The Perfect Path to Happiness
This is the truth!
Our Father’s plan for our happiness and our salvation is shared by our missionaries throughout the world. Not all who hear this divine message accept and embrace it….
However, men and women everywhere…
recognize its truths, and they plant their feet on the path that will lead them safely home. Their lives are forever changed.
Essential to the plan is our Savior, Jesus Christ. Without His atoning sacrifice, all would be lost. It is not enough, however, merely to believe in Him and His mission. We need to work and learn, search and pray, repent and improve. We need to know God’s laws and live them. We need to receive His saving ordinances. Only by doing so will we obtain true, eternal happiness.
We are blessed to have the truth. We have a mandate to share the truth. Let us live the truth, that we might merit all that the Father has for us. He does nothing save it be for our benefit. He has told us: “This is my work and my glory—to bring to pass the immortality and eternal life of man” (Moses 1:39).
From the depths of my soul, and in all humility, I testify of the great gift which is our Father’s plan for us. It is the one perfect path to peace and happiness both here and in the world to come.
My brothers and sisters, I leave with you my love and my blessing as I close, and I do so in the name of our Savior and Redeemer, even Jesus Christ, amen.
Joy and Spiritual Survival
The joy Latter-day Saints feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives…
When the focus of our lives is on God’s plan of salvation ... and Jesus Christ and His gospel, we can feel joy regardless of what is happening — or not happening — in our lives Joy comes from and because of Him. He is the source of all joy. … For Latter-day Saints, Jesus Christ is joy!
Church members can focus on joy… Life is filled with detours and dead ends, trials and challenges of every kind….Each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish, and despair almost consumed us. Yet we are here to have joy? Yes! The answer is a resounding yes!…
Our missionaries teach and baptize to bring joy to the people of the world…
Just as the Savior offers peace, He also offers an intensity, depth, and breadth of joy that defy human logic or mortal comprehension….
Members can claim that joy by looking to the Savior…. We can give thanks for Him in our prayers, and by keeping covenants we’ve made with Him and our Heavenly Father. As our Savior becomes more and more real to us, and as we plead for His joy to be given to us, our joy will increase……
As in all things, Jesus Christ is our ultimate exemplar. ... In order for Him to endure the most excruciating experience ever endured on earth, our Savior focused on joy….
And what was the joy that was set before him? Surely it included the joy of cleansing, healing, and strengthening us; the joy of paying for the sins of all who would repent; the joy of making it possible for you and me to return home — clean and worthy — to live with our heavenly parents and families…..
Joy is a gift for the faithful. It is the gift that comes from intentionally trying to live a righteous life, as taught by Jesus Christ….
The Savior taught us how to have joy….
When we choose Heavenly Father to be our God, and when we can feel the Savior’s Atonement working in our lives, we will be filled with joy. Every time we nurture our spouse and guide our children, every time we forgive someone or ask for their forgiveness, we can feel joy…..
Every day that you and I choose to live celestial laws, every day that we keep our covenants and help others to do the same, joy will be ours…..
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ A Day of Joy and Gladness! ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
The Sacrament Can Help Us Become Holy
Mmultitude of blessings are available to Latter-day Saints as they increase their preparation and spiritual participation in the ordinance of the sacrament….
These blessings are available to us because of the love of our Father in Heaven and the infinite atoning sacrifice of His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ….
Five ways to increase the impact and power of our regular participation in the sacred ordinance of the sacrament, an ordinance that can help us become holy:
1. Prepare in advance. We can begin our preparation for the sacrament well before sacrament meeting begins…
2. Arrive early. Our sacrament experience can be enhanced when we arrive well before the meeting and ponder as the prelude music is played….
3. Sing and learn from the words of the sacrament hymn. The sacrament hymn is an especially important part of our sacrament experience. Music elevates our thoughts and feelings….
4. Spiritually participate in the sacrament prayers. Instead of tuning out the familiar words of the sacrament prayers, we can learn much, and feel even more, as we participate spiritually by considering the commitments and associated blessings included in these sacred prayers.
5. Ponder and remember Him as the sacrament emblems are passed. The reverent moments as priesthood holders pass the sacrament can become sacred to us…
The Great Plan of Redemption
When we sincerely repent of our sins are truly gone—without a trace!…
….the unselfish and Christlike thing to do is to confess and repent. This is Heavenly Father’s great plan of redemption…
Through the atoning sacrifice of the Savior, Jesus Christ, and sincere repentance, every person is able to receive a remission of his or her sins….
The greatest miracles in this life are not the parting of the Red Sea, the moving of mountains, or even the healing of the body…..
The greatest miracle happens when we humble approach our Father in Heaven in prayer;….fervently plead to be forgiven, and then are cleansed of those sins through the Atoning sacrifice of our Savior…..
To Whom Shall We Go?
As these disciples left, Jesus turned to the Twelve and asked, 'Will ye also go away?'
"Peter responded: 'Lord, to whom shall we go? Thou hast the words of eternal life. And we believe and are sure that thou art Christ, the Son of the living God'" (John 6:67-69).
If you live as long as I have, you will come to know that things have a way of resolving themselves. An inspired insight or revelation may shed new light on an issue. Remember, the Restoration is not an event, but it continues to unfold….
Never abandon the great truths revealed through the Prophet Joseph Smith….
Never stop reading, pondering, and applying the doctrine of Christ contained in the Book of Mormon….
Never fail to give equal time to the Lord through honest attempts to understand what the Lord has revealed….
