2011 04 1040 elder walter f gonzalez eng

8/4/2019 2011 04 1040 Elder Walter f Gonzalez Eng

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By Elder Walter F. GonzálezOf the Presidency of the Seventy

Last October my wie and Iaccompanied Elder and SisterNeil L. Andersen or the ground-

breaking o a new temple in Córdoba, Argentina. As is customary, a pressconerence ollowed the ceremony. A

journalist, not a member o our church,commented that she had observed how

well the men treated their wives. Thenshe unexpectedly asked, “Is that real orction?” I am sure that she saw and elt

something dierent among our mem-bers. She might have perceived thedesire o our members to ollow Christ.Members all over the world have sucha desire. At the same time, millions

who are not members o the Churchalso have a desire to ollow Him.

Recently my wie and I wereimpressed by the people we saw inGhana and Nigeria. Most were notmembers o our church. We werehappy to see their desire to ollow

Christ expressed in many o their con- versations in their houses, on their cars,on their walls, and on their billboards.

We had never seen so many Christianchurches next to one another.

As Latter-day Saints, ours is theduty to invite millions such as theseto come and see what our churchcan add to the good things that theyalready have. Any person rom anycontinent, climate, or culture can

know or himsel or hersel that theProphet Joseph Smith saw the Fatherand the Son in a vision. He or shecan know that heavenly messengersrestored the priesthood and that theBook o Mormon is another testamento Jesus Christ. In the words o theLord to Enoch, “Righteousness [hasbeen sent] down out o heaven; andtruth [has been sent] orth out o theearth to [testiy o the] Only Begotten

[o the Father].”1

The Savior has promised, “Hethat olloweth me shall not walk indarkness, but shall have the light o lie.”2 Followers o Christ pattern theirlives ater the Savior to walk in thelight. Two characteristics can help usrecognize to what extent we ollowHim. First, ollowers o Christ are lov-ing people. Second, ollowers o Christmake and keep covenants.

The rst characteristic, being loving,

is probably one thing the journalist inCórdoba noticed among our Churchmembers. We ollow Christ because

we love Him. When we ollow theRedeemer out o love, we are ollow-ing His own example. Through lovethe Savior was obedient to the will o the Father under any circumstance.Our Savior was obedient even whenit meant great physical and emo-tional pain, even when it meant being

whipped and mocked, even when itmeant that His enemies would tortureHim while His riends abandonedHim. The atoning sacrice, which isunique to the mission o the Savior, isthe greatest expression o love ever.“The chastisement o our peace wasupon him; and with his stripes we arehealed.”3

As Christ ollowed the Father underany circumstance, we should ollowHis Son. I we do so, it matters not

what kind o persecution, suering,grie, or “thorn in the fesh”4 we ace.

We are not alone. Christ will assistus. His tender mercies will make usmighty under any circumstance.5

Following Christ may mean or-saking many dear things, as Ruth theMoabite did. As a new convert, outo love or God and Naomi, she leteverything behind to live her religion. 6

It may also mean withstandingadversity and temptation. In his youth

Joseph was sold into slavery. He was

taken away rom everything he loved.Later he was tempted to be unchaste.He resisted the temptation and said,“How then can I do this great wicked-ness, and sin against God?” 7 His loveor God was more powerul than anyadversity or temptation.

Today we have modern Ruths and Josephs all over the world. WhenBrother Jimmy Olvera rom Guayaquil,Ecuador, received his mission call,his amily was struggling greatly. The

day he was leaving, he was told thati he walked out the door, he wouldlose his amily. With a broken heart he

walked out that door. While he wason his mission, his mother asked himto stay longer in the eld because they

were receiving so many blessings. Today Brother Olvera serves as a stakepatriarch.

Truly loving Christ provides therequired strength to ollow Him. The

Followers of Christ Followers of Christ pattern their lives after the Savior to walk in the light.



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Lord Himsel showed this when Heasked Peter three times, “Lovest thoume?” Ater Peter rearmed his love or

Him out loud, the Lord told Peter aboutupcoming diculties. Then the admo-nition came: “Follow me.” The Savior’squestion to Peter can also be asked o us: “Lovest thou me?” ollowed by thecall to action: “Follow me.”8

Love is a powerul infuence in ourhearts in our eort to be obedient.Love or our Savior inspires us to keepHis commandments. Love or a mother,ather, or spouse can also inspire our

obedience to gospel principles. The way we treat others refects to whatextent we ollow our Savior in loving

one another.9

We show our love orHim when we stop to assist others, when we are “perectly honest andupright in all things,”10 and when wemake and keep covenants.

The second characteristic thatollowers o Christ have is making andkeeping covenants, as He did. Moronipointed out that “the shedding o theblood o Christ . . . is in the covenanto the Father unto the remission o

your sins, that ye become holy, with-out spot.”11

The Prophet Joseph Smith taughtthat even beore the organization o this earth, covenants were made inheaven.12 Ancient prophets and patri-archs made covenants.

