Transcription
Hallelujah.
Oh yeah.
2
relax.
Glory.
Sorry. Sorry.
Clear God.
Thank you.
Good morning brothers and sisters and friends and neighbors. It's so wonderful to see all of you here with us this morning. My name is Ted Telford. I am currently serving as the stake president of the Crimson Ridge West stake and uh we are here for our third session of this state conference. I will be conducting and presiding at today's meeting. We'd like to recognize especially Sister Marie Hansen who is our state music coordinator for putting together uh so much of the music for this this uh state conference. I personally as well as on behalf of everyone want to thank Sister Kelly Flannry for doing the the harp. I've never had harp prelude music before and it was astounding. It was amazing. So thank you Sister Flannry. I'd also like to recognize brother Doug Olsen who is our organist for today's meeting. We'll begin the meeting by singing hymn number 116, Come Follow Me. Following that, Sister Ivy Walker from the Silkwood Ward will offer the opening prayer.
The Sior is for us the Lord. Oh, can we be one with us I toal. to be my be shall be tears to all your We shall be his voice from
Dear heavenly father, we thank thee for this day. We thank thee for blessing us with being able to gather together here and learn of thee. And we ask you to please bless all those who are speaking or performing in a musical number today that they may be calmed and um act with the spirit. And we ask you to please bless us as we watch and listen that we may um feel the spirit and know how to better improve our lives. And we ask you to please bless all the missionaries that they may be guided to find those who are willing to come unto thee. and we ask you to please bless President Oaks that he may be able to have the courage and the spirit to lead our church. And we ask you to please bless the leaders of our country that they may be guided and we love these so much in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Thank you Ivy for such a beautiful prayer and for praying for all of us who are participating in the program today. My invitation to all of us, brothers and sisters, is throughout our meeting today, please pay close attention to the thoughts and feelings that the Holy Ghost instills within your hearts as you listen to the speakers and to the music. They may not be related at all to what is being said, but they will be messages directed from the Lord directly to you to help you in your life and to answer some of the questions that you may be carrying with you today. We'll begin our program by um President Jay Hansen performing some stake business. Following President Hansen will be pleased to have a musical number from the Sycamore Ward Small Group Choir. They'll be accompanied by Sister Gay Norfeld on the piano and Sister Ivory Gad on violin. Following the musical selection, uh, Sister Anukica Rawlings will speak to us, followed then by brother Jasten Winger. And following Brother Winger, we will have another special musical number by the Silkwood Ward Primary Choir, I will walk with Jesus, accompanied by Vicky Ensley. And following the following the primary, we'll hear from Sister Sarah Orm from the Cottonwood Ward and then Brother Ryan Wilkins from the Silkwood Ward.
The conference of the St. George, Utah Crimson Ridge West Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latterday Saints held at the Crimson Ridge West Stake Center, St. George, Utah on the 7th of June, 2026. It is proposed that we sustain as general authorities of the church. Don H. Oaks as prophet, seer, and revelator and president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Henry B. Iring as first counselor in the first presidency and D. Todd Kristofferson as second counselor in the first presidency. Those in favor may manifest it by the uplifted hand. Any opposed may so manifest it. Henry B. Iring as president of the quorum of the twelve apostles. Deer F. Ukdorf as acting president of the quorum of the twelve apostles. and as members of the quorum of the twelve apostles deer F. Ukdorf David A Bedar Quentyn L Cook Neil L. Anderson, Ronald A. Rasband, Gary E. Stevenson, Dale G. Renland, Garrett W. Gong, Ulissiz Sarees, Patrick Kieran, Gerald Cosay, and Clark G. Gilbert, the counselors in the First Presidency, and members of the quorum of the twelve apostles as prophets, seers, and revelators. Those in favor, manifested. Any opposed? manifest it. All other general authorities, area70s and general officers of the church as presently constituted. Those in favor manifest it. Any opposed manifest it. It is proposed that we sustain Brian K. Taylor as president of the Utah area with John A. Mchune as first counselor and Jorge T. Basera as second counselor. Those in favor manifest it. Any opposed manifest it. It is proposed that we sustain Ted Gary Telford as president of the St. George, Utah Crimson Ridge West Stake of Zion with Jay Howard Hansen as first counselor and Anthony Ira White as second counselor. Those in favor manifest it. Any opposed? Manifest it. as members of the high council. Timothy Reed Andress, Michael Bert Bane, Jonathan Ray Baza, Matthew Troy Brinkerhoff, Jeffrey Kevin Butler, Nicholas J. Ants, David John Kasarok, Jiren Curtis Meade, Seth David Saunders, Jeffrey Lee Warick, Chad Richard Woodbury as the state clerk, Andrew Totai Luke as stake executive secretary, Ryan Michael Whitaker as assistant state clerk, Christian Lester Matthews as stake patriarchs, Donald Stewart Lang, John Jacob Powell. Those in favor manifested. Any opposed? Manifested. It is proposed that we sustain as the presidency of the stake relief society. Karen Scott, president, Melissa Lynn Smith, first counselor, and Monica Jean Lang, second counselor, with Angela Sue Parker, secretary. as the presidency of the stake primary. Sarah Christensen, president, Stacy Anne Bradberry, first counselor, and Diane Harrison, second counselor, with Rebecca Christine Schleser, secretary. as the president of the stake Sunday school. Jeffrey Kevin Butler, president, Mark Allen Baker, first counselor, and Timothy Owen Heming, second counselor, with Derek Golden Campbell, secretary. As the presidency of the stake young men, David John Kaserok, president, Eric Benjamin Lden, first counselor, and Tanner C. Atkin, second counselor, with Mark Jeffrey Jensen, secretary. as the presidency of the stake young women. Holly Renee Meyers, president, Mindy Anne Mutsos, first counselor and Brooke Anne Altoano, second counselor with Emily Jean Anderson, secretary. All other stake officers as now constituted. Those in favor manifested and any opposed manifested. Melzdc priesthood ordinations since the last state conference in December. The following brethren have been sustained within their respective ward units were subsequently ordained and are presented today for your ratification. If these brethren are present, please stand. as receiving the Melzdc priesthood and ordained to the office of elder from the Copper Cliffs ward. James Owen Olsen Jr. Daniel Seth Stevenson, Dustin Eugene Bradberry, Jack Kenneth Openshaw, Logan Carlton Fairbanks from the Hawthorne Ward, Blake Samuel Nelson, William Reese Hansen, Remington Todd Johnson from the Magnolia Award, Camden Hadley Shern, Wyatt Nicholas, Ian Brian Miller, from the Malberry Ward. Alex Tanner Smith from the Silkwood Ward. Stone Caleb Thompson, Kyler Cade Hardman, McCoy Graham from the Sycamore Ward, Andrew David Schwinderman. Those in favor, please manifest it. Any opposed, please manifest it. Thank you. Those ordained to the office of high priest from the Malbury ward, Timothy Reed Andress from the Magnolia Ward, Jonathan Ray Baza. Those in favor, please manifest it. Any opposed, please manifest. The following brethren have been interviewed and are presented today for your sustaining vote to receive the following ordinations. If these brothers are present, please stand. To receive the Melzdc priesthood and be ordained to the office of elder from the Copper Cliffs Ward, Cooper Callaway Plant from the Silkwood Ward, Braden Allen Winslow from the Sycamore Ward, Jackson Wuest. Those in favor, please manifest it. Any oppose, please manifest it. Thank you.
