Gospel Doctrine, Lesson 22: Have Ye Received His Image in Your Countenances?

, Alma 5-7
#1 Hugh Nibley puts it bluntly: I've always been taken up with costly apparel. It's so much in the Book of Mormon, and I've read it since I was a little kid. I loathe the costly apparel. I get all my duds at Deseret -all this outfit comes from Deseret Industries-except that I have kids who make me wear other things occasionally. They'd sooner be found dead in a back lot than shopping at Deseret Industries. I don't know why. The only thing wrong with these is the linings sometimes fall out, and the zippers misbehave. But why not, when you get this for four bucks and the pants for three? You can't beat it. But you're not supposed to wear costly apparel and [set] your hearts upon the vain things of the world, upon your riches. It summarizes all that here. Here we are again on this theme. (Teachings of the Book of Mormon, Lecture 47, p. 293) #2 Elder Dallin H. Oaks quoted C.S. Lewis: C. S. Lewis described the pride of comparison when he said: Pride is essentially competitive. . . . Pride gets no pleasure out of having something, only out of having more of it than the next man. . . . It is the comparison that makes you proud: the pleasure of being above the rest. Lewis called pride the utmost evil and the complete anti-God state of mind, because this kind of comparison leads men to enmity and oppression and every other kind of evil. This insightful Christian saw that every person should look up to God as immeasurably superior to him or her. He continued: Unless you Know God as that--and, therefore, know yourself as nothing in comparison--you do not know God at all. As long as you are proud you cannot know God. A proud man is always looking down on things and people: and, of course, as long as you are looking down, you cannot see something that is above you. (Mere Christianity [New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., Inc.,
1960], pp. 109-11.) (Dallin H. Oaks, Pure In Heart, pp. 95-6)

#3 C.S. Lewis: We are not merely imperfect creatures who must be improved: we arerebels who must lay down our arms. The first answer, then, to the question why our cure should be painful, is that to render back the will which we have so long claimed for our own, is in itself, wherever and however it is done, a grievous painBut to surrender a self will inflamed and swollen with years of usurpation is a kind of death. We all remember this self-will as it was in childhood, the bitter, prolonged rage at every thwarting, the burst of passionate tears, the black, Satanic wish to kill or die rather than to give in. (The problem of
Pain, 91)

#4 Elder Neal A. Maxwell quoted Brigham Young: This was all Brigham Young could preach in his last year: fast into idolatry, drifting into the spirit of the world and into pride and vanityWe wish the wealth of things of the world; we think about them morning, noon and night; they are first in our minds when we awake in the morning, and the last thing before we go to sleep at nightWe have gone just as far as we can be permitted to go in the road on which we are now traveling. One man has his eye on a gold mine, another is for a silver mine, another is for marketing his flour or his wheat, another for selling his cattle, another to raise cattle, another to get a farm, or building here and there, and trading and trafficking with each other, just like Babylon. . . . Babylon is here, and we are following in the footsteps of the inhabitants of the earth, who are in a perfect sea of confusion. Do you know this? You ought to, for there are none of you but what see it daily. . . . The Latter-day Saints [are] trying to take advantage of their brethren. There are Elders in this Church who would take the widow's last cow, for five dollars, and then kneel down and thank God for the fine bargain they had made. This is the great voice of the economy of Babylon. It does not renounce its religious pretensions for a minute. Many in it think

