Good morning, brothers and sisters.
I’m deeply honored by this opportunity to be with you today. What a blessing it was to be edified by the inspired teachings of the Brethren and the Sisters during general conference this past weekend and the weekend prior. This devotional today once again presents us with an occasion to be taught by the Spirit, and in this light, there is value in reviewing the origin of the word, “devotional.” The suffix, “-al,” means “pertaining to,” or “having the form or character of.” The suffix, “-ion,” is used to “form nouns from stem words denoting action or condition.” The root or stem word, “devote,” means “to concentrate on a particular pursuit, purpose, or cause.” The word, “devotion,” then, is the name of a condition or state of “profound dedication or consecration.” And the word, “devotional,” in this instance, designates a meeting “having the form or character of profound dedication or consecration.” (dictionary.com.) Such meetings invite the presence of the Spirit, and we are edified thereby. I think it significant that the terminology used in Handbook 2 of the Church for these meetings is “devotional” rather than the less descriptive and less meaningful, “fireside.”
Counsel from CCC
This past July, Sister Cardon and I gathered together our eight children and their spouses, along with 41 of our 42 grandchildren for a week of strengthening family bonds and gospel testimonies. The one missing grandchild was on a mission. Knowing of this BYU-Hawaii speaking assignment, we held a special meeting with what we called the “CCC,” or, the “Cardon College Crew,” at 6:30 on a Sunday morning, prior to our Sunday worship at church. Not counting our one grandson on a mission, this group included two married granddaughters and their husbands, or our two grandsons-in-law, four unmarried granddaughters, and one unmarried grandson for a total of nine grandchildren. I suppose we could have called this our “CCC Devotional.”
After opening with a hymn and a prayer, I read to them the following paragraph, which I had prepared specifically for the meeting, describing them as a group. You will note that in large measure, this also describes you as a group.
You are ages 18 to 25. You are just beginning college, mid-way through college, and college graduates. You are at exciting and pivotal points in your lives. You are making decisions with eternal consequences. You are anticipating serving missions and are returned missionaries. You are single and hoping for a date, single and dating, and married. You and your spouse have an infant child. You are preparing for employment, looking for employment, and employed. You are living in a world heavily influenced by social media and often segregated by social media. You live in a time when the fullness of the gospel is on the earth with all of its attendant blessings, and in a time when the adversary has never been more active or influential. You have friends who are living the gospel, and some who are not living the gospel. You live in a time when calamities have been foretold. Almost daily you learn of earthquakes, of the waves of the sea heaving themselves beyond their bounds, and of other natural disasters. Indeed, “all things [are] in commotion” (D&C 88:90-91). You hear of wars and rumors of wars. You have hopes and aspirations, and you may have concerns and discouragements. You are daughters of God. You are sons of God. You are among those whom the Lord has called “the strength of my house” (D&C 103:22; 105:16).
We then explained to our Cardon College Crew that Sister Cardon and I (Grandma and Grandpa) would soon be speaking to you here in this devotional, and we asked them what they felt you needed to hear.
Our discussion lasted nearly two hours, with many insights and feelings shared openly. I believe that I can summarize the substance of what they said, along with what Sister Cardon and I felt would be beneficial to you, with three prevalent, summary statements, followed by a few comments and observations.
The first and most prevalent thought arising from this discussion was simply this: “Don't compare yourself to others.”
You have been blessed with qualities, talents, and gifts particular to you. Learn to recognize them and find joy in them. For everything from birth to death, the life of each son and daughter of God follows a unique timetable and path. Spiritual and temporal blessings will come at different times and in different ways, so gain confidence in that reality and don’t compare yourself to others. Realize that what the Lord wants you to do at this time, may not be what others are doing at the same point in their lives. Yes, there are basic principles to be followed, but learn to trust the Lord and rely on His timetable for you.
Not every young woman or young man finds her or his eternal companion in the first year of college, or even during college. Not every young man understands quantum theory in the first week of class, or in some cases, ever. Not every person masters a musical instrument, or produces beautiful art, or founds an eminently successful startup business, or excels in professional sports, or becomes president of a nation. Do what you can do, given the circumstances you are in. Your measure is not against others, but against your developing self, including your faithfulness in acting upon the direction the Lord gives you. Gratefully, each son and daughter of God has not only a unique physical identity, but also a unique personality. With this understanding, find genuine joy in the accomplishments of others and in your own accomplishments as they unfold. Do not fear the future, but move forward in faith.
The second most prevalent thought was this: “Don’t limit your present self to your past self.”
If we are not careful, we allow the adversary to convince us we are someone we are not, somehow causing us to believe that we cannot progress and are incapable of following God’s laws and receiving His blessings. The adversary may even try to convince you that you cannot or should not go beyond your family’s past levels of education, or spiritual awareness, or economic horizons. However, you learn, mature, and improve as you progress through life, and the Lord is blessing you with new opportunities. You are now more able to face challenges and questions than you were in the past. You don’t know it all, but you know more than you used to know. Your minds and your abilities to reason, analyze, and make decisions, are increasing, just as your capacities to spiritually recognize the voice of the Lord and to respond to His direction are increasing. God is blessing you, and as you experience these improved capacities, your confidence grows.
Be cautious. With increased understanding, the secular world will try to convince you there is no absolute truth. But there is. Heavenly Father has revealed His divine truth and His plan of happiness. Engage challenges and questions standing firm in the core of your testimony of the truth. Keep learning, and with each new “present” day, allow for continuing improvement, and acknowledge that improvement when it comes.
Because you see yourself in every waking instant of every day, it is sometimes difficult to recognize improvement from one moment to the next, or from day to day. This is like taking a “burst” of “selfie” photos with your mobile phone camera and then trying to see differences in the 6 photos taken within an instant. You will find virtually none. Yet when you take another “selfie” a month later and compare it to the previous selfie, the differences are more obvious. What you understand, know, and feel, today are more than you did one year ago, or five years ago. Notwithstanding the trials and vicissitudes of life, notwithstanding your weakness and imperfection, in faith, you are moving closer to God.
The third thought was an acknowledgement of a reality. For those who experience it, depression is real. “Although things are sometimes difficult and it’s hard to be happy, continue in faith and joy will come.”
Because there are many things beyond our control, you find joy not from controlling the circumstances, but from relying on the Lord, knowing there will be moments of joy and affirmation from Him. One of our granddaughters said that when she sometimes feels depressed, she says to herself, “Everything will be OK in the end, and things are not OK now, so it is not the end.” Just remember to keep doing the “little things” and know that joy will come. In our Heavenly Father’s plan and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ, there are no secrets and there are no shortcuts. To have strength in times of trial and wisdom in times of uncertainty, you must do as the Lord invites you to do and read your scriptures every day and say your prayers every day. There are no substitutes.
Years ago I realized that the family, work, and church demands on my time were such that I often was not able to follow the same schedule every day. I therefore began a personal practice that I have now followed for decades. Before my eyes close for the final time on any day, I review the day to confirm that at some point my eyes were on the scriptures, and if they were not, I do not close my eyes for the final time on the day without them falling on the scriptures. In addition, I begin and end each day in prayer, with my heart drawn out in prayer during the day, as Amulek counsels (Alma 34:27). You must also worship with the saints each week as the Lord has commanded.
Apart from these personal religious practices, in any circumstance you may be in, if you visualize in your mind your interpretation of perfection, you will easily see that you fall short of perfection and become depressed. But learn to visualize in your mind those circumstances after asking yourself, “Did I do what I could do? Did I do what the Lord wanted me to do? Did I do what was needed? If so, don’t worry about instant perfection, and know that in time, according to the Lord’s plan, joy will come.
I would now like to provide a doctrinal context for the things I have just shared, and also provide a long-term perspective that may be helpful.
Doctrinal Context
In this dispensation of the fullness of times, our Heavenly Father has affirmed an eternal doctrine that is unique in all of religion. It is this: We may become like our Heavenly Father. We may be like Him. All of Christianity and other theistic religions profess in one way or another not only a belief in God, but also a doctrine of an after-life of peace and joy, and perhaps being with God. But I know of no other religion that professes a doctrine of becoming like God. This foundational doctrine is essential in understanding the full significance of the many trials and challenging circumstances we face in this life.
The Savior said, “[Y]e shall be even as I am, and I am even as the Father …” (3 Nephi 28:10).
Paul taught this doctrine, saying, “[W]e are the children of God: and if children, then heirs; heirs of God, and joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together” (Romans 8:16-17).
Mormon taught, “[P]ray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love … that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him …” (Moroni 7:48).
In this dispensation, through Joseph Smith the Lord has said, “[T]he saints shall be filled with his glory, and receive their inheritance and be made equal with [the Lamb of God]” (D&C 88:107).
The Lord’s loving declaration is simply this, “[W]hat manner of men ought ye to be? …[E]ven as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27).
