Elder Neil L. Andersen - March 08, 2022
Sister Kathy Andersen: Our dear elders and sisters, we are so thankful, grateful to be here with you all this evening. And you can’t come to the MTC with the spirit of faith that is here as you have accepted a call to serve without feeling a deep sense of testimony and faith. And we are honored to be here with you this evening. I’m so thankful for the privilege of accompanying my husband here.
These are interesting days in the world, and I think that it makes all of us a little more reflective and a little more thoughtful about things when we have either challenges in our lives or when other people are facing challenges. And I just would express that we too, along with you and, I think, the rest of the world, pray for so many in the world who suffer and who are so much in need of the message of Jesus Christ and of our Heavenly Father’s love and care.
I read a few scriptures this afternoon, and I just would like to share three scriptures with you. The first one I would share is a scripture from Ephesians, which says:
“Now therefore ye are no more strangers and foreigners, but fellowcitizens with the saints, and of the household of God;
“And are built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone.”1
I read these scriptures this afternoon, which were very interesting to me, thinking about being here with you tonight and about the privilege that we have of being able to hear one of the Lord’s servants speak.
The first one is from John 17, and it is the Savior speaking: “Neither pray I for these alone”—He was talking about His Apostles. And then listen to this statement: “But for them also which shall believe on me through their word”—meaning the words of the Apostles.2
And then I read from 3 Nephi 12, and it’s verses 1 and 2, but I will just share a couple of lines from verse 1 and a couple of lines from verse 2: “And it came to pass that when Jesus had spoken these words unto Nephi, and to those who had been called”—so that is who He was speaking to—“he stretched forth his hand … and cried unto them, saying: Blessed are ye if ye shall give heed unto the words of these twelve whom I have chosen from among you to minister unto you, and to be your servants.”3
And then in verse 2 He follows it again and says, “And again, more blessed are they who shall believe in your words”—the words of the Twelve—“because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me, and that ye know that I am. Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized”—and then this very extraordinary blessing—“for they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins.”4
I asked my husband after I read those words today—I said, “Do you think that is a one-time experience? Or do you think that that blessing is something that is continuing?”
And he said, “I absolutely believe that it is a blessing that is continuing.”
So maybe I could just read it one more time: “And again, more blessed are they who shall believe in your words”—the words of the Twelve—“because that ye shall testify that ye have seen me, and that ye know that I am. Yea, blessed are they who shall believe in your words, and come down into the depths of humility and be baptized, for they shall be visited with fire and with the Holy Ghost, and shall receive a remission of their sins.”
I bear my testimony this night that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer and that this is His holy work. And I bear testimony of my husband’s sacred calling, that he is an Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Elder Neil L. Andersen: Well, I love Kathy Williams Andersen very, very much. And one reason that I wouldn’t want to go back to the MTC where I was about 50—52 years ago is because I didn’t know her then. Now our anniversary is coming up in 10 days, 47 years. I had the great privilege of having her faith and her love, and you could see she’s a very special person.
Well, hello to all of you, and hello across the world. We’re so thankful to be here. I bring you the love of President Nelson and the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve. Just by chance, today I had lunch with the First Presidency, President Nelson. Can you imagine such a thing? Having him sit there with his bowl of soup and say, “Ah, this soup is good.”
And President Oaks told us a very humorous story from something that happened when he was in the Philippines watching over the Church there. President Eyring was asking a lot of questions about Kathy and my assignment to be in Cape Verde in about a couple of months to dedicate the temple there. And I had been there once about 25 years ago, and so we were talking about the wonderful Cape Verde people.
But I bring you their love and their greeting, as well as my Brethren in the Twelve. And we thank you; we thank you for your lives, for your faith, for your desire to serve as a special disciple of the Lord Jesus Christ. And this experience will stay with you forever.
