Let us with faith, enthusiasm, dedication, responsibility, and love do all that is within our reach, and we will be doing all that is possible to achieve the impossible—that is, to achieve what for human mind is impossible, but with the divine intervention is the greatest gift, the most glorious of realities, to live forever with God and our families. Even though our journey may be fraught with tribulation, the destination is truly glorious. Nearly 200,00 immigrants who left their European homelands reached the coast of North America in the seventeenth century. Coming from variety of social backgrounds and spurred by different motives, they represented the rootstock of distinctive societies that would mature in North American colonies of England, France, Holland, and Spain. For three generations, North America served as a social laboratory for religious and social visionaries, political theorists, fortune seekers, people who were socially unique, and most of all, ordinary men and women seeking a better life than they had known in their European homelands. Nearly three-quarters of them came to the Chesapeake and Carolina colonies. Most of them found this region a burial ground rather than an arena of opportunity. Infirmary, stunted family life, and the harsh work regimen imposed by the planters who commanded the labor of the vast majority ended the dreams of most who came. This mortal life can constitute a difficult journey, but the destination is truly glorious. The population inched upward, and the bone and sinew of a workable economy formed.  #RandolphHarris 1 of 6

In the northern colonies, to which the fewest immigrants came, life was more secure. Organized around family and community, favored by a healthier climate, and motivated by religion and social vision, the Puritan and Quaker societies thrived. Utopian expectations were never completely fulfilled. However, nowhere else in the Western World at that time could they even have been attempted. What did succeed was the rooting of agricultural life based on family farms and the establishment of locally oriented political institutions marked by widespread participation. Thus, as the seventeenth century progressed, the scattered settlements along the North American coast, largely isolated from one another, as well as a few inland French and Spanish settlements, pursued their separate paths of development. There is also a misconception that African Americans were merely slaves. Much of their legacy during the early pioneer days is totally marginalized. Anthony Johnson, an African, arrived in Virginia in 1621 with only the name Antonio. He was enslaved, but on 22 March 1622, the Powhatan tribes of tidewater Virginia fell on the European colonizers in a determined attempt to drive them from the land. Of the 57 people on the Bennett plantation, only Antoni and four others survived. #RandolphHarris 2 of 6

Antonio—anglicized to Anthony—labored on the Bennett plantation for some 20 years, enslaved in fact if not in law, for legally defined bondage was still in the formative stage. During this time, he married Mary, another African trapped in the labyrinth of servitude, and fathered four children. In the 1640s, Anthony and Mary Johnson gained their freedom after half a lifetime of servitude. Probably at this point they chose surname, Johnson, to signify their new status. Already past middle age, the Johnsons began carving out a niche for themselves on Virginia’s eastern shore. By 1650, they owned 250 acres, a small heard of cattle, and they also owned two African servants. In a World in which racial boundaries were not yet firmly marked, the Johnsons had entered the scramble of small planters for economic security. By schooling themselves in the workings of the English legal process, carefully cultivating European patronage, and working industriously on the land, the Johnsons gained their freedom, acquired property, established a family, warded off contentious neighbors, and hammered out a decent existence. #RandolphHarris 3 of 6

In a World we shall have tribulation, but are to be of good cheer. God’s revelation to humans might require something of the sort. God’s chosen will carry us past an obvious possibility. It comes from God’s special grace. God doubtless blesses us through the air we breathe as much as through anything. All spirits blessed by birth will ultimately be resurrected, spirit and body reunited, and inherit kingdoms of glory that are superior to our existence here on Earth. Our leaders have consistently counseled us to live with respect and appreciation for those not of our faith. There is so great a need for civility and mutual respect among those of differing beliefs and philosophies. It is equally important that w be loving and kind to members of our own faith, regardless of their level of commitment or activity. The Savior has made it clear that we are not to judge each other. This is especially true of members of our own families. Our obligation is to love and teach and never give up. The Lord has made salvation free for all people, but has commanded his people that they should persuade all people to repentance. The desires of our hearts, of course, is not only to acquire salvation and immortality , but also to attain eternal life with a loving Father in Heaven and our Savior in the celestial kingdom with our families. #RandolphHarris 4 of 6

We can obtain eternal life only through obedience to the laws and ordinances to the laws and decrees of the gospel. The reason underlying this advice is that since there is no certainty as to what external goods or evils would follow the practice of vice, it is preferable for people to take one’s chance on virtue, and gain eternal life. This reasoning is based on the common human experience that it is easier for one to induce oneself a feeling of happiness in the misery that may follow  life of virtue than it is to induce in oneself a feeling of happiness in the misery, and sometimes even in the joy, that may follow a life of vice. We are also advised to practice virtue for its own sake because of providence is individual. And desire common observation to the contrary, no virtue goes unrewarded; acts of virtue are graded merits; and the reward is always in accordance with the merit of the act. The practice of virtue is of the highest degree of merit, and the reward for it, which ultimately is of a spiritual nature in the hereafter, will be in accordance with its merit. God’s favors can surround people like the sea surrounds fish. If it is to be creative, our life together requires both unity and variety. If our energies are not to be wasted in brute conflict, unity is obviously needed. “We must grow exceedingly in the knowledge of our God; and keep his statues and commandments, and walk in truth and uprightness before the Lord,” reports Helaman 6.34. #RandolphHarris 5 of 6

We must get over anything holding us back from the amazing future God has in store. A loving Father has provided a comprehensive and compassionate plan for his children that saves the living and redeems those who are in a spiritual slumber, recuses the damned, and glorifies all who repent. There is a victor’s crown waiting for us. Whatever we have suffered is nothing compared to the glory that is coming. Eternal life is to live with our Father in Heaven and with our families forevermore. Should not this promise be the greatest incentive to do the best within our reach? The Lord does not expect that we do what we cannot achieve. The command to become perfect, as the Lord is, encourages us to achieve the best of ourselves, to discover and develop the talents and attributes with which we are blessed by a loving Eternal Father, who invites us to realize our potential as children of God. God knows us; God knows of our capacities and our limitations. The invitation and challenge to become perfect, to achieve eternal life is for all humankind. God will not require more than the best we can give because that would not be just, but neither can the Lord accept less than that because that would not be just either. Therefore, let us always give the best we can in the service of God and our fellow beings. Let us do the best we can and each day be a little better. All the forces of darkness cannot keep us from our destiny. #RandolphHarris 6 of 6