Food Drive: Now until the End of April

Please help the West Valley United Methodist Church Food Pantry by donating food.

The food pantry is in need of the following items:

• Peanut Butter
• Fruit Jams
• Cereal boxes, hot and cold
• Dry packaged vegetable mix, (beans, corns, carrots, etc.)
• Canned Fruit
• Canned Tomatoes
• Canned green beans and other canned vegetables
• Tomato sauce or paste
• Cans of spaghetti or pizza sauce
• Dry boxes of pasta
• Dry packaged rice
• Dry Milk
• Flour
• Sugar
• Baking powder
• Liquid cooking oil
• Baking soda

We will be collecting food from now, until the end of April. You can bring the items to the Relief Society Room. Thank you for your kindness!

Conference Talk Challenge

In an effort to prepare for the upcoming conference, and to appreciate the words of our Church leaders, Sister Helen Kerwin, our Relief Society President, would like to challenge all of us to listen or read a talk from the October 2017 General Conference, and share it with another member of the Ward.

Lesson Recap: March 25, 2018

Partaking of the Sacrament Allows Us to Have the 

Spirit With Us Always

•  How is the sacrament affecting your life? 
• What do the Sacrament prayers mean to you, found in Doctrine and Covenants 20:77, 79 and the counsel in Doctrine and Covenants 59:9?
• How can we make taking the Sacrament a new experience every time?
• How can we not let the partaking of the Sacrament become routine or mundane?

Sister Kelly Benning introduced some "Principles of learning," to help us understand, appreciate and retain the beauty and complexity that is the Sacrament. 

Principles of Learning:

• Primacy
• Things learned first are retained better. Primacy makes a pathway in your brain. Best to learn how to do things right in the beginning, or its tough to break the habits of what you learned first. 
• Readiness
• Students must be physically, emotionally and (spiritually) prepared and ready to accept and retain what is being taught. Students must see and appreciate the benefits of what they are being taught.
• Exercise
• Practice makes perfect. The exercise of repetition helps the student retain the information.
• Recency
• Facts learned more recent are remembered better. ("Exit Ticket"). Take note of what you learned from each session. 
• Effect
• What is the motivation or pleasant reaction to what the student is learning? If there is a positive effect from learning the information, it will motivate the student to be more engaged and learn further. 
• Intensity
• Sharp and vivid learning experience will stay with a student longer. Full use of all the senses will make the experience more intense and memorable. 
• Freedom
• The student who freely chooses the information that they learn will retain and appreciate that information much more than the student who is cohered in learning certain information. 
• Requirement
• The student must have a foundation to start learning and growing from, ("Scaffolding.)

How can we use these "Principles of Learning" in our approach to partaking of the Sacrament?

• We can make "new" experiences while partaking of the Sacrament, which would make it a "primary" experience, instead of it being routine.
• Taking the Sacrament after repentance
• Taking the Sacrament after being married
• Taking the Sacrament after going thru the temple
• Taking the Sacrament with you children, grandchildren, extended family
• Taking the Sacrament after not taking the Sacrament for a while
• Taking the Sacrament after forgiving another or being forgiven.
• By contemplating the various circumstances that are ever changing in our lives, we can make taking the Sacrament and new and meaningful experience by recognizing these changes. 
• We can be ready to take partake of the Sacrament
• We can do more than "show up" to church to take the Sacrament
• We can begin to prepare days in advance, by reading the scriptures, by praying and meditating on what we need to improve on, and Christ's magnificent sacrifice for us individually.
• We can ponder and pray about how we can allow Christ's amazing gift of the Atonement to help us in times of adversity, in healing our broken hearts, or helping us carry heavy burdens.
• We can think of the symbolism involved in the Sacrament, and the very literal sacrifice Christ made for us. How his body was torn on the cross, as the bread is torn during the Sacrament. How he bled from every pore in Gethsemane, and how his blood was literally shed for us, as we partake of the water. 
• We can be made anew, as we repent for our shortcomings and wrong doings, and renew our baptismal covenants, through partaking of the Sacrament. 
• We can recognize how vital it is for our spiritual well being, to partake of the Sacrament weekly, and allow the enabling power of the Atonement to become real in our lives. 

 Cheryl A. Esplin, “The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2014, 12–14.

