Baptism of Fire

This past weekend we witnessed the 194th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The culmination of the weekend came in the closing remarks of President Russell M. Nelson as he announced fifteen more new temples. That brings the total number of temples either in planning, announced, under construction and actively operating to 350 worldwide. It is a remarkable temple building era in which we find ourselves, and we are witnessing the fulfillment of these promised blessings in a dramatic demonstration of the power of the covenant of the gospel's restoration. 

In discussing my impressions of the weekend with others in my family, I have been struck with the memory of three significant teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith:

Teaching1: “Baptism is a holy ordinance preparatory to the reception of the Holy Ghost; it is the channel and key by which the Holy Ghost will be administered.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, pp. 95-96).

Teaching 2: “You might as well baptize a bag of sand as a man, if not done in view of the remission of sins and getting of the Holy Ghost. Baptism by water is but half a baptism, and is good for nothing without the other half — that is, the baptism of the Holy Ghost.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 95).

Teaching 3: “The baptism of water, without the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost attending it, is of no use. They are necessarily and inseparably connected.” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, p. 90).

The scriptures from which Joseph no doubt reached his conclusions include:

Nephi declared, “For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and baptism by water; and then cometh a remission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.” (2 Nephi 31:27).

The Savior Himself proclaimed, “Now this is the commandment: Repent, all ye ends of the earth, and come unto me and be baptized in my name, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.” (3 Nephi 27:20).

As I discussed my impressions with one member of the family, they made the comment that they didn't think they had ever had the "baptism of fire" in their life, and asked me if I had. I responded that I had, and I believed he had too. It is the natural outgrowth of a life lived in the path of discipleship if we are true and faithful to our covenants. 

I remembered this poignant scripture to illustrate my point: 

"As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in its decreed course, or to turn it up stream, as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down knowledge from heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints." (Doctrine and Covenants 121:33). 

"And ye shall offer for a sacrifice unto me a broken heart and a contrite spirit. And whoso cometh unto me with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, him will I baptize with fire and with the Holy Ghost, even as the Lamanites, because of their faith in me at the time of their conversion, were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and they knew it not." (3 Nephi 9:20).

How is it possible that we can receive the supernal gift of the Holy Ghost "and they knew it not?" I fear it may happen more than we realize. I wonder how many tuned in to General Conference and failed to recognize the powerful spiritual outpouring that was happening. Could it be we "knew it not?" The gift was poured out upon the congregation, both those in attendance in the Conference Center, and those tuning in across the world via satellite transmission. 

President Nelson mentioned this was the 40th year anniversary since he and President Dallin H. Oaks were called to serve as Apostles. Think of the hundreds of addresses they have given since that day!! I am in awe of their longevity and their steadfast discipleship!

In prescribing the duties of elders in his latter-day church, the Lord said, among other things, that they were “to confirm those who are baptized into the church, by the laying on of hands for the baptism of fire and the Holy Ghost, according to the scriptures.” (D&C 20:41).

We have all been made partakers of the gift of the Holy Ghost. Sometimes we forget just how fragile the gift is because we are told it is a "still, small voice" that whispers truth to our souls. It confirms what we believe with an eye of faith. It gives us assurance when we are faltering, wondering if we will ever measure up to our potential as sons and daughters of God. 

The image of likening the Holy Ghost to a baptism of fire is apt. Ask yourselves as you read this entry, "Have I ever felt the all-consuming influence of the Holy Ghost in my life? How did it make me feel? Did it feel like fire? Did my whole soul feel consumed by power? Did I feel a rush of confirming truth in an instant? Did it persist as I listened to a powerful speaker?

One such speaker last weekend for me was President Susan H. Porter, Primary General President, as she spoke to the children about the principles involved in learning how to pray. Her teachings were simple, straight from her heart, and powerful in her conviction. Even the least of the children could feel the power of the Spirit as she taught.

We live in a time of remarkable ongoing revelation from God to us. We witnessed it in rich abundance this past weekend. I felt an unmistakable outpouring of goodness from our leaders. It went down into my heart like fire.

Then I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in his name. But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could not stay. (Jeremiah 20:9).

I invite you to rejoice with me in the reality of our collective baptism of fire in these last days. It is an unmistakable gift of the Father to each of us. I pray we may accept it and embrace it universally.

