Brothers and sister, I want to testify of the importance of Christlike service to others on earth and how that service becomes treasure in heaven for us.
Quotes on Service
As President Monson closed last October general conference, he taught us that “we are God’s hands on earth…to serve His children” (“Until We Meet Again,” Ensign, November 2011.)
At the First Presidency Christmas devotional, President Monson mentioned the book The Mansion that teaches about learning to give service out of love for others without recognition on earth. President Monson taught that that is how we lay up treasures in heaven.
President Monson taught that without earthly recognition, the Christlike services truly become treasures in heaven. (First Presidency Christmas Devotional, December 4, 2011, Ensign, January 2012).
King Mosiah taught that “when [we] are in the service of [our] fellow beings [we] are [actually, ultimately] only in the service of [our] God” (Mosiah 2:17).
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Savior said: “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust doth corrupt. But lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven” (Matthew 6:19-20, 3 Nephi 12:19-20).
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Savior also taught “…do not your alms before men, to be seen of them: otherwise ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven” (Matthew 6:1, 3 Nephi 12:1).
Now, I’m going to deliberately and knowingly give up one Christlike service on earth which has been heretofore, a treasure in heaven for me. I give it up so it might provide an example and motivation to each of you to anonymously give Christlike service to others to build up your treasures in heaven. I tried to figure out how to tell the story in the third person to conceal my identity but it was too confusing to me to keep track of where I was and who was who. Please do not consider this boastful on my part.
Gate 73: SFO International Airport
On one of my HP business trips around 1988, I was walking from Gate 89 at the far end of one of the San Francisco International airport to another gate for my connection back to Boise. I had three bags with me: a large folding suit bag, a medium-sized bag, and a backpack. Anciently, you were allowed to carry onto the plane as much as you could possibly carry onto the plane.
As I walked, I approached a young mother with two daughters – one was a baby in her arms and the other was about four years old. The four-year old was sitting on the floor crying next to her pink roll-along suitcase. She was sobbing blubbered that she was just too tired to move. The mother had her baby in one arm and was pulling a rollie with her other hand so she couldn’t even hold her daughter’s hand to coax her along.
I asked if I could help. She explained that they needed to get to Gate 73 and she had no idea where it was. Their flight was scheduled to depart in just minutes and they had just gotten off the first leg of their flight. This was the last flight of the day from San Francisco to Portland, Oregon. If they missed the flight they would have to stay the night in a hotel which would be expensive and very difficult to arrange. She would have to get a taxi and find the hotel in the dark. Her husband was already on his way to Portland’s airport to pick them up. This was before cell phones so she couldn’t call him to tell him of her predicament and the need to change their plan.
I told her I knew the exact location of Gate 73: Just ahead past the “moving” sidewalk and a little farther, then right at the “T”. Gate 73 is the third gate on the right just across from a chocolate shop. I shifted both of my bags to my left hand and with no time to ask permission, I scooped up her crying daughter with my free arm along with her little pink pull-along suitcase, and ordered, “Let’s go!” The woman was just behind me, certainly not going to allow me to run off with her precious daughter. We scurried down the moving sidewalk, scampered a little farther, made a right at the T, passed Gates 71 and 72, and turned right into Gate 73. The United Airlines attendant was just shutting the doors to the jet-way when we arrived. With great effort she tugged on the heavy metal door which slowly opened to allow this mother and her daughters to board the plane. The mother quickly showed the attendant her three boarding passes and we all entered the jet-way together. I explained to the attendant that I would not be getting on the plane. She nodded in acknowledgement. The attendant opened the jet’s door as I set the four-year old down and gave her her pink pull-along suitcase. I shifted my own bags back to their regular traditional places as the mother and her two daughters stepped onto the plane. When the mother got to the aisle she turned her head momentarily and with many tears in her eyes and Mascara streaks on her face, she mouthed the words, “Thank you!” There wasn’t time for anything else, but it didn’t matter. She needed help at a great time of need when she couldn’t help herself. And she had her most precious cargo with her onboard the aircraft. That’s really all that mattered. I slowly trudged back up the jet-way with my luggage, followed by the attendant. We did not speak.
At the top of the jet-way I paused to catch my breath. I glanced out the window as the Boeing 737 backed slowly away from Gate 73. Out in the hallway across from the chocolate shop, I heard the jet engines rev up and the aircraft crawled away on its own power towards the runway. I slowly followed it for a few seconds, but then its speed outpaced me. As I got on the northbound moving sidewalk I thought of my own sweet wife and our four children at home in Boise. And then I began to weep.
In our new Relief Society and Priesthood manual on Teachings of the Presidents, President George Albert Smith, the prophet said, “When our life here is ended and we return home, we will find credited to us there every good act we have performed, every kindness we have done, every effort we have put forth to benefit our fellow beings…” (Teachings of the Presidents: George Albert Smith, page 18).
