Our Friends in their Golden Years

By Frank Ouimette

(This article was inspired by a talk given by Apostle Boyd K. Packer at General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints, April 2003)

These days, many people tend to look on the older generations as a burden. They think these old-timers are old-fashioned in their ways and in their thinking. Inefficient, slow, obsolete.

But in thinking this way, they miss the fact the older generation has a lot of experience in life’s trials and opportunities and have much to offer to the rising generation.

See what Job says in the Old Testament:

JOB 12: 12-13

“With the ancient is wisdom; and in length of days understanding.

With him is wisdom and strength, he hath counsel and understanding.” (Job 12:12-13)

Be close to your parents and grandparents. They can help you more than you realize.

Young women should be close to older women because of their knowledge and experience and learn the ways that have been passed down through the generations that sometimes work when modern ways don’t.

Young men should be close to the older men because they have gone through many things that you have not yet experienced in your own lives, but soon may. They can help you avoid mistakes that will affect your lives and show you how to choose a better way.

TITUS 2: 1-7

“But speak thou the things which become sound doctrine:

That the aged men be sober, grave, temperate, sound in faith, in charity, in patience.

The aged women likewise, that they be in behaviour as becometh holiness, not false accusers, not given to much wine, teachers of good things;

That they may teach the young women to be sober, to love their husbands, to love their children,

To be discreet, chaste, keepers at home, good, obedient to their own husbands, that the word of God be not blasphemed.

Young men likewise exhort to be sober minded.

In all things shewing thyself a pattern of good works: in doctrine shewing uncorruptness, gravity, sincerity.” (Titus 2:1-7)

They love you and know that the future of the world and the church are in your hands.

Don’t re-invent the wheel when it is already made and perfected.

If you do not have your grandfathers and grandmothers near you, look for neighbors and local people who are older to be friends with. Most will have experience and advice you will need in your life.

Watch how they live. They don’t jump first then think after. Things are planned out.

They may be the kind of people who know how to save a nest egg for the future, have food storage advice, be able to fix things in a way that you do not have to go and buy, and see what is coming in the world and prepare for it.

You will find someday that what you think was a burden now; you will look back and find that it really was a blessing to you.

Parents and grandparents often worry about their children and grandchildren, which is good, because it shows they care, but the older generation should also remember that their progenies are the Lord’s children also and that He wants each to gain the experience of this mortal probation, sometimes away from their parents and grandparents.

They have come here for their test and to learn on their own in many cases. That is why they need to leave their father and mothers and experience life alone or with their spouse and children.

Below is one of the 10 Commandments that we will be judged for obeying or disobeying:

“Honor thy father and thy mother: that thy days may be long upon the land which the Lord thy God giveth thee.” (Exodus 20:12)

Even though older people have served in many capacities in their communities, and are eventually released from those duties, they are never released from the Gospel. They must live it, teach it, and become who the Lord wanted them to become through the experiences they learn in mortality.

The greatest goal of all is to strengthen your family and seal the generations together to be part of God’s eternal family.

The Atonement of Jesus Christ: Our Reconciliation with God

Another stellar article written by guest-writer Cody Bosch.

I would like to speak of the wonderful gift to mankind that is the Atonement of Jesus Christ. As Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints cleverly phrased it, “Atonement is really three words:At-one-ment, meaning to set at one, one with God; to reconcile, to conciliate, to expiate.”

Elder Packer explains that the component parts of the word each have their own meaning. “At” as in place; “one” person, or God; and “ment” for a dictionary suffix which means to be at a state of condition due to action, or concrete result of action making, “to set” as it were. The atonement reconciles us with God.

“If punishment is the price repentance asks, it comes at bargain price. Consequences, even painful ones, protect us. So simple a thing as a child’s cry of pain when his finger touches fire can teach us that. Except for the pain, the child might be consumed.”

-Boyd K. Packer

Because of the fall of Adam and Eve--the descent of man from God's presence, to a fallen, sinful state--the Atonement was made necessary. The fall resulted in mankind being subject to death, temptation, and sin, conditions that one cannot overcome on their own. In order to reconcile us with God, a higher power needed to intervene.

