As we finished one mission, our computers were returned. The space has now been replaced with our suitcases as we pack to leave for Palmyra next week. We are also transitioning our home to be ready for Jake and Deb, cleaning things that should have been cleaned long ago, the garage, the oven and the refrigerator.
Today I wish to talk about submitting our will to God’s will. What does it mean to submit our will to God’s will? Submitting to God’s will is recognizing that God’s plan may not always align with our desires, but trusting that His wisdom surpasses our understanding. True submission means yielding to God’s terms without negotiation. It is acknowledging that we are in the Lord’s hands and surrendering without preconditions.
In a hallmark talk titled “Swallowed Up in the Will of the Father given by Elder Neal A Maxwell in April 1995 he said, “The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. The many other things we “give,” brothers and sisters, are actually the things He has already given or loaned to us. However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!”
Elder David A. Bednar has emphasized that strong faith in the Savior is submissively accepting of His will and timing in our lives—even if the outcome is not what we hoped for or wanted. In another address he said “Righteousness and faith certainly are instrumental in moving mountains—if moving mountains accomplishes God’s purposes and is in accordance with His will. Righteousness and faith certainly are instrumental in healing the sick, deaf, and lame—if such healing accomplishes God’s purposes and is in accordance with His will. Thus, even if we have strong faith, many mountains will not be moved. And not all of the sick and infirm will be healed. If all opposition were curtailed, if all maladies were removed, then the primary purposes of the Father’s plan would be frustrated.”
“Many of the lessons we are to learn in mortality can be received only through the things we experience and sometimes suffer. And God expects and trusts us to face temporary mortal adversity with His help so we can learn what we need to learn and ultimately become what we are to become in eternity.”
Jesus Christ is the perfect example of submitting His will to the will of the Father.
In John 5:30 we read “I can of mine own self do nothing: as I hear, I judge: and my judgment is just; because I seek not mine own will, but the will of the Father which hath sent me.”
Elder Benjamin De Hoyos taught, “Jesus Christ’s example of subjecting the flesh to the will of the Father is particularly evident in His atoning sacrifice. His great suffering and His plea to the Father in Gethsemane—“O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me: nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” reveal His great willingness to open the way for us and the great love both He and His Father have for each of us.
As we follow the Savior’s example of humility in facing opposition in all things, we know He will always sustain us.”
In an address given by Alan Parkinson on May 14, 2002 he said,
“In the Savior’s life it is clear that His day-to-day actions were influenced by His desire to do His Father’s will. Is this true for us also? Does a desire to do the Father’s will have implications for us in the commonplace day-to-day aspects of our lives? I would submit that it does.
Striving to understand and do the Father’s will is connected with what it means to go throughout each day with a prayer in your heart. Such a prayer is accompanied by a desire to be open to the promptings of the Holy Ghost. Further, as we seek Heavenly Father’s will, we adopt an attitude of humility and submissiveness that helps open the door to feel those promptings.”
July 2004 Elder Benjamin De Hoyos gave some suggestions of ways we can submit to the Father’s will.
1. We can serve with all our “heart, might, mind and strength”.
2. We can lay aside the temporal things in our daily lives to go to the house of the Lord and perform saving work for others.
3. We can regularly attend sacrament meeting to partake of the sacrament,
4. We can fast regularly, drawing near to our Heavenly Father, giving a fast offering, and seeking out the needy.
5. We can forget our own needs and relinquish our own comfort; when we make time to visit others. “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, and strengthen the feeble knees”
6. We can be “anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of [our] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness”
Each year I choose a word for the year. It is usually something I feel I need to improve on. The past few years my words were Charity, Compassion and Joy.
This year I chose the word submit. I felt I needed to improve my willingness to submit my will to the will of the Father. I have found that when I choose a certain word the Lord gives me plenty of opportunities to improve in that particular area. These opportunities are not always pleasant. Often, I have found myself outside my comfort zone. Last year I felt that I did lots of submitting as I dealt with my diagnosis of heart failure. Being in the hospital, going to doctors sometimes three times a week, having lab work done repeatedly, having a variety of tests and procedures were all out of my control. All I could do was to submit to those who were trying to help me stabilize so I could continue living. I would like to share an opportunity the Lord gave me to submit my will, not to doctors, but to God.
Before my heart failure Tom and I had planned on submitting mission papers to serve a full-time mission as our circumstances had changed and we felt it was the right time to concentrate ourselves to the Lord’s work. We knew of an opportunity to serve in the Palmyra Temple and were very interested in that particular opportunity. When I received the shocking diagnosis of heart failure our world was turned upside down. Plans for any kind of mission were quickly put on the back burner. We consecrated all of our energy into helping me recover. We started our mission papers in early August so we could get the dental exams done. I was scheduled for an electrocardiogram the end of August. We received the results on September 5th which showed that my heart function had gone from 20% to 45%. We were ecstatic. We went ahead with plans to serve a mission. At this time, I returned to working as an ordinance worked in the temple. After two weeks I found that I became so exhausted that I couldn’t finish my shift. I decided to get released as a temple worker and begin serving as a patron which I could do. I began to doubt whether or not I could serve a fulltime mission. I felt uncomfortable turning mission papers into the mission department not knowing if I could do what would be required. I knew that Tom really wanted to go on another mission. It had been something that he had looked forward to for a long time. September 15th, before we began our date night I asked Tom to just listen to what I wanted to say. I didn’t want him to respond or say anything. I just wanted him to listen. I expressed my concerns and doubts about serving a mission. Tom just listened and didn’t say a word as requested. We prayed throughout the weekend together and separately. Tom had an amazing spiritual experience with the Lord and we decided to put things on hold until I felt comfortable about going forward or, we chose to not pursue a mission.
He said he would be okay with whatever I decided even if it meant that we would not serve another mission. We cancelled our physicals that were scheduled a few days later. A little less than 2 weeks later we enjoyed General Conference together. During the Saturday afternoon session, we listened to Elder Rasband give a powerful, pleading talk inviting senior couples to serve full time missions.
In his talk he said, “Today I am speaking to the many seasoned seniors in the Church who could serve as missionaries. The Lord needs you. We need you in New York and Chicago, Australia and Africa, Thailand and Mexico, and everywhere in between.” Yes, he actually said New York. When Elder Rasband shared with us that during assigning missionaries to their fields of labor he found there were only 10 couples who had submitted requests to serve missions he was a little surprised and asked his associate from the Missionary Department, “How many do we need this week to fill the requests?” He responded, “300.”
That was sobering moment for Elder Rasband, 10 couples to fill 300 requests.
It was also a sobering moment for me. In that moment I knew that the Lord wanted Tom and I to turn in our papers to serve another full-time mission. I didn’t say anything to Tom in that moment. After the session ended Tom immediately left to pick up our son who was going to watch the 6:00 session with us. Nothing was said by either of us about Elder Rasband’s talk until the next morning. Before the morning session of conference began, I told Tom what had happened to me during Elder Rasband’s talk about the need for senior missionaries. Needless to say, he was overjoyed. The next few weeks were filled with miracle after miracle which led to our receiving our call on November 14th, to serve in the Palmyra temple. In New York! I was finally willing to submit my will to the will of the Father. To quote Elder Maxwell again “However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him! It is the only possession which is truly ours to give!” And now I am willing to give it.
This is my testimony that the Lord is in the details of our lives. When we let Him prevail, miracles happen.
Tom's Talk - Expect Miracles
Two years ago, we were caring for my mother who was getting older and a daughter who was in a care facility. At this time, we were guided to an opportunity to serve a mission from home with the Temple Department. This has been a unique privilege that worked exceptionally well with our personal situation. During this time, both my mother and our daughter have passed away and Debbie has been diagnosed and treated for heart failure. Tomorrow we officially complete that mission.
Let me just give a small recap of that mission. We were called to serve as a resource to support the Temple Department as they have been charged with the planning and operation of the many new temples announced by President Nelson. I believe that the experiences and blessings that we have received far exceed the efforts that we contributed. Our main role has been to work with the Planning Team, but we have also helped with other special projects. We have conducted remote interviews with Priesthood and Temple leaders throughout the world at days and times convenient to them. It has been a unique privilege to feel the faith of these leaders in developing countries and where the Church is established. These interviews have been to evaluate the situations in housing for patrons and temple leadership and evaluated the roles of Temple Leadership, sealers, shift coordinators and ordinance workers. Our primary role has been to interview Stake leadership in stakes where new temples will be dedicated in the next 18 months. I want to share a few examples of the faith that we have felt:
- As we interviewed a young ordinance worker in Cape Verde, she shared the following story, which was very inspiring: Before the temple was dedicated, she started doing her own family history. She prepared the information for her grandmother in Family Search and sent it to the temple to have the work done. When the temple was dedicated, she was not able to access the ordinance on-line because it had already been assigned to a temple. One day when she was tired and stressed, the Spirit told her to go to the temple right away. She obeyed. When she received her new name, the name she received to be proxy for was the name of her grandmother that she had previously shared with the temple. She knew that the Lord had spoken to her to go to the temple and understood her needs and desires. This greatly increased her testimony of the Lord's involvement in the work for the dead and in His love for her.
