Church leaders used their social media pages this week to teach about the power of small actions over time, the importance of having a happy disposition and God’s involvement in the details of everyday life.
On March 19, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared a video of the creation of a painting by Jay Ward of the hand of Jesus Christ. Comparing the painting process to the effort to live one’s life in a more Christlike manner, Elder Uchtdorf taught that “the paint strokes may look random or chaotic to some outsider, but they are purposefully placed for the masterwork to be completed.”
It is the small, almost unnoticeable paint strokes, he said, that will help to make the picture perfect and whole.
In the office of Sister Lisa L. Harkness, first counselor in the Primary general presidency, hangs an original Minerva Teichert painting depicting Jesus Christ with children. Upon close examination, the individual brushstrokes are visible. In a social media post March 19, Sister Harkness compared these brush strokes to the way God “is making an eternal masterpiece one ‘brush stroke’ at a time in our lives.”
“Even when the big picture is obscured from our understanding from time to time,” she wrote, “He is always at work.”
In a social media post March 24, President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, posted a picture from his wedding day and wrote about his wife’s example of optimism.
He encouraged his social media followers — particularly young adults — to “enjoy life and have a good time along the way.”
“As the world tries to get you down, just keep going, do the best you can, and be patient. God knows our trials, and He wants to help us through them.”
In anticipation for the devotional for Portuguese-speaking young adults, Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles posted a link to the broadcast on March 20 and invited the young adults to join him virtually the following day. Read a summary of his devotional here.
