PROVO, Utah — Elder Neil L. Andersen’s topic for the keynote address during BYU Education Week was “profoundly important,” said the member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “and at the foundation of how we choose to live our lives.”
Elder Andersen quoted the late Church President Joseph F. Smith, saying, “The education ... of our desires is one of far-reaching importance to our happiness in life.”
Noting the theme of Education Week found in Romans 12:2 — “Be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind”— Elder Andersen said his theme addresses “one of the deepest parts of renewal.”
His subject? “The educating of our righteous desires.”
With conferencegoers filling the Marriott Center to the topmost rows on Tuesday, Aug. 20, Elder Andersen not only discussed the importance of educating one’s desires but also offered counsel and promises and testified of the One who provided the perfect example of aligning desires with Heavenly Father — the Savior Jesus Christ.
“While our struggles can in no way imaginable be measured against [the Savior], His incomparable example of aligning His will with the will of the Father brings us a beautiful vision of our way forward,” Elder Andersen testified.
The importance of righteous desires
The Lord speaks thoughtfully about individuals’ desires, Elder Andersen said, sharing Doctrine and Covenants 137:9: “I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts.”
Desire is initiated by one’s own will and agency, he continued.
Elder Andersen recalled being a mission president 30 years ago and listening to the late Elder Neal A. Maxwell of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles respond to a missionary’s question about creating a desire in those he was teaching. “You can build upon his desire,” said Elder Maxwell of one learning about the gospel, “but he alone must initiate the desire.”
Elder Andersen invited listeners to consider two questions: “What are your most deeply held righteous desires?” and “How are you educating your righteous desires?”
Those righteous desires come in many shapes and sizes, he noted, but may include:
1. “You desire to be worthy to live eternally with our Heavenly Father, recognizing that it is only through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ that you might have this eternal blessing.
2. “You desire to live forever with your eternal companion. For those not yet married, you desire a righteous eternal companion.
3. “You desire to help as much as possible your children, grandchildren and posterity to desire to live worthy of these same blessings. …
4. “You desire to contribute all you are able to the strength and purity of the kingdom of God upon the earth.
5. “You desire to live the Lord’s laws of happiness.”
How to educate righteous desires
There are two forces that educate righteous desires. On the one hand are the effort of mind and will or one’s choices and sincerity, real intent, courage and willpower. “This is our contribution to the equation.”
On the other hand are the gifts and grace of Heavenly Father. “These two powerful forces combine into the cauldron of time and patience. Our road to becoming is more than a marathon; it is the journey of a lifetime … and beyond,” Elder Andersen said.
Individuals can enjoy good things in mortality — like the thrill of a BYU football game — without allowing inconsequential things to detract from the most important inner desires.
President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, has taught, “The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts — what we have done. It is based on the final effect of our acts and thoughts — what we have become.” Elder Andersen added, “Can you see our desires here?”
The process of refining, purifying and educating righteous desires requires time and patience. “Through the joys and challenges of mortality, we seek to better know and understand our Heavenly Father’s desires for us. Then step by step, year by year, through His grace and our will, our desires become one with His,” Elder Andersen said.
There will always be obstacles that seem to get in the way — “the enticing calls of the world, the ordinariness of life, the unexpected challenges that seem to come out of nowhere, the imperfections we see in ourselves and in our fellow Saints. It is our test to educate and grow our righteous desires as the difficulties and the disappointments attempt to upend us. The overarching grace of Christ combined with our resolute righteous desires allows us to become the eternal being we so want to become,” Elder Andersen said.
The role of covenants in educating righteous desires
Elder Andersen told listeners that he had prayed to know what specific counsel to share that could help them better educate their righteous desires. Prayer, scripture study, the sacrament, following the words of God’s prophets and service to others are all important. “But I have felt impressed to speak to you today about the covenants that we make in the holy endowment in the temple.”
The most important knowledge and direction a person can receive comes from God, Elder Andersen taught. “One of the most powerful places to feel the answers we seek and to shape our righteous desires is within the house of the Lord. When the impressions come to us in His holy house, the direction is without compulsion or cultural pressure, they are not from well-meaning friends or family. It is the Lord speaking to us through His Spirit.”
Heavenly Father knows each individual’s heart and spirit, strengths and weaknesses, anxieties, hopes, longings and fears. “He knows your private struggles, and He knows your faith. Nothing about you is a mystery or a surprise to Him. The Lord’s revelation, which may come without explanation, is His truth, especially for you, His encouragement and comfort to you, His correction of you, His love for you.”
The Lord will teach each of His children in the temple, Elder Andersen promised. “Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, ‘The submission of one’s will is really the only uniquely personal thing we have to place on God’s altar.’ In the temple, we come humbly ready to receive His instruction and to align our desires with His.”
In the house of the Lord, a quiet and holy place, protected from the outside world, individuals can open their hearts and silently plead for heaven’s influence — Heavenly Father’s answers — to their righteous desires.
“Remember President Nelson’s powerful promise in speaking of the temple, ‘Nothing will open the heavens more. Nothing!’”
Elder Andersen then promised, “As you thoughtfully prepare to enter the Lord’s house, with willing hearts, awaiting the Lord’s direction, you will receive the lifting power to educate your desires and strengthen you in your desire to become.”
The example of the Savior
The most important example of aligning one’s desires with the will of the Father is the Savior, Jesus Christ, Elder Andersen taught. “He began in the premortal council, ‘Father, thy will be done, and the glory be thine forever’ (Moses 4:2). His final words uttered on the cross, ‘Father, it is finished, thy will is done’” (Matthew 27:54 Joseph Smith Translation).
Elder Andersen continued, “Between these two solemn, sacred, eternity-altering events, He lived a perfect life — a life without sin. He taught us how to live. He became our Savior and Redeemer. The daunting details of Gethsemane reveal the Savior’s absolute and complete willingness to submit His desires to those of the Father.”
In Gethsemane, Jesus pleaded, “O my Father, if it be possible, let this cup pass from me.”
But in humility, the Son concluded, “nevertheless not as I will, but as thou wilt” (Matthew 26:39).
“Can we learn from Him?” Elder Andersen asked.
Jesus told Peter, James and John, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak” (Matthew 26:41).
Said Elder Andersen, “This is the constant struggle we face with our own righteous desires. We, too, are to find in our spirit the strength to overcome the pulls of mortality, to become one with our Heavenly Father.”
In conclusion, Elder Andersen testified: “We can shape our desires. We can educate our desires. We can, through patience and time, become more than we are. We can become in alignment with our Savior and our Heavenly Father.”
