Thus It Must Be

To my son, 

                This week was the funeral for President M. Russell Ballard, the acting president of the quorum of the twelve apostles. He has been a general authority since before I was born, and he was “a courageous warrior for truth” as he was described in his funeral on Friday. President Jeffrey R. Holland, who has now replaced him as the acting president of the quorum of the twelve, said, “He was one of the remarkable missionaries of any era in the church.” He described how recently when he, President Holland, was “in an unconscious journey to the doorstep of death, President Ballard called or visited me in the hospital every day of those five weeks as my life hung in the balance.” Elder Quentin L. Cook described him this way, “I believe President Ballard was the most dedicated missionary of our generation. He was a warm bridge builder with a great sense of humor and was kind to everyone. He was wise and tried to keep things simple. He was inclusive and invited everyone into his circle. He exhibited great character and integrity in every aspect of his life. His personal testimony of the Savior was strong and unwavering. I am eternally grateful to have been blessed by the power of his testimony.” Reflecting on the life of great men and women (like President Ballard) when they die gives us an opportunity to consider what we want to accomplish and become in our own lives. What do we want people to say about us at our own funerals? Yours is hopefully at least nine decades in the future, but it doesn’t mean it is not a good time to think about how you want to shape your life and the goals you want to set for yourself. I have shared with you before one of my favorite quotes from President Ballard found in Preach My Gospel: “I am so thoroughly convinced that if we don’t set goals in our life and learn how to master the techniques of living to reach our goals, we can reach a ripe old age and look back on our life only to see that we reached but a small part of our full potential. When one learns to master the principles of setting a goal, he will then be able to make a great difference in the results he attains in this life.” And so today I encourage you to consider again the goals that you have for yourself and to think carefully about how you can accomplish them. For you can do almost anything you put your mind to with the help of the Lord!

                Of course, our greatest example of setting and accomplishing goals is our Savior. He came to the earth with a mission to do His Father’s will and make a sacrifice for all mankind. He knew what He was to do as He explained to His apostles. Matthew recorded, “From that time forth began Jesus to shew unto his disciples, how that he must go unto Jerusalem, and suffer many things of the elders and chief priests and scribes, and be killed, and be raised again the third day.” That was His mission, and He knew it—His ultimate goal was to live a perfect life and die for us and be resurrected again. He knew He had to die. When Peter heard this he was upset: “Then Peter took him, and began to rebuke him, saying, Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” But the Savior knew His mission, and nothing could deter him, not even His friend who loved Him. So Jesus “turned, and said unto Peter, Get thee behind me, Satan: thou art an offence unto me: for thou savourest not the things that be of God, but those that be of men” (Matthew 16:21-23). Later when Peter tried to stop His arrest on that fateful night by cutting off the ear of Malchus, Jesus rebuked him in these words, “Thinkest thou that I cannot now pray to my Father, and he shall presently give me more than twelve legions of angels? But how then shall the scriptures be fulfilled, that thus it must be?” For the Savior, He knew that His mission had to be fulfilled, and He would let anything stand in the way of His fulfilling the Father’s plan. After His resurrection He explained to the Nephites, “I came into the world to do the will of my Father, because my Father sent me. And my Father sent me that I might be lifted up upon the cross; and after that I had been lifted up upon the cross, that I might draw all men unto me” (3 Nephi 27:13-14). That was His goal, His mission, His singular purpose in life, and He did everything to make it happen. And how grateful we are that He did! I encourage you to learn what the Lord would have you do, set goals, and then stick to them with that same kind of commitment that the Savior had. I know that with His help you can accomplish the great things He has in store for you in this life. 

Love,

Dad