This seems appropriate for the week of the Utah-BYU football game:
At the October 2009 General Conference, President Thomas S. Monson quoted Lawrence Douglas Wilder as saying that "Anger does not solve anything; it builds nothing."
President Monson went on to say, "We’ve all felt anger. It can come when things don’t turn out the way we want. It might be a reaction to something which is said of us or to us. We may experience it when people don’t behave the way we want them to behave. Perhaps it comes when we have to wait for something longer than we expected. We might feel angry when others can’t see things from our perspective. There seem to be countless possible reasons for anger."
Finding reasons for anger appears to become a simple matter when participating in or just watching sports. But the Apostle Paul asked, "Can ye be angry, and not sin? let not the sun go down upon your wrath” (Ephesians 4:26 of the Joseph Smith Translation). And in eleventh chapter of 3 Nephi we read:
“There shall be no disputations among you. … For verily, verily I say unto you, he that hath the spirit of contention is not of me, but is of the devil, who is the father of contention, and he stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another. Behold, this is not my doctrine, to stir up the hearts of men with anger, one against another; but this is my doctrine, that such things should be done away” (verses 28-30).
President Monson then warned that "To be angry is to yield to the influence of Satan. No one can make us angry. It is our choice. If we desire to have a proper spirit with us at all times, we must choose to refrain from becoming angry. I testify that such is possible."
After relating the story of two men who lived in a one room cabin that had been divided in half by a chalk line, which neither crossed as they passed 62 years without speaking a word to each other, President Monson counseled, "May we make a conscious decision, each time such a decision must be made, to refrain from anger and to leave unsaid the harsh and hurtful things we may be tempted to say."
Source:
https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2009/10/school-thy-feelings-o-my-brother?lang=eng
The night was coming on and it was getting cold, at least for northern California. I had less than a month to serve on my mission, and Christmas was just around the corner; we were working hard, but were not having much success. On this particular day, two teaching appointments stood us up -- "We got dogged," as we always said -- but on the positive side we did get in a door while tracting to teach a discussion. Now, as the shadows of the evening fell, we had a chance encounter with a teenage boy named Eric.
Eric had been tracted into recently by the Span Ams -- the Spanish speaking elders -- and expressed some interest in learning more about the church. My companion and I each bore our testimonies and encouraged him to read the Book of Mormon, but it seemed to have little effect. Eric said he was part of a youth group that did Bible study and that he would need to fast and pray to find out if he should read the Book of Mormon. Naturally, we encouraged him to both fast and pray. He then said that he was concerned that we are not Christians.
I answered by saying that we are Christians, that we believe in Jesus Christ and worship him. Then I opened my mini-quad to 2 Nephi 25 and read verse 29: "And now behold, I say unto you that the right way is to believe in Christ, and deny him not; and Christ is the Holy One of Israel; wherefore ye must bow down before him, and worship him with all your might, mind, and strength, and your whole soul; and if ye do this ye shall in nowise be cast out."
I could think of no better expression of the centrality of the Savior in the LDS faith, yet Eric seemed unimpressed. He again expressed reluctance to read the Book of Mormon. We had been talking in his driveway for an hour and the day was past and gone. It had been in the light of a streetlamp that I had read the scripture. It was cold, and we knew the ride back to our apartment on our bikes would be even colder. Again we bore our testimonies and encouraged him to read the Book of Mormon, and then we departed.
Perhaps a seed had been planted, and perhaps it grew, but soon I would be flying home and leaving the work I loved so much behind. Thanks to Eric, we completed that week with thirty-one hours of teaching and tracting, and it was our third week in a row of at least thirty hours. Most of the hours were spent tracting; that week we had scheduled eleven appointments only to get dogged by nine of them.
I felt a little like Nephi, "For we labor diligently . . . to persuade . . . our brethren, to believe in Christ, and to be reconciled to God; for we know that it is by grace that we are saved, after all we can do" (2 Nephi 25:23). "And we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we
prophecy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our
children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their
sins" (verse 26).
The twenty-fifth chapter of 2 Nephi is a powerful chapter -- perhaps in part because it follows the twelve Isaiah chapters -- as Nephi prophecies with plainness of Jesus Christ.
