Stake General Priesthood Meeting 27 August 2006

Pray for rain

Stand if you have been visited by your home teacher

While speaking at my missionary farewell the first speaker, Brother Larry Gelwix, my
Seminary Teacher equated leaving on a full time mission with leaving the premortal world
and our Heavenly Father. Specifically, he recognized that my parents had prepared me well
for a mission and postulated that prior to my departure into the mission field, my father
would take me aside and give me some last minute counsel and advise.

Similarly, Brother Gelwix then asked the congregation if we thought conditions would be
much different when we left our Heavenly Home to begin our earthly mission? Remember
brethren; Heavenly Parents prepared us for our mortal mission and we are actually and
literally spirit sons of God.

Brother Gelwix painted a picture for the congregation of Heavenly Father taking each of us
aside and spending a few quiet moments alone with us. Said he, perhaps our conversation
went something like this:

“Father, I think it’s time for me to go now and I’m anxious, but I want to choose the right and
learn so that I can become just like you.”

“Well son, that’s exactly why your Mother and I have been raising you these last 4 million
years” (or whatever) so that you can become like us.” (Sometimes we think our children get
to us now, how would you like to have them at home for four million years?)

Brother Clements story.

Brother Gelwix continues, “You know son, you have progressed as far as you can here and
you have magnified this first estate by sustaining and defending your older brother. You have
probably noticed though that there are two main differences between you and your Mother
and Me. First, I possess a resurrected body and you do not; and secondly, I have the
character and the power to create all things and you do not.

Brother Gelwix said that in his opinion there are two reasons for coming to earth: two
reasons and two reasons only.

The first reason Brother Gelwix articulated was to receive a physical body and the second
was to develop the character of God.

If we want to become as our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, we must possess the
character to match. The power to create can only be extended to those who will create within
the bounds of righteousness.
That’s why you would never put a thief in charge of Fort Knox. That would be ludicrous,
why, because he could not handle the responsibility.

Can you see why Brigham Young said that, the man who is cruel to animals will never have
the power to create worlds and put animals upon them? Can you see the logic there? This
man would not know how to hold the responsibility?

Similarly, consider the person in this life that pollutes the earth, or who doesn’t take care of
themselves or their home; what kind of a world would they create? Why it would be a trashy
world, a polluted world, would it not?

Therefore, if we want to become like God we must first develop a character akin to His;
however, because of the veil of forgetfulness, we have forgotten everything about our first
estate and some of us know little about the character of God, our Eternal Father.

Brethren, because of the life, the teachings, the miracles and the ministry of the Lord Jesus
Christ, we have a window into the character and the makeup of Elohim, our Eternal Father.

We are taught in Holy Writ that God and Christ are one! Therefore, what is true of the Son is
also true of the Father. Christ is not only our Redeemer He is our Exemplar. He has provided
an example or a pattern for us to know God and by knowing Him; we must then act as He
acts in order to become as He is.

Even as He acknowledged His own singular role in the divine plan, the Savior nevertheless
insisted on this prayerful preamble: And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the
only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent. (JST John 17:3.)

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland in the October General Conference in 2003 said, “It is the grand
truth that in all that Jesus came to say and do, including and especially in His atoning
suffering and sacrifice, He was showing us who and what God our Eternal Father is like, how
completely devoted He is to His children in every age and nation. In word and in deed Jesus
was trying to reveal and make personal to us the true nature of His Father, our Father in
Heaven.

“Little wonder then that the Prophet Joseph Smith taught: “It is the first principle of the
gospel to know for a certainty the character of God.” “I want you all to know Him,” he said,
“and to be familiar with Him.” We must have “a correct idea of his … perfections, and
attributes,” and an admiration for “the excellency of [His] character.”

During the Sermon on the Mount, the Mortal Messiah pointed all who would listen to His
Father and to our Father when He decreed, Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father
which is in heaven is perfect. (Matthew 5:48.)

But perhaps more instructive was what Christ declared to the Nephites after the ordeal of the
Atonement in Gethsemane and the crucifixion in Calvary, the perfected, resurrected Lord
declared, Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in
heaven is perfect. (3 Nephi 12.)
Can you see that it was the overcoming of the hardships of mortality, including and
especially the ordeal in Gethsemane and in Calvary that made it possible for the Savior to
later affirm Himself as one who had achieved perfection with His Father!

So brethren, the Savior is our exemplar, indeed we must strive to be perfect even as He is
perfect. We do this by developing a character like His, line upon line and precept upon
precept.

During what was truly a “revelatory experience” for members of the Austin Texas Stake,
Elder David A. Bednar painted a vibrant portrayal that indeed exemplified the character of
Jesus Christ. Imagine if you can the Savior, undoubtedly exhausted from the Gethsemane
experience and sickened by the betrayal of one of the Twelve; taken at swords point for what
He knew would be the conclusion of His mortal ministry. In the process of being escorted
away, His loyal defender Simon Peter smote off the right ear of Malchus the high priest’s
servant. Then Jesus said unto Peter, “put away thy sword into the sheath, the cup that my
Father hath given me, shall I not drink it?” Luke records that Jesus was consistent in His
compassion as He “touched his ear and healed him.”

Christ did not waver in the midst of adversity or pain. He was consistent through and through
and His is the character that we must cultivate in our own lives.

Charles E. Jefferson in his work “The Character of Jesus” describes this Perfect Man in this
manner.

