

As I search the holy scriptures,
May thy mercy be revealed.
Soothe my troubled heart and spirit;
May my unseen wounds be healed.

As I search the holy scriptures,
Help me ponder and obey.
In thy word is life eternal;
May thy light show me the way.
(C. Marianne Johnson Fisher, Hymns [1985], 277)

Such is our earnest wish for each of you.

7. Exercising Our Faith and Prayers

A bishopric message written on Tuesday afternoon, April 29, 1986, and published in the May 1986 issue of the Bountiful Twentieth Ward Newsette.

A few weeks ago we finished another glorious general conference. What a thrill it was to see the mantle fall on our new Prophet and to feel the spirit and power of his sacred calling. What a privilege it was to sustain President Benson and his two counselors as our new First Presidency.

President Benson’s comments in the opening moments of the conference set a mood and a theme for all that followed: “I earnestly seek an interest in your faith and prayers that what I say may bless and edify our souls. I realize my dependence upon the Lord, and I also know that Jesus Christ is the head of this church and that through Him we can do all things that are needful” (Ensign, May 1986, 4).

The Brethren do need our faith and prayers, and they—along with each of us—need to depend upon the Lord in all things.

Today is our normal fast Sunday, a day of fasting and prayer. In addition, President Ronald Reagan has proclaimed it a national day of prayer. In support of this proclamation, the First Presidency has said:

“In keeping with the annual tradition dating back to 1775, the President of the United States has again this year proclaimed a National Day of Prayer. The date of the observance will be Sunday, May 4, 1986. We endorse that proclamation and encourage our individual members and our congregations throughout the nation to join with the President that day in a prayerful petition to our Heavenly Father, giving thanks for all that He does for us, seeking His guidance and inspiration in the conduct of our lives, and asking for the blessing of peace in a troubled world.

“Also, while we enthusiastically support the proclamation, let us not limit our supplications to a designated observance. We commend the practice of daily prayer to people everywhere. May we all . . . express daily gratitude to the Father of us all. And, to paraphrase a familiar hymn, when sore trials come upon us, when our souls are full of sorrow, when our hearts are filled with anger, let us think to pray and, in so doing, seek guidance and comfort and forgiveness from Him who have us life” (Church News, Apr. 20, 1986, 3).

In addition, our county commissioners—along with commissioners from five other nearby counties—issued this joint statement on praying to avoid potential lake flooding:

“We are requesting that people of all faiths and religious persuasions begin immediately to exercise their faith and prayers and then unitedly join in a day of fasting and prayer on May 4 in a supplication to the Creator for the weather patterns to return to normal that the potential disaster might be averted” (Church News, Apr. 27, 1986, 3).

This is surely an appropriate subject for our prayers, as the Book of Mormon teaches us (see, for example, Amulek’s excellent instruction on prayer in Alma 34:17–28 and Alma’s counsel to his son Helaman in Alma 37:36–37).

As a bishopric, we commend this counsel to you and invite you to exercise your faith and prayers. Pray in your families. Pray as husbands and wives. Pray individually. And may the Lord reward your heartfelt, righteous prayers with blessings upon your heads.

2. Are We on Spiritual Diets?

A pastoral message from the BYU 11th Branch newsletter, Heaven-11, as a message from the branch presidency on February 2, 1975.

In the preface to His Book of Commandments, the Lord mentions one of the reasons He gives us scriptures: "That faith also might increase in the earth" (D&C 1:21). Obviously, our faith will not increase unless we read and study and ponder the scriptures. Scripture study becomes to the spirit what food is to the body.

President Harold B. Lee, speaking to the Regional Representatives of the Twelve, put it this way: "Are you brethren continually increasing your testimonies by diligent study of the scriptures? Do you have a daily habit of reading the scriptures? If we're not reading the scriptures daily, our testimonies are growing thinner, our spirituality isn't increasing in depth" (Regional Representatives' seminar, Dec 12, 1070).

Some of us seem to be on spiritual diets. We can go days and weeks at a time never feeding our spirits, and consequently our testimonies grow thinner and thinner until we find ourselves spiritually malnourished.

I was impressed when I recently encountered this statement by President Marion G. Romney, of the great prophets of this dispensation: "The older I grow in the service, the more I turn to the scriptures and try to understand the meaning of what the Lord has said. . . . It is worth our time to study the scriptures and see the depth, as far as we can, of the Lord's teachings" (Welfare session of general conference, Oct. 5, 1974).

If you will consistently and prayerfully search the scriptures for a few moments each day—for fifteen minutes if that's all the time you have—I can promise that your testimonies will grow, that your faith will increase, and that you will understand the meaning of what the Lord has said.