"But, behold, they shall have wars, and rumors of wars; and when the day cometh that the Only Begotten of the Father, yea, even the Father of heaven and of earth, shall manifest himself unto them in the flesh, behold, they will reject him, because of their iniquities, and the hardness of their hearts, and the stiffness of their necks. Behold, they will crucify him; and after he is laid in a sepulchre for the space of three days he shall rise from the dead, with healing in his wings; and all those who shall believe on his name shall be saved in the kingdom of God. Wherefore, my soul delighteth to prophesy concerning him, for I have seen his day, and my heart doth magnify his holy name" (verses 12-13).
Then Nephi speaks of our day: "And the Lord will set his hand again the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state. Wherefore he will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men. Wherefore, he shall bring forth his words unto them. . . ." (verses 17-18.)
"And now, my brethren, I have spoken plainly that ye cannot err. And as the Lord God liveth that brought Israel up out of the land of Egypt, and gave Moses power that he should heal the nations after they had been bitten by the poisonous serpents, if they would cast their eyes unto the serpent which he did raise up before them, and also gave him power that he should smite the rock and the water should come forth; yea, behold I say unto you, that as these things are true, and as the Lord God liveth, there is none other name given under heaven save it be this Jesus Christ, of which I have spoken, whereby men can be saved" (verse 20).
"And now behold, my people, ye are a stiffnecked people; wherefore, I have spoken plainly unto you, that ye cannot misunderstand. And the words which I have spoken shall stand as a testimony against you; for they are sufficient to teach any man the right way; for the right way is to believe in Christ and deny him not; for by denying him ye also deny the prophets and the law" (verse 28).
We have the opportunity to participate in the marvelous work and a wonder, not just as full time missionaries, but as member missionaries. Greater success in spreading the gospel is found when the members work with the missionaries to help them find people to teach. And our testimonies may be added to Nephi's that the right way is to believe in Jesus Christ and deny him not.
The LDS Church released a statement yesterday about missionary safety:
"The death of a missionary is felt by every Church member in a deep
and personal way, Elder David F. Evans, Executive Director of the
Church’s Missionary Department, said today. He was commenting on
the fact that ten young missionaries serving around the world have died
from accident or illness over the course of this year. The latest
serious accident occurred in Idaho yesterday – a road accident which
left a young missionary hospitalized and on life support.
Elder Evans also said, "For the Church and particularly for the families of these missionaries
who have lost their lives we know that the loss of even one missionary
is far too many. To these remarkable families we extend our love, our faith, our hope and
our prayers. And we pray that peace and comfort will be yours during
these times of sorrow."
Evans noted that, "gratefully, these occurrences are rare, and
missionary work is inherently safe. The mortality rate for missionaries
is significantly less than those in their same age group in the general
population."
According to the statement, "The Church does everything it can to ensure the safety of its
missionaries, including providing training in personal safety and good
health practices, repeated instruction for missionaries on auto and
bicycle safety, and ongoing consultation with local Church leaders about
the safety of specific areas and neighborhoods."
I recall watching a training video on auto safety, featuring Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve, at a zone conference while on my mission. This was after a fatal auto accident involving missionaries which had occurred in Kentucky. I think it was my mission president who suggested that missionaries should not expect to be protected from harm if they violate traffic laws as blessings are predicated on obedience -- and we believe in being obedient to the laws of the land..
Young missionaries, of course, face the same temptations that other young people do to drive fast and do other things. I have to confess that one evening I found myself driving at 90 miles an hour down the Pacific Coast Highway between Santa Cruz and Watsonville. In my defense, I will say that I was trying to catch up to the zone leaders because we had forgotten to give them our weekly letters to the mission president. In any case, the four of us in the car were very fortunate that we didn't get into an accident, and I was fortunate to not get pulled over by the highway patrol and ticketed.
Elders up in San Francisco were often tempted to re-create the moments in TV and movie car chases where the cars go over the hills in the city and get some air time. This usually resulted in a dropped pan, and sometimes the damage was enough to total the vehicle. This naturally cost the mission money to repair or replace the cars.
Driving a car on a mission is a privilege not a right. Most missionaries ride bikes or rely on public transport. Even on bikes there can be a temptation to go fast. In one area we would have a bike race back to the apartment after our weekly district meeting. One night an elder had a crash which resulted in a separated shoulder, this was fortunate for him because a broken collar bone would have been a ticket home with an early release.
