An Instrument in the Lord's Hands: A Story of Canceled Flights and Tender Mercies

Earlier this month I was on my way back to Germany from the US. The morning of my return flight, the airline canceled my flight. A subsequent rebooking saw delays and, throughout the course of the day I was on hold with United Airlines for multiple hours, rebooked three times, and had an exciting airport transfer across Washington DC before I finally made it to an international flight with just minutes to spare. It wasn’t one of my favorite travel experiences.

While in line at security, a Lufthaunsa employee and a passenger she was escorting got in line behind me. I could quickly tell that the older passenger did not speak English and she looked very uncomfortable. Since we were headed to Germany I turned around and asked the older passenger if she spoke German. She did not.

On the other side of security as I watched the lady continue to not understand the TSA agents, I asked the Lufthansa employee what language the lady spoke. As luck would have it (i.e. divine providence), she said she thought the lady might be from Ukraine.

The older passenger and I ended up talking the whole way to the gate. It turns out she has been staying with her daughter in DC and now has to return to Ukraine. At the gate she borrowed my phone to let her daughter know she was about to board. Her daughter asked to speak with me and expressed her gratitude to me that her mom met someone who could talk to her and help her. Her mom was understandably nervous to fly alone surrounded by people she couldn’t communicate with--not to mention the fact that she was returning to Ukraine--and her daughter was likewise worried about her mom. Being able to talk to me was a tender mercy for both of them.

In Frankfurt the airport set this lady up with someone who would take her to her next gate. I talked with her a bit, connected her phone to WiFi so she could call her daughter, and, once she was on the phone with her daughter, went on my way.

 A few days later I read with my kids in the Book of Mormon about Joseph Smith being an instrument in the Lord’s hands (2 Nephi 3:24). The phrase “an instrument in the Lord’s hands” is repeated a few times in the Book of Mormon describing people through whom the Lord blessed His children.

As disciples of Christ, we desire and seek to be instruments in the Lord’s hands as He does His work to bless His children. Looking back, this was one such experience.

I do not think that God orchestrated the entire series of flight cancellations and delays just to put me in that specific security line to meet that Ukrainian woman. I do not believe having a translator available in a non-urgent, non-vital situation would merit inconveniencing hundreds of other people. However, I do believe that in His omniscience the Lord made the most of an already-unfortunate situation and guided the subsequent events that brought me and the Ukrainian lady together. If either of us showed up to the Washington Dulles airport a few minutes earlier or later, we would have never crossed paths. I am grateful for His tender mercies that He trusted me to help her and brightened my travel experience.

Obviously I did nothing to create this situation, nor am I the focal point of this story. Yes, I enjoy telling a good “travel woes” story (I had to cut the word count for this story in half) and yes I have more than a few to share. However, in telling this story, I add the same caveat that the book of Mormon prophet Ammon gave when he rejoiced in being an instrument in the Lord’s hands:

“Yea, I know that I am nothing; as to my strength I am weak; therefore I will not boast of myself, but I will boast of my God, for in his strength I can do all things” (Alma 26:12).

I share this experience simply to illustrate two eternal principles. One, our Heavenly Father looks out for us, even in little ways as He did with His daughter, this Ukrainian lady who was traveling alone in foreign lands. And two, we can be blessed by being instruments in the Lord’s hands when we look for opportunities to serve wherever we are.

The Path to Salvation is a Community Matter

The prophet President Russell M. Nelson has taught that “In God’s eternal plan, salvation is an individual matter; exaltation is a family matter.” Salvation is defined as “saved from physical and spiritual death . . . through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, by their faith in Him, by living in obedience to the laws and ordinances of His gospel, and by serving Him.” Exaltation “refers to the highest state of happiness and glory in the celestial realm” enabled by the sealing ordinance between a husband and wife in the temple. (“Salvation and Exaltation”, General Conference, April 2008) 

In teaching that salvation is an individual matter, the prophet is highlighting that no one can make saving decisions for us. Each of us individually must pray to God, read His scriptures, and keep His commandments. No one can develop faith in Jesus Christ for us. No one can repent for us. No one can make and keep sacred covenants for us. We alone must let the saving power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ work in our lives. We alone are responsible and accountable for starting on and walking the covenant path to the Celestial Kingdom.

