Work and Self Reliance

How many of you are familiar with this booklet?  (For the Strength of Youth) How many of you have read it?  This year we are going to focus on the standards in the Strength of Youth.  We would like you to think about it as for the Strength of YOUth.

The first presidency has this to say about the study of this book:

We promise that as you keep the covenants you have made and these standards, you will be blessed with the companionship of the Holy Ghost, your faith and testimony will grow stronger, and you will enjoy increasing happiness.

Our Father in Heaven has placed great trust in you. He has a work for you to do. Seek His guidance in prayer, and counsel with your parents and leaders. The decisions you make now will set the course for much of what will follow during your mortal life and throughout eternity.

Today we are going to discuss Work and Self Reliance.

Thou shalt not idle away thy time, neither shalt thou bury thy talent.

Doctrine and Covenants 60:13

Work is honorable. Developing a good work ethic will help you contribute to the world and bring increased sense of self-worth.

What are some ways we can help our children and families develop a good work ethic?

Goals are a good way to develop work.  It’s the first of the year.  What are some of the goals you have set for yourself?  We need to set goals and be willing to work hard to achieve them. Develop self-discipline, be dependable and doing your best in all of your worthwhile pursuits.  Heavenly Father has given gifts and talents to each of us and knows what we are capable of achieving. Seeking His help and guidance will us achieve our goals.

The Lord has commanded us not to be idle. Idleness can lead to inappropriate behavior, damaged relationships, and sin.  What are some things, as sisters, we could be caught up in that would be considered idleness?

One of the blessings of work is developing self-reliance. When you are self-reliant, you use the blessings and abilities God has given you to care for yourself and your family and to find solutions for your own problems.

Lehi and his family, after wandering in the wilderness for eight years, came to a land they called Bountiful because it was a place of much fruit and wild honey. They came to a great sea, and they rejoiced unto the Lord because He had preserved them. After they had been in the land Bountiful for a space of many days, the Lord spoke to Nephi and said, “Arise, and get thee into the mountain.” (1 Ne. 17:7.)

Nephi obeyed the Lord; he went into the mountain and prayed. And the Lord commanded Nephi, “Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters.” (1 Ne. 17:8.)

What did Nephi then do?  Did he say, “What?! I don’t even have the first idea of how to build ship.” “And, oh yeah, I left any tools I had back in Jerusalem.”

Then Nephi asked the Lord, “Whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?” (1 Ne. 17:9).

The Lord instructed Nephi where he could find ore, but then Nephi was on his own. In 1 Nephi, chapter 17, we read:

“And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make a bellows wherewith to blow the fire, of the skins of beasts; and after I had made a bellows, that I might have wherewith to blow the fire, I did smite two stones together that I might make fire. …

“And it came to pass that I did make tools of the ore which I did molten out of the rock.”

Why is this story so interesting?  Tells of an instance in which the Lord provided help but then stepped aside to allow one of His sons to exercise his own initiative.

Are there other stories that shows individuals using the blessings and abilities God has given them to care for themselves and their family and to find solutions for your own problems?

Nephi and the brass plates

Nephi and the broken arrow

Self-reliance does not mean that you must do all things on your own. To be truly self-reliant, you must learn how to work with others and turn to the Lord for His help and strength.  The Lord will help us in times of need, especially when we are committed to His work and respond to His will. But the Lord only helps those who are willing to help themselves. He expects His children to be self-reliant to the degree they can be.

Brigham Young instructed the Saints, “Instead of searching after what the Lord is going to do for us, let us inquire what we can do for ourselves.” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1978, p. 293.)

Independence and self-reliance are important to our spiritual and temporal growth. Whenever we find ourselves in situations which threaten our self-reliance, what happens?  We feel our freedoms threatened. If we increase our dependence on anything or anyone except the Lord, we will find an immediate decrease in our freedom to act. As President Heber J. Grant declared, “Nothing destroys the individuality of a man, a woman, or a child as much as the failure to be self-reliant.” (Relief Society Magazine, Oct. 1937, p. 627.)

ELDER PERRY’S Family tradition:

My parents established a family tradition in our home which was fun for me in my early years and has become even more meaningful as I reflect back on it as the years have passed. On the first birthday of each child the family would gather in the living room. In the center of the living room floor, our parents would place articles for the one-year-old child to select. The selection to be made might indicate an interest the child would pursue in life. The articles were the Bible, a child’s bottle filled with milk, a toy, and a savings bank, filled with coins. The child was placed on one side of the room and the family on the other side. Family members would encourage the child to crawl toward the objects and make a selection. This was all in fun, of course.

Scriptures represent our need for spiritual nourishment.

In the scriptures, the Lord reveals His will to us. He has instructed His prophets to record His communications with them for our benefit. The scriptures have eternal values and are the foundation we can build a successful life on. We become more self-reliant when we study the scriptures, which teach the principles that provide a divine center to our lives.

We have the best text which has ever been written, or ever will be written, as our guide.

We can turn to 2 Kings, the fifth chapter, and learn about obedience.

We can study the life of Job and learn integrity.

King Benjamin’s address in Mosiah teaches industry

The life of Joseph, as told in Genesis 39, tells us what we should do when our standard of morality is being tested.

These are just a few examples of the lessons, can you think of others?

The bottle filled with milk symbolizes the physical body’s need for nourishment.

Our Welfare Services program has taught us to define the essential elements of temporal self-reliance. The elements are education; physical health; employment; home storage; resource management; and social, emotional, and spiritual strength.

FEBRUARY ACTIVITY

STRAWBERRY STORY

The toy represents the acquisition of things of the world.

We are bombarded with “acquire now and pay later”, no payments no interest until 2015. We live in an impatient world where everyone wants everything now, instant gratification over any kind of lasting satisfaction.

Using what we have wisely and extending their life will help us become more self-reliant. I’m sure there are many mothers in here that held or are holding on to clothes for a younger sibling.  Trevor is currently wearing a shirt that has been worn by both his brothers.

We live in a world blessed with so much abundance. Let us be certain that the resources with which we are blessed are never wasted.

The fourth item, the bank is a symbol of our financial well-being.

Who can give me a definition of interest?    Elder Perry’s boss gave this definition: Thems that understands it, earns it; and thems that don’t, pays it.”

Now it doesn’t take a genius to understand that before you can collect interest, you must first have some savings. Having savings while continuing to increase one’s standard of living requires understanding of one simple practice and then religiously applying it. After paying your tithing of 10 percent to the Lord, you pay yourself a predetermined amount directly into savings. That leaves you a balance of your income to budget for taxes, food, clothing, shelter, transportation, etc. It is amazing to me that so many people work all of their lives for the grocer, the landlord, the power company, the automobile salesman, and the bank, and yet think so little of their own efforts that they pay themselves nothing.

