I have felt impressed to share with you today an experience I had this summer with a group of young men from my ward on a backpacking trip to the Philmont Scout Ranch in the mountains of New Mexico. On our first day we met with an LDS Chaplain who gave one of our boys a small kit so as to administer the sacrament on the Sunday that we were there. Special permission is granted from the church for this experience and the boys treated the opportunity with great respect. It happened to be the first time my son was able to perform this ordinance having just been ordained a priest the Sunday prior to the trip. As he knelt in the dirt in front of a rock altar and clearly and distinctly read the words of the prayer, I had the thought, "these young men truly are ordained to the priesthood of God." As he spoke the promise that the Lord's spirit be with us always I felt its presence burn in my heart and edify my soul. Each night we gathered together and reviewed the good, the bad and what we looked forward to doing next. On one of these nights we discussed in detail what it means to feel, recognize and follow the Holy Spirit. Each of the boys shared experiences when they had felt the spirit. It was one of those priceless moments when rejoiced together in love and unity.
Two days later we found ourselves hiking to the top of a mountain. The trail was hard, rocky and straight up to the top. We leaders arrived at the top tired and a bit grumpy for the bad trail. A short time later, we went down the steep hill, crossed a dirt road and descended into a gully. After a short while, we lost the trail. After searching for a while we consulted the map. Finding a few landmarks on the map, thinking we knew where we were, we pushed through the forest searching for a nearby trail that should have been on the other side of a gully. It was hard steep hiking and after not finding the trail where we anticipated, we decided to stop and rest. My son and I went off without packs, looking for the way to go but could not find the trail where we thought it should have been. Returning to the group, I received the distinct impression, "We need to pray."
We gathered the boys together and one of them was asked to pray. Just as he began to say the opening words of the prayer, the spirit descended on us. We all felt a distinct calmness. We then sat down again with the maps and decided to go back up the ridge, thinking that if we went further we would find the trail. I was nearly jubilant as we hiked along, knowing for sure that we been guided in our thoughts and would find the trail in a few minutes, and we did. We quickly gathered and offered up a prayer of gratitude. After a quick break, we headed down the trail again. After a short distance we came to the same dirt road we had crossed before but at a different spot. There was a sign clearly showing that we should have been going the opposite direction. Again, we pulled out the map it now became clear that we never had pinpointed our location on the map accurately. We were on a different ridge than previously thought and had traversed a different gully. Knowing what we now knew, I realized that we went the only direction that would allow us to find the way again. Had we gone any other way, we would not have hit a trail for a very long time. I was humbled and nearly overcome with gratitude for the Lord who showed us the right way.
Brothers and Sisters, when we are on paths of our own making, we are going the wrong way. There is only one path to our Heavenly Home, it is the Lord's.
To Thomas, He declared, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me" (John 14:6).
There will be voices that will try to take you off of His path. One may say, "I don't fit in since I don't have pioneer ancestors," or "None of the twelve apostles have the same skin color that I do." The Lord himself was prophesied to come specifically from the house of Israel and be of the royal blood of David. His lineage was very carefully outlined in the scriptures through both Mary and Joseph. That said, David himself had a great grandmother, Ruth, who was not from the house of Israel, but was adopted in. Even though Jesus clearly taught, "I am not sent but unto the lost sheep of the house of Israel," it was to the woman at the well, a Samaritan, that he declared himself to be the Christ, the prophesied Messiah. As risen Lord he appeared to the Nephites and testified that he was not just the God of Israel but the God of the whole world. (3 Nephi 11:14) There is room for all of us on His path.
All of us at times have strayed from the path due to sin, which for some has led to captivating addiction. The church has organized an addiction recovery program to help those with addiction find their way back to the path. I have learned of the love that the Savior has for those who have had the courage to face their demons and know that He will be with them every step of their way back to recovery. If you have struggled with the shackles of addiction, seek out medical assistance, talk to your bishop, attend the recovery meetings. Go to the Lord in prayer. Help is available, the Savior will be there for you.
It is easy to look to the path and see others and assume all is well with them and that we don't measure up. For some it may be the lack of the "complete family unit" that makes one feel that they don't belong. The Lord through his prophets has defined the ideal family unit to include a father and a mother with children in the home. That said, the Lord is well aware of those whose family may be incomplete. It is not a coincidence that he himself was born to a mother out of wedlock, this during a time when such an act was unheard of. As he hung on the cross, he thought of his family. He gave charge to care for his mother to his trusted disciple but there is no mention of a spouse or children. Are we to assume that the Savior of the world could not reach the highest degree of the Celestial Kingdom due to not being sealed for all time and eternity while in mortality? Of course not. There is time in the next life to complete, mend and heal all of our families.
