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B El e neil L. a e seOf the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

M y beloved brothers and sistersacross the world, I express mydeep admiration or the aithand courage I see in your lives. Welive in a most remarkable timebut achallenging time.

the L ale s us d ge s ahe The Lord has not le t us alone in

our quest to return to Him. Listen toHis warning words alerting us to thedangers ahead: Take . . . heed, watchand pray. 1 Beware lest ye . . . bedeceived. 2 Be watch ul and care ul.3 Beware lest ye also . . . all rom yourown sted astness. 4

No one o us is immune rom theinfuences o the world. The Lordscounsel keeps us on guard.

You will remember Jesuss experi-ence in Capernaum as disciples whohad ollowed the Savior would not

accept that He was the Son o God. The scripture reads, From that timemany o his disciples . . . walked nomore with him. 5

Jesus then turned to the Twelveand asked, Will ye also go away? 6

Will ye als G aw ?In my own mind I have answered

that question many times: Absolutelynot! Not me! I will never leave Him!

I am here orever! I know you haveanswered the same way.

But the question Will ye also goaway? makes us think about ourown vulnerability. Li e is no spiritualpicnic. The words o the Apostles romanother setting come quietly into ourmind: Lord, is it I?7

We enter the waters o baptism with joy and anticipation. The Saviorbeckons, Come unto me, 8 and werespond, taking His name upon us. Notone o us wants this journey to be abrie firtation with spirituality or evena notable but nite chapter. The roado discipleship is not or the spiritually

aint o heart. Jesus said: Thou shaltlove the Lord thy God with all thyheart, and with all thy soul, and with allthy mind. 9 Whosoever will come a terme, let him deny himsel , and take uphis cross, and ollow me. 10

As we ollow the Savior, withoutquestion there will be challenges thatcon ront us. Approached with aith,these re ning experiences bring adeeper conversion o the Saviorsreality. Approached in a worldly way,these same experiences cloud our

view and weaken our resolve. Some we love and admire slip rom the straitand narrow path and [walk] no more

with him.

H w d We rem i t e?How do we remain true to the

Savior, His gospel, and the ordi-nances o His priesthood? How do wedevelop the aith and strength to neverleave Him?

Jesus said, Except ye be con- verted, and become as little children, ye shall not enter into the kingdomo heaven.11 We need the believingheart o a child.

Through the power o His Atonement, we are to become asa child, submissive, meek, humble,patient, ull o love, willing to submitto all things which the Lord seeth tto infict upon [us], even as a childdoth submit to his ather. 12 This is themighty change o heart. 13

We soon see why a change o heartis necessary. Two words signal dangerahead: the words are offended andashamed.

Ch se n Be offe e To those troubled by the Saviors

divinity, Jesus asked, Doth this o end you?14 In the parable o the sower, Jesus warned, He . . . [endureth] or a while: [but] when tribulation or perse-cution ariseth because o the word, byand by he is o ended. 15

O ense comes in many costumesand continually nds its way onstage.People we believe in disappoint us. Wehave unanticipated di culties. Our li edoesnt turn out exactly the way we

were expecting. We make mistakes,eel unworthy, and worry about beingorgiven. We wonder about a doctrinal

issue. We learn o something spokenrom a Church pulpit 150 years ago that

bothers us. Our children are treatedun airly. We are ignored or under-appreciated. It could be a hundredthings, each very real to us at the time. 16

In our weakened moments, theadversary seeks to steal our spiritual

Never Leave Him As you choose not to be offended or ashamed, you will feel His love and approval. You will know that you are becoming more like Him.

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Will we be astonished at times tosee the anger a ew eel toward theLords Church and their e orts to stealthe struggling aith o the weak? 36 Yes.But this will not deter the growth ordestiny o the Church, nor need itimpede the spiritual progress o each o us as disciples o the Lord Jesus Christ.

Never Leave HimI love these words rom a avorite

hymn:

The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose

I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;That soul, though all hell should

endeavor to shake, Ill never, no never, Ill never, no never,

Ill never, no never, no never forsake! 37

Per ection does not come in thisli e, but we exercise aith in the Lord

Jesus Christ and keep our covenants.President Monson has promised, Yourtestimony, when constantly nourished,

will keep you sa e. 38 We push ourspiritual roots deep, easting dailyon the words o Christ in the scrip-tures. We trust in the words o living

Latter-day Saints, having a witness o His reality not only rom the Bible butalso rom the Book o Mormon; know-ing His priesthood has been restoredto the earth; having made sacredcovenants to ollow Him and receivedthe gi t o the Holy Ghost; havingbeen endowed with power in His holytemple; and being part o preparing

or His glorious return to the earth, wecannot compare what we are to be

with those who have not yet receivedthese truths. Unto whom much isgiven much is required. 33

The Lord said, Thou mayestchoose or thysel .34

I promise you, as you choose notto be o ended or ashamed, you will

eel His love and approval. You will

know that you are becoming morelike Him. 35

Will we understand everything? O course not. We will put some issueson the shel to be understood at alater time.

