Elder
Hackleman,
I spoke
in church yesterday so I thought I would send you my talk I gave since I talked
about you in it.
My
comments today are based upon a talk given by Elder Quentin L. Cook from the
most recent April General Conference titled Personal Peace: the Reward of
Righteousness. The Guide to the Scriptures explains Peace as this: In the
scriptures, peace can mean either freedom from conflict
and turmoil or the inner calm and comfort born of the Spirit that God gives to
his faithful Saints.
For the
most part the world defines peace as an end of conflict. If I were to hold up a
map of the whole earth more than half of it would be covered in conflict of
some sort. If we were to
look at a map of the United States, we could easily pick out the most violent
cities. This year, the city of Chicago is averaging just over 8 homicides per
week.
As
Elder Cook has said, “Prophets have declared that peace has indeed been taken
from the Earth. Lucifer has not yet been bound and exercises power in this dominion.
The heavenly aspiration of good people everywhere has and always will be for
peace in the world. We must never give up on achieving this goal. But,
President Joseph F. Smith taught, “There never can come to the world that
spirit of peace and love … until mankind will receive God’s truth and God’s
message…, and acknowledge his power and authority which is divine.”
As
we narrow our focus more, many, if not all of us, have family conflicts or
turmoil of some degree. Perhaps marital
problems, wayward children or financial struggles.
Narrowing
even more, each one of us, individually, is struggling with a conflict. Not a
conflict of violence, but one that may be emotional, physical, mental or
sinful.
Arguably
our greatest gift that we as individuals have is our agency to choose for
ourselves. This, in itself, can create conflict within us. We should always try
to remember that inner peace comes from truth. Truth can only come from the
faithful obedience to the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
Let
me share a little example with you. Many of you know that Amy and I have a son
serving a full-time mission in Lima, Peru. He is doing wonderfully and we can
feel the joy that he is feeling come through in his emails that he sends home
each Monday. Now, those of you that have had children leave to serve missions
know what I am talking about. As parents, you gain a much deeper appreciation
for the Law of Sacrifice. The day that we put Elder Hackleman on the plane was
one of the best days of my life, but also one of the most painful. I took the
entire day off work, because I knew how I would feel. Amy and I were miserable
the rest of the day. We had waited for that time since the day he was born and
yet it was still so painful. However, quickly over the next couple of days we
felt the loving peace come to us that can only come from our Savior and
faithful obedience. And of course, we
are looking forward to doing it all over again 3 more times!
As
Elder Cook taught us, The peace to which I am referring is not just a temporary
tranquility. It is an abiding deep happiness and spiritual contentment.
President
Heber J. Grant described the Savior’s peace this way: “His peace will ease
our suffering, bind up our broken hearts, blot out our hates, engender in our
breasts a love of fellow men that will suffuse our souls with calm and
happiness.”
For
all of us, personal conflicts can afflict us as we transgress the laws the Lord
has set. Many who have experienced the Savior’s atoning love as they have
faithfully laid their burdens down through the repentance process can testify
of the peace they have felt.
One
of my favorite stories in the scriptures is told in Alma, Chapter 24. There was
a group of Lamanites who had converted to the Church of Christ and were called
the Anti-Nephi-Lehies. They were so righteous that they decided to lay down
their weapon’s of war and suffer death rather than continue in conflict.
Beginning
with verse 15:
Oh, how
merciful is our God! And now behold, since it has been as much as we could do
to get our stains taken away from us, and our swords are made bright, let us ahide them away that they
may be kept bright, as a testimony to our God at the last day, or at the day
that we shall be brought to stand before him to be judged, that we have not
stained our swords in the blood of our brethren since he imparted his word unto
us and has made us bclean
thereby.
16 And
now, my brethren, if our brethren seek to destroy us, behold, we will hide away
our swords, yea, even we will bury them deep in the earth, that they may be
kept bright, as a testimony that we have never used them, at the last day; and
if our brethren destroy us, behold, we shall ago
to our God and shall be saved.
17 And
now it came to pass that when the king had made an end of these sayings, and
all the people were assembled together, they took their swords, and all the
weapons which were used for the shedding of man’s blood, and they didabury
them up deep in the earth.
18 And
this they did, it being in their view a testimony to God, and also to men, that
they anever would use
weapons again for the shedding of man’s blood; and this they did, vouching and bcovenanting with God, that
rather than shed the blood of their brethren they would cgive up their own lives;
and rather than take away from a brother they would give unto him; and rather
than spend their days in idleness they would labor abundantly with their hands.
19 And thus we see that, when these Lamanites were
brought to abelieve
and to know the truth, they werebfirm, and would suffer even unto
death rather than commit sin; and thus we see that they buried their weapons of
peace, or they buried the weapons of war, for peace.
