Doctrine & Covenants: EPISODE 33 (2025) – Doctrine & Covenants 88 – Part 1
Hank Smith: 00:00:00 Coming up in this episode on followHIM.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:00:03 I had just finished off a fabulous season. I was first in the world and expecting to go to the Olympics. You can imagine my roadmap was really clear. I’m like, yes, I’m gonna be an Olympian. Nothing can get in my way now. Unexpectedly, a 1400-pound four-man bobsled came flying out of the track at our Olympic trials and crashed into me. I just remember flying through the air, trying to jump up to my feet to see what had happened. Ultimately, I looked down and…
Hank Smith: 00:00:37 Hello everyone. Welcome to another episode of followHIM. My name’s Hank Smith. I’m your host. I’m here with my co-host, John Bytheway, who has taught diligently. John, section 88, verse 78. I know you know this verse, “Teach ye diligently and my grace shall attend you”. John, how long would you say you have been teaching the gospel, like, in a formal setting where you’re standing up and teaching, not counting your mission?
John Bytheway: 00:01:05 Well, let’s see, Heber C. Kimball and I were talking about this once. No, my first EFY talk was at San Diego State University in 1986. Almost 40 years, which is how long it took to build the Salt Lake Temple, how long the children of Israel wandered. I know I’m gonna be held accountable for that too.
Hank Smith: 00:01:25 John, that’s amazing. I bet there’s so many people listening–in fact, when you and I speak together, I’ve said, how many people here have read a John Bytheway book or heard a John Bytheway talk? Everyone. Everyone raises their hand. John, we are so blessed today. We have with us Noelle Pikus Pace. Noelle, welcome to followHIM.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:01:47 Thank you. It is so fun to be here with you guys.
Hank Smith: 00:01:49 Yeah, we are very excited. I’ve heard of Noelle. I’ve read her books. Follow her on social media. Having her here. It’s a treat. It’s a privilege.
John Bytheway: 00:01:59 Absolutely.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:02:01 Thank you, Hank and John. You guys are amazing and I feel the same.
Hank Smith: 00:02:04 We’re gonna have a lot of fun today. John, section 88, it’s called the olive leaf. When you think of section 88, what automatically comes to your mind?
John Bytheway: 00:02:14 If there were Olympic medals for sections of the Doctrine and Covenants, section 88 would be a medalist. It’s long. It’s as wide as eternity, but it’s very personal as well. I think of temple and light. Those are two words I think of right off.
Hank Smith: 00:02:30 A lot about light, and then there’s a prayer at the end that is so powerful. Noelle, as you’ve been preparing for today, what are we gonna do? Give us John, what would we call it? The game plan. Give us the course.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:02:43 You just nailed it, Hank and John, what you said. I actually love this because it reminds me of being a roadmap to joy. When I was leading into the Olympic Games, we literally at a leadership conference before my first Olympic games had to roadmap. We had to write out the steps it would take to reach the podium, the steps it would take to reach success. As I go and look in section 88, I’m seeing if we focus on the light of Christ, if we focus on our gifts and law of consecration and draw near unto him, and then it continues on where it talks about testifying and warning your neighbor, being without excuses and looking into the best books, learning by study and by faith. Man, this is the roadmap. Organize yourself. Talking about prayer and the importance of praying always to keep His spirit with us. We’ve talked about some of the struggles of the past, and now I feel like this is when he comes in and says, there’s so much good and so much light. This is how we do it and how we return to live with our Savior. I’m so excited.
Hank Smith: 00:03:41 John, I’ve said this before: If Joseph Smith just gives us section 88, he’s a prophet. This is one of how many?
John Bytheway: 00:03:49 You read some of these verses and think that is poetry, and then you see Joseph Smith trying to write his name in the front of a journal. Remember that story? And he’s like crossing it out. He can’t put a sentence together. It’s after the Book of Mormon was published. But, then you read this and you go, wow, this is crazy.
Hank Smith: 00:04:08 By 1844, he’s gonna be a powerful writer and a powerful speaker. This is 1832. That’s 12 years away. John, I don’t think Noelle’s gonna need much of an introduction to our audience. I’m guessing most know who she is, but for anyone who has lived under a rock for the last 20 years, tell us who Noelle is. I know that you and she are friends.
John Bytheway: 00:04:30 Yeah, when I was a bishop, Noelle graciously came up to my stake, spoke to my stake, and it was wonderful. I have this signed copy of Focused. Look at those eyes right there. It’s a perfect title.
Hank Smith: 00:04:44 What a great cover
00:04:45 And a perfect shot. I know, and it’s so perfect for what we’re gonna talk about. I do have some things to say. This is so fun to read. She is a 26-time World Cup medalist, two-time World Champion, Olympic silver medalist in the sport of skeleton. Which she’s gonna explain because that sounds like a Halloween costume competition, but no, there’s a sport called Skeleton. She’s an MBA, the author of the book Focused, I just held up, wife and mother of four kids. She speaks professionally to corporate clients, has a passion for coaching performers of all disciplines on creating a healthy mindset for success. I have to tell you, Hank, when she came to my stake, what I loved was she had her husband, Janson, stand up and she said, he designed my sled.
00:05:33 What?
John Bytheway: 00:05:34 This was an effort of an awesome married couple. That picture of this married couple up there, happy and joyful, talking to the youth working together on a goal was one of the best parts about the fireside, that visual right there. We’re really happy to have you.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:05:53 Aw, thank you, John. I appreciate all that you said. I’m really thrilled to be here with you and I could say so many great things about each of you as well, and thank you for what you guys do and the light that you emulate.
Hank Smith: 00:06:05 John, I’ve been able to do a little corporate speaking, definitely not as much as Noelle. Noelle, where has your speaking career taken you? I would love to hear what you’ve seen.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:06:15 Yeah, it’s been so fun all over the world and to all different kinds of speeches from the IRS, to corporate healthcare, to agriculture and farming, and to young kids. All over the place, and it’s just been really exciting and fun to be able to meet new people. I know we were mentioning before we started recording, but it’s really cool how you can go into a situation. You don’t have to separate who you are from what you say, even at a corporate setting because I am who I am. And I don’t have to testify, the Book of Mormon is true and things like that, on a corporate stage, but they feel it. When we talk about the truths and those universal truths and those good gifts from God up on that stage and people are like, man, I feel something different from you, and it’s like, yeah. Yeah, it’s really cool to hear that.
John Bytheway: 00:07:05 Imagine that.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:07:08 I feel blessed to be able to do that.
Hank Smith: 00:07:10 Oh, good. Well, the book is called Focused. Then you have a new book coming out, Noelle. Now if you’re anything like John or I, a new book can take a while sometimes.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:07:18 Yes.
Hank Smith: 00:07:19 It’s not as easy as it looks.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:07:21 I’m hoping by the end of the year I’m really excited about that. I love writing. Every single week I write a story mostly from like my life as a mom or sometimes from my athletics, sometimes from running a business. I try to share different principles that we can pull from it to help us to become better people and better individuals. I’d love if anybody would like to check that out, it’s great.
Hank Smith: 00:07:42 You can go to Noellepikuspace.com. You can pick up the book, Focused on Amazon and go over to Instagram. I follow Noelle on Instagram. She posts wonderful, wonderful things. Here’s one: “Self-improvement is not a destination, it’s a lifelong journey. It’s the conscious effort to grow, learn, and become a better version of ourselves every day.” That sounds like what we’re gonna do today.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:08:09 Yeah.
