I love to be among the youth of the Church.
I love your energy, your optimism, your faith.
I have heard others say they always feel younger
when they spend time with young people.
This has always been my experience.
It is good to be here today.
I felt a certain thrill as I watched you enter
this great Marriott Center.
I noticed the beautiful smiling faces, the
well-kept hair, the appropriate dress.
I thank you for being here today.
Think for a moment, if you will, of someone
you know who is truly happy.
We’ve all met those who seem to radiate
happiness.
They seem to smile more than others, they
laugh more than others—just being around
them makes us happier as well.
Now think of someone you know who isn’t
happy at all.
Perhaps they seem 10 years older than they
are, drained of energy—perhaps they are
angry or bitter or depressed.
What is the difference between them?
What are the characteristics that differentiate
the happy from the miserable?
Is there something that unhappy people can
do to be happier?
I believe there is.
Let me tell you a story to illustrate this
observation.
A long time ago in a faraway village lived
a man who everyone did their very best to
avoid.
He was the type of person who believed that
there was only one competent person in the
world, and that one person was himself.
Consequently he was never satisfied with anything.
His shoes never fit right.
His shirt never felt comfortable.
When his food wasn’t too cold, it was too
salty, and when it wasn’t too hot, it was
too bland.
If a field wasn’t sowed by himself, it was
not sowed well.
If he didn’t close the door, the door was
not closed properly.
In short, he made a career of frowning, lecturing,
criticizing, and mumbling about the incompetencies
of every other person in the rest of the world.
Unfortunately, the man was married, which
made matters all the worse.
No matter what his wife did, in his eyes it
was wrong.
No matter what the unfortunate woman cooked,
sewed, or cleaned, or even when she milked
the cow, it was never satisfactory, and he
let her know it.
She tried very hard to be a good wife, but
it seemed the harder she tried the less she
pleased him.
Finally, one evening she could take no more.
“I’ll tell you what we’ll do,” she
told him.
“Tomorrow I will do your chores and you
will do mine.”
“But you can’t do my chores,” the man
replied.
“You don’t know the first thing about
sowing, hoeing, and irrigating.”
But the woman was adamant.
And on top of that, she was filled with a
righteous anger that frankly astonished and
frightened the man to the point where he didn’t
dare disagree.
So the next morning the wife went off to the
fields and the man began the domestic chores.
After thinking about it, he had actually convinced
himself he was looking forward to it.
Once and for all, he would demonstrate to
his wife how things should be done.
Unfortunately, not everything went according
to plan.
In fact, nearly everything the man touched
turned into disaster.
He spilled the milk, let the pig get into
the house, lost the cow, burned the dinner,
and ultimately set the house on fire, narrowly
escaping with his own life.
When his wife returned, she discovered her
husband sitting on a pile of ashes, smoke
still rising from his clothes.
But the woman wasn’t the type to rub things
in.
She helped him up, wiped the soot from his
beard, fixed him a little something to eat,
and then prepared a bed of straw for them
to sleep on.
From that day forward, the man never complained
about anyone or anything else for as long
as he lived.
What do you suppose this story teaches us?
For one thing, it teaches that those who complain
make their own and others’ lives miserable.
The story also teaches humility.
It reminds us that “pride goeth before destruction,
and an haughty spirit before a fall."
It teaches us not to judge others until we
walk in their shoes for a while.
In addition, the story illustrates a quality
that the Roman orator Cicero claimed was “not
only the greatest of virtues, but the parent
of all the others."
It is a quality I have found in every happy
person I know.
It is a quality that instantly makes a person
more likable and more at peace.
Where there is an abundance, there is happiness.
Where there is an absence, there is often
sadness, resentment, and futility.
The virtue I am speaking of is gratitude.
In our story, it was the absence of gratitude
that made the man miserable.
His inability to appreciate others caused
him to be critical of their efforts.
Not only did he not empathize with them, he
could not allow himself to acknowledge their
contributions.
The disasters that confronted him surely made
him humble, but, more particularly, they made
him appreciate and be grateful for his wife.
Gratitude is a mark of a noble soul and a
refined character.
We like to be around those who are grateful.
They tend to brighten all around them.
They make others feel better about themselves.
They tend to be more humble, more joyful,
more likable.
