Joy in 2020

The year 2020 has been filled with difficulties for many people, and I frequently hear others speak of their desire to just get the year over with because of all its troubles. There are countless memes passed around underscoring how bad the year has been, with the pandemic and social unrest, hurricanes and fires, earthquakes and lots of other troubles. Certainly there have been great trials for many people, and our normal way of life has been disrupted on many levels, causing much focus to be placed on the undesirable, negative aspects of the year 2020. As I have considered this, I cannot help but think that as Latter-day Saints our attitude should be different than that of the world’s—though we too have faced these difficulties along with everyone else, this year should still be for us a bicentennial year that we celebrate and rejoice in as we consider the blessings of the First Vision and Restoration of the gospel. As President Nelson promised in this last general conference, “This year will be extraordinary as we focus intently on the Savior and His restored gospel.” As we experience the disruptions and inconveniences of 2020, its serious challenges, sicknesses, and even deaths of friends and loved ones, we can focus intently on the Savior and the blessings of the restored gospel that bring us hope and joy in any circumstance.

                I believe that President Nelson’s powerful address in the October 2016 general conference about joy shows us how 2020 can indeed be an extraordinary year for us. He said, “Life is filled with detours and dead ends, trials and challenges of every kind. Each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish, and despair almost consumed us. Yet we are here to have joy? Yes! The answer is a resounding yes! But how is that possible? And what must we do to claim the joy that Heavenly Father has in store for us?” He answered his question with a story from the life of Eliza R. Snow, recounting how in the winter of 1838 when the Saints were driven out of Missouri, 80 of them were gathered on a bitter cold night in a small log cabin only 20 feet square. Eliza recorded, “Not a complaint was heard—all were cheerful, and judging from appearances, strangers would have taken us to be pleasure excursionists rather than a band of gubernatorial exiles…. That was a very merry night. None but saints can be happy under every circumstance.” President Nelson then remarked, “That’s it! Saints can be happy under every circumstance. We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year! My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.” Surely if that message was ever needed, it is now when indeed everyone is focusing on this “bad year” we are having. But the events of this year need not dictate our level of joy, and like the Saints of 1838 huddled in a log cabin in the bitter cold, we too can rejoice and be cheerful and happy no matter what the circumstance!

                I have always marveled at the optimism of the Prophet Joseph Smith during his unending difficulties, and his letter to the Saints recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 128 is a powerful example of this. He was on the run to avoid arrest by Missourians who claimed he was an accessory in the attempted murder of Lilburn W. Boggs, deprived of being with his family and forced to remain in hiding for fear of his life. Yet despite these challenges, this letter showed that his focus was not on his trials but on the great work God had called him to do. Rejoicing in their opportunity to provide salvation for the dead, he gloried in the gospel with these words, “Now, what do we hear in the gospel which we have received? A voice of gladness! A voice of mercy from heaven; and a voice of truth out of the earth; glad tidings for the dead; a voice of gladness for the living and the dead; glad tidings of great joy…. And again, what do we hear? Glad tidings from Cumorah!... Brethren, shall we not go on in so great a cause? Go forward and not backward. Courage, brethren; and on, on to the victory! Let your hearts rejoice, and be exceedingly glad. Let the earth break forth into singing…. Let the mountains shout for joy, and all ye valleys cry aloud; and all ye seas and dry lands tell the wonders of your Eternal King! And ye rivers, and brooks, and rills, flow down with gladness. Let the woods and all the trees of the field praise the Lord; and ye solid rocks weep for joy! And let the sun, moon, and the morning stars sing together, and let all the sons of God shout for joy! And let the eternal creations declare his name forever and ever! And again I say, how glorious is the voice we hear from heaven, proclaiming in our ears, glory, and salvation, and honor, and immortality, and eternal life; kingdoms, principalities, and powers!” (Doctrine and Covenants 128:19-23) That is the attitude we should have in this great bicentennial year. No matter what the challenges and struggles we face now and in the future, like those early Saints we can rejoice in the blessings of the restored gospel and the goodness of our God who has spoken again from the heavens to reveal His plan to man. We can find joy in the visit of the Father and the Son to the boy Joseph which ushered in the Restoration and brought forth “a voice of mercy from heaven” and “a voice of truth from the earth” and “a voice of gladness for the living and the dead”!