At the beginning of my talk I recap the story of Julia Johnson, a woman I read about in the book series Women of Faith in the Latter-days, edited by Richard Turley and Brittany Chapman. There are currently three volumes out of the proposed seven available. You can find the book series details here.
So That Not One of the Jewels in our
Crowns will be Missing
Sacrament Meeting, July 20, 2014
“It is impossible to describe my
feelings. I was truly glad to hear from you and when I hear that you was well
soul and body my soul rejoiced for I long to see my children enjoy pure and
undefiled religion. But when I understood you had embraced new doctrine I
feared lest you’r deceived, but hope that you will strive for the truth… Your
Affectionate Mother.”[1]
These
were the words penned by Julia Hills Johnson to her eldest son Joel, his wife
Annie, and her twenty one year old son David, after the three joined the Mormon
Church in 1830 in Amherst, Ohio. Julia, a middle-aged mother with sixteen
children, living in Pomfret New York, likely heard the negative press about
“Joe Smith” and a “golden bible.” This explains her concern upon hearing about
her children’s conversion to Mormonism. However, Julia was intent on learning
more about the Mormons. Upon his conversion, Joel sent a copy of the Book of
Mormon to his mother. Although Julia’s husband Ezekiel was out of town at the
time, Julia and the rest of her family gathered secretly to study the text.
They had to gather secretly because there was a strong persecution against
Mormons in the area.
Upon
reading the text, the Johnson family minus Ezekiel, developed a testimony of
the gospel. About this time, Joel and David visited from Ohio with two missionaries,
which lead to the conversion of the Johnson family. Although all of her
children knew of the truthfulness of the gospel, Julia’s joy was diminished
because Ezekiel disapproved of her already performed baptism and refused to
allow the minor aged children to be baptized. Eventually, despite the
frustrations of Ezekiel, the Johnson family relocated to Kirtland, Ohio.
In Kirtland the Johnsons were
strengthened in the presence of the prophet Joseph Smith and other Latter-day
Saints. Unfortunately tragedy after tragedy struck the family. Julia’s sons
David and Seth both died, the former of consumption and the latter from
cholera. The deaths of David and Seth, mixed with the family’s devotion to
Mormonism soon drove Ezekiel further into his previous alcoholism. Because of
Ezekiel’s “continued unbelief, opposition to the truth, and intemperance, it
was deemed better that he should live apart from the family, to which [Ezekiel]
consented.”[2]
This left Julia as a single mother. In order to support herself and family,
Julia opened a successful hat business with her older daughters. But soon
thereafter, Julia’s daughters Nancy and Susan died of tuberculosis and the
business departed with them. In the space of only four years Julia lost her comfortable life in New York, four children, and her husband.
Hard times continued for Julia Johnson.
Julia and her children continued to migrate with the Saints through the Nauvoo
period, experiencing all the persecution that was common among the Mormons.
After the death of the prophet Joseph Smith, Ezekiel, who had moved to Hancock County
Illinois, stopped using alcohol and expressed a desire to be baptized. Although
such news was happy for the Johnson family, this happiness quickly faded way. In 1848, Ezekiel passed away from
injuries he received after being beaten by an anti-Mormon mob during his
defense of the Saints in the 1846 forced Nauvoo exodus. At this point, the Johnson family
pushed forward longing for the great Salt Lake Valley, but Julia never made it.
She died in Council Bluffs Iowa in 1853.
Despite such tragedy, Julia Johnson’s
faith continually pushed her forward. Writers Kerri Robinson and Marcie
Gallacher described Julia’s faith as “so abiding and consistent that it lighted
not only her path but that of her children. Her love and concern for their
spiritual welfare was a constant in her life.” [3]
In evaluating Julia’s life it is clear that she believed her happiness was
intertwined with those that followed after her, especially the lives of her
children. Joseph Smith noticed this concern Julia had for her children when he
gave her a comfort blessing in Nauvoo. Referring to her children the prophet
declared that when Julia received her ultimate reward that, “not one of the
jewels in her crown would be missing.”[4]
Indeed, this blessing was fulfilled as all of her remaining twelve children remained with the Church.
I am not related to Julia Johnson, but I
believe that her life is one of the many great stories of struggle and triumph
common among Mormon pioneers. This next week will bring another Pioneer Day, in
which Mormons will celebrate the July 24th 1847 arrival
of the Mormon pioneers into the Salt Lake Valley. However, if I may be so bold
as to declare, Pioneer Day, at its heart, has nothing to do with handcarts,
bonnets, trek reenactments, or even the Salt Lake Valley (remember Julia
Johnson never even made it there). Sure, these are symbols that represent the
sacrifice of pioneers, but they often overshadow the real message. Just as
Julia Johnson recognized, her happiness was intertwined with those who would
follow after her. She knew that she needed to leave an inheritance of hope. She
knew that the making and keeping of her covenants would bless her family and
give them an inheritance that they could choose to follow. But are WE leaving an inheritance of hope for
our posterity by making and keeping covenants with God? This is the question
that is really at the heart of Pioneer Day.