The atonement was what Jesus Christ achieved in the Garden of Gethsemane and on the cross at Calvary. He suffered, bled, and died for the sins and pains of the world. When we engage our end of this Atonement by repenting and looking upon Christ, we can be forgiven. Thanks to Christ's triumph over death itself, we are able to live again as resurrected beings in the hereafter.

There are two types of death that humans can experience. These are physical and spiritual death. The atonement allows us to conquer both of these. Spiritual death is separation from God. You can experience this multiple times. This is through sin. When obeying the Lord's commandments and acting righteously, we are entitled to the Lord's presence, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the Light of Christ. When in sin, we forfeit this sacred presence, and must repent to get it back.

“An atonement was made. Ever and always it offers amnesty from transgression and from death if we will but repent. Repentance is the escape clause in it all. Repentance is the key with which we can unlock the prison from inside. We hold that key within our hands, and agency is ours to use it...I readily confess that I would find no peace, neither happiness nor safety, in a world without repentance. I do not know what I should do if there were no way for me to erase my mistakes. The agony would be more than I could bear. It may be otherwise with you, but not with me.”-Boyd K. Packer

Amnesty means an act of authority in forgiving a person or group of people. Every person except Jesus commits sins and transgressions, therefore putting them in need of amnesty and forgiveness. Repentance is the key that unlocks us from our spirit prison.

What is a Covenant?

This article was written by guest-writer, Cody Bosch.

“A covenant is a sacred promise, as used in the scriptures, a solemn, enduring promise between God and man. The fullness of the gospel itself is defined as the new and everlasting covenant.”-Boyd K. Packer. 
In an April 1987 address to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Boyd K. Packer related the story of the recent death of his fellow apostle, Elder A. Theodore Tuttle .The people of the Church were asked to fast and pray that he would recover from an illness that had been plaguing him.  Even with prayers of millions of faithful, however, Elder Tuttle eventually succumbed to his illness. During his address, Elder Packer, lest someone's faith be shaken, pulled out a sheet of paper that he originally had planned to read at Elder Tuttle's funeral, but at the time couldn't bring himself to do it.  Elder Packer informed the congregation of Elder Tuttle's humility and faith during his trying illness. In a visit to to Elder Tuttle's hospital bed, Elder Packer had heard the man say that he had prayed to God that all the blessings coming his way would be passed along to someone else who was more needful, more deserving.

“No matter what citizenship or race, whether male or female, no matter what occupation, no matter your education, regardless of the generation in which one lives, life is a homeward journey for all of us, back to the presence of God in his celestial kingdom.”-Boyd K. Packer. 

A covenant, like the one made by the ailing Elder Tuttle, is essentially a two-way promise between God and man. In exchange for obedience to God and His commandments, the commensurate blessings based on those commandments can be awarded in the Lord's  time. One covenant that each must make is the covenant of baptism. By being baptized by the correct authority, we signify to God that we are willing to end our life of sin and start anew, taking upon ourselves the name of Christ. The Lord holds His end of the deal by washing us clean from our repented sins, and have the opportunity for repentance should we stumble later on.
If you would like to learn more about covenants and the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you can follow this link to chat live with actual missionaries. Mormon.org/chat

We All Have Need of the Atonement of Jesus Christ

The following was inspired by LDS Apostle, Boyd K. Packer's October 2012 talk, "The Atonement"

If there is one thing I know about life is that it is not easy. Many a time, life seems cold and indifferent to the suffering of those living it. Any well-experienced person will tell you that life is not with trial, not without pain, and not without struggle. But many of those people will also tell you something else; it's worth it.
Life may give us trouble, but we are not alone in the journey. For a start, we have each other. One of the greatest assets we have been given in this life is our fellow man, whom we can learn from, teach, and give and receive assistance. But more importantly, God has given us what is without a doubt the greatest gift ever given: the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

