Your Spiritual Creation

So, thank you for coming today. You made a choice to be here. Our life is made of continuous choices. Every day, every hour, every minute, every second we make choices. Today you made a choice to come here. Now think about this: Your body is here because you made a choice in your mind, and then you acted on that decision. This means that your mental or spiritual creation has actually become your material outcome. That's why you're here your body is here, because you chose in your mind. You created something in your mind, and that creation has become your reality.

Right now, as I speak, you are creating something else in your mind - your next spiritual creation - that will become your next material outcome. Maybe you're thinking - I hope this ends quickly so I can do something else – maybe, and I understand that, but the point is that your thoughts today will become your real life tomorrow, in a week, in a month, in a year. Your thoughts and your feelings will become your actions and will define your future life.

So, what is the purpose of our choices, our spiritual creations? The Ensign College mission is to develop capable and trusted disciples of Jesus Christ.

I love that statement. That is a choice which should become your reality. As I think of the Ensign College vision and mission, I think that it goes beyond what you are studying right now. It is more about what you are now deciding to become in your life. Then the real question today is - what will be your ultimate spiritual creation?

In Doctrine and Covenants section 29 the Lord says: "For by the power of my Spirit created I them; yea, all things both spiritual and temporal - First spiritual, secondly temporal, which is the beginning of my work; and again, first temporal, and secondary spiritual, which is the last of my work.”

When we create something spiritual in our mind that it becomes temporal, our first creation, that is only the beginning. It does not end there. Then, what is the end, what is the real purpose? As it says, then from temporal our creations become spiritual again, and that is really the end.

So our purpose in all that we create is ultimately spiritual, it has a spiritual purpose, even an eternal purpose.It is not just for this life.

In verse 34 then the Lord says: "Wherefore, verily I say unto you that all things unto me are spiritual, and not at any time have I given unto you a law which was temporal." Our choices in the end are all spiritual.

President Nelson taught: "Training and learning are but stepping stones. The ultimate aim of true education is the building of character. One trains only for tasks, while character becomes the substance of one's eternal identity.”

Dear brothers and sisters, when you consider your goals in life, please consider that you will never be able to sell your house here to buy a home in heaven. It doesn't work that way. You cannot use the same currency, the same money.

You need to find another way, and the way is Jesus Christ, who said: "I am the way, the truth and the life."

If you choose only material things, and that is the end of your creation, you will never accomplish your real purpose, which is your ultimate spiritual creation of yourself, to build your character and magnify your eternal identity, by making covenants with the Lord and live as eternal families. Only that will be the end of God's work for you.

Let me tell you my story and how I chose the Lord and exercised my faith in Him, or in other words, how my spiritual creations, in my mind, became temporal blessings in my life, and then from temporal - spiritual again, to fulfill my true purpose in this life.

When I returned from my full-time mission, it was time to decide what to do in life. I wanted to get married and get a good job to provide for my family. But I wanted a job that would allow me to do three things:

1. I wanted a job that would allow me to serve the Lord – So, a job that could leave me the weekends free so that I could attend church and serve the Lord.
2. I wanted a job that could allow my wife to stay home, without the need to work, so that she could also serve the Lord and take good care of our family. So, I desired a well- paid job so that she could choose what to do freely, and not be forced to work.
3. I wanted a job that would allow me to travel a lot, because I love traveling.

That's the kind of job I was looking for.

So, I prepared myself. I started by studying Psychology because that was what I liked, my passion, and then International Relations because I thought that it would help me travel around the world. Then, I prayed and asked Heavenly Father for that job.

Which one? I didn't know, I just said: “You decide the job as long as, if possible, it has those three things.”

Now think about it!How did I decide my priorities? Thinking back to when I asked, and what I asked for, I realized how I established those priorities.

First, I asked to be able to serve Him, so my first priority was the Lord.

Then, I asked that my wife would not need to work and would be able to take care of our children. So my second priority was my family, even an eternal family.

Finally, what was my third priority?That I could travel. That was for me.

But I realized in retrospect one truth - That I put the Lord first and myself last.I chose the Lord.I chose to keep Covenants.It was never about me!And, the Lord must have appreciated my priorities, because he blessed me greatly.

It was not easy to find that job, but after some sacrifice, efforts, and prayers, one day I received a phone call, and I was offered a job at the American Embassy in Rome. I started working for the US State Department and developed a career in International Relations and was able to advance and develop, actually, a very solid career.I dealt with dignitaries and Government officials from all over the world.

I loved my job. I worked for the State Department for 32 years, when I resigned to serve the Lord full-time as a General Authority in April 2016.

So, I was blessed with the most beautiful job I could ask for, and it allowed me to do three things –

1. to serve the Lord always,
2. it allowed my wife to stay home and take good care of our family.Now, she worked from time to time. She actually excelled in her job, but she did it because she wanted to, and not because she needed to. It was her choice, and not because life circumstances forced her to do it,
3. I traveled a lot around the world.

I know that I was blessed with my dream job, because I chose the Lord first.

Remember the principle?

