THE TOOTHBRUSH DEMONSTRATION: This was a demonstration in which you place a large glop of toothpaste—like, a whole toothbrush’s worht—on a toothbrush and ask a volunteer if he or she brushed with that much toothpaste when would he or she need to brush again?
In preparing for this demonstration, I went to Ask.com, and I typed in, “Why should I brush my teeth?” In looking at the pages Ask.com recommended, I saw a lot of horrifying smiles. It reminded me of my mission to England. I remember one of the elders in my mission was showing me his mission journal. In it, he had a picture of a woman’s mouth, and, underneath it, he had written, “The first British woman I met who had all her teeth.” Obviously, that’s an exaggeration. But I’ll admit I saw some fairly scary mouths in my two years there—mostly among the older generation. Some of them never learned the value of using a toothbrush daily. And it’s too late. They can no longer brush their teeth; they can only brush their tooth.
Anyhow, two years of serving in Britain can convert anyone to the virtues of using a toothbrush at least twice daily. I got even more convinced when Ask.com, directed me to this piece of information:
“Tiny bacteria live in your mouth and can stick to your teeth to make plaque. Plaque is colourless and sticky and if it hardens it becomes tartar. The bacteria use the sugar in the food that you eat. They release waste products including acid, which destroys the enamel on your teeth. You get [a] toothache when the enamel on your teeth has holes in it and the acid gets in to the tooth nerves inside your tooth. Brushing your teeth scrubs away the food and sugar so the bacteria has no sugar to make into acid.” (Suzy.co.nz).
I don’t know about you, but I’m not particularly thrilled about bacteria and its waste products living in my mouth. So … I don’t think I’ll be waiting until next Sunday to brush my teeth.
Obviously, I didn’t stand up here today to persuade to brush your teeth. Hopefully, you’re already doing that. If you’re not, well, you might be in the singles ward for quite some time. My purpose in this demonstration and in this lesson today is to get you take care of your soul—not just on Sunday, but throughout the week. Coming to church is critical. In some ways, it is like going to dentist but without the pain.
When you leave a dentist’s office, you have an expectation that your teeth will have been cleaned, any problems in your mouth will have be detected and solved and your dentist will have hopefully given you some advice. Likewise, when you walk through those glass doors today, hopefully some things will have happened. Hopefully, you will have had your soul cleansed by partaking of the sacrament. Hopefully, you will have felt the Spirit and your testimony will have been deepened and your knowledge that God loves you and is aware of you will be strengthened. Hopefully, your resolve to walk God’s paths will also have been strengthened. When you walk through those doors, if all goes right, you will walk out of here with your soul renewed, a better person than you were three hours ago and committed to living a life that follows the course of our Savior’s. Personally, when I have had to miss church for work or some other reason, I have always felt cheated. I’ve always felt like I missed out on that little boost I need to get through the week. I need these three hours to recharge my spirit and give me the strength I need to take on the battles of the upcoming week. I have learned from the experiences of my life that, without this three-hour recharge, I am not strong enough to meet life’s challenges. I have also learned the messages and insights you receive here are only as valuable as how you treat them. If you hear a message you know is for you, and you don’t apply it into your life, then, you have essentially said, “That message is of no value to me.” Said President Benson: “The great task of life is to learn the will of the Lord and then do it.”
On that point, let me relate this story, told by Elder Merlin R. Lybbert:
“An enterprising turkey gathered the flock together and, following instructions and demonstrations, taught them how to fly. All afternoon they enjoyed soaring and flying and the thrill of seeing new vistas. After the meeting, all of the turkeys walked home.”
“It is not our understanding of the principles of the gospel that brings the blessings of heaven, but the living of them.”
At church, you’ll learn the lessons on how to be like God. You’ll learn a path here that’s better than anything any philosopher has ever thought. You’ll learn how to be as He is. So why walk out of here and act like the world? Why act like those whose paths lead never to happiness, but always to sorrow?
