Good morning Brothers and Sisters; and a big “howdy do” to you all!

The “mutual theme” for the youth this year is found in Joshua 1:9; it says:
“Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for
the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” The youth of our stake,
including many from our own ward, recently performed a musical based on this
theme called “Early Morning Warriors”(***??? not sure if that’s actually what it
was called???***) which was based on this theme. They did a marvelous job and I
hope that you were able to watch them perform, I certainly enjoyed it.

From the time I was given this theme as my topic, I have been thinking a lot
about what this scripture means to me in my own life. I’d like to share with you
some of the thoughts and impressions that I’ve had and hope that something
might touch each of you and help you as they have helped me.

As I read and re-read Joshua 1:9, I noticed something that wasn’t obvious
to me at first. The Lord is talking to Joshua in this verse and tells him, almost in
the same way that he gives his commandments, to “be strong and of good
courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed.” I believe the Lord is speaking
of things of a spiritual nature here; therefore we are commanded to not only be
spiritually strong, or powerful, but also courageous, which I always think of being
willing to face dangers or difficulties. The then commands us not to be afraid,
which I think of as outward forces causing us fear, nor to be dismayed, which I like
to think of as attacking ourselves inwardly, discouraging ourselves, and, by
definition, literally taking away our courage. Wouldn’t it be nice if each of us could
just simply say “Yes! I will be obedient” and be able to be strong and courageous?
It is something not so easily done as said, but thankfully the Lord gives us some
more help with this matter as he gives us a reason that we can look to that will
help us obey this directive. Why is it that we should be able to feel strong and
courageous among everything that we have to face in this life? Because “the Lord
thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.”

Do you think that if you were walking through the hallways at school, or at
the lunch room at work, or the grocery store, or wherever you were, at all times,
that if Christ himself were walking right there with you, that you could feel strong
and courageous? I think so. This was the promise that was given to Joshua, that
he would be with him wherever he went, and it can be the same with us. It’s not
an easy task, nor is there a quick solution, but there are things that we can work
on each day of our lives that will qualify us for this same marvelous blessing.

How is it, then, that we can know that the Lord is with us always which
should in turn give us that wonderful strength and courage to face the world
around us and be not afraid? Or perhaps, what corrections in our lives do we
need to make so that we can be worthy to have the Lord with us always?
Sometimes it may feel very difficult for you to feel or know that he is with you, it
is something that I know I have personally struggled with at various times of my
life; I might ask myself “am I really living my life in such a way that permits me to
have the Savior with me?”