Press Forward

The mutual theme for 2016 is 2 Nephi 31:20. Will someone please read the scripture?

Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.

2 Nephi 31:20

For whatever reason I had a very particular image pop into my head when I heard the theme. It is an image that pretty much describes how I feel all the time in my life. I imagine a lot of you are going to feel the same.

Life seems like a constant battle upstream. And this isn’t even the worst of it.

Let’s have the BBC give us a better look.

I studied up a little bit more about salmon and found out some interesting things:

1. They often travel thousands of miles to return to their place of birth.
2. They have a strong sense of smell and what is known as magnetoception, an amazing sensitivity to the magnetic field. Basically they can smell home and use the

magnetic poles to point them in the right direction. 3. They have to overcome many obstacles and dangers such as bears, eagles, waterfalls, currents, pollution, and fake lures of the fisherman in order to return.

Our lives are very similar. Listen to Elder Andersen describe what it means to press forward.

“Press forward” implies something more than simply going forward. Press implies something is preventing your advancement, and you must push through it. To go forward in this life, you must press temptations aside, press through obstacles, press the doubt and the fear under your feet, and embrace the divine qualities of faith, hope, and love.1

To make this personal, I’m going to give you a paper that looks like this.

Salmon Labels

I want you to label the salmon’s obstacles and dangers with your own spiritual and physical challenges.

Be as specific as you can and write your temptations, obstacles, doubts, and fears in the boxes of the picture.

Now I’d like some of you to share what you wrote.

What did you write for some of your bears?

How about strong currents?

What are some of the fake lures in your life?

What did you relate to the pollution?

What are some of the eagles in your lives?

How about waterfalls?

We all have our fears, doubts, obstacles and temptations in life.

For this lesson, I want you to choose no more than 2 of them that you wrote down. Then pray in your heart to receive an answer about how you can press forward past your specific problems. I know if you will do this and listen to the Spirit, you will get help to do so.

I’m going to have someone read a short article from Elder Andersen about how to press forward.

Listen for the things he says that we can do to press forward.

How do you press forward? Nephi answers, “Ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men” (2 Nephi 31:20).

Pressing forward with steadfastness in Christ means having faith in Him. It means making Him the central focus of your thoughts and actions. When it is He you are following, pressing forward is the ultimate adventure.

Pressing forward means pushing away the “temptations and cares” of the world and keeping the commandments with exactness. “If ye love me,” Jesus said, “keep my commandments” (John 14:15).

Nephi adds that with our steadfastness in Christ comes a perfect brightness of hope and a love of God and all men. Hope smiles brightly before us. We find peace even in difficulties. Discipleship allows us to see our true purposes on the earth. Those purposes center in helping our family, those we love, and those around us. They include building the kingdom of God, and as we do, we become who we should become.

Nephi tells us that we must press forward, feasting upon the words of Christ. He tells us that with the gift of the Holy Ghost, we can speak with (and understand) the tongue of angels (see 2 Nephi 32:2–5). I know this voice. It is a voice we must continually be ready to hear.

As you righteously press forward, Jesus Christ “will lead you along” (D&C 78:18) and you will know with even greater certainty of His reality and His love for you. As you press forward in faith, the Holy Ghost will tell you and show you those things that you should do (see 2 Nephi 32:5).2

What are some of the things he explained about how we can press forward?

I’d like to focus on these five things.

Make Christ the central focus of your thoughts and actions Keep the commandments with exactness See our true purposes Feast upon the words of Christ Be continually ready to hear the Holy Ghost

As we discuss what each of these means, I want you to think of examples of people in your lives, such as neighbors, friends, and family, or examples from the scriptures who have used these ways to press forward. I’ll ask you to share some of those examples.

Let’s start with the first.

Let’s look at 2 examples of how making Christ our focus can help us press forward.

The people of Alma were already focused on Christ, which they promised to do when they were baptized. When in captivity, they were threatened with death if they prayed. But they continued to pray to God in their hearts. The Lord strengthened them so they could bear their burdens with ease and in the end were blessed with a miraculous escape.

Satan came to tempt Moses, wanting Moses to worship him, but Moses told Satan to depart. This only upset Satan and as he ranted, claiming to be the Only Begotten, and demanding that Moses worship him, Moses began to fear and saw the bitterness of hell. But Moses was steadfast 21 And now Satan began to tremble, and the earth shook; and Moses received strength, and called upon God, saying: In the name of the Only Begotten, depart hence, Satan. 22 And it came to pass that Satan cried with a loud voice, with weeping, and wailing, and gnashing of teeth; and he departed hence, even from the presence of Moses, that he beheld him not.

Are there any other examples you’d like to share?

Next, let’s talk about how we can press forward by keeping the commandments with exactness.

Keeping the commandments with exactness can help us avoid temptations and obstacles that would certainly catch us in their jaws.

For example, Joseph, who we may think was a salmon who just didn’t seem to have any luck getting upstream at all, from a spiritual standpoint, was very far upstream. By obeying the commandments of the Lord with exactness, he not only pressed forward himself, but opened the way to save his family and all of Egypt.

The stripling warriors are well known as the scripture says: they did obey and observe to perform every word of command with exactness; yea, and even according to their faith it was done unto them. Even though they were wounded, none of them lost their lives in their battles.

What are some other examples of those you know who have pressed forward by keeping the commandments with exactness?

Next let’s talk about seeing our true purposes.

One way we can press forward is to understand our purposes here on the earth. I promise this is the only question I’m going to ask where I’m “fishing” (pun intended) for a correct answer. What is the purpose of our lives? Why are we here?

