My dear brothers and sisters, I would like to share with you today something that has changed my life. It is very personal to me. I hope that some of you will go away today and follow the council that I will give you. I believe that if you do, years from now you will be able to look back to this meeting as the meeting that changed your life forever. As taught in Doctrine and Covenants section 43, I hope that you will go home and “bind yourself to act in all holiness” (D&C 43:9).
Let me ask you two questions. First, is God a planner? While you think about that, let me ask a second question. In the creation of the world, how many creations were there? Some of you are thinking six, some are thinking seven, and some are thinking countless. And some of you are not even thinking. We can go to Moses 3:4-5 to find the answer.
“I, the Lord God, made the heaven and the earth
“And every plant of the field before it was in the earth, and every herb of the field before it grew. For I, the Lord God, created all things, of which I have spoken, spiritually, before they were naturally upon the face of the earth.”
We learn from this scripture that when the world was created there were two creations: first the spiritual and then the physical. Which of the two creations do you think was more difficult to perform, the spiritual or the physical? My personal feeling is that the spiritual creation would have been the more difficult. Why? Because it required pondering, creativity, and a vision. When it was time for the physical creation, the Gods knew exactly what the world would look like. They had seen it and created it spiritually beforehand. They had seen and planned for it in the spiritual creation.
Why does God send missionaries out to teach the world how to return home to Him? Why would He have put an entire chapter on planning in Preach My Gospel? What is God’s motivation in all of this?
He has clearly stated His purpose. His work and His glory are to bring to pass the immortality and the eternal life of each one of us, or in simple terms, He loves us and wants us to return home. Eternal life means God’s life, the life He has. Can we really receive all that the Father hath? Absolutely! He has promised us that very thing. The Savior taught, “And he that receiveth my Father receiveth my Father's kingdom; therefore all that my Father hath shall be given unto him” (D&C 84:38).
In order to return home, it requires planning. That way, life doesn’t just happen, but rather, we can act and direct much of what goes on in our lives.
I love this quote from Elder Ballard in chapter eight of Preach My Gospel:
“I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.”
Believe that God is a planner and that if we want to become like Him and return to live with Him, we need to do what He does. This requires us to have a vision, it requires us to make a plan, and it requires that we set goals.
God has a plan for you. He has given us a timetable to follow; specific events should take place at specific times. Strive to stay on God’s time table. For example, if you are old enough to be a priest, be ordained to be a priest. When mission time comes, be on a mission. When marriage time comes, get married. When child bearing years come, bear children. One of my favorite scriptures is found in Ecclesiastes.
“To every thing there is a season, and a time to every purpose under the heaven:
A time to be born, and a time to die; a time to plant, and a time to pluck up that which is planted;
A time to kill, and a time to heal; a time to break down, and a time to build up;
A time to weep, and a time to laugh; a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
A time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together; a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
A time to rend, and a time to sew; a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
A time to love, and a time to hate; a time of war, and a time of peace.”
(Ecclesiastes 3:1-8)
As a young missionary in Chile, I had the great privilege of serving the Lord for two wonderful years. In that time, I learned how to pray. I learned what it means to plead with my Father in Heaven. I learned that He really does love me and that He really is my Father. I learned to recognize the Holy Ghost as He would guide and direct me. I learned that He would warn and comfort me in my hour of need. I learned that He truly is the testifier of the Father and of the Son and that anything God wanted me to do was possible. I learned that Jesus is the Christ and that His Atonement is for me. I learned that through the Father’s plan, with Christ at the center of that plan, that I could return home to my heavenly mansion and once again live with Father and Jesus Christ. I learned that families really are forever.
My mission was the hardest thing that I had ever done in my life up until that point. Just before I came home, I had an experience in a cold, dark prison cell where I didn’t know if I would ever see my family again. For the first time in my life, I faced the real possibility that my life would be taken, but that is a story for another day. The blessing of that horrific experience was that I learned very clearly by the power of the Holy Ghost that God loves me and that living His plan is all that matters.
I wouldn’t trade the experiences that I had and the knowledge that I gained as a full-time missionary for anything or, for that matter, for everything that this transient world has to offer. I was blessed to see clearly where I wanted to go and what I needed to do.
Young men, if you have not served a mission, serve one. You know you should. The Holy Ghost has already told you that. If you are not worthy, repent and get worthy. Prepare yourself and follow the counsel of a living prophet of God. I promise you that you will never regret it. It will bless you, and it will lay the foundation for your eternal life. Sisters, I along with a prophet of God, invite you to serve.
After my mission, I was blessed with a beautiful, virtuous woman who was full of love for the Lord and for me. At that time, I felt that I needed to have a written plan for my life. As a young father with a young family, I knew that I wanted to be a well-rounded person. I felt that God had taught me what that means.
At the beginning of this devotional, I said that if you would follow the counsel that I give you today, I believe that years from now you will be able to look back to this devotional as the meeting that changed your life forever.
