President and Sister Clark, other distinguished guests and students of this remarkable and growing institution. I hope you continue to enjoy your college experience as much as I did. I felt like it was one of the most enlightening and challenging experiences of my life. My last year as a full-time student and as a newly married man, it provided Vicki and me with some remarkable opportunities to learn to depend on one another and to make important joint decisions. We also had a wonderful time together. I learned that being married was sure a lot more enjoyable than living in the dorm and dating.
We made some big decisions during that last year of school together. One of them was that I would follow a career in the United States Air Force and would pursue becoming a fighter pilot.
Just a year after my college graduation, then as a young Air Force pilot recently graduated from flight school, I was assigned to check out in the F-4 Phantom.
The Phantom was the topline fighter of its day and it could carry twice the normal bomb-load of a World War II-era B-17 bomber. McDonnell Douglas built over 5,000 F-4s--more than 2,600 for the USAF. Even though it originally entered service in 1960, it continued to play a vital combat role up through Operation DESERT STORM until it was retired in 1996.
It was big, loud, powerful and very good at doing just about anything you asked it to do. It was predictable, but difficult to land with finesse. However, it made you feel nearly 10 feet tall and bullet-proof when you were going 800 mph close to the ground or nearly Mach 2 at high altitude. I loved every minute I flew that jet.
However, it had a quirk called "adverse yaw." This meant at high angles of attack, which were commonplace whenever you aggressively maneuvered the aircraft for a ground or air attack, you had to be very careful or the aircraft could depart controlled flight or go "out-of-control."
Adverse yaw in the Phantom meant that if you were trying to turn left at high AoA and the pilot moved the stick to the left, the downward-deflected aileron on the right wing would actually produce more drag than lift, causing the Phantom to yaw back to the right even though the pilot thought he was commanding a left turn. As the yaw increased, the effective sweep on the left wing decreased and it would start to produce more lift and the F-4 would snap-roll to the right and then, if not corrected immediately, go out of control and enter a spin. All this would happen instantly if the aircraft was at a high state of energy (going fast) and not so quickly if the aircraft was at a low energy state (going slow.)
To compensate for adverse yaw when rolling at high angles of attack the pilot would center the stick and use the rudder aggressively in the direction of the turn. So a left turn at high angles of attack meant keeping the stick centered and pushing on the left rudder pedal. That action caused the Phantom to yaw to the left decreasing the effective sweep on the right wing creating more lift and the plane would crisply roll to the left as commanded. However, this took a lot of discipline and practice because it was not the common way to fly most airplanes--it wasn't the way we had been taught to fly in Flight School.
Because of the difficulty in controlling the Phantom at high angles of attack it was suspected that a significant number of F-4 combat losses were actually due to the pilot not recognizing adverse yaw conditions or his failure to use the proper recovery procedures after he encountered adverse yaw, its resultant snap roll or the out of control condition that could ensue very rapidly. So, to counter these aircraft losses the Air Force introduced a very aggressive training program aimed at teaching all of us to use proper control techniques at high angles of attack. Equally important was learning what to do automatically if we ever sensed the aircraft was beginning to do anything we hadn't commanded it to do or if we thought it was going "out-of-control."
We practiced out-of-control procedures almost endlessly on the ground, in the simulator and also in the aircraft. Even though it's been over 40 years since I flew the Phantom I can still remember the out-of-control procedure. It was so important that we called it a bold face emergency procedure. That meant you had to know it by memory, you had to be able to execute it blindfolded and you had to demonstrate that you could recognize any out-of-control condition that called for that action. That bold face emergency procedure was this:
- Stick Forward
- Ailerons and Rudder neutral
- If not recovered, maintain full forward stick and deploy the drag chute
It was so important that each week before we flew we had to complete a bold face test perfectly. Even the slightest deviation from the precise procedure would mean the pilot was grounded for a week and would have to undergo considerable extra ground training before being allowed back in the jet.
Just like in the Phantom, where I knew exactly what I would do if I ever encountered any out of control situation, I believe that if we make a choice ahead of time and know exactly what we will do with regard to a certain situation, in other words if we have a set of bold face actions set in our mind as the best alternative for a specific situation, we will be able to outperform others who are still thinking about what they are going to do in that setting.
We simply need to know that. For instance, when we are confronted with a pornographic image on our TV or computer screen we will immediately flee just as Joseph in Egypt fled from Potiphar's wife. When we are offered alcohol we should know exactly what we are going to say and do. When the crowd says lets go to an R-rated movie we should know precisely what our response is going to be.