During the early part of our marriage, when I helped around the house, I wanted TerriLu to recognize my service so she would see what a perfect husband she had married. But I was very subtle, even hypocritical, in how I pointed out my efforts so it wouldn’t look like I was seeking recognition. Instead of just blurting out, “Honey, I did the dishes last night,” I would say something like, “I noticed last night while doing the dishes that the cookie sheet barely fit in the dishwasher. I’m surprised Whirlpool didn’t consider that during the design process.” And then hopefully TerriLu would gush effusively, “Oh, that’s right, Bill. I did notice you put in a cookie sheet and a fork and then started the dishwasher…without any soap. Thank you so much for that Herculean effort. I hope you didn’t strain yourself. That was so thoughtful of you, and what a sacrifice. I should write this up and send it in to the Church News and the Ensign magazine to let everyone know that you really are a perfect husband.”
Well, TerriLu never gushed anything like that so in my case, I did the only sensible and right thing – I just quit helping around the house. No, actually, I learned to help more and to do things because they needed to be done, without the recognition. I learned to love serving out of pure love for my wife and family. And I learned to serve others in the same way. Today, I only mention any service around the home to TerriLu so she doesn’t think I’m loafing all the time. I’m basically in charge of simple things like loading and unloading the dishwasher with soap, washing and drying clothes as long as I don’t mix coloreds or jeans with the whites, and fetching ice packs downstairs for TerriLu’s recovering knee. Oh, and I’m not supposed to use RoundUp weed-killer without direct adult supervision because in my haste to spray the weeds I also poison most of the other plant life. And I can get the mail unsupervised, as long as I’m not wearing just my pajamas.
Brother Beckstrom’s Mission President
In the high priests group last fall, Brother Brad Beckstrom told us that his mission president, Jay Pingree, taught that “service to others is like extra credit in heaven to make up for areas where we might be deficient.” I love that statement and I testify that it is true.
Now, I am not saying that service is a substitute for repentance. It is not! But I think we can all use all the extra credit in heaven that we can get. We must repent of our sins and weaknesses. But anonymous Christlike service has a built-in cleansing power. So infinite is the mercy of Christ that many sacrifices, demonstrations of great faith, great humility, sincere prayer, and many services can bring a forgiveness of sins. In the scriptures we have many references to people being forgiven of their sins for reasons other than repentance.
I manually counted 569 scriptures in the online Standard Works at lds.org that use the word “forgiveness” or “forgiven.” I found only 25 scriptures that contain both “repentance” and “forgiveness” or “redemption” in the same verse. I know it is a very fine line – the Lord doesn’t want us not to repent thinking we’ll just be forgiven anyway.
One time Jesus said through the Prophet at a gathering of Latter-day Saints: “There are those among you who have sinned; verily but I say, for this once, for mine own glory, and for the salvation of souls, I have forgiven you your sins.” (If you think I’m making that up, see for yourself in Doctrine and Covenants 64:3. Ponder that for a moment: Jesus can forgive simply because He can forgive! He atoned for our sins – he paid for every pain we suffer – and he has the supreme mercy and munificence to forgive for reasons other than for repenting.
When it comes to forgiving others, the Lord has a little more wiggle room, but we don’t have any flexibility: Said the Savior, “I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men” (Doctrine and Covenants 64:10).
Many references in the Doctrine and Covenants speak of service that brings a forgiveness of sins. “Therefore, thrust in your sickle with all your soul, and your sins are forgiven you” (Doctrine and Covenants 31:5).
“Let them lift up their voice and declare my word…without wrath or doubting…for I am able to make you holy, and your sins are forgiven you” (Doctrine and Covenants 60:7).
“For I will forgive you of your sins with this commandment – that you remain steadfast in your minds in solemnity and the spirit of prayer, in bearing testimony to all the world…” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:61).
“For I, the Lord, love him for the work he hath done, and will forgive all his sins” (Doctrine and Covenants 124:78).
“Your sins are forgiven you, because you have obeyed my voice in coming up hither this morning to receive counsel of him whom I have appointed” (Doctrine and Covenants 108:1). That sounds like listening to the prophet at general conference live, and maybe even reading it later in the Ensign.
Luke describes, “And one of the Pharisees desired [Jesus] that He would dine with him. And He went into the Pharisee’s house, and sat down to meat.
“And, behold, a woman in the city, which was a sinner, when she knew that Jesus sat at meat in the Pharisee’s house, brought an alabaster box of ointment,
“And stood at his feet behind him weeping, and began to wash His feet with [her] tears, and did wipe [His feet] with the hairs of her head, and kissed His feet, and anointed them with the ointment.
“Now when the Pharisee which had bidden him saw it, he spake within himself, saying, This man, if He were a prophet, would have known who and what manner of woman this is that toucheth him: for she is a sinner.
“And Jesus answering said unto Him, Simon, I have somewhat to say unto thee. And he saith, Master, Say on.
“There was a certain creditor which had two debtors: the one owed five hundred pence, and the other fifty.
“And when they had nothing to pay, he frankly forgave them both. Tell me therefore, which of them will love him most?
“Simon answered and said, I suppose that he, to whom he forgave most. And he said unto him, Thou hast rightly judged.
