June 14
2020 – Elders Quorum Lesson
By Steve Smith
Hello
Brothers. I hope you and your families are doing well. Are you missing the
blessings of meeting together at church as much as I am!?
With all the
crazy things going on in the world and the country lately, I find myself
seeking out the comforting words of the Gospel even more. As President Nelson
has said, “I promise you that as you daily immerse yourself in The Book of
Mormon, you can be immunized against the evils of the day.”
I am so
thankful that we have a living prophet who is in tune with the challenges we
face in the world. The inspired programs and changes introduced since President
Nelson was called as our Prophet have spiritually prepared us for what we are
now experiencing. Who could have imagined that making the Church more
home-centric with the “Come Follow Me” Program a couple of years ago would
prepare us to withstand the Pandemic we are now experiencing? Who could have
known how important President Nelson’s words and actions of a couple of years
ago regarding racial harmony and closer ties with organizations like the NAACP would
help provide positive relationships with ALL our brothers and sisters?
We are so
blessed to have President Nelson!
For this
week’s Elder’s Quorum message, President Olsen has suggested we study Elder
Whitney L. Clayton’s talk from the last General Conference entitled “The Finest
Homes”. Below are some of the highlights. I encourage you to take some time and
read the entire talk.
After
reviewing his talk, I challenge you to look at your own home. Does your home
reflect the attributes Elder Clayton presented?
The
Savior is the perfect engineer, builder, and interior designer. His project is
the perfection and eternal joy of our souls.
Recently a billboard in Salt Lake City caught my eye. It
advertised a furniture and interior design company. It stated simply, “Serving
the Finest Homes in Salt Lake City.”
The message was catchy—what is a “finest home”? I found myself thinking about that question, especially with
regard to the children my wife, Kathy, and I raised and the children they are
raising today. Like parents everywhere, we worried about and prayed over our
family. We still do. We earnestly want the very best for them. How can they and
their children live in the finest homes?
Let me share four observations about fine homes.
First, from the Lord’s perspective, establishing the finest
homes has everything to do with the personal qualities of the people who live
there. These homes aren’t made fine in any important or lasting way
by their furniture or by the net worth or social status of the people who own
them. The finest characteristic of any home is the image of Christ reflected in
the home’s residents. What matters is the interior design of the souls of the
inhabitants, not the structure itself.
Second, residents in the finest homes make
time to study the scriptures and the words of living prophets every day.
President Russell M. Nelson has invited us to “transform” and “remodel”
our homes through gospel study.4 His
invitation recognizes that fine homes house the tender, vital work of personal
growth and remodeling our weaknesses. Daily repentance is a transformative tool
that enables us to grow a little kinder, more loving, and more understanding.
Studying the scriptures brings us closer to the Savior, whose generous love and
grace assist us with our growth.
Third, fine homes follow the blueprint created
by the Lord for His finest home, the temple. Building a temple begins
with basic steps—clearing
brush and leveling land. Those initial efforts to ready the ground might be
compared to keeping the basic commandments. The commandments are the foundation
on which discipleship is built. Steady discipleship leads us to become firm,
steadfast, and immovable, like the steel framework for a temple. This steady
framework allows the Lord to send His Spirit to change our hearts. Experiencing
a mighty change of heart is like adding beautiful features to the interior of a
temple.
Fourth, the finest homes are refuges from the
storms of life. The Lord has promised that those who keep the
commandments of God “prosper in the land.” God’s prosperity is the power to
press forward despite the problems of life.
In 2002 I learned an important lesson about problems. While in
Asunción, Paraguay, I met with the city’s stake presidents. At that time,
Paraguay faced a terrible financial crisis, and many Church members were
suffering and unable to make ends meet. I had not been to South America since
my mission and had never been to Paraguay. I had been serving in that Area
Presidency for only a few weeks. Apprehensive about my inability to give
guidance to those stake presidents, I asked them to tell me only what was going
well in their stakes. The first stake president told me about things that were
going well. The next mentioned things that were going well and a few problems.
By the time we got to the last stake president, he mentioned only a series of
vexing challenges. As the stake presidents explained the magnitude of the
situation, I grew increasingly concerned, nearly desperate, about what to say.
Just as the last stake
president was finishing his comments, a thought came into my mind: “Elder
Clayton, ask them this question: ‘Presidents, of the members in your stakes who
pay a full tithing, pay a generous fast offering, magnify their callings in the
Church, actually visit their families as home teachers or visiting teachers
every month, hold family home evening, study the scriptures, and hold family
prayer each day, how many have problems they cannot address on their own
without the Church having to step in and solve their problems for them?’” Responsive
to the impression I had received, I asked the stake presidents that question.
They looked at me in
surprised silence and then said, “Pues, ninguno,” meaning, “Well, no one.” They then told me that none of the
members who did all of those things had problems they were incapable of
resolving on their own. Why? Because they lived in the finest homes. Their
faithful living provided them the strength, vision, and heavenly help they
needed in the economic turmoil that surrounded them.
This doesn’t mean the
righteous won’t become ill, suffer accidents, face business reversals, or
confront many other difficulties in life. Mortality always brings challenges,
but time after time I have seen that those who strive to obey the commandments
are blessed to find their way forward with peace and hope. Those blessings are
available to everyone.
David declared, “Except the
Lord build the house, they labour in vain that build it.” Wherever you live,
whatever your house looks like, and whatever the composition of your family,
you can help build the finest home for your family. The restored gospel of
Jesus Christ provides the plans for that home. The Savior is the perfect
engineer, builder, and interior designer. His project is the perfection and
eternal joy of our souls. With His loving help, your soul can be all He wants
it to be and you can be the finest version of yourself, prepared to establish
and live in a finest home.
I gratefully testify that the God and Father of us all lives.
His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, is the Savior and Redeemer of all mankind. They
love us perfectly. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is the
Lord’s kingdom on earth. Living prophets and apostles guide it today. The Book
of Mormon is true. The restored gospel of Jesus Christ is the perfect blueprint
for establishing finest homes. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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