Post # 208 -- “Hear Him”

Dear Family and Friends

I pray that this post finds you and all those whom you love

all healthy and doing well. I just heard that a friend and her

family just tested positive for this COVID !9. We are all

praying for the speedy recovery of her and her family. If

your family members and friends have been infected with

this virus my prayers are with you as well.

Dear Heavenly Father we thank Thee for watching over

each one of us during this uncertain time in our lives. We

thank Thee for this technology that we are able to stay

connected with our family members and friends no matter

where they are in the world.

I pray that you and your family members and friends will

recover from this COVID 19 virus and all will be well with

each of you, if it be the will of the Father, in the name of

Jesus Christ. Amen.

The following is part of the talk that President Russell M.

Nelson gave during the opening session of our April 2020

General Conference of the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints.

 In a recent post i included the proclamation that was the

rest of this talk. I wanted to share this with you because

I feel that we need this always, but especially during this

time of such uncertainty. We each need to listen to and

for our Savior’s voice:)

Hear Him

By President Russell M. Nelson

President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Our Father knows that when we are surrounded by uncertainty and fear, what will help us the very most is to hear His Son.

My dear brothers and sisters, how thankful I am that through the use of technology we have been able to meet together and worship on this Sunday morning. How blessed we are to know that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth!

In the past several weeks, most of us have experienced disruptions in our personal lives. Earthquakes, fires, floods, plagues, and their aftermaths have disrupted routines and caused shortages of food, staples, and savings.

Amidst all of this, we commend you and thank you for choosing to hear the word of the Lord during this time of turmoil by joining with us for general conference. The increasing darkness that accompanies tribulation makes the light of Jesus Christ shine ever brighter. Just think of the good each of us can do during this time of global upheaval. Your love of and faith in the Savior may very well be the catalyst for someone to discover the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.

In the past two years, Sister Nelson and I have met with thousands of you around the world. We have convened with you in outdoor arenas and in hotel ballrooms. In each location, I have felt that I was in the presence of the Lord’s elect and that I was seeing the gathering of Israel occur before my eyes.

We live in the day that “our forefathers have awaited with anxious expectation.”1 We have front-row seats to witness live what the prophet Nephi saw only in vision, that “the power of the Lamb of God” would descend “upon the covenant people of the Lord, who were scattered upon all the face of the earth; and they were armed with righteousness and with the power of God in great glory.”2

You, my brothers and sisters, are among those men, women, and children whom Nephi saw. Think of that!

Regardless of where you live or what your circumstances are, the Lord Jesus Christ is your Savior, and God’s prophet Joseph Smith is your prophet. He was foreordained before the foundation of the earth to be the prophet of this last dispensation, when “nothing shall be withheld”3 from the Saints. Revelation continues to flow from the Lord during this ongoing process of restoration.

What does it mean for you that the gospel of Jesus Christ has been restored to the earth?  This is such a good question. We should each one of us ponder this question, then answer it honestly!

It means that you and your family can be sealed together forever! It means that because you have been baptized by one who has authority from Jesus Christ and have been confirmed a member of His Church, you can enjoy the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost. He will guide and protect you. It means you will never be left comfortless or without access to the power of God to help you. It means that priesthood power can bless you as you receive essential ordinances and make covenants with God and keep them. What an anchor to our souls are these truths, especially during these times when the tempest is raging.

The Book of Mormon chronicles the classic rise and fall of two major civilizations. Their history demonstrates how easy it is for a majority of the people to forget God, reject warnings of the Lord’s prophets, and seek power, popularity, and pleasures of the flesh.4 Repeatedly, past prophets have declared “great and marvelous things unto the people, which they did not believe.”5

It is no different in our day. Through the years, great and marvelous things have been heard from dedicated pulpits across the earth. Yet most people do not embrace these truths—either because they do not know where to look for them6 or because they are listening to those who do not have the whole truth or because they have rejected truth in favor of worldly pursuits.  Do you fit into one of these categories? What can you do to change that for the better?

The adversary is clever. For millennia he has been making good look evil and evil look good.7 His messages tend to be loud, bold, and boastful.

