GENERAL CONFERENCE

Saturday, October 2, 1999 Morning Session

small. They are commodious, and they In view of the fact that we do not are beautiful. They represent the ulti- build a until there are sufficient mate in our worship and the ultimate in people in the area, until there are suffi- blessings offered. cient tithe payers, and until there is suf- ficient faith, the very construction of Dedication of 42 temples planned these sacred buildings becomes an in- dicator of the increase of faith and obe- We plan to break ground later this dience to the principles of the gospel. month for the Nauvoo Temple. Many May we enjoy the blessings of the people are excited and many are con- Lord as we go forward in this great work, tributing to this historic undertaking. which affects not only the living but the We shall go on with the work of ded- great multitude of the dead of all gener- ication next year. It will be a very busy ations. For this I humbly pray in the season. We anticipate the dedication of name of Jesus Christ, amen. perhaps as many as 42 more. When we finish the year 2000, if present plans materialize, we will have not only the 100 The choir sang "Thy Holy House." which we have striven for, but more be- yond that. We shall not stop then. We may not President Hinckley build at the same pace, but we shall go We thank Brother Andrew Peterson on for as long as the Lord wills that it be for his beautiful prayer. We regard his done. very presence here as a miracle and as a manifestation of the healing power of A glorious season in God's work the Lord. Brethren and sisters, it is a glorious The choir has just sung "Thy Holy season in this work. God, our Eternal House." We shall now be pleased to Father, is blessing His cause, His king- hear from Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the dom, and His people. The resources of Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. the Church, including the facilities for temple work, are increasing.

Elder Neal A. Maxwell

As his prophetic words have just Nephi did, namely "liken all scriptures demonstrated, we are so blessed to have unto [ourselves]" (1 Nephi 19:23). President Hinckley! Illustratively, words which we should so "liken" occur twice with regard to Lessons from Laman and Lemuel Laman and Lemuel, mistakenly regarded by some as merely "stick figures." Con- sisters, thin Brothers and on very sider, therefore, how the applications of pages, thick with meaning, are some al- these next words go far beyond those most hidden scriptures. Hence we are two: "And thus Laman and Lemuel . . . urged to search, feast, and ponder (see did murmur . . . because they knew not John 5:39; Alma 14:1; Alma 33:2; Mo- the dealings of that God who had cre- roni 10:3; 2 Nephi 9:51). Especially, how- ated them" (1 Nephi 2:12; see also Mo- ever, we should also do more of what siah 10:14). ELDER NEAL A. MAXWELL

Failing to understand the "dealings" Like Laman and Lemuel, many to- of the Lord with His children—mean- day would consign God only to the past; ing His relations with and treatment of He thereby ceases to be the constant His children—is very fundamental. Mur- God of yesterday, today, and tomorrow muring is but one of the symptoms, and (see 2 Nephi 27:23). Actually, God has not the only consequence either; in fact, the past, present, and future ever be- brothers and sisters, this failure affects fore Him, constituting an "eternal 'now'" everything else! (Teachings of the Prophet Smith, To misread something so crucial sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 220; constitutes a failure to know God, who see also D&C 130:7). then ends up being wrongly seen as un- In short, Laman and Lemuel's own reachable, uninvolved, uncaring, and un- lack of character kept them from under- able—a disabled and diminished Deity, standing the perfect character of God! really, about whose seeming limitations, No wonder the Prophet ironically, some then quickly complain. said, "If men do not comprehend the character of God, they do not compre- Failure to believe in God hend themselves" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 343). Early on, Laman rejected the role he should have played and, instead, wanted Failure to recognize God's love to be "top dog in the manger," resenting all the while Nephi's spiritual leadership. Laman and Lemuel did not realize Lemuel was not only Laman's dutiful either that a loving God will inevitably satellite, but he was also his enabler by be a tutoring Father, who wants His chil- allowing himself to be "stirred up" by dren to be truly happy and to come Laman (see 1 Nephi 16:37-38). If, in- home. Not understanding God's "deal- stead, Laman had been fully isolated, ings" sufficiently, Laman and Lemuel certain outcomes could have been very missed the most important attribute of different. We have enablers in our so- God's character—His love! Thus their ciety too. They allow themselves to be murmuring was a symptom of a pathetic stirred up against that which is good. pathology. They are not entitled to a free pass any Laman and Lemuel likewise didn't more than Lemuel. Like him, their com- understand that the "dealings" of God parative visibility is low, but their hypoc- included using prophets to warn peo- risy is high! ple. The Lord had so called Lehi, but Exhortations given to Laman and Laman and Lemuel were apparently em- Lemuel "were hard to be understood, barrassed by their father's unpopular save a man should inquire of the Lord; role and by his stern challenge to Jeru- and they being hard in their hearts, there- salem's then prevailing mentality. fore they did not look unto the Lord as Spiritually numbed, Laman and they ought" (1 Nephi 15:3). Lemuel felt that the people of This failure to believe in a revealing were undeserving of prophetic criticisms God was especially basic. Some moderns leveled (see 1 Nephi 2:13). Yet a perva- who wish to distance themselves from sive spiritual decline was actually un- God try placing His pavilion firmly in der way, occurring, as often happens, "in the past. By believing in such a disabled the space of not many years" ( God, people can do pretty much as they 4:26). A parallel and trampling decline is please. It is then not many steps further being missed by so many today too. Iron-

