Aloha. Sister Peterson and I are delighted to be with you on this wonderful campus. Our assignment here has brought back many memories of our college days— memories of basketball and football games, great dances, game nights with friends, temple sessions, date nights at the grocery store and our wonderful apartment in refurbished army barracks. Things have not changed that much. We have enjoyed working with the students, faculty and staff here at BYU–Hawaii. We have really enjoyed this year’s great basketball season. We look forward to the games next year and will attend anything close to our home on the mainland.
I will open my subject today by discussing the importance of the heart. In the United States heart disease is the leading cause of physical death. I propose that it is also the leading cause of spiritual death. The heart is the most important organ we have. It is the basis of the Lords judgment of us. When the prophet Samuel was sent to Bethlehem to choose and anoint one of the sons of Jesse as a new king for Israel, the Lord told him to reject the first son, though he was a man of fine appearance. The Lord explained, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart” (1 Samuel 16:7). Proverbs states that as a man “thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). Latter-day revelation declares that the Lord requires not only the acts of the children of men, but “the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind” (D&C 64:34).
Today I want to share some scriptures and my thoughts concerning desires of the heart. I hope to motivate you to look inward, to examine the desires of your heart. Think about the things that you really want out of life. What do you spend your precious idle time thinking about? Do you have aspirations about your chosen career – if not maybe you are on the wrong path. But more important where is your heart. Are you striving for perfection? Do you desire to leave behind all of your sins? Have you had that mighty change of heart described by Alma?
Psalms tells us that the Lord will give us the desires of our heart: “Delight thyself also in the Lord; and he shall give thee the desires of thine heart” (Psalms 37:4). In Mark we are told, “Therefore I say unto you, What things so ever ye desire, when ye pray, believe that ye receive them, and ye shall have them” (Mark 11:24). Again in the Doctrine and Covenants it says,
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you desire of me so it shall be done unto you; and, if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation. And then shall ye know, or by this shall you know, all things whatsoever you desire of me, which are pertaining unto things of righteousness, in faith believing in me that you shall receive." (D&C 11:8, 14)
President Joseph F. Smith said, “The education, then, of our desires is one of far – reaching importance to our happiness in life” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed., 1939, 297). Such education can lead to sanctification until, said President Brigham Young, “Holy desires produce corresponding outward works” (Journal of Discourses, 6:170).
In fact Alma tells us that a just God will grant unto us the desires of our hearts whether they be good or bad. He says, I ought not to harrow up in my desires, the firm decree of a just God, for I know that he granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men, yea, decreeth unto them decrees which are unalterable, according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction. (Alma 29:4)
Often we focus on and even limit ourselves to needs but I want to take this theme one step further and show how the Lord will respond to your wants. An interesting dialogue in Luke illustrates how much we can expect from our Father in Heaven.
"If a son shall ask bread of any of you that is a father, will he give him a stone? or if he ask a fish, will he for a fish give him a serpent? If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children: how much more shall your Heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to them that ask him?" (Luke 11:11, 13)
God is much more generous than we can even comprehend. We must understand that he is driven by a desire to give us a fair and complete test. He will respond not only our needs, but also our wants – and judge us for them. But I will talk about that later.
Many scriptures attest to this principle of responding to our wants. In the early days of the church during practice of the Law of Consecration Edward Partridge was told to arrange to give to “every man equal according to his family, according to his circumstances and his wants and needs” (D&C 51:3). During that same period bishops were instructed that if there were more properties than necessary they should ”administer to those who have not, from time to time, that every man who has need may be amply supplied and receive according to his wants” (D&C 42:33).
That theme of needs and wants is continued in section 82 where we are told that we are to be equal, “or in other words, you are to have equal claims on the properties, for the benefit of managing the concerns of your stewardships, every man according to his wants and his needs, inasmuch as his wants are just—” (D&C 82:17).
In the Book of Mormon the principle is further emphasized when the poor of Zoramites were leaving their lands and going over to the lands of Ammon. The chief ruler of the Zoramites threatened his people and asked the people of Ammon to cast his people out of their lands. We are told, And now the people of Ammon did not fear their words; therefore they did not cast them out, but they did receive all the poor of the Zoramites that came over unto them; and they did nourish them, and did clothe them, and did give unto them lands for their inheritance; and they did administer unto them according to their wants. (Alma 35:9).
