Transcript for Mosiah 11-17 Part 1 • Dr. Ryan Sharp • May 13-19 • Come Follow Me

One of the biggest challenges with this block of scriptures, the fact that there are so many chapters, we're looking at Mozaya 11 through 17. In most of the other blocks, you've got three or four chapters. What I thought we would do is maybe divide it into two parts. And in the first part, look at the narrative, the storyline, what can we learn from a Benedict I, the person and the experience and the impact that he makes to connect it with what John said. And then in the second part, let's dive into the actual discourse, his teachings, the words and the impact that those words have.

She really is remarkable. Her maiden name is Farrish. She is from Utah County. She grew up in Mapleton and then Highland. The family joke, her mom used to say to my father-in-law, you can take me anywhere you want in the world as long as it's within Utah County. We've been here in Utah County for our married life, and we love it, and she's the remarkable woman.

I want us to think about a quick question. As I talked to my students, I'll usually ask them, as we start reading the Abinadai story, how do they picture Abinadai? What does he look like? Is he this absolutely shredded 90 year old man standing before them like the Arnold Freeberg painting that we have? And for most of them, that's him. That's what Abinadai looks like.

What I like to do with students is put up a sequence of artistic representations of a Benedictine. And for the most part, they kind of follow freeberg's image of this old man always shredded. But this old man who's just ripped and standing boldly sometimes bound before Noah and the priest But there are some artistic representations that show him as a younger man. That leads to the question for the student, so how old is a Benedictine? Based on the text, how old is a Benedictine? And then obviously we conclude we don't know. He could have been an older man. He could have been a younger man. to quote President Packard, therefore what? So why haven't spent time on that? And I usually use this as an opportunity to talk about, first of all, the value of art in helping us visualize some of these powerful scenes in Scripture, but also the caution that when it comes to studying Scripture, let's not let art be the primary influencer and how we interpret. I do think it's important to make sure we're letting the details of the text or the historical documents paint the picture for us.

Yeah, and I think it's important to appreciate it, especially somebody with zero artistic ability. I hesitate to even write or draw on the whiteboard in my classes, because I don't have that gift, and so I'm so thankful for it. But I do think it's important for us to keep in mind. Let's focus on the text and what the text says. In chapter 11, we're introduced to Noah, he did not walk in the ways of his father. We read in verse 1, and then I'm going to quickly highlight some of the statements here that help us see what's going on. In verse 2, he did not keep the commandments. He did walk after the desires of his own heart. He had many wives and concubines. He caused his people to commit sin, where he did much, which was abominable in the side of the Lord. They did commit hoardums in all manner of wickedness. If you jump over at the end of verse four, he changed the affairs of the kingdom. Remember he gets rid of the old priests and he calls his friends and they become the new priests. All of them in verse five were lifted up in the pride of their hearts. In verse 6, they were supported in their laziness, their idolatry, their hoardums. If we jump over to verse 14, gain a past that he placed his heart upon riches. And he spent his time in riotous living with wives and concubines, and they'd spend their time with harlets. In verse 15, he became a wine bipper. Anyway, see, you get a pretty dark depiction of what's happening there, the sin, the wickedness, you get this heavy description of what's happening there. But I think it's important to keep in mind, this is why a Benedictine is coming in. This is why in verse 26. It says, and it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was Abinadi and he went forth and began to prophesy. He came in to cry repentance under this people who were living this really hedonistic lifestyle and seeking pleasure and lust and riches and their hearts are set upon all of these worldly things. So it's against that backdrop of this wickedness, this sin, people obsessed with pleasure, lust, riches, money, all of these things where we get in Mosiah 11, verse 20. And it came to pass that there was a man among them whose name was Abinadai. And I love that phrase, a man among them. But it seems like he's living there, does he know these people? Does he have previous relationships? with them was he may be involved in the previous regime, perhaps was he a priest? We don't know. We don't have a lot of that information. But Abinadi comes in and obviously his message to this people who are living in sin is repent. The over and over again, if you look at the end of verse 20, except they repent, I will visit them in my anger. The Lord says, in verse 21, except they repent and turn to the Lord their God. And then again up in verse 23, it shall kind of pass that accept this people repent and turn unto their Lord. And then 25, except they repent and sack cloth and ashes. It's this message of repentance. And I think it's significant in Don Perry's book entitled poetic parallelisms in the Book of Mormon. He shows that Mosiah 11, 23, 