00:08:10 What’s really exciting for me is in focusing on section 88 today, this is how I have driven my year by one of the phrases in one of the scriptures here where it talks about having no excuses and being able to take that accountability on for ourself to say, okay, I’m going to be disciplined enough to make better choices. It’s not in this harsh way, but it’s more in a merciful forgiveness kind of way with ourselves each and every day of just saying, okay, I’m not gonna justify doing one thing just because it’s been done, but I’m gonna be a better person today in each aspect of my life.
John Bytheway: 00:08:45 Now, I mentioned your husband, Janson in that fireside you gave. Tell us about the rest of your family.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:08:51 So we have four kids, four beautiful, wonderful kids–most days. We have a 17-year-old daughter, a 14-year-old son, and then twin nine-year-olds and Hank, oh man, we survived those first years. You know?
Hank Smith: 00:09:06 Yes, twin boys. My twin boys are 12. Yours are nine?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:09:10 Yeah, they’re just about 10, but yeah.
Hank Smith: 00:09:12 Yeah. Oh, we should get together and just watch them destroy things. We do that a lot in our house. Noelle, we are so blessed to have you. Let’s jump in. Section 88. Here’s the opening from the Come, Follow Me manual. Every so often, the Lord gives us a glimpse of His boundless “majesty and power” through stunning revelations. Section 88 is that kind of revelation-one about light and glory and kingdoms that can make our earthly cares seem small by comparison. Even if we can’t comprehend it all, we can at least sense that there’s far more to eternity than we ever realized. Of course, the Lord doesn’t share these grand truths to intimidate us or make us feel small. In fact, He promised, “The day shall come when you shall comprehend even God”. Perhaps it was to that glorious end that the Lord commanded His saints in Kirtland to form the School of the Prophets. “Organize yourselves,” He said. “Prepare every needful thing; and establish a house of God”. More than anywhere else, it is within God’s holy house-and in our homes-that He can lift our vision beyond the mortal world, “unveil his face unto us”, and prepare us to “abide a celestial glory”. Man, that is awesome. What a great introduction to a great section. With that, Noelle, how do you wanna take this on? Are we gonna go verse by verse? That might take us a while.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:10:37 I would love to jump in and talk about the light of Christ. I would love to talk maybe about the gifts that we can develop and learn through with verse 33 and maybe 40-drawing near to Him. I also love talking about testifying and warning your neighbor in verse 81, and then that one that I had mentioned before about living without excuses in 82. Maybe, go over the best books and learning by study and faith. In the Olympics, it was all about study by learning through the best books, through the best coaches, through the best studying, but it was the faith that really carried me down that track. Now as a parent, it’s the same thing. Learning as much as we can and living by faith and organizing. And then maybe wrapping it up with talking about how important it’s to pray always and what that might look like. Let’s dive into the light of Christ. I love verses maybe 7 through 13. I don’t know if that sounds good to you guys.
Hank Smith: 00:11:29 Let’s do it. I’m excited
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:11:30 John would you like to read verses 7 through 13?
John Bytheway: 00:11:34 I will do it. Verse seven: Which truth shineth. This is the light of Christ as also he is in the sun, and the light of the sun, and the power thereof by which it was made. As also he is in the moon, and is the light of the moon, and the power thereof by which it was made; As also the light of the stars, and the power thereof by which they were made; And the earth also, and the power thereof, even the earth upon which you stand. And the light which shineth, which giveth you light, is through him who enlighteneth your eyes, which is the same light that quickeneth your understandings; Which light proceedeth forth from the presence of God to fill the immensity of space–The light, which is in all things, which giveth life to all things, which is the law by which all things are governed, even the power of God who sitteth upon his throne, who is in the bosom of eternity, who is in the midst of all things.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:12:30 I absolutely love that. And it actually made me think about a recent experience that our family had. This last summer we went to, I don’t know if you’ve been to Bowers Cave. It’s in the Dixie National Forest here in central Utah. I remember as we showed up to this cave, it’s one where you have to climb down into a hole, so it’s not like this open cave mouth. It’s actually one where there’s a ladder in the ground leading you somewhere. One by one we climbed down this dark abyss, one rung at a time into this cave and we started stepping into it. We were definitely unprepared. We actually didn’t even know this cave existed until we like drove and we saw this sign and we just like flipped a uie and said, Hey, we should come over here and try this out. As we started walking into this cave, it started getting darker and darker.
00:13:18 Have you ever experienced true darkness? Like not just spiritually or emotionally but like physically, true darkness where it’s just pitch black? That’s what it felt like. We turned off our flashlight, we just had our phones for our flashlights. We turned them off as we got deeper and deeper into this cave and it was true blackness and as we sat there with the kids, our younger ones were kind, you know, like really nervous. I was nervous too, to be honest. We had them turn around and they couldn’t see anything. We said, alright, point in the direction that you think the exit is point to where you think the light is coming from. If we were to follow this cave back to the front, where would we find that light? We turned our flashlight back on and we were all pointing in different directions because we couldn’t see it.
00:14:04 What really got to me here is that we are promised that the light of Christ will push away the darkness. We just have to know where to look for it. We have to know how to find it. This here in these scriptures, he’s saying He is in everything. If we just choose, each morning, to look for the light, we will see it, we will find it, we will move towards it, but it has to be a choice. It has to be intentional because if we choose not to look for it and if we’re constantly thinking in our minds for those negative things, those judgments against others and the sadness that’s going on in our life, we’re going to find the darkness. We’re going to find it. Elder Uchtdorf said, darkness will not gain victory over the light of Christ. So, if we’re feeling spiritual darkness, he also said, darkness is not an indication that there is no light.
00:14:55 Most often it simply means that we are not in the right place to receive the light. So, I just think about that, that darkness isn’t an indication that there isn’t light. It just means we’re in the wrong place to receive that light. As we strive to look for it and do those little things, those primary answers of just take time to read your scriptures in the morning, even if it’s just a verse. Say a quick prayer, if that’s all that you have time for, if that’s all the energy you can muster. Just a quick one to say, Heavenly Father, help me to see your hand today. He’ll show his light, you’ll see it.
John Bytheway: 00:15:28 I’m so glad you brought up that quotation from Elder Uchtdorf because I thought of that one too. That dawned on him once-ha dawn, that’s funny. Didn’t know when the sun was gonna rise and then it dawned on me. Yep. He was talking about, as a pilot, they call it the terminator. If you’re high enough you can kind of see a line where on the sphere of the earth, where the line is, where there’s light. And, that’s why I love that he said that night is nothing more than a shadow. It’s not that the light is gone, you’re just not in a place to receive it, which is a very hopeful thought that the light is there, the light is always there, the light has always been there. You can find it if you look for it even if you’re pointing in different directions at first.
Hank Smith: 00:16:14 I’ve heard it said that when you face the light, right, all the shadows fall behind you.
John Bytheway: 00:16:19 Yeah. Helen Keller said that, which that’s a great one because Helen Keller, as we know, was blind, but she said, when you face the sun, the shadows of discouragement fall behind you. We could say son, S-O-N, couldn’t we? Because we just learned He is the light of all of those things.
