It is our responsibility as members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to gather Abraham’s seed and bring them unto Christ. They should be easy to find, for they are as numerous as the sands of the seashore...Are we looking? Are we asking? ...let us renew our commitment to seek the Spirit to help us find those who are Abraham’s seed. Then let us open our mouths, friendship them, invite them to come unto Christ, and be there to support, nourish, and retain them...Our Father in Heaven wants all of Abraham’s seed to return to Him.
- E. Ray Bateman, Pearls from the Sand
A Message for Children from President Russell M. Nelson | Friend to Friend
[W]e have an “eternal destiny.” Such a destiny will not be forced on us. After death, we will receive what we have qualified for and “enjoy [only] that which [we] are willing to receive.” …
Our Heavenly Father wants you to become His heir and receive all that He has. He cannot offer you more. He cannot promise you more. He loves you more than you know and wants you to be happy in this life and in the life to come.
- Dale G. Renlund, Your Divine Nature and Eternal Destiny
Your Potential, Your Privileges
[T]he Lord has set His hand to prepare the world for His glorious return. These are days of great opportunity and important responsibilities…Those awaiting the Savior’s coming will “look for [Him].” And He has promised, “I will come”! …I testify of the majesty but, most of all, of the certainty of this magnificent event. The Savior lives. He will return to the earth. And whether on this side of the veil or the other, you and I will rejoice in His coming...
- Neil L. Andersen, Preparing the World for the Second Coming
The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again - President Russell M. Nelson #lds #generalconference
When the Savior Comes Again | October 2024 General Conference
The gospel plan shows our Heavenly Father’s love for all His children. To understand this, we must seek to understand His plan and His commandments...In the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we have a unique understanding of our Heavenly Father’s plan. This gives us a different way of viewing the purpose of mortal life, the divine judgment that follows it, and the ultimate glorious destiny of all of God’s children…Under that plan there are multiple kingdoms so that all of His children can be assigned to a kingdom where they can “abide.”
- President Dallin H. Oaks, Divine Love in the Father’s Plan,
There is a crucial balance between the temporal and the spiritual aspects of this principle...Our physical preparation—including a clean, orderly home—makes it possible for the Spirit to be present. Likewise, the Spirit of the Lord brings an atmosphere of peace and contentment to our orderly home…One sister told of her preparation to receive a General Authority guest in her home for stake conference. Everything was to be perfect. Extensive cleaning and cooking were done. Her ten children were prepped as to what their roles should be. She worked hard! By the time he arrived she was exhausted and couldn’t enjoy his visit. Too late, she realized that spiritual preparation was “needful” also.
- Barbara W. Winder, Becoming a Prepared People
Prepare to be Inspired for LDS General Conference #GeneralConference
Prepare for General Conference
Increase Your Daily Energy to Act, Love, and Lift Like the Savior
Life is all about making choices. Our Father in Heaven gave us the divine gift of agency precisely so that we could learn from our choices—from the right ones and also from the wrong ones…To be able to exercise our agency, we need to have opposing options to consider...In life, we constantly confront many important choices. For example: Choosing whether or not we will follow God’s commandments...We can rest assured that our difficulties, sorrows, afflictions, and pains do not define us; rather, it is how we go about them that will help us grow and draw closer to God. It is our attitudes and choices that define us much better than our challenges.
- Mathias Held, Opposition in All Things
You have the power to choose for yourself
I Will Walk with Jesus | Friend to Friend
Unfortunately, some Latter-day Saints seem to...fix their priorities on the standards and values of the world...We do not serve our Savior well if we fear man more than God. He rebuked some leaders in His restored Church for seeking the praise of the world and for having their minds on the things of the earth more than on the things of the Lord. Those chastisements remind us that we are called to establish the Lord’s standards, not to follow the world’s.
- President Dallin H. Oaks, Unselfish Service
In the eternal perspective, a mission is but a few moments away from familiar settings, family, and having retirement fun with old friends. The Lord will send special blessings to your family as you serve...Families are greatly strengthened as they pray for their parents and grandparents and read letters sent home which share their testimonies and the contribution they are making in the mission field.
- Robert D. Hales, Couple Missionaries: A Time to Serve
Elder Bednar: Your family is better off without you when on your mission.