25, is a beautiful chiasmus. with the center point, which remembers that primary message being repent and turn to the Lord. And that has did the heart of a Benedictized message that really on both visits, but especially pronounced here on his first visit. And sometimes when we look at this first visit in chapter 11, I'll ask my students, who is the primary audience for a Benedictide? And oftentimes they'll say the priests or King Noah, but on the first visit, we don't actually get the exchange with the priests. That's going to come in chapter 12. On the first visit, over and over again, it talks about the people. It's sort of the rank and file common men and women among them. The pattern is the same for both visits. where a Benedictine comes among the people, he prophesies, he speaks in the voice of the Lord, the people get angry, and then the people basically go and tell on a Benedictine. They go and tell the king. And in the first visit, we get Noah's response. If you look at Mosiah 11, verse 27, now when the king had heard of the words which a Benedictine had spoken unto the people, he was Roth, and he said, who is a Benedictine? And then he says, and who is the Lord? And this response probably shouldn't come as a surprise because this is a pattern that we see all throughout Scripture. It's this question of who is the Lord to tell me these things, or who is a Benedict I? Who is this prophet? We see the same thing back in the Old Testament in Exodus, remember with Pharaoh in Exodus 5. And afterward Moses and Aaron went in and told Pharaoh, thus say at the Lord God of Israel, let my people go that they may hold a feast unto me in the wilderness. And Pharaoh said, who is the Lord that I should obey his voice and let Israel go? I know not the Lord, neither will I let Israel go. or think of Cain in Moses 5. I have gotten a man child from the Lord wherefore he may not reject his words, but behold, so this is Adam and Eve after they've conceived in Borkain, but Cain Harkin not saying, who is the Lord that I should know him? And then the implication of the story goes on and who is able, this man of holiness? We have another example in the Book of Mormon. Remember when Alman Amulet go to the people of Aminaiha in Alma 9, who is God that send if no more authority than one man? So again, it shouldn't be surprising as we look at this text that is a Benedictine comes in with a bold message, cries repentance, accept you repent and turn out to the Lord. These are the consequences. Well, who are you? Who are these men, these prophets? And one of our friends and fellow teachers, S. Michael Wilcox, gave a landmark talk that he entitled, King Noah Blindness in the Vision of Sears. So beautifully stated, because in verse 29 it says, the eyes of the people were blinded. With that, I want to highlight what I consider one of the most relevant and honestly urgent messages for our day. We've already talked about how the primary audience for this first visit is the people. So let's look at how the text captures that. Look with me at Mozaya 11 at the end of verse 22, Abinadi speaking in the name of the Lord, the very last phrase in verse 22, the Lord talks about my people. They're still his people. In chapter 12 verse 1, I've been at I go and prophesy into this my people. In Mosiah 12 verse 4, it's a kind of past that I will smite this my people. The Lord is making clear. These are my people. I'm going to have you go back to Mosiah 11 and look at verse 27. where we get the words of Noah, who is a benedite that I and my people should be judged of him? Who is the Lord that shall bring upon my people such great affliction? I command you to bring a benedite hither that I may slay him for he has said these things that he might stir up my people to anger. He's going to raise contentions among my people. Here we have this storyline and we have this conflict where the Lord is saying, these are my people, and Noah is saying, these are my people. Essentially, the question is, how long halt E between two opinions? I mean, in many ways, I see it like Elijah, Dr. Emberon in the Old Testament of 1 Kings 18, standing before the priest of Baal, Elijah came into the people and said, how long halt E between two opinions? If the Lord be God, follow him. If Baal, then follow him. If Noah and your riches and your hoardums and your idolatries, if these are your God, then follow them and hear the consequences that are going to follow. But if the Lord is your God, then follow him and choose this day. How long, how do you between two opinions? So in fact, Hank and John, I want to put you on the spot here for a minute and I hope that's okay.

That's good. Unless the listeners think I'm insensitive. I did give a heads up so I don't want to come off as, you know, as somehow throwing you guys under the bus. But I'm going to make a statement that I believe to the core of my soul. And I think it's at the heart of an important message here. I'm going to have the easy job and make the statement. And then I want you guys to defend my statement. How does that sound?

Good. Here's the statement. One of the most important, consistent, and overarching questions in all scripture is, what are you going to do with profits? Essentially, how are you going to respond to profits? I think we see it throughout the Book of Mormon, the Doctor of the Covenant's Church history, the Old Testament, the New Testament. I think we see it all over the place. So that's my statement. One of the primary messages and questions of all scripture is, what are you going to do with prophets?

