I love you. I don't know when or if I'll come home. I love the gospel. I must follow my Savior.
Jurgi Slnedofir (spelling?). To his wife before he was to go before the communist party and admit that he is the leader of the church in then communist Czechoslovakia. In Czechoslovakia, they had to meet in secret and whisper in meetings to avoid capture. He didn't know if he would be imprisoned or killed upon standing up and admitting this.
I heard this story from President Brandon Ogden, my stake president in Stake Conference today as he served his mission in that area.
I've been thinking a lot about being deceived. Today there are so many voices trying to deceive us. From someone standing on the sidewalk outside a church building, to Internet posts from disgruntled and excommunicated members, to misinformed television shows depicting the Church's past. Satan does not have a veil causing him to forget life before earth. We do and he is taking advantage of that.
Even the very elect will be deceived if not careful and vigilant!
That scares me. Truly scares me. How can I avoid being deceived? Especially when so many around me, who I thought were valiant, are falling away, even close friends? How can I avoid being one of them?
"I MUST follow my Savior!" There is no other way. And there is no partial following Him. It has to be all or nothing. The Savior cannot and will not be deceived and I must follow Him. Only on His side, will I be safe. He will win. Despite what anybody thinks or believes... HE WILL WIN!
Then... I need to trust Him. I need to trust that He will protect me. As I metaphorically go in front of the communist party of the world, i.e., the loud voices of the followers of Satan and the unbelievers... I must trust that Christ will keep me from being spiritually imprisoned or spiritually killed and instead lead me to return home.