Driving and bike riding are not the only areas of risk. I had a companion tear some ligaments in his leg while jogging. Another elder twisted an ankle playing basketball on P-day. Still another elder caught me in the face with his elbow while we were playing basketball. I worried for awhile that my nose was broken but fortunately it wasn't, it just hurt like heck. It is against the rules, by the way, for missionaries to play full-court basketball, yet these incidents on the hardwood (carpet, actually) happened when we were playing half-court games.
Sometimes, nature steps in. I posted a few months ago about a major earthquake:
Surviving a Major Disaster on a Mission
So, now that I have scared moms everywhere to death, let me conclude by saying that missions are not more dangerous than life at home. As noted in the statement released by the church, "The mortality rate for missionaries
is significantly less than those in their same age group in the general
population." As the saying goes, stuff happens, but the way to stay safe on a mission is to obey the rules and the law, be mindful of what you are doing at all times, and obey all promptings from the spirit.
"Let virtue garnish thy thoughts unceasingly; then shall thy confidence wax strong in the presence of God. . . . The Holy Ghost shall be thy constant companion. . . ." (Doctrine & Covenants 121:45-46).
In the following video, two young women share their secret for confidence and self-worth:
True Confidence
What stood out to me was that they did not need other people to tell them they were beautiful because they had already received an assurance from God that they were.
The next video I would like to present is an interview with Al Fox. I posted about Al back in April:
The Lord Looketh Upon the Heart
In this video she begins by again telling about her conversion, but then she moves on to talk about finding faith:
Finding Faith
"What is comes down to is prayer, really," says Al Fox, "honest prayer, where you can ask Him anything. It relies wholly on us, 'cause he doesn't ever leave us. What's really helped me is making that decision, and being firm in it. To choose who you want to follow, choose who to trust, choose to have faith, choose to keep going, and that is when Heavenly Father follows through with His promises and your faith is strengthened and blessings and opportunities come."
Then she says that if we have a question, "Don't turn to the Internet, don't turn to other people. It's important, and like if you want to know if God's there, ask Him, and if you have a question, ask Him."
There it is again. Don't depend on other people, depend on God. Don't wait for other people to tell you that you have value, go to God and ask Him.
More than two years ago I received an answer from God regarding my value as an individual. I was watching this video:
"I Am a Son of God
When, in the video, Moses declared "I am a son of God", I said "Of course!" The answer was so clear, and it was confirmed by the presence of the Holy Ghost. One of the biggest lies put out there by Satan is that anyone -- you, me or anyone else -- is inferior to others. We are all God's children and as such we all have value. As the motivational speaker Hyrum Smith has argued, God told Moses three things that apply equally to us: He is God, we are His children, and He has work for us to do. "Is there anything we can't do knowing that," asks Hyrum.
With this answer from God, I told the adversary to take a hike, to go sell that inferiority line to someone else because I was no longer buying it. I felt stronger than I had in a long time, and this whole experience launched me forward. But, as Elder Jeffrey R. Holland says in the video above, even after great revelatory moments like that experienced by Moses, and by myself to a much lesser extent, the danger has not passed. The adversary will not rest, he will look for an area of weakness and try to exploit it.
Over the many months that followed my epiphany, the adversary found such a weakness in me. I was, at the time, typing up old journals on my computer, which led me to give much thought to the past. As a writer and a historian I want to get things right, and will do as much research as I need to do in order to get it right. So I spent a lot of time thinking about the past and identified the doubts about myself that I used to carry around, but I did this so much that I started to entertain those doubts again.
I found myself wanting old friends to tell me that I was more than just the nice guy everybody said I was in high school. I was looking in the wrong places for an answer I already had. A few days ago I said in prayer that I was just stumbling around in the dark. Then, on Monday and Tuesday, I found the first two videos I have shared in this post. That's when it became clear that I had been looking in the wrong places and that I had already received an answer from the source of all truth.
I am a child of God
And He has sent me here.
