Finding Joy in the Law of Consecration with Peter Sturgeon

What happens when you walk away from the peak of a successful private equity career to answer a spiritual calling? In this episode of Temple Bound, we sit down with Peter Sturgeon, CEO of Mentors International, to discuss his profound shift from wealth-building to world-building.

Peter shares how a mission to India first broke his heart for the poor and how, years later, a series of powerful temple revelations guided him and his wife, Sarah, to "jump off the cliff" and dedicate their lives to entrepreneurship-based poverty alleviation. We explore the true meaning of the Law of Consecration, stories of staggering sacrifice from Saints in India and Kenya, and why the temple is the ultimate place to receive revelation—not just for our own problems, but for the needs of our global neighbors.

In This Episode, You’ll Learn:

• The Pivot to Purpose: How Peter transitioned from a high-stakes business career to leading a global charity without looking back.
• Temple Revelation: The specific advice from a patriarch that helped Peter balance a grueling global travel schedule with his role as a father of five.
• Consecration vs. Sacrifice: Why Peter views the Law of Consecration as a "key to happiness" rather than a burden of guilt.
• Global Perspectives of Faith: Stirring stories of Indian Saints who sold everything they owned for a single trip to be sealed in the Hong Kong temple.
• The "Matatu" Miracle: How the growth of temples in places like Nairobi is changing the lives of Saints in Africa.
• Expanding Your "Neighbor" Definition: Practical ways to seek revelation for those outside your immediate circle and find meaning through local and global service.

Connect with Us

• Instagram: @TempleBoundPodcast
• Submit a Question: Leave a comment in the show notes with your thoughts on today's episode or suggestions for future guests!

Transcript

Peter’s Mission Roots In India

SPEAKER_01 0:05

In today's episode of Temple Bound, you're going to meet someone whose life story beautifully intertwines discipleship, consecration, and the power of temple revelation. Peter Sturgeon is the CEO of Mentors International, an organization lifting families out of poverty in 12 countries through entrepreneurship and self-reliance. But before he ever stepped into this global work, he was a young missionary in India, sitting on dirt floors, witnessing poverty, humility, love, and faith in ways that permanently changed his heart. This conversation explores how that early experience eventually led Peter and his wife to make one of the most courageous decisions of their lives, walking away from a successful career in private equity to answer a spiritual calling to serve the poor. And it's a decision that shaped and redefined inside that temple that he goes to. So in this episode, you're going to hear how temple worship guided Peter through one of life's biggest pivots, what it means to sacrifice in a modern world, stories of saints in foreign countries, how consecration becomes a blessing, not a burden, and why revelation flows more freely when we go to the temple. So Peter's insights on Christ-like service, global poverty, humility, and eternal perspective will leave you thinking differently about your own discipleship and about how small acts of love can change both of our lives and the lives of the people across the world. Let's begin. Peter, thank you so much for coming to Temple Bann. I sure appreciate you taking time to be with me tonight. It's good to be with you. Okay, so we have a common love for the continent of Africa. Um, you are the CEO of what charity? Mentors International. And describe what that does real fast, because I think that's so relative to the context of our discussion with Temples today.

SPEAKER_02 1:45

Yeah, so we we believe that entrepreneurship is a pathway out of poverty. And so in 12 countries around the world, we have local mentors who help families to start and grow businesses so they can achieve self-reliance and lift themselves out of poverty.

SPEAKER_01 1:58

Yeah, and that's so powerful. I believe the same thing, by the way, that entrepreneurship is one of the most powerful weapons against poverty because it builds all of those elements of self-reliance and all the things you learn in starting a business actually helps make us better parents as well.

SPEAKER_02 2:13

For sure. We teach our lessons are about half business skills and about half-life skills. Things like growth mindset and organization and goal setting. And it's it's actually amazing the results that families see.

SPEAKER_01 2:25

That's so beautiful. And you started this whole experience as a missionary in India, this whole love for charity internationally started in India. Tell us a little bit about that mission experience.

SPEAKER_02 2:35

Yeah, I had never been out of the country before my mission. So it wasn't like I grew up seeing different places, but I went to India and the time the church was very new there. And uh India is a hard place in some ways, but it's a beautiful place. I love it. It's my favorite place.

SPEAKER_01 2:51

But there are some very poor aspects of it. Like in terms of impot poverty, it's very it's rampant in certain areas.

Entrepreneurship As A Path Out Of Poverty

SPEAKER_02 2:57

Yeah, it is a land of very wealthy, but mostly very poor. And they can be right up next to against uh each other. So I saw poverty in India that blew my mind and just totally broke my paradigm of like, wow, this is this is not right. Like there shouldn't be people that have to live like this. Um and it was it wasn't like uh one moment, there were there were many times. You know, when you when you sit on dirt floors and tell people we're all brothers and sisters, it like it does something to you. And I I think many missionaries who have served in many different countries probably have had that experience. And I really wanted to not forget that. I wanted to not feel like, hey, I came here, I told you we were brothers and sisters, and then I went and forgot about you. I wanted to keep that in my heart and make sure it was part of how I how I lived my life.

SPEAKER_01 3:51

You know, I think any American that that does anything overseas, whether it's a mission or any sort of trip where they get exposed to that, it changes them. I believe truly that if all Americans could spend time in some of these poorer countries and not only see what the suffering looks like, but understand how happy these people are, it would dramatically shift the way the world operates. Because we, because of our technology and wealth, are able to influence the world. And if we had that perspective, how powerful it would be. So you're over there, you get that perspective, and then you come back and you're like, I don't want to like let this go. So how did you not let this go? By the way, I served in Guatemala, came back, opened my pantry, and cried, but I went back to school. Stress has hit. You've got to like get a career and like learn how to pay the bills and all those things. So, how did you maintain that during that like coming back to life in America?