I got an email this week from someone I just met once in a young single adult ward up in Logan, Utah, and I knew that his bishop was trying to have him prepare to serve a mission, and he thought if I talked to him for a minute that would do the trick. And so he wrote me this week saying, “Brother Andersen, I don’t know if you remember me”—and then he reminded me who he was. He said, “Now, I’m not asking about a mission call right now. I have another question.” But I’m going to write him back and tell him the best thing you could possibly do is give yourself to the Lord for two years and learn of Him, share His gospel, and be unselfish with your service.
I want you who are here in the room to at least meet my grandchildren. Would you just all stand up, maybe, that are grandchildren? We won’t have their parents stand up. Stand up. Here we go. Turn around; wave to everyone. We have, starting over here, David, Will, then we have Jason, then we have Clare, and then we have John. Thank you. Did you wave? Yeah. I’m very proud of them and very thankful they’d be here with us tonight. Love them very much.
OK, ready? We’re going to speak about the Savior. Yesterday—no, I guess it was Sunday—I was in a stake conference actually in Bountiful, Utah, with President Anderson, who said his son is here. Elder Jackson Anderson, are you here? Stand up if you’re here. Let’s see. OK, hand him a microphone. We’ll make you our reader, Elder Anderson. I haven’t ever met Elder Anderson; he’s no relation, but I was just with his father, and when I told his mother I’d try to see him she was very happy with me when I said that. OK, here’s the first one. Ready? Let’s see what we get if I get the slides here. OK.
Elder Jackson Anderson: “There has never been a time in the history of the world when knowledge of our Savior is more personally vital and relevant to every human soul.”5
Elder Andersen: “Every human soul”? “More vital”? Now, I have known President Nelson for more than 30 years, known him well. He’s a man who chooses every word. Now, think of that phrase: “There has never been a time in the history of the world.” Now, you think how long the history is and that “there’s never been a time when the knowledge of our Savior is more personally vital and relevant.”
Well, that would tell us this: that we must proclaim His name, and we just help people understand who He is and help them know that He is our Lord and Savior and that this is absolutely true. OK, I hope you’re still with me, Brother Anderson?
Elder Anderson: Yeah, I’m still here.
Elder Andersen: Let’s go to the next one.
Elder Anderson: “My dear brothers and sisters, these are the latter days. If you and I are to withstand the forthcoming perils and pressures, it is imperative that we each have a firm spiritual foundation built upon the rock of our Redeemer, Jesus Christ.”6
Elder Andersen: Can you believe that? He said, “If we are going to withstand the forthcoming perils and pressures.” Now, these were all from his talks in the last conference; these aren’t from all his life. These are just from the last conference. “It is imperative”—I know how President Nelson is; he would pick out every word—“that we have a firm spiritual foundation built upon the rock of our Redeemer.”
So he’s speaking both to you and to me, but he’s also speaking to those we teach, those we come in contact with. You will meet many people. You will meet people in the Church who are not members of the Church, you will meet some that are Christian, some that are not, and you keep these thoughts in your mind, that “it is imperative if we are going to withstand the forthcoming perils and pressures.” OK, let’s go to the next one.
Elder Anderson: “The Lord has declared that despite today’s unprecedented challenges, those who build their foundations upon Jesus Christ, and have learned how to draw upon His power, need not succumb to the unique anxieties of this era.”7
Elder Andersen: The term that I find very interesting there—and we could spend several minutes talking about it—when he says, “Need not succumb to the unique anxieties of this era.” Can you think, what did he mean by that? I’m not going to make you answer, but what are the unique anxieties of this era?
Well, there are some. And if we had time, we could go through them. I won’t. But in your classes, will you actually discuss that with your teachers? What are those unique anxieties? And why is it that people might succumb to them? What might happen? OK, one more. Brother Anderson?
Elder Anderson: “Please believe me when I say that when your spiritual foundation is built solidly upon Jesus Christ, you have no need to fear. As you are true to your covenants made in the temple, you will be strengthened by His power. Then, when spiritual earthquakes occur, you will be able to stand strong because your spiritual foundation is solid and immovable.”8
Elder Andersen: Now, he was speaking to all the members of the Church, but I remember when I was in the MTC—I was getting ready to go to France as a missionary—I was scared to death. Now, I know you’re not. You’re really relaxed, right? No problem. Easy. No issue. I remember being fearful, thinking, Can I do this? Am I going to learn this language? Am I going to be able to deal with the rejection that might come upon me? Will I be able to teach the gospel? Am I strong enough?
