This is the talk I gave today in our stake conference:
Good
morning my dear brothers and sisters; it is a joy to be with you as a
congregation of disciples of Jesus Christ. He said that when two or more are
gathered together, he is in the midst of us. It’s especially nice today to be
with a larger crowd than I normally am with. There is strength in numbers! I pray that we will feel His presence and be
taught by the Holy Ghost.
We
are a covenant making and keeping people. We make covenants at baptism and
renew those covenants each time we worthily partake of the Sacrament. We make
more covenants in the temple and remember them each time we participate again
in those ordinances on behalf of someone else.
Does
making and keeping covenants show in our appearance? Missionaries of the
Restored Church of Jesus Christ are recognizable the world over by their black
name tags. What about the rest of us? Without the distinctive black name tags
is it easy to recognize us as followers of the Savior?
As
covenant disciples of Christ we should look different, act different, and be
different from the world. We are called to be a peculiar, meaning special,
exceptional, or set apart, people of God.
That
we are followers of Christ should be obvious from the way we speak, interact
with clerks, waiters, or others around us, the way we drive, the way we work,
the way we share and volunteer, the way we dress, and the entertainment we
choose. We should be known as courteous, thoughtful, kind, helpful, obedient to
laws, generous, honest, modest, and virtuous because we have taken upon us His
name and covenanted to remember Him always.
In
the October 2017 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson said:
“There is nothing easy or automatic about
becoming such powerful disciples. Our focus must be riveted on the Savior and
His gospel. It is mentally rigorous to strive to look unto Him in every thought.”
So
how can we do it? Primary children sing, “If the Savior stood beside me, would
I do the things I do?” Perhaps we all need to sing that regularly, and imagine
the Savior with us, watching our actions and hearing our words.
A
popular question in Christian circles, when facing a situation or need, is:
What would Jesus do? Frankly, that question makes me uncomfortable because I
can’t do what Jesus did. I don’t have the ability to read minds and hearts; I
don’t have the power to heal all manner of sicknesses, and I don’t have the
authority to raise the dead.
No,
the question I’d rather ask myself is: “What has Jesus asked me to do?” He has
asked me to treat others the way I want to be treated.
Am
I courteous to other drivers? Am I patient behind the fumbling person at the
checkout counter? Am I cheerful and kind to the clerk in the store? Am I
helpful to the parent maneuvering a stroller through a heavy door? Am I focused
when listening to the prattle of little children? Do I give the benefit of a
doubt to the person who hurts my feelings? Do I share my time, talents or
resources without grumbling? Do I forget my tiredness and go anyway? Do I
sacrifice my desires so I can serve another? It is in these and many other small
ways that we remember the Savior in our daily life and show that we are trying
to be like Jesus.
The
Sunday School answers to the question, How can I remember Jesus daily? are exactly
right. Pray, study the scriptures, and the teachings of the modern prophets and
apostles, attend church, serve in my calling, minister to others. We don’t just
“go to church” we live the gospel! Each day, every day.
In
one of Elder David A. Bednar’s early general conference talks he told the
Parable of the Pickle. Do you remember? One of the steps in transforming a
cucumber into a pickle is to be immersed and saturated in a brine for a specific
amount of time. He likened this to our being immersed and saturated in the
gospel, being fully active and participating.
“And
after we come out of the waters of baptism, our souls need to be continuously
immersed in and saturated with the truth and the light of the Savior’s gospel.
Sporadic and shallow dipping in the doctrine of Christ and partial
participation in His restored Church cannot produce the spiritual
transformation that enables us to walk in a newness of life. Rather, fidelity
to covenants, constancy of commitment, and offering our whole soul unto God are
required if we are to receive the blessings of eternity. (April 2007)
When
we decide to skip meetings or activities, or we leave church early, we miss out
on the strengthening and sustaining power of being with fellow saints; learning
together, testifying and teaching each other, and building strong relationships
with each other. It’s like pulling your phone off the charging cord when it’s
at 50%. It just won’t last as long. Our spiritual battery might not last the
full week either. Especially in areas where we are geographically separated we
need regular time together to strengthen each other. You never know when a
comment or testimony you share in the Sunday School class, Priesthood quorums or
Relief Society, Young Women or Primary may be the very thing that blesses
another who is struggling and needs a boost.
We
remember Him when we are obedient to the commandments found in the scriptures,
and to the invitations given at General Conference through modern prophets and
apostles.
We
remember Him when we sacrifice our worldly desires and appetites to make room
for the sacred and eternal.
We
remember Him when we live the Gospel by exercising faith in Him, Jesus Christ,
repenting daily of our sins, then after being baptized, partaking of the
sacrament weekly to renew our covenants, and by living worthy of the constant
companionship of the Holy Ghost who will reveal the truth of all things to us.
We
remember Him by staying morally clean, pure in thought and deed; being
different from the world in our dress, our actions, and even our thoughts.
We
remember Him by consecrating our time, talents, and resources to the building
of His Kingdom; choosing to spend more time in the scriptures and church
magazines, and less time on social media; more time in the temple and less time
watching sports or other tv; more time ministering to the needs of others and
less time collecting and caring for the vain things of this world.
Helaman
counseled his sons:
And
now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who
is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the
devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea,
when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no
power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because
of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation
whereon if men build they cannot fail. (Helaman 5:12)
Brothers
and sisters, I testify that we can build our lives on the rock of our Redeemer,
and as we choose to do so each day of our life, we can be strengthened and
transformed to be like Him. He lives! He loves us! He will help us every step
of the way.
In
His holy name, Jesus Christ, amen.
