Notable quotes:
“God powerfully and very personally assures each of us that He knows us and loves us, and that He is blessing us specifically and openly.”
“Embrace your sacred memories. Believe them. Write them down. Share them with your family. Trust that they come to you from your Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son. Let them bring patience to your doubts and understanding to your difficulties.”
“When personal difficulty, doubt, or discouragement darken our path, or when world conditions beyond our control lead us to wonder about the future, the spiritually defining memories from our book of life are like luminous stones that help brighten the road ahead, assuring us that God knows us, loves us and has sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to help us return home.”
Summary points:
- The prophet of the Restoration, Joseph Smith, provides a timeless example of discovering and finding strength in spiritually defining moments.
- Today’s Church president, President Russell M. Nelson, offers an essential invitation: “How do you hear Him?”
- Navigate life’s challenges with constant prayer, keeping covenants and following the guidance of the Holy Ghost.
Talk summary:
Joseph Smith knew many “difficult hours” in the decades following the First Vision and the restoration of Christ’s church. But the Prophet never doubted God’s love for him or his testimony of the things he had witnessed.
“There is a lesson for us in the Prophet Joseph’s example. Along with the peaceful direction we receive from the Holy Ghost, from time to time, God powerfully and very personally assures each of us that He knows us and loves us, and that He is blessing us specifically and openly. Then, in our moments of difficulty, the Savior brings these experiences back into our mind.”
Defining reminders of God’s love often come while learning about the gospel or sharing it with others.
There are times when spiritual feelings penetrate the heart “like fire” — illuminating the soul. Joseph Smith taught that such feelings sometimes arrive as “sudden strokes of ideas” and “the pure flow of intelligence.”
The Lord’s living prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, has invited Latter-day Saints to ponder the essential question: “How do you hear Him?”
“We hear Him in our prayers, in our homes, in the scriptures, in our hymns, as we worthily partake of the sacrament, as we declare our faith, as we serve others, and as we attend the temple with fellow believers. Spiritually defining moments come as we prayerfully listen to general conference and as we better keep the commandments.
“And children, these experiences are for you as well.”
One navigates his or her way through life with constant prayer, keeping covenants and by utilizing the gift of the Holy Ghost.
“Embrace your sacred memories. Believe them. Write them down. Share them with your family. Trust that they come to you from your Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son. Let them bring patience to your doubts and understanding to your difficulties.”
In the news:
- Elder Andersen visited the “Land of Smiles,” and met with missionaries, Church members and young single adults on an assignment to Thailand in January.
- On Nov. 19, 2019, Elder Andersen shared three things everyone can be grateful for, in an LDS Business College devotional in the Assembly Hall on Temple Square.
- On Thanksgiving, Elder Andersen shared a message of gratitude for “three beautiful blessings” given to all, with missionaries in the Provo Missionary Training Center on Nov. 28, 2019.
- Elder Andersen dedicated the Lisbon Portugal Temple in September 2019.
About the speaker:
- Elder Andersen was sustained to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on April 4, 2009.
- Elder Andersen served a mission in France, presided over the France Bordeaux Mission from 1989-1992, and accompanied President Henry B. Eyring as he dedicated the Paris France Temple on May 21, 2017.
- Elder Andersen is multilingual, speaking French, Portuguese and Spanish, in addition to English.
- Elder Andersen and his wife, Kathy Williams Andersen, are the parents of four children.
- He was called as a General Authority Seventy in 1993; his Church assignments gave him responsibilities in Brazil, Western Europe, Mexico and Central America.
Recently on Social:
- Elder Andersen shared the video, “The Wounded Shall Be Healed,” based on his October 2018 general conference address, on Facebook on March 23.
- Following his assignment to Thailand, Elder Andersen shared in a Feb. 12 instagram post how his spirits are always lifted when he is with members of the Church around the world. “Being with the Saints in Thailand, I truly felt their goodness and the light they bring to all around them,” he wrote.
- Elder Andersen invited followers to “be filled with the awe, gratitude, and wonder of the Savior’s sacred Atonement,” in a Dec. 23, 2019, tweet.
- Elder Andersen shared images of his grandchildren passing out a Thanksgiving card to missionaries in the MTC in a Dec. 6, 2019, Facebook post. “The holidays are a time when some missionaries feel homesick or downtrodden,” he wrote. “We wanted them to know how thankful we are for their sacrifice and share our love with them.”