Hank Smith: 00:16:37 One thing that I’m impressed with is I know this revelation in in part comes because the leaders in Missouri are suffering. The people in Missouri are struggling. Word comes back to Joseph in Kirtland that there’s some intense persecution happening in Jackson County. The Lord doesn’t start with that. The Lord says, I come with this problem-to the Lord, He says, back up, let me give you much–the angels are rejoicing over you. The alms of your prayers have come up to my ears. Let’s talk about light. I like the Lord’s way to address a practical problem, is to increase our understanding. Let me back up and show you. I shouldn’t be surprised when I go to the Lord with a practical problem that he answers me with spiritual understanding instead of, here’s what you should do. Noelle, what should we do next?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:17:32 We’ve talked about the light of Christ, which is really at the foundation of it all. Recognizing that he is everywhere in all things. The Count of Monte Cristo always comes to mind too when he thinks, oh, God’s not in the details anymore, and his love comes up and says, she says–I wish I could remember all their names–but she says, no, He is everywhere. He is in everything. She brings back that light and he’s like, oh, all right. Reminding me, and that’s kind of what it is. He’s everywhere. I would love to jump to verse 33 if that’s okay and Hank, do you wanna do that one?
Hank Smith: 00:18:02 Absolutely. This is 88:33, For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed upon him, and he receives not the gift? Behold, he rejoices not in that which is given unto him, neither rejoices in him who is the giver of the gift.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:18:19 I’m gonna get teary-eyed on this one and I didn’t expect this to happen because I wasn’t even going to share this until you just read that. This stood out to me because I’ve had some women in our ward that have really been feeling like they don’t have anything to offer, and I’m sure there’s men that feel this way as well, but I just know specifically of a handful of women that say, I don’t have anything left to give. My kids are growing up and I don’t know who I am. I don’t know what I’m supposed to do with my life. I just feel this emptiness. I am sitting at home and maybe some of them don’t have a job, maybe some of them do. Whatever their situation, it just has hit me hard, to the core to recognize that there are those out there that feel like they have nothing left to give.
00:19:03 In this scripture, it’s saying that it takes effort and it is hard, but the Lord has blessed each of us with so many gifts, we just need to receive them. It’s like a birthday present or a Christmas present. If somebody offers you a package, you still have to take the motions to unwrap it and to untape it, to pull it out, to open the box. It does take effort. Whether those gifts are maybe you’re really good at doing something like a sport is very obvious for people to see where you say, you know Noelle, you’ve been at the Olympics. That’s a very obvious talent, but what about those that are big gifts that are being kind, being service oriented, being thoughtful, being hard workers. But the Lord is saying, I love this quote, it says, you are never too old to dream a new dream or to set a new goal.
00:19:52 I truly believe that we’re never too old to develop those talents and to share those with others. When I felt the end coming for skeleton, it was two weeks before the Olympic games. I could feel this sadness coming. Whether you are coming to the end of a career, you’re ready for retirement, your kids are growing up, you’re gonna be empty nesters. Whatever those ending chapters are, there’s this daunting perspective of what’s next, what’s going to be around the corner for me? Some of that can be fearful, some of that can be hopeful and it just depends on which direction you’re headed. As we were sitting at the Olympic Games in 2014, Janson, my husband and I, were literally in Russia. This is at the 2014 Winter Olympics. I knew this was going to be it for me. I had been winning races. I wasn’t retiring because I couldn’t compete.
00:20:44 I wasn’t retiring because I was injured, which are the two most normal reasons to give up a sport as an athlete, but I was just ready for a change. It still was hard. I had my two kids. I was a mom of two kids going for this Olympic dream with my husband by my side. I knew I was ready to stay home with my kids and to not miss out on those moments with them, but I remember still feeling that daunting feeling of emptiness. Something that Janson and I decided to do, was to create a bucket list. I know that sounds like, oh, that’s funny, but it gave me hope at the base of the foundation of why we need to continue to grow and progress. It gives us hope to move forward, to grow, to develop, to become. Well, the first thing I said is I want to write a book.
00:21:30 On our flight home I started writing and then I said, I want to learn Spanish. Janson wanted to get his master’s degree, so we moved to Costa Rica for two years, learned Spanish and he got his master’s degree. And then we moved back to Utah and we just started setting these goals that would, you know, we call it a bucket list, but it’s just a way to look forward with hope and with light, with strength and courage and expand our faith because it was scary. It was scary to grow and to get outside of our comfort zone. So those that feel like they don’t have gifts, there are gifts. The Lord is ready and wanting to bless you with those gifts, but you have to take the first step. You have to be ready to receive those gifts and that takes effort.
John Bytheway: 00:22:12 I love what you’ve said. We ache for people that get to that point. What can I do now at this point in my life? Thank you for saying it that way. Do you guys remember Nora’s Christmas Gift? Our friend Michael McLean. She’s starting to go blind and she tried to make, what was it, English toffee and the salt tipped over and she didn’t see it. She was listening to joy to the world, let Earth receive her king, and it was this moment where she thought, I need to receive. And at this point in my life I can receive. Even then, look at what you can give. Just the fact that anyone is listening to this says, they are looking to the light. In whatever situation they are. Noelle, we have people who listen in prison. We hear from them, look what they’re doing. They are trying to receive and listen and face the light. I love that
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:23:05 And the Lord loves effort. It’s just little things and there’s scriptures that we can continue on in 88 where it just talks about the effort alone is a blessing. That’s what he asks of us is just to try. This verse in 33 reminds me also of Ether 12:27. This is one of my absolute favorite scriptures in the Book of Mormon. It says, and if men or women come unto me, I will show unto them their weakness. I just have to pause there for just a second because if we feel like we’re lacking in any way, the Lord is just asking us to pray to Him to say, hey, good. I’m glad you have weaknesses. I’m glad you’re feeling inadequate because I mean, if we could have the listeners, if we could each raise our hand and say, who here has weaknesses and fills inadequate? Like, hello, I’m on the podcast with John and Hank.
00:23:57 My hands are both high. If we will come unto Him, He will show unto us our weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble, man, that they may be humble; and my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me and if they humble themselves before me. Take out that pride. I mean, and a lot of times when we feel that inadequacy, it’s just that pride getting in the way. Pride goes both directions. Pride can be that you feel inferior to someone, but it can also be that you feel below other people or not qualified for something and that’s a different–that’s a pride in itself. If they humble themselves before me and have faith in me, love this part, then will I make weak things become strong unto them. And if you put your own name in here, what are your weaknesses? Do you have a lack of patience? Do you have a lack of understanding? Do you feel like you don’t have the gifts to give? Put that in here. He will make those things become strong unto you. He is a God of promises and he cannot lie. He’s the same yesterday, today and forever. He cannot lie. He will make those things strong. If you’re struggling in any way or feeling inadequate or need help in any way, he can and will help.
Hank Smith: 00:25:10 When you said the Lord loves effort, that needs to be in vinyl on your mirror, the Lord loves effort. Look at that in verse 32. John, I think you brought it up. I want you to enjoy that which you are willing to receive. I want to give you more. I want to take you places. I think personally I get frustrated that I’m not getting more from the Lord and he’s like, well, do you see those seven temples here within an hour? I am ready. That what you are willing to receive. Where are you? I’m over here ready to give. I’m ready to give to you. You know those scriptures that are sitting there on your bedside stand. I am ready. I am ready to give, but where do you spend your time? On X doom scrolling? Is that where you spend your time? It reminded me of two things.
00:25:58 Our discussion so far, that I wanted to bring up. One was from a guest we had about a month or two ago, John, Whitney Johnson, do you remember? And she talked about the S-curve. She said, we climb up to this top of this curve and you think I’ve made it. I’ve made it, and then what does the Lord do? He puts you back at the bottom of another S-curve and you start to climb again. That seems to be what Noelle’s talking about. When you hit the top of that S-curve and you think, I don’t have anything left to give, I’ve reached the top. Just ask the Lord to put you on the bottom of another one. He’ll send you up climbing again. Barbara Gardner was here a year or two ago. She talked about her mom. Her mom was dying. She was in bed and they knew she was months, if not weeks away from dying.
