"And they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord." (Mosiah 24:15)

Last week, a reader, Steve Keil, suggested that "in these dismal and, for many, cheerless times" I should consider the word "cheerful." I agree.

To be cheerful is to be joyous, gladsome, lively and in good spirits; blithe and full of good cheer. Cheer comes from a root meaning face and has come to mean countenance or visage and, in particular, a happy countenance so that when we are cheerful our countenance is not full of anger, fear or shame.

Cheer or cheerfulness is, among other things, a manifestation of our faith and obedience to the Savior. "These things I have spoken unto you, that in me ye might have peace. In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world" (John 16:33). Notwithstanding trials, tribulations and things that drag us down, the Lord's plan calls for us to be happy and cheerful. When Nephi, the son of Helaman, was driven to his knees and "cried mightily to his God in behalf of his people ... who were about to be destroyed because of their faith ... the voice of the Lord came unto him, saying: lift up your head and be of good cheer; ... on the morrow come I into the world" (3 Nephi 1:12-13).

We are commanded a number of times in the Doctrine & Covenants to be of good cheer (see D&C 61:36; 68:6; 78:18; 112:4). Indeed, we are admonished to "let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power" (D&C 123:17).

In his book, "You Shall Be Holy," Rabbi Joseph Telushkin teaches us that in the Talmud, rabbis taught that all people have an obligation, a duty to be cheerful. One rabbi taught, "Receive every person with a cheerful expression." Rabbi Telushkin notes that the fact that the early rabbis "felt the need to remind people to receive others cheerfully suggests that this does not come naturally to many people and is something that we may have to work on."

In a wonderful talk, "Be of Good Cheer," Elder Marvin J. Ashton reminds us that cheerfulness does not come naturally. "The companionship of good cheer is possible through keeping the commandments of God, not through rationalization." We cannot be cheerful if we rationalize behavior that is inconsistent with gospel standards. "Cheerfulness will never be a blending of self-deceit and rationalization." If we obey the commandments, discard fear, avoid self-deceit and "cheerfully accept what comes and use it wisely," then "with good cheer, carrying our cross can be a ladder to happiness" (Ensign, May 1986).