to saying there is no God, and therefore ically, those engaged in such a lemming- no law and no sin! (see 2 Nephi 2:13; see like march to the sea are often proud of also Alma 30:28). their own individualism! Advice is seen GENERAL CONFERENCE

Saturday, October 2, 1999 Morning Session

as an insult, and counsel as a contraction gave his only begotten Son" (John 3:16). of their agency. To partake of the love of God is to par- take of Jesus' Atonement and the eman-

Failure to recognize God's tutoring cipations and joys which it can bring. Clearly, however, Laman and Lemuel Fundamental, too, was Laman and did not have such faith—especially in a Lemuel's not understanding that a tutor- Christ yet to come! (see Jarom 1:11). ing God may require difficult things of In contrast, Nephi "had a great His children. The role of adversity is knowledge of the goodness ... of God"; noted in this stern but inspired insight: hence, Nephi's firm declaration: "I know "Nevertheless the Lord seeth fit to chas- that [God] loveth his children; never- ten his people; yea, he trieth their pa- theless, I do not know the meaning of all tience and their faith" (Mosiah 23:21). things" (1 Nephi 1:1; 11:17). If we have a Their sad expectation of ease was evident love of God and know His goodness, we in their bristling over getting the plates will trust Him, even when we are puzzled from , enduring the harsh wilder- or perplexed. ness, building a ship, and crossing a vast Thus Laman and Lemuel did not ocean (see 1 Nephi 3-4; 17-18). Dulled understand the relationship of mortals and desensitized, Laman and Lemuel with God, and, worse still, they did not simply didn't share Nephi's confidence really want to understand. They sought that the Lord would never command His to keep their distance from God. Fur- children to do difficult things, except the thermore, being intellectually lazy, they Lord first prepares the way (see 1 Nephi did not count their blessings, when grati- 3:7). tude could have lessened the distance. Their enormous errors led to almost But it was never inventory time for La- comical inconsistencies, such as Laman man and Lemuel. and Lemuel's believing that God could handle mighty Pharaoh and great Egypt's Failure to care about spiritual things army at the Red Sea all right, but not a local Laban! How many in our time in- Laman and Lemuel also displayed consistently subordinate to, themselves little lasting spiritual curiosity. Once, and curry favor with, mortal intimida- true, they asked straightforward ques- tors? tions about the meaning of a vision of the tree, the river, and the rod of iron. Failure of faith Yet their questions were really more like In the final division as between the trying to connect doctrinal dots rather and the , note the than connecting themselves with God spiritual boundary which preceded the and His purposes for them. They cer- geographical boundary: "I, Nephi, did tainly did not "liken" the answers to themselves (see 1 Nephi 19:23). take my family . . . and all those who Their contrition never lasted very would go with me . . . who believed in the warnings and the revelations of God; long, such as in the interval between the wherefore, they did hearken unto my appearance of an angel and when La- words" (2 Nephi 5:6). man and Lemuel resumed murmuring Laman and Lemuel did not partake (see 1 Nephi 3:31). Under duress, once of the tree of life, which is the love of they even superficially acknowledged,

God (see 1 Nephi 11:25). The love of "We know . . . the Lord is with thee, [Ne- they God for His children is most profoundly phi,]" but soon became exceedingly expressed in His gift of Jesus as our Re- rude in their behavior on the ship (1 Ne- deemer: "God so loved the world, that he phi 17:55; see also 1 Nephi 18:8-9). Their ELDER NEAL A. MAXWELL