- Hundreds of worthy members in Texas across the border from Mexico have been waiting many years to have their temple ordinances performed, without access to existing temples. These ordinances are now possible as the McAllen Texas temple was dedicated in October of last year.
- The Nanuque, Brazil District rejoices in the new Salvador Brazil temple which will reduce their travel time from 22 to 14 hours. Other temples that have been announced will decrease it further to 6 hours. They can now leave for their temple trips on Monday morning instead of Sunday afternoon to arrive at the temple by Monday night.
- Several Navajo chiefs and women near the Farmington New Mexico Temple have shared the dreams that they have had about the new temple with missionaries at the temple construction site. They now call it “Their temple”.
- We talked to a stake president in Nairobi, Kenya last week. They currently have about 180 recommend holders who have been to the temple, mostly one time. He told us that there are more than 100 more who are waiting to go to the new temple. He enthusiastically announced that he could get 350 temple workers, half of the adults in his stake for the temple that will be dedicated in the near future. These members have never experienced a temple that they can go to more than once in their lifetime.
These are just a few of the many, many lives that are being touched by having temples closer to the members. Many are still far, far away. I believe that these many temples are part of “the greatest manifestations of the Savior’s power” that President Nelson has promised us between now and the time Jesus Christ returns. He also said that “He will bestow countless privileges, blessings, and miracles upon the faithful.” (Oct. 2022)
That leads me to the theme of my talk, that of miracles. In August 2022 during our Come Follow Me study of Proverbs, I was prompted to seek counsel and reproof from the Lord. As I sought Him in prayer, I received direction to “Expect Miracles”. President Nelson had been using this phrase in his recent talks so I decided to study this principle more diligently and act in more faith to “expect miracles”.
In April 2021, “Christ is Risen; Faith in Him Will Move Mounts” President Nelson said:
“Moving your mountains may require a miracle. Learn about miracles. Miracles come according to your faith in the Lord. Central to that faith is trusting His will and timetable—how and when He will bless you with the miraculous help you desire. Only your unbelief will keep God from blessing you with miracles to move the mountains in your life . . . The Savior is never closer to you than when you are facing or climbing a mountain with faith . . . Third, act in faith. What would you do if you had more faith? Think about it. Write about it. Then receive more faith by doing something that requires more faith.”
In April 2022, “The Power of Spiritual Momentum” President Nelson said:
“Suggestion number 4: Seek and expect miracles.
Moroni assured us that “God has not ceased to be a God of miracles.” Every book of scripture demonstrates how willing the Lord is to intervene in the lives of those who believe in Him . . . Each of these miracles took time and may not have been exactly what those individuals originally requested from the Lord.
In the same way, the Lord will bless you with miracles if you believe in Him, “doubting nothing.” Do the spiritual work to seek miracles. Prayerfully ask God to help you exercise that kind of faith. I promise that you can experience for yourself that Jesus Christ “giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.” Few things will accelerate your spiritual momentum more than realizing the Lord is helping you to move a mountain in your life.”
I pondered on this subject for more than a week, trying to decide how to expect a miracle. One night as I was praying about this, I understood that faith to expect miracles generally did not apply to things that are dependent on the agency of others or on God’s will. These miracles should relate to things that are clearly the will of God. As I prayed further, I was impressed to expect the following miracles;
- Learn to love Isaiah. Our study of Isaiah was coming up and I knew that the Lord wanted me to love Isaiah. I committed to study as much as I could and depended on him to answer my prayer.
- Receive personal revelation more readily in my daily worship efforts.
During those following weeks, we had a grandchild born, requiring our tending three grandchildren for a few days, a wedding with our son and a baptism in Texas for another granddaughter. Our time was at a premium. As I did all within my power to study the very best that I could, I found myself loving the words of Isaiah and anxiously searching His words. It consumed me and even led to our celebration of Isaiah in our ward on the October fifth Sunday lesson. This miracle was accomplished and I will always have warm feelings as I read the words of Isaiah.
To receive better personal revelation, I started improving my fasting to gain the promise of Isaiah, that the Lord will say “Here I am”. In November of that year our daughter, Camila, died and my mind was heavy and pondering what to share in my talk at her funeral. As I pondered my thoughts in prayer, my Heavenly Father began revealing a message to be shared, almost word for word. I stopped the prayer and began writing two pages of notes and then returned to give gratitude in prayer. One more page of notes was revealed to me. These notes became the basis of the funeral talk that I delivered with most of my posterity in attendance. This fulfilled the miracle that I was expecting.