You might be surprised to know that gratitude
is a commandment of the Father.
“Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all
things," the Lord has commanded in these latter
days.
Even further, He has admonished that “in
nothing doth man offend God, or against none
is his wrath kindled, save those who confess
not his hand in all things, and obey not his
commandments."
In the Book of Mormon we learn that we should
“live in thanksgiving daily."
Isn’t that a wonderful thought?
To live in thanksgiving daily?
Can you imagine how your life would improve
if you lived in thanksgiving daily?
Can you imagine how your life would improve
if others did the same?
Do you think the world would be a happier
place?
Less stressful?
Less angry?
More spiritual?
President Joseph F. Smith proclaimed:
The grateful man sees so much in the world
to be thankful for, and with him the good
outweighs the evil.
Love overpowers jealousy, and light drives
darkness out of his life.
Pride destroys our gratitude and sets up selfishness
in its place.
How much happier we are in the presence of
a grateful and loving soul, and how careful
we should be to cultivate, through the medium
of a prayerful life, a thankful attitude toward
God and man!
A few minutes ago I asked you to think of
someone you knew who was truly happy.
Think of the person again, if you will, and
grade on this principle: Does he or she live
in thanksgiving daily?
Now think of someone you know who is unhappy
or resentful.
Does this person live in thanksgiving daily?
It is difficult to even imagine a resentful
person who is grateful or a grateful person
who is resentful.
President Gordon B. Hinckley has said:
Absence of gratitude is the mark of the narrow,
uneducated mind.
It bespeaks a lack of knowledge and the ignorance
of self-sufficiency.
It expresses itself in ugly egotism and frequently
in wanton mischief.
Where there is appreciation, there is courtesy,
there is concern for the rights and property
of others.
Without it, there is arrogance and evil.
I believe that many people are unhappy because
they have not learned to be grateful.
Some carry the burden of bitterness and resentfulness
for many years.
Some pass their days as though suffering a
deep sadness they cannot name.
Others are unhappy because life didn’t turn
out the way they thought it would.
“If only I had money,” some might say
to themselves, “then I could be happy.”
“If only I were better looking.”
“If only I were smarter.”
“If only I had a new car, a college degree,
a job, a wife, hair that wasn’t so frizzy.”
(Or, in my case, if only I had more hair or
I was 12 inches taller.)
If we only look around us, there are a thousand
reasons for us not to be happy, and it is
simplicity itself to blame our unhappiness
on the things we lack in life.
It doesn’t take any talent at all to find
them.
The problem is, the more we focus on the things
we don’t have, the unhappier and more resentful
we become.
Over the course of my years, I have met thousands
of people.
I have dined with the prosperous as well as
the poverty-stricken.
I have conversed with the mighty and with
the meek.
I have walked with the famous and the feeble.
I have run with outstanding athletes and those
who are not athletically inclined.
One thing I can tell you with certainty is
this: You cannot predict happiness by the
amount of money, fame, or power a person has.
External conditions do not necessarily make
a person happy.
The brethren who have had assignments in Africa
report that despite the abject poverty, the
people are very happy.
The fact is that the external things so valued
by the world are often the cause of a great
deal of misery in the world.
Those who live in thanksgiving daily, however,
are usually among the world’s happiest people.
And they make others happy as well.
Years ago Elder J. Golden Kimball was traveling
with one of the presiding brethren in southern
Utah.
In those days meetings often didn’t have
a time limit; they went on as long as the
speaker wanted to speak.
For those of you looking for something to
be grateful for, perhaps I’ve just given
you one idea.
One fast Sunday they had been preaching nearly
all day.
Everyone was hungry, especially Elder Kimball,
who felt that he “was pretty nearly dead.”
Finally, at about four o’clock in the afternoon,
the presiding apostle turned and said, “Now,
Brother Kimball, get up and tell them about
the Era.”
The Era magazine had just been launched, and
the Brethren wanted to encourage subscriptions.
Elder Kimball approached the pulpit and then,
after a short pause, said, “All you men
that will take the Era if we will let you
go home, raise your right hand.”
There was not a single man who did not raise
his hand that day and subscribe to the Era.
You see, the power of gratitude is immense.
Rulon Gardner grew up in the small town of
Afton, Wyoming.
He is one of nine children.
