Elizabeth Nielson: This is the Prosper Stronger podcast, a community where LDS women gather to cultivate covenant connections and strive to be devoted disciples of Jesus Christ.
Hi, and welcome to another episode of the Prosper Stronger podcast. I am Dr. Elizabeth Nielsen, and today I am very delighted to have my daughter with me. This is Sarah, and she just recently returned from her mission where she served in the England Leeds Mission. And she gave her talk in church and as she spoke about something that they used- was it a motto, your theme?
Sarah Nielson: It was our mission, theme.
Elizabeth Nielson: Mission, theme. And the more she talked about it, the more I thought this is such a powerful motto. I want to apply this in my life. I want to do better at doing this. And so I have invited Sarah to talk to us and to just discuss this motto. And we've got, you should see, we've got books and scriptures and General Conference and dictionaries and all kinds of things around us. And so we're just going to be discussing and sharing and talking about this motto. So tell us about it Sarah.
Sarah Nielson: Our motto was 'true in Christ.' And before it was the mission motto I loved listening to BYU speeches on my mission. And there was one given by Elder Holland and his wife called, 'Are You True?' And at the end of this talk, he gives an experience that he had, where he was asked to visit a youth conference.
He said he normally didn't go to youth conferences, but for some reason he felt pulled to go to this one. And it was a sacrifice for him, it was a sacrifice for his family, but they traveled and they went to this youth conference. And, as he was sitting there, he realized why the Lord needed him to be at that youth conference, and it was because of a testimony of one of the young women there.
And, I would just like to read a little bit of this story, so you can get an idea of why this idea of being true kind of has pulled us in and is really somebody that we've been intrigued in wanting to become in our lives.
He talked about this girl and how the beginning of her life wasn't so great. She came from a broken home, a really tough background. And when she was a teenager, she found the gospel and she really clung to it. And one day while she was at school she was in the locker room and her Book of Mormon fell out of her bag and she hurried to pick it up as fast as she could, hoping nobody had seen what had just fallen.
And unfortunately, she wasn't fast enough. Some girls had seen the Book of Mormon and they came over to her and they said, is that a church book? And she said, yes. And they said what church is it? And she said, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter day Saints. And she was still really new to the church and new to this religion and the Book of Mormon and was a little unsure still.
And so she was quite shy and reserved as she was sharing these things with these girls. The next girl goes, is that the Mormons? And she goes, yes, a little frightened. And then there was a pause. And one of the girls says, are you true? And that little young woman, who was brand new to the gospel, thought about that question, stood up a little straighter, and said, yes, I am true. And I would just like to read what Elder Holland said here.
He said, "I must confess that when I first heard the young girl's testimony, I didn't quite understand all that I was hearing. What the girl was asking in a way was, Are you active? That was the way we would have phrased it. But what a tragic loss to phrase it. How much more meaning there is in this straightforward inquiry, are you true? My beloved brothers and sisters, I testify to you this morning that the questions are no longer, is the church true? Is God true? Is Christ or Joseph Smith or President Nelson true? All of that and a lot more was decided a long time ago. It is not now subject to the popular ballot, yours or mine. In a word, all that remains for you and for me, If we are to have a marvelous year, is this a simple inquiry? Are you true?"
And so this question then became very personal. Are we true to God? Are we true to Christ? And so I spent a lot of my mission thinking about this question and pondering on what that means to be true, and I love the hymn, 'True to the Faith,' and it talks about at the end, you're true to God's command, soul, heart, and hand, faithful and true we will ever stand. And to me, being true in Christ, being true to Christ, is, it's something that involves your whole soul, every single part of you.
It's this desire that only the Spirit can bring into your heart, but it just radiates this goodness. And all that you want is to love Christ and to serve Him and to become who Heavenly Father wants you to become.