00:26:44 This touched me. She said, Barbara, I need you to come over. Barbara came over to her mom’s bedside. She said, I need you to teach me how to teach. Barbara said, mom, what? What are you talking about? You’re dying. She said, no, I feel like I’m gonna be called on to teach when I get there and I need to know how to teach. Talk about someone who thinks it’s over for me. I don’t have anything left I can give. She’s not thinking about this life. She’s thinking about the next. I’ve gotta be prepared for the challenges and the assignments that are coming up in the next life. It really touched me, because sometimes we think, well, I’m in the twilight of my life. What do I have to give? When actually there’s a lot more. There’s a lot more to come.
John Bytheway: 00:27:31 Hank and Noelle, I gave my dad a blessing when he had Parkinson’s disease. He died at 78 years old and when he could still talk at this point. I gave him this blessing. He turned around and looked at me and said, John, I think I’m going to hell, and I was like, dad? And he said, to teach. Oh. Okay. Yeah. Okay, so he was thinking the same thing, but I think he wanted to make me laugh or something. But I’m going there to teach. I have no doubt that’s what he’s doing. What a great perspective.
Hank Smith: 00:28:05 Yeah. Isn’t that kinda what you’re talking about, like take on a new challenge?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:28:09 Absolutely. At every stage in our lives, you can’t be too young or too old to continue to grow and to serve, to do what the Lord needs you to do
Hank Smith: 00:28:18 And be careful with that request. Lord, give me a new challenge. He might say, really?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:28:23 Be careful.
John Bytheway: 00:28:23 Okay, I have plenty of those.
Hank Smith: 00:28:27 If you’re willing to receive a new challenge, I’m willing to give it to you. For those of us who don’t know the skeleton, if we don’t know much about it, tell us about that kind of effort, because it looks terrifying. Just so you know. Even the cover of your book looks terrifying. It’s a still shot of you doing this.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:28:49 Skeleton is a really, really fun sport. I think both of you should try it. Oh man. You sprint about 40 meters or jog or do what you can to get on the sled. Usually you wanna sprint and you dive headfirst onto basically a little cookie sheet.
John Bytheway: 00:29:08 With runners.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:29:09 Yes. Then you go 90 miles an hour down the side of an icy mountain track. We steer with our shoulders and our knees and are just trying to defy gravity and pressures the whole way down
Hank Smith: 00:29:22 Oh wow.
John Bytheway: 00:29:24 And Noelle does all of her own stunts too. Yeah.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:29:27 I do, I do.
John Bytheway: 00:29:29 I didn’t see a lot of skeleton competitions in high school. What kind of things did you compete in and excel in in high school?
Hank Smith: 00:29:36 And how did you know that is for me? Who decides I am ready to go 90 miles an hour with my chin an inch off the ground?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:29:45 So I competed in track and field throughout junior high and high school and they were recruiting track athletes. It was right before the 2002 Winter Olympics when it came to Park City, Salt Lake City, Utah. Just before that, I was a junior in high school and my track coach happened to be helping out with the bobsled program up in Park City about 40 miles away and said, Hey, they’re trying to recruit young athletes, especially track and field athletes to go up and try bobsledding. Do you wanna go up and try it? I knew the movie Cool Runnings-like “eins, zwei, drei” like? So I’m like, oh, like Cool Runnings? He’s like, yeah, just like that. So I did bobsledding for my junior year. The following year they switched the program to skeleton. I was kind of like deceived into it, to be honest with you. From like, oh you, this is just a drill to get you to be a better bobsled driver and then you’ll go back to bobsledding. After I went down, I never went back. I fell in love with it and it was 15 years of it. Lots of fun.
John Bytheway: 00:30:44 Literally 90 miles an hour.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:30:46 Literally 90 miles an hour. Yeah.
Hank Smith: 00:30:49 And your chin is honestly–looking at that picture.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:30:52 Sometimes it’s on the ice, Hank. Sometimes it is dragging through the corners because we reach five to six G-forces. We literally can’t keep it off the ice, so it’s dragging on the ice.
Hank Smith: 00:31:06 Oh my word. Oh, well I love it because here you are saying, look, my career ended there. You could have said, well, that’s it for me. I peaked, but you said no, I want new challenges. You see those as gifts. For what doth profit a man or a woman if I give them a gift and they don’t receive it. So maybe new challenges are a gift.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:31:27 Absolutely. If we’re not willing to receive those, then where does that put us for thinking about this life as this opportunity to progress, if we never accept new challenges? Maybe you feel like you’re stuck, but look outside yourself, like look at your community. How could you help in the community? Maybe you can go into an elementary school and help with the kids with a reading program. Maybe you could volunteer at a senior living center. There’s so many gifts. Even the gift of time. If you have the gift of time, you have time on your plate that you have to offer. That is a gift that to give to others. There’s so many gifts.
John Bytheway: 00:32:05 That idea of problems or challenges being gifts. It reminds me, in fact, I was listening to a football post game show back when Bronco Mendenhall was the coach of BYU. I met him once with two of my kids and he was so kind to us. Anyway, thank you, Bronco. Somebody asked him a non-football question, during the radio show and said, what books do you love? He said, well, I’m reading one called The Traveler’s Gift by Andy Andrews and I went and got it because I was curious. There’s one paragraph in there that reminds me of what you both just shared in verse 33. This is what Andy Andrews wrote. Challenges are gifts, opportunities to learn. Problems are the common thread running through the lives of great men and women. Adversity is preparation for greatness. Isn’t that interesting? How many times have we heard somebody that had a challenge or a problem? Just as you said, Noelle, that weakness turned into a strength because they got God involved. I love that idea. If you’ve got a problem, it’s an opportunity for new growth. It’s a gift. Can be.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:33:12 Yeah. I love that.
Hank Smith: 00:33:14 Noelle, what do you wanna do next?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:33:16 Let’s go to verse 63.
Hank Smith: 00:33:18 Yep, you got it.
John Bytheway: 00:33:19 Oh, I love this one.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:33:21 I know it’s like one of my favorites. I love it. Okay, John, since you love it so much, will you read it?
John Bytheway: 00:33:26 Yes. For those watching, I’m going to use hand signals, so watch my hands. This is you and me. This is the Lord where we like to be with the Lord. Okay, you can tell I’ve used this verse before, but notice in every case in verse 63, who has to move first. Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you; seek me diligently and ye shall find me; ask and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you. I mean that is poetically saying the same thing four times.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:33:57 Why do you love this one, John?
John Bytheway: 00:33:59 Because of that idea of he is ready, willing, and able, but we make that first drawing near. When we do that, he’ll respond. He’s not rude. He doesn’t force his way into your life. That’s what Satan does. But, God is so polite that he waits, but if we draw a near that reaction, he draws near to us. I just love that verse.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:34:20 So good. It’s one of my favorites. When I was in high school, I went to Mountain View High School in Orem and Eli Herring was a teacher and a coach there. And for those of you that don’t know Eli, he’s absolutely incredible. Football player, BYU, had the opportunity to go play pro and chose not to, but he continued to excel. He was just fantastic, but I remember he was our throws coach. One of our throws coaches. I did track and field and I was throwing shot put and discus. It was right around the time when I had first been introduced into bobsledding and skeleton. I remember being out there on the field with him one afternoon talking. He shared a story about how there was a time when he was trying to figure out something within football. He was trying to figure out a technique.
