President Eyring conducts.
President Monson presides.
MoTab sings “Oh Say What is Truth?”
Invocation: Enrique R. Falabella of the Seventy
Choir sings: “Lead, Kindly Light”
Elder Bednar
“He that doeth the will of the Father.”
JST changed this verse from “I never knew you” to “Ye never knew me.”
10 virgins: “I know you not” changed to “ye know me not.”
“Ye never knew me” and “ye know me not” are important messages for today.
Jesus said I am the way, the truth and the life. If ye had known me, you will know the father also. We come to know the father as we come to know the son.
… Four essential steps that can help us come to know the Lord are exercising faith in Him, following Him, serving Him, and believing Him.
The exercise of faith in Jesus Christ is relying upon His merits, mercy, and grace. … As our faith in the Lord increases, we trust in Him and have confidence in His power to redeem, heal, and strengthen us. …
The Savior has admonished us to become as He is. … Following the Lord includes emulating Him. We continue to come to know the Lord as we seek through the power of His Atonement to become like Him. …
We more fully come to know the Lord as we serve Him and labor in His kingdom. As we do so, He generously blesses us with heavenly help, spiritual gifts, and increased capacity. …
We come to know the Savior as we do our best to go where He wants us to go, as we strive to say what He wants us to say, and as we become what He wants us to become. …
… Believing Him with our whole soul comes as we press forward along the covenant pathway, surrender our will to His, and submit to His priorities and timing for us.
Brian K. Ashton, second counselor in the Sunday School presidency
The doctrine of Christ … is the means—the only means—by which we can obtain all the blessings made available to us through Jesus’s Atonement. It is the doctrine of Christ that allows us to access the spiritual power that will lift us from our current spiritual state to a state where we can become perfected like the Savior. …
Let’s explore each element of the doctrine of Christ.
First, faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement. …
Second, repentance. …
Third, baptism and the sacrament. …
Fourth, the gift of the Holy Ghost. …
Fifth, enduring to the end. …
… We must apply the doctrine of Christ in our lives because it provides the only path back to our Heavenly Father. …
So how can we apply the doctrine of Christ more fully in our lives? One way would be to make a conscious effort each week to prepare for the sacrament by taking some time to prayerfully consider where we most need to improve. We could then bring a sacrifice of at least one thing that keeps us from being like Jesus Christ to the sacrament altar, pleading in faith for help, asking for necessary spiritual gifts, and covenanting to improve during the coming week. As we do so, the Holy Ghost will come into our lives to a greater degree, and we will have additional strength to overcome our imperfections.
Carl B. Cook of the Seventy
Putting it in compound. A compound gear with 4WD allows you to gear down and power up.
Working together is like gearing in compound. When we unite to serve together, we do much more than when on our own.
We serve the Lord by serving others. As we serve, we draw closer to God. Service is not something we endure on this Earth. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life is made.
If we grow weary of serving, or are called to do something that we do not find appealing. Elder Cook had a new assignment, and he was not excited. But he learned to be excited about the new calling.
When we serve with all our hearts, additional power comes into our service. Blessings come as we persevere in our callings. Accepting and fulfilling callings is an act of faith.
All who serve will receive God’s grace. Just serve.
Congregation sings “High on the Mountain Top.”
Elder Rasband
Jesus Christ knows about fierce struggles and trials. He gave His life for us. His final hours were brutal, beyond anything we can even comprehend, but His sacrifice for each one of us was the ultimate expression of His pure love.
… Do not forget, Heavenly Father knows and loves each of you, and He is always ready to help. …
… To all who wish to bolster their faith, I give you this promise: as you faithfully live the gospel of Jesus Christ and abide by its teachings, your testimony will be protected, and it will grow. Keep the covenants you have made, regardless of the actions of those around you. Be diligent parents, brothers and sisters, grandparents, aunts and uncles, and friends who strengthen loved ones with personal testimony and who share spiritual experiences. Remain faithful and steadfast, even if storms of doubt invade your lives through the actions of others. Seek that which will edify and fortify you spiritually. Avoid counterfeit offerings of so-called “truths” which are so pervasive, and remember to record your feelings of “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness, [and] temperance” [Galatians 5:22–23].