That said, I would like to suggest that our journey along the path to salvation and exaltation is more than just an individual or even family matter. Our journey along the covenant path back to our Father in Heaven is, rather, a Church family or community matter.

Consider the following verses from the Doctrine and Covenants:

And I give unto you, who are the first laborers in this last kingdom, a commandment that you assemble yourselves together, and organize yourselves, and prepare yourselves, and sanctify yourselves; yea, purify your hearts, and cleanse your hands and your feet before me, that I may make you clean;

That I may testify unto your Father, and your God, and my God, that you are clean from the blood of this wicked generation; that I may fulfil this promise, this great and last promise, which I have made unto you, when I will. (D&C 88:74-75)

In these verses, the Lord lists things we must do to become clean from the blood and sins of this generation and return to Him, including assembling and organizing ourselves as well as sanctifying ourselves and purifying our hearts. “Assembling ourselves” and “organizing ourselves” denotes multiple people coming together, either at Church or at home or wherever, and is a prerequisite to purifying our hearts and cleansing our hands and feet that the Lord may make us clean.

The commandment to gather together and the power it has to bless our lives as we journey along the covenant path is repeated throughout the scriptures both ancient and modern. In addition to the verses I just read, consider these other statements from the scriptures:

• And I give unto you a commandment that you shall teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. (D&C 88:77)
• And as all have not faith, seek ye diligently and teach one another words of wisdom; (D&C 88:118)
• Organize yourselves; prepare every needful thing; and establish a house, even a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God; (D&C 88:119)
• See that ye love one another; cease to be covetous; learn to impart one to another as the gospel requires. (D&C 88:123)
• And above all things, clothe yourselves with the bond of charity, as with a mantle, which is the bond of perfectness and peace. (D&C 88:125)
• And after they had been received unto baptism, and were wrought upon and cleansed by the power of the Holy Ghost, they were numbered among the people of the church of Christ; and their names were taken, that they might be remembered and nourished by the good word of God, to keep them in the right way, to keep them continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who was the author and the finisher of their faith.

And the church did meet together oft, to fast and to pray, and to speak one with another concerning the welfare of their souls.

And they did meet together oft to partake of bread and wine, in remembrance of the Lord Jesus. (Moroni 6:4-6)

• And there was one day in every week that was set apart that they should gather themselves together to teach the people, and to worship the Lord their God, and also, as often as it was in their power, to assemble themselves together. (Mosiah 18:25)
• And that thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy day; (D&C 59:9)
• And the Lord called his people Zion, because they were of one heart and one mind, and dwelt in righteousness; and there was no poor among them. (Moses 7:18)
• See also Alma 6:6, D&C 101:22

Please note that the commandment to gather together is not simply for the sake of gathering to satisfy a checklist item. Rather, the Lord commands us to gather together oft that we may teach and learn the gospel, love and serve one another, fast and pray for others, renew our covenants through the Sacrament, and become of one heart and one mind--all to help us along the path to salvation and exaltation.

Indeed, how can we keep our baptismal covenant to mourn with those that mourn, comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and bear one another’s burdens that they may be light if we do not gather ourselves together oft, accept and magnify church callings, and when we are converted, strengthen our brethren? (see Luke 22:32)

And this all goes hand-in-hand with the new mantra of “home-centered, church-supported gospel learning.”

Sister Reyna Aburto from the Relief Society general presidency recently taught this principle that salvation is a community matter, emphasizing that "we need each other, and we can bring each other to the Savior's redeeming healing" and reminding us that "Our purpose in His kingdom should be to bring each other to Christ." (“We Are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints”, General Conference, Apr 2022)

Indeed, we cannot become clean and return to live with our Father in Heaven on our own in the sense that we need the saving ordinances provided by the Church--administered by people. We must also serve others to fulfill the second great commandment as well as live up to our baptismal covenant to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort. And, perhaps just as importantly, we need to be served, loved, and helped along the way. We cannot make it through this life alone.

