I first heard of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland's address "Lessons from Liberty Jail" when it was in the Ensign a few years ago. It was the balm that my troubled soul needed, really the perspective the Lord knew I needed that I hadn't received until that point. I'd had a hard time accepting messages from the scriptures, the brethren and loved ones that "bad things happen to good people", "You aren't living wrong and being punished with problems," and that "All these things shall work together for your good". I hated hearing things like that because I couldn't believe them, no matter how hard I tried. I saw in hindsight that it's not that I couldn't, but rather wouldn't believe, my heart and mind were not ready for that quite yet. The Spirit didn't have easy access to my heart because it was so hardened.
But "Lessons from Liberty Jail" was one of those life changing talks, that was written and delivered in such a way that I couldn't not believe. I don't think I know or can remember why what this address said made it through when so many others before it did not, but it doesn't matter. After I read this address in the Ensign, I printed it off, highlighted my favorite parts and kept it in my desk drawer, where I've pulled it out of when I need encouragement to keep going.
I got quite ill last week and with the weight of the troubles of the past few months, I was sinking further down the pit of despair. I consider it a divine signature that on my DVR was the "Lessons from Liberty Jail" CES Broadcast (given on Sept. 7, 2008). So on Wednesday, while crashed on the couch, I watched it. I've only read the address before, and watching it was so much more powerful. It's Elder Holland, so need I say more? The power that man has is incredible!
The talk is about the winter of 1838-39 that Joseph Smith and a few others experienced in Liberty jail ,which were described by Joseph as the "malice of hell", but that eventually became what a "Prison-temple" experience. How could Liberty Jail be called a "temple"? Here are Elder Holland's words:
"As we think on these things, does it strike us that spiritual experience, revelatory experience, sacred experience can come to every one of us in all the many and varied stages and circumstances of our lives if we want it, if we hold on and pray on, and if we keep our faith strong through our difficulties? We love and cherish our dedicated temples and the essential, exalting ordinances that are performed there. We thank heaven and the presiding Brethren that more and more of them are being built, giving more and more of us greater access to them. They are truly the holiest, most sacred structures in the kingdom of God, to which we all ought to go as worthily and as often as possible.
"But tonight’s message is that when you have to, you can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experience with the Lord in any situation you are in. Indeed, let me say that even a little stronger: You can have sacred, revelatory, profoundly instructive experience with the Lord in the most miserable experiences of your life—in the worst settings, while enduring the most painful injustices, when facing the most insurmountable odds and opposition you have ever faced.
"Every one of us, in one way or another, great or small, dramatic or incidental, is going to spend a little time in Liberty Jail—spiritually speaking. But the lessons of the winter of 1838–39 teach us that every experience can become a redemptive experience if we remain bonded to our Father in Heaven through that difficulty. These difficult lessons teach us that man’s extremity is God’s opportunity, and if we will be humble and faithful, if we will be believing and not curse God for our problems, He can turn the unfair and inhumane and debilitating prisons of our lives into temples—or at least into a circumstance that can bring comfort and revelation, divine companionship and peace."
The following are the three lessons from Liberty Jail with my thoughts mixed in. Everything in italics are Elder Holland's own words:
1. Everyone faces trying times. "The first of these [lessons] is inherent in what I’ve already said—that everyone, including (and perhaps especially) the righteous, will be called upon to face trying times...But whenever these moments of our extremity come, we must not succumb to the fear that God has abandoned us or that He does not hear our prayers. He does hear us. He does see us. He does love us."
I loved his next words, and it was in first reading them that I believed them to be true:
"We are not alone in our little prisons here. When suffering, we may in fact be nearer to God than we’ve ever been in our entire lives. That knowledge can turn every such situation into a would-be temple."
2. Even the worthy will suffer. "We need to realize that just because difficult things happen—sometimes unfair and seemingly unjustified things—it does not mean that we are unrighteous or that we are unworthy of blessings or that God is disappointed in us." Jesus descended below all things, are we greater than He? No, we are not. In order for us to become like Him, of course we need to experience adversity as He did-though to a much smaller extent. It should be a matter of great doctrinal consolation that Jesus experienced all the heartache and sorrow of the entire family of man "in order that we would not have to face them so severely or so deeply."
I hadn't thought of it that way before, so that we wouldn't have to face them so severely or deeply.
"However heavy our load might be, it would be a lot heavier if the Savior had not gone that way before us and carried that burden with us and for us."
3. Remain calm, patient, charitable, and forgiving. "In the midst of these difficult feelings when one could justifiably be angry or reactionary or vengeful, wanting to return an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth, the Lord reminds us from the Liberty Jail prison-temple that the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, and that the powers of heaven cannot be controlled nor handled only [or “except”] upon the principles of righteousness...They remembered their covenants, they disciplined themselves, and they knew that we must live the gospel at all times, not just when it is convenient and not just when things are going well. Indeed, they knew that the real test of our faith and our Christian discipleship is when things are not going smoothly.
"That is when we get to see what we’re made of and how strong our commitment to the gospel really is."
Do all things cheerfully. The Prophet Joseph wrote in Doctrine and Covenants 123: "Therefore...let us cheerfully do all thing that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed." At the time he wrote this he didn't know when or even if he would be released, the Saints were suffering too. Yet in these cold, lonely hours Joseph says let us do all we can and do it cheerfully.
"What a magnificent attitude to maintain in good times or bad, in sorrow or in joy!"
These words, this powerful message changed my perspective on my own challenges, about my life, about me, about the true nature of God. I no longer feel that I am experiencing adversity because I'm a bad person or not living right or that Heavenly Father has abandoned me. The Spirit testified and continues to testify to me that the lessons from Liberty Jail are true. I know that you aren't experiencing adversity because you are a bad person, and God has not abandoned you. I hope you know that too. If you need some help believing, give Elder Holland and the full "Lessons from Liberty Jail" a try.
Here's the link to the broadcast, which I suggest definitely watching:
And here's the Link to the written address:
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