Church guide

Elder Taylor G. Godoy Of the Seventy If we were told we had a short time to live, we too might plead for more days of life in the name of things we should have done or done differently. Regardless of the time the Lord, in His wisdom, determines to grant each of us, of one thing we can be sure: we all have a “today” to live, and the key to making our day successful is to be willing to sacrifice. …any sacrifice we make is small compared to the sacrifice of the Son of God. …be more willing every “one more day” to follow the invitation that President Howard W. Hunter extended to us when he said: “Mend a quarrel. Seek out a forgotten friend. Dismiss suspicion and replace it with trust. … Give a soft answer. Encourage youth. Manifest your loyalty in word and deed. Keep a promise. Forgo a grudge. Forgive an enemy. Apologize. Try to understand. Examine your demands on others. Think first of someone else. Be kind. Be gentle. Laugh a little more. Express your gratitude. Welcome a stranger. Gladden the heart of a child. … Speak your love and then speak it again” https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/04/one-more-day?lang=eng

Elder Neil L. Andersen Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles We embrace President Nelson as we would have embraced Peter or Moses if we had lived in their day. God told Moses, “I will be with thy mouth, and teach thee what thou shalt say.” We listen to the Lord’s prophet with the faith that his words are “from [the Lord’s] own mouth.” Is this blind faith? No, it is not. We each have a spiritual witness of the truthfulness of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. By our own will and choice, we raised our hand this morning, declaring our desire to sustain the Lord’s prophet with our “confidence, faith, and prayer[s]” and to follow his counsel. We have the privilege as Latter-day Saints to receive a personal witness that President Nelson’s call is from God. While my wife, Kathy, has known President Nelson personally for nearly three decades and has no question about his divine mantle, upon his setting apart, she began reading all his general conference talks of the past 34 years, praying for an even deeper assurance of his prophetic role. I promise you that this greater witness will come to you as you humbly and worthily seek it. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2018/04/the-prophet-of-god?lang=eng

Bonnie L. Oscarson Young Women General President In addition to serving your family and your ward members, look for opportunities to serve in your neighborhood and community. While at times we are called upon to help after a major disaster, on a day-to-day basis we are encouraged to look for opportunities in our own areas to lift and help those in need. I was recently instructed by an Area President, serving in a country which has many temporal challenges, that the best way to help those in need in other parts of the world is to pay a generous fast offering, contribute to the Church’s Humanitarian Aid Fund, and look for ways to serve those in your own community wherever you live. Just imagine how the world would be blessed if everyone followed this counsel! https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/10/the-needs-before-us?lang=eng

Elder Neil L. Andersen Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles For decades, I have remembered the words: “These are they who have overcome the world.” . . . Those who overcome the world develop an all-encompassing love for our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. . . . “We love him, because he first loved us.” . . . Overcoming the world is not one defining moment in a lifetime, but a lifetime of moments that define an eternity. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/overcoming-the-world?lang=eng

Elder Valeri V. Cordón Of the Seventy I would like to emphasize not any particular earthly language but rather an eternal language that must be preserved in our families and never lost. I speak of the language of the gospel of Jesus Christ. By “language of the gospel,” I mean all the teachings of our prophets, our obedience to those teachings, and our following righteous traditions. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/the-language-of-the-gospel?lang=eng

Bonnie H. Cordon Second Counselor in the Primary General Presidency How do I keep centered and lean not unto my own understanding? How do I recognize and follow the Savior’s voice when the voices of the world are so compelling? How do I cultivate trust in the Savior? May I suggest three ways to increase our knowledge of and trust in the Savior. You will find that these principles are not new, but they are foundational. . . . They are centering—and not leaning—principles. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/04/trust-in-the-lord-and-lean-not?lang=eng

Bishop Dean M. Davies, First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric My brothers and sisters, spiritual experiences have less to do with what is happening around us and everything to do with what is happening within our hearts. 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. For as we incline our hearts to God, like the ancient Psalmist, we “enter into his gates with thanksgiving, . . . https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/the-blessings-of-worship?lang=eng