Because of this foundational doctrine, we understand clearly a dimension of the importance of both faith and works in the Father’s plan that remains an enigma to most of the religious world. We are imperfect, but as we “work” to overcome our weakness, exercising our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repenting, and living the gospel, by His grace our very natures are refined over time, drawing us closer to God. As we continue faithful, enduring to the end, we ultimately become like Him. We therefore understand that both faith and works are essential to our being exalted “through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8).
The Lord knows our weakness and imperfection, yet he implores us saying, “I will that ye should overcome the world.” And because He knows that in this earthly existence we will always fall short of perfection, He lovingly and mercifully declares, “wherefore I will have compassion upon you” (D&C 64:2).
It is within this doctrinal context that we better understand the counsel: “Don’t compare yourself to others; Don’t limit your present self to your past self; and Although things are sometimes difficult and it’s hard to be happy, continue in faith and joy will come.
Long-term perspective, multi-generational families
As you consider the things we’ve addressed this morning, I invite you to open your hearts and minds to your roles and responsibilities in promulgating what we sometimes refer to as multi-generational families in the church. Let me explain.
In the general conference of April 2008, President Russell M. Nelson gave a wonderful talk entitled, “Salvation and Exaltation.” He taught that “To be saved—or to gain salvation—means to be saved from physical and spiritual death.” He also taught that, “To be exalted—or to gain exaltation—refers to the highest state of happiness and glory in the celestial realm.” In expanding on these doctrinal points, he taught that salvation is an individual matter and that exaltation is a family matter.
Brigham Young recorded a conversation he had with Joseph Smith in a dream nearly three years following Joseph’s martyrdom. In this conversation, Brigham asked Joseph for counsel, saying,
Brother Joseph … The brethren have a great anxiety to understand the … sealing principles; and if you have a word of counsel for me I should be glad to receive it.
Joseph responded, saying, in part,
Be sure to tell the people to keep the Spirit of the Lord; and if they will, they will find themselves just as they were organized by our Father in Heaven before they came into the world. Our Father in Heaven organized the human family, but they are all disorganized and in great confusion.
Brigham continued his account,
Joseph then showed me the pattern, how they were in the beginning. This I cannot describe, but I saw it, and saw where the Priesthood had been taken from the earth and how it must be joined together, so that there would be a perfect chain from Father Adam to his latest posterity. (Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1846-1847 for the date of Tuesday, February 23, 1847.)
The Prophet Joseph earlier had taught the people with the following inspired writing found in the Doctrine and Covenants:
"[The dead] without us cannot be made perfect—neither can we without our dead be made perfect" (D&C 128:15).
While Brigham did not describe precisely what he saw in heaven, yet we are able to understand with Joseph’s teachings that in the eternities, whether in this life or the next, not only is being sealed to a spouse essential to exaltation, but so must generations be “joined together” in order for our dead and for us to be “made perfect.” This is what is meant when we speak of “multi-generational families” in the church, or in the gospel.
Less than a month ago, in a September 10, 2017 Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults, Elder David A. Bednar referenced an earlier teaching by President Gordon B. Hinckley and invited all of us, including young adults, to “not become a weak link,” but rather to “become a welding link in the chain of generations.”
A multi-generational family in the church, begins when a son or daughter of God receives the restored gospel and endures to the end through obedience to the gospel and all of its ordinances. These ordinances include the sealing ordinances, whether received in this life or the next. The multi-generational family is formed in the pattern of the Lord as faithful sons and daughters of God continue to provide the blessings of these ordinances to their ancestors, and instill within the hearts of their descendants faith in Heavenly Father and in Jesus Christ and His atonement. The multi-generational family continues to expand as family members remain faithful through future generations.
By virtue of the holy priesthood and the sealing authority exercised in the temples of God, those to whom this sacred sealing authority has been given organize the families of the earth according to the plan of our Heavenly Father. Indeed, this is the essence of the covenant that God made with Abraham saying,
[I]n thee (that is, in thy Priesthood) and in thy seed … shall all the families of the earth be blessed, even with the blessings of the Gospel, which are blessings of salvation, even of life eternal (Abraham 2:11).
So that you might better understand your positions and roles in your own multi-generational families, and the importance of your continued faithfulness, I would like to share with you a perspective from the Book of Mormon. Although I have seen detailed chronological information about the Book of Mormon in various forms, what I share with you today is something the Lord unfolded to my understanding recently from the book, itself.