His mother and father are faithful members
of the Church and instilled proper values
in their children.
But because Rulon was so large, his classmates
teased him.
The taunts and name-calling troubled young
Rulon, but he never became angry or resentful.
He could have withdrawn and become bitter.
Like so many others, he could have counted
all the things that were going wrong and simply
given up.
Instead, he used the insults as motivation.
He determined he would use his size to his
advantage.
He would make something of himself.
“I would go out, as a kid,” Rulon said,
“and I could barely pick up a bale of hay.
By the time my senior year came around, I
was grabbing four bales of hay at a time,
each 100 pounds.
Just grabbing them and walking with them and
seeing how physically strong I could be."
He milked cows twice a day, often in subzero
temperatures.
He lifted frozen bales of hay to feed the
cows.
At times he would carry a newborn calf into
the safety of a warm barn.
He got up early in the morning, did his chores,
then went to school.
After school he either went to wrestling or
football practice, then back to the farm to
do more chores.
Rulon found that his size wasn’t a disadvantage
for him as an athlete—in fact, it was an
asset.
Wrestling particularly came easy to him, and
he became the Wyoming state champion.
After graduating from high school he decided
that perhaps he might be good enough to compete
in the Olympic games.
In Atlanta in 1996, due to a miscommunication,
he arrived at the weigh-in 22 seconds too
late and missed his chance to compete.
Again Rulon could have despaired.
He could have cursed his luck.
He could have become embittered and resentful.
But do you know what he did?
He worked harder.
Instead of burying himself in self-pity, he
began speaking at youth firesides about his
experience.
“I missed the Olympic games by 22 seconds,”
he told his eager listeners.
“Don’t you let anything keep you from
your goals.”
After four years of hard work, Rulon Gardner
wanted to compete in the 2000 Olympic games
in Sydney, Australia.
The only trouble was, he couldn’t afford
the trip.
That’s when the members of his hometown
rallied to his side.
They held bake sales and potluck dinners and
raised enough money to allow Rulon and his
family to make the trip to Sydney.
This time he did not miss the weigh-in.
He advanced through the preliminary rounds
until he reached the final obstacle to his
gaining a gold medal.
That obstacle was a man the world called the
Siberian Bear, Alexander Karelin.
This Russian bear is considered by most as
the greatest Greco-Roman wrestler in the history
of the sport.
Not only had he not lost a single match in
13 years, but no one had scored a point on
him in more than a decade.
Karelin had won the gold medal in three previous
Olympic Games and was the heavy favorite to
win an unprecedented fourth gold medal.
But at the end of the gold-medal match, it
was the farm boy from Afton, Wyoming, who
stood triumphant in what many consider the
greatest upset of the summer Olympic games.
“The reason I think I won,” Rulon said,
“is because I work harder than anyone else,
train harder.
And every day I live my life, I do everything
I need to do to put my life in order."
Waving an American flag, a grateful Rulon
Gardner thanked his family, his God, and his
hometown of Afton, Wyoming, for their helping
to make the moment possible.
Winning the gold medal in such a stunning
way made Rulon an instant celebrity.
Sometimes this sort of attention changes people.
Sometimes people become more calloused.
Sometimes they forget those they owe the most
to.
But not Rulon Gardner.
Recently, while a guest on an evening talk
show, the host invited Rulon to watch some
highlights from his Olympic victory.
Without warning, the picture changed to a
live shot from Afton, Wyoming.
It seemed that the entire population of the
town had assembled in the high school gymnasium.
They cheered and shouted and held up signs
that said, “Rulon’s got milk!” and “My
uncle rocks!”
As this man—one of the strongest men in
the world—looked into the television monitor
at the faces of the people he loved, tears
of gratitude came to his eyes.
In a letter written to his stake president,
Rulon Gardner said:
The Lord has given me the chance to work for
all my dreams.
I feel the Church has helped me to focus and
live my life in the ways that have helped
me to train and become an Olympic champ.
. . . I am blessed . . . to be a member of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Rulon Gardner knows what it means to be grateful.
Gratitude turns a meal into a feast and drudgery
into delight.
It softens our grief and heightens our pleasure.
It turns the simple and common into the memorable
and transcendent.
It forges bonds of love and fosters loyalty
and admiration.
