Post # 234 -- Joy and Spiritual Survival -- By President

Russell M. Nelson -- President of the Quorum of the

Twelve Apostles

Dear Family and Friends

I have been thinking about my last post and I wanted to share

with you one of the talks that were used as reference within the

address  titled: “Finding Refuge from the Storms of Life”.  I

loved the quote from this talk so I went on a search to find

the talk where the quote came from. I found it and wanted to

share it with you all:)

When the focus of our lives is on Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can

feel joy regardless of what is happening—or not happening—in our lives.

My dear brothers and sisters, today I would like to discuss a principle that is

key to our spiritual survival. It is a principle that will only become more

important as the tragedies and travesties around us increase.

These are the latter days, so none of us should be surprised when we see

prophecy fulfilled. A host of prophets, including Isaiah, Paul, Nephi, and

Mormon, foresaw that perilous times would come,1 that in our day the

whole world would be in commotion,2 that men would “be lovers of their

own selves, … without natural affection, … lovers of pleasures more than

lovers of God,”3 and that many would become servants of Satan who

uphold the adversary’s work.4 Indeed, you and I “wrestle … against the

rulers of the darkness of this world, [and] against spiritual wickedness in

high places.”5

As conflicts between nations escalate, as cowardly terrorists prey on the

innocent, and as corruption in everything from business to government

becomes increasingly commonplace, what can help us? What can help each

of us with our personal struggles and with the rigorous challenge of living

in these latter days?

The prophet Lehi taught a principle for spiritual survival. First, consider

his circumstances: He had been persecuted for preaching truth in Jerusalem

and had been commanded by the Lord to leave his possessions and flee with

his family into the wilderness.

He had lived in a tent and survived on what food could be found on the way

to an unknown destination, and he had watched two of his sons, Laman and

Lemuel, rebel against the teachings of the Lord and attack their brothers

Nephi and Sam.

Clearly, Lehi knew opposition, anxiety, heartache, pain, disappointment,

and sorrow. Yet he declared boldly and without reservation a principle as

revealed by the Lord: “Men are, that they might have joy.”6 Imagine! Of

all the words he could have used to describe the nature and purpose of our

lives here in mortality, he chose the word joy!

Life is filled with detours and dead ends, trials and challenges of

every kind. Each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish,

and despair almost consumed us. Yet we are here to have joy?

Yes! The answer is a resounding yes! But how is that possible?

And what must we do to claim the joy that Heavenly Father

has in store for us?

Eliza R. Snow, second General President of the Relief Society,

offered a riveting answer. Because of Missouri’s infamous

extermination order, issued at the onset of the grueling winter

of 1838,7 she and other Saints were forced to flee the state that

very winter.

One evening, Eliza’s family spent the night in a small log cabin

used by refugee Saints. Much of the chinking

between the logs had been extracted and burned for firewood

by those who preceded them, so there were holes between the

logs large enough for a cat to crawl through. It was bitter cold,

and their food was frozen solid.

That night some 80 people huddled inside that small cabin, only

20 feet square (6.1 meters square). Most sat or stood all night

trying to keep warm. Outside, a group of men spent the night

gathered around a roaring fire, with some singing hymns and

others roasting frozen potatoes.

Eliza recorded: “Not a complaint was heard—all were cheerful,

and judging from appearances, strangers would have taken us to be

pleasure excursionists rather than a band of gubernatorial exiles.”

Eliza’s report of that exhausting, bone-chilling evening was

strikingly optimistic. She declared: “That was a very merry night.

None but saints can be happy under every circumstance.”8

That’s it! Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We

can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even

a bad year!

My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with

the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the

focus of our lives.

When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation,

which President Thomas S. Monson just taught us, and Jesus

Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is

happening—or not happening—in our lives. Joy comes from

and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. We feel it at

Christmastime when we sing, “Joy to the world, the Lord is come.”9

And we can feel it all year round. For Latter-day Saints, Jesus

Christ is joy!

That is why our missionaries leave their homes to preach His gospel.

Their goal is not to increase the number of Church members. Rather,

our missionaries teach and baptize10 to bring joy to the people of

the world!11

Just as the Savior offers peace that “passeth all understanding,”12

He also offers an intensity, depth, and breadth of joy that defy

human logic or mortal comprehension. For example, it doesn’t

seem possible to feel joy when your child suffers with an incurable

illness or when you lose your job or when your spouse betrays you.

