そしてわたしは、父が見た鉄の棒が。。。神の言葉である。。。ニーファイ第一書１１：２５
そして、わたしはまた、押し進んで来るほかの人々を見たが、この人々は進んで来て、鉄の棒の端をつかんだ。そして彼らは、鉄の棒にすがりながら暗黒の霧の中を押し進み、ついに進んで来てその木の実を食べた。ニーファイ第一書８：２４
And it came to pass that I beheld that the rod of iron, which my father had seen, was the word of God…1 Nep 11:25
And it came to pass that I beheld others pressing forward, and they came forth and caught hold of the end of the rod of iron; and they did press forward through the mists of darkness, clinging to the rod of iron, even until they did come forth and partake of the fruit of the tree 1 Nep 8:24
We all know that this world is a time of testing. We all know that we will have trials and troubles. We all know that we will have hard times. We all knew that before we came here.
Sometimes, in the middle of the difficult times, we forget what we are doing. Sometimes it seems too hard. Sometimes it seems like we will never be happy. Sometimes the goal seems too far away.
Nephi taught us about the Iron Rod. He taught us that the Iron Rod is the Word of God. In his vision, he saw people holding on to the rod and moving forward until they reached the Tree of Life. All they had to do was to hold on and to keep moving forward.
That is all we need to do. No one expects us to be perfect. No one expects us to never make a mistake. All we need to do is to keep the commandments and to keep trying.
As long as we do the small and simple things, we will be okay. The small and simple things are saying our prayers every day, reading from the scriptures every day, attending our Church meetings, serving in our callings, and so on.
In Nephi’s vision, there were great mists of darkness. Those people who held on to the Iron Rod were okay. Those people who let go of the Iron Rod were lost.
In our troubles and trials, remember, “Hold to the Rod”. Do the small and simple things. Keep moving forward.
I know that great blessings will come to us as we do this. Heavenly Father loves us and wants each of us to succeed. He will help us!
Let’s all have a great week!