Brothers and sisters, this is a very imposing and thrilling sight, and if you haven\u2019t stood here before, I might add that it\u2019s a little frightening. I don\u2019t know what I\u2019d have done if I\u2019d been an all-star football player and had you looking down on me while I was trying to play football. Fortunately I wasn\u2019t a very good football player.<\/p>\n
I have just one desire this evening, and that is to strengthen your faith and testimony by sharing with you some experiences and thoughts that would be appropriate for this Sabbath day. I had outlined some things I was going to try to speak on, but on the way over my wife said, \u201cWhy don\u2019t you tell them a few things about this past weekend?\u201d I would like to give you just a few thoughts about what\u2019s been happening.<\/p>\n
Yesterday morning the Presidency of the Church, President Benson, Elder LeGrand Richards, and myself went to Calgary, Alberta, Canada. President Kimball is a most dynamic prophet, and I guess my purpose in telling you some of the things that happened this weekend would be to give you a little closer personal look at President Kimball.<\/p>\n
We boarded the plane to Calgary for the purpose of going up there to attend a solemn assembly. President Kimball has instituted, and there will be held in various parts of the United States in the months to come, several solemn assemblies. As you may or may not know, most of the solemn assemblies are convened in the temples. Now, we have had solemn assemblies in the Tabernacle when we sustain new Presidents of the Church, and you\u2019re familiar with those. But, because there aren\u2019t enough temples in the world yet and because there are priesthood brethren that need to be instructed, the President has outlines a very ambitious schedule of solemn assemblies.<\/p>\n
The solemn assemblies are for the purpose of instructing the priesthood. Those who are invited to come need a temple recommend and a ticket; there are men placed at the doors, just as you would find if you were to go to the temple here in Provo, who check recommends and tickets.<\/p>\n
We arrived in Calgary yesterday, right after noon. As we came off the plane and were walking through customs, President Kimball reached over to carry Elder Richards\u2019 briefcase for him. (President Kimball is eighty, while Elder Richards will soon be ninety.) Unless you\u2019ve been associated with President Kimball, you\u2019ve never seen a more thoughtful, humble, unpretentious, unimposing man\u2014one who doesn\u2019t try to stand above anybody else.<\/p>\n
We were driven to the stake center where we were to have the meeting. As we came, I saw the lawn covered with about five hundred little Primary children who had assembled there to sing to the prophet. They sang, concluding with that wonderful primary hymn, \u201cI Am a Child of God.\u201d There aren\u2019t many things that make the President lose his composure, but this touched his heart. He spoke to those wonderful little children. We then went inside, and there were over nine hundred brethren, priesthood leaders\u2014elders quorum presidencies, bishoprics, high councils, stake presidencies, and seventies and high priests leaders\u2014from the nine stakes in Alberta and the mission districts. It was a great experience to sit there for four hours. We partook of the sacrament first. Elders quorum presidencies passed the sacrament; the presidencies of the stakes administered to it. It was a great experience. All of these brethren had come fasting for one purpose: to be in tune with the Spirit as they were instructed by those assigned, particularly the prophet. I appreciated all that was taught by the great men who were there. But there was a difference when the prophet stood up to teach the priesthood. There was a spirit about it that I\u2019m sure you can imagine, but it was unusual. For one hour President Kimball, with a few notes but without a prepared script, instructed the priesthood. This was a thrilling experience.<\/p>\n
Afterwards we had a fireside. I was assigned to speak at the fireside with some young people. As we were having dinner before, President Kimball asked me, \u201cBishop, do you think it\u2019d be all right if I came to the fireside for just a few minutes?\u201d<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cI\u2019m sure it\u2019d be all right, if you want.\u201d So he did. He didn\u2019t come in right at the beginning because he had some other duties, but we were right in a break when I saw him come in. I went to the microphone and said, \u201cIf you young people want to have a great thrill, look back and see who just walked in the door.\u201d And five hundred of them looked around. When they saw President Kimball had come in, both the girls and the boys started wiping their eyes. They were thrilled by a once-in-a-lifetime experience. Having a prophet come in and give them a blessing and speak to them.<\/p>\n