It's awesome. I think it's such an important point. Again, it's this idea of What are we going to do with profits? Do I view the first presidency in comb of the 12 apostles as wise, older men who are from a secular sense, just organizational leaders or managers or do I really believe their profits, seers and revelators? What am I going to do with them with their words with their counsel? Do I really believe that they see the eyes of the people were blinded to bring it back to a benedite but seeers see and do your point and Sherry do's point they see around corners so great that I love that I have noticed in the book of Mormon and in other scriptures and very much today that

Yeah, beautiful. And in fact, I had noted that same quote, and I love what he says before then as well, he says, sometimes we as leaders of the church are criticized for holding firm to the laws of God, defending the Savior's doctrine and resisting the social pressures of our day. Do you remember when Elder Holland was talking about in his general conference, talk prophets in the land again? He says occasionally people make the comment that perhaps the brethren are out of touch. And Elder Holland said, I've never, and this goes back to John's point, I've never been around a group who's more in touch, who knows more about the issues of today and what we're looking at in the future. So they're aware of all of these things and aware of how it's going to land with some people. And then he says, but our commission as ordained apostles is to go into all the world to preach his gospel into every creature. That means we're commanded to teach truth. In doing so, sometimes we're accused of being uncaring as we teach the father's requirements for exaltation in the Slushu Kingdom. But wouldn't it be far more uncaring for us not to tell the truth, not to teach what God has revealed? And then Hank, it's the part that you just read. It's precisely because we do care deeply for all of God's children. Prophets are rarely popular, but we will always teach the truth. I love that, and I'm so thankful that we have prophet, series, and revelators who are sensitive to these things, and yet are committed to their divine commission to teach truth. Hank, you mentioned, same to the layman. I'd love that moment in Helim in 13 when Samuel is rebuking them for this very thing. You cast out the old prophets and do mock them and cast stones at them. This is Helim in 1324 and slay them. And then he says, and now when you talk, you say, if our days had been in the days of our fathers of old, we would not have slain the prophets. We would not have stone them and cast them out. But behold, you are worse than they. For as the Lord liveeth, if a prophet come among you and declareeth unto you the Word of the Lord, which testifyeth of your sins and inequities, you're angry with Him and cast Him out and seek all manner of ways to destroy Him, and you'll say He's a false prophet that He's a sinner and of the devil, because He testifieseth that your deeds are evil. But if a man come among you and say, do this, and there's no iniquity, do that, and you shall suffer not, sort of the you do you. And if he says, walk after the pride of your hearts, walk after the pride of your eyes, and whatsoever your heart desireeth, if a man come among you and say this, you'll receive him, and you'll say he's a prophet, or she's a prophet. This seems to be the message of all Scripture. Obviously, the overarching purpose of Scripture is to lead us to the Savior. But just after that, it seems like the question is, what are you going to do with prophets? Think of Isaiah. They say to the Sears, see not, and to the prophets, prophesy not into us right things, speak unto us, smooth things. In other words, tell us what we want to hear. Elder Maxwell, in 1979, made this what I think is a prophetic statement. Make no mistake about a brothers and sisters in the months and years ahead. Events will require of each member that he or she decide whether or not he or she will follow the first presidency. Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. And then he would say not being ashamed of the gospel of Jesus Christ includes not being ashamed of the prophets of Jesus Christ. And against that backdrop, I wanted to share something about President Nelson. One of the reasons President Nelson makes it so easy to follow the prophet is President Nelson has been following the prophet his entire life. Think of the story that he told when he was a little boy. He had read the prophetic commandment about the word of wisdom. And he said, I wanted my parents to live that law. So one day when I was young, I went to our basement, and I smashed on the concrete floor every bottle of liquor. I expected my father to punish me, but he didn't say a word. Or as a 41 year old, he was being heavily recruited. to work at the University of Chicago. Elder Holland said he was being recruited very aggressively. He would have been made the head of the department. He would have a salary that was through the roof. They would pay for all of his children's education wherever those children went on the face of the earth. But before accepting that position, Dr. Nelson sought and received advice from one additional source. He met with the then church president, David Omaket. President Omaket listened and said, I don't think you should go. Just like that, Elder Holland said, Russell Nelson made the decision on the spot. He's not going to go. In 1979, he's not yet a general authority and he's in a meeting where President Kimball says, we should be of service to the Chinese people. We should learn their language. We should pray for them and help them later when recounting this experience. President Nelson said, President Kimball asked us in that meeting to learn Chinese. I did not hear him say, everyone except brother Nelson. He learns Chinese and eventually receives the recognition that's entitled the old friend of the Chinese people, which is bestowed upon a select few doctors, authors, journalists, and statesmen who over an extended period have established this deep mutual