Elizabeth Nielson: I love that telling the story and that question, are you true? I was thinking about it and I thought, even if you were just talking about it and I'm like, okay, when we go and we stand before Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, I don't think they're going to say, so is the church true? Or is Joseph Smith a true prophet?
They're not going to ask us that question. The question they're going to ask us is, were you true? Were you true to Christ? Were you true to your covenants? And what does it mean to be true? And even though I hadn't thought about this before, but as you were sharing this story, it reminded me actually of the story that we heard in April conference.
And I'm just going to flip to it cause I hadn't thought of it before. So let me go now. It was the talk about Christ like poise by Elder Bragg and he had the great fortune of actually being able to associate on a fairly regular basis with the legendary coach, John Wooden. And I admit, I don't follow all the sports things.
I do like sports, I don't follow everything, but I do know enough about John Wooden that when he said his name, I was like, what? Wow. Elder Bragg got to spend actual one on one time. Close friend with John Wooden, and the reason was because his father had been one of John Wooden's players.
Okay, so it reminded me of the part where Elder Bragg, he said, this part of the story, he said, "My wonderful father was an All American basketball player for UCLA under legendary coach John Wooden. They remained close throughout my father's life, and occasionally Coach and Mrs. Wooden would come to our home for dinner.
He was always happy to talk to me about basketball or anything else on my mind. Once I asked him what advice he had for me as I entered my senior year of high school. Always the teacher, he said, Your father told me that you have joined the Church of Jesus Christ, so I know that you have faith in the Lord. With that faith, be sure to have poise in every situation. Be a good man in a storm."
And Elder Bragg went on to explain how that advice has affected his life, how it's directed him and helped him. He talks about poise, but he also talks about what it means to be a good man in a storm. And that what that means is that you stay true, you stand firm, that you don't let the winds and the waves and all the disruptions and fear of a storm overtake you so that you succumb to the storm.
And which also reminds us of course, Peter, when he jumps out and goes to walk on the water to go to the Savior. And then when he takes his focus off of the Savior, that is when he sinks, that is when he starts to drown and he can no longer walk on the water. And when the Savior reaches out His hand and lifts him up out of the water and saves him.
So all of those things go together, I think is, that's what it's saying, is keep our focus on Christ and don't let the wilds of the world, the fears, the waves, the winds, the distractions, the deceptions, everything that's happening in the world pull us away from our focus on Christ or being true in Christ.
Am I getting it right?
Sarah Nielson: Absolutely yeah. I think the central point, and what I loved about what you said, it's all about that focus on Christ. Because you can be true to any number of things. You can be true to a sports team, true to another person, but it's really Christ that makes being true have power and have meaning in your life.
And being true in Christ to me, that's summed up by having Christ as our core. He is everything, and it's all about loving Christ. And loving Christ in a way that you are willing to sacrifice anything to be able to be like Him, to eventually live with Him. Being true in Christ is, it's what I like to call being Christ's friend. Because I see it as Christ and Heavenly Father, they are always true to us. Already they've blessed us so much. We're on earth. We have bodies. And most importantly, Christ came and He lived a perfect life. And He suffered in the Garden of Gethsemane. He knows us personally better than anyone ever could.
And right now, He looks down on us. He knows us. He's our friend. And I think about that. He's always true to us. No matter what we're doing, as soon as we decide that we want to invite Christ back into our life, He's going to be there with open arms, ready and willing. And often when we aren't at a point where we're inviting Christ into our life, He's often there with His hand in our life, whether we see it or not, He's reaching out to us.
And so I think that's something Christ will always be true to us. And so now it's our decision to be true to Him. And this made me think about an exchange that Christ had with His disciples. And this is in John in the Bible. And it says, This is chapter 15, verse 13. It says, "Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends."
And that's exactly what Christ did for us. And so for Christ, we're His friends. But there's an extra level that we have to choose to now be friends with Him on our side. And that is this. Verse 14. "Ye are my friends if ye do whatsoever I command you." And so as we're true in Christ, that means that we are willing to do whatever it is that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ ask us to do.
