Unity

Here is the talk I am going to give today.

When I was a young girl, my mother and I were in the car listening to a radio program. The announcer asked this quiz question. "Name a word that means exactly the opposite when you rearrange two of the letters." My mother immediately came up with the answer – "united". It becomes "untied" just by changing the two center letters. At the time, I thought my mother was a genius. It would have been great to be able to use a cell phone to call in the answer. I have remembered this all these years – it doesn’t take much to change from being united to being untied.
At the beginning of a new year, the topic of unity is very fitting. How can we find unity when we live in such a chaotic world? Of course, the answer lies in the gospel. We have been commanded to "be one" and we have been shown how this is possible.
Often when we think of unity, we remember the early saints gathering to Zion. There were so many diversities coming together that it is amazing that they did as well as they did. In the Doctrine and Covenants, we are told that the early saints did not qualify to build the holy city of Zion because they were not united according to the union required by the law of the celestial kingdom (D&C 105:3-4). There were jarrings, and contentions, and envyings and strifes, and lustful and covetous desires among them; therefore by these things they polluted their inheritances" (D & C 101:6).
This sounds very harsh, doesn’t it! Are we doing better than they did? We as a people still have a long way to go to be able to be "of one heart and one mind and dwell in righteousness with no poor among us" (Moses 7:18).
I think we all have experienced feelings of discord, contention, and division at various times in our lives. We know that these feelings do not bring happiness. They cause us to be uneasy and uncomfortable. We long to make things right. It is wonderful when we feel harmony and peace again.
Elder D. Todd Christofferson states that "If we would establish Zion in our homes, branches, wards, and stakes, we must rise to this standard. We must become unified in one heart and one mind; become, individually and collectively, a holy people; and also to care for the poor and needy with such effectiveness that we eliminate poverty among us".
Keith B. McMullin said, "We journey together toward Zion like the early pioneers when we receive the covenants and ordinances of the gospel. We, too, "Come to Zion, come to Zion, ere his floods of anger flow". In the scriptures we read, "Therefore, verily, thus saith the Lord, let Zion rejoice, for this is Zion – the pure in heart." The establishment of Zion should be the aim of every member of this Church." Unity is the key to establishing Zion.
This summer, we had a reunion with the descendants of the Robert Orson Gibson family, Rulon’s grandfather. We reviewed family stories and the history of the Las Vegas area. Rulon’s great grandparents were sent by Brigham Young to the desolate area of Southern Nevada to colonize and build up the church. I often think how hard it must have been for them. Besides having no modern conveniences, they had to struggle with the intense heat and being so far away from Church headquarters. But they worked together, sacrificed for the good of the group and after many years, one stake was finally established which also took in parts of Arizona. When Lake Mead was created by damning up the Colorado River, the town they lived in had to be evacuated as the new lake covered it. The family then moved to Las Vegas. Robert Orson Gibson was now grown and had his own family. I think it must have been such a relief to move to a more civilized place. But the lessons of hard work and struggle had unified that group and, I feel, celestialized them!
Robert Orson Gibson was made the patriarch in the stake. At one point, there was a great deal of contention regarding the amount of money that had been spent in obtaining land for a welfare farm. At the time, it seemed to be an exorbitant amount and there was a division even among members of the high council. This good patriarch and was asked to give a dedicatory prayer on this new welfare farm. As he prayed to be able to unite the people and soothe feelings, he had a revelation concerning the Las Vegas area. He said that he could see thousands of homes in the desert and LDS chapels everywhere. He saw the temple that would be built there. As he dedicated the farm, he told the people of this vision. There was a different spirit after this prayer. They were able to unite in working to make these wonderful blessings come about. Now there are hundreds of stakes in the area. There are chapels everywhere. We stood near the temple and looked over the valley and knew that Zion had been built up in this area.
Elder Henry B. Erying says that the joy of unity is not solitary. We must seek it and qualify for it with others. This is why we gather together so that He can bless us. He wants us to gather into families. He has established classes, wards, branches and stakes and has commanded us to meet together often. In these gatherings, which God has designed for us, lies our great opportunity. We can pray and work for the unity that will bring us joy and multiply our power to serve.
Isn’t it wonderful that we don’t have to be "unified" alone – in fact, it is impossible! We must have others to help us and we are to help them.
Sometimes tragedy and loss serve to unify us. Trials can help us to unite and work together. Shared experiences bring us closer and give us a feeling of love for each other.
One sister told that as they attended the funeral of a 19 year old nephew in another state, they witnessed the miracle of Relief Society as food, helping hands, and most of all, loving arms encompassed the grieving family. Later, she heard this sister remark that as much as she needed and appreciated the loving kindness extended to her family when they lost a child, she found that the continual thoughtfulness and caring acts of her visiting teachers meant more. She said: "I really feel more touched by the love shown not in the crises when we were all stretched to meet the need, but during the small unapparent crises that touch each of our lives and are so often only noticed by those who really know and love us."
We have all been touched by acts that are done unceremoniously in quiet, loving ways. There are many who see a need and fulfill it and no one knows except our Father in heaven.
In our families, we can foster a spirit of unity and harmony. This is not an easy thing to achieve and may take years. But the main thing is to strive for good feelings and experiences. Showing love in countless ways over a long period of time can bind us together – knit our hearts as one. President Erying mentions several ways that we can strive to be unified. The first is revelation which is the only way we can know how to follow the will of the Lord. The Holy Ghost will testify to our hearts and the hearts of those gathered around with us, what He would have us do. It is by keeping His commandments that we can have our hearts knit together as one. The second principle is to be humble. Pride is the great enemy of unity. We need to be able to see and value in others, the qualities that we lack. Another principle is to speak well of each other. We need to speak generously of others in the Light of Christ. We need to step away from the possibility of sowing seeds of disunitiy. Remember how easy it is to change from being united to being untied!
When I think of the times when my life when I have felt a spirit of unity, it is in connection to ordinances. Absolutely nothing can compare with the feelings during a blessing, a baptism, an ordination or a sealing. As you may know, we have six children and have had eight marriages. We have four step grandchildren. We have been able to see families united by the sealing ordinances. I was privileged to hold a baby across the alter as he was sealed to his parents. At baptisms and ordinations, families from both sides have gathered to support the child. Feelings were put aside and there was a great spirit of unity that might not have been possible otherwise. We hope that we will work so that this spirit will continue and we can feel the harmony and love that should be present in our lives.
In our ward family, we need to work for unity. Are there those who feel neglected? Those who have had feelings hurt by thoughtless words or actions? How can we be peacemakers and draw them into the circle of unity? This can only be done as we pray for revelation regarding the matter, humble ourselves, and truly try to include all. We may be an instrument in the Lord’s hand to help someone who is floundering. We may be the angel sent to help someone return to fellowship. We also need to accept the help of those angels who are sent to help us when we are struggling.
It is my prayer that we will be able to resolve this year to strive for more unity in all areas of our lives. We must always work towards the ultimate goal of being united with our Savior. We all must work together to build Zion and become pure in heart. It is not impossible. We have had examples of those who have achieved this. May we be diligent in being unified is my prayer.