Given in Stake Conference April 2023
There are some talks that get quoted over and over. One of those is the great talk that President Nelson gave in the October 2020 General Conference. It was titled “Let God Prevail”. You will remember that he had recently learned that one of the Hebraic meanings of the word Israel is ‘let God prevail’. Therefore, as members of the House of Israel we are identified as people who will willingly let God prevail in our lives.
He starts his talk by saying, “For the more than 36 years I’ve been an Apostle, the doctrine of the gathering of Israel has captured my attention.”
In a footnote to his printed talk he says, “I have spoken of Israel in at least 378 of the more than 800 messages I have delivered during my 36 years as an Apostle.”
36 years and more than 800 talks. I think there is something to be learned about how long we think we need to serve in a calling and how often we think we should be asked to speak in church.
He goes on to say, “When we speak of gathering Israel on both sides of the veil, we are referring, of course, to missionary, temple, and family history work. We are also referring to building faith and testimony in the hearts of those with whom we live, work, and serve. Anytime we do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—to make and keep their covenants with God, we are helping to gather Israel.”
President Nelson has asked for everyone, the youth, the young single adults, the general membership of the church, to help gather Israel. It is a great responsibility and there is much to do. The gathering of Israel refers to missionary, temple, and family history work. We could spend a great deal of time talking about each one of those. As I touch just briefly on each of these, I hope that you will be open to impressions that come to your mind and make a commitment to act on them. We, obviously, can’t start doing everything all at once but pick something that you feel particularly prompted about and take some action based on that.
Missionary Work
When we talk about missionary work, the principles of Love, Share, and Invite come to mind. I know that I can always do better at each one of these. I know some of you who are very good at loving your neighbors and getting to know those around you in your community or work. Some of us may need to pray for an increased ability to reach out and show that we care.
Maybe we have grown to know someone quite well, but we hesitate to invite them to activities or the church. I know there were some that made a special effort last week to invite friends to a special Easter Sunday. Hopefully, those seeds will grow but we can know that our efforts to help anyone is helping to gather Israel.
I feel like I had a bit of a personal breakthrough a couple of weeks ago. It was Friday afternoon just before General Conference and I went to get a haircut. I am not the sort that makes regular appointments so when I decide it is time for a haircut I just pop in to Great Clips for a cut.
The person that I got to cut my hair was someone that had done my hair before and I remembered her. I remembered that she spoke highly of her husband and daughter and going on family outings. Now, if I were to make assumptions, I would think that by her appearance she probably did not actively participate in the gospel. I am not sure what she might know about the church.
As she started cutting my hair she asked, “Do you have any fun plans for the weekend?” Moment of crisis. I knew exactly what I would be doing all weekend but what do I say? Do I just blow it off and say “Oh, nothing in particular”. Or do I tell her what I am going to be doing? I hesitated for a second and then told her about General Conference and that I would be watching that on the TV all weekend.
She said, “Oh nice” then changed the subject and asked about something else. I don’t know if that little comment from me will make any difference to her, but it made a difference to me! I felt good that I had shared something about me and my beliefs. I felt good about what I had said and will remember those feelings in the future when similar opportunities arise. And maybe someday someone might follow up with more questions and allow me to elaborate. But it will never happen if we don’t say anything.
Temple Work
Temple work is an amazing work that helps people on both sides of the veil. When we go to the temple regularly, we are endowed with power that helps us in our life. The temple teaches us to receive personal revelation and seek the guidance of our Savior as we face the challenges of life. We are reminded of the sacred covenants we have made and how those covenants, when placed at the center of our lives, will guide us, strengthen us, and teach us how to be more like Jesus Christ.
By performing those proxy ordinances, we also open that power to those on the other side of the veil. I don’t understand all that happens on the other side of the veil. I keep hoping someone will come and tell me but so far, nothing! But we have been taught that in some way, the ordinances of the temple free those that are on the other side to continue in their eternal progression. We have all heard stories or had experiences that teach us that the ordinances of the temple are liberating to those on the other side.
Family History
Family History is a subject that usually elicits either joy or dread! I find family history, or specifically genealogy work to be fascinating. I love taking clues and putting them together to identify a person, learn a little about their life, and prepare the name for temple ordinance work.
But there are those whose eyes glaze over when presented with that task and can’t even fathom finding joy in that part of the Gospel. My wife pointed me to an interesting talk given by Sister Wendy Nelson at a BYU Women’s Conference. Sister Nelson said, “After studying more than 100 times Elder Richard G. Scott’s October 2012 general conference address entitled “The Joy of Redeeming the Dead,” I have morphed from a woman who basically went into a coma whenever she heard the words “family history” to one who now feels an irrepressible urgency to find a birth, marriage, death, or census record to uniquely identify one more ancestor.”
My wife is more like the type whose eyes glaze over. She has always said, you deal with the dead people, and I’ll deal with the living people! As we sat around her aunt’s kitchen table in Newfoundland Canada talking about their ancestors, I was the one taking notes and asking questions about her ancestors! She wanted to ask about all the living people she remembers meeting when she visited there for the summer when she was 8 years old.
But the other day, she received an email from FamilySearch that said she had an ordinance available to take to the temple. She decided to click on the link and found a record that needed some of the ordinance work done. This kind of excited her so she followed a few more links and found some sealings and some endowments that needed to be done. By this point she was very excited and printed out all the cards and exclaimed, “I just accidentally almost did Family History work!!” She did! And she loved it!
Excitedly, she called her sister and told her what had happened. Her sister is more of the dead people kind of person, like me, and she had several names that needed sealing work done. So, they made appointments for us to go to the temple that very week. Lanta and I along with her sister and husband went to the temple and spent a couple of hours doing sealings. It ended up being a very special experience in many ways.
Brothers and sisters, we have received a call from the prophet to be anxiously engaged in gathering Israel. Let me repeat his words that anytime we do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—to make and keep their covenants with God, we are helping to gather Israel. I pray that you have received a prompting to act in some small way in helping this work move forward. I testify that you will see miracles in your life as you act in faith.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
