Good Morning, Good Afternoon, Good Evening,
this post should take three to five minutes to read from start to finish.
Elder Hales mentioned; "Dwelling in the world is part of our mortal test. The challenge is to live in the world yet not partake of the world’s temptations which will lead us away from our spiritual goals. ... Our surrender could cause the loss of souls who respect us in this generation. Our capitulation to temptation could affect children and families for generations to come.
The Lord has called young men to be missionaries. Missionaries are not sent just to have friends and families bid them good-bye. They are called to serve an honorable mission and return home with honor. ... They develop patience in overcoming trials and tribulations which surely will come. They are humble enough to learn new skills and have a determination to endure to the end. No matter what a missionary sacrifices to go on a mission, he must be obedient on his mission to receive the blessings that are rightfully his. Some may say, “How can I be a missionary and endure to the end?
A missionary faces many challenges that he has not dealt with previously. Giving the best he knows when he arrives will not fulfill the calling. Enduring requires doing better than your best of today by developing additional gifts as granted from the Lord. It takes faith to listen to the Lord and to mission leaders and learn how to accomplish whatever missionaries are called to do. Of course, it is difficult. ... We must recognize who we are and achieve our ultimate purpose.
We must then resolve to overcome all obstacles with great determination to endure to the end. When we take an assignment, we have to think, “I will learn how to accomplish this task by all honorable means, by doing it the
Lord’s way. I will study, ask questions, search, and pray. I have the potential to keep learning. I am not finished until the assignment is completed.” This is enduring to the end: seeing things through to completion. There is more to endurance than just surviving and waiting for the end to overtake us. To endure to the end takes great faith. ... It takes great faith and courage to pray to our Heavenly Father, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
The faith to believe in the Lord and endure brings great strength. Some may say if we have enough faith, we can sometimes change the circumstances that are causing our trials and tribulations. Is our faith to change circumstances, or is it to endure them? Faithful prayers may be offered to change or moderate events in
our life, but we must always remember that when concluding each prayer ...
This post focuses on a April 1998 General Conference talk, and it is called "Behold, We Count Them Happy Which Endure" by Elder Robert D. Hales. This post is part two. I would like to share with you some highlights while I was reading the talk, and I hope that you would be able to learn something new as you read through this post.
The Church is not built in one generation. The sound growth of the Church takes hold over three and four generations of faithful Saints. Passing the fortitude of faith to endure to the end from one generation to the next generation is a divine gift of unmeasured blessings to our progeny. Also, we cannot endure to the end alone. It is important that we help by lifting and strengthening one another. We are taught in the scriptures that there must be opposition in all things (see 2 Nephi. 2:11).
It is not a question of if we are ready for the tests; it is a matter of when. We must prepare to be ready for tests that will present themselves without warning. The basic requirements for enduring to the end include knowing who we are, children of God with a desire to return to His presence after mortality; understanding the purpose of life, to endure to the end and obtain eternal life; and living obediently with a desire and a determination to endure all things, having eternal vision. Eternal vision allows us to overcome opposition in our temporal state and, ultimately, achieve the promised rewards and blessings of eternal life.
It is not a question of if we are ready for the tests; it is a matter of when. We must prepare to be ready for tests that will present themselves without warning. The basic requirements for enduring to the end include knowing who we are, children of God with a desire to return to His presence after mortality; understanding the purpose of life, to endure to the end and obtain eternal life; and living obediently with a desire and a determination to endure all things, having eternal vision. Eternal vision allows us to overcome opposition in our temporal state and, ultimately, achieve the promised rewards and blessings of eternal life.
If we are patient in our afflictions, endure them well, and wait upon the Lord to learn the lessons of mortality, the Lord will be with us to strengthen us unto the end of our days: “He that shall [faithfully] endure unto the end, the same shall be saved” (Mark 13:13) and return with honor to our Heavenly Father. We learn to endure to the end by learning to finish our current responsibilities, and we simply continue doing it all of our lives. We cannot expect to learn endurance in our later years if we have developed the habit of quitting when things get difficult now. Enduring to the end applies to all God’s commandments.
The Lord has called young men to be missionaries. Missionaries are not sent just to have friends and families bid them good-bye. They are called to serve an honorable mission and return home with honor. ... They develop patience in overcoming trials and tribulations which surely will come. They are humble enough to learn new skills and have a determination to endure to the end. No matter what a missionary sacrifices to go on a mission, he must be obedient on his mission to receive the blessings that are rightfully his. Some may say, “How can I be a missionary and endure to the end?
 |
| "Endure and you shall triumph." - Thomas S. Monson. |
... The Lord doesn’t promise to remove our handicaps when we become missionaries; but by making the extra effort it will take, we develop more ability to cope with individual shortcomings, and that coping ability will be needed throughout our lives in our relationship with others, in our employment, and in our families.
Everyone has something they must learn to master. Some are just more obvious than others. When we serve as missionaries and the focus is off ourselves and on doing the Lord’s work and helping others, an opportunity for great growth and maturity occurs. When a young elder leaves the comfort of family and friends and masters the skills of functioning in the real world, he becomes a man and develops more faith in the Lord to guide him.
A missionary faces many challenges that he has not dealt with previously. Giving the best he knows when he arrives will not fulfill the calling. Enduring requires doing better than your best of today by developing additional gifts as granted from the Lord. It takes faith to listen to the Lord and to mission leaders and learn how to accomplish whatever missionaries are called to do. Of course, it is difficult. ... We must recognize who we are and achieve our ultimate purpose.
We must then resolve to overcome all obstacles with great determination to endure to the end. When we take an assignment, we have to think, “I will learn how to accomplish this task by all honorable means, by doing it the
Lord’s way. I will study, ask questions, search, and pray. I have the potential to keep learning. I am not finished until the assignment is completed.” This is enduring to the end: seeing things through to completion. There is more to endurance than just surviving and waiting for the end to overtake us. To endure to the end takes great faith. ... It takes great faith and courage to pray to our Heavenly Father, “Not as I will, but as thou wilt.”
The faith to believe in the Lord and endure brings great strength. Some may say if we have enough faith, we can sometimes change the circumstances that are causing our trials and tribulations. Is our faith to change circumstances, or is it to endure them? Faithful prayers may be offered to change or moderate events in
our life, but we must always remember that when concluding each prayer ...
As we put our faith in the Lord and keep our focus on the eternities, we will be blessed to be able to accept whatever trial we are given, for life on earth, as we know it, is only temporary, and, if we endure it well, the Lord has promised us: “And, if you keep my commandments and endure to the end you shall have eternal life, which gift is the greatest of all the gifts of God” (D&C 14:7).
As individuals, we do not know when the end of mortality will come. We need to develop the ability to endure and complete our responsibilities of today, however difficult the days ahead may be. ... “Behold, we count them happy which endure” (James 5:11). There is nothing that we are enduring that Jesus does not understand, and He waits for us to go to our Heavenly Father in prayer. I testify that if we will be obedient and if we are diligent, our prayers will be answered, our problems will diminish, our fears will dissipate, light will come upon us, the darkness of despair will be dispersed, and we will be close to the Lord and feel of His love and of the comfort of the Holy Ghost. ..."
If you would like to read the whole talk now or in your own time, here's the link below.
www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1998/04/behold-we-count-them-happy-which-endure
If you would like to read the whole talk now or in your own time, here's the link below.
www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/1998/04/behold-we-count-them-happy-which-endure
Stay Tuned until next time.
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