The person who obtains meekness and lowliness of heart and who enjoys the company of the Holy Ghost will have no desire to offend or hurt others, nor will he feel affected by any offenses received from others. He will treat his spouse and children with love and respect and will have good relationships with everyone he associates with. In occupying positions of leadership in the Church, he will apply the same principles as he does in the home, showing that there is no difference between the person he is when within the walls of his own home and the person he is in his relationship with the members of the Church.

Principles like faith, repentance, love, forgiveness, and prayer, lived in the process I just described, become the best vaccine to combat the disease of sin, which can manifest itself in families in different ways, such as immorality, pride, envy, contention, abuse, and other practices that affect family relationships and that result in pain, deception, and the breakup of family ties.

The decision to incorporate them into our lives and the opportunity to begin the process whenever it may be necessary depends solely on our agency. It is a simple process that is within the reach of all. It is based on the fundamental principles of the gospel that have been and continue to be applied successfully by all those who put their trust in the Lord.

The bad thing about this illustration is that in real life the process does not work this smoothly. The better way to portray this process would be to have the line going all over the screen--it goes down a little bit, and it moves forward and up a little bit, and then it drops somewhat, and eventually it goes to the next level and begins dipping again. So we need to agree that, although this illustration is better than boxes on the board, it has some inaccuracies as well. But it does show how the levels of faith escalate. You never totally move beyond faith as hope; it is not a box we check off and say, "I am done." Rather, we begin again and gain experience with a new principle. It spirals upward as a helix, building and continuing. Here is how that occurs. We move from level of faith to level of faith through desire, a willingness to experiment and act, and then receiving a spiritual confirmation as evidence of things not seen. This process and experience bolster our faith. Consequently, we exhibit an increased willingness to experiment and receive an even greater confirmation. Our confidence waxes stronger, line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.

Can I give you an illustration of how repentance might change? It is one thing to turn away from sin in the process of repentance, but it is quite another to turn to God. It is one thing to seek for forgiveness of our sins; it is another thing to seek for our hearts to be purified. It is one thing to receive a remission of our sins; but it is an even greater thing, a more spiritually demanding thing, to always retain in remembrance the greatness of God. It is one thing to have our sins removed; it is a different thing to have the desire to sin removed. The process of coming unto Christ is not a process that is sequential with little, separate steps. In a Gospel Doctrine class we typically diagram spiritual progress with boxes and arrows, i.e., you do this first and then you do this. And we get the notion that we move through this series of sequential steps. In a few minutes I am going to show an illustration of a helix. A helix is like a coil; but as it spirals upwards, it expands and becomes broader. For me, the answer to the so what question is that these preparatory conditions and ongoing requirements are not sequential; they are continuous. We exercise a particle of faith, and we come unto Christ. We receive ordinances, and we continue in the process of coming unto Christ. And we believe in prophesying and in the gift of tongues, and it becomes broader and more expansive. The same thing is true with repentance as we continue to cycle upward in a very significant way.

If you look at the ongoing requirements compared to the preparatory conditions, you will not find the word repentance. Does that mean you only need to repent before coming unto Christ and then you do not have to worry about repentance anymore? I believe repentance is a part of the ongoing requirement of doing. I think it is included in and distributed through a number of the ongoing requirements. In the same way that faith is an ever-increasing expectation as we are coming unto Christ, so is repentance. Repentance is repentance, but repentance changes. And as our faith is increasing and our knowledge is expanding, our repentance is changing as we are engaged in the process of coming unto Christ.

Let me give you an example of how we learned about each other and ourselves after marriage. On those rare occasions when we could afford to go out I would ask Jan where she wanted to go. Invariably she would say it doesn’t matter. As a guy, hearing that, my thought are “it’s my choice” so when I arrive at a Mexican restaurant to hear, “I don’t want to eat here” didn’t sit well with me. This happened time and time again so we talked about it. I explained that it hurts when you say you don’t mind and then I make a choice and you disagree with it. Her thought was “I don’t want to always pick the place every time.” My thought, “Its okay with me I want you to be happy.” So how to resolve this. There is no magic in resolution, in fact the actual resolution doesn’t matter, and it’s just the process in coming up with one you both feel good about. In our case if she really had an preference she needs to make it know. If there were several possibilities its okay to say I don’t care. But instead of me then driving to one of my choice we learned I needed to make some suggestions of various possibilities. If one of those was in her preference list she could then make the choice known. If any of my suggestions fits it would then be okay to say, “any of those are okay with me” but before driving to one of them I would make the choice and when she agreed we drove off. Now this may sound cumbersome but it was just our little attempt to meet our individual needs in a real life situation. And the process of learning how to do that is what developing an eternal relationship is all about.

