Come Follow Me

THROUGH OUR TRIALS, GOD CAN MANIFEST HIMSELF IN OUR LIVES (John 9, Christ Heals A Blind Man)

In John 9, when Jesus and His disciples come upon a man who was born blind, His disciples asked,

Master, who did sin, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?

Jesus answered, Neither hath this man sinned, nor his parents: but that the works of God should be made manifest in him.

When we are faced with trials and tribulations that are hard to bear, in looking for an explanation for why these things have come upon us, we can be assured that there is a purpose in the bigger scheme of things and that at least part of that purpose is that “through our challenges, God can manifest Himself in our lives.” (Come Follow Me 2019, April 29-May, John 7-10)

As baptized members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are all covenant sons and daughters of God. What does it mean to be a covenant son or daughter? It means that not only have we made covenants or promises to Him, but He has also made covenants or promises to us. As we have promised to always remember Him, He has promised to always remember us. He is bound to do so, by the Priesthood authority under which the covenant was made. He was bound to do so by the love He felt for each of us as He suffered the Atonement on our behalf:

But Zion said, The Lord hath forsaken me, and my Lord hath forgotten me.

Can a woman forget her sucking child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yea, they may forget, yet will I not forget thee.

Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands; thy walls are continually before me. (Isaiah 49:14-16)

When we experience hardships, troubles, challenges, tribulations in our lives, the Lord is perfectly aware of us and what has befallen us and cares with a love we cannot even begin to comprehend. We can be assured that He is standing next to us, ready to bless us.

When we are on the covenant path, striving to keep the promises we have made to Him, we put ourselves in a position to be able to receive His blessings. We can put our faith and trust in Him, fully expecting that He will help us as we seek to move forward.

This thought has come to me: When we are on the covenant path, there is always hope, there is always a way, or a path, forward. As we put our trust in the Lord and call upon Him, He will always show us that path and bless us with the strength we need to walk it. The journey we take along that path will prove to be a defining experience in our life—by walking with Him at our side, we will become acquainted with the Him as our minds are enlightened with His guidance and our hearts receive His comfort and our body and spirit receive His strengthening influence. We will learn things we could not have learned in any other way.

Think of Nephi when he was faced with the challenge to build a ship. What did He learn about the Lord from that experience? As he had to depend upon the Lord for every step of building that ship, beginning with learning where he could find ore for the tools he would need and getting help to recruit his brothers’ support, he learned day by day and week by week that the Lord was there to give him answers and resources and skills that were needed to accomplish the task:

The Lord had said to Nephi: And I will also be your light in the wilderness; and I will prepare the way before you, if it so be that ye shall keep my commandments; wherefore, inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land; and ye shall know that it is by me that ye are led. (1 Nephi 17:13)

We have the same promises from the Lord as Nephi did. He will lead us through our wildernesses and prepare the way before us if we keep His commandments. Indeed, He will lead us to our promised land which is salvation and exaltation in His Kingdom.

Only the Lord knows what He wants of us. Only He can guide us to do it. It may not be in the way of the world that He guides us (see 1 Nephi 18:2), but it will be in the way that He has prepared for us, in order for us to learn what He wants us to learn.

Truly, through our trials, God will manifest Himself to us, and in that way, those trials will become blessings in our lives.

We Were There

WE WERE THERE

Today in Sacrament meeting I had a thought come to me that I had never thought in just that way before.

We were there. Each one of us was there when Christ suffered the Atoning Sacrifice. Each of us was part of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Then I tied that thought to other truths I have contemplated many times before:

He suffered for each of us, one by one, in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the Cross of Calvary.

He suffered for our sins, but not only for our sins. He also suffered all that we individually would suffer during our mortal experience—our pains, sicknesses, trials, tragedies, injuries, mistakes, accidents, doubts, fears, disappointments, sadness, sorrow, grief, anxiety, despair, depression, shame, regret, heartache, injustice, abuse, separation, loneliness --and he suffered these for each one of us individually, exactly as each of us would suffer them, from our unique perspective, given all our strengths and weaknesses, given all the givens from our individual life experiences, good and bad.

