Elaine S. Dalton
Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency
You can press forward with vision. The Holy Ghost will help you remain steadfast, and your testimony of the Savior will help you proceed with a perfect brightness of hope.
On a pier in Copenhagen, Denmark, is a bronze statue
of a young woman named Kristina. Kristina stands looking out to sea toward
her goal to join the Saints in Zion. The wind is blowing against her
fiercely, but she does not look back. She is steadfast as she presses
forward doing a very hard thing, but one she knows to be right. I love
that statue, for to me Kristina represents my own Danish great-great-grandmother
who chose to join the Church amid great resistance. I am grateful for
her courage and testimony. On her choice that day rested not only my
eternal destiny but also the destiny of generations.
In the Book of Mormon, Nephi tells us that we can “press forward” (2
Nephi 31:20). He says we not only can but must. Perhaps Nephi, like Kristina,
could see that the steadfast choices of one individual affect generations.
When Nephi’s father sent him back to Jerusalem to obtain the plates
of Laban, Nephi said, “Behold, it is wisdom in God that we should
obtain these records, that we may preserve unto our children the language
of our fathers” (1
Nephi 3:19; emphasis added). Nephi was thinking
of his future family, even though he had no prospect for marriage. Remember,
his family was alone in the wilderness! Nephi not only had a vision of
how to return to his heavenly home, but he also had a vision of what
he wanted in his earthly home.
The Savior will help you see and understand the vision He has for you.
You are His beloved daughters. He knows you personally and has a plan
for your life. He has promised that as you live worthily, His Spirit
will always be with you.
Just as the wind blew fiercely in the opposite direction Kristina faced
on that pier in Denmark, each of you will experience resistance from
worldly forces. “Pressing forward” implies resistance. The
scripture doesn’t say walk forward, or move forward, or simply
proceed forward. It says to press forward! In order to do this, you must
have a vision of where you are going. The Holy Ghost will help you remain
steadfast, and your testimony of the Savior will help you proceed with
a perfect brightness of hope.
Several years ago, my husband and I qualified to run the Boston Marathon.
The night before the marathon, in an effort to visualize what it would
be like to complete the race, we went to downtown Boston about a mile
from the finish line. There in the quiet of the evening we laced up our
running shoes and ran that last mile to the finish. As we crossed the
line we held our hands victoriously high in the air and pretended that
we had won the race! We imagined thousands of observers in the stands
cheering for us. The next day we ran the race. Twenty-six point two miles
(41.3 km) is a challenging distance. There are hills that are called “Heartbreak” for
a very good reason. The entire time I was running those hills, I kept
in mind that finish line and what it had felt like the night before to
cross the line victorious. That vision of the finish line helped me to
finish that marathon in a pelting, cold New England storm.
Your vision of your future will help you press forward. Take a few minutes
to envision where you want to be in one year or two or five. Then take
action to prepare yourselves. People don’t just run a marathon
when they decide to do it. They must train daily, slowly building stamina
and endurance to run the 26.2-mile distance. So it is with life. It is
daily diligence with prayer and scripture study that will help you reach
your goals. Your daily decisions will influence generations.
Seminary helped Melissa envision the kind of young woman she wanted to
become. She was not a member of our Church, but she enrolled in seminary
with her friends. When she turned 18, she was taught by the missionaries.
She knew the things they taught her were true! The spirit was so sweet
at her baptism. It felt as if not only all her friends and family were
present but also her future family. The bishop remarked that he could
almost hear her future family saying, “Thanks, Mom!”
Like Melissa, you have made baptismal covenants. Keeping your covenants
will enable you to be guided by the Holy Ghost. The Holy Ghost will protect
and strengthen you and tell you “all things [that] you should do” (2
Nephi 32:5). This gift sets you apart from the world.
We know you receive a lot of resistance to your standards. Young women
in Tennessee and Arkansas told me they face resistance at school because
of their beliefs. The young women I met in Haiti also face daily pressure
to participate in things that are not appropriate for a young woman of
covenant. Yet their eyes shine brightly with the hope of the gospel.
They remain steadfast because they listen to the “still small voice” (1
Kings 19:12) of the Holy Ghost and obey its promptings.
The Holy Ghost will also guide you as you make decisions regarding your
future. Another young woman I know was dating a tall, handsome young
man—the star of the school basketball team and senior class president.
While discussing their future plans, she explained that she had made
a decision a long time ago to marry a returned missionary in the temple.
A mission was not part of his plans, and nothing more was said. The following
Christmas, he gave her a small gift. As she opened it, she realized that
it was a letter from a prophet of God calling her friend to serve a mission.
Her righteous influence helped him make that important decision.
You too can influence the young men with whom you associate to “rise
a little higher [and] be a little better” (Gordon B. Hinckley, “The
Quest for Excellence,” Ensign, Sept. 1999, 5; Liahona, Sept. 1999,
8). You can help young men prepare for and serve honorable missions.
You can help them remain morally clean so they can bear their priesthood
with honor. Your righteous influence in the life of a young man can have
an eternal effect in not only his life but the lives of generations.
When our daughter Emi was 15, she made a decision. One morning I noticed
her Book of Mormon opened to Alma, chapter 48. She had marked the verses
that describe Captain Moroni: “Moroni was a strong and a mighty
man; he was a man of a perfect understanding. . . . Yea, and he was a
man who was firm in the faith of Christ” (vv. 11, 13).
In the margin she had written, “I want to marry a man like Moroni.” Seven
years later, she did! Emi gained her vision for her future husband as
she read the scriptures and listened to the promptings of the Holy Ghost.
She also came to know and understand the Savior and His “great
plan of happiness” (Alma
42:8).
As you read the scriptures, you will come to know that the Savior is
not only the light and life of the world; He is our one bright hope.
Through Him you can have the hope of returning to live with your Father
in Heaven. Through Him you can repent and overcome the things that will
keep you from being steadfast. Through Him you can find the strength
and courage to press forward even when the winds of resistance blow.
Now you may not have to stand on a pier and make difficult choices like
Kristina. And you may never find yourself pressing forward on the hills
of a marathon. But you will find yourself faced with choices that will
have eternal implications. You can press forward with vision. The Holy
Ghost will help you remain steadfast, and your testimony of the Savior
will help you proceed with a perfect brightness of hope.
There may be some steep hills ahead, but our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ,
has promised to climb with you every step of the way. There has never
been a more important time to press forward and be steadfast.
And so I say with Nephi: “Wherefore, ye must press forward with
a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope. . . . Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, . . . and endure to the end, . . . thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life” (2
Nephi 31:20; emphasis added). In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
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