At the Feet of an Apostle

14 April 2018

This has been a very spiritually-rich week and I wish I could share every joy, every little miracle and every tender mercy with you. There have been wonderful events, both here and with family at home.

At home, our sweet granddaughter, Claire, was baptized last Saturday. Our daughter, Laura, had a special prayer answered. Our son, John, celebrated a birthday. And, our son-in-law, Travis, passed the research presentation for his PhD – and, now, he can do his project this summer and graduate in December. (A long-awaited goal!) I'm sure there were other special things, too, that I'm just not aware of. 

On our end, one of the highlights of this week is that we had a special mission devotional on Monday with President Dallin H. Oaks and his wife, Kristen. It was wonderful!

They both told some funny stories and Sister Oaks told us that when he’s not traveling, President Oaks visits one of the wards in the greater Salt Lake area each Sunday. Often, he goes to sacrament meeting, then youth classes, and then, Relief Society. (He seldom visits the high priests, which, now is the Elders Quorum.) Can you imagine having President Oaks pop in on your ward Relief Society meeting?!

Pres. Oaks prays each week to know which ward to attend, and that’s the one he goes to. (Sister Oaks said she loves him most when she sees him on his knees in his study, praying for guidance. It was sweet to hear her say that.)

Then, President Oaks taught us. We had seats near the front, so we literally were sitting at the feet of an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ.

He testified of Christ and quoted from “The Living Christ” document.

One thing he challenged us to do was to read the Book of Mormon as if it is a series of sermons about Jesus Christ. He showed us a list he’d made of his favorite sermons about the Savior from the Book of Mormon.

He also talked about revelation – and quoted from the Book of Mormon to make the point that, although there are some mysteries of God we cannot know in this life, many others can be revealed to us.

Alma 26:22: Yea, he that repenteth and exerciseth faith, and bringeth forth good works, and prayeth continually without ceasing—unto such it is given to know the mysteries of God; yea, unto such it shall be given to reveal things which never have been revealed; yea, and it shall be given unto such to bring thousands of souls to repentance, even as it has been given unto us to bring these our brethren to repentance.

1 Nephi 10: 19: For he that diligently seeketh shall find; and the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto them, by the power of the Holy Ghost, as well in these times as in times of old, and as well in times of old as in times to come; wherefore, the course of the Lord is one eternal round.

Mosiah 2:9: And these are the words which he spake and caused to be written, saying: My brethren, all ye that have assembled yourselves together, you that can hear my words which I shall speak unto you this day; for I have not commanded you to come up hither to trifle with the words which I shall speak, but that you should hearken unto me, and open your ears that ye may hear, and your hearts that ye may understand, and your minds that the mysteries of God may be unfolded to your view.

What do we do with the knowledge and understanding we receive once we get it? President Oaks quoted from a lecture by Elder John A. Widtsoe regarding the knowledge and insights we gain in the temple. (His point being that knowledge purely for academic purposes is of little value. We cannot just know, we must do.)

Here’s what Elder Widtsoe said: “Knowledge becomes serviceable only when it is used; the covenant made in the temple, or elsewhere, if of the right kind, is merely a promise to give life to knowledge, by making knowledge useful and helpful in man’s daily progress. Temple work, or any work, would have no meaning unless accompanied by covenants. It would consist simply of bits of information for ornament; the covenant gives life to truth; and makes possible the blessings that reward all those who use knowledge properly; or the penalties that overtake those who misuse knowledge. Penalties and rewards hang upon the use of knowledge.” (emphasis added)

There’s a lot to think about in that one paragraph!