SPEAKER_02 4:39

I totally resonate with that. Uh maybe not crying in the pantry, but like I uh I'm just sensitive, but yeah. No, I I'm joking, but it's when when you come back from your mission, it's re real life. Like you have to you have to make your way. And so uh I was really fortunate that when I met my wife Sarah, she had just come back from the Dominican Republic for a summer, and she was very much feeling the same thing, like she had been around a lot of poverty and it had really touched her heart. And so after we got married, a couple of friends and and my wife and I banded together and we started a charity in India, and we were just like gung-ho. We went over there for six weeks and we hired a team, and um it did okay. It made an impact. It made an impact, and it also flopped all at the same time. Like it's we didn't have any resources and we didn't really have any skills, but we had a lot of love and a lot of really good intention. Um, and I actually had a mentor who I was talking to him about this. He's like, Yeah, like you shouldn't go straight into the charity space. Like, you need to go learn, it's a very complicated problem, and there's no one solution, so you need to learn a lot of problem solving and business skills in order to make your way. And so that pushed me on a different path. It pushed me toward a more traditional business path. I went into consulting and private equity and did that for about 14 years, um, trying to kind of gain the skills.

SPEAKER_01 6:07

It's interesting that your mentor had that mindset years ago and understanding that you needed to go learn entrepreneur skills in order to come back to really make an impact. Why why was he able to have that perspective? Did how did he know that?

SPEAKER_02 6:22

Well, one, he was an entrepreneur himself. So he knew the skills. And he's he had done a lot of charitable work in uh developing countries. And so he and many other people that have mentored me along the way have really hammered in the point that I believe, which is handouts aren't the answer. Right. You can't just throw resources at people and expect that it will help them to come out of poverty. And so it's a great band-aid.

SPEAKER_01 6:45

There's just no answer, it's just not a great long-term answer.

SPEAKER_02 6:48

And there are times when there's such an acute problem with a flood or a specific situation that resources are the missing variable, but it's fairly rare. Usually it's human capital and systems and training and education that is lacking to really help people come out of it.

SPEAKER_01 7:04

And so you go and you join this private equity group and coaching group or consulting, and then you start learning these skills for how many years again?

SPEAKER_02 7:12

Uh so I was doing that for 14 years with two different firms.

SPEAKER_01 7:16

And those are those are interesting situations. I actually um I'm familiar with private equity. I'm not a master by any means, but I have a little bit of understanding it. It and it it's one of those situations where you grind really hard for a number of years with very little compensation. Like it's one of those things where you really have to prove yourself for years. And so you'd been doing that for a long time. At what point in that journey was it like, okay, now we need to shift? Tell us about that.

SPEAKER_02 7:43

Yeah, I mean, I would say you get paid well, but it's not as well as you do if you kind of make it up the mountain. Like if you if you make it to be a partner and kind of climb that way. But um my wife and I, we decided early, okay, let's make sure that we're giving before we have money.

SPEAKER_01 8:01

And so we really prioritize like let's so instead of saving every dime for a future date that you would later be charitable to, you're like, how can we give along the way? 100%.

Learning First, Then Serving: Career Detour

SPEAKER_02 8:09

And I think that's like was a huge impact for us to try and stay away from sort of the the trappings of of the business career. Sure. But also really tried to keep my foot into the developing world. So to try and make trips. And so I ended up uh through a connection, was able to do a lot of work with the Perpetual Education Fund. Oh. And go in country to Guatemala and Nicaragua with them, uh, which was awesome and illuminating. And I was able to do that while I was doing my business career.

SPEAKER_01 8:41

I didn't know that. So that's pretty amazing. You didn't just like go learn your business skills, you also kept that desire to serve the poorer countries of the world strong by working through the church.

SPEAKER_02 8:52

Yeah, and I think it's there's the idea that like inspiration doesn't come in a vacuum. Like you have to have things going on that bring ideas to you. And so there was another group that I ended up going down to Paraguay with, and I joined their board of directors. And that's the conversation that progressed to ultimately I left my career and became the CEO of that group that I had been on the board of. So there was a progression, but it got to a point where when I was getting almost 40, my wife and I started having serious conversations about um we went on this path as a means to an end. We wanted to get skills so that we could help people in poverty to become self-reliant. Yeah. And so we started really talking seriously about that in 2019. And I remember like studying the Come Follow Me lessons with that paradigm and that question and going to the temple with that question of what what can I do that has the biggest impact? Is it that I continue to work and that I give? Or should I give my time? Should I make a transition? And ultimately, the the answer that my wife and I got was that um we should give our time.

SPEAKER_01 10:07

And so how can I ask how that answer came? Like, because you mentioned the temple. This is where we start fusing your story into the temple, and I love how where we're going with this, but I don't know this part of it. Like, how did you get clear on that? Because what ends up happening in the story is a pretty big life shift.

SPEAKER_02 10:22

Yeah, I jumped off the cliff.

SPEAKER_01 10:24

You did, literally. Like you went from like, because you were on the verge of like, in the world's eyes, you left a lot on the table. Like you could have really stayed with it just for a little bit longer to receive a lot more, reap a lot more of the work that you've sowed. But you were just feeling this incompleteness and you went to the temple with the incompleteness that I get. How did you know? Like, how did you what how did that answer reveal itself to you in Sarah?

