Tragedy

Junior Fifita, the oldest son of the first counselor in our ward's bishopric, was shot and killed in a drive-by shooting in Hawthorne early Sunday morning.  I don't know the specific details, but from what little I have learned from Bishop Galindo and news reports, he and some teammates from the Mount Sac football team and a female cousin went to a church sponsored dance in Torrance Saturday night and then went out to eat afterward.  They were on their way home (probably headed to get on the freeway) early Sunday morning and were stopped at a red light waiting to turn left when a car pulled up alongside them and someone started shooting at them.  Junior was driving.  My understanding is that he actually pushed his cousin (who was in the passenger seat) down seconds before the shooting began—she was uninjured.  He was hit in what was described in news reports as the "upper torso" and died at the scene.  The male occupants in the car were injured, but I don't know the nature of the injuries.

Even though I've had a little over a day to process this, I still feel like I've been punched in the gut.  Junior returned about five months ago from his mission to Guatemala.  The chapel for his welcome home address was packed with people who came up the hill to hear him speak.  He is a part of the group of young men and women who were a part of a wave of missionaries who left from our ward after the age limit was lowered.  Ben has said that he (along with Jared, Gage, and Robert) set an example for him and increased his desire to serve a mission.  One of my favorite temple class memories is of having all those young brethren in our home to teach them the temple preparation lessons.  Junior has been living down the hill with his grandparents, so we haven't seen him too much since he returned, but he was in church with us only a couple of weeks ago.  I came out of the room where we hold opening exercises for priesthood a few minutes before the meeting started and saw him coming toward the door.  He had his customary big smile and we talked for a few moments about what he was doing (work, school and such).

I'll admit that when Bishop Galindo called a little after 7 Sunday morning, the phone woke me up and I wasn't coherent and didn't completely understand his message.  When the news was reiterated when we came to church and I finally understood the impact of what had happened, I was in shock.  Bishop told us that he had asked Brother Fifita what we could do for them as a ward.  The reply was, "Pray for us."  That's what we've been doing.

As I've been attempting to come to grips with this tragedy, I've found my thoughts turning back to chapter 2 in the manual Teachings of the Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball titled "Tragedy or Destiny?"  A month ago, I wrote a post that included a quote by Elder Orson F. Whitney.  There is another quote from that chapter that I will share: "Is there not wisdom in [God's] giving us trials that we might rise above them, responsibilities that we might achieve, work to harden our muscles, sorrows to try our souls? Are we not exposed to temptations to test our strength, sickness that we might learn patience, death that we might be immortalized and glorified?

"If all the sick for whom we pray were healed, if all the righteous were protected and the wicked destroyed, the whole program of the Father would be annulled and the basic principle of the gospel, [moral] agency, would be ended. No man would have to live by faith.

"If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil—all would do good but not because of the rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no [moral] agency, only satanic controls" (Teachings: Spencer W. Kimball, 15).

As I think about it, another thing mentioned by Bishop Galindo yesterday was that the area of Guatemala in which Junior served his mission is one of the most dangerous places on the earth right now because of the political and social unrest going on in that area.  He served there for two years without any incident and then came home and lost his life in a suburb of Los Angeles.  It seems so unfair that a young man who had his whole life ahead of him could have that life so callously taken from him.

At the same time, I can think of other times when I or members of my family have been spared from injury or death.  Ben was in a car accident back in January on slick roads that caused an oncoming car to swerve into their lane and hit them.  He testified to us in his letter that week that he felt heavenly protection during and in the aftermath.  My sisters Joanna and Jaime and brother Jay were protected from death during the bombing of the Cokeville elementary school.  Those are two examples; there are others.  Please don't misunderstand.  By offering these examples I, in no way, am saying that I and my family are somehow more righteous or more deserving than someone else who died in a similar situation.  I absolutely and unequivocally do not believe that to be true (my sister Joanna eloquently touched on this topic in a blog post she wrote not long after The Cokeville Miracle movie was released).   Does this mean it was Junior's "time" while it was not ours?  I have no real answer for that.  Can we make choices that will end our life before our appointed time?  Yes.  Can someone's immoral use of their agency cut short someone else's appointed time?  Also, yes (this situation is a tragic example).

When adversity comes in our lives, we can do either one of two things: blame God for it or endure it with God's help.  The first reaction can make us become bitter toward Father; the second can help us humbly come closer to Him.  President Henry B. Eyring expressed it this way: "That aching for an answer to 'How could this happen?' becomes even more painful when those struggling include those we love. And it is especially hard for us to accept when those afflicted seem to us to be blameless. Then the distress can shake faith in the reality of a loving and all-powerful God. ... And if unchecked, those feelings can lead to loss of faith that there is a God at all.

"My purpose ... is to assure you that our Heavenly Father and the Savior live and that They love all humanity. The very opportunity for us to face adversity and affliction is part of the evidence of Their 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. Then our spirits will be changed. We will become able to want what God wants, to think as He thinks, and thus be prepared for the trust of an endless posterity to teach and to lead through tests to be raised up to qualify to live forever in eternal life" (Ensign, May 2009, 23-24).

The principle to remember is that our Father in Heaven sent us here to earth to test us to see who we will become.  Our choices do matter and those choices are not made in a vacuum.  We can't say that our choices only hurt ourselves and no one else because they have consequences that ripple out like a rock thrown in a pond.  If we decide to become bitter after a tragedy like this, that choice will not only affect us, but others around us.  I'm not saying that people should "put on a happy face" and act like nothing happened—that would be ridiculous.  What I am saying is that with our Father's and Elder Brother's help, we can receive the comfort we need to help us when we feel emotionally overwhelmed by the adversity that comes to us in our lives.

As for those who make choices that adversely affect others, one way or another, they will receive the full weight of justice if they do not repent of those choices.  My sister Joanna put it this way: "God allows us to choose who we will be, and those choices affect others.  Sometimes those choices cause death, other times bodily injury, and still other times it is trauma to the mind and the emotional makeup of a child.  All these things are seen and remembered by an all wise and all-knowing and loving God, and they will be the terrible inheritance of those who perpetrated them" ("On Miracles," So This Is My Life ... I'll Take It, Thursday, June 18, 2015, post).

All I know for sure is that we have a loving, kind, merciful and just Father in Heaven.  When we talk about His plan, we are including everything that comes along with it--joy and sadness, righteousness and evil, the moral and immoral use of agency (to name a few).  Bad things happen to good people, but that is a part of what this life offers—it's what we decided we wanted to experience when we opted to fight for Father's plan rather than accept Lucifer's.  Although there is a chance that bad things can happen to us even when we are doing all that we can to make righteous choices, through the Atonement of the Savior, all will be made right, for "God shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain: for the former things are passed away" (Revelation 21:4).