I try to keep an eye out for resources that can help prospective missionaries prepare to serve. There is a a section at LDS.org called "My Role in the Work of Salvation" and it has some study guides for youth, as well as for their parents and leaders.
https://www.lds.org/youth/learn/work-of-salvation?lang=eng
This looks like a very good resource. Included in one of the guides is a suggestion that I have been talking about a lot in this blog:
"Teach a Preach My Gospel Lesson
Study one of the lessons found in chapter 3 of Preach My Gospel
(2004). Teach this lesson in a family home evening, in a Sunday class
or quorum meeting, as a home or visiting teacher, or to a friend not of
our faith."
I would suggest doing this as often as you can. I struggled the first few times I taught mock discussions, but the more I did it the better I got at teaching. Practice makes perfect.
Earlier this month, on Fast Sunday, a brother in my ward stood in Sacrament Meeting to share his testimony (sharing is best, that way you don't have to decide whether to "bare" or "bear" your testimony, and you certainly don't want to "bury" it). Anyway, this gentleman shared an incredible story.
He was up in Idaho at a meeting where World War II veterans were talking about experiences they had during the war. One vet had been a prisoner of war in a Japanese POW camp, and one morning he decided that he was just too tired to get up and face the day. The Japanese had not signed the Geneva Convention on the treatment of prisoners of war and, therefore, did not feel bound by its requirements for humane treatment of prisoners, including the providing of sufficient food and decent medical care.
At the same time, the Japanese forced prisoners to do manual labor under brutal task masters and guards. In Thailand, the Japanese forced prisoners of war and civilians to build a railway through the jungle and over mountains to Burma -- 250 miles from Bangkok to Rangoon. Of 180,000 civilians pressed into labor on the railroad, around 90,000 died. Of 60,000 allied prisoners of war, 16,000 perished, including 6,318 British personnel, 2,815 Australians, 2,490 Dutch, about 356 Americans and a smaller number of Canadians and New Zealanders.
Faced with physically demanding work, with little food and almost no medical care, many prisoners reached the point where they simply could not go on. "It was usually apparent when a man was preparing himself to die," wrote James D. Hornfischer in his book, Ship of Ghosts, about the heavy cruiser USS Houston (CA-30) and her survivors, many of whom worked on the railway in Thailand. "Often," continued Hornfischer, "he would stop eating. Sometimes he would announce his despair to the world."
"They'd tell you, 'I'm finished. I'm gone,'" said John Wisecup, a Houston survivor. The men who died did so out of despair. "They died," wrote Hornfischer, "in a dissociating madness, protesting their circumstances then shutting themselves down like zombies."
Returning to the veteran, telling his story at a meeting somewhere in Idaho, he explained that he wished the guards would shoot him and end his misery. But, suddenly, two "wacko" Mormons came over to him and gave him a blessing. They blessed him that he would get through the day, and this man soon felt the strength to do just that. Then the two Mormons went off to give blessings to other prisoners, even going to other buildings in the camp, despite the risk of being caught by the guards. All of the prisoners who received blessings got through the day, and many survived the war to return home.
The veteran telling the story gave the name of one of the Mormons who had given him a blessing, and the brother from my ward recognized the name. As it turned out, one of the two who had given blessings to the prisoners was the uncle of this gentleman from my ward. He went to see his uncle, and there heard the rest of the story.
The uncle had not been particularly serious about his religion, yet he had received the priesthood. Because he had been less than faithful, he was surprised that morning in the POW camp to be awakened by the Spirit and given the names of men who needed blessings. He sneaked out of his building to another where he got the second Mormon. He said they were guided by the Spirit as they moved from building to building. They were not caught, and, as noted above, every man who received a blessing lived through the day.
Most, perhaps even all, of those who received blessings were not members of the LDS church, and one of the men sent to bless them had been, as we would say today, less active in the church. We are all, member and non-member alike, children of a loving Heavenly Father who is mindful of each of us and the circumstances in which we find ourselves. Anyone of us may be sent to bless the lives of others, to be an instrument in the Lord's hands.
One of the things I like about history is that I can find people who have experienced difficulties far in excess of anything I have experienced. I have a nephew serving his mission in Thailand, and I told him that at those times when he might feel discouraged he should think of those men who built the railway. There are lessons that we might learn from them.
"Suffer is a dangerous word here just now," said Ray Parkin, another Houston survivor, "it can induce self-pity. Endure is a better word, it is not so negative. Enduring can give aim, a sense of mastery over circumstance. I have seen so much self-conscious suffering and men dying from self-pity."