It is by consistently and regularly adding to your investments that you will build your emergency and retirement savings. This will add to your progress in becoming self-reliant.

The principle of self-reliance is spiritual as well as temporal. It is not a doomsday program; it is something to be practiced each and every day of our lives.

Ye Are the Temple of God

In Primary and Sunday School classes, and Young Women and priesthood classes, we have all learned about the fundamental purposes of our mortal existence. If you or I were asked the question

“Why are we here on the earth?” What would your answers be?

To receive a physical body

To live by faith

To be tested

The proclamation on the family explains, we as spirit sons and daughters of our Eternal Father “accepted His plan by which His children could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize [our] divine destiny as … heir[s] of eternal life”.

Consider with me one particular element of these answers.

Have we ever really considered why having a physical body is so important?  Do we really understand why a body is so central to the Father’s plan of happiness? Do we perhaps recite this answer so frequently and routinely that we fail to recognize its true importance?  

We are going to dig a bit deeper into this eternally important question about why a body is so important. Ultimately the answer affects everything we do: what we think, how we act, where we go, what we eat, what we drink, and what we wear and how we look.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught with great clarity about the importance of our physical bodies:

“We came to this earth that we might have a body and present it pure before God in the celestial kingdom. The great principle of happiness consists in having a body. The devil has no body, and herein is his punishment. He is pleased when he can obtain the tabernacle of man, and when cast out by the Savior he asked to go into a herd of swine, showing that he would prefer a swine’s body to having none.

“All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not. The devil has no power over us only as we permit him. The moment we revolt at anything which comes from God, the devil takes power” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 181).

Elder Bednar doesn’t claim to know the complete answer to the question of why a physical body is so important. But he shares a few basic reasons why a body is essential to our spiritual development and our eternal progression.

Reason no. 1. Obtaining a tabernacle of flesh is an essential step in the process of becoming like our Heavenly Father. Our physical bodies make possible a breadth, depth, and intensity of experience that simply could not be obtained in our premortal estate. As President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, has taught, “Our physical body is the instrument of our spirit” (Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled [1991], 211).

What do we experience because of our bodies?

In this classroom of mortality we experience tenderness, kindness, happiness, sorrow, disappointment, pain, and even the challenges of physical limitations in ways that prepare us for eternity. Simply stated, there are lessons we must learn and experiences we must have, as the scriptures describe, “according to the flesh” (1 Ne. 19:6; Alma 7:12–13).

Reason no. 2. Our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son are, by nature, creators. As the sons and daughters of God, we have the potential to become like Them. The Father and the Son have entrusted us with a portion of Their creative power and provided specific guidelines for the proper use of that sacred ability to create life and establish an eternal family. How we feel about and use that sacred power in this life will determine in large measure whether additional creative power will be ours in the life to come.

Reason no. 3. As we attempt to answer the question about why we are here on the earth, we usually consider receiving a physical body and being tested as two related but separate parts of the answer. However, an essential part of the test of mortality is having and properly using a physical body.

Please consider carefully the following statement by President Brigham Young (1801–77):

“The spirit is pure, and under the special control and influence of the Lord, but the body is of the earth, and is subject to the power of the Devil, and is under the mighty influence of that fallen nature that is of the earth. If the spirit yields to the body, the Devil then has power to overcome the body and spirit of that man, and he loses both.

When you are tempted, lose hold of the rod; commit an overt act unthinkingly; when you are full of evil passion, and wish to yield to it, then stop and let the spirit, which God has put into your tabernacles, take the lead. If you do that, I will promise that you will overcome all evil, and obtain eternal lives. But many, very many, let the spirit yield to the body, and are overcome and destroyed” (Discourses of Brigham Young, sel. John A. Widtsoe [1941], 70).

Don’t we say that if you find yourself wanting to yell at the kids or get frustrated by a situation, you need to leave or count to five?

In 2 Nephi 2:26–29 we read:

“And the Messiah cometh in the fulness of time, that he may redeem the children of men from the fall. And because that they are redeemed from the fall they have become free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon, save it be by the punishment of the law at the great and last day, according to the commandments which God hath given.

“Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself.

“And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;

“And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom.”

I suggest that you thoroughly study and prayerfully ponder the statement of Brigham Young and these verses from 2 Nephi.

Neither passage asserts that the physical body is inherently evil. Rather, they teach that we live in a fallen world. The very elements out of which our bodies were created are by nature fallen and ever subject to the pull of sin, corruption, and death. Thus, the Fall of Adam and its consequences affect us most directly through our physical bodies. And yet as President Young stated, we are dual creatures, for at the same time that we inhabit a physical body that is subject to the Fall, we also have a spirit that represents the eternal part of us. We are the spirit sons and daughters of God and have inherited divine qualities from Him.

The precise nature of the test of mortality, then, can be summarized in the following questions: Will my body rule over my spirit, or will my spirit rule over my body? Will I yield to the enticings of the natural man or to the eternal man? That, brothers and sisters, is the test. We are here on the earth to develop godlike qualities and to learn to bridle all of the passions of the flesh (see Alma 38:12).

Our Bodies Are Not Our Own

I now want to try and explain a principle that is fundamental to our knowledge about and understanding of the importance of a physical body.

The principle is this: Our bodies are not our own.

First Corinthians 6:19–20 states:

“Know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?

“For ye are bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

King Benjamin also taught with great clarity the truth that our bodies ultimately are not our own. In Mosiah 2:23–25 he describes how we are blessed through service and indebted to our God:

“And now, in the first place, he hath created you, and granted unto you your lives, for which ye are indebted unto him.

“And secondly, he doth require that ye should do as he hath commanded you; for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you; and therefore he hath paid you. And ye are still indebted unto him, and are, and will be, forever and ever; therefore, of what have ye to boast?

“And now I ask, can ye say aught of yourselves? I answer you, Nay. Ye cannot say that ye are even as much as the dust of the earth; yet ye were created of the dust of the earth; but behold, it belongeth to him who created you.”

Both our agency and our physical body, through which we exercise that agency in mortality, are truly “bought with a price” through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. We are called to be, as the Apostle Peter wrote, “a royal priesthood, an holy nation, a peculiar people” (1 Pet. 2:9). To be sure, we should be peculiar in the sense that we are distinctive, set apart from, and uncontrolled by the world. In addition, we are peculiar in a more powerful sense. As the Greek word implies, we are peculiar in that we are a purchased people.

Interestingly, I have heard many people, both outside and inside the Church, declare, “It’s my body and I can do to it what I want.” The correct doctrinal response to such a statement is quite simple. No, your body is not your own; it is on loan from God. 

