In Sunday school we talked about the different levels or degrees of glory in the plan of salvation. There was a question in the lesson about what it means to be valiant in the testimony of Jesus Christ. The answer was an excerpt from a talk by Bruce R. McConkie in Oct 1974. It's long, but so wonderful:
"Now what does it mean to be valiant in the testimony of Jesus?
It is to be courageous and bold; to use all our strength, energy, and ability in the warfare with the world; to fight the good fight of faith. “Be strong and of a good courage,” the Lord commanded Joshua, and then specified that this strength and courage consisted of meditating upon and observing to do all that is written in the law of the Lord. (See Josh. 1:6–9.) The great cornerstone of valiance in the cause of righteousness is obedience to the whole law of the whole gospel.
To be valiant in the testimony of Jesus is to “come unto Christ, and be perfected in him”; it is to deny ourselves “of all ungodliness,” and “love God” with all our “might, mind and strength.” (Moro. 10:32.)
To be valiant in the testimony of Jesus is to believe in Christ and his gospel with unshakable conviction. It is to know of the verity and divinity of the Lord’s work on earth.
But this is not all. It is more than believing and knowing. We must be doers of the word and not hearers only. It is more than lip service; it is not simply confessing with the mouth the divine Sonship of the Savior. It is obedience and conformity and personal righteousness. “Not every one that saith unto me, Lord, Lord, shall enter into the kingdom of heaven; but he that doeth the will of my Father which is in heaven.” (Matt. 7:21.)
To be valiant in the testimony of Jesus is to “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men.” It is to “endure to the end.” (2 Ne. 31:20.) It is to live our religion, to practice what we preach, to keep the commandments. It is the manifestation of “pure religion” in the lives of men; it is visiting “the fatherless and widows in their affliction” and keeping ourselves “unspotted from the world.” (James 1:27.)
To be valiant in the testimony of Jesus is to bridle our passions, control our appetites, and rise above carnal and evil things. It is to overcome the world as did he who is our prototype and who himself was the most valiant of all our Father’s children. It is to be morally clean, to pay our tithes and offerings, to honor the Sabbath day, to pray with full purpose of heart, to lay our all upon the altar if called upon to do so.
To be valiant in the testimony of Jesus is to take the Lord’s side on every issue. It is to vote as he would vote. It is to think what he thinks, to believe what he believes, to say what he would say and do what he would do in the same situation. It is to have the mind of Christ and be one with him as he is one with his Father."
The whole talk is just amazing! It's titled Be Valiant in the Fight of Faith. I strongly recommend reading the whole thing. It's so amazing to me that words spoken in 1974 could be so true and relevant in 2013. Here is the link to the talk on lds.org: https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1974/10/be-valiant-in-the-fight-of-faith?lang=eng
The other thing to hit me this week has been with my cousin Elise who is on her mission in Kentucky. We are the best of best best best friends and our seperation isn't always easy. But, we do get to email back and forth every monday morning and it really helps me get through the coming week. Anyway, in her weekly emails sent on to dozens by her mom was this story:
"We were driving and we saw a guy in a wheelchair pushing him self up a big windy hill with construction going on and it was a busy hill. He had a bag on his lap and had crutches. Sis M said, turn around. I was like ok? And we turned around and offered to help push him up the hill.He said no, but we stayed behind him to protect him from the other cars trying to speed around him. Sister M and I were watching him struggle and I finally told her to get out of the car and push him the rest of the way up the hill. I couldn't believe what I was watching. He was working so hard and couldnt take a break or he would have rolled back down the hill. Sister M got out of the car and pushed him the rest of the way up the hill. She ran up that hill and pushed him till it went down hill again. While I was watching this whole thing I wanted to cry. I thought about how that is what the Savior does. We do all we can do and we work so hard and give it our all and then he takes over the rest. He literally pushes us to the top of the mountain until we can coast the rest of the way down. That moment I felt like a real representative of Jesus Christ. We are called to teach and preach but we were also called to be representatives of Christ and that is what we were doing. We ended up chasing him down and we got his info and the Spanish Elders are going to teach him. That was so amazing! I couldn't even believe it! What a miracle!"
Another story from her letter this week:
"Also we have a new investigator Brother Ray who is awesome! Our first lesson was rough. He was asking so many doctrinal questions and it was just not getting anywhere. He seemed a little bit defensive as well which was not great. We ended up leaving him with 2 Nephi 31 and 3rd Nephi 11-27 so that he could see the doctrine of Christ and match it with the bible. We checked in with him yesterday and he said, "The book is true!" We were so excited!!!! I couldn't believe it! He checked everything with the bible and couldn't find anything different and he got his answer."
Her whole mission has been filled with miracles and wonderful moments and I have been so blessed to hear them and know that my amazing cousin is doing such wonderful things.
I have seen people around me struggling lately and i know just what they need to turn their lives around: the gospel and love of our savior, Jesus Christ. I am so lucky to have this knowledge and to have the joy and love that i do from it. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints is true and it is wonderful! If you'd like to know more, you can visit lds.org or mormon.org
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