From the Church

First Presidency Members Share Messages That Show God Will Never Forget Us

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Today’s young adults are facing more challenges than ever before. So to help them navigate a complicated world while also finding the best within themselves, the members of the First Presidency offer the following messages in hopes of specifically ministering to our young brothers and sisters, excerpted from We’re with You: Counsel and Encouragement from Your Brethren.

On the Lord’s Errand
President Thomas S. Monson

May I share with you an experience I had with a dear friend of mine, Louis McDonald. Louis never married. Because of a crippling disease, he had never known a day without pain nor many days without loneliness. One winter’s day, as I visited him, he was slow in answering the doorbell’s ring. I entered his well-kept home; the temperature in save but one room—the kitchen—was a chilly 40 degrees. The reason? Insufficient money to heat any other room. The walls needed papering, the ceilings needed to be lowered, the cupboards needed to be filled.

I was troubled by Louis’s needs. A bishop was consulted, and a miracle of love, prompted by testimony, took place. The members of the ward—particularly the young single adults—were organized and the labor of love begun.

A month later, my friend Louis called and asked if I would come and see what had happened to him. I did and indeed beheld a miracle. The sidewalks, which had been uprooted by large poplar trees, had been replaced, the porch of the home rebuilt, a new door with glistening hardware installed, the ceilings lowered, the walls papered, the woodwork painted, the roof replaced, and the cupboards filled. No longer was the home chilly and uninviting. It now seemed to whisper a warm welcome.

Louis saved until last showing me his pride and joy: there on his bed was a beautiful plaid quilt bearing the crest of his McDonald family clan. It had been made with loving care by the women of the Relief Society. Before leaving, I discovered that each week the young single adults would bring in a hot dinner and share a home evening. Warmth had replaced the cold, repairs had transformed the wear of years, but, more significantly, hope had dispelled despair, and now love reigned triumphant.

As we go about our daily lives, we discover countless opportunities to follow the example of the Savior. When our hearts are in tune with His teachings, we discover the unmistakable nearness of His divine help. We are on the Lord’s errand, and when we are on the Lord’s errand, we are entitled to the Lord’s help.

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A Multitude of Opportunities
President Henry B. Eyring

Vibrant faith in God comes best from serving Him regularly. Not all of us have received callings to offices in the Church. Some of you may not yet be called to something in a formal way, yet every member has a multitude of opportunities to serve God.

Most of us have or may have callings as home and visiting teachers. There is in those callings great opportunity to grow in faith that the Lord sends the Holy Ghost to His humble servants. That builds faith and renews our faith in Him. I’ve seen it and so have many of you. I received a phone call from a distraught mother in a state far away from where I was. She told me that her unmarried daughter had moved to another city far from her home. She sensed from the little contact she had with her daughter that something was terribly wrong. The mother feared for the moral safety of her child. She pleaded with me to help her daughter.

I found out who the daughter’s home teacher was. I called him. He was young. And yet he and his companion both had been awakened in the night with not only concern for the girl but with inspiration that she was about to make choices that would bring sadness and misery. With only the inspiration of the Spirit, they went to see her. She realized as she listened that the only way they could have known what they knew about her life was from God. A mother’s prayer had gone to Heavenly Father, and the Holy Ghost had been sent to home teachers with an errand.

More than once I have heard priesthood leaders say that they had been inspired to go to someone in need, only to find the visiting teacher or the home teacher had already been there. Your faith will grow as you serve the Lord in caring for Heavenly Father’s children as the Lord’s teacher to their home. You will have your prayers answered. You will come to know for yourself that He lives, that He loves us, and that He sends inspiration to those with even the beginnings of faith in Him and with the desire to serve Him in His Church.

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Testimony and Happiness
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf

Your testimony, or firm belief and assurance in your heart, will be a solid foundation, an overarching motive in all you accomplish in your life. It will be your true and faithful companion during good and challenging times in your lifelong transition. It will be a constant source of confidence and motivation.

Your testimony provides you with a reason for gladness. It will help you cultivate a spirit of optimism and happiness and will help you to rejoice in the beauties of nature. Your testimony will help you to choose the right at all times and in all circumstances.

It will give you peace of mind, His peace. If God is with you, who can be against you? (See Romans 8:31.)

Illustrations by Jon Krause.

For more inspired words from the Brethren, read We’re with You: Counsel and Encouragement from Your Brethren, available at Deseret Book stores and deseretbook.com.

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