SPEAKER_02 10:47

I don't know that it was one moment, it was a lot of prayer and temple attendance and study. And there was um, I when we were studying Romans in in the Come Follow Me program, I really started to ponder and pray about the scripture that we're joint heirs with Christ.

SPEAKER_00 11:04

Oh.

SPEAKER_02 11:05

And and I took that to the temple and I prayed about like, what does that mean? What what do we want to inherit from Christ? Like ultimately, it's not stuff, it's not mansions and worlds. Like what Christ has that I really felt like I want to to learn to inherit is that He can help all the people that He loves reach their potential. Whatever is in their way, whether it's sin or mental health or physical health or relationships that are failing, He He can heal it. And He He helps each one of us tap into our divine potential and overcome whatever barriers are in our way. And so I love that idea. And I started to ask myself, how does one inherit that if we don't practice it right now? And am I practicing, I spend, you know, at the time I was probably spending 60 or more hours a week working. Yeah. Am I developing the skill set of helping people reach their potential with the work that I do? In some ways, maybe like all I think all work is noble.

SPEAKER_01 12:12

Well, definitely, because you were being guided by that mentor. So definitely there was a there was a lot of that investment that was great, but you're just saying if you had only stayed in that place, maybe there was a lot of people.

SPEAKER_02 12:20

Yeah, I just felt like, hey, there's an opportunity. It wasn't that what I was doing was bad. No. Um, but it it felt like there's an opportunity. I knew this opportunity. I was on the board of this organization. This and so ultimately that's that's what my wife and I chose to do is say, hey, let's let's make that trade. Let's say, let's really lean into. We both care about international poverty and development. And I'm really focused on how do I get into an area where I'm helping people reach their potential. And so using entrepreneurship to help people lift themselves out of poverty just seemed like such a natural fit. And so I went to the the group I was working for and told them what I wanted to do. And they were, you know, super supportive, honestly, like close friends and people that I admire. Some were a little shocked, I think, of like, you know, you're walking away from here. Yeah. Um, but in general, just they were very supportive and and we went for it.

SPEAKER_01 13:18

You know, you've had so many experiences over the course of this journey that at this pivotal point, you knew what you were giving up for what you were you were bringing on in your life. You know, I think people are gonna hear the story and go, well, that's great, you know, because it's true, once you're exposed to those things, as I've experienced in my life, there is this awareness of like, I don't feel comfortable in my own skin unless I'm at least trying to do something in that area, right? But can you talk about the blessings that you had experienced over the years of traveling and like connecting with these different countries? What kind of positive emotional or personal family blessings did you experience when you were able, even though you were still building your professional career, to serve people across the globe in those ways?

SPEAKER_02 14:00

Yeah, and first off, like I don't pretend that this is the right path for everybody. Right.

SPEAKER_01 14:04

You're not saying everyone who's listening, go sell, go stop your companies or stop your businesses, stop working, and and you know.

SPEAKER_02 14:10

Or even that international poverty is the cause that speaks to everybody's heart. I think I firmly believe that God puts causes into our hearts. He gives us, he gives us a softness or a desire to certain challenges, and you can see it in people. Some people are just drawn through their life experience to help people with special needs. Some people are drawn toward helping people in poverty. There's there's so many areas where people need support and lifting. Yeah. And this is the one that speaks to my my heart and to my wife's heart. And so this is the path we've gone on, but I don't pretend that that's for everybody.

SPEAKER_01 14:45

And and and truly, though there is, that's the thing about this world. There's so much suffering in so many ways. That the greater message here is getting revelation through temples. And we're gonna talk about things like consecration here in a little bit to help people understand just what it is to give our souls to Christ at the end of the day. It's gonna look different for everybody. For you, as you were doing that, what what do you get what do you feel when you're operating in that space, Peter? Like when you're in that space overseas and you're helping people, what how does how do you feel? What is that like for you?

Giving Along The Way And Staying Engaged

SPEAKER_02 15:15

Yeah, it's interesting. I I feel like when I first started going to other countries, I was very uncomfortable. Yeah. You know, it's almost like you're so in your own head about the disparity that you know that you can't be present and see the people and just love them. And I think my mission helped a lot with that because um you get to know and love people on such a deep level as a missionary. And so I don't I don't try and show up in another country and just see poor people. That's you know, I my my work that we do at Mentors International is inspiring. It's not pity-based. Like these are God's children who are equal to us in every way.

SPEAKER_01 15:57

Yeah, you're not coming as saviors from America to like reach out a hand. It's not like that.

SPEAKER_02 16:02

Exactly. And so I think that's been the great part about traveling, and and I've been able to take my kids to several of the countries where we serve, and just seeing my kids go through that first awkward phase, and then to get to like, oh, these are awesome people. Yeah, and like let's play, let's have fun. Like, let's you know, I was in the Dominican Republic this year, and we were working on a project, and we were in this tough situation. This is a community that's built on a garbage dump. Wow, like the smell is just like overwhelming, and there's just these kids everywhere. But before long in the project, like we were playing baseball with all these little kids that the Dominican Republic baseball's the thing, and I love baseball. And so it's just the personal connection, you get beyond where you are, and you see the people, and and it's so powerful. People are they're not they're not expecting you to come there and feel pity for them. They're you know, this is what they know, and they're they're doing the best they can.

