Choose the Right

By Elder L. Tom Perry

of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

(Adapted from an October 1993 conference address. See Ensign, November 1993, pages 66 and 68.)

Choose you this day whom ye will serve (Josh. 24:15).

On a recent trip to New Zealand, I met with a mission president who wore a beautiful tie tack with the inspiring CTR, or “Choose the Right,” emblem. “When I was a bishop,” he explained, “[I] had an interview with a good-looking young man who was to receive the Aaronic Priesthood. He told me a special story. He related to me how one day after school, he and some of his friends found a package of cigarettes. They decided to go down on the cliff alongside some large boulders and smoke them. They lit up, and the young man said that as he was looking down at the smoldering cigarette that he held between his fingers, he saw his CTR ring. He quickly put the cigarette out and made a very wise choice—to never, ever do such a thing again. He chose to choose the right, as he remembered what the emblem stood for. From this story I gained a special love for the CTR emblem.”

“Now, here in New Zealand,” the mission president said, “the last thing I do every morning as I dress for this great calling is pin my tie tack with this beautiful CTR emblem on my tie. I love it! It helps me make the right choices through the day.”

There is power in a tie tack or a ring if we associate them with our desires for purity and righteousness. Even more important than physical reminders is having the conviction deep in our hearts to live the kind of life that will cause us to make the right choices, not only for peace and happiness in the world right now but also for peace and happiness eternally.

I promise you that you will receive everlasting happiness if you consistently choose to do what is right.

Illustrated by Mark Robison