The bottom line is: be careful what you pray for—it may come true. To illustrate this principle I want to review with you several stories about great desires that have been fulfilled by the Lord.
My first example comes from the New Testament at the sea of Tiberias when Christ appears to his apostles after the resurrection. At that time He commented on the gift requested by and given to John that he would not die but would tarry until Christ would return. That event was clarified in the Doctrine and Covenants where it says:
"And the Lord said unto me: John, my beloved, what desirest thou? For if you shall ask what you will, it shall be granted unto you. (Think about that offer—The Lord was willing to give John anything that he asked for.)
"And I said unto him: Lord, give unto me power over death, that I may live and bring souls unto thee.
"And the Lord said unto me: Verily, verily, I say unto thee, because thou desirest this thou shalt tarry until I come in my glory, and shalt prophesy before nations, kindreds, tongues and people." (D&C 7:1-3)
The importance of John’s desire is further clarified when Peter questioned the gift, and Christ responded by telling Peter that both he and John would have according to their desires and both would joy in that which they desired.
This theme is continued with the promise that Christ gave to His apostles in America.
"And it came to pass when Jesus had said these words, he spake unto his disciples, one by one saying unto them: What is it that ye desire of me, after that I am gone to the Father?
"And they all spake, save it were three, saying: We desire that after we have lived unto the age of man, that our ministry, wherein thou hast called us, may have an end, that we may speedily come unto thee in thy kingdom.
"And he said unto them: Blessed are ye because ye desired this thing of me; therefore, after that ye are seventy and two years old ye shall come unto me in my kingdom; and with me ye shall find rest.
"And when he had spoken unto them, he turned himself unto the three, and said unto them: What will ye that I should do unto you, when I am gone unto the Father?
"And they sorrowed in their hearts, for they durst not speak unto him the thing which they desired.
"And he said unto them: Behold, I know your thoughts, and ye have desired the thing which John, my beloved, who was with me in my ministry, before that I was lifted up by the Jews, desired of me.
"Therefore, more blessed are ye, for ye shall never taste of death; but ye shall live to behold all the doings of the Father unto the children of men, even until all things shall be fulfilled according to the will of the Father, when I shall come in my glory with the powers of heaven.
"And ye shall never endure the pains of death; but when I shall come in my glory ye shall be changed in the twinkling of an eye from mortality to immortality; and then shall ye be blessed in the kingdom of my Father.
"And again, ye shall not have pain while ye shall dwell in the flesh, neither sorrow save it be for the sins of the world; and all this will I do because of the thing which ye have desired of me, for ye have desired that ye might bring the souls of men unto me, while the world shall stand." (3 Nephi 28:1-9)
I want to share a family experience concerning the three Nephites. One night my wife’s parents woke up with three men banging on their bedroom window. Their home was on fire. One of the men came into their house and helped them out. They joined the men outside and watched their home burn to the ground as the fire department was delayed by the need to turn off the electricity. The three men stayed until they were safe and then left. No one knew them or had seen them before. Several weeks later my father- in-law was approached by a man in a hardware store and asked how he and his wife were doing. He responded that they were okay and the man left. He did not know the man, but his memory returned to the night of the fire. He immediately looked for the man and he was nowhere in sight. No one in the store knew the man or had seen him before. My father-in-law has always been convinced that the men were the three Nephites.
Now let us switch to more worldly things and talk about the wonderful blessing given to Solomon. In the Old Testament we are told,
"And God said to Solomon, Because this was in thine heart, and thou hast not asked riches, wealth, or honor, nor the life of thine enemies, neither yet hast asked long life; but hast asked wisdom and knowledge for thyself, that thou mayest judge my people, over whom I have made thee king." (2 Chronicles 1:11)
"And God gave Solomon wisdom and understanding exceeding much, and largeness of heart, even as the sand that is on the sea shore.
"And Solomon’s wisdom excelled the wisdom of all the children of the east country, and all the wisdom of Egypt.
"And there came of all people to hear the wisdom of Solomon, from all kings of the earth, which had heard of his wisdom." (1 Kings 4:29-30, 34)
And later the greatness of king Solomon is further clarified when it says, “So king Solomon exceeded all the kings of the earth for riches and for wisdom” (1 Kings 10:23).