[T]he Savior’s great commission can be accomplished through simple, easily understandable principles taught to each of us from childhood: love, share, and invite…These three things are merely an extension of who we already are as disciples of Jesus Christ. No name badge or letter is required. No formal calling is needed. As these three things become a natural part of who we are and how we live, they will become an automatic, unforced expression of genuine love.
- Gary E. Stevenson, Love, Share, Invite
Young Adults: Simple Ways to Love, Share, and Invite
Inviting Others to "Come and See"
5 Things Anyone Can Do to Share the Gospel - Elder Uchtdorf
[W]here our foundation is really matters, and this has a decisive effect on the outcome ultimately and eternally. I hope and pray that we all will find and stay on the sure foundation as we establish our future life…That is the promise from God! If we build our foundation on Jesus Christ, we cannot fall! As we endure faithfully to the end, God will help us establish our lives upon His rock...Our entire lives should be filled with the gospel of Jesus Christ. The gospel is not part of our life, but our life is actually part of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Chi Hong (Sam) Wong, They Cannot Prevail; We Cannot Fall
Blessings will come not so much because of your abilities but because of your choices. And the God of the universe will work within and through you, magnifying your humble efforts for His purposes. His work has always advanced on this important principle: “Out of small things proceedeth that which is great.”
The history of God’s work is filled with people who considered themselves inadequate. But they humbly served, relying on the grace of God and His promise…How encouraging it is to know, though we are imperfect, if our hearts are turned to God, He will be generous and kind and use us for His purposes.
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, A Yearning for Home
As guided by the Spirit, Joseph spent about three years going through the Bible, making thousands of corrections to the text and restoring information that had been lost. This restored information sheds marvelous light on many doctrines that are not clearly presented in the Bible as it exists today... Hundreds of passages from the Joseph Smith Translation are now included in the Latter-day Saint edition of the King James Version of the Bible. The Prophet’s translation of the Bible was an important part of his own spiritual education and the unfolding restoration of gospel truth.
- Teachings of the Prophets: Joseph Smith
Why is the Joseph Smith Translation important to Latter-day Saints?
[One] single event changed the future of the world. The appearance of the Father and the Son to the young prophet ushered in the dispensation of the fulness of times. It exemplified God’s love for His children and changed the world forever. How can one know of a surety that Joseph Smith actually saw and conversed with the Father and the Son? ...The kingdom of God on earth continues to move forward with dedicated missionary and member alike having the conviction confirmed by the Holy Ghost that Joseph Smith saw God our Father and His Son Jesus Christ.
- L. Aldin Porter, The Spirit of Prophecy
A Powerful Testimony of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ
What the Book of Mormon has to say about Easter
The Savior’s Atonement is available to each of us—always. We access the Atonement through repentance. When we repent, the Lord allows us to put the mistakes of the past behind us...The Savior felt the weight of the anguish of all mankind—the anguish of sin and of sorrow.…There are times when each of us needs “relief from feelings of guilt that come from mistakes and sins.” As we repent, the Savior removes the guilt from our souls. Through His atoning sacrifice, our sins are remitted...the Atonement is available to everyone all the time, no matter how large or small the sin, “on conditions of repentance.”
- C. Scott Grow, The Miracle of the Atonement
A Message of Hope in Jesus Christ | #BecauseOfHim
Jesus Christ was appointed and foreordained to be our Redeemer before the world was formed. With His divine sonship, His sinless life, the shedding of His blood in the Garden of Gethsemane, His excruciating death on the cross and subsequent bodily Resurrection from the grave, He became the author of our salvation and made a perfect Atonement for all mankind...The free gift of His great atoning sacrifice for each of us is the only way we can be exalted enough to stand before Him and see Him face-to-face.
- James E. Faust, The Atonement: Our Greatest Hope
Because of Jesus, You Can Rise Above Anything - Easter 2023 | “Rise”
Jesus Christ Suffered for Us All | Easter
Latter-day Saints join in affirming that Christ has “broken the bands of death” and that “death is swallowed up in victory”. Because we believe the Bible and Book of Mormon descriptions of the literal Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we also readily accept the numerous scriptural teachings that a similar resurrection will come to all mortals who have ever lived upon this earth. As Jesus taught, “Because I live, ye shall live also”.
