WEBVTT

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Paisley: Hey, welcome back
everyone. Paisley, imperfect

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here and today, I had a special
request for the talk that we're

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going to be talking about today.
That's brother wilcox's talk

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from General Conference just
last week. I actually got to

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meet brother Wilcox in person a
few months ago, he came down to

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our area and did a special
fireside for youth leaders, and

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then he did one for the youth.
He always knows how to make them

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feel known and loved and like
somebody might actually know how

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they feel or what they're going
through. So the talk from last

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week is called, oh youth of the
noble birthright, and it's

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really directed at the youth,
which means that it's not really

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directed towards my usual
audience. I mean, no offense, I

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we're all in our 30s and 40s and
50s. I realized that we all

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still feel like youth, but
technically, also, though,

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excuse me, didn't those of us in
our 30s, 40s, probably even the

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early 50s, didn't we all grow up
being told that we were the

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chosen generation. So you know,
the reality that I am coming to

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about that is that we were
chosen to lead and teach this

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generation, these guys. I don't
know if you've had a calling in

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young men's or young women's or
even primary recently, but these

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youth that are coming up behind
us, these ones that are coming

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up right now are incredible.
It's our responsibility, my own

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personal opinion, it is our
responsibility to help teach

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them. We were chosen to help
teach them the things that they

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need in order to properly accept
their birthright, what Brother

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Cox Wilcox is talking about. So
all of that being said with this

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talk being directed more towards
the actual youth of today. I

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want to look at it just a little
bit differently. I want to look

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at how we can help the youth
that are within our own sphere

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of influence know about their
noble birthright and how to be

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worthy of it, how to grow to
accept it. And the first

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thought, at least for me, is
that we need to show them

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through our own example. Again,
we've been taught the things

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that we need to know. We know
what modesty means. It used to

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be in our day. It was in the for
the Strength of Youth. Pamphlet

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was in there. I think it's still
in there, but it's very

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different than it was when we
were that age. But we still

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know. We know what modesty
means. We know what it means to

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live the Word of Wisdom. We know
what it means to obey the law of

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chastity. We know these things,
and through our own examples, we

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can help Brother Wilcox said,
Excuse me. Quote, when we use

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our moral agency to make and
keep covenants with God, we

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become heirs of the everlasting
covenant God has made with our

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forebears in every dispensation.
Said, another way, we become

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children of the covenant that
sets us apart that gives us

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access to the same blessings our
forefathers and foremothers

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received, including a
birthright. And while you and I

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may no longer be considered
youth, and while we may have

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already made all of the
covenants that we can in this

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life, are we choosing to keep
them? Because keeping those

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covenants, not just making them,
keeping them, is required for us

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to become the heirs that we are
destined to be. But what are we

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heirs of? Exactly? What is the
birthright that we've been

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promised? Brother Wilcox did a
really good job of explaining

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the biblical birthright and what
that meant. I'm not going to get

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into that here and try and re
explain that he did such a good

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job. You should really here's my
plug for the talk that we're

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studying. You should really go
read his talk. I'll make sure

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it's linked if you haven't read
it, or if you didn't get to

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listen to it. 100% recommend, in
a nutshell, for us, this

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birthright, our birthright is
our opportunity to have all that

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our Heavenly Father has, and to
become all that he is, which is

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different than the biblical
birthright. Go check that out.

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But. Why us? And this was my
favorite part of this talk,

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because it's how my brain has
always thought about things, and

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I've never heard anybody else,
especially not from the pulpit,

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put it like this before. He
said, Why do Latter Day Saints

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live so differently? There are
many good answers, because you

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are a child of God, because you
have been saved for the last

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days, because you are a disciple
of Jesus Christ, but here's the

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best part, and here's the way
that my brain has always

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responded to those statements,
he said, but those answers don't

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always set you apart. Everyone
is a child of God. Everyone on

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earth right now was sent here in
the latter days. There are many

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valiant Disciples of Christ who
are not members of this church.

