 Well, good evening everyone and welcome to the road to hope and peace our Facebook page is sponsored By the Utah or a mission of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints I am Gordon Treadway the president of the Utah or a mission and I'm hosting tonight's Why I believe fireside with Hank Smith and as you can see joining us here with With me is Is brother Hank Smith? Hello president good to be with you. Thanks. We're so grateful that you're here tonight And we're grateful for all the people who are joining us live now on facebook on the road to hope and peace Hank as you know, we've been we started this devotional series about a month ago and and We're just super excited that you have the time to to join us tonight here in the Utah or a mission Yeah, well, I wouldn't miss it if asked to do with missionaries. I will not miss it. So i'm excited Awesome. Well for those of you who have been living in a cave and and don't know much about brother Smith Let me tell you a little bit about Hank Smith. Um, he is a southern utah guy. He grew up in st. George, Utah Is that right? Yeah, that's true. St. George. I learned to drive in the heat There you go. If you learn to drive in the heat, you can handle the snow and ice, right? Yeah, that's true But um, he uh went to college and got an MBA at Utah State University and then Went a little bit further south and I got the p got his phd at the other blue university in the state at Brigham young university um a teacher a speaker an author of several books including be happy and Running down your dreams, which um, which brings up a question running down your dreams You're also a little bit of a marathon runner. I understand. Is that where that books time came from? Yes, but it's just because I like to eat out a lot And so I had to I had to do something so I could keep my habit of eating at outback steakhouse or I appreciate that very much How many marathons that you run Hank? Oh 21 I think Yeah, but that Back when I was fast, uh, it's it's it sounds better than it actually is Well after two after two marathons myself. I said, okay, that's that's enough pain That's because you're smart. Yeah, you're wise president But uh, but obviously an accomplished runner anyone who runs 21 marathons is Either either hates himself or really likes to exercise and eat out, but we're grateful for that. Um Hank also runs to keep the energies married to his beautiful wife Sarah and they have five children Including twin boys who I believe are your youngest. Is that true? That's it. Yeah, baby four and five I got some pictures to show. All right. Good. Well, you just need to be a You need to be in shape to be a dad of five kids So we're grateful for you Hank and uh, we've already set an opening prayer everyone If you do have questions tonight and would like to ask those questions, please Feel free to message us here at the road to open peace We'll be monitoring questions tonight and at the close of the program Will be answered having uh, Hank answer some of those questions. So again, thank you so much. We'll turn the time over to you Oh president. Thank you so much. I'm so excited to be here everyone if this has to do with missionaries and Teenagers, these are my favorite groups of people to spend my time with I just hope that I can do something that will that will help you that'll help you feel good Help you uh, encourage you help you um get closer to god All of those things are really in my heart. I just hope they come across here tonight I'm going to share my screen with you. Um, and I have a I wish want to introduce myself a little bit and show me Show you my family and by doing so kind of have you think about your family a little bit Let me bring zoom back up so I can share that screen So, uh, I just have a few family pictures to show All right, I bring that up right there. Okay. Uh, so this is my beautiful wife, Sarah I absolutely adore her my friends. It is this short of idolatry. I really really like her We've been married 20 years Happily married 20 years And it seems like it's gone by in seconds because I'm just so in love with her I'm I'm quite a romantic kind of guy. I don't know if you any of you have parents that are really romantic one or the other I'm really romantic the poems the flowers things like that But the funny thing is is my wife is not romantic at all the other day. I sent her a Really long text she had to scroll through it There was emojis and there was you know poems. It was just really a beautiful text I I took some time on it and uh, I saw the little bubbles come up after she was writing back to me I was getting excited and she wrote um She wrote thanks Not even the full word just thx just thanks and I I said when I got home I said Sarah really just thanks and she said it's weird. I don't I it's weird. I don't want to write that stuff It's cheesy. She said if you love me do the dishes if you love me clean the car And I'm going I can't do those things because I'm over here writing you long poems, right? But it works We've been happily married 20 years. This is our oldest daughter right here For a while. It was just the three of us. Those of you who are the oldest listening to this you'll realize that they're The life of the oldest child is really different than the life of the youngest child Those of you who are the oldest you went to the doctor more than all the other children combined The oldest one you always just think you break it. You're like uh, if she fell off a chair We better take her to the doctor and the doctor says no she's fine I hate to tell you this but the the last child I'm sure he's been to the doctor at some point The other day he fell down the stairs and I'm really sad about this, but neither my wife or I moved. We're so used to this now We leaned a little bit and he went oh, we're like, he's conscious. He's fine It's just a completely different world for the youngest child This is Maddie now She loves to take my phone and take pictures on it If any of you look at the person next to you and ask them if they have Taken their parents phone and taken a picture. I don't I don't understand what the What the draw is to that but it seems like every kid I've talked to is like, yeah I take weird pictures of myself on my parents phones for them to find later. I'm not sure what that's about This is our second child for a long time. We didn't know if he had a neck He's a very very big baby. This is the day. He is born. I'm not joking This is the day he is born that's his three-year-old sister two-year-old sister holding a brand new baby This is the next day. No, just kidding. It wasn't the next day, but uh, it was a couple days later Anyway, uh, this is mason now And he is our second child. He loves to be surrounded by girls If any of you have teenage brothers who love to be surrounded by girls And he uh, he does not like to be compared to his sister Madeleine is pretty amazing. She read the book of Mormon 70 times yesterday And I said he said well, don't compare me to Madeleine and I said listen I'm sorry if I compare you I'll try to stop but you don't have the hardest life ever Uh, because he was saying well Madeleine's perfect. No one can be like Madeleine. I said well Did you know that Jesus had a little