respect. President Nelson said with conviction, it's my testimony that when we follow through with whatever the prophet of God asks us to do, the way will be opened and our lives will be changed. And maybe one more, remember the experience where he's asked to operate on President Kimball. And the question that's asked is, should we perform this operation? And President Nelson, then Dr. Nelson, he said, we have no experience operating on a 77-year-old man in heart failure, doing two operations at once. It's never been done that I know of. It would be extremely risky. As a surgeon, I cannot recommend this operation. Harold B. Lee then asked what the risks would be if he were to proceed. And he said, they're incalculably great. I wouldn't recommend the operation. At that point, Spencer W. Kimball said, there you have it, brethren. I'm an old man ready to die. It is well for a younger man to come to the Koram and do the work I can no longer do. President Lee rose to his feet, pounded the desk with his fist, and declared with no small amount of energy. Spencer, you've been called. You are not to die. You're to do everything you need to do in order to care for yourself and continue to live. Spencer W. Kimball then following the prophet says, all right, that I will have the operation. It's sister Kimball wept President Nelson said, when he spoke those words, my heart sank because the weight of the decision seemed suddenly to pass to me. But this was a remarkable event. This momentous decision which shaped the history of the church was not based on a medical recommendation. It was based strictly on the desire of President Kimball as an apostle of the Lord to be obedient to the inspired direction of the first presidency of the church. And both President Kimball and President Nelson go on to follow the prophet. Get significant that President Nelson would later say, over the years of my service to President Kimball, I was often asked the question, when does President Kimball speak as a prophet and when does he speak as a man? And he said, I never ask myself this question. The only thing I ask is, how can I become more like him? That is the feeling of my soul as we look at prophets and apostles. I don't ask, okay, are they saying this is an apostle or a prophet or are they saying this just as a man? I desperately want to be more like them and listen because prophets really do see around corners. If we miss that message in this story of a benedite, I feel like we're missing one of the most central messages in the broader narrative that we have.

the way you're describing that, essentially you're quoting Alma 3227, a wake and aroused your faculties to an experiment upon my words, recognizing that his words are coming from prophets and apostles and exercise a particle of faith. So now maybe just a brief message to those who are struggling with what we're talking about. I love here that he's not saying you have to come in with this depth of confidence. He's saying, can you have a particle of faith? even if you can know more than desire to believe. Can you even open up space a particle to even hope? that these really are profit sears and revelators like we have throughout all scriptural history. Can you open up that desire? And if you can let that work in you in a manner that you can give place. And then I love it. He says, even for a portion, can you provide that much space? And if so, then that experiment will work. It will begin to swell and grow within your heart. And you can come to that deep testimony of profit sears and revelators. and both of you had shared examples where friends who were telling you what you want to hear often times we see the language that comes in Mosiah 12 where it says to be judged of this man. That's one of the statements is whatever you're just judging them. You don't really know them. You're just judging them, or what we see in chapter 13, when nothing else seems to be working, they go to the ad hominum, whatever he's crazy, these mad. And these are some of the attacks. But that kind of sets up, and if it's all right, maybe move us forward here in the storyline, in chapter 12 now we're going to come to the second visit where Bennett I comes among them in disguise and then as we've usually talk about he sort of blows his cover right off the bat and as I have ended I but you have to think that at least part of the reason for this guys is to get into the into the city. Bennett I doesn't strike me as the type who's super nervous about what people are going to think. I picture him. He uses the disguise he gets in and then it's like like here I am. I'm back and he goes straight into boldly teaching and it's interesting because the pattern is the same as what we saw in the first visit. He comes among the people. He prophesies. He speaks in the voice of God. The people get angry. and then the people repeat his teachings to the king and that's where he's going to be taken before the priests in the king. But the message is a little bit different that the tone of the message is a little bit different at this point. In the second visit, the message is more declarative. I will, speaking in the name of the Lord, I will, and then we get the message of destruction, the consequences. You shall, all this will, it shall come upon you. The life of King Noah shall be valued even as a garment in a hot furnace. And this is where he's going to be taken before the priest. And in Mosiah 12 verse 19, they began to question him that they might cross him, that thereby they might have were with to accuse him. But he answered them boldly, and he was stood all their questions. Yay to their astonishment. He did withstand them in all their questions. And it confounded them in all their words. before we settle into the discourse and his teachings to these priests, I want to hit one more, you mentioned Hank 30,000 view principle and application. So we have him boldly defending himself prophesying if we jump to chapter 13, the king sends the priests and they take him forth And they lay their hands on him, and in chapter 13 verse 3, touch me not for the God will