This theme of responding to desires is continued many places in the scriptures. Consider Nephi’s desire to see the vision that his father had seen, the sons of Mosiah’s desires to preach to the Lamanites, the Lamanite’s desire to join the people of Ammon, the desire of Enos to preserve the records of his people and finally one of the most important moments in history – the appearance of the Father and the Son to Joseph Smith because of his desire to know which church was right.
At this point I want to switch from the scriptures to some of my personal experience. My desire is to demonstrate that the Lord continues to respond to our desires and will bless us according to the desires of our heart.
I have loved most of my work. I really relate to a quote from Hank in Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged, I love my work, my mills, my Metal, my hours at a desk, at a furnace, in a laboratory, in an ore mine, as I love my ability to work, as I love the act of sight and knowledge, as I love the action of my mind when it solves a chemical equation or grasps a sunrise, as I love the things I’ve made and the things I’ve felt, as my product, as my choice, as a shape of my world, --- as my power to live.
I have had great jobs and callings. I consider loving them a great blessing. Find what you love. Find your mission. When you find it follow your dream. It will be a great blessing in your life. I have always loved mechanical things and automobiles in particular – but anything with an engine - cars, boats, planes. When I was young I built models. As I got older I worked on cars – overhauled and modified engines, improve the handling, and did some custom work. I played some basketball in high school. If I could go back I would have played more. My coach said I had talent but I had too much oil in my veins, I was too interested in cars. When I went to college I focused on mechanical engineering. Because I had two uncles that had set great examples for me in the military I signed up for ROTC. When I graduated I would have loved to go to Detroit but I saw no chance so I accepted a commission and became an officer in the United States Air Force. As a demonstration of my love for mechanical things and at the dismay of the ROTC staff I dropped out of college flight training to get into a new Air Force program that would send me directly to graduate school – you guessed, it in mechanical engineering. Upon graduation my first assignment was as a maintenance officer for airplanes. Follow on assignments included a landing gear test facility, a catapult program and finally a number of jobs in the development of missiles - nothing automotive but enough mechanical to keep me happy.
When I retired from the Air Force, my desire for automotive was still alive but again I saw no chance to get in the automotive industry. I was a bishop in Redlands, California. We loved the area and the ward and looked hard for something to keep us there. I looked for more than 6 months and got very discouraged. During that time my mom passed away and I got to spend some great time with her. It was a great blessing to have time to share her final moments on this earth. She had done so much for me.
I offer some timely advice for all of you. These are hard times. Finding a job may be difficult. Don’t take it personal. Do not let it affect your self-esteem. Self-examination is useful. Depression is not! You will find good employment but you may have to be patient.
Finally during an interview with a company that I had little desire to work for the Spirit was intense – on several occasions. I was very surprised at its strength. An offer came and we would be required to move. We were not anxious to leave friends and the ward and move our children to a new school. But I knew I should accept the offer. I did not know which way the path would lead. I was reminded of Nephi’s words, “And I was led by the Spirit, not knowing beforehand the things which I should do” (1 Nephi 4:6). I did not dare go against the Spirit – I had already tried that and will forever regret it. The Lord knows what is best for you. Follow the Spirit.
When the time came our home sold quickly and I went to work as the head of an engineering consultant group. When I got to work I found out that the company was going through hard times and within 6 months over half of our section of 53 people had lost their jobs including the Vice President that hired me and his boss. I had survived but what had I gotten myself into? Fortunately I was pulled into a small group that was pursuing new business – providing manufacturing systems to the automotive air bag industry. This was a venture that was totally out of the character of our company but provided a wonderful opportunity for me. We were incredibly successful. We won contracts with every major automotive airbag producer. I got to lead efforts to design production lines, design a lights out plant, and finally to provide a production line to the leading automotive airbag supplier. The desires of my heart were being fulfilled in a way that I could not have imagined.
In one of Sheri Dew’s talks to the missionaries on Temple Square in Salt Lake City she taught a great principle. When you pray, ask for what you want or something better. I remember my grandmother saying aim high, you can always land in the gutter. The Lord knows your needs better than you and as a loving Father he will meet them or give you something better.