He really is a prophet. There\u2019s no question about it. You have every right to know, as do we who work so closely with him, that he is a prophet. How fortunate we are that we can feel the security of knowing that we have a real prophet leading us! He is a very human individual, too. One of the people was surprised to see that he ate his soup with a spoon, like the rest of us, and that he liked pie and other things that we all like.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll just tell you one more thing. This morning, as we gathered at the airport in Calgary, many of the families of the stake leaders were there to bid President Kimball goodbye. They brought their little children, of course, and waited outside by the sidewalk, where we were shaking hands and saying goodbye. Presently the plane was about to leave, so we hurried inside and started down toward the plane. One of the Brethren commented that President Kimball was missing. We were told that the President had seen a young lady, the daughter of one of the stake leaders, and said, \u201cI forgot to tell her goodbye.\u201d So he had gone back outside and shaken her hand. We thought the plane would have to wait for him, but he didn\u2019t want to dismiss anyone. He\u2019s sensitive to everyone.<\/p>\n
I don\u2019t know, brothers and sisters, if you\u2019ve ever shaken his hand. Those of you who have, and those who have looked into his eyes, have gotten a special feeling. I remember the first time it happened to me. As he shook my hand, he didn\u2019t say anything except hello, but he said it with a love that overpowered me. We\u2019re fortunate to have a prophet leading us today. May the Lord bless us to recognize him as such and to listen and obey the things he tells us to do.<\/p>\n
One of the brethren from the newspaper here on campus called me and asked, \u201cWhat are you going to talk about? What\u2019s the subject?\u201d<\/p>\n
I said, \u201cI don\u2019t have a subject. I\u2019m not sure what I\u2019m going to talk about.\u201d As we talked a little more, I got some idea. He began to tell me what he was going to write down for the paper, and so I got these ideas. I think I\u2019d like to give you folks tonight a glimpse of the glory that is available to all of us.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d first like to tell you a story. This is a story that you\u2019re familiar with. It\u2019s one that Elder Sill has repeated. It\u2019s a story about Joan of Arc. You\u2019ve heard this story, and you\u2019ve studied about this young lady. As you know, she was a French peasant maid who heard angelic voices calling her to aid her country. Unlike the fictional story of Don Quixote, the story of Joan of Arc was taken from the court records of the great trial that convened in her behalf in 1431. Her biography comes to us under oath, from the witness stand.<\/p>\n
Joan of Arc found her bankrupt country helpless and hopeless, lying in chains, enslaved by an alien conqueror. Joan said to the uncrowned king, \u201cBe not afraid, for God has sent me to help you.\u201d Then she laid her inspired hand upon her withered country and by the power of her calling broke the siege of Orleans, drove out the British, saved France, and crowned the Dauphin the king of Rheims.<\/p>\n
Louis Kossuth says that Joan of Arc was the only person of either sex who ever held supreme command over a great national army at the age of seventeen. By nineteen this untaught girl had become the deliverer of France and the savior of her country. She explained her power by saying something that\u2019s significant: \u201cWhen God fights, it\u2019s of small consequence whether the hand that holds the sword is big or little.\u201d Everyone knew that in her heart was something that raised her above the greatest men of her day. She had the mysterious ability to turn mobs of cowards into armies of patriots. Her soldiers went into battle with joy in their eyes and a song in their hearts. Her own soul was the embodiment of nobility and righteousness. Although she lived in the most brutal, wicked, and rotten period since the Dark Ages, she did her job as well as anyone that any nation has ever produced. She was perhaps one of the few entirely unselfish persons whose name holds a high place in history. She lived when crime was the common business of mankind. She was truthful when lying was the ordinary speech of man. She was honest when honesty was a lost virtue. She maintained her personal dignity unimpaired in an age of fawning and servility. She had dauntless courage when even hope had perished in the hearts of her countrymen. She was spotlessly pure in mind and body when most of society was foul in both. She was the genius of patriotism. She said that even the rude business of war could be better conducted without profanity and other brutalities of speech. Few could understand why Joan continued to be alert, vigorous, and confident while her strongest men were exhausted by long marches and severe extensive exposure.<\/p>\n