Heavenly Father's plan is real.  Jesus Christ is the central figure and focus of that plan.  As we strive to do our best to keep Their commandments and follow Them with all our heart, might, mind and strength, we will have the blessing of receiving the comforting benediction, "Well done, thou good and faithful servant" (Matthew 25:21).  I feel satisfied that Junior will receive (and probably already has) such a benediction to his mortal life.  I will mourn with those who have been left behind and strive to so live that I may renew my friendship with him when my mortal life reaches its conclusion.

Believing in God

Ever since Brother Devin Durrant's October 2015 conference talk, we have been choosing "ponderizing" scriptures each week.  Each Monday, we take down the last week's scripture and talk about what we learned as we read it and thought about it during the week.  After all three of us talk about the scripture, then the next person unveils the new scripture.  It is then posted to the door of the refrigerator and the bathroom mirrors.  We rotate each week.  Jennifer chooses a scripture, then Isaac, and lastly me.  One of the things I've enjoyed is listening to Isaac talk about what he has learned.  I like hearing his insights and have noticed that he's been really thinking about them; not just spitting out "Sunday school" answers.

Jennifer picked our latest ponderizing scripture and it has been an interesting one for me to think about all week.  It is Mosiah 4:9: "Believe in God; believe that he is, and that he created all things, both in heaven and in earth; believe that he has all wisdom, and all power, both in heaven and in earth; believe that man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."  After Jen unveiled her choice, I was looking at the Deseret News website and came across an article by Taylor Halverson discussing how to teach children about the translation of the Book of Mormon..  The article is a dialogue between the author and his wife and their children.  During this question and answer format, he talked to his children about the Urim and Thummim and seer stone and how Joseph Smith used those instruments to help him translate the Book of Mormon by "the gift and power of God."  Brother Halverson then used modern devices as a way to help his children better understand this concept.

I thought it was interesting article.  Then, I made the mistake of scrolling down far enough to see the top 3 comments about the article.  At the time, all 3 attacked the article and its purpose in some fashion.  There are 68 comments on this article in all.  I only looked at the first page of comments and they showed me that half (or more) of them are criticisms and the other half are defenses or just comments about the article without referencing the attack comments.

This brought me back to our ponderizing scripture.  If a person believes "in God" and that He "created all things" and that He has "all wisdom" and "all power," that's one thing.  But believing that man "doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend" is another thing altogether.  In this day and age men and women are becoming like Korihor from Alma chapter 30.  They don't want to look to a higher power, they want the final say in all things to rest with themselves.  According to this way of thinking, the only way a person truly prospers is "according to his genius" or the only way one gets ahead in this life is to conquer "according to his strength" (Alma 30:17).

To believe that there is a higher Being or a higher power that comprehends things in a way that is greater than mortal men and women is to give that ultimate power over to this being and this is something that cannot be allowed.  Consequently, two things occur.  Either people imagine a god who allows them to believe and do whatever they want ("God loves me for who I am, not what I do.  He's not going to condemn me for what I do or how I act or the things that I say.") which causes the higher power to not be better than its human counterparts; or the person attacks religious beliefs by attacking prophesies with claims that "no man [prophet] can know of anything which is to come" and tearing down the past by claiming that already held beliefs are the "foolish traditions of your fathers" (Alma 30:13-14).

Sometimes it's subtle; other times it's blatant, but in this instance, many of the negative comments I read in conjunction with the article boiled down to the second of the two scenarios.  From the comments, there seems to be this prevailing idea that for Brother Halverson to teach his children in the manner he describes is to not allow them to think for themselves or to not give them "all" the information.  To teach his children to have faith in the process used by the Prophet Joseph Smith (even though that process appears to individuals in these modern and "enlightened" times to seem completely ridiculous) is to allow them to believe that "man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend."  Those comments, whose intent was to tear down faith, pointed to the story of Joseph Smith translating the plates by the "gift and power of God" as the "effect of a frenzied mind; and this derangement of your minds comes because of the traditions of your fathers, which lead you away into a belief of things which are not so" (Alma 30:16).  Attack the past, dismiss the future; focus only on the "now" because "now" is all that matters.  The now, however, is a fickle mistress.  She'll stay with you as long as you give her a good time, but she'll drop you without a second thought if someone better comes along—and then what do you have other than empty promises and nothing to show for them?

Coming to understand that "man doth not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend" is a very humbling experience.  Moses had this type of experience.  Moses was shown this world "and the ends thereof" (Moses 1:8).  Hours after receiving this vision, Moses finally regained "his natural strength" and "said unto himself: Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed" (Moses 1:10, emphasis added).  This humbling experience could have made Moses bitter.  Instead, he used it to ward off the temptations of Satan (see Moses 1:12-22), which then allowed him to behold and learn even greater things than he did before (see Moses 1:24-40).  As Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, "it is only the meek mind which can be so shown and so stretched—not those, as Isaiah wrote, who 'are wise in their own eyes' (Isa. 5:21; see also 2 Ne. 9:29 and 2 Ne. 15:21)" (Ensign, May 1985, 71).  If we strive to be humble and teachable, then we will be able to withstand Satan's attacks upon the future and past and hold firm to faith in the present.  On the other hand, if we become wise in our own eyes, then we run the risk of allowing these types of attacks to weaken our faith and cause doubt.

Can we have questions?  Yes.  It is one thing, however, to have questions with a desire to have them appropriately answered and another to question only for the sake of insighting doubt and cynicism.  The answers to our questions pivots on the attitude and willingness we bring to the Lord.  King Benjamin's quotation encourages a person who has doubts or questions and sincerely wants an answer to understand that the beginning of true wisdom is to "believe that [he or she does] not comprehend all the things which the Lord can comprehend" and do what James directs: "let him [or her] ask of God" (James 1:5).  As President Dieter F. Uchtdorf explained: "There is no magic to belief. But wanting to believe is the necessary first step! God is no respecter of persons. He is your Father. He wants to speak to you. However, it requires a little scientific curiosity—it requires an experiment upon the word of God—and the exercise of a 'particle of faith.' It also takes a little humility. And it requires an open heart and an open mind. It requires seeking, in the full meaning of the word. And, perhaps hardest of all, it requires being patient and waiting upon the Lord" (Ensign, Nov. 2015, 78, emphasis in original).

The answer may not be as immediately forthcoming as it was for Joseph Smith.  Sometimes we need to show Heavenly Father that we are really serious about our question—that we're not asking just out of curiosity or because it might be a nice thing to know—but that we are prepared (as Joseph was) to act in faith upon the answer and follow through with whatever the answer may be.  Joseph was ready and willing to join the church that God told him to join (see JS-H 1:18).  Instead he was told to join none of them, so he didn't.  If we are ready and willing to act on the answer we receive from Father, then He will be able to more readily give us that answer.  If we are not, He may wait to see if we will continue to ask until our will aligns with His.  When we are humble and ready to be taught, He will teach us and we will then begin, ever so slightly, to comprehend the things that He comprehends.