Well, my counsel to you is that you create a written plan for your life. The best way for me to teach you how this can be accomplished by being very personal and sharing my own experience with you.
I would like to open to you a window to my soul. I want to share with you what I did when I was 23-years old and let you into my thought process as I wrote my life plan and then have tried to live that plan. Almost 40 years later, I can say that my life has changed forever because of my life plan.
I wanted to incorporate into my life plan what I considered to be the three most important aspects of a meaningful life. I wanted to be a “whole man.” Each person may have different feelings and ideas about what that means. That is the great blessing of the individuality that God has given each of His children, but for me those, three aspects or supporting legs of my life were God, family, and work.
I realized that in order for my life to be meaningful and everlasting, God had to be at the center of everything that I did. I also realized that there is no lasting happiness without family. And finally, I realized that if I were going to be happy and be a blessing to my family and others, I needed to be self-reliant financially, which translated into work.
As I set out to conquer the world and myself, I thought of a few things that I wanted to always remember, thoughts and quotes that would keep me grounded and on course and that would help me remember where I was headed. I wrote down these axioms and quotes which became an important part of implementing my written life plan. They are as follows:
- If you always tell the truth, you don’t have to remember what you said.
- Honesty is the only policy.
- Don’t pray on your knees on Sunday and prey on your neighbor the rest of the week.
- Will Rogers said, “I’m not so concerned about the return on my money as the return of my money.”
- “Quality is not an act. It is a habit.” - Aristotle
- “Never mistake activity for achievement.” - John Wooden, a famous basketball coach for the UCLA Bruins.
- Don’t be a legend in your own mind.
- Don’t be a self-made man that worships his creator.
- Be kind. Everyone is fighting a hard battle.
- Everyone is special, but no one is special.
- Even Moses said after seeing the creations of God, “Now, for this cause I know that man is nothing, which thing I never had supposed” (Moses 1:10).
- “It’s not hard to make decisions when you know what your values are.” - Roy Disney
I wrote my plan based on the personal values that would guide my future decisions. If my values were right, I knew that by setting short- and long-term goals based on and around those values, I would be able to become the person that I aspired to be and that person would be pleasing to my Father in Heaven. That is who I am still striving to be: a son of God who is loved and who is pleasing to my Father. I hope that one day as I return home with my family that Heavenly Father can say, “This is my beloved son in whom I am well pleased.”
I felt empowered as I realized that I could go anywhere I wanted to go, that I could achieve anything that I wanted to achieve. The sky was the limit, and I was in charge.
How did I start this life changing process? In the spirit of prayer and meditation, I read and re-read my patriarchal blessing. I paid attention to the blessings promised and the talents which God said I had been given. Sometimes, I would think, “Is He talking about me?” But I decided that if He said I had such a talent that I had better develop it.
I also paid attention to the warnings and admonitions that I was given. I was grateful that a loving Father in Heaven would warn me of possible pitfalls in my path.
If you don’t currently have your patriarchal blessing, seek to have a desire to receive one and then worthily go to your patriarch and receive this wonderful road map for your life. I testify that these blessings come directly from God and that He has many wonderful things to tell you to assist you as you travel through this life.
Then I identified eight values that I wanted to develop in my life. Today, chapter six in Preach My Gospel on Christlike attributes would be a great place to study to help you receive the revelation you are seeking. Then fast and pray to know if this is who God wants you to become.
I suggest that you choose between eight and ten values. In my thinking, if you have more than that, the task can appear so overwhelming that your resolve probably won’t last long. With eight to ten life values, you will be able to keep a razor focus and become the person that God and you want you to become.
I then thought about the person that I wanted people to remember when I am dead. This is called seeing the end from the beginning.
I asked myself what are the things that I want my family and friends and business associates to say about me at my funeral. This helped me realize what is really important in this life and what really isn’t.
The next step, which may be the most important of all, was to write down the values that would govern my behavior for the rest of my life. You have heard it said that if it is not written down, it is only a fleeting wish. I was committed, and I had a document to remind me of that commitment for the rest of my life.
I then began to carry a copy of my written life plan with me wherever I would go, and I would review it often. I would set short- and long-term goals in my life based on these values. I carry with me today and review often the very document that I wrote nearly 40 years ago. It still guides my life. It describes the person I want to become.
Now the very personal part. I am going to share with you today my life plan. If you choose to create your own life plan, I don’t expect that your plan will be the same as mine. In fact, it shouldn’t be because we are each unique creations of God. My hope is that you would be able to see an example of my plan, which would help you develop and write down your own unique plan for life.
With each of the eight values that I chose, I wrote down positive affirmations. I wanted to describe the person I wanted to become. As I reviewed on a regular basis those affirmations, I realized that my life was changing and that I was starting to be more like the person I wanted to be. As already mentioned, even today, I have not become the person I hope to become. I am a work in progress. I believe my best days are still ahead of me and that I am slowly but surely becoming the person that God expects me to be and the person that He sent me here to become.
