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Devotionals

Reefs of Learning, Islands of Faith

Aloha! Brothers and sisters, it is an honor and blessing to share these moments with you this morning. My prayer is that the Lord’s spirit will touch each of us in ways that are meaningful and which will bless us in all the days ahead.

The experience of a full-time mission changes those who serve. Many of you here are fully aware of what I mean. More of you will discover this to be true in the future, some in the very near future. As we devote our time, our focus, and our energy to the Lord’s purposes we can’t help but be changed. So it was with me while serving as a young missionary in the islands of Tonga, more than 40 years ago. 

A few experiences are indelibly impressed upon our hearts and minds as we serve. One such for me began one early evening on what had been a rather typical day. My Tongan companion and I had been meeting all day with investigators and members on a small island in the Ha’apai Group called, Ha’ano. We lived on the island of Foa. A long and jagged reef connected the two islands. 

This was not a particularly difficult crossing at low tide and when it was daylight, yet for us, on that day, the sun had already set and we could see the tide rushing in. These conditions made a crossing rather difficult, even dangerous.

I turned to my companion and suggested we might better wait to cross until the next day when it would be safer. He looked at me with a smile and as he ran into the water covering the reef, he said over his shoulder, “Where is your faith, Elder? We have work to do tonight. Let’s go!”

As I scanned the horizon with its fading light and gauged the ocean current passing over the reef, I could also see the water splashing with each step as my companion quickened his pace. With some real hesitation I stepped onto the reef with the thought of catching my companion, who was already a good 25-30 feet ahead.

In the beginning, the water was a few inches above our ankles. There was enough light and the ocean was clear enough that I could see where to place my feet, so as to avoid the countless, unevenly-shaped holes and the sharpest of the coral outcroppings.

My companion seemed to be almost running with barely a glance at the reef. He seemed to be concentrating on our island destination off in the distance.

His teasing challenge, “Where is your faith?” rushed into my mind. “If he can do this, I can do it!” I told myself.

I looked straight ahead at him and said a quick and silent, but fervent prayer, “Father, please give me faith like my companion’s faith!”

I felt a quiet calm come over me. I increased my speed. I didn’t look down. I merely trusted the Lord would place my feet precisely where they needed to be. The distance between my companion and me began to decrease. It was actually a wonderful feeling.

After some time, I’m not sure exactly how long it was, a sudden, hard, cold and ominous feeling struck me, the sky was growing darker, the ocean current growing stronger and deeper.

The calm reassurance I had felt as we set out disappeared in an instant. The reality of where we were and what we were trying to do hit at once both my heart and mind with a hammer blow, “Who do you think you are? Who are you trying to kid? You can’t do this! You’re crazy to even try!”

My eyes glanced down at my feet and the reef below. The current was now nearly to my knees. It was hard to see where it was safe to make a step. In that moment all faith evaporated and was replaced by a consuming fear.

My foot lost the safety of the path provided by faith-filled determination and I fell. I hit hard on the reef, which tore into my hands and my uncovered feet. The pain seared through me.

My companion seemed to know something was wrong. He stopped and turned. I stood and could somehow still see his face a distance away. His exclamation came loud and firm, “Have faith, Elder… have faith!” He turned and was off once again.

My lips uttered another prayer and a pleading, “Father, I’m sorry I let go of my faith! I’m sorry I allowed fear to take over! Please forgive me! Help me to have the faith to do what needs to be done this night!”

The spirit returned, as did the calmness I had felt before. Sure footed we moved through ocean current and across the jagged reef at an amazing speed, especially considering the conditions.

My eyes held fast to my faith-filled companion. We pressed forward. We continued this way for what seemed a long time. We were now about half-way across the reef.

The sky grew darker still. The ocean current grew ever stronger and the water ever deeper. It was now well above our knees and necessarily slowed our pace.

Then out of the darkness there came once again the rush of the same hard, cold, strangling fear,  washing away my faith.

I was instantly crushed by the thought we were as far from our destination as we were from our starting point. I feared we couldn’t get to either island before, on this moonless night, we lost all light and all ability to see a safe pathway along the reef.

As fear gripped me my foot found another hole encased by razor-sharp coral. Down I went again with the coral tearing at my already bleeding hands and feet and legs. The pain was intense.

Again, my companion stopped and turned. As I found a place where I could stand I looked towards him. It was dark enough now that I couldn’t make out his face, but his voice came sure and true, “Faith, Elder. Faith!” He began once again his determined march through the rising current.

“Father” I pleaded, “Forgive me again, please, for my weakness! Give me the faith to overcome fear and doubt!”