New Stake President & Some Thoughts Concerning Moroni

Today we participated in the release of our former stake presidency and the sustaining of a new stake presidency.  Our two visiting authorities were Elder Daniel L. Johnson who is a General Authority Seventy and Elder W. Mark Bassett who is an Area Authority Seventy.  Elder Higham is the Area Authority Seventy for this area.  Since he was not here, I figure he may have been assigned to other duties today.  I'm not sure exactly where Elder Bassett is from.  He did mention Sacramento one of his talks, but also mentioned he knew President Hobbs (the RC Mission Pres.) so that could mean Idaho.  I guess it doesn't really matter.  What matters is that he was needed and he came.

Before Elder Bassett conducted the "business" portion of the meeting, he asked the congregation to consider the nearly 9 years President Skinner and his counselors have served.  He then asked that as we raised our arms to the square to release them "with a vote of thanks" to really think about that in terms of what these brethren have done for us as a stake over the course of their service.  This was a unique request, but one I very much appreciated because it got me thinking about my contact with President Skinner over the years and how much I appreciated him.  He has this talent for being able to stand and give a sermon with no prepared text and yet, when he finishes, I've always felt that he was able to say everything he needed to say.  I can talk off the cuff in a pinch, but I have a penchant for rambling and taking off on side bars.  My family has reached the point that they get this look of, "Here he goes again," when I do it.  I eventually bring the side bars back to the main point, but it sometimes takes me several minutes to do so and I lose whatever moment I may have had.  This is one of the reasons I seem to easily fall behind in writing my posts.  Once I've written something I have a habit of hashing and rehashing it to make sure I'm happy with what I want to say.  That's why I find that it is so much better for me to write my talks.  It gives me the luxury (or maybe curses me with the ability) of honing my meaning and my words until I am happy with the end result.  Having my thoughts written in front of me keeps me focused and on task (no side bar trips).  This isn't the only thing that I appreciate about President Skinner, but it is something I've always admired.  These three brethren have capably lead the stake for a significant period of time and I was thankful for all they had done for me and my family either directly or through their talks at stake conferences during their tenure.

Now our stake president is President Arlan Garcia, with President Loveland and President Mortensen as his counselors.  I am not as familiar with President Mortensen as I am with the other two brethren, but I look forward to getting to know him better through his service and his counsel.  It was also interesting to listen to both Elder Bassett and Elder Johnson testify of the process of selecting this new presidency.  They testified that when the Lord identified to them who He wanted to lead the stake, that the Spirit testified to them and they both knew it.  I had already felt good about raising my arm in sustaining them, but the words of these two authorities solidified the feelings I had previously experienced.

I've already discussed the importance of sustaining our leaders, so I am going to now change lanes (at least I'm using my directional indicator) and go in a different direction with this post.  Last night at the adult session of stake conference, Elder Bassett talked about Moroni in a way that fascinated me.  Since I don't take short hand type notes that would allow me to recreate his words with exactness, I'm going to rely on my faulty memory.  I want to be up front with the fact that this was his talk, but what I'm most likely going to end up with is an amalgamation of his thoughts and my own.

After the final battle at Cumorah, Moroni went into hiding because he had "not friends nor whither to go" and the Lamanites had "hunted [his] people ... from city to city and from place to place, even until they [were] no more" (Mormon 8:5, 7).  Consequently, Moroni was alone (see Mormon 8:3).  From the time his father and his people were killed until the time he writes Mormon chapter 8 through the book of Ether, 16 years had passed for Moroni.  Think about that, 16 years alone, hiding so as to not be killed.  I like to have my alone time, but I'm not sure if I could endure 16 years of being by myself, while, at the same time, constantly looking over my shoulder to see if my enemies were closing in on me.  Considering this makes me appreciate even more Moroni's words in Ether when he testifies: "I have seen Jesus, and ... he hath talked with me face to face, and ... he told me in plain humility, even as a man telleth another in mine own language, concerning these things" (Ether 12:39).  Also, we have this statement: "I speak unto you as if ye were present, and yet ye are not. But behold, Jesus Christ hath shown you unto me, and I know your doing" (Mormon 8:35).  From both of these verses, I glean that there were times when the Savior came to visit Moroni--possibly in those moments when his isolation became crushing.

When he completed Mormon 8 through Ether, Moroni hid the plates and left the Camorah, but eventually returned to the hill in what is now upstate New York to write his own book because, as he declared: "I have not as yet perished" (Moroni 1:1).  By the time Moroni reached the end of his book, another 20 years have passed (see Moroni 10:1).  I'm no math wiz, but I can add; that's 36 years of being alone, wandering "whithersoever [he] can for the safety of [his] own life" because the Lamanites "put to death every Nephite that will not deny the Christ.  And I, Moroni, will not deny the Christ" (Moroni 1:2-3).  Even with what I would term as occasional visits from the Savior, it would be safe to say that Moroni had a very unique perspective of what it means to be alone.

There is no record of Moroni's death.  In chapter 10 of the book of Moroni, Moroni issues his challenge to those who read the entire abridgment of what is to become the Book of Mormon and offers his second and final farewell to all of us in this modern day (whether we read and believe his words or not).  After that, we have no idea what happened to Moroni other than the fact that he states that he will "soon go to rest in the paradise of God" (Moroni 10:34).  But because he is the person to bury the gold plates and knows of their hiding place, it isn't a stretch to believe that he knew that he had a definitive role to play in the restoration of the gospel.  He had 36 mortal years to think about and refine what he would say when the opportunity for him to disclose the location of the plates came. 

Finally, on September 21, 1823, Moroni was sent to Joseph Smith in response to young man's prayer for forgiveness and with "full confidence in obtaining a divine manifestation, as [he] previously had one" (JS-H 1:29).  The first scripture Moroni quoted was from Malachi.  He first quoted "part of the third chapter of Malachi" (JS-H 1:36), but, then, Moroni declared Malachi 4:5-6 to the young prophet differently than how it reads in the Bible.  Elijah the prophet would come to "reveal ... the Priesthood" in order to "plant the promises made to the fathers" to their children in order to keep the "whole earth" from being "utterly wasted" (D&C 2:1-3).

I'm not sure if Joseph totally understood the significance of that scripture when it was first quoted to him, but Moroni had announced that the sealing key of the Priesthood would soon be "revealed" by Elijah.  For 36 mortal years, Moroni had wandered the land by himself.  This Nephite prophet had a profound understanding of what it meant to be a singular soul without family and friends to comfort him.  He had gained a level empathy for those bereft of loved ones with no welding link to tie their family connection to each other throughout eternity.  Because of this profound identification with the need to be together with others, a part of a family and the blessings that connection afforded, one of the first things he wanted to tell Joseph Smith was that the time for the restoration of the sealing key and the marvelous blessings it held was now at hand.  Moroni understood that once that sealing key had been revealed and turned by Elijah to unlock its blessings to the Prophet Joseph Smith, no longer would anyone be alone in the profound way that he had been for 36 long years on the earth.  From that point forward, families could be sealed together (Moroni could be sealed to his father Mormon and his mother and his wife and children) and the purpose of the earth would not be "wasted."