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There must be more to it, and
there is. Now I cheated a little

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bit with that last quote. I took
some stuff out, but I did it on

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purpose, because I wanted to
share with you those thoughts. I

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wanted to share that quote that
way, because that's the way that

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I've always thought about it,
too, even when I was a teenager,

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you were saved for the last
days. Well, so was she, but we

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live very different lives. You,
you are a child of God. You've

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been saved for the last days,
all of those things. I was like,

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Yeah, but so has everybody else
that's not that's not helping me

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so but I pulled some pieces out,
and the pieces that I took out

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are the more to it, where he
says at the very end, there must

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be more to it, and there is the
other pieces that I pulled out

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are the more to it. Yes,
everyone is a child of God. Yes,

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everyone on Earth right now was
sent here in the latter days.

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Duh. Yes. There are many valiant
Disciples of Christ who are not

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members of the Church, of this
church, but not all of them have

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committed to live the Word of
Wisdom or the law of chastity.

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Not all of them are willing to
serve missions. And the real

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kicker, not all of them are
willing to perform or

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participate in sacred ordinances
in the temple for themselves and

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on behalf of their ancestors.
Those are the bits and pieces

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that I took out. Paraphrased. I
did not quote him exactly, but

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those are the pieces that I took
out of that paragraph. And

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brother Wilcox compares it to a
cruise ship. He says, quote, our

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mortal experience could be
compared to a cruise ship on

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which God has sent all his
children as they journey from

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one shore to another. The voyage
is filled with opportunities to

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learn, grow, be happy and
progress, but it is also full of

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dangers. God loves all His
children and is concerned about

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their welfare. He does not want
to lose any of them, so he

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invites those who are willing to
become members of his crew.

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That's you. Once we commit to
live the Word of Wisdom, obey

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the law of chastity, go to the
temple. Once we commit to doing

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those and participating in those
sacred ordinances, we become

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part of that cruise ship, cruise
ship crew. We become part of the

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crew. We put on a uniform. We
take upon ourselves the name of

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Jesus Christ, and once we've put
on that uniform, we can no

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longer take just be a passenger
on the ship. Once we put on that

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uniform, we become a member of
the crew. We are not a

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passenger. We're not just a
standby. We're not on standby.

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We are a member of that crew. We
are the experiences of the other

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passengers are largely dependent
on our ability to serve them, to

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teach them, to help them. He
quoted sister Ardith cap as

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having said quote, you can't be
a lifeguard if you look like all

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the other swimmers on the beach.
You can't be a crew member

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without your uniform. Also, with
regards to that uniform, there's

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no giving it back. Once you've
put it on, it's on. You can try

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and cover it up. You can add
some flair. You can cut off the

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sleeves. You can do whatever you
want with it once you've put it

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on, but you cannot take it off.
That's not how that works. Like

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I said, you can cover it up, you
can put flare on it, you can do

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whatever you want with it, but
all that's going to do is make

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you uncomfortable, and it's not
worth it. Now, to be fair, I've

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never been on a cruise before. I
get seasick if I stand still on

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a pier. I'm not joking. I get
seasick on the pier. I live by

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the ocean. I get seasick on the
pier, but I imagine that the

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cruise ship crew, that the crew
on the ship, works pretty hard,

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and the pressure of knowing that
the experiences of the other

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passengers are largely dependent
upon the crew, that adds no

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small bit of pressure. Yeah,
excuse me. Brother Wilcox also

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points out, though, that as
members of this crew, we also

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get something that the other
passengers. Yes, do not

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compensation.

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So for all of the time that we
put into our callings, for all

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of the efforts that we make to
attend the temple, for all of

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the times we've said no thank
you to something that might

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sound a little tasty, and for
all of the study and research

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that we've put into our own
family history, we are

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compensated. He quotes elder
Anderson as saying, quote, There

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is a compensatory spiritual
power for the righteous,

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including greater assurance,
greater confirmation and greater

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confidence. Then he adds his
own. He says this, you receive

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greater happiness and peace,
greater righteousness and

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greater knowledge. Your
compensation is not merely a

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mansion in heaven and streets
paved with gold. It would be

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easy for heavenly Father to
simply give you all that he has.