On one occasion, with an almost impossible objective ahead, she said, \u201cI will lead the men over the wall.\u201d One of her generals said, \u201cNot a man will follow you.\u201d Then she said something else that\u2019s very significant. Joan said, \u201cI will not look back to see whether anyone is following or not.\u201d Then, with a flash of her sword, she gave the signal and led the way, and the soldiers of France followed her. With her unshakable belief in her mission glowing in her heart, she swept everything before her. She sent a thrill of courage and conviction through the French army such as neither King nor patriot could produce.<\/p>\n
When her country was safe, she declined the highest honors and the most profitable employments that a loving and grateful country could bestow upon her. As she was planning to return to her family, she was treacherously betrayed into the hands of her foreign enemies. For many weary months she was kept in chains as she underwent a long and wicked trial on trumped-up charges of witchcraft and sorcery. She was threatened and abused. The judges and jurors were carefully selected enemies; she was finally condemned to die for witchcraft. As the fires were being lighted around the stake at which this nineteen-year-old French peasant maid would be burned alive, she was given an opportunity to obtain her freedom by denying what she believed. In choosing the fire above her freedom, she said this, and this is significant:<\/p>\n
I know this now. Every man gives his life for what he believes. Every woman gives her life for what she believes. Sometimes people believe in little or nothing, and yet they give their lives for little or nothing. One life is all we have, and we live it as we believe in living it, and then it is gone. But to surrender what you are and live without belief is more terrible than dying, even more terrible than dying young.<\/i><\/p>\n
And, may I add, particularly is it more terrible when there\u2019s so much to believe in. We have some among us today who are in the process of dying young\u2014in a spiritual sense.<\/p>\n
We should understand that the spirit isn\u2019t killed with the sword. The spirit isn\u2019t killed with the bullet from a gun. But a spirit dies gradually. One of the responsibilities I have in the Presiding Bishopric is to review the minutes of courts that come in from all over the world to headquarters of the Church. The Presiding Bishopric is the repository of these minutes. I\u2019ve noted, as I\u2019ve reviewed these minutes, that people, young and old, don\u2019t fall into sin and transgression in an instant. It\u2019s a gradual step-down process.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve used the example before that the moment we come to the earth\u2014the moment our spiritual body entered the physical body and we were born on the earth\u2014that very moment a conflict began between the spiritual body and the physical body. The conflict, of course, is for the physical to try to overcome the spiritual, and the spiritual to try to rise above the physical. We all have things we\u2019d like to do that aren\u2019t good for us. Our bodies want to do them. We all have appetites, passions, and desires. Every day there is a conflict that goes on when our physical body says, \u201cI want to do this,\u201d and the spiritual body says, \u201cno, we shouldn\u2019t do it. We\u00a0won\u2019t<\/i>\u00a0do it.\u201d The physical body says, \u201cYes, we will.\u201d This argument goes on and on, as you\u2019ve all experienced.<\/p>\n
When the physical body finally overpowers the spirit and says, \u201cWell, we will do it,\u201d and the spirit isn\u2019t strong enough to withstand, then the spirit steps down. Every time the physical body overcomes the spirit, the spirit continues to step down and down and down. Every time one fails to get on his knees in prayer in the morning, the spirit steps down. Every time one is unkind or dishonest, the spirit steps down. And in a gradual process, brothers and sisters, the spirit can step down, step by step, until there can come a time in your life when the spirit can lose the power to change, when your spirit has stepped so low that it loses the power to repent. The Lord tells us that this is possible in the scriptures.<\/p>\n
