Elder & Sister Dickson (Area President) along with Sister Elaine Dalton from the Young Women’s General Presidency visited Singapore in mid February. They spoke at firesides for the youth and the Relief Society and conducted trainings for the local leadership. Elder Dickson described to the youth the scope of the Asia area over which he presides, “We oversee half of the world’s population—from Mongolia to Indonesia, from Taiwan to Afghanistan.” He also mentioned that Sis. Dalton is responsible for 1/2 million Young Women, worldwide.

He encouraged the youth by testifying to them that, “We have a Father in Heaven and He loves us. He has not left us alone. He has given us guideposts. Christ is our example.” He quoted 3 Nephi 11:3, 6-7. These verses refer to the appearance of Christ to the people of the Book of Mormon. When Heavenly Father introduced Christ to the people, He said, “Hear ye Him.” Elder Dickson said that these 3 words are the greatest invitation to mankind. “Heavenly Father always points to Christ. If we follow Christ we will receive the great blessing of eternal life.

Pres. Dickson also talked about having personal victories to help us along the road to eternal life. He related his experience of having bone cancer as a young man. The disease took his right arm, but because he set goals and experienced personal victories, he has lived a full and happy life. After the meeting he trained some of the Young Men on how to tie a tie with one hand.

Sis. Dalton told the youth that she had been looking forward to coming to Singapore for six months. She described Singapore as an “elegant city”. She had the opportunity to travel from Salt Lake City, Utah to Hong Kong, to India, to Cambodia before landing in Singapore. She has visited members of the Church in all of these places. “You are not alone in trying to live the Gospel of Christ. You are part of something big—bigger than you understand.” She spoke of the high regard our Heavenly Father has for the youth of today. “You are a royal generation because you live in the Dispensation of the Fullness of time. How special, how beloved you are. Heavenly Father trusts you and reserved you for this time because He knows how strong you are!” She said she couldn’t wait to report back to Pres. Hinckley.

Sis. Dalton then compared life to running a marathon. She described how she and her husband trained for the Boston Marathon during a recent General Young Women meeting:

“Several years ago, my husband and I qualified to run the Boston Marathon. The night before the marathon, in an effort to visualize what it would be like to complete the race, we went to downtown Boston about a mile from the finish line. There in the quiet of the evening we laced up our running shoes and ran that last mile to the finish. As we crossed the line we held our hands victoriously high in the air and pretended that we had won the race! We imagined thousands of observers in the stands cheering for us. The next day we ran the race. Twenty-six point two miles (41.3 km) is a challenging distance. There are hills that are called ‘Heartbreak’ for a very good reason. The entire time I was running those hills, I kept in mind that finish line and what it had felt like the night before to cross the line victorious. That vision of the finish line helped me to finish that marathon in a pelting, cold New England storm.

Your vision of your future will help you press forward. Take a few minutes to envision where you want to be in one year or two or five. Then take action to prepare yourselves. People don’t just run a marathon when they decide to do it. They must train daily, slowly building stamina and endurance to run the 26.2-mile distance. So it is with life. It is daily diligence with prayer and scripture study that will help you reach your goals. Your daily decisions will influence generations” (General Young Women Meeting, 2003).

After her talk, she received many emails from people seeking advice on how to be so disciplined in training for such a race. She received one such email from our very own Pres. Stephen Lai of the Stake presidency. He told her that he had trained to run a marathon in Singapore, but he had later discovered the race was to be run on a Sunday. He asked Sis. Dalton for advice. She responded with, “He who honors God, him will God honor.” Pres. Lai decided to run the race ‘unofficially’ on his own the Saturday before the official race. Sis. Dalton told the youth, “You have great leaders and great parents. Watch them.” Then she turned to Pres. Lai and said, “I honor you because you are trained and prepared.”

Sis. Dalton promised the youth that they would be able to run and not be weary as they strive to make good decisions and live righteously. She then gave them 5 ‘training’ steps to help them along the way.

1.Train well: “Set goals now. Make pre-planned decisions now so you don’t have to make the decision later. Decide to go on a mission. Decide to be married in the temple. Decide to be active in the Church.” She quoted a Tanzanian marathon runner as saying, “The will to win means nothing without the will to prepare”.

2.Don’t get distracted: “Go the distance. Do not cheat. Pay the price. It doesn’t come easy. Remember 95% of being successful is just showing up. Pray and study as hard as you need to. Follow the example if Joseph Smith and stay strong despite the trials and persecutions.”

3.Take advantage of ‘aid stations’: “There are many people cheering you on. We pray for you everyday in Salt Lake City. We pray that you will be strong, study your scriptures, obey your parents, leaders, and the prophet, and follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost”. She quoted Pres. Hinckley from one of their meetings as saying, “I am absolutely convinced that this is the strongest generation ever. They will have the greatest challenges, but they can do it and I know they will.”

4.Stay on course: “Remember that ‘wickedness never was happiness’’. She encouraged the youth to review the promises listed in the For the Strength of Youth booklet and to do all they needed to do in order to receive those promised blessings.

5.Endure: “Hang in there. Put one foot in front of the other. ‘Press forward with a steadfastness in Christ’”.

Sis. Dalton concluded her remarks by saying, “I hope we meet again. I hope that if we meet again we can say, ‘I have fought a good fight, I have finished [my] course, I have kept the faith’” (2 Timothy 4:7).