Work That Shapes Us

Good morning, Sisters and Brothers.

For those who do not know me, my name is Salvatore James Santaniello. Most people call me James. Some call me Sal. Close friends call me Jay. My sister calls me SJ. My parents just call me “S.” And there are a few other names I have earned over the years that probably do not belong over the pulpit.

I am a convert to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I did not grow up knowing how to give a proper Latter-day Saint talk. I grew up Episcopalian, which means I knew when to stand, when to sit, and when to look serious. The Saints added a whole new skill set: callings, ministering, moving chairs, and trying to understand how one ward can produce that many casseroles.

Today I want to speak about how the Lord builds us. Faith Through Work.

Not always through one big spiritual moment. Sometimes He builds us through work. Through pressure. Through responsibility. Through failure. Through showing up again when we would rather disappear.

I have been working on a series I call “Resume Into Story.” The idea is simple: a resume tells people where you worked. A story tells people what the Lord was teaching you while you were there.

Looking back at my own life, I can see something I did not always see while I was living it:

The Lord was not wasting any of it.

Not the jobs. Not the moves. Not the pressure. Not the mistakes. Not even the seasons that looked like dead ends.

Doctrine and Covenants 98:12 says that the Lord gives to the faithful “line upon line, precept upon precept.”

I used to think that only meant scripture knowledge. Now I think it also describes life.

Line upon line. Job upon job. Mistake upon mistake. Move upon move. Kid upon kid. Ex-life upon ex-life. Zip code upon zip code.

Three children. Two ex-lives. About two dozen zip codes. More restarts than I ever planned.

And somehow, the Lord kept using all of it.

In October 1979, Elder Adney Y. Komatsu gave a General Conference talk called “After Much Tribulation Come the Blessings.” In it, he shared a teaching from Elder Orson F. Whitney:

“No pain that we suffer, no trial that we experience is wasted.”

That line feels like the story of my life.

When I worked as an EMT, I learned that panic is contagious, but so is calm. When you walk into someone’s crisis, they are watching your face before they hear your words. You do not get to say, “This trauma is inconvenient. Can we reschedule it?” You show up. You assess. You do the next right thing.

Mosiah 24 teaches that when Alma’s people were carrying burdens, the Lord did not immediately remove them. He strengthened them until they could carry what had once felt impossible.

Sometimes the Lord does not remove the emergency right away.

Sometimes He teaches us how to breathe in the middle of it.

Later, I worked in logistics. Logistics is basically this: everything is late, everything is moving, somebody is upset, and somehow it is still your job to make it work.

It taught me that small failures upstream create large problems downstream. A missed detail, a bad handoff, or a wrong assumption can throw off the whole system.

That is true spiritually too.

A strong testimony is usually built in the background: quiet prayers, private repentance, small choices, scripture study when we do not feel like it, apologizing when we would rather defend ourselves, and choosing patience when nobody would blame us for losing it.

Now I work in restoration and reconstruction. I spend time around damaged houses, stressed homeowners, wet crawlspaces, missing paperwork, and jobs that get more complicated every time someone opens a wall.

Restoration has taught me a gospel truth:

Damage is often worse behind the surface.

A house can look fine until the floor is pulled back or the wall is opened. Then you find moisture, rot, and old damage someone tried to cover instead of repair.

People can be like that too.

We all have visible damage and hidden damage. Some hurt everybody sees. Some only the Lord knows about.

That is where Jesus Christ matters.

The Savior is not interested only in making us look better from the street. He restores from the inside out.

The adversary points at the damage and says, “Look what you are.”

Christ looks at us and says, “Look what I can make of you.”

Elder Komatsu taught that trials can develop patience, faith, strength, humility, and charity. That does not mean every painful thing is good. Some things hurt. Some things were unfair. Some things leave marks.

But through Jesus Christ, even the parts of life we would never have chosen do not have to be wasted.

The EMT years taught me that Christ enters emergencies.

Logistics taught me that Christ cares about what happens in the background.

Restoration taught me that Christ heals hidden damage.

Fatherhood taught me that love is not theoretical.

Divorce and starting over taught me that an ending is not always the end.

And moving through more zip codes than I care to count taught me that home is sometimes simply the place where the Lord is still willing to meet you.

And He has met me.

More than once. In more than one state. In more than one version of my life.

Sisters and Brothers, I testify that Jesus Christ is the Master Builder.

He does not need perfect materials.

That is good news for me.

He can work with stubborn. He can work with tired. He can work with divorced. He can work with broke. He can work with confused. He can work with the person who has failed, restarted, and wondered whether they are still useful.

He can build with all of it.

I know Heavenly Father sees the whole story, not just the polished version. I know Jesus Christ lives. I know His Atonement is real. And I know that when we give Him our work, our families, our failures, our grief, our ex-lives, and our unfinished places, He can turn the whole mess into something holy.

Line upon line. Job upon job. Grace upon grace.

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

General Conference reference: Elder Adney Y. Komatsu, “After Much Tribulation Come the Blessings,” October 1979 General Conference. He teaches that hardship, sorrow, toil, and tribulation can become part of the Lord’s refining work rather than wasted suffering.

#MyLDSTalks #LDSFaith #LatterDaySaint #AtonementOfJesusChrist #JesusChrist #Grace #Mercy #Hope #Testimony #ComeUntoChrist #BookOfMormon #FaithThroughGrief #ChristianFaith #SacramentMeetingTalk #RealLifeFaith