brother named James? That's a true story in the new testament Jesus had a little brother named James and I asked him. How would you like to be James? Can you imagine the pressure of being Jesus's little brother? Right people are like, what can you do? I'm trying to be like Jesus. I bet James wrote that song in primary. I'm trying to be like Jesus You look at the bottom. It says lyrics James All right. Uh, this is our third child. Uh, he never looked like this. He mostly looked like this He's just kind of a sad kid most of the time pretty angry. He's my redheaded boy Now He's downstairs. So I better not say this too loud But he is by far the most difficult child in our family I don't know if you guys have a difficult child if you do don't look at him Don't look at him right now if you have a difficult time in your family. Don't look over at him If there's a mess he probably made it if there's a fight. He's probably in it. He is a great child I love him when he is asleep But he is sometimes really really difficult And that's okay. That's okay because the other children prove that we're good parents We always wanted to have four kids. It was always our goal to have four kids I don't know why we just always thought Let's have four kids And so we had a girl and a boy and a boy And what we wanted at the very end was a baby girl and what we got was two more boys This was kind of a joke. It wasn't fair. This is not what we ordered if you go to a restaurant And you order a meal and they bring you the wrong meal. You can send that meal back It doesn't work that way with children Uh, the chef would not take them back. So we got both of them Here's another one of them right here that one on the right watch his face Really closely you guys his face doesn't change. It scared us at first We said is he okay and the doctor said Take it home. So we took him home and eight months later. He's got the exact same face This is where things got a little weird because my wife said he looks like mega mind and I was like he does He looks just like mega mind But having twins kind of changed our whole world We seemed like we we felt like we knew what we were doing when we had three kids And then four and five come on the same day and it kind of throws your world Into a complete craziness now. I wanted to show you all seven of us here And the reason I like to show this picture is you know, most people would see this picture and say Oh, what a happy family and we are a happy family But it's far from perfect. We live in a tealester world, right? And so tealester worlds have tealester problems, but It is it with the gospel. It is Happy we have a very happy family And things are things are going well, but we do have our fair share of problems I wanted to show you something that one of my heroes taught her name is julie beck She was a leader in our church When she was over the release or Reathside organization And she said something very simple, but it really changed my life. She says if it is if it is anti family, it is anti christ And I remember hearing that it was such a simple statement But it was something I'd never thought of before if it is anti family It is anti christ because occasionally I meet teenagers, you know, I speak all over the country and schools and in churches and Occasionally, I'll meet a teenager that says dr. Smith. I am never getting married I am never having kids. I don't want to have that. I want to travel and I tell them Hey, I get to travel a lot and traveling is a lot of fun In fact, traveling if I want to describe it exactly how it is. It's a lot of waiting in line That's what traveling is. It's a ton of waiting in line But then I just let them know you can still travel and have a family in fact When it when it comes to comparing the two Traveling isn't even on the board anywhere near close as fun as it is to have a family even an imperfect family Uh, there's nothing that comes even close to being a husband and to being a father to being part of a family nothing Even close. So can you see Why the enemies of christ would want to get rid of families if it is anti family? It is anti christ So watch the shows that you um that you support watch the website you support and see if there's any sort of anti family Message in them. Um, and I know you uh, those of you listening You have the dream one day of having your own family and what does that say about you? Right if it is anti family it is anti christ and you want to have Your own family one day and you should want to have it because it is by far the best part of life I'm sure president would agree the best part of life ask your parents what the best part of life is They won't say their job. They won't say their calling. Uh, they won't say their front yard All those things are really nice and uh, they they have to spend a lot of time on them But it is not the best part of their life. You are the best Part of their life. I know some of you are like if I was the best part of their life Why would they ground me? Well, sometimes you have to ground the best part of your life to make sure it's safe Uh, but we at your parents, uh for the most part your parents absolutely adore you I know some of you are thinking well, Hank I don't come from a very happy family That does not mean that your future family can't be happy That doesn't mean that you can't have all that you dream for Dream of in a in a future family. So I just I have to send that message to you that this is where I have found the most happiness by far In my life. There is nothing even even close to it. All right I want to talk about family history here for a second So I was doing my family history the other day and I ran in to my great great grandfather. I know It scares me too. I was looking at him and I said Okay, wow If I I'll be honest if I saw my great great grandfather Smith here if I saw him on the street I would run away And I know some of you are thinking Hank you're kind of judgmental Yeah, probably but I don't know if that's contagious. He of all people should be wearing a mask, right? So I um, I was like, oh, I just don't like this My wife came by and she said that's gotta be your great grandfather I can't even tell the difference between I said, thank you sweetheart. That's very sweet of you And then she said no no no you just have to change your perspective a little bit And she turned it for me and all of a sudden it was no longer scary for me It was nothing. It wasn't something I would avoid If you look really closely there, you're gonna see a little dog. He's curled up. He's got his nose against his tail He's got his eyes closed Right, hopefully you can see that by now because I can't see you I know some of you are at home going I can't see it but president can see it So I'm guessing that all of you can see it as well. See what I saw was something To avoid I saw something that I should get away from my wife saw something that wasn't that scary at all I've noticed that that when we meet difficulty in life There are some people like this and I might be one of them where I try to avoid all trials and all difficulty I just am like run away. I am one of those people and I I hate to admit this that I've tried to make deals with god before saying god. Don't give me these