Even if it's really hard, and even if it goes against the way of the world. Being true is being steady all the time and consistent in our discipleship.
Elizabeth Nielson: Okay, I so love that because thinking about Christ is already true. He says he's the way, the truth, and the life. And sometimes I think what is the truth?
Okay, we know He teaches truth. We know based on just even most recently what President Nelson said that God is, He's the one who defines truth. He's the one that establishes truth. And so we know that is where truth comes from. And in our world today, so many people say, oh this is my truth.
This is your truth. Or I'm going to define truth this way or that way. And in doing so, we actually are not being true. That totally breaks apart the definition of what truth is by saying, I can just make it whatever I want, then it's not true. And I find that so interesting that it's one of Satan's tools to say we're just going to switch it around. It's my truth, your truth, live your truth, whatever that is. And that means it's not really true. And so I have changed that in my mind. When I hear people say that, I'm like, okay they're living their chosen experience. They are stating their opinion, but it's not necessarily true.
I have opinions. I have ideas. And sometimes I have behaviors that I personally experience or make choices around and they may or may not be based on truth. They may or may not be true. This happens sometimes when I'm driving and somebody pulls in front of me or they're going too slow or there's certain things that happen and I just, in my head, I'm like what are they doing?
And then, maybe this has happened to you. And then I end up passing them. And I look over and I see that maybe it's someone who is crying. And so they're dealing with something and I was sitting there thinking, Oh my gosh, what are they doing? They don't, they're not even paying attention to the driving.
That might be true, but the truth is they're dealing with something that's so heavy that they're crying and they are trying their very best. And so I shouldn't be judging them, right? So that's a, that's a basic example that I might make decisions about certain things based on things that aren't true.
My decision making style is such that I require a lot of information. Not everybody's decision making style is the same. There's actually a test you can take, like one of those personality assessments. And it's just on your decision making style. Mine means I have to have a fair amount of information in order to move forward on a decision.
If my information isn't true, I get so frustrated because then I know my decisions aren't going to be good decisions. And so when we think about being true to Christ, it means we have to build our decisions. We have to be able to use our agency and act in a truthful manner. And that means it has to be built on the rock of Jesus Christ. It has to be built on truth.
What we are doing in our life, those commandments have to be true. And we know that Jesus Christ is the way, the truth, the light. So we can trust that his commandments of what he's asking us to do will be true, and will be based in truth. And that is why we can trust Him. Does that make sense?
Sarah Nielson: Absolutely.
Elizabeth Nielson: I looked up in our favorite dictionary and Sarah and I, just before we got on here, we were actually, we had studied and prepared separately. And then when I was like, oh, okay, I need to grab this. If you'd grab this. And she was like, wait...
Sarah Nielson: Because the first thing I did was go to the dictionary and. This dictionary, the same one, and just look at the word true because I didn't have access to it on my mission when I was studying as a missionary. So as soon as I was home, I was excited to look it up in the dictionary, my favorite one. And so I love that we did that.
Elizabeth Nielson: Yeah we did this, the same. We found that we studied a lot of the same talks. We studied even the song, like so many things we were pointing back to the same. So that was fun. Anyway, when you look up true in Webster's 1828 Dictionary, there are nine definitions and they're all really great. But I think one of the things that I like about this dictionary, especially is that we get a lot of the background of where the word came from and why he chose to write these definitions.
Webster, he took so much time. He spent so much time and energy studying and learning languages so that he could go to their definitions of words and bring them in and create this dictionary of our English language and so it wasn't just, oh, here, I think this is what this word means.
He truly studied for years and years and became a master of many languages as he learned what their words meant and then how those transferred over into our English meaning. And so I really enjoy the first paragraph that is usually written in these definitions because it gives us some of that history of what it meant in other languages as well.