So, while we alone are responsible for the decisions and actions required to develop faith in Christ, repent, and make and keep sacred covenants, we need all the support we can get as we walk along the covenant path, and we must offer our support to others on their journeys as well.

What does this support look like?

• It looks like young men and young women kindly and inclusively encouraging each other to participate in activities
• It looks like members of a ward “adopting” the children of a younger family that is trying--mostly unsuccessfully--to keep it together
• It looks like primary teachers faithfully preparing throughout the week to show up each Sunday and wrangle attention-deficit children in order to help them feel the love Jesus has for them
• It looks like a quiet friend who simply puts their arm around someone who has just lost a loved one
• It looks like a worthy priesthood holder responding to a request to give a blessing
• It looks like a family who quietly shares their father and husband with the rest of the ward when he is called as the new Bishop
• It looks like ministering brothers and sisters who reach out to and visit each other whether they live next door or an hour and a half away
• It looks like youth leaders who make sure engaging activities are planned, everyone has a ride, and that the youth feel safe and accepted
• It looks like a Melchizedek priesthood holder faithfully taking their new Aaronic priesthood companion ministering
• It looks like someone sharing their testimony formally at the pulpit on fast sunday and informally through their actions every day
• It looks like a Relief Society that prepares meals, cleans the house, and takes care of the yard of a family whose baby is in the hospital
• It looks like teachers who prepare for and preach by the Spirit of truth, that “he that preacheth and he that receiveth, understand one another, and both are edified and rejoice together.” (D&C 50:21-22)
• It looks like an introvert accepting a calling in faith to be a teacher or a leader, knowing the call came from God and that He will support them
• It looks like someone sending a quick text the let someone else know they are thinking about them

Because inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, our brethren, ye have done it unto Christ.

I close with the words of the Book of Mormon prophet Nephi:

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life. (2 Nephi 31:20)

We do not have to press forward alone. God put us here together that we may press forward together, sometimes leading, sometimes following, but never alone. The path to salvation and exaltation is a community matter.

Jeremy

Why I Belong and Why I Believe

I have both an undergraduate and graduate degree in business. In my academic and professional pursuits I have read a lot of business-related books. One of the most influential and oft-quoted business writers is the late Clayton Christensen, who was a professor at Harvard as well as a faithful member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Clayton Christensen has long been a hero and role model to me: we share the same alma maters and he was wildly successful and very highly regarded in his professional life while being a stalwart example as a disciple of Jesus Christ and outspoken missionary and advocate for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

While he was a professor at Harvard, he published a document called “Why I Belong and Why I Believe” which is his testimony of why he belongs to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as an organized religion and why he believes the doctrines taught in the Church are true. I was recently asked to give a sermon in my church on this same topic “Why I Belong and Why I Believe” which I am also sharing with you here.

I was born into the church to a father who is a first-generation member of the Church and to a mother from a family that has mostly left the Church. Growing up, my parents faithfully took me and my siblings to church each week and I was blessed to have many good examples in friends and leaders along the way who helped me progress enough so I could make the right decisions sooner or later at each crossroad.

I am grateful for my parents, leaders, and friends who were good examples and have helped me get this far on the strait and narrow path and I would be remiss not to attribute their influence at least partially to why I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

However, while I have relied at times on the testimonies and good examples of those around me, my testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and His restored Church is my own. I believe in Jesus Christ and His restored gospel because I have experimented on my own upon the words, commandments, and promises of God given to us through His prophets both ancient and modern. I have, as taught by the Book of Mormon prophet Alma, repeatedly exercised even a particle of faith and have been blessed for it.

This repeated experimentation has led to spiritual experiences too numerous to count, from feeling the Holy Ghost as an eight-year-old when I was baptized and given the gift of the Holy Ghost to feeling that same Spirit as a nineteen-year-old when I testified as a missionary that God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ appeared to the prophet Joseph Smith. From being comforted by the Holy Ghost through the words of an ancient Book of Mormon prophet after completely bombing my events at the National Jump Rope Championships to being comforted by that same Spirit when our first two children were given Priesthood blessings as they were sent to the NICU immediately after birth.

