Eternal
progression is a phrase that may seem hopeful to some and daunting to others. I
fall in the hopeful camp. I believe it means we get unlimited chances to try
again…and again… and again to improve upon our past and progress. This is
possible because of Heavenly Father’s perfect plan, which is centered on the
atonement of Jesus Christ. I wrote
about a few of my ancestors in the previous chapter. I believe they listened to
Russell M. Nelson on April 1, 2018, when he said, “Our message to the world is
simple and sincere: we invite all of God’s children on both sides of the veil
to come unto their Savior, receive the blessings of the holy temple, have
enduring joy, and qualify for eternal life” (“Let
Us All Press On,” Ensign, May 2018). I believe my
ancestors acted on that invitation from a prophet of God because their names were
forwarded to me from my sister on April 5th and my mom on April 6th.
My desire is to always do my best to follow the counsel of God’s prophet as
well.
This quote by Neal A. Maxwell fills my heart with
hope. “What we insistently desire, over time, is what we will eventually
become and what we will receive in eternity. …’For I, the Lord, will judge all
men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts’ (D&C 137:8–9).…God thus takes into merciful account not only
our desires and our performance, but also the degrees of difficulty which our
varied circumstances impose upon us. No wonder we will not complain at the
final judgment, especially since even the telestial kingdom’s glory ‘surpasses
all understanding’ (D&C 76:89) (“According
to the Desire of [Our] Hearts,” Ensign,
November 1996).
In
February 2019, my good friend and ministering sister shared a comforting and
reassuring quote with me about eternal progression. She read it in a chapter
with the title “The Saving Christ” written by Terry and Fiona Givens. “Elder
James E. Talmage wrote in the first edition of the Church-published Articles of
Faith, ‘advancement from grade to grade within any kingdom, and from kingdom to
kingdom, will be provided for … Eternity is progressive.’ He later elaborated,
no man will be detained in the lower regions ‘longer than is necessary to bring
him to a fitness for something better. When he reaches that stage the… doors
will open and there will be rejoicing among the hosts who welcome him to a
better state.’ Slightly later, President Joseph F. Smith taught that ‘there is
a time after this mortal life, and there is a way provided by which we may
fulfil the measure of our creation and destiny, and accomplish the whole great
work that we have been sent to do, although it may reach far into the future
before we fully accomplish it. Jesus had not finished his work when his body
was slain, neither did he finish it after his resurrection from the dead,
although he had accomplished the purpose for which he then came to earth, he
had not fulfilled all his work. And when will he? Not until he has redeemed and
saved every son and daughter of our father Adam that has or ever will be born
upon the earth to the end of time…’” (The Christ Who Heals,” p.119).
In one of my favorite talks on
faith, Neil L. Andersen explained, “Faith is a principle of
power, important not only in this life but also in our progression beyond the
veil. By the grace of Christ, we will one day be saved through
faith on His name.” (“Faith is Not by
Chance, but By Choice,” Ensign, May 2015).
In Summer 2019, an Institute teacher
reminded me about an instructive quote by Henry B. Eyring, which continues to
help me redirect my thoughts from worrying about the future. “Building faith in
Jesus Christ is the beginning of reversing spiritual decline in your family and
in your home. That faith is more likely to bring repentance than your preaching
against each symptom of spiritual decline. You will best lead by example.
Family members and others must see you growing in your own faith in Jesus
Christ and in His gospel…. You will find some of your greatest joys in your
efforts to make your home a place of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and a place
that is permeated with love, the pure love of Christ. … Some have tried with
full heart for that blessing, yet it has not been granted. My promise to you is
one that a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once made to me. I had
said to him that because of choices some in our extended family had made, I
doubted that we could be together in the world to come. He said, as well as I
can remember, ‘You are worrying about the wrong problem. You just live
worthy of the celestial kingdom, and the family arrangements will be more
wonderful than you can imagine.’ I believe that he would extend that happy
hope to any of us in mortality who have done all we can to qualify ourselves
and our family members for eternal life. I know that Heavenly Father’s plan is
a plan of happiness. I testify that His plan makes it possible for each of us
who has done the best we can to be sealed in a family forever. I know that the
priesthood keys restored to Joseph Smith were passed on in an unbroken line to
President Russell M. Nelson. Those keys make possible the sealing of
families today. I know that Heavenly Father loves us, His spirit children, with
a perfect love” (“A Home Where the Spirit of the Lord
Dwells,” Ensign, May 2019).
Larry
R. Lawrence explained, “The Spirit can show us our weaknesses, but He is also
able to show us our strengths. Sometimes we need to ask what we are doing right
so that the Lord can lift and encourage us. When we read our patriarchal
blessings, we are reminded that our Heavenly Father knows our divine
potential. He rejoices every time we take a step forward. To Him, our direction
is ever more important than our speed” (“What
Lack I Yet,” Ensign, Nov. 2015).