Elder Gary E. Stevenson . . . [I]t is a gift and blessing from the Lord that the keystone of our religion is something as tangible and graspable as the Book of Mormon and that you can hold it and read it. Can you see the Book of Mormon as your keystone, your spiritual center of strength? . . . Within the book’s pages, you will discover the infinite love and incomprehensible grace of God. As you strive to follow the teachings you find there, your joy will expand, your understanding will increase, and the answers you seek to the many challenges mortality presents will be opened to you. As you look to the book, you look to the Lord. . . . https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/look-to-the-book-look-to-the-lord?lang=eng

Elder Quentin L. Cook If we are to be valiant in our testimony of Jesus, we must avoid the stumbling blocks that entrap and impede the progress of many otherwise honorable men and women. Let us determine to always be in His service. https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/10/valiant-in-the-testimony-of-jesus?lang=eng

"This moment does not define them, but our response will help define us." Being a refugee may be a defining moment in the lives of those who are refugees, but being a refugee does not define them. Like countless thousands before them, this will be a period—we hope a short period—in their lives. Some of them will go on to be Nobel laureates, public servants, physicians, scientists, musicians, artists, religious leaders, and contributors in other fields. Indeed, many of them were these things before they lost everything. This moment does not define them, but our response will help define us. Elder Patrick Kearon https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2016/04/refuge-from-the-storm?lang=eng

Perhaps there is something in your life that you have a question about. Perhaps there is a problem you do not know quite how to answer. Today I would like to share some thoughts that may help you obtain the answers or help you are seeking. The process begins with being converted to the gospel of Jesus Christ. Elder James B. Martino https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/turn-to-him-and-answers-will-come?lang=eng

Bear, borne, carry, deliver. These are powerful, heartening messianic words. They convey help and hope for safe movement from where we are to where we need to be—but cannot get without assistance. These words also connote burden, struggle, and fatigue—words most appropriate in describing the mission of Him who, at unspeakable cost, lifts us up when we have fallen, carries us forward when strength is gone, delivers us safely home when safety seems far beyond our reach. “My Father sent me,” He said, “that I might be lifted up upon the cross; … that as I have been lifted up … even so should men be lifted up … to … me.” Elder Jeffrey R. Holland https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2015/10/behold-thy-mother?lang=eng

https://www.mormon.org/christmas/teaser?cid=80001343

Friends may be curious what it means to be an Apostle in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. New members of the Quorum of the Twelve introduced. http://youtu.be/aR9AbEG_Kbg

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles answers four questions about prayer: Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles answers four questions about prayer: How can I make daily prayer more meaningful? How do you have the Spirit with you when you pray? How often should we pray? What if we don’t get an answer to our prayers when we want it or need it? http://view.email.ldschurch.org/?j=fefa1677736006&m=fe8a1372756d06747d&ls=fe621670766006757613&l=ff2816747c6c&s=fe9b16717467027f70&jb=ff5f107871&ju=fec7127775670778&r=0

New temples in Haiti, Ivory Coast and Thailand announced at April Conference 2015. http://www.mormonnewsroom.org/article/new-temples-announced-abidjan-ivory-coast--cote-divoire-port-au-prince-haiti-bangkok-thailand

Elder Ballard, "Of course, having questions and experiencing doubts are not incongruent with dedicated discipleship." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ziq8zatPjlY

How would your friends respond to the question, “What is The Book of Mormon?” http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=fGhI4p4G1P4 The Book of Mormon Project’s video that answers the question, “What is the Book of Mormon?”

Lifting Burdens https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=coef8G5ax6E "We see ourselves in terms of yesterday and today. Our Heavenly Father sees us in terms of forever. Although we might settle for less, Heavenly Father won't. For He sees us as the glorious beings we are capable of becoming." —Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin