3 Daily Actions Make an Eternal Difference, Seventy Teaches at BYU

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By Rachel Sterzer Gibson, Church News

Elder K. Brett Nattress began his remarks during a Brigham Young University devotional by sharing a photo from a baptismal service in Papua New Guinea.

In the photo, missionaries clad in white are baptizing villagers in the cove of a river. Many onlookers view from atop a high embankment while a few men carrying spears and axes watch at the water’s edge.

Elder Nattress, a General Authority Seventy, explained that a young girl had died a few days before the baptismal service after being attacked by a large crocodile. The villagers provided support and protection by surrounding those who had made the decision to follow the Savior and be baptized.

Despite the possible danger, the villagers made the decision to be baptized. “These Saints knew what it meant to ‘think celestial,’” Elder Nattress said, quoting President Russell M. Nelson’s invitation during general conference last October.

Speaking to students and faculty gathered in the Marriott Center in Provo, Utah, on Tuesday, January 16, Elder Nattress noted that most of his listeners will never come face to face with a crocodile or be asked to exercise faith by entering muddy waters with danger lurking in the shadows. “Instead, you have your own crocodiles to deal with. These challenges may come in many forms: exams, papers, social media, evil influences, illness, depression and, of course, relationships.”

Just like the crocodiles, Satan will try to distract and destroy. “His destructive path leads to heartache, disappointment and discouragement,” Elder Nattress said.

Knowing of these “spiritual crocodiles,” President Nelson has provided prophetic counsel, Elder Nattress said. He has taught: “Take charge of your own testimony of Jesus Christ and His gospel. Work for it. Nurture it so that it will grow. Feed it truth. Don’t pollute it with false philosophies of unbelieving men and women. As you make the continual strengthening of your testimony of Jesus Christ your highest priority, watch for miracles to happen in your life” (October 2022 general conference, “Overcome the World and Find Rest”).

Elder Nattress promised that those who strive to “think celestial” will have their testimonies of Jesus Christ strengthened.

As an example, he shared about the Abol family in Madang, Papua New Guinea. Sister Abol spent seven years searching for the gospel of Jesus Christ. She reads the Book of Mormon every day to her five sons, Elder Nattress said, and she and her husband have been preparing for five years to attend the temple and be sealed as an eternal family.

Every Sunday, the Abols and others in their village make the four-hour walk over two mountains and across five rivers to attend sacrament meeting. “There is only one explanation why these Saints endure so much and sacrifice so much each week. It is because they know that the gospel is true,” Elder Nattress said. “They choose to always remember Him. They strive to think celestial.”

Elder Nattress then shared three things individuals can do every day that will make an eternal difference in their lives. First, pray. Second, read the Book of Mormon. Third, find someone to serve.

For good measure, Elder Nattress added invitations to partake of the sacrament and attend the house of the Lord.

“I know these measures sound simple and easy to do, but I promise that if we are faithful in these simple measures, we will find great joy and will be blessed with an increase of His Spirit to be with us,” even amidst challenging trials, Elder Nattress said.

When Elder Nattress and his wife, Sister Shawna Nattress, were serving as mission leaders in Arizona, Sister Nattress was diagnosed with Stage 4 cancer. While undergoing chemotherapy treatments, Sister Nattress met another young woman undergoing chemotherapy, Raquel Kimball.

Even though Raquel only had a five percent chance of survival from cancer that had metastasized to her spine, both legs, and all of her large bones, she lovingly ministered to Sister Nattress and their family, attending treatments, holding Sister Nattress’ hand, sharing her testimony, providing meals and even bringing her daughters over to help clean the Nattresses’ home.

“Raquel Kimball taught us how to have joy in the journey …,” Elder Nattress related, “especially when the journey is difficult. She has blessed our lives and countless others. She showed us what it means to think celestial.”

In conclusion, Elder Nattress once again invited listeners to pray, read the Book of Mormon and find someone to serve — every day. “Imagine for a moment what would happen if every student — all 30,000 of you — did these three things every day for the rest of your lives? It would be transformational.”

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