Come with me if you will to the year 23 B.C. A prophet named Nephi, the son of Helaman, is standing alone in a street in Zarahemla. He has just experienced a difficult preceding 24 hours. In fact he has had a difficult preceding several years. As you may remember, in the 69th year of the reign of the judges among the people of Nephi, the Nephite nation has become wicked. They have embraced the Gadianton Robbers and their traditions. The Lamanites for their part are the more righteous and have actually hunted down and eliminated the Gadianton band from among them.
Nephi has spent the last years of his life on a mission to the Nephite nation in the “land northward” and returned home because the scripture tells us “they did reject all his words insomuch that he could not stay among them….” I believe this is a nice way of saying he had a difficult mission. As you may recall, Nephi knelt on a tower in his garden to offer up his prayers to God in behalf of his wicked Nephite brethren. His garden was on the road that led to the principal market in Zarahemla; this prayer sets in motion a series of events that ended with Nephi being arrested, taken and bound and charged with conspiracy to kill the Chief Judge Zeezoram. He was put on trial for his very life. Through a serious of revelations and divine help, Nephi and others are exonerated and set free. And we find Nephi abandoned by the crowds and alone. The scripture tells us he then starts for home alone, pondering the things he has just experienced. Nephi then receives a wonderful revelation as he walks and exceptional promises from the Lord. These blessings end with a new mission call. Helaman 10:11 “and now behold I command you, that ye shall go and declare until this people …except ye repent ye shall be smitten even unto destruction.” The following lines tell us everything about Nephi and set the bar for all who would be disciples of Jesus Christ. If any missionary deserved a little time to rest between missions, it was Nephi. Helaman 10:12 says “And behold, now it came to pass that when the Lord had spoken these words unto Nephi, he did stop and did not go unto his own house, but did return unto the multitudes…and began to declare unto them the word of the Lord….” Nephi stopped and returned to serve his Father in Heaven.
Some 35 years later we find the young Jesus in the temple in Jerusalem. His parents have searched for three days for him and there is concern in their greeting when they find him. Jesus responds, “How is it that ye sought me? Wist ye not that I must be about my Father’s business?” Our Father’s business was clearly articulated by several of the General Authorties of the Church two weeks ago in General Conference as the quoted Moses 1:39 in which the Lord God states “For behold, this is my work and my glory – to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”
Our Lord Jesus Christ has laid the foundation by which we can take advantage of the marvelous gift of immortality and obtain eternal life. Our principal task in this life is to point ourselves, our families, our friends and neighbors and even our kindred dead to Christ’s life, teachings, atonement and resurrection that we might be worthy of returning to his presence and that of our Father.
Elder Jeffrey Holland in October 2006 General Conference quoted from President Brigham Young’s conference address in 1856 when he told the saints to “go and bring in those saints who are on the plains” and facing the snows of the high country in Wyoming in winter time. Elder Holland went on to say that “As surely as the rescue of those in need was the general conference theme of October 1856, so too is it the theme of this conference and last conference and the one to come next spring.” Our lives should be dedicated to the rescue of others. We are a covenant people. We have just now as a congregation renewed our covenants with Christ to take upon us his name, to keep his commandants and to follow him. As Elder Holland noted, we are to follow him to the rescue of our fellowman.
Sometimes that rescue is temporal in nature just as it was in 1856. In late August of this year a massive hurricane named Irene swept up the eastern seaboard of the United States. We thankfully were spared much impact from this storm here in Loudoun County, but other parts of our country were severely damaged. There is a beautiful town called Paterson, New Jersey, not far from Manhattan. The Passaic River surrounds Paterson on three sides. In some places the river is quite wide and deep and other places it forms large waterfalls in the town. The night of 28 August, this river overflowed and flooded significant parts of the town. Basements were filled with water up to the ceilings, cars floated in parking lots and in the streets and merchandise floated in the aisles in the stores.
There is a branch of the Church of Jesus Christ and a lovely chapel in Paterson. The chapel had no damage and none of the members of this branch experienced any damage from the wind and water brought by Irene. We have a daughter and son in law who attend this branch. It would have been very easy for these saints to have continued with their lives and Sunday worship as there had been no impact in their lives. An inspired Branch President with the support from an inspired Mission President, President Jon Jeppson, who happens to have been my Bishop and Stake President years ago in SLC, decided to help the men and women of Paterson begin to rebuild. For five weeks, every Saturday and Sunday from 0800 to 500 Pm, the saints gathered and divided into work teams and went out to help. Even on Sunday morning, the members gathered at the chapel, partook of the Sacrament and then headed out to work. Missionaries always helped and on at least three occasions, President Jeppson sent all 200 of his missionaries to assist. They carried sodden furniture from basements, tore up wet carpet and wooden floors, and cleaned debris. The head of the U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) told the branch president that the Church of Jesus Christ had carried out 90 percent of the clean up in Paterson NJ in the wake of the hurricane. I have not read about this effort yet in the Church News. Probably because they do not a sister Rona Scott in that mission or District. I am certain that the good people of Paterson NJ would not consider the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints to be a cult and would believe profoundly that it is a Christian religion that helps others.