they are identical with a pious life. (Things As They Really Are, p. 334)
#5 President Henry B. Eyring said: Our challenge is to continue stripping off the shackles of pride which characterize our society. Moroni saw our day in vision. The first thing he had to say about it was that we walk in the pride of our hearts: behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing. And I know that ye do walk in the pride of your hearts; and there are none save a few only who do not lift themselves up in the pride of their hearts, unto the wearing of very fine apparel, unto envying, and strifes, and malice, and persecutions, and all manner of iniquities (Mormon 8:35-36).(To Draw Closer to God, p. 57) #6 Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: It has been said that envy is the one sin to which no one readily confesses, but just how widespread that tendency can be is suggested in the old Danish proverb, If envy were a fever, all the world would be ill...As others seem to grow larger in our sight, we think we must therefore be smaller. So, unfortunately, we occasionally act that way. How does this happen, especially when we wish so much that it would not? I think one of the reasons is that every day we see allurements of one kind or another that tell us what we have is not enough. Someone or something is forever telling us we need to be more handsome or more wealthy, more applauded or more admired than we see ourselves as being. We are told we havent collected enough possessions or gone to enough fun places. We are bombarded with the message that on the worlds scale of things we have been weight in the balance and found wanting (see Daniel 5:27) But God does not work this way I testify that no one of us is less treasured or cherished of God than another. I testify that He loves each of usinsecurities, anxieties, self-image and all. He doesnt measure our talents or our looks. He doesnt measure our professions or our possessions. He cheers on every runner, calling out that the race is against sin, not against each other. I know that if we will be faithful, there is a perfectly tailored robe of righteousness steady and waiting for everyone (see Isaiah 61:10), robes made white in the blood of the Lamb (Revelation 7:14), May we encourage each other in our effort to win that prize (CR, Apr. 2002) #7 Alma 5:14-29 (more or less!) Have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenance? Have ye experienced [a] mighty change in your heart? Can you imagine that on the day of judgment you will hear the voice of the Lord saying: Come unto me ye blessed, for behold, your works have been the works of righteousness upon the face of the earth? Can you look up to God with a pure heart and clean hands? Have your garments been washed white from all stain, through the blood of Christ? Do you feel worthy to sit down in the kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and also all the holy prophets, whose garments are cleansed and are spotless, pure and white? If you have experienced a change of heart in the past, can you feel so now? Have you walked, keeping yourself blameless before God? If you were called to die at this time could you say that you have been sufficiently humble? Behold, are ye stripped of pride? I say unto you, if ye are not ye are not prepared to meet God. Behold ye must prepare quickly. Are you stripped of envy? For such an one is not found guiltless.
To download past handouts, go to: highlandvalleysundayschoolnotes2012.blogspot.com

#8 Elder Marion G. Romney: I say, no one with the spirit of the Book of Mormon upon him can honestly answer to himself these soul-searching questions without resolving to so live that he can answer them in #9 Elder Neal A. Maxwell: In the divine developmental process we do not become saints in a season. We do not usually even fully finish putting off the natural man that quickly, given our weaknesses. The mighty change takes patience, but it is a grave error to postpone the putting off...It is the putting off of the putting off that is our real problem. (Notwithstanding My weakness, 68,
73)

#10 Just a quick mention of the symbolism of garments stained with blood and...filthiness. In ancient times in desert climates, you can imagine what a task it was to wash clothes. They, of course, did not have modern washing machines nor laundry detergents and stain removers. Consequently, many people wore the same clothes over an extended time, without washing them. Thus, you could tell much about the persons past life simply by looking at his garments (clothing) and seeing the stains from food, blood (from slaughtering animals), dirt, etc. which had collected. Therefore, having your garments stained with blood and all manner of filthiness (Alma 5:22) means that your sins have not been washed away by the Saviors Atonement. Thus, you are not clean and pure on Judgment Day. (David J. Ridges, Your Study of the Book of Mormon Made Easier, Part 2, 166-67)

#11 The imagery in [Alma 5:38-39] recalls the shepherds in the Holy Land who know their sheep individually by name, and whose sheep know them by voice and only come when their own shepherd calls them. For instance, at night it was the custom for several shepherds to bring their own sheep into a common corral or enclosure where one or two guards would watch over all the sheep. The next morning, as each shepherd came to get his sheep, he would call them individually and they would come from the herd and go with him. If another shepherd called them, they would not come. (Ibid., 168) #12 Elder Neal A. Maxwell: At the gate to heaven, Christ, the King of kings, waits for us with open arms. He awaits not only to certify us, but also to bestow a Shepherds divine affection upon His sheep as we come Home. The reality that, if we are worthy, we should one day be so warmly received by the Lord of lords and King of kings is marvelous beyond comprehension! Yet He cannot fully receive us until we fully follow Him. His love for us is unconditional and perfect, but ours for Him is clearly not. Being just, He cannot deviate from His standards by giving us blessings without our obedience to the laws upon which such blessings are predicated. His devotion to truth is such that even in His mercy, He cannot lie, including to Himself, about our readiness. He knows our weaknesses, but, mercifully, He also knows how to succor us as we seek to cope with them. And whatever weaknesses remain in us, He will tutor us and train us to exculpate these, if we will but let Him. (Even As I
Am, 33-34)

Other thoughts too great not to include:

