How Much Do I know About Jesus Christ verses How Much Do I Know Jesus Christ?

Hello wonderful person reading this blog! Here is a talk I gave based on the talk, Our Personal Savior, by Elder Teh of the Seventy. Being able to study this talk was an answer to a prayer, so I am really grateful to the bishopric member who asked me to talk, even though it is scary. It is worth it to learn. The conference address I chose to use for the foundation of my talk is Our Personal Savior by Elder Michael John U. Teh. It was a great blessing to be able to study it this week and I pray the spirit may be with us today. Elder Teh begins by sharing a missionary experience. He tells about a local journalist who asked him and his companion, “What think ye of Christ?” They excitedly shared their feelings and testimony, and the resulting article contained wonderful words and good information about the Savior, but it left Elder Teh feeling Hollow and it lacked spiritual power. He continues: ““What think ye of Christ?” I am realizing that how intimately I know the Savior significantly influences my ability to hear Him as well as how I respond. As I studied and pondered, I came to the stark realization that what I know about the Savior greatly outweighed how much I really know Him. I resolved then to put forth more effort to know Him.”Unquote. This talk brought to my mind an essential question for myself: “How much do I know about my savior ” vs “How much do I know my savior?” Elder Teh shares three things that happen, or need to happen, as we come to know our Savior. He says, “First, we need to recognize that knowing the Savior is the most important pursuit of our lives. It should take priority over anything else.” The phrase, It should take priority over anything else is indisputable if we profess to believe the gospel of Jesus Christ. The problem can be always remembering and acting like it is our priority. We know we should read our scriptures and pray, but much of coming to know Christ is living our lives and trying to be like him, keeping the scriptures in our minds and having a real on-going prayer in our hearts as we go about our daily work so we have a valid basis for experimenting upon his word. God also blesses us with the sacrament. During the sacrament, we witness to God that we will take upon ourselves the name of Christ and always remember him that we may have his Spirit to be with us.” Think of how well we will know Jesus Christ as we continually try to do these things. Elder Teh continues on, “Second, as we are increasingly coming to know the Savior, scriptural passages and the words of the prophets become so intimately meaningful to us that they become our own words.” Do you have a favorite scripture or phrase from a conference talk that have become your own words? Here are a few of mine…The Lord Loves effort…We can do this…I will go and do the things the Lord hath commanded ... If ye have faith in me, ye shall have power to do what so ever thing is expedient in me…Take my yoke upon you and learn of me. What words have become our own? Elder Teh says, “It is not about copying the words, feelings, and experiences of others as much as it is coming to know for ourselves, in our own unique way, by experimenting upon the word7 and receiving a witness from the Holy Ghost.” Without the Holy Ghost, we can come to know about Jesus Christ, but we will never come to know Jesus Christ. Elder Teh then quotes a beautiful scripture he has made his own in. It is Alma 5:45-46 and I find it very touching because Elder Teh, through this scripture, is sharing how he has come to know Christ. “And then the prophet Alma declared: “Do ye not suppose that I know of these things myself? Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?” “Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me.” Unquote. The Holy Ghost will help us come to know Christ if we will have faith and a desire to believe in him and if we will have faith to trust the witness or feelings we may have right now or may have had in the past or may have in the future about Christ. Elder Teh continues, “Third, an increasing understanding that the Atonement of Jesus Christ applies to us personally and individually will help us know Him.” Unquote. I almost gave this talk backwards, because this is the important part of the talk. If I lost you at My name is Becky Godfrey, come back. This part is important. “Oftentimes it is easier for us to think and speak of Christ’s Atonement in general terms than to recognize its personal significance in our lives. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is infinite and eternal and all-encompassing in its breadth and depth but wholly personal and individual in its effects. Because of His atoning sacrifice, the Savior has power to cleanse, heal, and strengthen us one by one.” Whenever I hear one by one I think of Bednar telling the brothers in England, “We do not talk to a congregation, we talk to assembled ones.” Or I think of 3 Nephi 11 where Christ invites the people gathered at the temple to come to him and touch his hands and feel the wound in his side, one by one. Read 14-17maybe My mom was a women of amazing faith, and one day when she was in her 80s she called me up and said, “Becky, I ‘ve been taking an institute class, and I finally understand that the atonement is for me.” I’m sure she understood that the atonement was for everyone, including her, but that is much different than the amazing feeling of love, both from Christ and for Christ, and spiritual power that come from knowing that the atonement is for every one, including us individually. She was about to go through some very significant health trials before she received her transfer ticket to the other side, and I am so glad that she knew her savior and she could rely on the atonement of Jesus Christ to help her through that incredibly difficult time. We can look at prophets like Enos and Alma who utilized the atonement to be cleansed from their sins and immediately came to feel the love of Jesus Christ both for themselves, the people around them, and their enemies the Lamanites. King Lamoni once prayed, 18 I will give away all my sins to know thee Repentence is a powerful way to come to know Jesus Christ. Elder Teh continues by sharing a reading and writing assignment about Christ that we could do as well if we haven’t already done it. “Years ago, at the invitation of my fine leader, I read the Book of Mormon from cover to cover and marked the verses that referenced the Lord’s Atonement. My leader also invited me to prepare a one-page summary of what I learned. I said to myself, “One page? Sure, that is easy.” To my surprise, however, I found the task to be extremely difficult, and I failed. I have since realized that I failed because I missed the mark and had incorrect assumptions. First, I expected the summary to be inspiring to everyone. The summary was meant for me and not for anyone else. It was meant to capture my feelings and emotions about the Savior and what He has done for me so that every time I read it, it will bring to the surface wonderful, poignant, and personal spiritual experiences. Second, I expected the summary to be grand and elaborate and contain big words and phrases. It was never about big words. It was meant to be a clear and simple declaration of conviction. Third, I expected it to be perfect, a summary to end all summaries—a final summary that one cannot and should not add to—instead of a work in progress to which I can add a word here or a phrase there as my understanding of Jesus Christ’s Atonement increases. rothers and Sisters, what would our summaries look like? The fact that the atonement is for each of us personally in a variety of circumstances, whether for repentance, or healing or strengthening, is mind boggling and incomprehensible. I like to listen to science podcasts while I am doing simple house hold tasks, and there are a lot of mindboggling and incomprehensible things being discovered all the time. I hope I will not lose my faith in Jesus Christ and deny his atonement because I cannot fully understand it. While we may not be able to understand how Jesus Christ can know us and love us individually or how the atonement can cleanse, heal and strengthen us one by one, we can have faith in it, and we can experience it, and we can testify of it by the power of the holy ghost. And by the holy ghost we can know the truth of all things. Elder Teh shared a scripture at the end of his talk that has become my own words because it is what I wish for myself and for everyone, especially those I love most. 41 And now, I would commend you to seek this Jesus of whom the prophets and apostles have written, that the grace (think of the power of the atonement when you read grace, because that is how grace is defined on the lds website) That the grace of God the Father, and also the Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy Ghost, which beareth record of them, may be and abide in you forever. Amen. Elder Teh ends his talk with a quote from a prophet and his own beautiful testimony: “President Russell M. Nelson promised that ‘if [we] proceed to learn all [we] can about Jesus Christ, … [our] ability to turn away from sin will increase. [Our] desire to keep the commandments will soar.’16 On this Easter Sunday, just as the Savior came forth from His stone grave, may we awake from our spiritual slumber and rise above the clouds of doubt, the clutches of fear, the intoxication of pride, and the lull of complacency. Jesus Christ and Heavenly Father live. I testify of Their perfect love for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.”

