My dear Brothers and Sisters, Aloha, Iaorana, Bonjour! I am honored and humbled by this invitation to share a few thoughts and my testimony with you this morning. This is indeed a great and impressive sight! You are awesome! I am grateful that my sweetheart and eternal companion Gisèle is with me this morning. We have been married for 37 years now! It has been for Gisele and me thirty-seven years of blissful incompatibility
The topic of my message this morning is based on the account of Matthew describing Peter's attempt to walk on the sea in direction of the Master. You remember the disciples saw Jesus walking on the sea and they cried out for fear but Jesus said to them: "Be of good cheer; it is I; be not afraid." He invited Peter to join him. "And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus. But when he saw the wind boisterous, he was afraid; and beginning to sink, he cried, saying, Lord, save me. And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him, and said unto him, O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?" (see Matthew 14:25-31)
Peter did have a great and earnest desire to reach the Master. He wanted to "keep his eyes on the Savior." Unfortunately he was distracted by the wind and by the waves! Matthew, however, related "when [Peter and Jesus] were come into the ship, the wind ceased." Matthew is silent on how far Peter and Jesus were away from the ship and on how did they get back to the ship? But the most important thing for you and me to know this morning is that Peter made it back safely on the boat with the Master at his side! Brothers and sisters, single or married, as busy as you may be trying to make up time between classes, quizzes, exams, research papers, diapers, baby food, meals, rest, exercise, and sleep, church meetings and assignments, even if sometimes we have the impression that we are sinking physically and spiritually let's press forward keeping our eyes on eternity with His help. I am sure we all have a deep and sincere desire to come unto Christ. I know the journey is long, windy, rough at times and treacherous but the road has been traced by the One who called himself 'I am the Way'. Before offering you some tips on how to keep your eyes focused on eternity, let me remind you of some truths that will comfort you on your journey.
You are a choice generation. This is what President Hinckley said about you:
"What a choice generation you are, the best, I think, in the history of the world. What a marvelous source of strength and power and capacity! God bless you each one that your lives may be happy and productive, that you may realize the desires of your hearts, that you may walk in faith and faithfulness." (Gordon B. Hinckley, "Keep the Faith," Ensign, Sep 1985, 3)
You are sons and daughters of God, college students now. Among you there are many prospective and returned missionaries, future leaders of the Church and of your respective countries, future work force and economic agents, future temple marriages and future parents. This is not all. And with a glance into your premortal life you will remember that
- You have been called, taught, prepared and foreordained since the beginning of the world. (Alma 13:3; D&C 138:56)
- You were excited to come on earth and you shouted for joy! (Job 38:4-7)
- You had a great faith and have done good works and were free to choose good or evil. (Alma 13:3)
- You were noble and great. (Abraham 3:22-23)
- You were valiant and have overcome Lucifer by the word of your testimony of Jesus Christ. (Revelation 12:10-11)
- You have kept your first estate. (Abraham 3:26)
- You were innocent since the beginning. (D&C 93:38)
- God determined the times before appointed and the bounds of your habitation. (Acts 17:26)
- You were born with the Light of Christ. (Moroni 7:16)
Some of you have faced or are facing right now the following challenges in your life, such as loss and death of a loved one, loans and debts, unemployment, depression, drugs, sickness, handicaps, low self-esteem and divorce.
But President Henry B. Eyring offered these comforting words:
"We all must deal with adversity. The arrival of suffering or the loss of material security can bring fear and sometimes even anger". The very opportunity for us to face adversity and affliction is part of the evidence of [Heavenly Father and the Savior's] infinite love. God gave us the gift of living in mortality so that we could be prepared to receive the greatest of all the gifts of God, which is eternal life." ("Adversity," Ensign, May 2009, 23)
My dear friends, with such a noble background and resume, you can make it to eternity with the Lord's help! May I offer you four tips borne of personal observations and experiences, four questions from the Lord that you and I can use anytime to check the current status of our long and exciting mortal journey while keeping our eyes on eternity.
