WEBVTT

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Paisley: Hi everybody. Welcome
back today. We're going to be

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talking about, we're going to be
talking about a talk given by

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Elder Maxwell Neil, a Maxwell
back in 1982 titled, be of good

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cheer. There is a lot of noise
in the world today, and it can

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get a bit overwhelming. And one
of the things that you know, as

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we've been talking about
President Nelson's talk, a plea

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to my sisters and how we need to
be different and distinct and

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happy ways,

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this phrase keeps coming into my
mind, be of good cheer. I did a

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quick search on the church's
website just for that phrase, be

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of good cheer. And a whole bunch
of talks came up with that

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title. I picked this one
honestly, because it was the

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oldest one. But I'm really glad
that I did, because there's some

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really good stuff in here. And
from 1982 I was, oh gosh. How

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old was I in 1982 this was
October 1982 so I was almost

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four. I, for sure, don't
remember ever hearing this,

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but so just to set the stage, it
is elder Maxwell. It's not

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President Hinckley. So we have a
little bit more it's a little

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bit more direct and firm than
maybe something from President

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Hinckley would be where
President Hinckley would be. He

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would throw in the jokes and
have some fun with it. Elder

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Maxwell is a little bit more
direct and to the point. He sets

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it up by sharing the example of
the original 12 apostles, when

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the gosh, the Jesus going into
the garden of Gethsemane was

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coming really soon, and they
found they all found themselves

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in this less than ideal
circumstance, if you will. On

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the surface, it didn't seem like
there was anything for them to

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be cheerful about, but he and
elder Maxwell gives the list of

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things that were coming like
Gethsemane was coming, Judas is

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betrayal was coming. Jesus was
about to be arrested and

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reigned. There was going to be a
mock trial. The 12 were going to

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be scattered like sheep and
obviously the crucifixion. But

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even in all of this, Jesus says
to his apostles in John 1633, he

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says, in the world, you shall
have tribulation, but be of good

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cheer. I have overcome the
world.

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So even to his original 12 who
went through so much with him,

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it's okay, you guys, it's okay.
I've overcome the world. It's

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going to be okay. And Maxwell
points out that, yes, even

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though those things were coming,
all of those really scary and

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dreadful things were coming.
There were other things coming

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too, reasons for them to be of
good cheer, reasons for them to

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rejoice and celebrate. And some
of the reasons he gives, He

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says, Death would be irrevocably
defeated. Satan would have

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failed to stop the unfolding of
the Plan of Salvation. All

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mankind would be given
immortality, and eternal life

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becomes a possibility. And so in
his way, he's telling his

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apostles, yes, all of these
things are coming, but it's

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okay. I've overcome all of these
things. We're going to be fine.

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Everything is going to be fine
in the long run, right?

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Everything's going to be fine in
the long run.

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And then elder Maxwell says
these were among the resplendent

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realities and the fundamental
facts which justified the

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twelves being of good cheer, not
their grim, temporary

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circumstances. And then he says
something else that I really

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liked, and that helps bring it
back and make it more relative

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or relevant to us. He said
quote, the precious perspectives

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of the Gospel give to us this
gospel gladness. He calls it

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gospel gladness. And he says it
two or three more times

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throughout his talk. And I just
think it's cute, gospel

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gladness.

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And then he gives some other
examples, too, of people who

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were going through hard times,
things that we can learn about

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in the Scriptures. He talks
about the Nephites who listened

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and believed in Samuel, the
Lamanite, when Samuel came and

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said that Jesus would come in
five years, and how they had all

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been rounded up. And basically
said, You're going to die

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tomorrow if the signs don't
come, because we're tired of

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listening to you, there was
plenty for them to be afraid of.

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He gives, He gives a singular
example of Joseph Smith. He

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could give plenty of examples of
Joseph Smith, but he gives a

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singular, singular example when,
uh. Um, Emma was really, really

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sick, and she had just given
birth to a baby boy who died,

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and they weren't sure that Emma
was going to make it. And Joseph

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starts to write about temple
work. He writes about temple

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work and how important it is for
both, for people on both sides

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of the veil trying to remain of
good cheer and likely. I mean,

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I've had miscarriages. I have
not lost a child, thank

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goodness, but I have had
miscarriages and just the little

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bit of hope that the temple
ordinances give the sealing

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ordinance specifically, that
little bit of hope that that is

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worth being of good cheer.
That's enough.

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So those three examples, the
original 12, Joseph Smith and

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the Nephites, they seem a bit
extreme and maybe not so

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relevant to us, but I don't
think they are. And I think that

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he hand picked those specific
experiences on purpose, even

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back in 1982 the opening line of
his talk is this, he says,

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quote, my brothers and sisters,
we are living in a time in which

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we shall see things both
wonderful and awful. There is no

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way that we can be part of the
last days and have it otherwise

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later on, he says, alas, though
we are asked to be peacemakers.

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We do live in a time when peace
has been taken from the earth.

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War has been the almost
continuing experience of modern

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man. There have been 141 wars,
large and small, just since the

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end of World War Two in 1945
that was back in 1982 when he

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said that. So between 1982 and
2024 how many more have there

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been? How many more?

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So, yes, the times that we're
living in now unprecedented.