My first spiritual creation led to material blessings, but my purpose was a spiritual purpose, so my second creation from temporal became spiritual. As I was progressing in life, I could feel that I was fulfilling God's purpose for me.

Brothers and Sisters, if you stop at your first creation, you will never experience the blessings that come from fulfilling God's purpose for you, your ultimate spiritual creation of yourself.

I remember that when I went to the interview for that job, I was the last one to be interviewed. When I entered the room, the Consul greeted me, and he said that he was being assisted by a junior officer who was there that day on a temporary assignment to help him with the hiring process.

Not knowing what to add to my resume in addition to what I studied, and since I had no previous jobs, I decided to include a description of my service as a missionary. I thought it would be nice to include it.It was all I had; all I could offer. Now, the assistant to the Consul, the vice-consul, who was there only that day, asked: "I see here that you have been a full-time missionary. Are you a Mormon?" (In those days we could still say it.)I said "Yes."

He replied: "Me too.I served a mission too." That vice consul who was there only that day, was a member of the Church and a former missionary as well. How cool is that?

And then he said to the Consul: "I don't know this young man, but I can say this: He has been a full-time missionary for my same Church, and I know what that is about.I know what it takes to be a faithful missionary, and I can tell you that you can trust this young man.”

Wow! He basically witnessed about me without even knowing me.

Now, how many chances in the world there are to find someone who has been a full-time missionary, and is in Rome, Italy, that day, that year, in that office, on a temporary assignment and who can say "I can guarantee that you can trust this young man”?

I still think he was an angel sent from heaven to be there and help.

I never met him again.But guess what?I got the job!And that has been the first and only job in my entire life.It has been one of the greatest blessings in my life.Now, was it a material blessing? Yes, undeniably so; but I believe it was the result of the love of God, who wanted to bless my faith, because I chose the Lord first.It was the love of the Lord for me because of the covenants I made and kept. Those covenants qualified me for His special love, or as President Nelson called it – Hesed – and for His special blessings.

So, my first spiritual creation became my material blessings, because I wanted to turn it into a spiritual eternal creation, my second creation. The Lord blessed me because I wanted to allow God to finish His work with me.

My friends, choose the Lord first.

If you choose only your material creation, and end there, just think - If what you are is what you have, if you lose what you have, who are you then?

The Lord said: "But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and all these things shall be added unto you."

If you choose the Lord first, you will be blessed in temporal things if you have a spiritual purpose. I know that is true. It happened to me. It is real. It is a truth.

If you choose only this life, and not eternity, where will you go? If you don't activate your spiritual GPS, through your covenants, to read correctly your life's map, and be directed to the right place, where will you end up?

On the other hand, if you choose to have faith in Jesus Christ and follow Him, where will that spiritual decision lead you?

I chose the Lord's Map.I chose to activate the spiritual GPS through my covenants, and I chose to follow him through and through.It took courage and great faith, but I knew that I had that faith, that I developed in Heaven to be able to come here in this life.And YOU, each one of you, has that same faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Now you don't remember, but when you were in your premortal life, you exercised great faith in Jehovah, who was not Jesus Christ yet. You actually believed in a Savior that was not yet the Savior.What great faith you exercised. As a result of that first spiritual creation based on your faith in Jesus Christ, you came here to take a mortal body.

Your first spiritual creation led to the blessing of being born in this life. Now what about your next spiritual creation that will lead you from this life to eternity?

Whatever you decide to do in this life, make sure it has a spiritual purpose make sure it is based on a spiritual vision. Only then will you accomplish what you came here for!

Of course, as we choose the Lord, we will face challenges in life.Life is hard. But that is why it is even more important to choose Jesus Christ.

President Monson said: "When we left our premortal existence and entered mortality, we brought with us the gift of agency. our goal is to obtain celestial glory, and the choices we make will, in large part, determine whether or not we reach our goal, May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.”

So, how do we face life's challenges and keep our spiritual vision?When Moses was leading the people of Israel to the promised land, they arrived at the land of Canaan. There, he stopped and sent a group of men to explore the land, one from each tribe.

When they returned they reported that “the land where you sent us flows with milk and honey.”

But then the tone of their report changed, and the scripture says: "And they brought up an evil report of the land which they had searched, saying, the land, through which we have gone to search it, is a land that eats up the inhabitants thereof.And there we saw the giants, the sons of Anak, which come of the giants; and we were in our own sight as grasshoppers, and so we were in their sight… they are stronger than us.”

What did they see? They saw big problems, represented by the giants in the land. They saw themselves as little insects in front of big giants. These are the problems we face every day.Some of these problems appear to us like giants in the land that we want to explore, or in other words, the new life that we want to begin, as we contemplate the big decisions of life and the accomplishments and blessings that are available to us in our personal promised land. And many times we feel very small, and incapable, and we lose before we even fight. In other words, we are afraid to go and take the fruits and blessings that are available to us because of our fears, the giants we face.

But two of them, Caleb and Joshua saw things in a different way, “And Caleb said ‘Let us go up at once, and possess it; for we are well able to overcome it.’”

