How Shall I Go Up?

In his recent general conference talk, Elder Michael Ringwood spoke of the story of Joseph in Egypt. In particular he highlighted the words and actions of Judah who convinced his brothers to not kill Joseph but sell him into slavery. Elder Ringwood commented, “Many years later, Judah and his brothers needed to take their youngest brother, Benjamin, to Egypt. Initially their father resisted. But Judah made a promise to Jacob—he would bring Benjamin home. In Egypt, Judah’s promise was put to the test. Young Benjamin was wrongly accused of a crime. Judah, true to his promise, offered to be jailed in Benjamin’s place. ‘For,’ he said, ‘how shall I go up to my father, and the lad be not with me?’ Judah was determined to keep his promise and return Benjamin safely.” Elder Ringwood suggested that Judah’s words also “express the Savior’s love: ‘How shall I go up to my father and [you] be not with me?” Indeed, the Savior is committed to bringing each of us back to the Father, and He declared in our dispensation, “Fear not, little children, for you are mine, and I have overcome the world, and you are of them that my Father hath given me; And none of them that my Father hath given me shall be lost” (Doctrine and Covenants 50:41-42). He has promised to bring us all back to the Father and all, except the sons of perdition, He will bring to a kingdom of glory. And, most importantly, if we will choose Him in this life He will save us in the celestial kingdom of God in the life to come.

            In similitude of the Savior, we are meant to help bring others back to the Father. The Savior invited missionaries of our dispensation in these words: “And if it so be that you should labor all your days in crying repentance unto this people, and bring, save it be one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father!” (Doctrine and Covenants 18:15) We are called to bring people back to the Father, and the most important of those are surely the members of our own family. And so perhaps this phrase from Judah can become our own conviction in relation to those we love most and in regards to that which matters most. We should say of each of our children, “How can I go up to [the] Father, and the lad be not with me?” I have a solemn responsibility to bring my children back to the Lord to dwell with Him—how could it be heaven otherwise? It reminds me of what Elder K. Brett Nattress said in a conference talk several years ago about his own mother’s efforts to help him: “Each morning, my mother read the Book of Mormon to us during breakfast. During this time, my older brother, Dave, and I would sit quietly but irreverently. To be completely honest, we weren’t listening. We were reading the print on the cereal boxes. Finally, one morning, I decided to square up with my mother. I exclaimed, ‘Mom, why are you doing this to us? Why are you reading the Book of Mormon every morning?’ I then made a statement that I am embarrassed to admit to. In fact, I can’t believe I actually said it. I told her, ‘Mom, I am not listening!’ Her loving response was a defining moment in my life. She said, ‘Son, I was at a meeting where President Marion G. Romney taught about the blessings of scripture reading. During this meeting, I received a promise that if I would read the Book of Mormon to my children every day, I would not lose them.’ She then looked me straight in the eyes and, with absolute determination, said, ‘And I will not lose you!’” As parents that must be our attitude towards our children—we must do all in our power not to lose them to the enemy of all righteousness. We will keep reading the scriptures with them even when they don’t pay attention, we will keep praying with them even when they don’t listen, and we will keep taking them to the Sacrament table even when they are resistant—all so that the Spirit of the Lord might in some way or another find place in their hears. For how can we go up to our Father, and they not be with us?