Sand or Rock?

Sand
or
Rock?

Last month my family visited our homeland, the Piedmont Valleys of northern Italy. There in the Italian Alps, Waldensian families hid for hundreds of years from the persecution brought upon them by holding fast to the truths taught by Christ's ancient apostles. Early church missionaries, led by Lorenzo Snow, discovered these families prepared to be taught the fulness of the restored gospel. We hiked overgrown, narrow paths to find the rock- solid home of these early saints hidden in the steep hills of Eissart, Italy. How the missionaries ever found them I will never know. Abandoned for over 180 years, it still stands as a monument to the conviction and sacrifice of faithful ancestors to the truth of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Facing persecution again from their own neighbors, they left their ancestral home in the middle of winter, with little more than the clothes on their backs. They crossed the Alps, traveled to England,crossed the Atlantic and arrived in Council Bluffs to begin their pioneer trek in the first handcart company during the summer of 1856. Arriving penniless and having lost their youngest child to illness, they came with faith founded on the rock of the Redeemer, the Savior of mankind. They would instill this in their children, to serve and rely upon this firm foundation. Their descendants would return through the years to share His gospel of happiness as missionaries themselves.

Like the wise man who built his house upon a rock, not sand (Matthew 7:24), we should build our testimonies upon the firm foundation of the immovable Rock of the Redeemer which will protect us from the storms and trials that lie ahead. Helaman speaking to his sons stated it perfectly, " And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall." (Helaman 5:12)

Recently, we have seen the effects of shifting sand on a society of changing values. Only those whose testimonies are built upon a foundation centered on Jesus Christ and His restored Gospel will be able to withstand the winds, rain, and storms of adversity.
As we approach this Christmas Season, let us be reminded that He is the Only Begotten One, the Savior born for all mankind, that all might live again because of Him. He invites, "...follow me, and do the things ye have seen me do." (2 Nephi 31:12). May we seek to do those things that will cause us to become more like Him, that we might have a fulness of joy. He is the way, the life and the light of the world. I testify of His gospel of happiness and unconditional love for all.




Michael Beus, Farmington Utah North Stake