At the Henry Street Hebrew School, Mr. Goldblatt, the new teacher, finished the day's lesson. It was now time for the usual question period.

"Mr. Goldblatt," announced little Joey, "there's somethin' I can't figger out."

"What's that Joey?" asked Goldblatt.

"Well accordin' to the Bible, the Children of Israel crossed the Red Sea, right?"

"Right."

"An' the Children of Israel beat up the Philistines, right?"

"Er--right."

"An' the Children of Israel built the Temple, right?"

"Again you're right."

"An' the Children of Israel fought the 'gyptians, an' the Children of Israel fought the Romans, an' the Children of Israel wuz always doin' somethin' important, right?"

"All that is right, too," agreed Goldblatt, "so, what's your question?"

"What I wanna know is this," demanded Joey,
"What wuz all the grown-ups doin'"?

I suppose that is a valid question that we could still ask ourselves as members of the church today.

One day while the Master and his disciples were walking along the shores of the Mediterrean Sea, they stopped for a rest. And the Master asked them, “Whom do men say that I the son of man am? And they said, some say that thou art John the Baptist: some, Elias; and others, Jeremias, or one of the prophets.”

And then Jesus asked the disciples to bear their testimonies: “But whom say ye that I am?”

I suppose they all bore testimony, but we have only Peter’s recorded. “Thou art the Christ, the son of the living God.”

Then the Master replied, “Blessed art thou, Simon Barjona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 16:13-17.)

Peter had received a revelation. He knew that Jesus was the Christ, the Savior of the world, the divine son of God. Now, it could only have been a year or so after this incident when the Master turned to Peter with a rebuke. We do not know what it was that caused him to rebuke Simon Peter, but he said:

“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” (Luke 22:31-32.)

As students of the gospel we might ask ourselves, “What does it mean to become converted?” Is there a difference between knowing that the Chruch is true, knowing that God lives and that Jesus is our Saviour?

The truly converted sees with his eyes what he ought to see; he hears with his ears what he ought to hear; and he understands with his heart what he ought to understand. And what we ought to see, hear, and understand when we are converted is truth—eternal truth—and then practice it. That is conversion.

A few years ago a prominent university professor who joined the Church was challenged to explain why he joined the church, his response was “I’ll tell you why I joined this church. I came to a time in my life when my heart told me things that my mind did not know. Then it was that I knew the Spirit of the Lord was teaching me, and I knew the gospel was true.” When we understand more than we know with our minds, when we understand with our hearts, then we know that the Spirit of the Lord is working upon us.”

One example of pure conversion comes from the life of John Taylor.

In April of 1836 President John Taylor was livinging with his family in Toronto, Canada, it was there that he became acquainted with the preaching of a Elder named Parley P. Pratt. At that time John Taylor was employeed as a minister and investigated very carefully the teachings of Elder Pratt. He attended eight sermons taught by Elder Pratt, and wrote down all of the words which Elder Pratt preached and compared them to the Bible to see if he could find anything that was contrary to the scriptures. He made his investigation of the Church a regular business for three weeks and then was satisfied and was baptized.

About a year later John Taylor visited Kirtland, Ohio. The gloom of apostasy was hanging over the city and, sadly, this dissension had affected Parley P. Pratt as he returned from his mission to Canada. Elder Pratt tried to show Brother Taylor why he thought the Prophet Joseph was in error. To this John Taylor steadfastly replied:

“I am surprised to hear you speak so Brother Parley. Before you left Canada you bore a strong testimony to Joseph Smith being a Prophet of God, and to the truth of the work he has inaugurated: and you said you knew those things by revelation, and the gift of the Holy Ghost. You gave me a strict charge to the effect that though you or an angel from Heaven was to declare anything else, I was not to believe it.

Now, Brother Parley, it is not man I am following but the Lord. The principles you taught me led me to Him; and I now have the same testimony that you then rejoiced in. If the work was true six months ago, it is true today; if Joseph was then a prophet, he is now a prophet.” (B. H. Roberts, Life of John Taylor, Bookcraft, 1963, pp. 39-40.)

President Taylor had become truly converted and provided strength to Parley P. Pratt when he needed it. It was not forced but was a natural outcropping of the spirit. When we become converted, we will naturally strengthen our brethren.

In the words of Alma,

“And now behold, I say unto you, my brethren, if ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?

“Have ye walked, keeping yourselves blameless before God? Could ye say, if ye were called to die at this time, within yourselves, that ye have been sufficiently humble? That your garments have been cleansed and made white through the blood of Christ, who will come to redeem his people from their sins?

“Behold, are ye stripped of pride? …

“Is there one among you who is not stripped of envy? …

“Is there one among you that doth make a mock of his brother, or that heapeth upon him persecutions?