Whether we get off course through sin, distraction, disobedience or simple weakness, we have all strayed. It does not matter where we are on the path but what direction we are going. President Uchtdorf taught us, “God will take you as you are at this very moment and begin to work with you. All you need is a willing heart, a desire to believe and trust in the Lord...Exaltation is our goal; discipleship is our journey. As you exercise a little faith and begin your walk as a peaceable follower of our Lord Jesus Christ, your heart will change. God will help you become something greater than you ever thought possible.” (“It Works Wonderfully” Oct GC 2015)
So if faith leads us to the path, repentance enables us to proceed in the right direction. Consider the Lamanite King who in the Book of Mormon who was being taught of the gospel plan by Aaron. He inquired, "What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy." In his mind, the greatest thing he could give God was all that he possessed. After Aaron taught him to pray for forgiveness, the King's plea changed, saying, "I will give away all my sins to know thee." (Alma 22: 16, 18)
We show the Lord our commitment to walk in his way through the gospel ordinances. This is the doctrine of Christ. Nephi taught that baptism is the gate that leads to the straight and narrow path. He also cautioned that there is more to do than merely entering through the gate by saying, “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.” (2 Nephi 31:30)
Pressing forward is not circling through the woods and hoping we find the path. I can tell you from experience, that does not work. We must press forward in Christ. It was after we had bowed our heads in prayer that we then knew what direction to take, even if, as it turns out, we didn’t quite know where we were at the time. We have all felt at times that we are merely going through the motions, ambling through the woods. At other times we feel we are trapped in briars or are stuck in a ravine and can’t get out. There will be times in our lives when the burdens we carry are too heavy to bear. We must turn to the Lord. Alone we will fail every time.
“Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,” invites the Lord, “and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)
If we are yoked with the Savior through the ordinance of baptism whereby we enter into his path, may I suggest that our needed course corrections occur as we partake of the sacrament each week? Whether we be on a mountain high or administered to by the young men of the Aaronic Priesthood right in our own chapel, this is the process whereby we learn to submit our will to the Father. This is how we learn to get off of our own path and on to the master’s. Consider the experience of Nephi, as I was recently taught by Brother Logan Jardine who will speak to us in a few minutes. When Nephi was asked to go get the brass plates, he famously declared, "I will go and do the things which the Lord has commanded for I know that the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men save He shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them" (1 Nephi 3:7) Nephi then made two attempts to procure the plates and failed each time. On his third attempt he submitted his will to the Father, saying, "I was led by the spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do." (1 Nephi 4:6) Relying wholly on the Lord, he was able to carry out his assignment and return safely to his family.
His message had a profound influence on me and was a potent reminder that I need to always be on the Lord's path, not my own. Too often I figure I know best and start thrashing through the underbrush in an unmarked forest.
In our recent General Conference, Sister Neill F. Marriott of the General Young Women's Presidency declared, "I have struggled to banish the mortal desire to have things my way, eventually realizing that my way is oh so lacking, limited, and inferior to the way of Jesus Christ. “His way is the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.” Can we love Jesus Christ and His way more than we love ourselves and our own agenda?" ("Yielding Our Hearts to God," Oct GC 2015)
On the trail, one of my favorite scriptures came to my mind in a new light.
"Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths" (Proverbs 3:5-6).
When we are on the Lord's path our outlook changes from inward to outward. Once we have tasted of the Lord's love for us individually, we are filled with a desire to share it with those around us. The miracle of it all occurs when we help lift the burden of another only to find that our own burdens have lessened even more.
Consider the words from one our stake's returned missionaries, Sister Megan Garner, who was recently serving in Mexico. "I know that this is where I'm supposed to be and the Lord needs me to be a missionary right now. Every night I come home and take off my shoes and it is the best feeling. Being exhausted after a day is such a good feeling because you know you worked really hard. Yes, it can get very discouraging here, but the Lord makes it work and helps me to be happy when I am down. I know He is there for EVERYONE in the world" (Sister Megan Garner, Mexico City Southeast Mission, July 2015).
The great Book of Mormon missionary, Ammon, expressed his joy in being led by the Lord saying, "And this is the blessing which hath been bestowed upon us, that we have been made instruments in the hands of God to bring about this great work" (Alma 26:3).
Concluding with the words of Nephi, "And now, behold, my beloved brethren, this is the way; and there is none other way nor name given under heaven whereby man can be saved in the kingdom of God. And now, behold, this is the doctrine of Christ, and the only and true doctrine of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost, which is one God, without end. Amen" (2 Nephi 31:32).