SPEAKER_01 17:00

Yeah. It's amazing um that we share that piece of it. And I encourage everyone who's listening to look at you know, the experiences that could be possible by doing some travel. Not everyone can, and that's that's totally fine. If people have that as an option to be able to go experience some of these trips with their families, what is so wonderful is what you said is that when you start to connect with people of different cultures and different, you know, even religions, but definitely different economic statuses, and you feel that like belonging, you start to feel like you're belonging to something much bigger. At least I did. I I came back from Africa three weeks ago, and um I'm having a really hard time finding something to be upset about in my life. And the on paper, I could list things that people would go, oh, that might be upsetting or would be upsetting. But I just realized when you see people overseas who live on garbage dumps or who live in those places, or or more importantly, and we're gonna get to this in a second, the consecrated leaders who live over there, who pour their whole lives, who have nothing, for just a sample, a taste of what God has for them, you just realize, oh, we have it so easy here that the only problem that I really have is maintaining this perspective. Because with that perspective, it's like, who cares about the materialism? For a brief moment, we can be free of that when we're over when we're over.

SPEAKER_02 18:19

Yeah, it's so much baked into our culture that we don't even think about it, I think, how much materialism is seeped in. And I would I would add two things on that. Like when when you go to another country, I think it's important to go with a lot of humility. Like me going and playing baseball with those kids changed me a lot more than it changed them. For sure. And and I think that is sometimes something that we we need to be careful of. That we we come with humility and not thinking that our presence is gonna change their life. It's gonna change our life. It's gonna help increase our gratitude, like you're talking about. It's gonna help us have a new perspective. And hopefully we can find locally run programs that can help change their life, because that's that's really what has to happen.

Seeking Direction In The Temple

SPEAKER_01 19:00

There is legitimate suffering, that we have some capabilities if we work hard enough and work with people who are aligned to actually end or limit that suffering, and vice versa. That's right. That's the thing that blew my mind. I say this all the time. When I have visited impoverished financial countries, I'm reminded of the social poverty that our world experiences, especially if you have teenagers or young adults who s who live in this social media space. There's a social uh deprivation that's occurring, and I'm not by any means trying to compare, because it's just uncomparable, other than you know, no one has uh a complete ownership of all suffering. Like there's just the the world is so full in different ways. We actually need their help in that way, because when we're we're able to experience that with them, it's amazing how that shifts. Um let me just say please we need each other.

SPEAKER_02 19:55

Yes, like that's the beautiful about it, is like we've been given different benefits and struggles. And there's an absolute crisis of meaning right here. Loneliness and and people feeling isolated. And they have the crisis of health and intergenerational poverty and other things, and we need to we will find meaning as we seek to lift other people. I am a hundred percent confident of that. That's the core of the gospel, is go try and do what our savior did, find the people along your way that that need support, and you will find joy. Yeah. And and that's how I think we need each other, and we can't forget that.

SPEAKER_01 20:37

You know, um, going back to your story, I really appreciate you saying that because that was the what I was trying to get to is this idea of like this reality that we all need each other and we're all equals actually takes the stress off of having to be better completely away, which usually is a materialistic kind of perspective, and so or status, like not getting status and not having materialism when you realize I just want to be as happy as that orphan who's playing baseball on the mound, or you know, that kind of perspective, it just it's a freeing experience, but you don't have to go to Africa, you don't have to go to India. You can do that by doing it. We have needs right here in our backyard. Serving is what the is the main message of this. Going tying serving and and some of this consecration to the temple now. Do you mind sharing the story that we had talked about briefly of you know, you left this business career till after you learned your skills, you left a lot on the table to come over and start doing things because you felt called in a way. And to be really clear, you were very like conscientious of not trying to like self-promote in that way. This was your journey, this is just where you went. It got really hard again. Like, it wasn't like, oh, Peter's is such a you know, worthy, righteous boy that like life is easy. Things actually got way harder. This was and so, and there is no one celebrating. It's like you know, the few people I've heard who've paid off their mortgage, like, yeah, no one cares. You think there's gonna be like a parade or something, no one actually cares. Like in your case, you do this thing that is, you know, speaks to your Soul and you're you know that the Lord is pleased with you, but like it's not like he made it easy for you either.

The Leap From Private Equity

SPEAKER_02 22:06

No, I I love uh it's kind of a common saying there's no there's no growth in the comfort zone and there's no comfort in the growth zone. Uh that was my experience. So we made this hard decision, and we we come in, I go into this organization, and I've got five kids at home, and we're in 12 countries, and I'm the CEO. And so And you're grinding now. And I'm working as much or more as I ever did in private equity. And um that's hard. It's it's hard. Um the meaning was there, the purpose was there, it felt rewarding, but it it felt like there's this cost to my core, my family, my wife, my kids. I'm traveling, I'm away, they're at these important stages of life. And so I went to uh a mentor of mine who's our stake patriarch, and I said, Hey, look, what should I do? Like, I'm I feel really called to this. It's I feel like the work is important. I feel like God put this in my heart when I was on my mission, and now I'm finally in a like a seat that I feel like I can help. And I'm I feel like it's pulling me away from what matters the most. Yeah. And he's he basically said, You're sure that you should be doing this. You know, like are you sure? And I said, I'm I'm sure. Like my wife and I are all in on this, and he said, You need to go to the temple every single week and put God first, and he will give you the capacity to do this.

SPEAKER_01 23:34

In other words, here's some more things for you to do.

SPEAKER_02 23:36

Yeah, exactly.

SPEAKER_01 23:38

It's like here's a here's a here's more of your calendar that needs to go away.

SPEAKER_02 23:42

Yeah, and what's interesting is we had had a lesson in church with our state presidency, and they challenged us to go to the temple every week, and I'm like, you know, that's probably not for me. I'm I'm I'm I'm out of time. I'm stretched thin. And then I go meet with this this mentor, and he gives me the exact same advice within two weeks, and I thought, I think God's trying to tell me something.

