Power Unto Future Generations

Yesterday I wrote about some of the lessons about the scriptures that Alma 37 teaches us.  One of the principles we can take from it is the need to write down our own record, including our thoughts and impressions as they relate to our study of the scriptures.  There is one more message that is repeated a few times in the chapter that helps us see why such a record might be of importance to us.  Alma taught Helaman as he handed him the plates, “And now remember, my son, that God has entrusted you with these things, which are sacred, which he has kept sacred, and also which he will keep and preserve for a wise purpose in him, that he may show forth his power unto future generations.”  Part of the reason Helaman needed to be diligent in keeping and preserving the record was for the blessings they would bring to future generations.  And in case Helaman missed the point, Alma repeated two more times: “For he promised unto them that he would preserve these things for a wise purpose in him, that he might show forth his power unto future generations.”  Speaking specifically how the scriptures had helped bring the Lamanites to the knowledge of the truth, he continued, “And he hath shown forth his power in them, and he will also still show forth his power in them unto future generations; therefore they shall be preserved” (Alma 37:14, 18-19).  The Lord, Helaman was promised, would show forth His power to future generations through the words of the scriptures, and we certainly have seen the fulfillment of that in our day as the Book of Mormon has had a profound effect upon millions.  So when we keep a record of our own lives and in particular an account of our testimonies and spiritual experiences, it is not just for the here and now but so that future generations can be blessed. 

               Nephi was one who clearly had those future generations in mind when he wrote his witness of the gospel.  He recorded, “Wherefore, I write unto my people, unto all those that shall receive hereafter these things which I write, that they may know the judgments of God, that they come upon all nations, according to the word which he hath spoken.”  He knew that the words he wrote would make a difference to his posterity: “The Lord God promised unto me that these things which I write shall be kept and preserved, and handed down unto my seed, from generation to generation….  For we labor diligently to write, to persuade our children, and also our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God….  We write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:3, 21, 23, 26).  He clearly wasn’t just talking about his own children in his day but also of many future generations, for in the next chapter he spoke of “my children” who would be alive 600 years later at the time of the Savior’s coming (2 Nephi 26:1).  Nephi’s record clearly has had a powerful impact on his posterity both in ancient times and in our day as the Book of Mormon has gone forth to his descendants and others.  His example thus encourages us to likewise keep our own spiritual record to pass down to future generations who may be similarly blessed by the words of their forebearers.      

             President Eyring gave us the same charge in his well-known talk O Remember, Remember.  He told of a particular experience where his father-in-law had blessed his family, and then President Eyring recounted, “As I got to the door, I heard in my mind—not in my own voice—these words: ‘I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.’ I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family.”  He continued, “I wrote down a few lines every day for years. I never missed a day no matter how tired I was or how early I would have to start the next day. Before I would write, I would ponder this question: ‘Have I seen the hand of God reaching out to touch us or our children or our family today?’ As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day.”  He then encouraged us, “My point is to urge you to find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness.”  As we record the blessings of the Lord has given us, as we write our testimonies of the gospel and our spiritual experiences, we can trust that these will go forth to bless future generations in ways that we cannot fully know now.  As the Lord said of His own word, our spiritual record will similarly “not return unto [us] void” (Isaiah 55:11).