And as He did so, He was aware of each one of us, individually. He was mindful of us, but more than aware, more than mindful. He actually saw us (see Mosiah 15:10, Isaiah 53:10). With the perfect omniscience and foreknowledge of a God, for He was a God, He beheld each one of us and with all the love He held in His heart for us, He lived our mortal sufferings in just the way we would live them. He experienced what we would experience, He went through what we would go through, He felt what we would feel.

Why did He do this?

He suffered for our sins to satisfy the demands of justice by paying our debt to justice for us so that He could apply mercy on our behalf and forgive us when we repent, forgive us of our sins, cleanse us from our sins, and remember our sins no more.

He suffered all that we would suffer so that He would understand perfectly according to the flesh how to succor us when we needed help. He suffered all that we would suffer so that He would understand us perfectly when we stand before Him to be judged according to our works and the desires of our hearts at the last day.

I believe that as we receive the ordinances and covenants of the gospel “one by one,” and as we partake of the Sacrament to renew those covenants each week “one by one,” the act of doing so “one by one” is symbolic of Christ suffering the Atonement on behalf of each of us “one by one.”

The Atonement of Jesus Christ was infinite in its scope. As Elder Bruce R. McConkie wrote, “Its effects cover all men, the earth itself and all forms of life hereon, and reach[es] out into the endless expanses of eternity.” The Atonement is also intimate in its effect in that it reaches out and embraces every being who ever lived or will yet live on the earth, “one by one.”

See Mosiah 14 and 15 (Isaiah 53), Alma 7:11-12

While serving in the Presidency of the Seventy, Elder Merrill J. Bateman taught that the Atonement was an intimate, personal experience through which Jesus Christ came to know perfectly how to help each of us:

“For many years I thought of the Savior’s experience in the garden and on the cross as places where a large mass of sin was heaped upon Him. Through the words of Alma, Abinadi, Isaiah, and other prophets, however, my view has changed. Instead of an impersonal mass of sin, there was a long line of people, as Jesus felt ‘our infirmities’ (Hebrews 4:15), ‘[bore] our griefs, … carried our sorrows … [and] was bruised for our iniquities’ (Isaiah 53:4–5). …

“The Pearl of Great Price teaches that Moses was shown all the inhabitants of the earth, which were ‘numberless as the sand upon the sea shore’ (Moses 1:28). If Moses beheld every soul, then it seems reasonable that the Creator of the universe has the power to become intimately acquainted with each of us. He learned about your weaknesses and mine. He experienced your pains and sufferings. He experienced mine. I testify that He knows us. He understands the way in which we deal with temptations. He knows our weaknesses. But more than that, more than just knowing us, He knows how to help us if we come to Him in faith” (“A Pattern for All,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2005, 75–76).

Read Mosiah 15:10–12 and the following statement by Elder Merrill J. Bateman, an emeritus member of the Seventy:

“The prophet Abinadi … states that ‘when his soul has been made an offering for sin he shall see his seed’ (Mosiah 15:10). Abinadi then identifies the Savior’s seed as the prophets and those who follow them. For many years I thought of the Savior’s experience in the garden and on the cross as places where a large mass of sin was heaped upon Him. Through the words of Alma, Abinadi, Isaiah, and other prophets, however, my view has changed. Instead of an impersonal mass of sin, there was a long line of people, as Jesus felt ‘our infirmities’ (Hebrews 4:15), ‘[bore] our griefs, … carried our sorrows … [and] was bruised for our iniquities’ (Isaiah 53:4–5).

“The Atonement was an intimate, personal experience in which Jesus came to know how to help each of us” (“A Pattern for All,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2005, 75–76).

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles taught concerning the Savior’s mortal experiences: “There is no physical pain, no anguish of soul, no suffering of spirit, no infirmity or weakness that you or I ever experience during our mortal journey that the Savior did not experience first. You and I in a moment of weakness may cry out, ‘No one understands. No one knows.’ No human being, perhaps, knows. But the Son of God perfectly knows and understands, for He felt and bore our burdens before we ever did. And because He paid the ultimate price and bore that burden, He has perfect empathy and can extend to us His arm of mercy in so many phases of our life. He can reach out, touch, and succor—literally run to us—and strengthen us to be more than we could ever be and help us to do that which we could never do through relying only upon our own power” (“In the Strength of the Lord” [Brigham Young University devotional, Oct. 23, 2001], 7–8; speeches.byu.edu).