What
I love about this passage is that it provides not only an example of finding
personal peace, literally, but also figuratively. Brothers and Sisters, we need
to bury our weapons of war, or in other words, we need to bury our sins. Take
whatever sins you are dealing with and repent. Bury them in the Atonement of
Jesus Christ.
Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world
giveth (or in other words not the peace that comes to everyone else’s mind),
give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be
afraid.
Elder
Cook teaches us, “ We all long for peace. Peace is not just safety or lack of
war, violence, conflict, and contention. Peace comes from knowing that the
Savior knows who we are and knows that we have faith in Him, love Him, and keep
His commandments, even and especially amid life’s devastating trials and
tragedies. The Lord’s answer to the Prophet Joseph
Smith in Liberty Jail
brings solace to the heart: “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity
and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; “And then, if thou endure it
well, God shall exalt thee on high.”
Elder
Cook continues... “Remember, “God is not the author of confusion, but [the
author] of peace.” For those who reject God, there is no peace. We all
participated in the councils of heaven that provided for moral agency, knowing
that there would be mortal pain and even unspeakable tragedy because of the
abuse of agency. We understood that this could leave us angry, bewildered,
defenseless, and vulnerable. But we also knew that the Savior’s Atonement would
overcome and compensate for all of the unfairness of mortal life and bring us
peace. Elder Marion D. Hanks had a framed statement on his wall by Ugo
Betti: “To believe in God is to know that all the rules will be fair, and that
there will be wonderful surprises.”
Brothers
and sisters, there will no longer be peace on the earth as defined by others
until after the Savior returns. We know this. We have accepted this when we
exercised our agency and came to the earth. However, that doesn’t mean that we
cannot individually have peace. I think of those areas in Chicago that face
unspeakable tragedy every week. Or areas right here in Omaha. These areas are
within ward boundries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. There
is peace to be had there and there is peace to be had here. We just need to
remember, at the worst of times, who can bring it to us.
We
are fortunate enough to live in an area that has a Temple nearby. As we face
conflict and turmoil in all its variety, it is the one sure place that we can find
peace for any aspect of our lives. As we are faithful in keeping the
commandments, we can prepare for, receive a temple recommend and attend the
temple. I would encourage all of us to serve in all the areas the Temple has to
offer. Whether it’s baptisms, initiatories, endowments or sealings. A peace
will come to you like you have never before felt.
In
closing, I would like to offer one last comforting example from the scriptures.
It’s found in Helaman 3:29-32. It says…
Yea,
we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and
powerful, which shall divide asunder all the
cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man of Christ
in a strait and narrow course
across that everlasting gulf of
misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked—
30 And
land their souls, yea, their immortal souls, at the right
hand of God
in the kingdom of heaven, to sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and with Jacob,
and with all our holy fathers, to go no more out.
31 And
in this year there was continual rejoicing in the land of Zarahemla, and in all
the regions round about, even in all the land which was possessed by the
Nephites.
32 And it
came to pass that there was peace and exceedingly great joy in the remainder of
the forty and ninth year; yea, and also there was continual peace and great joy
in the fiftieth year of the reign of the judges.
What
caught my attention when reading these verses and what I hope we all can
remember is the combination of words used in verse. “There was peace and great
joy.” I don’t think that it was by coincidence that the people experienced both
of these. In reality, they are intertwined. You can’t have one without the
other.
I
leave you my testimony that the Gospel of Jesus Christ is truth and it allows
us to have peace wherever we are. And with that peace we can have great joy.
In the
name of Jesus Christ, Amen
Talk
Given by Tim Hackleman, Sacrament Meeting, Papillion, Ne. USA 7/14/2013
Hey Dad!
First off. I now know to who I can give thanks for every good
grade I got on a writing assignment in school. You should write a book. Your
talk just made my week. I felt the spirit so strong reading it.
About my investigators. We have a baptism scheduled for this
saturday. His name is ******(name withheld). He is 13 and for some reason
reminds me alot of nathan. He´s tall and skinny like him and I click with him
really well like I always have with Nathan. His mom is a member and has a very
strong testimony but his dad isn´t a member. He believes in God and Jesus Christ
but only has a testimony of the bible. He doesn´t go to any church because he
doesn´t think any of them follow what Christ wants of His church. Which is
AWESOME because our church does follow the Bible like none other and is set up
exactly how Christ set up is Church in the New Testiment. The problem is he
just wasn´t interested in listening. Here´s where its awesome though. We went
to teach Jean Pool last week and his dad is usually always working but he came
home during the lesson and decided to sit down and talk with us. We didn´t
challenge him to anything. It was very casual but I felt like that is exactly
what he needed. To get to know other members of the church simply as members
before searching to know more. Anyway, it was totally awesome.
I sure do love you all! Keep doing what you do Dad. We couldn´t
ask for a better father.
Your First Son,
Elder Hackleman
