He Should Be Their Guide

In the most recent general conference, Elder Sergio R. Vargas alluded to health challenges of his children as he spoke about the temple: “Attending the temple has given me comfort and great hope about our eternal destiny. I have experienced heavenly connections with people on both sides of the veil. I’ve seen healing miracles in the lives of my young children, two of whom live with unseen illnesses that require daily care for the rest of this life.” I found out more information from an article published last year when he was called as a general authority: “Elder and Sister Vargas are the parents of three children: an 18-year-old daughter, a 14-year-old son and a 13-year-old son. Their family has faced its fair share of challenges — such as their 14-year-old son’s heart condition and their daughter’s Type 1 diabetes.” Their son underwent heart surgeries, and gratefully they were successful in part due to the “heart-lung machine that President Russell M. Nelson helped create during his career as a pioneering heart surgeon.” That son is now doing well, but clearly their children’s health issues are a daily challenge for their family. Elder Vargas is only 48 years old, and was a convert to the Church at about the age of 26. So, he has only been a member a little over two decades, and now he must serve the Lord full-time as a member of the quorum of the seventy with children still in the home. These details about his life highlight the obvious fact that we sometimes forget: those who lead in the Church have normal lives with their own struggles and challenges, just like the rest of us.

            The message of Elder Vargas from general conference highlighted our need to focus our lives on Jesus Christ. He discussed how salmon have an incredible ability to be guided back to the place of their birth using a powerful internal guidance system. He likened that to us this way: “We can all return one day to the heavenly home from where we came. And like the salmon, we have our own magnetic map, or Light of Christ, to guide us there. Jesus taught His disciples, ‘I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.’” He continued, “As we focus our lives on Jesus Christ, we will find our way home, enduring to the end and rejoicing to the end.” He also added, “Deep inside each of us is a desire to return to our heavenly home, and Jesus Christ is our heavenly guidance system. He is the way. His atoning sacrifice makes it possible for us to make sacred covenants with God. Once we make covenants, we will at times find ourselves swimming against the current. Danger, disappointment, temptation, and affliction will test our faith and spiritual strength. Ask for help. Jesus Christ understands and is always eager to share our burdens.” When he mentioned a guidance system, I expected him to suggest that it was prayer or the scriptures or the Holy Ghost. But, instead, Elder Vargas suggested that our guidance system is Jesus Christ. Of course, sincere prayer and a study of the scriptures and hearkening to the voice of the Holy Ghost also guide us, but ultimately they are meant to guide us to Jesus Christ. Samuel the Lamanite described how the converted Lamanites were guided to the Savior: “As many of them as are brought to the knowledge of the truth, and to know of the wicked and abominable traditions of their fathers, and are led to believe the holy scriptures, yea, the prophecies of the holy prophets, which are written, which leadeth them to faith on the Lord, and unto repentance” (Helaman 15:7). The prophets and the scriptures led them to faith on Jesus Christ, and He became their guide.

All that we do in the Church, from partaking of the sacrament to attending the temple to learning in our classes to personal prayer, should lead us to the Savior who wants to direct our lives. Mormon suggested that too often the children of men “do not desire that the Lord their God, who hath created them, should rule and reign over them; notwithstanding his great goodness and his mercy towards them, they do set at naught his counsels, and they will not that he should be their guide” (Helaman 12:6). But we can be different and choose Him to be our guide. Elder Vargas testified, “Thanks to Jesus Christ, there are hope and well-founded reasons to continue loving, praying, and supporting those we care about. I know He lives. He knows us and He loves us. He is the way, the truth, and the life of the world.” He summarized his invitation for us this way: “I invite all of us today to center our lives on Jesus Christ and His teachings.” As we make Him our guide, we have this magnificent promise from Him: “I will lead you along” (Doctrine and Covenants 78:18).