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His desire is to help you become
all that he is. And here it is,

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thus your commitments demand
more of you, because that is how

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God is making more of you. So we
put in the effort. We become the

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crew. We put on that uniform,
and then we serve the other

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passengers on this ship from
shore to shore. We serve the

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other passengers, and we do our
best. And then God is making

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more of that is how God makes
more of us. And then when we get

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to the other side, not only does
he give us everything he has,

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but he has helped us in this
process become all that he is,

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all that he has, and all that he
is demands more of us than it

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does of another passenger on the
ship. So yes, this talk was

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directed at the youth. But how
many of us non youth needed the

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reminder that our commitment to
live the Word of Wisdom, obey

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the law of chastity, go on
missions, service or senior and

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participate in temple
ordinances. How many of us

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needed the reminder that those
things are the things that make

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us stand out, and those things
that make us stand out are the

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exact same things that qualify
us for exaltation? He said, it's

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a lot to ask of anyone, but
you're not just anyone your

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covenant relationship with God
and Jesus Christ is a

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relationship of love and trust
in which you have access to a

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greater measure of their grace,
their divine assistance,

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endowment of strength and
enabling power. That power is

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not just wishful thinking, a
lucky charm or self fulfilling

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prophecy. It is real that's us
and it's those who come after

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us, and the best way for us to
help the youth is to show them

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that real happiness and joy come
from making these commitments,

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these covenants, from putting on
that crew uniform and using it

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as a signal for others to
follow. Now, thinking about this

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crew, thinking about this cruise
ship analogy, and being a member

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of that crew, what if, just
think about it for a second.

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What if every single member of
that every single passenger on

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that ship, became a crew member.
Think about the fun that we

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could have on that cruise for
the rest of the way across.

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Think about how peaceful and how
amazing that cruise would be

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from wherever we are in the
middle. We're not quite in the

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middle. We're getting close to
shore here. What if everyone

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became a crew member before we
got to the next shore? How

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awesome would the rest of that
cruise be? And one last thing,

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this is applicable no matter how
old you are, whether you're a

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youth or a non youth. He said,
Because he is full of truth. He

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sees you as you really are,
flaws, weaknesses, regrets and

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all because he is full of grace.
He sees you as you really can

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be. He meets you where you are
and helps you repent and

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improve, overcome and become
you've got this because Jesus

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Christ has got you we can live
up to these standards. It is not

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too late for us, 30s, 40s, 50s,
60s, hundreds. It doesn't

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matter. It is not too late for
us, because He is full of grace.

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He sees us as we really are
flaws in everything, but he also

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sees us as what we can become,
what we can be, no matter where

00:14:48.700 --> 00:14:53.380
we are, no matter how old we
are, that is applicable. We can

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do this because Jesus Christ has
got us. We can live up to these

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standards and we can show the
youth that. Is where true

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happiness and joy really come
from, from being obedient to the

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covenants that we have made with
our Heavenly Father, the

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promises that we have made, just
keeping them. That's it. You

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make a promise, you keep your
promise. We just need to keep

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our promises make and keep
sacred covenants and enjoy the

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blessings of exaltation. Thank
you so much for being here

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today. I get a little bit
passionate about brother

00:15:26.720 --> 00:15:30.800
wilcox's talks. It's hard not
to, because he's so passionate

00:15:30.800 --> 00:15:35.240
when he gives them. I appreciate
that you were here. I appreciate

00:15:35.240 --> 00:15:39.680
your time. Keep learning, keep
growing, keep trying. It's never

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too late. Keep trying and be of
good cheer. Thanks so much,

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everybody until next time you.