Last conference, President Henry B.
Eyring gave a talk entitled “A Priceless Heritage of Hope.” In it he declared:
“Whoever you are and wherever you may be, you hold in your
hands the happiness of more people than you can now imagine. Every day and
every hour you can choose to make or keep a covenant with God. Wherever you are
on the path to inherit the gift of eternal life, you have the opportunity to
show many people the way to greater happiness. When you choose whether to make
or keep a covenant with God, you choose whether you will leave an inheritance
of hope to those who might follow your example.”[5]
I assume that many of us here today have
been blessed by somebody who has left us an inheritance of hope. Others in this
congregation might be the first in their family lines to take the lead by
making sacred covenants and keeping them in faith. Either way, these covenants
are important steps that we must all take to receive salvation through Jesus
Christ. However, keeping these covenants might be difficult from time to time.
I promise though, if we push through these difficulties by relying on our faith,
our trials will only bring us closer to God.
Because of the fall of Adam and Eve,
mankind is susceptible to temptations, sin, trials and death. The atonement of
Jesus Christ allows us to overcome these obstacles, literally reconciling us to
God and placing us “at one” with Him. Part of using this atonement in our lives
is the very act of making covenants and obeying them. We cannot gain eternal
life unless we make these covenants with God.
President Eyring stated, “ The greatest
of all the blessings of God, eternal life, will come to us only as we make
covenants offered in the true Church of Jesus Christ by His authorized
servants. Because of the Fall, we all need the cleansing effects of baptism and
the laying on of hands to receive the gift of the Holy Ghost. These ordinances
must be performed by those who possess the proper priesthood authority. Then,
with the help of the Light of Christ and the Holy Ghost, we can keep all the
covenants we make with God, especially those offered in His temples. Only in
that way, and with that help, can anyone claim his or her rightful inheritance
as a child of God in a family forever.”[6]
Now, as singles in a singles ward we are
not yet married nor do we have children. Nevertheless, it is important for us
to think about the decisions we make everyday and consider the spiritual impact
those decisions might have on our future posterity. Are we living the way we
should in order to enter the temple? If we were to meet our future spouse
today, would we already be ready to make the covenant of marriage in the temple
when that great day arrived? Outside of the marriage topic, how are we doing on
taking upon us the name of Christ in our daily interactions with coworkers,
classmates, family, and roommates? These are questions we need to ponder. If
you feel you are not quite were you need to be, even were you want to be, there
is hope. Life will bring many temptations, and even if we withstand those
temptations there will be things that we will have to wait for patiently, in
faith, knowing that the Lord acts in His own time and in His own way.
Now, I would like to suggest a few items
that will help us leave a priceless heritage of hope for those who will follow
after us.
First,
we can pray. Prayer can
be an amazing thing, yet often something that is the easiest to neglect. It is
not surprising that the prophet Nephi taught that the evil spirit teaches a man
not to pray.[7]
This is because prayer is the greatest weapon we have against the adversary. In
Doctrine and Covenants section 10 the Lord counsels, “Pray always, that you may
come off conqueror; yea, that you may conquer Satan, and that you may escape
the hands of the servants of Satan that do uphold his work.”[8]
It doesn’t get any clearer, if we want to conquer the adversary we must pray.
We are promised that as we humble ourselves before the Lord, in prayer, that he
will make our weaknesses into strengths, thus fortifying us against
temptations.
However, prayer does not only strengthen
against temptation. As we pray the Lord can guide us on the path of life,
warning us of dangers and telling us the best way to proceed. The Lord can help
us decide where to work, where to go to school, whom to marry, and any number
of decisions we encounter throughout life. Like the compass styled Liahona that
helped lead Lehi’s family through the wilderness, prayer with faith will lead
every child of God through life.
Second,
scripture study. The
Lord has already blessed us with a significant amount of guidance in the words
of past prophets and apostles. Like a map, the scriptures provide direction and
guidance in our lives. However, when we mix both prayer and scripture study
together marvelous things occur. I’m sure it is no surprise to all of you, but
my favorite book of scripture is the Doctrine and Covenants. The bulk of that
book was received while Joseph Smith was pondering the scriptures and asking
the Lord the meaning of what he read. In following this process the Lord was
able to guide the Prophet into understanding and restoring doctrine, as well as
providing greatly needed counsel specific to the need of the Latter-day Saints.
If we want to remain true to our covenants, and chart a path for our posterity,
scripture study is crucial.
Third,
Christlike service. If
we are to keep the covenants that we have made it is important to provide
Christlike service to our fellow men. This is really at the core of the
covenants we make when we are baptized into Christ’s Church. The Prophet Alma,
when he taught the baptismal covenant, declared that we must be “willing to
mourn with those that mourn, yea, comfort those that stand in need of comfort,
and to stand as witnesses to God at all times and in all things, and in all
places that [we] may be.”[9]
I have come to believe that this part of our covenant is crucial, even though I
must strive to be better at it. The times that I struggle in my life, or find
myself drifting away from the constant companionship of the spirit, are the
times when I get unreasonably self-absorbed in what I have going on in my life.