On May 15, 2023, six months later, while studying about the young man who asked the Savior “What Lack I Yet?”, I offered a “What Lack I Yet?” prayer. My mind went to my answer the previous year, to “expect miracles”. As I pondered the miracles that I wanted or needed, my thoughts went to . . . my continuing desire to serve another full-time mission, if the Lord desires that for us . . . For a mission I promised to wait until Debbie has a positive result with her heart. If the doctors would allow her to serve, I felt that we should submit papers for a short-term mission to the Palmyra Temple or whatever the Lord would see fit to call us to do. Otherwise, we could continue to serve in our stay-at-home mission. In June I shared this impression with Debbie; Her response was “I have consecrated my life to the will of the Lord”; I had faith, that if it was the Lord’s will, Debbie would be in agreement. We then started the mission process which Debbie has described.
One special miracle that the Lord provided for me occurred on that weekend when Debbie asked for me to listen as she shared some very personal feelings. I listened, a little in shock, but had agreed to just listen. That night and the next morning I prayed to the Lord to try and understand, especially because of the feelings that I had been experiencing. As I prayed on Saturday morning, the Lord told me very clearly that being united with Debbie should be my number one priority. No matter what we did, we needed to be united in how we moved forward. . . I told Debbie that the most important thing for me was for us to be united and asked her to read my journal entry about expecting miracles so that she could understand where I was coming from. On Sunday morning, September 17, I continued to pray. The Lord once again answered my prayer in part, letting me know that I should not question Debbie’s faith, for her faith was not lacking. . . As the day continued, I pondered why I felt so strong about serving a mission . . . this made me consider my motives, recognizing that the desires of my heart, although of good intent, were driven by my personal desires and by some prideful thoughts. During the sacrament service on September 17, I felt all of those personal desires transform into a full acceptance of God’s will and a desire to accept whatever Debbie was able to accept, knowing that her heart was right and in tune with Heavenly Father. This transformation made me marvel at how my heart could change.
By the time that we came home from Church, I was feeling very comfortable with letting Debbie decide and accepting her feelings. . . I wanted us to kneel in prayer together to make sure that we were united, as this was now my top priority. As we prayed, my prayer was to leave it up to the Lord and Debbie’s feelings. During that prayer I realized perhaps my greatest reason to serve a mission. I did not want to have regrets of not serving if the Lord wanted us to serve. I do believe that this is a valid and important reason. Other than that, I felt total peace in leaving this up to Debbie to consider if and when she felt enough strength.
I continued to have peace with this decision and direction. . . A few days after this experience Debbie told me how much she appreciated my change of heart. It validated her voice greatly in our relationship. I feel that this may have been the most important miracle that has occurred, my ability to change my heart and give her the space that she needs. She recognized that any further steps in the mission process depended on her and that I would be totally supportive of her decision. If we chose to serve later and miss the opportunity in Palmyra, that was okay, for it would be the will of our Heavenly Father. Of that I was certain.
Two weeks later, on the Saturday morning of General Conference, September 30, I prayed that the Lord would give me personal direction in General Conference. I added that if the Lord wanted us to serve a mission, please help Debbie to feel that impression during General Conference. That very day, at the end of the Saturday afternoon session, Elder Ronald A. Rasband, of the quorum of the twelve apostles, gave a talk dedicated to senior missionary service with a passionate plea for more senior missionaries. You have heard the rest of this story as shared by Debbie.
One of the many miracles that followed was in our interview with President Hair. This was the first time that we had talked with him face to face. Miraculous circumstances allowed him to spend over an hour with us. Debbie described this as a “sacred experience” and I agree. This mission call was a completion of the first step of this Expect Miracles process. We fully expect to see many more miracles during the course of our mission. We are “trusting His will and timetable”. President Nelson’s promise has been fulfilled in our lives during this past year: “I promise that you can experience for yourself that Jesus Christ “giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.”
In my prayer last May, I also asked for a miracle to understand my role in assisting one of our sons, who was returning to full activity in the Church. I was instructed to “Behold Him” as the Savior had done. Now that son will be married in the temple this week. Our relationship with him and his new bride has exceeded all expectations. They will live in our condominium while we are on our mission and will attend this ward.
I testify that President Russell M. Nelson is a prophet of God. I know that if we hearken to his inspired counsel which he continuously gives us, miracles will occur in our lives.
“But, my dear brothers and sisters, so many wonderful things are ahead. In coming days, we will see the greatest manifestations of the Savior’s power that the world has ever seen. Between now and the time He returns “with power and great glory,” He will bestow countless privileges, blessings, and miracles upon the faithful.” (President Russell M. Nelson - Oct 2022)
