Photograph by Scot Facer Proctor.
When Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve, M. Russell Ballard, died Sunday, November 12, he left behind a legacy, which reminds us what it means to be called to be an apostle of the Lord. Though he was a General Authority before his call, he served for 38 years, since 1985, as an apostle of the Lord.
Just as Peter, James and John understood that their call from the Lord was a lifetime call, so do our apostles. We watch them grow old before us, sometimes losing their health. They show us what it means to never retire, no matter how old they become, what it means to work until you drop in the kingdom and dedicate the finest, most excellent talents to the Lord that could have been used in any other profession available. Blessed with the Holy Ghost and the gift of revelation, they carry the heavy burdens of running a huge, complex church, and they do it with grace.
So it has been with President Ballard who has shared important insights with us over these many years, and has been a reliable source of wisdom in all the areas where he has served. He’s been our anchor for so long and our special tie to church history.
If you asked him, he would say that in part he was inspired by the blood of the prophets that ran in his veins, and the intense sacrifice and love they displayed in order to bring forth the restoration. He was a descendant of Hyrum Smith, and was ever aware of his connection. Even in his last conference talk that was only five weeks before he died, he bore testimony of the prophet Joseph.
With eyes no longer working so well, at 95, he said:
My eyes aren’t what they used to be. I went and saw the eye doctor, and I said, ‘I can’t see the teleprompter.’
And she said,“‘Well, your eyes are old. They’re not going to change”’
‘So, I’ll do the best I can.
I’d like to share with you some things that have been in my mind. I have seemed to have the Prophet Joseph in my mind the last few months. I’ve sat and contemplated his glorious responsibility in becoming the prophet of this, the dispensation of the fulness of times.”
Perhaps, this last address from President Ballard was more eloquent because he would courageously stand and bear testimony off the cuff in an aging body.
His gratitude and love for the role Hyrum played in the Restoration was always clear.
In his April 2020 talk called “Shall We Not Go on in So Great a Cause”, he spoke of Hyrum:
Beloved by his family, Joseph Jr. was particularly close to his older brother Hyrum, who was nearly six years of age when Joseph was born.
Last October, I sat by the hearthstone that was in the small Smith home in Sharon, Vermont, where Joseph was born. I felt Hyrum’s love for Joseph and thought of him holding his baby brother in his arms and teaching him how to walk…
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His brother Hyrum, who had been his constant supporter, especially following his painful, life-threatening leg operation in 1813, was one of the witnesses of the gold plates. He was also one of the six members of the Church of Jesus Christ when it was organized in 1830.
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During their lives, Joseph and Hyrum faced mobs and persecution together. For example, they languished in the most wretched conditions in the Liberty Jail in Missouri for five months during the cold winter of 1838–39.
In April 1839, Joseph wrote his wife Emma describing their situation in Liberty Jail: “I believe it is now about five months and six days since I have been under the grimace of a guard, night and day, and within the walls, grates, and screeching iron doors of a lonesome, dark, dirty prison. … We shall be moved from this [place] at any rate, and we are glad of it. Let what will become of us, we cannot get into a worse hole than this is. … We shall never cast a lingering wish after Liberty in Clay County, Missouri. We have enough of it to last forever.”
In the face of persecution, Hyrum exhibited faith in the Lord’s promises, including a guarantee to escape his enemies if he so chose. In a blessing Hyrum received in 1835 under the hands of Joseph Smith, the Lord promised him: “Thou shalt have power to escape the hand of thine enemies. Thy life shall be sought with untiring zeal, but thou shalt escape. If it please thee, and thou desirest, thou shalt have the wer voluntarily to lay down thy life to glorify God.”
In June 1844, Hyrum was presented the choice to live or to lay down his life to glorify God and to “seal his testimony with his blood” —side by side together with his beloved brother Joseph.
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A week before the fateful trip to Carthage, where they were murdered in cold blood by an armed mob of cowards who had painted their faces to avoid detection, Joseph recorded that “I advised my brother Hyrum to take his family on the next steamboat and go to Cincinnati.”