Church is valuable, but even all the good feelings and all the Light you receive here at the Church cannot be enough to get you through the week. Just like bacteria collect on your teeth throughout the course of your day, grime also creeps onto your soul. Much of the grime comes from just existing—each person will encounter some scenario during the day that can drive away the Spirit. Perhaps, at work, you help one surly customer after another. Perhaps, at school, you might have to hear some disparaging remarks about the church. But nothing can chase away the Spirit than the frustrations of sharing the road with St. George drivers. Someone once said, “You never really learn to swear until you learn to drive.” Other times, we bring into our lives the things that bring grime onto our souls—whether it’s our music or our movies or hanging out with someone who brings us down. The point is, that each of us will, just as a result of going through life, have experiences that dim the Light we received on Sunday and can weaken our resolve to walk God’s paths. So how do we renew that Light and strengthen that resolve during the week? Perhaps the simplest and surest way is to read the scriptures.
Reading the scriptures brings back into our lives the Light we lost through the inconvenience of living in the world. It will strengthen our resolve to walk God’s paths. Obviously, the grime we get on our souls can only be washed away through the Atonement. But scripture reading reminds us of the Atonement—and those reminders help us bring the Atonement more fully into our lives. The scriptures also bring to our attention what changes we need to make in our lives.
In short, if we neglect our scripture reading, it’s like neglecting to brush our teeth. When one forgets to brush their teeth, the corrosive effects of that bacteria buildup will cause cavities and, eventually, the loss of teeth. When one forgets to read the scriptures during the week, more hazardous outcomes result. The corrosive effects of sin may cause the soul to become damaged and, eventually, lost.
For that reason, it’s important you give Christ more than three hours a week. Can I say that again: It’s important you give Christ more than three hours a week? After all, for you, He gave everything He had. It’s important to realize that this life is a struggle between good and evil. If you only give Christ’s side three hours a week and spend the rest of the week dabbling in the things of the world, then whose likely to win the battle for your soul?
Giving thought to the Church only on Sunday doesn’t cut it because Satan uses so many ways to cut you down throughout the week. Just simple things like daily prayers, Institute attendance and scripture study will keep you strong enough to fight off the evil influences around you. Even decisions as to you who you hang out with and where you go may show where your true loyalties lie. If you are standing in holy places, it’s much, much easier for you to keep your hands clean and your heart pure. The strengthening and Spirit you need to get through the week starts at church but does not end at church.
As you go through the week, the longer it will have been since you received that reawakening of the soul here at Church; the more the week goes by, the more you will experience the grime of the world that dirties the soul, and the more you will hear the world’s darkening doctrines that dim the Light you picked up here today. The easiest way to help that Light shine better and to fortify your determination to keep your soul unsullied is to pick up your scriptures. Y’know, I picked on the English earlier, so I think I’d better give the Brits some respect. So, on this point, we’ll turn to a story told by an Englishman, Kenneth Johnson:
“[In 1966], I sold [my] Hillman Minx [car] and upgraded to a 1962 Vauxhall Victor Estate. Shortly after making the transaction, the man who had purchased the Hillman phoned to ask me if I had experienced any difficulty steering the vehicle. I told that I had not but then recalled that I had found the Vauxhall to have far more responsive steering than my Hillman. The new owner agreed to bring the Hillman to my business office so he could demonstrate the difficulty he was having. Once I was seated in the car and had driven it a short distance, I realized how rigid the steering mechanism was. I concluded that during the time I owned the vehicle, the mechanism had deteriorated so gradually that I had not detected the change. I agreed that the steering was defective and ended up taking responsibility for making the needed repairs.
“The experience provided me an interesting lesson. … Just as our bodies require daily nourishment in order to function properly, so do our testimonies need ongoing nourishment. Without regular renewal through prayer, scripture study, partaking of the sacrament, and involvement in Church activity and service, immediate weakening may be so slight as to be imperceptible, but over time we can become bereft and find ourselves spiritually malnourished.”
I’ve learned very well in the last year that what Elder Johnson speaks of is true. The daily regimen of scripture study provides God a chance to talk to us. There have been so many times recently when I have read the Book of Mormon, and I’ve read the verse I needed to read that day.
