The Saints of Luputa - "We Don't have Problems... We Have Jesus Christ."

 

Faith in Christ amid the Fire of Affliction

By Elder Carl B. Cook

Of the Presidency of the Seventy

We Have the Gospel

When I served in the Africa Southeast Area, I was inspired by the history of a group of Saints in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. They were faithful members, living where the Church was strong. Then, due to political unrest, in 1993 they were forced to move more than 625 miles (1,000 km) away. They arrived in Luputa, a remote area with no organized Church units. But that small group of families chose to live the gospel.

They studied the scriptures and worshipped in their homes. Each Sunday, they met as a group in a small house. They paid to use it by working in the owner’s field. Although they weren’t authorized to bless the sacrament, they faithfully donated tithes and offerings. They kept this money in a safe place for three years until two brethren journeyed 625 miles to give it to the proper priesthood leader.

Finally, after four long years, a branch was organized in Luputa. The Church grew fast. Soon a district was formed. Then, in 2011, a stake was organized. All this growth came through the work of members and branch missionaries. No full-time missionaries had been assigned to Luputa, yet more than 100 full-time missionaries had been called from Luputa to serve in other places.

In 2012, Sister Cook and I visited Luputa. We drove for two days in a four-wheel-drive vehicle to get there. As soon as we arrived, we joined the Saints for fast and testimony meeting. After the sacrament, it was time for testimonies. Many people rushed to the front of the chapel. The brother conducting the meeting asked some of the members to return to their seats and wait for next time.

About 40 Saints bore brief, heartfelt testimonies about Jesus Christ. They focused on the blessings of the gospel rather than their trials. We felt deep love for them.

After the meeting, I asked the stake president, “Is it always like this?”

“Yes,” he said. “Is that OK?” It was very OK.

“How did your stake grow and progress without missionaries?”

“We had branch missionaries, good ones, just like it says in the handbook.”

“How do you handle welfare concerns amid so much poverty?”

“Everyone here has family.” He referred to the principles in the handbook. “We should care for our own welfare and then ask family members to help. Only after doing this should we ask for help from the Church.”

“You meet in simple, crowded buildings. Are they good enough?”

“We are working on it.”

“What problems do you have?”

He sounded surprised. “We don’t have problems,” he said. “We have the gospel of Jesus Christ.”

Swallowed Up in Joy

The Lord gave the Saints of Luputa strength “that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ” (Alma 31:38). I know He will do the same for us, because I have felt His joy over and over again in my life.

The Lord gave the Latter-day Saints in Luputa strength “that they should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it were swallowed up in the joy of Christ” (Alma 31:38).

Photograph courtesy of the author

We Can Obtain Peace

 

“My Peace I Give unto You”

By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Storms in Our Lives

During the Savior’s mortal ministry, His disciples learned that He could calm the storms in our lives. One evening, after a full day of teaching by the seaside, the Lord suggested that they “pass over unto the other side” of the Sea of Galilee (Mark 4:35).

After they had departed, Jesus found a spot to rest on the ship and fell asleep. Soon the skies darkened, “and there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full” (see Mark 4:37–38).

We don’t know how long the disciples struggled to keep the ship afloat, but at last they could wait no longer. Panicked, they cried out, “Master, carest thou not that we perish?” (Mark 4:38).

All of us face sudden storms. In our mortal life of trials and tests, we may feel distressed, discouraged, and disappointed. Our hearts break for ourselves and those we love. We worry and fear and sometimes lose hope. During such times, we may also cry out, “Master, carest thou not that I perish?”

In my youth one of my favorite hymns was “Master, the Tempest Is Raging.”¹ I could picture myself in the boat when “the billows [were] tossing high.” The crucial and most beautiful part of the hymn follows: “The winds and the waves shall obey thy will: Peace, be still.” Then comes the important message: “No waters can swallow the ship where lies the Master of ocean and earth and skies.”

If we welcome Jesus Christ, the Prince of Peace, into our boat, we need not be frightened. We will know that we can find peace amidst the storms that swirl inside us and around us. After His disciples cried out for help, Jesus “arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm” (Mark 4:39).

