Like many people throughout time, I have discovered the joys and challenges of sourdough baking.
Sourdough is a slow-fermented bread. Instead of store-bought yeast, it relies on a “starter,” or a fermented mixture of flour and water that gives rising power.
After eating incredible bread made by my sister-in-law, I was eager to learn for myself how to bake using this particular type of leaven. Recently, my ward Relief Society hosted an activity where one of our sisters walked us through her tips and tricks and sent us home with our own sourdough starter to try it for ourselves.
The next day I followed all the steps and was thrilled to see my starter bubbling and the dough rising, leading to my first loaf of crusty, tasty sourdough bread.
It remains to be seen if I can continue to successfully bake in this manner, but the experience caused me to ponder more on the concept of rising and leaven — especially given recent teachings by Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
While in Davao City, Philippines, to dedicate the Davao Philippines Temple — the first house of the Lord on the Philippine island of Mindanao — Elder Renlund spoke about temples.
The house of the Lord has the power to transform us to become heirs in God’s kingdom, gives us the opportunity to offer ordinances of salvation and exaltation to our ancestors and binds our families together for eternity, he taught. It provides us greater access to God’s power to help us in our lives.
Being in the temple changes people, he said. “And so as our people go out, they act as a leaven for the rest of society. And they have not just blessed their families, but they bless the nation. Our people should be the best citizens … because of what they have covenanted to do in the temple.”
Soon after, he used the word “leaven” again when speaking about the increase in missionary applications among the rising generation, especially since the Church lowered the minimum age to 18 for sister missionaries.
“As more young women choose to serve as sister missionaries, there seems to be a leavening effect,” Elder Renlund wrote on his social media accounts. “They affect the work with members, they affect how young elders serve, and they have a significant impact in their missions.”
When I see repeated words or patterns, I pay attention. And I look to see what Jesus Christ and our living Prophet have said.
Jesus taught that the kingdom of heaven is like a leaven (see Matthew 13:33). The kingdom, or Church, has a growth and influence upon the earth.
Church President Dallin H. Oaks spoke about leaven in a 2011 devotional titled “Truth and Tolerance.” Then a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, he explained that a leaven — yeast — is “hidden away in the larger mass until the whole is leavened, which means raised by its influence.”
The Savior taught that His followers will have tribulation in the world (see John 16:33), that their numbers and dominions will be small (see 1 Nephi 14:12) and that they will be hated because they are not of the world (see John 17:14), President Oaks said.
“But that is our role,” he explained. “We are called to live with other children of God who do not share our faith or our values, and who do not have the covenant obligations we have assumed. So it was that at the conclusion of His ministry, Jesus prayed to the Father, ‘not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil’ (John 17:15). We are to be in the world, but not of the world.”
Followers of Jesus Christ are commanded to be a leaven — not to be taken out of the world, but to remain in it, President Oaks reiterated.
In his address “Alive in Christ” during the most recent general conference, President Oaks spoke again about covenant responsibilities and obligations — covenants that are made in the house of the Lord.
“The covenants we have made inevitably position us as devoted participants in the eternal contest between truth and error,” he said.
Elder Renlund said in Davao City that temple covenants with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ give the capacity and power to face anything: “What we do in the temple gives us strength outside the temple.”
With that strength and power from on high, we can indeed be a leaven for society, a righteous influence on those around us and a holy people helping prepare the world for the Savior’s Second Coming.
— Mary Richards is a reporter for the Church News.