Living in thanksgiving daily is a habit that
will enrich our lives and the lives of those
we love.
But how do we make this part of who we are?
May I suggest three things that will help
as we strive to live in thanksgiving daily?
First, we must open our eyes.
I agree with Robert Louis Stevenson, who wrote,
“The man who forgets to be thankful has
fallen asleep in life."
Unfortunately, because the beauties of life
are so abundant, sometimes we take them for
granted.
Our minds have a marvelous capacity to notice
the unusual.
However, the opposite is true as well: The
more often we see the things around us—even
the beautiful and wonderful things—the more
they become invisible to us.
That is why we often take for granted the
beauty of this world: the flowers, the trees,
the birds, the clouds—even those we love.
Because we see things so often, we see them
less and less.
Those who live in thanksgiving daily, however,
have a way of opening their eyes and seeing
the wonders and beauties of this world as
though seeing them for the first time.
I encourage you to look around you.
Notice the people you care about.
Notice the beauties of this campus.
Notice the fragrance of the flowers and the
song of the birds.
Notice and give thanks for the blue of the
sky, the red of the leaves, and the white
of the clouds.
Enjoy every sight, every smell, every taste,
every sound.
When we open our eyes and give thanks for
the bountiful beauty of this life, we live
in thanksgiving daily.
The second thing we can do is open our hearts.
We must let go of the negative emotions that
bind our hearts and instead fill our souls
with love, faith, and thanksgiving.
Anger, resentment, and bitterness stunt our
spiritual growth.
Would you bathe in impure water?
Then why do we bathe our spirits with negative
and bitter thoughts and feelings?
You can cleanse your heart.
You don’t have to harbor thoughts and feelings
that drag you down and destroy your spirit.
You can repent of uncleanliness.
That is the miracle of Christ’s atoning
sacrifice.
You can become clean.
You can cleanse your heart of impurity.
Begin the process today.
Repent of those things you should repent of.
Drink deeply of the living waters of the gospel.
These latter days are a time of great spiritual
thirst.
Many in the world are searching, often intensely,
for a source of refreshment that will quench
their yearning for meaning and direction in
their lives.
The Lord provides the living water that can
quench the burning thirst of those whose lives
are parched by a drought of truth.
Pray with all your heart.
Consider the love your Heavenly Father has
for all His children.
Open your hearts to His cleansing word.
Feast on the words of holy writ.
Cherish the messages of modern-day prophets
and apostles.
Forgive others who have offended you.
Don’t waste another moment feeling self-pity.
Every day drain from your heart the feelings
of resentment, rage, and defeat that do nothing
but discourage and destroy.
Fill your heart with those things that ennoble,
encourage, and inspire.
The great Book of Mormon prophet Nephi certainly
had reason to be resentful.
Hated by his brothers, bound and beaten and
nearly murdered, he had plenty to be bitter
about.
After his father died, Nephi must have felt
completely alone.
He surely felt threatened.
He surely felt discouraged.
He surely felt troubled.
But when it came time for him to communicate
his feelings, what did he write?
Behold, my soul delighteth in the things of
the Lord; and my heart pondereth continually
upon the things which I have seen and heard.
Yes, his path had been difficult.
Yes, his heart groaned because of mistakes
he had made, but he did not allow himself
to linger in negativity.
Instead, he told himself:
Rejoice, O my heart, and give place no more
for the enemy of my soul.
Do not anger again because of mine enemies.
Do not slacken my strength because of mine
afflictions.
Rejoice, O my heart, and cry unto the Lord,
and say: O Lord, I will praise thee forever;
yea, my soul will rejoice in thee.
The third thing we can do to live in thanksgiving
daily is open our arms.
One of the best ways we show our gratitude
is by blessing the lives of those around us.
The great King Benjamin taught his people:
If you should render all the thanks and praise
which your whole soul has power to possess,
to that God who has created you, and has kept
and preserved you, and has caused that ye
should rejoice . . . —
. . . If ye should serve him with all your
whole souls yet ye would be unprofitable servants.
And how do we render thanks unto God?
King Benjamin told us that as well:
And behold, I tell you these things that ye
may learn wisdom; that ye may learn that when
ye are in the service of your fellow beings
ye are only in the service of your God.
We can live in thanksgiving daily by opening
our arms to those around us.
