Friday, October 10, 2008

Great Reminder


I found the online transcript of Elder Ballard's most recent General Conference talk (see this entry):

"We are all needed to finish the work that was begun by those pioneering Saints over 175 years ago and carried out through the subsequent decades by faithful Saints of every generation. We need to believe as they believed. We need to work as they worked. We need to serve as they served. And we need to overcome as they overcame.

Of course, our challenges are different today, but they are no less demanding. Instead of angry mobs, we face those who constantly try to defame. Instead of extreme exposure and hardship, we face alcohol and drug abuse, pornography, all kinds of filth, sleaze, greed, dishonesty, and spiritual apathy. Instead of families being uprooted and torn from their homes, we see the institution of the family, including the divine institution of marriage, under attack as groups and individuals seek to define away the prominent and divine role of the family in society.

This is not to suggest that our challenges today are more severe than the challenges faced by those who have gone before us. They are just different. The Lord isn’t asking us to load up a handcart; He’s asking us to fortify our faith. He isn’t asking us to walk across a continent; He’s asking us to walk across the street to visit our neighbor. He isn’t asking us to give all of our worldly possessions to build a temple; He’s asking us to give of our means and our time despite the pressures of modern living to continue to build temples and then to attend regularly the temples already built. He isn’t asking us to die a martyr’s death; He’s asking us to live a disciple’s life."




4 comments:

Heidi said...

Thanks for posting this Care!

bribets said...

This one really stood out to me. I've often talked about this with others that we are fighting the spiritual fight...not the physical fight. We are watching people (loved ones) die spiritual rather than physically. Hold to the rod...

Carol said...

I love that last sentence!

Bobbi said...

One of many deeply moving passages from this conference. We are fighting a war, that is certain, and we need to step up our training and willingness to battle the enemy with truly good lives. Thanks, Care, for the reminder.