President Thomas S. Monson: 'Be of good cheer'
E-mail story
It's easy. Send a link to the story you were just reading to a friend. Just fill out the form on this page and we'll send it along.
Your name and e-mail address are transmitted to the recipient. Otherwise, it is considered private information; see Privacy policy.
It would be easy for Church members to become discouraged and cynical about the future — or even fearful of what might come — if they allowed themselves to dwell only on that which is wrong in the world and in their lives, said President Thomas S. Monson.
"Today, however, I'd like us to turn our thoughts and our attitudes away from the troubles around us and to focus instead on our blessings as members of the Church."
Speaking in the Sunday morning session, President Monson said since the Church last met together in a general conference six months ago, there have been continuing signs that circumstances in the world aren't necessarily as members would wish. "The global economy, which six months ago appeared to be sagging, seems to have taken a nose dive, and for many weeks now the financial outlook has been somewhat grim. In addition, the moral footings of society continue to slip while those who attempt to safeguard those footings are often ridiculed and, at times, picketed and persecuted. Wars, natural disasters and personal misfortunes continue to occur."
President Monson said no one makes its through life without problems, challenges and sometimes tragedies and misfortunes.
"How might we have joy in our lives, despite all that we may face?" he questioned.
The history of the Church in this dispensation of the fullness of times, he said, is replete with experiences of those who have struggled and yet who have remained steadfast and of good cheer as they have made the Gospel of Jesus Christ the center of their lives.
"This attitude is what will pull us through whatever comes our way. It will not remove our troubles from us but rather will enable us to face our challenges, to meet them head on and to emerge victorious."
Too numerous to mention are the examples of individuals who have faced difficult circumstances and yet who have persevered because of their faith in the gospel and in the Savior, said President Monson.
He mentioned three examples.
The first was about his maternal great-grandparents, Gibson and Cecelia Sharp Condie, who lived in Clackmannan, Scotland. Their families were engaged in coal mining when they met the missionaries and were converted.
"Sometime around 1848, they sold their possessions and prepared for the hazardous voyage across the mighty Atlantic Ocean. With five small children they boarded a sailing vessel, all their worldly possessions in one tiny trunk. They traveled 3,000 miles across the waters."
In the midst of the soul-trying situation, their young son became ill and died. "Wrapped in a canvas weighed down with iron, the little body was consigned to a watery grave. As they sailed away, only those parents knew the crushing blow dealt to wounded hearts."
However, with a faith borne of their deep conviction, they held on, he said. "How grateful I am for ancestors who had the faith to leave hearth and home and to journey to Zion, who made sacrifices I can scarcely imagine."
Next, President Monson told of Meli Mulipola, a Polynesian man who was blind.
"Brother Mulipola's vision had been normal until a fateful day when, while working on a pineapple plantation, light turned suddenly to darkness and day became perpetual night."
President Monson said the Polynesian man was depressed and despondent until he learned the good news of the Gospel.
When Brother Mulipola learned that President Monson was in the Pacific, he and his loved ones made a long voyage to meet him. "He sought a blessing, and it was my privilege, along with another who held the Melchizedek Priesthood, to provide that blessing to him. As we finished, I noted that tears were streaming from his sightless eyes, coursing down his brown cheeks and tumbling finally upon his native dress.
"He dropped to his knees and prayed: 'Oh God, thou knowest I am blind. Thy servants have blessed me that my sight may return. Whether in thy wisdom I see light or whether I see darkness all the days of my life, I will be eternally grateful for the truth of thy gospel which I now see and which provides the light of my life.' He rose to his feet and, smiling, thanked us for providing the blessing."
Finally, President Monson shared the account of a German Church member who lived in East Prussia following World War II. She lost her husband in the war, and occupying forces determined that the Germans in East Prussia must go to Western Germany to seek a new home. She began the more than 1,000-mile journey with her four children on foot in late summer.
"Having neither food nor money among her few possessions, she was forced to gather a daily subsistence from the fields and forests along the way."
As the days turned into weeks and then months, the temperatures dropped below freezing. Ultimately, death claimed all her children. As she dug a grave by hand in the frozen soil to bury her last child, her grief became unbearable, said President Monson.
"In this moment of overwhelming sorrow and complete bewilderment, she felt her heart would literally break." Then she knelt and "prayed more fervently than she had in her entire life."
President Monson said when she finally reached her destination she was emaciated, literally in the advanced stages of starvation. "In a Church meeting shortly thereafter, she bore a glorious testimony, stating that of all the ailing people in her saddened land, she was one of the happiest because she knew that God lived, that Jesus is the Christ, and that He died and was resurrected so that we might live again. She testified that she knew if she continued faithful and true to the end, she would be reunited with those she had lost and would be saved in the Celestial Kingdom of God."
President Monson concluded with his testimony that the promised blessings of Church members are beyond measure. "Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the Gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments," he said. "There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us.
"My beloved brothers and sisters, fear not. Be of good cheer. The future is as bright as your faith."
