Is God’s love ‘unconditional’? What the scriptures teach about feeling His presence

"Four days ago we laid to rest a giant of a man, a prophet of God, Thomas S. Monson," President Russell M. Nelson began his first address as the 17th prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In this unprecedented broadcast, President Nelson spoke from the annex of the Salt Lake Temple, paying tribute to President Thomas S. Monson.

Tuesday morning, Elder D. Todd Christofferson conducted a broadcast from the annex of the Salt Lake Temple introducing our new prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, as well as the new counselors in the First Presidency.

“Those of you who are single, divorced, or live in challenging family circumstances, please know that God knows and loves you, and when you stay true to your covenants, the joy of family life will not be shortened or kept from you,” Sister Uchtdorf said at a worldwide devotional for young adults. “I do not know exactly how this will be, but I do know that the Lord’s grace, mercy, and love is sufficient for all of us. He will make it happen according to His way and His time.”

We often try to spiritually ground ourselves with daily prayer and scripture study. However, our commitment to these practices is sometimes irregular at best. During prayer, it’s natural for our minds to wander; when reading the scriptures, our attention often drifts to what we’re going to do next. Not surprisingly, it’s easy to feel spiritually empty and apathetic.

The answers to our prayers are not always as concrete as we might have hoped. Sometimes we receive an answer but have no idea how to move forward. Or sometimes we have a feeling to do something but we don't know why. When situations like these arise, it can be tempting to give in to discouragement. But these are the moments we need to act. In his book When Heaven Feels Distant, LDS author Tyler Griffin shows how we can move forward when we feel like the answers to our prayers are incomplete instructions.

On November 14-18, 2017, the Baja 1000 motorsports race hosted its 50th-anniversary event. Nineteen riders signed up to race in the Ironman class as motorcyclists. Only five finished.

The following is an excerpt from the book And Now You Know: The Rest of the Story from the Lives of Well-Known Latter-Day Saints.

During Jesus’s last earthly meal, the Passover, He said to Peter:

This article is republished with permission from Book of Mormon Central. For more inspiring and instructive content on the Book of Mormon visit Book of Mormon Central, subscribe to our mailing list, see our YouTube videos, and follow us on Facebook.