Well, President Nelson says to you that “if your spiritual foundation is built solidly upon Jesus Christ, you have no need to fear.”
OK, so what we’re talking about tonight is I know you have built your foundation on the Lord Jesus Christ. But I would like to give you a couple of thoughts to help you. And we have these wonderful missionaries that are going out that are couples. Thank you. This teaching will all be so elementary to you. But you might learn something from it too. We’re so thankful to have you here.
I have found that the first thing to teach about Christ—you have to know what Christ has said. And let me bring up this next slide. OK, these are just—I wrote down 12 teachings of Jesus Christ. Twelve things you have—do you have the papers? Did they pass out the papers? So you don’t have to write these down, because you have them. These are just mine. And I think it’s very helpful if you begin today to learn a few of the teachings of Jesus Christ and have them in your memory.
Does anyone here have one of these scriptures or another scripture that our Savior spoke in your memory that you could say it for us without reading it? Anyone have one? Anyone brave enough to try? OK, there’s someone way up there. Let’s see. Stand up so we can see you. Tell us your name.
Sister Anderson: I’m Sister Anderson.
Elder Andersen: You are?
Sister Anderson: Hi.
Elder Andersen: Is everyone’s name Anderson here?
Sister Anderson: Yes.
Elder Andersen: OK. Where are you from?
Sister Anderson: Cedar City, Utah.
Elder Andersen: Where are you going?
Sister Anderson: Austin, Texas.
Elder Andersen: Oh, that’s a wonderful mission. It’s a new mission. We just created it a couple of years ago. OK, what scripture are you going to quote for us?
Sister Anderson: John 3:16.
Elder Andersen: Oh, well, that’s good! That’s the first one on the list. Now, does everyone know John 3:16? I hope so. But I would bet not everyone does. OK, do it for us, Sister Anderson.
Sister Anderson: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Elder Andersen: OK, well done. Thank you. So let’s look at that. Here we go. Everybody ready? Let’s say it together.
Audience: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life.”
Elder Andersen: Now, I saw that many of you were looking at me showing me you didn’t have to look at it, right? OK, let’s try it in a couple of languages.
Audience: [Speaking Spanish] “Porque de tal manera amo Dios al mundo que ha dado a su Hijo Unigénito, para que todo aquel que en él cree no se pierda, mas tenga vida eterna.”
Elder Andersen: Gracias. OK. [Speaking Portuguese]. Here we go—wait.
Audience: [Speaking Portuguese] “Porque Deus amou o mundo de tal maneira, que deu o seu Filho Unigênito, para que todo aquele que nele crê não pereça, mas tenha a vida eterna.”
Elder Andersen: You could learn that, can’t you? Good job. Very good. I wanted to say it in Portuguese, but let’s say [speaking French]. OK, here we go. Ready?
Audience: [Speaking French] “Car Dieu a tant aimé le monde qu’il a donné son Fils unique, afin que quiconque croit en lui ne périsse point, mais qu’il ait la vie éternelle.”
Elder Andersen: Well done. Here’s one I like. This is from the time of Lazarus and him in the streets with Martha, you remember this, that “Jesus said unto her, I am the resurrection, and the life: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.”9
Now, do you see where these—you can pick your own scriptures, I just gave you 12 that I really like. But when these can go deep into your spirit, deep into your bones, then when you need them, they will come out and you’ll be able to strengthen someone. You can imagine someone maybe who’s had a death in the family and you can say to them, “Remember what Jesus said.” And then you can give them the scripture. Can you see how these things work for you?
Some of the scriptures I put up there I won’t refer to anymore, but you remember Thomas saith unto the Lord—this is John 14:5–6: “How can we know the way? Jesus saith unto him, I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me.” So if you put that—it doesn’t have to be these; you can choose your own. But find some things that Jesus has said and let them penetrate who you are. And you won’t only remember them during your mission, but you’ll have them for all your life.
