Dear Elders and Sisters,
Sister Ostler and I want to thank you with all of our hearts for your hard work, your faith, your obedience, your sacrifice and your love for the Lord. We have finished the first few days of interviews for this transfer and we kneel down each night and thank Heavenly Father for sending you here. You may not realize how special you are, but you have sacrificed so much to come here and serve. You are studying and praying and working every day to bring the light of the gospel of Jesus Christ to people who so much need the happiness and peace and covenants of the church. Remember, every act of love is meaningful--even if it is rejected. Every prayer is meaningful--even if you do not see the answer immediately. Every act of obedience is meaningful--even if you feel that you are alone. God hears every one of your prayers. God sees every kind and selfless thing you do.
Each of you are on the path of becoming true disciples of Jesus Christ. This is a path--a footpath. It is not a trip on a jet plane or a superhighway or even a bicycle. It is a walking path that takes you through beautiful, pleasant places and times of great joy. And it is a walking path through rugged, painful terrain where you are humbled and required to become a man or woman of patience, love and strength. You are never alone, even when you may feel like you are. If you are faithful; if you repent and get up whenever you fall down; if you will trust the Lord; He will guide you along and bring you safely home.
There are no short cuts on this path. Everyone...Everyone who wants to become a true disciple of Christ walks this path. And it it worth every step.
In Helaman 3:29-30, Helaman teaches his sons: "Yea, we see that whosoever will may lay hold upon the word of God, which is quick and powerful, which shall divider asunder all the cunning and the snares and the wiles of the devil, and lead the man [or woman] of Christ in a strait and narrow course across that everlasting gulf of misery which is prepared to engulf the wicked--and land their souls...at the right hand of God..."
Elder Richard G. Scott taught: "The Lord is intent on your personal growth and development. That progress is accelerated when you willingly allow Him to lead you through every growth experience you encounter, whether initially it be to your individual liking or not. When you trust the Lord, when you are willing to let your heart and your mind be centered on His will, when you ask to be led by the Spirit to do His will, you are assured of the greatest happiness along the way and the most fulfilling attainment from this mortal experience. If you question everything you are asked to do, or dig in your heels at every unpleasant challenge, you make it harder for the Lord to bless you."
Sisters and Elders, be like those faithful sons of the other Helaman "they were all young men, and they were exceedingly valiant for courage, and also for strength and activity; but behold, this was not all--they were men who were true at all times in whatsoever things they were entrusted." (Alma 53:20)
May the Lord bless and strengthen you.
Mahal ko po kayo,
President Creg Ostler