Hold On

This entry is part of my general conference application series.

Hold On, by Ann M. Dibb
Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency


In a recent post, I shared a video that a municipality in the UK uses to stress the importance of wearing seat belts. I really like the video. According to the NHTSA, 17% of people in the U.S. don't wear seat belts (link). Paraphrasing Sister Dibb, these people have the necessary safety equipment, they just choose not to wear it.

Here's the video, in case you missed it (link to blog post).

In her talk, Sister Dibb spoke of a construction crew who were, literally, left hanging after their scaffolding failed. For more than an hour, they clung to the underside of a bridge, 125 feet in the air—without safety equipment. Apparently, "they had the equipment; they just chose not to wear it."

It's understandable why people don't use safety equipment, particularly when statistics enter the discussion—they just don't think "it" will happen to them. But when emergencies or perilous situations come, we all wish we had buckled up, used more care, or fastened that necessary clip.

Here is the connection from one aspect of life (everyday things), to another (the important things):

Heavenly Father has not left us alone during our mortal probation. He has already given us all the “safety equipment” we will need to successfully return to Him. He has given us personal prayer, the scriptures, living prophets, and the Holy Ghost to guide us. At times, using this equipment may seem cumbersome, awkward, and horribly unfashionable. Its proper use requires our diligence, obedience, and persistence. But I, for one, choose to use it. We must all choose to use it.

I always wear a seat belt in the car, but do I likewise use the other "safety equipment," which may, ultimately, be more important?

I may think I'm safe, but so did those construction workers on the bridge. I don't want to wait for opposition and difficult times to see if I have the necessary equipment on hand—that would be like trying to buckle a seat belt as your car careens off a cliff. Rather, I want the courage to choose to use the provided safety equipment, even, and especially, when times seem easy and happy. For when the scaffolding fails, I want to be secured, and not have to dangle precipitously.