Will everything be air? It will not. We will accept some things we cannotfx and orgive others when it hurts.

Will we eel separated on occasionrom those around us? Absolutely.

becoming public with his aith andhelping to register the Church in thecity o Dnipropetrovsk. It was at atime o uncertainty in Ukraine, andopenly showing aith in Christ andin the restored gospel could meandi fculty, including the possibility o losing his job as a pilot.

The priesthood leader told us, Iprayed and prayed. I had a testimony,and I had made a covenant. I knew

what the Lord wanted me to do. 31 Courageously, he and his wi e went

orward with aith, unashamed o thegospel o Jesus Christ.

Where Much Is Given, Much Is RequiredSome ask, Do I have to be so

di erent rom others? Cant I be a

disciple o Christ without thinking somuch about my behavior? Cant Ilove Christ without keeping the lawo chastity? Cant I love Him and do

what I want on Sunday? Jesus gavea simple answer: I ye love me, keepmy commandments. 32

Some ask, Arent there many o other aiths who love Christ? O course there are! However, as mem-bers o The Church o Jesus Christ o

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instead of looking over into that spaciousbuilding, we are, in effect, living inside of it (Finding Ourselves in Lehis Dream,

Liahona, Aug. 2010, 29; Ensign, Aug.2010, 23).

28. In the same talk, President Thomas S.Monson said, The great and spaciousbuilding in Lehis vision representsthose in the world who mock Gods

word and who ridicule those whoembrace it and who love the Savior and live the commandments (May YouHave Courage, Liahona and Ensign, May 2009, 126).

29. 1 Nephi 8:33.30. 2 Timothy 1:78.31. From personal conversation and from a

translated excerpt of an oral history by Alexander Davydov, recorded July 16, 2010.

32. John 14:15.33. Doctrine and Covenants 82:3.34. Moses 3:17.35. See 1 Nephi 19:9.36. See 2 Nephi 28:20.37. How Firm a Foundation, Hymns, no. 85.38. Thomas S. Monson, Liahona and Ensign,

May 2009, 126.39. John 6:67.40. John 6:6869.

7. Matthew 26:22.8. 3 Nephi 9:14.9. Matthew 22:37.

10. Mark 8:34.11. Matthew 18:3; see also Mark 10:15; Luke

18:17; 3 Nephi 9:22; 11:3738.12. Mosiah 3:19.13. See Alma 5:14.14. John 6:61.15. Matthew 13:21.16. See David A. Bednar, And Nothing Shall

Offend Them, Liahona and Ensign, Nov.2006, 8992.

17. Joseph Smith, in Autobiography of Parley P. Pratt, ed. Parley P. Pratt Jr. (1938), 118.

18. In History of the Church, 3:46, footnote.19. Frederick G. Williams, Frederick Granger

Williams of the First Presidency of theChurch, BYU Studies, vol. 12, no. 3(1972): 261.

20. 1 Nephi 8:24.21. 1 Nephi 11:25.22. 1 Nephi 8:12.23. 1 Nephi 8:2627; see also verse 33.24. See 1 Nephi 11:3536; 12:1819.25. 1 Nephi 8:33.26. 1 Nephi 8:28; emphasis added.27. President Boyd K. Packer said, Largely

because of television [and the Internet],

prophets, placed be ore us to show usthe way. We pray and pray and listento the quiet voice o the Holy Ghostthat leads us along and speaks peaceto our soul. Whatever challenges arise,

we never, never leave Him. The Savior asked His Apostles,

Will ye also go away? 39Peter answered:Lord, to whom shall we go? thou

hast the words o eternal li e.. . . We believe and are sure that

thou art that Christ, the Son o theliving God. 40

I too have that witness. I so testi yin the name o Jesus Christ, amen. Notes

1. Mark 13:33.2. Doctrine and Covenants 46:8.3. Doctrine and Covenants 42:76.4. 2 Peter 3:17.5. John 6:66.6. John 6:67.