Notable quotes:
“God sees things in their true perspective, and He shares that perspective with us through His commandments, effectively guiding us around the pitfalls and potholes of mortality toward eternal joy.” “Even when we are found faithfully keeping the commandments, there are trials and tragedies that could interrupt our joy. But as we strive to overcome these challenges with the Savior’s help, it preserves both the joy we feel now and the joy we anticipate.” “The joy set before us is the joy of assisting the Savior in His work of redemption. As the seed and children of Abraham, we participate in blessing all the families of the earth ‘with the blessings of the Gospel, which are the blessings of salvation, even of life eternal’” Summary points:
- The “joy of the saints” includes the joy that comes from keeping God’s commandments.
- The “joy of the saints” includes the joy that arises from overcoming sorrow and weakness through Christ.
- And the “joy of the saints” includes the joy inherent in serving as the Savior served.
Talk summary:
Enos remembered his father speaking often of “the joy of the saints” (Enos 1:3).
“Saints are those who have entered into the gospel covenant through baptism and are striving to follow Christ as His disciples. Thus, the ‘joy of the saints’ denotes the joy of becoming Christlike.”
Joy comes from keeping God’s commandments, overcoming sorrow and weakness through Christ and serving as the Savior served.
Keeping the Lord’s commandments enables us more easily and more fully to feel His love, with the strait and narrow path of the commandments leading directly to the tree of life.
We can find joy in overcoming misery in whatever form — sin, trial, weakness or any other obstacle to happiness. “This is the joy of sensing progress in the path of discipleship; the joy of ‘having received a remission of sins and having peace of conscience’ (Mosiah 4:3); the joy of feeling one’s soul expand and grow through the grace of Christ.”
The fruits of our service to one another in the Church are part of the joy set before us. “Even in times of discouragement or stress, we can minister patiently if we are focused on the joy of pleasing God and bringing light, relief and happiness to His children, our brothers and sisters.”
The ultimate “joy of the saints” comes in knowing that the Savior pleads their cause, and no one can conceive of the joy which will fill our souls as we hear Jesus pray for us unto the Father (3 Nephi 17:17).
“With President Russell M. Nelson, I testify that joy is a gift for faithful Saints ‘who have endured the crosses of the world’ and who are ‘intentionally trying to live a righteous life, as taught by Jesus Christ.’ May your joy be full I pray.”
In the news:
- Elder Christofferson spoke on the opening day of the 2019 Mission Leadership Seminar in June 2019. He emphasized the need to teach from the scriptures, specifically the Book of Mormon, when teaching investigators.
- As part of the 2019 Africa West Area review, Elder Christofferson visited Ghana, Benin and Cote d’Ivoire to visit members, hold meetings and attend conferences, devotionals and stake conferences. This spanned from the end of May 2019 to the beginning of June 2019.
- In May 2019, Elder Christofferson and his wife spoke at the BYU Women’s Conference. There, Elder Christofferson shared his testimony of God’s care for what happens to and becomes of His children, and His desire to help them in times of need.
About the speaker:
- Elder D. Todd Christofferson has been a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles since April 5, 2008.
- He has spoken many times to global audiences, most recently at the G20 International Faith Forum in Argentina on religious freedom and in Washington D.C. on Watergate.
- In 1968, he married his wife. The two met at a football game— at the time, Elder Christofferson had been helping with crowd control and Sister Kathy Jacob Christofferson was a Cougarette. They are the parents of five children.
Recently on Social:
- In October 2019, Elder Christofferson shared photos on social media from his trip to New York and Pennsylvania. He shared his testimony of the scripture “By small and simple things are great things brought to pass” (Alma 37:6)
- On Instagram, Elder Christofferson shared a photo of him holding a microphone up to a 10-year-old boy in Ghana who impressed him with his organ playing for the devotional choir that day.
- Elder Christofferson shared thoughts related to the theme of his talk at the BYU Women’s Conference on Twitter.
