Make the Most of Opportunities—and Be Happy
It’s always a delight to be able to start a speech by telling you that the greatest speech that you probably are going to hear today probably was just given by Brad [the student officer who gave the greeting]. I want you to know, if you really want to take some great notes about significance in life, just review what Brad just taught you, because there is probably nothing more important than what you will ever learn than what he just shared. A great job, Brad. (Remarks by Brad Squire are at end of this file.)
Life—what a joy. I want you to know that I have been blessed in my life with some key principles that we are going to talk about today that I hope when you are through today that you spend some time of the day thinking about just a few of the things that I might say to you. But most importantly is maybe how I say them. I say that because I can’t take credit for one of the most important attributes that I believe is very critical for success in life. And let me just tell you that that attitude is being happy in life.
I didn’t have to make myself happy. I grew up happy. Now, if you think that that’s because I was raised with a silver spoon in my mouth, it was not. I certainly was not raised with a silver spoon in my life. But I will tell you that I grew up with seven other brothers and sisters in a home that we knew we had love, and we were a handful. Absolutely no question about it, we were a handful. I had a mother who was an educator, who was truly a disciplinarian, and where we had a lot of fun—I want you to know that in our home, when we went to Church on Sunday, it was back in the old program where you had sacrament meeting sometime in the afternoon or early evening, and we would go there and sit as a family before there were actually church announcements to do so. And we sat in a row so that my mother could, at appropriate times during the service, lean forward, look down the line, and just raise an eyebrow at one of us. And we knew we were history. She truly did believe that those who spare the rod truly did spoil the child. That didn’t mean that we were abused, but I’m sure that did mean that we truly did know when we were out of line, or when she thought we were out of line.
I say that for a lot of reasons, and part of that is because of who you are today, and what your successes are going to be in the future. Looking at you today, some of you have some problems. It’s always amazing to me—when I was a bishop, and I would sit in the front of my ward out in Bountiful and I would look down. I want you to know there is a special spirit that goes with that, much more than being a speaker. And I could look down into the audience, and I could see people who were struggling. You see, your eyes tell me a lot. I don’t need to be a genius to know a lot about you, without ever talking to you, just by looking at you. Because there are certain things that speak volumes, and a lot of times it’s in your eyes.
Let me tell you a story that I had when I was the state Olympic officer. My office was at the state Capitol—a beautiful office. I looked right down State Street. I had over a thousand interviews with people from around the world, who came in to find out a little bit about Utah. And they all had the same questions as they came in, and you could always tell who they spoke to first in the state of Utah, by the questions they would ask me. And there was one political leader here in our area that I always knew if that reporter had visited with that person first by the questions they would ask. One of the first questions they would always say, “Well, tell us about the archaic liquor laws.” And if they said that—and they would repeat it almost verbatim every time—I knew that they had talked to a certain politician in our area, because that was the term that he used all the time. And I loved those kinds of questions, because people would actually . . . because he would respond to it, they would think that those were issues here.
And I would love it, especially the alcohol question, and in this case I said to the person, “Well, help me understand. Have you ever been to a Winter Olympics before?”
And this particular person [said], “Oh, yes, I was in Nagano, and saw Nagano, and I was also in Lillehammer.”
I said, “Well, that is great. Was alcohol an issue to you in either Lillehammer or Nagano?”
And he said, “Oh, no, not at all.”
And I said, “Well, if it wasn’t a problem there, I guarantee you it won’t be a problem here. Did you know that Salt Lake City has twice—twice as many places to get a drink of alcohol as the last two Winter Olympics combined?”
He said, “Are you serious?”
I said, “I am. If it wasn’t a problem there, I promise you it won’t be a problem here.” People just want to believe something different than we really are. What are the other questions they would love to ask? I one night went home and said to my kids around the table, “Listen, I’ve got a way for you guys to really make a lot of money during the Olympics.”
They said, “How’s that, Dad?”
I said, “Let’s rent a van, put a big poster on the side that says, ‘Visit polygamists,’ and you could just pick people up and drive them around and point out different houses. People would go crazy with that. They’d love it!” Now it doesn’t matter whether they were factual or not.
They said, “Dad, can we really do that?”
I said, “Of course not.” But I am telling you, people are interested in that. Why? Because it sounds so absurd. And it was a little disappointing to a lot of people when they came and they found out, “Oh my heavens, this isn’t what I thought it was going to be at all.”
