They Labored Exceedingly

In his description of Captain Moroni, Mormon said this: “[He was] a man who did labor exceedingly for the welfare and safety of his people.” We see this, for example, in a later description of how Moroni “had labored with so much diligence to preserve [the land]” (Alma 51:14). Throughout the war Moroni worked tirelessly to create fortifications for all the Nephite cities; even after successes in battle, “Moroni did not stop making preparations for war” (Alma 50:1). Mormon also said Moroni “was a man like unto Ammon, the son of Mosiah, yea, and even the other sons of Mosiah, yea, and also Alma and his sons, for they were all men of God” (Alma 48:12, 18). True to this comparison, Alma also described the work of the sons of Mosiah in these words: “Behold, they have labored exceedingly, and have brought forth much fruit; and how great shall be their reward!” They served as missionaries among the Lamanites for an astounding 14 years, witnessing indeed that they labored exceedingly for the welfare of those who were previously their enemies. Moroni and the sons of Mosiah gave up their own comforts in order to serve and bless their people with the same “unwearied diligence” as described of later Lamanite converts (Helaman 15:6). Theirs is an example of how we too should “labor exceedingly” in the work of the Lord. 

                Thinking about these examples of diligence in the Book of Mormon reminds me of this well-known quote by Sister Hinckley in her book Small and Simple Things: “I don’t want to drive up to the pearly gates in a shiny sports car, wearing beautifully tailored clothes, my hair expertly coiffed, and with long, perfectly manicured fingernails. I want to drive up in a station wagon that has mud on the wheels from taking kids to Scout camp. I want to be there with a smudge of peanut butter on my shirt from making sandwiches for a sick neighbor’s children. I want to be there with a little dirt under my fingernails from helping to weed someone’s garden. I want to be there with children’s sticky kisses on my cheeks and the tears of a friend on my shoulder. I want the Lord to know I was really here and that I really lived.” She and her husband were certainly among those who did “labor exceedingly” in the work of the Lord and they are examples to all of us how we should live. President Hinckley died at the age of 97 and one source described his death this way: “Hinckley had just gone through a treatment of chemotherapy a few days earlier, and had ‘worked until the very end.’” He simply never stopped working until the Lord took him to the other side. That is our example to follow, and as the Prophet Joseph Smith similarly put it in another context, “We should waste and wear out our lives” (Doctrine and Covenants 123:13). He was writing in relation to bringing to light the terrible things that had happened in Missouri, but certainly this should also apply to how we are to serve in the kingdom of God. The goal is not to arrive in the celestial kingdom with as little exertion in this life as possible. Rather we should wear out our lives in His service and show up with all the signs of that labor—the figurative beat-up car and dirt and tears and smeared peanut butter—as evidence that we have given our all in His great work.

            Of course, President Nelson is another powerful example of laboring exceedingly in God’s work like so many prophets before. Today is of particular note because he became the oldest president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints: “On Thursday, April 14, 2022, President Nelson turned 97 years, seven months and six days old — surpassing in age President Gordon B. Hinckley, who died on Jan. 27, 2008, at the age of 97 years, seven months and five days.” His work in only these four years as the president of the church is astounding: “In his four years and three months as president of the church, President Nelson has traveled 115,000 miles to 35 nations on six continents…. Asking Latter-day Saints to gather Israel on both sides of the veil, President Nelson has also announced 100 new temples.” He remarked a couple years back, “This work is moving forward at an accelerated pace. I can hardly wait to bounce out of bed each morning and see what the day will bring.” If only we could all have that kind of unwearied diligence in the work of the Lord!