So it starts off in the Saxon language that it's faithful to faith and trust. And then in the Danish trust, loyalty, fidelity, faith, right? And then to marry. So it applies to our marriage and our marriage relationship, which Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, I've used in the scripture so often to compare our relationship with Christ with that of the marriage relationship. So I thought that was interesting.
It is also safe. So that word safe and secure. I don't know about you, but I didn't think about that. Did you? It was interesting. I was like, what? And so it also says to stay, to tarry, to dwell, that is to stop and to set. And I love that because it ties into what Elder Bednar taught us and what we learned from Enoch in abiding with Christ, that He will abide with us if we abide with Him and that is to stay forever. That's what it means. To stay permanently. And so that's also what this true means.
And then he goes on to say, the primary sense of the root is to make close and fast, to set or to stretch, to strain, and thus make straight and close. What do you think about that?
Sarah Nielson: I think that's very nice. I like close stretch because I think the journey of discipleship is definitely one that stretches you and it stretches anyone who decides to walk that path and the covenant path, it has bumps, it has hills.
It definitely is a stretching thing, but I love the idea of close because of that scripture. Abide in me, and I in you, therefore walk with me. I love that scripture, and I think that's one of the blessings that comes as we really seek to be true to Christ, is you feel a whole different level of closeness with the Savior.
Because being true is now your core, it's your center, it's at the very heart of who you are, and Christ is at the very heart of who you are. And when we put effort into that relationship with Christ and we seek to bring him into every aspect of our life, we're going to feel him in every aspect of our life.
He's going to come and he's going to abide with us. And that's going to bring that closeness. And that's that peace, that greater measure. And I think that's why we have the gospel on earth is because we need that. And when we're true, we get to really receive all the blessings that the Lord wants us to receive while we're here on earth. We don't walk this path alone, and when we're true, Christ really is abiding with us, and He's right by us all the time. There were a couple definitions as we were reading this that really stood out to me. One of them was a definition of true. It said faithful, and afterwards it had the word steady.
And I loved that word steady, that not only are we steady when we decide to be true, we're steady in our discipleship. But also, God is steady. If we're looking for stability in our life, the best place to turn is the Heavenly Father into Jesus Christ, because they are true, they're pure, they're genuine, they're everything that we want to be and that we want to find another person and we can go and seek that stability there. And then the more that we steady ourselves, the greater we can bind ourselves to them. And it even goes on in that definition. It says, faithfulness is steady in adhering to friends, which sounds a little weird, but I started thinking about that. And I started thinking about my friends and the idea that Christ is our friend.
And so as I'm steady in adhering, which is believing in and following as I'm steady in following and believing in Jesus Christ, I'm being faithful and I'm being true. And so I thought that was a really cool word. They're just being steady.
Elizabeth Nielson: I think we both like the same definition here. It goes on. It goes on to say, not false, fickle, or perfidious, as in a true friend, like Sarah mentioned.
And so not only do we need to think about what it means to be true, but what does it mean to be false or fickle? I think I keep going back to, I don't know why Anna Green Gables keeps coming to mind because she had her true bosom kindred spirit friend in Diana Barry and was so faithful to Diana.
Even when they had that period where they weren't allowed to be friends, they were still true in their heart to one another. And I think about the relationship, what that really means. So being true in our relationships, true to our friends. And like Sarah mentioned before, we are Christ's friends if we do whatsoever He commands us to do.
And so as I think about what it means for me to be true in Christ or true to Christ, I have started doing something in the last, I would say a year and a half where when I share commandments, I actually also try to restate whatever it was by using the word covenant. I replaced commandment with covenant.
And as I do that, I get so much insight about what I need to do differently in my life and what it really means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. And it has helped me realize how to fine tune what I am doing, what I'm choosing to do, how I'm spending my time, how I'm spending my energy, what I'm allowing into my mind or into my eyes or ears.