One day I was in the office and I was visiting with this reporter from
Der Spiegel magazine in Germany. Some of you that have probably been to Germany know it’s a, kind of like a
Time magazine in Germany. And he was a reporter for
Spiegel magazine, and he was doing a full-spread article on Salt Lake City and the Winter Olympic games. And after he went through the customary questions—and he did a very thorough job—I said to him, which I said quite often to a lot of people, now that he was through, I said, “Do you mind if I ask you a question?”
He said, “Oh, no, not at all.” And he said it in a very heavy German accent.
I said, “Tell me about the most impressive thing that you have found in Utah.” And he said what had been repeated several times in these interviews. Without any hesitation, he pointed his finger at me and he said, “It’s the people.” He said, “Do you know that you can walk up and down the streets right down in Salt Lake City,” and he pointed down State Street, “you can walk down the streets. People will look you in the eye and say ‘Hi.’ They don’t do that in Germany,” he said. “This is a very friendly place.”
I want you to know that people from all over the world were truly touched. I could give you thousands of stories and letters of people who came, and experiences from letters of people who came here, with the people of Utah. Well, what made us so unique? Why were our Olympics considered as Ebersol said, by and far the greatest Olympics ever held? Why is that still the case today? It wasn’t because of the organization, and yet we had some wonderful people. Mitt Romney did a great job for us.
I had the responsibilities—I had to approve all of Mitt’s budgets. Now I want you to know Mitt Romney was not accustomed to having people approve his budgets, nor did he really need to. One of the brightest human beings I have ever met. And that’s not a political statement; it’s just an absolute fact, irrespective. What an incredible human being. But I do want you to know that during that period of time, people got to expect a lot of what we were. And around the world, they noticed who we were. And it always came back to the people—it was the people who made a difference in our Olympic Games. It was the people who greeted people at all of the different venues. It was the people—and many of you were very young at that time—but for some of us it was a real special period of time in life.
Well, what makes a difference? What makes a difference for you? You’re at such an incredible time in your life, and opportunities that are in front of you . . . I promise you, there are more opportunities for you in the world today than there ever were for my generation, by far. And they’re exciting. And it’s something to look forward to. And yes, at times, it is something to absolutely scare you to death, because that’s part of life. It’s something that some of you will worry about.
It’s very hard for certain people that I speak to, because I speak on the economy several times a week, somewhere around the country or in Utah. And about why Utah is doing the things that Utah is doing. And people don’t understand it. Why did
Forbes just [recently] again, for the second year in a row, list Utah as the number one state in the nation for business and business opportunities? Number one! Why? What is it that’s making a difference here?
We could talk a lot about economic reasons. And there are some. Twenty-five years ago in Utah, of about 13 different areas of economics that we look at in talking about different economic strengths within a state, we had two—mining and agriculture. That was it. Those were our strengths, mining and agriculture. Today that is not true. According to
Forbes, and they acknowledge us in both reports, that one of the strengths that Utah has is diversity of the economy. Diversity doesn’t mean the color of our skin. Diversity means that we have a broad base of economic opportunity here in Utah. Just incredible.
Eight years ago, one of the concerns I had at the Chamber when I came to the Chamber is that we didn’t have the corporate headquarters that we should have in Utah, just demographically. Why did Boise, Idaho, have more corporate headquarters than Salt Lake City? It doesn’t make sense. Not because Boise, Idaho, is anything—I mean, they’re a wonderful place. I was born in Idaho. That’s where I was born. Boise is a great place. But by population, we are the crossroads of the West not because of the Tabernacle Choir. We are the crossroads of the West because we
are the crossroads of the West. Where are our big companies? Where was Novell? Where was WordPerfect? Companies that literally changed the entire structure of personal computing in the world. Where were they then? Why weren’t their corporate headquarters here? Why were they sold off somewhere else?
Did you know that seven years ago through the University of Utah, through their business schools and all of the inventions that they had, they had a program there called Tech Transfer—technology that came from scientists and students at the University. They had seven that year. Of the seven who went through Tech Transfer, who went from technology and transferred into business, five of them were purchased with venture capital and moved out of the state of Utah. Well, why were we losing them? We had to ask that very question.
You should know that we have two research institutions in the state—University of Utah and Utah State. Not Brigham Young—by their own definition, Brigham Young is not a research institution. Do they do research there? Certainly. But by definition of universities, they are not a research institution. They are very supportive of this. And they’re very supportive of the other two who are.