"But behold, I judge better things of you..."

 

Some scriptures change your life.  Moroni chapter 7 in the Book of Mormon is one of those scriptures for me. It is bursting with faith, hope, charity, the goodness of Christ, and His love for us. 

Many years ago, I was sitting in church and thinking about how I was done repenting, at least about Sunday mornings.  No matter how many times I tried to get Sunday morning right, I could not do it, and even though I had failed and repented over and over and over, I was still failing.  What was my great Sunday morning sin?  It was a pretty bad one.  I had yelled at my child for losing her shoes and making us late for church again. I should have helped her find them the night before and trained her to put them in her closet.  I am sure I was more upset at myself than at her and I wish I would have realized it in the moment. 

I had tried to make Sunday morning really special, with no contention and a meaningful family prayer and a short devotional to prepare us to feel the spirit. My husband was usually gone before church to a meeting, so it was all on me. 

Anyway, back to the story where I'm sitting in church and giving up repentance because I am hopeless.  It was time for the sacrament and by some miracle no one was crying or fighting so I could actually open up my scriptures and think about Christ while I partook of the holy ordinance.

My old triple (the Book of Mormon, The Pearl of Great Price, and the Doctrine and Covenants) cracked  open to Moroni chapter 7 and verses 37 and 38 seemed to call my name.  

"For no man can be saved, according to the words of Christ, save they shall have faith in his name; wherefore, if these things have ceased, then has faith ceased also, and awful is the state of man, for they are as though there had been no redemption made."  --Moroni 7:38

The meaning of this scripture hit me hard.  I was sitting in a church, supposedly to worship Christ, about to partake of the sacrament, which is literally a time to remember the atonement of Jesus, and I'd decided to throw His sacrifice away because of my chronic shortcomings.  Luckily, the first part of the next verse came with a soft feeling of love and a kind reminder of my faith in God and of God's faith in me. 

"But behold, my beloved brethren, I judge better things of you, for I judge that ye have faith in Christ because of your meekness;..."  Moroni 7:39

Those verses changed the course of my day and maybe my life.

What a sweet relief that I can keep trying to be better no matter how many times I fail.  What a sober knowledge that Christ has paid the price for my sins and weaknesses whether or not I utilize the atonement's great power.  What an eternal waste and unkind act if I choose not to repent. 

I believe in Jesus Christ.  I believe in His atonement.  I believe in His love for each and every person on the earth.  When I don't believe in myself, I often hear the words softly reassuring me, I judge better things of you, and I keep moving forward. 

"However late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you think you have made or talents you think you don't have, or however far from home or family or God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love.  It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ's atonement shines."--Jeffrey R. holland.

Dads are Heros

I love this.

With Faith in Every Footstep.

My family spent last weekend on trek where we reenacted a very small part of the remarkable handcart journey of converts across the plains to the Salt Lake Valley. While I am deeply impressed with those souls who sacrificed everything to follow their faith, I am equally in awe of the youth of today. I hope they know how wonderful they are! "With faith in every footstep, we follow Christ, the Lord; And filled with hope through his pure love, we sing with one accord."

And They Understood Me Not: The Lost Sheep Verses in the Bible.

3 Nephi 3:15Jesus is a great example of patience.  He was always having to explain and teach in many different ways so that people could understand what he was trying to tell them.  There were parables and similes and object lessons.  But sometimes He just said it plainly, as in this chapter. 1.  The Law of Moses is Fulfilled.  Over.  Done.  Fulfilled.2.   If you follow His teachings,  you will be with Him "at the last day."  3.  Be teachable (not stiff-necked), and you will learn wonderful things. There are many other things to learn in this chapter, especially about why there were lost sheep in the first place, but these are three that stick out to me.  Now, pardon me, but I must go and check the stiffness of my neck.  It is general conference weekend and I don't want to miss learning any wonderful things.  

Spiritual Extra Credit or the Main Assignment

3 Nephi 14

When I much younger, I looked at the whole, Judge not, that ye be not judged, a little differently than I do now.  I always liked the idea that we shouldn't be judging others.  I had seen how doing this could destroy the lives of the victims of judging.  But I also really liked the next phrase,  "For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again."  

That looked like a good deal to me.  If I did not judge others harshly, I myself would not be judged harshly, and that would be like some spiritual extra credit.  As a conscientious student in school, I was rarely perfect, but with a little extra credit, my grades could be perfect just the same.  

But as I have gone through life, I have discovered that this "Judge not" commandment is not extra credit.  It is the main assignment.  As in, love God and love your neighbor and all the law and prophets hang on these two commandments.  Not judging is a part of loving others with the perfect love with which Christ loves us.  It cannot be ignored. It is mandatory.  And it feels a lot better than judging anyway.  