As we read in 1 Corinthians 3:16–17 [1 Cor. 3:16–17]:

“Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?

“If any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy; for the temple of God is holy, which temple ye are.”

The choices we make about the use of our personal temples will affect us throughout all eternity.

Because the physical body is so central to the Father’s plan of happiness and our spiritual development, we should not be surprised that Lucifer seeks to thwart our progression by enticing us to use our bodies improperly. It is to me one of the ultimate ironies of eternity that the adversary, who is miserable because he has no physical body and therefore cannot progress, seeks to make us miserable “like unto himself” (2 Ne. 2:27) through the improper use of our bodies. The very tool he does not have and cannot use thus is the primary instrument through which he attempts to lure us to spiritual destruction.

Our physical bodies indeed are temples of God. Consequently, you and I must carefully consider what we take into our temple, what we put on our temple, what we do to our temple, and what we do with our temple. And we can learn a number of important lessons by comparing the Church’s temples to our physical bodies as temples.

What We Take into Our Temple

A member of the Church who desires to enter a dedicated temple must be worthy to do so. The requirement of worthiness for all who enter the house of the Lord preserves the sacred nature of these special buildings and permits the ongoing presence of the Lord’s Spirit.

Now, please consider the importance of worthiness to enter the house of the Lord as you review the following counsel from President Boyd K. Packer:

“Our physical body is the instrument of our spirit. In that marvelous revelation the Word of Wisdom we are told how to keep our bodies free from impurities which might dull, even destroy, those delicate physical senses which have to do with spiritual communication.

The Word of Wisdom is a law—a principle with promise. If we obey the provisions of the law, we receive the promises. If we do not, there will be both temporal and spiritual consequences.

What are the provisions of the law known as the Word of Wisdom?

The revelation defines and admonishes abstinence from harmful substances and beverages in these words:

“Strong drinks [or, in other words, alcoholic or harmful beverages] are not for the belly.” (D&C 89:7.)

“Tobacco is not for the body … and is not good for man.” (D&C 89:8.)

“Hot drinks [defined as tea and coffee] are not for the body.” (D&C 89:9.)

Those foods which are good for man are described in these words:

“All wholesome herbs God hath ordained for the constitution, nature, and use of man—

“Every herb in the season thereof, and every fruit in the season thereof;

“Flesh … of beasts and of the fowls of the air … are to be used sparingly;

“All grain is ordained for the use of man … to be the staff of life. …

“All grain is good for the food of man; as also the fruit of the vine.” (D&C 89:10–12, 14, 16.)

In this revelation the Lord counsels us to use meat sparingly. I have often felt that the Lord is further counseling us in this revelation against indiscriminately killing animals, for He has said elsewhere in scripture, “Wo be unto man that sheddeth blood or that wasteth flesh and hath no need.” (D&C 49:21.)

Wheat is particularly singled out as being good for man, as is the fruit of the vine—vegetables and all fruits. This is the wisdom of the Lord on the matter of sound nutrition and diet.

The Word of Wisdom allows us to know that the Lord is vitally concerned about the health of His Saints. He has graciously given us counsel for improving our health, endurance, and resistance to many diseases.

“The Word of Wisdom is a key to individual revelation. It was given as ‘a principle with promise, adapted to the capacity of the weak and the weakest of all saints’ (D&C 89:3).

“The promise is that those who obey will receive ‘great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures’ (D&C 89:19). If we abuse our body with habit-forming substances, or misuse prescription drugs, we draw curtains which close off the light of spiritual communication” (Let Not Your Heart Be Troubled, 211).

The primary blessing that comes from obedience to the Word of Wisdom is spiritual in nature, not necessarily physical. Certainly, we all recognize the physical benefits of adhering to the lifestyle and dietary guidelines contained in the Word of Wisdom. But please notice how President Packer emphasized the link between what we take into our bodies and our ability to receive spiritual communication. The Word of Wisdom is about readiness and receptiveness to receive revelation. And secondarily the Word of Wisdom also produces physical benefits. Just as only worthy persons are permitted to enter into the house of the Lord, so we should likewise be careful to take into our bodies only those things that will positively affect us both spiritually and physically.

What We Put on Our Temple

The Church’s temples are recognized throughout the world for their beauty. The buildings themselves are made of the finest materials and constructed with true craftsmanship. And the areas immediately surrounding a temple are always neat and well maintained. Please consider the impact of the appearance of a temple and its grounds as you review the following counsel from President Harold B. Lee:

“Do not underestimate the important symbolic and actual effect of appearance. Persons who are well groomed and modestly dressed invite the companionship of the Spirit of our Father in Heaven and are able to exercise a wholesome influence upon those around them. Persons who are unkempt and careless about their appearance, or adopt the visual symbols of those who often oppose our ideals, expose themselves and persons around them to influences that are degrading and dissonant. Outward appearance is often a reflection of inward tendencies” (The Teachings of Harold B. Lee, ed. Clyde J. Williams [1996], 220).

Just as the Church’s temples portray light and an inner beauty through their outward appearance, so we must be thoughtful and careful about how we dress and what we put on our personal temples. Full-time missionaries have a distinctive style of dress that differentiates them from the world and is intended, in part, to be an outward manifestation of their discipleship. It would never be appropriate for the appearance or the demeanor of these special messengers to in any way detract from the sacred message they are called to deliver. Full-time members should be no less distinctive. Like it or not, other people make judgments about the restored gospel by what they see or feel in you and me. One of the most tragic lines in scripture was spoken by Alma to his errant son, Corianton: “Behold, O my son, how great iniquity ye brought upon the Zoramites; for when they saw your conduct they would not believe in my words” (Alma 39:11).

What We Do to Our Temple

Imagine the reaction you or I might have if we saw defacing graffiti on the exterior of one of our Church’s temples. The very thought of finding such inappropriate markings on a temple is offensive to all of us.

Brothers and sisters, we must be particularly careful as the fads and fashions of the world entice us to mark or to pierce or to otherwise deface or disfigure our personal temples. Consider the following counsel from President Spencer W. Kimball (1895–1985):

“How far, we wonder, will men and women go to pay ovations to the god of style? Will men wear rings in their noses when style dictates? Will young people still fall prey to their god of style, which they worship?” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 380).

That comment by President Kimball was made nearly 30 years ago, and I wonder what he would think if he were alive today. We now live in a world where people routinely do wear rings and other items in their noses, in their tongues, in their navels, and in their eyebrows because that is the current style (see Gordon B. Hinckley, “Your Greatest Challenge, Mother,”Ensign, Nov. 2000, 99).

