Doctrine and Covenants 58–59

<p>Real hope keeps us &ldquo;anxiously engaged&rdquo; in good causes even when these appear to be losing causes on the mortal scoreboard (see D&amp;C 58:27). Likewise, real hope is much more than wishful musing. It stiffens, not slackens, the spiritual spine. Hope is serene, not giddy, eager without being naive, and pleasantly steady without being smug. Hope is realistic anticipation which takes the form of a determination&mdash;not only to survive adversity but, moreover, to &ldquo;endure &hellip; well&rdquo; to the end.</p>

<p>Church members today have been blessed greatly to have some of our financial burdens lifted. Faithful payment of tithes that are administered carefully now provides funds for constructing our buildings, paying for utilities, and meeting many other obligations that formerly necessitated additional contributions. We must realize that decreasing these needs for financial contributions gives birth to enlarged opportunities for us to live a higher law. By this I mean that on our own initiative we can find ways to extend ourselves in helping others and contributing to the building of the Lord&rsquo;s kingdom. The Lord has instructed us that we &ldquo;should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of [our] own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in [us], wherein [we] are agents unto [ourselves]&rdquo; (D&amp;C 58:27&ndash;28).</p>

<p>Remember, no one can reach upward on your behalf. Only your faith and prayers will cause you to lift yourself and have the mighty change of heart. Only your resolve to be obedient can change your life. Because of the Savior&rsquo;s atoning sacrifice for you, the power is in you (D&amp;C 58:28). You have your agency, you have strong testimonies if you are obedient, and you can follow the Spirit that guides you.</p>

<p>[C]an we expect to achieve perfection like that of Almighty God if we fail to follow the course He lays out for us?</p><p>The gospel will do us little good if we do not live it.</p><p>Membership in the Church will not save us unless we keep the commandments.</p><p>A half-hearted effort will not save us either. Instead, it will bring condemnation. The Lord has so declared in section 58 of the Doctrine and Covenants.</p>

<p>&ldquo;All of this symbolism attests to one fact: great things are brought about and burdens are lightened through the efforts of many hands &lsquo;anxiously engaged in a good cause&rsquo; Imagine what the millions of Latter-day Saints could accomplish in the world if we functioned like a beehive in our focused, concentrated commitment to the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. The Savior taught that the first and great commandment is: &ldquo;Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. &hellip;&ldquo;And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. &hellip; The Savior&rsquo;s words are simple, yet their meaning is profound and deeply significant. We are to love God and to love and care for our neighbors as ourselves. Imagine what good we can do in the world if we all join together, united as followers of Christ, anxiously and busily responding to the needs of others and serving those around us&mdash;our families, our friends, our neighbors, our fellow citizens &hellip; These simple, daily acts of service may not seem like much in and of themselves, but when considered collectively they become just like the one-twelfth teaspoon of honey contributed by a single bee to the hive. There is power in our love for God and for His children, and when that love is tangibly manifest in millions of acts of Christian kindness, it will sweeten and nourish the world with the life-sustaining nectar of faith, hope, and charity. What do we need to do to become like the dedicated honeybees and have that dedication become part of our nature? Many of us are dutiful in attending our Church meetings. We work hard in our callings and especially on Sundays. That is surely to be commended. But are our minds and our hearts just as anxiously engaged in good things during the rest of the week? Do we just go through the motions, or are we truly converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ? How do we take the seed of faith that has been nurtured in our minds and plant it deep in the fertile soil of our souls? How do we make the mighty change of heart that Alma says is essential for our eternal happiness and peace? Remember, honey contains all of the substances necessary to sustain mortal life. And the doctrine and gospel of Christ is the only way to obtain eternal life. Only when our testimony transcends what is in our mind and burrows deep into our heart will our motivation to love and to serve become like unto the Savior&rsquo;s. It is then, and only then, that we become deeply converted disciples of Christ empowered by the Spirit to reach the hearts of our fellowmen.&rdquo;</p>