Some years ago, Constance, a student nurse, was assigned to help a woman who had injured her leg in an accident. The woman refused medical help because she was afraid. The first time Constance dropped by, the injured woman ordered her out. On the second try, she let Constance in. By now the womans leg was covered with large sores, and some of the flesh was rotting. But still she didnt want to be treated. Constance made it a matter of prayer, and in a day or two the answer came. She took some foaming hydrogen peroxide with her for the next visit. As this was painless, the old woman let her use it on her leg. Then they talked about more serious treatment at the hospital. Constance assured her the hospital would make her stay as pleasant as possible. In a day or two the woman did get the courage to enter the hospital. When Constance visited her, the woman smiled as she said, You convinced me. Then, quite unexpectedly, she asked Constance, What church do you belong to? Constance told her she was a member of The Church of Je-

sus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The woman said: I knew it. I knew you were sent to me from the first day that I saw you. There was a light in your face that I had noticed in others of your faith. I had to put my trust in you. In three months time that festering leg was completely healed. Members of the ward where the old woman lived remodeled her house and fixed up her yard. The missionaries met with her, and she was baptized soon after. All of this because she noticed the light in that young student nurses face. Service in this Church brings light to our eyes. Alma asked if we have received the Saviors image in our countenances, or faces (see Alma 5:14). A sacred light comes to our eyes and countenances when we have a personal bond with our loving Heavenly Father and His Son, our Savior and Redeemer. (CR, October 2005) Thrust a man into prison and bind him with chains, and then let him be filled with the comfort and with the glory of eternity, and that prison is a palace to him. Again, let a man be seated upon a throne with power and dominion in this world, ruling his millions and millions and without that peace which flows from the Lord of Hostswithout that contentment and joy that come from heaven, his palace is a prison; his life is a burden to him; he lives in fear, in dread, and in sorrow. But when a person is filled with the peace and power of God, all is right with him. (Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, 33) President John Taylor quoted Joseph Smith as saying: You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary that you be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God, and-God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings, and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial Kingdom of God. (Journal of Discourses, 24:197) President George Q. Cannon: Every Latter-day Saint who gains a celestial glory will be tried to the very uttermost. If there is a point in our character that is weak and tender, you may depend upon it that the Lord will reach after that, and we will be tried at that spot for the Lord will test us to the utmost before we can get through and receive that glory and exaltation which He has in store for us. (Cannon, Gospel Truth, 81) President Spencer W. Kimball: Being human, we would expel from our lives physical pain and mental anguish and assure ourselves of continual ease and comfort, but if we were to close the doors upon sorrow and distress, we might be excluding our greatest friends and benefactors. Suffering can make saints of people as they learn patience, long-suffering, and self-mastery. (Faith Precedes the Miracle, 98) God uses no magic wand to simply wave bad things into nonexistence. The sins that he remits, he remits by making them his own and suffering them. The pain and heartaches that he relieves, he relieves by suffering them himself. These things can be shared and absorbed, but they cannot be simply wished or waved away. They must be suffered. Thus we owe him not only for our spiritual cleansing from sin, but for our physical, mental, and emotional healings as well, for he has borne these infirmities for us also. All that the Fall put wrong, the Savior in his atonement puts right. It is all part of his infinite sacrificeof his infinite gift. (Stephen E. Robinson, Believing Christ, 122-23) President Harold B. Lee: Conversion must mean more than just being a card-carrying member of the Church with a tithing receipt, a membership card, a temple recommend, etc. It means to overcome the tendencies to criticize and to strive continually to improve inward weaknesses and not merely the outward appearances (Ensign, June 1971, 8) Elder Jeffrey R. Holland: One would truly need a great and spacious makeup kit to compete with beauty as portrayed in media all around us. (CR, Oct. 2005)

