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Be Strong and of Good Courage Part 1 Transcript
Speaker: Glenn Rawson
First Story: The Mormon Rebellion
The time and the date was October 1838. This was the setting. It’s right around the 30th of October 1838. Governor Lillburn W. Boggs has called out the militia to put down the Mormons, and that’s what they were referred to in the history as the Mormon Rebellion.
Well, all together, and the accounts vary, somewhere between 3,000 and 7,000 troops kept coming, marched on the city of Far West in northern Missouri, again, October 30, 1838. They arrayed themselves in a battle front, just south of the city of Far West.
If you’re standing and you’re looking at the Far West Temple site right in front of you, off to your right to the south would be where they were about a mile down. President John Taylor gives this most interesting description of that moment and that day. This is what he said:
(This comes from a conference talk given in the tabernacle in 1882 when he was President of the Church.)
He said, quote, “Persecution has been our lot from the beginning and it has followed us to this day. I am reminded of a circumstance that occurred in Missouri, which I will mention to show the kind of feeling that Joseph Smith was possessed of. Some 25 years ago in Far West, a mob, one of those semi-occasional occurrences, had come against us with evil intent, placing themselves in a position to give us battle, and there were not more than about 200 of us in the place. We had one fellow who was taken with the fit of trembling in the knees, and he ordered our people to retreat.
As soon as Joseph heard this sound, he exclaimed, ‘Retreat! Where in the name of God shall we retreat to?’
He then let us out to the prairie, facing the mob, and placed us in position. And the first thing we knew, a flag of truce, was seen coming towards us.”
The person bearing it said that some of their friends were among our people for whose safety they felt anxious. You remember that I told you that among those friends it was Mary Elizabeth Rollins’ lightener and her husband Adam. John Taylor said, “in which a wife was in the church but not the husband and the mob wished these parties to come out as they,” (and this is the mob, this is the governor’s orders) “as they were going to destroy every man, woman, and child in the place.”
That was what the mob was there to do. President Taylor said, “But these folks,” (meaning these part-member family) “these folks had a little sand in them, as the boys say. They sent word back that if it was the case, they would die with their friends.”
Here’s the reason I tell you the story: Joseph Smith, our leader, now mind you, 3,000 troops over there, and 200 Latter-day Saints are raided in battle formation to defend the city of Far West. Joseph Smith stepped up, faced the messenger, and said, “Tell your general to withdraw his troops, or I will send them to hell.”
President Taylor said: “I thought that was a pretty bold stand to take, as we only numbered about 200 to their 3500. But, they thought we were more numerous than we really were. It may be that our numbers were magnified in their eyes, but they took the hint and left, and we were not sorry.”
And then he goes on to say, “The Lord through simple means is able to take care of and deliver his people, but they must put implicit faith and confidence in him, and when they are crowded into a tight place, they must not be afraid to make sacrifice for the sake of maintaining the truth, and all will be well with them whether living or dying in time or eternity.”
Brothers and sisters, the topic tonight I have chosen to talk about is be strong and of a good courage. This topic stirs my soul. It always has.
Second Story: Hero
When I was just a little boy growing up on the ranch, my dad’s favorite movies were Westerns. I grew up with John Wayne and Robert Mitchem and all the other tough guys. And all my life I have admired those men and women with grit, strength, determination, courage and toughness. And then I became a Latter-day Saint, at first I thought Latter-day Saints were the biggest bunch of sissies in the world. And then as time went on I found that among the Latter-day Saints, was some of the greatest, most compelling courage anywhere in the world.
A man can fight a battle against an army, and we call him a hero, and well we should. But that man or that woman who is able to do battle against the adversary and never give up. Keep going. That person’s a hero too. That person who, that mother, (I’m thinking of my daughters raising young families), That mother who has a whole group of little children running around and she works day in and day out to take care of them, minister to their needs and never gets one word of thanks ofttimes.
And yet day after day she continues to love and give. That’s courage. And that’s a hero too.
