Don’t Look Around, Look Up!

Great stories of member missionary work and family history.

“Do not lose your faith because of the people around you.” (Don’t get offended.)

It is not easy for us to recognize the workings of our Heavenly Father when we look around with our temporal eyes.

My purpose is to “invite others to come unto Christ.” This is your purpose too. We can fulfill this purpose by looking up to Jesus Christ.

President Gordon B. Hinckley recorded {an} experience in the Columbus Ohio Temple:

“Reflecting on the lives of [my great-grandfather, grandfather, and father] while I was seated in the temple, I looked down at my daughter, at her daughter, … and at her children, my great-grandchildren. I suddenly realized that I stood right in the middle of these seven generations—three before me and three after me.

“In that sacred and hallowed house there passed through my mind a sense of the tremendous obligation that was mine to pass on all that I had received as an inheritance from my forebears to the generations who have now come after me.”

I can imagine the sense of eternal perspective and gratitude that would come from having the generations on either side of you to reflect on.

One day, a few months after my baptism, I heard some members criticizing each other in church. I was very disappointed. I went home and told my father that maybe I should not go to church anymore. It was difficult to see members criticize others like that. After listening, my father taught me that the gospel had been restored and it is perfect but members are not yet, neither himself nor me. He firmly said, “Do not lose your faith because of the people around you, but build a strong relationship with Jesus Christ. Don’t look around, look up!”

Dear brothers and sisters, it is not easy for us to recognize the love of Heavenly Father when we look around with our temporal eyes, because we see inconvenience, loss, burdens, or loneliness first. On the other hand, we can see the blessings beyond when we look up. The Lord has revealed, “When we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” To all those who embark in any service of God, know that you are a solid connection for powerful blessings to those before you and to generations after you.

When I was released from my calling as a stake president, my sons were excited about spending more time with me. Three weeks later I was called as a Seventy. At first I thought they might be disappointed, but my youngest son’s humble response was “Daddy, don’t worry. We are an eternal family.” What a simple and clear truth it was! I worried a little because I looked around at this mortal life first, but my son was happy because he did not look around but looked up with eyes toward eternity and the purposes of the Lord.

I bear witness of Jesus Christ, that He is our Savior and Redeemer. When we follow our living prophet, President Thomas S. Monson, we look up to Jesus Christ. As we pray and study the scriptures every day and partake sincerely of the sacrament every week, we gain the strength to always look up to Him. I am happy to be a member of this Church and to be a part of an eternal family. I love to share this great gospel with others. Inviting others to come unto Christ is our purpose, and we can fulfill this purpose by looking up to Jesus Christ. I humbly testify of these things in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.