The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ

The Book of Mormon is Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It was written by the by the prophets in the ancient America's and contains the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.   

"The crowning event recorded in the Book of Mormon is the personal ministry of the Lord Jesus Christ among the Nephites soon after His resurrection. It puts forth the doctrines of the gospel, outlines the plan of salvation, and tells men what they must do to gain peace in this life and eternal salvation in the life to come (Introduction to Book of Mormon)."

Over and over again the Book of Mormon has invitations to get to know our Savior Jesus Christ and to "come unto Him." Some of my favorites of these invitations are recorded in 3 Nephi.

The first one is in 3 Nephi 9:13-14.

 13 O all ye that are spared because ye were more righteous than they, will ye not now return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you?

14 Yea, verily I say unto you, if ye will come unto me ye shall have eternal life. Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me. 

I love this scripture because our Savior Jesus Christ is inviting us, beckoning us, to come unto Him and feel of the healing power of His Atonement. His arms are opened and He is waiting for us to come. We just have to take the first step.

The second one is in 3 Nephi 11:14-15.

 14 Arise and come forth unto me, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. 

 15 And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into his side, and did feel the prints of the nails in his hands and in his feet; and this they did do, going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety and did bear record, that it was he, of whom it was written by the prophets, that should come. 

This is one of my all time favorite scriptures because the Savior is personally inviting all people to come unto Him, one by one, and feel the prints of the nails in his hands and feet. I know that we cannot physically do this right now, but the invitation still stands. We can truly come to know our Savior Jesus Christ and gain a personal testimony of Him as we read the Book of Mormon. We can come to know that He really is our Savior and Redeemer, and that He is the Son of God. It is through the Book of Mormon that we learn of His teachings and His gospel. We learn the things that He would have us do. I like to think that every week when we partake of the sacrament we get to have our 5 minutes with the Savior. As we partake of the bread and water, one by one, we get the chance to remember that sacrifice that He made for each one of us. We get to remember the marks in his hands, feet, and side. He may not be here physically, but we can still know Him personally.

The third is in 3 Nephi 17:7.

7 Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are lame, or blind, or halt, or maimed, or leprous, or that are withered, or that are deaf, or that are afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.  

I love this because again our Savior is inviting us to come unto Him and be healed. We may not all be physically sick, but we all need the hope and comfort that can only come through His healing power. I testify that His Atonement is real. It covers all pain. 

As we can see, the Book of Mormon testifies of Christ. He is the center of this gospel, the head of this church. I know that we can come to know the Savior better as we read the Book of Mormon. The Book of Mormon comes with a promise for all people.  It says:

"We invite all men everywhere to read the Book of Mormon, to ponder in their hearts the message it contains, and then to ask God, the Eternal Father, in the name of Jesus Christ if the book is true. Those who pursue this course and ask in faith will gain a testimony of its truth and divinity by the power of the Holy Ghost. (See Moroni 10:3-5)

Those who gain this divine witness from the Holy Spirit will also come to know by the same power that Jesus Christ is the Savior of the world, that Joseph Smith is his revelator and prophet in these last days, and that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints is the Lord's kingdom once again established on the earth, preparatory to the second coming of the Messiah. (Introduction to the Book of Mormon)"

I know that this promise is real. I have come to know for myself that the Book of Mormon is true, because I have prayed about it. There is no other way to find out. I know that Jesus is the Christ. He is my Savior, and my best friend. I have come to know my Savior more personally as I have read the pages of the Book of Mormon. You can too. I would invite all of you, member or not, to read the Book of Mormon, and take the challenge to pray about it and find out if it is true. You will receive an answer. God loves you. You are His child, and He will answer. 

 

A very powerful slideshow that depicts when the Savior visited the America's. Pay special attention to the emotion of the Savior and the people as they come unto Him, one by one. 

The photography is done by Mark Mabry.  (This event takes place in 3 Nephi, in the Book of Mormon)

The progressive blog is now in the hands of the wonderful Sister Simnitt! Check it out! http://sistersarasimnitt.blogspot.com/

Forgiveness: My Burden Was Made Light

This is a video of a man who truly allowed the Atonement of Jesus Christ and the power of forgiveness to work in his life. His story is incredible. It amazes me that not only did the power of forgiveness heal him, but it also healed the other people involved. We can all find this freedom and feel our burdens be lifted if we allow the Atonement to work in our lives.

