October 20 - Sacrament Meeting Talks

Elder and Sister Tolman were asked to give talks about a month ago.  We prepared our talks separately.  Elder Tolman spoke first and Sister Tolman spoke second.  We ended up shortening our talks as Elder Randy Funk came to our Sacrament meeting today and he asked for five minutes at the end of the meeting to share a short message.  Here is the original program.

Elder Tolman's address

Sacrament Meeting Talk for October 20 – Direction for Our Lives

In his April 2019 General Conference address President Dallin H Oaks stated “We make better choices and decisions if we look at the alternatives and ponder where they will lead.” “Our present and our future will be happier if we are always conscious of the future. As we make current decisions, we should always be asking, “Where will this lead?”

President Oaks shared this story.  On a beautiful college campus a group of students were seated around a tree watching a handsome tree squirrel playing around the base of a large hardwood tree.  An Irish setter was carefully stalking this squirrel and each time the squirrel went out of site of the dog, the dog crept closer.  The students watched intently but did nothing to warn the squirrel until it was too late and the Irish setter was close enough to bound at the squirrel and catch it in its mouth.  The students gasped but it was too late.  They could have prevented the outcome but stood by and did nothing.  The point of President Oak’s story was to remind us that when the consequences of doing nothing is immediate and serious we can not afford to do nothing. 

An unintended consequence of President Oak’s talk came as he made the assumption that individuals listening to him understood and knew what an “Irish Setter” was.  An Irish Setter is a larger dog bred for hunting.  A father took his deacon age son to Priesthood Meeting last April and asked him how he enjoyed conference.  The son indicated that he was disturbed by President Oak’s talk.  The father asked why and the son stated that he couldn’t understand why a man, an Irish Settler, would do such a thing to creep up and then grab the squirrel in his mouth. Our grandson who is 12 also didn’t know what an Irish Setter was but he decided that it must be a dog.

The choices in our life are sometimes between good and evil.  Quoting President Oaks “more frequently they are choices between two goods. Here too it is desirable to ask where this will lead. We make many choices between two goods, often involving how we will spend our time. There is nothing bad about playing video games or texting or watching TV or talking on a cell phone. But each of these involves what is called “opportunity cost,” meaning that if we spend time doing one thing, we lose the opportunity to do another. I am sure you can see that we need to measure thoughtfully what we are losing by the time we spend on one activity, even if it is perfectly good in itself.”

In the Book of Mormon we can see the consequences of the many choices made by Nephi.  Nephi wanted to know and see what his father knew and saw so he asked the Lord.  He had faith to obtain the plates of Brass as requested by the Lord.  He had faith to follow his father into the wilderness.  He had great faith to build a ship which was not after the manner of men.  Nephi made many choices in his life and from the choices that I just mentioned the results were very positive. 

When Nephi broke his bow while hunting everyone was upset with him and even his father Lehi murmured.  What did Nephi do?  “And it came to pass that I, Nephi, did make out of wood a bow, and out of a straight stick, an arrow; wherefore, I did arm myself with a bow and an arrow, with a sling and with stones. And I said unto my father: Whither shall I go to obtain food?”  Nephi’s choice here resulted in their being able to continue their journey in the wilderness. 

We read in 1 Nephi chapter 17 about the construction of the ship.   “And it came to pass that the Lord spake unto me, saying: Thou shalt construct a ship, after the manner which I shall show thee, that I may carry thy people across these waters. And I said: Lord, whither shall I go that I may find ore to molten, that I may make tools to construct the ship after the manner which thou hast shown unto me?”  Again Nephi’s choice enabled them to travel to the Promised Land.  Instead of questioning and saying how could he possibly build a ship, he asked where could he go to find ore to make tools so he could build the ship.

I grew up in Salt Lake City.  Both my parents and my mother’s parents studied and spoke French. They encouraged my siblings and me to learn some French as well.  One thing that stayed with all my siblings was a simply prayer on the food in French that we all learned.  I decided to study French in middle school and continued to take French classes in high school and college.  These choices have had a positive impact which I will mention shortly.  