Now, please notice the next line in Mosiah 3:19: "and becometh a saint." May I suggest this phrase describes the continuation and second phase of life's journey as outlined by President McKay. "The purpose of the gospel is . . . to make bad men good"--or, in other words, put off the natural man--"and good men better"--or, in other words, become more like a saint. Brothers and sisters, I believe this second part of the journey--this process of going from good to better--is a topic about which we do not study or teach frequently enough nor understand adequately.

If I were to emphasize one overarching point this morning, it would be this: I suspect that you and I are much more familiar with the nature of the redeeming power of the Atonement than we are with the enabling power of the Atonement. It is one thing to know that Jesus Christ came to earth to die for us. That is fundamental and foundational to the doctrine of Christ. But we also need to appreciate that the Lord desires, through His Atonement and by the power of the Holy Ghost, to live in us--not only to direct us but also to empower us. I think most of us know that when we do things wrong, when we need help to overcome the effects of sin in our lives, the Savior has paid the price and made it possible for us to be made clean through His redeeming power. Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints--for good men and women who are obedient and worthy and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully. I frankly do not think many of us "get it" concerning this enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement, and I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities.

You can test what I am saying. When the Spirit is invited into a meeting, truth is communicated beyond what is said aloud. In your Church meetings, write down impressions or thoughts that you feel came from God. And, remembering what we have said about building a foundation, think carefully about whether the truth you received requires action. It is by obedience to commandments that we qualify for further revelation of truth and light. In a recent meeting you may have committed to act on something you felt was true. Then more truth came to you. That process may slow or stop if, as you go out into daily life, you fail to keep the silent commitments you made with God. God not only loves the obedient, He enlightens them. I fear that more people make promises to God than keep them, so you will please Him when you are the exception and you keep your promise to obey. You should test those impressions of what you should do against a simple standard: Is it what the Master has commanded in the accepted revelations, and is it clearly within my calling in His kingdom?

Keeping some commandments has greater power to build your foundation on truth and light. You could think of those as enabling commandments, because they build your power to keep other commandments. Whatever invites the Holy Ghost to be your companion will bring you greater wisdom and greater ability to obey God. For instance, you are promised that if you always remember the Savior, you will have His Spirit to be with you. You are commanded to pray that you may have the Holy Ghost. You are commanded to pray that you might not be overcome by temptation and so be clean and worthy of the Holy Spirit. You are commanded to study the word of God that you may have His Spirit. I would not set one commandment above another, but I might put some earlier in my efforts if they carry with them the promise of the companionship of the Holy Ghost. The Comforter will lead us to truth and light and will help us obey our Father in Heaven and His Beloved Son. We will come to love Them and those around us as we serve Them, and thus we will keep the great commandments.

When we are experiencing pain, the caregiver is a very important part of the recovery process. Attentive doctors, nurses, therapists, a loving spouse, parents, children, and friends comfort us when we are ill and speed our recovery process. There are times when, no matter how independent we may be, we must entrust others with our care. We must surrender ourselves to them. Our caregivers are those who assist in the healing process.

The Lord is the ultimate caregiver. We must surrender ourselves to the Lord. In doing so, we give up whatever is causing our pain and turn everything over to Him. “Cast thy burden upon the Lord, and he shall sustain thee” (Ps. 55:22). “And then may God grant unto you that your burdens may be light, through the joy of his Son” (Alma 33:23). Through faith and trust in the Lord and obedience to His counsel, we make ourselves eligible to be partakers of the Atonement of Jesus Christ so that one day we may return to live with Him.

Self-improvement is a process, not an outcome. It changes constantly, particularly at different points in your life. Wherever you are today is all right. Don't beat yourself up. Accept yourself and learn and grow from where you are. There's nothing wrong with aspiring to be in a constant state of total awareness, but you cannot even approach that goal until you've taken the time to look in the mirror and see what you need to see. Your true objective should be to inspire personal growth and positive change, moving you closer to what you want. If your aspiration is learning and growth and positive change, then you'll be just fine.

To accomplish this simple task, all you need to do is to expend some effort. You’ve got to do the heavy-lifting up front before you can figure out exactly where you want to go. Only you can be trusted with such a critical assignment. You are the only one who truly has a vested interest in your own life. Only you can handle the important decisions needed to define and create the life and lifestyle you desire to live.