- President Dallin H. Oaks, Resurrection
Because of Jesus Christ, All Things Are Possible | #BecauseOfHim
I declare with joy that I am converted to the Lord Jesus Christ. I am striving to be whole in Him. I am sure that all things will be restored and healing will come, in His time, because He lives. Mary Magdalene was a woman healed of Jesus Christ...His Resurrection allowed Mary’s tears to be wiped away. Surely He will wipe away yours too. He is risen. Jesus Christ lives. Ultimately all will be healed, physically and emotionally, in Him.
- Camille N. Johnson, Spiritually Whole in Him
He Lives–Celebrate Jesus Christ's Resurrection
If we truly seek our Lord and Savior, we shall surely find Him...He is the literal Savior of the world, the Son of God, the Prince of Peace, the Holy One of Israel, even the risen Lord, who declared: “Behold, I am Jesus Christ, whom the prophets testified shall come into the world. … I am the light and the life of the world.” “I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father.”
- President Thomas S. Monson, The Way of the Master
His Sacred Name - An Easter Declaration
Jesus Christ Appears at the Temple | 3 Nephi 11:1–17
Luke 24 | The Risen Lord Jesus Christ Appears to the Apostles | The Bible
Kirtland Temple | Easter Sunday: Revelation Through Prayer! | "The Savior Was Here"
[A] rich young man asked an extremely important question of the Savior: “Good Master, what good thing shall I do, that I may have eternal life?”...millions in the world today still prize and choose “the riches of the earth” over the “riches of eternity”, not knowing or fully understanding that “he that hath eternal life is rich” and that eternal life is God’s greatest gift to man. Simply stated, eternal life is to live forever as families in the presence of God.
- John M. Madsen, Eternal Life through Jesus Christ
Earthly Father, Heavenly Father
I see the Savior’s declaration “ye are my friends” as a clarion call to build higher and holier relationships among all of God’s children “that we may be one.” We do this as we come together seeking both opportunities to unite and a sense of belonging for all…we must stop looking for reasons to divide and instead seek opportunities to “be one.” ...May I invite each of us to be worthy of the Savior’s invitation to “be one” and to boldly declare, as He did, “Ye are my friends.”
- David L. Buckner, “Ye Are My Friends”
I believe it is time, and perhaps with some urgency, to review the counsel we have received in dealing with our personal and family preparedness. We want to be found with oil in our lamps sufficient to endure to the end…The need for preparation is abundantly clear. The great blessing of being prepared gives us freedom from fear, as guaranteed to us by the Lord in the Doctrine and Covenants: “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear”.
- L. Tom Perry, “If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear”
Inspiring Short: Fear Not: Good Tidings of Great Joy | Lloyd D. Newell
[T]he power of the Savior’s gospel to transform and bless us flows from discerning and applying the interrelatedness of its doctrine, principles, and practices…Church organizations and programs exist to bless individuals and families and are not ends in themselves…I promise that increased perspective, purpose, and power will be evident in our learning and living of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ as we strive to gather together in one all things in Christ.
- David A. Bednar, Gather Together in One All Things in Christ
What to Expect at Church | The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
Make New Friends at Church | Unlikely Friendships
Inspiring Short: Somebody to Stand by You | Jeffrey R. Holland
Through honoring our covenants, we enable God to pour out the multitude of promised blessings associated with those covenants, including increased power to change and become more like our Savior...Study the talks of our prophet…Learn from his teachings about the beautiful blessings and increased power and capacity that can be yours through making and keeping covenants with God.
- J. Annette Dennis, Put Ye On the Lord Jesus Christ
The Blessings of Making Covenants
Inspiring Short: The Fire of Temple Covenants | David A. Bednar
The transcendent gift of the Holy Ghost, along with membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is bestowed by confirmation, by the laying on of hands by those having priesthood authority…Those who possess the gift of the Holy Ghost after baptism and confirmation can receive more light and testimony. This is because the gift of the Holy Ghost is “a permanent witness and higher endowment than the ordinary manifestation of the Holy Spirit.”
- James E. Faust, Born Again
Video: Sister Johnson Talks about the Holy Ghost