Russell M. Nelson - Accomplishing the Impossible

Image credits:

Shutterstock/ somchaij, page vi; Jerry Sanchez, pages 13, 53, 105, and 139; THPStock, pages 1415, and 6667; Standret, page 16; Galyna Andrushko, pages 26, 84, 92, 106, and 118; Xuanlu Wang, page 36; Andrey tiyk, page 44; Dariush M, page 54; mythja, page 68; Creative Travel Projects, page 76; melis, page 132; Paul Aniszewski, page 140; komkrit Preechachanwate, background.

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Nelson, Russell Marion, author.

Accomplishing the impossible : what God does, what we can do / Russell M. Nelson.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-1-62972-125-5 (hardbound : alk. paper)

1. Spiritual lifeThe Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. 2. Christian lifeMormon authors. 3. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day SaintsDoctrines. 4. Mormon ChurchDoctrines. I. Title.

BX8656.N43 2015

248.4'89332dc232015024185

Printed in China

RR Donnelley, Shenzhen, China

10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

Introduction

Accomplishing the Impossible

Many years ago, I was teaching a missionary discussion to a woman from Great Britain. I was teaching about the Lord Jesus Christ and how He had restored His gospel through the Prophet Joseph Smith. She really liked the teachings of the gospel, but she had a hard time accepting the Prophets First Vision. She said she could believe in the Restoration more sincerely if God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ had appeared to the Archbishop of Canterbury!

Actually, the fact that the Father and the Son appeared to an untitled youth is one of the most remarkable aspects of the Restoration. Joseph Smith did not have to unlearn anything. He was tutored personally by Them. Joseph was also tutored by other heavenly messengers, including Moroni, John the Baptist, Peter, James, John, Moses, Elias, and Elijah. Josephs mission in mortality was foreordained. His receptive and pristine mind was open to the Lord's instruction. But, by worldly standards, Joseph was most unlikely. And his task to be the Prophet of this last dispensation seemed totally impossible. This example demonstrates a principle that is often true of how the Lord works: He uses the unlikely to accomplish the impossible!

This pattern is one the Lord has used repeatedly throughout history. For instance, you know the story of David who slew Goliath with a stone and a sling. That was another example of how the Lord uses the unlikely to accomplish the impossible.

You may remember the account of Gideon, as recorded in the book of Judges. In his capacity as a servant of the Lord, Gideon was preparing to lead his forces against the Midianite enemies when the Lord said unto Gideon, The people that are with thee are too many,... lest Israel vaunt themselves... saying, Mine own hand hath saved me.

So the Lord told Gideon to excuse all who were afraid. That trimmed the number from 22,000 down to 10,000. Then the Lord said unto Gideon, The people are yet too many. So He ordered a drink test. They went down to the water. Some bowed down upon their knees to drink. Others cupped their hands to their mouths to drink.

The Lord said unto Gideon, By the three hundred men that lapped will I save you, and deliver the Midianites into thine hand.

The Lord delivered the victory to Gideon and his men. They were outnumbered about 500 to 1. Here again we see the pattern: the Lord uses the unlikely to accomplish the impossible.

Think of Moses. In his advanced years, he was called to lead the children of Israel out of bondage in Egypt.

Think of Joshua. He led the children of Israel across the River Jordan at flood time. In faith, they walked to that swollen river with priests in front carrying the ark of the covenant, and when the soles of those priests feet were wet, the waters of the Jordan were heaped up, allowing the faithful to pass along to the promised land. For those Israelites who followed Moses and Joshua, deep water was divinely divided to allow the faithful to reach their appointed destination. Again we see the pattern: the Lord uses the unlikely to accomplish the impossible.

Jumping ahead to the nineteenth century, we see the pattern emerge once again. Have you ever wondered why the Master waited so long to inaugurate the promised restitution of all things?

That large number, 1,143,000,000, was the approximate population of the earth in the year 1830, when the restored Church of Jesus Christ was officially organized with six members. The location was in a rural part of New York state. With this little handful of people, the Lords work was begun. Think of the enormity of their assignment! It included the following:

• The gospel was to be preached to every kindred, nation, tongue, and people.
• Ordinary human beings were to become Saints.
• Redemptive temple work was to be done for all who had ever lived.

Yes, with that assignment, the promised dispensation of the latter days had commenced, and they were the ones to usher it forth!

If any tasks ever deserved the label impossible, these massive assignments all qualified! But the early Saints knew this biblical truth: With men this is impossible; but with God all things are possible.

So much for history. Now we are living in the twenty-first century. Might these patterns apply to us? Scripture describes us and what we may experience as Latter-day Saints. God hath chosen the foolish things of the world to confound the wise; and God hath chosen the weak things of the world to confound the... mighty.

Those weak ones even include usthe Brethren. For example, in 1984, in a most unexpected way, Elder Dallin H. Oaks and I were called away from our professions of law and medicine, respectively, to serve as Apostles of the Lord. In the following year, President Ezra Taft Benson gave to me the assignment to supervise the work of the Lord in Europe and Africa, with a specific charge to open the nations of Eastern Europe then under the yoke of communism. (This assignment remained with me until 1990, when it was rotated to Elder Dallin H. Oaks.)

If ever a task seemed impossible to me, that was it. In the ensuing years, I tried my best. In each atheistic nation, I was never wanted and never welcome. Their governmental leaders wouldnt even give appointments to a man who professed faith in God. In fact, at that time, some believers were imprisoned or even executed.

Those countries kept good records on visits by foreigners. I was on record as an American heart surgeon who, as a volunteer, had previously taught in some of those countries. Paired with Elder Hans B. Ringger of the Seventy, a Swiss engineer and architect, our partnership was disarming to them. We were truly unlikely, and different from leaders of other faith groups. Country by country, we labored diligently in Russia, Ukraine, Romania, Bulgaria, Belarus, Czechoslovakia, Hungary, Yugoslavia, Estonia, Poland, Armenia, and the German Democratic Republic. Each country presented different challenges for us. We did the very best we could, and then the Lord made up the difference. He did what we could not do. Following are just a few of the many miracles we experienced.