It is interesting to me that these trends of the world frequently promote a false individuality that is nothing more than a superficial and curious outward conformity. True individuality is the product of spirituality and is not a function of trinkets or ornaments attached to or hanging from parts of our body. The spiritual basis of individuality is never more evident to me than when I worship in the house of the Lord and everyone is dressed in similar white clothing, looking essentially the same. In that setting, no fads or fashion statements are necessary. The unity and outward sameness of appearance in the temple permits the individual spirit to shine through. That, brothers and sisters, is the only type of individuality that really matters. Remember, our bodies are not our own; they are on loan from God. Indeed, they are temples, and the Spirit of the Lord should dwell therein and shine through. And, may I quickly add, it is harder for the Spirit to shine in and through our physical bodies when we are dozy and dull from foolishly going to bed at 1:30 A.M. or 2:30 A.M. or later night after night after night (see D&C 88:124).

What We Do with Our Temple

The temples of our Church are built and dedicated to accomplish righteous purposes. Sacred ordinances, including the endowment and eternal marriage, are available only in the Lord’s house. You and I are fortunate to live at a time when temple construction has rapidly accelerated around the world; many members who previously had great difficulty receiving temple blessings can now do so much nearer to their own homes and communities.

Please consider the sacred ordinances offered and righteous purposes accomplished in the Church’s temples as we review the following teachings by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

“One of the ‘plain and precious’ truths restored in this dispensation is that ‘the spirit and the body are the soul of man’ (D&C 88:15) and that when the spirit and body are separated, men and women ‘cannot receive a fulness of joy’ (D&C 93:34). That is the reason why obtaining a body is so fundamentally important in the first place, why sin of any kind is such a serious matter (namely because it is sin that ultimately brings both physical and spiritual death), and why the resurrection of the body is so central to the great triumph of Christ’s Atonement.

“The body is an essential part of the soul. This distinctive and very important Latter-day Saint doctrine underscores why sexual sin is so serious. We declare that one who uses the God-given body of another without divine sanction abuses the very soul of that individual, abuses the central purpose and processes of life, ‘the very key’ (in Conference Report, Apr. 1972, 139; or Ensign, July 1972, 113) to life, as President Boyd K. Packer once called it. In exploiting the body of another—which means exploiting his or her soul—one desecrates the Atonement of Christ, which saved that soul and which makes possible the gift of eternal life. And when one mocks the Son of Righteousness, one steps into a realm of heat hotter and holier than the noonday sun. You cannot do so and not be burned.

“Please, never say: ‘Who does it hurt? Why not a little freedom? I can transgress now and repent later.’ Please don’t be so foolish and so cruel. You cannot with impunity ‘crucify Christ afresh’ (see Heb. 6:6). ‘Flee fornication,’ Paul cries (1 Cor. 6:18), and flee ‘anything like unto it,’ theDoctrine and Covenants adds (D&C 59:6; emphasis added). Why? Well, for one reason because of the incalculable suffering in both body and spirit endured by the Savior of the world so that we could flee (see D&C 19:15–20). We owe Him something for that. Indeed, we owe Him everything for that. ‘Ye are not your own,’ Paul says. ‘Ye [have been] bought with a price: therefore glorify God in your body, and in your spirit, which are God’s’ (1 Cor. 6:19–20; emphasis added; see also 1 Cor. 6:13–18). In sexual transgression the soul is at stake—the body and the spirit” (“Personal Purity,” Ensign, Nov. 1998, 76).

Brothers and sisters, both the Church’s temples and our personal temples must be used to accomplish the righteous purposes for which they were created. Our physical body is a marvelous blessing and a timeless trust. The most sacred of all our divine powers is to become a co-creator with Heavenly Father in providing physical bodies for His spirit sons and daughters and in establishing a righteous and Christ-centered family. Nothing is more holy; nothing deserves more reverence; nothing is more central to the plan of happiness. And our very souls are at stake.

I hope we now better understand why “to receive a physical body” is the first element of the answer to the important question “Why are we here on earth?” The doctrines Lucifer works most diligently to distort and attack are the ones that really matter the most to us individually, to our families, and to the world. The great plan of happiness requires that each of us obtain a physical body and makes possible a forever family. Consider the popular philosophy that many voices in our modern world would persuade us to believe: “Eat, drink, and be merry; nevertheless, fear God—he will justify in committing a little sin” (2 Ne. 28:8). Such an ideology is a lie inspired by the great deceiver. Where is the adversary presently directing his most direct and diabolical attacks? Upon our beliefs about and uses of the physical body and upon the family. Remember, Satan does not have a body and he cannot have a family. He desires that all of us would become miserable like unto himself. And he relentlessly works to distort the two doctrines he hates the most.

I conclude with the following statement by Elder Melvin J. Ballard (1873–1939), a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

“The body that has been given to us was for the purpose of allowing the spirit to exalt itself to a nobler condition. The lightning that is seen flashing from cloud to cloud, from mountain top to mountain top, is an electrical force that may tear down buildings, set fire to property, and destroy life. Conduct electricity through the dynamo wire, and motor, and behold its wonderful results working for the service of man, accomplishing something under the control of a physical instrument, it thus becomes a power for good. So with steam, if allowed to evaporate freely it does little good, but restrain it in the boiler, send it through the engine, and under its power you may travel across the continent or sail from shore to shore. And so, too, with this highest, most potent of all spiritual forces, the intelligence that is in man; enshrine it in a spiritual body, that it may have the experiences of spiritual life; and then give it a physical body, that it may enter into and obtain the joy and experiences of physical life, and you have enlarged its powers immeasurably” (in Conference Report, Oct. 1912, 107).

I testify we are sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. His plan for our eternal progression is perfect. I witness that the Only Begotten Son of the Father offered Himself as the infinite atoning sacrifice required by the plan. I know the Savior lives, and He directs the affairs of His living Church through living apostles and prophets.

This Day

This Day
Elder Henry B. Eyring Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

The 10 Virgins - summary

There is a danger in the word someday when what it means is “not this day.” “Someday I will repent.” “Someday I will forgive him.” “Someday I will speak to my friend about the Church.” “Someday I will start to pay tithing.” “Someday I will return to the temple.” “Someday …”

Those with little children, when they would come to you with something they wanted to do but you were busy or didn’t want to do it, what would you say? “We’ll see”.

In psychology, procrastination refers to the act of replacing high-priority actions with tasks of lower priority, or doing something from which one derives enjoyment, and thus putting off important tasks to a later time. In accordance with Freud, the Pleasure principle (psychology) may be responsible for procrastination; humans do not prefer negative emotions and handing off a stressful task until a further date is enjoyable.