Where art thou?
(Genesis 3:9)
You remember the incident in the Garden of Eden when Adam and Eve partook of the forbidden fruit; they found themselves naked and hid themselves. Genesis described this dramatic event in the following words:
"And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, where art thou?" (Genesis 3:9)
Do you really believe, brothers and sisters, that our Father in Heaven "whose eyes are upon all men" (D&C 1:1) didn't know where Adam and Eve were hiding? Behind a coconut tree? A banana tree? Mango tree? The Lord wanted by that question to make sure that Adam and Eve took responsibility for their action! Our Father in Heaven just wanted them to assume full responsibility for their decision!
How would you personally answer that question today at this hour should the Lord ask you "Where art thou?" You may say, "I am at BYU-Hawaii, in Laie, in the Cannon Activities Center attending the Devotional," or "I am living at the five star TVA!" That may be a good answer but God is more interested in your spiritual status than your physical whereabouts, more anxious and keen to sense your personal testimony of Christ than to see your physical prowess on the basket ball or tennis courts. He is more interested in your personal devotion in keeping the commandments, in fulfilling your duty as a Latter-day Saint living here in Laie. He may be disappointed at times by our performance but He will still love us, even when He sees that we have one foot in and one foot out of the Church. Do we stand with Nephi or with Laman and Lemuel, with Jehovah or Baal, in Zion or in Babylon? As Elder Neal A. Maxwell put it beautifully, "Let us once and for all establish our residence in Zion and give up the summer cottage in Babylon" (Elder Neal A. Maxwell, "A Wonderful Flood of Light", BYU Devotional, March 26, 1989). Where do we stand, brothers and sisters? Do we like to dine and dance in the great and spacious building while clinging to the iron rod?
Brothers and sisters, let's enjoy the constant and humble but still shining candlelight of our residence in Zion that the Lord has provided us and let's stand by His side!
But whom say ye that I am?
(Matthew 16: 15-16)
Our Lord tested his disciples with this question. Bold as he was, Simon Peter answered, "Thou art the Christ, the Son of the Living God." My dear friends, we bear the name of Christ since the day we entered the waters of baptism and as Nephi of old has declared, "We talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ" (2 Nephi 25:26).
Elder D. Todd Christofferson offered some interesting insight when he said,
"Nephi's phrase 'we talk of Christ' suggests that we are not reluctant to talk about our feelings regarding the Savior in conversations and informal settings" ("Becoming a Witness of Christ," Ensign, March 2008). In one of my visits in 1997 to Kiribati as Mission President of the Fiji Suva Mission, I was waiting at the Otiinta Hotel, a local five star hotel with no running water or shower. The zone leader and his two companions were to pick me up for our zone conference.
A Chinese man approached me with a glass of beer in one hand, and a can of Foster Beer in the other hand. I could see by the way he walked that he was somehow drunk! You know, when a man is drunk, he doesn't fear anyone; so, courageously, he said to me, looking at my name tag, "President Tefan, I am Kwok Ming Mak. I want you to come and have dinner at home with your missionaries." He was breathing alcohol, and I said to myself, "Send him away; he is drunk! He invited you because you are Chinese and because he is drunk, but, tomorrow when he recovers his senses, he would have forgotten his invitation." But the spiritual impression was, "accept the invitation."
Just at that time the elders arrived and I asked them, "Elders, how would you like to have dinner with Mr. Mak?" Brothers and sisters, did you ever see fulltime missionaries refuse a dinner appointment? Especially those serving in a rough area when there are no McDonalds or KFC, Taco or Manapua? You know, the typical daily menu for our great, devoted and always hungry missionaries in the islands is: Monday, fish and rice; Tuesday, rice and fish; Wednesday, fish and rice.
