We have had an amazing two days of feasting. We have been blessed with a mission tour by Elder Neil L. Anderson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Elder Pieper, President of the Southwest Area and Elder Vest, Area Seventy for our area. The big take away for me is the importance of a firm foundation of faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ, for ourselves and for our families. Our testimony of the Savior and His divinity and ability to atone for the sins of all the world will be our biggest test in the future. This was a big part of Elder Anderson’s message. He counseled us to start preparing now by spending time building our relationship with Christ first by studying very thoroughly the New Testament along with our study of the Book of Mormon. He invited us to start with 5 scriptures about Christ from the New Testament that you really believe and then memorize them. The 2nd thing is to keep a great love for the Book of Mormon because it testifies of Jesus Christ. It is full of amazing sermons about His atonement. He then invited us to find 5 scriptures in the Book of Mormon as well and memorize them. With efforts to memorize, our faith will be elevated.
Elder Anderson warned us that we are going to have to do things we haven’t had to do before in order to stay strong and not slide off the path. We are living in a time that will require of all of us to build strong faith in Christ so that whatever surrounds us won’t pull us off the path. We need to be “converted to the Lord and united to the Church” (3 Nephi 28:23;)
This message of the importance of faith in Jesus Christ was reiterated by each of the speakers.
Elder Vest spoke about an experience he and his wife had teaching an activity age group of children about the Atonement of Jesus Christ from Preach My Gospel pages 51 – 52. They then had them teach it to each other. Most of them had a very difficult time doing it. The same was true of the missionaries that came into his mission when he presided in the New York Syracuse Mission. They didn't know very much about the Atonement of Jesus Christ. He asked the question: What do we and our children know most about? Do we know about Star Wars, Harry Potter, or Pokemon more than about Jesus Christ? Why is it important? Why does it matter? Because without Him we have and are nothing. And because every good thing comes from Him. Another reason is found in Helaman 5:12 "And now, my sons, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of our Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea, when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because of the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.” This passionate love of Jesus Christ will protect us.
He quoted from this scripture in Deuteronomy 6:7 “And thou shalt teach [the Lord’s words] diligently unto thy children, and shalt talk of them when thou sittest in thine house and when thou walkest by the way, and when thou liest down, and when thou risest up” He gave a modern adaptation of that scripture: Thou shalt teach these things when thou drivest in the car, when thou eatest dinner, when thou art on social media. (he gave examples of normal and natural ways to do this - not preachy) He also quoted President Russell M. Nelson from last General Conference who said, “With frightening speed, a testimony that is not nourished daily “by the good word of God” can crumble. Thus, the antidote to Satan’s scheme is clear: we need daily experiences worshiping the Lord and studying His gospel. I plead with you to let God prevail in your life. Give Him a fair share of your time. As you do, notice what happens to your positive spiritual momentum.” (President Russell M. Nelson, "The Power of Spiritual Momentum", General Conference, April 2022)
Our Testimony is that Jesus Christ is the author and finisher of our faith. Without Him we would be doomed to misery. He is the source of all that is good and light and true. We are so blessed to be serving in His kingdom.
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