Jacob the Prophet

Yesterday, I was in the Provo City Center Temple for an endowment session with two of my daughters. I had a name for the proxy ordinance from my family genealogy - the husband of my second cousin, twice removed, who was born in 1896 in Italy. 

I arrived an hour early so I could spend some time reading in The Book of Mormon. I began reading in Jacob 1. He was given the gold plates by his older brother, Nephi, to continue writing his account. I read:

"Wherefore we labored diligently among our people, that we might persuade them to come unto Christ, and partake of the goodness of God, that they might enter into his rest, lest by any means he should swear in his wrath they should not enter in, as in the provocation in the days of temptation while the children of Israel were in the wilderness.

"Wherefore, we would to God that we could persuade all men not to rebel against God, to provoke him to anger, but that all men would believe in Christ, and view his death, and suffer his cross and bear the shame of the world; wherefore, I, Jacob, take it upon me to fulfil the commandment of my brother Nephi." (Jacob 1:7-8).

This sincere prophet leader was anxious to fulfill his duty. He described how difficult it was to write on the gold plates, and he repeated the injunction of his brother, Nephi, to record and retain only those things that were precious and spirit-filled. He was to leave the historical aspects aside. "These plates" always referred to the small plates of Nephi, while "those plates" referred to the large plates of Nephi that contained the history. He preserved many plain and precious truths for us.

I was always impressed with Jacob, so much so that I named one of our sons Jacob, and I often referred to this faithful son as "Jacob the Prophet." He has proven worthy of that moniker in every way.

I pondered that phrase cited above, "bear the shame of the world," and would offer these thoughts for your consideration. It was easy to contemplate in those quiet confines of the temple chapel, and I recalled a passage from Joseph Smith's Lectures on Faith. If we would have the fellowship of our Savior Jesus Christ, we must be willing to endure humiliation, to “lay down his all, his character and reputation, his honor, and applause, his good name among men, his houses, his lands, his brothers and sisters, his wife and children, and even his own life also-counting all things but fifth and dross for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus Christ” (Lectures on Faith 6:5).

The man of faith must learn to walk with confidence amidst the shouts of scorn from those in the “great and spacious building” (1 Nephi 8:26). When people trust in the Lord their gaze is not diverted from the Savior, for they know full well that the “sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed [to] us.” (Romans 8:18; see also 1 Nephi 8:33; 2 Nephi 9:18.)

I am no longer embedded in the things of the world as I once was. It's easier for me to think loftier thoughts these days. And this thought has persisted through the night and into today. What are we willing to give up for the "excellency" of the knowledge of Jesus Christ? There is an exchange posited here. We are informed by Jacob that we can't have it both ways. Either we love Christ or we love the ways and the praise of the world. It is an "either-or" proposition. That's a hard doctrine, but one, when embraced and lived, brings peace and solace to the soul.

There was a time in my life when I had to choose that choice. I walked away from a compromising position and decided I would pursue my long-desired ambition to teach released-time Seminary (religious training) to high school students. I had three simple goals upon returning from my mission to Great Britain in 1969: 1) Be a tour guide on Temple Square; 2) teach Seminary; and 3) sing in the Tabernacle Choir. I had already achieved number one, and now, I thought somewhat naively, it was time to pursue number two.

I was accepted for my student teaching at Brighton High School, then I was offered a full-time contract for the next school year. When they put the paper work in front of me, I didn't know whether to laugh or cry. It was a paltry sum of money that would not be possible to support our growing family. I had to turn it down. I found other employment, and that choice has proven to be efficacious in every way. The third goal was never realized, singing in the Tabernacle Choir.

My point in sharing that story is when we eschew the luring enticing of the world's demands and choose Christ instead, we are sustained, blessed and magnified in ways we never would have imagined. Some things just make no sense on paper. Pragmatism often wins out when pitted against spiritual goals. Remember that when given the choice (and all of you surely will be) choosing Christ and His kingdom here on earth above all other considerations will serve you well in the long run. Take it from one who is now at the end of the "long" run through mortality, there is peace.