smite you if you lay your hands on me. I have not declared the message which the Lord sent me to deliver, neither have I answered your question. And then he goes on in verse 6, it says he's spake with power in authority from God. In verse 7, I perceive that the message cuts you to the heart because I tell you the truth going back to what President Nelson said. People are filled with wonder, amazement anger, and then he says, I finish my message, and then it matters not, whether I go if it's so be that I am saved. And then we fast forward to the end of the story where even bound, ready to be executed. The offer is given, if you will deny your words, recall your words, you can be spared. Mosaic 179, I will not recall the words which I've spoken unto you concerning this people for they are true, and that they may know of a surety that I have suffered myself that I have fallen into your hands. I will suffer even until death. I will not recall my words, and they shall stand as a testimony against you. And if you slay me, you will shed innocent blood. And this shall also stand as a testimony against you at the last day. And then obviously, at the end of the chapter, he's going to be killed and it's final words, oh God, receive my soul. One of the things that I love in the Book of Mormon is that we have Mormon narrating and oftentimes he'll jump in within and thus we see comment. And do you remember the comment that he makes in, and it's Alma 47? read the beginning of the war chapters after detailing the influence of amelakaya. Mormon gives this commentary. He says in verse 9, we also see the great wickedness. One very wicked man can cause to take place among the children of men. Think Mormon would be okay with us paraphrasing this principle with the story of a Benedictine saying something like, we see the great righteousness, one very righteous man can cause to take place among the children of men. Not only a Benedictine and his influence, but then in chapter 17 there was one among them, these priests, and he believed. And then what does Alma do? He hides out and he begins to write the words of a Benedictine. And then what is he doing chapter 18? He begins to teach the words of a Benedictine. And it's the words of a Benedictine that lead to the conversion of 450 souls at the end of Mosiah 18. And then it's Alma and his son Alma. And then the story of Alma the younger connected with the sons of Mosiah gets us into the missionary work of the sons of Mozaya, and their conversion is going to impact King limonai, and the queen, his father, and the entire anti-Nefai, Lehigh's, and then you have Elma, San Hiliman, and his son Hiliman, and then as we mentioned at the beginning of this, the Nephi's until finally we get to the end of 3rd and 4th Nephi, the culmination, the climax of the Book of Mormon. This moment and the impact of a benedite is truly going to transform the rest of Nephite civilization all the way up through 3rd and 4th Nephite.

Yeah, I think absolutely. You did it by years even just look at the page count. So we're on page 175. I'm old school and have the physical scriptures here and there are 531 pages like what we don't have the book of Mormon without what's to come here without this conversion of Alma and the impact that he has. If it's all right with you, I want to share for me one of the most profound examples of this principle. So once upon a time I was a full-time missionary in the New Zealand Auckland mission. I had been a missionary for about nine months and I had been in different areas but the same city and the transfer came that would put me in a new city. I went to the transfer of meeting where you meet new companion and the area that I was getting sent to had a reputation for being a hard area. In fact, the missionary who I was replacing came up to me at the church where the transfer was taking place and he said, hey, I heard that you're going to this area and I said, yeah, I am and I'm all excited and he's like, I am so sorry. You said, I've been there for nine months. I've knocked on every door. I've knocked on most of them twice. Some of them three times. Nobody is interested. This area is dead. I told President, we should close it down. I'm so sorry that you have to go to this area. If you're an arrogant 19 year old like me at the time, what are you thinking? Well, step aside, like let me show you how it's done. I go into this area with so much confidence. We're going to work hard and we're just going to change the area. So we worked for the entire transfer. We worked harder than I had ever worked as a missionary. We were all in and we had nothing to show for it. We didn't have anyone even in the teaching pool. We had one family we were teaching. They weren't interested but they liked feeding us and we liked eating so we went over there for dinner. But we weren't actually teaching anyone or seeing anybody progress. I had this. pivotal moment of deep humility, where I realized, in my own way, now I know that I am nothing, which thing I actually never before had supposed. I have this feeling of humility and pray for forgiveness. And my companion and I decided to open up a fast for success in this area that we would see the Lord's hand. We wake up the next morning, we pray, continue our fast, and we pull out a map. Now for our younger listeners, a map is like GPS, but it was on paper. So we pulled out this map and perfectly considered where should we go? We decided we didn't have anything else to show. We were going to show the Lord. We were all in and we were just going to go knock on doors for as long as it took or talk to people in the streets. We made a plan and as we looked at this map, we both actually settled in on the exact same road independently. So we thought that must be inspiration. But we go to this road and we start knocking on doors. And then we look a few doors ahead and we realize that there are two Jehovah's Witness missionaries knocking the same street right along the way. So imagine that scene. So you've got two Jehovah's Witness missionaries on a Saturday morning knocking on a door. Hi, where'd you hope