00:35:08 He was trying to figure out a tackle. He was trying to figure out how to do something better. He could not figure it out. The guy would blow past him and he said, so I decided to take it to the Lord. This story stuck with me throughout my career and it really changed how I viewed what I do in my life. He said, so I took it to the Lord, because I knew that he knew all things about all things, whether it’s about our spirituality or whether it’s about a technique in football. He knows. No matter what it is. If you need help with baking bread, if you need help finding a lost retainer. I had a lost retainer. No matter what it is. If we draw closer to him, he will draw closer to us. He shared this story about how he began to pray about this specific technique saying, Heavenly Father help me to see more clearly, help me to understand what I need to do. And he said, after trying to build this relationship with the Lord, a thought came to his head and it said, look at the knuckles. Now for alignment, as his hands are down there on the grass pushing against the grass, he had this thought come to him that he told me that it was that inspiration from the Lord saying, look at the knuckles.
00:36:19 He started looking at the knuckles of the guy that he was going against. If they were red, it meant something. If they were white, it meant that he was putting more pressure forward and he started learning these things and he said that to me was an eternal truth. He’s like, it’s an eternal truth that whether it’s with football or whatever it is that you’re doing, the Lord is in the details. If we allow Him to come into our lives, He will show us the truth of all things. He said that that little fact changed the way he approached his football technique and it helped him to excel in ways that he couldn’t have imagined. Fast forward about three years in my own life, I was in skeleton racing down the tracks of the world, traveling from Russia to Japan to Europe to all over the world, competing.
00:37:04 I was struggling. I was in a position where I just couldn’t figure it out. I’m like, man, how am I not able to get any better? I feel like I’m at a stopping stone. We can think about this in our own lives like are you at a stopping place in your life? I just feel like I’m complacent or I am in a comfort zone or maybe I’m stuck in this hole of depression. Whatever state you’re in, there is a way out there really, really is. I remember getting down on my knees thinking about this story from Eli Herring and saying, the Lord knows all things, so I said, Heavenly Father, I’m really struggling in skeleton and I don’t know how to get better. I’m working really hard. I feel like I’m doing everything I need to do, but I’m missing something. What is missing? As I brought that to the Lord more and more a thought came into my head and it was lower your head, like keep your head down and that is very specific to skeleton.
00:37:54 It’s aerodynamics and it seems so simple, but it was just lower your head. Keep your head down. The next season, I knew that if I put the Lord first in all things before anything else, put the Lord first, follow the light of Christ. Do good, be good. I knew he could bless me. That season was the first time I showed up at that first World Cup race in Winterburg, Germany and I thought, all right, keep your head down. That was the first time I ever won a World Cup race, was trying to do my best with the Lord by my side. Not trying to do it on my own anymore, alone saying, I’m strong enough. I’ve got this. I can figure it out, but saying, Heavenly Father, help me. You know all things. Help me to draw near to you so that we can be in this together. That truth came. I just think that’s such a good scripture. Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you.
Hank Smith: 00:38:43 Did you say, you know I’m going 90 miles an hour. You really want me to lower my head?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:38:48 Are you sure this is where you want me?
Hank Smith: 00:38:51 I see a spiritual meaning there too. Lower your head, right? Say prayers. Bow your head. I love that.
John Bytheway: 00:38:59 Noelle, thank you. We might think I can bring spiritual things to the Lord, but he’s not really interested in other things. The beautiful message there is no, if it’s important to you, it’s important to God. He can even give you advice on being an offensive lineman or he can give you advice on skeleton. I think we’ve learned that as parents, if it’s important to your kids, it’s important to you. And Heavenly Father is a perfect parent. He knows stuff.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:39:27 And he knows stuff.
Hank Smith: 00:39:28 Yeah, bring it to me.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:39:29 I think something big with this as well is to know that it’s not these big massive changes that we need to make in order to feel his love and to feel his power. It’s the little things. When Michael Dunn, he gave a talk in conference recently, and I think he may have been quoting James Clear. He’s talking about the margin of aggregational gains, the aggregation of marginal gains. That’s the one, right? Talking about the British cycling team and how David Brailsford came in and said, we need to change this team. We need to help them improve. So many people had come in time and time before saying, we need massive changes. We need to start a whole new regimen, a whole new training program. David Brailsford said, no, no, no. We don’t need to completely change. We just need to start small.
00:40:15 One percent. Let’s take alcohol wipes on our tires and make ’em grippier. Let’s make sure we dust out the trailer so no dust gets into the sprockets. Let’s change out the pillows of the athletes so they get a better night’s rest. He wasn’t saying, we need these athletes to go from sleeping six hours to sleeping 12. He said, let’s just change their pillow. Let’s just do something simple. By doing those little things, the whole team changed and became the top of the world. That’s the same with this principle. It’s just the little things. And coming back, President Nelson said, coming back to effort, Hank, as we were saying before, the Lord loves effort because effort brings rewards that can’t come without it. He’s asking us to seek him diligently, diligently, just seek him, turn to him each day. One percent. What is 1%? You can do a little bit better today than you did yesterday? It’s the same in the Olympics heading towards the Olympics. It’s these little things. It’s the same as a parent. It’s the same in our health, in our nutrition. It’s just one tiny little thing that will help us to be better today than we were yesterday, and that’s effort. That’s great.
John Bytheway: 00:41:22 Let’s explain the aggregate of marginal gains. It was a gain. Okay, this could help us 0.5%. Well, that’s not enough. No, it’s the aggregate of all of those things. All those little point fives when you do 20 of them, that’s 10%. That was the idea, which I loved. In fact, I was asked to speak to a faculty once on John Wooden because everybody knows what a basketball star I am, I guess. John Wooden was the legendary coach at UCLA. He would start with his teams showing them how to put on their socks.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:41:59 Wow.
John Bytheway: 00:42:00 Because if you get a blister and you have to sit, you’re not helping. These little tiny things. This is how you put on your socks.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:42:09 And that’s impact. That’s so cool.
Hank Smith: 00:42:12 Remember, President Hinkley? Do a little better.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:42:15 In the Olympics. I kept a journal, not just to the Olympics, but my 15 years leading up to it. Every night before bed, I would ask myself three questions. These questions, I was thinking it could be applied to this as well. The three questions I asked, I’m going to just alter just a tiny bit to kind of go with this, but I would say, what went well today? What didn’t go so well today and how will I be better tomorrow? How can I improve tomorrow? But you could even think of it to say, in what ways did I draw nearer to the Savior today? In what ways did I draw away from him today? How will I draw closer to him tomorrow? If we asked ourselves those questions each night before bed, imagine how those little margins would help us to draw closer to him after a week or after a month or after a year. If we committed to doing this, we would be, man, we’d be so close to Him. Little bit at a time.
John Bytheway: 00:43:08 That’s a great thought.
Hank Smith: 00:43:09 I’ve never seen in this section what you’re pointing out here, Noelle, the word diligently comes up four times in 63. We just read, seek me diligently again in 78, teach diligently, 84 labor diligently. Then 118, seek ye diligently. The Lord loves effort. He wants to reward effort. It’s almost as if he’s saying, let’s go. I want to give. Come to me. Let’s act. You’re a creator. Create. Sometimes with young people, they’ll say, I wanna know the right thing to do. I want to know what the right job is, the right career, the right person to marry, the right place to move. I wanna know the right major to choose. Sometimes, I might take them to section 88 from here on out and say, create. Make something.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:44:04 Be anxiously engaged in a good cause. Get after it. Yeah, and things will come together.
