The Course of Life Which He is Pursuing

To my son,

                This week in our scripture reading we learned about Nehor and his teachings to the Nephites. He taught things that were against the gospel of Jesus Christ, but it is important for us to understand his arguments because we hear similar things today. Mormon summarized what he said this way: “And he also testified unto the people that all mankind should be saved at the last day, and that they need not fear nor tremble, but that they might lift up their heads and rejoice; for the Lord had created all men, and had also redeemed all men; and, in the end, all men should have eternal life” (Alma 1:4). In other words, he taught the people that they could do whatever they wanted and that it wasn’t a sin. He encouraged them to do things contrary to the commandments God and told them that they did not need to repent and that they could still be happy. Sometimes we hear that kind of argument today, telling us to abandon the teachings of the Savior and His commandments that we strive to keep. I remember specifically one time when I was serving as a missionary that someone came up to me and told me to stop doing what I was doing and instead to go party and break the commandments and do the things that the world pretends are paths to happiness. But I knew that those things did not lead to where I wanted to go. Alma, who had spent much of his life doing bad things before he repented, knew the difference between a life of sin and a life trying to follow the Lord. He declared to his son, “Do not suppose, because it has been spoken concerning restoration, that ye shall be restored from sin to happiness. Behold, I say unto you, wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10). I hope that this is something that you will always remember and strive to live by—if you want to be truly happy, you won’t find it in the activities of the world that violate the laws of God. Isaiah put it this way: “But the wicked are like the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked” (Isaiah 57:20-21). Peace comes from doing the things that God has commanded us, not in the wickedness of the world.

                The Prophet Joseph Smith taught us about how to have faith in the Lord in the Lectures on Faith, and I believe in that he gave us a key to finding happiness in this life. To have faith in God he taught that we must first know that He exists and understand correctly His “character, perfections, and attributes.” In other words, we need to come to learn that God is good and loving and perfectly just and merciful if we are to develop faith in Him. The Prophet then added that we need to have “an actual knowledge that the course of life which he is pursuing is according to his will.” I have thought a lot about this statement, and I believe that indeed to be truly happy we need to have knowledge that the course of our life is in accordance with the will of God. In other words, fulfillment in life doesn’t come by doing whatever we want; it comes by learning what He wants and doing it. When you understand what God wants you to be doing, and then you accomplish it, you will find deep satisfaction in life that can’t come in any other way. Jesus showed us the example when He prayed in the Garden of Gethsemane: “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39). He put the will of God above His own and completed the mission that the Father had given Him. That allowed Him to say to the Nephites not long after that: “I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning” (3 Nephi 11:11). That same day He was able to declare to the Nephites after praying to His Father: “Behold, my joy is full” (3 Nephi 17:20). I believe that His joy was full because He had always done what His Father had asked Him to do, and I know that we can have the same blessing. As you seek to learn what God wants you to do, and then you strive diligently to accomplish it, you will find a joy and fulfillment in life that you could never find in doing your own will. 

Love,

Dad