When you address an issue, do you make a difference? Let me tell you. Seven, seven years ago. Last year, the University of Utah became the number one tech transfer university in the nation. In the nation. Surpassed MIT. Wow! What a difference it makes when you actually decide to make a difference. Does that impact all of you? I should say it does.
Why is Goldman Sachs here in Utah? Two years ago, Goldman Sachs had about 400 employees in the state of Utah. They were up at Research Park in a building that didn’t even have their name on it. Even the door didn’t say Goldman Sachs. That’s all they had. People went to work every day, they went in there—unbelievably successful. Why? Why were the Olympics so successful? Our people. Why was Goldman Sachs so successful? The people. Where are they today? The Goldman Sachs office in Salt Lake City. Utah is the second-largest Goldman Sachs office in the world. Over 2,000 employees, and they will add, probably within the next year, another 400. Why? Why do they come?
Do you know what is, to me, gratifying? It is the number one requested relocation of all of Goldman Sachs. More people that work for Goldman Sachs request moving to Salt Lake City, Utah, to live among all of you. Can you believe that? Isn’t that amazing? Why? What is the difference?
There is a lot of differences in life. Dr. Dupree Jordan Jr. said, “Success or failure depends more upon attitude than upon capacity. . . . Successful men act as though they have accomplished or are enjoying something. Soon it becomes a reality. Act, look, feel successful, conduct yourself accordingly, and you will be amazed at the positive results.” Absolutely amazed.
I was going to the University of Utah, working nights. I started a janitorial business right here in Salt Lake City. I had all my missionary companions—I had about 26 of them working for me at that time, but I wouldn’t do any office, because I didn’t want to do any tile floors, any linoleum, because I didn’t know how to clean that. But I knew how to push a vacuum. So they had to be carpeted, and I went around and just bid and got all of these jobs and people, and then my missionary companions would come in and I’d pay them and their girlfriend or their spouse to go clean it at night. It was kind of a nice little deal. And then I fell in love with real estate. What a neat opportunity. And I fell in love with real estate because I had absolutely the worst experience I have ever had in buying my first home from a very unprofessional human being. I saw him the day we wrote the offer and at closing. And at closing, the loan officer said to me, “Now, you were aware that it required, because of the age of the house that you were buying”—we were buying this lovely, lovely dump out in Bountiful. It was literally the biggest dump in Bountiful. It was the only thing we could have afforded. Seriously, built in 1891 and about falling down. But I couldn’t afford anything else. So my wife and I, we were so excited, and we get—no, we didn’t know we had to have 20 percent down. We thought we had to have 10 percent down. Do you know what it’s like—well, some of you do, to be in your early 20s and have scraped every penny I could possibly get from under, even, the car seats to try to get enough money to close. And then I get there and he tells us that we had to have 20 percent.
Luckily, my wife was a teller for then Walker Bank, and we called her boss and he luckily lent us the other 10 percent to close. You can’t do that today, in the mortgage business. They wouldn’t allow it. But luckily then they did, or we wouldn’t have had a home. And we bought this home. And after that, I will never go through one of those people again, so somebody said you had to have a license, so I said, well that’s it, so I would in the day go to school, at night I’d go to real estate school, and I fell absolutely in love with the real estate business. I didn’t realize you had to work for a broker and a lot of other things that I learned along the way. But what an incredible change in my heart—because somebody did such a poor job, I decided I never wanted to experience that again. But it helped me become a better realtor when I was.
Now when you talk about how you act, let me tell you another story. This sounds just like I had been a missionary, and you’ll recognize some of these things. I decided that I looked like I was so young. In fact, a lady came up and visited with me—Kris Twitchell—I don’t know if she’s still in here, but she was in my ward when I was a bishop 30 years ago out in Bountiful. And I was a young bishop—I was 29 years old. But you don’t think of yourself as young. I look back on it and I think, “Oh my word, how did they make that decision?” But not only was I young, I looked really young. I looked really young. And so I had to wear a suit and a white shirt, just so I didn’t look like I was in high school anymore. And one day I was out saying goodbye to some missionaries like they used to do when you could go out to the gates at the airport. And I had a couple of missionaries that were leaving, and I had gone out to the airport to say goodbye to them, walked down the foyer, and before I left that day, I had been asked four times by these sweet ladies—just sweet ladies, “Oh Elder, where are you going on your mission?” And I said to the last—there were three of them there together—and I said, “Oh, I’m going home to my wife and children.” And they said, “Ohhh.” What kind of a human are you? Married in high school or something?