type of trials. That's going to be too much I'll take these these and these right, but don't do these over here because I I don't think I could handle them right I think I I think I just I I would have to give up. I'd have to quit But there are other people who seem to see difficulty as something different. Maybe they don't welcome it into their life Maybe they're not like yes. Give me difficulty. Although there was a man. You've probably heard his name. His name is spencer w kimble He said something that just floored me He said whenever I hear of a great trial of difficult trial I think lord give me this mountain and I'm like what I say lord help me go around this mountain help me avoid this mountain because he sees trials as something That could maybe even benefit or bless his life and I'm going how do you get to be that way? Well, I want to I want to just give you some different perspectives tonight that might That might help you just kind of shift your perspective on difficulties So you've probably heard this story before of jesus walking on water I don't think this is an actual photograph, but I've never actually spoken to the photographer now This story is found in mark chapter six Um, it's found in uh three out of the four gospels that this is my favorite. This is my favorite version mark says he told his disciples to get into a ship Uh, and he is gonna go talk to the people and then he talked to the people and he went to uh into a mountain He went up on a mountain to pray. So by the way, jesus took time for himself If there's any moms listening tonight, it's okay to take time for yourself. Even jesus took time for himself Okay, now at six o'clock. Look at this verse 47 when even was come that word even eventually becomes the word we call evening And it basically means 6 p.m At 6 p.m. The ship was in the midst of the sea He was alone on the land Now look what it says at 6 p.m in verse 48. It says he saw them toiling and rowing He sees them struggling Right toiling means working They're really this is really hard for them because the wind was contrary under them So they're trying to go into the wind. I don't know if any of you have ever tried to row Into the wind before but this is a difficult thing and the sea of Galilee isn't isn't an ocean by any means But it's it's pretty big if you've ever been to like bear lake in northern Utah It's a very big lake and you can get some pretty big storms up there Well, uh, he sees them And then it says on the third line of verse 48 about the fourth watch of the night He came to them now verse 47 was at 6 p.m The fourth watch of the night is 3 a.m They've been out there for nine hours even they could be out there even for more because the fourth watch goes till 6 a.m 3 a.m to 6 a.m So nine hours at least they've been out there rowing once the last time you went to the gym and you thought I'm gonna go on that rowing machine. I'll put in a good. I don't know nine hours Nobody does that because it's exhausting right you would be you'd be dead They've been out there rowing for nine hours. They've got to be scared. They've got to be wet They've got to be exhausted and he comes walking on the sea nine hours. They waited They see him walking on the sea They suppose it's a spirit and they cry out right because you got to think how exhausted are you? You've been up all night You any of you have ever pulled an all nighter before you're starting to feel your brain Stunt not certain though, you know, it's not working like it used to They cry out so they're terrified right think a haunted house scared You see a spirit come walking on the water in the darkness They all saw him and were troubled. That's my favorite word of the whole thing troubled As if when you're terrified the one thing you say is I'm troubled Try that the next time you're really scared turn to the person you're scared with and say I'm troubled right and see if they're like what you can say I read the bible a lot All right for they all saw him and were troubled and immediately he talked with them And he said unto them now I want you to write these four words down Be of good cheer Be of good cheer he says that literally means to you and I Cheer up smile. It's okay Be encouraged be of good cheer. It is I be not afraid Now we're going to do what Nephi said to do and we're going to liken the scriptures to us How many of you have been troubled in the last six months even a little bit you've been troubled right And uh, you're exhausted You're tired and maybe this is lasting a lot longer than you thought it would Right. I remember talking to some missionaries And youth and they thought well if I could I can I can do this whole quarantine thing for a week or two Right. Do you remember a week or two? That was that was that was moons ago a week or two, right? We're going on months now working on Over a half a year and you might be thinking it's the fourth watch. I am tired. I'm exhausted And if we're quiet enough, I think we might be able to hear the savior say Be of good cheer It is I be not afraid now when he says it is I I think he's talking about the thing they're seeing they think is a spirit But couldn't he be me couldn't he be um, couldn't he be saying the whole situation is him? Right. It is I meaning the wind the storm the whole setup is all me. This is all me I'm doing this for a reason it is I be not afraid I know this isn't news to you. Um, but uh, I'm gonna say it to you anyway This whole historic year 2020 Um, is is incredible. It's absolutely incredible to be on the earth at this time experiencing this no one saw it coming But the lord did this was not news to him He wasn't sitting in some celestial room drinking hot chocolate when an angel came running in saying there's a virus on the earth We don't know what to do What everybody get back to work now The lord knew this was coming long before You were born he knew this when you were getting those of you who are on the in the mission right now in the incredible Oram mission he knew you were gonna go to the oram mission in the middle of this He knew that he called you anyway He moved forward anyway, he sent you out in the midst of the sea anyway, right And if we can if we're quiet enough and we we calm down we can hear him say Be of good cheer It is I don't be afraid Elder Holland said this he said this council be of good cheer is not a jaunty pep talk about the power of positive thinking So the lord's not just going hey guys, I know you're about to drown but be positive No, that's not what this is about He said christ knows better than all others that the trials of life can be very deep And we some of you really need to see this we are not shallow people if we struggle with them I can't tell you how important that is to realize if you have struggled In your life in the last six months if you have struggled you are not shallow It doesn't mean you have a weak testimony. It doesn't mean you had that you have a distant relationship from god It means you're what scientists call alive You are a human being and being alive means you are going to struggle your testimony will help you through your struggles Your testimony will help you understand your struggles, but your testimony was never intended to make it so you didn't struggle