Virtue is Power and the Purpose of Life is Family
This is a talk I gave April 2013 for my ward in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Based on General Conference Talks: “This is My Work and My Glory” by Elder M. Russell Ballard and “Obedience to Law is Liberty” by Elder L. Tom Perry
First, I want to introduce you to our family. We will only be in this ward briefly as we are in transition buying a new home and in some ways that makes giving a talk easier, because I don’t really know any of you. So, I will be directing my talk mostly to my children.
Isaac, our oldest, is 14 and you just heard from. He is a rock, firm and immovable like Peter. Jared follows closely after him at age 13. He is also a stalwart young man and a righteous steward. They are my two teenagers and I have full confidence in them. I appreciate their good examples to the rest of their siblings. Sarah, age 11, is my wonderful assistant at home and always striving to choose the right. Hyrum just turned eight and is living up to his baptismal covenants. Chloe, age 4, and Embry, age 1, are sweethearts. Our children teach me everyday how to live a better life. They get much of their goodness from their father, Paul, who I met at BYU at a country dance almost sixteen years ago. He is from Idaho and I am from Arizona. We settled in the middle.
We both served missions. Paul went to Oakland, California and I went to Milwaukee, Wisconsin. We also both graduated from BYU with bachelors. Paul with information systems and me with English. Paul works as a software engineer and I am a stay-at-home-mom.
Your ward has been very welcoming and I hope we can get to know a few of you before we leave. Thank you so much to the Bishopric and Primary Presidency for making Hyrum’s baptism a week ago so beautiful. Everyone here has been so kind and helpful. Thank you.
My talk today is based on two General Conference talks: “This is My Work and My Glory” by Elder M. Russell Ballard and “Obedience to Law is Liberty” by Elder L. Tom Perry. There were so many good talks, it was hard to choose just one.
During the break for lunch on Saturday General Conference, I walked to the park with my children and our dog. This was our first visit to the park nearby and we had a great time playing. They couldn’t get enough of sliding, swinging, and climbing. As the time drew nearer to when we needed to leave, I noticed dark storm clouds rolling in. The wind picked up and the clouds appeared to billow across the sky. The thought came to me that this is like the last days, the signs of the time.
I called for the kids to come, time to go home. Of course, everyone wanted one last slide or one last swing. As they completed their final turns, I watched the sky. More dark clouds were spreading over the neighborhoods. We started walking home at a fast pace and then we ran. Raindrops fell slowly and then more rapidly. We made it home at last, albeit a little wet. Then the storm opened up and poured. We were grateful to be inside our home.
The last days, as foretold in scriptures, are days of many storms. We are given these signs of the time to warn us to prepare for the second coming of our Savior. To protect our families, we need strongholds of safety in our homes. To do this, we need to understand the truth of two things: the power of virtue and the purpose of life.
While walking through a crowded street one day, the Savior suddenly stopped and asked, “Who touched my clothes?”
His disciples said, “Thou seest the multitude thronging thee, and sayest thou, Who touched me?”
But the Savior had felt the difference of the throng and the reaching hand of faith. In Mark 5:30, we read: “And Jesus, immediately knowing in himself that virtue had gone out of him, turned him about in the press ...”
Virtue went out of him and healed the woman with the issue of blood. Virtue equals power in the priesthood.
Elder Ballard described looking up into the sky on a cold, dark winter night and marveling in awe at the billions of stars. He turned to the scriptures in Moses 1:33, “And worlds without number have I created ...”
Worlds without number. Just think of it! And how were they created? Elder Ballard continues, “Brothers and sisters, the power by which the heavens and earth were and are created is the priesthood.”
When the gospel was restored through Joseph Smith, the priesthood was also restored. My son Jared is soon to be ordained to the next office in the priesthood when he turns 14 this week. But what does that mean? When a young man or an adult is given the priesthood, what is he actually given?
Elder Ballard explains, “The power of the priesthood is a sacred and essential gift of God. It is different from priesthood authority, which is the authorization to act in God’s name. The authorization or ordination is given by the laying on of hands. The power of the priesthood comes only when those who exercise it are worthy and acting in accordance with God’s will. As President Spencer W. Kimball declared, ‘The Lord has given to all of us, as holders of the priesthood, certain of his authority, but we can only tap the powers of heaven on the basis of our personal righteousness.”
In other words, an ordained young man - such as Jared - receives priesthood authority but he only gets real priesthood power through righteousness or from his virtue. Virtue is power.
Now, I want to stop here for just a moment and speak to my daughters. Virtue is power for you too. Elder Ballard says, “Men and Women have different but equally valued roles. Just as a woman cannot conceive a child without a man, so a man cannot fully exercise the power of the priesthood to establish an eternal family without a woman. In other words, in the eternal perspective, both the procreative power and the priesthood power are shared by husband and wife. And as husband and wife, a man and a woman should strive to follow our Heavenly Father. The Christian virtues of love, humility, and patience should be their focus as they seek the blessings of the priesthood in their lives and for their family.”
Men and women are equal. Virtue is power for both of them. Just as clouds will hide the stars at night, Satan would cloud our minds as well. He would have us covet each other and minimize the value of our God-given opportunities. Boys are not better than girls, nor are girls better than boys. We are equal and virtue is power for both.
But how do we obtain the power of virtue?
Like the woman with the issue of blood, we must first have faith. While preparing for his baptism, Hyrum memorized the fourth article of faith and we often discussed it. Why is faith the first principle of the gospel? Faith is the foundation and then everything else is built upon it.