Let me read you one more. You know these. Let me just put our scriptures back up so you can see them. You know Matthew 22, don’t you? Because that’s where we hear the—where they ask Him, what is the greatest commandment? You remember that?
“Jesus said unto him, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.
“This is the first and great commandment.”10
You could be in a place and someone says, “Well, what does God want me to do?” And you can say, “Well, let me tell you what Jesus said about that. He said, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind.’”
Anyway, these are some that I love, but you could find your own. Matthew 5:14: “Ye are the light of the world. A city that is set on an hill cannot be hid.” Verse 16, “Let your light so shine before men, that they may see your good works, and glorify your Father which is in heaven.”
Who thinks they could memorize scriptures like this? Would that be too hard? When you get older it gets a little harder, I warn you. Who would be willing to think about memorizing, say, start out with five scriptures of what Jesus said? I’m not asking you to raise your hands because I wouldn’t want you to do it for me. But I would encourage you to find these scriptures that you really believe in that would make a difference in your life and that you might think would be important for someone else and put them deeply into your heart. You can start in your native language; it’s a good way to start, and then, should you desire, you could learn them in the language that you’re teaching, if that’s different than your native language.
OK, let’s go to another. Here’s the next one. Here are six parables that Jesus shared. Now, look at those and ask yourself, how many of those do I know? Well, you’ve heard them since you were a child, for many of you. And what would be one that would come out quickly in your mind? Probably the good Samaritan? That would be one you’d know, wouldn’t it? Or maybe the prodigal son? Get so you have these parables—these are only six; there are many more. You can pick your own. But so you have them in your mind and you can teach them.
Let me take just a few verses out of that first one, the sower, and show you how relevant it is to what you’re doing today, OK? So if you have your scriptures you can turn them open to Mark 4, and you could find this in another place—I start on verse 3:
“Hearken; Behold, there went out a sower to sow:
“And it came to pass, as he sowed, some fell by the way side, and the fowls of the air came and devoured it up.
“And some fell on stony ground, where it had not much earth; and immediately it sprang up, because it had no depth of earth:
“But when the sun was up, it was scorched; and because it had no root, it withered away.
“And some fell among thorns, and the thorns grew up, and choked it, and it yielded no fruit.
“And other fell on good ground, and did yield fruit that sprang up and increased; and brought forth, some thirty, and some sixty, and some an hundred.
“And he said unto them, He that hath ears to hear, let him hear.”11
Now, why would He say something like that? Well, it’s because not everyone will hear what you’re teaching them, and you have to realize that spiritual knowledge, spiritual desires, spiritual growth, and progression come from our own desires to do this. And you are there to teach, and some will hear and some will not.
Now, go down to verse 14:
“The sower soweth the word.”
And then He describes what these are:
“And these are they by the way side, where the word is sown; but when they have heard, Satan cometh immediately, and taketh away the word that was sown in their hearts.”12
You’ll find many people that you will meet—they could be very likable people, but they will not seek spiritual knowledge. And, immediately, even if you bear witness of the Savior, even if they feel a good feeling from you and know you are someone special representing a very important thing, sometimes they’ll just look at you like, not interested. Don’t know why you would be doing this, but I’m not interested.
“And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake”—OK, I missed a verse. So I didn’t read verse 16—this is those on “stony ground; who, when they have heard the word, immediately receive it with gladness; And have no root in themselves, and so endure but for a time: afterward, when affliction or persecution ariseth for the word’s sake, immediately they are offended.”13
So that would be someone you would teach, and they might say, “Wow, thank you. I’m so grateful for you.” And you’ll walk out of their house feeling really good—or out of the street contact, or wherever you taught them—and then when you see them the next time, they will say, “Oh, no, I liked meeting you, but I’m not interested anymore.” And this is either they talked to someone who said something negative about the Church or missionaries or something else, or they looked up something on the internet. And so immediately when they saw something they didn’t like, they were offended, and they weren’t interested. They were on stony ground.
