Hanging In and Holding On Brothers and Sisters,
We are grateful for your participation in our Annual Ward Conference last week. In our sacrament meeting, I was asked by the stake presidency to do two things – to look back on the progress the ward has made toward goals and to look forward to the coming year – we felt it might be useful to review this counsel.
Look BackWe remind everyone of our ward scripture for 2009, an invitation from Mormon to “lay hold upon the word of God” (Helaman 3:29). There are two goals associated with this scripture:
1. Immerse ourselves in the scriptures every day.
2. Bring our scriptures to every meeting.
We testify that as we “lay aside the things of this world” (D&C 25:10) and “lay hold upon the word of God” (Hel 3:29) that we will be blessed as individuals, families and as a ward family.
Look ForwardAs we look forward to the year ahead, our plea is to hang in and hold on – to not give up, especially to Satan, who seeks to destroy our happiness. Our plea is to go forward with an eye of faith – to trust in the Lord. We are told in 2 Peter 3:9 that “the Lord is not slack concerning his promise.” We testify that this is true for ALL of us! In making this plea, we remind everyone of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s experience over 45 years ago. He tells of being newly married, studying and struggling to make ends meet. One day he and Sister Holland were walking together on the sidewalk:
“Somewhere on that path we stopped and wondered what we had gotten ourselves into. Life that day seemed so overwhelming, and the undergraduate plus graduate years that we still anticipated before us seemed monumental, nearly insurmountable.... On a spot that I could probably still mark for you today, I turned to Pat and said something like this: “Honey, should we give up? I can get a good job and carve out a good living for us. I can do some things. I’ll be okay without a degree. Should we stop trying to tackle what right now seems so difficult to face?”.... Then my beloved little bride did what she has done for 45 years since then. She grabbed me by the lapels and said, “We are not going back. We are not going home. The future holds everything for us” (BYU Devotional, 13 January 2009).
Brothers and Sisters, let’s not go back. Let’s not give up. Eternal life with our families and as a ward family is a prize worth fighting for. We can’t let life or the challenges of life get in the way of that prize. As Elder Jeffrey R. Holland has taught:
“God doesn’t care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go” (BYU Devotional, 13 January 2009).
We pray that each of us can “lay hold upon the word of God” and thereby hang in and hold on. We are grateful for all you do and are thankful for this opportunity to be in your service.
Love and best wishes,
Bishop - Daniel Shine
1st Counsellor - Bob Howden
2nd Counsellor - Rei Singsam
