Where Rose Writes Very True Stories

***WARNING*** The following is a talk I gave at my church. As much as it terrifies me, I actually really enjoy any opportunity to talk about the Jesus I know. I love writing about Him. He is very different from what some people claim Him to be, and so I really wanted to get this right. I did my best to put things I feel in my soul into words. The Jesus I know has walked your path; He has worn your shoes. He knows your potential—everything you can become. And He has a work for you to do.

So, just a heads up, it’s very religious. It doesn’t get any less religious as you go on, or at any point whatsoever. If you don’t want to read it, that’s totally fine. I get it. I’m not offended. I still love ya!

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Good morning, y’all!

In his talk, I Have a Work for Thee, Elder John C. Pingree stated, “Have you ever wondered if Heavenly Father has a work for you? Are there important things He has prepared you—and specifically you—to accomplish? I testify the answer is yes! …. Brothers and sisters, God has important work for each of us…. Our Heavenly Father has specific and significant things for you and me to accomplish.

“These divine assignments are not reserved for a privileged few but are for all of us…. Every one of us has a meaningful role to play in furthering God’s work.”

President Russell M. Nelson also declared in his book, Accomplishing the Impossible, “The Lord has more in mind for you than you have in mind for yourself! .… The Lord needs you to change the world. As you accept and follow His will for you, you will find yourself accomplishing the impossible!”

I mean, no pressure, right? 

But it’s okay, because we’re not alone. Our Savior doesn’t expect us to do this without Him. He is real. He is there to help us. He will not abandon us. And it is by focusing on Him and His promises, and through His help, that we can and will accomplish the impossible.

It is a pretty amazing promise from our prophet, and it’s something I, personally, am really holding onto. And so far, in my life, I have absolutely seen this promise fulfilled. 

So, how can we know what Heavenly Father wants us to do?

Well, first, we can ask Him. God is the greatest source of wisdom. As we truly seek Him out, He will joyfully help us discover our spiritual gifts and find the courage and strength to develop and use them. And in my experience, He often does this by helping us see ourselves the way He does. And He sees us with so much hope, compassion, and love—even as an adoring Father sees His children.

I look back over my life and, as I have sought His guidance and wisdom, it is just crazy to me so see how carefully He has peeled back layers of negative beliefs and misunderstandings about myself and my life, leading me to the right sources to find the answers I needed to help me grow, heal, and change, and rediscover lost dreams. Ever so carefully. It’s like being in the darkness for a long time and then being brought into the sunlight. He often brings us into the light gently, a little at a time, patiently, giving our eyes time to adjust. The light might even feel a little uncomfortable at times, having been in the dark for so long, but it is so important to let it in, let it change our hearts, because that light is where we will thrive. That is where we will grow into everything we are meant to be. 

That’s why it’s so important to trust in His guidance, in those warm, little nudges of the heart. Following spiritual nudges will always, always lead you to a better version of yourself, and will help you find the path God has prepared for you. And as you put your trust in Him, doors will open for you.

But when we ask God, we’ve got to be willing to do the work, right? As James reads in 2:17, “Faith, if it hath not works, is dead.” In DC 9:8, it says, “But, behold, I say unto you, that you must study it out in your mind; then you must ask me if it be right, and if it is right I will cause that your bosom shall burn within you; therefore, you shall feel that it is right.”

So, as we study out in our minds what Heavenly Father might want us to do, we can look at the things we are interested in. I sincerely believe that the things we are drawn to are not accidents. We might try to talk ourselves out of those interests, maybe telling ourselves that those things are for other people. But no. I believe if you’re drawn to it, there’s a good chance it’s something calling to you. 

There are SO many different gifts out there, and so many ways to use those gifts to bless others. Whatever your interests are, whatever your natural abilities, these are blessings given to you by our Heavenly Father. If you keep finding yourself brushing these things away, please—stop being so hard on yourself. You are a child of God, and you are so much stronger and more capable than you realize.

The next thing we can use to help us figure out what Heavenly Father wants us to do is to look at how we can help and uplift the world around us. The Savior set the example for us. His life was devoted to helping literally everyone. He was a teacher, a friend, a source of comfort and strength, a healer, a leader, Someone who sought out the hated, the outcast, and the wounded, letting them know they were seen and loved. Basically, as we read in Acts 10:38, He “went about doing good.” We can figure out what He wants us to do by discovering how to use our gifts to help and to uplift the world around us.

