Elder Dallin H. Oaks
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
He has given us His Atonement, His gospel, and His Church, a sacred combination that gives us the
assurance of immortality and the opportunity for eternal life.
Some years ago I enjoyed a newspaper cartoon that showed
a clergyman in conversation with a hippie-dressed couple astride a motorcycle.
"We are church goers," one was saying to the clergyman. "We've been going
for years . . . we just haven't got there yet."1
Many of our extended family and friends haven't yet gotten
to church either. They may attend sporadically, but they are not yet enjoying
the full blessings of Church participation and service. Others may attend regularly,
but refrain from commitments and from seeking the personal spiritual rebirth
that comes from yielding our hearts to God. Both kinds are missing some unique
blessings in this life. And both are in jeopardy of missing the most glorious
blessings in the life to come.
Paul taught that the Lord gave prophets and apostles for
"the perfecting of the saints, . . . the work of the ministry, . . . [and] the
edifying of the body of Christ" (Eph.
4:12). Persons who are not fully participating in The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints and also seeking a personal spiritual conversion are missing
out on experiences that are essential under the divinely established great plan
of happiness. The teachings and the work of the Church are essential to bring
to pass the eternal life of man (see Moses
1:39).
I pray that many within the sound of my voice will have
a spiritual witness of the importance of the Church's mission to edify and exalt
the children of God. I pray especially that some who are not yet enjoying the
blessings of full Church participation and commitment will seek and obtain that
witness and act upon it.
About a decade ago, while I was at a stake conference
in the United States, I was introduced to a member who had not participated
in the Church for many years. "Why should I return to Church activity?" this
member asked me. Considering all the Savior has done for us, I replied it should
be easy to offer something in service to Him and our fellowmen. My questioner
considered that idea for a moment and then voiced this astonishing reply: "What's
He done for me?"
This astonishing answer moved me to ponder what people
expect to receive from Jesus Christ, from His gospel, and from participating
in His Church. I thought of some others who said they stopped going to Church
because the Church was "not meeting their needs." Which needs could they be
expecting the Church to meet? If persons are simply seeking a satisfying social
experience, they might be disappointed in a particular ward or branch and seek
other associations. There are satisfying social experiences in many organizations.
If they are simply seeking help to learn the gospel, they could pursue that
goal through available literature. But are these the principal purposes of the
Church? Is this all we are to receive from the gospel of Jesus Christ?
Someone has said that what we get depends on what we seek.
Persons who attend Church solely in order to get something of a temporal
nature may be disappointed. The Apostle Paul wrote disparagingly of persons
who "serve not our Lord Jesus Christ, but their own belly" (Rom.
16:18). Persons who attend Church in order to give to their fellowmen
and serve the Lord will rarely be disappointed. The Savior promised that
"he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it" (Matt.
10:39).
The Church gives us opportunities to serve the Lord and
our fellowmen. If given in the right way and for the right reasons, that service
will reward us beyond anything we have given. Millions serve unselfishly and
effectively as officers or teachers in Church organizations, and those who do
experience the conversion described by the prophet who pleaded with us to "come
unto Christ, and be perfected in him" (Moro.
10:32).
Throughout my life I have been blessed by my membership
and participation in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is
impossible to describe all the ways the Church has blessed my life and the lives
of those I love. But I will give a few examples, in the hope that this will
add personal persuasion to the principles described.
Attendance at Church each week provides the opportunity
to partake of the sacrament, as the Lord has commanded us (see D&C
59:9). If we act with the right preparation and attitude, partaking of the
sacrament renews the cleansing effect of our baptism and qualifies us for the
promise that we will always have His Spirit to be with us. A mission of that
Spirit, the Holy Ghost, is to testify of the Father and the Son and to lead
us into truth (see John
14:26; 2
Ne. 31:18). Testimony and truth, which are essential to our personal conversion,
are the choice harvest of this weekly renewing of our covenants. In the day-to-day
decisions of my life and in my personal spiritual growth, I have enjoyed the
fulfillment of that promise.
I am sorry when any Latter-day Saint does not understand
the precious blessing that comes to those who keep the commandment to offer
up their sacraments upon each Sabbath day. What is there in life—on the lakes
or streams, in places of commercial recreation, or at home reading the Sunday
paper—that can provide anything comparable to these blessings? No recreational
pleasure can equal the cleansing renewal and the spiritual guidance and growth
God has promised those who faithfully partake of the sacrament and honor Him
each Sabbath day. I give thanks for the fulfillment of those promises in my
life and affirm their availability to all.
As I came to the age of accountability and understood
and experienced the effect of personal sin, the teachings of the gospel of Jesus
Christ gave me the peace and courage to go forward in the knowledge that my
sins could be forgiven and that there is always hope and the possibility of
mercy for those who fall short.
As I experienced the death of loved ones, including my
father, my mother, and my wife, the comforting revelations of the Holy Ghost
gave me the strength to carry on. The Spirit affirms that there is purpose in
mortal adversities and gives assurance of the resurrection and the reality of
family relationships sealed for eternity.