I've had I've met missionaries and people in my life in the last six months who have felt guilty for struggling So now they're not only struggling, but they're feeling guilty for struggling and they'll say something like I thought I had a good testimony. I thought I had a close relationship with god But this is really rocked me. No, you can have a very close relationship with god and still struggle We are not shallow people if we struggle, but even as the lord avoids sugary rhetoric That's another word for pep talk. He deplores pessimism Now that's an interesting phrase coming from elder holland the savior deplores pessimism deplores means Like think of something that you you cannot stand think of something that makes you kind of gag a little bit For me, it's sprouts if you put sprouts on a sandwich. I just can't eat it There's something about it that just makes my whole stomach and mouth want to get rid of it I just I just cannot do it. I deplore sprouts Well, I know this is going to sound odd, but if you want to make the lord gag a little bit be pessimistic He deplores it Now some of you are like, well, what's the difference? What's the difference Hank between struggling and being pessimistic? I can tell you what the difference is struggling is going to the lord and saying lord I've had a hard day. I've had a hard Week I've had a hard month. I've had a hard six months That's struggling and that's okay going to the lord and telling him. Hope you know, I've I'm really having a hard time That's struggling pessimism is lord. I'm having a hard day a hard week a hard month And every day I've ever had has been hard and every future day is going to be hard I might as well buy litter because I'm going to die alone with cats. I I have My life is terrible. It's miserable. I never should have come on this and I shouldn't go to high school This is awful. Isn't it lord? Do you see the difference between struggling and pessimism? He expects us to believe he goes on he quotes another apostle I call this apostle inception when an apostle quotes another apostle He says I love what elder Orson F. Whitney once said the spirit of the gospel is optimistic It trusts in God. It looks on the bright side of things. That's the whole point, right? It's the whole point when I was talking to president Treadway the idea of like we're we're teaching we're we're Baptizing we're doing great in the mission field. That's the spirit of the gospel. It's optimistic It trusts in God. It looks on the bright side of things. Now. This is the whole point of the quote I wanted to show you we should honor the Savior's declaration to be of good cheer Indeed, it seems to me we may be more guilty of breaking that commandment than almost any other It's not a pep talk according to elder Holland be of good cheer is what? It's a commandment. How many of you have broken that commandment in the last couple of days I know I have I need to repent If you're sitting next to your mission companion I hope you are turn to them and show them what be of good cheer looks like on your face Show them that you're keeping that commandment. Don't do it creepy. Don't turn to them with that slow smile But turn to them and smile Show them be of good cheer that means when the alarm goes off Be of good cheer becomes a commandment right that means when When things go badly right when I had a lesson planned with someone and they and they they They just ghosted us. They turned us down. I can't find them. We are supposed to be of good cheer Right now that doesn't mean we don't see problems. It's okay to see problems It just means we don't allow our heart to become hardened. I love what Bruce Haven once said He said the trick in life is to not live life with your eyes closed saying there's no problems anywhere because I can't see them Well, just open your eyes. There are problems everywhere. He said the trick is to live with your eyes wide open But your heart wide open as well The trick is to see the problems to see everything the difficulties we face yet still choose from our hearts To be of good cheer. Let me show you a verse in Alma that I really like No one ever reads it because it's at the very end of the book of Alma and this is Mormon speaking And Mormon is writing about the war and he says His name is Mormon. By the way, not church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints So don't think I'm sitting here. His name is Mormon He writes because of the great length of the war between the Nephites and the Lamanites many had become hardened Just because of the length of the war. It wasn't exactly that the war was the most intense it ever been It was just drawn out. It just seemed like to be never ending the length of the war Many had become hardened and I can see why when I go through difficulty that I feel like is lasting a long time Sometimes you get so tired of hurting you just kind of harden your heart against pain But the problem is when you harden your heart against pain you kind of also harden your heart against joy And so you just kind of get hardened and angry, right? And he says because of that length of the war But let look at the next phrase and he says many were softened Because of their afflictions in so much they did humble themselves before God even in the depth of humility I highlighted those two sections many had become hardened and many were softened And I think if Mormon is Embedding a principle in this verse. I think he did it on purpose I think he's saying look when you go through something long and difficult You have a choice to make You can kind of do the default human thing and become hardened. How many of you have ever become hardened before? It was just too hard And it's not that you lack faith. It's just you got tired of hurting and so you hardened your heart and said I'm just I'm just gonna you know, I'm gonna be tough. I'm gonna tough my way through this. I'm done feeling Many had become hardened because the war this trial was just so long Many were softened. It seems to me he might be saying you got to make a choice here If you don't make a choice at all, you're gonna go right to the default You're gonna go hardened and angry, but if you choose you can choose to be softened You can humble yourself before God even in the depth of humility I don't know exactly what that looks like the depth of humility I've told my wife that I'm the most humble person I know and she never agrees, but I I don't know exactly what it looks like But I know it may look something like this going to the lord and changing your questions instead of lord Why me? Why this year? Why my mission? Lord, what do you want me to learn? Lord, not my senior year Lord, how can I use this? To help you. How can I this is such a strange year to be a you know sophomore junior senior in high school Wow, this might be an incredible opportunity for me to do something for you What do you want me to do? Do you see the difference between why me and what do you want me to learn? Why me and what do you want me to do? That's where all of a sudden we become energized because the lord's saying yes, finally Yes, I there's so much to be doing right now people are so open to hearing the gospel Instead of sitting down here and complaining. Let's get up and move