Every time a conflict goes on the spirit has this toe-to-toe argument with the physical. When the spirit controls and says, \u201cNo, we will\u00a0not<\/i>\u00a0do this,\u201d then the spirit climbs. Every time it controls again, it climbs again. Of course, you know what happens as the spirit continues to climb: it ascends to our Father, who sent us here.<\/p>\n
This is our great challenge in this life: to learn how and then to\u00a0do<\/i>\u00a0the things that will strengthen our spirits so they continue to climb. It isn\u2019t an easy thing. It\u2019s a very difficult thing, because we do choose to do some things that aren\u2019t right for us. It seems, as we get lower and lower, our ability to resist becomes less and less, and the physical takes over the spirit more and more.<\/p>\n
Now, I\u2019d like to give some suggestions to you, and they\u2019re very simple. There are just two or three really, that may help you strengthen your spirit so that when the time comes to make a decision, your spirit will be strong enough to say yes or no\u2014whichever would be the correct answer.<\/p>\n
I think the most important thing to do is to learn to pray. I\u2019m amazed how many don\u2019t understand this. As you can imagine, I interview a lot of missionaries, particularly now. I interview a lot of brethren who are to be called to be bishops, counselors, and so on. Long ago, I stopped asking the question \u201cHow often do you pray?\u201d and started asking the questions \u201cBrother So-and-so, Sister So-and-so, when was the last time you were on your knees?\u201d \u201cBrother and Sister So-and-so, how often do you get on your knees?\u201d Because, you see, this is the real, down-to-earth prayer. Now, I agree that we all spend time during each day when we go to the Lord\u2014as we\u2019re driving somewhere or before a test for which we haven\u2019t studied as we ought to. Those times are important, but every day, in the morning and in the evening, he deserves to have us kneel, acknowledge him as our Father, acknowledge him as he really is. Now that\u2019s one thing that each of us can do.<\/p>\n
I know that some of you live in crowded conditions, but there is always a time and a place where you can go to be alone every day in prayer. Praying is probably the most important thing you will do any day.<\/p>\n
Now, if you\u2019ve tried, and it hasn\u2019t worked\u2014you didn\u2019t get the answer immediately\u2014then you try it again. If the answer still doesn\u2019t come, then keep trying and don\u2019t give up. You see, there\u2019s a companion to praying, and that\u2019s pleading. There are many who pray, but few who plead. You can read many examples in the scriptures about those who have learned to plead with the Lord as they\u2019ve wanted special blessings.<\/p>\n
There\u2019s also a great lesson to learn in the praying process; this is the lesson of patience. I decided that one of the greatest lessons we learn on the earth is patience. We want things now. We don\u2019t want them when the Lord wants us to have them, we want them right\u00a0now<\/i>. \u201cCan\u2019t he understand that?\u201d This is sometimes the way we act.<\/p>\n
In one of the recent meetings we had in the Temple the President and the General Authorities were together. President Kimball had turned the meeting over for testimonies. President Romney was bearing his testimony to us and telling us how much he enjoyed kneeling in prayer with the Brethren, how much he loved us, and what a great uplift it was to him to kneel and pray together. Then he went on to say how much he loved his wife and the great experience he had every morning and evening of kneeling with her in prayer. \u201cBut,\u201d he said, \u201cBrethren, the greatest experience I have every day, above all others, is when I go by myself into a room and close the door. I kneel down and I talk with the Lord.\u201d That\u2019s the greatest experience a prophet, a counselor in the First Presidency, has\u2014to kneel in prayer. We could do no less than that. That\u2019s one of the most important things we can do in strengthening our faith and strengthening our spirits.<\/p>\n
Another point has to do with study of the scriptures. I know you\u2019ve heard this time and again, and I know you probably have rationalized that you\u2019re busy in your life with school: you have many important things to learn, if you don\u2019t study them you won\u2019t pass, and you won\u2019t complete the educational process you came here for. But may I suggest to you that there isn\u2019t one of you who doesn\u2019t have time to read from the scriptures every day. I\u2019m not suggesting a two- or three-hour study course every day. Even if it\u2019s only five minutes, it will give you a rejuvenation and a strength to your spirit that will help as the conflict of decision comes to you.<\/p>\n
