Dads letter.

Dear Elders and Sisters,

Have you ever felt a lack of desire to do something that you know God expects of you? Have you ever wished that you could somehow be filled with a stronger desire to do something you know you should be doing? The scriptures teach us that what we desire is as important as what we do. Alma taught that we will ultimately be judged by both our actions and the desires of our hearts. He declared that God "granteth unto men according to their desire, whether it be unto death or unto life; … according to their wills, whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction. yea, … he that knoweth good and evil, to him it is given according to his desires." (Alma 29:4–5)

The scriptures often speak of our desires as the condition of our "hearts." When King Solomon sought to persuade his people to feel the sincere desire to live righteously, he pleaded: "Let your HEART THEREFORE BE PERFECT with the Lord our God, to walk in his statutes, and to keep his commandments." (1 Kings 8:61) In contrast, when the children of Israel lacked the desire to live righteously it was said that "their HEART WAS NOT RIGHT with [God]." (Psalm 78:37) 

To his son Corianton, Alma explained: "It is requisite with the justice of God that … if their works were good in this life, AND THE DESIRES OF THEIR HEARTS WERE GOOD, that they should also, at the last day, be restored unto that which is good. … "If he hath repented of his sins, AND DESIRED RIGHTEOUSNESS until the end of his days, even so he shall be rewarded unto righteousness." (Alma 41:3, 5–6) As Ammon explained to King Lamoni, God "looketh down upon all the children of men; and he knows all the THOUGHTS AND INTENTS OF THE HEART; for by his hand were they all created from the beginning." (Alma 18:32.) God has declared that He "is a discerner of the THOUGHTS AND INTENTS OF THE HEART." (D&C 33:1.) He "will judge all men according to their works, ACCORDING TO THE DESIRE OF THEIR HEARTS" (D&C 137:9).

My dear Elders and Sisters, your Father in Heaven certainly expects you to exercise your agency to keep the promises and commitments you have made; to follow all missionary guidelines; to plan, study and prepare to teach the gospel in Russian; to get out and work hard every day; to open your mouths throughout the day and in every other way be a solid Preach My Gospel missionary. These are critically important things that you are expected to do. I sincerely desire and I pray every day, however, that you are motivated to do these things solely because of your deep gratitude and love for your savior, Jesus Christ. I desperately want each of you to do the right things because you have the sincere desire in your heart to do them. 

Our desires shape our actions and our ultimate destiny. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, "WHAT WE INSISTENTLY DESIRE, OVER TIME, IS WHAT WE WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME AND WHAT WE WILL RECEIVE IN ETERNITY." As Elder Maxwell observed, "Whenever spiritually significant things are under way, righteous desires are present." (Neal A. Maxwell, October 1996 Ensign) The Savior wants each of us to come to Him with sincere love for Him and a sincere desire to follow Him. He wants far more than our righteous acts – He wants our fully committed hearts. He declared, "Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness." (Matthew 5:6; 3 Nephi 12:6). 

Our Father in Heaven knows our hearts. He "is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart," and "all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him." (Heb. 4:12–13.) God has revealed that even a righteous action has little value if our heart or desire is not right. Mormon taught, "For behold, God hath said a man being evil cannot do that which is good; for if he offereth a gift, … except he shall do it with real intent it profiteth him nothing. For behold, it is not counted unto him for righteousness. For behold, if a man being evil giveth a gift, he doeth it grudgingly; wherefore it is counted unto him the same as if he had retained the gift; wherefore he is counted evil before God." (Moro. 7:6–8.)

Elders and Sisters, you must strive every day to make sure that the desires of your heart are what God desires. Each of you will struggle occasionally to feel all of the right desires. Each of you will wish from time-to-time that you could just have a stronger, more sincere desire to do what you know God expects of you. The scriptures teach you three principles that will always increase in the righteous desires of your heart: 

(1) You must pray earnestly to be blessed with righteous desires;
(2) You must study the word of God; and
(3) You must act in faith on the word of God.