All of those things. And so am I a true friend to Christ? Was that girl in this story? She was a true friend to Christ. She said, yes, this is what it is. And yes, I am a member of this church. And we have so many examples of that throughout the scriptures and throughout church history, people that were true to Christ.
But I think what I really love is that you talk about how he is true to us. 100 percent he will always be true. He will always be steady. And so we have essentially the perfect opportunity for a perfect relationship, which I don't think we always get. In all of our relationships in life, we're dealing with imperfect people. And so there's going to be imperfections in that relationship. But with Christ. We have the potential of it being a perfect relationship because He already is perfect and He is there with His power to help perfect us.
Sarah Nielson: Absolutely. I do. I love that piece of knowledge that Christ is always true to us because I think that makes it a lot easier.
As she was talking about that friend idea, I was thinking about my friends and just the little things like how does being true in Christ look, if someone is living true to Christ, what does that look like? I know what it looks like as a missionary, but it looks way different in not missionary life.
And I think being true to Christ is, it's being a friend to Christ. And that means not just living the commandments, but really letting the principles of the gospel guide your life. He has been asked, we've been given the gift of the Holy Ghost and asked that we live in a way that it can be with us all the time.
And I think about the music that I listen to or the movies that I watch. If Christ was sitting in the car next to me, just like when other friends would be, would that be a place where He would feel comfortable to be? Based on what I'm listening or what I'm talking about, or at a movie with me, based on what I'm watching.
Because I wouldn't ever want someone to get in my car, one of my friends, and feel uncomfortable because of the music that I'm playing. Or be watching a movie, and knowing my friend is uncomfortable. And so as we seek to be a friend to Christ, it means that we want to live in a way that Christ could dwell with us all the time.
That we, nothing we would do would offend Him. And really, What that means is nothing we do would offend the Spirit and make the Spirit leave. And so to be true in Christ and living true in Christ, it's living and guiding our lives by the principles of the gospel, but also, like you said, it's letting the Spirit guide our choices.
And I believe that the more obedient you are to the commandments, the more commandments, I'm using air quotes, you get because the Spirit will start to bring things to your mind of, hey, maybe you could do this and this would increase your spiritual capacity in your life. And it's, oh, maybe I should stop watching movies where they swear so much. Or you know what? The music that I'm listening to, it's not bringing me the spirit. And, or maybe it's associating with different people. And it's things like that, that the spirit will bring to our mind. And then it's that choice to act on that prompting or not. Because that's now a personal commandment.
It's a choice that we've made that's allowing us to be true in Christ. But it's something that other people might not always understand because it's personal to us. And it's come right from God. And so they're going to be different for everyone, but those little personal commandments will come. And that's the way that I've found to be true in Christ is to try to listen to the Holy Ghost and feel when he's telling me something that I need to work on that will help me be more aligned with my savior and with. The spirit, so it can be with me all the time.
Elizabeth Nielson: Okay as you were talking about that I love it and I 100 percent agree that really it's keeping His spirit with us and doing everything we can to have His spirit with us and not offend the spirit. I love that example you gave of your music and what you listen to and movies. And even I would go so far as to what you wear and I, a lot of times think, am I going on vacation from my friendship with Christ? Are there times when I think, okay, I can do this because I'm with this group of people. But then when I go to another group of people, does my behavior change? And if that is the case, sure, sometimes our certain behaviors change, but those aren't really the behaviors that matter.
Like when I go associate with my ballroom dance friends, we talk about dancing and we dance, right? But that doesn't mean that everybody I associate with, I'm going to ballroom dance with, anytime I'm together with them. That thing, that doesn't have to be true. That's the nature of the relationship, right?
But when I'm with my ballroom dance friends my commitment to Jesus Christ and what I say and how I act and what I wear is the same as when I'm in other groups, maybe I'm in business groups or things? Am I being, am I having integrity to my core values and to my relationship with Jesus Christ?
