Jorge F Zeballos | Building a Life Resistant to the Adversary

Building a Life Resistant to the Adversary
By Elder Jorge F. Zeballos

Of the Seventy

I pray that we may continue to build our lives following the plans and technical specifications of the divine design authored by our Heavenly Father.

Over the years from this beautiful pulpit at the Conference Center, we have received magnificent counsel, inspiration, instruction, and revelation. On occasion, speakers have used comparisons associated with their areas of knowledge and experience to illustrate clearly and powerfully a principle of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In this way, for example, we have learned about airplanes and flights in which a tiny initial deviation can lead us to a place far from our original destination.1 Also in this way, we have learned from a comparison of the function of our physical heart with the powerful change of heart required to respond to the Lord’s invitation to follow Him.2

This time, I would like to humbly add a comparison inspired from an area in the field of my professional preparation. I am referring to the world of civil engineering. From the beginning of my university studies, I dreamed of the day when I would complete the requirements to be qualified to take the class that would teach me how to design buildings and other structures that could then be considered “anti-seismic.”

The day finally arrived for my first class on this subject. The first words from the professor were the following: “You are surely anxious to begin this course and learn how to design anti-seismic structures,” to which many of us eagerly nodded our heads. Then the professor said, “I am sorry to tell you that this is not possible, for I cannot teach you how to design a building that is against, that is ‘anti-’ or that is opposed to, an earthquake. This makes no sense,” he said, “because earthquakes will occur anyway, whether we like it or not.”

Then he added, “What I can teach you is how to design structures that are seismic-resistant, structures that can resist the forces coming from an earthquake, so that the structure remains standing without suffering any serious damage and can then continue offering the service for which it had been conceived.”

The engineer makes the calculations that indicate the dimensions, qualities, and characteristics of the foundations, columns, beams, concrete slabs, and other structural elements being designed. These results are translated into plans and technical specifications, which must be strictly followed by the builder in order for the work to materialize and thus fulfill the purpose for which it was designed and is being built.