Ye Shall Always Rejoice

To my daughter, 

                This week in our Come, Follow Me lesson we learned about the words of King Benjamin to his people as they made a covenant to follow Jesus Christ. This covenant caused them to be very happy: “And it came to pass that after they had spoken these words the Spirit of the Lord came upon them, and they were filled with joy, having received a remission of their sins, and having peace of conscience, because of the exceeding faith which they had in Jesus Christ who should come.” Because they felt the remission of their sins and had received Jesus Christ, being filled with the Holy Ghost, they had true joy. What King Benjamin taught them next helped them to see how they could retain that joy for the rest of their lives, and I believe that his words are very important for you and me as well. He said this: “As ye have come to the knowledge of the glory of God, or if ye have known of his goodness and have tasted of his love, and have received a remission of your sins, which causeth such exceedingly great joy in your souls, even so I would that ye should remember, and always retain in remembrance, the greatness of God, and your own nothingness, and his goodness and long-suffering towards you, unworthy creatures, and humble yourselves even in the depths of humility, calling on the name of the Lord daily, and standing steadfastly in the faith of that which is to come, which was spoken by the mouth of the angel. And behold, I say unto you that if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true” (Mosiah 4:3, 11-12). So, what was he saying? If we can remember God, stay humble before him, pray to Him every day, and keep our faith strong in Him, then we will “always rejoice” and “be filled with the love of God.” That is an amazing promise. You are one who is naturally happy and filled with love—as you grow older King Benjamin’s words help you see how you can always keep that happiness and love with you. Never forget that “wickedness never was happiness” (Alma 41:10). Instead, it is found in our faithfulness to the Savior and His gospel.

                No matter what happens to us, we can still remain happy and filled with the love of God. President Nelson told a story about a group of Saints to illustrate this. In the cold winter of 1838, many Sants were forced to leave their homes because Missouri kicked them out of the state. One of these was Eliza R. Snow, and one evening her “family spent the night in a small log cabin used by refugee Saints. Much of the chinking between the logs had been extracted and burned for firewood by those who preceded them, so there were holes between the logs large enough for a cat to crawl through. It was bitter cold, and their food was frozen solid. That night some 80 people huddled inside that small cabin, only 20 feet square (6.1 meters square). Most sat or stood all night trying to keep warm. Outside, a group of men spent the night gathered around a roaring fire, with some singing hymns and others roasting frozen potatoes.” Despite the very difficult situation, in which these refugees had lots they could complain about, Eliza wrote: “Not a complaint was heard—all were cheerful, and judging from appearances, strangers would have taken us to be pleasure excursionists rather than a band of gubernatorial exiles. That was a very merry night. None but saints can be happy under every circumstance.” Their spirits were happy even though they were in terrible physical conditions, and this was because they did exactly what King Benjamin had prescribed: they remembered Him, prayed to Him, and kept their faith strong despite the difficulties around them. I hope that you and I too can always find joy no matter what happens to us because of our faith in the Savior. 

Love,

Dad