Devotional Talk Given at Brigham Young University-Hawaii

S. Michael Wilcox
Religion Instructor & Author CES Institute of Religion

March 31, 2009

BREAD OR STONES: UNDERSTANDING THE GOD WE PRAY TO

Well its wonderful to be here. Im supposed to say Aloha, right? Ive always wanted to do that and I got to do it, finally. I think that the majesty of a church, the power of a church is best judged by the integrity of its youth and by the beauty of its musicand we certainly had that idea validated this morning, so I appreciate the wonderful music. A number of years ago when my daughter was about your age, she was just out of high school, she went to one semester at BYU and then she got an opportunity to go to the Soviet Union (former Soviet Union) and teach English in Russia. Now this was before e-mail and cell phones, and communications between the United States and the Soviet Union were not going to be really good. She was eighteen; we were a little bit worried that there might be moments or times when she would need to talk with a parent, and not be able to because of communication difficulties. So I decided that I would write her a series of letters and try and figure out each situation she might find herself in that maybe she would want to talk to a mother or father over. So I wrote about a dozen letters and sealed them in envelopes, and on the outside of each envelope I put the topic of the letter: When Youre Discouraged; If Youre Tempted; When You Get Homesick. Now I tried to guess as many of those as I could, and I gave them to her at the airport. She opened a number of them in Russia; some of them were not needed, and she opened them when she got hometo see what I had said. But I have often thought about the scriptures in a very similar manner. The scriptures are our Father in Heavens letters; only He knows more than I did as a father what you and I would need. There are times in our lives when we need to open the letter and communicate with our Father in Heaven, and understand what He is like and His concern for us. I would like to share this morning, with you, four letters from my Father in Heaven that have been very important to methat I hope will be indicative of the power that the scriptures can be for us as we face different trials and challenges of our lives. The first letter is called "The Fourth Watch." That letter comes from the sixth chapter of Mark. The Savior has fed the five thousand that day, and in the late afternoon, early evening, He is sending his apostles down into the ship. He will dismiss the multitude. He wishes to pray that evening, and then He will meet the apostles a little later on the shore and they are to pick Him up. In late afternoon, early evening, the apostles get on the ship; they push out in the Sea of Galilee. The Savior dismisses the multitude, and prays. The Savior could pray a long time; so, He prays late into the night. We read in Mark what takes place with the apostles: And when he had sent them away, he departed into a mountain to pray. And when even was come, the ship was in the midst of the sea, and he alone on the land. And he saw them toiling in rowing; for the wind was contrary unto them: and about the fourth watch of the night he cometh unto them, walking upon the sea. (6:46-48) In Johns account of this particular story we read that the apostles had rowed the equivalent of about seventy-five football fields against the wind. There are times in our lives when we toil, rowing against the wind. We are trying to make progress and sometimes it seems that there are forces that are against us. There may be some great blessing that we deeply desire. There may be some trial that we want deeply to be over. And it doesnt seem like we are making any headway against the wind. We wonder if the Lord is listening. Now we need to understand something about our Father in Heaven, and that is that He is a fourth watch God. The Hebrew night was divided into four watches. The first watchsix oclock at night to nine [p.m.], second watch

nine to midnight, third watchmidnight to three in the morning, fourth watchthree in the morning to sunrise. Sometimes that creates a bit of a problem for us, certainly for me. I worship a fourth watch God. One who tends to feel that it is good to let His children toil in rowing against the wind to face a little opposition. My problem is that I am a first watch person. Now there is something inside of me that understands that it is good for me to toil in rowing against the wind. But certainly by the second watch He would come. And when the second watch has passed and He still has not come. Sometimes I forget that as Mark says, He is watching. He watched them toiling and rowing. I began to make some assumptions that are often dangerous to makemaybe you make the same. We begin to assume that, number one, He is not there. That is why Hes not responding. And then we calm down and understand that He is there; He is always there. Then the second assumption is if He is there, He must not be listening. And then again, in calmer timesHe always listens. Well then the third assumption is He must not care. NoHes there, He listens, He cares. Maybe the most dangerous assumption, the fourth assumption is I must not be worthy. Now that fourth assumption we are probably correct on. But when has that ever stopped Him from responding; we are as worthy as we can be. We must assume that we have not yet reached the fourth watch; and He is a fourth watch God. The scriptures are full of fourth watch stories: Joseph Smith in the Sacred GroveAt the very moment I was ready to sink into despair (JSH 1:16). Do you ever feel that way? Just at this moment of great alarm, I saw a pillar of light (JSH 1:16). It was when the widow of Zarephath was gathering two sticks to make a final meal for her and her son that Elijah came walking through the gate to save them from the famine (1 Kings 17). It was when the water was spent in the bottle and Hagar had placed Ishmael under a tree because she did not want to see his death, that the angel came to say, Hagar, what aileth thee? and showed her a source of water (Genesis 21:17). We worship a fourth watch God. So when the trials arent over and the blessings dont come, dont assume that He is not there, or He is not listening, or He doesnt care, or youre not worthy. Always assume you have not yet reached the fourth watch. Now occasionally people have said to me, Im sure Im past the fourth watch. I was once talking with Sheri Dew and she said later, Mike, I think Im in the ninth watchnow what? Well, when you feel that you have passed the fourth watch, then we need another letter. We need another letter called Tight like a Dish. Now that is an expression I think you all will understandTight like a dish. Its the description of the Jaredite barges. Now I have a tendency, because Im an English major, to edit almost everything I read. Its just a habit I cant get out of with whatever I readtextbooks, newspapers, novels, biographiesIm always editing. I edit the scriptures as Im reading them. There are actually times where I say, Lord, I could fix this verse for you if you would like me to. And one of the verses that I used to think I would edit is Ether chapter two, the seventeenth verse; the description of the Jaredite barges. Can you realize what word I might write if I were editing this? This is how it reads: They were built after a manner that they were exceedingly tight, even that they would hold water like unto a dishthats once. And the bottom thereof was tight like unto a dishtwice. And the sides thereof were tight like unto a dishthree times. And the ends thereof were peaked; and the top thereof was tight like unto a dish; and the length thereof was the length of a tree; and the door thereof, when it was shut, was tight like unto a dishfive times. I would have written redundant. We get the impression they are waterproof. Its like taking a jar and sealing it and throwing it. These are not submarines; they float light like a fowl, we are told, on the water. But the problem is that great waves are going to be washing over them, and so they need to be waterproof. Now being Tight like a dish causes two problems for the Jaredites crossing of the sea. Number one, minor problems, it was probably Mrs. Moriancumer who pointed them out to her husband: We cant breathe in here, and we cant see, so unless we are going to get the Promised Land in sixty seconds, weve got big problems. Did you get the instructions right? And so Moriancumer, the brother of Jared, goes back to the Lord, and he presents his two problems. Now you learn