These and countless smaller yet eternally-significant and sometimes daily experiences strengthen the foundation of my faith in Jesus Christ and His restored gospel and continually confirm my choice to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Never have I had an experience that is a singular, significant turning point in my life that I can point to and say “this happened and then I knew that God lives” or “this happened and then I knew the Book of Mormon is true”--like the turning on of a light in a dark room. Some people are blessed with these larger, significantly life-changing experiences which are amazing miracles and I love to hear about them.

But for me, all of my experiences with God and His Spirit and prophets have slowly added light to my understanding like the “slow and almost imperceptible increase in light on the horizon”1 as night turns to morning, until I can now look back and say with confidence that I know that Jesus is the Christ, that He restored His Church through Joseph Smith, that the Book of Mormon is true, and that through temple covenants we can return to live with our Father in Heaven and our families forever.

Each experience with the Spirit is a constant, very slight turning point changing the course of my life only a few degrees--enough to keep me on the path to return to my Father in Heaven.

Of course that is not to say that I haven’t made large mistakes along the way or that I have always made choices that kept me on the straight and narrow. At various times I haven’t clung to the rod and pressed forward. Sometimes perhaps I have even let go. But that’s the beauty of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. It is a gospel of repentance and progression. We can make mistakes and the Lord will always forgive us and help us--through the Spirit, through examples of others, through kind and caring church leaders, and, vitally, through His infinite Atonement.

That is why I believe.

So why do I belong? No experiences with the Spirit happened on their own in independent situations. The vast majority of the experiences that have built and reinforced my testimony of Jesus Christ and His Atonement have come directly through His organized Church including the gift of the Holy Ghost from priesthood holders, experiences in His holy temples, the positive influence of patient Church leaders, and the teachings of the prophets in the Book of Mormon and latter-day prophets including the prophet Joseph Smith and President Russell M. Nelson.

I belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints because here I can both make and find help to keep my baptismal and temple covenants with God--covenants that He requires in order to return to live with him again. I belong because here “we can unite our faith, hearts, strengths, minds, and hands for Him to perform His mighty miracles.” I belong because “The Church … is the scaffolding with which we build eternal families” which is my ultimate goal in life--to live with my family forever.

Yes, I have had enough experiences with Jesus Christ and His gospel to know that living the restored gospel as taught in His Church is the only way to find true happiness and peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come. This is why I belong and this is why I believe.

Jeremy

Pebbles in Our Shoes: By Small and Simple Things

“It isn’t the mountains ahead to climb that wear you out, it’s the pebble in your shoe.” — Muhammad Ali

I walk a lot since moving to Europe. A lot.

We don’t own a car and European cities aren’t built for cars anyways. And even taking the bus and train involves a lot of walking.

Additionally, we sightsee quite a bit and an inherent trait of sightseeing is walking.

One thing I’ve noticed about walking everywhere, besides the fact that walking doesn’t actually help me maintain any sort of physical fitness, is that I get rocks in my shoes with alarming frequency. No matter the type of shoe I wear, pebbles always seem to be able to sneak in.

You've experienced this as well and I'm sure you can agree that and getting a rock in your shoe is incredibly annoying.

Usually when I get a rock in my shoe I leave it for a while and try to ignore it. Instead I focus on the enjoyable nature of the company I’m with or the grandeur of the city I’m walking through. This works fairly well for a short time until the annoyance grows too strong and I have to stop, take my shoe off, shake out the rock, and put my shoe back on.

There are two things I notice every time as a result that never cease to amaze me:

One, the relief and comfort of removing the tiny pebble are completely disproportionate to the actual size of the pebble.

Two, the effort of and inconvenience of stopping to take out the pebble are minimal compared to the feelings of relief after it’s gone.

These are not earth-shattering revelations. I’ve known these things for many years. Yet nearly every time I persist in trying to ignore the pebble rather than stopping to remedy the situation right away. Why on earth do I try to ignore this discomfort for so long?

It seems ridiculous, given that I know the benefits of stopping for 30 seconds (or less) and removing the pebble in my shoe.