What is the Atonement?
As mortal human beings, we are imperfect. Try as we might, we are all prone to weakness, and will occasionally slip up, violating the commandments God has given us. But God has said,
"Wherefore teach it unto your children, that all men, everywhere, must repent, or they can in nowise inherit the kingdom of God, for no unclean thing can dwell there, or dwell in his presence." 
(Moses 6:57)
Being imperfect, we naturally are unclean, and therefore cannot dwell with God without repentance. But then comes the tricky part. Being the creations of a benevolent God, who decided to create us, and give us life, we are eternally in His debt. To repent, we must pay the price for our sins to God. But how can we expect to even begin to pay Him back?
But God is merciful. He knew that the predicament of mankind stood in this cosmic catch-22, and He graciously gave us a solution. He would send His Son, Jesus Christ, to earth, to obtain a body, live as we do, teach us on behalf of the Father and share with us the sacred power of God. He would live a perfect life, performing the impossible (for us) task of never sinning in His entire earthly life. And then, the Son of God would take upon Himself all the pains, afflictions, guilt, and sins of all mankind. He would bleed from every pore, be betrayed by those He called friends, be tortured, beaten and spat upon, and finally suffer the agony of death by crucifixion. Three days later, He would rise from the dead and ascend to His Heavenly Father.
In these actions, Jesus Christ performed what is called the "Atonement." Perfect, pure, and sinless He offered Himself as a sacrifice, a payment to God. Thanks to these selfless acts, we are able to repent, by admitting our faults to God, doing all that we can to fix the problem, and begging forgiveness from God and any we have wronged. Then, as we remember the body of Christ, which was broken for us, His blood, which was shed for us, we are able to lay our sins at the feet of Jesus Christ, and be made clean once more. The Lord, in His infinite mercy, gave us a way to become more than we are, to become clean, and able to once more dwell with our Father.
Is the Atonement just for our sins?
The Atonement covers much more than our sins. Looping back to the introduction, life inevitably holds trial. We all have our obstacles to face, and we all have our own unique challenges in life. In the midst of these times, it can be tempting to think that God does not understand, that this trial is just too much, and that our life isn't fair. But thanks to the atonement, this is not the case. The Savior Jesus Christ felt every pain, disappointment, and hardship we have ever felt, and more. He understands.
"And he shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people.
And he will take upon him death, that he may loose the bands of death which bind his people; and he will take upon him their infirmities, that his bowels may be filled with mercy, according to the flesh, that he may know according to the flesh how to succor his people according to their infirmities."
(Alma 7:11-12)
Armed with the knowledge of how we feel, of the intricacies and nuances of our circumstances, Jesus Christ will advocate with our Heavenly Father on our behalf come Judgement Day. Our judgement will be completely fair, just, and merciful. Through the Atonement, the Lord offers us all things. ensuring our salvation and exaltation if only we obey His commandments and remember His sacrifice with deep gratitude and humility. We are eternally indebted to God, yet He saw fit to give us the ultimate gift in His Son.