YOU MUST PRAY TO BE FILLED WITH DESIRE

The scriptures teach us that the gospel cannot be written in our hearts unless our hearts are open. Sincere prayer will soften and open our hearts to the influences of the Holy Spirit and begin the process of transforming our desires. Alma taught that the Holy Ghost will work on our hearts to increase our desire and our faith, "even if [we] can [do] no more than desire to believe." (Alma 32:27) Sincere prayer will fan the flames of the tiniest spark of desire within you. Fervent prayer will increase your desire to open your mouth, to be obedient, to be forgiving, patient, loving and kind, and to consecrate your time and efforts to the Lord. Nephi recorded that his heart and desires were changed by prayer: "I did cry unto the Lord; and behold he did visit me, and did soften my heart that I did believe all the words which had been spoken by my father; wherefore, I did not rebel against him like unto my brothers." (1 Nephi 2:16)

Remember that God has invited you to ask Him will all the energy of your heart to bless you with the pure love of Christ. But, you must remember that if you fail to get out and act, "your prayer is vain, and availeth you nothing." Fasting will increase the power and effectiveness of your prayers. 


YOU MUST STUDY THE WORD OF GOD 

You will experience a change in your desires as you study the word of God and constantly open your heart to an ever-increasing understanding of the gospel and the love of your Father in Heaven. For the gospel to be written in your heart, you need to understand it more fully. You must exercise your agency to diligently study the gospel every day. This requires real effort to read, ask, ponder, pray and record the thoughts and feelings that come to you through the Holy Ghost. 

As we have discussed previously, you should carefully read the specific scripture verses that discuss the gospel topic you are studying and then stop and ponder them in the context of the story in which they occur. You should carefully read the verses a second and third time and ask yourself what they are teaching you. Pray for and wait for impressions and promptings. Always write down what you are feeling and understanding. 

As you prayerfully study the scriptures and the teachings of modern prophets, you will experience the feelings Alma promised: "It beginneth to enlarge my soul; yea, it beginneth to enlighten my understanding, yea, it beginneth to be delicious to me." And when the word of God begins to be delicious to you, you can know that the gospel is being written in your heart and your desires are changing. As you do this, you are giving place in your heart for the word of God, and you will sense that your love for God and your desires to be close to Him, to be more like Him, and to serve Him will grow. 


YOU MUST ACT ON THE WORD OF GOD

Elders and Sisters, if you hold back or wait to do the things God expects you to do until you feel the desire to do them, you will wait in vain. You must begin to do the very thing you lack the desire to do in order for God to bless you with the desire to do it. In order to cultivate righteous desires, you must exercise your agency to act. You must simply exercise your faith, even if you have just a tiny spark of desire, to control and direct your thoughts and actions. 

Even a spark of desire can begin the process of changing your desires as long as you are willing to act. In order to experience a dramatic increase in righteous desires, you must act! The prodigal son had no desire to live righteously and traveled farther and farther from home. When he finally felt total despair with his life he, in the words of the Savior, "came to himself," and determined "I will arise and go to my father." (Luke 15:17–18). Like him, we must fan our initial spark of desire with action, by getting up and doing what we know we should do. The scriptures teach us that we cannot cultivate a sincere desire to live the laws and commandments of God until we actually try to live them. To increase your desire to be obedient, you must exercise your agency to live the gospel law (which includes all of the rules, guidelines and standards of full time missionaries).

As you move forward in faith to do something you might lack the desire to do, such as opening your mouth, obeying with exactness, being forgiving and patient, or loving unconditionally, you will discover that God will bless you with the strong desire to do that very thing, and the joy and confidence of doing that very thing will become part of you. Step-by-step, as you strive to do the will of God, even when you might have lacked a strong desire to do so, the Holy Spirit will cause the desires of your heart to change. The Prophet Joseph taught: "The nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin" (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 51).

I testify that "what we insistently desire, over time, is what we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity." As we enjoy this beautiful Christmas season in Russia, I pray that each of us will offer to the Savior the only gift He asks us to give Him, the gift "a broken heart and a contrite spirit," the submission of our will to His. As we do so, He will instill in our hearts the same desires that He has. His laws will be written in our hearts and we will become new creatures in Christ with no disposition to do evil but to do good continually. As we pray, study the word of God, and then act on the word of God, we will be filled with Christlike desires. We will desire what He desires and we will become worthy, joyful and effective instruments in His hands. Remember my dear Elders and Sisters, "WHAT WE INSISTENTLY DESIRE, OVER TIME, IS WHAT WE WILL EVENTUALLY BECOME AND WHAT WE WILL RECEIVE IN ETERNITY."

I express my love to each of you as we engage in our sacred missionary responsibilities under the direction of our Savior during this tender and joyous time of year.

President Christensen 

Sent from my iPad