I am so grateful for the temple and the priesthood power that allows sacred, covenant making ceremonies to take place within them that link people together in families in such a way that they are never alone.

Jesus: Our Judge and Advocate

I was reading a blog post from The Middle-Aged Mormon Man in which he talked about how we as members sometimes forget to place the Savior in our Plan of Salvation charts.  We become so focused on making sure that we talk about each step of the Plan that we forget that the Plan would not have been put into motion without Christ and His Atonement.  I admit to being guilty of this.  When teaching about the plan, it is, unfortunately, very easy to focus so much on the "steps" that Jesus' role in the plan gets pushed to the side.  To quote from his post. MMM said: "I have sat through entire lessons on the subject without ever hearing about Jesus and his role in God’s Plan. ... Sometimes we get so fixated on the circles and arrows and the 'Hows' and 'Whys' that we never talk about the 'Who.'"  He went on to give some examples of how Jesus fits into each of the circles:

• Jesus Christ stepped forward in the Pre-Mortal life and offered himself to be the Savior.

• Jesus Christ created the world

• Jesus Christ came to this world – just like us – to gain a body and be tested.

• Jesus Christ died.

• Jesus Christ visited the Spirit World, where he opened the gate between Paradise and Prison.

• Jesus Christ was resurrected

• Jesus Christ will be our final judge.  (The Plan of Salvation - What's Missing?, MMM blog, Feb. 21, 2016)

This was a good reminder to me that the next time I have an opportunity to discuss or teach the Plan of Salvation, that I should strive to bring the Savior and His role into the discussion.  However, as I read through the comment section at the end of the post, I came across a comment from someone who seemed shocked that Jesus would be our Judge.  He said that Jesus is our Redeemer and Advocate, but didn't seem to realize how He could also be our Judge.  I'm trying not to be judgmental in my next comment, but it seemed strange to me that this man, who said he taught Gospel Doctrine, did not understand this concept.  However, after reading this comment, I felt prompted to write a response to his response.  I have touched on these concepts in my Jan. 24th and Feb 7th posts, but I have also expanded upon and fleshed out this concept a little more for this post.  I'm sorry if I sound redundant, but I guess this is something that is very much on my mind right now; maybe because it is a concept that I've only recently wrapped my head around in a way I never have before.  With that as a preface, I view Jesus being both our Judge and our Redeemer/Advocate in the following manner:

During the time He spent with the Nephites after His resurrection, Jesus declared to them that “no unclean thing can enter into his [Father’s] kingdom” (3 Nephi 27:19).  If not for the Atonement, Jesus would be in the unique position of being the only person truly worthy to actually enter Father’s kingdom under these conditions.  Thankfully, His vicarious work and sacrifice in our behalf gives us the opportunity to overcome our sins and enter Father’s kingdom cleansed from the stains of those sins.  Because of His sinless life, however, Father has also given Jesus the calling, if you will, to be our ultimate Judge and at some point “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Romans 14:10, emphasis added).  As Jacob explained to the Nephite people: “the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there” (2 Nephi 9:41).  To my mind, the "keeper of the gate," is Jacob's way of calling Jesus our Judge.  As the Keeper of the Gate, Jesus can dictate to us, who fall way short of the life He lived, what is needed for us to qualify to enter through the gate He diligently protects.

This concept of qualification should not be new to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.  If we desire to enter the temple, we need to pass a judgment through the process of an interview with our ward bishop or counselors and our stake president or counselors.  Just as our Father in Heaven has set certain standards for His spirit children to enter His kingdom, Jesus has set standards for temple attendance.  This is why there is an interview process.   As the Elder Russell M. Nelson explained, these interviews are diligently conducted because the Savior requires that His holy temples "be protected from desecration. No unclean thing may enter His hallowed house. ... Such requirements are not difficult to understand. Because the temple is the house of the Lord, standards for admission are set by Him" (Ensign, May 2001, 33).  What are temple recommend qualifications?  Elder Nelson continued: "They will ask if we obey the law of tithing, if we keep the Word of Wisdom, and if we sustain the authorities of the Church. They will ask if we are honest, if we are morally clean, and if we honor the power of procreation as a sacred trust from our Creator" (ibid).  If our local leaders conclude from this interview that we qualify for a temple recommend, they will endorse us (or advocate for us) with their signature.  Our signature is also required.  Not only do they endorse us, but we must endorse ourselves.  If we have hidden anything from them in our answers, then our endorsement is a fabrication and we (not they) will be held accountable for it.

In the case of our Final Judgment, what are the qualifications for those desiring to pass through the gate?  Jesus declared to His disciples: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15).  Considered honestly, it truly is a simple criterion; but we mortals make it so difficult.  Nevertheless, how can Jesus judge us unless He has something upon which to base that judgment?  I don't know what that interview will be like, but I imagine He will ask us very pointed questions.  The difference between our interview with Him and our interview with our bishopric and stake presidency is that He will know our answers—there will be no way for us to fabricate our responses.  He will know immediately if we are lying to Him.  I believe this is why Alma declared that we would "fain be glad if we could command the rocks and the mountains to fall upon us to hide us from his presence" (Alma 12:14) during this interview if we are not qualified.  On the other hand, we will also know if our imperfect yet heartfelt efforts will allow our "confidence [to] wax strong in the presence of God" (D&C 121:45) or not.  Now I understand that "unto whomsoever much is given, of him shall be much required" (Luke 12:48), and that His judgments will be based upon our understanding of His law.  However, those who did not receive His law will have opportunity to accept His gospel and His ordinances and will be "judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit" (1 Peter 4:6); but that's a whole other post.  We, who know better, keep His commandments when we are “an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12), and He judges us based on our actions because those actions testify to Him of our belief "on his name" (D&C 45:5)—i.e.: how we have kept the commandments and lived up to our covenants.

When that interview has ended and if the Keeper of the Gate finds us qualified, He then stands as our "advocate with the Father" (D&C 45:3) and pleads our cause based on His "merits, and mercy, and grace" (2 Nephi 2:8).  Because we have passed His judgment, He, in a sense, signs our recommend and sponsors us before Father.  Founded solely on Jesus’ recommendation and the works He has done on our behalf, we will be able to pass through the gate into the presence of the Father washed clean (redeemed) through His blood.  To my understanding, this is how Jesus can be both our Judge and our Advocate.  As with other linked gospel principles (grace and works, justice and mercy, to name two) the idea of Judge and Advocate may seem like a contradiction, but I can think of no better person I'd rather be judged by and then have stand with me as my advocate then the Savior.