periodic violence indicated their resent- or merely standard equipment on every ments weren't merely abstract, intellec- ship? tual differences. Ironically, many like Laman and Lemuel who are the first to demand signs Failure to love and respond to love are then the first to discount them. Some demand more miracles even while con- Laman and Lemuel were intimidated suming a daily menu of manna and for- their fear of by Laban's power, but power getting its remarkable Source. merely showed the power of fear. Since Therefore, brothers and sisters, pre- "perfect love casteth all fear," their out ferred to periodic miracles is having the limited capacity to love was thereby very Holy Ghost as a "constant companion" evident (Moroni 8:16; see also 1 John (D&C 121:46). Ever to be remembered, unprincipled, sadly 4:18). Though most however, is that the Holy Ghost, while a were unloving! they Comforter, is not an intruder! Hence, encrusted Laman and Lem- uel to the tenderness seldom responded Failure to understand God's purposes of others. They were strangers to em- pathy, that eternal attribute. When Lehi Laman and Lemuel's rejection of exhorted them with all the feeling of a the prophets and the scriptures meant tender or trembling parent, the effects there could be no useful likening or re- were usually more resentment, evoking hearsals of remembrance and no fresh- cruel responses to parents and siblings ening of personal revelation to them for (see 1 Nephi 8:37). When Nephi dis- their time. They simply did not under- played sorrow over their behavior, La- stand that God's ways are higher than man and Lemuel were "glad" that he man's ways (see Isaiah 55:9). They en- was sorry (see 1 Nephi 17:19). Admoni- joyed intellectual "slumming" in their tions were bad enough, but to have them portable equivalent of the prideful "great come from Nephi! and spacious building" (1 Nephi 8:26, 31). Hence Laman and Lemuel became Failure to be grateful rebels instead of leaders, resentful in- stead of righteous—all because of their Easily riled and quick to complain, failure to understand either the charac- they could scarcely remember their last ter or the purposes of God and His deal- rescue long enough to meet their next ings with His children. difficulty. Instead, lacking gospel per- spective, situational cares of the the day Failure to partake of the fruit —like worry over a broken bow, of all things—dominated the things of eternity. As to their spiritual significance, La- Ours, too, is a day of every-man-for-him- man and Lemuel were sad ciphers. True, self situational ethics, as if the Ten Com- we could know more facts about them, mandments came from a focus group! but it would not change the "bottom Upon arriving at both lands of Boun- line." If, in some respects, they seem to tiful, did Laman and Lemuel really think be undeveloped characters, it is because that such good navigating was mere hap- theirs was a haunting emptiness, which penstance? Perhaps Nephi had merely could have been filled by the "love of "guessed right" (see Helaman 16:16). God" (1 Nephi 11:25). In vision, there Their ingratitude for the Liahona raises was the forlorn scene when Lehi cast the question: What did Laman and Lem- his eyes anxiously about, searching for uel really think of that remarkable in- Laman and Lemuel that "perhaps [he] strument? Was it just a convenient gadget might see them." Finally Lehi saw them, GENERAL CONFERENCE

Saturday, October 2, 1999 Morning Session

"but they would not . . . partake of the ening precious scriptures to ourselves we fruit" (1 Nephi 8:17-18; see also 1 Nephi will hasten that precious process! May 8:35; 2 Nephi 5:20). Of all self-inflicted we so do, in the name of Jesus Christ, punishments, this eight-word epitaph de- amen. scribes the most awful and consequential! President Hinckley Partake of God's love Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quo- Mercifully, brothers and sisters, the rum of the Twelve has just spoken to us. rich gives us added ways to We will now be pleased to hear from understand the dealings of God with His Elder Ben B. Banks, a newly called mem- children, including with each of us per- ber of the Presidency of the Seventy, and sonally. We can partake of His love by he will be followed by Sister Sharon G. applying Jesus' glorious Atonement in Larsen, second counselor in the Young order to become more like Him. By lik- Women general presidency.

Elder Ben B. Banks

A lost lamb in New Zealand door, picked up his microphone, and said, "Undoubtedly a band of sheep has gone Several years ago my wife, Susan, through here this morning, and this little and I had the opportunity to tour the lamb has strayed. Perhaps if we take it New Zealand Christchurch Mission with with us, we might find the band of sheep President and Sister Melvin Tagg. Presi- farther up the road and return this baby dent Tagg suggested that as part of the lamb to its mother." mission tour we include a preparation We drove through several kilometers day and take a bus trip to see the beau- of beautiful forests and finally came to a tiful Milford Sound. As part of the trip beautiful meadow of tall, flowing grass. we stopped at several beautiful scenic Sure enough, there in the meadow was sites along the way. one of those At a band of sheep feeding. The bus driver stops, as to the bus, I we walked back stopped the bus and excused himself. became curious about a group of pas- We all thought he would put the lamb sengers standing in a circle on the road down on the side of the road and come taking photographs. As I peered over the back, but he didn't. With the lamb in his people, I saw in the circle a frightened arms, he carefully and quietly walked out little baby lamb on wobbly legs. It ap- through the grass toward the band of peared to be no more than a few hours sheep. When he got as close as he could old. I have seen lot of sheep in life, a my without disturbing them, he gently put since my father-in-law was in the sheep the lamb down and then remained in business. Consequently, I had no interest the field to make sure the baby lamb re- in taking a photograph of a solitary turned to the fold. lamb, so I boarded the bus and waited. As he returned to the bus, he once After all the passengers finally again picked up his microphone and boarded the bus, the driver picked up the said, "Oh, can't you hear that mother frightened little in his arms, held lamb sheep saying, 'Oh, thank you, thank you, it tenderly against his chest, and brought thank you for bringing my lost lamb back it on the bus. sat down, closed the He home to me!'"