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Why have ye gathered yourselves together?

Helaman 7:13

 

 

Nephi, the son of Helaman, led the Church at a difficult time. The coming of the Savior was close at hand, and yet the Nephites were proud and full of iniquity. Feeling deeply discouraged, Nephi climbed a tower in his garden to pray. People passing by noticed the prophet praying and began to gather on the street below. When Nephi ended his prayer, he asked the multitude, “Why have ye gathered yourselves together?” (Helaman 7:13). He then called upon the people to repent and told them of the sorrow in his heart because of the hardness of theirs (Helaman 7:14, 18).

We live in a time when the Second Coming draws ever closer. Corrupt judges and leaders incite the people against religious values and moral standards just as they did in Nephi’s day. One glance through a newspaper or a perusal of the most-often viewed sites on the Internet verify that what Nephi said to his people still applies in today’s world: “Ye have set your hearts upon the riches and the vain things of this world, for the which ye do murder, and plunder, and steal, and bear false witness against your neighbor, and do all manner of iniquity” (Helaman 7:21).

Nephi took advantage of the fact that people had gathered near his garden. He called them to repentance, hoping that would help to disperse the darkness that had settled over them. Today’s Saints are surrounded by a world of spiritual darkness, and we take comfort in being able to gather together. Elder David A. Bednar summarized the reasons for gathering together: “What are the fundamental purposes of gathering? The Lord gathers His people to worship, to build up the Church, for a defense, and to receive counsel and instruction.”¹ Coming together strengthens us and allows us to receive blessings, both spiritual and temporal, that we could not receive on our own.

Two missionaries met a woman at a store and began a conversation with her. They were surprised to find out she was already a member of the Church but had been inactive for many years. They invited her back to church, and she came with her teenage son. He loved the Church and fit in quickly with the youth group. He enjoyed attending seminary and reading the Book of Mormon, and it was not long before the boy wanted to be baptized. The missionaries and his mother were happy, but his father was not. He said, “That’s fine if my wife wants to attend that church, but I don’t want my son involved.”

The missionaries approached their mission president and asked if he would please speak to the father and help him see it would be good for his son to be baptized. “I’ll do my best,” the mission president said, and a meeting was arranged.

When the time came, the first words out of the father’s mouth were, “So what does my kid get for being a Mormon?”

“Salvation,” the mission president responded with a smile.

“Don’t talk to me about salvation,” said the father. “Any church can promise salvation—mansions in heaven and streets paved with gold—because no one knows who can really deliver and who can’t. Talk to me about right here and now. What does my kid get for being a Mormon?”

The mission president explained, “The benefits of Church membership are spiritual in nature, but I understand your concern, so let’s set those spiritual advantages aside for just a moment and speak about additional benefits—temporal benefits—of being a Latter-day Saint.”

He then pointed out that the Savior had said, “By their fruits ye shall know them” (Matthew 7:20), and he began to outline some of the “fruits” of the Latter-day Saint lifestyle. Based on United States statistics, one of the fruits is longer life. Mormons are healthier than most people and live longer than the national average. One study reported that Mormons live ten to eleven years longer.²

Another fruit is better education. “Latter-day Saints have a significantly higher level of educational attainment than does the population of the United States as a whole.”³ Those with higher levels of education report an enriched quality of life and increased satisfaction with life. Most Mormons enjoy these blessings.

Another benefit enjoyed by members of the Church is stronger marriages and families. Those who are married in and attend the temple regularly have a divorce rate far below the national and world average.⁴ Latter-day Saint families struggle with many of the same challenges that confront all families, but in general they deal with them from a long-term perspective that makes a difference.

The last benefit that the mission president pointed out to the questioning father was the international circle of support and friendship found within the social network of the Church. Not only do these connections strengthen and help members but they also allow members to reach out in service to many others. “Your son will have the opportunity to connect with others around the world in multiple ways,” he told him.

The father was impressed enough that he allowed his son to be baptized, and he even attended the baptismal service. But as he watched his son dressed in white being led into the font by a missionary, the father was not thinking about longer life or better education. As he watched his boy reverently and sincerely make covenants with God, the father was not thinking about stronger marriages and international networks of friends. Instead, he felt the Spirit so strongly that the next time the missionaries came to his home he did not leave or pretend he wasn’t home. He let them teach him. When they challenged him to read the Book of Mormon, he did not make a joke out of it as he had before. He actually read it.

Before long, the mission president was invited to another baptism—the father’s. When the mission president approached the man dressed in white, he asked good-naturedly, “So what do you get for being a Mormon?”

The man smiled sheepishly and responded, “Salvation.”

As this man and his family gathered themselves together with the Saints they began to experience the “fruits”—both those in the short term, the long term, and those that would last into eternity. Although this family—and all Latter-day Saints—will face difficulties, by congregating with other Church members they will be able to worship, build up the Church, defend themselves against darkness, and receive instruction. Let us embrace opportunities to gather together.

 

 

Why have ye gathered yourselves together?

 

Notes

^1. Bednar, “The Spirit and Purposes of Gathering,” Brigham Young University–Idaho devotional address, October 31, 2006; available at http://www.byui.edu/Presentations/transcriptions/devotionals/2006_10_31_bednar.htm.

^2. James T. Duke, Latter-day Saint Social Life: Social Research on the LDS Church and Its Members (Provo, UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1998); see also studies by James Enstrom.

^3. Terrell H. Bell, “Educational Attainment,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, ed. Daniel H. Ludlow, 4 vols. (New York: Macmillan, 1992), 2:446–47.

^4. Kristen L. Goodman, “Divorce,” in Encyclopedia of Mormonism, 1:391–93.