Then the next one:
“And these are they which are sown among thorns; such as hear the word,
“And the cares of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the lusts of other things entering in, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.”14
So these are people who go farther along; they might even come into the Church. But just the cares of the world, the difficulties they face, or as it says, “the deceitfulness of riches or the lusts of other things enter in and choke the word.” Have you ever been choked? We don’t choke ourselves, do we? That’s not anything to do. “Choking the word,” suddenly the word that meant so much to them is painful to them, and they can’t stay with it. They can, but they don’t. So isn’t it interesting? You’ve all seen people who fit all these categories, and yet this teaching was given to us more than 2,000 years ago.
Then He gives the final one:
“And these are they which are sown on good ground; such as hear the word, and receive it, and bring forth fruit, some thirtyfold, some sixty, and some an hundred. …
“If any man have ears to hear, let him hear.”15
Well, do you see how you can teach these parables?
Let’s go to the six parables again that I put down; there are many, many more. I’m so grateful to have Elder Jackson here with me. I could have him teach one of these parables. I could have Brother Porter teach the parables, who I’ve known for many years. I love these men and their wives; we’re so grateful for their service.
Anyone here want to teach one of these parables? How about someone from down here closer? Who would want to teach one of these parables? Want to teach it? Come on up. You have to come kind of quickly. You’re getting the parable in your mind, right? Let’s hear who you are. Elder Horton.
Elder Horton: Elder Horton.
Elder Andersen: Where are you from?
Elder Horton: I’m from a small town called Clinton, Missouri.
Elder Andersen: OK, good. That’s good. Which parable would you like to teach us?
Elder Horton: I would like to teach the prodigal son.
Elder Andersen: OK, you’ve got not more than two minutes to teach it.
Elder Horton: OK, two minutes.
Elder Andersen: Yeah. So you can go to Luke 15. Go ahead.
Elder Horton: OK, so, the prodigal son is one of my favorite parables, and I love talking about it. I talked to some of the people from my branch today about it. It talks about a boy—or a man. A man had two sons, and the youngest son said to his father, he said, “Hey, can I have my inheritance?” So his father gave it to him. And he went out and spent it all; he wasted it all on the things of the world.
And I can see this happen in some of our lives. And people’s lives. I’ve seen them, people waste their things on the things of the world and become miserable with themselves.
In verse 17 it says, “And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father’s have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger!” Because at this time he had wasted everything away and was working just to stay alive. And it says in verse 18, “I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee.”
He realizes that he can go home after a while; he’s ashamed. But when his father sees him, even from far away, he comes to him. He runs to his son, who has gone out and wasted his inheritance and wasted it on the things of the world. But his father still comes anyway, and he comes and hugs him and kisses him on the neck, and he says—well, I don’t know what he said. But he said, “I missed you so much.” And he gives him a kiss on the neck.
And it just means so much to me because even though many of us have sinned, we can still come back to the Father, and He will have open arms.
Elder Andersen: Beautifully said, Elder Horton. Thank you so very much. You get an A+. Where are you going on your mission?
Elder Horton: I’m going to a small town called Ogden, Utah.
Elder Andersen: Well, the people in Ogden need this parable. You go ahead and teach it to them.
Elder Horton: Thank you.
Elder Andersen: And you did it very, very well. And I’m so proud of you for doing that. And we can all learn how to teach the parables and the teachings of Jesus. Thank you so very much. Nice to meet you, dear friend. We’ll see you up there in Ogden some time. Didn’t he do a great job? We would clap if we weren’t in church.
Now here’s perhaps the most important thing I’m going to teach you: that while you learn what Jesus said, you learn about His life, you learn about the commandments. It’s amazing to have those teachings. But the greatest teachings about the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the most powerful sermons that teach us what He did through the gift of His incomparable Atonement, come from the Book of Mormon.
And I wrote down some of them that I like: Nephi, Lehi teaches about it, Jacob teaches it, King Benjamin teaches it, Abinadi, Alma, Amulek. Now, of course, the Book of Mormon is an amazing physical manifestation of the Restoration. But it’s even a greater manifestation of the incomparable love of the Savior as you get to know these beautiful sermons about the Atonement.