something about your Father in Heaven in the solution or the handling of these two problems. Of the two problemsno air and no lightthe Lord solves one of them just because He is asked. He tells them to put the holes in so they can have air. And sometimes when we go to the Lord, we simply ask and we will receive. He tells us the solution. The second problem we have to seek and find; for the second problem the Lord says, You come up with a solution. Now He put some parameters on that. He tells them, You cant go by windowsprobably not invented yet, and the second, You cant go by fireoxygen is a problem anyway. All that tossing around in the sea with coals flying everywhere probably wouldnt be good, so you come up with a solution. Now you are the brother of Jared. I want you to listen with his mind at what the Lord says because the twentyfourth verse is a really interesting verse of Ether chapter two: "Behold, ye shall be as a whale in the midst of the sea; for the mountain waves shall dash upon you. Nevertheless, I will bring you up again out of the depths of the sea; for the winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and also the rains and the floods have I sent forth." Now the reason they need Tight like a dish ships is because there are going to be mountain waves. Now what causes mountain waves in the ocean?wind and storm. And what did the Lord just say the source of the winds were? The winds have gone forth out of my mouth, and the rains and floods have I sent forthdo you have a solution to the problem? If I were the brother of Jared, I would have said, Lord, we dont need these Tight like a dish ships at all. Since waves are the problem, and waves are caused by wind, and wind comes out of your mouthblow softly. Blow softly. Breeze us to the Promised Land. Well sit on deck, well fish, well get tanned, well play shuffleboard. How many here want the first watch cruise version of life?thats me; Im a first watch person. I dont like mountain waves. And then the great lesson: We know God can still the storms of our liveswe know that; there are precedents. But he prefers to do something else: "Behold, I prepare you against these things; for ye cannot cross this great deep save I prepare you against the waves of the sea, and the winds which have gone forth, and the floods which shall come. What will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea?" (Ether 2:25) What we need to understand about our Father in Heaven is that He prefers to prepare us to face the storms of life, the contrary winds, rather than to still them. So if you are past your fourth watch and He has not come, dont assume that He is not there, that He doesnt care, He doesnt listen, or that you are not worthy. Assume your ship is tight like a dish. You will not sink. Somewhere in the past of your life, experiences have been placed by a wise and foresighted Father in Heaven to prepare you to face the very things that you are facing. As the lion and the bear came to David, before Goliath, to prepare him to face Goliath, so will lion-and-bear moments come in your lives before the Goliath moments come. Because if your ship was not tight like a dish and you have reached the fourth watch, He will come to you and still the storm. So if the storm is not still, we must assume our ship is tight like a dish. Sometimes we dont understand the Lords answers because the answers that we are getting may not be the ones we particularly want. And so we go to another letter I call Bread or Stones. In Luke, the eleventh chapter, when the disciples asked Jesus to teach them about prayer, He introduced it with a parable, and then He said, "Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. For every one that asketh receiveth; and he that seeketh findeth; and to him that knocketh it shall be opened. If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? Or if he shall ask an egg, will he offer him a scorpion? If ye then, being evil, (meaning being human, imperfect) know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your heavenly Father give (good things, give) the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (9-13)

