Thursday, April 11, 2019


HOLD THY WAY

I would like to liken a scripture unto myself (D&C 122:7-9)

And if thou shouldst be cast into the pit, or into the hands of murderers, and the sentence of death passed upon thee; if thou be cast into the deep; if the billowing surge conspire against thee; if fierce winds become thine enemy; if the heavens gather blackness, and all the elements combine to hedge up the way; (or if you continue to sin over and over and over again, or if someone at church offends you, or if you are sick or crippled or have addictions or financial failure or a wayward child) and above all, if the very jaws of hell shall gape open the mouth wide after thee, know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good.

The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?

Therefore, hold on thy way, and the priesthood shall remain with thee; for their bounds are set, they cannot pass. Thy days are known, and thy years shall not be numbered less; therefore, fear not what man can do, for God shall be with you forever and ever.”

I am finding that the term endure to the end is not a mere saying that we hear. Life can be hard at times, we make mistakes, others make mistakes that affect us, tragedy sometimes visits us and when life gets hard sometimes we want to give up.

Why do we jump from the Old Ship Zion (as Elder Ballard says)? And how can we prevent ourselves from jumping? I don’t think that we just decide to jump in one day. I believe that it is a slow process that takes many years.

I believe that people jump ship for a simple basic reason…..they lose the spirit in their lives. The Holy Ghost no longer directs them and their actions. I think that sometimes we think that if we do anything wrong we feel that we are on our own spiritually. That having the spirit with us is either all or nothing. While I think that we can lose the spirit in our lives, I also believe that there is spiritual help and assistance for us in varying degrees and that we need to continually strive to do what we can to have the spirit with us.

I believe that many times we sin and find our lives incongruent with our beliefs. When this happens we must internally reconcile this in order to emotionally survive. This means that we either have to adjust our lives or our belief systems and without a portion of the spirit in our lives we are left to kick against the pricks or come up with a solution on our own.

The preventative measures are…

STUDY THE SCRIPTURES – ESPECIALLY THE BOOK OF MORMON - President Nelson has said My dear brothers and sisters, I promise that as you prayerfully study the Book of Mormon every day, you will make better decisions—every day…. I promise that as you daily immerse yourself in the Book of Mormon, you can be immunized against the evils of the day

PRAY – Do not give up on prayer. Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father and continually ask for His help. Have personal prayer and family prayer each day night and morning. Pray with your spouse, if you have one.

There is something about getting on your knees before God. It is a commandment. There is great opportunity to communicate with our Father when we pray and feel of his spirit, BUT even if we only say a brief prayer that may not feel reaches past the ceiling, I know that the Lord blesses our efforts. He has told us that when we keep his commandments he will bless us.

PARTAKE OF THE SACRAMENT EACH WEEK – I love that Bishop takes time in Sacrament meeting to remind us to prepare for the sacrament and contemplate our Saviors sacrifice for us.

Why is partaking of the sacrament so important?

-        It is a weekly reminder to do all we can to Obey His commandments so that we can have His spirit to be with us.

-        It is part of the repentance process. (I have an old friend that, when he was called as Bishop he mentioned in his testimony after being sustained that some of his best spiritual experiences were leaving his Bishops office after confessing his sins.) Repentance is a cleansing and healing process that can help us to constantly have the a portion of the Lords spirit

-        Sometimes some of us may be offended because of something another member may do or say. I hope that I have not been guilty of my sins (and saying something rude or insensitive could indeed be a sin) giving license for someone to jump ship. Whether you would leave the church because you witnessed me being a thief or because I said something rude, those could be my sins and I would hope they would not give you a reason to jump. If any of us are ever offended by another member, I would hope that we would say to ourselves that this person has their sins and I have mine. The church is a shop for the sinner and not a museum for the saints.