Henry B. Eyring explained, “…You can find the
word remember throughout the scriptures…. My message is
an invitation… to remember. Here are
three suggestions about what you could remember each week when you partake of
the sacred emblems of the sacrament. I hope they are helpful to you, as they
have been to me. First, remember the Savior. Remember who He was while on
earth, how He spoke to others, and how He showed kindness in His acts. Remember
whom He spent time with and what He taught. The Savior “went about doing good”
(Acts 10:38)…. Most of all, we can remember the great price He paid, out of
His love for us, to remove the stain of our sins. As we remember Him, our
desire to follow Him will grow. We will want to be a little kinder, more
forgiving, and more willing to seek the will of God and do it.
…It’s hard to think of the Savior—His purity and perfection—without also thinking
of how flawed and imperfect we are in comparison. We have made covenants to
obey His commandments, yet we frequently fall short of this high standard. But
the Savior knew this would happen, which is why He gave us the ordinance of the
sacrament.” (“Always Remember Him,” Ensign, Feb.
2018),
He continued
with counsel that has been very helpful for me over the past couple of years. “As
you examine your life during the ordinance of the sacrament, I hope your
thoughts center not only on things you have done wrong but also on things you
have done right—moments when you have felt that Heavenly Father and the Savior
were pleased with you. You may even take a moment during the sacrament to ask
God to help you see these things. If you do, I promise you will feel something.
You will feel hope. When I have done this, the Spirit has reassured me that
while I’m still far from perfect, I’m better today than I was yesterday. And
this gives me confidence that, because of the Savior, I can be even better
tomorrow….No matter how well you keep your promise to always remember Him,
He always remembers you. The Savior knows your challenges. He knows what it is
like to have the cares of life press upon you. He knows how urgently you need
the blessing that comes from always remembering Him and obeying Him—“that [you] may always have his Spirit to be with [you]” (D&C 20:77; emphasis added). So He welcomes you back to the sacrament
table each week, once again offering you the chance to witness before Him that
you will always remember Him.” (“Always Remember Him,” Ensign, Feb.
2018),
Neal
A. Maxwell explained, “For the faithful, our finest hours are sometimes during
or just following our darkest hours.…With an understanding of God’s plan of
salvation, we know that the rejoicing, the striving, the suffering, the
tutoring, and the enduring experiences of life all play their part in an
intelligible process of helping us, if we will, to become, as the Savior
beckoningly invited, ‘even as I am.’ (3 Ne. 27:27)…The plan always
points the way, but does not always smooth the way, since individual
development requires an ‘opposition in all things.’ (2 Ne. 2:11.) The Lord will give us the needed intellectual
and spiritual confirmation concerning His plan, but on His terms and in His own
way.…Unsurprisingly, therefore, this mortal school
produces some soaring triumphs but also a history filled with individual
mistakes. But we should not blame the school, nor the curriculum! Least of all,
the Schoolmaster! (“The Great Plan of the Eternal God,” Ensign, May 1984).
In
another talk, Neal A. Maxwell continued, “God delights in blessing us,
especially when we realize ‘joy in that which [we] have desired’ (D&C 7:8).…It is up to us. God will facilitate, but He will not force.…Even a
spark of desire can begin change. The prodigal son, sunk in despair,
nevertheless desired and ‘came to himself,’ determining that ‘I will arise and
go to my father’ (Luke 15:17–18).…Fortunately for us, our loving Lord will work with us, ‘even if [we]
can [do] no more than desire to believe,’ providing we will ‘let this desire
work in [us]’ (Alma 32:27)….Only by educating and training our desires can they become our allies
instead of our enemies!…It is up to us. Therein lies life’s greatest and most
persistent challenge. Thus when people are described as ‘having lost their
desire for sin,’ it is they, and they only, who deliberately decided to lose
those wrong desires by being willing to ‘give away all [their] sins’ in order
to know God (Alma 22:18).… a loving God will work
with us, but the initiating particle of desire which ignites the spark of
resolve must be our own! It all takes time. Said the Prophet Joseph: “The
nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater
his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every
desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he
is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with
Him. But we consider that this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a
moment” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 51). Thus
the work of eternity is not done in a moment, but, rather, in ‘process of time.’
Time works for us when our desires do likewise! (“According
to the Desire of [Our] Hearts,” Ensign,
November 1996).
Thomas S. Monson encouraged, “This
is our one and only chance at mortal life—here and now. The longer we live, the greater
is our realization that it is brief. Opportunities come, and then they are
gone. I believe that among the greatest lessons we are to learn in this short
sojourn upon the earth are lessons that help us distinguish between what is
important and what is not. I plead with you not to let those most important things
pass you by as you plan for that illusive and nonexistent future when you will
have time to do all that you want to do. Instead, find joy in the journey—now…” (“Finding
Joy in the Journey,” Ensign, Nov. 2008).
