A Centennial Celebration, Take Charge of the In Between
"Brothers and sisters, I repeat, we will never regret following the counsel of living prophets. I promise that as you listen to, read, study, and seek to apply the words of President Nelson given at a General Conference, the Holy Ghost will make the message specific to you and your needs. It will be customized and tailored for you just as if President Nelson were speaking directly to you."
"In a quiet moment, ask Heavenly Father to teach you those things that you should do, or the things that you should avoid doing, so that you will feel the Savior’s love and influence in your life. Ask the Lord to help you understand how you can feel the influence of the Holy Ghost more often. Then be still and listen to what He is inspiring you to do."
A Centennial Celebration
As you know, President Russell M. Nelson recently celebrated his 100th birthday. Sister Kusch and I had the privilege of attending the celebration a week ago yesterday, which was held right here in the Conference Center Theater.
It was a very special experience as, with so many of you, we celebrated the amazing life of President Nelson. His accomplishments could span many lifetimes, but it is his ministry as an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ that is most remarkable. Members of the Church around the world have been blessed by his love and his teachings.
But it’s not only members of the Church whose lives have been touched – but leaders of other faiths, leaders of institutions, leaders of nations who are better for having known President Nelson. So today, it seemed only fitting to spend a few minutes focused on the ministry and teachings of President Russell M. Nelson.
In honor of his 100th birthday, here is a list of 100 things President Nelson has taught, (referring to the slide) I don’t expect you to be able to see any of those things.
This word cloud shows some key topics and accomplishments – perhaps most notable is that he has announced 168 temples since becoming the president of the Church.
Most importantly, here are some things that President Nelson taught in his remarks at the celebration:
He said, “…the length of your life is not as important as the kind of life that you live.”
“For each of us, even for a 100-year-old man, life passes quickly. My prayer is that you will let God prevail in your life. Make covenants with Him. Stay on the covenant path. Prepare to return to live with Him again.”
For those who saw the broadcast, you also know that President Nelson bore witness of Jesus Christ, His gospel, and His Church. Of all the things President Nelson is and does, being a witness of the Savior, bearing his Apostolic witness of Him, and doing everything he can to lead us back to Christ is undoubtedly his most precious priority.
A few weeks ago, I met a young man who had recently returned from full-time missionary service in Chile. Whenever I meet someone like him, I always ask how they are adjusting to post-mission life. As I listen to their answers, it’s easy to get a sense of how they feel about their mission, what kind of missionary they were, and what they are doing to stay close to the Lord.
This young man was with a friend, who is not of our faith, from their high school days. In response to my question, he told me he was still trying to do missionary work with his friend and was striving to live a “consecrated life.” We only spoke for a few minutes, and then both of us went our separate ways, but I could tell this returned missionary had been valiant in his service and had been a blessing to his mission leaders, the members, and those with whom he shared the gospel. And, most importantly, I am confident the Lord was pleased with his daily efforts to invite others to come unto Christ.
This young, returned missionary is committed to letting God prevail in his life. He is committed to remaining on the covenant path. His life is firmly centered on the Savior as one of His disciples.
So, if we simply consider President Nelson’s most recent prophetic counsel given at his birthday celebration, there are four questions we might each ask ourselves:
- What kind of life am I living?
- Am I letting God prevail in my life, and what does that mean for me?
- Am I staying on or straying from the covenant path?
- Am I preparing to live with God again?
As Nephi concludes his testimony in 2 Nephi 33, He wrote: “But behold, there are many that harden their hearts against the Holy Spirit, that it hath no place in them; wherefore, they cast many things away which are written and esteem them as things of naught.”
Brothers and sisters, please do not cast away or esteem as things of naught the admonition and counsel that come from living prophets – especially the many things that have been and are taught by the President of the Church.
You will never regret following the counsel of the living prophets, most importantly, the counsel that comes from the President of the Church. However, whether in this life or the next, NOT following prophetic counsel will come with regrettable consequences.
Now, back to those four questions and our answers.
Question 1: What kind of life am I living?