is witnesses? Do you want to pamphlet? And within two minutes, right after them, Hi, where missionaries for this, like, we are harassing everybody along this street. And it didn't take long before we were like, this isn't going to work. So much for inspiration and we went to a different street. A couple of days later, though, we remembered the feeling that we had. We went back to this road, maybe the other, Joe was witness missionaries, maybe they got tired and didn't make it to the to the other side of the road. So let's start there. And the second door that we knocked on was the door of a 21 year old young man named Nelly Sasulu and Nelly Let us in and he let us teach a discussion. He had a friend who was a member of the church and was a missionary. So he was kind of curious what it was the missionaries did. We had one of the most powerful first discussions that I experienced as a missionary. Nelly was so prepared when we talked about the prophet Joseph Smith that we talked about the first vision. The questions he was asking. Nelly was connecting with it. And then we pull out one of the cheap little paperback copies of the Book of Mormon And we said, and Ellie, we want to give you a copy of the book of Mormon and his eyes got wide and he's like, I could have that and we're like, yeah, and so we hand him this and he's just like, Thank you. And really, yeah, it's good. Here, read this and we'll come back and talk about it. Then we pray and we end this discussion. And remember those moments and return missionaries in the honest, you remember the moments we need to float out of a discussion. You have tasted heaven. That's what it was like. We go to have their follow up, meaning with him. And he's not there. We came back the next day and he wasn't there. We came back later that day and he wasn't there. But his parents were. So we started chatting with his parents. And as we're chatting with his parents, Nelly pulls up in his car and he says, Brothers, sorry about the other day. I had something come up and I couldn't find your number. And we said, Do you have time right now? And he said, yeah, come in. We open up to 35 after 11. And we start reading about the climax of the Book of Mormon and the Savior's ministry among those in Bountiful. And it starts talking about baptism. And we say, Nelly, how do you feel about baptism? And he said, yeah, I think it's really important. And we said, yeah, absolutely. So do we. Do you feel like it'd be important for you to be baptized? And he said, yeah, actually I was when I was a little baby. We have another conversation about authority and baptism by immersion. And then we say, Nelly, do you think it'd be important for you to be baptized by somebody holding that priesthood authority? And he says, yeah, Nelly, will you prepare yourself to be baptized by somebody holding that priesthood authority on November 23rd? I'll never forget that day. And he looks at us and he says, Yeah, heck yeah, but he didn't say heck, but he was in New Zealand and it's not a swear word. So, heck yeah, so we make this plan. November 23rd was three weeks from the day that we had this conversation. We laid it out and said, okay, on this day we're gonna have a lesson. This day we're gonna come read the Book of Mormon together. Lesson, Book of Mormon, introducing to members. We had it all planned out. Some things happened between this time and his baptism. He had a couple of challenges. Some of his friends said, give it him some anti-mormon stuff. Well, I guess I should back up two months before we happened knock on his door. He had a feeling that he should stop participating in the after rugby game festivities, partying with his friends. He was a phenomenal rugby player. And he said, why is it that my friends were okay with me going out and getting drunk with them? But now I want to join a church and they're all of a sudden worried about my soul. And he said, I'm getting baptized and we're like, absolutely. The day of his baptism comes and I will never forget this. This dead area, the entire chapel is full that the ward comes out. His families there, his friends are there. So many of those who aren't members of the church. the baptism begins and and I remember after he was baptized he was on fire and he said man it feels like we just want a massive rugby game and I was like I'm sure that's the holy ghost like I didn't know what to say so we go back there's one more talk And then he leans over and he's like, hey, brothers, is it okay if I say something? And we're like, yeah, it's your baptism. He stands up. He's been baptized for like six minutes or something. And he stands up at the pulpit. Bears this beautiful testimony about the Savior, about the restoration. And then he says, and if anybody wants to know more, talk to the brothers. And he points to us. And we're like, yep, come talk to us. The next day, He's confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and given the gift of the Holy Ghost. He also receives the eronic priesthood and is ordained a priest. The next week, he's called to be a word missionary. He would come to district meetings with us. He would come to zone meetings with us. He would come to zone conferences with it. So, picture this scene where presidents there with all these missionaries, he asks a question, Nelly raises his hand, shares this great comment, the other missionaries are like, Wait, who's that? I'm like, uh, it's Nelly. Get used to it. He's one of us. He would come tracking with us. In fact, he got us in so many doors because he was so well known. He had this reputation among these people. I remember we had a referral. There was a brother who his parents were less active members of the church. But I think he was 19 years old and he was never baptized. We knock on his door and he's like, nah, I'm not really interested. And then he sees Nelly standing behind us. And he's like, wait, Nelly are you with these guys? And he's like, yeah, man, I was just baptized. And this brother's like, oh, come in. I'm like, okay, so we go in and we start teaching him. We end up teaching and baptizing three of his