Elder Cook Encourages Fiji Students and Missionaries to Emulate the Savior

Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints visited Fiji this week, where he encouraged Saints to center their worship on Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.

“You should make your life as pure as it can be,” he said.

Elder Cook was accompanied by his wife, Mary, and Elder Taniela B. Wakolo, First Counselor in the Pacific Area Presidency, and his wife, Anita.

After visiting the Suva Fiji Temple, Elder and Sister Cook and Elder and Sister Wakolo met with students and staff of Church College Fiji and Fiji Primary School.

Download Photo

Elder Cook addressed an audience of about 500 students and faculty in a special devotional held in the Church College Fiji gymnasium on Wednesday 22 May.

He encouraged students to strive to be righteous leaders and to emulate the Lord Jesus Christ by following His teachings.

“Strive always to be worthy to return to God the Father and Jesus Christ,” he said. “The Savior accomplished everything for us that will allow us to have a wonderful life after this one. He overcame death for all of us.”

Elder Cook referenced the dedicatory prayer of the school by Elder Jeffery R. Holland, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, stating that students reared in the school, regardless of their upbringing, have the responsibility of leading righteous lives.

“You’re getting this fabulous education so you can be great fathers and great mothers,” Elder Cook said. “That’s the most important thing, raising a family in righteousness, but also so that you can be leaders, so that you can bless our Father in Heaven’s children.”

Download Photo

Quoting the third stanza of Edmund Vance Cooke’s poem “The Eternal Everyday,” Elder Cook said the students had the potential to achieve greatness: “The test of one’s greatness is the way one meets the eternal every day.”

“So, if great things are asked of you, do them. ... Primarily, you will bless everybody if you strive on a day-by-day basis to accomplish those things that the Lord would want you to do.”

Later in the day, Elder and Sister Cook and Elder and Sister Wakolo met with missionaries serving in the Suva Fiji Mission.

Download Photo

In introducing Elder Cook, Elder Wakolo said that Elder Cook — while serving as President of the Pacific Area — attended the private dedication of the Suva Fiji Temple in 2000. He returned as an accompanying Apostle with President Henry B. Eyring of the First Presidency for the re-dedication of the Suva Fiji Temple in 2016.

Elder Wakolo said that Heber C. Kimball — a missionary and member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in the mid-1800s — was Elder Cook’s great-great-grandfather. Despite that lineage, his grandfather’s primary counsel to Elder Cook was to “avoid any sense of entitlement or privilege because of your faithful ancestors,” and to “focus on the Savior and His Atonement.”

Elder Cook is the Chairman of the Missionary Executive Council of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder and Sister Cook will next travel to meet with members and friends of the Church in Kiribati and the Marshall Islands.