Yet that is precisely the joy the Savior offers. His joy is constant,

assuring us that our “afflictions shall be but a small moment”13

and be consecrated to our gain.14

How, then, can we claim that joy? We can start by “looking unto

Jesus the author and finisher of our faith”15 “in every thought.”16

We can give thanks for Him in our prayers and by keeping covenants

we’ve made with Him and our Heavenly Father. As our Savior

becomes more and more real to us and as we plead for His joy

to be given to us, our joy will increase.

Joy is powerful, and focusing on joy brings God’s power

into our lives. As in all things, Jesus Christ is our ultimate

exemplar, “who for the joy that was set before him endured

the cross.”17 Think of that! In order for Him to endure

the most excruciating experience ever endured on earth,

our Savior focused on joy!

And what was the joy that was set before Him? Surely it

included the joy of cleansing, healing, and strengthening us;

the joy of paying for the sins of all who would repent; the

joy of making it possible for you and me to return home—

clean and worthy—to live with our Heavenly Parents and

families.

If we focus on the joy that will come to us, or to those we love,

what can we endure that presently seems overwhelming,

painful, scary, unfair, or simply impossible?

One father in a spiritually precarious situation focused on the joy

of finally being clean and right with the Lord—the joy of being

freed from guilt and shame—and the joy of having peace of mind.

That focus gave him the courage to confess to his wife and bishop

about his problem with pornography and his subsequent infidelity.

He is now doing everything his bishop counsels him to do,

striving with all his heart to regain the trust of his dear wife.

A young woman focused on the joy of staying sexually pure to

help her endure the mocking of friends as she walked away

from a popular and provocative, but spiritually dangerous,

situation.

A man who frequently demeaned his wife and indulged in angry

outbursts at his children focused on the joy of being worthy to

have the Holy Ghost as his constant companion. That focus

motivated him to put off the natural man,18 to which he had too

often succumbed, and make needed changes.

A dear colleague recently told me of his past two decades of heavy

trials. He said, “I have learned to suffer with joy. My suffering was

swallowed up in the joy of Christ.”19

What will you and I be able to endure as we focus on the joy that is

“set before” us?20 What repenting will then be possible? What

weakness will become a strength?21 What chastening will become

a blessing?22 What disappointments, even tragedies, will turn to

our good?23 And what challenging service to the Lord will we be

able to give?24

As we diligently focus on the Savior and then follow His

pattern of focusing on joy, we need to avoid those things that

can interrupt our joy.

Remember Korihor, the anti-Christ?

Spewing falsehoods about the Savior, Korihor went from place

to place until he was brought before a high priest who asked him:

“Why do ye go about perverting the ways of the Lord? Why do

ye teach this people that there shall be no Christ, to interrupt

their rejoicings?”25

Anything that opposes Christ or His doctrine will interrupt our

joy. That includes the philosophies of men, so abundant online and

in the blogosphere, which do exactly what Korihor did.26

If we look to the world and follow its formulas for happiness,27 we

will never know joy. The unrighteous may experience any number

of emotions and sensations, but they will never experience joy!28

Joy is a gift for the faithful.29 It is the gift that comes from

intentionally trying to live a righteous life, as taught by

Jesus Christ.30

He taught us how to have joy. When we choose Heavenly Father

to be our God31 and when we can feel the Savior’s Atonement

working in our lives, we will be filled with joy.32 Every time we

nurture our spouse and guide our children, every time we forgive

someone or ask for forgiveness, we can feel joy.

Every day that you and I choose to live celestial laws, every

day that we keep our covenants and help others to do the same, joy will be ours.

Heed these words of the Psalmist: “I have set the Lord always

before me: because he is at my right hand, I shall not be moved. … In [His] presence is fulness of joy.”33 As this principle is embedded

in our hearts, each and every day can be a day of joy and gladness.34

I so testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

As you can see i have done my underlining and bolding as I

was reading through this talk, i hope you don't mind and I

hope that it doesn't distract you from your reading.

It helps me as i read to mark as i go, especially when I find

something i want to remember. So now we have the

principle of joy as found in the scriptures.

We also learned what we each must do in order to have

that joy that President Nelson has taught us herein this

talk. He was the President of the Quorum of the Twelve

Apostles at the time of this talk. 

I know that he was speaking to the members of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when he gave

this talk, but i really think that his message here can apply

to anyone who wants to make the changes in their lives

that are necessary for them to have joy.

I am pretty sure that your Heavenly Father wants each

one of His children to experience joy while here on this

earth. So take this challenge to do what you need to do to

find and experience the kind of joy that President Nelson

is talking about.

