“The Path of Personal Progress,” New Era, Sept. 2011, YW2–YW3
The Message
The Path of Personal Progress
For Such a Time as This
My dear young sisters, although there have always been challenges in the world, many of those which you face are unique to this time. But you are some of our Heavenly Father’s strongest children, and He has saved you to come to the earth “for such a time as this” [Esther 4:14]. With His help, you will have the courage to face whatever comes. Though the world may at times appear dark, you have the light of the gospel, which will be as a beacon to guide your way.
President Thomas S. Monson, “May You Have Courage,” Ensign, May 2009, 127.
Preparation and Example
The Young Women program has in it [a] powerful pattern to develop spiritual strength in the young women and to offer the opportunity for us to help. Personal Progress helps young women prepare to receive the ordinances of the temple. They are helped by the examples of mothers, grandmothers, and every righteous woman around them in the Church. I have seen how parents helped a daughter achieve her goals and dreams by noticing and appreciating all the good things she does.
President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, “Help Them on Their Way Home,” Ensign, May 2010, 24–25.
What You Must Become
On the first page of your Young Women Personal Progress book, you will find these words: “You are a beloved daughter of Heavenly Father, prepared to come to the earth at this particular time for a sacred and glorious purpose” [(booklet, 2009), 1].
Sisters, those words are true! They are not made up in a fairy tale! Isn’t it remarkable to know that our eternal Heavenly Father knows you, hears you, watches over you, and loves you with an infinite love? In fact, His love for you is so great that He has granted you this earthly life as a precious gift of “once upon a time,” complete with your own true story of adventure, trial, and opportunities for greatness, nobility, courage, and love. And, most glorious of all, He offers you a gift beyond price and comprehension. Heavenly Father offers to you the greatest gift of all—eternal life—and the opportunity and infinite blessing of your own “happily ever after.”
But such a blessing does not come without a price. It is not given simply because you desire it. It comes only through understanding who you are and what you must become in order to be worthy of such a gift.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor in the First Presidency, “Your Happily Ever After,” Ensign, May 2010, 124–25.
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