brothers, teaching several of his friends. This dead area has this life breathed into it because of the passion that Nellie had. People said, whatever happened to him, I want to have happened to me. And we started to see miracles. There are several other parts to the story. Maybe one quick one. We got permission to take Nellie and his little brother and one of his buddies down to the visitor center, which was about an hour and a half drive from where we were. Nelly was driving. My companion was six, six. So he was in shotgun. I'm not six, six. So I'm in the back seat. So it's me, Nelly's little brother, and Nelly's buddy, in this little like hatchback car, picture a geometro. And we make this drive down to the visitor center. And we have a good experience there. But it was the drive home that was such a powerful experience, whereas we're driving home talking about the gospel. While Nellie's driving, he's sharing his testimony. My companion, Elder Bell is sharing his testimony. I'm sharing my testimony. These two investigators, or we call them friends, are in the back end. They're sharing their testimony of the restored gospel. So while we're driving on the freeway, crammed in this car, I just look at them and put them in this back seat. And I say, well, you guys prepare to be baptized on January 4th. And they look at each other and they're like, yeah. And they said to each other like, should we do it together? And they look at me and they're like, can we do it together? And I was like, let's do it together. So we start planning this baptism while we're driving on the freeway. It started calling it a discussion on wheels. You just shove them in the back of a car, drive 70 miles an hour. They can't get out. And you just teach fast forward now. I'm able to be there when Nelly receives the Mochizetic priesthood. And then I come home from my mission. About three months later, I get a letter. And in close to this letter is another letter that says something like this. Dear Elder Nelly Sasulu, you were here by called the serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Honor and Saints. You're assigned a labor in the Calgary, Canada mission. So, picture this Samo and brother in Canada. Comes to the Provo MTC. He flies into Salt Lake on a Saturday. He would enter the MTC on a Wednesday. So, he needs a companion. I volunteer. We take him to Temple Square. He looks around. And our member, he was just like, far out. That's what he said, far out. And we're showing him, Nelly, this is the temple. This is the Joseph Smith building. Nelly, this is the church administration building. This is where the profit works. And he looks at us and hits us in the arm. He's like, dude, Trigo, see him. And I was like, and now look over here. And we just sort of take him away. comes to church with us that Sunday, I drop him off at the MTC. He's two years older than me, but I felt like I was dropping off my own child. Okay, Nelly, remember what we talked about? You're going to work hard and be obedient and he's like, yeah, so I give him this hug and he walks away and I'm just a mess. And I'm like, my little boy is all grown up and it goes into the MTC the next week. I pull into the MTC. I was applying to teach there. And as I pull in, I offer this prayer. And I said, I only father, I know there are lots of missionaries and lots of buildings and rooms, but nelly is somewhere in this building. It would be amazing if I happened to bump into him while I'm in there. I walk in and I go down one of the long hallways and as I look up there are two missionaries walking toward me that's not uncommon in the MTC actually and one of them is Polynesian and as they get closer I was like no way no way And I was like, Nelly, I mean, other Sasulu, and it looks at me and he goes, brother, and it runs up to me and gives me this hug. And he said, what are you doing here? And I said, I'm applying to teach. What are you guys doing out here? Because they were the only two missionaries in this hallway. Everyone else was in class. And Nelly looks at me and he's like, it was the weirdest thing. We were sitting in class. And all of a sudden out of nowhere, my companion got super sick. And I was like, oh man, that's my bad. Like, that was my hair. Sorry. Sorry. So we chat for three or four minutes and he's like, oh, we better get going. They go their way. I go my way. We write throughout his mission. He was this incredible missionary. In fact, I was sitting down for a meeting with some student teachers, seminary teachers, and we're getting to know each other. We were talking about missions and I said, where'd you serve? And this brother said, Canada. I was like, oh, which mission? And he said, Calgary. I was like, well, they happen to know an elder Sassulu. And he looked at me uncomfortably serious. And he goes, how do you know, Nelly? And I said, well, my companion, I were actually able to knock on his door and baptize him in New Zealand. And this brother looks at me and he said, could I hug you? So he hugs me and then he said, that man changed my life. And I said, I got to know what was he like. They were companions. Everybody knew Nelly, everybody loved Nelly, everybody wanted to be like Nelly. And he said, when we tracked it, Nelly didn't walk. He sprinted from door to door to door to door to door. and brought this fire of the gospel. Now he comes home from his mission, meets and marries his wife. They get sealed in the temple on April 6th, kind of the big day in the church. They have five children and he continues to influence. In fact, when they were moving from New Zealand to Australia, his wife said we were supposed to move last week, but he had reactivated his aunt or something. And so he needed to baptize his cousins before we left. And I was like, of course, of course he did. Before Facebook became big, there was kind of a localized social media program. I'm not making this up. This is what his profile said. Religious views LDS through and through. Favorite book, The Book of Mormon. favorite TV show general conference like this is what he has on his on his profile and as I've told