And then I was off, following my ever faithful companion once again. I felt guided, directed, watched over, protected. We made good progress.

And then a third time I was struck by the same force that had consumed me the two previous times, doubt and fear, concern for the ever darker night and the ever increasing depth and strength of the surging tide.

In that very moment, I stepped into a hole I could not see. It literally gobbled me up. I went entirely under the water and inside the reef. More sharpened coral tore through my clothes and into my flesh. My forward motion had taken me under the surface of the reef. My hands searched for the way back out, while the tide slammed me into this coral encased cocoon inside the reef.

After what seemed like forever and with another pleading prayer for help I found a way out and surged to the surface, climbed back onto the top of the reef and looked for my companion. He was in the distance, barely visible. I heard his now familiar admonition over the noise of ocean waves and wind, “Faith, Elder. Faith!”

My head bowed in prayer once more, a supplication for strength, for courage, for faith. With the ocean current now waist-high and stronger than ever, and with the night’s darkness complete, I, none-the-less felt, thankfully, a surge of strength and the reassurance of Heaven’s watchful care. Through the struggle that remained there was no faltering, no second-guessing, no doubt, no fear, only the determination to reach the comforting sands of the island ahead.

After what was to me an eternity, I don’t know how long this adventure actually took, my companion and I knelt in prayer on the welcome sands of the beach at the end of the reef. We uttered a prayer of thanks, for protection, and for lessons learned, about faith, and about the power of Heaven. After cleaning up and patching up, we went forward with the appointments scheduled for that night.

Yet my thoughts and the tug of my heart remained, “How was it that my companion never faltered? What had he done to develop such great faith?” 

Elder Neal A. Maxwell shared, “Patience permits us to cling to our faith in the Lord when we are tossed about by suffering as if by surf. When the undertow grasps us, we will realize that even as we tumble we are somehow being carried forward; we are actually being helped even as we cry for help” (“Patience,” 1979 Devotional Speeches of the Year. BYU, 1980, pp. 218).

From President Henry B. Eyring we learn, “Let us do whatever is required to qualify for the Holy Ghost as our companion, and then let us go forward fearlessly so that we will be given the powers to do whatever the Lord calls us to do. That growth in power to serve may come slowly, it may come in small steps that are difficult for you to see, but it will come” (“Serve with the Spirit”, General Conference Report, October 2010).

On that night, on that reef, I learned something about the reassuring power that comes from unwavering faith. I witnessed it in my companion. I experienced some small measure of it when my own faith held firm. I also learned that hard and painful consequences can come when we allow ourselves to wonder from the path of faith, when we allow doubt and fear to rule.

I learned there was and is a message for all of us in the words of the Savior when He responded to the healing pleas of the blind men as told in Matthew 9:29, “…According to your faith be it unto you,” the next verse declares, “And their eyes (that is, the eyes of the blind) were opened…”

May we open our eyes more widely to the realities of this mortal probation and see the meaning, purpose and value to our daily tests of faith, large and small. May we give thanks for what the Lord is trying to teach us and may we recommit ourselves to doing what is required of us that our faith might be bolstered.

Elder Bruce R. McConkie reminded us, “Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness. It is always given when righteousness is present, and the greater the measure of obedience to God’s laws the greater will be the endowment of faith” (Mormon Doctrine, Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1966, p. 264).

Niuatoputapu – The Master Doctor

On another island, this one called, Niuatoputapu (which means ‘sacred island’) on another typical day, another experience forever changed me. 

My Tongan companion, different from the first, and I came through the thick jungle from the village of Vaipoa, where we lived in the middle of the island and into one of the only other two villages on the island, called Falehau.

A large crowd was gathered around the thatched fale or hut where a Missionary Branch President, who had been called to serve on this island, with his wife, and their two children, were staying.

The younger of the two children, a son, about 6 or 7 years old had been playing with a friend. When he became thirsty he rushed into their home and grabbed a bottle from the corner, of what he thought was water. In Tonga at the time, it was common to store a variety of liquids in brown-colored glass bottles. There might be water, soda pop, kerosene or benzene.

The son thought he grabbed the bottle with water in it. In his hurry to rejoin his friend he gulped down the liquid from the bottle. It turned out to be benzene. He ingested so much, in fact, that he almost immediately went into convulsions.

When my companion and I arrived the boy’s father, this Missionary Branch President, was sitting crossed-legged on the ground and was just starting to lay his son’s twisting and turning body on his lap. The mother was close by with an agonized expression on her face. She had her arm around the boy’s older sister, whose face was naturally filled with concern.

There were maybe 50-60 people from the village already gathered around and more were running to the scene.

