The Spiritual Treasure of “Small and Simple” Covenant-Keeping Acts

Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints recently celebrated the 100th birthday of the Church’s prophet-leader, Russell M. Nelson. Our entire family also celebrated this month a huge milestone—the 50th anniversary of our marriage on October 3, 1974, in the Salt Lake Temple—what we as Latter-day Saints describe as a “sealing for time and for all eternity.” “Sealing” refers to marriages performed in temples under priesthood keys described in Matthew 16:19. On that occasion, Jesus Christ bestowed upon Peter “the keys of the kingdom of heaven,” by which ordinances performed by those acting under this authority, “whatsoever [is bound or done] on earth,” shall also, the Savior said, “be bound [or sealed or recognized] in heaven: and whatsoever [is loosed or undone] on earth shall be loosed in heaven.”

I was struck at both of these celebrations by the testimonials offered by family members of their most significant memories of their father and grandfather (and in the case of our 50th and more impressively, testimonials as well of my wife Dorothy, their mother and grandmother). Invariably, these testimonials or memories did not center on any educational or professional accomplishments (which in President Nelson’s case, as a celebrated surgeon and medical researcher, are significant) or even “prominent” Church callings. Rather, they focused on the “small and simple,” everyday acts of kindness, encouragement, peace-making and day-to-day “rituals” that play out through a lifetime of praying and studying God’s word together, family meals, chores, work and service “projects,” playing together, magnifying callings in the Church and generally living together in love as families and neighbors.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson made a similar observation about “small and simple things” in recent remarks about the pioneers, reported in the Church News, whose 1200-mile trek from Nauvoo, Illinois to Salt Lake City, Utah—in many cases, such as Dorothy’s 3d great-grandparents, on foot pulling handcarts—we now see as “heroic” (which is how many of us see our own parents and grandparents efforts to raise their families):

“I don’t suppose many of [these pioneers] thought they were in any individual case doing something great and grand. It was just one foot in front of the other, … and yet, what a beautiful, spiritual harvest they produced."

Quoting from the late Church President Joseph F. Smith in 1905, Elder Christofferson read: “Those things which we call extraordinary, remarkable or unusual may make history, but they do not make real life. After all, to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind, is the truest greatness” (Juvenile Instructor, Dec. 15, 1905).

“This is a powerful insight,” Elder Christofferson said. “Unfortunately, in my observation and impression, this approach to life — this focus on the small and simple means that bring to pass greater things — is becoming counter cultural. There is now a more prominent attitude that this life is all there is. … The feeling is that there isn’t more. It is the ‘eat, drink and be merry’ approach to things. … Many of the rising generations think that anything that doesn’t give pleasure is a form of oppression.”[1]

Doing “well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind” sounds a lot like the Law of Obedience. In our Come Follow Me reading about the Savior’s visit after His resurrection to the Nephites on the American continent, as recorded in the Book of Mormon, we find this simple declaration: “Behold, I have given unto you the commandments; therefore keep my commandments” (3 Nephi 15:10; compare John 14:15 (“if you love me, keep my commandments”)).

There then follows a beautiful illustration of Jesus showing us how this looks. He explained that Heavenly Father, in leading Lehi and his family out of Jerusalem to the American continent, had given to Lehi’s posterity (a “remnant of the house of Jacob”) this land (the Americas) as an “inheritance.” However, the Savior told the Nephites, “not at any time hath the Father given me commandment that I should tell it unto your brethren at Jerusalem. . . . This much did the Father command me, that I should tell unto them: That other sheep I have which are not of this fold; them also I must bring, and they shall hear my voice; and there shall be one fold, and one shepherd” (3 Nephi 15:14, 16-17; see John 10:16). Why did the Father withhold this information from the Jews (who kept the records that became the Bible)? “Because of stiffneckedness and unbelief [the Jews] understood not my word; therefore I was commanded to say no more of the Father concerning this thing unto them” (3 Nephi 15:18). How revealing this exchange is not only about Christ’s perfect ability to discern and obey His Father’s seemingly constant guidance, but also how involved the Father was and is in directing the Savior’s ministry.

In his most recent General Conference message, President Nelson gave us another great example of “doing well those things which God has ordained.” In response to the question, “why is the Church building temples at an unprecedented pace?” President Nelson responded, “because the Lord has instructed us to do so.” President Nelson went on to explain, as other of our prophets, seers and revelators have done,[2] why the Lord may have commanded His prophet to marshal the resources of His Church and Kingdom on the Earth to build so many temples, including to facilitate the gathering of Israel “on both sides of the veil” and to “to prepare a people who will help prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord.”[3] But it is significant to me, that, in the final analysis, it is sufficient to President Nelson (and should be to us), that the Prophet keeps announcing more temples (and all the work associated therewith) because the Lord commands it.

At the heart of every covenant is a commandment (or commandments). For example, in our baptismal and sacramental covenants, we are commanded, and agree, to be willing to take upon ourselves the name of God’s Son, “always remember him and keep his commandments which he has given” us (D&C 20:77). Expressing our covenantal “willingness to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ,” President Oaks explained, can “be understood as willingness to take upon us the authority of Jesus Christ,” which we do more fully in the temple. “According to this meaning, by partaking of the sacrament, we witness our willingness to participate in the sacred ordinances of the temple”.[4] In the endowment we are commanded, and solemnly agree, to keep the Laws of Obedience, Sacrifice, the Gospel of Jesus Christ, Chastity and Consecration, among other sacred obligations, including “wear[ing] the garment day and night throughout [our lives]”.[5] And, of course, in the sealing ordinance, the “crowning” ordinance of the gospel, men and women agree, in essence, to “live by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God” (D&C 84:44).[6]

