Their Manner of Life, Their Faith, and Works

Section 85 of the Doctrine and Covenants begins this way: “It is the duty of the Lord’s clerk, whom he has appointed, to keep a history, and a general church record of all things that transpire in Zion, and of all those who consecrate properties, and receive inheritances legally from the bishop; And also their manner of life, their faith, and works.” While this is a specific instruction to the clerk, surely the message for all of us is that recording history is important to the Lord. This week’s Come, Follow Me lesson gives this commentary about these verses: “The ‘history’ described in verse 1 recorded the names of those who had ‘receive[d] inheritances legally’ in Zion (see also Doctrine and Covenants 72:24–26). However, this history was more than just administrative—it was also a valuable record of the Saints’ ‘manner of life, their faith, and works’ (verse 2). Are you keeping a personal history or journal? What could you record about your manner of life, faith, and works that might be a blessing to future generations?” What this revelation and many others taught the early Saints was that the Lord expected them to make a record that would bear witness to their life, faith, and works.

                As I look through my mission journal, I see the phrase “I’ll always remember” many times. As I read of those experiences, I realize that I don’t remember many of them, or at least not very well until I read what I recorded. Here is a snippet of one such entry in which we taught a lesson to a man named Marc with a member named Louis: “Tuesday night we visited Marc with Louis, and it was one of the most amazing RVs (meetings) I’ve ever had.  We had planned to have Louis talk a lot and share his story + testimony, and that’s what he did.  He talked and bore his testimony and the Spirit was so incredible.  The intensity of Louis’ voice was beyond anything I’ve ever heard, and I’ll always remember his face and voice as he exclaimed to Marc—‘Je suis riche! Je suis riche!’ He was describing how he felt every morning as he woke up and realized what he has, and as he bore testimony he declared ‘Je sais, Je sais!’ I know Marc completely felt the Spirit it would have been impossible not to.  Marc told us how his grandfather died in his arms, that he watched life go out of him, and that he felt his grandpa’s presence in the room after that.” I do remember how this member had inspired me with his testimony, but I did not recall the details of this particular meeting—how grateful I am that I took the time to record it. Louis truly believed that his knowledge of the gospel was worth “the riches of the whole earth.” We forget too easily how rich we are to have the blessings of the Restoration: the priesthood, the Book of Mormon and its witness of the Savior, living prophets to guide us, temple covenants to bind us to Jesus Christ, and the gift of the Holy Ghost to offer us peace in a troubled world.

                When the Savior was among the Nephites and reviewed the records that Nephi had made, He asked about a specific incredible event (saints arising from the dead) that had transpired recently. He asked this pointed question to the prophet: “How be it that ye have not written this thing, that many saints did arise and appear unto many and did minister unto them?” (3 Nephi 23:11) Surely that is a question for all of us to ponder as we have important experiences that bring us closer to the Lord. He would say to each of us if we fail to record such events, “How be it that ye have not written this thing?”