An open door. for a warm embrace. Call us to worship and share God's grace. All can gather safely here. Partake of and Jesus near on my soul. When the world is dark and cold, wherever we go, we're always welcome.
The temple doors Invite each guest to fill God's presence and rest on those souls at altars. Make covenant sweet. Bring hearts to you. As we travel on, when the world is dark and cold, where we always welcome home.
Heat. Heat. is with the Savior. his table to his love as we are. When the world is dark and cold, where we always welcome, we're always welcome. We're always welcome.
Good morning, brothers and sisters. My name is Anakah Rawlings. I live in the Silkwood Ward. I'm 16 years old and I'm going into my junior year at Desert Hills High School. If there's one thing you must know about me, it's that I'm absolutely terrified of public speaking. I've been asked to speak about what it means to me to follow Jesus. At first glance, it seemed like a pretty easy topic, but the more I got into it, the more I realized how deep and broad the subject really is. I mean, you could ask a hundred different people what it means to follow Jesus and get a hundred different answers. Pretty soon, I began to feel a little overwhelmed and couldn't even begin to think of what to talk about. However, when I took a step back and read the prompt again, two words stuck with me. What does following Jesus mean to me? So, instead of trying to encompass every answer that anyone could possibly give, I'm going to keep it simple and focus on what it means to me personally. Three things really stick out to me when I think of following Jesus. One is listening to and acting upon prompting. Things like talk to that person or reach out to this person or go do this and that. And I'm going to be honest, this is really hard for me. I'm not a very extroverted person and I've struggled with social anxiety most of my life. So acting upon prompting can be really difficult for me. This brings me to my next point. Doing what the Lord wants me to do even if it's hard. At the end of May, I had the opportunity to participate in Trek. If you know anything about me is that I absolutely hate walking. And the idea of spending 4 days in the middle of nowhere wearing nasty clothes and pushing a hand cart for 10 miles a day was not very appealing. All jokes aside, I have a difficulty opening up and feeling comfortable around strangers. So, going to Trek, where I would spend almost all of the time with people I didn't know, was a very hard decision. However, I felt a prompting from the Lord that told me, "You should go." So, I went. There also may have been a little bit of nudging and guilt tripping from my parents, but that's not important. I'm not going to lie. Trek was exactly as hard as I thought it would be. After the first mile of pushing the hand cart, I was already out of breath and my ankles felt like they were on fire and all I wanted to do was go home. But as the day progressed, I began to have fun and I actually grew closer to and opened up to my Trek family. And by the end of the whole experience, I was really grateful that I went. It gave me an opportunity to get out of my shell and grow closer to those around me as well as grow closer to the Lord. My story at Tre reminds me a lot of the story from the Bible of Peter walking on water. Jesus invited Peter out onto the water saying, "Come." just as he prompted me to go to trek. When Peter felt the harsh winds, he began to fear and sink into the water. When I felt my aching feet and tired arms, I began to sink into my negative thoughts. But Jesus was there to catch Peter and pull him up just as he was there to catch me and pull me out of my thoughts. I'm no physicist, but I'm pretty sure that walking on water is pretty hard. And my and my experience may not be as hard as that, but the Lord is always there to catch us no matter how big or small the trial. I went on trek just as Peter walked on water even though it was hard because it's what the Lord wanted me to do and that's what following the Lord means to me. I'd like to end by touching on my third and final point, faith over fear. When President Telford first asked me to speak in state conference, my immediate reaction was to say absolutely not. But a few days later in church on Sunday, we had a lesson that talked about faith over fear, about not succumbing to your doubts and instead choosing to put your trust in the Lord. I felt that deeply and personally and knew that it was a message from the Lord. Even though speaking in front of this many people scares me half to death and my legs are shaking right now, I chose to be here because I chose my faith over my fear. In a talk from April 2017 conference, perfect love casteth out fear by deer efdorf. He says, "Let us replace fear with Christ's perfect love. Christ's love will replace fear with faith. Following Jesus means to me listening and acting upon prompting and to choose my faith over my fear in order to do hard things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Hello and good morning. Um for those of you don't who don't know me, my name is Jackson Winger and I also don't like public speaking. I have been asked to speak about what following Jesus in my life looks like. In the talk following Christ by Don H. Chokes he says quote following Christ is not a casual or occasional practice. It is a continuous commitment and way of life that should guide us at all times and in all places. His teachings and his example define the path for every disciple of Jesus Christ and we are invited to his path for he invites all to come unto him. End quote. I really like this quote because following Jesus isn't passive. It is an active constant endeavor that requires constant effort. The Lord loves effort. And so in my life I try to so show such effort. I go to things I normally wouldn't do and I do things that I sometimes would rather not. And I do it to set an example and to follow Jesus Christ. As most of you are aware, a few days ago the stake went on trek. I did not want to go on trek at all. But I felt like I should go and with some pushing I ended up going to tre anyways. Trek was really hard. I don't like camping and I don't like hiking. It was a whole lot of both. But I made it through it and I actually managed to have a good time. I had a great group of people with me and we accomplished much. It was a great experience and I never want to do it again. I think that choosing to go to Tre was a good example of what following Jesus looks like in my life. Being where I need to be is something my parents and leaders have repeatedly told me to do. And I agree. Choosing to go do something I don't want to because it is where I should be is following Jesus. I don't really want to go to church pretty much every week, but I do. And I do it to follow Jesus. Following Jesus in my life means taking time out of my day to do things I need to do. It means putting in more effort than I have to and doing my best instead of just good enough. It is a constant thing. We cannot be passive. I would like to bear my testimony that it won't always be easy. Following Christ takes time and effort. Time that you would you could use to do things you'd much rather be doing. But I assure you that it will be worth it. Take an hour to go to the activity or the meeting. Go to church each week. Worship and serve. And you will be rewarded and fulfilled. Amen.