I can’t help but see a parallel between this situation and similar laziness or intentional ignorance we are all guilty of in various aspects of our lives. Especially in our quest to “be ye therefore perfect” even as our Father in Heaven and Jesus Christ are perfect we try to ignore the pebbles and take the lazy or complacent route in order to avoid the immediate inconvenience of bettering our situation.

Let’s discuss this intentional ignorance and the laziness and complacency and how to overcome both.

Intentional Ignorance 

First, how often do we ignore the opportunity to repent and feel the relieving power of the Atonement?

I’m not necessarily talking about repenting of large sins that keep us from the temple or priesthood service. Those are boulders or mountains that obviously make our progression impossible.

Rather, I’m talking about the lack of daily repentance in the little things and the intentional ignorance of our favorite sins. These sins are actions or inactions that we have found a way to justify or push to the back of our minds as we openly recognize our ability and strivings to keep the “big” commandments. Yet despite the seeming inconsequential nature of these actions or inactions, they cause in us a cognitive dissonance whether we recognize the reason or not.

These actions or inactions are, perhaps, easier to ignore because they don’t preclude us from callings or temple service. They don’t have an obvious or immediate negative impact on our ability to build good family relationships and create homes in which the spirit can usually dwell. Maintaining the status quo through the other good things we’re doing is confused as progression.

Yet, like a pebble in our shoes, any aspect of our lives that does not match up exactly with the Savior’s life takes at least a bit of the enjoyment from everything we do and negatively impacts our ability to feel the Spirit and progress toward our eternal goals. We can ignore it for a time and even forget it every so often, but eventually, the nagging will wear us down and begin to have a greater negative influence on other aspects of our lives. The principle “by small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6) works negatively as well.

When we do repent and take the necessary steps to stop doing whatever it is that is slowing us down, how wonderful is the feeling? For me, getting rid of the stupid little action or inaction is like removing the pebble from my shoe. The actions themselves may be quite small and simple and often feel amazingly disproportionate to the immense feelings of peace and freedom that accompany repentance.

Laziness and Complacency

Second, how often do we put aside the activities we know will bless our lives in order to make time for very temporal and short-sighted activities?

Elder Sabin of the Seventy very expertly taught this point in a recent General Conference. He told the story of a camping trip he went on in which one of his scouts chose to sleep in the cold rather than in his sleeping bag, simply to save the effort of rolling up his sleeping bag in the morning. Recounted Elder Sabin:

“[The scout] froze for hours because he was trying to save five minutes of work. We may think, ‘How foolish! Who would ever do that?’ Well, we do it all the time in much more dangerous ways. We are, in effect, refusing to unroll our spiritual sleeping bags when we don’t take the time to sincerely pray, study, and earnestly live the gospel each day; not only will the fire go out, but we will be unprotected and grow spiritually cold.”

Being tired, allowing ourselves to be distracted by Netflix, failing to plan well, keeping up with “life” on Instagram, etc. are not excuses that will protect us from the heat or spiritually-damaging hail and mighty whirlwinds that are sure to come.

Alma taught that it is the smallest faith-promoting actions will cause our seed of faith to grow:

“if ye will nourish the word, yea, nourish the tree as it beginneth to grow, by your faith with great diligence, and with patience, looking forward to the fruit thereof, it shall take root: and behold it shall be a tree springing up unto everlasting life.” (Alma 32:41)

Likewise, the lack of these actions will cause our seed of faith to wither up and die:

“But if ye neglect the tree, and take not thought for its nourishment, behold it will not get any root: and when the heat of the sun cometh and scorcheth it, because it hath no root it withers away, and ye pluck it up and cast it out.” (Alma 32:38)

When we are lazy or fail to properly prioritize the small daily and weekly gospel activities of praying, studying the scriptures, and otherwise keeping our lives finely tuned to the teachings of Jesus Christ, our faith cannot grow. As we justify leaving church after Sacrament meeting, fail to reach out and serve others, or find an “exception” to not keep the Sabbath day holy once, then twice, we fail to work towards the great things the Lord has in store for us if we are but obedient.

Much like the pebbles in our shoes, in the moment the small and simple things may not seem to make a difference. In the moment they are easy to ignore or become complacent about. But these pebbles will eventually wear us down.

