This is the talk that I gave at Samuel’s baptism.  It isn’t an exact transcription of what was actually said, but it is the official message of what I want Samuel (and the rest of my posterity) to have, to remember, and to keep.—Saturday 11 December 2010

I prayed this morning to know what to say at your baptism to make it memorable.  Even before I was through praying, the Holy Ghost said, “Tell him about Josiah.”

Josiah’s grandfather, Manasseh, was the king of Judea.  He was the most awful, most wicked king the country had ever known.  He filled Jerusalem with blood, and reigned for 55 years.  (2 Kings 21). He was succeeded by his son, Amon, who was just as evil as his father, but who only reigned two years before he was killed.  That made Josiah the new king—and he was only 8 years old!

Coming from a background like that, Josiah shouldn’t have turned out good, but the scripture says, “And like unto him was there no king before him, that turned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his might, according to all the law of Moses; neither after him arose there any like him.”  (2 Kings 23:25).

Josiah had two things going for him.  For one, he must have had a mother like yours, or he would have followed in his father’s footsteps.  The second thing he had going for him was that he had the scriptures.

When Josiah became king, no one had any scriptures.  Printing presses hadn’t been invented, and all the handwritten copies of the law of Moses disappeared during the long, wicked reign of Josiah’s grandfather.  The people of the kingdom became so wicked that the Lord told his prophet that He was going to destroy Jerusalem.

One of Josiah’s first acts was to repair, restore, and clean the temple.  As the work progressed, Hilkiah, the high priest, found the book of the law.  I imagine that one of his predecessors had taken it, and hidden it in some nook or cranny in the temple to keep it from being destroyed during Manasseh’s reign of wickedness.  That priest had probably died without telling anyone where the scriptures were hidden.

When Hilkiah found the book he sent it to king Josiah who had Shaphan the scribe read it to him.  “And it came to pass, when the king had heard the words of the book of the law, that he rent his clothes,” and said, “great is the wrath of the Lord that is kindled against us, because our fathers have not hearkened unto the words of this book, to do according unto all that which is written concerning us.”  (2 Kings 22:11, 13).

Josiah went to work and cleaned up the country.  He got rid of all the idols and their altars and groves.  He assembled “all the men of Judah and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with him, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the people, both small and great” to the temple, “and he read in their ears all the words of the book…”  (2 Kings 23:1-2)

“And the king stood by a pillar, and made a covenant before the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his commandments and his testimonies and his statutes with all their heart and all their soul, to perform the words of this covenant that were written in this book.  And all the people stood to the covenant.”  (2 Kings 23:3).

Standing there in the crowd that day were some people we know.  They all “stood to the covenant.”  One was the prophet Jeremiah.  He was the son of Hilkiah the priest, probably the same priest that found the lost book of the law.  (Jeremiah 1:1)

Other people that were there was the family of a man named Jonadab.  You can read about this family in the 35^th chapter of Jeremiah.  Jonadab did an unusual thing for his day and age.  He commanded his family to never drink wine, and they were very careful to keep that commandment.  This pleased the Lord, and He told his prophet, Jeremiah, to put Jonadab’s family to a test.  He said, “Bring them into the house of the Lord, into one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink.”  (Jeremiah 35:2).  Jeremiah said, “I brought them into the house of the Lord…and I set before (them)…pots full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye wine.  But they said, We will drink no wine:  for Jonadab…our father commanded us, saying, Ye shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever…Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab…in all that he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters.”  (Jeremiah 35:4-7).

Jonadab’s family refused to drink wine even when it was offered to them by the prophet, and in the temple.  They had made a covenant, and they were going to keep it.  The Lord told Jeremiah to say to them, “Because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that he hath commanded you:  therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Jonadab…shall not want a man to stand before me for ever.”  (Jeremiah 35:18, 19).

In essence the Lord said, “I am going to destroy Judah and Jerusalem, but I won’t do it in the days of Josiah, because his heart was tender and because he kept my commandments and his covenants.  Many people will be destroyed and will be left without descendants, but because Jonadab’s family has kept their covenants, they won’t be destroyed.  They’ll have descendants on the earth forever.”  (Jeremiah 35:17 and

2 Kings 22:19, 20).

The fathers of Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego were also in the crowd on the day that the people made the covenant to always follow the Lord and keep His commandments.  When Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon besieged Jerusalem a few years later and carried many of the people captive to Babylon, I wonder if these boys weren’t from the family of Jonadab?  These boys were commanded to drink Nebuchadnezzar’s wine, and they also refused.  They refused to worship idols even when threatened with a fiery death.  Their refusals were because of covenants they and their fathers had made.

When I was a bishop I counseled with many young people.  I challenged them to never drink alcohol nor use tobacco.  I challenged them that when they were 70-year-old grandfathers and grandmothers I wanted them to be able to tell their grandchildren that they had never tasted alcohol nor used tobacco.  I’m getting close to that age now, and I can truthfully tell you that I have never tasted alcohol nor tobacco.  I gave those young people a challenge; but to you, Samuel, I’m giving a commandment, just like Jonadab did to his sons.  I’m your grandfather, and I’m commanding you, my sons and my grandsons, my daughters and my granddaughters, to never drink alcohol nor use tobacco, and to keep the Word of Wisdom.

There’s a promise associated with the keeping of this commandment.  The Lord has said that in our day He’s going to destroy all the wicked.  But He has promised that “the destroying angel shall pass by” those that keep His commandments, particularly the Word of Wisdom, “and not slay them.”  (D&C 89:21).

If you keep your covenants, you’ll be safe.

Another person who was in the crowd that day, when Josiah caused the people to make the covenant, was Lehi.  I calculate that Lehi was perhaps half-a-dozen years younger than Josiah.  Lehi, “having dwelt at Jerusalem in all his days” (1 Ne. 1:4) would certainly have been there.  This was before Lehi was called as a prophet.  He was a very young man, and his children had not yet been born.  Because Lehi kept the covenant that he made, the Lord told him to leave Jerusalem before He destroyed the city.  Because Lehi kept his covenants, he was saved, and like Jonadab, now has many millions of descendants.

You, Samuel, are luckier than king Josiah.  You’re destined to become a king, too.  You’ll rule over a vast posterity; but it all hinges upon your keeping the covenants that you’ve made this day, and upon your making and keeping the covenants that you’ll make in the future.  You’ve been given more helps, more things to help you succeed, than Josiah ever had.

You not only have a great mother, but also a righteous father with whom you can counsel.  You have the scriptures.  Josiah only had a very, very small part of the Bible.  Lehi never had the Book of Mormon.  You have prophets to guide you.  You have a bishop, the Church organization, Primary leaders, and will have leaders in the Young Men’s organization.  You have direct access to the Father through prayer.  You’ll have a Patriarchal Blessing.  Best of all, in a couple of minutes, you’ll receive the gift of the Holy Ghost.  You’ll receive personal revelation through that gift.

You’re receiving two great gifts today.  The first is the gift of repentance.  You’ll need to use it all your life.  You’re the cleanest person in the world right now.  If you keep using the gift of repentance, you can always be as clean as you are today.  The second gift is the gift of the Holy Ghost.  This is a gift beyond compare.  Learn how to use it.  Learn how to hear the Spirit.

If you keep your covenants, and use these gifts, you can’t go wrong.  Bad things may happen, but they’ll always turn to your good.  Keep your covenants, and you’ll be safe.