Happy Which Endure

My kids like to talk about large numbers, imaging things excitedly in enormous quantities, and recently my five-year-old daughter announced to me that she was going to count to infinity. I thought that was a great goal, but of course she will never get there! Her older siblings corrected her that infinity is not actually a number, and so I think she settled for counting to a googolplex (my kids favorite large number). Well, that could be a while! In the gospel, gratefully we know that the struggles of mortality will not last forever and we do not have to count to infinity or a googolplex before the end will come. But we do need to hold on and endure to the end in faith, whether that will be measured in months or years or decades. The Savior taught the Twelve as He sent them forth to preach, “And ye shall be hated of all men for my name’s sake: but he that endureth to the end shall be saved” (Matthew 10:22). He highlighted this again to them during His last week: “He that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Matthew 24:13). Jesus again taught the importance of enduring to the end when He was among the people of Nephi. He said, “Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life” (3 Nephi 15:9). As He summarized His gospel to the twelve disciples He emphasized this again: “And whoso taketh upon him my name, and endureth to the end, the same shall be saved at the last day…. And it shall come to pass, that whoso repenteth and is baptized in my name shall be filled; and if he endureth to the end, behold, him will I hold guiltless before my Father at that day when I shall stand to judge the world. And he that endureth not unto the end, the same is he that is also hewn down and cast into the fire” (3 Nephi 27:6, 16-17). The gospel is not a fleeting commitment in mortality, but when we enter in at the strait gate we are committing for the long haul, “having a determination to serve him to the end” (Moroni 6:3).

                The idea of enduring to the end can seem daunting, even if we know we do not have a googolplex number of years ahead of us to stay faithful. Just a few decades with trials might seem like an eternity and appear overwhelming before us. But in the gospel, the idea of enduring to the end was not meant to suggest a long time of self-denial that we just have to suffer through. Elder Renlund taught this, “The elements of the doctrine of Christ—such as faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, repentance, entering a covenant relationship with the Lord through baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end—are not intended to be experienced as one-time, check-the-box events. In particular, ‘enduring to the end’ is not really a separate step in the doctrine of Christ—as though we complete the first four elements and then hunker down, grit our teeth, and wait to die. No, enduring to the end is repeatedly and iteratively applying the other elements of the doctrine of Christ, creating the ‘powerful virtuous cycle’ that President Nelson described.” In the New Testament, James taught this: “Behold, we count them happy which endure” (James 5:11). To endure to the end should be joyful as we live the gospel and apply the doctrine of Christ—it should not be an experience of just hanging on and trying to survive. In our dispensation the Lord put it this way, “Be patient in afflictions, for thou shalt have many; but endure them, for, lo, I am with thee, even unto the end of thy days” (Doctrine and Covenants 24:8). To endure to the end, though it may include some suffering and hardships and self-denial, is to be a joyful experience because He has promised to be with us. We will have afflictions, but more importantly we will have Him to be with us to the end. Mormon described enduring in these terms, “And the remission of sins bringeth meekness, and lowliness of heart; and because of meekness and lowliness of heart cometh the visitation of the Holy Ghost, which Comforter filleth with hope and perfect love, which love endureth by diligence unto prayer, until the end shall come, when all the saints shall dwell with God” (Moroni 8:26). As we endure diligently, praying and seeking a remission of our sins, we are filled with hope and love from the Comforter until we are brought one day to dwell with God.