“Wo unto such an one, for he is not prepared, and the time is at hand that he must repent or he cannot be saved!” (Alma 5:26-31.)

Conversion pushes to the side pride, envy, gossip, evil speaking and persecution of our brother and all such conduct that is not in keeping with the foundation of the society of God. It brings about a deep repentance, it requires growth and endurance. Conversion implies a change—a change from the natural man who is selfish, conceited, impatient, intemperate, disobedient, and rebellious to “a saint … , a child [who is] submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon him, even as a child doth submit to his father.” (Mosiah 3:19.)

And The words which Alma taught Alma 5: 14

14 And now behold, I ask of you, my brethren of the church, have ye spiritually been born of God? Have ye received his image in your countenances? Have ye experienced this mighty change in your hearts?

But you might ask, “How can I experience this mighty change in your hearts? Where do I start?” You start with attitude.

The apostle Paul demonstrated precisely the correct attitude of the true convert—and the conversion process is, to a great extent, first begins with the proper attitude. It is a fact that any man can change his life by changing his attitude any time he wants to do it. This is in accordance with the statement that “as [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he.” (Prov. 23:7.) When Paul, on the way to Damascus, saw the light and heard the voice of the Lord, his question was, “Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?” (Acts 9:6.) Until we come to the place where we need only to know the will of the Lord in order to start to do it, we are not really converted.

As I began this talk I supposed that I would divide this scripture into two parts the first part on “What does it mean to be converted to the gospel?” and the second on “How do we strengthen our brethren?”. The impression that I have had is that they are not separate. When we are truly converted, strengthening our brethren is really a result, a confirmation so to speak that we have become converted.

Watch what happens to the thoughts and prayers of Enos as he becomes converted…
Enos 1
1 BEHOLD, it came to pass that I, Enos, knowing my father that he was a just man—for he taught me in his language, and also in the nurture and admonition of the Lord—and blessed be the name of my God for it—
2 And I will tell you of the wrestle which I had before God, before I received a remission of my sins.
3 Behold, I went to hunt beasts in the forests; and the words which I had often heard my father speak concerning eternal life, and the joy of the saints, sunk deep into my heart.
4 And my soul hungered; and I kneeled down before my Maker, and I cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for mine own soul; and all the day long did I cry unto him; yea, and when the night came I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens.
5 And there came a voice unto me, saying: Enos, thy sins are forgiven thee, and thou shalt be blessed.
6 And I, Enos, knew that God could not lie; wherefore, my guilt was swept away.
7 And I said: Lord, how is it done?
8 And he said unto me: Because of thy faith in Christ, whom thou hast never before heard nor seen. And many years pass away before he shall manifest himself in the flesh; wherefore, go to, thy faith hath made thee whole.
9 Now, it came to pass that when I had heard these words I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren, the Nephites; wherefore, I did pour out my whole soul unto God for them.

Note how such a very short time after Enos becomes converted that he responds with the statement “I began to feel a desire for the welfare of my brethren”. He did not have to be instructed of the Lord now go forth Enos and love your brethern the Nephites. It was just the natural process of true conversion, as we become converted we begin to really care about the welfare of our brethren. We might even be able to say that one can tell how deep his or her conversion is by the concern that we show and share for the welfare of our brethren.

Jacob, put it this way when he spoke to the people of Nephi, after the death of his brother Nephi Jacob 2: 19

19 And after ye have obtained a hope in Christ (a conversion) ye shall obtain riches, if ye seek them; and ye will seek them for the intent to do good—to clothe the naked, and to feed the hungry, and to liberate the captive, and administer relief to the sick and the afflicted.

In other words their desires in amassing gain for themselves becomes lost to the desire of their heart to provide for their brethren who are in need. Notice the words “and ye will seek them for the intent to do good”.

Returning back to the story of Peter….
“Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.”

.” So said the Lord to Peter as he prepared himself and his apostles for his great sacrifice. This statement might have startled Peter. Certainly it pricked him, for he said, “Lord, I am ready to go with thee, both into prison, and to death.” Then the Lord told Peter that “the cock shall not crow this day, before that thou shalt thrice deny that thou knowest me.” (Luke 22:32-34.)

Peter then suffered as he watched the Savior’s crucifixaion and then was privileged to see the resurrected Lord. But even after witnessing the resurrection, it seemed as if Peter had still failed to catch the real significance of his conversion. After the glorious experience of seeing the resurrected Savior, when the disciples were again alone as the Savior had ascended from them, Peter’s first thoughts were to return again to the things of the world.

And he said to those with him, “I go a fishing. They say unto him, We also go with thee. They went forth, and entered into a ship immediately; and that night they caught nothing.

Peter is the senior Apostle of the church and where does he go? He goes fishing, and even Peter after all he had been privileged to see - he failed to realize what was expected of him. He had forgotten that he was to be a fisher of men.