Forgive or not to Forgive?

We've all been hurt or offended by the actions or words of another person right? We've all been in the situation where we have had a hard time letting go of those feelings of hurt and pain caused by other people and sometimes even ourselves right? We are completely justified in harboring feelings of pain, hurt, hatred, self-loathing, and sometimes even grudges that come as a result of being wronged by another person right? Wrong!

The Savior teaches us in Doctrine and Covenants 64:10, "I, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive, but of you it is required to forgive all men."  That scripture is pretty clear- there really is no room for argument. The Savior commands us to forgive everyone, no exceptions. That doesn't mean that we should forgive everyone except for your neighbor Bob who said something to you 5 years ago that offended you, your family, your dog, and your ancestors all the way back to Adam. He makes it very clear that we must forgive all men. This also includes forgiving ourselves. I know this is much easier said than done. I would like to discuss two things in this blog. 1. The need to forgive others, and 2. The need to forgive ourselves.

1. The need to forgive others:

I know it is not easy to forgive those who have hurt us. I know that because I have been there before. We all have. I would like to share some thoughts from a talk called "Remember Lot's Wife" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland that literally changed my perspective on forgiveness and the part that forgiveness plays in the Atonement. This talk really helped me realize that I was guilty of the greater sin when I didn't forgive and forget those who wronged me.

Elder Holland began by relating the story of Lot and his wife. They were asked to flee from Sodom and Gomorrah because it was going to be destroyed. The Lord told them to, "Escape for thy life...look not behind thee..." We all know how the story ends. Lot and his wife make it out of the city in the nick of time, but then Lot's wife "looked back" and was turned into a pillar of salt. In Luke 17:32 we are cautioned to "Remember Lot's wife."

What does all this have to do with forgiving others? Let me tell you. All too often we "look back" and dwell on the mistakes of others. We don't want to move on or forget something that someone has done to us. Elder Holland says, "There is something in us, at least in too many of us, that particularly fails to forgive and forget earlier mistakes in life-either mistakes we ourselves have made or the mistakes of others. That is not good. It is not Christian. It stands in terrible opposition to the grandeur and majesty of the Atonement of Christ. To be tied to earlier mistakes-our own or other people’s-is the worst kind of wallowing in the past from which we are called to cease and desist."

He later goes on to say, "When something is over and done with, when it has been repented of as fully as it can be repented of, when life has moved on as it should and a lot of other wonderfully good things have happened since then, it is not right to go back and open up some ancient wound that the Son of God Himself died trying to heal.



My best friend and I at Bear Lake
after a serious mud fight! It was a mess!



Let people repent. Let people grow. Believe that people can change and improve. Is that faith? Yes! Is that hope? Yes! Is it charity? Yes! Above all, it is charity, the pure love of Christ. If something is buried in the past, leave it buried. Don’t keep going back with your little sand pail and beach shovel to dig it up, wave it around, and then throw it at someone, saying, “Hey! Do you remember this?” Splat!



Well, guess what? That is probably going to result in some ugly morsel being dug up out of your landfill with the reply, “Yeah, I remember it. Do you remember this?” Splat.

And soon enough everyone comes out of that exchange dirty and muddy and unhappy and hurt, when what God, our Father in Heaven, pleads for is cleanliness and kindness and happiness and healing."

2. The need to forgive ourselves:

I think all of us are guilty of this one. It is difficult to forgive ourselves. All too often, it is way easier to look past and forgive the shortcomings of other people than our own. President Howard W. Hunter said, "It has always struck me as being sad that those among us who would not think of reprimanding our neighbor, much less a total stranger, for mistakes that have been made or weaknesses that might be evident, will nevertheless be cruel and unforgiving to themselves. When the scriptures say to judge righteously, that means with fairness and compassion and charity. That's how we must judge ourselves. We need to be patient and forgiving of ourselves, just as we must be patient and forgiving of others."