A year ago, President Hinckley challenged each member to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year. In the Ensign article where he issued that challenge, President Hinckley concluded with this promise: “Without reservation I promise you that if each of you will observe this simple program, regardless of how many times you previously may have read the Book of Mormon, there will come into your lives and into your homes an added measure of the Spirit of the Lord, a strengthened resolution to walk in obedience to His commandments, and a stronger testimony of the living reality of the Son of God.” That challenge came at a fairly inconvenient time for me. I had a heavy workload at school and a demanding new job. At first, I gave no place to the challenge in my life. But then, I realized it was more than something I should do, it was something I needed to do. I made time in what was already a very full schedule. And I read the Book of Mormon—and some things happened; I had the best semester I ever had in college; I excelled in my new demanding job. Most importantly, the promises President Hinckley made were fulfilled. The Spirit did come more fully into my life. I did find it easier to keep the commandments. And my testimony was really, really strengthened. Then came Spring semester, and I went back to my sporadic reading program. And some things happened: Despite the fact I had an easier schedule, my grades weren’t as good as they were the semester before. I didn’t do as well in my job as I had in the Fall semester. And I found myself not enjoying life as much as I had before. In reflecting on that, I know what variable changed. When I read the Book of Mormon, I was happier and more successful. So I’ve set a personal goal for myself this upcoming semester to read the Book of Mormon again because I know it will make a better student; and, more importantly, a better man.
With that, I want introduce you to a man who loved the scriptures. His name was Josiah. When he was eight years old, he became King of Judah. Succeeding two wicked kings, Josiah remarkably chose to walk in God’s paths.
Of him, we are told: “And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, and walked in all the way of David his father, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left” (1 Kings 22:2). “And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the LORD with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him” (1 Kings 23:25). At age 15, he ordered the destruction of the idols in the kingdom and started to restore the temple. While they were cleaning out the temple, “Hilkiah the priest found a book of the law of the LORD given by Moses” (2 Chronicles 34:12). Hilkiah brought the newly-rediscovered scriptures to the young king. As Josiah read them, he began to weep because he realized just how far his people had strayed from the commandments of the Lord.
Now, I want you to think about this for a moment. The kid is 15. He’s a king. I try to imagine what kind of king the 15-year-old-version of myself would make. I don’t think I’d be the kind of king who was agonizing over whether my people were keeping the commandments or not. I think I’d raising taxes and building palaces and not giving two thoughts to the peasants. But here, Josiah was 15 and a king and his greatest concern was the welfare of his people’s souls. In reading the Book, he knew that if his people wanted to live under God’s protection, they had better live God’s commandments. So he said to the priests: “Go, enquire of the LORD for me, and for them that are left in Israel and in Judah, concerning the words of the book that is found: for great is the wrath of the LORD that is poured out upon us, because our fathers have not kept the word of the LORD, to do after all that is written in this book” (2 Chronicles 34:21).
The Lord, in answering the priests’ prayer, addressed Josiah: “And as for the king of Judah, who sent you to enquire of the LORD, so shall ye say unto him, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel concerning the words which thou hast heard;
“Because thine heart was tender, and thou didst humble thyself before God, when thou heardest his words against this place, and against the inhabitants thereof, and humbledst thyself before me, and didst rend thy clothes, and weep before me; I have even heard thee also, saith the LORD.” (1 Chronicles 34:26-27). I love those verses, when the Lord tells Josiah, essentially, because you had a tender heart and were humble, I have heard your prayers; I have seen your tears.
It’s a beautiful thought to know that at those times when the elements of life beat upon us and reduce us to tears, God really does hear our prayers and count our tears and He stands there ready and willing to help us.
I know that many times in my life, when I have prayed through the tears, that God has heard and God has answered and God has helped.
What Josiah does next is remarkable, and it reiterates his love for and devotion to the Lord. He gathers his people together and reads to them the scriptures—a meeting that lasted for eight hours. He did this because he knew the people could not follow God’s commandments, if they did not know them. Said President Spencer W. Kimball: “I feel strongly that we must all of us return to the scriptures just as King Josiah did and let them work mightily within us, impelling us to an unwavering determination to serve the Lord. Josiah had the law of Moses only. In our scriptures we have the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness; and if a taste is sweet, in fulness there is joy.”
This happened in 625 B.C. in Jerusalem. So the timeline is such that it’s possible that in Josiah’s audience listening that day was a young man named Lehi. While history tells us that the people Jerusalem didn’t follow God’s commandments as they should have and eventually paid the price, the Book of Mormon record also lets us know that Lehi did value the scriptures and did keep the commandments. And to him and his seed was given a great Land of Promise.
