A few years ago during an assignment to the island Vava’u in the Tongan Islands, a distinguished elderly patriarch who I met shared the following lesson with me.
He mentioned that Vava’u is a relatively small island that periodically suffers from severe droughts. During these droughts, the only way to obtain fresh water and survive was to siphon it from rock formations inside the mountains that came up from a few spots in the sea
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The Tongan men would set off in their small boats with a wise elder standing at one end of the boat, looking for just the right spot. The strong young men in the boat stood ready with containers to dive deep into the ocean.
When they reached the appropriate spot, the wise man would raise both arms to heaven. That was the signal. The strong young men would dive off the boat as deep as they could and fill the containers with fresh spring water.
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This old patriarch likened this lifesaving tradition to the living waters of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the wise man to God’s prophet here on earth. The water was pure, fresh, and—in their drought condition—lifesaving.
We live in a precarious time. The world is in desperate need of the fresh spring water which is the gospel of Jesus Christ. If we follow the prophet, we can look to the future with great optimism.
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President Russell M. Nelson is the great leader for our generation. He is our prophet, and we need to follow his teaching. We need to understand how difficult the war for the souls of men has become and recommit ourselves to follow his counsel.