All Is Well

"Life isn't always easy. At some point in our journey we may feel much as the pioneers did as they crossed Iowa-up to our knees in mud, forced to bury some of our dreams along the way. We all face rocky ridges, with the wind in our face and winter coming on too soon. Sometimes it seems as though there is no end to the dust that stings our eyes and clouds are vision. Sharp edges of despair and discouragement jut out of the terrain to slow our passage.

'...Occasionally we reach the top of one summit in life, as the pioneers did, only to see more mountain peaks ahead, higher and more challenging than the one we have just traversed. Tapping unseen reservoirs of faith and endurance, we, as did our forbears, inch ever forward toward that day when our voices can join with those of all pioneers who have endured in faith, singing, "All is well! All is well!"

'We are inheritors of a tremendous heritage. Now it is our privilege and responsibility to be part of the Restoration's continuing drama, and there are great and heroic stories of faith to be written in our day. It will require every bit of our strength, wisdom, and energy to overcome the obstacles that will confront us. But even that will not be enough. We will learn, as did our pioneer ancestors, that it is only in faith-real faith, whole-souled, tested and tried- that we will find safety and confidence as we walk our own perilous pathways through life."

M.Russell Ballard

Conference Report. April 1997