A few years ago, my friends had a beautiful baby named Brigham.
After his birth, Brigham was diagnosed with a rare condition
called Hunter syndrome, which sadly meant that Brigham
would have a short life.
One day while Brigham and his family
were visiting the temple grounds,
Brigham pronounced a particular phrase;
twice he said, "One more day."
The very next day, Brigham passed away.
I have visited Brigham's grave a few times, and every time I do,
I contemplate the phrase "one more day."
I wonder what it would mean, what effect
it would have in my life to know that I had only one more day
to live.
How would I treat my wife, my children, and others?
How patient and polite would I be?
How would I take care of my body?
How fervently would I pray and search the scriptures?
I think that in one way or another we all, at some point,
will have a "one more day" realization--a realization that
we must use wisely the time we have.
In the Old Testament we read the story
of Hezekiah, king of Judah.
The prophet Isaiah announced to Hezekiah
that Hezekiah's life was about to end.
When he heard the prophet's words,
Hezekiah began to pray, plead, and weep sorely.
On that occasion Jehovah added 15 years to Hezekiah's life.
If we were to be told we had a short time to live,
we too may plead for more days of life
in the name of things we should have done or done differently.
Regardless of the time the Lord, in His wisdom,
determines to grant each of us, of one thing we can be sure:
we all have a "today" to live, and the key
to making our day successful is to be willing to sacrifice.
The Lord said, "Behold, now it is called today
until the coming of the Son of Man,
and verily it is a day of sacrifice."
The word sacrifice comes from the Latin words sacer,
which means sacred, and facere, which means to make--in other
words, to make things sacred, to bring honor to them.
"Sacrifice brings forth the blessings of heaven."
In what ways will sacrifice make our days
meaningful and blessed?
First, personal sacrifice strengthens us
and gives value to the things we sacrifice for.
Some years ago on fast Sunday, an elderly sister
came to the pulpit to share her testimony.
She lived in the city called Iquitos,
which is the Peruvian Amazon.
She told us that from the time of her baptism,
she had always had the goal of receiving the ordinances
of the temple in Lima, Peru.
She faithfully paid a full tithe and saved her meager income
for years.
Her joy upon going to the temple and receiving
the sacred ordinances therein was expressed in these words:
"Today I can say that I finally feel
ready to go through the veil.
I am the happiest woman in the world; I have saved money,
you have no idea for how long, to visit the temple,
and after seven days on the river and 18 hours by bus,
I was finally in the house of the Lord.
When leaving that holy place, I said to myself,
after all the sacrifice that has been required for me to come
to the temple, I will not let anything
make me take lightly every covenant I made;
it would be a waste.
This is a very serious commitment!"
I learned from this sweet sister that personal sacrifice
is an invaluable force that drives our decisions
and our determinations.
Personal sacrifice drives our actions, our commitments,
and covenants and gives sacred things meaning.
Second, sacrifice we make for others,
and that others make for us, results in blessings for all.
When I was a student in dental school,
the financial outlook of our local economy
was not very encouraging.
Inflation dramatically decreased the value of currency
from one day to the next.
I remember the year when I was to enroll in surgery practices;
I needed to have all the necessary surgical equipment
before enrolling that semester.
My parents saved the needed funds.
But one night something dramatic happened.
We went to buy the equipment, only to discover that
the amount of money we had to buy all the equipment now was
sufficient to buy only a pair of surgical tweezers--and nothing
else.
We returned home with empty hands and with heavy hearts
at the thought of my losing a semester of college.
Suddenly, however, my mother said, "Taylor, come with me;
let's go out."
We went downtown where there were many places that
buy and sell jewelry.
When we arrived at one store, my mother took out of her purse
a small blue velvet bag containing a beautiful gold
bracelet with an inscription that read, "To my dear
daughter from your father."
It was a bracelet that my grandfather had given her
on one of her birthdays.
Then, before my eyes, she sold it.
When she received the money she told me,
"If there is one thing I am sure of,
it is that you are going to be a dentist.
Go and buy all the equipment you need."
Now, brothers and sisters, can you
imagine what kind of student I became from that moment on?
I wanted to be the best and finish my studies soon
because I knew the high cost of the sacrifice she was making.
I learned that the sacrifice our loved ones
make for us refresh us like cool water
in the middle of the desert.
Such sacrifice brings hope and motivation.
Third, any sacrifice we make is small
compared to the sacrifice of the Son of God.
What is the value of even a beloved gold
bracelet compared to the sacrifice
of the very Son of God?
How can we honor that infinite sacrifice?
Each day we can remember that we have "one more
day" to live and be faithful.
Amulek taught, "Yea, I would that ye
would come forth and harden not your hearts any longer;
for behold, now is the time and the day of your salvation;
and therefore, if ye will repent and harden not your hearts,
immediately shall the great plan of redemption
be brought about unto you."
In other words, if we will offer to the Lord
the sacrifice of a broken heart and a contrite spirit,
immediately the blessings of the great plan of happiness
are manifest in our lives.
The plan of redemption is possible
thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ.
As He Himself described, the sacrifice "caused myself,
even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain,
and to bleed at every pore, and to suffer both body
and spirit--and would that I might not drink the bitter cup,
and shrink."
And it is because of this sacrifice,
after following the process of sincere repentance,
that we can feel the weight of our mistakes and sins lifted.
In fact, guilt, shame, pain, sorrow, and looking down at
ourselves are replaced with a clear conscience, happiness,
joy, and hope.
At the same time, as we honor and are
grateful for His sacrifice, we can receive in a great measure
the intense desire to be better children of God,
to stay away from sin, and to keep the covenants like never
before.
Then, like Enos after receiving the forgiveness of his sins,
we will feel the desire to sacrifice ourselves
and to seek the well-being of our brothers and sisters.
And we will be more willing every "one more day"
to follow the invitation that President Howard
Hunter extended to us when he said: "Mend a quarrel.
Seek out a forgotten friend.
Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust.
...
Give a soft answer.
Encourage youth.
Manifest your loyalty in word and deed.
Keep a promise.
Forgo a grudge.
Forgive an enemy.
Apologize.
Try to understand.
Examine your demands on others.
Think first of someone else.
Be kind.
Be gentle.
Laugh a little more.
Express your gratitude.
Welcome a stranger.
Gladden the heart of a child.
...
Speak your love and then speak it again."
May we fill our days with that impulse and the strength
that personal sacrifice and the sacrifice that we make
or receive from others give us.
And in a special way, may we enjoy the peace and rejoicing
that the sacrifice of the Only Begotten offers us: yes,
that peace that is mentioned when we read that Adam fell
that men might be, and men are--you are--that you might
have joy.
That joy is real joy that only the sacrifice
and the Atonement of the Savior Jesus Christ can provide.
It is my prayer that we follow Him, that we believe Him,
that we love Him, and that we feel the love demonstrated
by His sacrifice every time we have the opportunity
to live one more day.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.