Jim Gee told his friend, Howard Charles, "Look Charlie, your mind is like the muscle in your arm. Either you use it or it gets flabby and useless." Gee then told Charles "There are three forces at work here. Like the legs of a triangle. First, food. Either we have enough or we're dead. Second, health. That needs no explanation. Third, attitude, which is probably the best medicine. Food, health, attitude. They're interlocked, each totally dependent on the other. We have to have all three. No food, no health. Bad attitude: the triangle collapses."
Frank Fujita, also a Houston survivor, was at some point sent to Japan where, in the midst of his ordeal, he kept an unshakably positive attitude. "I find beauty in everything, even in death, you know," said Fujita. "I always find something that's worthwhile. And even when were were starved to death -- most of us down to eighty or ninety pounds or walking skeletons - then instead of me sitting around thinking how horrible a shape we were in and 'Oh, woe is me,' I thought this was an absolutely marvelous opportunity to study anatomy."
Ray Parkin added, "There is a lot to grumble about; a lot to be disappointed about; a lot to lose our tempers over; but there is also much to marvel at. For instance, the loyalty of a man's body -- to watch a sore heal itself -- to feel that pain is not so much a tragedy but a process. There is fascination in trying to help it consciously, to try to break down any internal resistance to recovery by trying to quell devastating emotions like bad temper, hatred, fear, lust, envy."
As Hornfischer put it, "There was enough of an enemy in nature. There was no need to allow a psychological fifth column to form up from within."
Once, during the Second World War, Henry Stimson, FDR's Secretary of War, caustically said, "The Navy Department frequently seemed to retire from the realm of logic into a dim religious world in which Neptune was God, Mahan his prophet, and the U. S. Navy the only true church." Alfred Thayer Mahan wrote an influential book in the late nineteenth century titled The Influence of Seapower upon History, 1660-1783, plus many other writings on the subject of naval warfare. Perhaps the second most influential American historian on seapower was Samuel Eliot Morison, who wrote a 15 volume history of U.S. naval operations during World War II. Morison also wrote an abridged, single volume history which he titled The Two Ocean War.
By now you are asking, "What does this have to do with missionary work?" Well, I have recently been reading the sixth volume of Morison's history and came across a story which illustrated a quote from Colin Powell, former Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and Secretary of State, to wit, "Truths from the mouths of curmudgeons is truth all the same." Often we choose not to listen to certain people, based on appearances or who we think they are, or some other criteria, but truth is truth no matter the source.
Blind unbelief is sure to err
And scan his works in vain;
God is his own interpreter,
And he shall make it plain.
(Hymn #285 "God Moves in a Mysterious Way")
Truth and plainness can come from unexpected places, which the following story from Morison may help illustrate.
"Another grave defect arose from the excessive respect for rank and position in Japan," prefaces Morison. "The initiation of suggestions about strategic plans, which any officer could venture in the United States, was in Japan the prerogative of Naval General Staff and Commander in Chief Combined Fleet, and anyone who brought unwelcome information or intelligence to the top men was apt to be snubbed."
When war broke out between Japan and the United States, diplomats of each country were interned by the other until an exchange was made starting in August 1942. On the first exchange ship was a Rear Admiral Yokoyama, who had been the Japanese naval attaché in Washington during 1941, the assistant attaché, and a naval intelligence officer from the Japanese legation in Mexico City. "In addition to what they already knew," wrote Morison, "they had ample opportunity to learn more at Hot Springs, where they had full access to the American press."
Upon arrival in Tokyo, the three men were immediately sequestered at Naval General Headquarters where they were to play a war game using their fresh knowledge. Playing the commanders of the United States, they started farther back than where the forces of the United States then actually were -- for the purposes of the game, it was assumed that Japan had recaptured Guadalcanal. Despite the handicap, the team playing the role of U.S. commanders managed to retake the Philippine Islands by October 1, 1944 -- 20 days before General McArthur's return to the Philippines on the island of Leyte in actual fact -- "a pretty good prophecy," noted Morison.