Jesus walked in wisdom. Jesus grew in truth, showing love to God and men while in his youth. Jesus wants to guide me. Jesus shows the way, calling me to come and walk with him each day. As I walk with Jesus to my home above, he will bless me with his spirit and fill me with his love. Change my heart forever and help me clearly see. I will walk with Jesus and he will walk with me. I can grow like Jesus. I will try each day. Promising to walk his path and there to stay. Standing by my Savior, safe within his care. Step by step I'll follow. And his love I'll share.
As I walk with Jesus to my home above, he will bless me with his spirit and fill me with his love. Change my heart forever and help me clearly see. I will walk with Jesus and he will walk with me.
I will trust in Jesus. I will hear his call. He will never leave me even when I fall. Jesus gives me power, lifts and comforts me, helping me to live and grow eternally. As I walk with Jesus to my home above, he will bless me with his spirit and fill me with his love. Change my heart forever and help me clearly see. I will walk with Jesus and he will walk with me.
Hi everyone, my name is Sarah or M. That's Sarah without the H. To be clear, I got asked to speak how I can follow Jesus each day. I feel a little nervous about this because one, there's a lot of people here and two, I'm not sure how to follow Jesus each day. But writing this talk has taught me a lot and I'm and I'll share a few things I learned. First, following Jesus does doesn't mean being perfect. It means trying to be like him a little bit every day. When I think about following Jesus, I wonder what would he want me to do if he was standing right next to me. I know I can't see him, but I can use an imagination. Second, following Jesus Christ means accepting his gifts, especially his atonement and the and the gift of repentance. accepting the gift of Jesus Christ and his atonement reminds me of a story about my dad. My mom gave my dad a gift for Valentine's Valentine's Day. It was a nice gift from my mom. However, my dad wanted to exchange the gift for something else. He took me along with him to exchange the gift. When I found out he was he was he was returning the gifts from my mom, I got mad at him. I and I had to teach him a lesson. Dad, bro, you can't return gifts that someone loves you gives you. You can't return mom's gift. You need to be grateful. You need to show respect and accept the gift. My dad realized that his little angel was right. And you should ex and you should accept the gifts gifts. It is a talent. Accepting the gift of Jesus Christ and his atonement is a talent that I need to that we need to strengthen. We can follow Jesus Christ by accepting his atonement. Lastly, I can follow Jesus when I make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes including me. Sometimes I lose my temper or forget to be kind. Sometimes I even cheat when I play against my family. It is hard for me to lose sometimes. Because of Jesus Christ and his atonement, I can respect, repent, ask for forgiveness, and try again. I'm grateful for G I'm grateful that Jesus gives me new chances each day. One of my favorite primary songs is I'm trying to be like Jesus. I love that song because it reminds me that Jesus does not accept me to be perfect right away. He wants me to keep trying every time I choose the right. Show kindness. Say I'm sorry. Accepting his atonement. I'm following Jesus. I know Jesus lives. I know he loves each one of us. I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Good morning brothers and sisters. Um the question that my friend President Telford sent to me was why does the Lord ask us to follow him? Uh, following Anakah's example, I made that a little bit more personal and and I've been thinking about this question. Why does the Lord ask me, Ryan Wilkins, to follow him? And there's a thousand different answers to that question. I will share with you one that's been on my mind, and I'll try to explain this one answer. Um, why does the Lord ask me to follow him? Because he wants me to become godly. I heard an inspired oneliner uh several weeks ago that I've I've been thinking a lot about. I've been studying about it and it won't leave me alone. And the oneliner was this. Worthiness is not godliness. I'll say it again. Um worthiness is not godliness. To be worthy is an amazing and beautiful thing and is an essential part of God's plan. But something happens to me when I mistakenly think that worthiness is the end destination. If I think that the gospel of Jesus Christ is about worthiness, I will use the gospel to a point, but then I stop and I kind of put things on cruise control. Um, I will exercise faith under repentance. I will make covenants. I will show up at church. I will probably even do come follow me and get a temple recommend. But then there's this part of me, and I would never say it out loud, but there's part of the way that I start to live that I kind of think that I've arrived. I'm clean. I'm worthy. And I'm active, and I even have a testimony of Jesus Christ and love him. But if I think that that was the end destination, I miss the invitation to follow him. Um, it's interesting that the Savior makes different invitations. I think the the invitation to come unto him invites us into worthiness. But the invitation to follow him takes us to something beyond worthiness, which is godliness. In 3rd Nephi 27, when the savior's with the uh Nephite disciples, he asks the question of all questions. He asks, "What manner of men and women ought ye to be?" And it's pretty fascinating what he didn't say in answer to his own question. And he didn't say worthy. He didn't say clean. He didn't say active. As good and wonderful as all those things are, that wasn't his answer to his own question. What manner of man ought you to be, even as I am? That pushes me to no end. Um, it pushes me beyond worthiness and active to try to be even as he is is hard and I think it was supposed to be hard and it sends me to my knees in different ways. He invites me into godliness to not just do things to be clean but to actually become pure to start to develop his mind and his heart and his attributes and his compassion and all of his goodness. And not just one or two or three of those things, but all of it. All of it. I think CS Lewis captured the difference between worthiness and godliness in this metaphor that some of you will be that some of you will know. He wrote, "Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house." At first, perhaps you can understand what he is doing. He's getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on. And you knew that those jobs needed doing. So you were not surprised, but all of a sudden he starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is he up to? The explanation is that he is building quite a different house from the one you thought of. Throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage, but he is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it himself. That's what I feel him teaching me in the question and and the invitation to follow him is he is trying to build something out of my life that I quite frankly didn't expect when I started to live the gospel. I thought the gospel was about stopping some of the worldly things that I was doing in my life. And he cleansed me and he healed me of some of those things. And I was so grateful and I fell in love with my savior and the gospel of Jesus Christ. But then he didn't stop. He didn't stop at the drains and the leaks. He started to to throw out new floors and to show me some blueprints that have actually staggered me and buckle my knees. Um, Moroni 7:48 says it this way, that when he shall appear, we shall be like him, purified even as he is pure. That's different than just worthy. It's pure. It's different. It's godly. Um, in ancient Jewish tradition, it was thought that you could tell who the most deout devout disciples were by how dusty they were. The point being that they would follow their rabbi so closely that they would have the most dust on them. I kind of like that imagery as the savior invites me to come follow him in my heart of hearts. I want to be the dustiest of disciples. I want to be covered with the dust that comes from the souls of his sandals because I'm trying to follow in his steps so closely. And again, that for me is hard. It's hard for me to give this talk in front of people that I know, especially my family, because it's hard to be godly at home. It's hard to be godly when we're driving. It's hard to be godly when it's easier to be. Worthiness is hard enough, but godly is is more than worthy. But that's the journey and that's the invitation that I feel for my savior. So why does the Lord ask me, Ryan Wilkins, to follow him? because he is the way. He is the way to every good thing that I came down here for. He is the only way. His life and his teachings and his grace are the only way to take a wretched soul like me and to day by day turn me into something godly like him. And I love him for the invitation. It will never leave me. It will push me every day of my life. And I know that he is also then the answer and that he will help me along that way. And I share that in the name of my savior Jesus Christ. Amen.