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Anybody else tired of hearing
that word? I'm a little tired of

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that word, unprecedented. Times
we live in unprecedented? Yes,

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we do. We do, it's true, these
times are different than any

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other times that have come
before. The things that we

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struggle with are no less to us
than the circumstances of the

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people that we've already talked
about. They're no less. They're

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different. Different does not
mean better. Different does not

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mean worse. They're just
different. They are equally as

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important to us as their
struggles were to them. Elder

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Maxwell also says we must not
underestimate, however, the

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difficulty of the last days.
Joel and Zephaniah both speak of

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the last days as being a day of
gloominess. The coming decades

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will be times of despair. Why?
Because, as Moroni said, despair

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comes of iniquity. The more
iniquity, the more despair. And

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unless there is widespread
repentance, despair will both

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deepen and spread, except among
those who have gospel gladness,

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there's gospel gladness again.

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And then a little bit later on,
he says, and I'm sorry to read

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so much of this, but it's hard
to paraphrase. It's hard to

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paraphrase elder Maxwell, so a
little bit later on, he says,

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Brothers and sisters, we
likewise live in a time when the

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love of many will wax cold, fear
will therefore increase. Why?

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Because when men fear, it is
because we are not perfect in

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love. The less love, the more
fear, as well as the more war.

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See? So we do live in a time
when there is plenty to worry

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about and plenty to be afraid
of, there's a lot to stress

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over, and there's a lot to try
and get through. So how do we

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how do we get through it? He
gives us that answer too. He

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says there is such thing as
cheerful believing,

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participation, cheerful
believing participation, even

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without full understanding. When
you and I keep certain things in

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our hearts and are nourished as
we ponder them. Okay, I don't

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know about you, sometimes when I
read elder Maxwell, I gotta read

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it a couple of times. That one,
I had to read a couple of times.

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There is such thing as cheerful
believing participation. We can

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believe and participate
cheerfully, even if we don't

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understand everything, we can
still participate and cheer

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cheerfully participate.

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And then he says to keep certain
things in our hearts and ponder

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them so that we can be.
Nourished by them. So then I was

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like, Well, what are those
things? What are those things I

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need to keep in my heart so that
I can be nourished by them, so I

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can be cheerful.

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First, he says that reassurances
will come to us from the Lord

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and His prophets. And evidence
of that is how many talks came

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up with Be of good cheer as
their title reassurances,

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positive reassurances will come
from the Lord and His prophets.

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Second he says that we need to
maintain our perspective about

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things as they really are. I did
an episode a few back about

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President oaks talk things as
they really are. We need to

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maintain our perspective of
things as they really are, and

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in order for us to do that, we
have to be worthy of the Holy

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Ghost. He throws this in there
too, and I don't remember ever

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hearing that this before, but he
said such reassurances and

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Third, a bit later on, he tells
us that we need to be prepared,

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perspective will surely be
needed for the Lord has clearly

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and says to be careful and rely
on parents, priesthood

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principles, scriptures, temples
and leaders to see us through.

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So three things, reassurances
will come from the Lord and His

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indicated that his purifying and
sifting judgment would begin

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prophets. So look for those
reassurances that everything is

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going to be okay. Second, he
says to maintain our perspective

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about things as they really are,
aka, LISTEN to the Spirit. Let

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the spirit guide. And third, be
prepared, be spiritually

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first at the house of God and
then proceed outward to the

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prepared. And as we spiritually
prepare ourselves, we can lean

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on parents, priesthood,
principles, scriptures, temples

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and leaders, those seven things.

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And then he gives us a warning.
And I thought that this warning

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world. And he talks, there's so
much in his talk, and I cannot

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was really interesting, and I
had to think about it a little

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bit. But he says, if we are of
good cheer, we will find no use

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for nostalgia for another time,
even though a wistful

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get through all of it in one
episode. Maybe we'll come back

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lamentation such as this one is
understandable. And then he

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quotes from Helaman seven, where
it says, Oh, that I could have

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had my days and the days when my
father, Nephi, first came out of

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to it another time. But he talks
in here about the sifting. I

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the land of Jerusalem. Then were
his people easy to be entreated,

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firm to keep the commandments of
God and slow to be led to do

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iniquity. But behold, I am
consigned that these are my days.

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mentioned it briefly in this
quote, but he talks about how

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The warning, if we are of good
cheer, we will find no use for

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nostalgia for another time, to
me, that's a warning in that if

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the Lord is going to sift
people. And, I mean, the Lord

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you find yourself wishing that
you lived in the 1940s or 50s or

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60s, or whenever you think it
was a better, happier time, if

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doesn't do the sifting. We do
the sifting. We sift ourselves

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you find yourself In that sort
of state, it's a trap, because

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we have no use for that if we
are cheerfully living in today.

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out. And he explains how we sift
ourselves out, if we're not

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He says, Brothers and sisters,
these are our days. This is our

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time on Earth. These are our
tasks to be done. And in these

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days, being of good cheer is
part of being valiant in the

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careful, I really encourage you
to go back and check that out,

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testimony of Jesus. In other
words, it's our responsibility

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to be of good cheer. Share the
gospel cheerfully with others.

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Bring glad tidings, bring the
gospel gladness to the whole

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because it's it's really good,
it's really good, and it's a

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world. It is part of our
responsibility to face our

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challenges with as much cheer as
we can and spread the gospel

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throughout the world, share the
gospel gladness. Okay, that's it

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little eye opening, especially
if you're willing to look inside

00:14:25.149 --> 00:14:28.733
for today. Thank you for
watching or listening. If you

00:14:28.800 --> 00:14:33.380
found it helpful, like, share,
subscribe. You know all the fun stuff,

00:14:33.380 --> 00:14:38.535
and until next time, be of good
cheer and share the gospel

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and see if any of it applies to you.

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gladness. Thank you, everybody.
See you next time