I have been blessed to serve here in Valle Hermoso for the past five months. I have had the blessing of meeting and teaching these people about the gospel of Jesus Christ. I know it it true and that we will come closer to God as we apply it to our lives.
This past weekend,we had stake conference and we were able to listen to wonderful messages given by the stake presidency and an area seventy. I love the messages that were given and how we are blessed as we follow the guidance of our leaders.
The area seventy talked about the importance of building firm foundations in our lives so that we can stand strong against the adversary. I loved his talk and how he said that we all need to be our best so that we can be worthy to have these blessings.
Being worthy and willing reminded me of a story I heard years ago,
"I should like to tell you of three eighteen-year-old boys. In 1856 more than a thousand of our people, some of them perhaps your forebears, found themselves in serious trouble while crossing the plains to this valley. Because of a series of unfortunate circumstances, they were late in getting started. They ran into snow and bitter cold in the highlands of Wyoming. Their situation was desperate, with deaths occurring every day. President Young learned of their condition as the October general conference was about to begin. He immediately called for teams, wagons, drivers, and supplies to leave to rescue the bereft Saints. When the first rescue team reached the Martin Company, there were too few wagons to carry the suffering people. The rescuers had to insist that the carts keep moving. When they reached the Sweetwater River on November 3, chunks of ice were floating in the freezing water. After all these people had been through, and in their weakened condition, that river seemed impossible to cross. It looked like stepping into death itself to move into the freezing stream. Men who once had been strong sat on the frozen ground and wept, as did the women and children. Many simply could not face that ordeal. And now I quote from the record: "Three eighteen-year-old boys belonging to the relief party came to the rescue, and to the astonishment of all who saw, carried nearly every member of the ill-fated handcart company across the snowbound stream. The strain was so terrible, and the exposure so great, that in later years all the boys died from the effects of it. When President Brigham Young heard of this heroic act, he wept like a child, and later declared publicly, 'that act alone will ensure C. Allen Huntington, George W. Grant, and David P. Kimball an everlasting salvation in the Celestial Kingdom of God, worlds without end.'" (Solomon F. Kimball, Improvement Era, Feb. 1914, p. 288.) Mark you, these boys were eighteen years of age at the time. And, because of the program then in effect, they likely were holders of the Aaronic Priesthood. Great was their heroism, sacred the sacrifice they made of health and eventually of life itself to save the lives of those they helped. They are part of the heritage that lies behind you of the Aaronic Priesthood. Be true, my young brethren, be true to that great inheritance. True to the faith that our parents have cherished, True to the truth for which martyrs have perished, To God's command, Soul, heart, and hand, Faithful and true we will ever stand."
Mainly to my brother who have the Aaronic Priesthood and everyone else who reads this. I know that we need to be worthy and willing to serve at whatever time, and the Lord will bless us from on high!
I love this gospel and I testify of the truthfulness of it!
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Elder Corom Jones
