No One Is Lost

As I sit in stake conference, I remember an experience where I was saying nightly prayers with my father, and he prayed for 3 of my siblings who don't go to church, that they might find the truth of the gospel. And I remember mentally scoffing at that, at the notion they could ever come back from where they were.

And then a gentle voice whispered "There used to be a fourth name on that list." And that blew my mind. My dad says the same words every night in his prayers. Every night, for years, he has said that prayer, and I doubted the effectiveness of it, without realizing I'm an example of the success of that prayer.

Nothing, in my mind, is as important as the fact that we are sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father. We are created by a being that has such an immense love to us as to be incomprehensible in this mortal frame. Knowing this, how could I ever, for even a moment have thought anyone could ever be lost? Anytime we feel like we're apart from his presence, we are the ones to blame. He will always grant us His presence when we do those things that invite it in.

At a YSA conference in January Alex Boye, a popular LDS singer, related a story about a time he was singing for a business conference. He had returned to his hotel room to discover that it had not been cleaned. The maid was still in the hall, so he went up to her and chastised her for not cleaning the room. She gently pointed to the door, where the "Do Not Disturb" sign was hanging, and said "If the sign's on the door, I don't go in" and offered to clean his room after she had finished the rest of the hallway.

He asked us what signs we put up in our lives that don't allow His presence in. What thoughts, actions, habits, people or places in our lives do we continue to allow to separate us from Him? It's been my goal to find those things in my life, and to try and eradicate them. Every morning when I get up, I try to do my journal and scripture study. And most mornings, I think I can do this or that first, and have time later. But the truth is if I don't do it first, I don't do it. By ignoring the prompting to follow through on that routine, I rob myself of the opportunity to feel the spirit, and receive revelation.

I would encourage you reading this to likewise find those things in your life, those "Do Not Disturb" signs, and take them down. I've said it many times, but it remains true: The path of following Christ is not an easy one, but it is worth it.

With Love,
Taylor