Speakers:
President Henry B. Eyring: One Perfect Example
Elder L. Tom Perry: The Past Way of Facing the Future
Bishop H. David Burton: Let Virtue Garnish Your Thoughts
Sister Ann M. Dibb: Hold On
Elder Russell M. Nelson: Ask, Seek, Knock
President Thomas S. Monson: What Have I Done for Someone Today?
One Perfect Example
President Henry B. Eyring
Of the First Presidency
First, I give counsel to husbands and wives. Pray for the love which allows you to see the good in your companion. Pray for the love that makes weaknesses and mistakes seem small. Pray for the love to make your companion’s joy your own. Pray for the love to want to lessen the load and soften the sorrows of your companion.
I saw this in my parents’ marriage. In my mother’s final illness, the more uncomfortable she became, the more giving her comfort became the dominant intent of my father’s life. He asked that the hospital set up a bed in her room. He was determined to be there to be sure that she wanted for nothing. He walked three miles to work each morning and three miles back to her side at night through those difficult times for her. I believe it was a gift from God to him that his power to love grew when it mattered so much to her. I think he was doing what Jesus would have done out of love.
Now, I give counsel to the parents of a wandering child: The Savior is the perfect example of persisting in love. You remember His words of comfort to the people among the Nephites who had rejected His earlier invitation to come to Him. He spoke to the survivors of the destruction which came after His crucifixion: “O ye house of Israel whom I have spared, how oft will I gather you as a hen gathered her chickens under her wings, if ye will repent and return unto me with full purpose of heart.”
The story of the Prodigal Son gives us all hope. The Prodigal remembered home, so will your children. They will feel your love drawing them back to you. Elder Orson F. Whitney in a general conference of 1929, gave a remarkable promise which I know is true to the faithful parent who honors the temple sealing to their children: “Though some of the sheep may wander, the eye of the Shepherd is upon them, and sooner or later they will feel the tentacles of Divine Providence reaching out after them and drawing them back to the fold.”
Then he goes on to say, “Pray for your careless and disobedient children, hold onto them with your faith. Hope on, trust on, till you see the salvation of God.” You can pray for your children, love them, and reach out to them with confidence that Jesus reaches for them with you. When you keep trying, you are doing what Jesus does.
The Past Way of Facing the Future
Elder L. Tom Perry
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
To better understand how the past can provide a better way of facing the future I would like to share an account from the building of the Manti Temple. Then I want to share what it has taught me about true principles.
Some fine carpenters from Norway, who arrived and settled in Manti, were given the assignment of building the roof for the temple. They had never built a roof structure, but they were experienced ship-builders. They didn’t know how they would design a roof. Then the thought came to them: “Why don’t we just build a ship? Then because a well-built ship is very solid and secure, if we turn the plans upside down, we’ll have a secure roof.” They set about to plan to construct a ship, and when it was completed they turned the plan upside down, and it became the roof of he Manti Temple.
In this case, they used lessons from their past experience—the principles of shipbuilding—to help them meet a new challenge. They correctly reasoned that the same principles they had applied to building a sea-worthy vessel would also apply to building a solid roof. For example, both structure needed to be waterproof. The basic integrity of the structure wouldn’t be affected by its orientation—whether right-side up or upside down. The most important thing was to have a working knowledge of the basic principles required to erect any structure that was built to last.
Embedded in the Gospel of Jesus Christ, there are eternal principles and truths that will last far longer than the principles of building ships and roofs. You and I, as members of the Lord’s true church, have special access and insight into these eternal principles and truths, especially when we listen to the Spirit for individual and family guidance and hear the prophet’s voice when he declares the word of God to all members of the Church. You and I both know how important these eternal principles and truths are in our lives. I’m not sure the early pioneers could have faced their perilous and uncertain future without them, and neither can we. They are the only true and eternal way to face the future, especially in the increasingly perilous and uncertain times in which we now live.
Let Virtue Garnish Your Thoughts
Bishop H. David Burton
Presiding Bishop
We need only look around us to see what is taking place in our communities to realize that personal traits of virtue are in a steep decline. Reflect on the behavior of drivers on crowded highways. Road rage happens all too often. Civility is all but absent in our political discourse. As countries around the world face financial and economic challenges, fidelity and honesty seem to have been replaced with greed and graft. A visit to a high school will often subject you to crude language and immodest dress standards. Some athletes display poor sportsmanship and seldom show humility unless publically exposed for legal and moral infidelities. A large segment of our population feels little personal responsibility for its own temporal well-being. Some in financial distress blame bankers and lenders for loaning sums to satisfy insatiable wants rather than affordable needs. On occasion our generosity in support of good causes wanes as our appetite to acquire more than we need prevails.
We need not be a part of the virtue malaise that is penetrating and infecting society. If we follow the world in abandoning Christian-centered virtues, the consequences may be disastrous. Individual faith and fidelity, which have eternal consequences, will diminish. Family solidarity and spirituality will be adversely impacted. Religious influence in society will be lessened, and the rule of law will be challenged, and perhaps even set aside. The seed bed for all that plagues the natural man will have been planted to the sheer delight of Satan.
We cannot afford to set aside virtuous traits. We need to stand tall and be firmly fixed in perpetuating Christ-like virtues…Teaching virtuous traits begins in the home with parents who care and set the example. A good parental example encourages emulation; a poor example gives license to disregard and even expand. A hypocritical example destroys credibility…
Our 15-year-old grandson, Ben is a “big time” ski enthusiast, having competed in several meets and done very well. Prior to one such competition in Idaho, his parents reminded him that his grades in school would determine whether or not he would be able to compete. A condominium in Sun Valley was reserved, his grandparents were planning to attend, and Ben was feverishly trying to achieve the lofty academic goals both he and his parents expected. However, at the end of the day, he fell just short of his goal. Ben missed the ski meet, as well as valuable points toward qualifying for the Junior Ski Olympics, but gained a valuable appreciation for responsibility and accountability. By remaining steadfast, parents often suffer and agonize more than the children they endeavor to teach.