SPEAKER_01 24:00

And for context for people who are listening to this around the world, uh, the temple here in Gilbert, from where Peter and I live, is a five street. It's we can walk there. Like it's yeah, it's not like we're traveling three hours and they're telling us to go every week. It's because he because both these people knew it was accessible to you.

SPEAKER_02 24:15

Yeah, yeah, exactly. And so I decided to do that. And um sometimes I don't know how things work, to be honest. And I'm not saying I've never missed a week since then, I but I I do I do try. And what I think it's given me is a real spiritual grounding of just resetting, like, why am I doing this? What do I need to do with the stress? I'm I'm I'm here to do the best that I can to lift people. I'm not the answer to all of this. I'm a little piece in this big puzzle. I think it's helped me to even simple things like hearing the initiatory promises and just feeling at peace of like God is at the helm in all of this. He's gonna, he's gonna help me do what I need to do, and what I can't do, I need to let go and just be at peace with that. And so the temple has been a huge part in me restoring balance on this journey, without giving up on it of the dream of trying to help people, but but really being able to reset and say, okay, I have to protect the most important part of this, which is my spiritual foundation and my family, and then give what I have to this other cause.

SPEAKER_01 25:31

Amazing. I wonder if what you do professionally now uh shapes how you experience a temple.

SPEAKER_02 25:40

Um what a that's a deep question. Um it's always on my mind. You know, one of the things I loved about being a missionary is I never sat down with my scriptures or to pray without a person in mind. There were families I was agonizing over and praying about. There was always some purpose to the religious ritual, the the personal daily habits. Parenting is like that too. I think the more we're out of our own head and focus on other people when we are engaged in our religion, the better we are. Yeah. And so that's definitely been a pro, is that the temple helps to recenter me, it helps me to have peace, and it does uh it does put put the work that I'm doing in a more eternal perspective. Like this is it's not my work. I'm a again, I'm just a little piece of this. God's God has a savior who's already done his work, and so it's a privilege to be able to do the little that I can do to help help lift other people.

Service Without Pity, With Dignity

SPEAKER_01 26:41

It's amazing because I there's you know, my my next question is kind of the opposite. How does the temple shape what you do? I mean, what have you seen in your travels to all these countries? How has temple worship impacted, you know, some of the areas that you've seen? Yeah, that's a fun one.

SPEAKER_02 27:00

Um I am constantly inspired when I travel and meet with the saints in other parts of the world. You know, we here in North America, like we celebrate the pioneers and the builders. And now we're just kind of keeping the machine going, you know? Right.

SPEAKER_01 27:20

They they are the ones who cross the plains and we hear the stories, of course, and we celebrate them every year for Pioneer's Day. Like they really had a lot to sacrifice to build the foundation.

SPEAKER_02 27:29

They did, and it's such a privilege to go to other countries and see people who are doing very similar sacrifice work. Really? Yeah, I'll give you a couple that are related to the temple. Um, I had the chance to go back to my mission in India this year, and uh it was so special. Um, I will never forget some of the experiences I had going back, and I I got to spend some time uh with with two of my companions who were both very active in the church, and we were sitting around talking, and one of them From India, India. They're both local, yeah, both Indians. And one of them had a picture on the wall of he and his wife and their little baby in front of the Hong Kong temple, which was the closest temple to India up until um Thailand opened recently. And they looked so good. And I made a comment about you guys, look at look at this, you look so happy and amazing. And he laughed and he said, You don't know the worry that we had when we were sitting there in front of that temple. We literally sold everything we had. We sold, we sold our motorcycles, we sold our stuff, we sold it all. We went to the temple and we were coming back to nothing. No jobs, no stuff.

SPEAKER_01 28:47

To pay for their trip. They sold everything.

SPEAKER_02 28:49

And you know, the church has the temple patron fund, and you know, neither of them, to my knowledge, had had utilized that. This was this was I don't know if it was available at the time, but but they sacrificed it. And and then the other one who was sitting there just laughed and he said, That sounds a lot like my story. The other companion. The other companion. He and his wife had similarly sold everything they had. They'd taken a train as far northeast in India as they could, so the flight was shorter and cheaper to Hong Kong. Oh. They flew to Hong Kong, they stayed in the patron housing, they had money for like one meal while they were there. They flew back to India and had like a two-day train ride, and they had no money for food. So they didn't eat for days? Yeah. They literally took everything they had to go be sealed in the temple. And and they he said, We got back and we went to my parents' house, and we said, We we don't have anything, but we did it. Like we did it. We went to Hong Kong and got sealed. And I was so inspired hearing these two stories of the amount of faith and sacrifice that they showed in that behavior, right? Uh makes it feel like I can go down the street once a week, you know, for two hours and go to the temple. It's it's it just puts it in real perspective how much they sacrifice. But both of them were just almost beaming with pride, knowing how worth it it was. And they had they're both happily married and they're raising their kids in the gospel. And they know it was worth it to set that foundation of putting the temple and putting Christ first.

SPEAKER_01 30:27

Sure. But it's not easy. It's an interesting parallel that we constantly see is that these great blessings are always accompanied by great experiences that transform us. Um, you know, would you mind sharing that quote from Joseph Smith that you mentioned earlier? Because I think that's a good time.

SPEAKER_02 30:46

I mean, I'll probably butcher it, but it's the the They'll say it better than me. Yeah. When I was talking to them, I thought of that quote by Joseph Smith that says A religion that doesn't require the sacrifice of all things never has the power to develop the faith necessary for salvation. And that's and that's a that one will make you stop in your tracks and think, you know, you see these people in Africa, these saints in Africa and India who who are pretty close to that, uh, in how much they're sacrificing to put Christ first in their life and to build their their temple foundation for their family. Um, and it inspires me to find ways and be prayerful about what can I do? What what what does God need me? How do I lift where I stand? How do I how do I in these circumstances show that type of faith?

