Sister Carol F. McConkie, when First Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency said in October 2015:
The righteous cause we serve is the cause of Christ. It is the work of salvation.4 below The Lord taught, “This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man.”5 We are the cause for which Jesus Christ suffered, bled from every pore, and in perfect love gave His life. His cause is the good news, “the glad tidings, … that he came into the world, even Jesus, to be crucified for the world, and to bear the sins of the world, and to sanctify the world, and to cleanse it from all unrighteousness; that through him all might be saved.”6 Our Savior has “marked the path and led the way.”7 I testify that as we follow His example, love God, and serve one another with kindness and compassion, we may stand in purity, “blameless before God at the last day.”8 We choose to serve the Lord in His righteous cause that we may become one with the Father and with the Son.9
The prophet Mormon boldly declared, “For we have a labor to perform whilst in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.”10 The early Church leaders and pioneers of the past pressed forward with heroic courage and determined faithfulness to establish the restored gospel and build temples where ordinances of exaltation could be performed. The pioneers of the present, meaning you and me, also press forward in faith, “to labor in [the Lord’s] vineyard for the salvation of the souls of men.”11 And, as President Gordon B. Hinckley taught, “How magnificent will be the future as the Almighty rolls on His glorious work … through the selfless [service] of those whose hearts are filled with love for the Redeemer of the world.”12 below We join with faithful sisters of the past, of the present, and of the rising generation when we join together in the work of salvation!
Before we were born, we accepted our Heavenly Father’s plan “by which [we] could obtain a physical body and gain earthly experience to progress toward perfection and ultimately realize [our] divine destiny as heirs of eternal life.”13 Of this premortal covenant, Elder John A. Widtsoe explained: “We agreed, right then and there, to be not only saviors for ourselves but … saviors for the whole human family. We went into a partnership with the Lord. The working out of the plan became then not merely the Father’s work, and the Savior’s work, but also our work. The least of us, the humblest, is in partnership with the Almighty in achieving the purpose of the eternal plan of salvation.”14 below
Here in mortality we have again covenanted to serve the Savior in the work of salvation. ~ for Sister McConkie’s complete talk, go to… ‘Here to Serve a Righteous Cause’
4.“This work of salvation includes member missionary work, convert retention, activation of less-active members, temple and family history work, and teaching the gospel” (Handbook 2: Administering the Church [2010], introduction to chapter 5).
12.Gordon B. Hinckley, “Stay the Course—Keep the Faith,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 72.
13.“The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2010, 129.
14.John A. Widtsoe, “The Worth of Souls,” Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Oct. 1934, 189.