In his October 2023 General Conference message, “Think Celestial,” President Nelson said:
“Mortality is a master class in learning to choose the things of greatest eternal import…In my first message as President of the Church, I encouraged you to begin with the end in mind. This means making the celestial kingdom your eternal goal and then carefully considering where each of your decisions while here on earth will place you in the next world...
When you make choices, I invite you to take the long view—an eternal view. Put Jesus Christ first because your eternal life is dependent upon your faith in Him and in His Atonement... When you are confronted with a dilemma, think celestial!”
In our marriage, Sister Kusch and I have tried to “think celestial” as we have made decisions for our family. We have never knowingly or deliberately made a decision and said, “This time, we’ll just think telestial or terrestrial.” Many years ago, when we lived in the San Francisco Bay Area, I accepted a position with a national consulting firm – I thought it would be my dream job. As we prayerfully considered the opportunity, we felt it was the right thing to do. I loved the work and the people I worked with. It was a great learning experience. But there was one significant challenge with the job – it took me away from home all week, every week. When I took the job, I was serving as the bishop of our ward, and a few months later, I was called as a counselor in our stake presidency. All of our four children were still at home. I would leave on a late Sunday evening flight for a client engagement in the Midwest and would return home at the end of the work week.
As time passed, we realized that for us, this was not the ideal situation. So much time away made it difficult to do important things as a family. So much time away made it nearly impossible for me to fulfill my Church responsibilities. While we had not strayed from the covenant path, we felt a course correction was needed. It resulted in a change of employment, which was a blessing for our family in many ways. We felt greater joy and greater peace, and it put us on a path that eventually led us to Rexburg, Idaho, and our experience at BYU-Idaho. Our time there was life-changing. The things we learned there helped prepare us for full-time missionary service and were also instrumental in guiding us to Ensign College.
As President Nelson pleads with us to remain on the covenant path or to return to the covenant path, his counsel to repent daily is a key ingredient in doing so. In his April 2022 message entitled, “The Power of Spiritual Momentum,” President Nelson said: “Please do not fear or delay repenting. Satan delights in your misery. Cut it short. Cast his influence out of your life! Start today to experience the joy of putting off the natural man. The Savior loves us always but especially when we repent. He promised that though ‘the mountains shall depart, and the hills be removed … my kindness shall not depart from thee.’ If you feel you have strayed off the covenant path too far or too long and have no way to return, that simply is not true. Please contact your bishop or branch president. He is the Lord’s agent and will help you experience the joy and relief of repenting.”
As we continue to consider the question, “What kind of life am I living?” I want to refer us to President Nelson’s April 2023 message, “Peacemakers Needed.” He said, “The Savior’s message is clear: His true disciples build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire—no matter how difficult the situation. True disciples of Jesus Christ are peacemakers.” The entire talk is something I believe we should study regularly. Not only should we study the message, but we could all be better at applying what President Nelson taught.
One more quote from his message: “Contention drives away the Spirit—every time. Contention reinforces the false notion that confrontation is the way to resolve differences; but it never is. Contention is a choice. Peacemaking is a choice. You have your agency to choose contention or reconciliation. I urge you to choose to be a peacemaker, now and always.”
Question 2: Am I letting God prevail in my life, and what does that mean for me?
Here are more questions from President Nelson to think about in striving to answer the question about letting God prevail.
He said: “The question for each of us…is the same. Are you willing to let God prevail in your life? Are you willing to let God be the most important influence in your life? Will you allow His words, His commandments, and His covenants to influence what you do each day? Will you allow His voice to take priority over any other? Are you willing to let whatever He needs you to do take precedence over every other ambition? Are you willing to have your will swallowed up in His?” (Let God Prevail, October 2020 General Conference)
Brothers and sisters, I know that many of you know what it means to let God prevail in your life. Think about your decision to attend Ensign College. I have heard many of you say, “I am here because of the promptings of the Holy Ghost.” Think about your decision to serve a mission, your decision to be baptized, your decision to marry in the temple, or any decision you have made to put God first, even when you knew it would be difficult. All of those things are examples of letting God prevail.
Question 3: Am I staying on or straying from the covenant path?