To make the story short, we ended up the following evening at Mr. Mak's humble home. He served us, generously, a Chinese course with seven dishes: egg foo yung, lemon chicken, beef noodle chow mein, fish, and taro to name a few. The missionaries were in heaven! After the dinner, I said to our host, "Mr. Mak, we want to thank you for this wonderful meal, and we have a gift that we would like to offer you and your family. It's the Gospel of Jesus Christ. That's why we are here with the missionaries in Kiribati. Would you accept that the missionaries return and share that gift with you?" He quickly responded. "Not for me, but the missionaries will be most welcome to teach my son Johnson and my wife."
Missionaries taught Johnson who joined the Church a few months later. Johnson was later ordained to the Aaronic Priesthood and after a few months as an Elder and served as an executive secretary to Bishop Iotua Tune, the CES director and principal of the Moroni High School. Johnson later received a four year David O. McKay scholarship for BYU-Hawaii. In June 1999 at my last visit to Kiribati, I met Johnson who had just returned from BYU-Hawaii and told me that he has received his mission call to the Hong Kong Mission.
After his mission, Johnson returned to BYU-Hawaii and married his Taiwanese sweetheart in the Laie Temple, graduated, has two children and works now at BYU-Hawaii. I think he is here today at this devotional. His mother Kaatia joined the church and served as counselor in the ward relief society presidency; a sweet lady. She passed away a few years ago.
Mr. Mak started attending church, received the missionary discussions, and has watched some Chinese church videos we ordered from Hong Kong. He stopped drinking and smoking for a while but never joined the Church. I saw him for the last time in December 2008 in Kiribati during my last ecclesiastical assignment on my way to the Bonriki airport. I was sad to learn that he passed away in July of this year.
When I reflected now upon that particular event, I wondered what would have happened had I chased Mr. Mak away because he was drunk and had never opened my mouth to share my testimony of the Gospel of Jesus Christ with him on that special day in Kiribati. Brothers and Sisters, as we pursue our journey while keeping our eyes on eternity, let's never miss any opportunity to testify of Jesus Christ.
Will ye also go away?
(John 6:67)
Thousands of people followed our Lord Jesus Christ during his mortal ministry. You remember, brothers and sisters, John related how the Master fed 5,000 people one day with five barley loaves and two small fishes (see John 6:9). The following day, expecting may be another free lunch of bread and fish, I should say, fish and chips, the people searched him and found him on the other side of the sea. He told them, "Verily, verily, I say unto you, Ye seek me, not because ye saw the miracles, but because ye did eat of the loaves, and were filled" (John 6: 26). Then he declared, "I am the bread of life; he that cometh to me shall never hunger" (John 6: 35). John recorded the reaction of the people: "The Jews then murmured at him because he said, I am the bread which came down from heaven" (John 6:41). Because they were offended, because of the hard sayings, of the many questions unanswered by the Savior, the scriptural account indicated that "from that time many of his disciples went back, and walked no more with him. Then said Jesus unto the Twelve, "Will ye also go away?" (see John 6: 66-67). You remember the response from Peter, "Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life" (John 6: 68).
I usually scheduled visits to less active members of the Church on the Saturday morning of a stake conference. Most of them have drifted into inactivity because they were at one time offended by a member, by a "so called" reprimand by the bishop, or by a remark by a ward member. Some have drifted away for a few months, a few years and they usually reasoned like this: "I will come back when they change the bishop." And we know by experience that the bishop has been changed since and they still hold grudges. Some sisters have been offended because the bishop has moved the flowers to another location at the pulpit. Some were offended because the bishopric released them without any previous notice. I can go on with the list of excuses.
Let me just ask you this simple question, brothers and sisters: "Who is crazy or mad enough among you in this audience to open the door of a plane flying at 600 miles per hour at 33,000 feet high because the flight attendant accidently poured some juice or coffee on your arms or your shirt? Or because the captain reprimanded you for rowdy behavior and disturbance in the plane? And just before you jump out of the plane you shout, "I am leaving the plane!" Would you do that, brothers and sisters?
