Compilation - Feeling Great, Doing Right, Hanging Tough. Favorite Talks from Especially for Youth

O ur right to choose is the eternal refiner of our lives. If we choose the Lords way, our lives are filled with light, joy, and a peaceful heart. If we choose the devils and his path of darkness, our lives are filled with guilt, shame, and regret. Our loving Father in Heaven knows the impact of our choices, so he fills the mouths of his prophets with counsel on how to choose the right.

Lehi taught that the choice was clearliberty or death (see .) The choice is still the same todaythe Lords way or the way of the world.

Some time ago a dear friend of mine wrestled with the quandary of choice. He was just sixteen, and the world was pressing him for a decision. He lived in Wales, in a little community known as the Varteg, one of the few members of the Church who lived there. It appeared that he would follow the example of most of the sixteen-year-olds in the town and become a coal miner. In fact, he entered the mines as an apprentice.

Now, there is nothing wrong with coal mining if it is what you want to do and it makes you happy, but our sixteen-year-old friend was not happy. Every day he couldnt wait for his shift to finish. The thought of tons of rocks and earth above him chilled his heart. As he crawled like a mole through the shoulder-wide, chest-tall burrows in the dark, his soul screamed out in claustrophobic agony, There must be something better than this.

Now, Father in Heaven knows how we feel and where we are. Even though it was under tons of coal, he could hear the heart of this sixteen-year-old coal miner. He spoke peace to his soul and told him that all would be well. The young miner believed that somehow God would help him find a way out.

Then it happenedan accident. It was a freak sort of thing, something that should not have happened. The coal and the useless dirt and rock were conveyed out of the mine in buckets attached to a frayed metal cable. One day our miner was leaving the mine when he stumbled. To keep himself from falling down, he reached out and grabbed the moving, ragged cable. Just as tightly as he grabbed the cable, the frayed, jagged metal of the cable grabbed him, and it dragged him along the ground. The cable tore his hand but would not let go. His blood dripped along the cable and trailed along the ground. He cried for help, but he was moving too fast. Soon the cable drew him to the opening of the mine, and then up off the ground into the air towards the waste dump of the pit. The weight of his body began to pull against the tortured flesh of his hand, and then it tore free. He fell several feet to the ground amid the rocks and was soon surrounded by concerned fellow miners.

Needless to say, he would not be mining for a while, and the quiet mending time gave him the solace to think. As he wandered the hills of Monmouthshire he sent the yearnings of his heart to God, his Father in Heaven. He told him how he hated the mines. He told of the jokes and stories of the minersunseemly and crude. He told the Lord how dark and frightening it was and how desperate he was to get out and away. But what would he do? How would he make a living? At sixteen, most young men in Britain choose their lifes work and apprentice themselves to it. What would he do?

Quietly but surely the answer came. He remembered that in school he had won awards and scholarships in the mechanical arts. His parents had wanted to help, but how could they afford to send their boy off to school in Birmingham, England? So the opportunities had been forgotten by everyone but the Lord. The plan, the direction, had always been there, but it required a disaster to make it visible. The young mans heart burned with the confirmation of a right decision. The Lord had given the direction for a way out. Would the young miner have the courage to choose the Lords way?

He counseled with teachers, friends, and, of course, his parents. As with Nephi, the Lord told him how to build the ship of his life; it was up to him to get the tools and the resources (see ). There was a way, and more quickly than he had thought possible he found himself leaving his mountain home and heading for the plains of Warwickshire, his choice, and his future.

Our young miners story is one of seeking counsel and of obedience. In Birmingham he found a struggle and sometimes doubt, but he got the needed schooling, subsequent opportunities, and finally the success he had dreamed of in the wet darkness of the mines. By continuing in the way of learning (see ) he sought answers, found solutions, and thrived. A wife, a family, and commitment to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints brought him face to face with one more choice: whether to remain in England with a secure job and future, or to risk it all and move to Salt Lake City.

I am sure you know the choice he made. As a result, instead of raising a family of disgruntled miners, he sired nine Americanseach pursuing his or her own version of the American dreamall because of one persons decision at age sixteen.

How long halt ye between two opinions? Will it be the worlds way or the Lords? Only you can decide. The need is for you to learn now how to bring the Lord into your life and then follow his counsel. His counsel and influence is available to us all, but how many of us listen and obey? He speaks through bishops and stake presidents, inspired youth leaders, and, yes, even your parents. He can talk through worthy friends, good books, and music. He speaks continually through the revered word of his scriptures. He can talk to us in the sunshine or in the star-filled dark. He can talk to us in the bustle of a public place or in the solitude of the bedroom. But do we hear and obey?

The Old Testament records a marvelous story about following through on good counsel. Benhadad, king of Syria, laid siege to Samaria in Israel. He brought in his armies, which surrounded the city and wouldnt let any food in. Food became unobtainable, and the people became very hungry. The head of a donkey sold for eighty pieces of silver. Mothers were boiling and eating their own children. And there seemed no way out of these intolerable conditions but surrender and death.

.) They reasoned together that to enter the city would mean death by starvation, whereas if they went to the Syrian camp, where there was food, they might get some. And if the Syrians killed themwell, they would only die, and they were going to do that anyway. So they locked arms and marched to the Syrian camp.

Now, unbeknown to them, a prophet of the Lord, Elisha, had spoken. He had prophesied that on this day there would be an abundance of food in Samaria, but he didnt say how. Even as our unfortunate friends made their way to the camp of the enemy the words of Elisha were being realized. In fulfillment of his prophecy the Lord sent a noise. It was a noise as of an enormous army riding right into the Syrian camp. The Syrians heard it, and without any discussion they ran as hard as they could for the Syrian border. When the lepers arrived they found the camp empty, food still roasting over the fire, clothing and supplies in abundance. It was just as the prophet Elisha had said it would be. And because of their faith in an enlightened decision, they were the first to rejoice in the surplus. (See ; 7:1-16.)