Understanding "the Why"

It was high council Sunday today.  Our speakers were Brother and Sister Taylor from Barstow.  In her talk Sister Taylor altered a quote from Sister Elaine Cannon who was a former YW General President (the quote was used by Sister Wixom in her address in last October's conference).  She read the quote in this way: "There are two important days in a [person’s] life: The day [they are] born and the day [they find] out why."  This quote has stuck with me for the rest of the day.

As I share it now, I'm reminded of the line from the Church film "Man's Search for Happiness" that states: "Your birth is a matter of record.  You take it for granted."  We all know when we are born because that day is celebrated every year (okay, unless you're a Jehovah's Witness), but there are so many people out in the world who don't know why they are here.  They think they flared into existence at some time along the gestational path and are now here to live out their lives and die when the time comes.  As far as they can tell, there seems to be no rhyme or reason for their existence and they have no belief that they came to this earth "trailing clouds of glory" (“Ode: Intimations of Immortality from Recollections of Early Childhood,” The Complete Poetical Works of William Wordsworth [1924], 359).

I find the whole idea to be depressing.  I burst onto the mortal scene, try to make through my growing up years, gain relationships (or not), get married (or just move in with as many partners as I see fit), try to make a decent living, save up for retirement, do some traveling and then pop back into whatever netherworld I came from when life is over and spend the eternities as a spirit, a consciousness, or nothing with no real connections to anyone.  Yikes.  Why would I sign up for something like that?  In this scenario, I can see why people would do all they could to obtain the most money, power, possessions, fame, notoriety, or whatever they could before succumbing to an inevitable death.  If there is no life after this one, then perhaps I would think that the best thing to do would be to make as big a splash as I could while alive in order to not become just another name on a gravestone.

As members of the Church, we should know the "why" of our existence.  We are not here by chance.  As President Thomas S. Monson testified, "a wise Creator fashioned an earth and placed us here, with a veil of forgetfulness of our previous existence so that we might experience a time of testing, an opportunity to prove ourselves in order to qualify for all that God has prepared for us to receive.

"Clearly, one primary purpose of our existence upon the earth is to obtain a body of flesh and bones. We have also been given the gift of agency. In a thousand ways we are privileged to choose for ourselves. Here we learn from the hard taskmaster of experience. We discern between good and evil. We differentiate as to the bitter and the sweet. We discover that there are consequences attached to our actions" (Ensign, May 2012, 91-92).

Because of the veil of forgetfulness, some people do not believe this answer or refuse to consider it as an answer, but that doesn't preclude us from testifying of its truthfulness.  That is also part of the test as I see it.  For those of us who have come to recognize the answer, we cannot allow the finger pointing of those in the great and spacious building to deter us from that knowledge.  How much worse would it be for us to allow ourselves to be bullied away from the truth rather than dare to stand alone, if need be, in defense of that truth?

Brother Taylor talked about eternal perspective.  During his talk he referenced a talk given by President Kimball entitled, "Tragedy or Destiny".  I remember having a pamphlet of this talk back in my missionary days.  Brother Taylor quoted several things from this talk, and I found it in the Priesthood and RS manual of 2006.  As I was looking at it to see if I could pull anything from it that was quoted by Brother Taylor, I instead came across a quote that Bro. Taylor didn't use, but that I found to be very profound.

The quote is from Orson F. Whitney who served as an apostle from 1906 to 1931: “No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted. It ministers to our education, to the development of such qualities as patience, faith, fortitude and humility. All that we suffer and all that we endure, especially when we endure it patiently, builds up our characters, purifies our hearts, expands our souls, and makes us more tender and charitable, more worthy to be called the children of God … and it is through sorrow and suffering, toil and tribulation, that we gain the education that we come here to acquire and which will make us more like our Father and Mother in heaven" (Teachings of President of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, [2006], 16).

Interesting thought.  Sometimes, I believe, we (I) get so caught up in the "here and now" we forget that God's timetable is eternity.  Coming back to the "why are we here" question, He and Mother in Heaven are trying to teach us about ourselves, and they are trying to teach us that lesson by allowing us to experience it for ourselves.  If They take the pain and the sorrow and the suffering away, how will we be able to understand the pleasure and the joy and the blessings and have gratitude for them?  It would be too easy for them to be "helicopter parents" and just hand us all the answers or immediately give us what we want when we want it or to take away the consequences of our choices—good or bad.  But what would we learn?  If anything, we'd become like spoiled teenagers who expect life to be handed to them and who feel they can do anything they want because of the lack of consequences.

In a sense, that was Lucifer's proposal: to either hand us all the answers or toss the rule book aside or both.  But in the end, what would we learn?  Nothing.  No progression; no growth; no chance to truly find out the "why" of our existence.  Honestly, despite the pain and problems we face, I'd rather have this life than the one Satan proposed.  I suppose that's why I fought against his alterations.  In fact, that's why all of us who are here as mortals fought against his alterations.  If we remember that we fought tooth and nail to have this life as it is presented to us, then we may have a greater appreciation for it and for what Father and Mother are trying to teach us as we muddle along.  When we truly do understand the "why" of this life, it makes so much more sense and has such a beautiful symmetry to it.  I hope I can always remember the "why" and help others to understand it as well.

Unexpected Lessons

On Friday after work, I headed up to Camp Hinckley in the Big Bear area to serve as the chaperone for the priests in our ward who were going to be attending the Priest and Laurel Conference put together by our stake YM and YW leaders.  Actually, I should amend that statement by saying that I was going to chaperone the priest who would be attending.  Isaac has been sick all week and just started getting over it by Wednesday.  Jennifer and I didn't feel that subjecting him to cold mountain temperatures was a good idea so soon after recovering.  Another priest was involved in high school basketball and the other two had not indicated an interest in going.  That left one.

On my way to work that morning, I ran over something at 15/215 interchange that flattened my back driver's side tire.  Thankfully, I was able to keep control of my car and drive it to the next exit to put on the donut (that was fun, especially when I realized I'd left my cell phone at home--I'm such a knucklehead sometimes).  I got to work late.  Luckily, a Costco is not far from work and I was able to get new tires (all of them needed replacing anyway).  But the unexpected problem caused me to leave later for Big Bear then I'd planned.

Trying to navigate in the dark was interesting (this was a moment when have a GPS would have been advantageous).  At one point, I was stopped on the right road while looking for that road on the Google map I had printed before leaving work, but I didn't know I was on the right road until I drove away and came back to it 10 minutes later. *sigh* When I finally arrived, I went into the lodge and found out that the one priest who was going to come had become sick that morning and wasn't there (cue The Price Is Right "fail" music).  I was told that I could go home if I wanted to.  For a moment, the idea sounded appealing, but at the same time I couldn't justify it.  I asked, "Do you need my help?" and was told that an extra adult presence was always welcome. "Well, I'm here and I've got all my stuff.  I might as well stay."

