Friday, May 3, 2013

The Price of Success

First letter to President Pulsipher.  The pre-Preach My Gospel form where we still had to report all kinds of hours and stuff. Still on Guam for this one.

***6/16-6/20/2004 Missionary Weekly Report
President Pulsipher,
          It's been a good first week.
          One of my most spiritual experiences this week was on Friday night.  We were meeting with a girl named Tricia that lives in the apartment complex across the parking lot.  We were reading the introduction to the Book of Mormon with her.  It was amazing for me to hear each of the sisters bear their personal testimonies of the Book of Mormon as we discussed the introduction with her.  I feel so very blessed to have had the opportunity to be with the sisters here.  Their spirits are so strong and I know, they know of the truthfulness of this gospel and that strengthened my testimony.
          In my study of the gospel this week, I've used my "personal Book of Mormon" study time to read 2 Nephi 9.  At the MTC, our branch president, President Chapman, invited us to read 2 Nephi 9 everyday for 30 days to gain a better understanding of the atonement.  So, I've been doing that for almost a week, but his morning I decided to break it down, and it took the whole of of study time to get me through the first six versus.  It was well worth it.  I earned some of the covenants the Lord made with his people.  I thought it was interesting that Christ made promises to the Jews and the Gentiles.  Isaiah talks about the redemption of Jerusalem in Isaiah 52:2.  Then Jacob talks about the church and the truth being restored in 2 Nephi 6:10-15 and about, how the Lord will not be ashamed of his people and all other people will be destroyed.  I guess I had just never thought about the Lord making specific promises to all his people.  It reminded me that the Lord knows us, individually and he knows our needs and what is to come.
          In my studies this week I made a goal to study out of the missionary study guide, and to be able to pray in Pohnpeian.

Quote to Sister Pulsipher:
          "... I have reached the conclusion that some men succeed because they cheerfully pay the price of success and others though they claim ambition and a desire to succeed, are unwilling to pay that price....  To have a high and sustained determination to put over what you plan to accomplish, not if circumstances be favorable to it's accomplishment, but in spit of all adverse circumstances which may arise."

3 May 2013

Here is the entire quote I found on-line so I could properly cite it because I had it from "anon".
I often wonder what it is that brings one man success in life, and what it is that brings mediocrity or failure to his brother. The difference can't be in mental capacity; there is not the difference in our mentalities indicated by the difference in performance. In short, I have reached the conclusion that some men succeed because they cheerfully pay the price of success, and others, though they may claim ambition and a desire to succeed, are unwilling to pay that price.

And the price is...

To use all your courage to force yourself to concentrate on the problem in hand, to think of it deeply and constantly, to study it from all angles, and to plan.

To have a high and sustained determination to put over what you plan to accomplish, not if circumstances be favorable to its accomplishment, but in spite of all adverse circumstances which may arise and nothing worthwhile has ever been accomplished without some obstacles having been overcome.

To refuse to believe that there are any circumstances sufficiently strong to defeat you in the accomplishment of your purpose.

Hard? I should say so. That's why so many men never attempt to acquire success, answer the siren call of the rut and remain on the beaten paths that are for beaten men. Nothing worthwhile has ever been achieved without constant endeavor, some pain and constant application of the lash of ambition.


That's the price of success as I see it. And I believe every man should ask himself: Am I willing to endure the pain of this struggle for the comforts and the rewards and the glory that go with achievement? Or shall I accept the uneasy and inadequate contentment that comes with mediocrity? Am I willing to pay the Price of Success?
According to wikipedia (so you know it's true) this is from Joseph Johnson French. Or you can believe Google who credits  H. F. de Bower with his ending of "And the time to begin is now" tacked on at the end.

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