-        An old story that has been used in 100’s of talks refers to a man that was interviewing new drivers for his transportation company. The route was very dangerous and went along several steep cliffs through a mountain pass. The interviewer asked each man how close he could safely drive near the edge of the cliff. The first man responded, “I could drive within six inches of the edge.” The second man responded, “I could drive within two inches of the edge.” The third man responded, “I would stay as far away from the edge of the cliff as I possibly could.”  The third man got the job.  

 

-        Sometimes I think we are don’t want to be too good or conversely, we think how bad can I be and get away with it. Once soon after my mission I was asked to be on a dating panel for some Young Men and Women. They submitted questions and the panel would answer them. One question asked “How far is too far?” I was a little annoyed that someone would ask that question and simply said CHANDLER is too far! I think that this can represent our attitudes sometimes instead of simply trying to be our best selves. If I were asked that question today, I don’t think that I would be as impatient and snarky. My response would simply be “When you the Holy Ghost leaves”

-        Laman and Lemuel were usually obedient eventually. In a modern day, they would probably have been active in the Priesthood Quorums and come to church, but only because mom and dad made them. Remember, they went back for the plates, for the Ishmaels family, helped Nephi build a boat, and sailed to the promised land. However they had not developed their own sense of why they were doing these things. They had not developed their own relationships with their Heavenly Father and as soon as mom and dad were gone they jumped ship.

Several years ago while McKayla and David were younger, we traveled to Taos, New Mexico to go River Rafting. We went over with the Connolly’s.  It was a beautiful area. Because we had some smaller children we decided to break up the trip into an easy rafting trip and then one for the big boys. The first trip was the childs trip, so I figured it would be relaxing and fairly uneventful for a thrill seeker like myself. The kids would love it, but the big boy trip was the next day, so this would be easy peasy.  We got all geared up and the guide gave us instructions

#1- stay in the boat!
#2 - always wear your life jacket!

#3 - always hold on with both hands!

He also told us if you do go in the water, float with your legs out and upright. As we floated along a particularly calm part of the river the boat turned slightly, so that my back was toward the direction that the boat was floating. Suddenly, the raft hit a rock just below the surface right at the edge of the boat where I was sitting and just like that I was in the River. It was cold and what appeared nice and calm on the surface was moving swiftly underneath the surface. I quickly became separated from the boat and began floating as I had been instructed, upright and legs out. Bam! A Rock! Bam! another rock. This hurt and there was no way to prepare for the next collision, because I could not see the rocks below the surface to know when the next one was coming! I eventually made it to a shoreline and was picked up by the boat and we continued on down the river. I was cold and wet and hanging on much tighter than I had been previously.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf

 “Yes, God loves you this very day and always.
 He is not waiting to love you until you have overcome your weaknesses and bad habits. He loves you today with a full understanding of your struggles. He is aware that you reach up to Him in heartfelt and hopeful prayer. He knows of the times you have held onto the fading light and believed--even in the midst of growing darkness. He knows of your sufferings. He knows of your remorse for the times you have fallen short or failed. And still He loves you.

 And God knows of your successes; though they may seem small to you, He acknowledges and cherishes each one of them. He loves you for extending yourself to others. He loves you for reaching out and helping others bear their heavy burdens--even when you are struggling with your own

He knows everything about you. He sees you clearly--He knows you as you really are. And He loves you--today and always!”

 Never give up hope, When we give up trying, we are in essence, giving up on the Savior of the world and saying that he cannot help me, when we all know that he can. Keep trying, Never ever ever give up, even in hard times or hard luck or continually making the same mistakes over and over again, never give up. Look forward to the sacrament each week when we can renew our promise to keep his commandments and to continue to strive to remember Him that we might have his spirit to be with us. Repent and try again.  Yea, like Lather, Rinse and Repeat

After going into the River that day I was especially cautions and careful the next day. If the calm little kids river could hurt as badly as it did, I was pretty certain that I did not want to go for a swim on the big boy day. I hung on TIGHT. I didn’t take chances like the young un’s did. I had a blast and stayed in the boat.
Here are some talks and articles I read to prepare to write my talk.











 

 

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