However, messages from our Heavenly Father are strikingly different. He communicates simply, quietly, and with such stunning plainness that we cannot misunderstand Him.8

For example, whenever He has introduced His Only Begotten Son to mortals upon the earth, He has done so with remarkably few words. On the Mount of Transfiguration to Peter, James, and John, God said, “This is my beloved Son: hear him.”9 His words to the Nephites in ancient Bountiful were “Behold my Beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased, in whom I have glorified my name—hear ye him.”10 And to Joseph Smith, in that profound declaration that opened this dispensation, God simply said, “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”11

Now, my dear brothers and sisters, consider the fact that in these three instances just mentioned, just before the Father introduced the Son, the people involved were in a state of fear and, to some degree, desperation.

The Apostles were afraid when they saw Jesus Christ encircled by a cloud on the Mount of Transfiguration.

The Nephites were afraid because they had been through destruction and darkness for several days.

Joseph Smith was in the grips of a force of darkness just before the heavens opened.

Our Father knows that when we are surrounded by uncertainty and fear, what will help us the very most is to hear His Son.

Because when we seek to hear—truly hear—His Son, we will be guided to know what to do in any circumstance.

The very first word in the Doctrine and Covenants is hearken.12 It means “to listen with the intent to obey.”13 To hearken means to “hear Him”—to hear what the Savior says and then to heed His counsel. In those two words—“Hear Him”—God gives us the pattern for success, happiness, and joy in this life. We are to hear the words of the Lord, hearken to them, and heed what He has told us!

As we seek to be disciples of Jesus Christ, our efforts to hear Him need to be ever more intentional. It takes conscious and consistent effort to fill our daily lives with His words, His teachings, His truths.

We simply cannot rely upon information we bump into on social media. With billions of words online and in a marketing-saturated world constantly infiltrated by noisy, nefarious efforts of the adversary, where can we go to hear Him?

We can go to the scriptures. They teach us about Jesus Christ and His gospel, the magnitude of His Atonement, and our Father’s great plan of happiness and redemption. Daily immersion in the word of God is crucial for spiritual survival, especially in these days of increasing upheaval. As we feast on the words of Christ daily, the words of Christ will tell us how to respond to difficulties we never thought we would face.

We can also hear Him in the temple. The house of the Lord is a house of learning. There the Lord teaches in His own way. There each ordinance teaches about the Savior. There we learn how to part the veil and communicate more clearly with heaven. There we learn how to rebuke the adversary and draw upon the Lord’s priesthood power to strengthen us and those we love. How eager each of us should be to seek refuge there.

When these temporary COVID-19 restrictions are lifted, please schedule regular time to worship and serve in the temple. Every minute of that time will bless you and your family in ways nothing else can. Take time to ponder what you hear and feel when you are there. Ask the Lord to teach you how to open the heavens to bless your life and the lives of those you love and serve.

While worshipping in the temple is presently not possible, I invite you to increase your participation in family history, including family history research and indexing. I promise that as you increase your time in temple and family history work, you will increase and improve your ability to hear Him.

We also hear Him more clearly as we refine our ability to recognize the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. It has never been more imperative to know how the Spirit speaks to you than right now. In the Godhead, the Holy Ghost is the messenger. He will bring thoughts to your mind which the Father and Son want you to receive. He is the Comforter. He will bring a feeling of peace to your heart. He testifies of truth and will confirm what is true as you hear and read the word of the Lord.

I renew my plea for you to do whatever it takes to increase your spiritual capacity to receive personal revelation.  

Doing so will help you know how to move ahead with your life, what to do during times of crisis, and how to discern and avoid the temptations and the deceptions of the adversary.

And, finally, we hear Him as we heed the words of prophets, seers, and revelators. Ordained Apostles of Jesus Christ always testify of Him. They point the way as we make our way through the heart-wrenching maze of our mortal experiences.

What will happen as you more intentionally hear, hearken, and heed what the Savior has said and what He is saying now through His prophets? I promise that you will be blessed with additional power to deal with temptation, struggles, and weakness. I promise miracles in your marriage, family relationships, and daily work. And I promise that your capacity to feel joy will increase even if turbulence increases in your life.  What great promises from our living Prophet of the Lord:)

This April 2020 general conference is our time to commemorate an event that changed the world. As we anticipated this 200th anniversary of Joseph Smith’s First Vision, the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles wondered what we might do to commemorate appropriately this singular event.

