Saturday Afternoon Session
Standing with the Leaders of the Church
Elder Ronald A. Rasband
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
We need to help each other find Heavenly Father’s answers through the guidance of the Spirit. …
We have sustained leaders today who have, by divine inspiration, been called to teach and guide us and who are calling out to us to beware of the dangers we face each day—from casual Sabbath-day observance, to threats to the family, to assaults on religious freedom, and even to disputing latter-day revelation. Brothers and sisters, are we listening to their counsel? …
As we press forward, choosing to follow the counsel and the warnings of our leaders, we choose to follow the Lord while the world is going another direction. We choose to hold fast to the iron rod, to be Latter-day Saints, to be on the Lord’s errand, and to be filled “with exceedingly great joy” [1 Nephi 8:12].
The growing question of today is clear: are you standing with the leaders of the Church in a darkening world so that you might spread the Light of Christ? …
I pray that we will reach out—reach out and take the Savior’s hand that He is extending to us, often through His divinely called leaders and our family members—and listen for His call to come.
“Whoso Receiveth Them, Receiveth Me”
Elder Neil L. Andersen
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
My plea today is for the hundreds of thousands of children, youth, and young adults who do not come from these, for lack of a better term, “picture-perfect” families. …
These young Latter-day Saints enter the Church with great faith. They hope to create the family ideal in their own lives at a future day. In time, they become an important part of our missionary force, our righteous young adults, and those who kneel at an altar to begin their own families.
We will continue to teach the Lord’s pattern for families, but now with millions of members and the diversity we have in the children of the Church, we need to be even more thoughtful and sensitive. …
While a child’s earthly situation may not be ideal, a child’s spiritual DNA is perfect because one’s true identity is as a son or daughter of God.
… Let’s open our arms and our hearts a little wider. These youth need our time and our testimonies. …
… Reach out to the youth who feel alone, left behind, or outside the fence. Let us think about them, welcome them, embrace them, and do everything we can to strengthen their love for the Savior.
To the Rescue: We Can Do It
Elder Mervyn B. Arnold
Of the Seventy
The Savior clearly understood His mission to rescue our Heavenly Father’s children, for He declared:
“The Son of man is come to save that which was lost. …
“[For] it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish” [Matthew 18:11, 14; emphasis added]. …
As we go to the rescue, God gives us power, encouragement, and blessings. …
Let me share four principles that will help in our rescue efforts.
Principle 1: We Must Not Delay Going to the Rescue …
Principle 2: We Must Never Give Up …
Principle 3: How Great Shall Be Your Joy If You Bring Save It Be One Soul unto Christ …
Principle 4: No Matter Our Age, We Are All Called to Go to the Rescue …
The Lord has provided all of the tools necessary for us to go to the rescue of our less-active and nonmember friends. We can all do it!
I invite each of you to heed the Savior’s call to go to the rescue. We can do it!
The Sacred Place of Restoration
Elder Jairo Mazzagardi
Of the Seventy
Living legally on the East Coast of the United States for a few years, I was acquainted with the cities, and they were mostly small.
When I read or heard about the events leading up to the First Vision, a crowd of people was mentioned, and this did not make sense to me.
… Why did the Church have to be restored in the United States and not in Brazil or Italy, the land of my ancestors? …
[Later] I understood how the hand of God our Father, in His immense wisdom, had prepared in His plan a place to bring young Joseph Smith, putting him in the midst of that religious confusion, because there, in Cumorah, the precious plates of the Book of Mormon were hidden. …
The Church of Jesus Christ could not be restored without the eternal gospel revealed in the Book of Mormon as another testament of Jesus Christ, even the Son of God, the Lamb of God, who took away the sins of the world. …
If you who hear me have any questions in your heart, do not give up!
I invite you to follow the example of the Prophet Joseph Smith when he read in James 1:5: “If any of you lack wisdom, let him ask of God, that giveth to all men liberally.”
Always Retain a Remission of Your Sins
Elder David A. Bednar
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
As members of the Lord’s restored Church, we are blessed both by our initial cleansing from sin associated with baptism and by the potential for an ongoing cleansing from sin made possible through the companionship and power of the Holy Ghost. …
… The act of partaking of the sacrament, in and of itself, does not remit sins. But as we prepare conscientiously and participate in this holy ordinance with a broken heart and a contrite spirit, then the promise is that we may always have the Spirit of the Lord to be with us. And by the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost as our constant companion, we can always retain a remission of our sins. …
The ordinances of baptism by immersion, the laying on of hands for the gift of the Holy Ghost, and the sacrament are not isolated and discrete events; rather, they are elements in an interrelated and additive pattern of redemptive progress. Each successive ordinance elevates and enlarges our spiritual purpose, desire, and performance. …
… I promise and testify we will be blessed with increased faith in the Savior and greater spiritual assurance as we seek to always retain a remission of our sins and, ultimately, to stand spotless before the Lord at the last day.
Family Councils
Elder M. Russell Ballard
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Family councils have always been needed. They are, in fact, eternal. We belonged to a family council in the premortal existence, when we lived with our heavenly parents as their spirit children. …
Please remember that family councils are different from family home evening held on Mondays. Home evenings focus primarily on gospel instruction and family activities. Family councils, on the other hand, can be held on any day of the week, and they are primarily a meeting at which parents listen—to each other and to their children.
I believe there are at least four types of family councils:
First, a general family council consisting of the entire family.
Second, an executive family council consisting of a mother and a father.
Third, a limited family council consisting of parents and one child.
Fourth, a one-on-one family council consisting of one parent and one child. …
Everyone can adapt a family council to take advantage of this divine pattern established by our loving Heavenly Father. …
… Inviting the Lord to be part of our family council through prayer will improve our relationships with each other. …
A family council that is patterned after the councils in heaven, filled with Christlike love, and guided by the Lord’s Spirit will help us to protect our family from distractions that can steal our precious time together and protect us from the evils of the world.
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