How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord,
Is laid for you faith in his excellent word!
What more can he say than to you he hath said,
Who unto the Savior, who unto the Savior,
Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?
The was our opening hymn this morning #85
It’s amazing how many times, a song that was chosen a month earlier, would go along with every talk given, as it did today.
The first sister started off with;
We are followers of Christ. Such conversion and confidence is the result of diligent and deliberate effort. It is individual. It is the process of a lifetime.
In today’s world, there are a multitude of activities, subjects, and interests vying for every minute of our attention. With so many distractions, do we have the strength, discipline, and commitment to remain focused on what matters most?
All truth and knowledge is important, but amidst the constant distractions of our daily lives, we must especially pay attention to increasing our gospel knowledge so we can understand how to apply gospel principles to our lives.
The scriptures say that we must be “doers of the word and not hearers only.” We live the gospel and become “doers fo the word” by exercising faith, being obedient, lovingly serving others, and following our Savior’s example. We act with integrity and do what we know is right “at all times and in all things, and in all places” not matter who may or may not be watching. (These snippets were taken from Sister Dibbs’s talk in General Conference October 2021)
President Nelson has said: In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting influence of the Holy Ghost.
Elder Rasband has said: Satan is a subtle snake, sneaking into our minds and hearts when we have let out guard down, faced a disappointment, or lost hope. He entices us with flattery, a promise of ease, comfort, or a temporary high when we are low. He justifies pride, unkindness, dishonesty, discontent, and immorality, and in time we can be “past feeling.”
A mighty fortress is our God,
A tower of strength ne’er failing.
A helper mighty is our God,
O’er ills of life prevailing.
When we build a fortress of spiritual strength, we build it log by log, we build our testimony line upon line.
From another speaker: he speaks of Hope. How he had felt alone and other feelings he had this past year. He mentions some things that had helped him.
President Ballard said: We long to help all who feel alone or feel they don’t belong.
We remember His loving invitation to “come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
“Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart; and ye shall find rest unto your souls.
“For my yolk is easy, and my burden light.”
In Romans 3:23 For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;
In Helaman 5:12 we read: And now, my son, remember, remember that it is upon the rock of the Redeemer, who is Christ, the Son of God, that ye must build your foundation; that when the devil shall send forth his mighty winds, yea, his shafts in the whirlwind, yea when all his hail and his mighty storm shall beat upon you, it shall have no power over you to drag you down to the gulf of misery and endless wo, because the rock upon which ye are built, which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if men build they cannot fall.
The Savior is the most merciful being, your best friend.
Our last speaker was the Second Counselor of our Stake Presidency:
He is reminded of when they were pouring the foundation to the cabin they are building, watching his son and another young man, helping to bend and put in the required rebar. The importance of a foundation, and that it is sure.
He said: In Sister Joy D. Jones’ talk Essential Conversations: Consider the value of family conversations about the gospel of Jesus Christ, essential conversations, that can invite the Spirit. When we have such conversations with our children, we help them create a foundation, “which is a sure foundation, a foundation whereon if [they] build they cannot fall.
He mentioned that there is a lot of talk concerning Elder Holland’s Speech at BYU this last week. Some good and a lot bad. He said:
– Talk to your children
-Teach them
-Never, ever, ever give up on them.
In Elder Stevenson’s talk in April 2020 A Good Foundation against the Time to Come: Ensuring Your Personal Foundation; As I contemplate the next four years of the life of this beautiful, noble, exalted, and awe-inspiring Salt Lake Temple, I envision it more of a time of renewal rather than a time of closure! In a similar way, we might ask ourselves, “How could this extensive renewal of the Salt Lake Temple inspire us to undergo our own spiritual renewal, reconstruction, rebirth, revitalization, or restoration?”
An introspective look may reveal that we too and our families could benefit from our doing some needed maintenance and renovation work, even a seismic upgrade!
He shared a story of a woman who valiantly battled with various forms of cancer…and on one of her social media posts, she wrote that someone had asked her, “How do you still have faith with all the heartache that surrounds you?” She replied firmly with these words: “Because faith is what gets me through these dark times. Having faith doesn’t mean nothing bad is going to happen. Having faith allows me to believe that there will be light again. And that light will be even brighter because I have walked through the dark. As much darkness as I have witnessed over the year, I have witnessed far more light. I have seen miracles. I have felt angels. I have known that my Heavenly Father was carrying me. None of that would have been experienced if life was easy. The future of this life may be unknown, but my faith is not. If I choose to not have faith then I choose to only walk in darkness. Because without faith, darkness is all that is left.
I am touched by each one of these talks and the things that were shared, to help uplift us. Especially during these turbulent times, in these that last days before the second coming of our Lord and Savior.
Do you have anything that you would like to share that could be helpful for your fellow travelers? Go ahead and share them.
See you next week for another Sunday Thought.
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