Welcome.

The June 1978 New Era featured the following story by Elder Robert E. Wells, emeritus General Authority of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“I have been flying many kinds of aircraft for the last 30 years, both in the United States and in Latin American countries. Not too long ago when I had returned to the [United] States after an absence of some years, a very dear friend offered me the use of his new [airplane]. …

We discussed my qualifications of being covered under his insurance policy, and it turned out that I needed a check ride with a qualified inspector as it had been some time since I had flown that particular type of plane.

The arrangements were made, and I met the inspector at the side of the airplane at the appointed hour with my licenses from the USA, Argentina, Paraguay, and Ecuador, and logbooks showing flights in Cessna 310s across jungles, mountains, deserts, international boundaries, etc. He smiled calmly but was unimpressed and said, ‘I’ve heard about you, and I have no doubt about how much flying you have done, but I have to assume that those flights were when nothing went wrong. Now let’s fire up this bird and see how well you fly it when everything goes wrong!’

For the next hour he made everything go wrong! He simulated every emergency he could think of. He turned things off that should have been on. He turned things on that should have been off. He tried to create disorientation or panic. He really wanted to know how well I could fly when everything did go wrong! In the end he climbed out, signed my logbook, and announced, ‘You’re okay. …’ “ 1

Elder Wells listed many ways we are tried: “accidents, sickness, disease, temptations, distractions, disappointments, discouragements, reverses, failures, and all kinds of situations…” 2 These, he said, “determine our character.” 3

Since I’m still in need of tremendous practice in flying well in these respective areas and since there are souls far more spiritually advanced than I, I will share ten examples of sanctified ones (to include our perfect Brother) to demonstrate what it means to fly well when everything goes wrong.

Accidents:

I’ve never met Josh Pack in person, but I’ve read about him. His story from able bodied to paralyzed was an accident. He took an ordinary dive while swimming in a reservoir and broke his neck. When he surfaced, he was facedown and unable to breathe. Thereafter, he found himself in a hospital connected to all sorts of tubes.

Asked if he had the choice to go back and re-dive, would he do it, would he push the redo button again, he answered:

“…I would love to go back and see what my life would have been like without the wheelchair and see who I would have become without the experience. But I also know that the experience has made me who I am, [the experience] of breaking my neck and being paralyzed. There’s two sides of everybody, right? There’s kind of the spiritual side and then the natural man side of us. The natural man is saying, I would hit that [go back] button all day. To go back would be amazing – I would love to hit that button. But [I have] the faith to say, this is what’s best for me to experience, and I’m okay to go through it, whatever it takes. And I know that Heavenly Father loves me, and through [the] Atonement and through the grace of Jesus Christ, it’s going to be okay. I wouldn’t change that for the world, to have that testimony.” 4

What an impressive example of remaining faithful and keeping an eternal perspective when something went very wrong in his present life and for all that laid ahead. I’m inspired by brother Josh, a man with incredible character!

Sickness:

In an LDS Living article, Elder Bednar shared precious insights about Elder Neal Maxwell and how when health things went very wrong for him and he was diagnosed with cancer, his greatest desire was to not shrink.

Elder Bednar related:

“In October 1997, Suan and I hosted Elder and Sister Maxwell at Brigham Young University – Idaho. Elder Maxwell was to speak to the students, staff, and faulty in a devotional assembly. Everyone on the campus eagerly anticipated his visit to the university and earnestly prepared to receive his message.

Earlier in that same year, Elder Maxwell had undergone 46 days and nights of debilitating chemotherapy for leukemia. Shortly after completing his treatments and being released from the hospital, he spoke briefly in the April general conference of the Church. His rehabilitation and continued therapy progressed positively through the spring and summer months, but Elder Maxwell’s physical strength and stamina were nonetheless limited when he traveled to Rexburg. After greeting Elder and Sister Maxwell at the airport, Susan and I drove them to our home for rest and a light lunch before the devotional.

During the course of our conversations that day, I asked Elder Maxwell what lessons he had learned through his illness. I will remember always the precise and penetrating answer he gave. ‘Dave,’ he said, ‘I have learned that not shrinking is more important than surviving.’

His response to my inquiry was a principle with which he had gained extensive personal experience during his chemotherapy. As Elder Maxwell and his wife were driving to the hospital in January 1997, on the day he was scheduled to begin his first round of treatment, they pulled into the parking lot and paused for a private moment together. Elder Maxwell breathed a deep sigh and looked at [his wife]. He reached for her hand and said, ‘I just don’t want to shrink.’ “ 5

Man did he not shrink! How powerful his example in the face of extreme sickness.

