Testimony of Mary Jo

Mary Jo’s   TESTIMONY  OF JESUS

During the Savior’s mortal ministry, many of the Jews misconceived exactly who the promised Messiah was. They hoped that he would come as a great military leader who would save them from the oppression of the Romans. 

They had it partially right—He was going to SAVE THEM, but not in the way they thought. 

To test his disciples about his divine purpose, Jesus asked them two questions: 1st Whom do men say that I am? They answered John the Baptist or Elias or a prophet.  

And then, Jesus makes the distinction for them by changing only one word in His 2nd question: Whom do ye say that I am? 

Peter, righteously answered, “Thou are the Christ.”

 And so, the third question is ours, “Whom do we say He is?”

 For us, we say, as Peter did, Thou art the Christ, our Savior, our Redeemer, our Exemplar, our Messiah, our Advocate with the Father, the Living Water, the Prince of Peace, the Light of the World.

We say Thou art the Master of the Universe. And we are your ministering angels. We are privy to do God’s work here and now—to live in a land consecrated to Him—a land of liberty forever if we serve Him faithfully.

President Nelson said as much in his message in last October’s Conference when he invited us to “Embrace the Future”. The Lord placed you here now because He knew you had the capacity to negotiate the complexities of the latter part of these latter days. He knew you would grasp the grandeur of His work and be eager to help bring it to pass.

To help us understand, may I pull 2 of President Nelson’s phrases and spend a little more time on them:

1st the words– the capacity to negotiate the complexities of the latter part of these latter days? Just how do we negotiate? 

Paul gives us sound advice on how—as he wrote to the Corinthians:

We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed 

We are perplexed, but not in despair

Persecuted, but not forsaken

Cast down, but not destroyed.

Now, let me pull those words out to look at them in a different pattern: The dark column-distressed, despair, forsaken, destroyed—sound hopeless. 

Now listen to the lighter column: troubled, perplexed, persecuted—all situations that can be resolved.

If we have trouble, we find a solution. If we are perplexed, we pursue an answer. If we are persecuted, we understand that we can count ourselves as long- suffering disciples of Jesus Christ. We learn from Him—who was crucified by the very people He created—how to tolerate injustice.

Don’t we all love the story of Joseph of Egypt—a 17-year-old boy betrayed and sold by his brothers into slavery; falsely accused and then wrongly imprisoned for 12 years. For his love of God and great faith, Joseph, despite all of his hardships, had God-given gifts that, by the time he was 30, he was second in command to Pharaoh. 

To this very day, Joseph teaches us that it is a Godlike quality for us to be able to turn bad into good. The very Creation itself was a process of making order out of chaos. Certainly, He has designed us to do the same—even in the latter part of these latter days.

To help us understand this promise, may I share a story I heard at BYU Education Week decades ago taught by Gerald Lund—author of The Work and The Glory which some of you have read. Brother Lund told of a date night with his wife at the movies. This happened while they were living in California in an area subject to earthquakes. As they sat, enjoying the show suddenly there came a tremor and a rumble. His wife turned to him and asked, “Did you feel that? Did you hear that?” Again, the tremor and rumble. This time she spoke to him with more panic in her voice, “We need to leave. There’s an earthquake coming. We need to get out of this theater.” Again, the tremor and the rumble, at which time he turned to her with the good news. “Honey do not be afraid. The theater next door is showing the movie, Earthquake, and the seats have been wired with motion and sound devices to simulate being in a quake. We are safe. We are in a different theater.” Brother Lund used this metaphor to teach us, “That’s how it will be in the last days—the latter part of these latter days. There will be tremors and rumbles; we will see and hear scary things, but we are in a different theater—we are in the Lord’s safe theater.”

Whom do we say He is? We say he is the Savior of the World. We say He is also our personal Savior. We say we need not fear. We need not feel despair. We need not feel forsaken. Instead, we negotiate complexities by removing ourselves from the fray and following the light of His path. 

2nd of President Nelson’s prophetic words, “we can grasp the grandeur of His work and be eager to help bring it to pass." 