Life can get busy, and that means it is easy to get self-absorbed, prideful,
and to rely more on ourselves than the Lord. Christlike service helps us keep
balance, remember our covenants, and brings us closer to the Lord. We also
benefit others in the process.
I have always been amazed by a teaching
of Brigham Young that shows the power of this part of the covenant we make with
God. In 19th century Utah, the early Mormons instituted a cattle and
horse community roundup to protect their flocks from Indians and wolves.
Unfortunately, many objected to the safety precautions and refused to include
their cattle in the herd. To this Young declared, “Natural feelings would say
let them & their cattle go to Hell, but duty says that if they will not
take care of their cattle, we must do it for them. We are to be saviours of men
in these last days.”[10] The prophet
Brigham Young clearly saw the importance of selfless Christlike service to all,
and the importance of emulating the Savior whom we had covenanted with. If we
practice Christlike service to the best of our ability, I know we will leave an
inheritance of hope for others.
These are only three of many things that
can help us keep the covenants we make with God. I am sure that many in this
audience today are doing well in keeping the covenants they have made. I
encourage all of us, myself included, to strive to do better. However, I close
with a special story and plea to those of you that might be struggling more
than others on this path. Please know that God loves you, has never stopped
loving you, and that no matter what you have done, and no matter where you
currently are on the path to eternal life, there is hope. I echo Elder Jeffrey
R. Holland who when talking about the Parable of the Vineyard plead, “I do not
know who in this vast audience today may need to hear the message of
forgiveness inherent in this parable, but however late you think you are,
however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel
you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and
family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled
beyond the reach of divine love. It is not possible to sink lower than the
infinite light of Christ’s atonement shines…. So if you have made covenants,
keep them. If you haven’t made them, make them. If you have made them and
broken them, repent and repair them. It is never too late so long as the Master
of the vineyard says there is time.”[11]
Truly, brothers and sisters, it never is
too late. Many years ago my grandfather Lewis Cottle, rebelled from principles
of the gospel while in his youth. He refused to serve a mission and entered the
military instead. He saw the natural weaknesses of others in the church and
loathed the apparent hypocrisy, giving himself a poor excuse to stay away from
the church and sin because he didn’t want to be a hypocrite. Later on in life,
after being married and having a family, he came home from a night of social
drinking and smoking at a country club. He couldn’t sleep that night. He knew
that something in his life was out of place. He wept like a child that night,
to the surprise of my grandmother. He told her how he felt, how he needed to
get back to the covenants he had made. He stopped smoking and drinking, he went
back to church, and became worthy to baptize his whole family, which included
my father. From that painful night forward, Lewis Cottle made sure that he
strove to keep his covenants. Eventually he was set apart to be a sealer in the
Oakland Temple by President Spencer W. Kimball, to which he performed that task
for numerous years before he passed away. Words cannot describe how grateful I
am for my grandfather, who realized that it was never too late to leave me a
priceless heritage of hope and chose to act according to his previous
covenants. The joy of the gospel is a part of my life because of that decision.
And I look forward to seeing him again someday.[12]
Brothers and sisters, Pioneer day is not
about handcarts, bonnets, trek reenactments, and the Salt Lake Valley. Yes, we
can remember the great sacrifices of those who came before us and take strength
from their lives, but the unfinished work of our heroes must truly be our own.
May we extend the priceless heritage of hope to those of our posterity and
others that will follow after us. Thus, like Julia Johnson, not one of the jewels
in our crowns will be missing.
I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.
[1] Kerri
Robinson and Marcie Gallacher, “The Joy and the Song,” in Women of Faith in the Latter-days, Volume 1, 1775-1820, eds.
Richard Turley Jr. and Brittany Chapman (SLC: Deseret Book, 2011). Kindle edition.
[2] Ibid
[3] Ibid
[4] Ibid.
[5] President
Henry B. Eyring, “A Priceless Heritage of Hope,” April 2014 General Conference. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2014/04/a-priceless-heritage-of-hope?lang=eng.
[6] Ibid.
[7] 2 Ne 32:8
[8] D & C
10:5
[9] Mosiah
18:8-9
[10] Leonard J.
Arrington. Great Basin Kingdom: An Economic History of the Latter-day Saints,
1830-1900 (Chicago: University of Illinois Press, 2005), 58.
[11] Elder
Jeffrey R. Holland, “The Laborers in the Vineyard,” April 2012 General
Conference. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2012/04/the-laborers-in-the-vineyard?lang=eng.
[12] Lewis W.
Cottle, “Return of the Prodigal,” Ensign
(March 1974) https://www.lds.org/ensign/1974/03/mormon-journal?lang=eng.
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