Hank Smith: 00:44:11 I’ve never seen that in this section before. Speaking of counseling with young people, I wanted to show you both something. Back in verse 40. I’ve used this often when I’ll have a student, they’re 21 and “I’m never gonna get married”. I think section 88 verse 40 can help. Intelligence cleaves to intelligence. Wisdom receives wisdom. Truth embraces truth. Virtue loves virtue. Light cleaves to light. Mercy loves mercy. Justice loves justice. If we want, intelligent, wise, truthful, virtuous people who are full of light to be attracted to us, we must become intelligent wise, full of truth and virtue and light, and that gives me something to do. It doesn’t mean I’m sitting around and waiting. It says, the Lord loves effort. Go fill your life with these things. There’s a natural attraction there.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:45:06 It reminded me of Enos 1:4. It just made me think of this one where it says, and my soul hungered and I kneeled down before my maker and cried unto him in mighty prayer and supplication for my own soul. A lot of times, when we don’t know how to improve or how to become a little bit better, I think of this. When we were talking about how the word diligently comes up so frequently as we’re diligently seeking for these good things, as we’re diligently seeking for intelligence, as we’re diligently seeking for light, it’s going to come into our lives, whether it’s through a skill, a hobby or a person. It could be that it’s gonna attract us to those people. The more that we surround ourselves with those good people, the more we’re going to be elevated and want to be better. But I think of diligence.
00:45:48 When I think of diligence, I think of Enos and it says, I cried unto Him in mighty prayer and supplication for my own soul, and all the day long did I cry unto Him. How often do we do that in our own lives for something we truly want? How often do we deeply desire something like that in our lives to take time or energy or effort to do this? And yea, when the night came, I did still raise my voice high that it reached the heavens. That’s diligence, man. I wanna be like Enos. That’s amazing.
Hank Smith: 00:46:16 John, not that you’d know more about this than I would, but you did get married later in life than than I did. If something is outside of your control, what can you do? Because that can be very frustrating. Feeling like, this is something I want. This is a blessing that I’m hoping for. It’s not happening.
John Bytheway: 00:46:35 I wrote a book called What I Wish I’d known When I Was Single. I tried to write a parable of the piano, I called it, where you’re sitting in a piano and people keep walking up to you and saying, why don’t you play that music? And when you look at the music, it says right there, marriage a duet.
Hank Smith: 00:46:54 Right? You need four hands.
John Bytheway: 00:46:56 I can’t play it. They say, well, you could play that if you had more faith and you’re going, wow. Or you are not trying hard enough. Oh, really? Is that it? Or you are being too picky, or something like that. Man, I heard that, well-meaning folks. Sometimes I would say, you don’t know what me and the Lord know right now, but we have a reaction for you, which I won’t express. Sometimes I’d be thinking, you have no idea how silly you look in front of me and God right now. That’s what I was thinking, because He knew. Because like Enos, I think my prayers did reach to heaven. You know, I came up with, okay, play what you can play. Slide the matrimony music over and play what you can play. Somebody will one day, with their own agency, say, can I sit next to you and play this. Or would you sit next to me and play this? And that’s how it works. You can’t force somebody to come and and play your song, but you can play what you can play. So that was my attempt at a parable. In the meantime, okay, it’s not happening. Play what you can play.
Hank Smith: 00:48:03 Yeah. Gaining intelligence and wisdom and truth and virtue and light, that’s in our control.
John Bytheway: 00:48:08 Mm-hmm.
Hank Smith: 00:48:09 Something we can do.
John Bytheway: 00:48:10 I can do that.
Hank Smith: 00:48:11 Yeah.
John Bytheway: 00:48:13 Interestingly, I think marriage is one of the only commandments I can think of that you cannot obey by yourself. The other one is multiply and replenish the earth, but you’re supposed to get those in the right order. I always thought that’s one that is not completely in your control, which makes it a totally different thing. What we’re just talking about, but do what you can do. Moroni’s best work, I believe, was accomplished while he was a single adult.
Hank Smith: 00:48:43 John, thanks for that.
John Bytheway: 00:48:44 Hank. I’m so glad it happened to me because I have something to share with others that are struggling. Had I got home from my mission and got married six months later, as some of my companions did, I wouldn’t know how to counsel somebody, but that’s another one of those challenges that became something I could hopefully bless people with, you know? So thanks for asking that question.
Hank Smith: 00:49:04 What do we wanna do next? Noelle, where do you wanna take us?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:49:07 Let’s dive ahead to, how about verse 81? Hank, do you wanna read that one?
Hank Smith: 00:49:14 81, okay. Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people, and it becometh every man who hath been warned to warn his neighbor.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:49:24 It’s like a roadmap and it starts with the light of Christ and it’s going through and it’s saying all these things and saying, but don’t forget, you’ve gotta warn each other when there’s problems ahead. This could be temporal, this could be physical, this could be spiritual. How often do we do this when things that are unexpected come into our lives and we’re not planning on it, and then how do we handle it? Maybe we have this roadmap planned out and we expect everything to go perfect. We have this perfect picture of how life is supposed to be and how we want it to happen. Something blindsides us. Maybe that means like not getting married for a long time, or never, or not in this life. Maybe it’s waiting till the next one, or maybe it’s a loss of a loved one or a career change or whatever that might look like.
00:50:04 The inability to have children. Whatever it is. There’s these massive roadblocks that hit us. This scripture made me–and what you shared, John–when I was at our Olympic trials going into the 2006 Olympic Games, I had just finished off a fabulous season. I was first in the world and expecting to go to the Olympics. You can imagine my roadmap was really clear. I’m like, yes, I’m gonna be an Olympian. Nothing can get in my way now. Unexpectedly, a 1400-pound four-man bobsled came flying out of the track at our Olympic trials and crashed into me. I just remember flying through the air, trying to jump up to my feet to see what had happened. Ultimately, I looked down and my bones were sticking out of my leg. In a split second, my life changed. I’m not gonna go into all the details here, but it was devastating, like absolutely devastating. For those that might be experiencing those long nights that feel like the sun can’t rise soon enough.
00:51:03 When you feel like you’re stuck and you feel like you’re trapped and you feel like the Lord doesn’t hear your prayers. I was thinking about what you said, John, when you said maybe you experienced that so that you could feel that compassion for others. So that you can learn the things that the Lord needed you to learn so you could become the person that he needed you to become. And I truly believe that that’s for each of us, wherever we’re at, whatever challenge we’re facing. As I watched my teammates go on to compete in those Olympic games, and I had to sit sidelined because I had a titanium rod in my leg and couldn’t make it back. I was supposed to wear that gold jersey down the track. Not just expected to finally become an Olympian, but to be on that podium for my country, to be so excited for it, this roadblock came.
00:51:50 The Lord put me where he needed me to be, and I couldn’t see that. You know, it’s like that tapestry when you think of a painting and you see all the little fine colors coming in, and when you’re really up close, you’re like, what is this? Why is there a green mixed with a yellow and this pink is messed up? And then you step back and you’re like, oh, it’s beautiful. It’s the sunset in a beautiful pasture of flowers. I had no idea that the Lord could create something so great with my life. And I know that getting hit by that bobsled and missing out on those Olympic games for a reason because I wouldn’t have been driven to come back four years later on a sled that my husband decided to build, or to have our two kids. Here’s a funny one. Our kids are four years apart.