The Lord enlightened me on this principle decades ago when I was a young mother with three children under the age of 8. A few months after the birth of my 3 rd child, I began to lose use of my legs. My doctor referred me to a neurologist who, after a quick assessment hospitalize me. The urgency frightened me. As I waited in the hospital bed, I imagined the worst. How will I raise my 3 little children if I cannot use my legs? In supplication, I turned to the Lord. I prayed as I never had, pleading with Him to heal me. The answer came—audibly with my name in it. “Mary Jo, if you will take care of others, I will take care of you.”

In that moment, He asked me the same question. Mary Jo, whom do you say I am? In that moment, I made a personal covenant with Him--He became my personal Savior. He became real to me. And he kept that promise. I was able to raise my 3 children and spend the next 3 decades of my life teaching hundreds of young people from this part of his vineyard. And now, I can stand here to bear witness to each of you that he says the same thing to you, individually, “Whom do you say I am? I am your Savior. If you will help others, I will help you.”

What an inspiring promise this is. That He will strengthen us beyond our own capacity to do His work. As Isaiah wrote—they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

I love the scripture we recently read in the D&C: 18:15 And if it so be that ye should labor all your days …and bring…one soul unto me, how great shall be your joy with him in the kingdom of my Father”

Why do I have the feeling that “great joy” is an understatement? That the joy we will feel with those we love, with those to whom we have ministered—once we are on the other side—together—in the presence of our Lord and Savior, is unimaginable by our finite minds. I think we might come close if we were to recall the most euphoric experience of our entire lives and then multiply that by a centillion-fold? (a centillion has 300+ zeros) that’s A lot of JOY!

This is the Savior’s promise-- we get to spend our eternities surrounded by the people we love the most. Of course, our family, but think Celestial Neighborhood. My husband and I are converts to the church. Two dedicated Elders found us over 40 years ago while tracting in our neighborhood on the other side of the country. Those two men rank among the choicest of all of Heavenly Father’s people. How thrilled I am that our family will get to be their neighbors in the Eternities.

The Grandeur and joy of the Gospel of Jesus Christ is about relationships—our relationship with our God and our relationship with each other. The first two commandments—according to the Savior, the greatest commandments—the ones all the others hinge upon—are to love God with all of our heart, soul & mind and love our neighbors as ourselves. In fact, the second commandment is the one commandment that is impossible to disobey. We always love others according to the way we view ourselves. That is why it is so important to know exactly who we are—that we know we are divine in nature because we are His!

Whom do we say He is? We say He is the author of power, love, peace, and joy! The Master of the Universe and we get to be His ministering angels! 

I learned a few decades ago that prophets prophesy a generation ahead. When David O McKay instituted FHE, he wasn’t thinking of the intact families of the 1950’s—this plan was to prevent the disintegration of the family that would occur one brief generation later. 

With that in mind, please listen to the promises of President Ezra Taft Benson to our generation as we turn things over to the Lord—He promises that the Lord can make a lot more out of our lives than we can. "He will deepen our joys, expand our vision, quicken our minds, strengthen our muscles, lift our spirits, multiply our blessings, increase our opportunities, comfort our souls, raise up friends, and pour out peace.” 

Whom do we say He is? The answer—the very Messiah who comes to save all of us from sin, sorrow, and suffering, and lift us out of our pain, misfortune, and misery. It really is that simple yet that profound, that magnificent. After all, the Gospel of Jesus Christ is the Plan of Happiness.

We merely need to start our day approaching our God with our 2 questions, “What will thou have me do, Lord? Whom can I help today?” I testify that he will direct our minds, our paths, and our methods for very specific individuals. And that our loving efforts will bring peace and joy.

I believe that ministering is our dress rehearsal—FOR NOW IT’S AN ASSIGNMENT TO BE SURE NO ONE IS LEFT OUT—HOWEVER, IN THE LONG RUN IT PREPARES US TO LIVE THE HIGHER LAW THAT WE DESIRE TO HELP ALL PEOPLE—ASSIGNED OR NOT to prepare for His Second Coming, when we will be blessed with a House of the Lord right down the street from us. I believe that miracles await us. That we are His angels—even earthly angels in this time to help prepare this magnificent part of his vineyard. I so testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.