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland wrote of Christ’s compassion and ability to help us: “Christ walked the path every mortal is called to walk so that he would know how to succor and strengthen us in our most difficult times. He knows the deepest and most personal burdens we carry. He knows the most public and poignant pains we bear. He descended below all such grief in order that he might lift us above it. There is no anguish or sorrow or sadness in life that he has not suffered in our behalf and borne away upon his own valiant and compassionate shoulders” (Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 223–24).

Why not just feed us more bread?

After Jesus fed the multitude through multiplying the bread and fishes, they sought him the next day and expected him to give them more food. As I read this morning, I pictured the multitude leaving their homes and going to find Jesus across the sea the next morning. I could envision them saying "Don't worry about packing any food, he'll feed us!" But when they got to him and asked for him to do his mighty works, not-so-subtly asking for him to give them bread again and even reminding him of Moses and how he gave bread daily to the Israelites, he told them that HE was the bread. They were very disappointed, they were probably hungry! Why wouldn't he just feed them again? They thought that was what they needed. But Jesus knew what they really needed, and it wasn't free food. They needed HIM.

When he explained that HE was the bread of life, and they needed to eat his flesh and drink his blood in order to never hunger or thirst again, they were offended. I'm sure that sounded absolutely wrong and went against everything they knew. What in the world was he talking about? That would be an abomination! Many followers left him then. They couldn't get past their limited perception of who he was and what they understood. But the disciples had the faith to stay, even though they didn't understand exactly what he was teaching. They trusted him. Of course we know now that Jesus was talking about taking the sacrament, not literally eating his flesh and blood, but they didn't know that then! But they knew what they knew, they knew what they had seen and felt, and they chose to doubt their doubts before doubting their faith.

I want to remember this story when I think about things in the gospel or our church history that I don't understand. I want to trust that Christ knows what he is doing and knows what he is talking about, even though it doesn't make sense to my mortal mind. I love that the Come Follow Me Manual is helping me to really dig into the stories of Christ's life and apply them to my life today.

Jesus Feeding the 5000+

I wanted to share with you guys some thoughts I had as I read in the Come Follow Me manual this morning about the miracle of feeding the 5000. When I read in Matthew 14:16 "But Jesus said unto them, They need not depart; give ye them to eat" my gut reaction was to feel overwhelmed, like when I think about all the people in our ward who need rides to church and how few people seem to be willing to take them. Or when I think about all the sisters in our ward with real struggles and needs who need love and support and dedicated ministering sisters but also think of the load that each sister already carries and how it's hard to ask ministering sisters to do more. I think the apostles may have had similar feelings. In John 6:9 one of the apostles tells Jesus: There is a lad here, which hath five barley loaves, and two small fishes: but what are they among so many? I'm sure we can all relate to that. I often feel like I have so little to offer and the needs are so great. But Christ made those 5 loaves and 2 fishes MORE than enough to feed all the multitude. I know that whatever we have to give, he will make it more than enough! We don't need to apologize that we don't have more to give, just offer it with faith and watch the Lord work miracles with it. I love this story and the comfort it gives me.

My Modern Parable

I wrote a modern parable this morning and thought I'd share it with all of you☺:

Each member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is likened unto an iphone, which when it is disconnected from the power source may function for a while, but by and by it will plunge into darkness and there will be weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth. But if the phone is reconnected to the power source, it will again become light and be filled with power to do many good things. If the phone is connected continuously to a portable charger, the phone can continue in brightness. The screen may go to sleep, but can quickly power up whenever the need arises.

This is the meaning of the parable. The power source is the power of God. In order to connect to the source, members read and ponder the word of God, attend church and other meetings, participate in Family History and Temple Work, pray with faith and real intent, and keep the commandments of God. When they do these things, they retain their brightness and are filled with power to do many good things. The portable charger represents the continuous source of power available to each Saint as they do these things; the power will not fail, and they are promised that the Spirit will always be with them and will help them. The phone that loses it's charge represents a member who has neglected the spiritual practices mentioned above. But the power source is still there, and when the member reconnects to that source, the light and power of that member will return, and there will be great rejoicing.

Now I want to hear your parables!