As king Benjamin concluded teaching his people, he reminded them that there were more ways to stray than could be numbered, and he admonished them to watch their thoughts, their words, and their deeds – to continue faithful and watch for the coming of Jesus Christ.
Is there a message that President Nelson has delivered more frequently than his repeated pleas to stay on the covenant path or to find our way back if we have strayed?
Similar to king Benjamin, President Nelson has taught: “There is no end to the adversary’s deceptions. Please be prepared. Never take counsel from those who do not believe. Seek guidance from voices you can trust—from prophets, seers, and revelators and from the whisperings of the Holy Ghost, who ‘will show unto you all things what ye should do.’ Please do the spiritual work to increase your capacity to receive personal revelation” (Think Celestial, October 2023 General Conference).
If we just consider the titles of many of President Nelson’s messages, we will see how much he has taught that helps us along our journey of discipleship.
Think Celestial
The Answer is Always Jesus Christ
Peacemakers Needed
Focus on the Temple
Overcome the World and Find Rest
The Power of Spiritual Momentum
Make Time for the Lord
Let God Prevail
Hear Him
Opening the Heavens for Help
Choices for Eternity
Brothers and sisters, I repeat, we will never regret following the counsel of living prophets. I promise that as you listen to, read, study, and seek to apply the words of President Nelson given at a General Conference, the Holy Ghost will make the message specific to you and your needs. It will be customized and tailored for you just as if President Nelson were speaking directly to you.
Sometimes, we might take a step off the covenant path by not following prophetic counsel.
For example, in the Priesthood session of the October 1998 General Conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley addressed the global economic conditions at the time and said: “There is a portent of stormy weather ahead to which we had better give heed.” He also spoke about managing our personal financial matters regarding debt and savings. He said, “I urge you, brethren, to look at the conditions of your finances…may the Lord bless you, my beloved brethren, to set your houses in order.” As I listened to President Hinckley, in that meeting, I received some distinct impressions about things that we should do, in our family, to better manage our financial affairs. I must confess that I did not act as promptly as I should have to follow his counsel, and the results were very costly. I vowed then that I would never delay heeding and hearkening to prophetic counsel.
Question 4: Am I preparing to live with God again?
How we answer the previous three questions will provide the answer to this fourth and final question.
If we are living a covenant-making and covenant-keeping life, we are preparing to live with God again.
If we let God prevail in our lives, we are preparing to live with Him again.
If we are repenting daily and diligently striving to remain on or return to the covenant path, we are preparing to live with God again.
If we are taking the words of living prophets – especially the teachings of the president of the Church – as our guides, we are preparing to live with God again.
As President Nelson concluded his remarks at his birthday celebration, he bore a powerful witness of Jesus Christ, and then he said, “Humbly, I invoke a blessing upon each precious one of you.”
It is not insignificant when the Prophet pronounces an apostolic blessing. When he does, it would be good for us to consider how we can qualify for the blessings he promises. For example, he said, “Now, in my capacity as President of the Church, I invoke a blessing upon you to be able to discern between right and wrong, between the laws of God and the conflicting voices of the world. I bless you with power to detect the adversary’s deceptions. I bless you with greater capacity to receive revelation. And I bless you to be able to feel the infinite reach of God’s perfect love for you.”
Brothers and sisters, as I read that apostolic promise and blessing, I hope it was meaningful for you.It was meant for you.
I bear my personal testimony of the prophetic calling and ministry of President Russell M. Nelson. I know he is a prophet of God. I know he is the Lord’s appointed and ordained mouthpiece. With all the energy of my soul I witness that following the Lord’s prophet with exactness will protect us and will strengthen us on our journey to return to God’s presence. How blessed we are to know that there is a prophet in the land. How much more blessed we are when we listen and follow what he teaches. As we follow the counsel of the Savior’s chief apostle, may we honestly examine our lives.May we let God prevail in our lives.May we valiantly stay on the Covenant Path.May we look forward with confidence that has waxed strong, that we are prepared to return to live with God again.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Take Charge of the In Between
I have a good friend and neighbor who recently shared an important lesson with me. My friend loves to go to Church. She loves to take the Sacrament and listen to the speakers and testimonies. She loves to learn in Sunday School and Relief Society. At church she feels the Spirit and brings that Spirit home with her, so she enjoys the rest of the Sabbath day. She said, “I love how I feel when I am in church.”
