Brothers and sisters Aloha,
As I have an opportunity to listen to small children they have great insight and teach me many important truths. This is a picture of my grandchildren with me and my wife. Let me share just two pieces of wisdom from these little ones.
One summer evening during a violent thunderstorm a mommy was tucking her small boy into bed. She was about to turn off the light when he asked with a tremor in his voice, "Mommy, will you sleep with me tonight?"
His mother smiled and gave him a reassuring hug. "I can't, dear," she said. "I have to sleep in Daddy's room."
A long silence was broken at last by his shaky little voice, saying: "The big sissy."
Another experience.
I didn't know if my granddaughter had learned her colors yet, so I decided to test her. I would point out something and ask what color it was. She would tell me, and always she was correct. But it was fun for me, so I continued. At last she headed for the door, saying sagely, "Grandpa, I think you should try to figure out some of these yourself!"
Well, brothers and sisters, I have tried to become observant and learn all that I could from any situation I have found myself in. One activity that I have had an opportunity to participate in on several occasions with my Ward is a pie pie. I find it interesting that the best time for this activity is in the dark of night.
During this event the experienced fishermen, takes a net, that is actually made up of two nets suspended with floats, hanging next to each other. The net closest to where the fish are has larger holes approximately 6 inches; the other net is smaller with holes that are only 3 inches across. The master fisherman then strings the net off the beach surrounding an area where fish are potentially feeding on the reef. Once the net is in place all the other participants, go into the water making all kinds of noise to drive the fish into the two nets. Very small fish will swim through, but medium and large fish swim into the net going through the 6 inch net but being caught in the 3 inch net with their gills catching on the 6 inch net keeping them entangled until they can be drawn to shore.
Once the net is collected and brought to shore everybody helps fold the net and extracts the fish. The first time I participated, I was surprised by both the number and size of the fish that were captured. As you can see over 60 pounds were caught just enough to feed a few deacons at Scout camp.
Some of the participants became so involved that they start to look like a fish, my daughter Katie was one of them.
So what did I learn? Some from our Ward would suggest you want to be a good friend to the master fisherman in case we have hard times and need to rely on our food storage. I would suggest another lesson. A verse from the doctrine and covenants explains this lesson:
Abide ye in the liberty wherewith ye are made free; entangle not yourselves in sin, but let your hands be clean, until the Lord comes. (Doctrine and Covenants 88:86)
As I participated in catching the fish with that net I remembered this verse. I guess I can admit that I even felt a little sorry for the fish that had entangled themselves in the net. The reason perhaps is that I recognize how easy it is to become entangled. Just like the fish that was going along unaware of the dangers around it, we also find ourselves in a world where nets are strung to catch us. And just like the trapped fish, many times we feel hopeless and lost.
Sister Young, the general Primary President a few years, ago teaches this truth:
"Hopelessness may be the saddest word in our language. Despair is the enemy of our souls. It can paralyze us, halt our progress, and cause us to lose our way. But hope awakens us like a light shining in the darkness. We can endure all things when our hope is centered in one who will never fail us - our Savior, Jesus Christ, who is the light of the world. That is the nature of hope. We do all we can, and then the Lord stretches forth his hand and touches our lives with light and courage and, most of all, hope. The Lord wants us to be filled with hope-not just because it points us to a brighter tomorrow, but because it changes the quality of our lives." (Dawn Jacobsen Young)
Brothers and sisters, this truth taught by sister Young introduces the message I have for you today. We can look through the history of Scriptures and see how hope in the savior brought peace and happiness in times of difficulty and despair. Such is the case with Job, with Noah the second patriarch of the human family, Moses the great prophet who sought liberty for the children of Israel as he led them from Egypt, being guided by a cloud by day and the pillar of fire by night. We know that cloud and pillar to be the influence of our Savior Jesus Christ.
The great Book of Mormon prophet Jacob shared this insight:
"For, for this intent have we written these things, that they may know that we knew of Christ, and we had a hope of his glory many hundred years before his coming; and not only we ourselves had a hope of his glory, but also all the holy prophets which were before us." (Jacob 4:4)
Continuing in the example of Jacob we find the light of hope in the stories of the Book of Mormon. The brother of Jared had so much faith and hope that he was able to perform many mighty miracles to keep his family together. The people of Alma as they were held within the nets of the wicked priests of King Noah, sought comfort as they tried to gain liberty in the land of Zarahemla. They tell that hope helped lighten their burdens. I always reflect on the people of Ammon as a mighty people of hope. Such is reflected in this scripture:
"And they did look upon shedding the blood of their brethren with the greatest abhorrence; and they never could be prevailed upon to take up arms against their brethren; and they never did look upon death with any degree of terror, for their hope and views of Christ and the resurrection; therefore, death was swallowed up to them by the victory of Christ over it." (Alma 27:28)
Even during the period sometimes called the dark ages, wise men taught and felt hope.
