HIKING WITH THE END IN MIND

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Sani Bonani.

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my friends.

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Welcome to the Creative

Spiritual Journey podcast.

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I'm Judy Cooley, also known

as Sister Cooley, here in the

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Durban South Africa mission.

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If you listen to last episode, you

know that Gia is here visiting with

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me, her and her husband, and our cousin

Luann are out on an adventure at St.

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Lucia today, as I, um, I'm recording this.

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And it's been super fun to have

them here and to share this

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beautiful country with them.

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So, I'm your host today, your guide,

and I wanna share with you a lesson

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that we learned, GIA and I and our

husbands as we hiked to Gala falls.

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Now, te Gala Falls is in the

Drakensberg Mountains of South Africa.

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They are so beautiful and

we've explored a little bit of

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'em and hope to explore more.

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But we set out early one morning to

hike to Gala Falls, which South Africa,

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claim is the tallest waterfall in the

world, which are actually fighting

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words for Venezuela's Angel Falls.

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Ah, who knows?

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We enjoyed it either way.

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Anyway, so we get up early in the morning

and we get in a bki, which is the South

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African word for truck, and we drive

up this extremely bumpy road to the

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trail head and once at the trail head.

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We started hiking and we saw some

beautiful views out over the valley.

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We saw some beautiful plant life and

the baboons, oh, I'm terrified of

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baboons, but they were fun to watch.

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And that in itself is

another episode, the baboons.

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And we finally got to these, anchored

chain ladders We had heard that on

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this hike there was some chain ladders

up a cliff to see the waterfall.

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Now that in itself keeps a lot

of people from viewing the falls.

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And we finally got to these, And they were

not as scary as I thought they would be.

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And at the bottom of these

ladders, some young adult.

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American tourists were there and they're

saying, oh, the fall's beautiful.

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You're almost there.

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It's just at the top of the ladders.

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Oh, I was surprised.

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This hike was even easier than I imagined.

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So.

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they went on their way down the mountain

and we went up the chain ladders and

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sure enough, there was a waterfall

at the top that we looked across

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a goalie to, and it was beautiful.

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the sunlight was shining through,

casting a rainbow through the waterfall.

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And fortunately we had a map.

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And looking at the map, we

realized this is a false waterfall.

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This is not to gala waterfalls.

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As beautiful as it was, it

certainly didn't look like

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the world's tallest waterfall.

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I've seen taller, I thought.

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And so we knew that we had to walk

across a couple miles across, uh, Mesa.

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And now this trail along

the top of the Mesa was.

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Very well traveled and marked with Cairns.

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There was no question the direction

that we were headed, and there it was.

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We finally got to, to Gala

Falls, and it was beautiful.

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We were actually at the top of

the waterfall looking down and

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across at the mountain range.

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It was a beautiful setting to have

lunch and to visit and to rest.

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And my mind kept going back to these young

American travelers that did not have a map

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that were fooled by the false waterfall.

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They had gotten up early, made all

the effort and work to get to that

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point, feeling they had reached the

end only to turn back, go down and

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miss out on the real destination of

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To Gala Falls.

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So this thought of keeping the end

in mind, sometimes we get stuck on

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life's path because we forget the

goal for which we are striving.

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Just recently in the Come Follow Me,

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We studied doctrine covenants

46 verse seven, and it reads.

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You are commanded in all things to ask

God who giveth liberally, and that which

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the spirit testifies unto you even so I

would, that you should do in all holiness

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of heart walking uprightly before me.

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Considering the end of your salvation.

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I'm gonna stop there.

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Considering the end of the

trail, beginning with the

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end in mind, having a map.

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So back in January, 2024 when we were

in the MTC and had no idea what to

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expect from a mission, in fact, I was

full of all kinds of fear and doubt and,

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and anxiety of, and homesickness and.

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This young MTC instructor had us turn

in, preach my gospel to page 1 55.

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This is in chapter eight

for goals and plans.

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And here they wanted us to take a

few moments to ponder and write about

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our last day in the mission field.

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When the day comes, what do you

want your relationship with Heavenly

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Father and Jesus Christ to be like.

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Well, I would hope that this mission I

would draw nearer to my savior and learn

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more, faith and learn more of my love of

my Heavenly Father and I would be able to

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serve and teach is what I was thinking.

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And then it says, what do

you want to have become?

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I love that question.

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I didn't know how to

answer it at that point.

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And even now.

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I'm still not sure how to answer that.

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Of course, I wanna become

a disciple of Jesus Christ.

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I wanna fulfill the measure of my

creation that not only was I sent to

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South Africa for, but I was sent to this

Earth life for and I want to become.

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Holy.

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I want to become charitable

Christ-like I want to become eternal.

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So consider today how keeping the

end in mind can help you summon

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faith and strength to move forward.

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faith over fear of the ladders

of life strength to move forward

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and not be deceived by the false

waterfalls, the things of the world.

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they make us think, ah, it is good enough.

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But did you know your spiritual growth?

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Your spiritual experiences

have a short shelf life, if not

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renewed daily, they wither away.

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You turn it back and you miss,

you miss out on Te Gala Falls.

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So how do we do this?

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How do we endure to the end?

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How do we consider the

end of our salvation?

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We can first keep the end in

mind when we set spiritual goals,

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physical goals, any goal in life.

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Let's think of will it matter

in the end, in the eternal end?