The scriptures tell us about the dangers of delay. It is that we may discover that we have run out of time. The God who gives us each day as a treasure will require an accounting. It will a sad day, if we have intended to repent and to serve Him in tomorrows which never came or have dreamt of yesterdays where the opportunity to act was past. This day is a precious gift of God. The thought “Someday I will” can be a thief of the opportunities of time and the blessings of eternity.

There is solemn warning and counsel in the words recorded in the Book of Mormon: Alma 34:33-34

“And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed."
“Ye cannot say when ye are brought to that awful crisis that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world.”

Then Amulek warns that procrastinating your repentance and service can cause the Spirit of the Lord to withdraw from you.

Alma 34:36 But with the warning he gives this hope: “And this I know, because the Lord hath said he dwelleth not in unholy temples, but in the hearts of the righteous doth he dwell; yea, and he has also said that the righteous shall sit down in his kingdom, to go no more out; but their garments should be made white through the blood of the Lamb.”

The scriptures are filled with examples of wise servants of God who treasured the day they were in and chose to do what they could to bring cleansing. Joshua was one: “Choose you this day whom ye will serve … ,” he said, “but as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.”

Who else in the scriptures chose to serve the Lord?

Serving Him invites the Holy Ghost to be with us. And the Holy Ghost is a cleanser of sin. Even the Savior, who was without sin, set an example of the need not to procrastinate. He said: “I must work the works of him that sent me, while it is day: the night cometh, when no man can work. “As long as I am in the world, I am the light of the world.”

As the risen Savior, He is this day and forever the Light of the World. It is He who invites us to come unto Him and serve Him, without delay. His encouragement to you and to me is this: “I love them that love me; and those that seek me early shall find me.”

That is as true of a day as it is of a life. A morning prayer and an early search in the scriptures to know what we should do for the Lord can set the course of a day. We can know which task, of all those we might choose, matters most to God and therefore to us.

On many days, doing what matters most will not be easy. It is not supposed to be. God’s purpose in creation was to let us prove ourselves. The plan was explained to us in the spirit world before we were born. We were valiant enough there to qualify for the opportunity to choose against temptation here to prepare for eternal life, the greatest of all the gifts of God. We rejoiced to know the test would be one of faithful obedience even when it would not be easy: “And we will prove them herewith, to see if they will do all things whatsoever the Lord their God shall command them.”

Hard as we knew the test would be, we felt joy because we had confidence that we could pass it. Our confidence came from knowing that Jesus Christ would come into the world as our Savior. He would overcome death. He would make it possible for us to be cleansed of our sins by qualifying for the effects of His Atonement. We also knew some reassuring facts about what it would take to receive the purifying which we would need.

What are those things that need to do in order to qualify ourselves for the effects of the Atonement?
1. baptism by authority,
2. receiving the Holy Ghost under the hands of authorized priesthood bearers,
3. remembering Him and therefore having His Spirit to be with us,
4. keeping His commandments—all would be possible for the humblest of us.

And we knew that the Savior would draw us to Him and would have the power to help us when the test would be hard and the temptation to procrastinate great. Alma, the great prophet, described how Christ gained that ability: “And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people. “And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities.”

All of us will need His help to avoid the tragedy of procrastinating what we must do here and now to have eternal life. There are several reasons why we feel the temptation to delay.

One is to be complacent about what we have already done.

Complacency can affect even the seasoned adult. The better and the longer you serve, the more likely that the tempter can place this lie in your mind: “You have earned a rest.” You may have been the Primary president in your little branch twice. Or you may have worked long and hard on your mission and sacrificed so much to serve. Or perhaps you were the pioneer in the Church where you live. The thought may come: “Why not leave the service to the new people. I have done my part.” The temptation will be to believe that you will return to serve again, someday.

Another is to feel overwhelmed by the need to do more.

It is hard to know when we have done enough for the Atonement to change our natures and so qualify us for eternal life. And we don’t know how many days we will have to give the service necessary for that mighty change to come. But we know that we will have days enough if only we don’t waste them.

Here is the good news: “And the days of the children of men were prolonged, according to the will of God, that they might repent while in the flesh; wherefore, their state became a state of probation, and their time was lengthened, according to the commandments which the Lord God gave unto the children of men.”

That assurance from the Master can help those of us feeling overwhelmed by our circumstances. In the hardest trials, as long as you have the power to pray, you can ask a loving God: “Please let me serve, this day. It doesn’t matter to me how few things I may be able to do. Just let me know what I can do. I will obey this day. I know that I can, with Thy help.”

The quiet invitation to you may be to do so simple a thing as to forgive someone who has offended you. You can do that from a hospital bed. It may be to go to help someone who is hungry. You may feel overwhelmed by your own poverty and the labors of the day. But if you decide not to wait until you have more strength and more money, and if you pray for the Holy Spirit as you go, you will when you arrive know what to do and how to help someone even poorer than you are. You may find when you get there that they were praying and expecting that someone like you would come, in the name of the Lord.

President Eyring gives two promises for those who are discouraged by their circumstances and are therefore tempted to feel they cannot serve the Lord this day. Hard as things seem today, they will be better in the next day if you choose to serve the Lord this day with your whole heart. Your circumstances may not be improved in all the ways which you desire. But you will have been given new strength to carry your burdens and new confidence that when your burdens become too heavy, the Lord, whom you have served, will carry what you cannot. He knows how. He prepared long ago. He suffered your infirmities and your sorrows when He was in the flesh so that He would know how to succor you.

I’m going to throw in a third reason, at least for me, for procrastination – conviction.  If you have a conviction or a commitment to something you are more likely to do it.  if you are converted to the gospel, attending your meetings, doing your VT you are not likely to put it off.

Conversion was the key – June Ensign 2012

As you serve Him, you will come to know better the voice by which you shall be called. When you go to sleep at the end of a day, the words may come back in memory: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things.”

The Spirituality of Service

Have you ever heard: “live by the Spirit and teach by the Spirit.” “It’s the Spirit that counts in the Lord’s work”?

What does that mean to you?

The Lord’s work is spiritual work. It relates to changing lives, developing true values, and overcoming worldly influences. If it’s the spirit that “counts”, then how can we become more spiritual?” You need to give more service.

Service changes people. It refines, purifies, gives a finer perspective, and brings out the best in each one of us. It gets us looking outward instead of inward. It prompts us to consider others’ needs ahead of our own. Righteous service is the expression of true charity, such as the Savior showed.

How, then, does service increase our spirituality? I would like to share with you ten aspects, from which you can choose those most applicable to your own situation?

