Uchtdorf - Your Wonderful Journey Home - April 2013

President Uchtdorf talks about journeys in our lives.  These could be phsycial journeys fleeing a country as he had to do in East Germany, or emotional journeys with others in our lives.

• I can now look back on my life and recognize a number of such “journeys” I have taken over time. Not all of them involved crossing mountain ranges or political boundaries; some had more to do with overcoming trials or growing in spirituality. But they were all journeys. I believe that every life is a collection of individual “journey stories.”
  

He reflects on the ultimate journey we took of choosing our Heavenly Father's plan in our pre-mortal life and coming to earth to receive our physical body.

• He didn’t send you on this journey only to wander aimlessly on your own. He wants you to come home to Him. He has given you loving parents and faithful Church leaders, along with a map that describes the terrain and identifies the dangers; the map shows you where peace and happiness can be found and will help you plot your course back home.
  
• Now, where do you find this map?
  
  • In the sacred scriptures.
    
  • In the words of prophets and apostles.
    
  • And through personal revelation from the Holy Ghost.
    
• This map is the gospel of Jesus Christ, the good news, and the joyful way of a disciple of Christ. It is the commandments and example given to us by our Advocate and Mentor, who knows the way because He is the way.
  

He encourage us to listen to the Holy Ghost as He will guide us along our journey.  He also gives us three things we can know that will help make our journey back to our Heavenly Father successful.

• Open your heart to the Holy Ghost so that He can direct you along your journey through life. Your map is full of encouraging and instructive messages from your Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ. Today I would like to share with you three of those messages that will help you to have a successful journey back to your heavenly home.
  

The first message: “Do not fear, for I the Lord am with you.”

• You are not alone on this journey. Your Heavenly Father knows you. Even when no one else hears you, He hears you. When you rejoice in righteousness, He rejoices with you. When you are beset with trial, He grieves with you.
  
• Every person you see—no matter the race, religion, political beliefs, body type, or appearance—is family. The young woman you look at has the same Heavenly Father as you, and she left His loving presence just as you did, eager to come to this earth and live so that she could one day return to Him. However, she might feel alone, just as you sometimes do. She may even occasionally forget the purpose of her journey. Please remind her through your words and your actions that she is not alone. We are here to help each other.
  

We are all children of God.  Our role is to live our lives so others can see the light of Christ through us.

• It is not your responsibility to convert anyone. That is the work of the Holy Ghost. Your task is to share your beliefs and to not be afraid. Be a friend to all, but never compromise your standards. Stand true to your convictions and faith. Stand tall, because you are a daughter of God, and He stands with you!

The second message: “Love one another, as I have loved you.”

• The love of Christ is not a pretend love. It is not a greeting-card love. It is not the kind of love that is praised in popular music and movies. This love brings about real change of character. It can penetrate hatred and dissolve envy. It can heal resentment and quench the fires of bitterness. It can work miracles.
  

He speaks of the universal language of Christ's love and how we all need a desire and to align our actions with those desires to be like Christ in all our relationships.

• When your primary thoughts are focused on how things will benefit you, your motivations may be selfish and shallow. That is not the language you want to learn. But when your primary thoughts and behaviors are focused on serving God and others—when you truly desire to bless and lift up those around you—then the power of the pure love of Christ can work in your heart and life. That is the language you want to learn. As you become fluent in this language and use it in your interactions with others, they will recognize something in you that may awaken in them a long-hidden feeling to search for the right way on the journey back to their heavenly home. After all, the language of love is their true native language too.
  

He encourages us to:

• Learn to use the universal language of Christ’s love.
  

And the third message: “Be of good cheer.”

• There will always be things to complain about—things that don’t seem to go quite right. You can spend your days feeling sad, alone, misunderstood, or unwanted. But that isn’t the journey you had hoped for, and it’s not the journey Heavenly Father sent you to take. Remember, you are truly a daughter of God! With this in mind, I invite you to walk confidently and joyfully. Yes, the road has bumps and detours and even some hazards. But don’t focus on them. Look for the happiness your Father in Heaven has prepared for you in every step of your journey. Happiness is the destination, but it’s also the path. “Peace in this world, and eternal life in the world to come” is what He promises. That is why He commands us to “be of good cheer.”
  

As we live the gospel, our Heavenly Father will give us blessings that make our journey more successful.  He will strengthen our desires to good, He will lessen the temptations that easily cause us to fall, and He will help us rise to our true potential as His children.

• As you joyfully use the map your loving Father has provided for your journey, it will lead you to holy places and you will rise to your supernal potential. You will grow into the daughter of God you hoped you would become.
  

We each have journeys in our lives.  How we handle them, how we react to them, and how we come through them, is part of the journey experience.  We need to keep in mind that we rejoiced at the journey ideas in the premortal world.  We knew it would not be easy but we knew that it would be possible.  We each have an obligation to help others along the path that will eventually lead all of us back to God.  I hope we can catch a small glimpse of the potential we have and work each day to live to be the type of person, God sees us as.