So I looked young. And I knew I wasn’t taken seriously. So you know what I did? I applied a principle. A simple principle. I had to look the part. I had to be different than everybody else. A lot of the realtors wore these leisure suits—really lovely stretch leisure suits—most of you have probably never seen those, but they were really tacky. And I wore a suit and a tie every day to go to work, and not because I love suits and ties. Believe me, I don’t. I love cowboy boots and Levis. But that’s how I dressed. And then, when I went to a door—you know, when I would make an appointment to go back—I did every “For Sale by Owner” in Bountiful that I could find. Every one of them. And I’d go to the door and I’d knock and I had this little plea that I would do a free market analysis and I would come back and give it to them. And I’d love to share it, usually it was the wife during the day, and I’d go back to the wife and husband and night, and I would go back and say, “How about 7:00 o’clock on Tuesday night?” and they would say, “That will be fine.” And so I would go in my car, park it down the street because my car was pretty pathetic. You wouldn’t want anybody to see you get out of my car, because they would say, “This guy is really a great success.” That’s not what they would say.
So I would park my car down the street where they couldn’t see me. I used to borrow my mother’s duster to show homes in, because it was much better than the car I actually had. But I’d wait right until about five minutes to seven, and then I’d get out and I’d walk up to the door, and I’d wait. I’d watch my clock, and knock, knock, knock. They’d answer the door, and I’d go, “It’s seven o’clock.” Why would I do that? Did I have to tell them that I was prompt? Did I have to tell them that I would follow through? Did I have to tell them that I would keep my commitments to them? No. No one else that went to their door went, “Hmm. It’s seven o’clock.” I told you I’d be here, and here I am. And then I would give them my speech and go through the processes. Why? Because it made a difference.
I’m here to tell you, it makes a difference. Before we’re through here today, I’m going to give you some books that I believe all of you ought to read. And we’re going to—there’s 10 books, and then there’s a whole bunch of books, called the scriptures, that you ought to get involved in—not just because it brings spirituality, but because I promise you, if you do, it will answer your everyday questions of life . . . everyday questions of life. It will talk about how you look. It will talk about how you greet people. It will talk about hardships and why we go through them. It will talk about opportunities. But I’m going to give you some others also that every person in this room ought to read, because it will touch your heart and give you an opportunity. If you walk out to my car today—now, I just had the wonderful blessing of a 60
th birthday. When I was elected to the Utah State Senate, the average age of the Senate was 64 years old. I was 34. Do you know how much older that looks to a 34-year-old? I want you to know—you think 34 maybe looks a little older. Boy, 60 was looking pretty old. It’s amazing over time how much younger that’s become. And I do know how to do math. But it became younger.
The reality is that when you go through those opportunities, you learn opportunities, and you will learn everything in life. There are no surprises. I want you to know. There are no surprises. We can tell you why you go to classes today, why you have the teachers today. There are no surprises. If you learn what you are supposed to learn, and act the way you are supposed to act, you will have the results. It is an eternal principle. It never changes, ever. So, do you apply the principles? Those are the things that make the difference.
An unknown author said, “The first thing a fellow ought to do, after he has learned that he has been born equal, is to try to outgrow it.” Charles C. Johnson said that “the only purpose of your activity is to get results.” Boy, that’s kind of plain. The only purpose of your activity in life is to get results. You are going to get them. If you keep the commandments, you are going to reap certain benefits. If you spend your time looking at pornography, you will reap the benefits, and they are disgusting and they will destroy you, they will destroy your family, they will destroy those that you love the very most. So choose which side you are going to be on. There is no surprise! It isn’t a matter of “Well, maybe I’ll just do it a little.” Baloney. There’s no such thing. You’re going to be successful or you’re going to fail. It’s that simple. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to be successful in life. It takes a person who is dedicated to following the principles that are required to be a success.
Edward Eggleston said, “Persistent people begin their success where others end in failure.” They begin where others end. People all the time ask me, and I have been asked for many, many years, “What is the greatest key of a successful person?” Are you listening? This is a principle. It can change your life. A successful person is a person who is willing to do the things that others are not willing to do. Now write that down, and in forty years, read it again. And if that’s the next time you’re going to pay attention to it, I can guarantee you where you’re at in the pendulum. Successful people are those who are willing to do the things that others are not willing to do.