So I ate pizza and watched the youth who were in attendance participate in get-to-know-you, bonding and problem solving games.  It was fascinating for me to watch.  These were things that my stake didn't do when I was a teenager.  However, knowing me at that age, I'm not sure I would have participated (difficult to say for sure, but I find myself leaning more toward "not").  After the lodge was cleaned up, I went to cabin where I would be with two other adults leaders and about five young men (I think--it might have been six--some were upstairs and some were downstairs and I'm not sure if I saw all of them).  I had a room to myself.  I got ready for bed, did a little writing and went to sleep at the call for lights out.

The next morning after breakfast, a series of classes were held.  The first was given by Brother Dan Andrus from the Phelan Ward.  He is the principal of Serrano High School.  He talked about making the types of important decisions all youth and young adults make starting at their priest and laurel years to about 5 to 10 years thereafter.  While he was talking to the youth, his presentation for me was a reminder of how we all should make decisions no matter where we are in life.  He quoted D&C 8:2 where the Lord told Oliver Cowdery "behold, I will tell you in your mind and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost" concerning the gift he had given him to translate.  Later, when Oliver's attempts to translate failed, the Lord gently chastened Oliver by stating, "Behold, you have not understood; you have supposed that I would give it unto you, when you took no thought save it was to ask me. But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you ... But if it be not right you shall have no such feelings, but you shall have a stupor of thought" (D&C 9:7-9, emphasis added).  The thing that the Lord taught Oliver in this instance is that he should pray, but he should also make an effort to solve the problem himself before praying.

Sometimes we think, "I have a problem, I'll pray about it and the Lord will tell me what to do."  If this were the case, the Lord would have told the Brother of Jared to make the stones that would serve as lights in the barges.  Instead, the Lord asked, "What will ye that I should prepare for you that ye may have light when ye are swallowed up in the depths of the sea" (Ether 2:25, emphasis added)?  Jared's brother came up with a solution and in faith, brought that solution to the Lord and then he saw the Savior's finger.  God wants us to put in some legwork and make some decisions and then come to Him and talk it over.  If the decision is a good one, the Holy Ghost will manifest it unto us through the burning bosom or some other way we may feel his influence.  It's too easy to just turn things over to the Lord.  If he gave us the answer every time we asked, what would we learn?  Where would be our opportunity to exercise our moral agency?  This life is a test.  Father will not make our decisions for us.  He'll help to confirm whether our decisions are correct or not, but He will not take our agency from us.

The second presentation was by Brother Vaughn Thomas, the Stake YM president.  His topic was conflict resolution.  He gave a handout listing the 10 commandments of conflict resolution (I've edited them a little):

1. Conflict is a reality.  There is no escaped the fact.  Hiding won't solve anything.

2. You can't wish the problem away.  Keeping your feelings cooped inside won't work.

3. Learn to deal with the problem, not the person.  Don't make it personal.

4. Be respectful.  Listen to the other person.  Zoning out is not the solution.

5. Be assertive.  Being assertive means putting your views forward confidently and calmly.

6. Learn to negotiate.  This is the most important skill that will serve you in the long term.

7. Stick to the present.  Don't drag in past issues; it will only muddy the conflict further.

8. The silent treatment does not work.  Sulking won't solve the problem.  Talk it out.

9. Be understanding.  Try to put yourself in the other person's shoe.  Don't get defensive.

10. Learn to say sorry.  Doing so will not make you a wimp.  Only a strong person has the strength to say "sorry."  This simple word can work like magic.  Try it!

He also showed a video stating that conflicts usually come about because a person has an unfulfilled need.  The problem is that the other party, instead of trying to find out what that need may be and then negotiating with the person to help fulfill that need, usually digs in because they are feeling attacked and immediately attacks back.  This was also a good class for me because I have problems with conflict resolution sometimes and it also gave me some insights to pass along to Ben to help him with a conflict that has come up between his companionship and the ward mission leader and bishop in his new area.

After these two classes, I knew why it was good for me to come even though I technically didn't need to.  I needed to hear these two lessons.  The third lesson discussed easy ways to solve common household problems; I knew nearly all of them.  The fourth was interesting in that it was taught by Brother Gibbons who is the institute teacher in our area.  He teaches Jennifer's seminary inservice meetings.  He talked about conversion and testimony and how important they are.  I was so into his lesson that there were times I wanted to raise my hand and chime in with answers.  I had to remind myself that he was asking the youth--not me. J

Funny thing: on my way home I stopped at our local Conroy's flower shop to buy Valentine flowers for Jennifer (I caved to the corporate flower shop overlords who make Valentine's Day a "holiday"--it was for an excellent cause J).  While there, I watched an interesting example of the right and wrong way to handle conflict resolution.  While I was standing in line, a group of women were looking over a bridal bouquet prepared by one of the workers.  The leader of the group didn't like the ferns used at the base of the bouquet, she said it didn't match with the online picture she had seen (there was the problem).  The worker replied that the ferns in the picture were a type that weren't in stock at the moment because of all the Valentine's bouquets had used up their supply (conflict).  The lady said she had ordered the bouquet months in advance for the wedding and wanted what she ordered (escalating conflict).  The worker deftly solved the problem by going in the back and coming out with a different fern that did give the base of the bouquet a fuller look (negotiation).  The lady was happy with this and the worker left to make the agreed upon changes (problem solved).

However, then another worker (who had been blowing up balloons and had no idea what was going on) decided to but into the already solved conflict and remind the lady what had already been said: the type of fern she wanted was not available during Valentine's day (digging in and attacking).  The lady, to her credit, calmly put balloon worker in her place by restating that she had ordered the bouquet several months in advance and that the problem was being handled.  A situation that could have blown up into a heated argument that didn't need to happen was rendered harmless and balloon lady sheepishly went back to blowing up more balloons--which she should have continued doing and not stuck her nose in where it didn't need to be.  I hope I can take these lessons more to heart and do a better job at resolving conflicts and making decisions and staying true to the gospel.

Redemption Cometh In and Through the Holy Messiah

Today in Sunday school, we studied 2 Nephi chapters 1 & 2.  It's such a bummer sometimes that we only have 40 minutes of Sunday school time to talk about a chapter as rich in doctrine as chapter 2.  2 Nephi 2:6 jumped out at me as we were talking about it today.  The verse states simply: "Wherefore, redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth."

