There's no way that the
citizens of your nation can thank you enough for
doing what you are doing and what you've done.
If I were speaking to
members of the military, I would want to
say this: On behalf of the Lord and His
Church, thank you. Thank you for
sacrificing your time and devoting your all
to serving your nation. There is no way that the
citizens of your nation can thank you enough for
doing what you are doing and what you've done. We all owe you a great
debt of gratitude. When those in the military
return to their homes, or even while they're serving,
as strong and powerful as they are, they also
constitute a vulnerable group that has a higher incidence
of suicidal thoughts. As a Church, we need
to be aware of this because you need friends. You don't need fewer
friends as you come home from your military service. You need more. And as a Church, we want
to reach out and help you. If you're having
thoughts of self-harm, you need to talk to somebody. You need to talk to some
friend, some trusted individual in your
ward or branch, or someone in the military
that cares about you, and get the help that you need. Sometimes it's hard to know
what it is that you're feeling. It's hard to know
what the label is. You don't know that what you're
feeling is normal or abnormal and whether the stress is within
the bounds that you'd expect or whether it's out of bounds. So it's best to get things
checked out, to talk to people and get the help that you need. There's a high
incidence, for reasons that are understandable, of
post-traumatic stress disorder. But there are treatments
that are available. And we need to get
those treatments when there's an indication for it. You don't have to do it alone. There are those that will be
with you that will help you. And as you get the
help that you need, you'll be able to feel
the Savior's love. You'll be able to
go on with your life and continue doing what you've
done in such a heroic way. And that's serving
your fellowman.