Here's the irony of it all - I have now been asked to teach remote Institute at this late stage. The compensation? None. The satisfaction? Immense. We learned a lot through the imposed vaccines and quarantines associated with COVID-19 as we have now passed the four-year anniversary of that worldwide pandemic, and one of those realities was that we could gather remotely via technology. I will now have that opportunity to scratch that itch that was not possible so long ago.

So, lesson learned. Take the long view, be patient, and all things will work together for your good and hopefully for the blessing of those you serve. 

Happy Leap Year Day

It's a bonus day in the calendar this year. Leap Year, as it has come to be known, is an attempt to adjust the calendar. This explanation from the scientists may help:

"A calendar year is typically 365 days long. These so called 'common years' loosely define the number of days it takes the Earth to complete one orbit around the Sun. But 365 is actually a rounded number. It takes Earth 365.242190 days to orbit the Sun, or 365 days 5 hours 48 minutes and 56 seconds. This 'sidereal' year is slightly longer than the calendar year, and that extra 5 hours 48 minutes and 56 seconds needs to be accounted for somehow. If we didn’t account for this extra time, the seasons would begin to drift. This would be annoying if not devastating, because over a period of about 700 years our summers, which we’ve come to expect in June in the northern hemisphere, would begin to occur in December! 

"By adding an extra day every four years, our calendar years stay adjusted to the sidereal year. . ." 

There's additional "fixing" that goes on to make finer adjustments, but you get the idea. All I know is that today I have an additional day to post another offering.

What I know is this, as we look forward to "springing forward" an hour in our clocks - the sun always wins as the seasons change in the Northern Hemisphere. No one greets that reality with more verve and sheer joy than me. When will that change occur? Daylight Savings kicks in this year on May 10th. It's a Sunday, so we turn our clocks ahead by one hour. 

Daylight saving time, also referred to as daylight savings time, daylight time, or summer time, is the practice of advancing clocks to make better use of the longer daylight available during summer, so that darkness falls at a later clock time. Then we reverse course in the fall and "fall back" an hour on Sunday, November 3rd this year.

Seems we're always tinkering with this or that, doesn't it?

I know this for sure: I love the full moons each month. I live in "dark sky" country at night. I open the blinds and allow the moonlight to fill the bedroom. And I love it as I observe the sun moving further north a little bit each day as it rises in the morning. The changes of season are evidence to me of an all-wise Heavenly Father, whose creations never cease to amaze me. 

I am particularly grateful to live in a day when science has advanced to the place where it is now. I was informed a few weeks back after a visit to my regular dentist, Dr. Cox, that I needed a root canal. The filling he had just provided went deep into the nerves in the tooth, and he recommended the additional procedure as a precaution against further damage. So I relied on son Jake's expertise (he provides marketing services for dentists), and he came up with a recommendation for an outstanding dentist nearby in Midway, who happens to love doing root canals. (Dr. Schmutz at the Prince Dental Group, if you need a good recommendation - I give him all five stars!) I was in and out of his office in an hour. State-of-the-art dentistry at its best. I suppose in the days of yesteryear the solution might have been an extraction just to deal with the problem, but now I still have my tooth, pain is eliminated, and science has prevailed.

Speaking of medical science, I am scheduled for a colonoscopy next week. (I know, "TMI"). I picked up my preparatory laxative yesterday. It's no wonder we all live longer these days. It seems there isn't a stone left unturned in my decaying mortal body that doesn't come in for scrutiny by someone these days. Next up will be another post-op check-in to see if my brain is still working. . . (oh boy). 

It's the nature of the beast for me, and I suppose it's just all part of checking all the boxes for old men.

It's also a reminder to me that my season of life is changing, and not always in a fun way either.

Thanks to Melatonin, I still have my dreams to keep me company. The other night I dreamt about being in bed with Patsy basking in the moonlight together, and that dream wiped out every other thought about root canals, colonoscopies, and brain dysfunction. 

God is so good to me.

"I Love Jesus"

This morning I stopped in for breakfast at my favorite bagel joint. The girl behind the counter was dressed like so many her age - you've seen the look - knit cap, heavy sweatshirt with the company logo, baggy sweats, sneakers, lots of piercings and tattoos, including a nose ring and earrings. But the most prominent piece of jewelry was a cross hanging around her neck. I asked, "Tell me about that beautiful necklace you're wearing." To which she responded, "It's because I love Jesus."

