Courageously Moving Forward in Faith

I’m currently reading a book about Sister Hinckley. The more I read, the more I realize that she is someone I would like to emulate. Her attitude about accepting yourself for who you are and using your unique strengths and abilities to do the work of the Lord is inspiring to me.

Once time, after giving a presentation to the women of the church and then receiving a standing ovation, she expressed amazement at the response. Her husband said, “Marge, they loved you because you were so relaxed and just yourself.” She quickly responded with “I couldn’t think of anyone else to be!”

With that story in mind, you’ll notice that a large part of this post will be on how we each can and should use our own unique talents and abilities to help further the work of the Lord in these Last Days.

Sister Hinckley shared a powerful experience that happened to her when she was a young mother. She said: When I was a mother with young children, we had a monthly leadership meeting on Thursday nights. On one particular Thursday I was tired. I had children to get to bed and dishes to wash. I did not want to go to the meeting. But I went. When the recently called Stake President stood up, the first thing he said was “(quote) Brothers and Sisters, either Joseph Smith had a vision or he didn’t.(unquote)” He said that he didn’t know what he could say to encourage us in our efforts other than the fact that Joseph Smith either had a vision or he didn’t. If he did not, then we were engaged in a tremendous hoax, but if he did, then it behooved each of us to give all the time, money, effort, and energy we could muster to promote the Kingdom of God. That is all it took to remind me that this is the work of the Lord, and the most important thing we can do is to serve in every way we can. I have recalled this Stake President’s words many times, particularly when I have thought that perhaps the church requires too much of my time and energy.

Joseph Smith taught that after all has been said, the greatest and most important duty is to preach the Gospel.

Believe it or not, and I’m almost embarrassed to say this because I’m sure I’m the only person who has ever felt this way, but I used to think I was fulfilling my responsibility to share the Gospel just by being a good example. Anytime the subject of sharing the gospel would come up, I would breathe a sigh of relief and mentally cross sharing the gospel off my to-do list---knowing I was doing my best to be a good example”.  Sisters, if you can relate to this in any way, it is time to raise the bar. The spirit has borne witness to me that I need to exert more energy in Building up the Kingdom. Have you been receiving the same promptings? There is only one correct answer to this question, and the answer is “yes”. Jesus is not selective as to who he calls as his missionaries. Elder John Groberg stated, “We lived before we came here. We all agreed to come on this earth mission at this time to fulfill the Lord’s plans for us. We must stop trying to separate missionary work from life. Missionary work is life—living is a mission; life is a mission; we are all on a lifelong mission. Thus, it is not a question of whether or not we want to be missionaries. We have already decided that issue. We are alive; we are here; we are members. The only question is: What kind of missionaries will we be?

It is my hope that we will each be receptive to the promptings of the spirit as it lets us know what we personally can do to contribute to this great work. Elder Neal A. Maxwell encouraged us to write down our promptings and act upon them immediately. He said the promptings of the spirit are fleeting and often those promptings are not repeated. Let us not pass up any opportunities to share the gospel.

One woman, who was struggling to get her priorities in the right order, said, “In Matthew 6:33, the Savior instructs: ‘Seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.’ If he had not said “first,” wouldn’t that be easier? Wouldn’t it be great if he’d said, “Seek ye third the kingdom of God”? Wouldn’t that be a lot more convenient? But he says, “Seek ye first the kingdom of God.”

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has a four-fold mission:

1. Proclaim the Gospel

2. Perfect the Saints

3. Redeem the Dead

4. Care for the Poor and Needy

Like you, I appreciate the tremendous sacrifice made by the pioneers to build up the Kingdom. However, I have long felt that while expressing our gratitude with our words is nice, the pioneers would likely prefer to have us express our appreciation through our actions---by continuing the work that they started and doing so through great sacrifice---even with blood, sweat and tears as did they. I’ve often asked myself, “Am I sacrificing enough to do the work I was sent here to do? Am I honoring the pioneers with my actions? President Monson echoed these sentiments in this months New Era magazine when he said “We honor those who endured incredible hardships. We praise their names and reflect on their sacrifices.
“What about our time? Are there pioneering experiences for us? Will future generations reflect with gratitude on our efforts, our examples?”

The responsibility of building up the Kingdom lies not only with the adults of the church, but with the youth and primary children as well. Speaking to the youth, Elder Glen L. Pace said that the building up of the Kingdom of God is thrilling and exciting work.

Take, for example, the scripture found in Helaman 10:12 where God had just finished speaking to Nephi who was crying repentance to the Nephites. “And behold, now it came to pass that when the Lord had spoken these words unto Nephi, he did stop and did not go unto his own house, but did return unto the multitudes who were scattered about upon the face of the land, and began to declare unto them the word of the Lord which had been spoken unto him….” Rather than going home to ponder over the wonderful things God had just spoken to him, Nephi immediately went to work preaching the Gospel. Think of the times you have lost your desire for food, rest, and relaxation because you were feeling the spirit so strongly. That is what Nephi seemed to be feeling. That is what missionary work does to you. It gives you a 100% natural high!

A few chapters later, in Helaman 15:6, Samuel the Lamanite refers to the Nephites when he says “Yea, I say unto you, that the more part of the Nephites are walking in the path of their duty, and they are striving with unwearied diligence that they may bring the remainder of their brethren to the knowledge of the truth; therefore there are many who do add to their numbers daily.” When I read that verse recently, I stopped and asked myself, “Am I striving with unwearied diligence that I may bring the remainder of my brethren and sisters to the knowledge of the truth?”