Master the Tempest Is Raging--The Story of Grandpa Simmons in the Battle of the Coral Sea

My father, Wayne Simmons, was a Machinist Mate 2^nd Class on the Oil Tanker USS Neosho after the attack on Pearl Harbor. His ship was the only oil tanker in the mid-Pacific Ocean and was very important because it carried 140,000 barrels of fuel and it was the only ship that could refuel the warships.

In May of 1942 the Neosho was in the area of the Battle of the Coral Sea. She was ordered to a safer area and was given an escort, the destroyer USS Sims, to protect them.

On May 7, 1942 the Neosho and Sims got in trouble even though they were 200 miles from the action of the battle. Because of her flat top, the Japanese thought the Neosho was an aircraft carrier and that the Sims was a cruiser. Both ships were attacked by Japanese dive bombers. The Sims exploded and was sunk and only 15 men out of their crew of 257 men were saved. The Neosho was hit by seven bombs and a suicide plane crashed into her. The ship was on fire and listing (or tipping) badly. Many sailors were killed or wounded onboard, others jumped overboard and were drowned.

Here is an account I found online that tells us something about what Grandpa Simmons did:

http://www.delsjourney.com/uss_neosho/coral_sea/neosho_at_coral_sea/may_07_1942.htm

CHAOS ON A BURNING SHIP

For every coward, there were 20 heroes that day. Even among those who panicked, the main reason seemed to be the dreadful shock of seeing Sims explode before their eyes.

Machinist’s Mate 2^nd Class, Wayne Simmons, was in the engine room when one bomb exploded nearby, covering the others with oil from head to toe, and blinding them so they could not see. He helped them out of the engine room, then manned valves that kept the ship going during the dreadful moments before all power was cut off.

From the USS Neosho Action Report of May 25, 1942:

SIMMONS, Wayne, 368 41 71, Machinists Mate Second Class, U.S. Navy: - One of the bombs exploded adjacent to a large fuel oil tank located over the forward part of the engine room. The explosions ruptured the bottom of the fuel oil tank directly over the two main feed pumps covering two men on watch with fuel oil so badly that they could no longer see. They staggered away from the pumps and were assisted out of the engine room [by SIMMONS]. Without orders, SIMMONS shifted from his battle station…, and took over throttle operation of the operating feed pump in order that water supply to boilers would not be impaired. In spite of heavy black oil smoke filling the space, SIMMONS remained at the operating feed pump throttle station until a bomb explosion in the fireroom ruptured steam lines and cut off steam supply to all machinery.

SIMMONS's quick action, fearlessness, courage, and devotion to duty resulted in the maintenance of feed water supply to all of the ship's boilers then steaming under full power conditions right up to the moment when the bomb explosion in the fireroom totally disabled the boilers and main steam lines.

He is recommended for the highest commendation possible, and advancement to Machinists Mate First Class.

Battle of Coral Sea: USS Neosho (AO-23) Action Report

www.ibiblio.org/hyperwar/USN/ships/logs/AO/ao23-Coral.html

As I recall from what he told us, Grandpa said that he was covered with oil, too, but when their commander told them to go upstairs to clean up, Grandpa volunteered to stay down in the engine room to keep the boilers going so the engines wouldn’t stop, leaving them dead in the water. As the report above states, the room was filled with heavy black oil smoke. Left all alone, you can imagine how scared he was. He said that he just kept singing Master the Tempest Is Raging over and over again to keep up his courage.

He told us that a bomb went through the shower room and killed everyone in there. If he had not stayed behind, he would have been killed.

After a bomb exploded in the fireroom, rupturing the steam lines and cutting the electricity so that the engines could no longer run, Grandpa went up on deck. I don’t know how or if he was able to get cleaned up, but I remember him telling about helping to launch the lifeboats and how hard that was because the ship was leaning so heavily. He said that a crowbar fell from above him and was a fraction of an inch from hitting him, which would have undoubtedly killed him.

Since the ship was on fire and listing so heavily, it was thought that it could explode at any moment or sink at any time, so all the men were ordered off the ship into what one account says were shark infested waters. Grandpa didn’t say anything about sharks, but he said that since he wasn’t wounded, he stayed in the water and helped lift the burned and wounded men into the lifeboats and rafts. Pretty soon they were overloaded, but they put as many men as they could in each boat.

