It is a great privilege to be with you today. I had the opportunity to meet many of you yesterday as well as watch you perform, thank you for your kindness in welcoming me. I thought I would be slightly intimidated because this is a scary setting but now that I see you all smiling I realize the intimidating people might be behind me.
I want to teach to you today from my heart and through the scriptures. Throughout the scriptures there is a phrase that is used often that I would like to share, one of the many places it can be found is in 1 Nephi 10:6 in summary it basically says that all mankind will be lost unless we learn to rely on the savior. I'd like to spend a few minutes to have you think about what it means to rely on Jesus Christ, specifically what that looks like in your life and in the lives of others, what it means to rely on his teachings, and what it means to rely on his atonement.
I was in a priesthood meeting a few years ago when I heard an interesting example of relying on the teachings of the Savior. A man I had never met or seen since shared a story. He said that he and his family had just moved into town and were quite nervous, they didn't know anyone and their eight year old son had been sad to leave his friends. To their surprise they found out their new neighbors also had a son that was only a year older than theirs, although the other boy was older and notably bigger, they figured the boys could be friends.
One day this father came home from work to see his son and the neighbor's boy playing in the backyard, he was happy that his son had made a friend. As he continued to watch them the father noticed that the neighbor's boy was beginning to play a little too rough. Before he could do anything the boy had begun to push and yell at his son in a very violent manner. The father ran outside the back door to stop the boy but he had already run and jumped the fence back into his own yard. The father picked up his tearful son and carried him back into the house to clean him up. While talking about the situation the father began to ask his son what they should do. Now think about how most dads respond when their sons have been treated poorly, think about how angry that would make you. The father was clearly not very happy, and formulating a plan of what they should do, out of anger, when his wife walked in the room. Moms have a more natural nurturing kind response to these sorts of situations, after hearing about the circumstance she asked the boy, "What would Jesus do?"
After speaking with his mother the young boy decided that Jesus would probably take their new neighbor some cookies and apologize for their argument. While the father was still thinking of other possible responses, the son turned and asked his father, "Dad, will it work?" The father replied in confusion, "Will what work?" to which the boy answered, "What Jesus taught, will it really work?" I think that's a great question. Sometimes we separate our experiences from the things that we are taught by the Savior. The real question is will teachings of the Savior work in our real lives? My testimony to you today is that they do, the pathway to happiness is to follow the example and teachings of Jesus Christ.
I'm grateful for learning that lesson through the example of a wonderful missionary companion. Throughout my mission we served in many poor areas, and sometimes I worried about teaching people the principle of tithing. I thought that even though they would be excited about the gospel, it would still be difficult to tell them about tithing, knowing that they had so little with which to care for their families. After teaching a particularly poor family I remember thinking, and I regret to admit this, that it's too bad we have to teach this family about tithing that's going to be so hard for them. Now I hadn't said aloud what I was thinking to my companion when he turned and said to me "I know we aren't supposed to teach them about tithing for a few more discussions, but can we teach them about tithing next time?" Here I was trying to stall from teaching this family while he didn't want to put it off any longer. He said, "My family lived just like them until we found the gospel, and Heavenly Father blessed us so much, I know if we teach them about tithing then the Lord would bless and help them, can we please teach them the law of tithing so that they can keep that commandment and be blessed?"
It completely changed my attitude on the things we were teaching, I was so grateful for humble, obedient missionary companions to teach me the great blessings of knowing the Lords commandments so that we may qualify for His help. My testimony is that when we rely on the teachings of Jesus Christ then the Lord will bless us. In 3 Nephi 11 I find it interesting that when the Savior came to the Nephites and introduced Himself he said, "And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning."
Of all the things He could have used to introduce Himself I find it very interesting that His main purpose was to show that He puts the will of the Father first. I think one of the most important things to learn is to put our desires aside and to first do the will of the Father, to follow the example of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ and to do Heavenly Father's will is the pathway to happiness. As we rely on the teachings and promises of the Savior then the blessings He has in store for us can be made available.
Now, another important lesson we must keep in mind is learning to rely, not only on His teachings, but also on His atonement. Open with me to Moses 4:12 where it describes Adam and Eve transgressing by partaking of the forbidden fruit. In verse 13 it reads, "Their eyes were both open and they knew that they were naked." Who told them they were naked? I think it's interesting that Satan tempts us to believe something is not a big deal, or that everyone is doing it, and then as soon as we transgress his voice changes to a voice of accusation, so much that we believe we are unworthy to speak with the Lord. In case this is a revelation to you, he's such a liar. One of his motives is to manipulate the way we see things.