Thank you, brother Wilkins. We will now have a congregational hymn. We'll all stand together and sing with gusto and joy, as President White likes to say. I'm trying to be like Jesus. Hymn number 78 in the CH children's song book. Following the hymn, it'll be our pleasure to hear from Sister Cara Warick from the Sycamore Ward. Oh, sorry, Sister Emma Molman. Sorry, Emma. You thought we skipped you. From the Hawthorne Ward. Following Sister Mullman, it we will have a special musical selection, Softly and Tenderly, Jesus's Calling by the Copper Cliffs Ward Choir, accompanied by Owen Wilson. Following the the Copper Cliffs Ward, we will hear from Sister Cara Warick from the Sycamore Ward. Following Sister Warick, President Anthony White will speak to us, followed then by President Jay Hansen.
I'm trying to be like Jesus. I'm following in his ways. I try to love as he did in all that I do and say at times I'm temped to make a wrong choice. I try to listen as the still small voice whispers love one another as Jesus loves you. Try to show kindness in all that you do. Be gentle and loving indeed and in love. For these are the things Jesus. I'm trying to love my neighbor. I learn to serve my friends. I watch for the day of gladness when Jesus will come again. I try to remember the lesson he taught. Then the Holy Spirit enters into my thoughts saying love one another as Jesus loves you. Try to show kindness in all that you do. Be gentle and loving indeed and in love. For these are the things Jesus.
Hi. For those of you who don't know me, I'm Emma Mullman, daughter of Rachel and Andy Mullman. And for three three years that I've lived here now, I've managed to escape the notice of the people over giving talks. And I thought it was all good for state conference until a few days ago. President Teler got a hold of me and uh asked me to speak on how can following Christ improve my life. So here I am. Okay. So following Christ starts off at the base, right? So our divine identity. I'm a child of God, child of the covenant, and disciple of Christ. We all are. And a few years ago at state girls camp, we had this lesson where the teacher teaching us had us all grab these fake bricks and use a marker to write on that brick something that we used to identify us. So an athlete, an artist, a musician. And um she had to set those bricks all in a line and she put other ones on top like our divine identity like child of God, child of the covenant, things like that. and she put she pulled out the athlete brick and it all came tumbling down and she said, "You tore your ACL and now you can't ever play competitively again. What are you gonna do now?" And your whole identity was placed on this. You put Christ and your unchangeable identity before the others. Now see what happens if you put child of God, child of the covenant, and disciple of Christ at the bottom. Something happened and now you can't pursue your art career. What will you do now? Well, you know where to start because you still have your divine identity. That or he will help you stay on your feet because there's always somewhere to go from there. Knowing your divine identity alone will help improve your life significantly. Um, another way Christ improves my life is through his atonement. Everyone falls short at one time or another. It's bound to happen. Happens to all of us. Um, and we can repent by going to church, getting the sacrament every week. Um, okay. I want you to picture this in your head with me. There's a door that Christ is knocking on and there's no handle, so he can't come inside. And some of you guys probably know exactly what picture I'm talking about. It's pretty wellnown and it's one of my favorite pictures of Christ um because it shows us that Christ is always at that door. He's always right there, but there's only a door knob on our side of the door, so we have to let him in. And I love thinking of this picture during the sacrament every week because accepting accepting his help is super hard sometimes. And I know for a fact that a lot of you guys feel this as well. Um but Christ is like a lighthouse. A lighthouse doesn't move the ship and it doesn't control the captain driving the ship. Um he's just the light there to guide us. And Christ is there to gently nudge you in the right direction and forgive you when you sin. It's amazing. Okay, the last thing I'm going to talk about Christ improving my life is through relaxation. And I know that might sound kind of odd, but it's true. Um, in Matthew 11:28 says, "Come unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest." And the scripture is just so true. Everyone has those moments where they feel like they don't have enough time to do everything. They don't have enough time to finish their homework or their work work. And like I moved here halfway through a school year a while ago and I remember getting a big load of language arts material um that they said just learn this learn everything really quick and I kind of broke down because it was so much and I was like I can't learn this in like this little time. I I just can't do that. And um I also remember praying and asking Heavenly Father like I like can you help me learn this, learn the material and I was able to finish everything and I was able to relax and that's kind of a rarity in these times because our world is always moving so fast. Um so maybe that's a more unseen way that Christ has helped improve my life through relaxation. And I would like to be fair testimony to y'all that I know that Christ is a huge part of my life and he's amazing and God is so cool. Um they're the most insane team, but it's all right cuz they're on my side and they're on your side, too. They're on everyone's side. Um following Christ has greatly improved my life and I stand by that. I know this church is true and I know that Joseph Smith was a true prophet and I say these things in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Softly tenderly Jesus is calling for you and for Patiently Jesus is waiting and watching. Watching for you and for me. Come home. Come home. Ye who are weary come home sweet tender Jesus is calling caller come home why should be when Jesus is pleading, pleading for you and for me. Why should we linger and heed not his mercies? Mercies for you and for me. Come home. Come home. We who are weary. And Jesus is calling calling. Oh sinner come home. Oh, how wonderful love he has promised. promise for you and for me. Though he has sinned, he has mercy and pardon for you and for me. Tendering Jesus is calling calling. Oh s come home softly and tender Jesus is calling all s come
Brothers and sisters, I I am really glad to be here. Feel like each message and song has been for me and I'm just really glad to be here with you all. Um my name is Cara Warick. I live in the Sycamore Ward. President Telford asked me a few weeks ago if I would speak and share on the topic, what does following Jesus in my life look like? It's been a great opportunity to spend purposeful time thinking about that question. Preparing for this talk has helped me pay closer attention to the small ways that I try to follow Jesus Christ each day and also the many ways that he patiently guides, teaches, and blesses me. The Savior's life is full of wonderful dramatic miracles and powerful teachings. But he also worked as a manual laborer, attended social gatherings, prepared meals, washed feet, and spent quiet, intentional time resting and praying away from the crowds. For me, following Jesus often happens in the opposite, in the small daily choices, trying to be kinder, more patient, quicker to repent, more willing to serve, and more intentional in turning to him. I'm grateful for the focus this topic has brought into my life over the past few weeks. I'd like to share just a simple experience that helped me see what following the Savior can look like in everyday life. A few weeks ago, I was in my home in our kitchen trying to register one of our kids for a summer camp. I was focused on the details of my phone trying to get everything submitted before we lost our spot in the registration. At the same time, one of my kids walked into the kitchen and excited excitedly started telling me about something that happened with their friend that day at school. It