Why are we so hard on ourselves? Why can we forgive others so easily, but we cannot look past our own faults and shortcomings. No body is perfect. The Atonement of Jesus Christ is just as much for me, as it is for you, and everyone else. All we need to do it repent and move on. We need to allow the Atonement to work in our own lives.

Elder Holland continues in his talk by saying, "The proviso, of course, is that repentance has to be sincere, but when it is and when honest effort is being made to progress, we are guilty of the greater sin if we keep remembering and recalling and rebashing someone with their earlier mistakes—and that “someone” might be ourselves. We can be so hard on ourselves, often much more so than with others!

Forgive, and do that which is harder than to forgive: Forget. And when it comes to mind again, forget it again."

"Forgetting is part of forgiving. But forgiving oneself involves a special kind of forgetting. We don't forget the sin and its effects; rather, the memory ceases to be part of how we see ourselves. We must keep sin in its proper perspective. Satan would convince us that we are defined by our sins. The Savior, in contrast, would have us understand that we have sins that need to be cleansed, but we are much more than those stains ( "Forgiving Oneself" by Elder D. Chad Richardson, March 2007 Ensign)."

"You can remember just enough to avoid repeating the mistake, but then put the rest of it all on the dung heap Paul spoke of to those Philippians. Dismiss the destructive and keep dismissing it until the beauty of the Atonement of Christ has revealed to you your bright future and the bright future of your family and your friends and your neighbors. God doesn’t care nearly as much about where you have been as He does about where you are and, with His help, where you are willing to go. That is the thing Lot’s wife didn’t get—and neither did Laman and Lemuel and a host of others in the scriptures ("Remember Lot's Wife" by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland)."

Like I said before, this is all easier said than done, but is it possible? YES! President Packer taught: "Save for the exception of the very few who defect perdition, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no apostasy, no crime exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness. That is the promise of the Atonement of Christ."

I know that the Atonement of Jesus Christ is real. It is powerful. It covers all things. Nothing is outside of the healing power of the Atonement. "The Atonement not only benefits the sinner but also benefits those sinned against-that is, the victims. By forgiving those who trespass against us."

I challenge all of us to be like the Anti-Nephi-Lehies of the Book of Mormon, bury your weapons of war, and leave them buried. Use the Atonement. Forgive yourself, and forgive others. President James E. Faust said, "Forgiveness is freeing up and putting to better use the energy once consumed by holding grudges, harboring resentments, and nursing unhealed wounds. It is rediscovering the strengths we always had and relocating our limitless capacity to understand and accept other people and ourselves." I just want to add my testimony, that I know that we are freed from a terrible burden when we allow forgiveness into our lives and when we apply the Atonement to our lives. We are happier. We are stronger. We are better people.

Two Mormon Missionaries

This is an inspiring video of two Elders serving with me in the Santa Rosa California Mission.

Don't Quit!

"Don't Quit"

When things go wrong as they sometimes will,

when the road you're trudging seems all uphill,

when the funds are low and the debts are high,

and you want to smil, bu tyou have to sigh.

When care is pressing you down a bit,

rest if you must but don't you quit!

Life is strange with its twists and turns,

as everyone of us sometimes learns,

and many a person turns about

when they might have won had they stuck it out.

Don't give up though the pace seems slow.

You may succeed with another blow.

Often the struggler has given up,

when he might have captured the victors cup;

and he learned to late

when the night came down,

how close he was to the golden crown.

Success if failure turned inside out-

so stick to the fight when you're hardest hit.

It's when things seem worst that you

MUST NOT QUIT!

Remember you are never alone in life! Don't quit. Keep going! The best is yet to come.

Basketball vs. the Currant Bush

I love basketball. There is no question about it. It is my favorite sport. I have been playing since I was in Elementary school, but I didn't really know what I was doing then. I would never ever admit to anyone that I am a pro at playing basketball, I am far from it, but I have a passion for the sport and I really enjoy playing it. I attribute the few skills I have to a coach that really helped me see my potential.