1 And now it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words he turned again to the multitude, and did open his mouth unto them again, saying: Verily, verily, I say unto you, Judge not, that ye be not judged.

 2 For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged; and with what measure ye mete, it shall be measured to you again.

 3 And why beholdest thou the mote that is in thy brother’s eye, but considerest not the beam that is in thine own eye?

 4 Or how wilt thou say to thy brother: Let me pull the mote out of thine eye—and behold, a beam is in thine own eye?

 5 Thou hypocrite, first cast the beam out of thine own eye; and then shalt thou see clearly to cast the mote out of thy brother’s eye.

 6 Give not that which is holy unto the dogs, neither cast ye your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under their feet, and turn again and rend you.

 7 Ask, and it shall be given unto you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you.

 8 For every one that asketh, receiveth; and he that seeketh, findeth; and to him that knocketh, it shall be opened.

 9 Or what man is there of you, who, if his son ask bread, will give him a stone?

 10 Or if he ask a fish, will he give him a serpent?

 11 If ye then, being evil, know how to give good gifts unto your children, how much more shall your Father who is in heaven give good things to them that ask him?

 12 Therefore, all things whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them, for this is the law and the prophets.

 13 Enter ye in at the strait gate; for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, which leadeth to destruction, and many there be who go in thereat;

 14 Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it.

 15 Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves.

 16 Ye shall know them by their fruits. Do men gather grapes of thorns, or figs of thistles?

 17 Even so every good tree bringeth forth good fruit; but a corrupt tree bringeth forth evil fruit.

 18 A good tree cannot bring forth evil fruit, neither a corrupt tree bring forth good fruit.

 19 Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

 20 Wherefore, by their fruits ye shall know them.

 21 Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven.

 22 Many will say to me in that day: Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in thy name, and in thy name have cast out devils, and in thy name done many wonderful works?

 23 And then will I profess unto them: I never knew you; depart from me, ye that work iniquity.

 24 Therefore, whoso heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them, I will liken him unto a wise man, who built his house upon a rock—

 25 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell not, for it was founded upon a rock.

 26 And every one that heareth these sayings of mine and doeth them not shall be likened unto a foolish man, who built his house upon the sand—

 27 And the rain descended, and the floods came, and the winds blew, and beat upon that house; and it fell, and great was the fall of it.

That Ye May Be the Children of Your Father in Heaven

3 Nephi 12

This chapter is dense with doctrine.  While Christ begins by saying the people will be blessed if they believe his teachings, he says that they are "more blessed" if they believe the twelve disciples he has just called to preach and baptize.  And if they believe the disciples and repent and are baptized with water they will also be baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost.

The wonderful thing is that we know everyone he was preaching to would indeed believe both him and his disciples,  be baptized, receive the Holy Ghost, live in peace, and then live with God in eternity.  What a singular occurrence in the history of the world, at least the history that we know about.

When Jesus gave the Western Hemisphere version of the Sermon on the Mount, did he think about his loved ones in Jerusalem who may not have accepted his ministry and his words and who would not be with him in the next life?  Did he have any?  For all that believed him in Jerusalem, there must have been many who did not. There were many he loved that deserted or betrayed him.

In verse 44 he says, "But behold I say unto you, love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them who despitefully use you and persecute you;

45 That ye may be the children of your Father who is in heaven; for he maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good."

An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth simply won't do if you want to be the children of your Heavenly Father.  

And after he said to love everyone, even your enemies, he said, "Therefore I would that ye should be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect."

Jesus knows about enemies.  He knows about love.  He knows about perfect.  

He promises us that if we can love everyone like he loves everyone, we can be the Children of our Father in Heaven.  

He even asks us to pray to Heavenly Father to be filled with love and adds that then we will be like him.  

"Wherefore, my beloved brethren, pray unto the Father with all the energy of heart, that ye may be filled with this love, which he hath bestowed upon all who are true followers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that ye may become the sons of God; that when he shall appear we shall be like him, for we shall see him as he is; that we may have this hope; that we may be purified even as he is pure. Amen."  Moroni 7:48.  