At this time, our greatest testimony of the Savior will be manifest in what we do—in the things we say and how we treat others. Our gifts, our kindness, our examples are desperately needed right now. President Russell M. Nelson has asked us to be peacemakers. So, how can we use our interests, our gifts, to uplift and bring peace to those around us? President Nelson promised, “The best is yet to come for those who spend their lives building up others.”

And as the saying goes: “Preach the gospel at all times. And, when necessary, use words.”

One last thing we can examine, as Elder Pingree says, is how to “make use of adversity.” Through our Savior, as we turn to Him through our darkest moments, He can use our adversity to increase our empathy—our compassion for other people. As He lifts us and heals us, He will change our hearts; that we will radiate light from the broken places, and He will help us bring that light to others lost in the dark. 

In 2 Nephi 2:2, it reads, “Thou knowest the greatness of God; and he shall consecrate thine afflictions for thy gain.”

This is another promise that I really, really hold onto, and believe in.

The actor, Sir Michael Caine, says he has one major philosophy in life, and it is to “use the difficulty.” While rehearsing a play, the actors onstage got carried away and threw a chair that blocked the doorway he was supposed to go through. When it was time for him to go through the door, he could only fit his head inside. And he said, “I’m sorry, sir, I can’t get in.”

The guy he was talking to replied, “What do you mean?”

“There’s a chair there.”

Sir Michael Caine said of this moment, “He said to me, ‘Use the difficulty.’

“’What do you mean?’ 

“He said, ‘Well, if it’s a comedy fall over it. If it’s a drama, pick it up and smash it…. Use the difficulty.’

“Now, I took that into my own life,” he says. “You ask my children directly, anything bad happens, they go, ‘You’ve got to use the difficulty.’ There’s never anything so bad, that you cannot use that difficulty. If you can use it a quarter of 1% to your advantage, you’re ahead. You didn’t let it get you down, ya know? That’s my philosophy. Use the difficulty. 

“Also, added philosophy, avoid them if you can.”

I love that story.

As you search your heart for whatever the Savior wants you to do, just know that, whatever your age, it is not too late to follow that path. JRR Tolkien was 45 when he published The Hobbit, and even older when he later published The Lord of the Rings, which has blessed and inspired so many people, and gave us the line, “What you must decide is what to do with the time that is given to you.”

And indeed, as Elder William R. Bradford once said, “We give our lives to that which we give our time.” 

So, what are we giving our lives for?

At the moment, I’m giving my life to this video game on my phone where you complete little puzzles to earn fish and build aquariums… I could just go get real fish in real life, but these ones don’t eat each other, and they can’t die, so… 

Yeah, I need to do better. And I know I can. I am making changes—it’s hard, but I’m doing it—and I have plans, and I have hope. With all my flaws—and I have so many—I have hope because of my Savior, Jesus Christ. He’s real, y’all. And He’s so much kinder, more compassionate, and greater than people sometimes give Him credit for.

Yes, He is perfectly aware of our struggles and our flaws. He even knows the things we think are flaws but really aren’t. He knows everything about us because He has walked our path, He has worn our shoes. And because of that, not only is He aware of these things, but He is also aware of our goodness. He is aware of our strengths, even our hidden strengths. The things we’re afraid to try because we’re afraid we’ll fail. And He’s much more interested in that—at least in my experience. He knows our potential, and all the wonderful things we can become. And He wants us to succeed.

And He doesn’t give up on us when we make mistakes.

So now, I want to talk about the apostle Peter.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson was here in Ephraim at a conference not too long ago. Paul and I thought it was just for the youth, so when we took our boys, we just dropped them off. We were not dressed at all to go in. But when we went to pick them up, there was a parking spot right out front, and the conference was still going. I texted my boys and asked who was speaking, and the response I got was basically: “I don’t know, but he’s old and has glasses.”

I was like, “THAT’S ELDER CHRISTOFFERSON! … I’m going in.” So, if you saw a disheveled woman in the foyer with no makeup on, wearing leggings and a gigantic Nightmare Before Christmas hoodie—with the hood on—that was me. 