When we know exactly what we are going to do, when we have prepared ourselves for action at a time of crisis or temptation then we will be much better able to execute our defenses against evil influences. I guess the Boy Scouts have had it right for over 100 years with their motto: Be Prepared.
In today's information age, sometimes, significant damage is done to our minds and spirits simply while some of us are trying to make up our minds about what we should do.
Satan has developed his techniques skillfully. He knows our weaknesses, he knows when we are at our weakest and most vulnerable state, and he knows what we are most susceptible to. I am confident that he has prepared well for the moment that he levels one of his most powerful temptations on us. If we already know what our response is going to be the time to make a choice is cut to zero. Then, we simply implement our bold face procedure and, as it was in my analogy, we aright the aircraft and zoom out of what could have been a very dangerous, critical, or maybe even life-altering situation.
If you haven't already done so make up your mind right now about what you will do on Friday night at midnight when you find yourself out of your comfort zone. If you have a set of actions in mind now and rehearse them; when that tempting moment arrives the Holy Ghost will give you the power to exercise your choice.
Then instead of being riddled with guilt you will, alternatively, soon find yourself at home kneeling by your bedside gratefully acknowledging the powerful influence of the Holy Ghost as it gave you the courage you needed to say "no" at a time when temptations were their strongest and your defenses weren't as strong as they might be on Sunday during the Sacrament.
We have all learned that during our pre-mortal existence the first and most important principle pertaining to our eternal destiny was that of moral agency. In fact we learn from modern-day scripture that there is an eternal law informing each of us, that through the choices we make, we will shape our own destiny. Our growth or our failure, our happiness or our despair, depends on the choices we make each day.
Long ago as we were once considering the remarkable gift of moral agency in a great pre-mortal council in heaven we shouted for joy as the Father's plan to organize and people the earth was explained to us. He explained that each of us, as his spirit children, would go to earth, gain bodies of flesh and blood, and be tried, tested and proven in all things to see if we would keep all of His commandments. We learned that through obedience to the covenants we made we could return back to His eternal presence in a much more glorified state than we were in our pre-mortal condition.
That critical first principle, moral agency, began to play a very important part in our activity while we were yet in our pre-mortal life. Lucifer, one of God's spirit children, proposed to alter the Father's Plan. He declared that he would redeem all mankind. In fact he guaranteed that not one soul would be lost, for which he demanded the honor and glory of the Father.
Of course Father's plan would allow all men to choose for themselves, and the glory would go to the Father. At that time each of us worked diligently to ensure that Heavenly Father's plan was accepted. All who now have been and those yet to come to earth with bodies of flesh and blood elected in that great council to follow the Father's Plan of Happiness. We each made one of the most important choices of our eternal existence while still in that pre-mortal state, long before we came to this earth, in choosing to support Heavenly Father's eternal Plan of Salvation.
The Plan of Salvation was accepted by a majority of those who were there with us and sadly Satan and a third of the hosts of heaven rebelled forfeiting their opportunity to continue to progress, experience mortality or ever win the reward of Eternal Life.
As recorded in Moses, God said:
"Wherefore, because that Satan rebelled against me, and sought to destroy the moral agency of man, which I, the Lord God, had given him, and also, that I should give unto him mine own power; by the power of mine Only Begotten, I caused that he should be cast down;
"And he became Satan, yea, even the devil, the father of all lies, to deceive and to blind men, and to lead them captive at his will, even as many as would not hearken unto my voice"[1]
Satan and his followers, swore they would destroy our moral agency or power of choice and they would do everything in their power to annihilate Father's Plan. Satan began his work immediately in the Garden of Eden by tempting Adam and Eve to partake of the forbidden fruit. Remember Father had commanded Adam and Eve:
"Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat,
"But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it, nevertheless, thou mayest choose for thyself, for it is given unto thee"[2]
In the beginning we learned that with the power to make choices would necessarily come opposition. Nephi knew that as well when he wrote:
"For it must needs be, that there is an opposition in all things. If not so, ... righteousness could not be brought to pass, neither wickedness, neither holiness nor misery, neither good nor bad. ...
"Wherefore, the Lord God gave unto man that he should act for himself. Wherefore, man could not act for himself save it should be that he was enticed by the one or the other"[3]
While Satan is determined to destroy Father's Plan as well as you and me, Heavenly Father has assured us that "this is my work and my glory--to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man"[4]
Jesus Christ gave His life so that all who left on this mortal journey might enjoy immortality. Additionally, those, who through His gospel, learn and follow His commandments will be given a clear understanding of the purpose of this life and learn how to make proper choices between right and wrong. For those who are successful there is a resultant promise of eternal reward. This, despite Satan's commitment to encircle us with his chains and lead us carefully down to hell.