I have taken his name upon me by making the baptismal covenant. And so therefore, am I being true to the name and the person who I represent? And that's a question for me. And I actually also really love that. When you talked about the individual commandments, like I have experienced that several years ago, many years ago, I was watching a movie. It was one of the big popular movies. It was what everybody goes and sees them. They're just like the thing. And so I thought, okay, yeah, sure. I'll just going to go do this and went with some other couples. We had a great time. And at the end of the movie, I realized this was about five minutes before it was over and my body had been tense and almost like and I was even getting cold. I thought, this is weird. Just before the movie ended, I felt the spirit say to me, do you see how you're feeling? Can you sense how you're feeling and how this is impacting you? And then the spirit said, you cannot afford to watch these movies anymore. And I thought, what if it's just one of these movies.
We all see them, but it was your spirit in such a place like the burdens I was carrying, the challenges I was facing, Heavenly Father understood the condition of my spirit and what was going on in my life. And He knew that I needed more spiritual protection. And more spiritual strength. And so he gave me that specific command that I should not watch these movies anymore.
And from that time on I haven't, and another one came out, the same group of friends invited us. And it was so hard to say no, because I was like, I like going out to dinner, going to movies with our friends. And so to say no, it was really hard. And it, and it was like why? And honestly, we even got the kind of the, oh, so you think you're too good for us response?
And I was like, no, I just, this isn't a commandment for all of you. It's a command to me. And I know that the spirit directed me and I have to abide by that if I am going to be true. And so for the first few times, it was hard, but now it's been years and I don't miss him at all. And if I ever do see pieces of those movies.
I recognize that my spirit actually is in a different place now, and I have increased sensitivity to those things that will offend the spirit. And it's interesting to me because we know that those that can't feel the spirit, they are past feelings, but have we ever thought about how we can increase our capacity to feel?
And I think that's what you were saying. Is that by being true to Christ, we actually have opportunities to increase our capacity to receive personal revelation, to recognize the spirit, to be directed by the spirit and to be trued up. Like, I don't even know if that's a phrase, but when some of the other definitions are to be exact precision, conformable to a rule or pattern, as in a true likeness of the original.
And as I think about that, aren't we commanded to become like Christ? Don't we want to? be in his likeness, to take his name upon us, to take his light upon us and that's really what is required of us is to do our very best. We're not going to, we're never going to reach that until we are perfected in him, but to do our best to become like Christ, to develop the attributes that Christ has, the character of Christ. And to me, I'm like, that's being trued up, straightened, corrected, and formed with precision.
And so how do we do that? We have to be exact ourselves in what we do with our agency.
Sarah Nielson: I think a part of that definition that it continues says, precision, and then it says comfortable to a rule or pattern, and I think the more we seek to live the commandments that we have, that we've been given, and I think even the personal ones that we're given, we eventually become comfortable with them, like with your movies.
After a couple of years, it was really comfortable to just say no or, you were really confident and sure in that commandment that you'd been given. And I think the more we seek to be true to Christ, the more comfortable we get living his gospel and living in the spirit. Because it's not always, it takes spiritual capacity to a certain level to be able to really seek to live in with the spirit all the time.
And I think it does take time to get comfortable, but you do, you start to get really comfortable with the Lord and you get really comfortable with the spirit. And that comfortable feeling brings increased revelation and increased. spiritual capacity and an increased connection with Christ. And I think I just love the idea of just being comfortable, just sitting nicely in your discipleship.
Thank you for joining the Prosper Stronger podcast today. We hope that you have felt inspired and empowered. If you enjoyed this episode, please subscribe to our podcast and share it with your friends and family. I also invite you to join me at prosperstronger. com where you will find free resources to help you grow and learn as well as join in our discussions where we go deeper into some of the things that we talk about here on our podcast.
Remember that you are loved and cherished by Heavenly Father, who wants you to prosper and thrive. Until next time, may you continue to cultivate covenant connections with God, with others and with yourself, and find strength in the Gospel of Jesus Christ.
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