Harold B. Lee - Decisions for Successful Living

1973 Deseret Book Company. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the publisher, Deseret Book Company, P.O. Box 30178, Salt Lake City, Utah 84130. This work is not an official publication of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The views expressed herein are the responsibility of the author and do not necessarily represent the position of the Church or of Deseret Book Company. Deseret Book is a registered trademark of Deseret Book Company.

FOREWORD

"Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled." Such is the promise of the Lord spoken on the Mount.

Both in and out of the Church today are tens of thousands of young adults and good people everywhere, many of them perplexed and frustrated, who hunger and thirst after righteousness, some knowing not where to turn. In this volume written by President Harold B. Lee, they will find answers to their problems; they will find wisdom, strength, and inspiration.

Those who counsel others usually do so from two sources of knowledgetheir own experiences, and the learning and observations of others.

President Lee speaks wisely from both such sources. In the three-quarters of a century of his life, his experiences have afforded him firsthand knowledge of the problems of people. He has known adversity. He has known sorrow and heartbreak. He has seen his dreams collapse. He has tasted disappointment. He has been acquainted with loneliness. He has witnessed at close range the tragedies of those who have stumbled in sin. And he has known the sweet taste of achievement and recognition after hard and discouraging effort.

He was born in an inconspicuous Idaho farm community where life was an unremitting, and all too often an unrewarding, struggle with the elements. At the age of seventeen he became a school teacher, an experience which tested his talents and strengthened his resolution to secure further education and move on into a wider and more challenging world.

But in the microcosm of that Idaho farm community he saw life as men live it, some with indifference, some with carelessness, some with ambition, some with great faith, some with frustration. He has never lost his feeling for the poor, for the struggling, for those who work so hard to keep afloat in adverse seas that would overwhelm them.

He responded without hesitation or question to serve a mission in the Western States. His call was not to one of those "far-away places with the strange-sounding names," but just over the mountains to Denver. But in his faith he knew that it was the Lord who had called him. And it was the Lord who rewarded that faith with a sweet harvest, and later the companionship of a talented and beautiful young woman whom he met while she also was serving in the same mission and who later became his wife.

There followed years of struggle for further education, in teaching school, and serving as a principal, as a businessman, and as City Commissioner in Salt Lake City.

Concurrent with all of this were calls to various Church responsibilities, including stake president at the age of thirty-one. Then in 1936, with organization of the Church Welfare Program, he was called to serve as Managing Director. The nation and the world were in the grip of a paralyzing economic depression. His great service in handling difficult problems commended him to the leaders of the Church. In 1941 he was called to the Council of the Twelve. In this capacity he traveled widely over the earth, developing understanding out of observation, sympathy as he walked among the poor, love as he mingled with the faithful, resolution to act fearlessly against those in transgression, and the capacity to sorrow with them and to extend the hand of helpfulness to assist with their restoration.

In business and in public affairs he was served with men of stature over the nation and won their respect.

His home has been an exemplary one with a gracious and able companion, their example before the Church and the world standing as one worthy of emulation.

Out of such varied experiences over many years has been molded a man with appreciation for the problems, the struggles, the frustrations of his fellows, and particularly those of young people.

Added to all of this is the wisdom of others acquired through wide reading and intensive study. His knowledge of the scriptures is profound. He knows them to be the word of God. He has drunk deeply of their wisdom and inspiration. The reader of this book will sense the breadth of this knowledge as he notes the many quotations of scriptural texts on a great variety of subjects. President Lee constantly fortifies his themes with the revealed word of the Lord.

Here for the reader is wisdomdivine wisdom, spoken in various dispensations, and preserved and "brought forth by the gift and power of God." The man or woman, young or old, who reads this volume will drink from this spring of scriptural truth and will find new understanding of and added appreciation for these sacred records.

President Lee, out of his cultivated acquaintance with these volumes, uses with ease and facility, words of sacred writ to give authority to the many themes with which he deals.

And in addition, he reveals his broad acquaintance with the writings of the literary masters of the past as well as with contemporary authors.

He therefore counsels from the wisdom of his own broad experience, and the learning and observations of others. But beyond all of this is an even greater wisdom. It is the wisdom that comes of revelation. Most of the material in this book was prepared some years ago as a series of radio addresses to youth. Elder Lee was then a member of the Council of Twelve. He prepared only after seeking the direction of the Holy Spirit. The original text breathes that influence.

Now he stands as the President of the Church, sustained as Prophet, Seer, and Revelator. The original text has been updated and added to.

To what source might youth, and Church members generally, more hopefully and expectantly turn for strength, for insight for inspiration in dealing with the complex problems of their lives? They will find within these pages truths of timeless value expressed in a contemporary setting. And those who hunger and thirst after righteousness will be filled with that wisdom which comes of experience and learning, and, more importantly, with the light of truth which comes of divine revelation.

Gordon B. Hinckley

PREFACE

In offering this volume under the title Decisions For Successful Living, it seems appropriate to explain the contents and background of this book.

The writings contained herein are based, for the most part, on a series of radio talks delivered over radio station KSL in Salt Lake City from January 1 to June 24, 1945. The radio series bore the title "Youth and the Church." At that time America was in the final stages of World War II, and the youth of the Church were faced with tremendous challenges in combatting the evils that surround war. The talks were ultimately compiled in a book under the title Youth and the Church.

It has been gratifying to me to reflect on the thoughts presented at that time and realize how vital the principles of the gospel are to any age, under any circumstance.

This new volume, like its predecessor, is presented as an answer to some of the many problems with which any generation may be confronted. My hope is that all who read this book will be led to the sure conclusion that within the revealed gospel of Jesus Christ, and from the teachings of our Church leaders, may be found the answer to every question and the solution of every problem essential to the social, temporal, and spiritual welfare of human beings who are all the children of God, our Eternal Father.