Are You A Few Degrees Off?

President Uchtdorf in the April 2008 conference related the following story:"In 1979 a large passenger jet with 257 people on board left New Zealand for a sightseeing flight to Antarctica and back. Unknown to the pilots, however, someone had modified the flight coordinates by a mere two degrees. This error placed the aircraft 28 miles (45 km) to the east of where the pilots assumed they were. As they approached Antarctica, the pilots descended to a lower altitude to give the passengers a better look at the landscape. Although both were experienced pilots, neither had made this particular flight before, and they had no way of knowing that the incorrect coordinates had placed them directly in the path of Mount Erebus, an active volcano that rises from the frozen landscape to a height of more than 12,000 feet (3,700 m).

As the pilots flew onward, the white of the snow and ice covering the volcano blended with the white of the clouds above, making it appear as though they were flying over flat ground. By the time the instruments sounded the warning that the ground was rising fast toward them, it was too late. The airplane crashed into the side of the volcano, killing everyone on board.

A few degrees can be the difference in a spiritual flight or spiritual crash

It was a terrible tragedy brought on by a minor error—a matter of only a few degrees. 

Through years of serving the Lord and in countless interviews, I have learned that the difference between happiness and misery in individuals, in marriages, and families often comes down to an error of only a few degrees." 

       In life we make decisions every day big, and small. These decisions can keep us safely on the flight path of Christ's Gospel or lead us unsafely towards a volcano of sin and spiritual death. So the question is how do we know where our flight path is leading us and if we are deviating off course?  

    My mission President, President Gardner always says" If you're doing good, you'll feel good and if you're doing wrong, you'll feel wrong. What is that feeling? That feeling is the spirit. The spirit will guide us and help us to determine if we are a few degrees off. Just like a pilot needs to watch their instruments and gauges we too need to watch our thoughts, words, and deeds(Mosiah 4:30) As we consistently examine ourselves and continually work at staying on our Heavenly Father's path we will find the blessings of safely and happiness in this life and the life to come. This is my prayer and my promise in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.

   To read President Uchtdorf's full talk Click Here.   Click Here  to follow the best compass of all Jesus Christ.