Mine Own Received Me Not

To my son,

                Shortly before the Savior was to be born, Nephi was the prophet among the Nephites and he was dealing with a difficult situation as the unbelievers were persecuting those looking for the sign of the Savior’s birth. As he prayed for comfort, the Spirit gave him these words of the Savior: “Lift up your head and be of good cheer; for behold, the time is at hand, and on this night shall the sign be given, and on the morrow come I into the world, to show unto the world that I will fulfil all that which I have caused to be spoken by the mouth of my holy prophets. Behold, I come unto my own, to fulfil all things which I have made known unto the children of men from the foundation of the world” (3 Nephi 1:13-14). Can you hear the anticipation in His voice? He had been waiting for thousands of years, since the foundation of the world, to come and fulfill the will of His Father through His great mission. These words seem to suggest that He was eager for the chance to “come unto [His] own,” meaning that He was going to be among the children of Israel whom He had guided and directed as Jehovah for over a thousand years. Contrast those words with what He then said to the Nephites after His death about 34 years later when they were in darkness: “I came unto my own, and my own received me not” (3 Nephi 9:16). This is a statement He repeated at least five times in the Doctrine and Covenants, such as in this revelation: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, the Son of God. I am the same that came unto mine own, and mine own received me not. I am the light which shineth in darkness, and the darkness comprehendeth it not” (Doctrine and Covenants 6:21). Do you sense the feeling of disappointment in those words? He had looked forward to coming unto His own, to being among His people in Jerusalem, but He had largely been rejected by them. How sad and disappointing this must have been to Him—He loved them perfectly and had done everything for them, and yet some of them killed Him. Nevertheless, He still completed His mission perfectly and offers us the opportunity even now to receive Him and to be “His own.”

                I referred to these passages to emphasize that the Savior understands disappointment and unmet expectations. We all have experiences that don’t work out like we want or expect, and it can be difficult to face those with optimism and a good attitude. We can be sure, though, that when this happens the Savior understands and can help us. He told us that He is our “advocate, who knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted” (Doctrine and Covenants 62:1). Sometimes the temptations we face are to be down and discouraged, to give up or let disappointments get in the way of our happiness. But He knows how to help us through these times of weakness and discouragement—He knows perfectly how to succor us if we will let Him. And how do you do that? When you are feeling down, I know that if you will take time to pray and read in the scriptures, He will bring you His Spirit to bless you and lift you up. Near the end of my mission we taught a young man named Ricardo from Cape Verde who was eventually baptized. He had a very hard life and worked in construction on very large buildings in the oppressive heat. He told us how one day he was very discouraged and tempted to jump off the building to get rid of his problems. Instead, he told us how he went down to the ground and took out his Book of Mormon and read. That lifted him up and saved his life on that day. I know that as we study the words of the Lord and seek Him in prayer, especially when we are discouraged and upset, He will run to us and lift us up. Remember that you are never alone because the Savior has promised to be with you. Know that I love you with all my heart!

Love,

Dad