Pioneers of the Future

This post is part of the General Conference Odessey. This week covers the Priesthood session of the October 1997 conference.

It seems to me that the future Elder Faust spoke of has arrived!

Elder Faust related that all of the Sesquicentennial events and activities, celebrating 150 years since the pioneers entered the Salt Lake Valley, had been under the prophetic leadership of President Gordon B. Hinckley.

Now he is directing us to become pioneers of the future with all its exciting opportunities. Faith in every future footstep will fulfill prophetic vision concerning the glorious destiny of this church.

We live in exciting times when the church and kingdom is moving forward rapidly, hastening the work. If we don't keep up we'll be left behind.

We must believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the Holy Ghost. We must believe in the Atonement and the Resurrection of the Savior. We must believe in the words of the prophets, both ancient and modern. We should also believe in ourselves.

Believing requires action. If you prepare to walk down the path of life, you can be rewarded beyond your dreams and expectations. But to achieve this, you must work very hard, save, be wise, and be alert. You must learn to deny yourselves of worldly gratification. You must be faithful in paying tithes; you must keep the Word of Wisdom; you must be free from other addictions. You must be chaste and morally clean in every respect. You should accept and be faithful in all of the calls that come to you. Steadiness and toil will serve you better than brilliance.

The basics have never changed! I think his statement "Steadiness and toil will serve you better than brilliance," could be cross-stitched and hung in every home! They are words to live by. One of my favorite quotes from author Ralph Moody is his Uncle Levi saying, "Slow and steady goes far in a day." Seems to be saying the same thing.

Elder Faust relates the story of Elisha and the young servant who asked, "Alas, my master! how shall we do?" I feel like that so often; overwhelmed by the situations in the world, fatigued from all the undone tasks I'm surrounded by, anxious because of interruptions to my plans. He ends his talk with this wisdom:

We should remember that in our challenges and struggles against the powers of evil and darkness, "they that be with us are more than they that be with them." We belong to the greatest cause on earth. We are the pioneers of the future. Let us go forth like the armies of Helaman and build the kingdom of God. Like the royal army, let us be "united, bold, and strong, . . . marching forth to conquer on life's great battlefield."

As each of us do our pioneer part to build personal righteousness, and then strengthen our fellow saints, we can build Zion and prepare for the Second Coming. What a glorious day that will be!