As the father held tightly to his son, a strong athletic looking man nearby said, loudly enough to be heard by all, “What a blessing from God. The government doctor is still here. Let’s hurry to get him!”

A Tongan government boat had been in port for a few days. A doctor employed by the government had been on board for his semi-annual trip to the island. He had treated a number of villagers for various ailments during his brief stay. He was now on board the boat just beyond the reef that circled the island. The captain of the tug-like boat was just preparing to return to the capital city of Nuku’alofa, which was a long journey away.

As the man rushed to the beach, two other men joined him and the three of them began to push an old and scarred wooden canoe into the water with the intent of paddling out to the government boat to bring the doctor back, so he could help this poor little boy who all could see was suffering in a terrible way.

Just as the first of the three men climbed into the canoe, the father called to them, “Please, please come back!” Hesitatingly, the three men paused and then started to come back, all with puzzled looks on their faces. One anxiously exclaimed, “We have to hurry or we will miss the doctor!  The boat is ready to leave!” As he said this, the three men started back towards the canoe once again.

And once again, the father called to them, “Please come back!” As they hesitated they seemed completely bewildered, as did the rest of the villagers who were gathered there.

Finally, the father declared in a steady, almost peaceful voice, “There will be no need for the government doctor today, for we will call upon the Master Doctor to bring the needed healing!”

Everyone stood in stunned silence as this father and missionary, with what appeared to be a dying son still on his lap, began to teach them. He spoke of the Savior, Jesus Christ, who had lived a sinless life and who had taught us all how to live. He spoke of the mighty miracles Christ had performed. He spoke of the atoning sacrifice of the Savior and how that sacrifice made it possible for us all to repent and to return to the presence of God the Father one day. 

As the father spoke, as he taught under the influence of the spirit, there was a look of utter astonishment that settled over the gathered villagers. There was an obvious worsening of the son’s condition, for now he was turning a horrible shade of purple and was struggling to even breathe, yet the father taught on!

He spoke of the Priesthood, bestowed by Jesus upon those worthy to act in His name. He spoke about Priesthood power, God’s power, which when united with faith could do all things that were in accordance with the will of God the Father. He described how he would use that power, in the name of Jesus Christ, to heal his son.

He then placed his hands upon his son’s head, who now looked as though he was already beginning the journey through the veil to the other side, but by the power of the Priesthood he held and in the name of Jesus Christ the boy’s father blessed his son to be healed from the suffering, from the malady, from the poison ingested and from any lasting effects of the same.

The son’s face immediately began to return to its normal color and his breathing with it. He now lay on his father’s lap as if peacefully asleep. In a moment, his eyes opened. He looked into his father’s face, reached up and gave him a big hug. He then looked around and saw the entire village gathered together, with eyes wide open, many with tears rolling down their cheeks. The boy got a surprised look on his face, like he didn’t understand what was happening, but he spotted his friend, with whom he had been earlier playing, in the crowd, jumped off his father’s lap, ran to his friend, grabbed his friend’s hand and the two of them went off to play once more.

The villagers marveled at the scene. Then they all looked back at the father. In a calm and inviting voice, while still seated on the ground, he acknowledged before them God’s bounteous blessings and gave credit to Jesus Christ for the healing of his son. He reminded them that he was a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and that he had been sent to them, to this village, on this island, to share with them the message of that Jesus.

During the ensuing months, many listened and a number were baptized. These were the first baptisms on that island, if my memory serves me well, in over 10 years.

As I talked with this missionary father and his family following what was for me a life-changing experience, I found myself asking about how he did what he did. How was he able to be so composed when his son’s life was clearly at risk? How was he able to so patiently teach the people of the village while his son’s condition was growing worse and worse by the minute? How was he able to be so confident that his son would, in fact, be healed?  

He responded to my questions with a series of questions of his own: Are we not missionaries? Was this not a wonderful opportunity to teach the gospel to those who might otherwise be unwilling to listen? Was this not a unique opportunity to help them understand and even witness the power of the Priesthood? Was this not a special opportunity to help them understand that Jesus really is the Christ and that His Church is in reality here on the earth today? Was this not an appropriate way to help them begin to partake of the blessings now that can come only from and through the gospel of Jesus Christ?

And finally, to me his most penetrating question, “Do not the scriptures teach us, ‘Ask and ye shall receive?’”

For him, it was clear, there was nothing more natural than to do what he did in the way he did it! He concluded one of our conversations with, “All I do is ask and the Lord answers!”

Now, of course, in the simplicity of his questions and in the simplicity of his declaration, “All I do is ask!” there is wealth of understanding and a goldmine of learning.