You know that whenever the plane faces turbulences, the signal light will always come on with the message: "Fasten your seat belts." So brothers and sisters, if you ever face turbulences in your life as students or as members of the Church, just fasten your seat belts, and please don't leave the Church but keep your eyes on eternity! You will be much safer in the plane than out of the plane at 33,000 feet high!
Art thou greater than he?
(D&C 122:8)
Brothers and Sisters I, too, was at one time like Peter, sinking and desperately calling, "Lord, save me" (Matthew 14: 30)! A few years after my wife Gisèle and I returned from presiding over the Fiji Suva Mission and two years after my call in the 8th Quorum of Seventy, Gisèle was diagnosed with stomach cancer. After a priesthood blessing by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, of the Presidency of the Seventy at that time, the ordeal would eventually include three delicate surgical operations and complications. It was at the height of watching my wife's suffering that I came to better understand the Atonement of Jesus Christ. I remember feeling completely overwhelmed by what Gisèle was experiencing. Each night I would return home from the hospital and weep because of her pain. What had she done to deserve such an affliction? Hadn't she served the Lord faithfully? Hadn't she lived the Word of Wisdom? Why couldn't He have prevented this illness? Why?
One particular night I let my heart and feelings burst in prayer as I recounted to the Lord all of my frustrations. "I can no longer stand to watch my dear wife endure such pain!" I told Him. Then, realizing that perhaps I had gone too far in recriminating the Lord, I decided at 11:00 p.m. to open the Book of Mormon and I fell on these comforting verses about Jesus Christ in Alma 7: 11-12.
"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sickness of his people. And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which binds his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."
Until that moment I had not considered all that the Savior's wondrous Atonement entailed. Until then I had not truly realized that Jesus Christ would take upon Him Gisèle's pain or mine. That night, I shifted my hurt and pain upon Him who takes "the pains and sickness of his people." With this new understanding, I felt a heavy burden lifted! And like Alma "I could remember my pains no more" (Alma 36:19). Today, as you can see, my wife is doing very well, too well sometimes, as though she never had cancer. At her regular checkups, her doctor keeps telling her that she is "a miracle". As grateful as I am for her physical healing, I am also grateful for the healing that I experienced, a healing of the heart. The comfort that is available only through the Savior gave me a peaceful assurance that everything would be all right. Now, whenever I face tribulation, my thoughts always turn to that powerful lesson and to what the Lord told the Prophet Joseph Smith: "The Son of Man hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than He" (D&C 122:8)? Remembering Jesus Christ's sacrifice invariably brings me comfort and helps me keep my eyes on eternity!
Brothers and sisters, in our journey to exaltation, let's keep our eyes on eternity. And should we need to pause and to rest for a short time, let's pitch our tent towards the temple like the people of King Benjamin did. Don't we ever pitch our tent towards Sodom like Lot because we are so tired and because we need some rest!
I invite you this morning to contemplate the following description of what awaits us when we keep our eyes on eternity and when we have reached our celestial destination with our loved ones and with the Lord's help: "And that same sociality which exists among us here will exist among us there, only it will be coupled with eternal glory, which glory we do not now enjoy" (D&C 130:2).
Brothers and Sisters, as the Apostle Paul reminded us, "We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed" (2 Corinthians 4:8-9). We can make it with faith and with the Lord's help! And by asking ourselves regularly, "Where art thou? But whom say ye that I am? Will ye also go away? Art thou greater than He? The journey will be more joyful and exciting and we do have everything available here at BYU-Hawaii to make that small portion of the journey exciting and rewarding!
I bear solemn witness that Jesus Christ is our Redeemer and our Savior. His arms of mercy and compassion are extended to each one of us! He stands by us in our journey to exaltation! Let's keep our eyes on Him! The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the only true and living Church on the face of the earth today and is the means provided by a loving Father in Heaven to help us make to that final destination. President Thomas S. Monson is a true prophet of God. And like the Apostle Paul, "My testimony of Christ is not written with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not in tables of stone, but in fleshy tables of the heart" (2 Corinthians 3:3). I do bear that witness humbly and gratefully in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.