First, service helps us establish true values and priorities by distinguish-ing between the worth of material things that pass, and those things of lasting, even eternal, value. Ezra Taft Benson counsels:

QUOTE 1: “If you would find yourself, learn to deny yourself for the blessing of others. Forget yourself and find someone who needs your service, and you will discover the secret to the happy, fulfilled life.” (Ezra Taft Benson, Ensign, May 1979, p. 34.)

Has anyone found that to be true in their own lives?

Second, service helps us establish a righteous tradition. Wise parents will provide service opportunities in the home for their children from an early age. Growing up with this tradition will blossom into community service and Church service. It will develop a spirit of volunteerism in a world where people more often ask, “What’s in it for me?” The Lord has counseled:

SCRIPTURE 1: “For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; … “Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness.” (D&C 58:26–27.)

Third, service helps us overcome selfishness and sin. Have you ever realized that all sin is selfish, whether it be lying, cheating, stealing, immorality, covetousness, or idleness? Sin is for one’s own ends, not another’s—certainly not for the Lord’s ends. Service, on the other hand, is unselfish and constitutes a positive power for good.
Isaiah had this to say:

SCRIPTURE 2: “We have turned everyone to his own way.” (Isa. 53:6.)

In modern terms, they “did their own thing,” whatever the adverse effect upon others. Even many of those who profess to understand free agency, or moral agency, turn liberty to license, as we can see all around us.

Fourth, not only does service overcome selfishness and sin, but it helps to recompense for sin. The prophet Ezekiel explained this to us:

SCRIPTURE 3: “None of his sins that he hath committed shall be mentioned unto him: he hath done that which is lawful and right.” (Ezek. 33:16.)

And, James taught:
SCRIPTURE 4: “save a soul … shall hide a multitude of sins.” (James 5:20.)

We can express regret and feel remorse for things done wrong, but full repentance should include recompense, such as service gives.

What better way to fully have the feeling of true forgiveness from our Heavenly Father than giving service to those who have wronged us or we have wronged.

Fifth, service helps us generate love and appreciation. We come to know people by serving them—their circumstances, their challenges, their hopes and aspirations.

How do we get to know individuals, their circumstances, their challenges, their hopes and aspirations? Do we really care about these people or are we doing it to get it done?

Sixth, service is the principal way of showing gratitude to the Savior. We need to fill ourselves up with gratitude for His redeeming love, His infinite atoning sacrifice, His obedience to the will of the Father. As we become full of gratitude, it overflows into service.

SCRIPTURE 5: “inasmuch as [we] have done it unto one of the least of these [his] brethren, [we] have done it unto [Him].” (Matt. 25:40.)

There is a song that talks about the seventh aspect:
Have I done any good in the world today?
Have I helped anyone in need?
Have I cheered up the sad and made someone feel glad?
If not, I have failed indeed.
Has anyone’s burden been lighter today
Because I was willing to share?
Have the sick and the weary been helped on their way?
When they needed my help was I there?
Then wake up and do something more
Than dream of your mansion above.
Doing good is a pleasure, a joy beyond measure,
A blessing of duty and love.1

Service channels our desires and energies into righteous activity. President Eyring talked on this subject last April conference, opportunities to do good. Because of this talk we had two service projects last year in our ward and we have two planned for this year. Every son and daughter of God is a storehouse—even a powerhouse—of desires and energies, which may be used for good or evil. This great potential needs to be harnessed to bring blessings to others.

Eighth, service helps us cleanse ourselves and become purified and sanctified. Not being perfect, are we not all sinners? Yes, we all need the redeeming and atoning blood of Christ to purge us of our sins.

How is this accomplished?

The way is through Christlike service, as expressed by the prayer of St. Ignatius Loyola:

To give and not to count the cost;
To fight and not to heed the wounds; …
To labor and not ask for any reward
Save that of knowing that we do Thy will.

Ninth, charitable service helps us do as the Savior did, for was not His whole ministry one of reaching out and helping, lifting and blessing, loving and caring? Jesus declares, “I am among you as he that serveth” (Luke 22:27), and again, “For I will raise up unto myself a pure people, that will serve me in righteousness” (D&C 100:16). There are good people everywhere giving charitable service.

Tenth, service helps us to get to know the Savior, for “how knoweth a man the master whom he has not served?” (Mosiah 5:13.) As we immerse ourselves in the service of others, we find our spiritual selves and come unto Him.

In all of these ways, righteous service brings us nearer to Christ, increases our spirituality, and brings others likewise. Such service is helping to prepare a people worthy, in the Lord’s due time, to redeem Zion.

The wonderful thing about service is that there is no end to it. As President Benson says, “Therefore, let us serve one another with brotherly love, never tiring of the demands upon us, being patient and persevering and generous.” (So Shall Ye Reap, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1960, pp. 173–74.)

Yes, as we give Christlike service, it helps us grow spiritually, “[put] off the natural man and [become] a saint” (Mosiah 3:19)—that is, one who is honestly trying to follow the Savior and doing what He would want us to do. What a marvelous feeling it is to have the Spirit of the Lord poured out more abundantly upon us as we bear one another’s burdens and share with and mourn with those in need. (See Mosiah 18:8–10.)

(Taken from Elder Cuthbert's May 1990 Ensign talk)

Charity Never Faileth

Charity Never Faileth
SILVIA H. ALLRED

We are going to talk about Relief Society today.

What are the foundational principles upon which the Relief Society was built?
a. increasing faith,
b. strengthening the homes of Zion,
c. and seeking out and helping those in need

In one of those early meetings of the Relief Society in Nauvoo, the Prophet Joseph quoted from Paul’s writings to the Corinthians. In his discourse on charity, Paul makes reference to faith, hope and charity, concluding with, But the greatest of these is charity.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8

4 Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity denvieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up,
5 Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Charity never faileth.

What qualities embody charity?
a. Long suffering
b. Kindness
c. Doesn’t envy
d. Not Vaunteth (boastful)
e. Not puffed up
f. Seeketh not her own
g. Not easily provoked
h. Thinketh no evil
i. Rejoices in truth
j. Bearth all things
k. Believeth all things
l. Hopeth all things
m. Endureth all things
n. Never faileth

Speaking to the sisters, the Prophet Joseph said: “Don’t be limited in your views with regard to your neighbors’ virtues. … You must enlarge your souls toward others if you [would] do like Jesus. … As you increase in innocence and virtue, as you increase in goodness, let your hearts expand—let them be enlarged towards others—you must be longsuffering and bear with the faults and errors of mankind. How precious are the souls of men!”

The scriptural declaration “Charity never faileth” became the motto of Relief Society because it embraces these teachings and the charge that the Prophet Joseph Smith had given the Relief Society sisters to “relieve the poor” and to “save souls.”

