REXBURG — The themes of testing, sifting, preparing and the observation and following of apostolic leaders in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were recurring messages by Elder David A. Bednar during a devotional address on Friday.

The member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles was in Rexburg with his wife, Susan, who spoke briefly to several thousand people on the Brigham Young University-Idaho campus, as part of the university’s Education Week.

Much of Bednar’s message revolved around LDS historical accounts of Zion’s Camp, a Mormon military expedition organized by the church’s founder Joseph Smith to protect church members in Jackson County, Mo., during the 1830s.   

Bednar expounded on the seeming failure of the camp’s principal objective, but talked about how for many of the members of the expedition, the experience they gained was a catalyst for increased service within the church.

Much of the initial Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and First Quorum of the Seventy came from the ranks of the expedition. 

Bednar presented two lessons which can be drawn from the accounts of Zion’s Camp, which he said are “as important if not more important” for church membership today then they were 176 years ago. 

The first is the lesson of testing, sifting and preparing, which he summarized as the metaphorical “sifting of the wheat from the tares,” a “dividing of the sheep from the goats.”

He compared Zion’s Camp to a refiner’s fire, an event which allowed it’s members to ask themselves the question, “Who’s on the Lord’s side?”

“As individuals and in our families we too will be tested, sifted and prepared as were the members of Zion’s camp,” said Bednar. “The scriptures and the declarations of apostles and prophets do not indicate that faithful members of the church will have trials and tests removed from their lives. Rather the scriptures and the teachings of the brethren are replete with promises that faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, the making, honoring and remembering of sacred covenants, and obedience to God’s commandments will prepare us to face and overcome the trials and tests of mortality.”

Quoting former LDS Church President Ezra Taft Benson, Bednar talked about the concern that LDS members would become victim to to much prosperity and wealth.

He also talked about the need for church members to be awake to their duties in the church and not to succumb to a “spiritual snooze,” through the omission of these duties. 

“Consider that affluence, prosperity and peace can be a test in our day equal to or greater than the intensity of the persecution and physical hardships of those of the Saints that volunteered to march in Zion’s Camp,” said Bednar.

Bednar’s second lesson was observing, learning from and following the leadership of the church.

Bednar talked specifically about his distinctive perspective as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, to observe and learn from the examples of the other membership of the quorum.

“I have seen on a daily basis the individual personalities, the various preferences and the noble majestic character of the leaders of this church. Some people find the human limitations and shortcoming of the brethren troubling and faith diminishing,” said Bednar. “For me, brothers and sisters, those weaknesses are faith promoting.

“The Lord has a revealed pattern of governance in his church which provides for and attenuates the impact of human frailty. It is truly miraculous to witness the Lord accomplishing his will through his servants in spite of their expectant mortal flaws and failings.... These men ... are not perfect, but they are certainly called of God.” 

Bednar closed his remarks by encouraging Church members to ask themselves “Who is on the Lord’s side?”

“Now is the time to show,” said Bednar. “At some point in each of our lives we will be invited to march in our own Zion’s Camp.... But our ongoing and consistent response to this inevitable call ultimately will provide the answer to the question, who’s on the lord’s side?”