During my second year at the University of Utah, I made a choice to prepare to serve a full-time mission.  This was a decision that led to a two and a half year mission in Tahiti in the South Pacific.  Had I not continued to study French, this call would not have come since the French government in Tahiti required that missionaries from the United States speak French.  If I had not served a mission, I would likely not have met my wife Lynne.  We recently celebrated our 48^th wedding anniversary.   Sister Tolman continues to be a great blessing in my life.

After completing a Masters degree in Mathematics at the University of Utah in 1973, I wanted to teach at a junior or small college level but there were not many jobs available in that field.  During my studies, I did some computer programming which let to my finding employment in the computer industry.  Our family received many blessings following this choice which led us to Michigan where we lived for eight years.  We wanted to be closer to our extended families who mostly lived in Utah and considered moving to the Phoenix, Arizona area in 1981.  As we asked for confirmation from the Lord on whether or not we should move, we received the answer that either choice will work out.  We made the choice to move and have been blessed.

In June 2012, Sister Tolman and I were asked to meet with our Stake President who happens to be our neighbor.  As we met with him, he asked me to serve as director of our Stake Family History center and a short time later Sister Tolman was also called to serve with me.  I had no experience with Family History research and later said to Sister Tolman that I would have been less surprised if he asked me to be Bishop.  We accepted our call and began our service.  That choice sent us down a path that resulted in our service here in the Family History Library. 

When I retired from full-time employment in February 2005, one of our choices was to change our regular temple attendance from monthly to weekly. This has been a great blessing to us. 

We have been counseled by President Nelson to stay on the covenant path.  In 2 Nephi chapter 31 Nephi talks about the Doctrine of Christ.  In verse 2 “I must speak concerning the doctrine of Christ and that Jesus Christ showed us the way.  In verse 9 we read about the straightness of the path and the narrowness of the gate.  This is the covenant path onto which we have all embarked.  This started with our baptism and then confirmation and with the Priesthood for the brethren and the Temple Endowment.  All of these steps happened as we made choices.  Where did these choices lead?  They brought all of us here serving in the Utah Salt Lake City Headquarter Mission

Verses 17, 18 and 19 of 2 Nephi 31 describe the covenant path.

17 …. For the gate by which ye should enter is repentance and ^abaptism by water; and then cometh a ^bremission of your sins by fire and by the Holy Ghost.

18 And then are ye in this ^astrait and narrow ^bpath which leads to eternal life; yea, ye have entered in by the gate; ye have done according to the commandments of the Father and the Son; and ye have received the Holy Ghost, which ^cwitnesses of the ^dFather and the Son, unto the fulfilling of the promise which he hath made, that if ye entered in by the way ye should receive.

19 And now, my beloved brethren, after ye have gotten into this strait and narrow ^apath, I would ask if all is ^bdone? Behold, I say unto you, Nay; for ye have not come thus far save it were by the word of Christ with unshaken ^cfaith in him, ^drelying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to ^esave.

I close with verse 20 which is a pattern for our choices in life

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

I testify that as we make choices that keep us on the covenant path, we are blessed.  Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer.  Joseph Smith is the prophet of the restoration.  President Russell M Nelson is the Lord’s prophet today in the name of Jesus Christ, amen

Sister Tolman's address

I sat down three different times about a week apart to work on this talk.  ‘Where will this lead ‘ was the name of the talk.   I didn’t look at the previous notes and each time I came up with the same basic topic so I guess the Lord was telling me what I need to talk about.

We live in the greatest of times, the dispensation of the fullness of times.  We live in a time when knowledge Is exploding on the earth.  We look to our prophet as an example of so many things.  He used the knowledge that he gained to develop one of the greatest advancements in medical history, the heart lung machine.  But even with this great honor and acclaim his greatest joys come from living the gospel and  from his family.

He had a choice to make and he chose to follow the advice and council of a prophet because the Lord knew where each of the paths would lead.  Not that that other path was bad or wrong but the Lord needed him in a different place.

We need to rely on the Lord and allow him to direct our path.  Sometimes we have things all figured out but the Lord has different plans that ultimately end up being better.

President Russel M Nelson has said:

“All our efforts to minister to each other, proclaim the gospel, perfect the Saints, and redeem the dead converge in the holy temple.”