What does that phrase “Charity never faileth” mean to you when you hear it? These are Webster’s definitions:

Charity – the voluntary giving of help
Fail – to decline, to give away, to cease, to be unsuccessful

Keep those in the back of your mind while we continue.

What is charity? How do we obtain charity?

Moroni 7:47
47 But charity is the pure love of Christ, and it endureth forever; and whoso is found possessed of it at the last day, it shall be well with him.

How does the prophet Mormon defines charity? [pure love of Christ]

Colossians 3:14
14 And above all these things put on acharity, which is the bond of perfectness.

What does Paul teach about charity? What does it mean to bond something? Verb - Join or be joined securely to something else. If we bond ourselves to charity we then become perfect.

2 NE 26:30
30 Behold, the Lord hath forbidden this thing; wherefore, the Lord God hath given a commandment that all men should have charity, which charity is clove. And except they should have charity they were nothing. Wherefore, if they should have charity they would not suffer the laborer in Zion to perish.

In that verse, what does Nephi reminds? [It’s a commandment.]

In reviewing Paul’s previous description of charity, we learn that charity is not a single act or something we give away but a state of being, a state of the heart, kind feelings that engender loving actions.

Mormon also teaches that charity is bestowed upon the Lord’s true disciples. Who are the Lord’s disciples? We are. And that charity purifies those who have it. In addition, we learn that charity is a divine gift which we must seek and pray for. We need to have charity in our hearts in order to inherit the celestial kingdom.

With the understanding that the Lord has asked us to “clothe [our]selves with the bond of charity,”.

What qualities will help us develop charity?

We must first have the desire to increase in charity and be more Christlike.

The next step is to pray. Mormon exhorts us to “pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that [we] may be filled with this love.” This godly love is charity, and as we are filled with this love, so “we shall be like him.”

Reading scriptures daily can bring our minds to the Savior and to a desire to be more like Him.

The Savior is the perfect example of how to extend charity. During His mortal ministry He showed compassion for the hungry, for the sinner, for the afflicted, and for the sick. He ministered to the poor and to the rich; to women, children, and men; to family, friends, and strangers. He forgave His accusers, and He suffered and died for all mankind.

Today we are blessed to have a prophet who embodies charity.

President Monson teaches: “Charity is having patience with someone who has let us down. It is resisting the impulse to become offended easily. It is accepting weaknesses and shortcomings. It is accepting people as they truly are. It is looking beyond physical appearances to attributes that will not dim through time. It is resisting the impulse to categorize others.”

When we have charity, we are willing to serve and help others when it is inconvenient and with no thought of recognition or reciprocation. We don’t wait to be assigned to help, because it becomes our very nature. As we choose to be kind, caring, generous, patient, accepting, forgiving, inclusive, and selfless, we discover we are abounding in charity.

Relief Society provides countless ways to serve others. One of the most important ways to practice charity is through visiting teaching. Through effective visiting teaching we have many opportunities to love, minister, and serve others. Expressing charity, or love, purifies and sanctifies our souls, helping us become more like the Savior.

Providing service and extending charity toward others helps us overcome our own difficulties and makes them seem less challenging.

In the teachings of the Prophet Joseph to the sisters in the early days of the Restoration, he urged the practices of charity and benevolence, he said: “If you live up to these principles, how great and glorious will be your reward in the celestial kingdom! If you live up to your privileges, the angels cannot be restrained from being your associates.”

All women in Relief Society can be filled with love, knowing that their small acts of charity, [they voluntary give], have a healing power for others and for themselves. They come to know with certainty that charity is the pure love of Christ and never faileth, [never cease or decline].

When you read the Relief Society history, it will inspire you to discover that this important gospel principle is a thread woven through the whole book.

I give you the same invitation that Sister Allred gave, “plead for a desire to be filled with the gift of charity, the pure love of Christ. Use all your resources to do good, bringing relief and salvation to those around you, including your own family. The Lord will crown your efforts with success.”

Missionary Work Made Easy

This week's Relief Society lesson given my ME.


As of the end of the year 2010, there were 52,225 missionaries serving in 340 missions throughout the world. Missionary work is the lifeblood of the kingdom. President Monson made this statement in his opening remarks to last conference.

• Why would he say this statement?
• In what ways is missionary work part of God’s plan for His children?

The Lord revealed the gospel plan to Adam:

Moses 5:58 “And thus the Gospel began to be preached, from the beginning, being declared by holy angels sent forth from the presence of God, and by his own voice, and by the gift of the Holy Ghost.”

Later, Adam’s righteous descendants were sent to preach the gospel:

Moses 6:23 “They … called upon all men, everywhere, to repent; and faith was taught unto the children of men”

The Lord’s Church has always been a missionary church. When the Savior lived on the earth, He ordained Apostles and Seventies and gave them the authority and responsibility to preach the gospel. Most of their preaching was to their own people, the Jews. After Jesus was resurrected, He sent Apostles to preach the gospel to the Gentiles. He commanded the Apostles, “Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature”.

Missionary work began again when the Lord’s Church was restored through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Today the Apostles and Seventies have been given the chief responsibility for preaching the gospel and seeing that it is preached in all the world. The Lord told Joseph Smith: “Proclaim my gospel from land to land, and from city to city. … Bear testimony in every place, unto every people” (D&C 66:5, 7). In June 1830, Samuel Harrison Smith, the Prophet’s brother, began the first missionary journey for the Church.

Since that time, over one million missionaries have been called and sent forth to preach the gospel. The message they take to the world is that Jesus Christ is the Son of God and our Savior. They testify that the gospel has been restored to the earth through a prophet of God. The missionaries are given the responsibility to preach the gospel to all people, to baptize them, and to teach them to do all things that the Lord has commanded (see Matthew 28:19–20).

That means we’re off the hook right? The full time missionaries have been given the responsibility to preach the gospel to all people.

D&C 60:1–2 (Lord warns those who are afraid to preach the gospel)
D&C 88:81–82 (all those who have been warned should warn their neighbors)
D&C 24:12 (Lord strengthens those who always seek to declare His gospel)
D&C 75:2–5 (those who declare the gospel and are faithful will be blessed with eternal life)

We have all heard the phrase: “Every member a missionary”. We should be missionaries even if we are not formally called and set apart. We are responsible to teach the gospel by word and deed to all of our Heavenly Father’s children. We have been told by a prophet that we should show our neighbors that we love them before we warn them (see Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball [2006], 262). They need to experience our friendship and fellowship.

That being said, a strange thing happens to many of us whenever we hear the phrase “every member a missionary”.

• What goes through your mind?
• What are your feelings?
• What cause us to feel this way?