From the perspective of a faithful disciple of Jesus Christ, all of these requirements are, indeed, easy. As Christ said, “my yoke is [His laws, rites and ordinances are] easy, and my burden is light” (Matthew 11:30). Ultimately, they are each, individually and in the aggregate, “small and simple things,” designed by our all-knowing and all-powerful Father to bring about his singular work—the eternal life of man, that is, enabling His children to have the quality of life God Himself enjoys. While, as Elder Christofferson noted, the world may characterize God’s expectations as “oppressive” or requiring us to sacrifice or “give up” things for the Lord and His kingdom,[7] in reality the small and simple ways in which we as parents, grandparents, neighbors and church workers apply God’s counsel (commands) in our lives transforms us into beings that are able to live a celestial life and law. As Bishop Todd Budge put it, obedience and sacrifice are:

Less about “giving up” and more about “giving to” the Lord [including those the Lord has entrusted to our care, our families and flocks]. Engraved upon the entrance to each of our temples are the words “Holiness to the Lord; the House of the Lord.” As we observe our covenants by sacrifice, we are made holy through the grace of Jesus Christ; and at the altars of the holy temple, with broken hearts and contrite spirits, we give our holiness to the Lord. Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught: “The submission of one’s will [or heart] is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar. … However, when you and I finally submit ourselves, by letting our individual wills be swallowed up in God’s will, then we are really giving something to Him!”

When our sacrifices on behalf of others are viewed from the perspective of “giving up,” we may see them as a burden and become discouraged when our sacrifices are not recognized or rewarded. However, when viewed from the perspective of “giving to” the Lord, our sacrifices on behalf of others [including our families] become gifts, and the joy of generously giving becomes its own reward. Freed from the need for love, approval, or appreciation from others, our sacrifices become the purest and deepest expressions of our gratitude and love for the Savior and our fellow men.[8]

May each of us remember and rejoice in the “small and simple” acts of obedience, sacrifice and service the Lord requires of us, seeing them for what they really are—the path to “true greatness”!

[1] Ryan Jensen, “‘One foot in front of the other,’ Elder Christofferson encourages embracing the small and simple acts,” Church News, September 20, 2024, https://www.thechurchnews.com/leaders/2024/09/26/elder-d-todd-christofferson-encourages-embracing-small-simple-acts/?utm_campaign=Church%20News%20-%20English&utm_medium=email&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-8ezDP50UbJWFIrYg6ESGhJMi145z_rL1GUC_xhEPWIE4V_KoqR5C302Kad9x3V5RKST16vtgWuS2HDTFdTq1J377a0Nw&_hsmi=327227190&utm_content=327227190&utm_source=hs_email (emphasis added). [2] To the question, “why is the Lord now bringing hundreds of His temples closer to us?” Elder Neal A. Anderson , for example, offered the following responses: (1) “Amid the turmoil and temptations of the world, [the Lord] has promised to strengthen and bless His covenant Saints,” which strengthening comes “as we faithfully worship in the house of the Lord;” (2) “In His holy house, we take His name more completely upon us;” (3) “Regularly performing ordinances for our ancestors in the temple brings a sweet and sure confirmation that life continues beyond the veil;” (4) “As we come with willing hearts to the house of the Lord, the most holy place on earth, we grow up in the Lord and can ‘receive a fulness of the Holy Ghost;’” [5] Ultimately, we can receive the promised blessing that, if faithful, we will see Christ’s face, which can be realized “many different ways,” there being “no better place [for this to be realized] than in His holy house.” (“Temples, Houses of the Lord Dotting the Earth,” Liahona, May 2024) [3] Sydney Walker. “President Nelson calls upon Latter-day Saints to ‘rededicate your lives to Jesus Christ’ and prepare for His Second Coming,” Church News, October 6, 2024. [4] Stephen L. Fluckiger, Drawing Upon the Spiritual Treasures of the Temple, 144, quoting Dallin H. Oaks, “Taking upon Us the Name of Jesus Christ,” Ensign, May 1985, 81). [5] General Handbook 38.5.5, “Wearing the temple garment,”  https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/manual/general-handbook/38-church-policies-and-guidelines?lang=eng#title_number234 (“You should wear the garment day and night throughout your life.”) [6] “In the oath and covenant of the priesthood [set out in verses 39-44 of Section 84], the Lord uses the verbs obtain and receive. He does not use the verb ordain. It is in the temple that men and women—together—obtain and receive the blessings and power of both the Aaronic and Melchizedek Priesthoods” (Stephen L. Fluckiger, Drawing Upon the Spiritual Treasures of the Temple, 265, quoting Paul B. Pieper, “The Realities of Mortality,” Brigham Young University- Idaho Devotional, February 19, 2013, https://www2.byui.edu/ Presentations/Transcripts/Devotionals/2013_02_19_Pieper.htm#_edn3, quoted in, Paul B. Pieper, “Revealed Realities of Mortality,” Ensign, January 2016, 21). See generally Drawing, chapter 18, “The Spiritual Treasure of Eternal Families.” [7] “In ancient days, the meaning of the word sacrifice was more closely tied to its two Latin roots: sacer, meaning ‘sacred’ or ‘holy,’ and facere, meaning ‘to make.’ Thus, anciently sacrifice meant literally ‘to make something or someone holy.’ Viewed as such, sacrifice is a process of becoming holy and coming to know God, not an event or ritualistic ‘giving up’ of things for the Lord.” Bishop L. Todd Budge, “Giving Holiness to the Lord,” Liahona, November 2021, 101. [8] Ibid. Image by Michael Hart