I am speaking in Church tomorrow, so I have decided to share my prepared remarks here for those that are interested. Below is what I will say tomorrow:
I am grateful to speak today and bear my testimony to you concerning the Gospel of Christ. It was a real pleasure this past week to review the General Conference talks from just a couple of weeks ago. General Conference is a semi-annual opportunity for us to come together as a Church (sometimes without even leaving the comforts of our homes) and receive instruction and encouragement from current day prophets of God. My assignment today was to choose one message from one talk and explain how it pertains to my life and how I will change, or become a better person, a better Christian, as a result. I hope the Bishop will forgive me as I confess that I failed in this objective. I do not have a paragraph from conference to share with you today. Rather, I have an overall impression from Conference of what I need to do to be a better Christian. I am sure that over the next six months as I continue to study the Conference addresses, I will have other impressions of other things to work on or do, but for now, there were three talks in particular that struck me with one overall impression: those of Elders Ballard[i], Perry[ii] and Oaks[iii]. In the interest of time, I will not quote extensively from these talks, but I encourage you to go review them on your own.
Elder Ballard began by teaching about the industry of honey bees. I was fascinated to learn of the hive for which he and his father cared when he was a boy. It had 60,000 bees and each one worked hard to be productive. Despite all of these efforts, the produce of each bee was insignificant:
“Honeybees are driven to pollinate, gather nectar, and condense the nectar into honey. It is their magnificent obsession imprinted into their genetic makeup by our Creator. It is estimated that to produce just this one pound (0.45 kg) of honey, the average hive of 20,000 to 60,000 bees must collectively visit millions of flowers and travel the equivalent of two times around the world. Over its short lifetime of just a few weeks to four months, a single honeybee’s contribution of honey to its hive is a mere one-twelfth of one teaspoon.”
Elder Ballard goes on to instruct that there is a reason that the beehive is so often used as a symbol of our Church and our industry: while our individual efforts to serve and influence the world for good may seem to accomplish very little, we can be a powerful force in the aggregate.
As members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, our numbers have always been small. Yes, they are growing rapidly, from just six official members in 1830 to 14.5 million now, but we are still only 2.1% of the entire world population. Yet the commandment from our Savior still stands:
“Ye are the salt of the earth: but if the salt have lost his savour, wherewith shall it be salted? it is thenceforth good for nothing, but to be cast out, and to be trodden under foot of men. Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid. Neither do men light a candle, and put it under a bushel, but on a candlestick; and it giveth light unto all that are in the house.” [sic][iv]
I agree with Elder Ballard when he said that “Our troubled world needs this love of Christ today more than ever, and it will need it even more in the years ahead.” The commandment to be a light to the world and the salt of the earth is no less (and maybe more) important now then it has ever been. But what good can we be? How can we influence the current societal trajectory? That is the genius of Elder Ballard’s talk: we don’t need to do anything monumental; we just all need to do our part. Each of us can be a little influence for good, but in the aggregate, it can have an enormous impact:
“These simple, daily acts of service may not seem like much in and of themselves, but when considered collectively they become just like the one-twelfth teaspoon of honey contributed by a single bee to the hive. There is power in our love for God and for His children, and when that love is tangibly manifest in millions of acts of Christian kindness, it will sweeten and nourish the world with the life-sustaining nectar of faith, hope, and charity.”
To test this point made by Elder Ballard, I put one grain of salt on my tongue and noted, as you would expect, that the impact was almost imperceptible. I then took a spoonful of salt. As I contemplated putting that spoonful of salt in my mouth, I was grateful to be reminded of Elder Ballard’s talk: I swapped out the spoonful of salt for one of honey and am pleased to report that the affect was much more significant than the grain of salt.
I am grateful for Elder Ballard’s talk and feel very inspired and motivated to be a greater influence for good in the world. There are so many that are lost or confused as they seek for a path to happiness and peace. There are even more who mistakenly walk a path that does not lead to happiness or peace. We can be a light in the darkness and help them find what they are looking for.
Now, as I tried to think of what I would specifically do to be a light to the world and the salt of the earth, I was deeply struck by two other talks from Conference. Elder Oaks spoke about the vulnerability of children and how many evils are committed against them. He pointed out that there are 40 million abortions every year. Another two million children are forced into prostitution or pornography each year. Other countless millions, even within our own nation, are physically and emotionally abused every day. Many are physically and/or emotionally neglected. As I read Elder Oak’s account, all other perceived problems facing me or our country were dwarfed in my mind: how can we expect a long-term solution to any problem when children are subject to such evils? Elder Oaks stated:
“Children are highly vulnerable. They have little or no power to protect or provide for themselves and little influence on so much that is vital to their well-being. Children need others to speak for them, and they need decision makers who put their well-being ahead of selfish adult interests.”
As I contemplated how I should focus my efforts to be a light to the world and the salt of the earth, I realized that nothing is more important than influencing society in a direction that will protect children. We need to speak for their interests; we need to fight the institutions that abuse them or harm them; we need to strengthen the institutions that support them and protect them.
Elder Perry spoke on “Becoming Goodly Parents”. This is the most important institution to support: that of the family. He said:
“The onslaught of wickedness against our children is more subtle and brazen than it has ever been. Building a strong family culture adds another layer of protection for our children, insulating them from worldly influences.”
We can start by protecting and supporting children in our own homes. We can be examples of what a family can and should be to those around us to encourage others to do the same.
The only real solution to these problems and tragedies is the Gospel of Jesus Christ. As Elder Ballard said, let’s all do a little to light that candle for all that are in the house. The impact that each one of us makes individually may be imperceptible from a macro level, but the cumulative effect of all of our efforts will recede the tide of darkness that threatens our children and puts their future in doubt. I know that the Lord will also help us. We can achieve more than we know if we will but put forth the effort and ask for His help.
Rhetorically Transmitted Disease 