These might there might be people in your high school in your junior high in your college There might be people that are ready to have the gospel that never would have heard it seven months ago But the world has changed so much. They're ready. But are you ready? Okay. Well, I wanted to um I want to share with you a little parable Uh, and then we'll we'll wrap up and we'll take some questions But I want to share with you a little parable. Um, and it's a true story Most of you already know this story And as I'm telling you this story what I'd like you to do is I'd like you to Just draw out this kind of like listening with your spiritual ears. I want you to draw out Kind of lessons for you personal So I'll tell you the story and I'll try to help you draw those principles Um, this right here is the provo tabernacle It was built in get this 1886 not 1986 1986 was a long time ago. That's the last time BYU won a national championship. I'm talking 1886. This was for ever ago 1886 Do you know who spoke at this building very first? John Taylor the john taylor the one that was shot and you know shot four times in carthage jail He spoke in this building to dedicate it It served as a meeting house of the church for 126 years longer than any person Lived it served faithfully as a it was a stake center for state conferences for firesides for concerts It was a faithful building And then in december of 2010 No one ever thought it could happen, but there was a massive fire and the fire basically gutted that old Beautiful building and a lot of people thought the church would tear it down or the church would sell the property because it's right in downtown provo Now I'm going to do something odd since we're talking a parable with lessons here I'm going to give this building thoughts and feelings. I would like you to Just go with me on this. I know it's a little bit odd, but let's say this building Sees the destruction of the fire and says a prayer like this lord Why would you do this to me? I have tried so hard to be good I've done all that I've been asked to do I've Do you know how many boring speakers I put up with you know how many children have thrown up in me and I have not complained I have been good And yet this Is what I get in return. There are other buildings on this street that deserve this Why would why would you do this to me? I'm I feel hollow. I feel empty. I feel I don't even know I'm questioning everything. I believe I Oh This is really really hard. Why would you do this? Now I know that's odd and some of you are going oh poor building but go with me on this present monsoon stood up In april of 2011 and he said, oh, no, no, we are going to rebuild the probo Tabernacle my one of the major problems with rebuilding the provar tabernacle was the foundation. It was 126 years old That's an old foundation. It was not going to meet standards for 2011. The problem was How do you replace the foundation when the only thing? Left of the building is sitting right on the foundation six million pounds of brick sitting right on the foundation, but it's 126 years old I'll tell you they asked a friend of mine. His name is mike He and his company. They are in soil and foundation work. I know some of you are thinking dream job Yeah, soil and foundation They decided they were asked by the church if they could replace the foundation on the provar tabernacle Without moving the building to which my my friend mike said his company quickly responded. No It's too old and too big if you can do that on other buildings, but this one there's no way it could withstand that pressure He said after a series of meetings and talks elder oak dwarf Was was meeting with this company and he just finally said well mike And company we believe in you And he went what do you want us to do? I mean they said we think you'll find a way I asked mike. How did you do it? He said two words very carefully Very carefully. He said it was absolutely miraculous because uh 16 months later. He said we had replaced The foundation with a steel frame Something I never thought possible. He said his company won awards for this It was something that was just a dream to be a part of now This is the part you're not going to believe me because this is a great story if it ends right here But it doesn't end right here because he said that the first presidency And president monson specifically said what would you think about putting in a basement? My friend mike said we thought they were joking at first. They had to be joking We can't put in a basement. We've just done the impossible putting in a basement would be astronomical There's just no way the building's 126 years old. It just wouldn't be able to stand it Well, he said once again, we basically got the message from the first presidency, which was we believe in you And he said hank we belong to the church of jesus christ of let's just do impossible things of latter-day saints Let's just do impossible thing I remember he told me I said how did you do it and he just kind of put his hands up and he said hank There's no youtube video for this. There's no textbook. There's nothing if we're going to do this We're going to be winging it Because no one's ever done it before on any building that any size He said it was absolutely incredible to be a part of because it took he said he took them almost two years And they had the entire building 45 feet in the air six million pounds of brick 45 feet in the air as they worked all the way around it He said we were getting calls from all over the world people saying how are you doing that? Is that really what it looks like are those pictures doctored? He said no, we're really doing this We were winning award after award after award. We were doing basically what anyone in my industry mike said would have thought 100 impossible No one would have believed it could happen. Now the final product was not the rebuilt provo tabernacle, but the brand new provo city center temple Now i'm going to put two of these buildings side by side. Look at the building on the left Just a few days into construction and the building on the right the day of dedication Now i want to go back to this prayer, but i want you to do me a favor I want to i'm going to go back to the prayer the the building said But you're in this case. You're god and you can see the building on the right You can see the end from the beginning. You know what it looks like on dedication day and yet you hear it pray Why would you do this to me? I've tried so hard to be good There are other buildings on this street that deserve this not me I'm questioning all that I believe I don't know What to do? I don't know what to think now if you're the lord and you know what the building is on the right How would you answer that prayer? You'd probably first be very sympathetic right empathetic. I know you're suffering. I know you're hurting I'm so sorry But then you'd have to add a feeling of But be of good cheer. It's okay. You should see the future. You're gonna love it You're gonna love what I have in store for you and the only way you're gonna get there is by going through this So just don't give up. Don't quit keep going and believe that I can see things. You can't Believe that I can see a future in you that you can't