Lehi’s son Nephi taught us a valuable lesson on just how important the scriptures are to us in journey through life. You know the story about how he and his brothers returned to get the brass plates and how Laban was delivered into Nephi’s hands and how Nephi was commanded to kill Laban. Understandably, valiant Nephi, for once, hesitates to follow this commandment. So then comes the reasoning given to him by the Spirit with which you are all familiar: “It is better that one man should perish than that a nation should dwindle and perish in unbelief” (2 Nephi 4:13). Even with that assurance, Nephi still needs to think about it. I want to read you the verses where Nephi makes his decision. As I do, I want you to listen to the value he realizes are found in the scriptures:
“And now, when I, Nephi, had heard these words, I remembered the words of the Lord which he spake unto me in the wilderness, saying that: Inasmuch as thy seed shall keep my commandments, they shall prosper in the land of promise.
“Yea, and I also thought that they could not keep the commandments of the Lord according to the law of Moses, save they should have the law.
“And I also knew that the law was engraven upon the plates of brass.
“And again, I knew that the Lord had delivered Laban into my hands for this cause—that I might obtain the records according to his commandments.
“Therefore I did obey the voice of the Spirit” (1 Nephi 4:14-18).
Nephi chose to have the scriptures in his life because he realized how much he and his children needed the scriptures. Let’s consider that for a moment: Without the Brass plates, would the Nephite nation have ever risen in glory? Would it have ever been there to see the coming of Christ? Probably not. If Nephi hadn’t received the plates, it’s likely that we would have known nothing of Alma or Ammon or the stripling warriors because without the scriptures, they wouldn’t have been familiar with God. And if they were unfamiliar with Him, then how could they have walked in his paths? Like the people in Josiah’s time who stumbled because they didn’t have the scriptures, the Nephites would have stumbled because they didn’t have the scriptures. But the Nephites had the scriptures and because they did, they became a mighty nation. Really, if you want to see what would have happened to the Nephites without the scriptures, look at the Mulekites. They were similar to the Nephites: The Lord had brought them out of Jerusalem and into the Promised Land. But they brought no records with them. And look at the description of what kind of people they were:
“And at the time that Mosiah discovered them, they had become exceedingly numerous. Nevertheless, they had had many wars and serious contentions, and had fallen by the sword from time to time; and their language had become corrupted; and they had brought no records with them; and they denied the being of their Creator; and Mosiah, nor the people of Mosiah, could understand them” (Omni 1:17).
Because they didn’t have the scriptures, they had had wars and contentions and they knew not Christ. Their whole society was in disarray and had been hindered because they didn’t have the words of Christ. The Nephites, however, had the scriptures and they knew Christ and their society was functioning. The scriptures matter. The scriptures make the difference. The scriptures bring you to Christ. The scriptures can let in the sunshine on a cloudy day. The scriptures lift the soul every time their read. The scriptures enhance the mind’s ability to learn and comprehend. The scriptures guide you to a better life. The scriptures gently teach you the small corrections you need to make. Applying lessons gleaned from the scriptures will improve your life every time.
The scriptures help you become like Christ. You need the scriptures to become as He is. No person can achieve what he or she can become unless they have dedicated themselves to a study of the scriptures.
Now, in knowing the value of the scriptures and how they blessed the Nephites, let me ask you this: Do you think … do you think it was worth it? Do you think it was worth it to travel hundreds of miles to get the plates? Do you think it was worth it to have to endure the trouble Nephi had to endure to get the plates? Do you think it was worth it? Of course it was. If the value of the scriptures was worth such a long journey to Nephi, should they be any less valuable to us? Are they not worth 10 or 15 minutes of our day? If you make time to brush, you can make time to read. Treat your soul better than you treat your teeth; you’ll have your soul for a much longer time. Again, the strengthening and Spirit you need to get through the week starts at church but does not end at church. You need to give Christ more than three hours a week. I urge you to find time in your life for the scriptures. You’ll never regret any time you spent reading the scriptures. I promise you that as you do, God will bless you; you will be nearer to Him, you will see your testimony deepened and your strength increased, and you will feel His love more frequently in your life, and you will find it easier to walk His paths. I urge you to let the scriptures bless your life.