You know, so do I. She was a kindred spirit to me. 

That got me thinking about how many levels of love for Jesus there must be in the world today. We all tend to express it in our own way. As our conversation unfolded, she mentioned "The Chosen" is her favorite TV show. She loved how Jesus is portrayed in that series. "He is so kind," she told me. "He loves everyone, and He blesses everyone around Him." 

Jesus Christ truly is the Son of God. He came into the world unheralded and unwelcomed in a time and a place when His people were under subjugation to the Roman Empire. There was much of poverty and punishment to keep the subjects of the Emperor in check. Jerusalem was the acknowledged capitol of Judaism, but it was merely tolerated, not embraced by the Romans, who were an occupying army and were hated and despised by their subjects. The Temple stood as a beacon of hope for the Jews, but even the temple, its ordinances, practices and rituals had been corrupted. It was not a happy environment into which the Savior had come. He cleansed the temple environs twice during His public ministry. 

I have been musing since returning home this morning that my friend behind the counter must surely be content in her admiration for Jesus, enough so that she wore the cross boldly and gladly around her neck. I thought, "What outward symbol would I project? Would there be enough evidence to suggest that I am a disciple of Jesus, or would people observing my outward appearance wonder at my allegiance?"

The closest I came to wearing a cross in my life was my Sigma Chi fraternity ring bearing the image of The White Cross of Sigma Chi. Indeed, upon seeing it when I was serving as a missionary in Northern England, 1967-69, people would sometimes comment that I must be a Catholic father. Some would even take my hand and kiss my ring as a show of worship. 

What I have come to understand later in life is that His image must be reflected in our countenances if we are to accurately be a representation of His grace for us and an example to others. I hope people can seen in my face the commitment within my heart. You can't live a lie and hope to deceive others. 

I have been reflecting on the words of an old favorite hymn "The King of Love My Shepherd Is."

The words are powerful:

1 The King of love my shepherd is, whose goodness faileth never. I nothing lack if I am his, and he is mine forever.

2 Where streams of living water flow, my ransomed soul he leadeth; and where the verdant pastures grow, with food celestial feedeth.

3 Perverse and foolish, oft I strayed, but yet in love he sought me; and on his shoulder gently laid, and home, rejoicing, brought me.

4 In death's dark vale I fear no ill, with thee, dear Lord, beside me; thy rod and staff my comfort still, thy cross before to guide me.

5 Thou spreadst a table in my sight; thy unction grace bestoweth; and oh, what transport of delight from thy pure chalice floweth!

6 And so through all the length of days, thy goodness faileth never; Good Shepherd, may I sing thy praise within thy house forever. (United Methodist Hymnal, 1989).

I make a point of suggesting this morning that our collective love for Jesus may take many forms, and many churches together make a beautiful chorus of praise for our Savior. We must embrace and adore the admiration each has for Him. We may not agree on every point of doctrine, but like my friend behind the bagel counter we can accept one another's testimony on whatever level it may present itself. 

In it all, let us reflect our love for Him by doing the best we can to truly represent Him.

Dystopian or Utopian

“The standard of truth has been erected. No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

— Joseph Smith, 1842

How audacious can one person be? Toward the end of his mortal life, Joseph Smith made the foregoing utterance. This is the boy prophet who humbly knelt in a grove of trees in upper state New York in the year 1820, and was answered by a visitation from the Father and the Son. His inquiry was which of all the churches was right, and which should he join? He was told to join none, and that he would be the instrument of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. By 1842, he had traversed through a myriad of extremities, any one of which could have destroyed the work he was chosen to do. But he persisted in faith until he could make such a bold declaration. 

Contrasted to that vision of futurity, there has been a parallel track developing that runs in the opposite direction. While Joseph’s vision was utopian in every way, Satan’s vision is dystopian and gains traction among his adherents. A word of definition from the dictionary might be in order here:

dystopian

adjective

dys·to·pi·an (ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pē-ən 

variants or less commonly dystopic 

(ˌ)dis-ˈtō-pik 

-ˈtä- 

Synonyms of dystopian

: of, relating to, or being an imagined world or society in which people lead dehumanized, fearful lives: relating to or characteristic of a dystopia

A twisted romantic haunted by dystopian visions, Gibson borrows the language of science fiction and crafts doomed love stories with high-tech trappings.

