Talk given at Gideon Farber’s baptism

30 January 2016

I awoke this morning thinking about the necessities of life.  What are the necessities of life?

(Answer:  Food, clothing and shelter).

That’s right.  Those are the necessities to maintain mortal life.  But the necessities to enable eternal life are entirely different.

The first two are family and covenants.  Today you made your first covenant.  You covenanted to always remember Jesus, and to keep His commandments.  I have made some other very sacred covenants in the temple that bind my family to me.  Because of those covenants, always and forever, you will belong to me.

The third necessity of life is the Priesthood.  My Priesthood is what enabled me to go to the temple and to form this eternal family.  In four more years you will obtain the Priesthood, too.  This Church turns their boys into men at an earlier age than any other society in the world.  At the age of 12 we declare our boys to be men, and give them the Priesthood.  Always be sure to honor your Priesthood and to keep yourself worthy of it.

The fourth necessity of life is the gift of repentance.  The ability to repent of our sins is a great gift given to us through the Savior’s Atonement.  You’ll need to use that gift throughout your life.

The fifth necessity is the gift of the Holy Ghost, which you will get tomorrow.  This gift is priceless.  Through the Holy Ghost you can know things that you need to know instantly.  Some day the Holy Ghost will tell you, “Stop!”  “Stop what you’re doing, or stop and don’t go there.”  At other times the Holy Ghost will tell you, “Go!”  “Go help that person.”

Driving here on the slushy roads today, I was reminded of another time when I was driving on a slushy road.  I had left La Grande, and was coming up Ladd Canyon.  The highway was slushy and slick.  I was nearly to the top of the hill when I noticed a car approaching rapidly in my rear-view mirror.  At the instant I noticed the car, I knew something else.  That car was going to pass me on my left, and I knew that it was going to lose control as it passed me, and slam into my car.  I pressed on my accelerator to keep the car from passing me.  I watched in my rear-view mirror as the car immediately began fishtailing, going back and forth across the highway before it plowed into a snowbank and headed up an incline.  I knew the driver wasn’t injured so I didn’t stop.  I would have created a traffic hazard if I had.  But all the way home I thanked Heavenly Father for the gift of that warning that came through the Holy Ghost.

I used to be a sailor on a ship in Japan.  Because my ship was drydocked, I attended church every Sunday on the base.  I always made sure that I was the first one to church so that I could set up chairs and be there to welcome men who came in off the ships that pulled into port.  One day a young man appeared at the door and asked, “What do I need to do to join this church?”

I replied, “Well, you’ll need to take the missionary discussions, which we can give to you, and then you can be baptized.”  My friend and I got through three discussions with him before his ship pulled out.  I thought that would be the last time I’d ever see him, so I never thought of him again for several months.

One night I got ready for bed on my ship, and turned in.  I was lying there in my bunk reading my scriptures, when this young man came very forcibly into my mind.  The thoughts that I was having were so insistent that there was nothing I could do but to get up, get dressed, and go pacing up and down the docks to see if the young man’s ship had come in.

Sure enough, I found it.  I marched up the gangplank, saluted the sailor on watch at the head of the gangplank, and requested permission to come aboard.  I then commenced asking everyone I met where I could find my friend.  No one had seen him.  I had been sent there for some definite purpose, so I determined that I wasn’t going to leave the ship until I’d found him.  I literally searched that unfamiliar ship from stem to stern.  Finally I found him down in the hold, up in the bow, and in a dirty hole in the engine room.  He was filthy and forlorn.

He was surprised to see me.  I said, “Bill, I went to bed a while ago, and the Holy Ghost told me to get up and come find you.  Tell me why I’m here.”

“Well, if you must know,” he replied, “I’m sitting here figuring out the best way to kill myself.”

“Bill,” I said, “the fact that I’m here is evidence that your Father in Heaven knows you, knows what you’re thinking, and does not want you to do it.”

We had a long talk.  Bill promised me that he’d never entertain such thoughts again.  His ship pulled out, and I never saw him again.  I expect that he’s still alive today.  If he made himself worthy, received the gift of the Holy Ghost, and kept himself worthy, I can guarantee that he’s happy today.  If he didn’t get the gift of the Holy Ghost, and if he didn’t make and keep himself worthy, I can guarantee that he’s not happy today.  It’s just that simple.

There is a sixth necessity of life.  When Lehi left Jerusalem and fled into the wilderness he forgot something.  Does anyone know what Lehi forgot?

That’s right, the scriptures.  He didn’t take the scriptures with him because he didn’t have any.  He sent his boys back to get them from Laban.  The scriptures were an absolute necessity if Lehi and his descendants were going to survive and be successful in the Promised Land.

So here’s your very own set of scriptures.  Now you have another of the necessities of life.  A seventh necessity of life is something that you already have, and that’s a testimony.  You have a testimony of the truthfulness of the Church because you have a great family that has taught you, and because you’re already reading the scriptures.

So there you have the seven necessities of life:  family, covenants, the Priesthood, the gift of repentance, the gift of the Holy Ghost, the scriptures, and a testimony.  These are the most valuable things in life.  They’re necessities.  Cherish them, and keep yourself worthy of them at all times.