“Of All Things,” New Era, Sept. 2001, 38
Of All Things
Be true … to yourself
“Every one of you was endowed by your Father in Heaven with a tremendous capacity to do good in the world. Train your minds and your hands that you may be equipped to serve well in the society of which you are a part. …
“You need never feel inferior. You need never feel that you were born without talents or without opportunities to give them expression. Cultivate whatever talents you have, and they will grow and refine and become an expression of your true self appreciated by others” (Ensign, May 1995, 99).
—President Gordon B. Hinckley
You can do it!
Leadership tip: Whether you are the Mia Maid class president or a home teacher, you might find your calling challenging. But the Lord has promised to help you. President Thomas S. Monson said: “‘The greatest force in this world today is the power of God as it works through man.’ If we are on the Lord’s errand, we are entitled to the Lord’s help. That divine help, however, is predicated upon our worthiness. … Through humble prayer, diligent preparation, and faithful service, we can succeed in our sacred callings” (Ensign, May 2000, 46, 48).
Happy birthday, seminary!
Just think, if you had been in high school 100 years ago, you wouldn’t have been able to go to seminary. Lucky for you, seminary has been around for 89 years, and you can receive all the blessings that come from seminary attendance.
The Church’s first seminary began in September 1912 near Granite High School, in Salt Lake City, Utah; seminary classes were taught during released time from school. Early-morning seminary classes began in September 1950 in southern California. Seminary is now established in more than 100 countries, and its enrollment has increased from 70, in 1912, to nearly 400,000.
I will go
Heber C. Kimball was ordained an Apostle in 1835 by the Prophet Joseph Smith, who considered him a man of great integrity. Two years later, while sitting in the Kirtland Temple, the Prophet Joseph whispered to Elder Kimball that the Lord wanted him to go on a mission to England. He would be the first Church missionary sent to a foreign country, a thought that was overwhelming to Elder Kimball.
“The idea of such a mission was almost more than I could bear. … I was almost ready to sink under the burden which was placed upon me,” he said. But despite the inadequacy he felt, Elder Kimball accepted the call and went to England. “The moment I understood the will of my Heavenly Father, I felt a determination to go at all hazards, believing that He would support me by His almighty power, and endow me with every qualification that I needed.” (See History of the Church, 2:489, footnote.)
Elder Kimball had the faith of Nephi. He knew that “the Lord giveth no commandments unto the children of men, save he shall prepare a way for them that they may accomplish the thing which he commandeth them” (1 Ne. 3:7).
Test your LDS I.Q.
Match these six members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles with the places they served full-time missions:
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1. President Gordon B. Hinckley |
a. Canada |
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2. President James E. Faust |
b. The British Isles |
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3. Elder L. Tom Perry |
c. Brazil |
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4. Elder Neal A. Maxwell |
d. England |
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5. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin |
e. Northern States |
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6. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland |
f. Germany, Austria, and Switzerland |