A few years ago, friends of Elder Taylor G. Godoy had a baby son they named Brigham who was diagnosed with a rare and fatal disease. One day, while Brigham and his family were visiting the grounds of a temple, he twice pronounced the words "one more day." The next day, he died.
"I have visited Brigham's grave a few times, and every time I do, I contemplate the phrase 'one more day,' " said Elder Godoy, General Authority Seventy, during the Saturday afternoon session of general conference, March 31.
"I wonder what it would mean, what effect it would have in my life to know that I had only one more day to live. How would I treat my wife, my children and others? How patient and polite would I be? How would I take care of my body? How fervently would I pray and search the scriptures? I think that in one way or another we all, at some point, will have a 'one more day' realization — a realization that we must use wisely the time we have."
Elder Godoy, citing Doctrine and Covenants 64:23, said that the key to making each day successful is to be willing to sacrifice. He said the word comes from two Latin terms that, together, mean to make things sacred or bring honor to them.
"In what ways will sacrifice make our days meaningful and blessed?" Elder Godoy asked.
"First, personal sacrifice strengthens us and gives value to things we sacrifice for."
Second, he said, sacrifice results in blessings for givers and receivers. He told of his mother sacrificing a cherished gold bracelet her father had given her. She sold it to raise money for equipment needed for Elder Godoy's dental school training.
"I learned that the sacrifice our loved ones make for us refreshes us like cool water in the middle of the desert," he commented. "Such sacrifice brings hope and motivation."
Elder Godoy's third point was that "any sacrifice we make is small compared to the sacrifice of the Son of God."
"The plan of redemption is possible thanks to the sacrifice of Jesus Christ," he noted. "And it is because of this sacrifice, after following the process of sincere repentance, that we can feel the weight of our mistakes and sins lifted."
At the same time, he said, "we can receive in great measure the intense desire to be better children of God, to stay away from sin and to keep the commandments like never before."