Now the Lords prayer is introduced with a phrase; the Savior says your father in Heaven knows what you need before you ask Him (Matthew 6:8). We are also counseled in the scriptures to tell the Lord our desires. Now that may cause a problem. I know what I desire and God knows what I need. I am always hoping that those are the same. But what if what I need and what I desire are not the same?and the Lord says, Mike, you get to choose what you need and what you desire. Im afraid in my worse moments I may say, Well if its just the same to you Father, Id like what I desire, rather than what I need. C.S. Lewis calls the desired need the expected good; and, the needed good he sometimes called the given good. All things given from God are good; and, sometimes if what I desire is different from what I need, if what I expect is different from what Im given, I may, if Im not careful, turn the given bread into a stone. I may turn the given fish into a serpent. I may view the given egg as a scorpion because it is not what I anticipated, what I asked for, what I hoped forwhat I desired. What we must understand about our Father in Heaven is that He only gives bread; He never gives stones. He only gives fish; He never gives serpents. He only gives eggs; He never gives scorpions. May I illustrate: As long as I can remember I wanted to go on a mission and I knew where I wanted to go. I wanted to go to Denmark. My mother is Danish; my grandparents were born and raised in Denmark; I idolized my grandfatherI wanted to go to Denmark on a mission. Everybody in our family went to Denmark. My grandfather went to Denmark, my uncles went to Denmark, my cousins went to Denmark. If youre in my family, you go to Denmark. So I, as my mission call approached, began to pray to the Lord that He would send me to Denmark. The problem was back in southern California, where I grew up, they didnt teach Danish in high school. They taught French, and I had four years of French. So as my mission call approached, I began to have a feeling of impending doom that I was going to go to France instead of to Denmark. France would have been okay, except that I had a French teacher from Paris who was so proud of her French language; if you mispronounced something, she would throw chalk or erasers at you. She would walk up and down the aisles throwing a piece of chalk, and then she would turn on you and fire a French question at you. Just the look in her eyes would drive every French word right out of my brain, and I would try and answer, and she would get mad, and she would throw the chalk at me, and I thought, if this is what the French are like, I dont want to go to France; two years of that would be bad. I want to go to Denmark. But I had a feeling of impending doom that I would go to France. As my mission call approached, I finally realized that it was probably not appropriate to tell the Lord where you wanted to go on your mission, so I changed my prayers. I did not feel that it was inappropriate to eliminate one country from all the countries God could send you to. And so I began to pray, Ill go anywhere Lord, please dont send me to France. They speak French in Tahiti. On the day my mission call came, I was at work. I was driving home from work, and I knew my mission call was there, and I knew it said France, and I didnt want to go home. I lingered at work; I drove slowly, hoping for red lights. And finally I was so discouraged that just before I turned the corner to my home, I pulled off to the side, turned the car off, parked it, and gave one final prayer. Youre going to think Im making this up, but I actually prayed this; I said, Father in Heaven, I know my mission call is at home, and I know it says France. Thou art all powerful; thou art merciful and loving. Pleasethou canst do all thingsplease change it in the envelope. With a certain amount of hope, I drove home and opened my mission call. What did it say?France. Of course it said France. Actually, I think it originally said Denmark, and the Lord said, We need to teach this boy something, so lets send him to France. Now, could I have ruined my mission?yes. I could have spent two years wanting to be in Denmark, but I learned to love the French people, love their languagebeautiful language. God listens to prayers in all languages, but He answers them in French. They are beautiful, wonderful people. I had a great mission. I found out when I got home that I had French ancestors, and, that I served in some of the cities where they had lived. God did not give me a stone. A stone, when you want bread, is something useless. God does