His example reminds me of the words of the then Elder Spencer W. Kimball when he declared, “Undaunted faith can stop the mouths of lions, make ineffective the fiery flames, make dry corridors through beds of rivers and seas. Unwavering faith can protect against deluge, terminate droughts, heal the sick, and bring heavenly manifestations. Indomitable faith can help us live the commandments and thereby bring blessings unnumbered with peace, perfection, and exaltation in the kingdom of God” (Conference Report, October 1952, p. 51). I’ve not served with one whose life more eloquently mirrored Elder Kimball’s words.

This young father and missionary was a living personification of the scriptural adage, “Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (D&C 123:17).

Here was a humble, kind, thoughtful, hard-working, devoted, dedicated, caring husband, father, and missionary who had given himself over to the Lord and His purposes. He truly loved these people, much the way the Savior loves them. He wanted to do whatever he could to help them, to bless them, to enrich them, to inspire them, and to bring them to Christ.

He worked with them, brought them food he had grown, shared all he had with them in every way he could. He reached out to them constantly, being there when they needed help, being the best of what a real neighbor and friend could be. It seemed as though his every moment was filled with simple, yet touching and selfless deeds that blessed the lives of everyone in the village.

He also read, studied, pondered and prayed over the words of ancient and modern-day prophets. He tried with each new day, in all the ways he could, to apply what he was learning. As he did so the Lord responded to his faithfulness and to his faith. It truly seemed he was found both worthy and trustworthy by Heaven. When he made mistakes, he repented and tried again to do better. When he asked for blessings and they didn’t come in the way or with the timing he preferred he didn’t get worried or irritated or frustrated or bitter. He simply assumed there were reasons for what happened. He kept examining his own commitment and his daily walk with God to see how he could do better. He waited patiently on the Lord and trusted in the Lord’s timing, but when the spirit spoke to him, he listened and he obeyed. That’s what he had done on that day, in that village, on that island. The spirit spoke to him about what was possible. He listened. He obeyed and the resulting miracles were, again to him, oh, so very “natural.”

As Elder Loren C. Dunn has taught us, “Faith, then, is the realization that the Lord can help us with all things... Faith is the ability to do what we are prompted to do... when we are prompted to do it” (Ensign, May 1981, pp. 25–26).

This father was clearly prompted NOT to call for the government doctor, but it took enormous faith for him to follow through with that prompting. Most of us would probably have called for the government doctor, even if for “just in case”. His faith was strong enough, not only to receive the prompting, but to have the courage to ACT on it as well.

The Old Man – “Slow Down”

Brothers and sisters, there is one final experience I would like to share with you today. It is a simple one and not nearly so dramatic as the first two. It is about what an old and wise man taught a young new missionary from a faraway land in an exchange that lasted only a moment or two. 

Each morning as we left our fale we would pass this man sitting on the ground outside his home, always making something or working on something. I'm guessing he was in in 80s. We would greet him kindly as we passed by to go about our work. My companion had been in this area for several months before I arrived and had already shared with him a few gospel lessons. The man was pleasant and friendly, but he wasn’t really interested.

One morning as we passed by and said “hello” as we always did the man motioned me over to him. I looked at my companion and he nodded and walked on for a distance and then stopped to wait for me. The man patted the ground and asked me to sit by him. When I did he looked into my eyes for what seemed like a long time and then he asked, “Tell me young man, why are you always in such a hurry?” I smiled and explained that we were missionaries and we were anxious to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as we could. There was much work for us to do and so we needed to be about it.

His only response was a pause, and then to ask me again, “Tell me young man, why are you always in such a hurry?” I tried to answer him with the same basic message, but in a slightly different way.

Again, his only response was a pause and to ask me a third time, “Tell me young man, why are you always in such a hurry?” 

By now I found myself wondering why he kept asking the same question. I wondered if I just wasn’t being clear enough in my explanation to him. As he looked and saw the confusion apparent on my face, there was a hint of a smile. He put one hand on my knee, leaned close to me and almost in a whisper, he said, “You better slow down or you will miss those things that are most important in life!”

I tried to be polite. I thanked him, wished him well, and then I caught up with my companion and together we commenced another day of missionary work.

At the time, I thought to myself, “He just doesn’t understand!”

What I learned during the rest of my time in those islands, with those people, and in all the years since was that I was the one who didn’t understand.

These loving, caring people became my teachers in a thousand ways and in their kindness they taught me that our relationship with God, the Father, and His son, Jesus Christ, were of paramount importance. They taught me that our relationships with each other were fundamental and critical to our earthly and eternal happiness.

They taught me that we must invest in these relationships as our highest priorities. Sometimes to do that in the most appropriate and effective of ways meant that we need to slow down enough, to ponder, to think, to pray, to worship, and to nurture friendships, to cultivate family time, and to enjoy the journey along the way.