Those positive statements over the years have become to me just like the scriptures and my patriarchal blessing. I believe my life plan is an inspired document that God revealed to me many years ago. Writing my plan was a spiritual experience for me.
I can’t number the times that I have been faced with business situations, personal relationships, or temptations where lines from my life plan have come quickly to my mind and helped me to make the right choice. We really are the product of our choices. My life plan has been and still is a great blessing and a protection to me on a daily basis.
Along with the positive affirmations, I chose scriptures that teach and model the value that I desire.
I will now share my eight personal values together with the positive affirmations and scriptures associated with each one.
My eight values are
- Spiritual
- Intellectual
- Physical
- Charitable
- Cleanliness
- Patience
- Positive
- Integrity
1. Spiritual
I am a spiritual person.
I recognize the Lord in all aspects of my life.
I pray with real intent morning and night personally.
I pray over our meals and with my family each morning.
I read the scriptures daily for at least 15 minutes.
I always have family home evening with my family.
I fast with real purpose each month.
Spirituality is on the top of my priority list.
“Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not.” (D&C 6:36)
“But seek ye first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things shall be added unto you.” (Matthew 6:33)
2. Intellectual
I am an intellectual person with an insatiable desire for knowledge.
I read at least one book each month unrelated to my fantastic insurance business.
I take the time to write down and look up words that I don't use or fully understand.
I keep sharp in my business by pursuing professional designations and regularly reading the trade magazines.
“Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection. And if a person gains more knowledge and intelligence in this life through his diligence and obedience than another, he will have so much the advantage in the world to come.” (D&C 130:18-19)
3. Physical
I am an athletic 190 pounds.
I eat good food and never overeat.
I do 50 pushups and 50 sit-ups daily.
I enjoy being healthy, never get colds and am full of energy.
“And all saints who remember to keep and do these sayings, walking in obedience to the commandments, shall receive health in their navel and marrow to their bones; And shall find wisdom and great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures; And shall run and not be weary and shall walk and not faint.” (D&C 89:18-20)
4. Charitable
I am a charitable person.
I believe the golden rule: "Do unto others as you would have them do unto you."
I believe in the win/win philosophy: "If you win, I win."
I believe that "As ye sow, so shall ye reap."
All of my business, as well as personal decisions, are made with these three axioms in mind.
I always ask the question, "What would the Savior do?"
“Charity suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; charity vaunteth not itself, is not puffed up, Doth not behave itself unseemly, seeketh not her own, is not easily provoked, thinketh no evil; Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth. Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.” (1 Corinthians 13:4-7)
5. Cleanliness
I am a clean person.
In appearance, body, mind, and habitation.
I am physically clean.
I put everything in its place.
I am clean in mind.
I haven't time to clutter my mind with trash.
I think clearly and fill my mind with virtuous thoughts and lofty ideals.
“Behold, mine house is a house of order, saith the Lord God, and not a house of confusion.” (D&C 132:8)
6. Patience
I am a patient person.
I am in command of my emotions at all times.
I don't raise my voice.
I reason with my children and others, rather than intimidating or forcing my will upon them.
“A soft answer turneth away wrath; but grievous words stir up anger.” (Proverbs 15:1)
“A wrathful man stirreth up strife; but he that is slow to anger appeaseth strife.” (Proverbs 15:18)
“He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city.” (Proverbs 16:32)
7. Positive
I am a positive person.
I maintain a positive attitude always.
I am an eternal optimist.
I love a new challenge and look for the best in all people and situations.
I believe in people.
8. Integrity
I am a person of impeccable integrity.
I have the moral courage to make my actions consistent with my knowledge of right and wrong.
“Till I die I will not remove mine integrity from me.” (Job 27:5)
My dear young brothers and sisters. Where do you want to go? Plot your course. The power is yours.
I testify that you are literally sons and daughters of God. He knows you, and He loves you. He wants you to come home. He has provided every needful thing to allow you to return home clean and prepared to receive all that He has.
He has given us His only begotten in the flesh even Jesus Christ to atone for our sins and mistakes and to be there to succor us in our afflictions. He is our redeemer and our savior. He is literally the physical and spiritual son of God. He is unique; only through Him can we return to the presence of the Father.
God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ visited the prophet Joseph in this the dispensation of the fullness of times. Joseph was and is the prophet of the Restoration. Let the world rail on the prophet Joseph. It makes no difference. They are only fulfilling prophecy. I know him to be a prophet of integrity and courage. He is a covenant keeper. I know this not because I have met him but because I have read the Book of Mormon. I know by the power of the Holy Ghost that the book is true.
God’s power, which is the Holy Priesthood, has been restored to the earth, and the power to become like God and to receive all that He has is once again upon the earth. That power is manifest in the holy temples of God.
I testify that there are living prophets, seers, and revelators again upon the face of the earth and that there is one, even Thomas S. Monson, who holds all priesthood keys and has authority from God to exercise those keys. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.