Of Modern Apostles and Abundant Life

As a child I remember pondering how wonderful it would be to live on the earth in the days of the Apostles. I thought that it would be a great thing to know them, to see their pattern of life, to hear their witness of Jesus Christ, and through them to hear revelation directly from God.

So it was a personal thrill when I was a young teenager to learn that Apostles of Jesus Christ live and walk on the earth again, that we are their contemporaries, that we may associate with them, hear their clear and unequivocal witness of Jesus Christ, to learn directly through them what God would have us know and do.

I have since met several of these modern Apostles. They have the same authority and power directly from the Savior that Jesus extended anciently to Peter, James, John, Paul, and others of the Apostles whom the Savior chose to represent Him to the world.

While these messengers of the Christ cross the continents testifying of Him, twice a year they gather together in conference and proclaim their inspired messages for any and all who would hear. Here are a few gems from their most recent counsel and declarations. Heeding their words will lead to a richer, more abundant life.

The Apostle Richard G. Scott reminded us that, “Father in Heaven knew that you would face challenges and be required to make some decisions that would be beyond your own ability to decide correctly. In His plan of happiness, He included a provision for you to receive help with such challenges and decisions during your mortal life. That assistance will come to you through the Holy Ghost as spiritual guidance. It is a power, beyond your own capability, that a loving Heavenly Father wants you to use consistently for your peace and happiness.” He explained how to enhance our ability to receive that personal revelation.

The Apostle David A. Bednar emphasized the deep need for people today “to become more diligent and concerned at home by telling the people we love that we love them. Such expressions do not need to be flowery or lengthy. We simply should sincerely and frequently express love.” That may not be new counsel, but is there more important counsel for families today? If you could talk directly to God, would He not tell you to do that?

Another Apostle, Dallin H. Oaks, said, “The effect of God’s commandments and laws is not changed to accommodate popular behavior or desires. If anyone thinks that godly or parental love for an individual grants the loved one license to disobey the law, he or she does not understand either love or law.” He demonstrated how God’s laws are an expression of His love for us, guidance that shows us the way of lasting happiness.

The Apostle M. Russell Ballard had counsel for fathers and sons. To the sons, he counseled that they trust their father, take an interest in their father’s life, and that they ask their father for advice. To the fathers he counseled, listen to your sons, pray with and for your sons, and dare to have the “big talks” with your sons. Many of society’s ills today could be prevented by improving the communication between fathers and sons.

These and the other modern day Apostles of Jesus Christ said much more and gave further inspired counsel. You can find their complete remarks at this website:

http://lds.org/conference/sessions/display/0,5239,23-1-1117,00.html

Perhaps their most important message was expressed by the Apostle Robert D. Hales:

As a special witness of the Only Begotten Son of our loving Heavenly Father, even Jesus Christ, I testify that God lives. I know He lives. I promise that if you and those you love will seek Him in all humility, sincerity, and diligence, you will know with a surety too. Your witness will come. And the blessings of knowing God will be yours and your family’s forever.

Of Life Before Life and the Offspring of God

One of the most ennobling and liberating teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ, restored in these latter days, is the knowledge that each of us lived before we were born. We lived in the presence of God as individuals who thought, learned, moved, spoke, and otherwise interacted with each other. We all lived as literal children of our Heavenly Father, members of the same eternal family. We did not yet have the physical bodies that we possess here in mortality, but we did have spirit bodies that are very much like physical bodies. These spirit bodies are currently united with our physical bodies and are an important part of what makes us “alive.” When our mortal bodies die, the spirit leaves the physical body and lives on, while our existence as thinking individuals continues.

This means many wonderful and beautiful things, among which is that the brotherhood of man is more than metaphorical. We actually are brothers and sisters in a very literal sense. It means that creation was not accidental but rather designed and carried out for our benefit. Even further, it means that our mortal life on this creation has a purpose related to our continued growing and becoming more than we have been.

On first encounter, the knowledge of our existence before this mortal life can seem incredible. It is generally rejected by many churches, even though it is plainly taught in the Bible, in both Old and New Testaments. The Lord said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee” (Jeremiah 1:5). Paul wrote to the Ephesians that the Lord “hath chosen us in him”, meaning in Christ, “before the foundation of the world” (Ephesians 1:4).

This teaching is echoed by modern prophets. In 1918, the prophet Joseph F. Smith recorded that the children of God, “Even before they were born . . . received their first lessons in the world of spirits and were prepared to come forth in the own due time of the Lord” (Doctrine and Covenants 138:56).

This important truth upon reflection resonates with our hearts. There is an immortal spirit in man, which leaves the body at death and continues on. Where did that spirit come from? Did it suddenly come into being at our birth or somewhere between birth and conception? If so, how so? Were our mortal parents, who were the creators of our mortal bodies, somehow also the creators of our immortal spirits? There is no reason to believe that they have any such power. That which our mortal parents gave us is born of frailty and imperfection and has its end in the grave. If the spirit lives on beyond the grave—and scripture and personal revelation testify that it does—then its source must be from Him who is eternal. The eternal must find its source in the eternal.

Paul taught the Hebrews that God is the Father of our spirits just as in our flesh we are the offspring of our mortal parents (Hebrews 12:9). So if our spirits came from God, is it hard to believe that we spent some time with Him before we were sent to earth? It is pleasing to think that we did, and it serves to raise the nature of man and validate how different we are in nature from all other creatures under the sun. The love of God for us becomes less abstract and takes on the intensity of a family relationship, beginning from even before the beginning of the world.