Martin Luther said, "All which happens through the whole world happens through hope. No husbandman would sow a grain of corn if he did not hope it would spring up and bring forth the ear; how much more we are helped on by hope in the eternal life."
I believe that the scriptures have helped bring hope even in dark times. After reading this scripture I wonder if Saint Thomas Aquinas tried to capture his thoughts. The following is the scripture, from Thessalonians, followed by his quote.
"Remembering without ceasing your work of faith, and labour of love, and patience of hope in our Lord Jesus Christ, in the sight of God and our Father." (Thessalonians 1:3);
"When you think everything is hopeless a little ray of light comes from somewhere! The grand essentials to happiness in this life are something to do, something to love, and something to hope for. Faith has to do with things that are not seen and hope with things that are not at hand." (Thomas Aquinas)
I have really enjoyed this quote from Thomas Aquinas. We each know that we are invited by our father in heaven to be happy. He teaches that happiness can be achieved when we have something to do, something to love, and something to hope for.
Joseph Smith sets a great pattern of how he applied these three things. Following the first vision and the visitation of the Angel Moroni, he knew he had a work to perform, to translate that sacred work as a witness in testimony that he had indeed seen and heard that which he had described in the Sacred Grove. Joseph has always been described as a gentleman, but I sense that his love intensified for his brothers and sisters, each of us as he sought to bring about the restoration of all things. And finally, he was so focused on the hope, of the Savior's second coming, that in many of the writings of not only Joseph, but others of the apostles and church members contained messages of hope focused on Christ's second coming.
As I have read the journals of my ancestors I can feel of the hope that helped them overcome adversity and difficultly in crossing the Great Plains as they colonized the west or as they sailed across oceans to settle their families in Zion.
One ancestor comes to mind who followed the teaching of Jacob in the Book of Mormon on seeking a hope in Christ first then riches to bless his fellow men. First the scripture, then the story of Joseph and Polly Knight.
"And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good-to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted." (Jacob 2:19)
"Joseph Knight, Sr. (1772-1847) was a close associate of Joseph Smith, Jr. who provided significant material support to Joseph's translation and publication of the Book of Mormon. Joseph Knight was born in Oakham, Massachusetts. In 1795 he married Polly Peck. They moved to Colesville, New York in 1808. He first met Joseph Smith when he was working for Josiah Stowell. Smith's courting of Emma Hale was helped by Knight lending him his sled. The Smith's also borrowed Knight's wagon when they went to pick up the Golden Plates from the Hill Cumorah. Knight was baptized on the 28th of June 1830. All his children, their spouses, his sister, and three of his wife's siblings along with their spouses all joined the Mormon Church. They constituted the Colesville Branch which latter migrated as a group to Thompson, Ohio and then Jackson County, Missouri.
"Knight and his family were driven from Jackson County in the Mormon persecutions of 1832-1833 and eventually settled in Caldwell County, Missouri. They were driven from this county in the winter of 1838-1839 and settled shortly latter at Nauvoo. They again were driven out with the Saints in 1846. Knight died at Mt. Pisgah, Iowa on the 2nd of February, 1847." (Wikipedia)
The sweet story of peace and hope isn't with Joseph alone, but with his wonderful wife Polly. Polly was just as interested in what Joseph Smith taught. She joined the Church at the same time as her husband. She witnessed the devastation of her son Newell being possessed by an evil spirit. She witnessed the first miracle as Joseph cast the spirit out. In New York Polly and Joseph lived comfortably, however driven by the hope of Zion they moved on to Kirtland where they lived in near poverty before moving on to Missouri. Polly became very ill as they traveled from Ohio to Missouri and it became obvious that she was going to die. Her last wish was that she could live long enough so that she could be buried in Zion. Her wish was granted, her health improved just slightly, once they arrived she passed away. She became the first saint to be buried in Zion in the latter-days. Her devoted husband purchased lumber for a coffin for his dear sweet Polly. She was then buried in the frontier, on the edge of the Missouri River. Her hope of Zion was not only a legacy for her descendents, but for all of us.
We live in a day that many prophets have seen in vision. They have seen the entanglements of sin. They have warned of the challenges that we face. They have also given us great hope in ways for us to overcome our adversity and challenges.