I remember Joseph elder Joseph b worthlin Who some of you you're too young to remember him, but he was just the greatest speaker He'd he'd he'd shimmy up to that pulpit and he said the lord just doesn't see us as we are today He just doesn't look at us that way when he looks at us on the earth He not only sees us, but he also sees the final product. He sees the glorious being you're going to become And so when we pray lord, why are you doing this? Right? You can almost hear him say be of good cheer I can see the end. It's okay. Oh by the way, did you know that one painting survived the fire? One single painting survived the fire and it wasn't even the full painting just that piece That is the only piece that survived the fire coincidence Probably but I still like it. I still like this idea that in the middle of the fires of our lives he stays Even if we cause the fire in our lives Sometimes we make choices that you know really take our life up in flames and he still stays He sits right there with us in the middle of this Destruction sometimes caused by us sometimes caused by others sometimes just caused by being alive, right? He sits right with us. I think you'll see as the events of 2020 continue to play out into 2021 and 2022 I think we'll all look back and see how god was there the whole time At times we thought where's he gone? He's abandoned us. He's gone on vacation. No He's been there the whole time just sat right in the middle with it But we come sometimes can't see it until we're looking back on it I've noticed that on trails sometimes on Hiking trails that I'm on I can't really see where I'm headed until I get far ahead and I can look back And then I can see how it all made sense why the trail took the turns that it did But I just had to keep going When I was in the middle of it, even though I couldn't see what was ahead Well, I have a you know, the most important witness we have of the lord are his apostles I believe them they and their spouses have Significant responsibilities and blessings that come when they bear testimony of him now Hopefully it's come across to you that I I love the lord and I have a testimony That he is central to our church and our work Hopefully that's come across But these testimonies that I'm going to read here are even Are I would say much more important? For you to hear This is president Henry B. Eyring. He's who says if we have faith in Jesus Christ the hardest as well as the easiest times in life can be a blessing Do you believe that? Do you believe that the hardest times of your life can be? transformed into a blessing because of him This is delin H oaks. He says he knows of your anguish and he is there for you He knows of this depression this anxiety Learning disabilities. He knows of what it's like when your specific parents are getting a divorce He knows what it's like when you go through that, you know, that medical problem He knows of your specific anguish not just all anguish, but your specific anguish and he is there for you He stands ready for you and this is the most important thing you're going to hear tonight We have a prophet on the earth today who said there is only one In whom your faith is always safe There is only one in whom your faith is always safe. You can always trust him and that is the Lord Jesus Christ And I leave that with you in the name of Jesus Christ amen President do we have time for some questions? We do Hank. Thank you. I I just felt the spirit so strongly as you spoke and loved that Loved your message tonight. Thank you so much for sharing that Message with us. I think it was so appropriate for the times. We're all leading living in Let me let me just go to everyone out there who's watching and by the way, we're just thrilled Hank, you'll be glad to know that At least as we were monitoring it over 1200 people Are watching us live right now and that number was was going up throughout the hours so More and more people joining us throughout which is just a great sign and people obviously resonating with your message Everyone out there is as you're as you're watching if you have a question for hank Please put it in the comments of the of facebook live right now on the road to open peace Just write in your question and we'll do our best to answer those Ask those questions of hank here in the last few minutes that we have with him One of the questions hank is is this as you talked about The incredible story of the probo tabernacle and the probo city center now now the probo city center temple I love the metaphor and the parable of that of that building How would you how what would you say to a 15 or 16 year old? A teenager in today's incredibly secularized society How do they start their faith? How do they make that decision where they feel like okay? I feel hollow I feel empty Where do they begin? Yeah, what do I do? Uh, that is such a good question. I um Uh, you know, I was a teenager back in the 1900s. So it was a while ago. Um, you remember the 1900s president. It was it was a while back, right? Yeah, yeah, um I remember feeling that way I I remember wanting to know You know, if I was If if god was aware of me if I mattered And it wasn't until Well, I I'll just tell you I I was probably I don't know 15 Uh 9th grade. What is that? You know 15 and I was I was on a I was on a walk My dad used to do the strangest thing when I'd go over to my friend's house or anything He would I'd say hey, can you come get me and he'd say yes start walking And I never I still to this day don't know why he'd do that But he'd say start walking and so I'd start walking and maybe he just wanted to give me a long time Because it would take him about 20 minutes to get there and I I would walk all by myself kind of in the dark This is back when you could do that. I think probably a little bit more and no phone or anything just walking by myself and Um, I remember one night as I was walking I was really wondering about my place, you know, I could see the stars and I was really wondering about my place in In the plan in my place in existence and Uh as I was sitting there just pondering that I wasn't really asking any questions of God I wasn't saying hey is the church true is the Book of Mormon sure. I was just kind of pondering my place Uh, I was overcome Overcome with a feeling that I had never felt before nor created by myself if I could create that on my own I would keep creating it over and over um, but I was uh I was absolutely overcome and I felt something I think what the word I would use now. I wouldn't have used this word then. I wouldn't even known this word then But the word I would use now is transcends It's transcended it transcends your ordinary daily experience Um Now since that time I felt that same feeling, you know hundreds and hundreds of times, but it was the first time That I felt Okay, I wasn't hollow. I wasn't I didn't feel empty. I felt I felt the rush of purpose and excitement Um, and now I seek that same feeling It was almost like planted in me and the Lord said now you can seek it now You know what it tastes like now seek it and I seek it in things that where I know it is I seek it in Um in pondering I seek it in reading uplifting literature. I seek it in Wholesome relationships. I seek it in Scripture