In the middle of this period things improved even more. Ford Aerospace bought the company I was working for and I was pulled into a computer integrated manufacturing group with an office in Ford World Headquarters. We were charged with evaluating the systems in all of the automotive component group including casting, electronic components, glass, and plastics. The assignment was way beyond my desires, obviously something better. I got a good understanding of the way Ford does business and really enjoyed my work. At one time when we were discussing Ford’s needs in Europe I thought I would love to be a consultant with the start up of a new plant there.
This great fortune could not last, however, and Ford decided that the main work our original company did – other than manufacturing – was not a part of their core competency and they sold the company. The new company was not interested in manufacturing and our group was dissolved. I was asked to head up a missile defense program, which required that I commute from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Seattle, Washington. It had nothing to do with automotive and the program was cancelled shortly after I accepted the assignment. That year was spent away from family, shutting down the program and laying off people. It was not a great year. I was not happy with the direction of the company and when I finished that job, things at work became very slow and I spent 6 months looking for a different job. During that time my father passed away and I was fortunate to have time to spend with him and my siblings. It was another great opportunity for time with dad and my siblings.
Again, looking for a job is not that fun – be patient and stay close to your Heavenly Father. Follow the Spirit.
Meanwhile one of the production lines we had built two years earlier had not started up because of a product design problem. The design issue was finally fixed and the line had started up. One of my old bosses was finishing the effort and was having trouble completing the project. I was called and asked to clean up the remaining issues, collect our payment and get us out of the plant. I went to the plant and we quickly demonstrated the capability of the new line and agreed on payment. During that process the plant manager and I got along very well. After I returned home we had several conversations and he finally called on a Wednesday afternoon and asked me to head up his engineering department and to be at his staff meeting on Friday morning. It was a great opportunity to get fully entrenched in the automotive industry. I was delighted. I packed up and went to work. I have a great respect for responsiveness, whether it be in returning phone calls or accepting a new assignment especially when directed by the spirit. We spent the next three years expanding the plant twice, putting in 24 production lines and increased our sales by a factor of 14.
But this isn’t the end. During a casual phone conversation with a senior staff member I found that the company was planning to put a new plant in Europe. I expressed my interest and in a year found myself in England as a plant manager in charge of starting up a new plant. Again, my earlier desires to be associated with a European plant were met by something better. In the next three years we bought land, designed a plant, hired and trained the team, built the plant and production equipment and started up production for a new technology air bag inflator. It was a successful and rewarding experience.
Following that assignment I was asked to go back to manage the plant where I had been engineering manager. This was not an ordinary plant. It had been selected as one of the ten best plants in America. One of my favorite quotes was used in an article about our plant, “At the Cookeville plant cleanliness is next to Godliness.” This plant was known as the crown jewel of our company. Following that assignment I was asked to launch another new plant in Reno, Nevada, much closer to our family. Life was really good something much better than I could ask for.
During this time we had one more strong desire. I love country music and had adopted as my theme song, “Give Me One More Shot.” We wanted to go on a mission while we were young enough to enjoy the work and had enough energy to be productive. We had been with the new plant for three years and the launch was going well when our bishop called and asked to see us. He was a little apologetic. He had been prompted during April conference to ask us to go on a mission. He knew we were not retired and thought, “Why should they go on a mission now?” He had delayed asking us for about a month. He said he didn’t know when we should go but offered to join us in prayer and get the answer.
Two weeks later, late one evening, he called and asked if he could stop by. He had received an answer to our prayer – he knew that we should go now. We got an application and started the process. During our physicals I found out I had cancer. The reason for the call now was abundantly clear. I spent the next year going through a successful surgery and recovery because of the early detection. What an incredible blessing as a result of our desire to go on a mission.
We filled out our mission application and received a call to the Republic of Georgia as the country director for humanitarian work. What a shock! I had spent 24 years in the military and now we were being sent to serve with our foes of the cold war. We wondered how we would be received and even had thoughts concerning our safety. We had no young missionaries in Georgia and shortly after we arrived the couple that had been teaching English returned home. We were alone in the country with a small branch of the church, a 400-student English school to keep going and humanitarian projects to finish and start. We kept the English school going until the new couple arrived and continued the humanitarian service.