When I was in the 9th grade all of my friends and I tried out for the 9th grade basketball team. We had been playing for a few years together and we thought it would be so fun if we all got to play for our school team. We went to the try-outs and almost all of us made it. My close friends that didn't make it were much better than me, and should have made it. Height has always been to my advantage in basketball, I am 5'11". So, I made the team. In all honesty, it was probably because of my height, but none the less, I played on the Oquirrh Hills Middle School 9th grade basketball team! It was a fun year, and we played really well. Throughout the season I learned a ton of new basketball skills. I had two coaches, but the assistant coach, Coach Warnick, really helped me learn what it means to play the "post" or "center" position. He worked me for hours on my boxing out, pivoting, blocking....you name it...we did it! Coach Warnick saw my potential in basketball, and he made me work on the things he knew I could do with some practice. By the end of the year, I had improved immensely, I was not the M.V.P by any of stretch of the imagination, but I was better than I was when I first started the season.

As I was thinking about how much Coach Warnick believed in me, and how much he helped me see my own potential, I began thinking how much more our Heavenly Father sees our potential as His children. All this thinking reminded me of an awesome story told in the January 1973 New Era called "The Currant Bush" by Elder Hugh B. Brown. He related a story that helped him come to know how Heavenly Father really does know best. He said,

"You sometimes wonder whether the Lord really knows what he ought to do with you. You sometimes wonder if you know better than he does about what you ought to do and ought to become. I am wondering if I may tell you a story that I have told quite often in the Church. It is a story that is older than you are. It’s a piece out of my own life, and I’ve told it in many stakes and missions. It has to do with an incident in my life when God showed me that He knew best.


I was living up in Canada. I had purchased a farm. It was run-down. I went out one morning and saw a currant bush. It had grown up over six feet high. It was going all to wood. There were no blossoms and no currants. I was raised on a fruit farm in Salt Lake before we went to Canada, and I knew what ought to happen to that currant bush. So I got some pruning shears and went after it, and I cut it down, and pruned it, and clipped it back until there was nothing left but a little clump of stumps. It was just coming daylight, and I thought I saw on top of each of these little stumps what appeared to be a tear, and I thought the currant bush was crying. I was kind of simpleminded (and I haven’t entirely gotten over it), and I looked at it, and smiled, and said, “What are you crying about?” You know, I thought I heard that currant bush talk. And I thought I heard it say this: “How could you do this to me? I was making such wonderful growth. I was almost as big as the shade tree and the fruit tree that are inside the fence, and now you have cut me down. Every plant in the garden will look down on me, because I didn’t make what I should have made. How could you do this to me? I thought you were the gardener here.” That’s what I thought I heard the currant bush say, and I thought it so much that I answered. I said, “Look, little currant bush, I am the gardener here, and I know what I want you to be. I didn’t intend you to be a fruit tree or a shade tree. I want you to be a currant bush, and some day, little currant bush, when you are laden with fruit, you are going to say, ‘Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for loving me enough to cut me down, for caring enough about me to hurt me. Thank you, Mr. Gardener.’”

Time passed. Years passed, and I found myself in England. I was in command of a cavalry unit in the Canadian Army. I had made rather rapid progress as far as promotions are concerned, and I held the rank of field officer in the British Canadian Army. And I was proud of my position. And there was an opportunity for me to become a general. I had taken all the examinations. I had the seniority. There was just one man between me and that which for ten years I had hoped to get, the office of general in the British Army. I swelled up with pride. And this one man became a casualty, and I received a telegram from London. It said: “Be in my office tomorrow morning at 10:00,” signed by General Turner in charge of all Canadian forces. I called in my valet, my personal servant. I told him to polish my buttons, to brush my hat and my boots, and to make me look like a general because that is what I was going to be. He did the best he could with what he had to work on, and I went up to London. I walked smartly into the office of the General, and I saluted him smartly, and he gave me the same kind of a salute a senior officer usually gives—a sort of “Get out of the way, worm!” He said, “Sit down, Brown.” Then he said, “I’m sorry I cannot make the appointment. You are entitled to it. You have passed all the examinations. You have the seniority. You’ve been a good officer, but I can’t make the appointment. You are to return to Canada and become a training officer and a transport officer. Someone else will be made a general.” That for which I had been hoping and praying for ten years suddenly slipped out of my fingers.