<p>Prior to his conversion to the Church, Edward Partridge was a successful hatter in Painesville, Ohio. Relocating himself and his family to Missouri was a great sacrifice. Shortly after this commandment was given, he wrote to his wife, Lydia, informing her that he needed to stay in Missouri “for the present, contrary to [his] expectations” and that he wanted her to stay in Painesville until the spring so she would be more comfortable there. Then he wrote of his feelings about leaving his home of more than a decade: “When I left Painesville, I told people I was coming back and bade none a farewell but for a short time, consequently I feel a great desire to return once more and bid your connection and my friends and acquaintances an eternal farewell, unless they should be willing to forsake all for the sake of Christ, and be gathered with the saints of the most high God.”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a></p> <p>Several months later, Lydia Partridge undertook the journey to Missouri. Because Edward had been assigned to look after the needs of the Church in Missouri, Lydia had to manage the journey on her own. In addition to moving all of the family’s clothing and possessions, she had to look after their five daughters, ranging in age from eleven years to seventeen months old. Emily Partridge later reflected on her parents’ sacrifices, saying, “It seemed, to him, a very great undertaking for mother to break up her home and prepare for such a journey, with a family of little children, without her husband to advise and make arrangements for her. She was then quite young, and inexperienced in such things. But if my father could have looked forward into the future and beheld what his family would have to go through I think he would have felt still more anxious.”<a href="#_ftn2" id="_ftnref2" title="" class="see-footnote">[2]</a></p> <p>During their journey to Missouri, Lydia and her daughters were assisted by Church members such as Isaac Morley and his family, who were also traveling to the new Zion. Emily later reflected, “Whatever suffering and privation my mother had to endure she never murmured or complained, but rejoiced that she was counted worthy to endure tribulation for the Gospel’s sake. She felt that she had enlisted in a good cause and she looked forward to the happy time that had been promised to the saints. Her religion compensated her for all the hardships she had to endure.”<a href="#_ftn3" id="_ftnref3" title="" class="see-footnote">[3]</a></p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> Partridge, 64.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref2" id="_ftn2" title="" class="footnote-label">[2]</a> Partridge, 65.</p> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref3" id="_ftn3" title="" class="footnote-label">[3]</a> Emily Dow Partridge Young, Autobiography, <a a href="http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/EmPart.html">http://www.boap.org/LDS/Early-Saints/EmPart.html</a>, accessed February 3, 2021.</p> </div>

<p>The doctrine of agency is further explored in this revelation, adding to the doctrine that had been revealed to Joseph Smith during his translation of the book of Genesis (Moses 4:1–4) and in a revelation received almost a year earlier (D&C 29). The Lord had revealed to the Prophet that Lucifer’s objective in premortality was to “destroy the agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him” (Moses 4:3). Doctrine and Covenants 29 added that Satan and his followers turned away from God “because of their agency” (D&C 29:36). The devil and his angels play a role in helping men and women learn the power of their agency. The Lord revealed that “it must needs be that the devil should tempt the children of men, or they could not be agents unto themselves; for if they never should have bitter they could not know the sweet” (D&C 29:39). For people to exercise the power to choose, they must have a good choice and a bad choice.</p> <p>Now, as the first missionaries stood in the land of Zion, the Lord again wanted to emphasize their power to do good. While the Lord provides commandments and counsel, His ultimate aim is to empower men and women to see the ways they can bring about God’s purposes and then move proactively to do good. The Lord gives direction, but He wants us to eventually learn to see what needs to be accomplished and do good works of our own free will. Learning to use our personal agency to bless and help those around us is the Lord’s ultimate aim of giving us agency.</p>

<p>Along with agency must come accountability. The Lord gives commandments to men and women and therefore must hold them accountable. In recent years, Church leaders have discouraged the use of the term <em>free agency</em> because it suggests that a person’s freedom to choose comes without consequences for their actions. The term <em>free agency</em> does not appear in the scriptures. The Lord instead uses the term <em>moral agency</em> (D&C 101:78). In the time this revelation was received, an <em>agent</em> was defined as one to “entrusted with the business of another.”<a href="#_ftn1" id="_ftnref1" title="" class="see-footnote">[1]</a> The connotation is similar to saying that someone can act as an attorney or representative of someone or something else. To say a person had <em>moral agency</em> was to say that a person was entrusted to act on behalf of morality.</p> <p>Today when we speak of someone as a <em>free agent</em> we mean that the person is committed to no group or organization to act on his or her behalf. However, understanding our premortal existence, we also understand that we committed to live the plan when we came to earth. Therefore, we are not <em>free agents</em> during our life here on earth but <em>moral agents</em> committed to live the laws of God. The Lord gives us opportunities to recommit to the cause through baptism and other covenants. But just as a player signed to a sports team is not allowed to act as an agent for another team, we are committed to use our power to act to forward the purposes of God, working as moral agents.</p> <div class="footnotes"> <p class="footnote"><a href="#_ftnref1" id="_ftn1" title="" class="footnote-label">[1]</a> Webster’s 1828 Dictionary, “agent”.</p> </div>