I have never worked an eight-hour day in my life, ever. Some people would say “you are a workaholic.” I get up really early. I was at my home office this morning at 4:30 sending emails. Now that is absurd. I don’t expect any of you to do that. That’s just me. I do work a lot. But you know what? I have never missed a Little League game, a soccer game, a football game, a dance recital—ever, of one of my children. I’ve been there. Why? Because I control my own destiny. Now, I’ve been very fortunate in that. When it’s time for my wife to have her birthday, which is on the 22
nd of November, I want you to know I am with my wife, and my schedule—all of my assistants always know it’s called the JDB day—Joy Diane Beattie Day. There are no appointments for me on that day. Does my wife appreciate it? I really want you to know she does. It has made life very pleasant, and I look forward to that day. It’s a principle. It’s something I decided that I could do that would make a difference.
I smile a lot. This isn’t an act. It’s just me. I’m grateful for my mom and dad. I grew up happy. Does that mean that I haven’t had hardships? I want you to know I have. I’ve seen my mother and father divorced; I know what that’s like. I know what it’s like to sit up with people whose hearts have been torn out for lots of reasons. I know what that’s like. But I truly am an eternal optimist. I truly do see good things everywhere. And do you know why? Because it makes me happy. It’s a principle. I decided a long time ago that I was going to be happy.
I had a football coach in the ninth grade who on the field one day—now, in the ninth grade, I have to tell you about my football prowess. I was in seventh grade the littlest person at Kaysville Junior High School—well, Danny, who had polio, was a little smaller. And we both had about the same skill set. I am not exaggerating. But I loved football. I wanted to play so badly. Well, I literally—they announced that we were going to have tryouts for the ninth-grade team, and back then, junior highs had a football team. And I went to the brand new school, Centerville Junior High School. And I went there, anticipating what was going to happen. I was so excited. We had a big long line, and all the guys got there, and you’re kind of macho, you know, irrespective of being a little shrimpy kid, but you think you are macho. And so you’re walking up, and every time I got up to the door where the coach was handing out the uniforms, he would say, “Oh, Beattie, we’re not to your size quite yet. Could you just go back and wait again?” I did that three different times, and he had never given me a uniform. And I started realizing something wasn’t going quite well. And the last time, he said—he didn’t say “Beattie,” he said, “Lane, could I talk to you for a minute?”
I said, “Well, sure.” So he took me into his office across the hall where all my buddies had their uniforms. And he said, “You know, Lane, every team needs a great person who can help with things around the team, carry balls and water . . . ”
And I tell you, I was a ninth-grader. Remember what it was like to be a ninth-grader? BMOC—big man on campus? Even if I was the littlest one. My heart was crushed. Luckily, I was able to maintain myself while I told him that I just wasn’t interested in doing that. And I walked out the back door of Centerville Junior High School, walked along the back of it then, so I wouldn’t have to see anybody else, and I cried on the way home. I lived on Main Street. Ninth grade. Tore my heart out.
About two weeks later, they called and they said, over the loudspeaker, “Some of you didn’t get a chance to try out for the football team, so anybody else who wants to come, you can come out, and you have to have gym shoes and gym clothes.” I didn’t have gym at that time, so I had to run home. I ran home, which was about two miles from the school, down to get my little gym shorts and my little sweat shirt and come back, and I went out on the team. And luckily, I don’t know whether it was just pity or what it was, but I made the team. And what a difference that made in my life. And I worked very hard at it because I knew that I had to work harder than others or I wasn’t going to play. And I didn’t start for the first three games of the year, but after that I started every game for the rest of my high school career. And why? Because I had a principle—I knew that I didn’t have the talent that some of the people were around me, but I knew one thing. I could outwork them. I
could outwork them, and that’s what I had to do.
Life is no different. The gospel is filled with opportunities to talk about who you are today and who you are going to become. Joseph Smith put it as succinctly as anyone in the 121
st section of the Doctrine and Covenants when he talked about a time in his life when life was as horrible for him as it had ever been. He had seen God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. He had experienced them in reality. He had talked to them face to face. He knew who he was, and who They were. Yet even at that time, he was put in the dungeon at Liberty Jail—strange name for a jail—but he was put down there in unbelievable horrible conditions, and by day and night, people would come and whisper through a small little opening in the side of the—some of you have probably been there, there are little air vents. And they would whisper in what was going on on the outside, and how members of the Church were being attacked by mobs, and how they were taking women and children and tying them to trees and tying men to trees and forcing them to watch their wives being raped. And then they would go to the Prophet Joseph Smith and say, “Can we pick up arms? Can we fight against this? Can we stop this?”