But then it’s Monday. She is scurrying around getting her family where they need to be and rushing so she can be on time for work. She begins to feel weighed down, pressured by life’s challenges, and worried once again.
She wonders how she will manage that space of time between Sunday and when she can return to Church, partake of the sacrament, and feel the Holy Ghost once again.
She calls that period of time the “in-between”.
She has created her own personal strategies to shorten the in between time, so that she can feel the Spirit more often during the week.
She told me what her strategies are-and they are good, but I am not going to tell you.They are hers, and yours and mine will be different.
Why would we care about managing the in-between time in your life, about increasing spiritual moments which help you remember the Lord and what He has done for you?
Recently President Nelson has taught about the importance of feeling the influence of the Holy Ghost more often, so that personal revelation might be ours.
He said:
“We need to do better and be better because we are in a battle.The battle with sin is real. The adversary is quadrupling his efforts to disrupt testimonies and impede the work of the Lord. He is arming his minions with potent weapons to keep us from partaking of the joy and love of the Lord.” (We Can Do Better and Be Better,” April 2019)
On another occasion he taught:
“There has never been a time in the history of the world when knowledge of our Savior is more personally vital and relevant to every human soul….I invoke a blessing upon all who are seeking greater light, knowledge, and truth.” (Pure Truth, Pure Doctrine, and Pure Revelation, October 2021)
To you, the young adults of the Church he said:
“The truth is that you must own your own conversion. No one else can do it for you.
I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. Care for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth.
Ask the Lord to teach you how to hear Him better.
As you make your testimony your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life.” (Choices for Eternity (To the Young Adults) May 15, 2022)
What President Nelson did not say, but what is clearly implied and what I have come to know for myself, is that experiences with the Holy Ghost on a regular basis shorten the in-between. They lessen the influence of Satan and his minions over you. As you strive to hear the voice of the Savior, more often and clearer, you can expect to see the fulfillment of President Nelson’s promise: “… miracles to happen in your life.”
One morning when President Kusch and I were serving in Mexico, we had just left a series of meetings and interviews with missionaries in one area, and we were traveling to Acapulco, some 3 hours away, to meet with 2 other zones of elders and sisters.Our suitcases were packed and in the car.
As we left the meetings, preparing to begin our travel, I suddenly had a feeling of dread about making this trip.This was unusual for me because I loved driving through the mission, and I was really looking forward to being with our missionaries.But the feeling of unease would not leave me.
I finally said something.President and I have been through enough experiences to recognize that this was more than just, “I don’t want to go.”After talking about it, we decided to go back to the mission home and let the zone leaders know that we were not coming.And then I wondered all afternoon if I had overreacted.Then I understood.
That night Hurricane Manuel made landfall.The city of Acapulco and the immediate surrounding areas sustained most of the damage.Bridges were washed away, homes were destroyed, people lost their lives, our missionaries were in stranded in areas that were now inaccessible. The roads leading in and out of the city were gone or blocked by landslides and the airport was closed because it was underwater.
Had we made that trip to Acapulco, it would have miserable for us because we would have been stranded along with thousands of others for more than a week in a city where the infrastructure was destroyed.But more importantly, because of damaged roads and the collapse of cell phone towers, we would have been completely cut off from the rest of the mission; unable to communicate with missionaries who were afraid and in need, and with families who were desperate for information about the safety of their sons and daughters.
Not making that trip was the right thing to do for many reasons even though we did not know why at the time.
I was grateful for revelation, received in a car, along a highway, in Mexico.
This was not a Sunday. This message from the Lord came during the in-between. Know this, the Holy Ghost is very active every day, everywhere, unless you have taken yourself to someplace where he cannot be. If you seek to hear the voice of the Lord, He is there, and you can hear Him.