Remember the council Lehi gave to his two eldest sons:
"Wherefore, men are free according to the flesh; and all things are given them which are expedient unto man. And they are free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil; for he seeketh that all men might be miserable like unto himself."
"And now, my sons, I would that ye should look to the great Mediator, and hearken unto his great commandments; and be faithful unto his words, and choose eternal life, according to the will of his Holy Spirit;
"And not choose eternal death, according to the will of the flesh and the evil which is therein, which giveth the spirit of the devil power to captivate, to bring you down to hell, that he may reign over you in his own kingdom."[5]
Proper choices are enabled by self-discipline. In fact it's critical to making the right choices. My father used to remind me that it is much easier to drift than to row, to slide downhill than to climb back up. Satan knows that and he is continuously at work to drag us down by placing temptations in our way in the form of alcohol, tobacco, drugs, pornography, deceit, dishonesty, and flattery. Then he waits to catch us when we yield so that he can belittle us for making a bad choice. The irony of all of this is that after we have sinned and fallen short Satan will attempt to convince us that we are not worthy of God's infinite grace, any further influence of the Holy Ghost or the promises of the Atonement.
The disturbing conditions in today's world with it's wars, suffering, sin, poverty, and disease have lead many to question why a loving God would allow such terrible conditions to plague us. We must remember that it is not God but man himself who is responsible for much of the evil that damages lives, destroys families and cripples society. Even though the wicked as well as the innocent suffer together in many cases, much of the abuse, distress, depression, despair, and enslavement in the world would disappear if we all would simply choose to follow the Great and Eternal Gospel Plan of Happiness.
Plato said, "The first and best victory is to conquer self; to be conquered by self is, of all things, the most shameful and vile."
And another great philosopher and inventor, Leonardo da Vinci wrote, "You will never have a greater or lesser dominion than that over yourself." He continued, "The height of a man's success is gauged by his self-mastery; the depth of his failure by his self-abandonment. ... And this law is the expression of eternal justice. He who cannot establish dominion over himself will have no dominion over others."
The scriptures seem to confirm that these two great thinkers were correct. The great king, poet, and religious philosopher, Solomon said, "He that is slow to anger is better than the mighty; and he that ruleth his spirit than he that taketh a city"[6]
The Savior said it very clearly when He stated:
"Enter ye in at the strait gate: for wide is the gate, and broad is the way, that leadeth to destruction, and many there be which go in thereat:
"Because strait is the gate, and narrow is the way, which leadeth unto life, and few there be that find it."[7]
Some will say, "if I make all of those tough choices now I have, in essence, taken away my own moral agency or you want me to commit to a certain path without ever getting to see what's really ahead." No, all I want you to do is make the tough life threatening choices now, the ones that can potentially derail you from your eternal goals. When I flew the F-4 we didn't have a bold face emergency procedure for a small and inconsequential airborne situation such as low pneumatic pressure or a failed dc electric bus. We had backup systems that would compensate for those minor conditions, but we sure did have a bold face procedure one for 'fire-in-flight' and 'out-of-control.'
Some may protest and say that following the straight and narrow path requires limitations, restrictions, overcoming, and doing without things that are fun. However hard the straight and narrow path is, it remains the only path that guarantees victory and accomplishment of our stated goal--the goal we promised Heavenly Father when we left His presence, the goal of returning to Him with honor.
"Narrow" is a very significant word. When you chose this path and then follow it some will accuse you of being parochial or close-minded and I agree it certainly does require self-control and even some self-denial. That one and only path will restrain or limit us in certain areas. But we must also recognize that it does not handcuff or shackle any one of us. On the contrary, it is the way to deliverance, independence, and freedom.
Remember Henry Wadsworth Longfellow wrote:
"The heights by great men reached and keptWere not attained by sudden flight,But they, while their companions slept,Were toiling upward in the night."
If you want to be successful or outstanding in anything you do, it is critical that you decide while you are young to be a great boy, and not wait to be a man. So then you can decide to be a great man, and then instantly develop the courage, strength, and resolve to discipline yourself. Instead apply self-discipline and the power of moral agency to your actions today--this instant. Decide now, don't wait, simply decide and then follow through.
