Sunday Morning Session
Choices
It has been said that the door of history turns on small hinges, and so do people’s lives. The choices we make determine our destiny.
When we left our premortal existence and entered mortality, we brought with us the gift of agency. Our goal is to obtain celestial glory, and the choices we make will, in large part, determine whether or not we reach our goal. …
May we choose to build up within ourselves a great and powerful faith which will be our most effective defense against the designs of the adversary—a real faith, the kind of faith which will sustain us and will bolster our desire to choose the right. Without such faith, we go nowhere. With it, we can accomplish our goals.
Although it is imperative that we choose wisely, there are times when we will make foolish choices. The gift of repentance, provided by our Savior, enables us to correct our course settings, that we might return to the path which will lead us to that celestial glory we seek.
May we maintain the courage to defy the consensus. May we ever choose the harder right instead of the easier wrong.
As we contemplate the decisions we make in our lives each day—whether to make this choice or that—if we choose Christ, we will have made the correct choice.
Do I Believe?
Bonnie L. Oscarson
Young Women General President
Do we sometimes become so accustomed to the blessings we have been given as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that we fail to fully comprehend the miracle and majesty of discipleship in the Lord’s true Church? Are we ever guilty of being complacent about the greatest gift we can be offered in this life? …
We believe that this Church is more than just a good place to go on Sundays and learn how to be a good person. It is more than just a lovely Christian social club where we can associate with people of good moral standing. …
We believe that [the Church’s] distinguishing features can be found in no other place or religion on this earth. …
We have a knowledge of these things, but do we believe them? If these things are true, then we have the greatest message of hope and help that the world has ever known. Believing them is a matter of eternal significance for us and for those we love.
To believe, we need to get the gospel from our heads into our hearts! …
We all need to seek to have our hearts and very natures changed so that we no longer have a desire to follow the ways of the world but to please God. True conversion is a process that takes place over a period of time and involves a willingness to exercise faith.
Learn, Listen, and Walk
Bishop W. Christopher Waddell
Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric
Peace of mind, peace of conscience, and peace of heart are not determined by our ability to avoid trials, sorrow, or heartache. Despite our sincere pleas, not every storm will change course, not every infirmity will be healed, and we may not fully understand every doctrine, principle, or practice taught by prophets, seers, and revelators. …
To assist us in our search for peace amidst the daily challenges of life, we’ve been given a simple pattern to keep our thoughts focused on the Savior, who said: “Learn of me, and listen to my words; walk in the meekness of my Spirit, and you shall have peace in me. I am Jesus Christ” [D&C 19:23–24].
Learn, listen, and walk—three steps with a promise. …
Each time we attend the temple—in all that we hear, do, and say; in every ordinance in which we participate; and in every covenant that we make—we are pointed to Jesus Christ. We feel peace as we hear His words and learn from His example. …
…Those who choose to listen and give heed to the words of the Lord, as delivered through His prophets, will find safety and peace. …
However far we may wander from the path, the Savior invites us to return and walk with Him. … It is an invitation to be at peace.
Fathers
Elder D. Todd Christofferson
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
I simply focus today on the good that men can do in the highest of masculine roles—husband and father. …
As a Church, we believe in fathers. … We believe that far from being superfluous, fathers are unique and irreplaceable.
… Fatherhood is much more than a social construct or the product of evolution. The role of father is of divine origin. ...
Perhaps the most essential of a father’s work is to turn the hearts of his children to their Heavenly Father. …
Certainly teaching the gospel is a shared duty between fathers and mothers, but the Lord is clear that He expects fathers to lead out in making it a high priority. … The Lord expects fathers to help shape their children, and children want and need a model. …
… Providing for one’s family … is the essence of being a good father. …
Loving the mother of his children—and showing that love—are two of the best things a father can do for his children. It reaffirms and strengthens the marriage that is the foundation of their family life and security. …
… We call on all fathers to do better and to be better. …
… Despite our inadequacies, our Heavenly Father will magnify us and cause our simple efforts to bear fruit.
See Yourself in the Temple
Elder Quentin L. Cook
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
It is our great desire that members of the Church will live to be worthy of a temple recommend. Please don’t see the temple as some distant and perhaps unachievable goal. Working with their bishop, members can achieve all righteous requirements in a relatively short period of time if they have a determination to qualify and fully repent of transgressions. This includes being willing to forgive ourselves and not focus on our imperfections or sins as disqualifying us from ever entering a sacred temple. …
We assure you that living righteous principles will bring you and your family happiness, fulfillment, and peace. Members, both adults and youth, self-certify their worthiness when they answer the temple recommend questions. The essential requirement is to increase our testimony of God the Father; His Son, Jesus Christ; and the Restoration of His gospel and experience the ministering of the Holy Ghost.
… The primary blessings of the temple are the ordinances of exaltation. The gospel plan is about exaltation and encompasses making and keeping sacred covenants with God. Except for baptism and confirmation, these ordinances and covenants are performed and received in the temple for the living. For the dead, all the saving ordinances and covenants are received in the temple. …
… The Lord organizes eternal families only in temples. …
Brothers and sisters, I pray that each of us will honor the Savior and make any necessary changes to “see ourselves in His sacred temples.”
He Will Place You on His Shoulders and Carry You Home
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Second Counselor in the First Presidency
There is no life so shattered that it cannot be restored. …
Our Savior, the Good Shepherd, knows and loves us—he knows and loves you.
He knows when you are lost, and He knows where you are. He knows your grief. Your silent pleadings. Your fears. Your tears.
It matters not how you became lost—whether because of your own poor choices or because of circumstances beyond your control.
What matters is that you are His child. And He loves you. He loves His children.
Because He loves you, He will find you. …
While our loving Father desires that all of His children return to Him, He will force no one to heaven. God will not rescue us against our will.
So what must we do?
His invitation is simple:
“Turn … to me” [Joel 2:12].
“Come unto me” [Matthew 11:28].
“Draw near unto me and I will draw near unto you” [D&C 88:63].
This is how we show Him that we want to be rescued. …
If you cannot say you know God is there, you can hope that He is. You can desire to believe. That is enough to start.
Then, acting on that hope, reach out to Heavenly Father. God will extend His love toward you, and His work of rescue and transformation will begin.
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