Then he went into the other room to answer the telephone, and I took a soldier’s privilege of looking on his desk. I saw my personal history sheet. Right across the bottom of it in bold, block-type letters was written, “THIS MAN IS A MORMON.” We were not very well liked in those days. When I saw that, I knew why I had not been appointed. I already held the highest rank of any Mormon in the British Army. He came back and said, “That’s all, Brown.” I saluted him again, but not quite as smartly. I saluted out of duty and went out. I got on the train and started back to my town, 120 miles away, with a broken heart, with bitterness in my soul. And every click of the wheels on the rails seemed to say, “You are a failure. You will be called a coward when you get home. You raised all those Mormon boys to join the army, then you sneak off home.” I knew what I was going to get, and when I got to my tent, I was so bitter that I threw my cap and my saddle brown belt on the cot. I clinched my fists and I shook them at heaven. I said, “How could you do this to me, God? I have done everything I could do to measure up. There is nothing that I could have done—that I should have done—that I haven’t done. How could you do this to me?” I was as bitter as gall.

And then I heard a voice, and I recognized the tone of this voice. It was my own voice, and the voice said, “I am the gardener here. I know what I want you to do.” The bitterness went out of my soul, and I fell on my knees by the cot to ask forgiveness for my ungratefulness and my bitterness.

I arose from my knees a humble man. And now, almost fifty years later, I look up to him and say, “Thank you, Mr. Gardener, for cutting me down, for loving me enough to hurt me.” I see now that it was wise that I should not become a general at that time, because if I had I would have been senior officer of all western Canada, with a lifelong, handsome salary, a place to live, and a pension when I’m no good any longer, but I would have raised my six daughters and two sons in army barracks. They would no doubt have married out of the Church, and I think I would not have amounted to anything. I haven’t amounted to very much as it is, but I have done better than I would have done if the Lord had let me go the way I wanted to go.


I wanted to tell you that oft-repeated story because there are many of you who are going to have some very difficult experiences: disappointment, heartbreak, bereavement, defeat. You are going to be tested and tried to prove what you are made of. I just want you to know that if you don’t get what you think you ought to get, remember, “God is the gardener here. He knows what he wants you to be.” Submit yourselves to his will. Be worthy of his blessings, and you will get his blessings."

I love that story because truly our Heavenly Father is the "gardener" in each and every one of our lives. He sees what we can become, and He helps us reach that potential if we let Him. Often times it takes a little practice, a little training, just like Coach Warnick had to push me to be a better basketball player, Heavenly Father sometimes has to push us a little bit, hurt us a little bit, cut us down a little bit, to help us become the person He knows we can be.

There is quote from Elder Richard G. Scott of the quorum of the 12 apostles, and he said, "Just when all seems to be going right, challenges often come in multiple doses applied simultaneously. When those trials are not consequences of your disobedience, they are evidence that the Lord feels you are prepared to grow more. He therefore give you experiences that stimulate growth, understanding, and compassion, which polish you for your everlasting benefit. To get you from where you are to where He wants you to be requires a lot of stretching, and that generally entails discomfort and pain."

Let us remember that our Heavenly Father loves us. He is in charge, and He sees the bigger picture. If you are having a hard time, if you are hurting, if you are not exactly where you thought you would be, if you are seeing more of your weaknesses, just know that your Heavenly Father is helping you come closer to Him. He is helping you grow. He is helping you reach your potential.

"As we draw close to God, He will show us our weaknesses and through them make us wiser, stronger. If you're seeing more of your weaknesses, that just might mean you're moving nearer to God, not farther away."
("The Atonement: All for All", Bruce C. Hafen.)

I want to bear my testimony that I know that Heavenly Father loves each one of us individually and personally. He has a plan for you and for me. He gives us trials and struggles to help us grow. He gives us opportunities to reach our potential and sometimes that puts us out of our comfort zone, or hurts/stretches us a little. He does that for our benefit, and we may not always see the immediate results of this trial, we may not understand exactly why we had to go through that experience, but we will see it...one day. We will look back and see how much we've grown, and see what we have become with His help. He can and will help us become something more than we could ever imagine!



A Mormon Message about Prayer.

Heavenly Father ALWAYS answers our prayers. He is very aware of our needs. Pray always! Pray fervently! "Miracles are wrought through prayer."

The Power of Prayer.

