Brethren, we are grateful for your attendance this evening.
We likewise thank the father-and-son choir,
Brother Mendenhall, and Brothers Unsworth and Christiansen
for the inspiring music they have provided,
and acknowledge all those who have
assisted in preparing for these proceedings in any way.
The concluding speaker for this session
will be President Thomas S. Monson.
Following his remarks, the choir will close this meeting
by singing "We'll Bring the World His Truth."
The benediction will then be offered by Brother Stephen W.
Owen, Young Men general president.
President.
My beloved brethren, how good it is to be with you once again.
We have been inspired this evening
by the words which we have heard.
I pray that I, too, will be guided in what I say.
My message to you tonight is straightforward.
It is this: keep the commandments.
God's commandments are not given to frustrate or to become
obstacles to our happiness.
Just the opposite is true.
He who created us and who loves us perfectly
knows just what we need and when we need it
in order to obtain the greatest happiness possible.
He has provided us with guidelines
which, if we follow them, will see us safely
through this treacherous mortal journey.
We remember the words to the familiar hymn:
"Keep the commandments!
In this there is safety; in this there is peace."
Our Heavenly Father loves us enough to say,
Thou shalt not lie; thou shalt not steal;
thou shalt not commit adultery; thou shalt love thy neighbor
as thyself; and so on.
We know the commandments.
He understands that when we keep the commandments,
our lives will be happier, more fulfilling, and less
complicated.
Our challenges and problems will be easier to bear,
and we will receive His promised blessings.
But while He gives us laws and commandments,
He also allows us to choose whether to accept them
or to reject them.
Our decisions in this regard will determine our destiny.
I am confident that each of us has as his ultimate goal life
everlasting in the presence of our Heavenly Father
and His Son, Jesus Christ.
It is imperative, therefore, for us to make choices--make
choices throughout our lives that will lead us to this great
goal.
We know, however, that the adversary
is committed to our failure.
He and his hosts are relentless in their efforts
to thwart our righteous desires.
They represent a grave and constant threat
to our eternal salvation unless we are also
relentless in our determination and efforts
to achieve our goal.
The Apostle Peter warns us, "Be vigilant;
because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion,
walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."
Although there is no time in our lives
when we seem exempt from temptation,
you young men are at an age when you
may be particularly vulnerable.
Teenage years are often years of insecurity,
of feeling as though you don't measure up,
of trying to find your place with your peers,
and of trying to fit in.
You may be tempted to lower your standards
and follow the crowd in order to be accepted by those you desire
to have as your friends.
Please be strong, and be alert to anything that would rob you
of the blessings of eternity.
The choices you make here and now are forever important.
We read in 1 Corinthians: "There are ...
so many kinds of voices in the world."
We are surrounded by persuasive voices, beguiling voices,
belittling voices, sophisticated voices, and confusing voices.
I might add that these are loud voices.
I admonish you to turn the volume down
and to be influenced instead by that still, small voice which
will guide you to safety.
Remember that one with authority placed his hands on your head
after you were baptized, confirming
you a member of the Church and saying,
"Receive the Holy Ghost."
Open your hearts, even your very souls,
to the sound of that special voice which testifies of truth.
As the prophet Isaiah promised, "Thine ears shall hear a word
..., saying, This is the way, walk ye in it."
May we ever be in tune, that we might
hear this comforting, guiding voice which will keep us safe.
Disregard for the commandments has
opened the way for what I consider
to be the plagues of our day.
They include the plague of permissiveness,
the plague of pornography, the plague of drugs,
and the plague of abortion, to name just a few.
The scriptures tell us, and I quote,
that the adversary is "the founder of all these things."
We know that he is "the father of all lies, to deceive
and to blind men."
I plead with you to avoid anything
that will deprive you of your happiness
here in mortality and eternal life in the world to come.
With his deceptions and lies, the adversary
will lead you down a slippery slope to your destruction
if you allow him to do so.
You will likely be on that slippery slope
before you even realize that there is no way to stop.
You have heard the message of the adversary.
He cunningly calls: Just this once won't matter;
everyone is doing it; don't be old-fashioned;
times have changed; it can't hurt anyone;
your life is yours to live.
The adversary knows us, and he knows
the temptations which will be difficult for us to ignore.
How vital it is that we exercise constant vigilance in order
to avoid giving in to such lies and temptations.
Great courage will be required as we remain
faithful and true amid the ever-increasing pressures
and insidious influences with which we are surrounded
and which distort the truth, tear down
the good and the decent, and attempt
to substitute the man-made philosophies of the world.
If the commandments had been written by man, then
to change them by inclination or legislation
or by any other means would be the prerogative of man.
The commandments, however, were God-given.
Using our agency, we can set them aside.
We cannot, however, change them, just as we cannot change
the consequences which come from disobeying and breaking them.
May we realize that our greatest happiness in this life
will come as we follow God's commandments and obey His laws!
I love the words found in Isaiah chapter 32, verse 13:
"The work of righteousness shall be
peace; and the effect of righteousness quietness
and assurance for ever."
Such peace, such assurance can come only
through righteousness.
We cannot allow ourselves the slightest bit of leeway
in dealing with sin.
We cannot allow ourselves to believe that we can participate
"just a little" in disobeying the commandments of God,
for the sin can grab us with an iron hand from which it is
excruciatingly painful to free ourselves.
The addictions which can come from drugs, alcohol,
pornography, and immorality are real
and are nearly impossible to break without great struggle
and much help.
If any of you has stumbled in his journey,
I assure you that there is a way back.
The process is called repentance.
Although the path is difficult, your eternal salvation
depends on it.
What could be more worthy of your efforts?
I plead with you to determine right here
and now to take the steps necessary to fully repent.
The sooner you do so, the sooner you
will be able to experience the peace and the quietness
and the assurance spoken of by Isaiah.
A short while ago I heard the testimony of a woman
who, with her husband, strayed from the path of safety,
breaking commandments and, in the process, nearly
destroying their family.
When each of them could finally see
through the thick haze of addiction
and recognize how unhappy their lives had become,
as well as how much they were hurting their loved ones,
they began to change.
The repentance process felt slow and was at times painful,
but with the help of priesthood leaders,
along with help from family and loyal friends,
they made their way back.
I share with you a portion of this sister's testimony
of the healing power of repentance: "How does someone
go from being one of the lost sheep
and gripped by [sin], to this peace and happiness
we now feel?
How does that happen?
The answer ... is because of a perfect gospel, a perfect Son,
and His sacrifice for me.
...
Where there was darkness, there is now light.
Where there was despair and pain, there is joy and hope.
We have been infinitely blessed by the change that can
[come only] through repentance made possible
by the Atonement of Jesus Christ."
Our Savior died to provide you and me that blessed gift.
Despite the fact that the path is difficult,
the promise is real.
Said the Lord to those who repent:
"Though your sins be as scarlet, they
shall be as white as snow."
"And I will remember [them] no more."
Throughout our lives we will need
to nurture strong testimonies by studying the scriptures
and by praying and by pondering the truths
of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
When firmly planted, our testimonies
of the gospel, of the Savior, and of our Heavenly Father
will influence all that we do.
I testify that all of us are beloved sons of our Father
in Heaven, sent to earth at this day and time for a purpose,
and given the priesthood of God so
that we can serve others and perform God's work here
upon the earth.
We have been commanded to live our lives so
that we remain worthy to possess that priesthood.
My brethren, may we keep the commandments!
Wonderful and glorious are the rewards which
are in store for us if we do.
May this be our blessing, I pray in the name
of Jesus Christ, our Savior and our Redeemer, amen.