Even so, as the historian goes on to write, "These officers, who so successfully anticipated Nimitz's and McArthur's moves from the Solomon Islands to Leyte Gulf, were, however, ignored. Nobody wanted to their information or their views. We asked one of them [after the war] if anything was said to his winning team by the Naval General Staff. 'Yes,' said he, 'we were told to keep our mouths shut!'"
Morison then adds that initiative on the part of junior flag officers was discouraged in the Japanese Imperial Fleet. "During the war," he wrote, "we wondered why Rear Admiral Raizo Tanaka, the destroyer squadron commander whose fine combination of sound training and resourcefulness won the Battle of Tassafaronga, had no command after 1942. The reasons were twofold: he frequently pointed out that the poor quality of air cooperation with surface operations was causing unnecessary ship losses; and, as early as 30 August 1942, he declared to Admiral [Gunichi] Mikawa, 'Guadalcanal should be abandoned as its supply cannot by maintained.' Mikawa replied, 'The Highest Command have decided on recapturing Guadalcanal'; and despite Tanaka's loyal efforts in that direction he was 'put on the beach,' as we say in the United States Navy, after his prophecy had been proved correct."
Tanaka was not the only commander during World War II to be fired for being proved right by events. Air Marshal Hugh Dowding was relived as commander of the Royal Air Force's Fighter Command after it won the Battle of Britain. Dowding's relief has been attributed by some to his singlemindedness, perceived lack of diplomacy and political savoir faire in dealing with intra-RAF challenges and intrigues, particularly the hotly debated Big Wing controversy in which a number of senior and active service officers had argued in favour of large set-piece air battles with the Luftwaffe as an alternative to Dowding's successful strategy of attrition by smaller confrontations with the German Air Force.
Sometimes we get caught up in our own perceived wisdom, perhaps based on our experience as compared to the experience of others. Missionaries are not immune to this symptom of pride. Missionaries in leadership may not see value in the comments of less experienced elders and sisters because they are viewed merely as "greenies." A senior companion may not listen to a junior companion and miss a valuable idea that could advance the work in their area.
In the mid- to late-1990s, a Major John P. Hull of the U.S. Marine Corps wrote in an article published in Proceedings, the periodical of the U.S. Naval Institute, "Candor should be not only encouraged but expected -- if not demanded." He was discussing the importance of communication during staff planning, but the point can be applied to the planning of a pair of missionaries. "Once the commander makes his decision and puts it into action," added Hull, "continued candor remains vital -- although it is never a means of justifying less than full and vigorous support of the commander." If we were to have a formula for this, it might be "full candor before a decision is made, and full support after it is made."
Major Hull went on to say, "Integrity without candor, the 'if you have nothing good to say, say nothing at all' approach, in no way prepares us for or win wars. Its absence often leads to a 'politically correct' interpretation of actions or events, facilitates the perpetuation of a flawed effort, or allows a reinfestation of micromanagement within the ranks."
Missionary companionships, districts or zones, or any other organization, can experience similar problems if candor is missing. It is interesting to note the importance of candor to integrity as the subject of integrity has been discussed previously in this blog. Missionaries have multiple opportunities to communicate with candor, in planning, in weekly companionship inventories, weekly district meetings, monthly zone meetings, and other conferences and training within the mission to which they are assigned.
One final comment by Hull, "We are all quick to jump on the 'people must be allowed to make mistakes' bandwagon, but too often we quietly caveat this with the thought, 'As long as they're not my people.'" There can be a temptation to judge companions and other missionaries because of their weaknesses, and possibly to micromanage companions and other elders and sisters in a district or zone. We are all human, and because of this we all have weaknesses, and we all make mistakes. We should not judge others because we, too, are weak.
General Charles Krulak, who was Commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps in the late 1990s, defined a mistake as something that is made when, in an attempt to do something right, someone makes the wrong choice. The distinction, then, is made between mistakes and willful disobedience. Disobedience must be dealt with while people must be allowed to make mistakes.
"There are lessons to be learned from mistakes," said General Krulak. "Good leaders create an environment where subordinates are allowed to make mistakes, yet are not put into situations for which they are unprepared or for which the scope of the mistake could be dangerous." Mistakes, however, are better made in training and preparation than in execution in real situations. "We must be allowed to err in peacetime to ensure that we do not err in combat," said Krulak. "We will not be able to survive if we do otherwise."