Perspective, Gratitude, And Materialism

SPEAKER_01 31:34

I think that's what's partly so liberating to be around people who are so consecrated. As we learn in the temple, that that last covenant that we make during the presentation of the endowment is is that you know, we see people who give so much and they you see the transformation and you see how they feel and how they respect it and how they hold it in their hand with such care. You you you can see it almost from a third person's perspective, and you go, Oh, I have access to that. I and what do I sacrifice? What more can I act? And it's not a matter of like judging what I've been sacrificing, it's just it's almost like this loving invitation of like, I can do more, I could be better. Not I'm not enough, and I, you know, shame on me for not giving as much as them. It's no, it's like, wow, look how happy they are, look what they've done. And and so when we think about that quote that you just said about how everything, that's where the power is manifest, is through the being willingness to ask for us to give of all. You know, the the endowment means a blessing. We go to the temple and we receive massive blessings. That's why we call them endowments. The blessing is the law of consecration. The blessing is that we get to learn the power that we receive by being willing to give up everything. It's because what we're saying is giving up everything that we think we know for everything the Lord actually wants for us. I think that's the I think that's the exchange, is what I'm realizing in real time as you're talking.

SPEAKER_02 33:07

Yeah, and and what a gift for us to have this insight into God's character. What do our heavenly parents find joy in? They find joy in doing their work. Moses 139, they they find joy in building up their children to reach their potential. And so I don't, I'm guessing they don't view that as a sacrifice every day. Yeah. So I think the temple, it's it shouldn't be about guilt and oh, I gotta. No, it's like, hey, here's a here's a little secret. Your key to happiness is to be outward focused and serve other people, and you have no idea what path that will lead you on and what wonderful things will come into your life, regardless of what that causes for you. And it I think it's just this really beautiful insight to end with the law of consecration to say, actually, when you when you're ready, if you just hand it all over, there's there's so much coming for you that's that's awesome and wonderful.

SPEAKER_01 34:03

Yeah. And it's hard for us to do. It's hard. It is, and it and it's okay. It's okay. I think that's we hear about the refiners fire and in our minds when we hear that metaphor of like we're being shaped like metal, and it's like there's the fire, and we're you know, it's hard and painful. It's like, yeah, we all get that. That's that's the burning. The burning is the giving up of what we hold dear materialistically, in terms of status, in terms of pride, in terms of all those things that help us in a very short-term temporal sense feel safe within the walls of our little worlds that we create, but there's so much more eternity to when we're willing to like let it go and and those types of things.

SPEAKER_02 34:45

So yeah, and I don't think just to go on that a little bit, what we're seeing in the church is bringing the temples to the people. Yes. And so those beautiful sacrifices that my companions in India made, those aren't the only way. If those were the only way, the plan would be let's make sure everybody's far from a temple and they have to give up everything to go to the temple. That's not the plan. In fact, I was talking to um a friend of mine in Kenya this week, and he and his wife sacrificed to fly to South Africa to go through the temple with their with their kids when their kids were young. And he said he told me they saved for a year to be able to do this. And I said, Well, in May, the temple in Nairobi opened. What is that? How does that feel? And he said, It's a matut matatu right away. It's a matatu right-away. That's their buses. The little buses they have in Kenya, they're all painted. So the temple is a matatu right away now. And he was so happy, he he like he's grateful for the sacrifice, but he's more grateful to have it close. And and he told me, you know, I was so worried when the temple opened in May that we would have like a month where everybody would go to the temple and then it would be empty because we just don't have experience to know, hey, go often. And he said, I I I tried to go last week and it was full. And so I just loved hearing from him that close, more frequent is amazing. There are many ways that we can live our covenants that don't involve the type of sacrifice, but we can we we need to find those things. But it was really a cool perspective.

SPEAKER_01 36:32

Yeah, it's it's really neat to think about how we we really can look at our situation from a place of a celestial perspective and just recognize that wherever we've been blessed or wherever we've we've been put in a position where we've been asked to stretch or to sacrifice or to struggle, that the Lord is over all of it. And just like your companions who had to travel and give up everything to go get sealed, and you know, there's other blessings, other challenges for people who go down the street like some of our friends, like we can do, and just go get those things right away. There's just the Lord puts us where we're we're we're meant to be, to learn what we're meant to learn, and it's always going to be individualistic. We can never compare. I think that's the hardest part for me, honestly, Peter, is I am a comparing machine. Aren't we all? Yeah. It's like what, and it's almost, it's almost like it's ingrained in me to focus on what others have that I don't. And and I think that's what these what temple worship really does in the end, is it it levels the playing field, allows us to see that we're all gonna be blessed and challenged in our very specific way to help us grow as individuals to become closer like Jesus.

Weekly Temple Worship For Capacity

SPEAKER_02 37:45

Yeah, and that's uh the Lord requires a heart and a willy mind. We can all give that. It doesn't matter our physical, financial situation, like that's ultimately He wants us to hand over all of our love and our efforts to Him, and He He it doesn't really matter what our external circumstances are.