The key is to trust in the Lord. We must learn and understand that repenting and relying on His Atonement is the key to happiness and that the small and simple actions he requires will provide disproportionately-wonderful blessings--both temporally and eternally.

And the Lord God doth work by means to bring about his great and eternal purposes; and by very small means the Lord doth confound the wise and bringeth about the salvation of many souls. (Alma 37:7)


Jeremy

The Boiling Point

The Book of Mormon tells the story of a family that was commanded by God to leave Jerusalem and subsequently wandered in the wilderness toward a promised land--somewhat reminiscent of the children of Israel under Moses’ leadership.

I want to focus on one particular part of their journey, the trials this family faced, and their varied reactions to those trials.

At the point in the story I would like to focus, the prophet and patriarch Lehi and his family and in-laws (some 2-3 dozen people potentially) have wandered in the desert for upwards of eight years. Like the children of Israel with Moses, they were told that they are headed to a promised land, but they don’t know exactly where the promised land is and when they will get there. As they travel, the Lord guides them through “the more fertile parts of the wilderness” which I imagine are few and far between on the Arabian peninsula.

At one point in their journey and amidst other trials, their hunting bows break and they are left without a way to get food. Things begin to fall apart. Nephi--Lehi's son--recounts the situation:

And it came to pass that we did return without food to our families, and being much fatigued, because of their journeying, they did suffer much for the want of food.

And it came to pass that Laman and Lemuel [Nephi’s older brothers] and the sons of Ishmael [Nephi’s brothers-in-law] did begin to murmur exceedingly, because of their sufferings in the wilderness; and also my father [the prophet] began to murmur against the Lord his God; yea, and they were all exceedingly sorrowful, even that they did murmur against the Lord. (1 Nephi 16:19-20)

I can’t begin to imagine what a trial this was for Lehi, Nephi, and their family. They’ve been walking through the desert “for the space of many days,” living in tents (remember Lehi’s family was very well off in Jerusalem), bearing children (1 Nephi 17:1), walking towards a land that they must trust in God exists, and dealing with all manner of daily trials: weather, sandstorms, ripped tents, lost livestock, sickness, carrying everything they own, etc. Not to mention enduring the incessant complaining and outright violence of their own family members: Laman, Lemuel, and the sons of Ishmael.

Any one of these trials individually is enough to more than frustrate anyone and push anyone to their boiling point. The situation challenged the faith of everyone in the group, including the prophet himself. I believe that we can learn a lot from what happens next. Nephi’s account continues:

Now it came to pass that I, Nephi, having been afflicted with my brethren because of the loss of my bow, and their bows having lost their springs, it began to be exceedingly difficult, yea, insomuch that we could obtain no food. …

And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow, and out of a straight stick, an arrow; wherefore, I did arm myself with a bow and an arrow, with a sling and with stones. And I said unto my father: Whither shall I go to obtain food? (1 Nephi 16:21, 23)

Nephi was experiencing the same trials. He, too, had a family to care for and exhausted mouths to feed. He, too, walked the same distance in the same weather toward the same unknown destination.

Yet Nephi chose not to harden his heart and complain or murmur against God. Rather, he allowed the trials to soften his heart and he chose to rely even more upon the Lord. He was proactive in doing what he could to remedy the situation and then turned in humility to the prophet and to God for guidance and help with how to best deal with this trial.

This story reminds me of an analogy I heard years ago of a carrot and an egg. A speaker at a youth event held up a raw egg and asked what happens to the egg when left in boiling water. The answer: it becomes hard. She then held up a carrot and asked what happens to a carrot in boiling water. The answer: it becomes soft. Both foods in the exact same extreme situation react completely differently.

During trials and tough situations we always have a choice. When we reach our boiling points we can choose to become hardened and embittered and react like Nephi’s brothers. Or we can turn to the Lord and soften our hearts in humility and, like Nephi, allow God to help us through our trials. The choice is ours.

My personal reflection

For me, Nephi is an example of optimism and hope. When I originally started this post, I was in the middle of my program at the University of Oxford. Now, as I actually finish this post a couple years later, we live in Berlin pursuing a dream to live in Germany.