Disease:

I spent one summer as a teenager working for some friends at a fish catch and release ranch, helping the cook in the kitchen. My quarters were downstairs in the dungy, unfinished basement. I was a little frightened by the darkness and unkemptness of the basement, so I turned to the scriptures for comfort and protection. I remember lying in bed reading the book of Job at night when I had retired and, in the mornings, before I was summoned to come upstairs for work. I became absolutely absorbed with Job. In my youthful mind, I just couldn’t imagine how anyone could have actually suffered all that he suffered and still would have said these words: “But he knoweth the way that I take: when he hath tried me, I shall come forth as gold.” 6

I had never seen real gold as a teenager, but I knew it was valuable, and to “come forth as gold” seemed like a really lovely thing. I searched for the “how” as I read Job, and what I began to feel influenced my heart.

Job, you will recall, had his property destroyed, his children wiped out, and then he himself was terribly afflicted physically with diseases of his day. Job’s wife came to him and said, “Dost thou still retain thine integrity? curse God, and die. But he said unto her, Thou speakest as one of the foolish women speaketh. What? shall we receive good at the hand of God, and shall we not receive evil? In all this did not Job sin with his lips.” 7

“In all this” – meaning in all that went wrong which very literally WAS everything – “did not Job sin with his lips.” If no sin upon his life, definitely no sin in his heart.

All these years later, I still look upon Job with the deepest of admiration and see him as one who flew his plane exceedingly valiantly when absolutely everything went wrong.

Temptations:

There is no greater example here than Jesus Christ. “He suffered temptations,” scripture teach, “but gave no heed unto them.” 8

Enough said.

The example of all examples!

Christ sure had a lot of things constantly go wrong, and though He asked for His cup of bitterness to be removed only if that supplication aligned with the Father’s will (which it did not), He accepted and drunk it with humility, grace, and perfect submission.

He masterfully piloted his plane when everything went wrong, and His return back to Father made way for ours.

Thank you, dear Jesus.

Distractions:

One of my favorite people in all of the Bible is Nehemiah. Love that man!

Sieged and destroyed by the Babylonians in the fourth century, Jerusalem saw her most prominent Jewish citizens exiled to Babylon. Nehemiah was one of the Jews that had been displaced. His heart yearned for his motherland of Jerusalem. He knew that under Cyrus, some of the Jews were being allowed to gather back to Jerusalem.

Because of Nehemiah’s trusted position of cupbearer (whose responsibility it was to ensure the king’s cup wasn’t poisoned) to King Artaxerxes in Babylon, Nehemiah was not able to just pack his bags and head off to his Jewish homeland. Concerning Jerusalem, Nehemiah was told, “…The remnant that are left of the captivity…are in great affliction and reproach: the wall of Jerusalem also is broken down, and the gates thereof are burned with fire.” 9 This was devastating news to Nehemiah. The record states that he “sat down and wept, and mourned certain days, and fasted and prayed before the God of heaven.” 10

As he was discharging his duties before the king, the king noticed that Nehemiah’s countenance was sad. The king inquired and observed, “Why is thy countenance sad…? This is nothing else but sorrow of the heart.” 11 Pushing fear aside, Nehemiah explained the condition of the Jews, the wall, and the gates of Jerusalem. He asked for permission to journey to Jerusalem. He requested soldiers, letters to the governors, and materials to help rebuild the walls and the gates. King Artaxerxes consented. Nehemiah said, “It pleased the king to send me…” 12

Once in Jerusalem and after surveying the desperate condition of the walls and gates of Jerusalem, Nehemiah urged the Jews to “rise up and build,” and the record states that “they strengthened their hands for this good work.” 13

Not everyone was happy about Nehemiah’s coming. Regional governors Sanballat and Tobiah began to make life miserable and hostile for Nehemiah and his band of helpers. They “laughed…to scorn, despised,” accused Nehemiah of planning to rebel against the king, and even threatened to fight and impede the building and repairing. 14 Nehemiah armed his workers, and they pressed forward. Finally, Sanballat, Tobiah, and other enemies tried to lure Nehemiah from the wall by requesting, “Come, let us meet together in some one of the villages…” 15 Knowing that their motives were bad, Nehemiah said one of the best lines in all of Old Testament scripture:

“I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down;

why should the work cease, whilst I leave it, and come

down to you?” 16

Undeterred and resolute in his appointed position and mission, Nehemiah led his team in rebuilding the walls and gates of Jerusalem, freeing many Jews, restoring lands, and blessing his beloved Jerusalem. In just fifty-two days, this incredible transformation that led to the dedication of the restored walls of Jerusalem was completed. Nehemiah had laser focused vision. Nothing – not even threats of violence – lured him from his post. He said he could not come down, but what he meant is he would not come down. There wasn’t a single distraction that could deter him, and I love him for it.

He absolutely flew his plane well!

Disappointments:

Paul, converted and changed Saul, was certainly no stranger to disappointments. He had his fair share and many more.

Perhaps one of his greatest disappointments was hearing King Agrippa’s comment, “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian,” to which Paul responded, “I would to God, that not only thou, but also all that hear me this day…” 17

When everything went dreadfully wrong, Paul dealt with discouragement with an eternal perspective. He “fought a good fight…, finished [his] course,…kept the faith…” 18

Once converted, his plane was on a never look back track, headed to his heavenly home.