SPEAKER_01 38:07

Yeah. Uh you know, this discussion has been so beautiful for me to understand the law of consecration at a deeper level, especially having just come back from Africa, where I've been able to see people who are super consecrated. And I do want to give a quick acknowledgement to something we were talking about before we hit record, which is these people that we see over there, I'm guessing people that, for example, the people you're training in your organization. We visited three orphanages, and these women who called themselves mothers of many all said the same thing. I know I was called of God to do what I'm doing right now. And none of them are members of, well, that's not true. One of them was a member of our faith, the other two strong Christians, which the temple ceremony will be a formality when they die because they are so consecrated. All three of these women have given their whole lives to serving these children in these orphanages who get paid nothing. They live off the the same donations and the same things that organizations are helping supply them, but they're trying to teach their kids self-reliance and independence and all these lessons. And they came from the same environment. One woman who was in charge of this um rescue center for sex trafficking was once in herself a victim of sex trafficking. And here she is teaching these young girls how to how to vocalize their pain and to heal, but it's always about the spiritual nourishment for them. And for me, I I told Heather, my wife, I wish I had brought my boys because in the Western world we debate the existence of God and and you know all these different elements. But when we're over there and you see people go through what I believe to be hell, you know, the way that scriptures describe hell, I believe it's here on this earth. And there's people who are going through it. And those people, they're the ones who believe in Jesus the most. They're the ones who praise him the most by song. They're the ones that I experienced as like an objective physical proof that Jesus is real without actually meeting him, because they love him so much. And they all say it's the spiritual nourishment that's changed us forever. It's his love that allows us to grow. And it comes because they've given up everything to give their lives to him. And yeah, I it's so inspiring. How do you how do you share this? I mean, you've taken your kids down to some of these countries. How has those trips affected them as they've experienced this part of the world?

SPEAKER_02 40:26

I I think for each of them, when I've come back from the trips, and we usually try and combine it with something fun, like when we went to the American Republic, we did the beach, and then and we we come home and I say, What what did you like? What are you gonna remember? And it's not the beach. Right. I I remember this, these families that we worked with, and they love our team, our mentors. They're they're locals who are passionate about lifting their own country, and they're just it's like contagious energy, like they're doing the work every day. And so I think it it brings a lot of gratitude, but also it it again it changes that perspective of I'm up here and these people are down here. No, no, we're we're right here, we're equals. And uh, it's funny you mentioned that experience in Africa. When I took my kids to the Dominican Republic, we went, we partner with Catholic charities, and we work in a center where women are rescued out of sex trafficking and other terrible situations. Oh man. And the nuns that run this center are they are as consecrated as any person you will ever meet. Yeah. And it's it's right, like those, those covenants will be a formality for them when they make them because they've been living them. And and you can't help but just feel in your heart like this is what this is actually all about. Like, God wants us to learn how to take care of each other. He the rest of this stuff is a distraction. He wants us to learn how to take care of each other, and it's I just love seeing that in my kids and feeling it myself of like this is this is a feeling you're not gonna get from a video game or an app, or like this is real life. This is this is the that personal connection of like we are God's children. That is real. He cares and knows these people, these Hindus in India and these Muslims that we work with in Africa, like they're his children. This is not about one special religious group. This is about God's children taking care of each other.

SPEAKER_01 42:40

Right. We don't have a monopoly of righteousness because we have the fullness of the gospel. We it's it's um it's a beautiful thing to think about how the planet, and I think that's part of what we're talking about, is that when we go out into the world and we see these things, it actually strengthens my testimony of the savior and the church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. And it gives me so much hope because I realize that He's the Lord is working mighty miracles everywhere, everywhere. And we can choose to be a part of that. We can really step in, and by so doing, choosing this very difficult path called following the savior, we realize it's worth every second, you know, because we see it in the eyes of these people. Peter, how do you how do you help people understand these these concepts? But you know, there's a lot of really great people who aren't going to be called to travel the world, who aren't gonna be blessed or want or have that same, their their calling will be different than serving maybe the impoverished of the world. How do you help people who do want to help get involved in some way? Maybe they're not meant to go on a trip, but like they want to support your group, or how do how do you direct those people?

SPEAKER_02 43:50

Yeah, I think my wife is an amazing example of this because she she's always reminding me like our work can't just be in other countries. To be right here too. Okay. And there's opportunities right here where we live in our community. There's there's so many challenges. And so I think the first thing is really for for almost everybody, including myself, is like be involved locally. How? Well, I mean, I think just serve is like an easy way to start. Going to the Jeff Surve website. JeffServe website. Try things and see what touches your heart. Not everything is going to touch your heart, but something will.

SPEAKER_00 44:27

Yeah.

Global Saints And Modern Pioneer Sacrifice

SPEAKER_02 44:28

And then to me, it's like feed that. If you find something that is touching your heart, a specific challenge that people are facing, and you feel a natural inclination, then just go. And like don't wait for permission. Don't like it's like call yourself on that mission. Okay. If that mission is I'm going to help people who are lonely, elderly people in my community, and I'm going to go play the piano for them. Just go do it. And you will just, you never know what's going to happen. Most of the people that start the kind of organizations that you visited, they just started with something small. And all of a sudden, people blesses it. Yeah. Or said it the opposite way. The Lord throws more challenges at them and says, hey, I've been waiting for people to work in this part of the vineyard. So if you're here, then I'm going to I'm going to have you meet other people and you're going to realize there's not a lot uh going on in this area. We need people. We need helpers. And so I think that's the number one thing is just try and find things that touch your heart and then lean in. Um on the international side, I I think that there's lots of um lots of organizations that are working really hard on these challenging problems. I would say look for organizations that um are trying to offer more than resources.

SPEAKER_01 45:48

Um bringing the saviors from America down as much as like helping support internal structures that are going to independently thrive without that support.