“…When we come to Jesus we find ourselves in the presence of a man without a flaw. He
was enthusiastic; blazing with enthusiasm but He never became fanatical. He was emotional,
men could feel His heart, but He never became hysterical. He was imaginative, full of poetry
and music, seeing pictures everywhere, throwing upon everything He touched a light that
never was on land or sea, the inspiration and the poet’s dream, but He was never flighty.
He was practical, heard-headed, matter of fact, He frankly faced the realities of life, but he
was never dull or prosaic. He was courageous but never reckless, prudent but never
cowardly, unique but not eccentric, sympathetic but never sentimental. Great streams of
sympathy flowed from His tender heart towards those who needed sympathy, but at the same
time, streams of lava flowed from the same heart to scorch and overwhelm the workers of
iniquity. He was pious, but there is not a trace about him of sanctimoniousness. He was
religious, the most profoundly religious man that ever turned His face towards God, but
never once did He slip into superstition; and because He is so well-rounded on every side, so
complete, men have never known where to class Him. Of what temperament was He? It is
impossible to say, every man on coming to Him finds in Him all of the virtues and not one of
them was overgrown. He exhibited all of the graces and every one of them was in perfect
bloom. He stands in history as the one Man beautiful, symmetrical, absolutely perfect.

Out of this balance of His powers comes His unrivalled poise in conduct. He lived always in
a whirlwind - men bent like reeds around Him - He never so much as wavered. Men laid their
traps and tried to catch Him, He walked bravely in the midst of them and never was en-
trapped. The intellectual athletes of his time tried to trip Him, they never did. His enemies
did their best to upset Him - they never could. They flung their lassos at His head - they
never got a lasso round His neck. They dug their pits - He never tumbled into them.
Wherever he went, He was surrounded by enemies waiting to catch Him in His talk, they
never caught Him. They asked Him all manner of questions, expecting that by His answers
He would incriminate Himself - He never did. They brought out to Him one dilemma after
another, saying we will catch Him on one horn or another - but He escaped than every time.
After they had done their best they retired vanquished from the field. He remained the perfect
man.”
-Charles E. Jefferson in the Character of Jesus

While extolling the merits of charity, the Apostle Paul simultaneously reveals the core of the
Saviors character. Simply stated, Christ is filled with love.

Love can be found at the center and the circumference of the Lord’s character. To illustrate,
listen to these familiar verses in 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. I will modify the passage by inserting
the word “Christ” in place of the word “charity”

4 Christ suffereth long, and is kind; charity envieth not; Christ vaunteth not Himself, is not
puffed up,
5 Doth not behave Himself unseemly, seeketh not His own, is not easily provoked, thinketh
no evil;
6 Rejoiceth not in iniquity, but rejoiceth in the truth;
7 Beareth all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, endureth all things.
8 Christ never faileth: (1 Corinthians 13:4-8.)

Additionally, Joseph Smith reveals a few more of Christ’s attributes as he speaks of the rights
of the Priesthood in Section 121 of the Doctrine and Covenants. Never forget that the
Priesthood power is Christ’s power, extended to worthy brethren incarnate. The 107th Section
of the Doctrine and Covenants teaches that before the day of Melchizedek, the Priesthood
was called, the Holy Priesthood after the order of the Son of God. But out of respect or
reverence to the name of the Supreme Being, to avoid the too frequent repetition of his name,
they, the church, in ancient days, called that priesthood after Melchizedek, or the
Melchizedek Priesthood.

Can you recognize aspects of Christ’s character in this admonition that came through the
Prophet Joseph Smith? No power or influence can or ought to be maintained by virtue of the
priesthood, or by virtue of Christ) only by persuasion, by long-suffering, by gentleness and
meekness, and by love unfeigned;

42 By kindness, and pure knowledge, which shall greatly enlarge the soul without hypocrisy,
and without guile—

45 Let thy bowels also be full of charity towards all men…and let virtue garnish thy thoughts
unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God; and the doctrine of
the priesthood shall distil upon thy soul as the dews from heaven.
In essence brethren, when we graft into our character attributes of Christ, such as:
persuasion, long-suffering, gentleness, meekness, love unfeigned, kindness, pure knowledge,
charity and virtue

Then, The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion, and our scepter an unchanging
scepter of righteousness and truth; and our dominion shall be an everlasting dominion, and
without compulsory means it shall flow unto us forever and ever.

Elder Bednar clearly taught, “faith is a principle of action” So, here is an “actionable”
exercise for each of us to participate in. This task has 6 steps and is extend to you and
through you to all members of the Austin Texas Stake of Zion. I extend it by virtue of
Priesthood keys that appertain to my stewardship and do so by way of invitation.

1. Prayerfully read from the scriptures (3rd Nephi 11, or from Matthew, Mark, Luke or John).
2. Identify one single character trait of the Savior that, if assimilated, will perfect your life
(the Holy Ghost will guide you in knowing which trait to select first).
3. Each morning pray for strength in order to graft this trait into your life (In this exercise,
grafting is to take something belonging to Him and assimilate it into your own life. If
nourished, the graft will begin to grow and will bear good fruit).
4. Each night account to the Lord in regards to your progress. (Once the attribute is fully
integrated, you have become perfect in that one thing)
5. Select another character trait of our Eternal Exemplar through inspiration.
6. Continue this pattern of perfection throughout your life and do and be as Christ.

11 …I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified
the…in the which I have suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning. (3
Nephi 11:11.)