The same words Jesus spoke to the Sea of Galilee that stormy night, He says to us during the storms of our lives: “Peace, be still.”...

Brothers and sisters, dear friends, we live in perilous times. Nations are perplexed, judgment is upon the land, and peace has been taken from the earth (see Doctrine and Covenants 1:35; 88:79). But peace need not be taken from our hearts, even if we must suffer, grieve, and wait on the Lord.

Because of Jesus Christ and His Atonement, our prayers will be answered. Timing belongs to God, but I testify that our righteous desires will one day be realized and that all our losses will be made up to us, provided we use the divine gift of repentance and remain faithful.⁵

We will be healed—physically and spiritually.

We will stand pure and holy before the judgment bar.

We will be reunited with loved ones in a glorious resurrection.

Meanwhile, may we be comforted and encouraged as we rely on the Savior’s promise: “In me ye might have peace” (John 16:33).

Bringing Worldliness into the Gospel

 Elder Ezra Taft Benson, then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles:

"Christ taught that we should be in the world but not of it. Yet there are some in our midst who are not so much concerned about taking the gospel into the world as they are about bringing worldliness into the gospel. They want us to be in the world and of it." (in Conference Report, Apr. 1969, 11). 

 

Steady in the Storms

By President Henry B. Eyring

Second Counselor in the First Presidency

Liahona May 2022

My prayer is that I might help you stand steady in the storms we face, with a peaceful heart.

The place to begin is to remember that we are each a beloved child of God and that He has inspired servants...

The perils of greatest danger come to us from the forces of wickedness. Those forces are increasing. And so it will become more difficult, not easier, to honor the covenants we must make and keep to live the gospel of Jesus Christ.

...there is hope in the promise God has made of a place of safety in the storms ahead...

“And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, … whereon if men build they cannot fall.”³

The misery and endless woe of which he spoke are the terrible effects of sins should we not fully repent of them. The growing storms are the temptations and the increasing attacks of Satan. It has never been more important than it is now to understand how to build on that sure foundation...

He invited his people and us to build on the only sure rock of safety, who is the Savior. He made clear that we are free to choose between right and wrong and that we cannot avoid the consequences of our choices. He spoke directly and sharply because he knew what sorrow would come to those who might not hear and heed his warnings...

King Benjamin went on to say, “O, all ye old men, and also ye young men, and you little children who can understand my words, for I have spoken plainly unto you that ye might understand, I pray that ye should awake to a remembrance of the awful situation of those that have fallen into transgression.”⁴

For me, the power of that warning to repent forms in my mind a picture of the sure time when you and I will stand before the Savior after this life. We want with all our hearts not to shrink but rather to look up at Him, see Him smile, and hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: … enter [in].”⁵

King Benjamin makes it clear how we can receive the hope to hear those words if we find the way in this life to have our natures changed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That is the only way we can build on the sure foundation and so stand firm during the storms of temptations and trials ahead. King Benjamin describes that change in our natures with a beautiful metaphor that has always touched my heart. It was used by prophets for millennia and by the Lord Himself. It is this: we must become as a child—a little child.

For some, that will not be easy to accept. Most of us want to be strong. We may well see being like a child as being weak. Most parents look for the day when their children act less childish. But King Benjamin, who understood as well as any mortal what it meant to be a man of strength and courage, makes it clear that to be like a child is not to be childish. It is to be like the Savior, who prayed to His Father for strength to be able to do His Father’s will and atone for the sins of all of His Father’s children and then did it. Our natures must be changed to become as a child to gain the strength we must have to stand steady and at peace in times of peril.

Here is King Benjamin’s stirring description of how that change comes: “For the natural man is an enemy to God, and has been from the fall of Adam, and will be, forever and ever, unless he yields to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and putteth off the natural man and becometh a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and becometh as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.”⁶

We receive that change as we make and renew covenants with God. That brings the power of Christ’s Atonement to allow a transformation in our hearts. We can feel it every time we partake of the sacrament, perform a temple ordinance for a departed ancestor, testify as a witness of the Savior, or care for someone in need as Christ’s disciple.

