Notable quotes:
“When your home becomes a personal sanctuary of faith — where the Spirit resides — your home becomes the first line of defense.”
“Life without God is a life filled with fear. Life with God is a life filled with peace.”
“My dear sisters, let us not just endure this current season. Let us embrace the future with faith.”
Summary points:
- Preparation is key to embracing this dispensation and the future with faith.
- Turbulent times are opportunities to thrive spiritually and influence others.
- By creating places of security, preparing minds to be faithful and never stop preparing, the Lord will “speak peace to our souls” and “grant us great faith.”
Talk summary:
Over the past several months, women of the Church have shown that in difficult circumstances, they bravely carry on. The Lord has spoken of this modern day with somber prophecies and glorious pronouncements and reassured, “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.”
Temporal preparation is important, but even more important is spiritual and emotional preparation. As commander of the Nephite armies, Captain Moroni prepared his people in three essential ways.
First, Moroni helped the Nephites create “places of security” with embankments, forts and walls. “A place of security is anywhere you can feel the presence of the Holy Ghost and be guided by Him” — including the home, the temple and following counsel of local leaders.
Second, Moroni prepared “the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord.” Just as the Salt Lake Temple’s foundation is being strengthened, spiritual foundations must be solid. Faith in Jesus Christ increases every time it is exercised. Regular immersion in the Book of Mormon — “our latter-day survival guide” — builds faith. Increasing one’s capacity to receive revelation will bring increased direction and “boundless gifts of the Spirit.”
Third, Moroni never stopped physically or spiritually preparing his people. The adversary never stops attacking. “The more self-reliant we are — temporally, emotionally, and spiritually — the more prepared we are to thwart Satan’s relentless assaults.”
“My dear sisters, we have so much to look forward to! The Lord placed you here now because He knew you had the capacity to negotiate the complexities of the latter part of these latter days. …
“I am not saying that the days ahead will be easy, but I promise you that the future will be glorious for those who are prepared, and who continue to prepare to be instruments in the Lord’s hands.”
In the news:
- In a Church News article on counsel during the COVID-19 pandemic, President Russell M. Nelson and his counselors in the First Presidency reaffirmed that the answer to conflict is faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
- President Nelson and his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, recently celebrated his 96th birthday via a videoconference on Sept. 6 with their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren — three days before his birthday.
- During a 2020 Mission Leadership Seminar address on June 26, President Nelson detailed how Joseph Smith, a 14-year-old boy, was taught to be a prophet.
- In a Church News video released on June 25, President Nelson and Sister Nelson shared how the COVID-19 pandemic has become the largest-ever humanitarian project of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
- In a joint op-ed column published on June 8 by the online platform Medium, President Russell M. Nelson and senior leaders of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People called for racial reform, asking “people everywhere to join us in a journey of understanding and overcoming.”
About the speaker:
- President Russell M. Nelson became the 17th President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in January 2018.
- He was a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for 34 years.
- A renowned surgeon, President Nelson assisted on the first-ever human open-heart surgery. In June 2018, the University of Utah honored President Nelson with an endowed chair in surgery.
- He and his late wife, Sister Dantzel White Nelson, who died in 2005, have 10 children, 57 grandchildren, and 140 great-grandchildren.
- He married Sister Wendy Watson in 2006.
- President Nelson turned 96 years old on Sept. 9, 2020.
Recently on social:
- In a Sept. 20 Instagram post, President Russel M. Nelson taught that not even a pandemic can keep the Lord from embracing His children.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CFXGVF3HJ0Y/
- President Nelson thanked all those who have turned the COVID-19 pandemic into the Church’s largest humanitarian project to date, in an Aug. 16 Facebook post.
https://www.facebook.com/russell.m.nelson/posts/3209158322484915
- In response to riots and protests sparked by the death of George Floyd, President Nelson condemned racism and plead for peace in a June 1 Facebook post.
https://www.facebook.com/russell.m.nelson/posts/3015443371856412
- President Nelson wrote about the sacred and sanctifying privilege that taking the sacrament is, in a May 28 Instagram post.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CAu4C37njDm/