Forgive and Forget

Has anyone ever wronged you? Of course! As human beings, we naturally associate with others, and sometimes those interactions go wrong. Whether it's deliberate or not, someone will say or do something that offends the other. Each one of us will find ourselves at both ends of this scenario at some point in our lives. When we find ourselves at the receiving end of wrong-doing, a natural response is to take offense. We justify that if we continually remember that this person caused us pain, we can avoid the person, the situation, and the pain in the future. We tell ourselves it is for protection. But most often we are just holding onto it to nurse our own pride. The dust has settled, the time of confrontation has passed, but we still hold a grudge: an ugly burden that feeds on our sense of entitlement and  is a drain on our strength. There comes a time for everyone when enough is enough, and this self-inflicted burden must be dropped, the mind and heart set free from this self-inflicted torture. We need to forgive!
President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, spoke on the very subject of forgiveness in an address to the Church given in April 2011. He spoke of a man who had gone through much grief, and seemingly had every right to be angry, but who chose to forgive:
"[A friend of mine] married his sweetheart. They were deeply in love, and soon she was expecting their first child.
The night the baby was born, there were complications. The only doctor was somewhere in the countryside tending to the sick. After many hours of labor, the condition of the mother-to-be became desperate. Finally, the doctor was located. In the emergency, he acted quickly and soon the baby was born, and the crisis, it appeared, was over. But some days later, the young mother died from the very infection that the doctor had been treating at another home that night.
The young man’s world was shattered. As the weeks wore on, his grief festered. He thought of little else, and in his bitterness he became threatening. Today, no doubt, he would have been pressed to file a malpractice suit, as though money would solve anything.
One night a knock came at his door. A little girl said simply, 'Daddy wants you to come over. He wants to talk to you.'
'Daddy' was the stake president. The counsel from that wise leader was simply 'John, leave it alone. Nothing you do about it will bring her back. Anything you do will make it worse. John, leave it alone.'
This had been my friend’s trial. How could he leave it alone? A terrible wrong had been committed. He struggled to get hold of himself and finally determined that he should be obedient and follow the counsel of that wise stake president. He would leave it alone.
He said, 'I was an old man before I understood and could finally see a poor country doctor—overworked, underpaid, run ragged from patient to patient, with little medicine, no hospital, few instruments, struggling to save lives, and succeeding for the most part. He had come in a moment of crisis, when two lives hung in the balance, and had acted without delay. I finally understood!' He said, 'I would have ruined my life and the lives of others.'
Many times he had thanked the Lord on his knees for a wise priesthood leader who counseled simply, 'John, leave it alone.'

There comes a point when we each have to realize that holding a grudge for our neighbor is useless. Worse than useless! We must learn that our anger, however valid it might seem, ultimately stems from an inflated sense of pride. A perceived wrong comes our way, and we strap this burden to our back and carry it with us, to remind us of the gross injustice someone else has perpetrated. This burden stagnates us. We use up our energy on this useless task, and become unable to help others who sorely need us. It is the height of selfishness, centered on the "me, me, me."
The release of a grudge is quite possibly the most liberating feeling in the world. It's like carrying a fifty pound  rock on your neck for several miles and then finally dropping it on the side of the road, never to be picked up again. No more energy or strength needs to be spent on its dead weight, and with all your heart and mind, you can focus on other things.
Occasionally, a grudge might be more difficult to put down. We sometimes twist and contort under its weight, trapping ourselves underneath it in a manner that we cannot fix by ourselves. For these times we need help. We need the Lord Jesus Christ, who can lift any burden and heal any wound. With prayer, faith, a desire for change, and a willingness to act, Christ can help us remove the burden and cast it aside.
We can also learn to let go of these burdens before we even pick them up. We will no doubt be given some opportunity to feel hurt, whether the giver intends to hurt us or not. But it is our choice whether or not to be offended. We are under no obligation to pick up the stones that land at our feet, whether they are throne, or accidentally dropped.
Finally, I, like many others, often find myself in the strange position where the person I am having trouble forgiving... is me. For those moments, I find it helpful to remember what Christ Himself said on the matter:
"I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men."
(Doctrine and Covenants 64:10)
I think this applies to the self as well. Guilt is a wonderful, natural feeling that God allows us to feel when we have sinned against His commandments. It is useful when we notice it, and use it to change and improve. But once the repentance process has been completed, it is of no use to keep kicking yourself for the mistake you made. We must learn from the mistake, and remember not to make the same one in the future, but never must we hitch ourselves to the dead weight of such self-torture. It is the Lord's job to judge each person for their deeds at the last day, and to acknowledge the repentance they commit and their efforts to come unto Him. One should do everything he can to clean the fallout of his sins, but he shouldn't make the error of appointing himself as his own jailer.
I know that the Lord is merciful, infinitely forgiving, and infinitely just. When we have done all that is in our power to remedy our shortcomings, and we act with mercy, charity, and love to all mankind, and choose to leave our burden's at the feet of Jesus Christ, we our able to make the trek and come unto the Lord. This I testify in the holy name of Jesus Christ--Amen.