Now, did they see different things? No, they just saw the same things but in a different way.

And this is how they acted in faith when they said: "If the Lord delights in us, then He will bring us into the land, and give it us; a land which floweth with milk and honey… and the Lord is with us."

Yes, there were giants in the land.The human vision was the same, but the spiritual vision was very different.Joshua and Caleb knew a very important truth - which is that it is not important how big the giants are, or how big your challenges are, how big your problems are; they knew that their God was stronger and more powerful than any giant. They had faith in the Lord. They knew that they would be well able to overcome all challenges and receive the blessings of the promised land, which blessings, by the way, are your future jobs, your temporal material blessings, your personal promised land, that you will conquer if you believe in your power that comes from your faith in Jesus Christ.

Now Joshua and Caleb were not crazy visionaries. They admitted the presence of the giants in the land, so they knew about the giants, they knew that we face big problems in life; we will see them, we will find them, and actually problems will find us for sure.We will see big opposition in our lives, scary giants, but the difference was in the vision that only two of them, Joshua and Caleb had, their faith based on that spiritual vision.A faith in a God stronger than any problem in life.Beyond the material and temporal blessings that were available to them, they didn't stop with those potential blessings.They saw the spiritual blessings of their faith. They were creating their second spiritual creation!

Only two out of twelve believed, so very few developed that kind of vision of faith, but guess who received the blessing to enter the land full of milk and honey?

Joshua and Caleb. Can you believe it?

They received their temporal blessings because they had a spiritual vision. Exactly like when I asked for a job that could allow me to serve the Lord, my second creation.

Isn't that amazing? That is how it works.

Only those of you who develop a vision of faith in God and the Lord Jesus Christ, will have the power to overcome your challenges in life, as you face the giants standing in front of you.Only those of you who choose to have faith in the Lord will receive the blessings of your personal promised land, or in other words real success, not the success of the world necessarily, but that of God.

So, are you among the many that don't believe?Or the few who have faith?

Are you going to choose the harder right or the easier wrong? Are you among those who only see problems, your giants?Or are you among those who see the power of God in you?Are you like grasshoppers ready to be eaten up by the giants and by problems of all sorts?

Or do you feel like giants yourselves instead, with the Lord at your side?Do you have a grasshopper mindset, or the giants' mindset?

How did David see himself in front of Goliath?Now, Goliath was big, a big problem for David, right?But David knew that with the power of God, he could overcome Goliath.

He said: "Today the Lord will deliver thee into my hand, that all earth may know that there is a God."

That was David's faith.A young boy like many of you, inexperienced in the battles of life, just like most of you, who are just beginning the journey of life.

Who won? The bigger one? The stronger one?

No, the one who had faith in God.Not the one with the power of the world, but the one with the power of the Lord!

With the mind of the giants, and with the power of God in your lives, as you make and keep covenants, you can overcome all problems, that look to you like giants right now.

The Grasshopper’s mindset will tell you: “You will never make it.You will never win.You will never find the right job< the right companion for your life. You will never succeed in life.Don't even fight, you lost already.Your problems are too big, and you are too small.

Instead, the mindset of a child of the covenant will tell you: “You can make it, with the help of the Lord, with a stronger faith, with the right Spirit, you can accomplish anything that is right, if you are righteous, if you keep your covenants, if you have faith in and follow the Lord.”

Open your spiritual eyes and see.Get the right vision of yourself, your potential; get a spiritual vision.Start today your second spiritual creation!

The things of the world move constantly and fast, we call it life progress.

The things of the Lord, or spiritual principles, are different.They don't move. They are immovable so that we can stay anchored to them.

At the same time, like in the ancient Liahona, they lead us, and like the pointers in the Liahona, they can move really fast according to our faith and diligence.If we exercise faith in Jesus Christ and we are diligent in following eternal principles, the pointers will move and lead us to the blessings not only for this life but for eternity.That is what we call eternal progress.

Brothers and Sisters, as you progress in your studies and in your life, I hope that you keep a clear vision of what your ultimate purpose is in this life, which is to become capable and trusted disciples of Jesus Christ, as stated inthe Ensign College mission statement.

Regardless of what you will do in this life, I pray that in your resumes and CVs along with your titles, and degrees and accomplishments, there will also be space for things like: He or She has been a good servant, He or She is a covenant keeper, He or She is a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
As you create your future, I pray that you will be remembered for your spiritual choices, more than for your worldly accomplishments, so that when you meet the Lord, He will look at you and say: "Well done, thou good and faithful servant. Thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy Lord."

Only then and only that will be the end of God's work for you and with you.

I pray that as you are now creating the next phase of your life, you may choose the Lord today and be blessed with the blessings of your promised land, which is your career, a good life, a happy life.But even more, I pray that your material achievements may become your second spiritual creation to fulfill your real purpose in this life, which is to seek the blessings of eternity, where you will feel eternal joy, the true joy which surpasses all understanding.

This is my prayer for you, with my love.Iin the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.