Good Morning or Good Afternoon or Good Evening, this post focuses on highlights of ab BYU (Brigham Young University) Devotional Speech and it's called "A Time to Choose" by Elder Thomas S. Monson in January 1973. He was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles at the time when he has shared this devotional speech. This post is part two. This post should take about five to seven minutes to read from start to finish.
Elder Monson has mentioned the following;
"Labor
Then, number three, I will labor. It’s not enough to wish, it’s not enough to dream, it’s not enough to promise, it’s not enough to pledge. Literally, we must do. ... And Nephi declared, “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded” (1 Ne. 3:7). It was James who summed up this lesson: “Be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves” (James 1:22).
No better example of laboring in the vineyard of God can be found than Elder LeGrand Richards, a special person in the hearts of all of the Latter-day Saints everywhere. ... Did you know, for example, that there is never a day when Elder Richards is free from pain, that his hip bothers him constantly? Did you know that he’s excused from kneeling in our prayers but never accepts the excuse, that he kneels right with everyone else, although one can tell from his face that it brings him physical pain?
And then, at the conclusion of the prayer, one will be on one side and one of us on the other, and we’ll lift him to his feet, and he’ll thank us. Each week he’s out to a conference in the far reaches of the Church, building and lifting, obedient to the counsel of the apostle Peter. “Be ready always,” said he, “to give…every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you” (1 Pet. 3:15).
How many people can trace their membership in the Church to an introduction from Elder LeGrand Richards, particularly through that classic of his, A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. Earlier this summer, for example, I had a weekend free. Yet the Spirit prompted me to fulfill a responsibility. I boarded the plane for San Francisco, and there met with our branch of single people in San Francisco, and then boarded the plane to go to Los Angeles, where I might have the opportunity to meet with our young adult leadership in the southern California area. As I sat down, the seat next to me was empty. However, there occupied that seat eventually a most beautiful young lady. I noted that she was reading a book. As one is wont to do, I glanced at the title: A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. I said to her, “Oh, you must be a Mormon.”
She responded, “Oh, no. Why would you ask?”
I replied: “Well, you’re reading a book written by a very prominent member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
She said, “Is that right? A friend gave this to me, but I don’t know much about it. However, it has aroused my curiosity.”
Then I wondered. Should I be forward and say more about the Church? And the words of Peter came again, to be ready at all times. And I decided that this was the time when I should bear my testimony. I told her that it was my privilege years ago to have assisted Elder Richards in printing A Marvelous Work and a Wonder. I told her of this great man. I told her of the many thousands of people who had embraced the truth after reading that which he had prepared. Then it was my privilege, all the way to Los Angeles, to answer her questions relative to the Church—intelligent questions, that came from a heart which was seeking the truth. I asked if I might have the opportunity to have missionaries call upon her. I asked if she would like to attend our branch in San Francisco. Her answers were affirmative. Upon returning home I wrote to President Irven G. Derrick of the San Francisco Stake and passed along to him this information. Can you imagine my delight when, about a month ago, I received a call from President Derrick, in which he said, “Elder Monson, I thought you would like to know that today Yvonne Ramirez, a stewardess with United Airlines, a young lady who sat next to you from San Francisco to Los Angeles, a young lady to whom you said that it was not coincidence that you sat next to her and that she was reading A Marvelous Work and a Wonder on that trip, has become the newest member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.” I was overjoyed.
I realize that I have a responsibility to labor.
Love
And then that final pledge: I will love. Do you remember the answer which the Savior gave to the inquiring lawyer who asked, “Master, which is the great commandment in the law?”
And he replied, “Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind. This is the first and great commandment. And the second is like unto it, Thou shalt love thy neighbor as thyself” (Matt. 22:36–39).
It was Shakespeare who wrote, “They do not love who do not show their love.” How might you and I demonstrate our love for God and love for our fellowmen? Through obedience to God’s commands and the counsel of his servants. We have the privilege to obey the law of tithing, to obey the code of morality, to obey in each facet of our lives the word of our Heavenly Father.
There is a poem, a very beautiful classic - it’s almost a song - ”How do I love thee?” ... Our Heavenly Father can appreciate our love for him by how well we serve him and how well we serve our fellowmen.
By Love Serve One Another
Four pledges for the new year: I will listen, I will learn, I will labor, I will love. As we fulfill these pledges, we can have the guidance of our Heavenly Father and in our own lives experience true joy. Now, I don’t simply mean that we should make a wish, or that we should dream a dream, but rather determine to do that which we pledge to accomplish.
We can, if we will. It was Henry Ford, the industrialist, who declared, “Whether you think you can, or whether you think you can’t, you’re right.” Now, shall we go forward with such resolutions? Can we change our practices if such need changing? I declare that we can.
... I testify today that when the Savior spoke those words recorded in Revelation he was giving you and me counsel to help us be true to our pledge this new year. Remember his words? “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come in to him” (Rev. 3:20). My prayer today is that we will have listening ears, that we might in turn hear his knock, appreciate the invitation of our Lord, and have the wisdom to open wide the doorway to our heart and the portals to our mind, that Jesus Christ might come in unto us. Shall we make room for him in our hearts? Shall we provide time for him in our lives? Once again the choice is yours, and the choice is mine, remembering that our choices, our decisions, determine our destiny.
God bless you in your new semester, bless you in every part of your lives. I leave with you my testimony that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, that our Heavenly Father hears your prayers, that he will guide you in your determination to serve him and keep his commandments as you listen, as you learn, as you labor, and as you love.
I declare that we are led by a prophet of God, even President Harold B. Lee, a man from whom we can learn important lessons, a man who teaches all of us the beautiful lesson of humility. When we see President Lee stand and hear him say to the membership of the Church and to people everywhere, “I am not the head of the Church.
... I thank my Heavenly Father too for the privilege which has been mine today to have by my side here on the stand my sweetheart, even my wife, who brings me joy, to have by her my mother, who gave me birth and taught me in those tender years, and our daughter, who is representative of each of you here today, a student at Brigham Young University. I express my gratitude to the Lord and to our Heavenly Father and ask our Father’s blessing to be with each of you. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen."
I hope you enjoy reading this devotional speech as much as I did, and I encourage you to stay tuned until next time. Here's the link to the Devotional.
Stay Tuned.
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