wasn't anything urgent in my mind, and I could feel myself only half listening, doing, "Uh-huh. Uh-huh." while still trying to finish what I was doing. In that moment, I had a I felt a quiet reminder to slow down and be present. So, I turned my phone off, set it aside, and said, "I'm sorry. I was not listening. Will you please start over? I really want to hear what you have to say." As my child started over and continued talking, I realized that what mattered most in that moment wasn't finishing the registration. It was giving my full attention so they knew I cared about what they were sharing with me. Later, as I thought more about the interaction, I wondered if there was more to it than just my efforts of trying to be an attentive parent. It truly was a simple experience, but it helped me see something important about disciplehip and what following Jesus Christ looks like in daily life. Often it looks like choosing people over urgency and choosing to give our full attention and love in ordinary moments that could easily be missed. Sometimes it looks like texting a friend you suddenly thought of, checking on a neighbor, trusting God in uncertain times. Realizing you judged someone unfairly, or apologizing to your child. Sometimes following the Savior in my life simply looks like choosing patience when it would be easier not to. As I've placed a more intentional focus on following the Savior in my daily life, I've I felt the spirit more clearly, helping me see what matters most each day. I've also realized that following Jesus Christ is not usually about doing something dramatic or extraordinary. More often, it's about becoming a little more like him through small, consistent choices every day. As I shared, I had a few weeks to prepare for this talk today. So, each morning during those three weeks, I found myself asking a simple question. How will I follow Jesus Christ today? What is that going to look like for me today? I wasn't asking him how I would follow him someday or in a big dramatic way. I was asking what following him would look like in just ordinary moments of my day. What happened felt like a small miracle for me. I think we all go through the es and flows of feeling close to the spirit. Lately, I'd really missed feeling the spirit as consistently as I'd wanted to. Yet, as I began each day with a deliberate intention to follow the Savior, I found that I felt the spirit so much easier and so much more often, almost immediately in some cases. and often quite emotionally. The circumstances of my life didn't change. My my focus did. By intentionally looking for opportunities to follow Jesus Christ, I became more aware of his influence, his guidance, and his presence in my life. This experience has reminded me that there is spiritual power in intentional disciplehip. When we consciously choose to follow the Savior each day, he changes us little by little. Our hearts become softer, our eyes become more open to the needs of others, and we become more receptive to the spirit. When I wrote the first draft of my talk, I found that I had used variations of the word intentional at least a dozen times and I tried to find synonyms to replace a few of them and then I decided to leave most of them. Deciding our intention determines our choices. And it made it clear to me that my intention is to follow Jesus Christ. I'm grateful for a savior who not only teaches us perfectly, but patiently walks with us as we try to follow him imperfectly. I know that as we intentionally turn toward him in small daily ways, he helps us become more loving, more peaceful, and more like him. I'm grateful for his example, his grace, and his patience with me, as well as the hope that I find in following him. I say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
I'm grateful to be here with you. Uh I'm thankful for the the meetings um that have led to this. Our adult session last night was amazing. Grateful for the speakers and for the music, for our leadership session, and grateful to be here today with you. I also went on trek. Uh unlike the youth, I was actually really excited to go. Um and I think that's because this so this is my fourth trek, the third one of which I was help helping behind the scenes a little bit as in leadership. It's not it's not really fun. It's not like I was having fun not showering all week and climbing into bed smelly every night. It wasn't fun walking and pulling a hand cart and hearing 100 bottles of milk on the wall behind the purple family. It wasn't fun when we got hailed on. It wasn't fun when we got hailed on for a few couple hours, but it was joyful. It was a joyful experience. was it was a joyful experience to see the youth in our stake just come together from the moment we arrived. Even though some of them didn't want to be there, they decided they would come and they would participate. It was joyful to watch all of the adults that also knew it wasn't really that fun, but they knew what was what it would be worth to be there for those youth. It was joyful to watch the youth forget about technology for a whole few days. They couldn't even see what they looked like. They were so dirty. And yet they would dance together and laugh together and be together. It was joyful to watch the hand of the Lord. Just like we talked about last night, this is the Lord's conference. That was the Lord's trek. And we planned and we put in time and so many people put in so many hours, but the Lord guided and directed what needed to happen during those few days. And that's why I was excited to go because I knew after multiple times being at Trek and in that experience that the Lord would use this opportunity to teach us. He would use that opportunity to teach individuals and bring them closer to him. on the the last night um I felt like it would be appropriate to gather because um all the all the families were going to gather for testimony meeting. I wanted to hear the testimonies of of the stake leaders and so we gathered around fire and shared testimonies of that week. Um, and my dear wife, um, she shared her testimony and reminded me actually of something when I was called just a little over a year ago to the state presidency. At the time I was serving as bishop of the Hawthorne Ward. Um, and I I've never felt so much love in my life as I did serving as bishop. And those of you who serve as bishop can relate. And as we met with the state president, that was both my wife and my concern. I was I'd felt so much love and I'd come to learn what it is to really love like the Savior Jesus Christ by getting to know and work with people. But President Telford promised us that in this calling that love would expand and the same love that happens in um in that calling as bishop would expand to the stake. I thought he was blowing smoke. I it's the same same feeling I get when you hear like you get stake leaders come up and they say we love all of you and you're like you don't know me but I just want to testify to you brothers and sisters that the the Lord expands our love as we serve as we serve him. I I don't know each of you individually, but the love the love I feel for this stake is overwhelming. I came with a renewed sense of that love after Trek watching it just felt so Zionlike to be there. all of one heart and one mind to follow the Savior Jesus Christ and to lift and encourage one another. And I testify if I can feel that love for a whole a whole stake, I testify that Jesus Christ individually fills that love for each and every one of you. I know it. I know he loves you. I know he knows you personally and that he is walking with you in whatever you're going through, hail storm or not. Just for a few minutes, um I want to
Talk, um, about the topic. How can following Jesus Christ protect me? As I've been thinking about this topic, the initial thought was for me, Jesus Christ, when we follow him, he can't protect us from everything. He can't protect us from every hardship that this life is going to throw at us. He can't protect us from physical harm all the time. Things happen. We live in mortality. We live in a fallen world. He can't protect us every step of the way. So, what is it that Jesus Christ does to protect us? This is the thought that I've had that I want to share with you.
