Through the Deceptive Currents of Life, We MUST Choose Eternal Life

I loved the October 2011 General Conference! It was the first time that I ever had the opportunity to attend and to see the prophet of the Lord. The spirit was so strong when President Thomas S. Monson walked in, and overall it was such an amazing experience! One of my favorite talks in the conference was given during the Sunday afternoon session by Elder Randall K. Bennett of the Seventy. His talk, entitled "Choose Eternal Life", was focused around Lehi's prophecies in which Lehi counsels that we are "free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil" (2 Nephi 2:27).

In order to portray this scripture, Elder Bennett decided to compare our choices in life to a personal experience of his through the use of an analogy. In doing so, he creates a mental picture which engages the audience and edifies his pathos. He told a story of how he was at a beach on a family vacation. On the beach there was a sign warning everyone of the strong currents. It advised people not to swim into open water. Thinking that this sign did not apply to him, he decided to swim anyways. Before he knew what was happening the deceptive currents had captured him; however, the life guard on duty saw Elder Bennett swimming out toward the current and knowing that he would not make it, he patiently waited for Elder Bennett to call for help. (para. 5). Similarly in our lives today, we hear the words of our living prophets advising us to stay away from the adversary and the dangers of the world. Too often we consider these rules to not apply to us, decide to not follow them, and without knowing it are eventually engulfed by the deceptive currents of the adversary. However, the Lord, like the life guard in the story, is always looking out for us. He is there when we need his help. All we have to do ask and he will guide us back to the light of his gospel. This analogy helps to explain that through the rough waters of life, the Lord is always there, if we but have the courage to ask. This feeling of hope and message of trusting in the Lord evokes an emotional response within his audience.

Mentioned in 2 Nephi, we do have a choice of either eternal life or captivity of the adversary, but as an apostle of the Lord, Elder Bennett is able to use his ethos to advise us to choose eternal life. He states, "It is never too late to begin to choose eternal life!" (para. 1 & 24). Being called of God, he is extremely credible. Therefore, his audience can trust him and follow his advice. Although life is difficult with the deceptive currents of the world all around us, we must not allow the adversary to slowly lead us away unknowingly. We must follow all of God's teachings regardless of how relevant they may seem to us. We must choose to follow Elder Bennett's advice to choose eternal life. I know that if we listen to what Elder Bennett's said and choose eternal life, we will truly be happy--not only in this life, but in the life to come.