During this past week I have had a lot of new changes happen. I have a new companion. I am in a new area. My companion and I are both new to the area, which means we don't exactly know our way around or what's going on for that matter. We are serving in a new branch and working with new leadership. We are driving around trying to meet all our investigators, potentials, formers, and referrals without getting lost. All we have is our trusty map. This is a very new and exciting experience for me, but along with all of this excitement there has been an added amount of stress on my shoulders. This is a big responsibility! Last night, I was discussing all of my excitement, fears, and concerns with my Heavenly Father about this new assignment, and I was hit with an overwhelming feeling of gratitude and love for the power of prayer. It amazed me that even though  I am in a new area and among new people, I didn't feel alone, even though it would be so easy to feel that way. It gives me great comfort and peace to know that I always have a great friend, my Heavenly Father, to talk to- anytime, anywhere, any hour. He is always available.

Prayer is one of the greatest blessings and most powerful tools we have while we are here on earth. Prayer is literally a direct line of communication between our Heavenly Father and us, His children. There is never a busy signal with Him. We can seek His counsel, guidance, and direction daily, and He will listen. That is His promise to us.

In the April 2011 General Conference, Elder Russell M. Nelson, of the quorum of the 12 apostles, said this regarding prayer:

"Your heartfelt pleadings are important to Him.... If we pray with an eternal perspective, we need not wonder if our most tearful and heartfelt pleadings are heard. This promise from the Lord is recorded in section 98 of the Doctrine and Covenants:

2-"Your prayers have entered into the ears of the Lord...and are recorded with this seal and testament-the Lord hath sworn and decreed that they shall be granted.

3-"Therefore, he giveth this promise unto you, with an immutable covenant that they shall be fulfilled; and all things wherewith you have been afflicted shall work together for your good, and to my name's glory, saith the Lord."

Elder Nelson continues by saying, "The Lord chose His strongest words to reassure us! Seal! Testament! Sworn! Decreed! Immutable covenant! Brothers and sisters, believe Him! God will heed your sincere and heartfelt prayers, and your faith will be strengthened (Face the Future with Faith, April 2011)."

We must remember that "prayer is a form of work, and is an appointed means for obtaining the highest of all blessings (Bible Dictionary pg. 753)." Our loving Heavenly Father is always anxious and willing to bless us with the things we ask, but we must do our part. "Blessings require some work or effort on our part before we can obtain them (Bible Dictionary pg. 753)."

This reminds me of a scripture in Doctrine and Covenants 58:26-28:

26-"For behold, it is not meet that I should command in all things; for he that is compelled in all things, the same is a slothful and not a wise servant; wherefore he receiveth no reward."

27-"Verily I say, men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass must righteousness;"

28-"For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves."

We shouldn't be "commanded in all things." God expects us to do our part. We should get on our knees and pray like everything depends on Him, and then get up and work like everything depends on us. We need to be "anxiously engaged in a good cause." "Often God gives us the power to help answer our own prayers. As we pray for help, we should do all we can to bring about the things we desire (Gospel Principles Manual pg. 38)."

"Our sincere prayers are always answered. Sometimes the answer may be no, because what we have asked for would not be best for us. Sometimes the answer is yes, and we have a warm, comfortable feeling about what we should do (see D&C 9:8-9). Sometimes the answer is "wait a while." Our prayers are always answered at a time and in a way that the Lord knows will help us the most."

"Sometimes the Lord answers our prayers through other people. A good friend, a husband or wife, a parent or other family member, a Church leader, a missionary- any of these individuals may be inspired to perform acts that will answer our prayers (Gospel Principles Manual pg. 37)."

I know that prayer is real and very powerful. I know that God is our loving Heavenly Father and that He wants us to talk to Him often. He wants to hear about every aspect of our lives because He loves us and wants to bless us, but He can't if we don't let Him into our lives. I would like to close with one last quote from Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, of the quorum of the 12 apostles. He said,

"God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe (Terror, Triumph, and a Wedding Feast, September 12, 2004)."

Brothers and sisters, pray with faith, believe in His promises, and go to work! He will listen and He will answer you. Prayer works! I love my Heavenly Father and my Savior Jesus Christ. I know They live, and love each one of us perfectly and personally. This church is true.