Sometimes I get bored in scripture, but sometimes I can I can continue to feel that feeling And so wherever I find that feeling I just continue to seek it wherever it is and that to me has been I think the beginning was I just had a little taste of it. So when you get those little tastes Maybe in prayer or in you know, a church meeting or something you get a little taste of it Keep seeking that taste And it eventually will become more of a common thing that happens in your life I was kind of a longer answer president. I don't know if that was Uh, great answer. Thank you for that. Um, I I got a message from Sheree, I think is how you would pronounce her name and Sheree Asked a a poignant question. She said, you know, sometimes I feel really alone How do I find peace and how do I find hope in In a in a time where I just I don't feel like I know anybody and I just feel really really alone Oh my goodness Sheree wherever you are. Oh man My heart just goes out to you because that I have felt that same way before And it is a draining It is a draining feeling So first You know, when I don't feel good when I feel alone or lost I I like and maybe I'm too much of an attacker. I you know, I'm I'm a kind of a problem solver in that way I don't really like to sit still and and and ponder it too much. I probably should do that more Sheree's but One thing I personally like to do is attack these things And so I found that those who who And the word attacks maybe not the right word, but um who tried to take different facets of life in a And go after it. Um, so one side, let's say would be a physical way Making sure that I'm eating healthy and that I'm getting enough sleep and that I'm really taking care of myself Physically right ding dongs in a mountain dew every day for lunch is not going to Make me feel good, right? Then I'm going to attack. I'm going to try to attack it Socially and I'm gonna I'm I'm gonna try to reach out to people who who you know, I think can Can fill me up and make me feel better, right? If I have parents or friends or teachers or counselors or young women's leaders I mean, there's so many people you just have to look around and go. There's someone who makes me feel good about myself Um, I'm going to reach out to them. I'm going to talk to them about my my problem here and then I'm going to attack this Um, I'm going to attack this spiritually I'm going to pray about it. I'm going to I'm going to read about it I'm going to search for answers about this This thing right and maybe even we add emotionally where if I'm in a really dark place, I'm going to go see a counselor I'm in a journal. I'm going to write about these things. I feel like those who attack their problems from multiple sides Have a have a better chance of of finding that Finding an answer finding a way out, but sometimes Reese and this is maybe the most important thing sometimes The process we go through of just enduring Through a period of life that's dark sometimes that process of just making it through each day It shapes us we can't tell but it shapes our character and then one day sure each you're standing up in front of a group of teenagers Or a class or something and you can teach in a way that you could not have taught Had you not gone through that experience? There's something there's some wisdom that you're gaining I still want you to attack it. I don't want you to just sit and say well, I can't do anything about it. You can but Sometimes the process of just enduring and searching for answers in the middle of adult difficulty Shapes us into a person That the Lord can then use in different In different ways to bless countless lives I Love thanks. Thanks Hank. I got we've got a question here from Aiden that I think is is Something that most of those who are watching tonight Can really relate to okay. He's talking about how how we stay strong In our faith and in our hopes and our beliefs Yeah, when we're changing so much as as young people as youth As teenagers we're changing and growing and trying new things including our faith And sometimes in those changes it gets pretty uncomfortable, right? It's hard and it doesn't feel right at first And and Aiden's question is how do we stay strong? In the process of changing for the better even when it's uncomfortable Oh my goodness president. Who are these young people these? I wish I would have asked these questions There are a lot better young people than when we were young people I would my my major question when I was younger was probably like How do I get Amanda To to really look at me, right? Like So I was pepperoni or sausage, right? Yeah, like what what's what's this? So I I love who you are those of you asking these questions Just the fact that you ask these questions Is an indication of who you are What kind of soul and spirit you you have? Um, I would probably say if if my own child came to me I have a 16 year old daughter. I have a a 13 year old son And they and they're starting to experience some of these some of these, you know feelings of like You know, this is part of it's part of growing up This is part of you know, it's going to make you a good parent This is what's going to make you a wise friend one day that can give, you know, wonderful advice is Is going through this process I personally Have just noticed that when I go back to the unchanging things in life The lord's life, for example, I love to study the lord's life I teach at this little school in provo called by you and I teach the four gospels and the lord's life never changes His his incredible parables his incredible teachings I can keep going back to that over and over and over and even though I'm changing and adjusting I can find like an anchor there and it feels like, you know, maybe I'm I'm moving around a little moving about But my anchor is holding me right there Um I think the lord provides us with some stability in the in the church He provides us with some stability in prophets and apostles I if if you watch general conference the messages don't usually change all that much right there You consistently get talks on unity and repentance and doing good things, right? And so as you kind of attach yourself to the church and you attach yourself to the scriptures Essentially attaching yourself to the lord. He is unchanging and that gives you room to grow and to You know, because you know, you're firmly attached to him Then He'll he'll give you the he's the one guiding. He's the one guiding your growth. He's the one You know having you go through different windows of opportunity different doors of opportunity so Aiden I would say more than anything else Attach yourself to him and part of this I would assume is you trying to figure out who he is where he is and and what he's doing And as much as I would love to hand you a testimony of christ The process that you're going to go through i'm sorry to keep hitting this but It is a fun one. It's a difficult one But man that road to christ, especially when you're young Is a beautiful Is a beautiful and fun and adventurous and difficult road So i'm not going to take it from you even if I could But once I found him I found stability And I found real growth Yeah, I Let's talk about that for just a little bit because as I was listening to