On this Easter Sunday, I want to start by bearing my testimony that I know Christ lives. Christ gave His life for us. And then three days later, He took it up again. The Empty Tomb became a great symbol to each of us. In defeating death, Christ gave each of us the promise that we too would be resurrected. Job once asked: “If a man die, shall he live again?” (Job 14:14). Christ answered the question when He said: “Because I live, ye shall live also” (John 14:19). Because of Christ, the death introduced by the Fall of Adam, has lost its sting. Or, as Paul put it, “As in Adam all die, even so in Christ, shall all be made alive” (1 Cor. 15:22).
So, because of Christ’s victory over the grave, we can all say, as Neal A. Maxwell once did: “Death is but a mere comma, not an exclamation point.” Without knowledge of Christ’s resurrection, we can easily treat a loved one’s death as an exclamation point, and, at those times, lose all hope and think that we will never see that person again. Similarly, we could, with such an attitude, reach the end of our lives, very scared that we will soon no longer exist.
But because we know Christ was resurrected, such events are met more with hope than with dread. Because we know that the end of this life is just the beginning of eternity. Indeed, we know death is just a comma.
But Easter and the Empty Garden Tomb represent more than just the promise that our life will be renewed beyond this Earth. Easter and the Tomb also represent the chance Christ gave each of us to walk back into the kingdom of our father by following the trail that Christ himself blazed—the strait-and-narrow path.
Christ was once asked: “how can we know the way?” (John 14:5)
The Savior replied: “I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me” (John 14:6). Centuries later, Moroni wrote: “In the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way” (Ether 12:11). The way back to the Father is through Jesus Christ, who invites everyone to come unto Him and follow Him. There is no other route to the Celestial Kingdom. We must follow him. And it is our hope to become one day as perfect as He is.
That is the goal, but not the requirement for this life; explained Elder Russell M. Nelson: “We need not be dismayed if our earnest efforts toward perfection now seem so arduous and endless. Perfection is pending. It can come in full only after the Resurrection and only through the Lord. It awaits all who love him and keep his commandments.” Because we are imperfect, Christ provided his atonement—or, in other words, allows us to share in his perfection to make up the difference. Or, as Nephi explained it, “it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do” (2 Nephi 25:23).
Today, we begin studying the journey of the ancient Israelites from Egypt to the Promised Land. What we’ll want to do is draw parallels from their experiences to the challenges that we face now, as we journey toward the Celestial Kingdom and reunion with our Father. We learn from them to trust in the Lord. God’s promises are fulfilled on his timetable, not ours. But they will be fulfilled.
We learn that when we are backed into a corner, or against the Red Sea, like the Israelites were, that we can, like Moses did, rely on the Lord, and He will provide us our escape. We learn of their dependence on Christ through the bread, or manna, they received to feed them on their journey, and the water that came from the rock when Moses smote it. Their physical salvation depended on that bread and water; our spiritual salvation depends on the bread and water administered in the sacrament. In his mortal ministry, Christ told the Jews: “I am the living bread which came down from heaven: if any man eat of this bread, he shall live for ever: and the bread that I will give is my flesh, which I will give for the life of the world” (John 6:51). We also learn of the need to look to Christ. Fiery serpents once attacked the ancient Israelites; the Israelites had a chance to be healed by looking toward a representation of Christ. Some chose not to and were not healed. But those who looked to Christ, lived. From this, we can learn that when we are bitten by the Adversary, we can look to Christ and be healed. We learn about the importance of sustaining our leaders from Aaron and Hur and their act of holding up Moses’ arms in the battle of Amalek. We will learn many great things as we study these stories in the next few weeks.
But of all the things we can learn from the Exodus story, I want to focus my comments here on one trend that we see played out in this story. In almost every instance where the ancient Israelites faced turmoil, there were some who would moan, “If only we hadn’t left Egypt.” This happened when they were backed up against the Red Seas, when they were sick of eating only manna day in and day out, when they had to battle the Canaanites and when they were discouraged by their life’s journey. To them, the difficulty of “the more excellent way” was just too hard. They would have preferred the easy route. But laziness never was greatness. The road to perfection is not for the weak-willed but for the determined. And while our perfection may be pending, we can be excellent—and, indeed, we should be striving to be excellent. We should be less like Laman and Lemuel, who were continent to stay in Bountiful, and more like Nephi who wanted to cross the great waters to reach his eternal destiny.
