Trust the Lord and Follow God’s Pattern
My Dear Elders and Sisters:
We are so excited for Specialized Training this week and
trust you are as well. Sister Clark and
I have been preparing diligently for weeks and the Assistants have been working
so hard on something that will amaze you.
Please come prepared to receive, to be changed, and to then go forward
and take this great work to Higher Ground!
In preparation, will you please read and consider the
following:
A Matter of a Few Degrees:
"In 1979 a large passenger jet with 257 people on
board left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica and back. Unknown
to the pilots, however, someone had modified the flight coordinates by a mere
two degrees. This error placed the aircraft 28 miles (45 km) to the east of
where the pilots assumed they were. As they approached Antarctica, the pilots
descended to a lower altitude to give the passengers a better look at the
landscape. Although both were experienced pilots, neither had made this
particular flight before, and they had no way of knowing that the incorrect
coordinates had placed them directly in the path of Mount Erebus, an active
volcano that rises from the frozen landscape to a height of more than 12,000
feet (3,700 m).
"As the pilots flew onward, the white of the snow
and ice covering the volcano blended with the white of the clouds above, making
it appear as though they were flying over flat ground. By the time the
instruments sounded the warning that the ground was rising fast toward them, it
was too late. The airplane crashed into the side of the volcano, killing
everyone on board.
"It was a terrible tragedy brought on by a minor
error--a matter of only a few degrees."
(Uchtdorf, "A Matter of a Few Degrees", GC April 2008)
Saul, the King of Israel:
"The story of Saul, the king of Israel, illustrates
this point. Saul’s life began with great promise, but it had an unfortunate and
tragic end. In the beginning, Saul was “a choice young man, … and there was not
among the children of Israel a goodlier person than he.” Saul was personally
chosen by God to be king. He had every advantage--he was physically imposing,
and he came from an influential family.
"Of course, Saul had weaknesses, but the Lord
promised to bless, uphold, and prosper him. The scriptures tell us that God
promised to always be with him, give him another heart, and turn him into
another man.
"When he had the Lord’s help, Saul was a magnificent
king. He united Israel and defeated the Ammonites, who had invaded their land.
Soon a much greater problem faced him--the Philistines, who had a terrible army
with chariots and horsemen “and people as the sand which is on the sea shore in
multitude.” The Israelites were so terrified of the Philistines that they hid
“themselves in caves, and in thickets, and in rocks.”
"The young king needed help. The prophet Samuel sent
word for him to wait and that he, the prophet, would come and offer sacrifice
and seek counsel from the Lord. Saul waited seven days, and still the prophet
Samuel had not arrived. Finally, Saul felt he could wait no longer. He gathered
the people together and did something he had no priesthood authority to do--he
offered the sacrifice himself.
"When Samuel arrived, he was brokenhearted. “Thou
hast done foolishly,” he said. If only the new king had endured a little longer
and not deviated from the course of the Lord, if only he had followed the
revealed order of the priesthood, the Lord would have established his kingdom
forever. “But now,” Samuel said, “thy kingdom shall not continue.”
"On that day, the prophet Samuel recognized a
critical weakness in Saul’s character. When pressured by outside influences,
Saul did not have the self-discipline to stay on course, trust the Lord and His
prophet, and follow the pattern God had established." (Ibid)
Come prepared to receive great revelations on how to
better do His work His way and how to better participate with the Lord in the
hastening of the work.
Love,
President
Clark
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