Throughout my mission, all those years ago, I saw repeated examples of those who were humble followers of the Savior. They had little in the way of the things of the world, but they had everything that mattered most!

In all the years since, I have thought about those wonderful people and how blessed I was to witness them daily as they so often reminded me of the Savior himself. How could a person not be literally transformed by being in the presence of such righteousness, and such heart-felt goodness? 

Example of the Faithful – Richard & Lavania Sidal

Today, I reflect upon how during these past 12 plus years I’ve been once again surrounded by those who live their lives as did the people of the islands I met so long ago. These disciples of Christ with whom I’ve been blessed to associate, and that includes many who are here today, light the way for me and for literally millions of others who come to this special place, on this small island, in the middle of this magnificent ocean,  and that influence,  their influence, your influence, is being felt for good, literally across the world.

Two such disciples, Richard and Lavania (Nia) Sidal recently completed their education here at BYU–Hawaii. He is a convert to the Church from Fiji and was baptized at the age of 20 years old. She is from Tonga. Both are returned missionaries. They were married in the temple. During their relatively brief time here they’ve experienced heartache and testing unlike what most of us will experience in an entire lifetime.

Nia lost both her mother and her father. She also lost her best friend, who died along with her baby as she was giving birth; and most recently a cousin who was like a brother to her. As husband and wife, they have born the burden and suffered the pain of losing unborn twins, after the twins they lost a baby girl who lived for only 2 hours. 

Of that experience Richard shared, “It was so hard to hold my baby in my hands and watch her slowly breathe and eventually stop. Her little heartbeat, her hands and feet are still fresh in my mind. It was so hard to know that there was nothing I could do to save her. But I am blessed that I had a chance to give her a name and a blessing before she left us.” 

If that wasn’t enough, a few months ago they lost a 4th newborn baby, another girl, who lived for only 5 days.

Challenge after challenge, anguish upon anguish, grief and pain have been their lot. Time and time again they have had their hearts broken and their lives torn by distress and disappointment. Through it all, they have remained completely, totally, fully dedicated to the Lord’s purposes. They have demonstrated a faith, a devotion to God, and a commitment to blessing the lives of others we would all do well to follow.

Through much of this time of suffering they have given of themselves in loving service to others. Nia served valiantly as a Relief Society President and Richard as a counselor in a Bishopric. I simply know of no better examples of true discipleship than these two who have lived and served among you.

They are a living testimony to the words in Helaman 3:35, “Nevertheless they did fast and pray oft, and did wax stronger and stronger in their humility, and firmer and firmer in the faith of Christ, unto the filling their souls with joy and consolation, yea, even to the purifying and the sanctification of their hearts, which sanctification cometh because of their yielding their hearts unto God.”

They and you are followers of Jesus Christ, whose entire life was a life of love and service. He did what He did because of His love for the Father and for each of us. His constant effort was to show that love by blessing and serving others. 

Christ Washing the Apostles Feet

In the 13th chapter of John, we read the account of the last supper, where the Savior set a memorable example for his apostles by kneeling down and washing their feet.

We read from John 13:12-15, “So after he had washed their feet... and was set down again, he said unto them, Know ye what I have done to you? Ye call me Master and Lord... If I then, your Lord and Master, have washed your feet; ye also ought to wash one another’s feet. For I have given you an example, that ye should do as I have done to you.”

Think of it, here was the Savior of the world, the Redeemer of all mankind, the very Creator of the world on which we walk, our Advocate with the Father, our Lord and Master indeed, the only Begotten of the Father, the only perfect person to have ever walked the earth, the very Son of God, here He was, down on His knees, washing their feet!

In this act alone he set the perfect example of humility, of love, and of service. Because of His example on that day and every day before and every day since, we ought to nurture in ourselves the best of those Godly attributes.

So what did these and so many other experiences all those years ago teach a young missionary who was so new to this kind of teaching and this type of learning?

They taught me through their words and example that:
(1) Faith – is a principle of real power and a natural outgrowth of…
(2) Humility – is a pre–requisite to true greatness;
(3) Love – is the foundation of pure motivation, with
    a. Love of God being first and foremost…and
    b. Love for one another being like unto it…
(4) Service – is the well-spring of true Christianity and a refiner of both giver and receiver.

They taught me that by living such a life the joys of eternity can be experienced here and now. 

May each of us take full advantage of our own “Reefs of Learning, Islands of Faith” finding greater joy in our journey as we grow in faith, in humility, in love, and as we give ourselves to lives of sanctified service is my prayer. 

In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.