not give useless things. He did not give me a serpent; a serpent, when you want a fish, is something harmful. He does not give harmful things; He only gives bread, and fish, and eggs. Sometimes we dont get answers because there is no place for God to put the answer. In the Doctrine & Covenants, the ninety-eighth section, in the first few verses, the Lord introduces another idea of another letter. I call it Holding Places of the Heart. "I say unto you my friends, fear not, let your hearts be comforted; rejoice evermore, and in everything give thanks; Waiting patiently on the Lord, for your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabaoth, and are recorded with this seal and testamentthe Lord hath sworn and decreed they shall be granted. He giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good." (1-3) Now God tends to do everything backwards; we worship a backwards God, in a sense. I say, Lord, help me understand and then I can believe. But in the scriptures, the Lord says, No, believe and then you will understand. I say thats backwards, and He says, No, you have it backwards. So here the Lord says, Be comforted, rejoice, give thanks, then Ill answer your prayers. And I say, Lord, answer my prayers, and then Ill be comforted, rejoice, and give thanks. That is backwards. Now sometimes the reason the Lord doesnt answer is because He has a wonderful answer, a comforting answer, a rejoicing answer, and He says, Where do I put it? There is no place yet in your heart, in your mind for me to put the answer. But life will create a holding place for the answer. So be patient; in time it will come. I have recorded your prayers. I know your needs. I will answer it when the holding place has been created. Let me give you an example of that if I may: My parents were divorced when I was one year old. My father, for not the best of reasons, left the family. That caused certain concerns, certain problems, certain challenges for my mother, my two sisters, and myself. If you were age fourteen and you were me and you prayed, Father in Heaven, help me be at peace and forgive my father for having left his family, thats a good prayer; thats a good desireI received no answer. At eighteen, youre praying, Father in Heaven, help me be at peace and find solace, and comfort, and forgiveness about this particular episode. My father had very little to do with us as we were growing up. One day a year he would take us to Lagoon in Utah. That was my only contact with my father, growing up. I got married. Im praying. I had two daughters, two sons. Now Im over thirty years of age. One day I was preparing to give a talk on parenting. Now my mother was an absolute saint. I cant imagine a boy being given a greater mother than the mother I was given; and everybody who knows my mother would agree with that. I was thinking, as I was preparing to talk about how to raise children, that I would talk about my mother. But the Spirit seemed to say, You need to talk, and you need to think about your father. I wondered, What do I say about my father? I hardly know my father. I was not raised with him; I had no contact with my father. Just at that moment as Im pondering about my father, my two sonsI had two at the time, my third son wasnt born yetthey were about six and two years of age; they came in and they stood in front of me where I was sitting in the family room; they just stood there in front of me staring at me, the older brother standing behind his younger brother. I looked at those two boys and the Spirit just washed my brain with memories of things I had done with those boys. Simple things, nothing important: Trick-or-treating, carving Halloween pumpkins, Christmas mornings, blowing out birthday candles, looking at turtles at the pond, piggyback rides, listening to their Primary talks, listening to their prayers, bedtime stories, the first puppy, catching a fish in the same fishing hole I caught my first fish in. Nothing critical, nothing important. Just the everyday memories that I as a father had shared with those boys in six years of my being a father. As I was thinking of those things, the Lord said, Now Mike, life has carved a holding

place in your heart, and I will give you the answer; and this is what He said: Now that you are a father, now that you know a fathers joys and love, would you be the son who lost his father? Or the father who lost his son? Do you understand what the Lord was saying to me? I began to weep. I just sobbed. I grabbed those two boys and I just hugged them, sobbingnot for mefor my father. Because I knew the tragedy of his life greater than he knew it. I knew what he missed. I knew that it was a greater tragedy for him to have missed all those wonderful things with his family, than it was for me, as a son, to have missed them with a father. My wife came in, she said, For heavens sake Mike, whats the matter? I was sobbing, clinging to my boys. I said, I cant talk about it now. I went up to the bathroom and just cried and cried, cried myself dryfor my father. God always had an answer. But why didnt He give it to me at age fourteen, or eighteen, or when I was married, or when I was the father of two daughters? It had to be when I was the father of boys and had shared enough life with those boys to comprehend the answer that God would give. The easiest thing in the world for me to forgive was my father for having left the family. But it took life to create the space for God to put the answer. May I share one final, tiny, little letter with you, because were on the islands? We have talked about waves, and sea, and stilling storms, and rowing against the wind; I thought that would all be appropriate for here. The Doctrine & Covenants begins with an image, created first by Isaiah, of the isles of the sea (you have heard that expression all the time): "Hearken, O ye people of my church, saith the voice of him who dwells on high, and whose eyes are upon all men; yea, verily I say: Hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together." The Doctrine & Covenants begins with the islands of the sea. You are living on and many of you are from a symbol of Gods love for all the world. The very first time I came to Hawaii, I was sitting on an airplane next to a young African American basketball player from Detroit. He kept looking out the window, nervously. All through the flight, he kept looking out the window nervously, and finally he turned to me and he said, How do they find it in all this water? I could tell that he had images of circling around the Pacific, which is a big ocean, trying to find these tiny little islands out there. How did they find it? I think it is interesting that one of the first missionary labors, the very first foreign speaking mission, was to an island of the sea in French Polynesia. And if God will see that the gospel is taught on Fiji, and Tahiti, and Hawaii, and Samoa, and Tonga, He will see that it will be taught in China, and India, and Egypt, and Saudi Arabia. And if there is a temple on Tahiti, and Hawaii, and Samoa, and Tonga, and New Zealand, all the islands of the seaplaces that many people wouldnt even be able to find on a mapif God is going to put a temple on all those tiny little dots of land in behalf of the people that live there, it is His assurance, His testimony to all of us that He will put a temple in Beijing, and Cairo, and New Delhi, and Jakarta, and Moscow. You are on Gods chosen symbol that He remembers all His people, all His children, and many of you will be His message as you go back to those countries and represent His voice, His assurance that God is aware of all. May you search Gods letters when you need them; may your fourth watches come quickly; may your ship be tight like a dish. May God, as He does, always give you bread, and may you recognize that it always is bread. May life carve the holding places in your heart, and may you realize as you walk on this living symbol of Gods love for all the world that if the gospel is preached on the islands of the sea, it will be preached in all the world one day with its fullest blessings. For that day I hope and pray for in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