Discouragement:

President Brigham Young said of Joseph Smith: “If a thousand hounds were on this Temple Block [Temple Square], let loose on one rabbit, it would not be a bad illustration of the situation…of the Prophet Joseph. He was hunted unremittingly.” 19 Despite this, Joseph was strikingly optimistic and undiscouraged. For sure he had moments of great sorrow (for just one example: he and Emma lost in death 6 of their 11 children), but he definitely did not “sorrow…even as others which have no hope.”  20 The Prophet of the Restoration came to know who he was and what he had been called to accomplish, and he chose hope, trust, and light over despair.

In fact, during a time of great hardship, George A. Smith received this counsel from the Prophet, Joseph:

“He [Joseph] told me I should never get discouraged, whatever difficulties might surround me. If I was sunk in the lowest pit of Nova Scotia and all the Rocky Mountains piled on top of me, I ought not to be discouraged but hang on, exercise faith, and keep up good courage and I should come out on the top of the heat at last.” 21

What a prophet! What an ongoing Restoration!

So grateful Joseph Smith did not allow discouragement to derail his piloting.

Reverses:

I love Hugh B. Brown. I love his story when the Lord reversed his plan for himself. Brown was serving in the Canadian Army and through diligent work and honest effort, he had obtained the rank of field officer. He could see the rank of general and when the position opened up due to a casualty, he was hopeful he would get it, but it was denied him because he was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. This reversal of plans was because God didn’t need a General Brown; he needed a presiding Elder Brown who became an assistant to the Twelve, a general authority, an apostle, and a counselor in a first presidency. Though bitter for a short time at first, Brown came to understand this directional reversal. Brown endured many trials, some of which were very severe, but he continued to fly very well.

He said the following:

“The experiences I treasure most are the ones I would have avoided at the time if I could have…Sometimes we all need to be shaken up so that the glory can come out…” 22

His glory was manifest as he served faithfully in the Lord’s kingdom and all the while, flew his own aircraft with trust and confidence in the overseeing chief pilot.

Failures:

Once reading about Abraham Lincoln, I came across a “Lincoln Failures List” which included 12 failures and defeats he suffered between the years of 1832-1858. That’s 12 failures in 26 years! That would crush most all of us, but not Lincoln. Some of his losses over the years included: job loss, defeated for state legislature, failed in business, had a nervous breakdown, defeated for Speaker, defeated for nomination for Congress, lost renomination, rejected for land officer, defeated for U.S. Senate, and defeated for nomination for U.S. Senate. 23 Notwithstanding, in 1860, he won the seat for president of the United States, and gosh, what a remarkable man raised up by God for an incredibly important mission!

I love Abraham Lincoln! Add to his impressive list of accomplishments that of pilot, for he flew his plane so well when everything went wrong.

All Kinds of Situations:

One word: Jesus. I know he was half Diety and of course that helped with flawless mission execution, but still, Jesus Christ remains our perfect example, one to whom we can relentlessly and eagerly look for instruction on how to fly when all kinds of situations go flat wrong.

Elder Wells concluded his article: “The question…is: How well can [you and I] fly…when everything goes wrong? How well can [you and I] live when every test, every trial, every proof of [our] faithfulness is exacted of [us]?”

What, then, is our answer?

Unto all the world: In “accident, sickness, disease, temptation, distraction, disappointment, discouragement, reversal, failure [and] “all kinds of situations,” I pray you and I can fly VERY WELL!

References

1. (Robert E. Wells, “How Well Can You Fly It When Everything Goes Wrong?” New Era, June 1978, 4–6).
2. Ibid.
3. Ibid.
4. Quoted, Jones, Morgan, “All In,” pgs 77-78.
5. Bednar, D., “The Profound 11-Word Elder Maxwell Learned From Chemotheraphy,” LDS Living, August 20, 2018. See also Bruce C. Hafen, A Disciple’s Life, 16.
6. Job 23:10
7. Job 2:9-10
8. Doctrine and Covenants 20:22
9. Nehemiah 1:3
10. Nehemiah 1:4
11. Nehemiah 1:2
12. Nehemiah 2:6
13. Nehemiah 2:18
14. Nehemiah 2:19
15. Nehemiah 6:2
16. Nehemiah 6:3
17. Acts 26:28
18. 2 Timothy 4:7
19. Brigham Young, Discourses of Brigham Young, comp. John A. Widtsoe (Salt Lake City: Desert Book, 1941), 464.
20. 1 Thessalonians 4:13
21.  George A. Smith, “History of George Albert Smith by Himself,” p. 49,   George Albert Smith, Papers, 1834-75, Church Archives.
22. https://rsc.byu.edu/prophets-apostles-last-dispensation/hugh-brown
23. https://www.rjgeib.com/thoughts/friend/lincoln-failures.html