Adam fell that men might be; and men are, that they might have joy.
2 Nephi 2:25
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As pointed out by Elder Richard G. Scott in a 1996 General Conference talk
That is a conditional statement: “they might have joy.” It is not conditional for the Lord. His intent is that each of us finds joy.
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I am a devout pessimist
- Found it commical given this as a topic
- Collect quotes, very very few about Joy and Happiness
- Motto Hakuna Matata
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How can we find more happiness?
- This is not my speciality I went looking for help
- Elder Marion D. Hanks in a 1972 General Conference Talk
6 points
1. Failure to Ask
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From Elder Hanks talk:
A youngster was assigned by his father to see to the moving of a large rock. He tugged and pushed, and he lifted and struggled without avail. Some friends were enlisted, but together they could not move it. Reluctantly he reported to his father that he could not budge the rock.
“Have you done all you could?” asked the father.
“Yes,” said the little boy.
“Have you tried everything?” persisted the father.
“Yes,” said the boy. “I’ve tried everything.”
“No, son, you haven’t,” said his dad. “You haven’t asked me.”
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How often do we fail to ask our father in heaven
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I learned at a young age just how much my father in heaven loved me
- Do not remember much for details
- Late night in bed and said a prayer asking if I was loved
- Most glorious feeling
- From that moment on I have always known
2. Material objectives consume too much of our attention.
You are here on earth for a divine purpose. It is not to be endlessly entertained or to be constantly in full pursuit of pleasure. You are here to be tried, to prove yourself so that you can receive the additional blessings God has for you.
- Elder Scott
- It is all about our focus
- What are we focused on?
- Common problem: "Keeping up with the Joneses"
- We have to pick who we will serve (Matthew 6:24)
No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.
3. Arrogance or pride.
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2 Nephi 9:28
O that cunning plan of the evil one! O the vainness, and the frailties, and the foolishness of men! When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.
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This is a hard one to recognize as the source
- Our own pride can block us from finding joy
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President Ezra Taft Benson put it best:
Pride is concerned with who is right. Humility is concerned with what is right.
4. Lost faith because of personal tragedies or troubles.
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Joseph lamented in D&C 121: 1
O God, where art thou? And where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?
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Job cried in Job 3:3
Let the day perish wherein I was born, and the night in which it was said, There is a man child conceived.
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Even Jesus Christ the savior of us all pleaded on the cross
My God, my God, why hast thou forsaken me?
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There have been times in my life I have lost faith and felt forsaken
- Struggled to have a baby, finally Shawna was pregnant
- Felt inspired to give Shawna a blessing that we would have a baby
- Lost the child in a miscarriage
- We were both devastated
- I did not understand why I had been inspired, had I really been inspired?
- Took a long time before I felt I could give a blessing again
- Time passed and as time passed I rebuilt my faith
- We were blessed with our son Johnny
- Brought me much joy
- As I held him in my arms I remembered that blessing
5. Other people have made or are making mistakes.
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Elder Hanks told story of a Farmer
who felt he had been wronged in the distribution of irrigation water and that the watermaster was at fault.
Having angered himself into distraction over the seeming unfairness, he sought out the watermaster, grasped him by the shirt bitterly, and said, “Tom, as long as you are watermaster, I won’t take another drop out of that ditch.”
What happened to that farmer? Well, he was a stubborn man. He kept his foolish vow. And he and his property dried up and blew away.
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Perfection is not a place, it is a process
- Have to allow others to make that same journey
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D&C 1:30
And also those to whom these commandments were given, might have power to lay the foundation of this church, and to bring it forth out of obscurity and out of darkness, the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth, with which I, the Lord, am well pleased, speaking unto the church collectively and not individually
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It is our choice to decide
- are we going to let someone else decide our joy
- be happy in spite of anyone else
- Moved to NYC to get out of a bad situation
- Instead of new start let someone else’s actions direct my reactions
- lost several years of potential opportunities
- took moving again to realize I needed a reset
6. We choose to disqualify ourselves because of our own mistakes.
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I think this is the one we all understand the easiest
- It is our own mistakes that are the hardest to overcome
- Cause the most misery
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From the starting scripture in 2 Nephi:
Adam fell that men might be
- The Plan of Salvation was made for just this reason!
- The fall is not a perminent condition for any of us
- The Plan of Salvation was made for just this reason!
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Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Surely the thing God enjoys most about being God is the thrill of being merciful, especially to those who don’t expect it and often feel they don’t deserve it.
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Not the easiest or really best path to find joy
- The greatest joy can found in repentance
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M. Russell Ballard 2019 General Conference
do the best you can do day after day, and before you know it, you will come to realize that your Heavenly Father knows you and that He loves you. And when you know that—really know it —your life will have real purpose and meaning and you will be filled with joy and peace.
6 points
- Very thankful I could lean on the expertise of Elder Hanks
- Failure to Ask
- Material objectives consume too much of our attention.
- Arrogance or pride.
- Lost faith because of personal tragedies or troubles.
- Other people have made or are making mistakes.
- We choose to disqualify ourselves because of our own mistakes.
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One last quote
- Matches very much my motto of Hakuna Matata
- One of the very few I had about joy
If you choose not to find joy in the snow, you will have less joy in your life but still the same amount of snow.
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Testimony on joy
