Motions of a Hidden Fire – Jeffrey R. Holland
When we don’t know how or exactly for what to pray, we should begin, and continue, until the Holy Spirit guides us into the prayer we should be offering.
I need to get practiced in praying until the Holy Ghost guides me into the prayers I should be offering.
Put Ye On the Lord Jesus Christ – J. Annette Dennis
Study the talks of our prophet (including the beautiful teachings in the footnotes of his talks, which most conference talks have). He has spoken repeatedly about covenants for years and especially since becoming President of the Church. Learn from his teachings about the beautiful blessings and increased power and capacity that can be yours through making and keeping covenants with God.
Covenant confidence through Jesus Christ – Ulisses Soares
As we change our preparation to enter the temple, we will change our experience in the temple, which will transform our lives outside of the temple. May this transformation fill us with confidence in our holy covenants made with God through Jesus Christ.
I want the promised blessings of changing my life outside the temple and my experience inside the temple by changing my preparation to attend the temple.
“Be Still, and Know That I Am God” – David A. Bednar
I want to continue building a firm spiritual foundation anchored to the bedrock that is Christ through:
- Regular participation in covenant renewal
- By establishing sacred times where I and we are focused on Christ and the plan of salvation
- By finding/creating holy spaces (beyond home, church, and temple) that draw our thoughts heavenward; and
- By drawing together home and church in one in Christ through the regular experience of those sacred times and holy places alone and together.
All Things for Our Good – Gerrit W. Gong
“Ministering is when we go from being neighbors who bring cookies to trusted friends, spiritual first responders.” Covenant belonging in Jesus Christ comforts, connects, consecrates.
I need to work on my ministering so that I can be a spiritual first responder.
Foreordained to Serve – Steven R. Bangerter
My young brothers and sisters, as you protect the private times of your life with wholesome recreation; listening to uplifting music; reading the scriptures; having regular, meaningful prayer; and making efforts to receive and ponder your patriarchal blessing, you will receive revelation. In President Nelson’s words, your eyes will become “wide open to the truth that this life really is the time when you get to decide what kind of life you want to live forever.”
Our Father in Heaven will answer your prayers, especially your prayers offered during the private times of your life. He will reveal to you your foreordained gifts and talents, and you will feel His love envelop you, if you will sincerely ask and genuinely desire to know. As you protect the private times of your life, your participation in the ordinances and covenants of the gospel will be more meaningful. You will more fully bind yourself to God in the covenants you make with Him, and you will be lifted to have greater hope, faith, and assurance in the promises He has made to you. Do you want to know God’s plan for you? I bear witness He wants you to know, and He inspired His prophet to the world to invite each of us to pray and receive this eye-opening experience for ourselves.
I want to evaluate and upgrade how I use the private times of my life. (I’ve already started to.) One specific thing I want to do is prayerfully study my patriarchal Blessing with regularity.
Faithful to the End – Andrea Muñoz Spannaus
While David used only one stone to kill Goliath, he was prepared with five.
What if each of David’s stones represented a strength we need to be triumphant in our lives? What could those five stones be? I thought of these possibilities:
- The stone of my love for God.
- The stone of my faith in our Savior, Jesus Christ.
- The stone of the knowledge of my true identity.
- The stone of my daily repentance.
- The stone of my access to God’s power.
…I actually wish David had had one more stone; that would be the stone of my testimony.…
Just as I chose stone number six, I invite you to meet with your class, quorum, or family and think about what other strengths you need to acquire to remain faithful to God and, therefore, overcome the world
I want to review these stones—all six—and consider what, if any, I would add.
A Higher Joy – Dieter F. Uchtdorf
During the coming days, weeks, and months, may I invite you to:
- Spend time in a sincere, full-hearted effort to draw near to God.
- Seek diligently for everyday moments of hope, peace, and joy.
- Bring joy to others around you.
My dear brothers and sisters, dear friends, as you search the word of God for a deeper understanding of God’s eternal plan, accept these invitations, and strive to walk in His Way, you will experience “the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,” even in the midst of sorrows. You will feel a greater measure of God’s unsurpassable love swelling within your heart. The dawn of celestial light will penetrate the shadows of your trials, and you will begin to taste the unspeakable glories and wonders of the unseen, perfect, heavenly sphere. You will feel your spirit lifting away from the gravity of this world.
I have started making a more concerted effort to draw near unto God. I would like to pay more attention to notice “everyday moments of hope, peace, and joy.” I would also like to work on making a point to bring joy to others around me.
Swallowed Up in the Joy of Christ – Brian K. Taylor
This phrase “swallowed up” deeply moves me. My interest was heightened when I learned that in Spanish, “swallowed up” is translated as “consumed”; in German, as “devoured”; and in Chinese, as “engulfed.” Thus, when life’s challenges are most painful and overwhelming, I remember the Lord’s promise—that we “should suffer no manner of afflictions, save it [be] swallowed up [consumed, devoured, and engulfed] in the joy of Christ.”
I think we have to cultivate the joy of Christ in our hearts until it is sufficiently developed to swallow up all manner of afflictions. I need to study and learn how to cultivate the joy of Christ in my life. That would include studying Jesus Christ is Relief (April 2023) and Ensure It Well (April 1990)
The Testimony of Jesus – D. Todd Christofferson
What does it mean to be valiant in the testimony of Jesus?
- Nurture and strengthen your testimony.
- Be open and public about your witness.
- Heed the messengers of God.
- Encourage others to be valiant.
- Pursue personal holiness by “{coming} unto Christ and {being} perfected in Him.”
Bridging the Two Great Commandments – Gary R. Stevenson
How do we build our own bridge of faith and devotion—erecting tall bridge towers of both loving God and loving our neighbors? Well, we just start. Our initial efforts might look like a plan on the back of a napkin or an early-stage blueprint of the bridge we hope to construct. It might consist of a few realistic goals to understand the Lord’s gospel more or to vow to judge others less. No one is too young or too old to begin.
Over time, with prayerful and thoughtful planning, rough ideas are refined. New actions become habits. Early drafts become polished blueprints. We build our personal spiritual bridge with hearts and minds devoted to Heavenly Father and His Only Begotten Son as well as to our brothers and sisters with whom we work, play, and live.
I want to consider what my love of God should look like and how I can strengthen it as well as what my love of neighbor should look like and what steps I can take to strengthen it.
Rejoice in the Gift of Priesthood Keys – Russell M. Nelson
Joseph Smith’s dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple is a tutorial about how the temple spiritually empowers you and me to meet the challenges of life in these last days. I encourage you to study that prayer, recorded in Doctrine and Covenants section 109. That dedicatory prayer, which was received by revelation, teaches that the temple is “a house of prayer, a house of fasting, a house of faith, a house of learning, a house of glory, a house of order, a house of God.”
This list of attributes is much more than a description of a temple. It is a promise about what will happen to those who serve and worship in the house of the Lord. They can expect to receive answers to prayer, personal revelation, greater faith, strength, comfort, increased knowledge, and increased power.
Time in the temple will help you to think celestial and to catch a vision of who you really are, who you can become, and the kind of life you can have forever. Regular temple worship will enhance the way you see yourself and how you fit into God’s magnificent plan. I promise you that
I want to read section 109 and look for how the promises it contains can apply to me.
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