During the summer of 2019, I was visiting our daughter in Idaho and one afternoon we were looking through some boxes filled with some of my grandchildren’s memories.
One of the boxes contained a small book entitled “Our Favorite Recipe Mom Makes.”It was created by my granddaughter’s kindergarten teacher and was a gift that year for Mother’s Day.
Here are a few of the recipes from this book written by 6 year olds.
According to Logan, you can take white stuff, put it on a black thing and then a plate, you have pancakes. Notice the illustration of all the boys sitting around the table eating.
According to Emily, meat of some kind, put in a big pot along with potatoes and carrots and then cooked for 3 days will yield soup that you can both eat and drink.
Camden taught me something I did not know – you can bake cookies for 10 hours at 10 degrees and they will be delicious.
You can see from Connor’s recipe that putting exactly 9 chocolate chips in every cookie and then layering them with frosting is going to be tasty.
And then my granddaughter, Kennedy…she explains the process for making French bread. I did not realize that to a 6-year-old watching yeast “pop” is fun, and that to create the proper shape of the bread, you must “mix it like a big fat snake.”
As these little children had watched their mothers making some of their favorite foods, with the knowledge and experience they had, this was their best understanding of how to recreate the things they loved to eat.
They said and illustrated what they knew and understood at the time.
What if you had written a little book, when you were six with the title, “How to Shorten the In-Between.” Can you imagine what might have been included?
Perhaps a page with a drawing of you praying. Another page might have a picture of your family sitting at the table reading scriptures. One might be an illustration of you being kind to someone, maybe doing a chore for your brother or sister or helping your mother by setting the table for dinner.
There might be a page of you sitting quietly in your Primary class.
Perhaps you drew a picture of your family standing outside the temple.
When you were 6, these were very good things to do.
But now life is more complicated and there are many things that compete for your attention and pull you in different directions. What do you do now? How can you create your own spiritual strategy to take charge of and shorten the in-between? These simple ideas that you illustrated in your book when you were 6 would be a very good place to start.
I could give you a list of things that I believe would help you have experiences with the Spirit more often during the week, which of course would shorten the in-between for you. But it is not for me to tell you what you should do.
I will share with you two things, though, that for me are absolutes.
First, remembering times that you felt the Spirit is essential. Recently we read in the Book of Mormon about a generation of Nephites that found themselves at the brink of death by starvation because they would not remember what it meant to believe in Jesus Christ, to trust Him and to follow prophets. Just this morning, during my study, I read that a mere three years, following the magnificent heavenly manifestation signaling the birth of the Savior, the people began to forget those signs and wonders they had seen and heard “…and began to be less and less astonished, insomuch that they began to be hard in their hearts and blind in their minds” and then listen, “…and began to disbelieve all which they had heard and seen” ( 3 Nephi 2:1).Doing nothing during the week that helps you remember the goodness of the Lord is dangerous. Remembering is vital.
The second thing is to protect the in-between. If you are desirous of shortening the time in between experiences with the Holy Ghost, don’t go to places, or view things, or do things that will drive him away. He cannot inspire a dirty mind. Keeping yourself clean is essential in shortening the in between. So, protect that space.
I could share with you what my strategies are, but that would not be as helpful for you as you discovering for yourself what Heavenly Father is trying to teach you.
I testify to you that the Lord loves you enough to teach you those things that are meant personally for you—your individual strategies that will strengthen and bless you.
In a quiet moment, ask Heavenly Father to teach you those things that you should do, or the things that you should avoid doing, so that you will feel the Savior’s love and influence in your life. Ask the Lord to help you understand how you can feel the influence of the Holy Ghost more often. Then be still and listen to what He is inspiring you to do.
What you learn during this process, as the Lord teaches you, will become your own strategies that will help you take charge of and shorten the in-between. They will become your personal plan of action that will help you feel the influence of the Holy Ghost in your life and will be crucially important in helping you live in a more spirit-filled way.
I testify, from my own experience, that doing the work to prepare yourself to receive direction and revelation from the Lord, will bless you in ways you cannot imagine.
May the Lord bless you during this semester to manage and shorten the in-between is my prayer. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.