You know, your mind is an unusual instrument with tremendous capacity. You can put into your mind whatever you want to. You can put in good or you can put in garbage, yet your mind will take every bit of it. Everything your eyes see or your ears hear or your lips utter affects your spirit. If you see something that isn\u2019t good, it stays with you. If you see a picture that isn\u2019t right or hear words that aren\u2019t right, they stay with you. If you physically take something in that isn\u2019t good for you, such as poison or trash, your physical body has a way of getting rid of it, but your mind doesn\u2019t get rid of it that quickly. This great reservoir you have will just fill with whatever you\u2019re going to put into it. Sometimes there are things you can\u2019t help seeing or hearing. I don\u2019t mean you look for them, but occasionally you happen on something that wouldn\u2019t be good for you to hear or see. Thus it\u2019s important for you to keep your mind, your reservoir, filled with good things so that, as these things come in that aren\u2019t right, they\u2019ll come into a clear stream of water, as it were, and have little effect because of the purity of what\u2019s already there.<\/p>\n
Even though you have learned to pray, and even though you learned to study, there comes a time with each of us when he must make the decision. The Lord has told us, as we read the scriptures, about the house built on the sand as well as the one built on the rock. The storms came to the house built on the sand as well as to the one built on the rock. The trials come to the faithful as well as to the unfaithful. The trials come to the pure as well as to the weak. The trials come to all, but this fortification we\u2019re talking about will help us make the right decisions. Still, the time comes when you must act, when you must do certain things.<\/p>\n
For instance, the time comes when you must decide whether you will involve yourself in a petting situation or not. Now, no matter how you look at it, no matter how you rationalize, no matter how much you\u2019re in love, nor matter whether you think it\u2019s harmless, petting is wrong. There is no first step in petting that\u2019s right. It\u2019s wrong. The Lord is displeased and I\u2019m sure he sheds many tears in behalf of those who have fallen into this trap, but you have to be the one to say no. This is the time when you can\u2019t turn around to your mother or your father or your bishop and say, \u201cShould I or shouldn\u2019t I?\u201d This is the time when\u00a0you\u00a0<\/i>finally have to say, \u201cNo, it\u2019s wrong. I won\u2019t do it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The fortification to say no comes as you prepare your spirit, as you strengthen it. You have to say, \u201cNo, I won\u2019t go to this X-rated or R-rated movie or many of the PG movies.\u201d You have to say no. You can\u2019t go to your stake president. He\u2019s not there on every date you have, and\u00a0you<\/i>\u00a0have to decide (lucky for him and lucky for you.) You have to ask, \u201cAm I going to leave when stories start getting vulgar?\u201d You have to say, \u201cYes, I will,\u201d or, \u201cNo, I won\u2019t.\u201d You have to find out whether you have the courage to get up and walk out of a situation. You\u2019re the one that has to decide if you are going to repeat a dirty story or not. There are things\u00a0you<\/i>\u00a0have to do because of the great principle of free agency.<\/p>\n
Sisters (if some of you need to squirm, why, go right ahead and squirm), you have to decide how modestly you\u2019re going to dress. You have to decide how you\u2019re going to wear your skirts and your blouses and all that goes with them. The time has to come when you have to decide that.<\/p>\n
You also have to decide on the principle of confession. The principle of confession is an eternal principle. I\u2019m honestly persuaded, brothers and sisters, to believe than any of us, of any age, who\u2019s had any sexual relations outside the bonds of matrimony and hasn\u2019t confessed theme can never be exalted until he goes to his stake president, bishop, or branch president to confess them. Part of the repentance process is acknowledging and confessing to the proper priesthood leaders.<\/p>\n
I have had some wonderful experiences, and I consider them such, when I have had people come to me as I was the bishop or stake president. I remember one sister who had been carrying this burden on her shoulders for fifty years. She came on time and said, \u201cHow do I get rid of it?\u201d How can I feel relieved?\u201d I told her what she needed to do. I have talked with others who have had similar experiences.<\/p>\n
I can plead with you, and I can tell you what I know about the eternities to come (which all of us would know if we studied), but\u00a0you<\/i>\u00a0have to decide\u2014you have to do it. There\u2019s no way you can accomplish on the earth the things you\u2019re to accomplish, or enjoy the things of eternity you\u2019re to enjoy, until you have taken this step of confession.<\/p>\n