One of my Institute teachers
reminded me of a poem titled “The Dash” by
Linda Ellis. It helped motivate some of my changes between 2008 and 2012. Perhaps
it will remind you of some changes you might make as well.
I read of a man who stood
to speak at the funeral of a friend.
He referred to the dates on
the tombstone from the beginning… to the end.
He noted that first came
the date of birth and spoke of the following date with tears,
but he said what mattered
most of all was the dash between those years.
For that dash represents
all the time they spent alive on earth
and now only those who
loved them know what that little line is worth.
For it matters not, how
much we own, the cars… the house… the cash.
What matters is how we live
and love and how we spend our dash.
So think about this long
and hard; are there things you’d like to change?
For you never know how much
time is left that still can be rearranged.
To be less quick to anger
and show appreciation more
and love the people in our lives like we’ve
never loved before.
If we treat each other with
respect and more often wear a smile…
remembering that this special dash might only
last a little while.
So when your eulogy is
being read, with your life’s actions to rehash,
would you be proud of the
things they say about how you lived your dash?
I
once watched a YouTube
video about a hospice nurse and chaplain named Becki Hawkins who witnessed
the end of life suffering of many patients over 30 years. She wrote a book about
the lessons she learned from those patients and also spoke to a small gathering
of people in October 2012. Part of her conclusion resonated with me (at about
the 44 minute mark). “I’m
not afraid of dying… I believe that we are beautiful, spiritual beings who are
here for a very, very brief time in these clay vessels to learn lessons for our
souls and to learn how to love one another better. To learn how to treat each
other the way that God wants us to treat each other.”
Another
poem that helped me through many discouraging days during my growing up years
is “Don’t Quit” by John Greenleaf Whittier. Perhaps it will uplift you also.
When things go wrong as they sometimes
will,
When the road you're trudging seems all uphill,
When the funds are low and the debts are high
And you want to smile, but you have to sigh,
When care is pressing you down a bit,
Rest if you must, but don't you quit.
Life is queer with its
twists and turns,
As every one of us sometimes learns,
And many a failure turns about
When he might have won had he stuck it out;
Don't give up though the pace seems slow--
You may succeed with another blow,
Success is failure
turned inside out--
The silver tint of the clouds of doubt,
And you never can tell how close you are,
It may be near when it seems so far;
So stick to the fight when you're hardest hit--
It's when things seem worst that you must not quit.
Henry B.
Eyring taught, “My reassurance is this: the
loving God who allowed these tests for you also designed a sure way to pass
through them. Heavenly Father so loved the world that He sent His Beloved Son
to help us. His Son, Jesus Christ, gave His life for us. Jesus Christ bore in
Gethsemane and on the cross the weight of all our sins. He experienced all the
sorrows, the pains, and the effects of our sins so that He could comfort and
strengthen us through every test in life…. As I have
pondered the covenant words and corresponding blessings promised, I have
wondered what it means to be willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. President
Dallin H. Oaks explains: ‘It is significant that when we partake of the
sacrament we do not witness that we take upon us the
name of Jesus Christ. We witness that we are willing to do
so. (See Doctrine and Covenants 20:77.) The fact that we only witness to our willingness
suggests that something else must happen before we actually take that sacred
name upon us in the most important sense.’ The statement that we are ‘willing
to take upon [us]’ His name tells us that while we first took the Savior’s name
when we were baptized, taking His name is not finished at baptism. We must work
continually to take His name throughout our lives, including when we renew
covenants at the sacrament table and make covenants in the Lord’s holy temples.”
(“Try,
Try, Try,” Ensign, Nov. 2018).
Richard
G. Scott explained, “You are one of the noblest of God’s creations. His intent
is that your life be gloriously beautiful regardless of your circumstances. As
you are grateful and obedient, you can become all that God intends you to be. Sadness,
disappointment, and severe challenge are events in
life, not life itself. I do not minimize how hard some of these events are.
They can extend over a long period of time, but they should not be allowed to
become the confining center of everything you do…. A pebble held close to the
eye appears to be a gigantic obstacle. Cast on the ground, it is seen in
perspective. Likewise, problems or trials in our lives need to be viewed in the
perspective of scriptural doctrine. Otherwise they can easily overtake our
vision, absorb our energy, and deprive us of the joy and beauty the Lord
intends us to receive here on earth…. You are here on earth for a divine
purpose… to be tried, to prove yourself so that you can receive the additional
blessings God has for you. The tempering effect of patience is
required. Some blessings will be delivered here in this life; others will
come beyond the veil” (“Finding
Joy in Life,“ Ensign, May 1996).