“But when the morning was now come, Jesus stood on the shore: but the disciples knew not that it was [the Savior.]

“Then Jesus saith unto them, Children, have ye any meat? They answered him, No.

“And he said unto them, Cast the net on the right side of the ship, and ye shall find. They cast therefore, and now they were not able to draw it for the multitude of fishes.” (John 21:3-6.)

Here the Savior teaches Peter a great lesson. The things of God are above those of man. The Lord has power to supply the fishes, the things of the world, but they are secondary to his work.

Then from the boat one of the fishermen recognized the resurrected Lord on the shore.

Peter bounded ashore to greet the Savior and was met with a direct question that plumbed the depths of his conversion. Peter was still learning, as we must continue to learn.

“Lovest thou me?” asked the Savior three times (John 21:15-17). “Lovest thou me?” Peter was hurt and taken aback. Then finally the great lesson of the Savior’s mission is taught to Peter as they dined together:

“Jesus saith to Simon Peter, Simon, son of Jonas, lovest thou me more than these? Then the question a second and third time. And finally, Peter, being grieved, replied to the Lord, “Thou knowest all things; thou knowest that I love thee. Jesus saith unto him, Feed my sheep.” (John 21:17.)

Peter had been in the whole service of the Lord for three years. He had seen but did not seem to realize what the Lord meant by “when thou art converted.”

Gradually Peter begins to understand: “when thou art converted”—a condition carries with it a responsibility to do something with that conversion, to feed the sheep of the Savior. The real value of conversion comes as a result of that commitment, the actions that follow.

Just as the message was of old to the apostles it is of us today. The action that the Lord expects from those that are converted are to feed his lambs, to feed his sheep.

Ammon, the Nephite missionary, provided an example for us. He had chosen to serve the Lamanite king and was sent to watch and feed the flocks of Lamoni. When a band of renegades attacked and scattered the sheep, Ammon’s fellow servants had fear and began to weep. What did Ammon say? “Be of good cheer and let us go in search of the flocks, and we will gather them together and bring them back unto the place of water” (Alma 17:31).

Now, we may read this as a story about some shepherds trying to round up some missing sheep, but the message is much more powerful and significant than that. Ammon was a missionary with noble intentions to bring the king and his kingdom back to the fold of righteousness, to the well of living water. The challenge looked daunting to those who could see only, in everyday terms, sheep strung out on hillsides and not enough manpower to round them up. They were discouraged and fearful that the king would discover their loss.

Ammon not only led the force to recapture the sheep, he drove away the evil men who caused the problems; and his heroic efforts persuaded the king to follow him and to follow the Savior.

Ammon teaches us that no matter our circumstances, we can be an example to others, we can lift them, we can inspire them to seek righteousness, and we can bear testimony to all of the power of Jesus Christ.

As with Ammon so it is true with us, conversion requires consecrating our lives to caring for and serving others who need our help and to sharing our gifts and talents. The Lord didn’t say tend my sheep when it is convenient, watch my sheep when you aren’t busy. Watch my sheep when they are in the shade. He said feed my sheep and my lambs; help them survive this world, keep them close to you. Lead them to safety—the safety of righteous choices that will prepare them for eternal life.

Ammon was not watching the sheep because he had been given the exact command to return back to the King with 20, 50 or 100 sheep. I don’t think that anyone would argue that Ammon was not casual nor complacent in his approach in feeding the kings sheep.

Like Ammon a truly converted follower of Christ—one who merits the designation of disciple or Saint—could not be casual or complacent in his or her approach to service in the Church nor in keeping covenants and commandments. Such a one would surely follow the Lord’s admonition to “learn his [or her] duty, and to act … in all diligence” (D&C 107:99).

When President Harold B. Lee was asked what does it mean to be converted? He replied, “Conversion must mean more than just being a ‘card carrying’ member of the church with a tithing receipt … [or] a temple recommend.” One who is converted “strive[s] continually to improve inward weaknesses and not merely the outward appearances” (Church News, 25 May 1974, 2).

“One who is converted and committed will not simply “go through the motions” in fulfilling a Church service assignment. A converted home teacher will not be satisfied with just making a visit to one of his assigned families so he can report to his quorum leader that his home teaching is “completed” or “done.” A converted Primary teacher would not be content to merely “give” a lesson but would want to teach by the Spirit, thereby making a real difference in the impressionable lives of the children entrusted to his or her care.