I've had the opportunity to, um, as as I've worked with State President Telford, um, he can, he delegates sometimes the opportunity to, um, interview for the Melchizedek Priesthood. So I've had the opportunity to sit in and and talk with young men as they're getting ready to receive the Melchizedek Priesthood. And as I was preparing for that in Doctrine and Covenants 84, where it talks about the oath and covenant of priesthood, this is, this is a verse that has stuck out to me. It says, "And now I give unto you a commandment to beware concerning yourselves."
As I've thought about this topic about Jesus Christ and following him and what does it protect us from, I realize that he is meant to protect us from ourselves, from our limited scope of view, from the natural man. His protection is to open our mind to bigger and better things. So when the hard times do come, we have a greater ability to see from the perspective of of Jesus Christ. Since, uh, President Nelson's talk about, um, in 2020, he used the word myopic. I don't think I've ever used the word myopic more in my life since that talk. Maybe you, some of you can relate, but he talked about his granddaughter and, uh, what he said to her when she was going through a hard time. His advice, the one word that he said was myopic. And then this is what she said. "My myopic caused me to stop and think and heal. That word now fills me with peace. It reminds me to expand my perspective and seek the eternal. It reminds me that there is a divine plan and that my dad still lives and loves and looks out for me. Myopic has led me to God."
When we follow Jesus Christ, we are opening our mind and our eyes and our heart and our soul up to the things that are eternal. And I testify that as we do that, as we follow Jesus Christ, as we look to him, as we find him, he will expand our view. And then on those days when the hails come and the storms beat down, he will protect us from ourselves, of getting too myopic. He will protect us from us, of becoming a natural man and trying to just go into ourselves. He will protect us by showing us how to serve others and looking outside ourselves. One of the greatest ways that we can expand our view and have that protection is by going to the house of the Lord. And one of the greatest things that those who are endowed in the house of God have to remember Jesus Christ is the holy garment. That piece of clothing. It's a protection to us because it reminds us of what we have done in the house of the Lord. It reminds us of the things we've experienced. It reminds us of what God has in store for us if we'll remember him and follow him.
Brothers and sisters, if you are feeling down, if you're feeling the weight of the world, take a moment and pause. And I can guarantee that you're a little myopic in your thinking. Take time to follow Jesus Christ. Look to him. Look to his holy house. Go where he goes. Follow him and he will protect you from those natural man, myopic moments where you feel sorry for yourself and he will show you a better way. I love him. I'm grateful for him. I'm grateful for his protection in my life. I know that this is his church. I know that the Book of Mormon is true. And I know that the Book of Mormon will lead us to Jesus Christ. He is my Savior. He is your Savior. He knows us and loves us perfectly. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
>> Good morning, brothers and sisters. Again, it's so good to be with you. Um, I'd like to start, uh, my thoughts this morning with a question to each of you. And that question is, do you ever feel weak? Weakness is something that I think we all feel at different times in our lives and in different ways. I think one definition of weakness is that we just don't feel strong enough to lift something that's being placed in our path. We just don't have the ability. We don't have the strength to do that. And we feel weak, I think, in in different ways. And we may feel weak trying to pull a handcart up a hill or during a hail storm. We may feel weak just trying to get through every day when the pressures of of life start to pile upon us thicker and thicker. We may feel weak when an unexpected trial comes into our lives that we did not see coming. We may feel weak when the world feels dark and like the light has gone out. So we feel weak in in many different ways in our lives. And my topic today that I was given is, how can following Jesus Christ strengthen me?
I'd like to read some words from the Apostle Paul. He said this, uh, in his letter to the Corinthians. "And lest I should be exalted above measure through the abundance of the revelations, there was given to me a thorn in the flesh, the messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I should be exalted above measure. For this thing I besought the Lord thrice, that it might depart from me." Have you ever besought the Lord in prayer that a trial or a difficulty or a heavy weight might depart from you? I think we all have. The Lord's response was, "And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in necessities, in persecutions, in distresses for Christ's sake: for when I am weak, then am I strong."
Trying to understand what the Apostle Paul might have been going through at that time is a little hard. We don't, we don't know what his thorn in the flesh is. We don't know whether it was a, a physical ailment, a, a mental distress. We don't know. But it was something that was weighing him down and it was nagging at him like a thorn would every day in the flesh. But he teaches us that through Christ we can find strength. That in that weakness we find strength. Now, I don't feel that I'm at the point like the Apostle Paul was that I glory in my infirmities. So maybe, maybe that's some goal we can all work towards is to try to glory in our infirmities. But I know I don't. But as I've thought about the Apostle Paul and his process of trying to work through this and and finding strength in Christ in his weakness, I've realized that maybe I don't have to, or perhaps if I don't glory yet in my infirmities, perhaps I don't have to fear so much my infirmities or my weaknesses.
In Isaiah chapter 40, we read, "Hast thou not known? Hast thou not heard, that the everlasting God, the Lord, the creator of the ends of the earth, fainteth not, neither is weary: there is no searching of his understanding. He giveth power to the faint, and to them that have no might he increaseth strength. Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall: But they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint." Waiting upon the Lord includes trusting him, having patience in his timing, knowing that he knows the end from the beginning and he knows what is best for us. He will renew our strength. So in those moments when we feel weak, when we feel like we just can't measure up or we just can't accomplish what we are being asked to accomplish. In those moments, we can trust in the Lord. We can wait upon him and know that he will strengthen us.
We learn this also from Alma and his people when they were persecuted by Amulon. This is in Mosiah 24. "And it came to pass that the voice of the Lord came unto them in their afflictions, saying, Lift up your heads and be of good cheer, for I know of the covenant which ye have made unto me; and I will covenant with my people and deliver them out of bondage. And I will also ease the burdens which are put upon your shoulders, that even ye cannot feel them upon your backs, yea, even the weight with which ye are burdened may be lifted from off your shoulders, and they shall be light upon you, and ye shall stand as witnesses for me hereafter, and bear record that I, the Lord God, do visit my people in their afflictions. And now it came to pass that the burdens which were laid upon Alma and his brethren were made light; yea, the Lord did strengthen them that they could bear up their burdens with ease, and they did submit cheerfully and with patience to all the will of the Lord."