Now, how do we learn the most about the Atonement? Unfortunately, we’re not in a small class so I can’t ask you for suggestions. We learn most about the Atonement when it comes into our life. Elder Horton—he didn’t say it, but his voice kind of caught when he said, “We sometimes do things that are not right, and the Lord stands with open arms to receive us back.” And if you’ve ever lived through an experience where you’ve actually received the forgiving power of the Savior, you love the issue of the Atonement, the principle of the Atonement.
Here it’s taught in beautiful ways. You see these; you have them on your paper, so you don’t have to write them down. But these are some—if you have time, not as an assignment but just on your own, pick up some of these and go through them and see if you can—you will see. It will burn in your bosom that no man could write these beautiful sermons. Certainly, not a man could write 10 of them. They are magnificent.
Let me show you just a couple verses from Jacob. Now, Jacob writes—sometimes when I’m out with the missionaries I’ll say, “Who wrote in 2 Nephi 9?” And they all think it’s Nephi, but no. It was his brother Jacob. So when you get to know these, you will have them right in your heart.
Now, let me just read a verse or two here: “Wherefore, it must needs be an infinite atonement—save it should be an infinite atonement this corruption could not put on incorruption. Wherefore, the first judgment which came upon man must needs have remained to an endless duration. And if so, this flesh must have laid down to rot and to crumble to its mother earth, to rise no more.”16 Meaning there would be no resurrection. Now, do we think that a young boy like Joseph Smith could write this? Not in a hundred years: “O the wisdom of God, his mercy and grace! For behold, if the flesh should rise no more our spirits must become subject to that angel who fell from before the presence of the Eternal God, and became the devil, to rise no more.”17
And then—I love this scripture; this is worth memorizing in verse 41: “O then, my beloved brethren”—and sisters—“come unto the Lord, the Holy One. Remember that his paths are righteous. Behold, the way for man is narrow, but it lieth in a straight course before him, and the keeper of the gate is the Holy One of Israel; and he employeth no servant there; and there is none other way save it be by the gate; for he cannot be deceived, for the Lord God is his name.” So here are 10 of the greatest sermons.
My time is almost out. But I would want to share with you my own experience with coming to know Jesus Christ: who He is and the power of this God, this Being, who is so magnificent yet so approachable.
I remember like it was yesterday, when I was a missionary. I had faith, tried to do my best, wasn’t always successful, but I’ve now had more than 50 years since that time, and learning about the Savior is rarely an overnight experience. For some people it’s quite dramatic. But for most of us, we step line upon line, experience upon experience, blessing upon blessing, inspiration, revelation upon revelation.
Never could I imagine in my life that I would ever sit in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Never could I imagine that I would experience what I have experienced, see the events I have seen, have the feelings I have felt, know the things I know. And these things all have to be learned personally, but I want to share with you as one who knows that Jesus is the Christ. He lives. He’s resurrected. He’s the Son of God. He lived a perfect life. He took upon Himself as much as—it’s impossible to understand how—He took upon Himself all our sins and suffering. He descended below all things that He could comprehend all things. And in the most magnificent of things we cannot ever thank Him sufficiently for, He rose the third day. He rose the third day and assured each of us our own resurrection.
I give you my sincere and sure witness that that is true. He is resurrected. He lives. He appeared to the Prophet Joseph Smith. It was not a dream; he was there. He’s appeared to many. We will all kneel at His feet, and I pray that at that time that badge that you’re wearing will be a great badge of satisfaction to you, because you taught in His name, and you stepped out in a very sober world, as it is right now, as we know. As Sister Andersen mentioned—and we pray for our Saints and for all the people of Ukraine and for the neighboring countries that are helping them. We pray for our members and the good people in Russia that all of these things might come to an end.
But amid it all, more important than it all, Jesus is the Son of God. I know He is. I share with you my personal witness. I am His witness. And I declare it to you in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.