It’s Smart To Take Part

Belonging to the Church is important. It opens the way for us to work out our salvation, but it’s only the first step on the road to happiness on earth and eternal progress in heaven. The rest comes through obedience and performance every day of our lives.

This is one of the reasons the Church offers so many opportunities for daily participation. The degree to which we take part in these spiritual, intellectual, physical, social exercises will determine the degree to which we are eventually saved.

Let’s take some examples:

A boy or a girl takes part regularly in class instruction, and he learns, in the process, priceless truths. And “we are saved no faster than we gain knowledge.”

We join the Church-sponsored scout troop, a young people’s chorus, a singing quartet, or we “try out” for a part in a dramatic skit. That’s experience, progress.

We take our turn to speak on principles of the gospel in our young people’s improvement meetings or in Sunday worship services. Again, we’re taking part — going ahead.

We participate in Church league basketball, softball, volleyball — and in the process we build the physical body, practice teamwork, and learn the value of putting good sportsmanship into our play and work.

Going to “socials” in the attractive and wholesome atmosphere of our Church recreational halls helps us to develop our social graces and meet and associate with young men and young women of our own kind — the kind we’d like to have for our friends and, eventually, for our mates in marriage.

As we get older we become scout leaders, Sunday School teachers, and many of us go on preaching missions.

All this is “taking part.” It is the day-by-day way to happiness and eternal progression. It is part — an important life-long part — in living our religion for our own good and for the greater good of others.

So — young men, young women of the Church — don’t be satisfied with just belonging. Start today to take part because it’s smart. In other words —

BE HONEST WITH YOURSELF

I’ve got to say, of all the possible activities in which one can take part…

…square dancing looks like the most fun.