Run That Ye May Obtain

Last night I had the opportunity to attend a fireside for French speakers in Utah, and Bishop Caussé was one of the speakers. He told a story of when he was a young man in the military in France and Elder Maxwell came to speak at a devotional in Paris on a Sunday morning. He was very excited to be able to hear him but then to his great disappointment he found out that he had been given a military assignment to drive someone to the airport that morning. There was little chance he could make the meeting with Elder Maxwell which was to last from 10:00 am to noon. He got dressed in Sunday clothes anyway, hoping that he might be able to make the latter end of the meeting. After fulfilling his assignment he quickly returned the military car to its place and ran to the location of the devotional and raced up the stairs four at a time to the top floor of the building where the meeting was. Against all odds he walked in at 11:55 for the meeting and Elder Maxwell offering an apostolic blessing on the people. He was overcome with the Spirit as he listened to these final words of this servant of the Lord. The message so moved him spiritually that Elder Caussé related that he was in tears for 15 minutes. He knew by the power of the Spirit that Elder Maxwell was indeed an apostle of the Lord, and it was a defining moment in his life. His point to us was that he believed the Lord richly rewarded him with this powerful spiritual experience because he had done everything in his power to be there. Because he had given his all to make that meeting, even though it was only for the final few minutes, the Lord had poured out the Spirit upon him. And so to it is with us—if we want spiritual experiences we have to work for them and show the Lord that we are willing to do all in our power to hear Him and draw close to Him.

                In his recent general conference talk, Bishop Caussé also spoke about the work required of us in the gospel. He said, “As disciples of Christ, we have a solemn duty to work tirelessly for peace and harmony among all nations of the earth. We must do our very best to protect and bring solace and relief to the weak, the needy, and all those who suffer or who are oppressed. Above all, the greatest gift of love we can offer our fellow men is to share with them the joy of the gospel and invite them to come unto their Savior through sacred covenants and ordinances.” The restored gospel is not a place to come and sit idly by; when we receive it we are given the opportunity and duty to work diligently to bring ourselves and others to the Savior. This quote and his story from last night remind me of the account of Abish who was a converted Lamanite among the people of Lamoni when Ammon arrived there. When she saw a great spiritual change coming upon the king and queen and their household, “she ran forth from house to house, making it known unto the people” so that they too would “believe in the power of God” (Alma 19:17). Her faith was so great that she ran to bring the people to see for themselves how the power of God had come upon the king. Like young Bishop Caussé she felt an urgency to have the Spirit of the Lord felt and ran to not miss, as Elder Holland would put it, “the opportunity of a lifetime [within] the lifetime of the opportunity.” Bishop Caussé also added in his conference talk, “The Lord expects us to work diligently, as moved upon by His Holy Spirit, to grow, enhance, and improve upon the resources He has entrusted to us—not for our benefit only but to bless others.” As we feel an urgency to come unto the Savior and work diligently to bring ourselves and others to Him, we will be richly compensated for our efforts in building up His kingdom. We should do all that we can to come unto the Lord and bring others with us. Paul summed it up this way: “So run, that ye may obtain” (1 Corinthians 9:24).