Throughout my life I have been blessed by the doctrine
and teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ. As taught in the scriptures and
by the leaders and teachers of this Church, the gospel has been a light to my
path and the impetus for my temporal and spiritual progress. As Brigham Young
taught, the gospel laws "teach men to be truthful, honest, chaste, sober, industrious,
frugal and to love and practice every good word and work, . . . they elevate
and ennoble man, [and] if fully obeyed, [they] bring health and strength to
the body, clearness to the perceptions, power to the reasoning faculties as
well as salvation to the soul."2
Among many blessings I have received from gospel teachings
are those promised for keeping the Word of Wisdom. For me these have included
health and knowledge and the capacity to "run and not be weary, and . . . walk
and not faint," and the fulfillment of the promise that "the destroying angel
shall pass by them, as the children of Israel, and not slay them" (D&C
89:18–21).
The gospel teaches us to pay our tithes and offerings
and assures us of blessings when we do. I testify of the fulfillment of these
promises in my life. I have seen the windows of heaven open in my behalf to
bestow blessings unnumbered. Among these is the capacity to see the relative
unimportance of the property, pride, prominence, and power of this world, in
the context of eternity. How grateful I am for the focus and peace that come
from a gospel-based understanding of the purpose of life and its relationship
to eternity!
From my earliest years and through schooling and marriage
to middle age and beyond, the Church has provided me personal associations with
the finest people in the world. Teachers and classmates in Sunday School and
Primary, in scouting and other youth activities, in quorum and ward and stake
activities have given me the finest possible role models and friends. Of course,
our Church does not have a monopoly on good people, but we have a remarkable
concentration of them. My associations in the organizations of The Church of
Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have given me the basis to recognize, appreciate,
and enlarge my associations with people of quality in other churches and organizations.
Because my father died before I was eight years old, I
had early cause to wonder about the purposes of the Lord in depriving me of
a relationship other boys enjoyed and took for granted. As with so many other
mortal challenges, the perspective of the gospel of Jesus Christ filled that
void. How grateful I am that my brother and sister and I were raised by a widowed
mother who used her faith and our parents' temple marriage to make our departed
father a daily presence in our lives. We never had cause to feel that we were
without a father. We had a father, but he was away for a season. There are few
things more important in this life than knowing your place in mortality and
your potential in eternity. Marriages sealed for eternity in a temple of the
Lord provide that possibility for every child and for every adult.
Over the years, my active participation in the Church
has provided me access to the counsel and inspiration of the leaders of the
Church on things I should do as a husband and father and leader in my family.
Again and again, in stake and general conferences, in priesthood quorums, and
in Sunday School classes, I have been taught and inspired by wonderful and experienced
fathers, mothers, and grandparents. I have sought to follow those teachings
to improve my participation in those associations that will persist for eternity.
To cite only one example, I have been taught the power of a priesthood blessing—not
just a blessing of healing, but a blessing of comfort and guidance that a father
holding the Melchizedek Priesthood is privileged to give to members of his family.
Learning and applying that principle has favored me and my loved ones with the
sweetness and closeness that can only come from sensing the significance of
the priesthood of God in an eternal family.
I am also grateful for the warnings of the scriptures
and Church leaders on things to avoid. By following that counsel I have been
able to avoid pitfalls that might otherwise have trapped and enslaved me. Alcohol,
tobacco, drugs, pornography, and gambling are but a few examples of dangerous
substances and addictive practices we have been warned to avoid. I appeal to
all—especially to young people—to hear and heed the words of the men and women
God has called as your leaders and teachers. You will be blessed if you refrain
from setting your own wisdom or desires ahead of the commandments of your Creator
and the warnings of His servants.
The scriptures tell us to take upon us the "whole armor"
of God that we "may be able to withstand the evil day." They promise that the
"breastplate of righteousness" and "the shield of faith" will "quench all the
fiery darts of the wicked" (D&C
27:15–17). I urge you to obey those teachings and lay claim on those blessings.
They include the personal spiritual conversion—the "mighty change . . . in
our hearts" (Mosiah
5:2)—that helps us become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.
The leaders of this Church say, as the Savior said: "My
doctrine is not mine, but his that sent me. If any man will do his will, he
shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself"
(John
7:16–17).
Your leaders also say, along with King Benjamin: "I would
desire that ye should consider on the blessed and happy state of those that
keep the commandments of God. For behold, they are blessed in all things, both
temporal and spiritual; and if they hold out faithful to the end they are received
into heaven, that thereby they may dwell with God in a state of never-ending
happiness" (Mosiah
2:41).
In modern revelation the Lord has declared, "I, the Lord,
am bound when ye do what I say; but when ye do not what I say, ye have no promise"
(D&C
82:10).
What has our Savior done for us? He has given us His Atonement,
His gospel, and His Church, a sacred combination that gives us the assurance
of immortality and the opportunity for eternal life. I testify that this is
true, and I testify of God the Father, the author of the plan, and of His Son
Jesus Christ, the Atoning One who has made it all possible, in the name of Jesus
Christ, amen.
NOTES
1. Calvin Grondahl, [Ogden, Utah] Standard-Examiner,
26 May 1990.
2. Letter to the editor of the Religio-Philosophical Journal,
7 Jan. 1869, quoted in Jed Woodworth, "Brigham Young and the Mission of Mormonism,"
Brigham Young University Studies 40, no. 2 (2001):11.
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