Always Remember Him

To my son,

                In only a few months you will have the opportunity to be baptized a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. After that, the Sacrament will take on new meaning for you as you partake of the bread and water in the name of the Savior each week. The promise we make in both the prayer on the bread and the prayer on the water is to “always remember him,” meaning Jesus. We promise that we are willing to always remember Him by our action of partaking of the Sacrament, and I hope that this becomes a meaningful experience for you. Imagine if when we partook of the Sacrament, instead of doing it quietly everyone who received it stood up and said in a loud voice, “I will remember Jesus Christ this week!” It would make for a noisy service perhaps, but it is in fact the promise we are making as we partake. I want to encourage you today to find ways to remember Him throughout the week and think about Him more often. You can do this by more frequently reading your scriptures, praying more often, listening to inspired music, and trying to learn about His life. Sometimes people wear wristbands with the initials WWJD, meaning What Would Jesus Do? That helps them think about His example as they make choices and try to love and serve as He would do. When the Savior first gave the Sacrament to the Nephites He said this: “And this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you. And it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you” (3 Nephi 18:7). To have His Spirit is a great blessing for us in this life to comfort, help, and guide us, and His promise is that if you will try to remember Him you will have the Comforter to be with you.

                 When the Savior was on the earth, He taught the kind of things that we should do to remember Him. He taught that the righteous will one day hear these words from Him: “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world: For I was an hungred, and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty, and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in: Naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me: I was in prison, and ye came unto me.” But those who have been righteous were confused at that because they had never seen Him on the earth and never actually given Him food or drink or comfort: “Then shall the righteous answer him, saying, Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee? or thirsty, and gave thee drink? When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in? or naked, and clothed thee? Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?” I love the Lord’s answer: “And the King shall answer and say unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me” (Matthew 25:34-40). In other words, every time we help someone, we are helping Him. If you say a kind word to a child who is sad, you are saying a kind word to Him. If you share your food with a person who is hungry, you are sharing your food with Him. If you invite someone who is lonely to play with you, you are showing love to Him. That is one of the best ways that we remember Him: we love those around us. King Benjamin put it this way: “And behold, I tell you these things that ye may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when ye are in the service of your fellow beings ye are only in the service of your God” (Mosiah 2:17). I encourage you to strive hard to remember Him each day by treating those around you with love and looking for ways to serve others. As you do you will have His Spirit to help you and you will always find joy in your life. 

Love,

Dad