The Spirit heals and renews our souls. The promised blessing of the sacrament is that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us].”

The sacrament becomes a spiritually strengthening experience when we listen to the sacrament prayers and recommit to our covenants. To do this, we must be willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ. Speaking of this promise, President Henry B. Eyring taught: “That means we must see ourselves as His. We will put Him first in our lives. We will want what He wants rather than what we want or what the world teaches us to want.”

When we take the sacrament, we also covenant to “always remember” Jesus Christ. On the night before He was crucified, Christ gathered His Apostles around Him and instituted the sacrament. He broke bread, blessed it, and said, “Take, eat; this is in remembrance of my body which I give a ransom for you.” Next He took a cup of wine, gave thanks, gave it to His Apostles to drink, and said, “This is in remembrance of my blood … , which is shed for as many as shall believe on my name.”

Among the Nephites and again at the Restoration of His Church in the latter days, He repeated that we are to take the sacrament in remembrance of Him.

As we partake of the sacrament, we witness to God that we will remember His Son always, not just during the brief sacrament ordinance. This means that we will constantly look to the Savior’s example and teachings to guide our thoughts, our choices, and our acts

The sacrament prayer also reminds us that we must “keep his commandments.”

Jesus said, “If ye love me, keep my commandments.” The sacrament gives us an opportunity for introspection and an opportunity to turn our heart and will to God. Obedience to the commandments brings the power of the gospel into our lives and greater peace and spirituality.

The sacrament provides a time for a truly spiritual experience as we reflect upon the Savior’s redeeming and enabling power through His Atonement. A Young Women leader recently learned about the strength we receive as we strive to thoughtfully partake of the sacrament. Working to complete a requirement in Personal Progress, she set a goal to focus on the words in the sacrament hymns and prayers.

Each week, she conducted a self-evaluation during the sacrament. She recalled mistakes she had made, and she committed to be better the next week. She was grateful to be able to make things right and be made clean. Looking back on the experience, she said, “I was acting on the repentance part of the Atonement.”

One Sunday after her self-evaluation, she began to feel gloomy and pessimistic. She could see that she was making the same errors over and over again, week to week. But then she had a distinct impression that she was neglecting a big part of the Atonement—Christ’s enabling power. She was forgetting all the times the Savior helped her be who she needed to be and serve beyond her own capacity.

With this in mind, she reflected again on the previous week. She said: “A feeling of joy broke through my melancholy as I noted that He had given me many opportunities and abilities. I noted with gratitude the ability I had to recognize my child’s need when it wasn’t obvious. I noted that on a day when I felt I could not pack in one more thing to do, I was able to offer strengthening words to a friend. I had shown patience in a circumstance that usually elicited the opposite from me.”

She concluded: “As I thanked God for the Savior’s enabling power in my life, I felt so much more optimistic toward the repentance process I was working through and I looked to the next week with renewed hope.”

Elder Melvin J. Ballard taught how the sacrament can be a healing and cleansing experience. He said:

“Who is there among us that does not wound his spirit by word, thought, or deed, from Sabbath to Sabbath? We do things for which we are sorry and desire to be forgiven. … The method to obtain forgiveness is … to repent of our sins, to go to those against whom we have sinned or transgressed and obtain their forgiveness and then repair to the sacrament table where, if we have sincerely repented and put ourselves in proper condition, we shall be forgiven, and spiritual healing will come to our souls. …

“I am a witness,” Elder Ballard said, “that there is a spirit attending the administration of the sacrament that warms the soul from head to foot; you feel the wounds of the spirit being healed, and the load being lifted. Comfort and happiness come to the soul that is worthy and truly desirous of partaking of this spiritual food.”

Our wounded souls can be healed and renewed not only because the bread and water remind us of the Savior’s sacrifice of His flesh and blood but because the emblems also remind us that He will always be our “bread of life” and “living water.”

After administering the sacrament to the Nephites, Jesus said:

“He that eateth this bread eateth of my body to his soul; and he that drinketh of this wine drinketh of my blood to his soul; and his soul shall never hunger nor thirst, but shall be filled.

“Now, when the multitude had all eaten and drunk, behold, they were filled with the Spirit.”

