Being Like Shiblon

By Elder Michael T. Ringwood

Of the Seventy

“I say unto you, my son, that I have had great joy in thee already, because of thy faithfulness and thy diligence” (Alma 38:3).

My Book of Mormon hero is Shiblon. He was truly good. He didn’t worry about what other people thought about him. He only cared about obeying Heavenly Father. His dad, Alma the Younger, trusted him. Alma was so glad that Shiblon had kept the commandments since he was young (see Alma 38:2).

And Shiblon kept choosing the right. He helped others because he loved them and because he loved God. He did what was right because he knew it was right. He wasn’t trying to get a reward.

On my mission in Korea, I worked with a missionary who was a lot like Shiblon. He was faithful and obedient to Heavenly Father. But other missionaries didn’t think he was a very good missionary. I wanted them to know they were wrong about him! But my mission president said, “Heavenly Father knows that he is a good missionary, and so do I. And now you know too, so who else really matters?”

We might think it’s too hard to be like Shiblon and do what is right just because it’s right. But the gospel can help us! When we are baptized, we start to become better people. When we take the sacrament, we renew our covenants. We can become like Heavenly Father wants us to be.