Elder Holland gave a talk called Terror, Triumph, and a Wedding Feast at a CES Fireside a while back. His words have rested on me for days. I just need to share them with you.
First of all, Terror: We live in a world that is “Terrible”, and there is certainly reason to fear. All of us are at risk; many couples are questioning the permanence of marriage; or even to bring children into this violent world. But Elder Holland says, “We must never, in any age or circumstance, let fear and the father of fear (Satan himself) divert us from our faith and faithful living.” We can’t let fear paralyze us, because we have much work to do.
Triumph: In Jesus Christ’s last counsel to his disciples, He said, “These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world.” (John 16:33) Sometimes, after reading the newspaper, watching the news, or looking down the city street, we forget that ultimately Christ will triumph, for He already has. We need to stay on the path that leads to the Savior of the World.
The following quotes speak to me in terms of what Relief Society sisters must be about.
President Woodruff said, “The Almighty is with this people. We shall have all the revelations that we will need, if we will do our duty and obey the commandments of God…I want to do my duty. I want the Latter-day Saints to do their duty…Their responsibility is great and mighty. The eyes of God and all the holy prophets are watching us. This is the great dispensation that has been spoken of ever since the world began. We are gathered together…We are doing the work of God…Let us fill our mission.”
Pres. Hinckley said, “We of this generation are the end harvest of all that has gone before. It is not enough to simply be known as a member of this Church. A solemn obligation rests upon us. Let us face it and work at it. We must live as true followers of the Christ, with charity toward all, returning good for evil, teaching by example the ways of the Lord, and accomplishing the vast service He has outlined for us…we have been brought forth in this unique and remarkable season. Be grateful, and above all be faithful.”
Then Elder Holland comments, “It is interesting to me that in those two quotations, separated in time by more than a hundred years, our prophets have focused not on the terror of the times in which…we are all living. Instead, they felt to speak of the opportunity and blessing, and above all the responsibility, to seize the privileges afforded us in this, the greatest of all dispensations.”
After so much apostasy, destruction, and darkness, Elder Holland theorizes, “that those great men and women, the leaders in those ages past, were able to keep going, to keep testifying, to keep trying to do their best not because they knew that THEY would succeed but because they knew that YOU would. There would finally be one dispensation that would not fail; ours, not theirs, was the day that caused them to sing and prophesy of victory.”
The Wedding Feast will be our Victory Party. The world depends on us to be there; in fact, to organize it, send out the invitations, and invite all those awaiting the good news.
So how do we be faithful? Elder Holland says, “When Christ comes, the members of His church MUST look and act like members of His church are SUPPOSED to look and act if we are to be acceptable to Him.”
President J. Reuben Clark Jr. says, “Our faith must NOT be difficult to detect.”
President Gordon B. Hinckley says, “It is not enough…to simply be known as a member of this Church…We must live as true followers of…Christ.”
Relief Society is indeed a serious work. We have much responsibility resting on our shoulders in bringing His lost sheep back into the fold from every corner of our jurisdiction. Should we fear? Should we grumble? No. Our work is cheerful, happy, inviting, loving, and everlasting.
This talk was given at a CES fireside on September 12, 2004, and can be found at www.lds.org.