One by One

3 Nephi 11
verses 13-41

I will never forget the testimony of a beautiful and confident young women in my freshman ward at Ricks College.  She told of a dream where she and many others were standing and gazing up into heaven as Christ descended and then stood among them.  She was shocked when Christ called her by name.  She said that it had never occurred to her that Christ not only came down here for everyone, but also specifically for her.

In these verses of 3 Nephi,  Christ invites each person  " to come forth and that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world."

Each person.

One by one.

Check out this devotional to more fully understand the concept of "one by one."

And then there is Nephi.  Nephi the fearless.  Nephi who just won't stop talking about Jesus or healing the sick or raising the dead.  

Christ called Nephi up to him by name, and Nephi, overcome as anyone would be,  falls to the ground and kisses his feet.  Jesus commands him to arise and Christ gives him power to baptized the people and he tells him very specifically how to do it and warns them not to dispute over how to do it, because that is just not how the people of God do things.   

Then he sums up his gospel.

"And whoso believeth in me, and is baptized, the same shall be saved; and they are they who shall inherit the kingdom of God.

 34 And whoso believeth not in me, and is not baptized, shall be damned."

And then he tells us the way to being the kind of people we need to be.

"And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and become as a little child, and be baptized in my name, or ye can in nowise receive these things.

 38 And again I say unto you, ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, or ye can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God.

 39 Verily, verily, I say unto you, that this is my doctrine, and whoso buildeth upon this buildeth upon my rock, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against them."

Twice he says repent, be baptized and "and become as a little child."  He promises that if we do that , the gates of hell shall not prevail against us.  That is quite a promise. 

When we read about what happens in this chapter, it is easy to feel Christ's love for each of us.  The Hymn, "This is the Christ" helps me to feel the ministry of Christ to each one of us, separate and eternal.  I hope you can feel his love for you.  And if you can, then do as the Lord commands in the last verse. 

"Therefore, go forth unto this people, and declare the words which I have spoken, unto the ends of the earth."

Will do.  

I am the life and the light of the world.

3 Nephi 11

Verses 1-12

I was once asked, "If you could choose anytime to live in the history of the world, when would it be?"
My answer was either at the time of 3 Nephi 11 or now.

No description of any event anywhere has made me long to be there as much as this one in 3 Nephi 11.

The chapter opens up with the people standing around the temple in Bountiful and talking about this Jesus Christ who had spoken to them.  That is when they hear a voice.  I think it is important to note that these people were:   a) at the temple and b) talking about Jesus when this event occurred.

"And it came to pass that while they were thus conversing one with another, they heard a voice as if it came out of heaven; and they cast their eyes round about, for they understood not the voice which they heard; and it was not a harsh voice, neither was it a loud voice; nevertheless, and notwithstanding it being a small voice it did pierce them that did hear to the center, insomuch that there was no part of their frame that it did not cause to quake; yea, it did pierce them to the very soul, and did cause their hearts to burn."

But this voice didn't belong to Jesus.  This voice was the Father.  The third time he spoke, they understood his words.

"Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him."

Why did it take three times to understand the voice?  I have often wondered about this.  

In the margins of my scriptures it is written, "The spirit often testifies before there is comprehension."

I have found this to be true in my own life.  There have, at times, been a principle or even a nudging to the direction of my life that I have not understood, but I understood the truthfulness of it, despite my lack of understanding.

In verse 8 it says 

"And it came to pass, as they understood they cast their eyes up again towards heaven; and behold, they saw a Man descending out of heaven; and he was clothed in a white robe; and he came down and stood in the midst of them; and the eyes of the whole multitude were turned upon him, and they durst not open their mouths, even one to another, and wist not what it meant, for they thought it was an angel that had appeared unto them."

Have you ever been rendered speechless by a spiritual experience?  I couldn't talk for about half an our after the Nauvoo temple dedication. That is pretty much a no-talking recored for me.  

Jesus was about to explain that he was no angel, but the Son of God.  I can't imagine what that would have felt like.  

"And it came to pass that he stretched forth his hand and spake unto the people, saying:

 10 Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world." 

