Eduardo F. Ortega · Of the Seventy
1Some may think that faith is inherited. True discipleship, however, always begins with a personal decision.
2When I arrived in the United States last year, one of the things that had the biggest impact on me was seeing the spiritual strength of many faithful Saints—multigenerational gospel families of pioneer descendants who continue to walk the covenant path. Most inspiring is that their faithfulness depends not only on their spiritual heritage but on their personal decision to follow the Savior.
3Our family heritage is a great blessing, but it is not a substitute for our diligent and intentional search for a personal testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ and the truths of His restored gospel.
4Our family legacy and traditions are very helpful, but in and of themselves they are not enough for us to build upon the rock of our Savior.
5The Lord taught this principle when He said to Peter, “Blessed art thou, Simon Bar-jona: for flesh and blood hath not revealed it unto thee, but my Father which is in heaven.”
6A personal testimony comes in response to our sincere and dedicated quest to want to know for ourselves and then to act upon the impressions and the knowledge received. This pattern is repeated within many faithful member families in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints around the world.
7My family is not the exception. My grandmother Mercedes was the pioneer in our family. She joined the Church in August 1957 in Mendoza, Argentina, 32 years after South America was dedicated for the preaching of the gospel. My father, who is here with us today, was only six years old.
8I am deeply grateful for my grandmother’s faith and courage in following the Savior’s example, even though her circumstances were not perfect or ideal. Her decision brought blessings not only to her but also to many of us.
9I grew up in a home where we actively lived the teachings of our Savior, Jesus Christ, and participated in Church meetings and programs. But that was not enough—I needed to know for myself. It was not until I was serving as a young missionary in Colombia that I gained my own personal and undeniable testimony of Jesus Christ, “even to an experiment upon [His] words” while striving to “invite [and help] others to come unto Christ.”
10Over the years I have seen the Lord’s hand and His gospel work in me to perfect and refine me as I have trusted in Him and strived to “press forward with a steadfastness.”
11Now I would like to address those who have recently joined the Church. We are so happy and we rejoice in your decision to follow the Savior. We want you to feel welcome to this great family as brothers and sisters and children of a loving Heavenly Father. The fact that you are here is a testimony of the promise that you have come “by the word of Christ with unshaken faith in him, relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.”
12As I think of you, I remember my grandmother Mercedes. You may feel that your circumstances are not perfect or ideal, just as they were not for her. But there is hope in Christ and in His restored gospel. You may become to your families and descendants what she was to us.
13In addition to the changes you may have already experienced in your lives and hearts, there is a road ahead for you to “press forward with a steadfastness in Christ” as you endure on the covenant path. In doing so, perhaps you will experience the same as I have; sometimes I need the perspective that time gives to see the refining and perfecting hand of our Savior, Jesus Christ, in my life and in my family’s life.
14The invitation to seek, to come to know and to do, and then to endure on the covenant path is the same for all of us, regardless of whether the gospel has been in our families for generations or we were baptized just last week. And it is received individually as we seek diligently and are “nourished by the good word of God, to keep [us] in the right way, to keep [us] continually watchful unto prayer, relying alone upon the merits of Christ, who [is] the author and the finisher of [our] faith.”
15The prophet Nephi taught: “Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”
16Becoming a lifelong disciple of Christ is a process, the sum of multiple small, daily, personal and spiritual events. President Dallin H. Oaks taught: “We need to be patient … , even with ourselves. Overcoming doubt … can be a lengthy process, as with building faith.”
17The path of discipleship often resembles climbing a mountain. The shortest path to the top is not always the most appropriate and often not the safest either. Thus, we must choose the firm and safe path, even if it is sometimes the longest and most demanding one. Jesus Christ and His restored gospel constitute that safe path that leads us to the true summit.
18I testify of the healing, refining, and perfecting power of Jesus Christ. I know that Jesus Christ lives, that He was resurrected on the third day, and that the empty tomb is a symbol of His victory. I testify that He is the author and the finisher of our faith, in the sacred name of our Savior, Jesus Christ, amen.