Our humanitarian work grew nicely and tugged at our heart. We worked with orphanages, schools, hospitals and city governments. Our projects fed and clothed the young, provided wheelchairs to the lame, brought a doctor to the country to remove cataracts so the blind could see, and provided water to thousands of people. The humanitarian efforts of the church are quietly performed and very much appreciated. At one time the director of a blind school told us with tears in her eyes, “Many come to see our problems but you came back and did something about them.” Our hearts were full of gratitude for the opportunity to serve in this great effort. We were also able to hold missionary discussions, grow our small branch and prepare for the registration of the church in Georgia. Our earlier fears proved groundless. We developed wonderful relationships with local members and non-members. One of our best friends had been a member of the KGB; another was a regional governor in the communist party. There are really good people working under all kinds of government in all parts of the world. Our desires for a productive mission were again something better than we expected.
Since then we completed another mission at the Park City Family History Center and now find ourselves in paradise – BYU Hawaii on a third mission. Life is really good and we are really blessed. I really love working for the Lord. I once read that it doesn’t take long to actually do things. What takes time is deciding what to do. I have learned that principle often, even as I have worked with the campus master plan here at BYU Hawaii. As many of you know there are days as a missionary that you are given thoughts of what to do as you rise in the morning and are directed with new thoughts throughout the day. Those days are wonderful. I have a strong desire to have many days directed by those thoughts – gifts from the Holy Ghost. My desires have been met often. I pray that you may have the same direction in your life.
I want to close my talk with a discussion of the powerful principles associated with desires. The first principle has to do with the focus of those desires. In the Doctrine and Covenants we are told, "Seek not for riches but for wisdom, and behold, the mysteries of God shall be unfolded unto you, and then shall you be made rich. Behold, he that hath eternal life is rich.
"Verily, verily, I say unto you, even as you desire of me so it shall be unto you; and if you desire, you shall be the means of doing much good in this generation." (D&C 6:7-8)
The second principle states the conditions required to fulfilling our desires. "There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated— And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated." (D&C 130:20-21)
Learn the eternal laws of God and follow them.
The third principle has to do with timing. The Lord operates according to his time line – not yours – remember it took me 24 years in the Air Force and a couple of years as a consultant to get into automotive. Remember Jacob served 7 years only to be given Leah as a wife and then was required to serve another 7 years before he was given his beloved Rachael. Abraham was 100 and Sarah was 90 when they finally received their promised child.
I have played heavily on the side of a loving Heavenly Father that wants to meet all of our desires even our wants, but we must understand and remember that we will be judged by our desires. In the Doctrine and Covenants we are told, “For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts” (D&C 137:9). In Alma we are also told “And it is requisite with the justice of God that men should be judged according to their works; and if their works were good in this life, and the desires of their hearts were good, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good” (Alma 41:3).
But even more, other scriptures tell us that we shall be rewarded according to those desires – good or evil. The one raised to happiness according to his desires of happiness, or good according to his desires of good; and the other to evil according to his desires of evil; for as he has desired to do evil all the day long even so shall he have his 10 reward of evil when the night cometh. (Alma 41:5)
I ask you what are the desires of your heart? Will you develop a desire to live a righteous life? Will you work to build the kingdom? Have you had a mighty change in your heart? Remember the words of Alma, “And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts” (Alma 5:14)? Elder Neal A. Maxwell said, “What we insistently desire, over time, is what we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity” (Ensign, Nov 1996, 21). In the Twenty-fourth Psalm we are asked, “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place? He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart” (Psalm 24:3–4).
Get your heart right – I promise you that all else will follow. Said the prophet Joseph, The nearer man approached perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his maker and is caught up to dwell with Him. (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 51)
I know that the principles that I have talked about today are true. The Lord will respond to your desires. I challenge you to search your heart with the desire to become pure, even perfect. I pray that you will desire that your sins be as scarlet that you may give them away, that you may abhor sin, that you may strive for perfection in all that you do. In order to do that, you must stand in holy places, let your eyes see no evil, let your ears hear no evil and keep your hands clean.
I leave you today with my love and a prayer that the desires of your heart may be pure and lead you to eternal happiness in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.