you. I was thinking about The fact that you said you'd run 21 marathons Yeah, so between the two of us that means we've run 23 marathons Thank you So between the two of us we've run 23 marathons and and I don't know about your experience hank but Um when I started running and training for my first marathon It seemed like I would never be able to get there Yeah, when you're when you're running that first or second mile and you haven't run before And it hurts and you're exhausted and it's really really uncomfortable aiden Um, but as long as you can keep the faith that if I stick with this and keep running one and two and then three and then five Sooner or later, you're gonna not just you're gonna run 26 and you're gonna and you're gonna look back and go that was worth it Don't you think just stick with it and keep I remember the first time My doctor said well, you better start running. I'd hurt my shoulder and he said you better start running and so I said, okay I'm gonna become a runner and I ran 0.23 I turned the machine off. I was like that is far 0.23 my wife says 2.3. No, not 2.3 0.23 And there six months later as I like I said as I just like you said if you keep just adding a bit at a time just don't quit Doing what you know, you're supposed to do like what I would run every day or every other day or whatever it was Uh, I finished that 26. It was incredible to see it just build up a little over time And it's that's the lord tells us what over and over he says I'm gonna give you a little bit at a time line upon line He just is not a flash flood knowledge kind of guy most of the time mostly It's just a little here a little here. I'm gonna advance you a step at a time You almost it almost goes so slowly you almost can't feel the progress until you Tell you compare yourself looking back quite a ways, right? It's perfect Yeah, Aiden and anyone else who's feeling the same way don't give up. Yeah, just keep at it All right, we have time for one last question Hank. Okay, this one comes from Nicole Um, and and she's asking for a friend She says how do I help a friend who struggles to hear answers to prayer? Oh, that is such a good question. I have a long time to I have a long answer, but I don't have the time to give it to you Um, so I'm going to give you the short answer I the scriptures teach that God speaks to man and and and woman mankind Uh in their own language In their own language and to me that just doesn't mean English and Spanish and Japanese It also means that God can speak through your natural Surroundings things you naturally enjoy some of you God speaks to you through music and some of you God speaks to you through athletics and others of you God speaks to you through through academics, right really learning and other people it's God speaks to me through You know Through my parents and this relationship this incredible relationship that I have it's just every every everybody's language Is different and so often we want what somebody else has in their language. So someone might say to me Hank, you know, I really feel In the scriptures that I the God speaks to me Through the scriptures and so I go into the scriptures and I can find myself a little bit frustrated because I'm just Not hearing that exact language. It's there, but I'm just it's not Cluing in King in to me and so one thing I try to do Is uh or it's one thing I have done in my life is I've realized God's been speaking to me the whole time I just didn't realize he was speaking my language I was looking for somebody else's language and once I figured out what my language was And I'm still figuring it out Nicole. Just so you know, this isn't a thing you just get down, but I'm I'm much more I'm further along the path than I ever was When you start to see he's speaking my language He knows me And he's you know, he's speaking to me through we don't fill in the blank whatever it is Then all of a sudden It's like tuning into a Radio they probably they don't have to do that anymore president where you have to turn in tune into a radio Yeah, they're like, what do you mean? I just press the buttons and put it on the right one but the idea is like It's like getting on the same signal Right, uh, and so he's the one saying I know your language. Let me send this out to you And then I'm the one that has to adjust and listen and be quiet and hear I think the one thing you can do for your friend is Let her know that that, you know, God speaks to you in your own language. So what do you feel like your language is? What are your natural abilities and loves? Right, she's got she's probably already like, well, I have this great relationship with my Mother, right? And then that might be like, oh, he has been talking to me the whole time through this this channel that I have Uh, and the other thing is to let her know what your languages are And say yeah, God speaks to me oftentimes through writing God speaks to me oftentimes through You know a certain church leader or whatever it is And then let her know that there's there's a variety of opportunities out There's a variety of ways that God speaks we just can't corner him into Well, I'm gonna pray and then wait for You know, I'm gonna wait for angels to come there's The view the vast array of different languages God speaks is different for every one of us and it's fun to To search it until you you can kind of hear that You can hear it all of a sudden for you the connection is made and those are beautiful moments So tell her to what president said before just don't quit Because the day will come when you go wow It's it I the best word I could think of tonight is it transcends human experience It really does it really does beautifully said as as usual Hank We are so grateful for your wisdom and the spirit you've brought to this devotional tonight Thank you for your time and and for your faith and and for the gift that you have to to share it with other people For those of you watching, uh, we're so grateful that you took the time to be with us tonight on the road to open peace We're thrilled with the amount of people who came and stayed throughout the entire program And uh, just so you know This will be now available on the road to open peace if you missed a piece And you want to come back and watch it in just a few minutes This will be posted live on the road to open peace. Please share it with your friends We know many of you are in the youth battalion here in the northern utah county Those of you on the youth battalion, please share this with with one of your friends tonight Just hit the share button and let them know that uh, that you heard something or felt something tonight that really changed Maybe the way you feel about your relationship with god and I think most of all I think the message that we all take from this is uh, christ is there for us. He never leaves us Don't give up seeking to hear his voice because he really really wants you to hear it So everyone, thank you so much again. Hank to you. You're awesome. Have a great night. Enjoy your family Thank you. Everyone else. God bless you and we'll be back again with another Why I believe devotional in roughly uh one month so so stay tuned and keep watching us here on the road to open peace Good night everybody. Good night