Reality - Good and Evil

I just finished reading the book of Ether, and we talked about it in church today too. It struck me this time the importance and reality that there is evil. This week we also read about the tragedies in Connecticut and also in China, with the children being killed. Evil surrounds us. I can't tell you how much I treasured reading chapter 12 of Ether. It is Moroni's section, discussing faith, hope, and charity. If it weren't for that chapter, I don't know how well I could have read the rest of the book - it was the light in the darkness of that book.

God keeps His promises - on both ends. The way is clear. It is hard to keep going sometimes, but it is so important to have faith, it leads to hope, which enables charity, giving us strength for more faith. We can move forward, we can be at peace, we can have joy, even in the middle of the great evils that surround us. They are real. The consequences for them are just as real as the blessings are that have been promised to us. Let's keep going :)