I think we've all recognized in those in that story that the bondage wasn't initially taken away. The burden was still there. The Lord did not remove the burden. He strengthened his people. And he may not remove our burdens, but he will strengthen us so that we can bear them. And just as mentioned in those verses, there is a, the word covenant is used. And it is through our covenant relationship with Jesus Christ that we find that strength. The most sacred place on earth where we make covenants with our Lord and with our Heavenly Father is in the temple in his holy house. I testify to you that the more often that we attend the temple, the more powerfully we will feel his strength flowing into our lives.
My beautiful wife made an analogy, um, a while back about our covenants. She said, "An anchor is no use to a ship unless they are connected by a strong chain. Jesus Christ is our anchor, and we are connected to him by our covenants." I've thought about this since I heard my wife give this analogy and it's, it's just been in my mind. I think it's such a beautiful imagery of Jesus Christ as this powerful, strong anchor that we can connect to. But then sometimes in the weakness of my mortal state, I start thinking about the chain. And if the chain is is the, is the what connects me to Christ and the ocean is boisterous and the winds are fierce and I'm trying to rely on that chain. I know the anchor is solid. But if the chain is my, my connection with Christ, sometimes I fear that's not as strong as I need it to be. But the beautiful truth in that analogy, thinking about the chain as our covenant connection with Christ is as we make a covenant with him, he covenants with us. And so the strength of that chain that holds us firm in place, immovable in the storms of life, the strength of that chain is not because we are great. It's because God is great. And that covenant connection with him is everything. That is where, in that imagery of the chain, connecting us to Christ, his strength becomes our strength. He has covenanted with us never to leave us. Never to leave us. And with that strength, in that connection, there is no way that the storms of life can overtake us. They just can't do it. The anchor and the chain are too strong. They are unbreakable.
Brothers and sisters, I am so grateful that today in these latter days, we are standing on the promises of God. We are standing on the promises of Christ our Savior. And that strength is everlasting. It is eternal. It is unbreakable. So when we are feeling weak and facing the trials of life, do we have to question that we're going to make it through? We do not, because Christ is with us. He is our strength. He is our salvation. He is our bread of life. He is the light of our world. He is our beloved Redeemer. And I bear that testimony to you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Thank you, presidents. It'll be our privilege now to have a special musical number from Sister Kelly Flannery on the harp, "How Gentle God's Commands." We so appreciate her willingness to do this for us. Following that musical selection, it'll be my privilege to speak to you.
>> You know, I, apparently the harp has magical powers to put three-headed dogs to sleep in Harry Potter. And, and I can see a few of you guys with your eyes closed. You need to wake up. The harp's over. Oh my goodness, it's so fun to, uh, to have an opportunity to interact with all of you. Um, I have loved the messages that have been given so far and I, I had so many thoughts come to my mind as I listened to them. Let me share a quick story with you. As I was growing up, I'm the oldest grandchild on the Telford side of my family, and my Grandma Telford had a refrigerator in her house dedicated only to soda. That's it. And I grew up drinking soda like crazy. And when my grandma, um, passed on, my mom took up the torch and had a, a fridge full of soda. But as a little kid, of course, we always had to ask. And I was always mad that that I couldn't have one anytime I wanted. And so I equated becoming an adult with being able to just have a soda anytime I want out of the fridge. And it's great. It's really great. But I think that a lot of us had similar experiences with a lot of things as kids that when we are adults, we can do this and now we can't, or when we're adults, we don't have to do this. And that's one mistake. We grow up as adults thinking that we don't have to do things that we don't want to do. Um, I really appreciated Anakah and Jaston's talk and mentioning that they didn't want to go to track, but their parents made them go. The problem is when we're adults, there's not very many people around to make us do something that we don't want to do. But nevertheless, there's a lot of things that we don't want to do that we really should and that we're really supposed to do. And so my first invitation to all of us today is to ponder on the things that you don't want to do so you're not, and determine which of those you should be doing anyway and try to find the courage of Anakah and Jen to stretch.
I really appreciated, um, Ryan Wilkins talking about doing hard things. The Lord and the gospel of Jesus Christ is about transforming. We talked about that at length last night in the adult session for those of you who were here. If it's about transforming, transformation involves discomfort. There's just no way to change and grow and just feel good and happy about it. It's going to be a little hard sometimes and require discomfort. So, please expect that. Please say yes to the Lord when he offers opportunities. Even though they don't sound fun and they're going to be scary, choose faith over fear, as Sister Rawlings so eloquently taught us. I loved Sarah Orm's message about accepting the Savior's gift. Thank you for sharing that message about your dad who is such a loser. [laughter] I'm kidding. I love you, Joe. You're awesome. He could not be further from that. He's an amazing man. But all of us, I think, have have had a similar experience in receiving something that isn't exactly what we wanted. Um, the Lord, he offers everything to us. When we were baptized, he gave us a gift. How often do we really receive and take advantage of the privileges that have been offered to us through baptism? When we go to the temple and make covenants in the temple, more gifts, more gifts shower down upon us. Do we receive them? Do we really receive those and take advantage of the privileges that are found in those gifts? I could do much better and I'm sure all of you could do as well.
I need to make a little correction. My daughter Mie is very literal. She's a very literal thinker amongst six of us in our family that are not literal. We're very figurative. And she reminds me always, "Dad, what are you talking about when I say something?" And if she were at the adult meeting last night, she would have come up to me afterward and said, "Dad, you said the program of ministering isn't about ministering. What, what are you talking about?" And she would be correct. So, I need to make a little adjustment to my presentation there. When I say the program of ministering isn't about ministering, what I really mean to say is it's not only about ministering. The Church's program of ministering is primarily about helping us all become ministers. And we do that through the process and action of ministering. So for those of you like Mie who are literal thinkers, hopefully that's more clear.