Elder Christofferson said Peter is his favorite apostle. He’d gone to Jerusalem and visited a chapel built for Peter—built on the very spot where it is believed he denied Christ for the third time. And he said, “Can you imagine someone building a chapel dedicated to your greatest mistake? That was not who Peter was! Peter was not his greatest mistake. He was so much more than that. He was a rock of an apostle. We wouldn’t have the church we have now without Peter.”

I thought that was so profound. We are so much more than our mistakes. And Jesus knows this perfectly. Again, that’s what the Atonement is all about! He overcame everything, so He can help us overcome anything.

Let’s look a little closer at Peter.

In Matthew 14 and Mark 6, the disciples are trying to cross the sea and are hit with a huge storm. It was dark. As Hank Smith pointed out once in a talk, it might be hard to picture just how dark it probably was. Storm clouds would’ve blocked out the moonlight and there were no electric boat lights or city lights anywhere. They wouldn’t have been able to really see Jesus approaching them on the water except through maybe bolts of lightning that were lighting up the sky. And they didn’t know who He was when they first saw Him. It’s just this dark figure drawing closer and closer. And those waves would’ve been pretty massive, so this figure would likely disappear and reappear as He approached.

It would’ve been terrifying! The scripture says, “they were troubled.” That’s probably a massive understatement.

But after the Savior comforts them, Peter shouts in Matthew 14, “Lord, if it be thou, bid me come unto thee on the water.” And Jesus gladly does so. “And when Peter was come down out of the ship, he walked on the water, to go to Jesus.” As Elder Adrian Ochoa taught, “Peter trusted the Savior more than he trusted his boat.” I love that so much. 

Can you imagine what Peter must’ve been thinking? To step out of the boat, and feel his foot touch the water, and then to press his weight against it—and not sink! He must’ve been really excited at first. Here he was, doing the impossible, focused on the Savior as he walked on the water toward Him.

But perhaps there was another flash of lightning and a clap of thunder, drawing his attention back to the darkness and the monstrous waves around him. He lost his focus on the Savior, and was afraid, and began to sink. “He cried, … Lord, save me.

“And immediately Jesus stretched forth his hand, and caught him.” I imagine our Savior’s voice full of kindness as He said to him, “O thou of little faith, wherefore didst thou doubt?”

Later, when Jesus was being judged, and set to be crucified, Peter found himself in yet another terrible storm. He wanted to be strong. His heart was all in. In Matthew 26:31, Jesus told His apostles, “All ye shall be offended because of me this night.” And in verse 33, “Peter answered and said … Though all men shall be offended because of thee, yet will I never be offended.”

And Jesus replied, “This night, before the cock crow, thou shalt deny me thrice.

Peter must’ve been super upset at this accusation. He said, “Though I should die with thee, yet will I not deny thee.” He even later cut off the one guy’s ear when they came to take Jesus away. I mean, this man was all in. This was the type of faith it took to step out of the boat on that stormy night. 

He was full of potential.

But then, once again, Peter found himself tempest tossed. The world had gone dark around him—so very dark—and the waves were mighty. The priests were seeking to put Jesus, his Hero, his Light, to death. And once again, Peter was absolutely terrified. His view of the Savior and His promises were obscured by those monstrous waves of fear and uncertainty. So, every time someone approached him about Jesus, he denied knowing Him. He was sinking fast. 

He denied Him three times, just as the Savior had prophesied. In verse 75, it reads, “And Peter remembered the word of Jesus …. And he went out and wept bitterly.”

So, Peter messed up royally. If I were Jesus and my best friend pretended not to know me in some of the worst moments of my life—and slept through the very worst moment of my life when I asked him to keep watch for me—frankly, I’d be pretty upset. 

But the Savior sees so much more than I do. He saw so much more in Peter. He saw him with compassion, and He was ready to catch him.

That’s what His Atonement is all about—catching us when we sink.

Yes, Peter had to repent. He had to come back. But his calling on Earth was not done. God still had big plans for him.

Peter and the apostles saw the resurrected Jesus. They rejoiced in knowing that He was risen, that the work was finished (or, so they thought). And then they just… went back to fishing. Peter was limiting himself by going back to the shore, to the nets, to the fishing. 

In John 21 we read that, one day, when the fishing wasn’t going very well (they’d caught nothing), a man on the shore said something familiar. He told them to cast their nets on the other side of the ship. When they did, they caught so many fish that the net began to break.