SPEAKER_02 45:59

Yeah, exactly. You you you have to think about what's going to happen in five years or ten years. The stuff is not going to do that. It's it's about building capabilities, building trusted networks of people who are working on the same problems, and uh and then lean in when you find ones that you feel like are high integrity and doing something that's measurable, high impact.

SPEAKER_01 46:21

Yeah, I think one thing you said before we hit record too that was really meaningful to me is there's when we go to the temple, we can ask for these types of revelations. And honestly, this has been my experience, and I've seen this, is those revelations actually come easier when we're looking for revelation for other people in regular. So if you're in a position right now that you're listening to this, I'm gonna invite you to go to the temple if this is calling to you in any way, if this is a task or to-do, clearly the Lord has other things for you to focus on. But if you're like, wow, this really speaks to me, go to the temple, ask the Lord, what do you want me to do? And don't be afraid. I don't think his his first revelation is get on a plane and go to Africa. I think that I think what he'll start with is something that you mentioned, something local, something impactful. I had a on my professional podcast today, I was talking to this wonderful man, a strong Christian, and he was just talking about the power of giving, which is a big common topic with our show today. And he talked about how one of the most transformational things he's ever done was something his coach asked him to do, which is to go start a conversation with a stranger every day. He said that changed his life more than anything else he's ever done because by stepping outward from his internal world and just saying, Hi, I see you here all the time. What was your name? You know, or you know, he's not just approaching random people, it was people around him, like neighbors or just people he passed on a walk every day. Never just starting those conversations, that can be the beginning, the opening of a light that starts to shine and grow until, like in his case, he started a whole business that came from that. So for us, if we're feeling inclined to go to the temple and really ask for that revelation, um, I really felt like that was something I learned from you is that you go frequently for other groups. And I was telling you, I was like, I only go for myself. I go to the temple for revelation for for me and my family because I've got a lot in my world that I'm worried about. How do you balance like that, that side of your time in the temple?

SPEAKER_02 48:15

Yeah, we got plenty going on too that we need revelation in our family. Uh, and I think that's all good. Like to me, the temple is such a special place where the veil is thin. And we come with what we have on our mind at that time. And sometimes that's going to be confined to our little world, our relationships, the the children, the people that we care the most about and the struggles that we're facing. But I I hope that we can also make time for inspiration for some of these other things. I think we all know that love God and love your neighbor are the two great commandments, right? And I I think in our community we do an exceptional job of those things, but sometimes we define our neighbors a little too small. So if somebody in our community has a challenge, they get like overwhelmed with love and support. But maybe there's people five miles from us of a different faith community who are just barely holding on. And I think if we can be prayerful about how do we expand our definition of neighbor a little bit more? How do we look a little further to say, um, I have I may not have much, but I want to give. I I want to give my time, I want to give the talents and energy that I have. I I am 100% with you. I have such a hard time getting prayers answered. Like, I got lots of questions that I don't get answers to. But I'll tell you when I pray for other people, it's like it's like God's like, finally, I've been waiting for you to stop focusing on yourself. If you want to talk about other people, I got lots of inspiration I can give you. And I think I've I have experienced that 100%. Uh, to in some really beautiful, profound personal ways of just saying, like, that's that's where I want you to be focused. That's I need you to make space for these types of questions that are more outward focused than I'm naturally inclined to be.

Consecration, Faith, And Real Joy

SPEAKER_01 50:12

Because oftentimes as we focus our attention outward, the answer the prayer that we were looking for internally comes alone from just that shift in in focus. That alone. It might be the very answer. Um, minimally, it helps us be aware of what we have. And as we soak in the gratitude of serving that we have for our own lives as we serve for others who don't have what we have, we find we find the peace that we've been looking for. Um going back to the law of consecration, it it is so interesting to think about the ultimate power that we are promised comes from being willing to let go at the end of the day. Just to let go. And we can't let go unless we're reaching to help somebody else up. And um Peter, I can't thank you enough for today's episode of so so powerful and uh inspiring. Um, one of the things about this show is that it's not just about temples, it's about family history. And so the main motivation I always felt when I was inspired to start this was to give the guests an opportunity to talk about these very tender topics for their kids and their grandkids. So the final question to you is knowing that this is really more about your descendants than it is anyone else. What would you say to your kids and grandkids about consecration, helping others and temple work?

SPEAKER_02 51:33

Uh my kids are probably tired of hearing it. So maybe for their kids. Uh I'm I'm a I'm a talker, I'm a preacher. Um I there's so much that I don't know about the gospel, and and sometimes that can get in the way, but what I have total conviction about is that there is a Jesus Christ, and he's our savior. And my religion is about being his disciple, and he's he's not the way of our world. He's this humble man who forsook possessions, who went around doing good. He didn't have he could have given the cure for leprosy, but he didn't, but he helped the lepers in his way. And to me, it's just that's the gospel that I that I believe in, and it brings a joy that I don't know any other way to find, and I am far from perfect at it. I have all the same selfish tendencies as probably everybody else, maybe more. But I have no question that the the magic of the gospel is that when we try our best to be like Christ and to put off all the natural man that's telling us take take care, get more, you know, try and make sure you're as comfortable as possible. When we push that aside and say, I'm gonna wake up and think about how do I make other people have a better life and and try and lift them, that the gospel works. And it it just works. It it brings so much peace and joy. Thank you again, Peter, for being on the show. Thanks for having me. This is fun.

SPEAKER_01 53:21

Thank you for listening to today's episode. We want to hear from you. What additional show ideas would you like to hear about? What questions do you have in your heart that we can help answer? Please leave those in the show notes of today's episode or over on Instagram. Thank you for your cooperation and helping make this show the best it can be. Until next time.