With regards to the first mission of the church, Proclaiming the Gospel, I’ve often prayed for missionary opportunities and have felt frustrated when they don’t come. Finally, I started doing something that dramatically increased the number of missionary opportunities I have. In addition to my daily prayers, I spend time each day thinking about what specific missionary work I will do that day. This has helped me be more proactive and has opened my eyes to the many missionary opportunities that surround us.

Proclaiming the gospel involves more than being a good example and handing out Books of Mormon and Pass-along cards. There are hundreds of simple ways we can share the Gospel on a daily basis. It doesn’t matter if we don’t think we have time, if we’re shy, young or older. Regardless of our circumstances, there are things we can do each day to share the Gospel. Brother Clayton Christensen, who Elder Ballard refers to as one of the best member missionaries in the church has said that members of the Church do not share the gospel because of lack of motivation but more because they do not know how to share the gospel. I’ve found this to be true. I’d love to see more missionary conversations going on in our ward. As we share ideas and experiences with each other, our missionary opportunities will increase exponentially.

Here are just a few of the countless ways we can easily but effectively share the Gospel: 1. Read the Book of Mormon in public. Doing so communicates to others that you are a member of the church and provides them an opportunity to ask you about the Book of Mormon and the church. 2. Send an encouraging note to a neighbor or member of our ward.
3. Keep a missionary kit with materials such as Books of Mormons, pamphlets, and church DVD’s in your living room, at work, in your car, in your stroller…anywhere that you might have a missionary opportunity.

The more you think about sharing the gospel, the more ideas will come to your mind. Choose to do ideas that are you; ideas that allow you to utilize your talents and abilities. I enjoy being creative and thinking outside of the box. One day an idea came to me. I attached a note to a basket. The note said, “Oh, what do you do in the summertime, when it’s oh, so hot outside?” Then my kids and I filled the basket with things our family likes to do indoors during the summer. To top it off we included an Ensign and Friend magazine and a church DVD. Then we all walked down and delivered it to a neighbor family. Was it a fun and simple thing to do? Yes. Was the family offended? No. If you have unique ways of sharing the gospel, please let me know. I’d love to add them to my list.

The second mission of the church is Perfecting the Saints. While perfecting the saints involves striving to perfect our own lives, it entails much more than that. If we are to become a Zion people, we need to deepen our relationships with each other as ward members. Seeing each other on Sundays and knowing we can call on someone if we need something is not enough. Not for a Zion people. We have become too isolated as members of the church. Sister Patricia Holland referred to it as no longer being over-the-fence neighbors. We are now pull-out-of-the-garage-and-wave-as-you-drive-by neighbors. Sister Holland agreed that that is just not enough. We need to get to know each others joys and sorrows, strengths and challenges. We need to really get to know each other like our grandmothers did as they visited with each other over the fence. It might sound like an overwhelming task, but there are certain small things we can do that will make a big difference.

One thoughtful person had this suggestion: A preliminary step in [reaching out to others] might be to renew the practice of festive Sunday dinners. With a minimal amount of preparation, we could be intentional about including a few extra people who might welcome the happy combination of food and companionship. After being reassured that the food doesn’t have to be magnificent and that our house doesn’t have to be perfect, I gained the courage to implement this idea in our family and we have been tremendously blessed by it. If you don’t feel comfortable making dinner, feel free to serve frozen pizza or fresh cut watermelon. It’s not the food that’s important, but the conversation. Including others in your Family Home Evenings and game nights is another fun option. As things in the world get worse, we will be relying more and more on our ward and Stake family. Taking the time to get to know one another better will prove to be a blessing.

One of my favorite quotes is from Sister Julene Butler at Women’s Conference who said,

“One of Satan’s strongest tools is to isolate us from each other, to turn our thoughts away from those around us and, in so doing, prevent us from reaching out to others and finding strength through unity. Satan does not want Zion to flourish, and he knows he can stop it most easily by attacking its roots, by dividing righteous people from one another. Hugh Nibley teaches that the express purpose of the law of consecration is to build up Zion. Contrary to what some believe,” says Nibley, “we do not wait until Zion is here to observe it; it is rather the means of bringing us nearer to Zion.” In other words, we help create Zion by becoming a Zion people as we consecrate our energies and possessions and abilities. If we are to build Zion, we must move beyond ourselves and even beyond our families. We must allow our influence to ripple out into the communities that we belong to (our ward, our neighborhood, our friends) and practice Zion principles in these wider circles. We must look for each others’ strengths and work in concert, one with another. We must wear off the rough edges of selfishness that form when we isolate ourselves. May we each find our unique gifts and talents, nurture them, and enlarge our desire and ability to consecrate those gifts to building up the kingdom of God. As we do, ripples of righteousness will flow outward, and Zion will begin to flourish.”

There is much to be said on the subject of sharing the gospel and being a light to the world, but I can think of no better way to end this post than by saying, "Sisters, Joseph Smith either had a vision or he didn’t. If he did not, then we are engaged in a tremendous hoax, but if he did, then it behooves each of us to give all the time, money, effort, and energy we can muster to promote the Kingdom of God."

I testify to you that Joseph Smith DID have a vision, that he did see God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ in a Sacred Grove. He restored the fullness of the Gospel, not a new religion or an American church, but the same as was revealed and taught from the beginning.

I know the Savior lives. He is watching over us and is directing His church today. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints IS the church of Jesus Christ.

Let us courageously move forward in faith, united as Sisters, and do the work we’ve been sent here to do.