“And he turned to the woman, and said unto Simon, Seest thou this woman? I entered into thine house, thou gavest me no water for My feet: but she hath washed my feet with tears, and wiped them with the hairs of her head.
“Thou gavest Me no kiss: but this woman since the time I came in hath not ceased to kiss My feet.
“My head with oil thou didst not anoint: but this woman hath anointed My feet with ointment.
“Wherefore I say unto thee, her sins, which are many, are forgiven; for she loved much: but to whom little is forgiven, the same loveth little.
“And he said unto her, thy sins are forgiven” (Luke 7:36-49, emphasis added).
Again, it’s a very fine line – the Lord doesn’t want us not to repent thinking we’ll just be forgiven anyway. We still need to continuously repent
17 Miracles – the Willie Handcart Company
Last fall, TerriLu and I went to the dollar theater and saw the movie 17 Miracles about the ill-fated Willie handcart company that left late in the season of 1856 (Deseret News 2012 Church Almanac, page 298, June 9 entry) and endured an early and very harsh winter on their trek to the Salt Lake Valley. Online we also bought a 544-page book entitled The Price We Paid with many details plus we found a talk by Elder Jack Goasland in general conference April 1993 about the rescue of the Willie-Martin handcart companies.
In the general conference of October 1856, word came to Brigham Young of the terrible plight of the Willie and Martin handcart companies. President Young adjourned conference and called all able-bodied men to quickly gather supplies and wagons to form a rescue party. The men left early the next morning to ride to the stranded Saints.
Arriving at the banks of the ice-filled Sweetwater River the rescuers found the handcart companies on the other side of the river, bogged down in eighteen inches of snow. Men, women, and children were too weak to cross the river. Their energy was spent, their strength was gone, and they felt the effects of frostbite, hypothermia, and fatigue. Women, children, and even grown men wept when they realized they needed to cross yet another river in their already weakened condition and this time it was a freezing-cold river filled with large chunks of ice. Several had died in their previous river crossing.
It was then that four strong young men made a sacrifice that few are ever called upon to make. The young men waded into the freezing current, and stayed there the entire day carrying almost every man, woman, and child of the company across the icy river to keep the pioneers warm and dry. Back and forth they crossed until every member was safe on the other side with the supplies and food and the wagons that would provide shelter and transportation to the Salt Lake Valley. Elder Goasland observed in 1993, “These young men were not perfect—they were probably regular young men with faults and shortcomings, with their own problems, fears, and weaknesses. But they answered the call of the prophet – they went where the Lord needed them, to bless the lives of others [made in His image].” (Jack A. Goasland, General Conference, Ensign, May 1993).
For the rest of their lives, these four men suffered from the effects of the prolonged exposure to the freezing water that day.
The sacrifice of these rescuers was later brought to the attention of Brigham Young. President Young wept when he heard the story and declared, “That act alone will ensure [those men] an everlasting salvation in the Celestial Kingdom of God, worlds without end.” (Improvement Era, February 1914, page 288; The Price We Paid: The Extraordinary Story of the Willie and Martin Handcart Pioneers, pages 360-361).
Truly, as President Jim Pingree taught, Christlike service to others is like extra credit in heaven to make up for areas where we might be deficient.
Grandparents
One of the greatest, most selfless acts of service we have seen in the Church, my wife and I first observed while serving together in nursery. TerriLu and I watched, and we continue to watch, as concerned, loving grandparents bring their sweet grandchildren to Sacrament meeting and to nursery and to Primary to help their grandchildren get on and stay on the strait and narrow way. I testify that you are not only laying up great treasures in heaven, but you are also literally “saviors on Mount Zion” (Obidiah 1:21) to your grandchildren.
Righteous, Covenant-keeping Lives Filled with Christlike service Will…
Grandparents and parents, I testify that our righteous, covenant-keeping lives filled with Christlike service, as the Prophet Joseph Smith taught, will draw down the powers of heaven and will invoke the most tender mercies of the atonement of Jesus Christ, to reach out like “tentacles” to draw our children and our grandchildren, or our posterity as Elder Orson F. Whitney of the Twelve testified, with us into the Celestial Kingdom (Orson F. Whitney, Conference Report, April 1929, page 110).
I testify that our Heavenly Father’s work and His glory is not merely to bring to pass our Telestial Life or our Terrestrial Life or even just our Celestial Life. I testify that His work and His glory is to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life and exaltation of us His children (Moses 1:39) through the infinitely merciful atonement of our Savior, Jesus Christ. I testify that we assist our Heavenly Father in His glorious work and that “we are His hands on earth” and “to lift up the hands which hang down” (Hebrews 12:12, Doctrine and Covenants 81:5) in Christlike service to others, which blesses them and truly blesses us as well, as we lay up treasures in heaven and build up our mansions on high, and that service becomes extra credit in heaven to make up for areas where we might be deficient.
I know that our Father in Heaven lives and that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son in the flesh and that through His atonement “all mankind may be saved by obedience to the laws and ordinances of the gospel of Jesus Christ” (Articles of Faith 1:3).
I testify that anonymous Christlike services become the gold bricks that build our mansions on high.
In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Small Talk with Bill Ross 