You know what many of those big decisions are, and many of you have a pretty good idea of when and where you could be placed in a situation where you will be forced to make one of those decisions. While you are in a quiet place, maybe when you are saying your prayers this evening, or when you are studying your scriptures or better yet, while you are sitting right here this afternoon, think about one or two of those temptations or situations that you know you need to deal with. Decide now what you are going to do and then ask your Father in Heaven for His divine assistance as you work hard to correct something that you know displeases Him.
Several years ago when I was serving as a Bishop I worked with a man who had a problem with pornography. As he struggled to rid himself of this evil influence one of his bold face procedures was when he traveled alone on a business trip and stayed in a hotel he would unplug the TV as soon as he got in the room. Now there was simply no way to watch even questionable material. He had made up his mind ahead of time and because he had done that and prayed for Heavenly assistance, a difficult and troubling setting was now behind him.
During that same time I counseled with a woman who had a terrible problem with her temper. She would fly off the handle in rage at the slightest provocation. She was a good hearted, loving person but that single flaw made making and keeping friends difficult and of course it meant sustaining any long-term relationship such as engagement to a man absolutely impossible. She developed a great bold face procedure that took months of determined practice to solidify in her mind and behavior. That action was to simply count to 10 before she ever opened her mouth in anger and while doing that recite the words of one of our most well known hymns:
"More holiness give me, More striving within
More patience in suffering, More sorrow for sin,
More faith in my Savior, More sense of his care
More joy in His service, More purpose in prayer
More gratitude give me, More trust in the Lord
More pride in his glory, More hope in his word
More tears for his sorrows, More pain at his grief,
More meekness in trail, More praise for relief."
According to her, after practicing this she usually never made it through the second verse before she was able to control her feelings and respond graciously or even with humor. Her application of a bold face procedure helped her find genuine happiness and fulfillment as a wife and mother.
My young friends, I believe that the single power that each of us independently possesses, if used correctly, can practically guarantee our success in our struggle to return back Home is the proper exercise of our moral agency or the power of choice!
Think about it. You and I are where we are today because of the choices we have made. Unwise choices repeated over and over lead to failure, frustration and even depression. On the other hand, wise choices repeated regularly lead to success. It's hard but it's not complicated or difficult to understand. Is it?
But what do we do with the unwise decisions we've made in the past? And more importantly, what do we do with the unwise decisions we might make in the future? Do unwise decisions mean our road back home to Eternal Life is destined to hit a dead end?
No. The remarkable Plan of Happiness provides you the opportunity to get back on course. Whatever you do, don't waste time beating yourself up. Instead, execute the right bold face procedure, put on your learning cap and do what you know to be right. Use the power of choice! Ask yourself:
- What actually happened?
- What could I have done differently?
- Next time I face a similar situation how will I positively use my power of choice?
- What's my bold face emergency procedure going to be?
Bottom line, your life is the outcome of the choices you make. If you don't like the outcomes you are currently experiencing, put the power of choice to work for you. Very simply, different choices do produce different results.
When we make the right choices we should be happiest of all people because we have some things that no one else in the world has. Please allow me to mention just a few:
- We, more than anyone, understand the concept of family and home, potential of families, and the proper nature of the eternal husband/wife relationship
- We know the nature of God, that He is a personal being with a body of flesh and bones who knows each of us as one of His children and He wants us to call upon Him as our Father
- We have made sacred covenants between Heavenly Father and ourselves. They bind us to Him and each has eternal promises associated with it
- We have a perspective and confidence that few have. In essence we know how this all ends, who will win, and who will lose.
It is true that we don't always walk in the light. But we can consistently walk toward the light because we know about that light and we know what it means.
We have the promise:
"Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation. For after much tribulation come the blessings. Wherefore the day cometh that ye shall be crowned with much glory; the hour is not yet, but is nigh at hand "[8]
My young friends, each of us have at least one challenge that could benefit from building, knowing and practicing a bold face choice right now. I testify that as we consistently make the right choice the blessings of the Lord will multiply in our individual lives. The Lord is waiting to bless you for your righteous choices. His only Son's Atoning sacrifice is the one and only way to return to that straight and narrow path where consistent right choices will bring us home to Him. It is my prayer that each of you will have the courage to implement this principle into your life in a way that will benefit you and bring you closer to our loving Heavenly Father. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] Moses 4:3-4
[2] Moses 3:16-17
[3] 2 Nephi 2:11, 16
[4] Moses 1:39
[5] 2 Nephi 2: 27-29 italics added
[6] Proverbs 16:32
[7] Matthew 7:13-14
[8] D&C 58:3, 4, italics added