In a seminal talk on the Welfare program and providing in the Lord’s way, delivered in the Priesthood Session of this past conference, President Dieter Uchtdorf counseled us that “In the end you must do in your area what disciples of Christ have done in every dispensation: counsel together, use all resources available, seek the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, ask the Lord for His confirmation, and then roll up your sleeves and go to work.”
Just as the prophet Nephi and the saints in Paterson NJ recently did, we are to “roll up our sleeves and go to work.” Our rescue efforts also include spiritual rescue. I am aware of and in awe of the constant service members of our ward render to one another. I know of much of this service, but also realize that there is much of which I am not aware. When I meet with President Palmer or brother Baldwin or Sister Baldwin I learn of blessings given, spiritual counsel provided and love shared of which I was unaware. We are doing much but there is more we need to do, especially as home teachers and visiting teachers.
I learned the powerful value of home teaching many years ago and from an unexpected source. My beautiful wife and I and our little family were assigned to a diplomatic position in the U.S. embassy in Peru. My home teaching companion, brother Jose Lozano de los Santos was a wonderful man, but he and I had very different backgrounds. The Lozano family lived in probably the most humble conditions I had seen for someone who actually had an abode to call home. In our ward, the Montericco ward in Lima, was a portion of the Panamerican Highway. Running alongside the highway was a small stream or actually an open sewer. This dear family had carved several holes back into the bank and then placed corrugated tin across the top of the openings to form a roof. They had a single light bulb handing from this tin roof to provide light. I remember they had a picture from the Liahona of the Lima Temple thumb tacked into the dirt wall of their little house.
If I had been asked at that time which of us was the senior companion, which of us was to teach the other about home teaching I am certain I would have seen myself in that role. While Brother Lozano had been in the Church just a few years and had a limited understanding of the doctrine and an even more limited understanding of Church administration, I had had the privilege of being born in SLC under the covenant. I had attended Primary, Sunday School, Mutual, graduated from Seminary. I had served a full time mission, married my sweetheart in the temple and was a high priest serving in the bishopric of this Ward. Where brother Lozano had a very limited education and could barely read, I had graduated from two universities and had a law degree. In fact I remember being somewhat proud of myself for “sacrificing” even to go home teaching. Not because of the humble circumstances of my dear companion, but because of the situation in Peru. In the mid 1980’s Peru was gripped by an extremely violent Maoist terrorist organization known as Shinning Path (Sendero Luminoso). This group targeted all foreigners in the country for death and hunted U.S. diplomats among others. I was proud of myself just to drive off the Panamerican Highway and down a dirt road and park in total blackness in the weeds. I then had to walk down through the weeds and bulrushes along the stream to pick up my companion all the while foolishly believing I was making a great sacrifice.
On one of our very first home teaching visits we met with an inactive family. At the close of our visit and brief message, my companion leaned forward on this sofa and calling the father of the family by name, said “the Lord wants you and your family to return to Church.” He then went on and said, “I am a poor man and do not have a car, but Brother Wride here has several and I am sure he would come and get you and your family next Sunday to come to Church." My initial thought was that we were pushing too quickly since this family did not know us and I was afraid that we would offend. My second thought was that “Hey, I am a busy man and have Bishopric meetings on Sunday morning to attend.” Before I could say anything however, the brother indicated that if I would come to their house on Sunday, they might come to Church. I went to their house the following Sunday and they came with me to Church. I never went back again on a Sunday morning to bring this family to Church. I did not have to. They came by themselves and quickly resumed full activity in the Church enjoying all the benefits of the Gospel in their lives.
I assure you that I never considered Brother Lozano to be my junior companion again. He taught me that when involved in our Fathers work and the work of rescuing our brothers and sisters, it matters very little that we have deep understanding of the doctrine or details on how the Church is administered. What does matter is an ability to listen to the Spirit and then to act on the whispering or prompting of the Holy Ghost.
Since being called as Bishop I have met with many of you and gotten to know you well. There still are many more that I need to get to know better. From my experience I have learned that there is a great deal of joy in most every life. I have also learned that even then, many if not all deal with some level of disappointment, anxiety, doubt, pain and trials. Sometimes the pain is deep and intense even if we do not show it to others. We all need someone, a home teacher or visiting teacher to stand by us, to put an arm around us and provide encouragement to look with faith to Jesus Christ and his atonement to help deal with life’s challenges. May we all remember our covenants to Christ to help rescure our fellowman, to be willing as the prophet Nephi in Zarahemla to stop and return to work. May we be willing as the Saints in Paterson NJ or my home teaching companion to serve and rescue. May we follow President Uchtdorf’s admonition to “roll up our sleeves and go to work” is my prayer. I know that God lives and that his son Jesus is the Christ and Messiah, the savior of all mankind. In the name of Jesus Christ