I still feel great emotion as I remember Hyrum’s reply: “Joseph, I can’t leave you.’’
So, Joseph and Hyrum went to Carthage, where they became martyrs for Christ’s cause and name.
The enthusiastic missionary, who loudly proclaimed the blessing of serving a mission, President Ballard also reminded us in an Oct. 2014 talk to “Stay in the Boat and Hold On.”
This adventure reminds me of our mortal journey. Most of us experience periods in our lives where the tranquil waters of life are appreciated. At other times, we encounter white-water rapids that are metaphorically comparable to those found in the 14-mile stretch through Cataract Canyon—challenges that may include physical and mental health issues, the death of a loved one, dashed dreams and hopes, and —for some —even a crisis of faith when faced with life’s problems, questions, and doubts.
The Lord in His goodness has provided help, including a boat, essential supplies such as life jackets, and experienced river guides who give guidance and safety instructions to help us make our way down the river of life to our final destination.
Let’s think about rule number one: stay in the boat!
President Brigham Young commonly employed “the Old Ship Zion” as a metaphor for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
He said on one occasion: “We are in the midst of the ocean. A storm comes on, and, as sailors say, she labors very hard. ‘I am not going to stay here,’ says one; ‘I don’t believe this is the “Ship Zion.”’ ‘But we are in the midst of the ocean.’ ‘I don’t care, I am not going to stay here.’ Off goes the coat, and he jumps overboard. Will he not be drowned? Yes. So with those who leave this Church. It is the ‘Old Ship Zion,’ let us stay in it.”
President Ballard asked some searching questions of those who were leaving the church in an Oct. 2018 talk called “To Whom Shall We Go”
One of the most heart-wrenching stories in scripture occurred when “many of [the Lord’s] disciples” found it hard to accept His teachings and doctrine, and they “went back, and walked no more with him.”
As these disciples left, Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, “Will ye also go away?”
Peter responded:
“Lord, to whom shall we go? thou hast the words of eternal life.
“And we believe and are sure that thou art that Christ, the Son of the living God.”
In that moment, when others focused on what they could not accept, the Apostles chose to focus on what they did believe and know, and as a result, they remained with Christ.
Later, on the day of Pentecost, the Twelve received the gift of the Holy Ghost. They became bold in their witness of Christ and began to understand more fully Jesus’s teachings.
Today is no different. For some, Christ’s invitation to believe and remain continues to be hard —or difficult to accept. Some disciples struggle to understand a specific Church policy or teaching. Others find concerns in our history or in the imperfections of some members and leaders, past and present. Still others find it difficult to live a religion that requires so much. Finally, some have become “weary in well-doing.” For these and other reasons, some Church members vacillate in their faith, wondering if perhaps they should follow those who “went back, and walked no more” with Jesus.
If any one of you is faltering in your faith, I ask you the same question that Peter asked: “To whom shall [you] go?” If you choose to become inactive or to leave the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where will you go? What will you do? The decision to “walk no more” with Church members and the Lord’s chosen leaders will have a long-term impact that cannot always be seen right now. There may be some doctrine, some policy, some bit of history that puts you at odds with your faith, and you may feel that the only way to resolve that inner turmoil right now is to “walk no more” with the Saints. If you live as long as I have, you will come to know that things have a way of resolving themselves. An inspired insight or revelation may shed new light on an issue. Remember, the Restoration is not an event, but it continues to unfold.
Never abandon the great truths revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith. Never stop reading, pondering, and applying the doctrine of Christ contained in the Book of Mormon.
Never fail to give equal time to the Lord through honest attempts to understand what the Lord has revealed. As my dear friend and former colleague Elder Neal A. Maxwell once said, “We should not assume … that just because something is unexplainable by us it is unexplainable.”
We will miss our dear and long-serving apostle, President M. Russell Ballard. Hyrum was a martyr for the gospel he cherished. President Ballard had many extra decades beyond Hyrum’s early death to live. What they both had in common was living for the gospel.