Years ago, I was a missionary serving in Iowa Des Moines. And I was in the city of Ames and my companion and I had gone to the grocery store to stock up for the week. As we are walking back to our apartment, laden down with bags of food, we passed by the side of a bank. And I happened to look up and under the eaves of that bank was a very large spider web.
Now, I’m a country pumpkin. I observe things going on in nature. I love to be outdoors and that spider web caught my attention. That thing was huge and right in the middle of it was Mama Spider herself, or himself, whatever, and suddenly an idea struck me. I bent down and picked up a small twig, and I lobbed it right into the spider web.
Boy, that spider leaked into immediate action and pounced on that twig. It didn’t take him long to determine that this was not dinner, and then I was fascinated by what he did next. That spider grabbed a hold of the twig and where his legs cut all of the strands of web that held that twig and threw it right back down at my feet.
Yeah, so I picked it up and threw it in again just to see what he would do and he pounced on it again. I did that at least one more time and he did exactly the same thing. Pounced on the twig with vim and vigor, cut the thing out and threw it back at me. Finally, I came to the conclusion that this was spider harassment and that by now, the web was tattered, the spider was surely frustrated, and I decided that any creature, with that kind of grit and determination, deserved my respect. And I left him in peace. His web in Tatters, but I let him in peace. I have never forgotten that critter. I learned a lesson from him.
We constantly get things thrown in our way, like viruses and pandemics and unemployment or any kind of you name it, any kind of reversals, and they come. And they don’t come in consistently. They come regularly. Sometimes they come daily. But there’s always something coming that’s trying to obstruct, trying to mess up our lives, trying to stop us, trying to slow us down. I learned a lesson from a spider.
Don’t stand back and go, “Oh, whoa is me. Life isn’t fair.” Grab a hold of the problem and throw it right back. Go on, get up, keep going and remove the obstacles between you and your Father in Heaven and you will know peace. And besides that, along the way, you’ll probably get tougher than nails as well as you go.
Third Story: But If Not
From the Old Testament. I first learned of this insight from Elder Neil A. Maxwell. The three words that have come to have great meaning in me, probably if I could name any three words in the Old Testament, among the top of the list that have great meaning are these words: but if not.
Some of you will recognize exactly where that comes from. Anciently in the province of Babylon, Nebuchadnezzar, the king, set up a 90-foot golden statue and commanded all the people of his kingdom, including the Hebrews, to worship it at the sound of the music, and if they would not, by decree, they would die in the fiery furnace, that same hour, no judge, no trial by jury, none of that. They were dead.
The statue was unveiled in all of its splendor and the signal given. The music sounded, and dutifully and with fear, the people bowed before the idol. That is, except for three trusted faithful Hebrews: Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo. They refused to bow, and of course it was a plot.
They were discovered and accused before the king. They were brought before the king, and again they were given the opportunity to comply. There was no hesitation in their reply to the King. They said: “Nebuchadnezzar, our God whom we serve is able to deliver us from the burning fiery furnace, and he will deliver us out of thine hand, O King, but if not, be it known unto thee, O King, that we will not serve thy gods, nor worship the golden image which thou hast set up.” That comes from Daniel chapter 3.
Well, that was not what the King wanted to hear. Kings tend to be petalant tyrants. And in a rage, he commanded that the furnace be heated up seven times hotter than normal, and that the three Hebrews were to be cast in fourth with. The soldiers grabbed the three Hebrews, carried them to the top of the furnace, and when they opened the door, the blast of heat killed the soldiers, as they pushed the three Hebrews in.
Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednigo fell into the furnace. And all the while the king is down below watching. Can you imagine the twisted satisfaction of watching through the open door down below, the writhing, screaming, twisting agony of its victims dying?
But no. The three Hebrews stood up, and then the king discovered a fourth, someone that resembled the Son of God. The three Hebrews were delivered from the fiery furnace.