The Savior Himsel gave theexample. He was baptized to ulll allrighteousness by one with the properauthority. Through His baptism, theSavior witnessed unto the Father thatHe would be obedient in keeping allthe Father’s commandments.13 As indays o old, we also ollow Christ andmake covenants through priesthoodordinances.

Making covenants is somethingthat millions who are not members o our church can add to the very goodthings that they already have. Makingcovenants is an expression o love. Itis a way o saying to Him, “Yes, I willollow Thee because I love Thee.”

Covenants include promises, “even

o lie eternal.”14 All things will worktogether or our good i we rememberour covenants.15 They must be madeand kept to ully receive the promisesthey provide. Love or the Savior andremembering our covenants will helpus keep them. Partaking o the sacra-ment is one way to remember them.16

Another way is to attend the templeoten. I remember a young marriedcouple in South America who wantedto separate because they could not get

along. A priesthood leader counseledthem to attend the temple and payspecic attention to the words andpromises o the covenants made there.

They did so and their marriage wassaved. The power o our covenants isgreater than any challenge we ace or

we may ace. To those members who are not

active in the gospel, please come back.Feel the blessing o remembering and



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By Elder Kent F. RichardsOf the Seventy

As a surgeon, I ound that asignicant portion o myproessional time was taken

up with the subject o pain. O neces-sity I surgically inficted it almost daily—and much o my eort was then spenttrying to control and alleviate pain.

I have pondered about the purpose

o pain. None o us is immune romexperiencing pain. I have seen peoplecope with it very dierently. Someturn away rom God in anger, and oth-ers allow their suering to bring themcloser to God.

Like you, I have experienced painmysel. Pain is a gauge o the healingprocess. It oten teaches us patience.Perhaps that is why we use the term patient in reerring to the sick.

Elder Orson F. Whitney wrote: “No

pain that we suer, no trial that weexperience is wasted. It ministers toour education, to the development o such qualities as patience, aith, or-titude, and humility. . . . It is throughsorrow and suering, toil and tribula-tion, that we gain the education that

we come here to acquire.”1

Similarly, Elder Robert D. Haleshas said:

“Pain brings you to a humility

that allows you to ponder. It is anexperience I am grateul to haveendured. . . .

“I learned that the physical painand the healing o the body ater majorsurgery are remarkably similar to thespiritual pain and the healing o thesoul in the process o repentance.”2

Much o our suering is notnecessarily our ault. Unexpectedevents, contradicting or disappointingcircumstances, interrupting illness, andeven death surround us and penetrateour mortal experience. Additionally,

we may suer afictions because o the actions o others.3 Lehi noted that

Jacob had “suered . . . much sorrow,because o the rudeness o [his] breth-ren.”4 Opposition is part o HeavenlyFather’s plan o happiness. We all

encounter enough to bring us to anawareness o our Father’s love and o our need or the Savior’s help.

The Savior is not a silent observer.He Himsel knows personally andinnitely the pain we ace.

“He suereth the pains o all men, yea, the pains o every living creature,both men, women, and children.”5

“Let us thereore come boldly untothe throne o grace, that we may

The Atonement

Covers All PainOur great personal challenge in mortality is to become

“a saint through the atonement of Christ.”

renewing covenants through the sac-rament and temple attendance. Doingso is an expression o love and showsa willingness to be a true ollower o Christ. It will qualiy you to receive allthe promised blessings.

To those who are not members o our church, I invite you to exerciseaith, repent, and qualiy to receive thecovenant o baptism in The Churcho Jesus Christ o Latter-day Saints. Bydoing so, you will show your love toour Heavenly Father and your willing-ness to ollow Christ.

I testiy that we are happier when we ollow the teachings o the gospelo Jesus Christ. As we strive to ollowHim, the blessings o heaven willcome unto us. I know His promises

will be ullled as we make and keepcovenants and become true ollowerso Christ. I testiy o His great loveor each one o us, and I do so in thename o Jesus Christ, amen. ◼

NOTES

1. Moses 7:62.2. John 8:12.3. Isaiah 53:5.4. 2 Corinthians 12:7.5. See 1 Nephi 1:20.6. See Ruth 1:16.7. See Genesis 39:7–9.8. See John 21:15–19.9. See John 13:35.

10. Alma 27:27.11. Moroni 10:33.12. See Teachings of Presidents of the

Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 42; see alsoSpencer W. Kimball, “Be Ye ThereforePerfect” (devotional address, Salt LakeInstitute of Religion, Jan. 10, 1975): “We

made vows, solemn vows, in the heavensbefore we came to this mortal life. . . .

We have made covenants. We made thembefore we accepted our position here onthe earth.”

13. See 2 Nephi 31:5–7.14. Abraham 2:11. See also John A. Widtsoe,

“Temple Worship” (lecture, Assembly Hall,Salt Lake City, Oct. 12, 1920), 10: “Thecovenant gives life to truth; and makespossible the blessings that reward all those

who use knowledge properly.”15. See Doctrine and Covenants 90:24.16. See, for example, 3 Nephi 18:7–11.

2011 04 1040 elder walter f gonzalez eng

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