this story in a number of places it's amazing how often there's a connection in Ellie I was in Washington State speaking to a group of probably like 500 youth And before I even said anything, I had a picture of Nellie up behind me on the screen. And this kid in the back raises his hand and he's like, is that? That's Nellie Sasulu. And I was like, yeah, I mean, said I'm from New Zealand. He's my young men's president. And sort of unsolicited stands starts going on about the impact he had. I shared it in a BYU education week. And this wonderful middle-aged woman comes up after me with this massive smile on her face. And she said, I know all about him. My son served with him in Canada. a different group, a brother comes up, he was in his thirties and he said, I served with Nellie, we were in the same zone and he started, it's just remarkable the impact that he's had. Now, two other kind of pieces of the story and then we'll get back to a Benedictine. In 2008, I got an email from Nellie and he told me a story that I wasn't aware of. After he was baptized for a year and had received the McKessettic priesthood and it submitted his papers, he received a phone call. And the phone call was an invitation to represent Samoa in the Rugby World Cup. And he said, this is like the NBA finals. This is like the NFL Super Bowl. He's like, I've wanted this my entire life. Ever since I was a little boy, I dreamed of one day representing Samoa in the Rugby World Cup. And then he said this, this is a direct quote from the email. But I knew who had rescued me and who my life should be dedicated to. and that is God. So I turned down this once in a lifetime opportunity to serve a mission. And he said, and I wouldn't have it any other way. And they said, but brother, I just got a phone call. I was invited to represent Samoa in the upcoming World Cup, but this time they also invited his older brother who he happened to baptize a few months earlier to be on the same team. So now these brothers get a live their childhood dream together. The last part of the story that I'll share is we need to kind of go back to when I'm still a missionary. Nellies receive them a kizzetic priesthood, but it's pre-mission call. So it's 10 20 at night. Missionaries are supposed to be in the apartment at 9 30 and bed by 10 30. It's 10 20 and I get a text message. And the text says, sharp, I'm saying goodbye, man, I can't do this anymore. I'm going to the liquor store. I'm going to miss you, brother. And I called him and I said, Nelly, what are you doing? And he was like, I'm going to get wasted, brother. And I said, no, you're not going to get wasted. What's going on? And he said, I just can't do it. It's tearing my family apart. I can't do it anymore. This is too hard. And he kept going on saying the same thing. So I asked him where he was. And he said he was at this park, which is about 20, 25 minutes from our apartment. And I said, Nelly, I'm gonna be there in 10 minutes. And I said, and don't you dare go to the liquor store until I get there? And he said, they're gonna be closed. And I said, see you soon, and I just hung up on him. And I call president. At this point, it's like 1040, 1045. And I call my mission president. And I said, president, I explain the situation. And he said, other sharp, he just said, it's not good for you to be out that late. And then he paused. And it felt like an eternity. It was probably five seconds. Other sharpets, not good for you to be at that late. Just drive safely. Thanks, President, and we fly to the park. And we show up there, and there's Nellie in the pitch black in the middle of this park sitting on a 12 pack of beard with his face buried in his hands. And we sit down next to him. What's going on? And he said, I just can't do it anymore. It's tearing my family apart. We talked to him about it. And we talked to him about the adversary's attempts to stop him from becoming the missionary that we knew he could be in the man of God that he was becoming. Finally, after chatting for about a half hour, we just said, should we pray? And he's like, let's pray. So picture this scene, 11 30 at night, probably pitch black, a guy sitting on a 12 pack of beer and two missionaries in full processing clothes, praying in this park. After we finish the prayer, we get a phone call from President, and he says, where are you guys at? And we tell him, and he said, okay, bring him up to the mission home. We're walking to the car. He's got this 12 pack of beer, and he looks at us. And he looks at this beer and he looks back at us and he just throws it into this garbage can. We get in the car. We take him to the mission home and present it talks to him for several minutes. And he said, Nelly, you have learned that there is a very real power out there. And that power is going to try to stop you. But you have to know there is always a power that is stronger. And that is the power of God. And I think it'd be appropriate that we call in that power right now. and he lays his hands on Ellie's head and gives him this incredible blessing. And then Ellie goes on a mission and then he becomes the man that I've been talking about. So when I think the impact of one person and I continue to tell that story to my classes and every semester, I get emails from students because of that story and because of Nellie's example, like, I want to go on a mission. I want to experience what he experienced. So I have such a strong testimony of the power that one person can make if they turn their life over to the Lord. And that's one of the most beautiful examples that I could think of. And I apologize. I know it took longer than we usually would, but I love that faith and the impact that he had.

Yeah, so President Dirk's my, one of my heroes passed away 10 years ago this past March.

going back to what that brother who said that man changed my life. I just feel the same. I was actually texting Nellie yesterday. So I asked him if I could share it and I just I love Nellie and his wonderful wife Zoe and their incredible kids. They're just an amazing family who has impacted the sharp family.

Thank you.