Thomas S. Monson - Dare to Stand Alone

President Monson shared the results of a Notre Dame survey off 230 young adults:

• Regarding questions about right and wrong, moral dilemmas and the meaning of life they did not even have the categories or vocabulary to respond well.
• When they were asked to describe a moral dilemma they had faced, two thirds could not answer or even explain what a moral dilemma was.
• Most said that moral choices are just a matter of individual taste. ‘It’s personal.’ or ‘It’s up to the individual. Who am I to say?’
• Rejecting authority, many went to the other extreme. ‘I would do what I thought made me happy or how I felt.I have no other way of knowing what to do but how I internally feel.’
• Opinion was that the majority of the young adults had “not been given the resources - by schools, institutions [or] families - to cultivate their moral intuitions.”

Those in that Priesthood Meeting should not have these struggles. We have been taught God’s laws and they are unchangeable. So his question to us in that meeting was; “Do we have the moral courage to stand firm for our beliefs, even if by so doing we must stand alone?”

In my experience, we all will be challenged in unexpected ways to stand firm when others are espousing or demonstrating another path. There are an infinite number of choices presented in even attractive ways, but almost always there is guidance to stand firm for the correct principle or doctrine when we are confronted with this type of moral question.

President Monson as a young navy recruit had to face a dilemma regarding the definition of being a Mormon. That would be a great story to use in a Family Home Evening or Home Teaching discussion as it demonstrates that we will not usually know when the decision will be required in a public setting but we should already know how to respond as he did.

We will all have opportunities to answer the question Elder Monson received one day in Dallas on a bus. “Is there anyone on this bus who knows anything more about the Mormons?” It will never be the same but we need to be ready with our answer. For this we are being prepared and sent throughout the world. That is were the Spirit will stand with us and we will know once again that it is true.

Henry B. Eyring - Preparation in the Priesthood: "I Need Your Help"

Returning home from our 23 month Senior Mission, my wife and I can look back and say “Yes we had been prepared” but before arriving in Brazil, we were not so sure. The foundations of experience were there and turned out to be needed in ways we could not anticipate. Now, facing a more complicated “assignment” of serving after this mission we are grateful for our past “preparation” in facing new challenges. So, Elder Eyring helpfully gives us a list of service we can consider wherever we are in this quest to receive the Second Comforter, which is to have the gift of eternal life with God.

• Being Teachers
• Wise and Loving Fathers
• Members of a Quorum
• Being Missionaries

How then does He prepare us for these areas of service?

1. “He calls people, young and old, who may appear to worldly eyes, and even to themselves, to be weak and simple.”
2. “The Lord has given us the opportunity to prepare by something He has called “the oath and covenant [of] the priesthood.”
3. Because of aging, “...service will become more challenging with time.” This natural occurrence “...will take more and more self-discipline every day of our lives.”

His examples of preparation can be referred to in this talk whenever we are called to be the preparers in whatever situation mentioned above we may find ourselves. The Lord needs our help and we need to prepare and be prepared when the opportunities are given.

Brother Eyring has a special gift that helps us when we hear him or read things he has written such as “Draw Closer to God.” He was prepared for his calling as an Apostle and is helping us be prepared to prepare others. Thank You Elder Eyring.