My father passed away in 2004
almost 13 years ago. I can’t go to my
dad any more for advice or counsel but I find myself doing things that my
father did and that helps me remember him.
My dad always picked up pennies,
so now when I pick up a penny I remember him., that’s not much but I always
stop and pick up pennies and I remember my dad and I feel closer to him….Or
when I work on my car, my dad was an auto mechanics teacher at Viewmont and WX
High..he taught auto mechanics and math, so if I work on my car, or if I have a
chance to help one of my kids with their math homework…..when I do I feel
closer to my dad. My dad loved to drive
and when I get in my car and go on a
long drive I feel closer to my dad. If I need help that I would have normally
gone to him for I get in my car and I go on a drive.
For me remembering can be a daily
occurrence. I was humbly taught a lesson last year as I was going over some
thoughts for another talk. My wife's
father was in end stage kidney failure and was only going to be with us for a
few weeks. It was a very time
consuming period of life as we attended to this sweet mans needs. It had been a busy day, and Around 9:00 pm I
had finally been able to finish the things I had to do for the day and had just
gotten on a roll in figuring out how to put my thoughts together when my cell
phone rang. It was my wife asking if I
could come down to her dad's house to help get him ready for bed. My initial natural man reaction was not one I
am proud of. I agreed to come down but
the tone of my voice was not what it should have been. Then I remembered. I remembered how much I love my father in
law. I remembered King Benjamin's words - when ye are in the service of your
fellow beings ye are only in the service
of your God. So by the time I got to his house my attitude had changed and I was grateful for the
opportunity to serve this great man.
Mosiah 5:13 For how knoweth a
man the master whom he has not served, and who is a stranger unto him, and is
far from the thoughts and intents of his heart?
I remembered the parable of the
sheep and the goats:
Matthew 25:34 Then shall
the King say unto them on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my
Father, inherit the kingdom prepared
for you from the foundation of the world:
35 For I was an hungered, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave
me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
36 Naked, and ye clothed me:
I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
37 Then shall the righteous
answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungered, and fed thee? or
thirsty, and gave thee drink?
38 When saw we thee a stranger,
and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee?
39 Or when saw we thee sick, or in
prison, and came unto thee?
Or when saw we thee needing help
getting into bed - or sitting alone in Sacrament Meeting or Sunday School - or
needing help studying - or waiting on the other side of the veil for someone to
do your temple work - or feeling like you had no friends, or whatever need we
all have that we are longing to have filled.
40 And the King shall answer and
say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of
the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.
Spencer W Kimball said - God does notice us, and he watches over us. But it
is usually through another person that he meets our needs.
I think about that a lot. I used to sit up on the stand at meetings
and look out at the congregation and think
isn’t it great to belong to a church where we are all brothers and sisters and I would think to myself, “if
I was stranded two hours away, at 2 o’clock in the morning, who
could I call that I know would come and
help me?”..and I could count over 100 people who I could call that would get
out of bed in the middle of the night, in the cold and come and help me. But then I thought, I’m asking myself the
wrong question. I should be asking
myself how many of those people in that congregation, if they called me at 2 o
clock in the middle of the night would I get up and out of bed for?.. That’s the question we should ask.
Neal A. Maxwell (Quorum of the
Twelve)
The same God that placed that star
in a precise orbit millennia before it
appeared over Bethlehem in celebration
of the birth of the Babe has given at
least equal attention to placement of
each of us in precise human orbits
so that we may, if we will,
illuminate
the landscape of our individual lives,
so that our light may not only lead
others but warm them as well.
Think about who you may be in
orbit around, people you come in contact with, how can you light their lives? I would submit to you just as I do things
that my earthly father did to remember
him, when we do things that the Savior did we will remember him and we will
draw closer to him.
So what does he ask of us? The primary song "He sent His son"
which says - what does the Father ask of us?
What do the scriptures say? Have faith, have hope, Live like His Son.
Help others on their way.
In John 14:12 we read - Verily,
verily, I say unto you, He that believeth on me, the works that I do shall he
do also; and greater works than these shall he do;
3 Nephi 27:27 - Therefore, what manner of men ought ye to
be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am.
How do we do the works the Savior
did - How do we become even as he is?
The document the living Christ
tells us this about the Him.
"He walked the roads of
Palestine, healing the sick, causing the blind to see, and raising the dead. He
taught the truths of eternity, the reality of our premortal existence, the
purpose of our life on earth, and the potential for the sons and daughters of
God in the life to come.