In the midst of life’s greatest storms, do not forget your divine heritage as a son or daughter of God or your eternal destiny to one day return to live with Him, which will surpass anything the world has to offer.
Elder Evan A. Schmutz
Of the Seventy
Everyone … is acquainted with some measure of loneliness, despair, grief, pain, or sorrow. …
Many of us have pleaded with God to remove the cause of our suffering, and when the relief we seek has not come, we have been tempted to think He is not listening. I testify that, even in those moments, He hears our prayers, has a reason for allowing our afflictions to continue, and will help us bear them. …
When we find ourselves laboring through tribulation, it can be difficult to see our trials as signposts on our personal trail of discipleship. …
… May I suggest that your personal struggles—your individual sorrows, pains, tribulations, and infirmities of every kind—are all known to our Father in Heaven and His Son. Take courage! Have faith! And believe in the promises of God!
The purpose and mission of Jesus Christ included that He would “take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his people,” “take upon him their infirmities,” and “succor his people according to their infirmities” [see Alma 7:11–12].
To fully receive these gifts our Savior has so freely offered, we all must learn that suffering in and of itself does not teach or grant to us anything of lasting value unless we deliberately become involved in the process of learning from our afflictions through the exercise of faith. …
… When we can link our suffering to an assurance of purpose in our mortality and more specifically to the reward awaiting us in heavenly places, our faith in Christ increases and we receive comfort to our souls.
K. Brett Nattress of the Seventy
He was a very active child. His mom wrote in the scriptures: “patience with Brett.” His mom used to read the BoM every morning. He said: “Mom, I’m not listening.” His mom said: “son, I was in a meeting with Pres. Romney. I received a promise that if I would read the BoM to my children every day, I would not lose them. I will not lose you.”
His mom taught him that he was worth saving. All sisters, angels, are mothers in Zion whether or no they are married or bear children in this earthly experience.
He does not know anybody who reads the BoM every day who has fallen away from the Church.
Is there any greater gift that we can impart to our children than a memory burned deep into their heart that we know that our Redeemer lives? Do they know that we know? And more important, have they come to know for themselves that He lives? …
I don’t know if anything in this world could bring more happiness and joy than to know that our children know the Savior, to know that they know “to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.” That is why, as members of the Church, “we preach of Christ” and we testify of Christ (2 Nephi 25:26).
- That is why we pray with our children every day.
- That is why we read the scriptures with them every day.
- That is why we teach them to serve others, so that they can hold claim upon the blessings of finding themselves as they lose themselves in the service of others (see Mark 8:35; Mosiah 2:17).
As we devote ourselves to these simple patterns of discipleship, we empower our children with the love of the Savior and with divine direction and protection as they face the fierce winds of the adversary.
The Gospel is about the one. The one lost sheep, one prodigal son, about one little boy who might say he is not listening. Be one with the Savior as He is one with his father.
Choir sings “I’ll Follow Him in Faith.”
Elder Renlund
Real repentance must involve faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, faith that He can change us, faith that He can forgive us, and faith that He will help us avoid more mistakes. … Without the Redeemer, the inherent hope and joy evaporate, and repentance becomes simply miserable behavior modification. But by exercising faith in Him, we become converted to His ability and willingness to forgive sin. …
… Repentance is a choice.
We can—and sometimes do—make different choices. Such choices may not seem intrinsically wrong, but they prevent us from becoming truly penitent and thus preclude our pursuit of real repentance. …
Jesus Christ can forgive because He paid the price for our sins.
Our Redeemer chooses to forgive because of His incomparable compassion, mercy, and love.
Our Savior wants to forgive because this is one of His divine attributes.
And, as the Good Shepherd He is, He is joyful when we choose to repent. …
May we choose to repent, forsake our sins, and turn our hearts and wills around to follow our Savior.
Choir sings “Let Us All Press On”