Peter knew this was the Savior. And he was so excited to see Him, he didn’t wait for the ship to reach the shore. He jumped into the water and swam to Him. I can’t help but think of Luke 7, where Jesus teaches that they which He has forgiven most, love Him most.

Later, Jesus and Peter have a very important conversation.

Now, I’m going to quote Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s talk, The First Great Commandment, because he says this all a lot better than I can: “After a joyful reunion with the resurrected Jesus, Peter had an exchange with the Savior that I consider the crucial turning point … moving this great rock of a man to a majestic life of devoted service and leadership. Looking at their battered little boats, their frayed nets, and a stunning pile of 153 fish, Jesus said … ‘Peter, do you love me more than you love all this?’ Peter said, ‘Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.’ 

“The Savior responds to that reply … and says again, ‘Peter, do you love me?’ Undoubtedly confused a bit by the repetition of the question, the great fisherman answers a second time, ‘Yea, Lord; thou knowest that I love thee.’ 

“The Savior again gives a brief response, but with relentless scrutiny He asks for the third time, ‘Peter, do you love me?’ By now surely Peter is feeling truly uncomfortable. Perhaps there is in his heart the memory of only a few days earlier when he had been asked another question three times and he had answered equally emphatically—but in the negative. Or perhaps he began to wonder if he misunderstood the Master Teacher’s question. Or perhaps he was searching his heart, seeking honest confirmation of the answer he had given …. Whatever his feelings, Peter said for the third time, ‘Lord, … thou knowest that I love thee.’ 

“To which Jesus responded (and here … I acknowledge my nonscriptural elaboration), perhaps saying something like: ‘Then Peter, why are you here? Why are we back on this same shore, by these same nets, having this same conversation? Wasn’t it obvious then and isn’t it obvious now that if I want fish, I can get fish? What I need, Peter, are disciples—and I need them forever. I need someone to feed my sheep and save my lambs. I need someone to preach my gospel and defend my faith. I need someone who loves me, truly, truly loves me, and loves what our Father in Heaven has commissioned me to do. Ours is not a feeble message. It is not a fleeting task. It is not hapless; it is not hopeless; it is not to be consigned to the ash heap of history. It is the work of Almighty God, and it is to change the world. So, Peter, for the second and presumably the last time, I am asking you to leave all this and to go teach and testify, labor and serve loyally until the day in which they will do to you exactly what they did to me.’”

Every time I read this, I just… it lights a fire in my soul.

Because, see, the Savior did not want Peter to wallow on the shore, with the nets, in his old life. He didn’t expect Peter to stay stuck, relentlessly beating himself up with his mistakes. It is very difficult for the Savior to use His Atonement to heal us and save us if we don’t let Him. That’s the point of His Atonement—to set us free so we can rise up and overcome and become everything we are meant to be. The Savior only cared enough to make sure that Peter understood the changes he needed to make. The Savior wanted him to rise up to everything he could become. He wanted him to get to work.

Going back to Elder Holland’s talk: “’If ye love me, keep my commandments,’ Jesus said. So we have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truths to share, and good to do …. We can’t quit and we can’t go back. After an encounter with the living Son of the living God, nothing is ever again to be as it was before. …. It was this truth, this reality, that allowed a handful of Galilean fishermen-turned-again-Apostles without ‘a single synagogue or sword’ to leave those nets a second time and go on to shape the history of the world in which we now live.”

In their book The Unexpected Deliverer, Sister Emily Freeman and David Butler write, “History shows that God loves qualifying the unqualified, quipping the unequipped, increasing the capacity of those who seem incapable. He did it for Peter and James, Nathanael and Mary Magdalene…. The same way he would for an obscure boy of little consequence who would walk into a grove of trees almost two thousand years later. 

“He will do the same for you.

“…. Right there, within your own circle of influence. There are miracles just waiting to be counted, his message waiting to be shared the way only you can.

“…. He is raising up a whole new group of ruffians.

“Messy people magnified for His marvelous work.”

I love this so much.

Brothers and sisters, I testify that Heavenly Father has a work for you to do. And just as He multiplied the loaves and fishes, brought to Him by a hopeful little lad who wanted to help, and made those loaves and fishes enough to feed thousands with baskets left over—He will do the same for you. 

It’s not too late.