Hold to the  Iron Rod

You are living in that great and spacious building

By Sarah Jane Weaver
Church News staff writer

    PROVO, Utah — An unseen power will hold to your hand as you hold to the iron rod, President Boyd K. Packer told thousands of BYU students Jan. 16.
   "Will this solve all your problems? Of course not. That would be contrary to the purpose for your coming into mortality. It will, however, give you a solid foundation on which to build your life."
   Speaking at a weekly devotional in the BYU Marriott Center, President Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve, addressed the topic, "Lehi's Dream and You."
   "I asked our records department to tell me how many college-age youth are in the Church," he told the capacity congregation. "They responded: 1,974,001. Good, I thought, I will speak to the one.
   "You are the one. You may be here in this congregation or somewhere in any one of 170 countries."

   President Packer said his college life began at Weber College, just after World War II ended. Most men in his class had recently returned from military service.
   "We were, by and large, more mature than college students of your day. We had been through the war, and carried with us many memories....
   "We had gained personal testimonies of the gospel. We had decided long since that we would live the gospel and not be ashamed of the Church, the history or any part of it."
   In the military the focus of their lives had been destruction. "To be devoted to destruction without being destroyed yourself spiritually and morally was the test of life," President Packer said.
   He told the young adults that they, too, live in a time of war, "the spiritual war that will never end."
   "War itself now dominates the affairs of mankind," he said. "Your world at war has lost its innocence. There is nothing, however crude or unworthy, that is not deemed acceptable for movies or plays or music or conversation. The world seems to be turned upside down."
   President Packer said formality, respect for authority, dignity and nobility are mocked. Modesty and neatness yield to slouchiness, shabbiness in dress and grooming. The rules of honesty and integrity and basic morality are now ignored.
   "You have decisions almost everyday as to whether you will follow those trends," he said. "You have many tests ahead."
   President Packer said the Book of Mormon became the cornerstone of his testimony.
   "You may think that Lehi's dream or vision has no special meaning for you, but it does. You are in it; all of us are in it.... Lehi's dream or vision of the iron rod has in it everything a young Latter-day Saint needs to understand the test of life."
   If individuals hold to the iron rod, they will be able to feel the influence of the angels and feel their way through life. "The Book of Mormon has been my iron rod," he said.
   In Lehi's dream or vision, there is one word that should have special meaning to Latter-day Saints, he continued. It is the word "after." It was after they had found the tree that they became ashamed because of the mockery of the world and fell away. It was after they had tasted of the fruit they were ashamed. And it was after the multitude did enter into the building that they did point the finger of scorn at others (1 Nephi 8: 28-33).

   "At your baptism and confirmation, you took hold of the iron rod. But you are never safe. It is after you have partaken of that fruit that your test will come," President Packer explained.
   "Sometimes it is so simple a thing as how you groom yourself or what you wear, such as a young woman teasing her hair endlessly to give the impression that it has not been combed or a young man dressing in slouchy clothes wanting to be in style."
   Further, he said, "Largely because of television, instead of looking over into the spacious building, we are, in effect, living inside of it. That is your fate in this generation. You are living in that great and spacious building."
   President Packer told the young adults that they will be safe as they look like, act like and groom like an ordinary Latter-day Saint. He counseled them to dress modestly, attend their meetings, pay tithes, take the sacrament, honor the priesthood, honor their parents, follow their leaders, read the scriptures, study the Book of Mormon, and pray. "Always pray," he added.
   At times "all the mists of darkness will cover you and you will not be able to see your way very clearly," he said. "But you can feel your way.... Grasp the iron rod, and do not let it go. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, you can feel your way through life."
   President Packer said atheists and agnostics now make non-belief their religion and organize in unprecedented ways to attack faith and belief.
   "You who are young will see many things that will try your courage and test your faith. And all mocking does not come from outside the Church. Let me say that again: All mocking does not come from outside the Church. Be careful that you don't fall in that category."
   Concluding, President Packer said, "Now to you, the one of 2 million, I speak to you individually. Just as the prophets and apostles in times past did, 'we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins"' (2 Nephi 25:26).
   He told the congregation they live in a time when trials will be common. "Learn to follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost," he said. "Never be ashamed or embarrassed by the gospel."