It’s not that we doubt that the work is true or think that the presidents of the Church, our prophets, have asked something unreasonable or impossible. It’s simply that sometimes we are timid and find it hard to see how we, individually, can do it. And when we feel uncomfortable about it, other activities expand in importance to fill up our hours and we let our moments of missionary opportunity slip away.

But that’s not the way it should be. And, best of all, that’s not the way it has to be.

It is true that everyone needs to be actively engaged in missionary work, but there may be as many different approaches to missionary work as there are individuals, personal styles, circumstances, and inspiration. Living the gospel and helping to spread it to others should be joyful. And when we find out what the Church really expects—that we don’t all have to be aggressive proselytizers—being a missionary will not seem such a scary thing. Suddenly we may begin to see how we, individually, can be actively involved.

There are many ways we can share the gospel.

We can show friends and others the joy we experience from living the truths of the gospel. In this way we will be a light to the world (see Matthew 5:16).

Do you remember what President Uchtdorf shared in last conference?

There are times when the Lord reveals to us things that are intended only for us. Nevertheless, in many, many cases He entrusts a testimony of the truth to those who will share it with others. Even more, the Lord expects the members of His Church to “open [their mouths] at all times, declaring [His] gospel with the sound of rejoicing.”

This is not always easy. Some would rather pull a handcart across the prairie than bring up the subject of faith and religion to their friends and co-workers. They worry about how they might be perceived or how it might harm their relationship. It doesn’t need to be that way because we have a glad message to share, and we have a message of joy.

Years ago our family lived and worked among people who in almost every case were not of our faith. When they asked us how our weekend was, we tried to skip the usual topics—like sports events, movies, or the weather—and tried to share some religious experiences we had as a family over the weekend—for instance, what a youth speaker had said about the standards from For the Strength of Youth or how we were touched by the words of a young man who was leaving on his mission or how the gospel and the Church helped us as a family to overcome a specific challenge we had. We tried not to be preachy or overbearing. My wife, Harriet, was always the best at finding something inspirational, uplifting, or humorous to share. This often would lead to more in-depth discussions. Interestingly enough, whenever we talked with friends about coping with life’s challenges, we often heard the comment “It’s easy for you; you have your church.”

Sometimes a single phrase of testimony can set events in motion that affect someone’s life for eternity.

Another way is to send a Book of Mormon on a mission. In 1977, they had the family-to-family Book of Mormon program. It is based on a simple, well-known fact: the Book of Mormon is a powerful missionary tool. It can convert people to the gospel if they will read it.

That’s why one of the best and easiest ways to be a missionary is to make a gift of the Book of Mormon. And in the case of the family-to-family program, it would be a “personalized” copy of the Book of Mormon, a copy with a picture of you and your family along with your written testimony tucked inside the front cover.
Why the personalized copies?

Because it sometimes happens that when a person chances to pick up a Book of Mormon, he glances through it quickly and sets it aside. It’s just another book to him. Knowing nothing about it beforehand, he doesn’t realize that it could be the most important book he might ever read in his life.

But when that person opens the book and finds a picture of a real family accompanied by a written testimony that the book is true and that it will change his life if he will read it, suddenly his contact with the Book of Mormon is personalized. He’s much more likely to examine it closer and read it—especially if the picture and testimony are from someone he knows. Already he’s in touch with a living testimony, and that warms up his approach to this sacred book.

The purpose of the family-to-family Book of Mormon program, therefore, is (1) to have families in the Church either send personalized copies of the Book of Mormon to people they know or provide them for missionaries to use in finding prospective members, and (2) to encourage members to establish family-to-family correspondence with these prospective members as a friendshipping activity.

Once your books are prepared, there are a number of things you can do. You can give them directly to your friends as part of your friendshipping efforts, and then later introduce the missionaries when the time is right. Or you can give them to your ward mission leader or seventies president to be used by full-time and stake missionaries within your stake or district. They will be taken to special nonmember friends you specify, or, if no names for recipients are given, they will be given to other investigators who show a special interest in the gospel message.

You can give Church Magazines

Church magazines give the prospective member an accurate and appealing view of what life might be like for him in the Church, and how the Church is oriented toward helping solve life’s problems. Equally important, however, is the fact that he can get a look at the Church in the privacy of his own thoughts and at his own unhurried pace, with no one peering over his shoulder.

Probably the most common way of sharing a copy of one of the Church magazines is to bring to someone’s attention an article that deals with a topic that has come up in everyday conversations. The great variety of articles and subjects covered in the Church magazines makes it easy for you to focus in on the interests of people with whom you are in contact. Special issues of the magazines are especially helpful in this regard. This gives us another reason for us to be reading our magazines.

Brother Nelson in October conference gave this suggestion: Now in this day of the Internet, there are new and exciting ways you can do missionary work. You can invite friends and neighbors to visit the new mormon.org web site. If you have blogs and online social networks, you could link your sites to mormon.org. And there you can create your own personal profile. Each profile includes an expression of belief, an experience, and a testimony. Because this is a new feature, most of these profiles are available in English.

Other ways of helping missionary work:

We can teach our children the importance of sharing the gospel and we can prepare them spiritually and financially to go on missions. We can also prepare ourselves to serve full-time missions in our senior years.

We can pay our tithing and contribute to the missionary fund. These donations are used for furthering missionary work.

We can contribute to the ward, branch, or general missionary fund to give financial support to missionaries whose families are unable to support them.

We can do family history research and temple work to help our ancestors receive the full blessings of the gospel.

We can invite nonmembers to activities such as family home evenings and Church socials, conferences, and meetings.

We can give copies of Church magazines. We can also share gospel messages by using features available on the Church’s official Internet sites, LDS.org and Mormon.org.

Our Heavenly Father will help us be effective missionaries when we have the desire to share the gospel and pray for guidance. He will help us find ways to share the gospel with those around us.

The Lord Promises Us Blessings for Doing Missionary Work

The Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith that missionaries would receive great blessings. Speaking to elders who were returning from their missions, the Lord said, “Ye are blessed, for the testimony which ye have borne is recorded in heaven for the angels to look upon; and they rejoice over you” (D&C 62:3). He has also said that those who work for the salvation of others will have their sins forgiven and will bring salvation to their own souls (see D&C 4:4; 31:5; 84:61).

The Lord has told us:
“If it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!

“And now, if your joy will be great with one soul that you have brought unto me into the kingdom of my Father, how great will be your joy if you should bring many souls unto me!” (D&C 18:15–16).

Reference:
• Preach My Gospel, Chapter 33
• Missionary Work Made Easy, Lane Johnson, Oct 1977 Ensign
• Waiting of the Road to Damascus, Dieter F Uchtdorf, April 2011 General Conference
• Be Thou an Example of the Believers, Russell M Nelson, Oct 2010 General Conference