Transcript Nephi’s Lamentations www.kevinhinckley.com Pictures from the Olympics Obvious Gospel Truths Elder Ballard Some years ago there was a rather serious tragedy in.

Nephi’s Lamentations
www.kevinhinckley.com
Pictures from the Olympics
Obvious Gospel Truths
Elder Ballard
Some years ago there was a rather serious tragedy in our
ward. A great woman, the wife of our former bishop and a
woman beloved and respected in our ward family,
contracted cancer of the worst kind. This was a vivacious,
effervescent woman who lifted and inspired everyone she
met. As the disease became worse, I gave her blessings.
…Another blessing was given to her when her son was
eighteen. Our Heavenly Father, though, had something else in mind for her, and she
was taken home to Him.
A few days after the funeral service, I visited the father. I put my arm around him and asked,
"What can I do to help?"
His response was direct and heartfelt: "Help my son to understand."
“[He doesn’t understand why] God would allow his dear mother to suffer the way she did," he
said. "Russ, my son and my wife were the very best of friends. You have never seen a
mother and son as close as they were. He loved her deeply. He prayed for her. He heard
all the blessings that were given. He had faith that she would be healed—or, at the very
least, would not have to suffer. Yet she suffered and died. He doesn't understand why."
For days I tried to get in touch with this young man… I finally wrote him a letter and invited
him to have lunch with me at the Church Administration Building… One Tuesday I
returned to the office from a conference assignment, and my secretary informed me that
my young neighbor and I had a lunch appointment for the following day.
He arrived the next day exactly on time…
Question
If you were Elder
Ballard,
what would you say
to this boy?
Jacob Chapter 5
And it came to pass that the servant
said unto his master: How comest
thou hither to plant this tree, or this
branch of the tree? For behold, it was the
poorest spot in all the land of thy vineyard.
And the Lord of the vineyard said unto him: Counsel me not; I knew that it
was a poor spot of ground; wherefore, I said unto thee, I have nourished it
this long time, and thou beholdest that it hath brought forth much fruit.
And it came to pass that the Lord of the vineyard said unto his servant: Look
hither; behold I have planted another branch of the tree also; and thou
Question:
knowest that this spot of ground was poorer than the first. But, behold the
Do
we
know
Saints
who
seem
to have
tree.
I have
nourished
it this long
time,
and it hath
brought been
forth much fruit;
therefore, gather
it,“poor
and lay itspot
up against
the
season, that I may preserve it
planted
in
a
of
ground”?
unto mine own self.
And he said unto the servant: Look hither and behold the last. Behold, this
have I planted
in aLord
good spot
of ground;us
and(and
I have them)?
nourished it this long
What
is the
telling
time, and only a part of the tree hath brought forth tame fruit, and the
other part of the tree hath brought forth wild fruit; behold, I have nourished
this tree like unto the others.
Nephi
(Helaman 7)
Behold, now it came to pass … that Nephi, the son of Helaman, returned to the
land of Zarahemla from the land northward.
For he … did preach the word of God unto them, and did prophesy many
things unto them;
And they did reject all his words, insomuch that he could not stay among them,
but returned again unto the land of his nativity.
And seeing the people in a state of such awful wickedness, and those
Gadianton robbers filling the judgment-seats—
having usurped the power and authority of the land;
laying aside the commandments of God, …
doing no justice unto the children of men;
Condemning the righteous because of their righteousness;
letting the guilty and the wicked go unpunished because of their money…
to rule and do according to their wills, that
they might get gain and glory of the world, and…
that they might the more easily commit adultery, and steal, and kill, and do
according to their own wills—
His Lament
Now this great iniquity had come upon the Nephites, in the space
of not many years; and when Nephi saw it, his heart was
swollen with sorrow within his breast; and he did exclaim in
the agony of his soul:
Oh, that I could have had my days in the days when my father
Nephi first came out of the land of Jerusalem, that I could
have joyed with him in the promised land; then were his
people easy to be entreated, firm to keep the commandments
of God, and slow to be led to do iniquity; and they were quick
to hearken unto the words of the Lord—
Yea, if my days could have been in those days, then would my
soul have had joy in the righteousness of my brethren.
But behold, I am consigned that these are my days, and that my
soul shall be filled with sorrow because of this the wickedness
of my brethren.
Neal A. Maxwell
Like Alma, who wished for a trumpet-like
voice of an angel, we too need to
understand our motivations and
limitations. Even so, let us use well the
season in which we serve.
Nephi wished, nostalgically, he'd lived in a different time, yet finally
concluded, "But behold, I am consigned that these are my days.” Like
Alma, he no doubt realized that he should not "desire more than to
perform the work to which [he had] been called" (Alma 29:6). Faith in
God includes faith in His wisdom in placing us in our particular time and
place…
At times, faith still leaves a poignant zone of perplexity and puzzlement
as to just how much we can realistically strive to influence things
affirmatively…
Our emerging "why" questions can help us, however, to develop greater
faith in God's purposes for us in our time, because answers do come to
most "why" questions.
That Ye May Believe, 156.
J.R.R Tolkien
Yet it is not our part to master
all the tides of the world,
but
to do what is in us for
the
succor of those years
wherein
we are set,
uprooting the evil in the fields that we know, so
that those who live after may have clean earth
to till.
What weather they shall have is not ours to rule.
ibid
Bonus quote by Tolkien
It does not do to
leave a live
dragon out of
your calculations,
if you live near
him….
Questions
In gospel discussions,
when does asking why
help us and when does it hurt us?
How do we guard against destructive whys?
Elder Ballard
Conclusion
As we stepped off the elevator, we saw President
Kimball walk through the back doors of the Church
Administration Building. I was holding onto my
friend's arm, and I felt a physical jolt hit him when he
saw the prophet. It was as though somebody had touched
him with a live electrical wire. We stood there a minute
silently. Finally, he looked at me and asked, "Brother
Ballard, does President Kimball ever see somebody like
me?"
"I don't know," I said. "Let's find out."
We walked into his office. President Kimball got up from his desk and walked around to
greet us. He took hold of my neighbor's hands and looked deeply into his eyes—
and into his heart.
"My boy," he said, "your mother is all right."
Then he taught us a great lesson I will never forget. He said, "My boy, I've had some
difficult times in my life. I didn't like the idea of having my vocal cords operated on. I
didn't want that to happen. I didn't like the idea of being opened up when I was in
my late seventies to have my heart worked on. But let me tell you something.
Through my suffering, I have come to know God." Then President Kimball took hold
of my friend, drew him close, and gave him a hug…