Leave it better than you found it

Clasped in the arms of Jesus

Grace by Anthony Sweat

Something our missionary daughter shared with us earlier this summer has been much on my mind.

She had just been transferred from San Francisco, her first area, to Oakland, and was feeling somewhat anxious and unsettled about the challenges that faced her (sound familiar?) She told us that in her letter to her mission president, responding to this new assignment, her goal was to “leave [Oakland] better than she found it.”

Sister Elise Livingston - California Oakland/San Francisco Mission

I found this to be a profound statement - one filled with potency.

Is not this the Savior’s way with each of us? Is it not His way of teaching, of creating, of inviting?

When we place ourselves in His care, the outcome is never in doubt. He will leave us better than He found us. Every time. Ten times out of ten. Even better, the end of His work will be when we are even as He is. Just writing those words is astonishing.

Equally important, is not this also the way He wants us to be as His disciples? When He calls us to serve others, what is He asking?

“Therefore, O ye that embark in the service of God, see that ye serve him with all your heart, might, mind and strength, that ye may stand blameless before God at the last day.”

Doctrine & Covenants 4:2

“With all your heart, might, mind, and strength” sounds a lot like “leave it better than you found it,” doesn’t it? When I think about how the Savior served, it was with all His heart. All the time, in every way. Wouldn’t anything less have been a form of sin for Him?

If I May But Touch The Hem of His Garment by J. Kirk Richards

In his October 2024 general conference message entitled “I Am He,” President Jeffry R. Holland shared this powerful insight about how Jesus models charity:

If we are to follow the Savior faithfully…we ought to hold firmly to what He actually said. And what He actually said was, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” On that same evening, He said we were to “love one another; as I have loved you.”

In those scriptures, those qualifying phrases defining true, Christlike love—sometimes referred to as charity—are absolutely essential.

What do they define? How did Jesus love?

First, He loved with “all [of His] heart, might, mind and strength,” giving Him the ability to heal the deepest pain and declare the hardest reality. In short, He is one who could administer grace and insist on truth at the same time. As Lehi said in his blessing to his son Jacob, “Redemption cometh in and through the Holy Messiah; for he is full of grace and truth.” His love allows an encouraging embrace when it is needed and a bitter cup when it has to be swallowed. So we try to love—with all of our heart, might, mind, and strength—because that is the way He loves us.

In reflecting on this idea, I am reminded of the Savior’s parable of the talents. I acknowledge up front that it has sometimes been a difficult parable for me to reconcile with my understanding of God’s compassionate and divine patience.

14 ¶ For the kingdom of heaven is as a man travelling into a far country, who called his own servants, and delivered unto them his goods.

15 And unto one he gave five talents, to another two, and to another one; to every man according to his several ability; and straightway took his journey.

16 Then he that had received the five talents went and traded with the same, and made them other five talents.

17 And likewise he that had received two, he also gained other two.

18 But he that had received one went and digged in the earth, and hid his lord’s money.

19 After a long time the lord of those servants cometh, and reckoneth with them.

20 And so he that had received five talents came and brought other five talents, saying, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me five talents: behold, I have gained beside them five talents more.

21 His lord said unto him, Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

22 He also that had received two talents came and said, Lord, thou deliveredst unto me two talents: behold, I have gained two other talents beside them.

23 His lord said unto him, Well done, good and faithful servant; thou hast been faithful over a few things, I will make thee ruler over many things: enter thou into the joy of thy lord.

24 Then he which had received the one talent came and said, Lord, I knew thee that thou art an hard man, reaping where thou hast not sown, and gathering where thou hast not strawed:

25 And I was afraid, and went and hid thy talent in the earth: lo, there thou hast that is thine.

26 His lord answered and said unto him, Thou wicked and slothful servant, thou knewest that I reap where I sowed not, and gather where I have not strawed:

27 Thou oughtest therefore to have put my money to the exchangers, and then at my coming I should have received mine own with usury.

28 Take therefore the talent from him, and give it unto him which hath ten talents.

29 For unto every one that hath shall be given, and he shall have abundance: but from him that hath not shall be taken away even that which he hath.

30 And cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.

Matthew 25

So, it seems that the amount of increase here isn’t what matters to “the man travelling into a far country,” but rather what we did with what we were given. I’m also intrigued by the phrase “to every man according to his several ability.” My interpretation of that is we won’t be judged in comparison to anyone else, but by what our personal potential for growth was vs. what we actually became.

One of my favorite teachings about this idea comes from Elder Clark G. Gilbert’s October 2021 conference message “Becoming More in Christ: The Parable of the Slope.”

“We all have different intercepts in life—we start in different places with different life endowments. Some are born with high intercepts, full of opportunity. Others face beginning circumstances that are challenging and seem unfair. We then progress along a slope of personal progress. Our future will be determined far less by our starting point and much more by our slope. Jesus Christ sees divine potential no matter where we start. He saw it in the beggar, the sinner, and the infirm. He saw it in the fisherman, the tax collector, and even the zealot. No matter where we start, Christ considers what we do with what we are given. While the world focuses on our intercept, God focuses on our slope. In the Lord’s calculus, He will do everything He can to help us turn our slopes toward heaven.” (Emphasis added.)

In His Hands by Randolph Peay

Back to our beloved missionary. Most days she is having a hard time believing she’s making things “better” in Oakland than the way she found them. But she absolutely is. Her servant heart is mighty and her drive to give her best is powerful. At times her companions misinterpret that drive and sometimes even seem intimidated by it. Some days (and weeks) end with tears. Sometimes she feels the deep loneliness of being misunderstood.

Here is what she shared with us this past week: “It's been hard. Today has been hard. Every day has been hard. BUT I'm grateful we have a Heavenly Father who knew life would be hard and sent [our] Savior to help us do what we could not do alone.”

So lovely, right? We’re all “clasped in the arms of Jesus” (Mormon 5:11). Where else would we want to be?