In Revelations 12: 10 it says, "For the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night." Can you picture the adversary in the premortal existence standing at the throne of God accusing us before Him day and night? Can you hear him saying, "Why do you love them? They're never going to obey you, they're going to fail, why do you want to help them?" I think that the Accuser is one of the best titles to describe what Satan does. As soon as Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit that's the voice he tried to whisper to them- "You're naked, you can't be in the presence of Heavenly Father, you'd better hide."
The first thing Adam and Eve did is find fig leaves to cover their nakedness. Next in Moses 4:13 it reads, "And they heard the voice of the Lord God, as they were walking in the garden, in the cool of the day; and Adam and his wife went to hide themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden." Now think of this, I don't want to make light of the situation but, when they heard the voice of God their idea was to jump behind a tree and hide. Heavenly Father who has the ability to come from where he resides, find our galaxy, our earth, and come to them in this little Garden, and yet Adam has this idea to jump behind a tree? Can you hide from Heavenly Father? And in verse 15 the question Heavenly Father asks, what I find to be very interesting, he says "Where goest thou?" The question is not because Heavenly Father couldn't find him, He knew where he was. Now that Adam has transgressed the Father asks, where will you go? What are you going to do? Adam's choices are to hide, or to come unto the Father to be covered, forgiven, and healed.
Maybe we smile a little bit, but that is human nature. When do you feel least like praying and going to church? Isn't it when we make a mistake? Somehow we want to hide ourselves from Heavenly Father. It's incredible the fig leaves we make. We fill our lives with business, trips, tangible, and temporal things, which aren't bad of themselves, but when we do this to hide ourselves from Heavenly Father, instead of coming to Him to have a quiet moment of reconciliation, we miss the incredible opportunity and blessing to rely on the atonement. That appears to be what Adam and Eve tried to do - for a time, they hid from the Father.
I once invited a young lady to our mutual to go to Temple Square in Salt Lake; she replied that she couldn't come because she was unable to go inside the Temple at the time. I told her we wouldn't be actually going into the Temple we were just going to walk around Temple Square. And although we might not say it this way, we have probably felt this way, she replied "Oh not right now, I don't want God to notice me." That's how we feel when we make mistakes, it makes us want to go and hide. We seem to forget what Heavenly Father offers. Continuing in verse 27 Heavenly father says "Unto Adam, and also unto his wife, did I, the Lord God, make coats of skins, and clothed them."
Adam and Eve had the choice to hide behind a tree, or coming to God to be covered. God so loved the world, and so loved you, that He gave His only begotten Son that you and I could be forgiven, and when we make mistakes and don't want Him to notice us, a better response is to come to the one who loves us most, and be covered through the atonement of His Only Begotten Son. The greatest way to rely on the atonement is to trust God. He loves us and wants us to be clean. Not only to be forgiven but to be changed. In the October 2007 General Conference Elder Bednar used the phrase the atonement can help us overcome the "taint and tyranny of sin." Both the stain that we need to be cleansed from, and also the tyranny, the control that sin has over us. Through the atonement of Jesus Christ He can help us become clean and to have a new heart by changing our very nature.
Another way, in which we need to learn to rely on the atonement, is taught beautifully in 1 Samuel 25. The story is of a man named Nebal who is described as being very wealthy, rude, and rough; his wife Abigail on the other hand is very beautiful in countenance and kind. During this time David is at war protecting Israel, while Nebal is at home prospering. David sends a messenger to Nebal asking him to provide his men with a feast since they are protecting his prospering land. As the messenger went to Nebal in verse 10 we find Nebal's reply,"Who is David.. (that I would) take my bread and my water" and give it unto men, whom I know not whence they be?" At this point David is a little prideful and when he hears the response from Nebal, he decides to gather up his people, and in verse 13 he does just that, it says "And David said unto his men, Gird ye on every man his sword. And they girded on every man his sword; and David also girded on his sword: and there went up after David about four hundred men; and two hundred abode by the stuff."