Hold On
Sister Ann M. Dibb
Young Women General Presidency, Second Counselor
A number of years ago, a one-inch article in my local newspaper caught my attention, and I have remembered it ever since.
“Four people were killed and seven workers were rescued after clinging for more than an hour to the underside of a 125-foot-high bridge in St. Catharines, Ontario, [Canada,] after the scaffolding they were working on collapsed…”
I was, and I continue to be, fascinated by this brief story. Shortly after reading this account, I called a family friend who lived in St. Catherines. She explained that the workers had been painting the Garden City Skyway Bridge for about a year and were two weeks short of completing the project when the accident happened. After the accident, officials were asked why these men did not have any safety equipment. The answer was simple: they had the equipment: they just chose not to wear it. After the scaffolding gave way, the survivors held on to a one-inch lip of steel girder and stood on an eight-inch ledge of steel for over an hour until rescue teams could reach them. One survivor related that as he clung to the bridge, he thought a lot about his family. He said, “I just thank the Lord for me being here today…It was pretty scary, I tell you.”
There are many lessons to be learned and comparisons to be made from this incident. While most of us will never face such a dramatic, life-or-death situation, many of us feel that we are going through a scary time in our personal lives. We may experience loneliness, strained relationships, temptations, betrayal of trust, limitations of our physical body, or the loss of much-needed employment. We may be challenged with feelings of disappointment because our righteous hopes and dreams have not been met in our personal timetable. We may question our abilities and fear the possibility of failure, even in our Church family callings. The challenges and the dangers we live with today, including society’s tolerance of sin, have been prophesied by ancient and living prophets. These are just as precarious and real as the threat of falling 125 feet to certain death from a high bridge…
Heavenly Father has not left us alone during our mortal probation. He has already given us all the safety equipment we will need to successfully return to Him. He has given us personal prayer, the scriptures, living prophets, and the Holy Ghost to guide us. At times, using this equipment may seem cumbersome, awkward, and horribly unfashionable. Its proper use requires our diligence, obedience, and persistence. But I, for one, choose to use it. We must all choose to use it.
Ask, Seek, Knock
Elder Russell M. Nelson
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
For each of you to receive revelation unique to your own needs and responsibilities, certain guidelines prevail. The Lord asks you to develop “faith, hope, charity and love, with an eye single to the glory of God.” Then with your firm “faith, virtue, knowledge, temperance, patience, brotherly kindness, godliness, charity, humility, [and] diligence” you may ask, and you will receive, you may knock, and it will be opened unto you.
Revelation from God is always compatible with His eternal law. It never contradicts His doctrine. It is facilitated by proper reverence for Deity. The Master gave this instruction: “I, the Lord, am merciful and gracious unto those who fear me, and delight to honor those who serve me in righteousness and in truth unto the end. Great shall be their reward and eternal shall be their glory. To them will I reveal all mysteries, [and]…my will concerning all things pertaining to my kingdom.”
Revelation need not all come at once. It may be incremental. “Saith the Lord God: I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little; and blessed are those who hearken unto my precepts, and lend an ear unto my counsel, for they shall learn wisdom; for unto him that receiveth I will give more. Patience and perseverance are part of our eternal progression.
Prophets have described what they felt while receiving revelation. Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery reported that “the veil was taken from our minds, and the eyes of our understanding were opened.” President Joseph F. Smith wrote: “As I pondered over these things which are written, the eyes of my understanding were opened, and the Spirit of the Lord rested upon me.”
Every Latter-day Saint may merit personal revelation. The invitation to ask, seek, and knock for divine direction exists because God lives and Jesus is the living Christ. It exists because this is His living Church.
What Have I Done for Someone Today?
President Thomas S. Monson
President of the Church
The Savior taught His disciples: “For whosoever will save his life shall lose it; but whosoever will lose his life for my sake, the same shall save it.”
I believe the Savior is telling us that unless we lose ourselves in service to others, there is little purpose to our own lives. Those who live only for themselves eventually shrivel up and, figuratively, lose their life, while those who lose themselves in service to others grow and flourish—and in effect save their life.
In the October 1963 General Conference—the conference at which I was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles—President David O. McKay made this statement: “Man’s greatest happiness comes from losing himself for the good of others.”
Often we live side by side, but do not communicate heart to heart. There are those within the sphere of our own influence who, with outstretched hands, cry out, “Is there no balm in Gilead?”
I am confident it is the intention of each member of the Church to serve and to help those in need. At baptism we covenanted to “bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light.” How many times has your head been touched as you have witnessed the need of another? How often have you intended to be the one to help? And yet, how often has day-to-day living interfered, and you’ve left it for others to help, feeling that “surely someone will take care of that need.”
We become so caught up in the busy-ness of our lives. Were we to step back, however, and take a good look at what we’re doing, we may find that we have immersed ourselves in the “thick of thin things.” In other words, too often we spend most of our time taking care of the things which do not really matter much at all in the grand scheme of things, neglecting those more important causes.
Many years ago I heard a poem which has stayed with me and by which I have tried to guide my life. It’s one of my favorites:
I have wept in the night,
For the shortness of sight,
That to somebody’s need made me blind;
But I never have yet
Felt a tinge of regret
For being a little too kind