11 

And behold, I am the light and the life of the world; and I have drunk out of that bitter cup which the Father hath given me, and have glorified the Father in taking upon me the sins of the world, in the which I have suffered the willof the Father in all things from the beginning. "

This video does a good job of helping me to feel what it might have been like to live that day with the Savior.  I hope that your heart will be soft, and you will be able to feel Christ's love for you as you watch it.  I bear my testimony that he lives and you are known to him by name.  I have felt his love for me very powerfully at key times in my life and it is my greatest hope and prayer that my children and their children will feel his love for them, because if they do, they will feel love for everyone else as well, and then their course will be set, always seeking to be the best person they can be,  confident in the knowledge that they are of great worth to the one whose worth is greater than us all. 

The Light Always Comes

3 Nephi 10

I hate the dark.

I hate uncertainty.

I hate not knowing absolutely everything.

The hymn, "Lead, Kindly Light,"  reads,

"Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see

The distant scene--one step enough for me."

I want to feel that way.  I don't feel that way. 

This chapter of scripture finds the people in the dark.  Jesus had just spoken to them in a manner where all were able to hear and understand him, no matter where they were.  He told them of the destruction of the cities and explained who he was and how they could be saved.

They could hear him.  But they couldn't see him.    They couldn't see anything.

They were so surprised by what he said that it reads, 

"For so great was the astonishment of the people that they did cease lamenting and howling for the loss of their kindred which had been slain; therefore there was silence in all the land for the space of many hours."  (vs. 2)

When he speaks again, He says, 

"O ye people of these great cities which have fallen, who are descendants of Jacob, yea, who are of the house of Israel, how oft have I gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and have nourished you.

And again, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, who have fallen; yea, O ye people of the house of Israel, ye that dwell at Jerusalem, as ye that have fallen; yea, how oft would I have gathered you as a hen gathereth her chickens, and ye would not.

6 O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.

 7 But if not, O house of Israel, the places of your dwellings shall become desolate until the time of the fulfilling of the covenant to your fathers."

And Christ stops speaking and the people began to "weep and howl" again because of the loss of their kindred and their friends.  

After the three days passed away, the morning found it light once again, and the earth stopped rambling and all the tumultuous noises did pass away.

But a word about the chickens.

Christ states and restates how he desired to gather the people as a hen gathereth her chickens under his wings.  If they had come to him he would have protected them, nourished them, and raised them.  But it didn't work out that way.

People think Christ can do anything.  But he can't.

He can't take our free agency.  He can't make us want to choose the right.  He can't protect us from satan and his lies and the misery that will follow sooner or later.

"It has been a very common saying in the world that the Lord was able to do everything, that he could do anything he had a mind to do, and accomplish what he pleased; that he possessed universal power, and could accomplish what he undertook. But what says our text? 'How oft would I have gathered you, but you would not.--George Albert Smith--Journal of Discourses, Vol. 2, page 212.

Mormon talks for the rest of the chapter about those people remaining and how they were spared because they did not shed the blood of the saints or shed the blood of the prophets.  And what those great people did not know, sitting in the darkness and weeping and howling because of the loss of their kindred and friends, is that they were saved.  They were Christ's.  His joy was full because not one of them would be lost.  

But it was dark and they couldn't see that yet. 

On a good day, I can at least slightly feel what is expressed in the third verse of, "Lead Kindly, Light"

 "So long thy pow'r hath blest me, sure it still

Will lead me on

O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till

The night is gone."

God has never failed to lead me to the best of places when I let him.   I don't imagine he'll start now.  

1. Lead, kindly Light, amid th'encircling gloom;

1. Lead thou me on!
   The night is dark, and I am far from home;
   Lead thou me on!
   Keep thou my feet; I do not ask to see
   The distant scene--one step enough for me.
2. 2. I was not ever thus, nor pray'd that thou
   Shouldst lead me on.
   I loved to choose and see my path; but now,
   Lead thou me on!
   I loved the garish day, and, spite of fears,
   Pride ruled my will. Remember not past years.
3. 3. So long thy pow'r hath blest me, sure it still
   Will lead me on
   O'er moor and fen, o'er crag and torrent, till
   The night is gone.
   And with the morn those angel faces smile,
   Which I have loved long since, and lost awhile!
4. Text: John Henry Newman, 1801-1890
   Music: John B. Dykes, 1823-1876