That story has always inspired me. I know it as sure as I know my own name that God has power. And I’ve seen it many times in other people’s lives, especially. He can deliver us. But oh that blessed soul, who in the midst of pain, agony, suffering and affliction be it whatever it may, who can look up to God and say I know that thou canst deliver me. I know that thou canst comfort me I know that peace and joy comes from thee and that I can be delivered. But if not I will stay the course anyway. I will hold onto and be patient until my deliverance comes.
Surely the Lord must smile as a tear runs down His cheek when you and I reach that point where we can submit sweetly and in faith to unanswered prayers. Let the world burn us if we will.
Fourth Story: Stand for Conviction
The year was 1857 near San Bernardino, California. Remember San Bernardino was first settled by the Latter-day Saints and grew up as a Latter-day Saints settlement.
Well, there was a young man, 19 years of age, who was returning from missionary service. He had been released. He had come out of Los Angeles and joined up with two men, one of them a mail carrier, with the mail to come back to Salt Lake City, as they neared San Bernardino they had traveled all night, they stopped for breakfast.
While the mail carrier and the other guy started cooking breakfast, the young missionary took the horses and went out to tend to them. About that time, over the hill or down the road came a wagonload of men, drunken, rowdy, angry, shouting and shooting and of all things, cursing the Mormons, swearing that they would kill every Mormon they could find.
Why? Because this was right in the aftermath of the terrible evil tragedy of Mountain Meadows massacre, and the word had spread. Our friend was coming right up that same road. Well, the mail carrier and the other fellow, prudently, went off and hid, so as not to be seen. That the young missionary, not aware of what was going on, walked right into view as the wagon came close to the camp.
One of the ruffians got out of the wagon, waving his pistol and shouting. The young missionary got to the fire just moments before and the the ruffian walked right up, shoved the pistol in his face and said, “Are you a Mormon?”
The young lad looked him straight in the eye. He said to himself, “I dare not run. I trembled for fear, which I dared not show.”
How many times should I have stood up to be counted? But how many times instead did I put my head down and try to hide?
The 19-year-old lad looked him straight in the eye and answered with emphasis, “Yes, died in the wool, true, blue, through and through.”
The mobber’s arms dropped to his side with this pistol in the one hand as if paralyzed. The tone of his voice softened into a subdued and modelled tone, and he said, “Well, you are the pleasantest men I ever met. Shake,” and he stuck out his hand. And then he went on to say, “This is it. I am glad to see a fellow stand for his convictions.”
He turned and walked away to join his companions, not saying a word about who the lad was. That young man was Joseph F. Smith, who would later become the sixth president of the Church.
Where did he learn such courage? From a father who, knowing what was going to happen, went to Carthage anyway, faced a mob standing by his brother and gave us life. And from a mother who had the courage against all opposition to join the Church, and immigrate with the Saints. And after her husband was killed to gather a large family and follow the prophet and come West. And against all odds, opposition, and adversity, she’d brought them over the Rocky Mountains and into the Salt Lake Valley and then went off on her own and carved out a homestead in East Mill Creek. Mary Fielding Smith.
Brothers and sisters, courage is a choice. It’s that quality that comes from within that impels us to stand up, face our fears, and be counted when the moment comes.
I have been so delighted. On these Facebook threads, these comment threads, we’ve had so many haters get on. In fact, one got on during the broadcast last week and I was chuckling to myself how you went after it. I finally had to delete the man’s comments because he was being eaten alive.
But brothers and sisters, good on you for standing up for the faith. Good on you for living a life of courage and strength.
And I want to emphasize again, when the Lord said to Joshua, “Be strong and of a good courage.”
Think about these words, “Be strong and of a good courage.”
It indicates, it hints, that we have a choice. Weakness is a choice with me. I’m not talking about the size of your bicep. Eternally speaking, who gives a spin about the size of your bicep? But the strength of your character, the strength of your backbone, your grit and your determination to keep your covenants, love God and love your fellow men in spite of the opposition. That’s courage and that’s a choice and we can make that choice.
Courage is most defined when we make that choice when it’s not easy nor popular.