One place you can begin this is to read the Book of

Mormon, pray for yourself to know that this sacred book

is truly Another Testament of Jesus Christ just as are

the Old Testament and the New Testament. 

We are to use all three of these sacred books of scripture

together along with the Doctrine and Covenants and the

Pearl of Great Price, which are latter-day revelations as

well as scriptures, given to us through the prophets of the

Lord.. 

I believe along with these sacred volumes of scripture we

should consider trading and studying

The Family: A Proclamation to the World, and the other

proclamations that have been given which can also give

you guidance in your lives.

I will be the first to admit that I am not very learned in

the scriptures, but I have read them many times and I

know that they are the word of God. it has also taken

many years for me to understand some of it. It took me

a while to figure out that it is so much better to study

each day. There is still much for me to learn as I study

each day and with you each week.

If you are at that point in your life where you are ready

to make a change in your life and you are not really sure

just where to start. I can share with you the site where

you can have a discussion with our missionaries. They will

be happy to answer any of the questions that you may

have before, during and after you read through the

Book of Mormon.

If you have been studying the Book of Mormon with me

and all our oue cyber study buddies you may not have any

questions or you may have a lot of questions even with

the study, so i will share the site so any of you that feel

the need for clarifying what you have read or what you

are studying. You can find missionaries here: https://www.comeuntochrist.org/

I know that this is a very big step to take in your life, but

it is so worth the effort that it takes to make any change

that is necessary for you to come unto Him, to Hear Him,

and to become one of His disciples.

To learn of Him and to follow His footprints or His great

examples which are throughout the scriptures there for

each of us to follow.

To join His church, even the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints, so that you can have this joy that our

living prophet has taught us about today. He said we will

feel a glimpse of joy throughout our lives but we will not

feel the true joy that only Christ can give. I think this is

akin to the peace that only comes from our Savior,

Jesus Christ.

I hope you do not feel any pressure from me because that

is not my intention. My intention is only to share with you

the joy and happiness, the peace that has come into my

life since i became a member of the Church of

Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I want to share my

joy and happiness with each one of you!

I truly hope that my blog is uplifting and insightful to and

for anyone who reads it. My desire is to help each of you

come closer to your Heavenly Father and His Son

Jesus Christ. Please do not let anything that you have

been taught in your life nup to this point deter you from

seeking and finding the true gospel of Jesus Christ.

You might be surprised at how much better you find your

life after you have begun your search to find God and His

Son Jesus Christ. It is a lifelong journey,but one well

worth the effort to traverse it. Your Savior will meet you

where you are and lift you up to higher ground, to safer

spiritual ground.

Remember that it only takes faith the size of a mustard

seed! Have you ever seen a mustard seed? They are about

the tiniest seed ever, but that is all you need to begin your

journey to Christ. You can also begin with the Walk With

Christ Series, if you are not ready to read the

Book of Mormon as yet, but please consider reading it.

I remember when my daughter had the Sister

Missionaries teaching her at our home and I sat in on the

lessons to find out just exactly what they were teaching

her.

Low and behold I discovered for myself that the

things that the Sisters were teaching her were indeed

true and she and I were baptized the same night, six

weeks or so later.

I believe the Sisters only came once a week to our home.

I know that they do things much differently nowadays,

but it is still the same doctrine that the Lord taught

when He was here on this earth during His mortal

ministry. We have this opportunity to learn of His

teaching and the fullness of His gospel. This is because

of the Restoration of His Church.

You can learn more about the restoration here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/topics/

restoration/?lang=eng

You can read the latest proclamation here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/bc/content/

shared/content/english/pdf/restoration/17409_eng.pdf

You can read The Family: A Proclamation to the World here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/scriptures/

the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world/

the-family-a-proclamation-to-the-world?lang=eng

The Book of Mormon you can read it here: https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/

scriptures/bofm?lang=eng

I hope you and your family and friends have enjoyed this

post. I have tried to include some links for you to find

the information that I have mentioned in my ramblings.

I pray that you have been uplifted and enlightened in

some small way today as you have read through this

post. I certainly have as i have shared it with all of you,

Please don't forget who you are… you are each a child of

God. continue to say your prayers each day.

please continue to study the Book of Mormon with me

and all of our cyber study buddies out there in cyberspace,

remember to hold your family home evenings every week

and read your scriptures each day, don't forget to give

thanks to to your Heavenly Father for all if your

blessings. Until my next post, please do your best to

stay safe,