He
continued, “The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development. That
progress is accelerated when you willingly allow Him to lead you through every
growth experience you encounter, whether initially it be to your individual
liking or not. When you trust in the Lord, when you are willing to let your
heart and your mind be centered in His will, when you ask to be led by the
Spirit to do His will, you are assured of the greatest happiness along the way
and the most fulfilling attainment from this mortal experience. If you question
everything you are asked to do, or dig in your heels at every unpleasant
challenge, you make it harder for the Lord to bless you…. Learn from inspiring
individuals who have made peace with their challenges and live with joy amid
adversity…. Children teach us how to find joy even under the most challenging
circumstances. Children haven’t yet learned to be depressed by concentrating on
the things they don’t have. They find joy in what is available to them…. Simple,
rejuvenating experiences surround us. They can be safety valves to keep the
tension down and the spirit up. Don’t concentrate on what you don’t have or
have lost. The Lord promised the obedient to share all that He possesses with
them. You may temporarily lack here, but in the next life, if you prove
yourself worthy by living valiantly, a fulness will be your blessing. To the
afflicted people of Alma, the Lord said: ‘I will also ease the burdens … that
even you cannot feel them upon your backs … ; and this will I do that ye may
stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and that ye may know of a surety that I,
the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. And … the burdens … were
made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their
burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the
will of the Lord’ (Mosiah 24:13–15) (“Finding
Joy in Life,“ Ensign, May 1996).
He continued,
“Being creative will help you enjoy life. It engenders a spirit of gratitude.
It develops latent talent, sharpens your capacity to reason, to act, and to
find purpose in life. It dispels loneliness and heartache. It gives a renewal,
a spark of enthusiasm, and zest for life. Willing service to others is a key to
enduring happiness. Each morning (one woman) would ask her Father in Heaven to
lead her to someone she could help. That sincere prayer was answered time and
again. The burdens of many were eased and their lives brightened. She was
blessed continually for being an instrument directed by the Lord. I know that
every difficulty we face in life, even those that come from our own negligence …
can be turned by the Lord into growth
experiences, a virtual ladder upward… No matter how difficult something you or
a loved one faces, it should not take over your life and be the center of all
your interest. Challenges are growth experiences, temporary scenes to be played
out on the background of a pleasant life. Don’t become so absorbed in a single
event that you can’t think of anything else or care for yourself or for those
who depend upon you. Remember, much like the mending of the body, the healing
of some spiritual and emotional challenges takes time…. God’s love brings peace
and joy. Your faith in Jesus Christ gives life enduring meaning. Remember you
are on a journey… Sometimes you have experiences that yield more happiness than
others, but it all has purpose with the Lord….Forgive any you feel may have offended
you. If there is transgression, repent of it, that the Master may heal you…. You
will learn that sadness and disappointment are temporary. Happiness is
everlastingly eternal because of Jesus Christ. I solemnly witness that He
lives, that He loves you, and that He will help you” (“Finding
Joy in Life,“ Ensign, May 1996).
Earlier
in the book, I mentioned that I was asked to give a message in an Easter lesson
to the women in our church congregation. I will end with part of that message I
shared on March 31, 2013. “…Because I made
those changes, my depression lifted dramatically at the end of December
2011. I was then given three months to continue to strengthen those habits
and add other daily habits to give me balance in my life. Then my next
trial arrived. I've had numbness, tingling, and tightness from my ribs to
my toes especially on my right side since March 20, 2012. I spent the rest
of last year building habits, but also trying to figure out what was causing
these uncomfortable symptoms. In December, a lesion was finally found on
my spine when my MRI's were repeated and, in January, it was confirmed through
a spinal tap that I have MS…. I don't think I could have handled all of this if
I had been in the emotional state I was in prior to making these changes. I
feel that the Lord blessed me because He knew this was coming. I'm still
very limited in what I'm able to do in life, but He has helped me learn how to
do the basics that have given me much more stability. He has helped me
focus on what is really important.
His grace is the enabling
power to help us do better and be better. I have a testimony of that. I
couldn't make it through one day without His help. I still have many difficult
days, but I know He is there to help me (and all of us) every step of the way
as we strive to just keep putting one foot in front of the other. I'm thankful
that I will someday have a resurrected body because of Him that is free of
earthly limitations. But, I will also be forever grateful for the way He
has helped me cope with my limitations along the way. I know the Savior’s atonement
is real and it is powerful. I know that Christ perfectly understands what
each of us goes through in this life and is perfectly able to help us because
He suffered and died for us. I also know that because He was resurrected,
we will all be resurrected too…. We can feel hope, peace, and joy all along the
way because of that promise.” Those feelings and beliefs have continued to uplift
and sustain me over the past seven years. Since each day is a new beginning,
repeating into eternity, I can continue to trust in Savior and His promises…forever.
