President Monson has on many occasions shared the story of receiving a little bird with gray on its wings from a neighbor who passed away. She told him that though the little bird was not the most outwardly beautiful, it nevertheless had the most beautiful song of all.

President Monsons explains that so many in this life are like those canaries with grey wings. Only, tragically, many of us never learn to discover our beautiful song.

“The world is filled with yellow canaries with gray on their wings. The pity is that so precious few of them have learned to sing.”

So much of the confusion in the world stems from the fact that we do not know who we truly are. Both inside and outside of the Church, so many are lost because they do not see this truth:

“To live greatly, we must develop the capacity to face trouble with courage, disappointment with cheerfulness, and triumph with humility. You ask, ‘How might we achieve these goals?’ I answer, ‘By getting a true perspective of who we really are!’ We are sons and daughters of a living God, in whose image we have been created. Think of that truth: ‘Created in the image of God.'”

Without this understanding, it is impossible to truly find ones inner song. It is impossible to rise to our potential if we do not know who we are.

With this understanding, life will not always be easy. We will see be tempted. We will still face trials. We will still at times want to cry out to God in agony. But with this understanding our mortal experience will be transformed. We will see ourselves as we are and know how God sees us.

As President Monson explained, “We cannot sincerely hold this conviction without experiencing a profound new sense of strength and power, even the strength to live the commandments of God, the power to resist the temptations of Satan.”

In an increasingly wicked world, we all need the strength that comes from knowing that are beloved and chosen of God. We need to know who we are in order to find our potential to sing.