We are here to to become like our Father in Heaven. We had to gain a body to do so, and we had to gain experience in doing what He does, including serving one another as part of a family.

Elder Aoyagi gave a beautiful talk about how understanding our true purpose here on this earth can help us to press forward. Can you read what he said?

On the following day [of a terrible car accident], I began experiencing pain in my neck and shoulders and developed a severe headache. From that day, I couldn’t sleep and I was forced to live each day with both physical and mental pain. I prayed to God to please heal my pain, but these symptoms lingered on for about 10 years.

At this time, feelings of doubt also began creeping into my mind, and I wondered, “Why do I have to suffer this much pain?” However, even though the kind of healing I sought was not granted, I strove to be faithful in keeping God’s commandments. I continued to pray that I would be able to resolve the questions I had about my trials.

There came a time when I found myself struggling with a few additional personal issues, and I was agitated because I did not know how to cope with this new trial. I was praying for an answer. But I didn’t receive an answer right away. So I went and talked with a trusted Church leader.

As we were talking, with love in his voice, he said, “Brother Aoyagi, isn’t your purpose for being on this earth to experience this trial? Isn’t it to accept all the trials of this life for what they are and then leave the rest up to the Lord? Don’t you think that this problem will be resolved when we are resurrected?”

When I heard these words, I felt the Spirit of the Lord very strongly. I had heard this doctrine countless times, but the eyes of my understanding had never been opened to the extent they were at this time. I understood this was the answer that I had been seeking from the Lord in my prayers. I was able to clearly comprehend our Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation and understand anew this important principle.

And the Lord said the following to Joseph Smith:

“Know thou, my son, that all these things shall give thee experience, and shall be for thy good. …

“Therefore, hold on thy way … , for God shall be with you forever and ever.”3

What are some examples from your life or the lives of those you know?

Next, let’s look at how we can press forward by feasting upon the words of Christ.

We often understand feasting upon the words of Christ to mean ...

reading and pondering the scriptures on a daily basis.

We probably include, rightfully so, studying the words of the living prophets. But feasting means more than just studying.

It means acting on what you read and understand.

It means living the words of Christ.

For example, the living prophets have declared that our Father in Heaven wants us to renew our dedication to keeping the Sabbath day holy, including focusing on the sacrament each week, and understanding how it opens our access to the Atonement. If we are going to feast on these words, it requires more than just hearing the words and pondering them. We must put those words into action in our lives.

What are some examples of those who have pressed forward by feasting upon the words of Christ?

Last, let’s talk about being continually ready to hear the Holy Ghost.

To be continually ready to hear the Holy Ghost means not just living worthy of it, but also intently listening to his promptings.

Nephi talks about how he was led by the Spirit not knowing beforehand the things that he should do. He was led to Laban and successfully obtained the plates because he did so.

President Eyring recently spoke on this topic. Let’s have someone read that.

The most valuable inspiration will be for you to know what God would have you do. If it is to pay tithing or to visit a grieving friend, you should do it. Whatever it is, do it. When you demonstrate your willingness to obey, the Spirit will send you more impressions of what God would have you do for Him.

As you obey, the impressions from the Spirit will come more frequently, becoming closer and closer to constant companionship. Your power to choose the right will increase.

You can know when these impressions to act for Him are from the Spirit rather than from your own desires. When the impressions square with what the Savior and His living prophets and apostles have said, you can choose to obey with confidence. Then the Lord will send His Spirit to attend you.4

Who has an example on using this way to press forward through an obstacle, doubt, or fear?

Now that we’ve looked at how we can press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, we need to talk about one more thing.

I’m going to show you a very short clip of a drop falling into a still pool of water. I want someone to explain what happens to the water AFTER the drop falls.

Why did the water rise up all around the drop of water?

This same concept applies to something that the salmon use to help them jump over waterfalls. The water falls with great force into a body of water, displacing the water beneath and forcing it upwards.

The salmon finds the right spot and uses the upward moving water to increase its jumping power to get over the falls.

When we grow weary of pressing forward, I think we often forget that Jesus descended below all things. He experienced everything we suffer and atoned for all of our sins.

He came and gave His life so that He could be all around us in the currents of our lives. He knows the currents, He knows their dangers and has suffered their consequences, far deeper what we must suffer.

And because of this, Christ provides the force to push us higher and farther than we could possibly go ourselves. Because He suffered so deeply, He provides the lift we need and guides our trajectory to pass the jaws of sin and the predatory evil waiting to pluck us from our course.

In times of trial we have to press forward with steadfastness in Christ by seeking the power of His Atonement to lift us farther than we could go ourselves. His ransom for us allows the enabling power of the Atonement to surround us. He is all around us in the water because He experienced everything we did. Therefore, He can guide us, help us, lift us. But we must take those leaps of faith; we must use His Atonement to press forward, having a perfect brightness of hope that we can make it.

There will be moments in your life when you feel you can’t go any further, when the dangers and the obstacles seem so great you can’t fathom how you can possibly press forward. But in the very midst of those trials, Jesus Christ is there to carry you, to give you the strength you need to go beyond what you thought was impossible to bear, using the power of the Atonement.

He is here with us. I know it. His atoning sacrifice makes it possible for us to overcome all the trials before us, even death. Because of Him, we can make it home. All we must do is press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, with a brightness of hope that we can apply the power of the Atonement in our lives.

I want to end with an activity that is a little unusual, but I hope you will participate. One way we can remember what we have learned is by transforming it into another medium. I want to help you remember by writing a haiku (seemed appropriate with the salmon theme to me). I’ll pass out the paper and give you a few minutes to think and write. At the end, I’ll ask some of you to share what you came up with.

Haiku PDF