For me, the word redemption is the key in this verse.  Earlier, father Lehi declared to Jacob, "Wherefore, I know that thou art redeemed, because of the righteousness of thy Redeemer" (verse 3).  In verse 6, Lehi reiterates this point, but also gives the idea deeper meaning.  Lehi unflinchingly teaches Jacob that for any of us to be saved physically from the inevitable death of the mortal body and saved from the spiritual mistakes we have made and the sins we have committed, we need someone to step in and redeem us from these things.  Elder Christofferson taught, "Among the most significant of Jesus Christ’s descriptive titles is Redeemer. ... The word redeem means to pay off an obligation or a debt. Redeem can also mean to rescue or set free as by paying a ransom" (Ensign, May 2013, 109).

Lehi makes it clear that Jesus is the only one who can hold that capital "R" title of Redeemer because He paid the obligation or debt for us to overcome mortal death.  Even more importantly (to my mind), Jesus also ransomed us from the punishment of our sins.  "For behold, I, God, have suffered these things for all, that they might not suffer if they would repent," Jesus declared to the Prophet Joseph Smith (D&C 19:16).  Elder Christofferson stated, "The Savior’s suffering in Gethsemane and His agony on the cross redeem us from sin by satisfying the demands that justice has upon us. He extends mercy and pardons those who repent" (Ensign, May 2013, 110).

In conjunction with Lehi's description of Jesus as our Redeemer, what also struck me today were the words "in" and "through".  Lehi proclaims that the redemption Jesus offers comes in and through Him and Him alone.  Bear with me, my English major geek side is going to show, but usually these words are prepositions, however, as I've looked at them in the context of this sentence, I find that in this case they are adjectives.  Adjectives are used in sentences to qualify or define a noun.  In this sense, these two words qualify and define the Holy Messiah.  The adjective definition for in that fits in this circumstance is "located or situated within; inner; internal" (dictionary.com; "in" #19).  This makes sense to me because the Atonement allows redemption to be "located or situated within" the Savior.  Because of His voluntary sacrifice, any hope we have to be redeemed from our inevitable physical death and saved from our sins comes to us because the Atonement is an inner or internal part of Christ's being.

Concerning the word through, the adjective definition that fits for me in this instance is "having completed an action, process, etc.; finished" (dictionary.com; "through" #17).  Jesus was the only person who could complete the action and process of the Atonement because of the life he lived as a mortal man.  Jesus was not free from temptation.  Paul testified that the Savior "was in all points tempted like as we are, yet without sin" (Hebrews 4:15).  Our Elder Brother was not free from the burden of temptation or the limitations of the physical body, but in all points, He remained above the weaknesses of the flesh.  Otherwise, He would not have been able to cry, "It is finished!" at that final moment upon the cross (John 19:30).

When considered in the light of these definitions, we now see that redemption is located or situated within the Savior because He has internalized the redemptive power by completing the action and finishing the process of the Atonement.  Understanding this concept as taught by his father, Jacob is later able to teach that the "keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there" (2 Nephi 9:41).  How can anyone but Jesus stand in that spot?  No one else has or could atone for us or redeem us in the way that He has.  In this way, Jesus becomes the central figure in all that we teach because it is in and through Him that the gospel and the Church that bears His name functions.

Because of the fullness of His grace (embodied in the act of freeing all of us—His brothers and sisters—from death and our own spiritual fall), and His truth (given to us when He gave us His word in our premortal life that He would complete the assignment He had accepted), we can rely on His promises (and those of our Heavenly Father) to not only bring us back into the Celestial courts we left when we were born on this earth, but to live the life that God lives for eternity.  This is good news of the gospel.

Grace & Works - In Harmony Together

Today in Gospel Doctrine we talked about 1 Nephi chapters 12 through 14 and our teacher Sister Martin asked a question that also appeared in the student study guide that Jennifer had asked me this morning: "What are some doctrines that are difficult to understand in the Bible but plain and precious in the Book of Mormon?"  The reason Jen asked me the question this morning was because she said she was having a tough time coming up with an answer.  Her reasoning was that she was studying the Old Testament for seminary this year and everything was making sense to her as she studied her manual.  I pointed out to her that the manual was her advantage.  I said that along with the Old Testament scriptures, she also had the words of modern-day prophets along with the Book of Mormon and Doctrine and Covenants and the Pearl of Great Price.  I mentioned both to Jen and in class how the Book of Mormon helps us to better understand the doctrines of baptism, the Atonement, the Fall, and grace—to name a few.  I also stated that the Book of Mormon helps to clarify how seemingly opposite gospel concepts like grace and works and mercy and justice operate in harmony together.

During the course of my mission and at various times since, this idea of grace vs works has appeared on my radar screen.  Thankfully, I’ve noticed over the last ten to fifteen years a shift in the understanding that members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have concerning the doctrine of grace, but there still seems to be times when other Christian denominations gather in the grace foxhole while their Mormon counterparts gather in the works foxhole and lob Biblical and Book of Mormon grenades at each other in an attempt to prove the doctrinal superiority of the one concept over the other.

From my own experience when confronted by this situation, the main argument of the grace foxhole is the claim that believing in Jesus Christ is all that is needed to be saved.  The objection to the idea of works comes mainly from Ephesians 2:8-9 (there are others, but these are the two verses I’ve heard the most) with a claim that any attempt to say that works also plays a part in the equation would be an attempt to “earn” our way into heaven.  The immediate counter would be Nephi and his statement that that we are saved by grace “after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23) and on the merry-go-round we go, arguing back and forth about the merits of one principle over the other.  What I find interesting is that when both sides are so desperate to prove the supremacy of their position neither acknowledges the compatibility of both doctrines and how they work together for our benefit.

In order to understand the harmony of both these doctrines, we first need to look to Jesus who set the standard.  Lehi, a Book of Mormon prophet, taught his son Jacob (one of Nephi’s younger brothers) that “no flesh . . . can dwell in the presence of God, save it be through the merits, and mercy, and grace of the Holy Messiah” (2 Nephi 2:8).  What Lehi explained to his son is that for anyone to dwell with God, he or she would not only need to rely on the grace of Christ, but His merits and mercy as well.  One of the definitions of “merit” in Webster’s is “character or conduct deserving reward, honor, or esteem.”  This definitely describes Jesus; His character is without equal and even though He “was in all points tempted like as we are, yet [He was] without sin” (Hebrews 4:15).  Furthermore, His conduct was perfect in every situation.  A definition of the word “mercy” is “compassion or forbearance shown to an offender.” Since the rest of us “have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23), the Savior’s ultimate expression of mercy towards us, His spirit brothers and sisters, comes through His Atonement which allows the rest of us to overcome our sins.

