Don't Forget His Message

   

    Last week I held my breath as our beloved Prophet struggled to finish his address in the General Conference for our church. I was worried about him. I, along with everyone, wished I could hold him up. I wanted to help him. I was sad that he may be leaving us soon. And with all of this worry and speculation about his health, I forgot to listen to what he had to say. I didn't hear his message because I was so concerned for him.
    This week I saw a lot of posts and participated in a lot of conversations discussing his health. There were posts of what was going on behind the scenes: how President Uchtdorf was right there as soon as he finished his message. However, I haven't read any posts about his message and that makes me sad. A friend pointed this out to me and it really hit me.
    Instead of talking about his health, we need to remember his message (President Monson's Address). We need to always strive to be a light to the world. We need to use clean language. Speaking kindly and uplifting others will never make us feel bad. We need to serve others and do things that will help lift other's spirits. He said we need to "strive to have in our lives kindness, gratitude, forgiveness, and goodwill." We need to always have the undeniable light of Christ in our eyes. We must have faith: faith in our Lord and Savior, faith in the prophet, faith that our lives will workout. We have to treat our bodies right. They are special gifts from God. He taught us that the world is moving farther and farther from Heavenly Father's ideal and that we must stay close to our Father. We've got to be different from the world. Even when it seems hard to do these things, we have to try. We have to give our best effort every single day to stay close to the Lord. We have to grip tightly to the iron rod. He finished his message with a poem that sums up how we should live our lives:

I met a stranger in the night

Whose lamp had ceased to shine.

I paused and let him light

His lamp from mine.

A tempest sprang up later on

And shook the world about.

And when the wind was gone

My lamp was out!

But back to me the stranger came--

His lamp was glowing fine!

He held the precious flame

And lighted mine! 

    Yes, we can acknowledge that President Monson looks a little sick. We can be applauded for our desire to serve him as he struggled. But we need to sustain him by remembering what he had to say. He stood there weak but determined to finish his message because his message is of such importance. For all of us he finished instead of giving up because what he had to say were the words of the Lord for all of us today. Don't forget his message. 

    I wanted lastly to testify that when we stand with the prophet, President Monson, we stand with God. And when we stand with God we are on the winning side. When we stand with Heavenly Father we will become the heavenly beings that He knows we can become. We will not be led from our Father when we stand with the Prophets of His church. We have to stand with them. We have to sustain and support them and by doing so, we're showing our Father that we stand with Him. I know we're led by a living Prophet. I know that Heavenly Father is mindful of us and that is why He sends His words to us through His servants. I testify these things are true in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.