I know that we have been guided along this path and are extremely blessed to learn from such a diverse group of people and experiences. Our experience abroad has been incredible and nothing like we could have imagined.

However, this journey is not all rainbows and butterflies. On the contrary, the program and experience in Oxford was, at times, extremely trying and discouraging. Oslo was born 3 months early as I was trying to complete my capstone. Getting settled in Germany has been a long and patience-trying process. I'm lost, in a way, concerning what career path to follow and how to support my family and my current job situation is far less than ideal. And in general we’re living far from our comfort zones and among a lot of people who have very different beliefs and backgrounds. And all these in addition to the regular trials life throws at us.

But these difficulties are also exactly why this experience is so good for me and for my family. My trials and challenges in life are far from the magnitude of what Nephi and his family experienced, but I am challenged each day with the choice to complain about the things I cannot control, or to do everything I can and then humbly let the Lord make up for the rest, knowing that all things will work together for my good--both temporally and eternally.

Sometimes I’m the carrot and sometimes I’m the egg. But I’d like to think that, with the help of the Lord and His Atonement, I’m becoming more carrot-like every day.

"Which Hope Maketh an Anchor": Weathering the MBA

Not long ago I came across the following verse in the Book of Mormon:

“Wherefore, whoso believeth in God might with surety hope for a better world, yea, even a place at the right hand of God, which hope cometh of faith, maketh an anchor to the souls of men, which would make them sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.” (Ether 12:4)

Faith and hope maketh an anchor to our souls, which make us sure and steadfast.

When I read this verse recently, the anchor metaphor reminded me of a book my fourth-grade teacher read to us called The Cay. In the story, the main characters are stranded on an island as a hurricane approaches. They tie themselves to a large tree in order to anchor themselves down and not get blown away in the storm.

Losing sight in the midst of trials

Such storms are promised us in our own lives. These metaphorical storms come as a result of many things: large-scale storms such as wars, conflicts, and political unrest and controversy; as well as personal storms such as ill health, employment issues, loneliness and depression, and sin. Through each of these events, we may feel trapped in a hurricane carrying only an umbrella for protection.

As a result of these trials, we may begin to lose sight of that which matters most and get blown away by the gale-force winds that rage around us. The only way to weather the storms is to anchor ourselves through faith in God.

I picture that scene from The Cay when I think of being anchored to the gospel through faith and hope. The pain and difficulty of trials can shake us and skew our perspective. Tying ourselves to the tree--i.e. anchoring ourselves to faith--keeps us stable and helps us maintain an eternal perspective during times when such a perspective is easily clouded from view.

Losing sight pursuing worthy goals: An MBA story

But trials and problems aren’t the only events that can cause us to lose sight of what’s important. Our eternal perspective can become clouded and we can lose our way even when we’re pursuing worthy goals.

As a recent example from my own life, I spent the last year in a rigorous MBA program. As was to be expected, the program was hyper-focused on building businesses and measuring success through profits, company growth, and global impact--all worthy and accurate measures of success in the business world.

Every day I studied with brilliant classmates and accomplished professors. I analyzed strategies of wildly successful business leaders. I was in an environment that applauded significant professional accomplishments.

The experience was incredible and I gained so much from rubbing shoulders with such smart and driven people. But I also found myself easily stressed and concerned about the future and my career. Every minute of every day was filled with a dozen different priorities all pulling me in seemingly opposite directions. Many schools of thought and opinions flooded my mind as I spent countless hours trying to figure out a next career move that would live up to the success of my peers. I often felt inadequate surrounded by such brilliant and successful people.

Mostly I felt tossed about at the mercy of a thousand different factors and could barely keep my head above water, let alone figure out the future. Even though I was pursuing the worthy goals of higher education and providing well for my family, storms raged around me, sometimes clouding my vision of what mattered most.

Gratefully, during these foggy and stormy times I had an anchor which secured me amidst the swirling storms and helped me regain focus on the things that mattered most: Each night I would go home and spend time with my wife, rough house with our two-year-old, eat dinner together with my family, and read scriptures and pray together. And on Sundays I completely stepped away from the business world and focused on church and family time.