That theophany initiated the Restoration of the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ and ushered in the dispensation of the fulness of times.

We wondered if a monument should be erected. But as we considered the unique historic and international impact of that First Vision, we felt impressed to create a monument not of granite or stone but of words—words of solemn and sacred proclamation—written, not to be carved in “tables of stone” but rather to be etched in the “fleshy tables” of our hearts.14

Since the Church was organized, only five proclamations have been issued, with the last being “The Family: A Proclamation to the World,” presented by President Gordon B. Hinckley in 1995.

Now as we contemplate this significant time in the history of the world and the Lord’s charge to gather scattered Israel in preparation for the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, we, the First Presidency and Council of the Twelve Apostles, issue the following proclamation. Its title is “The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World.” It is authored by the First Presidency and the Council of the Twelve Apostles of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. It is dated April 2020. ….

….. Study it privately and with your family members and friends. Ponder the truths and think of the impact those truths will have on your life if you will hear them, hearken to them, and heed the commandments and covenants that accompany them.

I know that Joseph Smith is the foreordained prophet whom the Lord chose to open this last dispensation. Through him the Lord’s Church was restored to the earth. Joseph sealed his testimony with his blood. How I love and honor him!

God lives! Jesus is the Christ! His Church has been restored! He and His Father, our Heavenly Father, are watching over us. I so testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

You can read or listen to President Russell M. Nelson’s full

talk here:

https://www.churchofjesuschrist.org/study/general-conference/2020/04/

45nelson?lang=eng

I wanted to share this talk with you because I believe that it is

so important for each one of us to figure out how we ‘Hear Him’.

I know that I personally have struggled at times wondering if it

was truly His voice or mine! 

I am sure that each of you have had moments like this as well

so I thought i would share this talk with you as a reminder. For

your own spiritual salvation you must learn how to “Hear Him”

you and I need to know how we each individually hear the voice

of our Savior Jesus Christ.

President Nelson gave us some ideas of how we can “Hear Him”,

let’s review: the first one he mentioned takes us right to the

source  -- of our scriptures

 --  Daily immersion in the word of God is crucial for spiritual

survival,  the second one takes us as members of the

Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, to the Temple

of the Lord. Since we are unable to attend currently,

President Nelson suggested that we  --- work on our Family

history during this time.  He invited each of us to increase

our individual participation in family history, including

family history research and indexing.

This activity includes each one of us whether we are

a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of

Latter-day Saints or not:) The third

thing he suggests for us to do -- And I believe this

whole paragraph is worth rereading!!!

To Hear Him more clearly we must: -- fine tune our ability

to hear and to recognize  the Holy Ghost as He speaks to

each one of us. The Holy Ghost is the messenger of the

Godhead. He will bring us thoughts which have been sent

from the Father and the Son. 

Messages from our Heavenly father and His Son, Jesus

Christ to each one of us, but we must be in tune with the

Holy Ghost in order for us to receive the messages that

They are sending to us. They want us to receive these

messages!

The Holy Ghost is also The Comforter that Jesus Christ

said that He would send to us. As The Comforter He will

being us a feeling of peace to our hearts. I have felt this

in my own heart and you can too:)  

The Holy Ghost will testify of the truth to you as you read

and study the words of scripture, as you read or listen to

conference talks from our living prophets, seers, and

revelators:)The Holy Ghost will confirm these truths as

you read or listen to them:)

After we have heard and or read the words of our prophets,

seers, and revelators we must --- heed their words. As we

follow the words given to us by the Holy Ghost, the Lord

promises us that He will send more. 

We earn this privilege by heeding the Words of the Holy

Ghost:) it is in the doing that makes the difference!! This

is another reason why i love to share with each one of you these things. 

Yes, things that I believe will make a huge difference in

each one of your lives!!! Make sure that you make a serious

effort to do as out living Prophet have told us to do! It is

vitally important for our spiritual survival you know? Don't

forget to take a good look at those promises as well!! Until

my next post, please stay safe from this virus, be more

intentional in your study of the scriptures. Learn of Him!!

“Hear Him!” How will each one of you “Hear Him” during

this next week?