Decisions Determine Destiny ~ Part Two

Good Morning, or Good Afternoon, or Good Evening, 

this post should take approximately six minutes to read from start to finish. 

This post focuses on BYU Devotional in November 2005 and it is called "Decisions Determine Destiny" by President Thomas S. Monson. At the time of the Devotional, President Thomas S. Monson was the first counselor in the First Presidency. This post is part two, I would like to share with you some highlights

while I was reading the Devotional and I hope you would be able to learn something new while reading

this post. 

President Monson continues and he has the following; "My young friends, there is no royal road to salvation and exaltation. There is no royal road to success in any endeavor. The A grade is the result of each theme, each quiz, each class, each examination, each term paper. So each heartfelt prayer, each Church meeting attended, each worthy friend, each righteous decision, each act of service performed all precede that goal of eternal life.

... I thought of the truth “Ideals are like stars; you will not succeed in touching them with your hands. But ... you choose them as your guides, and following them you will reach your destiny.” What ideals, when followed, will bring to you those blessings you so much seek, even a quiet conscience, a peace-filled heart, a loving family, a contented home?

May I suggest these three: Choose your friends with caution.
Plan your future with purpose. Frame your life with faith.

First: Choose Your Friends with Caution

... Those persons whose friends married in the temple usually married in the temple, while those persons whose friends did not marry in the temple usually did not marry in the temple. ... We tend to become like those whom we admire. ... Associate with those who, like you, are planning not for temporary convenience, shallow goals, or narrow ambition but rather for those things that matter most - even eternal objectives. Inscribed on the east transept wall of Stanford University Memorial Church is the truth: “All that is not eternal [is] too short, [and] all that is not infinite [is] too small.”

Beyond your circle of earthly friends, I urge you to make a friend of your Heavenly Father. He stands ready
to answer the prayer of your heart. Being the Father of your spirit and having created you in His own image, knowing the end from the beginning, His wisdom will not fail and His counsel is ever true. Make a friend of Him. There is another important friend you should have, and that is the bishop of your ward. He has been called of God by prophecy and the laying on of hands by those who are in authority. He is entitled to heavenly help in providing you with counsel and guidance. Make a friend of him.

How well I remember the challenges confronting the youth in the ward over which I once presided as a bishop. One evening a lovely teenage girl came to my office with her boyfriend to talk things over with me. The two of them were very much in love ... As we counseled together, each made a pledge to the other to resist temptation and keep uppermost in their minds the goal of a temple marriage. I suggested a course of action to follow and then felt impressed to say: “If you ever find yourselves in a position of compromise and need additional strength, you
call me, regardless of the hour.”

One morning at 1:00 a.m., the telephone rang and a voice said: “Bishop, this is Susan. Remember how you asked me to call if I found myself being tempted? Well, Bishop, I’m in that situation.” I asked where she was, and she described a popular parking spot in the Salt Lake Valley. She and her fiancé had walked to a nearby phone
booth to make the call. The setting wasn’t ideal for providing counsel, but the need was great, and the
young couple was receptive. I won’t mention how often Susan called. 

However, when the mailman delivered her wedding announcement to our home and Sister Monson read, “Mr. and Mrs. Jones request the pleasure of your company at the wedding reception of their daughter, Susan,” she sighed, “Thank heaven!” When I noticed the small print at the bottom, which read, “Married in the Salt Lake Temple,” I said silently, “Thank heaven for the strength of Latter-day Saint youth.” Choose your friends with caution.

Second: Plan Your Future with Purpose

The great Thomas Carlyle said: “... Have a purpose in life, and, having it, throw such strength of mind and muscle into your work as God has given you.” ...  Some of you within the sound of my voice have already married; others are still seeking that special someone with whom you would want to spend eternity. 

For those of you in the latter category, in your quest for the man or woman of your dreams, you may well heed the counsel given by King Arthur ... King Arthur could well have been speaking to all of us when he declared, “We must not let our passions destroy our dreams.” ... Lucy lived the truth of the verse: "Dare to be a Mormon; Dare to stand alone. Dare to have a purpose firm, And dare to make it known." Plan your future with purpose.

Third: Frame Your Life with Faith

Amidst the confusion of the times, the conflicts of conscience, and the turmoil of daily living, an abiding faith becomes an anchor to our lives. Little children can give us interesting examples of faith. Some time ago I jotted down from one of our national magazines a short compilation of “Children’s Letters to God.” I found them most interesting.

... Jeff wrote: “Dear God, It is great the way you always get the stars in the right places. Why can’t you do that with the moon?” Joyce wrote: “Dear God, Thank you for the baby brother but what I prayed for was a puppy.” I like this one from Matthew the best: “Dear God, I read your book and I like it.” Then he asked, “I would like to write a book someday with the same kind of stories. Where do you get your ideas? Best wishes.”

True faith requires determination, and the kind of determination which is required is that set forth by a 21-year-old female college senior, who declared: "Our generation has been exposed, through every means of communication, to major and minor fears—the little threat of not finding a mate if one does not use a certain mouthwash or fear of non acceptance if one does not succumb to a low moral standard because it is “the nature of the beast.”

... I am old-fashioned enough to believe in God; to believe in the dignity and potential of His creature, man; and I am realistic, not idealistic, enough to know that I am not alone in these feelings. Some say that, unlike other generations, we have no mission in life - that everything has been handed to us. We have not been pampered but spiritually impoverished. ... I cannot live alone. Remember that faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other. Be firm in your faith.

... Though we may not necessarily forfeit our lives in service to our God, we can certainly demonstrate our love for Him by how well we serve Him. He who hears our silent prayers, He who observes our unheralded acts will reward us openly when the need comes. ... Frame your life with faith.

When you choose your friends with caution, plan your future with purpose, and frame your life with faith, you will merit the companionship of the Holy Spirit. You will have a perfect brightness of hope. You will testify through your own experience to the truth of the Lord’s promise: 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. [D&C 76:5–6]"

If you would like to read the whole BYU Devotional either now or in your own time, here is the link below.
https://speeches.byu.edu/talks/thomas-s-monson/decisions-determine-destiny/

Stay Tuned until next time.