When was the last time you told someone you
love how much they mean to you?
When was the last time you expressed your
gratitude to someone who has always been there
for you, someone who has sacrificed for you,
someone whose heart has always been filled
with hopes and dreams for you?
When was the last time you unselfishly reached
out to help another in need?
Every time we cheer another’s heart, every
time we ease another’s burden, every time
we lift a weary hand, we show our gratitude
to that God to whom we owe all that we have
and all that we are.
Not long ago a mother and father from the
Republic of Georgia faced a terrifying reality.
The doctors told them their baby had a heart
condition, and unless he had surgery he would
die.
Because they did not have adequate facilities
in Georgia, the mother and father walked across
their country and all the way to Yerevan,
Armenia, seeking medical help.
The Armenian doctors examined the child and
agreed that the baby needed heart surgery.
They knew how to perform the surgery and they
had the necessary facilities, but they couldn’t
perform the operation because they didn’t
have the right tubing.
As much as they wanted to help, there was
nothing they could do.
They told the couple to take their baby home
to die.
As you know, the Church—through its Humanitarian
Service arm—sends millions of pounds of
food, clothing, and medical and educational
materials throughout the world each year.
As it so happened, Elder and Sister Sangster
were serving a humanitarian mission in Armenia,
and they had just received a container of
medical supplies.
You may have already guessed that tucked away
in this container of medical supplies was
a box of precisely the kind of tubing needed
for this child’s operation.
When the doctors discovered the tubing, they
rushed the baby into surgery and performed
the operation.
That’s a wonderful story and one that repeats
itself daily as a result of the tremendous
humanitarian help that is given to many nations
in the world.
The great welfare effort given by the Church
benefits members and nonmembers during times
of need.
It reaches out to care for others.
But what happened later makes it an even better
story.
One day, soon after the operation, Elder and
Sister Sangster heard a knock at their door.
When they opened it, this loving mother and
father fell to their knees and wept as they
thanked the Sangsters and their church for
supplying the precious tubing that had saved
the life of their child.
The blessings that come from opening our arms
to others are among the choicest this earth
has to offer.
As we strive to open our eyes, hearts, and
arms, our step will become a little lighter,
our smile will become a little brighter, and
the darkness that sometimes broods over our
lives will become a little whiter.
Don’t be discouraged if you haven’t been
an especially grateful person.
Rejoice and think of what an impression you
will make on those who thought they knew you.
Think of how delightfully surprised they will
be.
Be grateful.
Every day is a new canvas—a new opportunity.
Our beloved President Gordon B. Hinckley has
said:
My plea is that we stop seeking out the storms
and enjoy more fully the sunlight.
I am suggesting that as we go through life,
we “accentuate the positive.”
I am asking that we look a little deeper for
the good, that we still our voices of insult
and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment
and endorse virtue and effort.
Choice blessings await those who live in thanksgiving
daily.
“He who receiveth all things with thankfulness,”
the Lord has promised, “shall be made glorious;
and the things of this earth shall be added
unto him, even an hundred fold, yea, more."
Don’t wait to start.
Open your eyes, open your hearts, and open
your arms.
I promise that as you do so, you will feel
greater joy and happiness.
Your life will have a new level of meaning.
You will forge relationships that will transcend
this life and endure through the eternities.
My dear brothers and sisters, I am grateful
to be here with you.
I am grateful for this experience of mortality.
I am grateful for the gospel and for the life
and testimony of the Prophet Joseph Smith.
I am grateful for my wonderful wife, my dear
children and grandchildren.
I am grateful for the support and love shown
to me by countless friends and members of
the Church throughout the world.
I am grateful for life and even more grateful
for the glorious promise of eternal life to
come.
Not everyone can be a star quarterback; not
everyone can be the CEO of a Fortune 500 company;
not everyone can win a gold medal at the Olympics;
but everyone—everyone—can live in thanksgiving
daily.
As a special witness, I bear solemn testimony
that Jesus is the living Christ, our Savior
and Redeemer.
He asks that we believe in Him, that we learn
of Him, that we strive to follow His teachings,
and that we adhere to the teachings of our
prophet, President Gordon B. Hinckley.
He inspires him in the direction needed for
this life and life eternal.
May we follow Him in all we do is my humble
prayer in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