“We must not assume…that just because something is unexplainable by us, it is unexplainable.” [Elder Neal A Maxwell]
Remember the plan of salvation gives mortal life a meaning and purpose and direction…..
Accepting and living the gospel of Christ can be challenging. It has always been thus, and it will ever be…..In the end, each one of us must respond to the Savior’s question, ‘Will ye also go away?’…
Always remember the Savior is on board and is able to rebuke the storm with His command, ‘Peace, be still.’
He will never abandon His Church and … He will never abandon any one of us….
Jesus is our Savior and Redeemer, and His restored gospel will lead us safely back to the presence of our Heavenly Parents if we remain on the gospel path and follow in His footsteps.
The Blessings of Worship
Worship is essential and central to spiritual life….
It is something we should yearn for, seek out, and strive to experience….
One of the most remarkable and tender experiences recorded in holy scripture is the account of the visit of the Savior to people in the Americas following His death and Resurrection…
When Latter-day Saints worship God, they approach Him with reverent love, humility, and adoration…
We acknowledge and accept Him as our sovereign king, the Creator of the universe, our beloved and infinitely loving Father. We respect and revere Him. We submit ourselves to Him. We lift our hearts in mighty prayer, cherish His word, rejoice in His grace, and commit to follow Him with dedicated loyalty….
Worshipping God is such an essential element in the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ that if we fail to receive Him in our hearts, we will seek for Him in vain in our councils, churches, and temples….
As we worship, our souls are refined and we commit to walk in the footsteps of our beloved Savior, Jesus Christ…
It is my witness that true worship will transform ordinary Church meetings into extraordinary spiritual feasts. It will enrich our lives, broaden our understanding, and strengthen our testimonies…
Through sincere and heartfelt worship Church members blossom and mature in hope, faith, and charity….
Through that process, we gather heavenly light into our souls that infuses our lives with divine meaning, abiding peace, and everlasting joy.
That is the blessing of worship in our lives.
The Righteous Judge
There is only one way to judge righteous judgment, as Jesus Christ does, and that is to be as He is….
A righteous judge would respond to confessions with compassion and understanding. An erring youth, for example, should leave the bishop's office feeling the love of the Savior through the bishop, and enveloped in the joy and healing power of the Atonement …..
The Lord's way of disciplining His people is to lovingly and patiently teach them, often by chastening them…
Compassion doesn’t nullify the need for discipline….
Because the Lord wanted to teach Joseph a heart-changing lesson, He required a heart-rending sacrifice of him — sacrifice being an essential part of discipline….
Through the sweet irony of sacrifice, people actually gain something of eternal worth — His mercy and forgiveness, and eventually 'all that [the] Father hath'" (Doctrine and Covenants 84:38)….
Scriptures teach that the time to reprove someone is when moved upon by the Holy Ghost, not when moved upon by anger…
To remember a child's true identity is a gift of foresight, that divinely inspires the vision of a righteous judge.
There is only one way to judge righteous judgment, as Jesus Christ does, and that is to be as He is. Therefore, “what manner of men [and women] ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27).
Gratitude on the Sabbath
The Sabbath is such a moment….a day of gratitude and love….
What matters most is the love we feel for the givers of the gifts…
God is the giver of the gifts and gratitude is how we give Him thanks….
The Lord’s words for how to give thanks and how to love on the Sabbath:
“I give unto them a commandment, saying thus: Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength; and in the name of Jesus Christ thou shalt serve him. Thou shalt thank the Lord thy God in all things. Thou shalt offer a sacrifice unto the Lord thy God in righteousness, even that of a broken heart and a contrite spirit” (Doctrine and Covenants 59:5, 7-9).
♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ “Count Your Many Blessings” ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
Some are close to feeling that, at least for them, all is lost.♩ ♪ ♫ ♬ I hope and pray that what I say about being grateful on the Sabbath will be helpful to make doubts fly and for singing to start in your hearts ♩ ♪ ♫ ♬♩ ♪ ♫ ♬
One blessing for which we can be grateful is that we are there in that sacrament meeting at all….The fact that we are able to gather with even one other Saint and partake of the sacrament will help us begin to feel gratitude and love for God’s kindness….
We can be grateful when the Holy Spirit confirms to us that the words of the sacrament prayers, offered by humble priesthood holders, are honored by our Heavenly Father…
Of all the blessings we can count, the greatest by far is the feeling of forgiveness that comes as we partake of the sacrament….
We will feel greater love and appreciation for the Savior, whose infinite sacrifice made possible our being cleansed from sin. As we partake of the bread and water, we remember that He suffered for us. And when we feel gratitude for what He has done for us, we feel His love for us and our love for Him….
The Lord is building His kingdom quietly through His faithful and humble shepherds, with little fanfare…
You and I are witnesses that whenever we have kept our covenants with God, especially when it was hard….
He has heard our prayers of thanks for what He has already done for us and has answered our prayer for strength to endure faithfully. More than once He has made us cheerful as well as strong….
You could begin today with a private and family prayer of thanks for all God has done for you….
You could pray to know what the Lord would have you do to serve Him and others….
You could pray to have the Holy Ghost tell you of someone who is lonely or in need to whom the Lord would have you go…..
Your prayers will be answered and as you act on the answers you will receive, you will find joy in the Sabbath….
I testify that this is the Church of Jesus Christ and that He will honor the covenants you make and renew with God….
Your very nature will be changed to become more like the Savior. You will be fortified against the temptation and against feelings of doubt….
You will find joy in the Sabbath, I so promise you.