During the time He spent with the Nephites after His resurrection, Jesus declared to them that “no unclean thing can enter into his [Father’s] kingdom” (3 Nephi 27:19).  If not for the Atonement, Jesus would be in the unique position of being the only person worthy to actually enter Father’s kingdom under these conditions.  Thankfully, His vicarious work and sacrifice in our behalf gives us the opportunity to overcome our sins and enter Father’s kingdom cleansed from the stains of our sins.  Because of His sinless life, however, Father has also given Jesus the calling, if you will, to be our ultimate Judge and at some point “we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ” (Romans 14:10).  As Jacob explained to the Nephite people: “the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there” (2 Nephi 9:41).  As the Judge and Keeper of the gate, Jesus, based on His merits and mercy, can dictate to us, who fall way short of the life He lived, what is needed for us to qualify to enter through the gate He diligently protects.

What are His qualifications for those desiring to pass through the gate?  He declared to His disciples: “If ye love me, keep my commandments” (John 14:15, emphasis added).  “Keep” suggests that we “be faithful to” the commandments He has given us.  How do we “keep” or remain “faithful to” the commandments?  By doing or accomplishing what He asks of us.  How can He honestly judge us unless He has some sort of criteria upon which to base that judgment?  If confessing and believing in Him was enough (see Romans 10:9), why would Jesus also declare to his disciples, “He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he do also; and greater works than these shall he do; because I go unto my Father” (John 14:12).

Belief and confession are the beginning of discipleship; being “doers of the word, and not hearers only” (James 1:22) is how we show our devotion to Him.  We do the works of Jesus when we are “an example of the believers, in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in purity” (1 Timothy 4:12), and He judges us based on our actions.  In John 5:28-29, Jesus proclaims that "they that have done good" will come forth in "the resurrection of life; and they that have done evil, unto the resurrection of damnation." Doing good or doing evil is work; and that work is either rewarded or condemned.  By doing His works, we show our desire to be Jesus’ disciple and friend; for, as He also declared: “Ye are my friends, if ye do whatsoever I command you” (John 15:14, emphasis added).  Why would Jesus tell us that we are only His friends by doing something rather than just believing in Him if doing wasn't important?

As can be seen by this explanation, our works do not earn us a spot in God’s kingdom, but they are used as a way for the Savior to judge who we are and who we are becoming.  I agree with Paul.  If we use our works as a way to boast of ourselves then we have totally missed the point.  In fact, the first way we go off the rails with our works is when we make those works about us rather than the Savior.  As in all things, Jesus is the exemplar.  His works were not accomplished for the sake of self-aggrandizement or as a way to show off.  He declared to the people: “the works which the Father hath given me to finish, the same works that I do, bear witness of me, that the Father hath sent me” (John 5:36).  If He had done anything for the sake of ego, or fame, or worldly power, Jesus would have succumbed to the final two temptations of the adversary after His forty day fast (see Matthew 4:5-11).  In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus commanded us to let our “light so shine before men, that they may see [our] good works, and glorify [our] Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 5:16, emphasis added).  When we understand this concept, then we understand that our attitude about our works that is key in how we will be judged.  If this was not so, why would Jesus give the parable of the sheep and the goats (Matthew 25:31-46)?  The people who are counted as sheep aren’t boasting about the things that they did.  In fact, they are surprised and say, "When saw we thee a stranger or naked or sick or in prison?"  It appears to me that they weren't helping in order to boast about it, they were helping because they had the pure love of Christ and wanted to assist their fellowmen.  The offered reward: “inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world” (Matthew 25:34) comes as a total surprise.

The second way we go off the rails with our works is when we think that it is the works of the law that saves us instead of the works of Christ.  What Paul was also trying to remind the meridian-day saints was that the law doesn't save us.  The Jews in the time of Jesus were so overly focused on keeping the Law of Moses, the Pharisees and scribes created what I will call "definition laws."  An example of this concerns keeping the Sabbath day holy.  In order to keep this law, the religious leaders created an exhaustive list of laws defining what it meant to actually keep the Sabbath day holy.  One of the reasons the Pharisees were constantly mad at Jesus, was their claims that He was a Sabbath breaker for healing the sick on that day.  In reality, Jesus wasn't "breaking" the Sabbath day; He was breaking the law created by man that defined breaking the Sabbath day.  The Pharisees (and some of the regular people) were so caught up in the appearance of things that they completely lost sight of what keeping the Sabbath day actually meant.  They seemed to think that the appearance of them supposedly keeping God's commandments was what would save them instead of understanding the importance of God's grace.  Paul, like Jesus, kept trying to remind the saints of the difference and to help them understand that keeping the Law of Moses by itself would not save them.

Like the Pharisees, if any member of the Church thinks that only doing the works of the gospel law will save them, they are mistaken.  We cannot earn our way back into Father’s presence.  To do so would ignore the Atonement and the merits and mercy of our Elder Brother.  In such a scenario, the keeper of the gate is no longer the “the Holy One of Israel” (2 Nephi 9:41), it is us and such a claim would be impossible to sustain.  The Book of Mormon prophet King Benjamin taught that even if we serve God with our "whole souls yet [we] would be unprofitable servants" (Mosiah 2:21).  To which President Dieter F. Uchtdorf added: “Salvation cannot be bought with the currency of obedience; it is purchased by the blood of the Son of God. Thinking that we can trade our good works for salvation is like buying a plane ticket and then supposing we own the airline” (Ensign, May 2015, 109).

Even after realizing that it is only Jesus who saves us, however, we need to also understand that our works do count for something.  While we shouldn’t boast about our works (because they amount to nothing when compared to the Savior), John recognized that we will be "judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to [our] works" (Revelation 20:12); or, in other words, our works show the Savior that we have become something during our time here on earth.  It is interesting that John is the only one to use the phrase "judged ... according to their works" in the Bible and he does it twice in the book of Revelation (verses 12 and 13).  The Book of Mormon, however, connects this idea about 24 times (some examples: 3 Nephi 27:15; Mormon 3:18; Alma 12:12; Mosiah 3:24; and 2 Nephi 28:3).

It is the Doctrine and Covenants that wraps the two doctrines together.  When Jesus stands as our Advocate before the Father He will not expound upon some long parchment looking list of our accomplishments, instead He will say: “Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified” (D&C 45:4).  After this reminder, Jesus will then direct Father’s attention to us: “Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life” (D&C 45:5, emphasis added).  As President Uchtdorf testified: “Therefore, our obedience to God’s commandments comes as a natural outgrowth of our endless love and gratitude for the goodness of God. This form of genuine love and gratitude will miraculously merge our works with God’s grace. Virtue will garnish our thoughts unceasingly, and our confidence will wax strong in the presence of God” (Ensign, May 2015, 109).

I am grateful for the way the gospel helps me understand that my small acts of devotion allow me to show my gratitude for the Savior and His sacrifice.  I am not saved because of all the good works I have done throughout my life; I am saved because those good works reflect my belief on His name and then Jesus uses His exemplary life, His grace and His merits and mercy to make up the difference for my tiny yet heartfelt endurance.