And indeed, our destiny will be affected by our character. I remember something I saw on my zone leader’s fridge in my first area, it said: “Thoughts become actions, actions become habits, habits become character, character becomes destiny.” I never knew its source until Friday, I read a talk by Elder Delbert L. Stapley, a member of the Twelve back in the day. Elder Stapley said: “A favorite saying often quoted by the late President David O. McKay was ‘We sow our thoughts, and we reap our actions; we sow our actions, and we reap our habits; we sow our habits, and we reap our characters; we sow our characters, and we reap our destiny.’”
President Hinckley once said, “On such small hinges turn the gates of our lives. Little mistakes, which seem so unimportant in their beginnings, determine the eternal courses we follow. I want to invite us all to walk a higher road of excellence.”
That gate begins to swing with our thoughts. A famous Proverb reminds us that, “As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he” (Proverbs 23:7). King Benjamin warned his people of the danger of unchecked thoughts: “But this much I can tell you, that if ye do not watch yourselves, and your thoughts, and your words, and your deeds, and observe the commandments of God, and continue in the faith of what ye have heard concerning the coming of our Lord, even unto the end of your lives, ye must perish” (Mosiah 4:30). Since thoughts have such a profound effect on our destiny, elevating our thoughts becomes a good place to start down the road of excellence. The Savior gave four important bits of counsel regarding thoughts in the Doctrine & Covenants: First, He said “Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not” (D&C 6:36); secondly, “Treasure up in your minds the words of life” (D&C 84:85); thirdly, “Cast away your idle thoughts” (D&C 88:69); and, finally, “let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God” (D&C 121:45). President Kimball once said, “Change comes by substituting good habits for less desirable ones …You mold your character and future by good thoughts and acts.”
The next place to call our attention to is to begin weeding out the actions and habits that are holding back our progression. Elder Stapley said, “When a man boasts of his bad habits, you may rest assured they are the best he has.” This thought was reiterated by Jeremy R. Schudde, who said, “It bothers me when people aren’t trying to better themselves.” And, indeed, there is a problem when someone is unwilling to seek out a better life because they’re too comfortable where they are. Elder Russell M. Nelson taught, “Let us do the best we can and try to improve each day. When our imperfections appear, we can keep trying to correct them.” We shouldn’t dwell on or be proud of our weaknesses. It does us no good to become obsessed with our flaws; in fact, it does us harm as we begin to allow our perceived shortcomings to influence our self-confidence. Nor should we be in the habit of pointing out others’ imperfections. Rather, we should work on bettering ourselves and helping others realize their strengths, not their weaknesses. We can, with Christ’s help, become better people, and we can influence those around us to become better people as well.
President Hinckley has pleaded with us to have the courage to accept his invitation—well, actually, it’s Christ’s invitation—to walk down the high road of excellence. President Hinckley said: “This is the great day of decision for each of us. For many it is the time of beginning something that will go on for as long as you live. I plead with you: don’t be a scrub! Rise to the high ground of spiritual, mental, and physical excellence. You can do it. You may not be a genius. You may be lacking in some skills. But so many of us can do better than we are now doing. We are members of this great Church whose influence is now felt over the world. We are people with a present and with a future. Don’t muff your opportunities. Be excellent.”
Elder Stapley once said, “Good habits are not acquired simply by making good resolves, though the thought must precede the action. Good habits are developed in the workshop of our daily lives. It is not in the great moments of test and trial that character is built. That is only when it is displayed. The habits that direct our lives and form our character are fashioned in the often uneventful, commonplace routine of life. They are acquired by practice.”
Another important step toward being excellent is take advantage of each opportunity given to you. One of the advantages of our lives right here, right now are the opportunities we are given. I have felt very blessed in my life to have had the opportunities I’ve had, and there have been days when I’ve said to myself, “How did I end up here?” And the answer can usual be traced back to taking advantage of some small opportunity that later turned out to be a huge break.
In thinking about that this week, I reflected on something that happened six years ago. I had just finished up my freshman year here at Dixie College, and I was applying to be the editor-in-chief of the school newspaper. When I went to my interview with the Publications Committee, I saw in the waiting room a person there I’d never seen before. So I introduced myself and said, “Hi. I’m Stephen Vincent.” And the kid said, “Hi. I’m Stanton Roseman.” I was relieved to find out he was going for yearbook editor. We didn’t say much to each other. And I didn’t really think too much about him. But I met him again that fall when he was working as the assistant yearbook editor. The more I knew him, the more impressed I was at how determined he was to excel at everything.