The Lord bless you to understand this, and the Lord bless you to do the things that will give you the strength to do what\u2019s necessary. One is to pray, to plead with the Lord, every night and every morning. Another is to study from the scriptures every day. Another is to make correct moral decisions and to confess transgression if necessary. Still another is to be of service to others, to look for someone that you can help. It\u2019s amazing what it does to you to help someone who needs help. Another is to fast as you need to. I\u2019ve seen some tremendous things happen in the lives of people who have done these simple things in preparation. Before I conclude, let me tell you two or three of them.<\/p>\n
We have a group of members of the Church in Vietnam. During the recent exodus, about a third of the members left. As they left, a branch president in Saigon sent out his wife and children, not knowing if he\u2019d ever see them again, and he stayed behind because he knew the remaining members of the Church would need a leader to help them in a time like that. He was also translating the holy scriptures into that language, so he decided to stay. He\u2019s a simple man, as you are, but that kind of faith he has is developed in these very simple ways.<\/p>\n
I met an elderly couple in the mission field not long ago. The man, when they left for the mission field, was blind in one eye. But when he was called on a mission, it was felt all would be well. The couple went to the mission field, and after they\u2019d been out for two or three months, the man lost the sight of his other eye. He was now blind in both eyes. The mission president called him in and said, \u201cI believe we should send you home because you can\u2019t see and do what you\u2019re supposed to do.\u201d But the man, very straightforwardly, said to the president, \u201cPresident, don\u2019t send me home just because I can\u2019t see. I was called by the Lord to fulfill an eighteen-month mission. When I was called, he knew that I would be blind even if I didn\u2019t, yet he still called me. Now, please let me stay and finish my mission. My wife is my companion, and she\u2019ll help me see what I need to see, through her eyes. Don\u2019t send me home. Let me finish what I\u2019m here to do.\u201d And he did. He stayed. His faith was developed in the very simple way we\u2019re talking about.<\/p>\n
Some of the most interesting and rewarding experiences I\u2019ve had have been in the mission field as I meet with the missionaries\u2014the elders and the sisters. I have really thrilled at these experiences. I\u2019ve seen evidences of faith that you wouldn\u2019t believe. Maybe I could tell you two that are kind of humorous and then one that\u2019s for real, too. They\u2019re all real.<\/p>\n
While visiting a mission, we were in the mission home and had just had testimony meeting. The missionaries, instead of going back home to work the rest of the day, were exchanging experiences. There was a missionary there from Idaho; he was a farm boy with arms that were about twice the size of mine\u2014just a really husky young fellow. They were doing some arm wrestling on the table. As each new contender came up, he\u2019d put his arm up and put the other\u2019s down easily. No one could take him. Then one little fellow that looked about half my size said, \u201cElder, why don\u2019t you let me try?\u201d The big farm boy got hold of him, and then started to push. The more the farm boy pushed, the more it was as if he had hold of a piece of steel: he couldn\u2019t get the little fellow\u2019s arm moving. His eyes started to get wider and wider, and pretty soon his own arm started to go back. This little 100-pound weakling started pushing his arm back and back, and the first thing you know, he had him down. As his arm went down, the elder from Idaho said, \u201cHe\u2019s beating me. I can\u2019t believe it. He\u2019s beating me!\u201d But he did! You have great experiences in the mission field.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve eaten some of the most interesting meals at the hands of the missionaries. After we\u2019d had some Saturday afternoon meetings in one mission, the missionaries had invited the mission president, his wife, and me over for dinner; \u201cdinner\u201d is either an understatement or an overstatement. We went into their flat, where they had the table set, but we could see nothing on the table except a big bowl of sliced, cooked carrots. I saw a bunch of elders in the kitchen really working. They were poking in a big boiling pot with knives. As I got close I could see they had potatoes in it. It looked as if they were hitting rocks. There was no way we would eat those potatoes that day, so we sat down at the table with the bowl of carrots (that was all there was on the table), and we started to eat.<\/p>\n