Before we came to earth, we were soldiers in a war. In fact, the war is still going on. Elder Perry says, “...when God the Eternal Father presented his plan to us at the beginning of time, Satan wanted to alter the plan. He said he would redeem all mankind, not one soul would be lost, and Satan was confident he could deliver on his proposal. But there was an unacceptable cost - the destruction of man’s agency, which was and is a gift given by God. About this gift, President Harold B. Lee said, ‘Next to life itself, free agency is God’s greatest gift to mankind.’ ...Victory in the War in Heaven was a victory for man’s agency.”
How we use our agency is a display of our faith. Agency gives us the opportunity to choose virtue and become a person with the power of virtue. Elder Perry says, “God reveals to His prophets that there are moral absolutes. Sin will always be sin. Disobedience to the Lord’s commandments will always deprive us of his blessings.”
In Doctrine and Covenants 130:20-21 we read: “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated - And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.”
So, we obtain the power of virtue when we use our agency to choose obedience to God’s commandments. Virtue is the blessing of obedience.
When Satan was kicked out of heaven, he was not done. He had a backup plan. Elder Perry explains, “His backup plan- the plan he has been executing since the time of Adam and Eve - was to tempt men and women, essentially to prove we are undeserving of the God-given gift of agency. Satan has many reasons for doing what he does. Perhaps the most powerful is the motive of revenge, but he also wants to make men and women miserable like he is miserable. none of us should ever underestimate how driven Satan is to succeed.”
We must also be just as driven, or more so, to use our agency to choose virtue. When we have the power of virtue, Satan cannot exercise his revenge on us. Satan cannot have any power over us if we do not choose to give it to him.
So, as I stated at the beginning, we must understand two things to keep our homes safe. First, virtue is power. Second, what is the purpose of life?
Moses 1:39 states, “This is my work and my glory- to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”
In simplicity, this means that God’s purpose for the earth is us, His children, or in other words, His family. Our purpose in life should mirror His eternal purpose for the earth, families. Of course, everyone has an individual mission to fulfill in life, but each personal mission is an appendage to the greater purpose of families.
How important are families?
Elder Perry says, “As we give up commitment and fidelity to our marriage partners, we remove the glue that holds our society together.”
When Elder Perry entered the armed forces during World War II, he received a little brown book from President Heber J. Grant and his counselors, J. Reuben Clark Jr. and David O. McKay. On page 141 of this book, they wrote “Indeed our heaven is little more than a projection of our homes into eternity.”
We create heaven one day at a time through our families. Each of us has a family to create heaven, whether it is a family of our own or the greater family of the gospel. When we strengthen our family, we fulfill the purpose of life.
Elder Ballard tells a story of a seven-year-old showing her grandfather a small tomato plant she started from seed as part of a second-grade school project. “She explained that from one tiny seed would come a plant. And if the plant were cared for, it would grow many tomatoes that would each have many seeds.
She said, ‘And if those seeds were planted and grew more tomatoes, and you planted all of those seeds, in a few seasons you would have millions of tomatoes.’
‘All,’ she said in amazement, ‘from one little seed.’
But then she said, “I almost killed my plant. I left it in a dark room and forgot to water it. When I remembered the plant, it was all wilted and dead looking. I cried because I thought of all of those millions of tomatoes that would never grow.”
She was then excited to tell her grandfather about the miracle that happened. She explained, ‘Momma said maybe the plant wasn’t dead. Maybe all it needed was some water and some light to bring life back.
And she was right. I gave the plant some water and I put it in the window for light. And guess what?’ she asked. “It came back to life, and now it’s going to grow millions of tomatoes!”
Do we get excited like the little girl to grow ‘millions of tomatoes’ - generations from one single good seed? Do we get excited about the purpose of life, families?
The clouds Satan spreads across the majesties of God’s creations, try to discourage and twist the priorities of life. Elder Perry says, “If worldly priorities are any indication, we certainly have ‘other gods’ we put before the true God. We make idols of celebrities, of lifestyles, of wealth, and yes, sometimes of graven images or objects ... we treat sexual relations outside marriage as recreation and entertainment. And coveting has become a far too common way of life.”
Common society has forgotten the purpose of life. While growing up, our family of eight children was large but not terribly uncommon. All but one mother on our street was a stay-at-home-mom. Yet, I still remember being taught in public school the misconception of limiting family size and the pressure to develop a career outside the home. These deceptions have increased significantly since the time I was a child.
Joseph Smith said, “Teach them correct principles and they will govern themselves.” Satan is planning on this same idea by teaching incorrect principles. What are we teaching? What principles are we living?
The power of virtue and families go hand in hand. Satan is working overtime to destroy both. Are we working just as hard to preserve them?
If our tomato plant, or our family, is appearing wilted and dead looking we can still strengthen and revive them like the little girl did for her plant. We add sunshine and water. We apply the power of virtue by personally keeping the commandments and trying to follow the counsel of our church leaders. We allow our children to develop their own agency and virtue by teaching them correct principles.
The last days are here and the second coming is coming. As we enjoy are days of probation, our days in the park, have fun. A great commandment to obey is the stated in John 16:33 to “...be of good cheer.” Go on a few slides and ride the swing. Laugh and be full of joy.
But don’t be fooled with Satan’s counterfeits. When Satan tries to twist your priorities, remember the power of virtue and the purpose of life in families. Fool’s gold sparkles and tempts, but has no value. When the storms roll in and the raindrops start to fall, how we have used our agency will have full effect. If we are virtuous, we will have the power of the priesthood on our side. If we have focused on fulfilling the purpose of life by strengthening our families, we will have pure joy. These truths will keep us safe during the tumultuous storms of the last days.
In John 14:27, the Savior says, “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid.”
The world seeks temporary prestige, wealth, and physical comforts. The Savior didn’t promise these things. His peace is joy, not just happiness, now and throughout all eternity. We can have that peace no matter what trials and storms come our way. Virtue is power and the purpose of life is family.
I leave my testimony with you of the truthfulness of the gospel. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
