Put 'one foot in front of the other' to reach spiritual heights
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Offering counsel to help one receive more joy and serenity during one's sojourn through mortal life, Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve related on Saturday afternoon the account of Erik Weihenemayer, a 33-year-old man who dreamed of climbing Mt. Everest. "But there is an important difference between Erik and every other climber who had attempted the ascent before: Erik is totally blind."
Despite his obstacles, Erik reached the summit of the highest mountain on earth. When asked how he did it, he responded that he kept thinking, "Just take each day step by step. . . .
"Like Erik, we may have obstacles that hold us back," Elder Wirthlin said. "We may even make excuses why we can't do what we want to do. Perhaps when we are tempted to justify our own lack of achievement, we can remember Erik who, in spite of having lost his sight, accomplished what many thought was impossible simply by continuing to put one foot in front of the other. . . .
"Sometimes we make the process more complicated than we need to. You will never make a journey of a thousand miles by fretting about how long it will take or how hard it will be. We make the journey by taking each day step by step and then repeating that again and again until we reach our destination.
"The same principle applies to how you and I can climb higher spiritually. Heavenly Father knows that we must begin our climb from where we are. 'When you climb up a ladder,' the Prophet Joseph Smith taught, 'you must begin at the bottom, and ascend step by step, until you arrive at the top; and so it is with the principles of the gospel — you must begin with the first, and go on until you learn all the principles of exaltation. But it will be a great while after you have passed through the veil before you will have learned them.'
"Our Heavenly Father loves each one of us and understands that this process of climbing higher takes preparation, time and commitment. He understands that we will make mistakes at times, that we will stumble, that we will become discouraged and perhaps even wish to give up and say to ourselves it is not worth the struggle.
"We know it is worth the effort, for the prize, which is eternal life, is 'the greatest of all the gifts of God.' (Doctrine and Covenants 14:7.) And to qualify, we must take one step after another and keep going to gain the spiritual heights we aspire to reach.
"An eternal principle is revealed in holy writ: 'It is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength. And again, it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize.' (Mosiah 4:27.)
"We don't have to be fast, we simply have to be steady and move in the right direction. We have to do the best we can, one step after another. . . .
"The only thing you need to worry about is striving to be the best you can be. And how do you do that? You keep your eye on the goals that matter most in life and you move towards them step by step. I know many feel that the path is hard and the way is dark. But like Erik, the courageous mountain climber, we are not left without a guide.
"We have scriptures that reveal the word of God to mankind through the ages. When we feast upon the word of God, we open our minds to eternal truths and our hearts to the gentle whisperings of the Holy Ghost. Truly God's word, through scriptures and modern-day prophets, is a 'lamp unto [our] feet and a light unto [our] path.' " (Psalm 119:105.)
