Likening Doctrine and Covenants 111: A Case Study

Nephi likened the scriptures to his family and encouraged us to do the same. (See 1 Nephi 19:23-24; 2 Nephi 11:2, 8.)

Elder L. Tom Perry shared an experience in which the Spirit helped him liken a passage from Doctrine and Covenants 111 to a personal decision. Here’s the story:

Elder Perry and his family were living in Boston. He had lost his job about a year earlier and had just been offered a new opportunity in California. The new job sounded great, and his family was supportive, but when he called the hiring manager to accept, he felt a strong impression to turn it down. Afterward, as he sat on his bed, puzzled by what had just happened, he opened the scriptures and read the following verses:

Concern not yourselves about your debts, for I will give you power to pay them. …

Tarry in this place, and in the regions round about.

Doctrine and Covenants 111:5, 7

Elder Perry noted that this was the only revelation in the Doctrine and Covenants which was received in Massachusetts. He said that those two verses “literally jumped out of the page and met [his] eye.” A few months later, Harold B. Lee visited Boston, and Elder Perry had the privilege of spending some time with him. Not long after, he became a general authority. Elder Perry said, “I have often wondered what would have happened if I had not heeded the Holy Spirit in its counseling me not to leave Boston” (“That Spirit Which Leadeth to Do Good,” April 1997 general conference).

These verses originally served a different purpose, encouraging Joseph Smith and three of his associates to remain in Salem, where they were staying, but to broaden their perspective on the “treasures” that were available to them, and to worry less about the financial status of the Church. Because Elder Perry was in tune with the Spirit, the Lord could use those same verses to confirm that he should stay in Massachusetts and not worry about his family’s financial situation.

Today, I will strive to liken scriptures to me and to my family. I will trust that even revelations given long ago may carry important messages to my heart by the power of the Spirit.