The mission president leaned over to me and said, \u201cBishop, do you taste something unusual?\u201d<\/p>\n
And I said, \u201cI do, President.\u201d<\/p>\n
And he said, \u201cBishop, I believe they have their whole year\u2019s supply of salt in these carrots.\u201d<\/p>\n
And I said, \u201cI believe you\u2019re right, President, but let\u2019s keep eating, They\u2019ll never know the difference.\u201d<\/p>\n
After a while they remembered that they\u2019d forgotten to bring us our salad (it was Jello, and we had to drink it). Then we went on with the rest of the meal. I hope you brethren have learned what to cook by now!<\/p>\n
These same kinds of missionaries, though, have the faith of Alma. I\u2019ll conclude with one more story about faith in the mission field. I was in Mexico a few weeks ago. One of the missionaries stood up to bear his testimony, and he let us know that he knew why he was there and that the Lord was watching over him. Then he told us about a family he and his companion were teaching. The father had had an operation two or three months earlier. The incision had opened up his stomach from his breastbone down to his belt. Because of the poor medical facilities there he hadn\u2019t healed, and he had a large open wound. He was not even able to sit up. The physicians seemed to be doing nothing to correct it, so he had to lie down again in bed for two months. The missionaries were teaching him and his family the gospel. The family liked what they heard, they accepted what they heard, and they were ready to be baptized the next Saturday. The father, of course, couldn\u2019t be, because he couldn\u2019t get out of bed. The elder said that evening, after the family had accepted the challenge of baptism, they went home and were thinking about and reading some stories about missionaries of former days. They read about Brother Matthew Cowley and his great healing experiences down in the South Pacific. The elder said to his companion, \u201cYou know, Brother Cowley was a missionary. We\u2019re missionaries. He wasn\u2019t an apostle when he was out there on that first mission, yet the Lord helped him heal. Why can\u2019t he help us? Why won\u2019t he help us heal?\u201d<\/p>\n
Then the elders did something that\u2019s significant, and we must remember this: they decided to\u00a0prepare<\/i>\u00a0themselves to call down a blessing from the Lord in behalf of this man. They spent a day in fasting and prayer. Before they left their home that evening, the knelt down and prayed, \u201cHeavenly Father, now please bless us to say what thou wouldst have us say.\u201d They went to that family\u2019s home, laid their hands on the man, and administered to him in the power of the priesthood. They blessed him to get well, and they said they felt full confidence that he would. As they got up, the man also got up and walked around the bed for the first time in two months. He was tired, so he went back to bed, but three days later he went down into the waters of baptism and was baptized along with his family. This is the faith of the elders. This is the faith of those who prepare themselves to receive the blessings of heaven.<\/p>\n
Now, lest you be discouraged, the Lord doesn\u2019t always come to our rescue that quickly. He doesn\u2019t always answer our prayer immediately, even after many pleadings. We could tell story after story of some babies that have been born after years of pleadings. One young couple had been married eleven years, and still no children. Finally they started to plead and plead, as they\u2019ve never pled before, and it happened. The Lord holds back his answers sometimes for a very special reason, and that\u2019s so we\u2019ll be tested and tried and our faith will be strengthened.<\/p>\n
The Lord bless you, brothers and sisters. The Lord bless you to get a glimpse of the glory that is available to all the children of our Father in heaven. But you have to do your part to get that glimpse of glory. I want to testify to you that whatever effort it takes to live righteously, whatever effort it takes to say no at the right time or to say yes at the right time, it\u2019s worth it. I testify to you that Jesus is the Christ, that he really does live, and that this is his Church. I know this without any reservations. I pray that you\u2019ll have the blessings that will sustain you as your testimony is strengthened, that you might have the happiness that will come to those who are faithful and devoted to our Father in heaven, in the name of Jesus Christ. amen.<\/p>\n
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