—Maitland McDonagh

Dystopian visions are in a sense mythopoeic: depicting a creation myth in a future world of darkness and silence.

—Sarah Lefanu

Biotechnology is a force for good, but without adherence to the ideal of universal human equality, it opens the door to the soft tyranny of Gattaca and, ultimately the dystopian nightmare of Brave New World.

—Wesley J. Smith

Like many advances in science and technology, the dystopian implications of data mining have been described best by science-fiction writers.

—John Markoff

… Orwellian has become a word itself: an adjective denoting a dystopic world where language is cut adrift from meaning.

—Harvey A. Daniels

Letter by letter, we read of a society that seems to move from one dystopic nightmare to another …

—Simon Winchester

George Orwell wrote the infamous novel “1984,” describing a dystopian existence that gratefully did not materialize in its time. However, Orwell saw political leaders in Germany, Spain and the Soviet Union who had absolute power, and he realized the danger that this presented. He illustrated that danger with the world in his book, where everyone is monitored and must conform to the views of the elite.

The Tehran Conference was a meeting between Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Winston Churchill and Joseph Stalin. Orwell thought the three could plan to divide the world amongst each other. In “1984,” Orwell uses this idea with the three super-states of Oceania, Eurasia and Eastasia. The three sides control the world and are in a never-ending war.

Orwell lived in England with his family during World War II, when acts of violence could occur at any time. This atmosphere is replicated in the book.

In a letter, Orwell mentions that he felt totalitarian regimes were on the rise in many parts of the world. He said the United States and Great Britain were exceptions, but neither nation had known defeat or suffering. He also brought up several ideas that would later be a part of “1984,” including that history could be rewritten by whoever was in charge.

I am among the millions for whom “1984” was mandatory reading in high school. It was chilling and a cautionary tale for freedom-loving people everywhere. It seems there is a steady drumbeat always and forever that runs counter to Joseph Smith’s optimistic vision of the future.

President Russell M. Nelson

President Russell M. Nelson has put the Church in position to fulfill that vision. We are determined to move forward with faith in its realization despite all the dystopian voices out there in the world.

We are in the midst of yet another runup to a presidential election in America. There are those who would have us believe the two major candidates vying for the hearts and minds of Americans will surely produce a meltdown of all we hold sacred. Either one being elected in 2024 will undoubtedly bring our representative republic to ruin. 

And yet, it seems there is no alternative that suggests itself at this writing in February 2024. Time will tell if a new “savior” is yet to appear on our horizon, but don’t hold your breath. My experience as an observer of politics for many years is that politicians can neither save nor destroy the nation. They simply do not have the power because our system of government was designed to divide power to prevent the type of totalitarian regimes Orwell warned about. 

That brings to mind another popular “Mormon myth” about the Constitution someday “hanging by a thread” and the country in its ultimate peril being rescued by the elders of Israel. First impressions of “the White Horse Prophecy” might be alarming. Did Joseph give this “apocalyptic” prophecy? Has it been used to support “American-centric” or militant ideals? Is there some weird secret doctrine that tells Mormons to take over the world?

It turns out, Joseph Smith probably didn’t give the “White Horse Prophecy” or at the very least, not the version which was recorded decades later by Edwin Rushton. That account was recorded in 1898, 54 years after Joseph’s death, and has been condemned by multiple Church leaders.

But the Constitution “hanging by a thread” idea can still feel uncomfortable, especially when coupled with it being saved by the “Elders of Israel” — and the historical record indicates that Joseph Smith taught those ideas. At the time, the Saints had been driven from their homes and experienced government-sponsored persecution, which may have impacted their views on religious freedoms as protected by the Constitution.

Today, the Church encourages civic engagement from its members, supports democracy and the peaceful transfer of power, and denounces riots and usurpations. While making sense of the political history of our religion, we can remember the gospel teaches a message of peace.

Think about the trajectory the Church is on today. We are building temples around the world at an accelerated pace. Each time a temple is dedicated the kingdom of God on the earth reclaims territory that might otherwise have been the domain of wickedness. We consecrate and make holy those environs. We do it “boldly, nobly and independently,” above all the competition that would claim it otherwise. 