As we all know, the central account in the Book of Mormon, from Lehi to Moroni, not including the account of the Jaredites, covers a period of approximately 1000 years. We have this sacred account principally because of the faithfulness of four families who created and preserved it under the inspiration of heaven, even while facing extremely challenging circumstances and difficulties. During that 1000 years, 18 generations of faithful souls in these four families under the inspiration and guidance of heaven taught, recorded, abridged, and preserved the words of the Lord’s holy prophets. The four families were those of Lehi, King Benjamin, Alma, and Mormon. From 1st Nephi chapter 1 to Moroni chapter 10, we enjoy the blessings of and are taught the fulness of the gospel because of the continuous, uninterrupted passing of the sacred records from one generation to the next by these four families for 18 generations. And interestingly, the record provides the individual names of those primarily responsible for keeping the record for each of those 18 generations. Let me review the sequence and names with you briefly.
We begin with Lehi:
1) Lehi taught his son Nephi, who kept a record; 2) Nephi added his teachings and gave the record to his brother Jacob; 3) who gave it to his son Enos; 4) who gave it to his son Jarom; 5) who gave it to his son Omni; 6) who gave it to his son Amaron. Amaron then gave the record to his brother Chemish; 7) who gave it to his son Abinadom; 8) who gave it to his son Amaleki.
The record then went from Amaleki to King Benjamin, Amaleki’s contemporary of the same generation. King Benjamin gave the record to his son, Mosiah, who was contemporary with Alma. Alma received and taught the gospel, which was recorded, and Mosiah eventually gave the record to Alma’s son, Alma the younger. King Benjamin and Mosiah were thereby essential intermediaries between Lehi’s family and Alma’s family. We continue with Alma’s family.
9) Alma taught; 10) Alma the younger received the record from Mosiah; 11) and eventually gave it to his son Helaman. Helaman gave it to his brother Shiblon; 12) who eventually gave it to Helaman son of Helaman; 13) who gave it to his son Nephi; 14) who gave it to his son Nephi; 15) who gave it to his son Amos; 16) who gave it to his son Amos. Amos son of Amos then gave it to his brother Ammaron.
Ammaron hid the record in a hill and told 11-year-old Mormon where the record was hidden. He told Mormon, who was in the next generation, to retrieve the record from its hiding spot when Mormon would be about the age of 24. 17) Mormon did so, and abridged the record; 18) and eventually gave the record to his son Moroni, who completed it, and delivered it to the Prophet Joseph centuries later.
Whether you are the only recipient of the gospel in your family, a first generation gospel recipient, like Alma, or whether you are further down the multi-generational chain, like Nephi, the son of Nephi; whether you are currently single or married, whether you have children or have none, determine now that you will be a faithful link in your family’s multi-generational commitment to the Lord and His restored gospel. Think upon these four faithful families in the Book of Mormon: Eight generations of Lehi’s family, the inter-familial transfer of the sacred record by King Benjamin and Mosiah, followed by eight generations of Alma’s family, followed by the faithful concluding two generations of Mormon’s family; a total of 18 generations. Determine now that the sacred record of your testimony will not be lost to future generations. Determine now that no matter the challenges that will befall you, you will remain faithful to the Lord, “saviors on Mount Zion” (Teachings, p. 330) to past generations and a beacon of truth and light to future generations.
I have a special prayer for you. From the time our children first came to our home, and continuing on with grandchildren and great grandchildren, Sister Cardon and I have prayed every day that our family members will always be worthy and able to recognize the voice of the Lord and that they will always have the courage to respond as He directs. If they will, they will be links in a continuing, uninterrupted legacy of gospel faithfulness to future generations—a multi-generational family in the gospel. My prayer for each of you today is the same.
I conclude with the words of Moroni, written in the final chapter of those 18 generations of faithfulness to the Lord, an invitation to each of you.
"[C]ome unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness; and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ…" (Moroni 10:32).
I love you and pray the Lord’s blessings upon you.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[1] dictionary.com.
[2]D&C 88:90-91
[3]D&C 103:22;
[4]D&C 105:16
[5]Alma 34:27
[8]Moroni 7:48[9]
[9]D&C 88:107
[10]3 Nephi 27:27
[11]2 Nephi 2:8
[12]D&C 64:2
[3]General Conference, April 2008, President Russell M. Nelson, “Salvation and Exaltation.”
[14]Manuscript History of Brigham Young, 1846-1847, Tuesday, February 23, 1847
[15]D&C 128:15
[16]Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults, September 10, 2017, Elder David A. Bednar
[17]Abraham 2:11
[18]Teachings, p. 330
[19]Moroni 10:32