I had a chance recently to reflect on the difference between that nervous kid awaiting an interview six years ago and the Stanton Roseman I know today, when Stanton asked me to write him a letter of recommendation for an internship he was applying for. I’m going to read you a part of what I wrote in that letter because it really sums up what happens to someone who dreams big dreams and then works hard to accomplish those dreams:
“I first met Stanton six years ago. Since then, I have watched him excel time and time again in whatever interest was he was pursuing. I first met Stanton when I was editor-in-chief of Dixie State College’s student newspaper. He worked initially as a photographer, but Stanton wasn’t content just taking pictures. He wanted to learn all aspects of the newspaper business. He started writing—and wrote some of our best stories that year. After his mission, Stanton became the editor-in-chief of that paper, a position he has held for two years—and a position in which he thrived. The paper’s never looked better. His writing has improved greatly, and he now writes and reports on a professional level. He has used his substantial visual skills to improve the paper’s design and photography. His tenure as editor-in-chief has led to a paper improved in quality and appearance. The sudden rise in the quality of the paper is not a surprise to me or anyone who knows Stanton—because we have seen him take humdrum abilities and turn them into shining talents in every one of his pursuits.”
Stanton and I became home teaching companions a few months ago, and Stanton was excited because he had never done it before. He came into that calling with the same determination he had in the newspaper business. Right away, he set goals for what he wanted us to accomplish as a home teaching companionship, and we’ve worked to try and meet those goals; we have done as a great a job as I hoped, but I know Stanton has been a great influence for good in that calling. Also, I, for one, have been very blessed by having Stanton as my friend. He’s always been someone I hang out with, and, when needed, even confide in. He helped me through one of the hardest times of my life, and I am grateful for the friend I found in him.
To me, the word “excellent” describes Stanton Roseman well because he has worked and worked to become so. He has had his fair share of disappointments in the last six years, but he’s also had many successes, and he is headed toward great things. To me, he’s always been a great example of someone who never settles for mediocrity but works hard to be his best self. I encourage each of you to seek out the opportunities that come your way, and try to better yourself with those chances. I’d particularly encourage you to excellent in your calling and to likewise be excellent in keeping the commandments; in doing this, you will blessed, and you will find your abilities strengthened, and you will find success.
Finally, the best path and the surest path to excellence is to follow in the footsteps of the Savior. I’ll close by quoting President Hinckley:
You will find your greatest example in the Son of God. I hope that each of you will make Him your friend. I hope you will strive to walk in His paths, extending mercy, blessing those who struggle, living with less selfishness, reaching out to others.
He is the greatest example of excellence in all the world. He condescended to come to earth under the most humble of circumstances. He grew up as the son of Joseph the carpenter. He struggled with the adversary on the Mount of Temptation. He came forth resplendent and beautiful and magnificent to teach the world. During His brief ministry, He brought more of truth, more of hope, more of mercy, more of love than anyone else who has walked the earth. He died on Calvary’s cross for each of us. He arose the third day, “the firstfruits of them that slept” (1 Cor. 15:20), bringing the promise of resurrection to all mankind and the hope of exaltation to all who would walk in obedience to His teachings. He was the great paragon of righteousness, the only perfect man ever to walk the earth. His was the wondrous example toward whom each of us might point our lives in our eternal quest for excellence.
The prophet Moroni declared, “In the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way” (Ether 12:11). You have the witness of that faith. You have the testimony of that faith. You have the example of that faith. Let us all try to stand a little taller, rise a little higher, be a little better. Make the extra effort. You will be happier. You will know a new satisfaction, a new gladness in your heart.
Jesus said, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matt. 5:48). That is the great crowning example of excellence. May each of us have a rich and wonderful life moving in that direction. We will not become perfect in a day or a month or a year. We will not accomplish it in a lifetime, but we can keep trying, starting with our more obvious weaknesses and gradually converting them to strengths as we go forward with our lives.
Tremendous is your opportunity to reach beyond the hoped-for goal of wealth and worldly success, though that may have some modest importance, to build and strengthen others, to relieve suffering, to aid in making the world a better place, to pick up and carry the lantern . . . in walking through the pain-ridden wards of the world.
It was said of the Master that He “went about doing good” (Acts 10:38). In that process He became the epitome of perfection.
