Things Which Are Of Worth

In the most recent general conference, Elder Juan Uceda spoke about ministering and told the story of a man who had been a local leader of the Church in Guatemala. Elder Uceda met with his daughter, Julia, who told him how her mother had died of cancer in 2011 and how her dad “had been a faithful leader in his stake, serving as a bishop and as a counselor to his stake president for several years.”  She admired her father’s faithfulness in ministering: “He was a true undershepherd of the Lord. Julia told me of his tireless efforts to visit, to minister, and to serve. He indeed rejoiced in feeding and tending the precious sheep of the Lord. He remarried and stayed active in the Church.” But Julia’s father went through a divorce a few years later, and he felt that people were critical of him and eventually he stopped attending church. Elder Uceda   continued, “Julia spoke highly of this wonderful undershepherd, who was a hardworking, loving, and compassionate man. I vividly remember that a feeling of urgency came to me as she was describing him. I just wanted to do something for that man, a man who had done so much for so many throughout those years. She gave me his cell phone number, and I began calling him, hoping to have the chance to meet with him personally. After several weeks and many, many phone calls without success, one day he finally answered the phone.” Elder Uceda was eventually able to meet with this man, apologize for the mistreatment he had received, and invite him back to church. He continued the story this way, “The following Sunday he was back. He had a long conversation with his bishop and remained active. A few months later he passed away—but he had come back. He had come back.” What strikes me as perhaps the most important lesson from this story is that Elder Uceda followed the Spirit in being persistent in reaching out to this man. He likely had no idea that the man’s time on earth was very short, but the Lord did and wanted him to come back to the faith before he passed away. Because Elder Uceda listened to the urging he felt, he was able to help this man do what was of most worth to him while still alive.

               When Nephi described the small plates that he was writing on, he said this: “Wherefore, the things which are pleasing unto the world I do not write, but the things which are pleasing unto God and unto those who are not of the world. Wherefore, I shall give commandment unto my seed, that they shall not occupy these plates with things which are not of worth unto the children of men” (1 Nephi 6:5-6). Nephi wanted those things which were of most worth to be recorded on the plates by his posterity, understanding perhaps that one day others would have his record. There were surely many interesting things that he could have written, but what was most important was to teach and testify of Jesus Christ, which he did. He described this focus later in this famous passage: “And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins” (2 Nephi 25:26). What was of most value to Nephi was to teach others about Jesus Christ. I think that in this story Elder Uceda did the same—though he could have used his time for many good things, that which was of “most worth” at that time was to help this man return to the Savior. I believe that one of our greatest challenges in our lives is to likewise determine what things are of most worth for us to spend our time on. We do not want to fill our lives with those things which are “not of worth” and will not help us or others fulfill the divine mission that God has given us. The Savior helped John Whitmer and Peter Whitmer understand what would be of most worth to them when He said, “And now, behold, I say unto you, that the thing which will be of the most worth unto you will be to declare repentance unto this people, that you may bring souls unto me, that you may rest with them in the kingdom of my Father” (Doctrine and Covenants 15:6, 16:6). Ultimately we each have to figure out what things will be of most worth to us in our lives as we make decisions about the time we have, and the answer surely will always be that which will in the long run help us most to bring souls to Him.