Do All Things Through Christ

To my daughter, 

                Congratulations on learning to ride a bike this week! At first when you tried it, it was very hard and you felt like you were going to fall, but you kept at it and before you knew it, you were riding on your own without my help. This reminded me of a famous statement that President Heber J. Grant liked to quote: “That which we persist in doing becomes easier for us to do—not that the nature of the thing is changed, but that our power to do is increased.” In other words, persistence and hard work pays off and gives us power to do things which were originally too hard for us. The act of riding a bike didn’t get easier when you worked to learn how to do it; rather, your ability to do something difficult increased.  President Grant told this story about how he worked hard to achieve a goal: “When I was learning to sing, … I practiced [a certain] song one day twelve times at one sitting. There are three verses in it; so I sang thirty-six verses, and by actual count I made five mistakes to a verse, which made 180 mistakes in one practice, and I knew nothing about it. When I first began to learn to sing, it took me from three to four months to learn two simple hymns. I learned a hymn a few weeks ago in three hours—half an hour’s practice every evening for six days, and I had it all right.” I’m impressed that even though he was naturally talented at singing, he persevered and through an enormous amount of effort was able to learn to sing some songs. He taught this, “It is by exercise and by practice that we become proficient in any of the vocations or avocations of life, whether it be of a religious or of a secular character. I know of no easy formula to success. Persist, persist, PERSIST; work, work, WORK—is what counts in the battle of life.” I hope that you will always work hard to develop your talents even when it seems hard, and know that with your Father in Heaven’s help you can accomplish incredible things in your life.

                One of my favorite scriptures is the youth theme this year: “I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me” (Philippians 4:13). King Lamoni gave a similar declaration to Ammon in the Book of Mormon: “I know, in the strength of the Lord thou canst do all things” (Alma 20:4). The angel made this powerful statement to Mary: “For with God nothing shall be impossible” (Luke 1:37). I love Nephi’s testimony to his brothers when he was commanded to build a ship: “And I said unto them: If God had commanded me to do all things I could do them. If he should command me that I should say unto this water, be thou earth, it should be earth; and if I should say it, it would be done” (1 Nephi 17:50). His brothers mocked him and told him that he couldn’t do it, but Nephi went to work and persevered, always looking to the Lord for help, and he accomplished that seemingly impossible task. He summarized his work in these words: “I did build it after the manner which the Lord had shown unto me; wherefore, it was not after the manner of men. And I, Nephi, did go into the mount oft, and I did pray oft unto the Lord; wherefore the Lord showed unto me great things. And it came to pass that after I had finished the ship, according to the word of the Lord, my brethren beheld that it was good, and that the workmanship thereof was exceedingly fine” (1 Nephi 18:2-4). Indeed, Nephi persevered and turned to the Lord often for help, and he did it. He built a ship that carried their whole family across the vast ocean to the promised land. I want you to always remember that with the Lord’s help, you too can do all things. Nothing will be impossible to you with Christ who strengthens you. Remember to always turn to God in prayer for help when you face difficult tasks, and just like riding your bike, you will find that you have accomplished something great.

Love,

Dad