A Spiritual Bucket List

In the April general conference, Elder Rasband spoke of the parable of the ten virgins and encouraged us to get spiritual oil for our lamps. He made this interesting statement: “If some of you are looking to fill what some call ‘a bucket list,’ this is it: fill your bucket with oil in the form of the living water of Jesus Christ, which is a representation of His life and teachings. In contrast, checking off a far-off place or a spectacular event will never leave your soul feeling whole or satisfied; living the doctrine taught by Jesus Christ will. I mentioned examples earlier: embrace prophecy and prophetic teachings, act on promptings of the Holy Ghost, become a true disciple, and seek the healing power of our Lord’s Atonement. That bucket list will take you somewhere you want to go—back to your Father in Heaven.” Certainly, we hear many today speak of their bucket list and the things on it including places to visit or mountains to climb or concerts to attend or a host of any number of other significant things to participate in. But, in the end, doing those things will not bring us any lasting level of happiness or fulfillment. To the contrary, such accomplishments without creating a connection to our Father in Heaven and bringing ourselves closer to Him will be like “a hungry man which dreameth, and behold he eateth but he awaketh and his soul is empty; or like unto a thirsty man which dreameth, and behold he drinketh but he awaketh and behold he is faint, and his soul hath appetite” (2 Nephi 27:3). What our souls need is true sustenance found only in the living water of Jesus Christ.

                One of my children often dreams about going to far off places, and she complains when we take a family vacation to some place that is relatively close (which they all are). She feels that we have to travel far from our home to some European country or exotic island or at least a beach on the ocean in the United States for the vacation to be enjoyable. So, when we traveled about 50 miles away on our last trip, she was sorely disappointed. But everyone had, for the most part, a great time. It didn’t really matter how close we were to home; what mattered was simply time spent together. In a similar manner, we don’t have to go far to find meaning and purpose and happiness in the gospel of Jesus Christ. In fact, we don’t have to go anywhere to do those things that Elder Rasband invited us to do: embrace prophetic teachings, feel the Holy Ghost, develop our discipleship, and be healed through the atonement of Jesus Christ. The story of Lehi’s family is perhaps a good example of this point. They did travel far, but it clearly wasn’t the travel that brought them closer to the Lord. Nephi, on the one hand, had great spiritual manifestations because of how he sought the Lord earnestly. He recounted, “Having great desires to know of the mysteries of God, wherefore, I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me” (1 Nephi 2:16). After his father had the vision of the tree of life, Nephi “desired to know the things that [his] father had seen” and “[believed] that the Lord was able to make them known” and “[pondered] in [his] heart” (1 Nephi 11:1). He earnestly sought the Lord through his faith, and he was not disappointed as he indeed saw the things that his father had seen. Interestingly, in the spirit he traveled far—being taken “into an exceedingly high mountain” and seeing the last days unfold in vision—and yet he physically didn’t go anywhere. It was the Holy Ghost, not his location, that made all the difference. Laman and Lemuel, on the other hand, went to all the same places physically as Nephi but they “understood not the dealings of the Lord” and “hardened their hearts against the Lord” (Mosiah 10:14). They did not seek to fill their spiritual bucket list—wishing instead that they could keep the riches they had in Jerusalem—and their spiritual lamps remained forever empty.

This weekend we have again the privilege to hear the word of the Lord through His servants in general conference. We do not have to travel physically anywhere to hear the messages, but we do have to spiritually come with willing minds and open hearts to receive what He would have us hear and be taken where He would have us go. No matter where we are this weekend, we can fill up our lamps again with the testimony and teachings of the servants of the Lord.