Each of us individually has a stake in the work of salvation. A little twelve-year-old girl who goes to the temple to do baptisms for the dead, an elderly widow who serves as an ordinance worker, an unpaid harried and overwhelmed young bishop with a family and a career, a mother who nurtures and cares for her small brood of children, a missionary who goes into the world wherever he or she is called to serve, and an old man who sits at his computer early in the morning to encourage his posterity in the course of their marvelous destiny as I do this morning - all these in their path of discipleship are advancing the work toward the ultimate fulfillment Joseph described in 1842. 

I want you all to know these words were given to me sometime around 4:30 a.m. this morning as I lay awake after a completely restful and heavy night of sleep (a blessed outcome for me these days). I hope none of you is dissuaded in the least by the dystopian voices that bombard your consciousness, either from the written word, news reports, movies or whatever worldly source you encounter. 

Mortality has always been about your choices, your moral agency, and your Heavenly Father providing living prophets coupled with the words of the dead prophets to point the way unerringly back to Him. 

I would encourage all of you to read 2 Nephi 31, as I did this morning. It lays out “the doctrine of Christ” and is a sure and certain witness of the path we are to follow as disciples. As you all know, I am a great admirer of Elder Bruce R. McConkie. I will conclude with his words that describe a utopian plan for each of us:

“…everyone in the Church who is on the straight and narrow path, who is striving and struggling and desiring to do what is right, though is far from perfect in this life; if he passes out of this life while he’s on the straight and narrow, he’s going to go on to eternal reward in his Father’s kingdom.

“We don’t need to get a complex or get a feeling that you have to be perfect to be saved. You don’t. There’s only been one perfect person, and that’s the Lord Jesus, but in order to be saved in the Kingdom of God and in order to pass the test of mortality, what you have to do is get on the straight and narrow path — thus charting a course leading to eternal life — and then, being on that path, pass out of this life in full fellowship. I’m not saying that you don’t have to keep the commandments. I’m saying you don’t have to be perfect to be saved. If you did, no one would be saved. The way it operates is this: you get on the path that’s named the ‘straight and narrow.’ You do it by entering the gate of repentance and baptism. The straight and narrow path leads from the gate of repentance and baptism, a very great distance, to a reward that’s called eternal life. If you’re on that path and pressing forward, and you die, you’ll never get off the path. There is no such thing as falling off the straight and narrow path in the life to come, and the reason is that this life is the time that is given to men to prepare for eternity. Now is the time and the day of your salvation, so if you’re working zealously in this life — though you haven’t fully overcome the world and you haven’t done all you hoped you might do — you’re still going to be saved. You don’t have to do what Jacob said, ‘Go beyond the mark.’ You don’t have to live a life that’s truer than true. You don’t have to have an excessive zeal that becomes fanatical and becomes unbalancing. What you have to do is stay in the mainstream of the Church and live as upright and decent people live in the Church — keeping the commandments, paying your tithing, serving in the organizations of the Church, loving the Lord, staying on the straight and narrow path. If you’re on that path when death comes — because this is the time and the day appointed, this the probationary estate — you’ll never fall off from it, and, for all practical purposes, your calling and election is made sure. Now, that isn’t the definition of that term, but the end result will be the same.

“There’s great hope for Latter-day Saints. There’s great hope for anyone who will repent, believe, obey, strive, struggle and seek to work out his salvation. There isn’t hope for anyone who will not. Our revelation says, ‘Surely every man must repent or suffer; for I, God, am Endless.’ Well, either we suffer for our sins, according to the law of justice, or we repent, and through the atoning sacrifice, the Lord Jesus bears our sins and we become inheritors of mercy. Now we can go forward. We can have every reward that the scriptures speak of. We’re not an austere people. We don’t remove ourselves from the world. We’re deliberately in the world so that we’ll have opportunity to overcome the world. We can have in the Church every association and felicity and good feeling that anyone can have. Anything that’s wholesome and good is available to us. We’re denied nothing, and that’s good. In addition to that, we can have the hope of glorious immortality — meaning eternal life — in the realms and the worlds that are ahead.” (Elder Bruce R. McConkie, “The Probationary Test of Mortality,” address given at the University of Utah Institute of Religion January 10, 1982).