These constant and consistent activities centered around the best in life were my metaphorical tree in the hurricane which strengthened my faith and helped me maintain a perspective that helped me see beyond salaries and positions, Uber’s surge pricing model and Steve Jobs' leadership style, and global opportunities and threats. With an eternal, family perspective, I was able to better discern what to focus on and what to ignore, independent of the actions of those around me.

At present, I am still concerned about the future and finding the perfect job. But that concern does not give way to fear because my faith in God gives me hope that everything will work out. And that hope “maketh an anchor” to my soul which helps me become “sure and steadfast, always abounding in good works, being led to glorify God.”

Jeremy

"To Him Is Given the Greater Portion of the Word"

The Book of Mormon tells the story of an ancient prophet named Alma who spent much of his time traveling from city to city preaching the gospel and setting the Church in order--much like Paul of the New Testament.

In the particularly trying city of Ammonihah, the people “reviled [Alma], and spit upon him, and caused that he should be cast out of their city” (Alma 8:13). As Alma leaves, an Angel appears and tells him to return to the city. Back in the city, Alma meets a man by the name of Amulek, teaches Amulek and his family, and all are converted to the gospel.

Alma and Amulek then go to try to preach the gospel to the people of Ammonihah. As they contend with some of the city’s top lawyers, the foremost of these lawyers has a change of heart and starts asking sincere questions about the purpose of life. Before answering these questions, Alma first outlines how we learn the things of God and gain spiritual knowledge. Alma teaches:

It is given unto many to know the mysteries of God . . . according to the heed and diligence which they give unto him.

And therefore, he that will harden his heart, the same receiveth the lesser portion of the word; and he that will not harden his heart, to him is given the greater portion of the word, until it is given unto him to know the mysteries of God until he know them in full.

And they that will harden their hearts, to them is given the lesser portion of the word until they know nothing concerning his mysteries; and they are taken captive by the devil, and led by his will down to destruction. (Alma 12:9-11.)

These verses stuck out to me recently as I was reading the accounts of Alma and his missionary work. Alma states that if we give heed to the commandments of God--if we live what we learn, wherever we are on our own pathway--we will receive more. As we go to church, study our scriptures, fulfill our callings and do our home and visiting teaching, live up to the covenants we made at baptism despite the increasing opposition we experience from outside influences, we receive more light and knowledge--it’s an upward spiral: We live according to our understanding, we receive more. We live according to that increased understanding, we receive more, etc. This is the only way we can learn and progress--through accepting and living the Savior’s teachings.

In contrast, if we fail to live according to the light and knowledge we have been given, we lose what we had. As we skip sacrament meeting, as we prioritize other things above studying the scriptures and serving our home teaching families, as we fail to live any of the commandments big or small, our understanding grows smaller and our light grows dimmer “until [we] know nothing concerning [God’s] mysteries, and [we] are taken captive by the devil.”

At least for me, I often don’t think of missing scripture study because I’m too tired as a pathway leading me to captivity by the devil. That’s a pretty big jump in my narrow mind. However, missing scripture study because I’m tired or halfheartedly praying before I go out the door because I’m in a hurry does not move me closer to God and increase my spiritual understanding. And if I’m not moving toward God, then I’m moving away and toward the adversary. There is no middle ground.

We have all sorts of reasons not to live the commandments. If we skip church one week, we probably fully intend on going the following week. If we get too tired to study the scriptures, we tell ourselves that we’ll just do it tomorrow, no problem. If we squirm in our seats as we hear repeated encouragement to go home teaching, we know that we’ll go next month when we’re not so busy.

But these actions--and others such as not living the word of wisdom, breaking the law of chastity, questioning the prophet’s judgement, etc.--put us on a slippery slope downward. And as our light diminishes, our knowledge and understanding we once had will begin to slip away and we will find that regaining that knowledge and understanding is increasingly difficult.

The only way to ensure that we are always progressing and increasing in light and knowledge is to actively live the Lord’s teachings--no excuses, no justifications. As we do so, we will be blessed and see the fruits of our actions, namely increased light, knowledge, and joy.