I mentioned last Friday in my daily blog (Keep Dad Alive - Musings of A Passionately Smiling Tortoise) a favorite scripture of mine, Mosiah 27:29, which I have paraphrased in the title of this post.
I finished my current reading of Mosiah yesterday and am about to continue with Alma. This morning I decided to dig a little deeper into chapters 25-29 of Mosiah before moving on by referring to the Book of Mormon Institute Manual, chapter 22, which is devoted to that portion of Mosiah.
I was richly rewarded and understand a little better the process of repentance, the deep joy that repentance brings, and particularly the vital importance of developing a personal relationship with the Savior, including how that is an essential part of repentance.
In this reading, I discovered the First Presidency message for October 1989. It is written by President Ezra Taft Benson and titled "A Mighty Change of Heart", on page 2 of the Ensign magazine of that month.
I highly recommend the entire article, and wish to point out a portion that the Institute Manual notes as well:
"Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow, almost imperceptible. The scriptures record remarkable accounts of men whose lives changed dramatically, in an instant, as it were: Alma the Younger, Paul on the road to Damascus, Enos praying far into the night, King Lamoni. Such astonishing examples of the power to change even those steeped in sin give confidence that the Atonement can reach even those deepest in despair. “But we must be cautious as we discuss these remarkable examples. Though they are real and powerful, they are the exception more than the rule. For every Paul, for every Enos, and for every King Lamoni, there are hundreds and thousands of people who find the process of repentance much more subtle, much more imperceptible. Day by day they move closer to the Lord, little realizing they are building a godlike life. They live quiet lives of goodness, service, and commitment. They are like the Lamanites, who the Lord said ‘were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not.’ (3 Ne. 9:20; italics added.)”
I have a growing testimony that this is how it works for me, and I imagine that you will find the same thing to be true for you as you ponder it.
Let me return to the story of the investigator I quoted on Friday. The experience I had with him the day he shared Mosiah 27:29 with me is one that I will always cherish. It became a defining moment in my life, something I am sure the young man (he was a similar age to me) did not realize. He quoted it to me in response to my question, how have you enjoyed your reading in the Book of Mormon? He told me that reading in the Book of Mormon had made a similar profound influence in his life to the feelings Alma expressed in that verse. Oh the joy in my heart as the Spirit filled the room and he, my companion, and I rejoiced together.
I do not know what lasting influence that experience had on my new friend. That is my purpose in mentioning this in the context of day by day moving closer to the Lord, "little realizing they are building a godlike life. They live quiet lives of goodness, service, and commitment." I have gradually come to realize that this is one of the meanings of building a life and a testimony "line upon line, precept upon precept".
Each of us decides every morning if we are going to put the Lord first in our lives that day. Am I going to feast on the scriptures today? Will I ponder and pray today? Will I be charitable today in the way the Savior and His disciple Moroni taught today? Will I be repentant today? Will I keep the commandments today?
I cannot do it without His help. I will have shortcomings that day that even with His help, I will need to continually confess to Him and repent of.
It is my testimony that by choosing each morning to live that day that way, and honestly striving to do it, that you will not notice an immediate change, but you will become more sensitive to the tender mercies of the Lord as they bless you daily, and you will have moments when you realize just what this relationship you are building with the Lord really means to you.
You will also notice how much you miss this when you are too busy to do this one day. Once you feel this sweet Spirit in your life, you will need it daily, just as you need air, water, and food daily. Oh how you miss it at those times you don't have it.
I lost touch with my friend in Ilford a short time later. I suspect he was looking for the major miracle every day, and when faced with the realities of daily living, lost the miracle he had felt. We went to his home for another discussion one evening and found the copy of the Book of Mormon we had given him carefully wrapped to protect it from the English weather with a note that began "to the two young men of the Mormon faith". I received many such letters on my mission. They tore at my heart in a way I cannot imagine a Dear John letter ever would (in fairness I don't know, there were girls who wrote to me on my mission, and that gradually diminished over two years. I left no girl at home that ever would have been in a position to write me a Dear John. I did have companions that received those letters and I tried to comfort them in their time of devastation). I can tell you that the several mile walk back to our flat that night was especially long and sad.
There has been a lot of living since that day in 1973. I hope my friend has found the opportunity to rekindle the faith he briefly felt when I knew him, and has discovered the lasting joy embracing the Gospel brings. I can tell you that I appreciated feeling the Spirit through him, and that I learned many important lessons from that experience.
Mosiah and President Benson helped me to remember those lessons today. Thank you for reading my testimony of them, I hope you feel the Spirit as a result and that you choose to act on it, day by day.
No comments:
Post a Comment