Glad Tidings of Great Joy: The Plan of Redemption or Plan of Happiness

As we serve as senior missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we are often asked why we do what we do. Why would we make the sacrifices necessary, including leaving our grandchildren, our home and our possessions for two years, to come and serve the Lord and minister to God’s children in Alaska?

We came to bring all Alaskans to know our Eternal Father’s plan of happiness and redemption which was prepared by Him as a gift from the foundation of the world.

We came to witness His Beloved Son Jesus Christ and to bring the people of Alaska unto Jesus Christ.

We are sent to help the people of Alaska come to the knowledge of their Redeemer and the very points of His doctrine that they may know how to come unto Him and be saved.

The doctrine of Christ is simply to exercise faith unto repentance, come unto Jesus Christ, be baptized in His name, be sanctified by the Holy Ghost, receive God’s ordinances, keep His commandments, and endure to the end. As Jesus said, “This is my doctrine, and it is the doctrine which the Father hath given unto me. Ye must repent, and be baptized in my name, and become as a little child, that ye may be sanctified by the reception of the Holy Ghost, that ye may stand spotless before me at the last day.” The Apostle Peter said, “Repent, and be baptized every one of you in the name of Jesus Christ for the remission of sins and ye shall received the gift of the Holy Ghost.” (Acts 2:38)

God sent His Beloved Son to earth to redeem us from sin and death. Because of Jesus’s atoning sacrifice, we can be cleansed of our sins and sanctified as we repent. “The Lord surely should come to redeem his people, but that he should not come to redeem them in their sins, but to redeem them from their sins.” (Matthew 1:21).

As we exercise faith, we can experience Jesus’s power in our daily lives. He will magnify our own best efforts. He will help us resist temptation. For in His strength, we can do all things. For our faith in Jesus Christ to grow, we need to nurture it by learning His words, applying His teachings, and obeying His commandments. Faith in Jesus Christ and our love for Him leads us to repent. Repentance is the process of turning to God and turning away from sin. As we repent, our actions, desires, and thoughts change to be more in harmony with God’s will. Repentance is a daily, lifelong process.

Baptism is how we first enter a covenant relationship with God. Baptism has two parts—baptism by water and by the Spirit. Jesus said, “Except a man be born of water and of the Spirit, he cannot enter into the kingdom of God” (John 3:5). The Holy Ghost sanctifies us, guides us, comforts us, and helps us know the truth. We partake of the Sacrament each week in remembrance of Jesus’s sacrifice and to renew our baptism covenants with God.

Enduring to the end includes continuing to exercise faith in Christ each day, continuing to keep our covenants with God, repenting daily, and seeking the companionship of the Holy Spirit. “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.” (Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 31:20)

Living the gospel deepens our joys, inspires our actions, and enriches our relationships. We are most likely to be happy – both as individuals and as families – when we live by the teachings of Jesus Christ. Through the gospel of Jesus Christ families are blessed in this life and can be united for eternity and live in the presence of God.

“Yea, come unto Christ, and be perfected in him, and deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and if ye shall deny yourselves of all ungodliness, and love God with all your might, mind, and strength, then is his grace sufficient for you, that by his grace ye may be perfect in Christ . . . And again, if ye by the grace of God are perfect in Christ, and deny not his power, then ye are sanctified in Christ by the grace of God, through the shedding of the blood of Christ, which in the covenant of the Father unto the remission of your sins, that ye become holy, without spot.” (Moroni 10:32-33)

As President Russell M. Nelson said, “Jesus Christ stands with open arms, hoping and willing to heal, forgive, cleanse, strengthen, purify, and sanctify us.”

Elder and Sister Cromar are senior missionaries for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in the Mat-Su Valley.