LESSON OUTLINE
On the chalkboard:

PROUD
Riches Look down on others* Intolerant Costly apparel, cars, etc. ** Unforgiving Critical, Sarcastic Gossip..

~What do proud people set their hearts on? (see Alma 4:8; 5:53) *Quotation #1 **Quotation #2 ~What are some examples of vain things of the world? ~What do proud people put their trust in? When push comes to shove, what basket do they put their eggs in? (arm of flesh, things, self-sufficiency) Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness. All of these are elements of pride, but the heart, or core, is something else. ~Any ideas? What is the central feature of pride? ( __ __ __ __ __ __ , ENMITY) ~What word does enmity sound like? (enemy) ~So what does enmity mean? (hatred toward, hostility to, or a state of opposition) ~In this case, pride is hatred toward whom? Hostility toward whom? (God) We dont usually see ourselves as a soldier fighting against the Father, do we? But all of us have some symptoms of pride. ~What are some less obvious indicators of pride? (unwilling to forgive, criticizing others, being cynical and sarcastic, gossip, doing good things for the wrong reason) ~Really, when you think about it, what is the basis of all sin? (pride) ~So how is not keeping the Sabbath Day holy prideful? (I know better than God, or I am an exception) ~Referring to the idea of opposition in all things, who personifies enmity or hatred? (Satan) ENMITY IS THE POWER BY WHICH SATAN WISHES TO REIGN OVER US (President Benson, CR, April 1989) ~Doesnt sound pleasant, does it?

Quotation #3

Brigham Young had the gift of saying it like it is, with no sugarcoating. Here hes describing the early Saints, but think about how perfectly he describes our day: Quotation #4 Perhaps we need to rethink our interactions with others, business and otherwise! Quotation #5 ~The twin sin of enmity, or pride, is __ __ __ __? (ENVY) Quotation #6 Alma 5:28-29 Note how pride & envy are at the heart of preventing all of us from experiencing a complete rebirth. The desire to feel superior to others for any reason must be eradicated from our souls! Alma asks a series of questions in verses 14-29 of chapter 5. Ive shortened them a bit in #7, but please remember, this is a pass/fail test, and one no answer means youve failed the test. Quotation #7 ~So are we good to go? Quotation #8 I love how Neal A. Maxwell put it in: Quotation #9 No more putting off of the putting off! Theres no time to spare. As Stirling W. Sill said: Hell is truth seen too late. (CR Apr. 1964) Back to our hearts: ~What is the opposite of proud? (humble) ~What do humble people put their trust in? (God) ~What does that mean? (believing that He can & will do what He says, always) ~If the central feature of pride is enmity, what is the central feature of humility? (love) ~Who is the personification of love? (God) see John 4:7-21 ~Is love more powerful than enmity? ~What is the highest manifestation of love on Gods part? (Atonement) ~And on our part? (obedience to Gods laws) see Deut. 6:4-9) ~And the next highest manifestation of our love? (our attitude toward our fellow men, see Matthew 22:34-40) ~This love is always manifest through what? In other words, how do we show our love to our fellowmen? (service) ~Did you know that faith operates by love? (see Galatians 5:6) Okay, now I have a trick question for you: ~If Enmity is the power by which Satan wishes to reign over us, what is the power by

which Heavenly Father wishes to reign over us? (He doesnt wish to reign over us) 3 ~Do you wish to reign over your children for the rest of their lives? (Just as we hope our children will grow up to be strong, independent, and happy, so does our Father in Heaven desire for us. Heavenly father describes this goal in: D&C 132:20-24 BECAUSE GOD LOVES US HE SEEKS OUR EXALTATION Just two more points that help me to understand the scriptures better: Alma 5:22 Quotation #10 Alma 5:38-39 Quotation #11 Quotation #12 That we will not put off the putting off, and allow Christ to be our shepherd is my humble prayer.