00:52:31 Because I’d have a baby and then go to the Olympics four years later and then have a baby and go to the Olympics four years later. I would’ve never had that experience with my family by my side at 2014 and to be able to jump into the stands and say, we did it. We earned this Olympic medal. It’s not gold, it’s a silver. And some people would say, you fell short and that’s not enough. But it was. For us, it was more than enough because we did it with the Lord by our side. None of that would’ve happened. Coming back to this, it was a roundabout way to get back to this scripture. Behold, I sent you out to testify and warn the people. The second that that injury happened, the second that that bobsled came out of the track, everybody was rushing up to the top saying, stop the tracks.
00:53:13 Stop the sled, stop this, get the ambulance. They were all warning each other. Everybody was rushing and things were changed because of that situation. How often are we so quick to act and to warn eachother to say, Hey, the Savior is coming. The Second Coming is around the corner. We’ve got to be making these good choices. Sending out that warning just like we do when there’s something physically traumatic happening around us. President Kimball said, the Lord does not give us commandments for His benefit, but for ours. When He warns us of danger, it is because He loves us. When we warn others, it should be for the same reason. It should be out of love. The first commandment, love one another. When we’re sending out that warning to be mindful that it’s in love. Everything, all things done in love.
Hank Smith: 00:54:04 I love what you just did, Noelle. Go back to verse 77. I want you teaching one another the doctrine of the kingdom. 78: teach ye diligently. I want you to instruct each other more perfectly in theory, principle, doctrine, laws of the gospel in all things that pertain to the kingdom of God that are expedient for you to understand. John, how frequently do we hear from people that love the show and everyone listening who loves the show? Thank you. We couldn’t do this if you didn’t listen. John, people come up and thank me and I’m like, wait, wait, wait. The thanks needs to go one direction here, but people will say, I love your guests. I love the guests that you bring on. 77 and 78, 79 and 81, that Noelle brought up here. I think that’s why the Lord wants us teaching each other. Teach one another the doctrine of the kingdom. Teach diligently. I want you to instruct each other and what Noelle just did, we both felt that. Wow. I can’t imagine, Noelle, how many years of work were just taken from you in a split second, but yet here you’re using it, consecrating it, as we’ve talked about this year, John, to the good of others. Who think, okay, I can withstand because how many times is that gonna happen to a listener? Something blindsides them. I didn’t see this coming.
John Bytheway: 00:55:29 I heard someone say once that all frustration comes from unmet expectations. I think it was Dr. John Lund. I love that idea. It’s this is not what I expected. In fact, Noelle, I got to speak to a group of singles, older singles in Utah County just before this recording. I asked them, raise your hand if your life turned out exactly the way you thought. Nobody raised their hand. Now I wouldn’t either. Hank, we love section 58 verse three, right? You cannot see for the present time with your natural eyes the design of your God concerning things which will come hereafter.
Hank Smith: 00:56:09 Yeah. To see someone like Noelle say, here’s what happened to me.
John Bytheway: 00:56:13 Oh my goodness. So compound fractures?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:56:18 Yeah.
Hank Smith: 00:56:18 Oh.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:56:19 Yeah, my leg. And I think there’s power in any of these stories to know that we’re not alone. That’s what ties us together. That’s what brings us together is saying, oh my gosh, I didn’t know. And I’m not saying that about my own experience. I’m saying every single one of us is facing a challenge. Every single one of us have been through hard things. Just knowing we’re not alone and we’re gonna be okay with the Lord by our side. We can do hard things. We’re expected to. I love it.
Hank Smith: 00:56:46 Noelle, you told me not to mention this and I’m gonna mention it again. You’re the gospel doctrine teacher in your ward. So am I, by the way. When we look at these verses, teach ye one another the doctrine of the kingdom, teach ye diligently, instruct each other. He doesn’t say just in gospel topics, things both in heaven and in earth–under the earth. Things which have been, things which are, things which shortly come to pass. I want you to know about wars and perplexities of nations, the judgments which are upon the land, the knowledge of countries, of kingdoms. The Lord wants us to know a lot. As a teacher and as a speaker, why do you love it? John and I both love teaching and speaking.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:57:25 I love learning from others. My favorite part about gospel doctrine is actually asking a question, asking like a thought provoking question with regard to a scripture and then hearing what the class shares. We are all edified because of it, and then one person shares and shares their testimony alongside of it and someone else is like, I’ve had that experience too. Something that I love about gospel doctrine and teaching in that way, is that I feel like it’s uniting our ward together. It unites the people because they’re like, I had no idea that that person or that family was experiencing that challenge. We open ourselves up and are a little more vulnerable and willing to share because the spirit is in the room, hopefully, and able to bring in that humility with it. Man, there’s power as we teach each other from all aspects, whether it’s from something in someone’s career, to in the home, to something going on in the world, but it all ties together and it all comes back to our Savior, Jesus Christ.
Hank Smith: 00:58:31 I had an experience last year. We were teaching the Book of Mormon. We were in the war chapters, and so I asked, what are your experiences with war? This member of my ward, his name’s Bruce Mciff, a doctor, incredible leader, he raised his hand. He talked about watching his dad go off to World War II. He said, I was only six or seven years old at the time, but he distinctly remembers it. To me, that’s where the Lord says, instruct each other. It just was a beautiful moment that I had never experienced that and he shared his experience, which I think uplifted everybody in the room. It’s tough to be a teacher sometimes, John. I think I’ve said this before, but let me say it again. If you’re struggling with your youth class, John Bytheway, struggled with his youth class. Everyone needs to know that.
John Bytheway: 00:59:22 I did.
Hank Smith: 00:59:23 John, do you remember? I remember you telling me, oh, I just can’t get this specific class to listen and I thought every teacher in the church needs to hear that.
John Bytheway: 00:59:31 When you see my movie in heaven, you’ll see that and go, wow.
Hank Smith: 00:59:35 Yeah, everybody struggles. It’s hard. It’s scary too. I’m sure Noelle, you’ve had moments where you thought, who am I to teach this ward?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 00:59:43 Who am I to teach? Who am I to parent these children? Who am I to be in this situation? Who am I to be here at the Olympic Games? Those thoughts come through frequently. I always like to imagine the little shoulder angels like the devil and the angel and one’s always talking and it’s the no man can serve two masters. There are many, many days when I feel very inadequate and feel like, who am I to…and fill in the blank. But as we keep pushing forward, that’s something that has been such a good thing with going for the Olympics is I have learned hopefully better. I’m still trying to learn it, but hopefully learned a little better to accept failure, to accept falling short, to know that it’s not a matter of if I crash, but when I do, what will I choose to do?
01:00:29 I think it’s that mindset. That’s something I, that has been at the heart of what I’ve learned through my athletic experiences. That making mistakes and falling short is not the end result. It’s part of the journey. It’s part of helping me to become who I need to become in order to reach that podium. It’s really no different in life. It’s why we’re here. It’s not a matter of if we sin, but when we do, what will we choose to do? It’s not a matter of if we feel inadequate or if we don’t feel like we can teach 12 -year-olds the Sunday school or if we feel like we can’t raise twins or a single. It’s not a matter of, man, I’m struggling to get pregnant because I’ve been there too. I’ve lost, you know, late miscarriages. I’ve had multiple late miscarriages and I know the pain and the heartache that comes from that as well. It’s not a matter of if these challenges come, but who will we turn to when these things happen in our lives? Who will we turn to to find that light? Are we going to be in a cave in the dark pointing in a different direction or are we going to actively seek him and seek his light and his strength and his support? It’s a choice.
