Maintaining a fast-paced schedule, President Gordon B. Hinckley delivered three addresses on a blustery, snowy Sabbath, April 14, as he met with 4,850 young adults and youth in Colorado.

Elder David B. Haight of the Quorum of the Twelve joined with President Hinckley in speaking to 1,150 young adults at a "morningside" in Colorado Springs, Colo.; at an afternoon meeting attended by 1,700 young men and young women in the Denver Colorado Stake Center; and at an evening fireside attended by 2,000 youth in the Denver Colorado Willow Creek Stake Center. Elder William R. Bradford of the Seventy, who is president of the North America Central Area, joined President Hinckley and Elder Haight in addressing the youth in Denver.President Hinckley and Elder Haight were accompanied by their wives, Sister Marjorie P. Hinckley and Sister Ruby O. Haight, who offered remarks at all three meetings.

Sub-freezing temperatures put a bitter nip in the air as President Hinckley arrived for the 9 a.m. meeting with the young adults, but the warmth of his visit seemed to melt away the coldness of elements. The cold weather did not seem to deter any who attended. Many who went to the morning meeting were en route before dawn, and a line began forming at 2 p.m. for the fireside at 7 p.m. The young adults and youth seemed to hang on to every word President Hinckley spoke, and responded with smiles and laughter at his quick wit and keen sense of humor.

In one meeting, President Hinckley said: "Elder Haight and I are the two oldest of the General Authorities; we are the most elderly of the elders. . . . Age is more a matter of how you feel, how you think, what's going on in your head than what's going on in your feet. Although I wouldn't want to be challenged to a foot race!"

At the morning meeting in Colorado Springs, he noted the presence of cadets dressed in uniforms of the nearby Air Force Academy who were singing in a specially assembled chorus. "It's like the blue-jay choir," he commented.

The day-long visit to Colorado was somewhat of a homecoming for President and Sister Hinckley, who had lived in Denver for a time during World War II, when he worked for the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad. He reminisced about some of his experiences from that period of time in his life.

Highlights of President Hinckley's messages to the young adults and youth included:

- "The Lord wants us to be happy. Nephi said a great thing: `And . . . we lived after the manner of happiness.' (2 Ne. 5:27.) What a wonderful thing. I want my children to be happy. I want them to do well. I want them to live well and live rightly, properly; and, in the same way, except that my Father in Heaven's love reaches beyond any power of love that I have. I think He wants His sons and daughters to be happy. Happiness comes of righteousness. `Wickedness never was happiness.' (Alma 41:10.) Sin never was happiness. Selfishness never was happiness. Greed never was happiness. Happiness lies in living the principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ."

- "Choose the right." President Hinckley said little choices can produce big results. "Every man who became an alcoholic, every man who became a drunkard started with a first drink. It is the same with drugs. I hope nobody here is on drugs. I hope no one takes illegal drugs. How foolish can you be to take illegal drugs, really. They do not help you in any way. They hurt you. They make the dealers rich. They make you poor and weak. They shorten your life. They take away your control of yourself. What a crazy thing to do, when all is said and done. I hope never, never, never would one of you participate in partaking of illegal drugs, not one of you. Now, if you have done it, get hold of yourselves, get control of yourself, stop it and seek help, get them behind you. You must do so. It is very, very important that you do so."

- "You are children of a noble birthright. You have a special place in the plan of the Lord because you have accepted the gospel, you have been baptized, you partake of the sacrament. You take upon yourselves each Sunday a renewal of your pledge and covenant to take upon yourselves the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. Did you ever think of that, of how important that is, of what it means to take upon yourselves the name of the Lord Jesus Christ with a pledge and a promise to keep His commandments? And He makes a pledge and a promise to you that He will give you His Spirit to be with you. What a wonderful thing that is."

- "Stand your ground, stand on high ground. Don't let yourselves slip down into sloppy ways, sloppy language, sloppy dress, uncouth manners."

- "Young men, shape up, stand tall, get ready, prepare yourselves

for missionary serviceT. It is coming, not as a duty, although it is a duty, but as an opportunity to bless others and in the process to bless your own lives, because that is exactly what will happen as you forget yourself in the service of others."

- "Young women, what a great future there is for you if you will just walk the right way. You are wonderful and have within you the potential to do great and marvelous and good things. Don't let anyone stop you, don't let anybody get in the way of you, don't get sidetracked on some . . . venture of one kind or another that might injure you and hurt you. Do what is right, let the consequences follow. If things get going the wrong way at a party you are attending, walk out, say goodbye. Stand tall, do what is right, count on the Lord and He will bless you in a wonderful way."

- "Be not afraid. When I went on my mission more than 60 years ago, my father handed me a card as I left. He had written on it a little quotation. It contained the words of the Lord, who had received news of the death of the daughter of the centurion, and the Savior said, `Be not afraid, only believe.' (See Luke 8:50.) Believe in God, who can help you and will help you. Believe in the Lord Jesus Christ, who stands as your Savior to lift you and help you, in whose name we pray to the Father. It was He who said, `Ask and ye shall receive, seek and ye shall find, knock and it shall be opened unto you.' (See D&C 88:63.) That is a promise to each of us."

- "Believe in God, the Father of us all. You are His child and He loves you as His child. He is interested in you. He is concerned about you. He wants you to be the very best you can be. He wants you to make something of your life. He wants you to be upright and true and honest and straightforward and clean and decent. He wants to bless you. If you live your lives in such as way as to be worthy of His blessings, He will bless you and you don't need to worry about the forces of the world, the evil that is everywhere."

- "Believe in yourselves and in your capacity to do something worthwhile. God gave you a mind and a brain and a spirit and a body with which to do your work through this life. You have tremendous capacity. You don't have to be a genius to do something worthwhile in the world. The work of the world is done by ordinary people who have learned to work in an extraordinary way. That is what makes the difference."

- "Believe in prayer and in the power and majesty of prayer. . . . You know there is validity to prayer. This great work which is spreading over the earth found its roots in the prayer of a boy."

- "Believe in goodness. There is so much of evil in this world. It is everywhere - television, books, magazines, videos. Too much of it, tons of it. Do not sit around watching videos of a sleazy nature. They won't help you. They will hurt you. You can become addicted to those things and they will destroy you. I have seen it in the lives of a good many people."

- "Believe in virtue. There is nothing in this world so beautiful as a young woman of virtue and nothing in this world more manly than a young man of virtue. `Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly.' That is the commandment. Then He makes a promise, a marvelous promise, a wonderful promise. `Then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God.' (D&C 121:45.)

"Many years ago, when President David O. McKay was an elderly man and had difficulty getting around, he gave me an assignment and I fulfilled it the best way I knew how, and I went to make a report to him. After I had made my report, he reached out his hand and took my hand and thanked me for what I had done. I left him after that and as I was walking back to the office I said to myself, `What a wonderful thing to stand without embarrassment or shame and with confidence in the presence of President David O. McKay.' Then these words came to me, I remembered them as I thought of that, and I said to myself, `How much more worth to stand without embarrassment or shame and with confidence in the presence of God.' That will be our privilege, I believe with all my heart, if we will live lives of virtue."