 You could say that I have lived within the shadow of the temple the entire time I was growing up.  I was born and raised about 10 minutes from” here.  The temple was there and I knew it but I never remember it being a great priority when I was growing up.  I was encouraged to be married in the temple as I went through my young women classes.

When I was in high school and college I had a job at the telephone company on State street and I would park over near where the west church office building is.  I had the joy and privilege of walking across the temple grounds every day when it first opened and the sun shown on the temple.  This was the first time I remember feeling a love for the temple.

In 1971 my husband and I were married and committed to attend the temple each month.  This was a wonderful and enriching experience.  In 1973 we moved from Salt Lake City to Detroit Michigan and our temple attendance was halted because our temple was the Salt Lake Temple.  We would make sure we went when we came to Utah.  In the fall of 1974 the Washington D.C. temple was dedicated and now it was only a ten hour trip to get there.  It also included finding someone to watch our kids for three days  and taking time off of work and riding a bus both ways.  Our stake knew how important it was so they provided a bus every month and we as members filled it.

 In 1981 we decided we wanted to be closer to family and my husband drew a circle with Salt Lake in the middle.  We wanted to be no more than a days drive away from Salt Lake.  After the circle was drawn we located the cities with temples  in them and those are the cities we looked for jobs in.   We went to the Washington D.C. temple in February and prayed to know what we should do.  We were told that either decision would be good and to make a choice.  We moved to Tempe Arizona and our home was 15 minutes away from the temple.  We were so grateful for that blessing and have been ever since.

It was 18 years later when Detroit received a temple and it would have been only 15 minutes from our home had we still been there.

My husband retired in 2005 and we made it a priority and commitment to attend the temple weekly and we have only missed a few times in all of those 14 years.  We love going to the temple and have been blessed with some sweet experiences as we have attended

 Our daughter passed away in 2012 and she was not active.  One day as we were attending the temple she let me know that she wanted us to do her temple work.  This was a sweet and tender day and it was even more so when some of our family were able to attend the temple and complete the work for her.

That same year my husband and I received the calling to be stake family history directors and we grew over the next few months to love this work and the blessing that were shared as we attended the temple for our ancestors and helped others to do the same.  We both have pioneer lines and much work has been done.  However we have done nothing but family names for 14 years and it has been a blessing on both sides of the veil.

I have always loved section 110 of the Doctrine and Covenants and it means so much more as we learn and grow in the temple.  Moses came and committed to Joseph Smith the Gathering of Israel, and missionary  work is going forth on both sides of the veil.  Elias came and committed to Joseph the dispensation of the gospel of Abraham or the keys to the Abrahamic covenant.  Then Elijah appeared and committed to Joseph the keys to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the children to the fathers or the keys to the great work we are doing.

Last Monday evening President Fenn eloquently shared with us the Doctrine of The gospel of Jesus Christ and then told us that is what we are doing in this mission.  We are sharing this great gospel with those on the other side through connecting families and helping them to receive their ordinances and temple blessings.

As I was sitting in the temple one day reading in Doctrine and Covenants section 138 I was lead to understand that there are many waiting for us to do their work so that they can be clothed with the power of God to share the gospel with those that have not yet received it.   We truly are the Saviors on mount Zion as we arm with priesthood power and bring these blessing to those on the other side of the veil so that they are not only joined as families but can now complete the work they need to do.  Our work to find them and complete their work in the temple is vital to our Heavenly Father’s plan.

Elder Grua from our zone told us in prayer meeting the other day that we are the eyes so they can see, the ears so they can hear and the knees so they can kneel as they receive those sacred covenants.  It is our responsibility to take seriously the covenants we make for others each time we attend the temple.

President Russel M Nelson said:

“Those who are endowed in the house of the Lord receive a gift of God’s priesthood power by virtue of their covenant, along with a gift of knowledge to know how to draw upon that power.” 

So where will this Lead--  It will lead to us and our ancestors receiving the gift of eternal life with our Savior, Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father.

I have been blessed to love the temple and I am grateful to have the opportunity to have a temple close to where I live both here is Salt Lake and in Arizona