You are all familiar with the story of Lehi's dream and the
iron rod that led to the tree of life. The fruit of the tree was the love of
God. There were mists of darkness along the way so that the traveler had to
hold on to the rod of iron or loose his way. We are told that the iron rod was
the word of God. We sing, “it will safely guide us through.”
I would like to tell you of my experience with the iron
rod.
When I was growing up, I do not remember ever having family
scripture reading. We had family prayers and very occasionally some gospel
discussions. We went to church and when we were old enough we went to MIA. We
occasionally read Bible stories.
Then some time after we moved to Lander, when I was about
15, we started to read the Book of Mormon. We read at the dinner table at night
before we cleared the table and did the dishes. My parents found it
stimulating, but I don't remember that my brothers and I were ever that
impressed in a spiritual way.
Although we lived in a small town and the people there were
generally good people, they were in some measure worldly. The friends that I
associated with did not usually keep the word of wisdom and their speech was
often crude. I knew better, but the crowd had an influence on my thinking.
Although I did not tip over outhouses or shoot out streetlights or do some of
the other things that my friends did, I often was in their company. A thing that I now regret.
When I went to Weber College I attended the institute and
read the assigned scriptures, but I do not remember ever reading by myself. I
went to church and to MIA. It was a habit that I enjoyed.
I graduated from the institute of religion and attended the
graduation where Joseph Fielding Smith spoke. I was in the habit of saying my
prayers at night, but I do not remember if I ever read the scriptures on a
daily basis. The fraternity life was less than spiritual even though most
of the members were LDS. My church attendance kept me from going through the
mists of darkness and loosing my way.
When I was working in the summer I know I did not read them,
because I did not have my own set of scriptures until I bought them when I was
in the mission home in June of 1954. This may seem a little strange to
you, but at that time it was not the practice for every member to have their
own set of scriptures and very few people brought them to church meetings with
them, as is now the practice.
Once I was in Germany on my mission we had companion study
and read the Book of Mormon every day. We would read five verses in German and
then translate into English while the companion would check the translation
using the English scriptures. Then we would reverse the process. I did
this throughout my whole mission. In addition I read the Luther translation of
the Bible including the apocrypha. I had a firm grasp on the iron rod.
Unfortunately after I got home from my mission I did not
keep up with the daily scripture reading. It was not stressed at that
time.
I took some religion classes when I was at BYU. It was a
requirement and I filled it by taking classes from Hugh Nibley. This required
outside reading, but not the Bible or the Book of Mormon. Thus, I was not
holding on to the iron rod at that time. I was still very active in the church
and taught a Sunday school class. The lessons were doctrinal, but did not
require scriptures.
Although I was active in the church, I was not holding onto
the iron rod. Fortunately I met my wife and I remember getting my recommend to
be married in the temple. The member of the stake presidency said something
that I didn't agree with. He said it was not necessary to pray with my wife
frequently before we were married. I guess that was the trend at that
time. I decided that we would kneel and pray twice daily and say a
blessing on the food every time we ate. We have continued this practice until
today.
During my years of medical school I do not remember that we
read the scriptures together on a regular basis. It was not stressed at that
time either. We were very active in the church and never missed any
meeting or activity. We also went to the temple on a regular basis.
We went to Ogden for an internship and I was not given an
assignment in the church. We were not reading the scriptures as a family. It
was a period of spiritual indolence for me. As I look at this time in
retrospect I did not realize what was happening. It was as if the mists of
darkness shrouded me.
We moved back to Salt Lake and that was when the church came
out with the family home evening manual. We started having family home evening
every week. I was given a calling in the ward. Although we were not reading the
scriptures every day we were studying the gospel.
We continued having prayers and family home evening in
California. I was given a calling in the ward, which required me to study the
gospel in depth in order to teach it and answer questions.
After our return from California I was soon called to serve
as the stake president. I felt the need to be well informed in the doctrine of
the church and the principles of the gospel. I read the entire standard works
at night while waiting for my wife to take her shower and get ready for
bed. I memorized passages of scripture so that I could quote them at
appropriate times. We started reading the scriptures as a family as well
as holding family home evening. We have continued to read on a somewhat
regular basis since. I read the Book of Mormon in German as well.
The Book of Mormon is written for our time. It presents
answers and helps for the problems of our lives. By reading it we can increase
our spiritual sensitivity.
Now my grandchildren hold on to the iron rod so that you can
taste of the love of God and not be lured into the great and spacious building
or wander into forbidden paths and lose your eternal soul.
Love,
Grandpa