One of the servants of Nebal heard of this and rushed to Abigail, to let her know of the situation. Abigail in the next few verses is such a perfect example of living like the Savior. In verse 18 it says "Then Abigail made haste, and took two hundred loaves, and two bottles of wine, and five sheep ready dressed, and five measures of parched corn, and an hundred clusters of raisins, and two hundred cakes of figs." She filled up this wagon to go meet David as he was coming with his army.
There are four things I'd like you to notice that Abigail says to David, starting in verse 24 she says "Upon me, my lord, upon me let this iniquity be." In other words she says, do not blame my husband blame me. The second one is found in verse 27, "This blessing which thine handmaid hath brought unto my lord, let it even be given unto the young men." She has brought everything and more they had asked for. In verse 28 she says, "I pray thee, forgive the trespass of thine handmaid." Please now forgive me. And lastly in verse 31, "That this shall be no grief unto thee, nor offence of heart unto my lord." In other words, don't take offense and let what has happened make you bitter.
When life is not fair, or when someone has acted in a way that may have hurt us, the Lord allows us to lean on Him and use His atonement. The atonement helps us with our own mistakes, but it can also help us when others have made mistakes that affect us. When someone has wronged us, the Lord doesn't want us to hold onto to it, we are all here learning together, He wants us to forgive one another. The Lord knows of our losses and disappointments and wants to make them up to us if we will only trust Him.
I love this story of Abigail, in fact the Hebrew word for Abigail means, "A fathers joy." I can't think of a thing that would please our Father more than for us to lean on the atonement of Jesus Christ to change our feelings when we have been hurt or offended, and be able to say I can forgive and let go. As much as the Lord wants us to be forgiven He also wants our friends and families to be forgiven. His son has suffered for them and for all of us that we may use that atonement, to forgive ourselves as well as others. If we'll rely on the atonement He will make up for all that has been lost from the choices of other people, or when life is not fair. There are so many ways we can use the atonement to help us through all of our suffering, sorrow, or temptation of any kind.
This may be a little personal, but yesterday I was with some friends who have taught me a lot about relying on the atonement. Their family received some difficult news yesterday, news that for most of us would cause us to be very discouraged and self-concerned. Yesterday after getting that news they spent the entire day serving. I watched them smiling, laughing, and enjoying being with you. It's easy to talk about those kinds of things but when they happen in reality, the things that we really care about and believe come forward. I watched yesterday as this family relied completely on the atonement of Christ. That comes from a lifetime of righteousness, a lifetime of faith. I had the privilege of listening to them pray last night, there was no sense of self-pity or anger, the prayer was completely asking for Heavenly Father to align their desires with His will. They had complete trust because of their faith in the atonement. They knew that Jesus has felt their exact pains and sorrows. You can learn so much from people that align themselves with the Lord and continue to serve with such faith.
I wanted to close today with a statement from Elder Merrill J Bateman, he said "For many years I thought of the Savior's experience in the garden and on the cross as places where a large mass of sin was heaped upon Him. Through the words of Alma, Abinadi, Isaiah, and other prophets, however, my view has changed. Instead of an impersonal mass of sin, there was a long line of people, as Jesus felt "our infirmities" (Heb. 4:15), "[bore] our grief's, "carried our sorrows " [and] was bruised for our iniquities" (Isa. 53:4-5).The Atonement was an intimate, personal experience in which Jesus came to know how to help each of us." He continues by saying.
"The Pearl of Great Price teaches that Moses was shown all the inhabitants of the earth, which were numberless as the sand upon the sea shore (Moses 1:28). If Moses beheld every soul, then it seems reasonable that the Creator of the universe has the power to become intimately acquainted with each of us. He learned about your weaknesses and mine. He experienced your pains and sufferings. He experienced mine. I testify that He knows us. He understands the way in which we deal with temptations. He knows our weaknesses. But more than that, more than just knowing us, He knows how to help us if we come to Him in faith."
I add my testimony to Elder Batemans and to the prophets and wonderful people of the scriptures that we have studied today, and the good people among you who have testimonies of Jesus Christ, that have learned to rely on His teachings and atonement. I bare my testimony to you that Jesus Christ is the son of God, the Savior of the world and that if we will learn to trust Him, if we'll learn to rely on His teachings, His example, and atonement, we can come unto the Father and be saved. Of that I bare testimony and express my appreciation of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, and do so in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.