Okay. I want to lead with the scripture that I led with last night. John 17:3. "And this is life eternal, that they might know thee the only true God, and Jesus Christ, whom thou hast sent." And we talked at length last night about the importance of coming to know Jesus Christ. Now, as you know something, as your knowledge of that thing deepens and expands and becomes more complex, naturally your love for that thing grows. And let me give you an example of this. My family is almost obsessive about baseball. We are massive baseball fans. Especially my wife. It's almost alarming. She's scary. Okay? But we weren't always that way. Um, when we moved to Arizona many, many years ago and our children were very, very young. Arizona just got its expansion baseball team, the Diamondbacks. And I mean, I played little league and I know the, the rules of baseball, but it is not a fun game to just casually watch. It's almost painful. Okay? Because relative to basketball, football, hockey, we won't talk about soccer. That's not my favorite. But, um, it is a slow game. It's a very, very slow game. But the casual observer doesn't understand that it is not about the rules of baseball. That's very simple. You can get those in in an hour. It is about all of the underlying strategies, management, the culture, the tendencies, the statistics, the trends, the trades. There is so much going on under the layer, the top layer of baseball that begins to cause an obsession and a deep, deep love of the game. Well, Mindy and I just spent five days down in Arizona going to five games and, um, like I said, it's scary when you go with her. I mean, I'm worried about our safety playing the Dodgers. There's a lot of Dodgers fans around us. And what, what's fun is that when a batter comes up to bat, she knows where he got traded from, what his record was at the other team, where his batting average is currently, but what it's capable of being, whether he's a right-handed batter or left, and who the pitcher's righty or lefty, where the fielders are lined up. If it's leaving a lane open down first baseline for, you know, Moreno to hit one down the alley. She knows all of this and it all comes into play when that batter comes up to bat and hit the ball. That's what makes it fun. And we have spent so much time, so much money to understand this game that now our love for baseball is not healthy anymore. Yeah. [laughter] It's beyond healthy. I say that I use that example to help you understand that looking at something on the surface and a, and a casual understanding of anything isn't going to really develop a deep appreciation and love for it. Relationships are similar.
So, let's talk about relationships. The other day, she and I were talking. We've been married now 30-something years. [laughter] I know it's not 39. Um, but what we were joking about is we were at a wedding, a sealing in the temple, and, uh, we were watching the bride and groom across the altar and they looked like they were so madly in love with each other and we looked at each other and actually kind of chuckled. Said, they have no idea. And what's funny is if you ask any married couple on their wedding day, they truly and sincerely believe that they were in love as much as they possibly and ever could be on that day. It's true. They're not lying. They, they really were. But if they've been married 10, 20, 30, 40, or more years, they look back on that day and almost chuckle and laugh because the love that they feel today compared to then is, is not even in the same ballpark. Did you get that little reference there? It's not even the same. And the reason it changed is because all of the working together, laughing together, playing together, suffering together, and learning together. When you do those things for 10, 20, 30 years, that long, that much effort and time put into it, your love for the game, and your love for each other becomes something not even in the same realm as it was before. Now, let's talk about our relationship with the Lord. All of us in here today, well, let me, let me finish that analogy. Those who have been married 40, 50 years today, they're smart enough now to know that 30, 40, 50 years from today, spirit world at that point, probably, they will love even that much more. They know by experience that it will continue to grow. Now, our love for the Savior is similar. No matter how much you feel like you love the Savior today, if you continue to laugh with him, learn with him, suffer with him, work with him, your love, my love with him will continue to grow and develop and deepen and become something that cannot be comprehended today. Our capacity to love him will grow over time when we pay the price and put the investment in. Now, that's to me, that's something that's worth putting the time and the effort in.
Now, as we love him, naturally we want to follow him. We want to be with him. The process is actually almost circular. The more we love, the more we want to follow. And the more we follow and spend time, the more we love. And it goes on and on and on. Matthew 28:37, Jesus said unto him, "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind." And in John 14:15, "If ye love me, keep my commandments." President Nelson in his talk said, he said it a few times, but in one of his General Conference, now as president of his church, "I plead with you who have distanced yourselves from the church and with you who have not yet really sought to know that the Savior's church has been restored. Do the spiritual work to find out for yourselves. And please do it now. Time is running out." President Nelson knows it takes effort, a little discomfort. It takes an investment of time. There is a price to be paid. And as we taught last night in the, in the adult session, the price doesn't have to be pain and suffering, trial and tribulation, but it always involves sacrifice and a stretch and some amount of discomfort. Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve once said that we do a lot may not be so important that we focus the energy of our minds, our hearts, and our souls on those things of eternal significance. That is essential. As the clatter and clamor of life bustle about us, we hear shouting to come here and to go there. Lots of ideas. In fact, I just saw somebody online the other day saying, "Hey, this is the answer to all of life's problems or at least all your depression and your discouragement and and all of that." In the midst of those noise and seductive voices that compete for our time and interest, a solitary figure stands on the shores of the Sea of Galilee, calling quietly to us, "Follow me." That is the invitation of all invitations. Follow him. It is our choice. Whether we want to or we feel like it or not, it doesn't matter. Sometimes he's pounding on us a little bit or prodding us, please do this. You need to do it. You may not feel like it in the moment, but it'll be good for you. Trust me, you will end up loving it. Come and know me. John 14:6, Jesus saith unto him, "I am the way, the truth, and the life: no man cometh unto the Father, but by me." Jesus Christ is the light, the life, and the hope of the world. His way, and only his way, it's the path that leads to happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come. God be thanked for the matchless gift of his divine son. I have a testimony that he is the Savior of the world. That through him all things are possible, even us becoming as he is, which at times seems very impossible. My invitation is to do the spiritual work to follow him. Invest the time to know him. Make the sacrifices to love him. Be patient during that process. It takes time and effort of consistent choices and consistent work. And I leave that testimony with you in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Amen. Thank you again for being here and and participating in our meeting today. And again, a thank you to all those who have participated in the music and in giving remarks. I personally want to thank Brother Pitcher and Brother Willard for their technology knowledge and the effort and work that they put into making this happen with microphones and the broadcast online. Um, a special invitation for those of you who are in the cultural hall sitting on the hard chairs when the meeting is over. If you would please leave those chairs, don't put them away, that we have another ward coming in for their meetings at 1:00 and they're going to use them anyway. We'll close our meeting by singing only the first and last verses of "Praise to the Lord, Almighty," hymn number 72. Following that, Brother Jake Price of the Copper Cliffs Ward will offer the closing prayer.
Our dear kind Heavenly Father, we are grateful for the opportunity that we have had to be at this stake conference. We are grateful for those that have shared their testimonies, their knowledge, their conviction of Thee. We pray that as we leave that we will have a stronger desire to walk with Christ. That we will recognize changes that we can make in our lives that will not only draw us closer to Him, but allow us to be more like Him. We pray for our prophet, President Oaks, the other leaders of the Church, especially our local leaders, that they will continue to be inspired to teach us and direct us in a way that will strengthen us and help us understand our worth and give us a stronger desire to be like Thee, in return to live with Thee. We pray for the missionaries, especially those serving from the stake, that they will be protected, that they will be upheld and guided in the work that they do. We love Thee. And we say this in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.