In those experiences, we become over time like a child in our capacity to love and obey. We come to stand on the sure foundation. Our faith in Jesus Christ brings us to repentance and to keeping His commandments. We obey, and we gain power to resist temptation, and we gain the promised companionship of the Holy Ghost.

Our natures change to become as a little child, obedient to God and more loving. That change will qualify us to enjoy the gifts that come through the Holy Ghost. Having the Spirit’s companionship will comfort, guide, and strengthen us....

God. I have learned from many experiences that the Holy Ghost speaks most often in a quiet voice, heard most easily when one’s heart is meek and submissive, like that of a child. In fact, the prayer that works is “I want only what You want. Just tell me what that is. I’ll do it.”

When the storms in life come, you can be steady because you are standing on the rock of your faith in Jesus Christ. That faith will lead you to daily repentance and consistent covenant keeping. Then you will always remember Him. And through the storms of hatred and wickedness, you will feel steady and hopeful.

More than that, you will find yourself reaching out to lift others to safety on the rock with you. Faith in Jesus Christ always leads to greater hope and to feelings of charity toward others, which is the true love of Christ.

I bear you my solemn witness that the Lord Jesus Christ has given you the invitation “Come unto me.”⁷ He invites you, out of love for you and for those you love, to come to Him for peace in this life and eternal life in the world to come. He knows perfectly the storms you will face in your test as part of the plan of happiness.

I plead with you to accept the Savior’s invitation. Like a meek and loving child, accept His help. Make and keep the covenants He offers in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. They will strengthen you. The Savior knows the storms and the places of safety on the way home to Him and to our Heavenly Father. He knows the way. He is the Way.

 

Navigating Difficulties in Relationships

By Christy Monson

Retired Marriage and Family Therapist

Liahona Jan 2023

Navigating challenges in our family relationships can test us to our emotional limits. As a therapist, I saw many heart-wrenching situations. But I also witnessed blessings in the lives of those who faced their family trials by seeking the Lord’s help to improve their communication, increase their love and understanding, and work together on making important changes. With the Lord’s help, they found strength to grow through their problems....

Ideas for Saving Disconnected Relationships

We believe families can be together forever. But sometimes our choices or the choices of family members can cause significant damage to our relationships. Here are some ideas for how you can help repair or strengthen difficult relationships:

• Include God in your healing, individually and together.

• Make plans for walking away from a harmful relationship if both of you won’t do the work.

• Find outside help, such as a therapist or your bishop.

• Learn to listen.

• Learn how to talk about hard things.

• State your needs and wants.

• Set boundaries.

• Take a time-out when the communication becomes blaming or critical.

• Don’t end a difficult conversation without deciding what each of you will do differently.

• Find ways to appreciate each other.

• Be willing to forgive and seek forgiveness.

Regular Immersion in the Book of Mormon

 Recently, President Russell M. Nelson taught: “Few things build faith more than does regular immersion in the Book of Mormon. No other book testifies of Jesus Christ with such power and clarity.”²

When he said this, I realized I received power because the Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ, and He is the source of strength! Regular immersion in the Book of Mormon builds our faith, which gives us power.

After My Divorce, I Needed Strength Beyond My Own

Name withheld

Liahona Jan 2023

Perfection isn't possible in family relationships

 

Finding the Divine Design in Our “Un-ideal” Family

By Jenet Erickson

Associate Professor, Department of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University

Liahona Jan 2023

I have come to believe that “perfection” isn’t actually possible in family relationships, for anyone—at least in this life. But honesty, integrity, and genuine closeness are. In fact, pretending or expecting perfection will interfere with genuine closeness to God, our families, and others. Instead, as we allow ourselves to be seen as we truly are by Christ, our families, and others, including in all that is “less than ideal,” we can invite His sanctifying power into our lives. We can experience His miraculous power to reconcile the unresolvable, fill us with His love, and change us into beings that have deeper relationships with Him and our loved ones.