Speaking more personally to the youth than he usually does.
When World War II broke out there was great uncertainty for young people. “We were not sure what to do but we knew to get married and have children.”
We have so many young people not following that plan because of economic uncertainty today.
As he was told in his patriarchal blessing, if we heed the promptings of the Spirit they will warn us of danger and we will be safe.
With all that is going on in the world, with the lowering of moral standards, you young people are being raised in enemy territory. Note that it is the lowering standards not the fact of people outside the church that make it enemy territory. Truthfully there are a few members that are more enemies than most non-members.
{With the outbreak of World War II when I was 17} All at once our future was uncertain. We did not know what was ahead. Would we live to get married and have a family?
Today there are “wars and rumors of wars, and the whole earth [is] in commotion.” You, our youth, may feel uncertainty and insecurity in your lives. I want to counsel you and teach you and give you a warning about some things to do and some things not to do.
The gospel plan is “the great plan of happiness.” The family is the center of that plan. The family depends on the worthy use of those life-giving powers that are in your body.
I wonder if anyone who has not started their own family really understands that.
I did not then have a firm testimony that the gospel was true, but I knew that my seminary teachers, Abel S. Rich and John P. Lillywhite, knew it was true. I had heard them testify, and I believed them. I thought to myself, “I will lean on their testimonies until I gain one of my own.” And so it was.
I had heard about patriarchal blessings but had not received one. In each stake there is an ordained patriarch who has the spirit of prophecy and the spirit of revelation. He is authorized to give personal and private blessings to those who come recommended by their bishops. I wrote to my bishop for a recommend.
J. Roland Sandstrom was the ordained patriarch living in the Santa Ana stake. He knew nothing about me and had never seen me before, but he gave me my blessing. In it I found answers and instruction.
While patriarchal blessings are very private, I will share a short quote from mine: “You shall be guided through the whisperings of the Holy Spirit and you shall be warned of dangers. If you heed those warnings, our Heavenly Father will bless you so that you might again be united with your loved ones.”
It is not expected that you go through life without making mistakes, but you will not make a major mistake without first being warned by the promptings of the Spirit. This promise applies to all members of the Church.
If the adversary should take you prisoner due to misconduct, I remind you that you hold the key that will unlock the prison door from the inside. You can be washed clean through the atoning sacrifice of the Savior Jesus Christ.
You may in time of trouble think that you are not worth saving because you have made mistakes, big or little, and you think you are now lost. That is never true! Only repentance can heal what hurts. But repentance can heal what hurts, no matter what it is.
If you are slipping into things that you should not slip into or if you are associating with people who are pulling you away in the wrong direction, that is the time to assert your independence, your agency. Listen to the voice of the Spirit, and you will not be led astray.
I say again that youth today are being raised in enemy territory with a declining standard of morality. But as a servant of the Lord, I promise that you will be protected and shielded from the attacks of the adversary if you will heed the promptings that come from the Holy Spirit.
The strength of my testimony has changed since I felt a need to lean on the testimonies of my seminary teachers. Today I lean on others when I walk due to age and childhood polio but not from doubts regarding spiritual matters. I have come to believe, to understand, and to know the precious truths of the gospel and of the Savior Jesus Christ.
The scriptures require that the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve work in councils and that the decisions of those councils be unanimous. And so it is. We trust the Lord to guide the way and seek only to do His will. We know that He has placed a great deal of trust in us, individually and collectively.
Sometimes you might be tempted to think as I did from time to time in my youth: “The way things are going, the world’s going to be over with. The end of the world is going to come before I get to where I should be.” Not so! You can look forward to doing it right—getting married, having a family, seeing your children and grandchildren, maybe even great-grandchildren.
there are two ways that this is true. First, no matter how little time is left you can look forward to doing it right even if it turns out that there is no time to actually take the steps of getting married and having posterity. Second, even if the second coming were tomorrow the end of the world would be centuries in the future so there would be plenty of time to “do it right” by getting married and raising a family.
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