Elder Neil L. Andersen's CES address: 'Preparing for your spiritual destiny'
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PROVO, UTAH
Using the story of the safe landing of a disabled airliner as a teaching tool during a Church Educational System fireside Sunday, Jan. 10, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve counseled young adults to prepare for their spiritual destiny.
Speaking to a congregation in the BYU Marriott Center and to thousands of other college-age young adults around the world by satellite broadcast and via the Internet, Elder Andersen recounted the story of a potentially disastrous U.S. Air flight on Jan. 15, 2009. Shortly after takeoff from New York's LaGuardia Airport, the jet encountered a flock of geese, many ingested into the engines, stopping them. The plane's pilot, Captain Chesley B. "Sully" Sullenberger, heroically glided the airliner to a safe landing on the Hudson River between Manhattan and New Jersey, saving the lives of 154 passengers and crew members as well as his own life.
Elder Andersen told the young adults their spiritual destiny relates to that flight in three ways.
First, he said, the flight's passengers had a life before and after their short, traumatic journey, and "likewise, this mortal life is not where we began nor is it where we will end. We are on a journey. The journey began a very long time ago in a pre-mortal state."
He added, "Just as our life began before our birth into mortality, our life does not end with the stopping of a heartbeat. We will continue on. Who you are, you, the distinct individual, you, will always be you."
Second, Elder Andersen told the young adults, "You are to be a spiritual captain in the Lord's cause with a specific mission to accomplish."
He explained, "You and I have a spiritual destiny, and it does not allow us to ride passively in the back of the plane traveling through mortality. … You were chosen and foreordained to have the gospel in your life and to be a leader in the cause of the restored gospel."
Just as Captain Sullenberger had long prepared to be the outstanding pilot he was, Elder Andersen told the young adults, they need to prepare for their spiritual destiny in the face of trials and obstacles.
"Spiritual preparation will uncover your own inner resources," he said, adding that the preparation includes such things as faith, obedience, prayer, scripture study and worthily preparing for and taking the sacrament.
Though, as with Captain Sullenberger, training cannot prepare for every situation, those who are prepared spiritually will have "personal revelation received through the gift of the Holy Ghost" to guide them through the unforeseen in accomplishing what needs to be done, Elder Andersen said.
He added, "Do not dismiss nor diminish the specific role and responsibility that has been given to you. You are to be a captain in the Lord's cause, charged with holding the banner of the restored gospel high."
Third, Elder Andersen said, "Your sacred duty is to return safely and bring many with you."
He said, "Much of your spiritual destiny will be etched in the lives of those you help spiritually. … We are to turn our lives outward, helping others to return to our Heavenly Father with us."
Drawing from Captain Sullenberger's words in his book, Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters, Elder Andersen related how the courageous pilot contemplated on the good that may yet be done not only by the 154 people he saved, but also "by their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren yet to be born."
Elder Andersen then told the young adults that their spouses and children are the first that they should be bring back, adding, "The spiritual effect of raising a righteous family is only understood as we look through our generations, to our grandchildren, great-grandchildren and beyond."
To illustrate, he spoke of Henry Arline who, living in Florida in 1898, at age 57, heard the missionaries preach. He and his family joined the Church and later traveled 2,000 miles to be sealed in the Salt Lake Temple. Henry remained faithful the rest of his life. His grandson, Bernard Williams, married Martha Aman who investigated the Church and was baptized. Elder Andersen continued, "Their little daughter was Kathy Williams who I met years later at BYU and begged her to be my wife. We now have four children and 13 grandchildren.
"I will forever be thankful for Kathy's righteous mother and her righteous great-grandfather who joined the Church and remained true and faithful all the rest of their lives. These two people never knew each other in mortality. They lived at different times. Yet they are captains in the Lord's cause, helping to bring our family with them because of their spiritual choices."
Elder Andersen closed by relating another airline story. He and his wife faced a series of obstacles trying to get home from Guatemala for an important appointment. Their flight from Guatemala arrived very late in Miami, leaving them only 30 minutes to get through customs, immigration and security to make it to a connecting flight. With determination, they pressed forward to the final obstacle — they arrived at the wrong concourse. Hundreds of yards from the gate where their plane could at that moment be closing its doors, they didn't give up.
"As we rounded the turn to Gate E-3, we heard them call our names," he said. "The door was still open. We made it."
Then he told the young adults, "Your spiritual destiny will have obstacles, delays and equipment malfunctions. There will be mistakes. You may wonder if you are going to make it. Don't be discouraged. You will also have moments of hope and faith as doors open and obstacles are overcome. Continue, persist. Above all, believe in Christ and learn to follow Him and His prophets. … As you do, I promise you, one day you will hear your name. You will make it."