He was in the water for at least 4 or 5 hours before they decided that it would be safe to get back on the ship. Grandpa told us that they were all hungry, so they went to the galley and found lots and lots of ice cream in the freezers. Well, they couldn’t just let it melt, could they? So, of course, they ate it all up!

It was four days before a destroyer, the USS Henley, found and rescued the crew. She fired torpedoes and shells to sink the Neosho and keep the Japanese from getting her.

During all that time all of the life boars drifted away without water, food or shelter. After nine days, they were found, but only four men were still alive. Two of them passed away, so there were only two survivors from the rafts. Out of 293 crew members, 182 men from the Neosho were killed, most of them dying on the rafts. Only 111 crew members were saved. We are all blessed that Grandpa Simmons was one of them!

Wayne Simmons, Machinist Mate 2^nd Class received a Silver Star medal for bravery for doing everything he could under terrifying conditions to keep the engines running after the attack. We are so proud of him and so thankful that the Lord protected him that day so long ago.

Grandpa Simmons probably saw his ship burn from the deck of the USS Henley. Reports said that many of the sailors wept as they saw their ship go down.
From: https://pearlharbor.org/uss-neosho-oiler-pearl-harbor/

Neosho is burning after an attack by Imperial Japanese Navy dive bombers on 7 May 1942 during the Battle of the Coral Sea.

Peace, Be Still--A Story from My Childhood

WHEN HEAVENLY FATHER TOOK MY FEAR AWAY

(Matthew 8:23-27; Mark 4:35-41)

When I was nine years old, my brother and I were in our bunk bed in the back bedroom of the Quonset hut goofing off after the babysitter made us go to bed.

Frosty called out from the bottom bunk, “Let’s see who can hold their breath the longest.”

“Ok!” I laughed from the top bunk. I immediately sucked in as much air as I could and held my breath until I thought I would burst.

I don’t remember who did it the longest, but I think we tried several times and after one of those times, I felt really light-headed and may have been close to passing out. That feeling scared me. I became alarmed and thought, “What if I die?”

Mom and Dad were gone and I didn’t want to tell the babysitter what happened, so I kept my question inside and didn’t say anything to anybody.

The next night as I was close to drifting off to sleep, I felt that same feeling I had when I held my breath too long. Suddenly I became afraid again. What if I died in my sleep?

I don’t remember how long I worried about this before telling my mother, but when I finally did, no matter what she said to reassure me, it didn’t work. I just felt scared and I couldn’t shake it off.

This went on for several weeks. Every night my mother would come talk to me. She would sing songs. She would tell stories. She would pray for me. She would tell me about how much Heavenly Father loved me and that I didn’t need to be scared to die. But nothing helped.

Pretty soon I began thinking about this during the daytime, too, when I wasn’t doing anything else. On the school bus I would stare out the window and wonder if I would die before the next day. At recess I began worrying about it and wouldn’t play with my friends. It was becoming a BIG problem.

Finally one night I went to my mother and said I needed help. I was scared all of the time. She knew I was right, but in those days there weren’t doctors or psychologists where we lived who understood about anxiety who could help me and the only thing mother knew to do was turn to Heavenly Father.

She told me that she had been praying for me, but now she thought I needed to go to Heavenly Father myself and ask Him to help me. She told me that Heavenly Father loved me and that He would hear and answer my prayer.

I went into my room and knelt by the bottom bunk, folded my arms, and started to pray. I told Heavenly Father all about being scared every night before I went to sleep and that now I was even scared during the day. I told Him that nothing my mother did was helping me, so I needed His help. I asked Him to take the fear away.

Right there, while I was kneeling in prayer, a warm, loving, peaceful feeling went through my body. I felt the fear leave. I wasn’t afraid anymore! And I never had that fear again.

I knew that Heavenly Father had heard my prayer and taken the fear away from me.

Now I look back on more than 60 years of prayers since that sweet experience and I can say with all my heart that Heavenly Father does know us. He knows our thoughts and our fears and our troubles. And he has given us the wonderful gift of prayer to be able to talk to him and ask for His help. Even if we are little children, it doesn’t matter, He is always there and He will always hear and answer our prayers.