A quote, which comes from President George Q. Cannon, is very meaningful to me:
"Now, this is the truth. We humble people, we who feel ourselves sometimes so worthless, so good-for-nothing, we are not so worthless as we think. There is not one of us but what God's love has been expended upon. There is not one of us that He has not cared for and caressed. There is not one of us that He has not desired to save and that He has not devised means to save. There is not one of us that He has not given His angels charge concerning. We may be insignificant and contemptible in our own eyes and in the eyes of others, but the truth remains that we are children of God and that He has actually given His angels ... charge concerning us, and they watch over us and have us in their keeping."
Elder Marvin J. Ashton summarizes the thought very appropriately:
"We need to remove unworthy from our vocabulary and replace it with hope and work."
We would be happier if we followed this counsel;
"Fear less, hope more;
Whine less, breathe more;
Talk less, say more;
Hate less, love more;
And all good things are yours." (Jean Baptiste Molière)
Again Elder Marvin J. Ashton encourages us by teaching,
"Possibly the hardest guidelines for us to follow are those we set for ourselves. To analyze our fears, our dreams, our goals, our motives can be soul-wrenching. We need others to help us. We may find that we fear failure so much that we won't take a risk. Often our self-esteem is bruised by criticism...
"There is a natural, probably a mortal, tendency to compare ourselves with others. Unfortunately, when we make these comparisons, we tend to compare our weakest attributes with someone else's strongest... Obviously these kinds of comparisons are destructive and only reinforce the fear that somehow we don't measure up and therefore we must not be as worthy as the next person.
"We need to come to terms with our desire to reach perfection and our frustration when our accomplishments or behaviors are less than perfect. I feel that one of the great myths we would do well to dispel is that we've come to earth to perfect ourselves, and nothing short of that will do. If I understand the teachings of the prophets of this dispensation correctly, we will not become perfect in this life, though we can make significant strides toward that goal."
I am also convinced of the fact that the speed with which we head along the straight and narrow path isn't as important as the direction in which we are traveling. That direction, if it is leading toward eternal goals, is the all-important factor."
The prophet of my youth, David O. McKay, who has so much history in this place has taught:
"As members of the Church, we are 'under obligation to make the sinless Son of Man [our] ideal-the one perfect being who ever walked the earth.
'Sublimest Example of Nobility
'God-like in nature
'Perfect in his love
'Our Redeemer
'Our Savior
'The immaculate Son of our Eternal Father
'The Light, the Life, the Way.'" (David O. McKay, Improvement Era, June 1951, p. 478.)
Ezra Taft Benson shares the essence, the golden nugget of truth that I have been trying to share. When he said, "Only Jesus Christ is uniquely qualified to provide that hope, that confidence, and that strength to overcome the world and rise above our human feelings."
So brothers and sisters, whenever discouragement, hopelessness, or despair enter into your heart, the time has come for you to draw nearer to the Savior and let him into your life. When you do this the light of his love will bring liberty and hope. Just as the master fisherman avoids the light of day to catch his fish, the nets of this world can be seen and avoided as we live as the savior has taught us, those nets will be inconsequential for each of us. As we come to know and trust the Savior he can redeem us from the nets even the sins of this world. But we must come to the Savior and know that he is our Redeemer. We can have a belief in many things, but eventually we must know that our Redeemer lives.
Jacob continued in his teaching from earlier in my message taught,
"Wherefore, beloved brethren, be reconciled unto him through the atonement of Christ, his Only Begotten Son, and ye may obtain a resurrection, according to the power of the resurrection which is in Christ, and be presented as the first-fruits of Christ unto God, having faith, and obtained a good hope of glory in him before he manifesteth himself in the flesh." (Jacob 4:11)
At the end of the Book of Mormon, Moroni testified of hope. Remember he is writing this as he is alone, after witnessing the destruction of his friends, family and even his father Mormon.
"And what is it that ye shall hope for? Behold I say unto you that ye shall have hope through the atonement of Christ and the power of his resurrection, to be raised unto life eternal, and this because of your faith in him according to the promise." Moroni 7:41
Jacob and Moroni knew that their Redeemer Lived. I know that my Redeemer lives. I believe the words of Joseph Smith and testify of his sacred place in the restoration of the gospel. I know that my Redeemer visited Joseph. I know that my Redeemer instructed ancient prophets not only to keep a sacred record, that we know as the Book of Mormon, but that he put in place the means to bring forth to us as a second witness of our Redeemer. I believe in modern revelation and that we have prophets today, even Thomas S. Monson, who leads the Redeemer's church at this time. I know that my Redeemer lives. I know. I know. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.