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And if you have a patriarchal

blessing review that often 'cause

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It will have in there blessings and

promises that will help you along the way.

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Spend some time in the temple,

in the house of the Lord,

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receiving more inspiration,

more light to help you endure.

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Spend time in the scriptures.

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Spend time in prayer and meditation.

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Spend time reviewing the map, making

sure that you're on the right track.

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When life gets tough, it's easy to

look down and to turn back, but the

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key is to look up and to think forward.

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Keeping the end in mind.

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Eternal life with God and our families

can bring us great motivation to press

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forward with a steadfastness in Christ.

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So keep your eternal goals in

the forefront of your mind.

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Today

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Isaiah 41 10, don't be

afraid for I am with you.

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Don't be discouraged for I am your God.

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I will strengthen you and help you.

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I'm gonna add all the way to the end.

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Our prophet president Russell M.

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Nelson said we need to have women who have

the courage and vision of our Mother Eve.

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Mother Eve.

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She definitely had the vision

of the end goal, didn't she?

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When she partook of that fruit,

leaving that comfy garden of Eden

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To set those wills in motion of this

life of mortality so that we, you and

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I could come here, receive bodies,

and learn from our own experiences.

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Just recently on the

podcast, faith Matters.

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I heard an interview with MacArthur

Krishna who wrote the book, change

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Makers, women Who Boldly Built Zion,

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This is such a lovely book.

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I had, um, Luann carry it over here

from the United States for me, and

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it's has some amazing inspiring stories

of the women that helped build Zion.

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And in that book, there is one

story that caught my attention.

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a story of Priscilla Sampson Davis.

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It reads.

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In 1978, the church was

beginning to grow in Ghana, a

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vibrant country in West Africa.

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God had promised the gospel would

be preached in all languages of

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the world, but there was a problem.

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At that point, the Ghanaian

people were not able to be

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taught in their own language.

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In order to fulfill this prophecy,

God sent Priscilla a vision.

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She was standing in the sacrament meeting

and a person dressed all in white.

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Came to her to look at the congregation.

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He pointed out to Priscilla

that her people were not happy.

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She then noticed many of them were

sitting with bowed heads and not

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singing from the English hymn books.

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Of course, English was not their language.

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The person of this vision asked,

Priscilla, wouldn't you like to

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help your brothers and sisters so

they can join in singing the hymns?

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She replied, please.

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I will try.

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Priscilla immediately started to translate

the hymn Redeemer of Israel into her

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native language, but didn't stop there.

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Once she finished all the church

hymns, she wondered if she

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was capable of taking on more.

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Priscilla had read The Book of Mormon was

being translated into other languages.

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She heard a voice whisper.

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Couldn't you do that too?

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Priscilla knew that with God's

help, she could do anything, even

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things she had never done before.

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Priscilla knew members from her

community would grow in their

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testimony of Christ by understanding

the scriptures in their own language.

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So she got to work.

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She translated the Book of Mormon, the

doctrine covenants, the Perla Great

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Price and other missionary materials.

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Isn't that amazing?

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Priscilla's hard work, blessed

millions of people to become happier

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in the gospel and changed the

church by helping fulfill prophecy.

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Now, that is a woman that has

the end in mind to keep going.

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I, I can't imagine how long that took her.

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She said, I always have an eraser with me

because the spirit is always teaching me.

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The prophet president Russell M.

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Nelson has said quote, I encourage

you to begin with the and in mind.

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This means making the celestial

kingdom your eternal goal, and in

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carefully considering where each of

your decisions will here on earth

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will place you in the next world.

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I don't know if you remember

his first address to the church

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as the new prophet he said.

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as a new presidency.

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We want to begin with the

end in mind for this reason.

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We're speaking to you today from a temple.

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The end for which each of us strives

is to be endowed with power in the

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house of the Lord, sealed as families,

faithful to covenants made in the

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temple to qualify us for the greatest

gift of God, that of eternal life and

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maybe if you turned around at the false

waterfalls, he said, if you stepped

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off the covenant path, whatever your

concerns, whatever your challenge is,

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I invite you all with all the hope

in my heart to please come back.

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There is a place for you

in this, the Lord's Church.

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Our personal connection to Jesus

Christ will give us the courage

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and confidence to move forward.

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And when life gets tough and it's

easy to look down or to turn back

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remember, remember my friends

to look up and to think forward.

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Keep your eye on the savior, Jesus Christ.

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and as we move forward

together, on the path.

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Enjoy the waterfalls along the way,

but don't get stuck on the false

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waterfalls, the false riches of the world.

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Don't let Satan deceive you.

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You're much wiser than that.

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Keep pressing forward.

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Have that hope and that perfect

brightness in your heart.

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Always remembering the end, the end goal.

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Play the long game, thanks my

friends for spending your time.

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We know your time is precious.

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We're all so super busy in this life.

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But thanks for taking time to

listen in on the Creative Spiritual

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Journey podcast, And Gia and I

will be back together next week.

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Yay.

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We're going to fly to Cape

Town and explore the garden

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route, so don't miss out.

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We'll have some new lessons and wonders.

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I.

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That we've explored.

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And if you have a friend who's afraid

to climb those ladders or has been who's

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distracted by those rainbow waterfalls.

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or Who doesn't have a map?

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Send this episode to them

so they don't miss out.

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on the end destination

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Remember, none of us

walk this journey alone.

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and I will see you on the trail in Gia.