He instituted the sacrament as
a reminder of His great atoning sacrifice."
So if we are supposed to do the
things the savior did and be even as he is, how do we do that? How do we do the things he did? We cannot
literally do everything the Savior did, but we can use his life as a type. He
walked the roads of Palestine - He went out and looked for opportunities to
serve. We can do that - we can walk our
neighborhoods and pay attention wherever we are for opportunities to serve.
ON Friday we had that big snow
storm, it started as rain, then hail, and snow and it was heavy. We live on the east bench of Bountiful. I went home for a late lunch about 2:30 in
the afternoon, and I thought I’m just going to try to get some of this heavy snow off my driveway. I
would go about 18 inches in the snow and then have to take it over to the grass
and dump it. We put in new concrete
this spring..we added more concrete which was great when I didn’t have to mow
it, but now I had to shovel double..and these two young boys walked up the
street, I didn’t know them, , they walked past my house and they were staring
at me, giving me a weird look, and they got about half way past my neighbors
house and they turned around and came back
and said, ‘hey you have a couple of extra shovels? We can help you with that.” And my initial reaction was, “no I’m
fine. Thanks for the offer, but I’m
fine, “ and they started to walk away and the Spirit said, call them back and
give them an opportunity to serve. You
know sometimes it’s easier for us to give service than it is to receive
service. The Atonement is all about receiving, it’s all
about receiving this gift from our Savior.
We get that opportunity a lot in our lives and I think we do ourselves a disservice if we don’t accept
service. So I said, “you know what, I do
have two extra shovels and I would love
to have you come and help me clear my driveway.” These two boys -- they could take about 6
inches of that snow before they had to dump it, but I loved that they helped me
clear my driveway.
Healing the Sick - We can do this - both through the Priesthood and
through compassionate service. Through
sitting with someone at the hospital.
Through listening and healing someone emotionally.
Causing the blind to see - We may not have the opportunity to give literal sight
to the blind, but we can help others see Christ through our example and
service.
And Raising the Dead - We can't universally overcome death, but we can
make our relationships and our families live. We can give life to our church
calling, to our ward and neighborhood.
He Taught the Truths of
Eternity the reality of our pre
mortal existence, the purpose of our life on earth, and the potential for the
sons and daughters of God in the life to come. - One of the great acts of
service we can participate in is teaching others about the plan of salvation -
but just as important is the service we can give ourselves of receiving a
testimony of this plan and of who we are.
Who are we? This is one of my
favorite quotes by President Boyd K Packer:
You are a child of God. He is the
father of your spirit. Spiritually you are of noble birth, the offspring of the
King of Heaven. Fix that truth in your mind and hold to it. However many
generations in your mortal ancestry, no matter what race or people you
represent, the pedigree of your spirit can be written on a single line. You are
a child of God!
He Instituted the Sacrament as
a reminder of his great Atoning Sacrifice
We can't suffer for the sins of
the world, but we can not judge someone just because their sins may be
different than ours. We can't affect an
infinite atonement, but we can forgive those who have wronged us or offended
us, and we can forgive infinitely.
I served my mission in Argentina
in 198s..and there was some Faulkland islands that England and Argentina were
fighting over…the Faulkland war. We got all kinds of threats to missionaries,
we had to stay in our apartments, we had death threats. It wasn’t a real fun time to be their fro a
few weeks and we thought what could we do to help change people’s opinions? So
we came up with an idea as a zone that we would
get everyone together and we would go donate blood at the local red
cross for Argentine soldiers, and so we
did that and some how word got out to the media
and I had the opportunity to
speak to the newspaper and the radio. They
asked why would you do this? You are American’s ? Why would you come and give
blood for Argentine soldiers?” It was a
great opportunity for us to testify of
Jesus Christ and say that he gave his own blood for us……and that we were his
representatives and that we love the Argentine people.
Service changes us. It brings us closer to the Savior both in
giving service and in receiving service.
In the Living Christ it also says, of our
Savior…
He will rule as King of Kings and
reign as Lord of Lords, and every knee shall bend and every tongue shall speak
in worship before Him. Each of us will stand to be judged of Him according to
our works and the desires of our hearts.
Jesus is the Living Christ, the
immortal Son of God. He is the great King Immanuel, who stands today on the
right hand of His Father. He is the light, the life, and the hope of the world.
His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in
the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of His divine Son.
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