Truly converted Latter-day Saints do not go to the temple because of a quota they are expected to fulfill, but out of a sincere desire to perform sacred and saving ordinances in behalf of deceased ancestors—or even complete strangers—who cannot do the work for themselves. We do not serve others or fulfill assignments for statistical or reporting purposes, but in a spirit of love and a commitment to Christ and our Father in Heaven. “

HOW DO YOU LIVE YOUR DASH

I read of a man who stood to speak
At the funeral of a friend
He referred to the dates on her tombstone
From the beginning...to the end
He noted that first came her date of birth
And spoke the following date with tears,
But he said what mattered most of all
Was the dash between those years. (1934 -1998)

For that dash represents all the time
That she spent alive on earth...
And now only those who loved her
Know what that little time was worth.

For it matters not, how much we own;
The cars...the house...the cash,
What matters is how we live and love
And how we spend our dash.

So think about this long and hard...
Are there things you'd like to change?
For you never know how much time is left,
That can still be rearranged.

If we could just slow down enough
To consider what's true and real,
And always try to understand
The way other people feel.

And be less quick to anger,
And show appreciation more
And love the people in our lives
Like we've never loved before.

If we treat each other with respect,
And more often wear a smile.
Remembering that this special dash
Might only last a little while.

so, when your eulogy's being read
With your life's actions to rehash...
Would you be proud of the things they say
About how you spent your dash?

Alma once asked the question: “Have ye spiritually been born of God?” Have you been converted in other words - It is noteworthy that Alma concluded his admonition to the people of his day by bearing testimony of how his personal conversion was obtained: “Behold, I testify unto you that I do know that these things whereof I have spoken are true. And how do ye suppose that I know of their surety?

“Behold, I say unto you they are made known unto me by the Holy Spirit of God. Behold, I have fasted and prayed many days that I might know these things of myself. And now I do know of myself that they are true; for the Lord God hath made them manifest unto me by his Holy Spirit; and this is the spirit of revelation which is in me” (Alma 5:45-46).

And one final example from the life of Peter.

And on the day of Penetcost, Peter provides yet another example of what it means to be converted by his inspiring acts. Compared to his wavering denials on the night of the Lord was arrested and put in a mock trial. The same person and yet Peter was quite a different type of man on this day. Peter had become converted, he had became a rock, immovable against which the power of Satan. He was determined, fearless, pushed by an inward power strong and true.

As you recall the story: Jesus had been taken up into heaven, His disciples, were filled with joy because Jesus had indeed been resurrected just as he had promised – and then he had returned to Jerusalem.

One hundred and twenty of the followers of Jesus where meeting together. Peter was instructing them that a new apostle must be chosen to replace Judas, who had betrayed Christ and then killed himself.

Peter said, “Of these men who have been with us all the time that the Lord Jesus went in and out among us, beginning from the baptism of John until that same day that He was taken up from us, one must be ordained to be a witness with us of His resurrection.”

Two men were chosen, put forth so to speak, Joseph Barsabas and Matthias. Then all who were in the meeting united in prayer, they asked the Lord to make known to them which of the two men should become the new apostle. Afterward Matthias was chosen by the apostles and approved by all those who attended the meeting.

Now again they were twelve. On a particuliar day which has been named the day of Pentecost when the Jews celebrate the Feast of the Harvest, the twelve apostles met together. While they were meeting, a sound from heaven, like a rushing mighty wind, suddenly filled the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them cloven tongues like as of fire, and it sat upon each of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Ghost and began to speak with other tongues, in other languages.

The sound of the rushing mighty wind could be heard throughout the city, and many people began to gather outside the house where the apostles were meeting. Then the apostles spoke to the multitude and told all who were there about the mission and gospel of Jesus Christ and about His resurrection.

The miracle of this occasion came from the fact that at the time in Jerusalem the men and women that had gathered outside where from many different lands and many nations all speaking different languages. A task which would have made it impossible for everyone in the crowd to understand – and yet when the apostles spoke to them, through the power of the Holy Ghost, everyone who heard was able to understand. Those who listened were amazed, and so powerful was the Spirit among all the people that their hearts were touched and they cried out to the apostles, “Men and brethren, what shall we do?”

Peter answered and said to them, “Repent and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins, and you shall receive the gift of the Holy Ghost, for the promise is to you and to your children.”

Then those who gladly received Peter’s word were baptized, and that same day about three thousand souls were added to the Church.

You see just as in the case of Peter -Conversion brings strength, determination to defend the work of the Lord on earth and to expand it. This conversion comes when one receives the baptism of fire, the witness of the Holy Ghost.

And now the keys of it all, given to Peter before, would have for him their true meaning. From now he would bear the burden, the full responsibility, to carry forth the work of the Lord to all the world. He would have to direct the others of the Twelve and the work of the ministry both to the gentiles and in the organized branches.

If we review carefully the Life of Peter we will discover that he uncovered what it means to become converted. It did not all come at once, it was not a single event but a process. That we to might understand where we are in that process and continue forward until we to are perfected in Christ. Is my prayer….