And the Prophet Joseph Smith would say no. Imagine how he felt, the prophet, knowing who he was, that he was called, sitting in a place that he couldn’t do anything about. And then he pleaded, “O God, where art thou? Where is the pavilion that covereth thy hiding place?” (v. 1) How long, he says—and I am paraphrasing—are we going to have to endure this hideous treatment?
Further, the Lord comes back and He says, Oh Joseph. Basically he says it could be worse. He says, Joseph, you “are not yet as Job;…[Your] friends [still] stand by thee, and they shall hail thee again.” (vv. 10, 9) Why do I say that? Because even the Prophet Joseph Smith realized that at times life gets really tough. But then the Lord said to him, “but… if [you] endure it well,” (v. 8) you will be... and then the blessings that come to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and what the Lord says of him.
May I just say to each of you today, the blessings that you are entitled to in this life are incredible. I love life. I am so grateful for the opportunities that I have had. I’m grateful that I had to work harder to accomplish the things I’ve had in my life, because they have been rich and rewarding blessings. I’m grateful for the gospel of Jesus Christ, which first taught me the importance of who I am as a son of God. And I bear you my testimony that the happiness that can come into your life is simple. Follow the principles. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Remarks by Brad Squire, publicity coordinator, Student Council 2011-2012
We wait for almost everything. We wait at stoplights. We wait for grades from a dreaded math test. We wait for answers to questions. Our lives are full of waiting.
Webster’s defines waiting as “to stay where one is, or delay action until a particular time or something else happens.” In other words, if it doesn’t fit your timetable, find something else that does and gives you that instant gratification that you want.
Elder Hales defines waiting as “pondering in our hearts and receiving the Holy Ghost so that we can know all things what we should do. Waiting upon the Lord means to stand fast and press forward in faith, having a perfect brightness of hope. It means relying alone upon the merits of Christ, and with his grace, assisting us in saying ‘Thy will be done, O Lord, and not ours.’ ”
This is not on our timetable, not always our immediate happiness. To illustrate my topic, I would like to share a story of a time when I had to wait.
I was preparing to serve a mission, and my mission papers were in. And I remember waiting, but mine was a different kind of waiting than most soon-to-be missionaries. Being the mature and all-knowing 19-year-old I was, I figured I would have to wait just as Websters defined, just stay at what you’re doing and where you’re at, and when something happens, do something about it.
I was wrong. Trial after trial and adversity after adversity, I became a very impatient worldly waiter. I didn’t understand what it meant to wait as Elder Hales describes, but I would soon find out. I recall after a rather hard Sunday I returned home from Church with the news that my mission papers were sent back for the sixth time. Feeling bitter, alone, and lost, I reluctantly turned to the scriptures. During my study I came across 2 Nephi 26:16 and read the words, “Wherefore, the Lord gave unto man that he should act for himself; wherefore, man could not act for himself save that he should be enticed by one or the other.”
Reading this scripture changed my worldly waiting into waiting upon the Lord, the waiting Elder Hales mentions. Instead of taking defeat and choosing a different path, I trusted in the Lord and prayed to have His Spirit to guide me. And I was enticed by the Spirit, as the scriptures say. Although worldly opportunities presented themselves and looked quite good, I sought to be enticed by something better. I started seeking after different opportunities for service.
I was then almost immediately directed to request more information about the Family and Church History Mission, that same week being told that I was honorably released from serving a full-time proselyting mission. I received the spiritual confirmation that I would have the opportunity to serve my mission and that I would be serving in the Family and Church History Mission. Weeks later I reported to Salt Lake City, ready to embark on the journey that the Lord had prepared specifically for me.
Amidst trial and adversity I stood faithful and pressed forward. Waiting upon the Lord takes patience, humility, and faith, but I promise that the benefits of eternal life are far greater than the instant gratification of waiting as the world would.
My challenge for you would be to wait upon the Lord, seek to find His will, then do it. And in all things, work as if it all depends on you, and pray as if it all depends on Heavenly Father.