Monday, October 17, 2011

Desires and Guardians of Virtue

Elder Oaks always gives great talks. This one is no different. I especially loved the story he told of the Utah National Guard group in the Vietnam Ward. He spoke of their commander, Capt Cox.
During one critical night, when enemy infantry had poured through the front lines and into the rear areas occupied by the artillery, the captain had the field telephone lines wired into his tent and ordered his numerous perimeter guards to phone him personally each hour on the hour all night long. This kept the guards awake, but it also meant that Captain Cox had scores of interruptions to his sleep. “How could you do that?” I asked him. His answer shows the power of an overriding desire.

“I knew that if we ever got home, I would be meeting the parents of those boys on the streets in our small town, and I didn’t want to face any of them if their son didn’t make it home because of anything I failed to do as his commander.”

What an example of the power of an overriding desire on priorities and on actions! What a powerful example for all of us who are responsible for the welfare of others—parents, Church leaders, and teachers!





This was a great talk from Sis Dalton. Before I was called to be in the YW Presidency in our ward, I was asked to give a talk based on this address- that should have been a clue, huh? I researched her previous talks and found that this wasn't the first one written on Virtue. She's had several talks from General Conference on this topic. She shared the story of the Young Women in Utah who took a challenge to walk from Draper to the Salt Lake Temple.

The temple walk is a metaphor for your life. Parents and priesthood leaders stood guard along the route. They provided support and aid. Young women guarded and encouraged each other. Young men admired the strength, commitment, and stamina of the young women. Brothers carried sisters who had been injured. Families rejoiced with their daughters as they ended their walk at the temple and took them safely home.

In order to stay on the path to the temple, you must guard your personal virtue and the virtue of others with whom you associate. Why? Mormon taught in the Book of Mormon that virtue and chastity are “most dear and precious above all things.”


2 comments:

  1. President Ezra Taft Benson in 1986 Priesthood meeting asked the question to the priesthood, What manner of men ought ye to be?' He said virtue was akin to holiness, an attribute of godliness. Therefore to be like the Savior we needed to have virtue.

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  2. President Hinckley in 1997, when introducing virtue to the Young Womens program, said: I invite women everywhere to rise to the great potential within you. I do not ask that you reach beyond your capacity. I hope that you will simply do what you can do, in the best way you know. If you do so, you will witness miracles come to pass.

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