Hank Smith: 01:01:40 I think you just rewrote verses 67 and 68. If your eye be single to my glory, your body will be filled with light. There will be no darkness in you that the body which is filled with light comprehendeth all things. Sanctify yourselves. Your minds become single to God and the days will come that you shall see him. I wonder if that sanctification can come through those challenges, those difficulties. He says it again in verse 74. Organize yourselves and prepare yourselves and sanctify yourselves. Purify your heart, cleanse your hands and your feet before me. I have found a sanctifying effect in trial and difficulty, but I don’t want to do it anymore. I don’t want those trials and difficulties even though they’re sanctifying.
John Bytheway: 01:02:28 I am reminded that, I believe this is one of the school of the prophets inducing verses. Is that right, Hank?
Hank Smith: 01:02:35 Yeah, I think so.
John Bytheway: 01:02:36 Getting together and instructing each other. I’m so grateful the Lord didn’t say, I only want you to study this, and I’m so grateful that he said, actually, I want you to learn about all sorts of things. Things in heaven, things on the earth, things which have been, which are, the wars, the perplexities of the nations. I’ve heard it said that adult continuing education began for the whole country and the school of the prophets. Adult continuing education. I used to work there, so I love sending that plug out there. That school of the prophets was kind of a unique, revolutionary, let’s keep learning in our later years. I love the definition of truth. Truth is in all things as they are, as they were, as they are to come. But then Jacob 4:13, Jacob, Nephi’s old brother adds one word ’cause Siri, Google, Alexa will tell you something, no matter what you ask him. But Jacob says the spirit speaketh the truth. Wherefore, it speaketh the things as they really are. I love that.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 01:03:39 As they really are.
John Bytheway: 01:03:42 And of things as they really will be. Yeah, you ask Google and Siri, but I’ll tell you, the spirit will tell you the way it really, now let me tell you how they really are.
Hank Smith: 01:03:52 Occasionally I’ll hear that our church is a cult. Our religion is a cult. One of the key points of a cult is to limit information. We don’t want you reading, we don’t want you studying. That just doesn’t sound a lot like section 88 verses 78 and 79. I want you to know things in heaven, in the earth, under the earth, things which have been history, things which are current events, things which must shortly come to pass. Things at home, things abroad, wars, nations, knowledge of countries and of kingdoms. That’s a little bit of a snarky remark, but that just doesn’t sound very cult-like to me. Alright, Noelle, what do you wanna do next? Where should we go?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 01:04:31 Let’s go to 82 because the reason I wanna point out this one specifically…
John Bytheway: 01:04:35 Your without excuse.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 01:04:37 Yes. Every year around September, October, November, around that time, I start thinking about what I want to improve on or how I can be a little bit better and say, okay, Noelle, how has this past year gone for me so far? Is it where I want to be? Who’s the person I want to become next year? As I start looking forward a little bit and imagining who I want to become, I start thinking of a word or a phrase that I wanna focus on for the year so that it can direct all of my actions and thoughts towards that good principle. As I was trying to consider one for this current year, last fall, I was thinking about it. I flipped the scriptures open, trying to study and to learn and to figure out what I wanted to, how I could improve. This scripture is what drove me to choose my phrase.
01:05:23 So my phrase this year for myself is no excuses. I just have created so many excuses for not texting someone back, for not calling someone back, for not painting the kitchen wall or like touching up this, or running to the store–it’s too late, or not going to the temple–it’s too early, or excuses in my life. It’s just been nonstop. When I read this, it says, therefore they are left without excuse and that just that right there they are left without excuse. The rest of it says, and their sins are upon their own heads. That day when I saw this, last fall, they’re left without excuse. I had written down a lot of different phrases and this no excuses just kept coming into my head. I wrote down a few things, what would my life look like without excuses? This isn’t to be like negative, like, oh, no excuse for doing that.
01:06:09 That’s not what this is. This is actually very merciful. It’s very much like, you know what, Noelle, who’s the person I want to become? How can I live that life? So for me, I kept making excuses. I don’t wanna go to the temple because it’s too late or it’s too early. I put on my paper, go to the temple frequently, whether it’s 6:00 AM or 6:00 PM. No excuse, you can do it. One of them is admit mistakes. Just correct them. Don’t make an excuse as to why you didn’t respond back to someone or why you couldn’t show up to something. Tell the truth, admit it, be honest and move forward and correct it. Keeping my emotions in check. I can get really heated at my kids’ soccer game. Driving in my car. Oh my goodness, you guys do not drive ahead of me on the freeway because I will want to pass you and speed by. So I’m so bad, driving.
Hank Smith: 01:06:58 Well, you’re used to going 90 miles an hour.
Noelle Pikus Pace: 01:07:01 I know. The Freeway is so slow. So slow.
John Bytheway: 01:07:04 Do you keep your chin right on the steering wheel as you drive?
Noelle Pikus Pace: 01:07:09 Aerodynamic. That’s part of my no excuses for myself that I’ve tried to focus on this year is just keeping my emotions in check. Noelle, there’s no excuse for losing your temper. Like, and when I do, when I do, be quick to admit it. This no excuses isn’t trying to be harsh on myself, but it’s helping me to become the person that I want to become by making better decisions and taking action. Really at the heart of it is self-discipline. I love this quote by Boyd K. Packer. It is one of my favorite, just for that self-discipline of taking ownership for my life. He said, take hold of your life and order yourself to be valiant. That’s Boyd K. Packer. Take hold of your life and order yourself to be valiant. And I think that goes hand in hand with those no excuses, without excuses. That we can do hard things and we will mess up. When we do, who’s the person you want to become? Where will this lead? Which path is this decision of excuses and justifying? My neighbor says this, my neighbor watches that. My neighbor posts this. It’s okay that I do that. Or is that just making excuses for ourselves to be a person we really don’t want to become, but society is leaning us towards that person. I really love this scripture and it’s really helped me to guide my decisions this year. It’s been fun.
Hank Smith: 01:08:29 I’ve noticed that what the Lord asks us to do is rarely addictive. Everything that adversary wants us to do is very addictive, but the Lord gives us our agency every single time. I’ve never seen someone shaking saying, I haven’t paid my tithing in a while. It’s a choice to face some discomfort, climb the mountain, get the vision. Every time I go to the temple, when I think I don’t really want to do this, I don’t have time. I’m there and I’ve completed an ordinance. Finished an ordinance, I feel good. I feel good. I’m glad I came. Glad I came. I wish it was addictive. The Lord, he’s set on this agency thing.
John Bytheway: 01:09:09 I was thinking about how if we want to read the scriptures every day, it has never been easier for us. Even if it’s just a verse or two. And Hank, we’ve talked about this with other guests, that no matter what the malady, no matter what the problem is, whether it’s health or employment or whatever, it’s amazing that so often the prescription is, are you spending some time with the Lord in the scriptures because he’ll give you insight and help and power. It’s not reading the scriptures. Check the box. It’s the outcome of that, that’s so awesome. It’s never been easier. That phrase, you’re without excuse. I’m like, yeah, I think that’s true. We have the entire standard works and more on our phone.
Hank Smith: 01:09:51 John, you’ll have to help me out here. Where the Lord says, I’ve never given you a physical or temporal commandment. Everything I give to you is spiritual. I think what Noelle is showing me here is everything we do is spiritual in nature. Whether it be skeleton, reading, scripture, getting up in the morning, setting goals. All that we do is connecting us to heaven. That seems to be what this section is, is a connection between earth and heaven.