With these words, Christ teaches us that the Spirit heals and renews our souls. The promised blessing of the sacrament is that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us].”

When I partake of the sacrament, I sometimes picture in my mind a painting that depicts the resurrected Savior with His arms outstretched, as if He is ready to receive us into His loving embrace. I love this painting. When I think about it during the administration of the sacrament, my soul is lifted as I can almost hear the Savior’s words: “Behold, mine arm of mercy is extended towards you, and whosoever will come, him will I receive; and blessed are those who come unto me.”

Aaronic Priesthood holders represent the Savior when they prepare, bless, and pass the sacrament. As a priesthood holder extends his arm to offer us the sacred emblems, it is as if the Savior Himself were extending His arm of mercy, inviting each one of us to partake of the precious gifts of love made available through His atoning sacrifice—gifts of repentance, forgiveness, comfort, and hope.

The more we ponder the significance of the sacrament, the more sacred and meaningful it becomes to us. This was what a 96-year-old father expressed when his son asked, “Dad, why do you go to church? You can’t see, you can’t hear, it’s hard for you to get around. Why do you go to church?” The father replied, “It’s the sacrament. I go to partake of the sacrament.”May each of us come to sacrament meeting prepared to have “a truly spiritual experience, a holy communion, a renewal for [our] soul.”

I know that our Heavenly Father and our Savior live. I am grateful for the opportunity the sacrament provides to feel of Their love and to partake of the Spirit. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Left

Right

Lesson Recap: March 18, 2018

"Your leaders in the Lord’s Church may seem to you weak and human or may appear to you strong and inspired. The fact is that every leader is a mixture of those traits and more. What helps servants of the Lord who are called to lead us is when we can see them as the Lord did when He called them."

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/10/the-lord-leads-his-church?lang=eng

Tonight I wish to speak about the wonderful way in which the Lord leads His kingdom on earth. You already know the fundamentals. I pray that the Holy Ghost will confirm them to you.

• First, Jesus Christ is the head of the Church in all the earth.
• Second, He leads His Church today by speaking to men called as prophets, and He does it through revelation.
• Third, He gave revelation to His prophets long ago, still does, and will continue to do so.
• Fourth, He gives confirming revelation to those who serve under the leadership of His prophets.

From those fundamentals, we recognize that the Lord’s leadership of His Church requires great and steady faith from all who serve Him on earth.

For instance, it takes faith to believe that the resurrected Lord is watching over the daily details of His kingdom. It takes faith to believe that He calls imperfect people into positions of trust. It takes faith to believe that He knows the people He calls perfectly, both their capacities and their potential, and so makes no mistakes in His calls.

That may bring a smile or a shake of the head to some in this audience—both those who think their own call to serve might have been a mistake as well as those who picture some they know who seem poorly suited to their place in the Lord’s kingdom. My counsel to both groups is to delay such judgments until you can better see what the Lord sees. The judgment you need to make, instead, is that you have the capacity to receive revelation and to act on it fearlessly.

It takes faith to do so. It takes even greater faith to believe that the Lord has called imperfect human servants to lead you. My purpose tonight is to build your faith that God directs you in your service to Him. And even more importantly, my hope is to build your faith that the Lord is inspiring the imperfect persons He has called as your leaders.

You may think, at first, that such faith is not important to the success of the Lord’s Church and kingdom. However, you may discover—no matter where you are in the chain of priesthood service, from the Lord’s prophet to a new Aaronic Priesthood holder—that faith is essential.

Let’s start with what faith means for a teachers or a deacons quorum president. It is important for him to have faith that the Lord called him personally, knowing that teacher’s weaknesses and strengths. He has to have faith that the man who issued the call received revelation by the Spirit of God. His counselors and members of his quorum need the same faith to follow him with fearless confidence.

I saw such confidence when a boy sat with his deacons quorum presidency one Sunday morning. He was their newly called secretary. That young presidency counseled together. They talked about several ways they could fulfill the bishop’s request to bring a less-active boy back to church. After prayer and discussion, they appointed the secretary to go to the home of a boy who had never come to a meeting and to invite him.

The secretary didn’t know the boy, but he knew that one of the boy’s parents was less active and the other was not a member and not friendly. The secretary felt anxiety but not fear. He knew that the prophet of God had asked priesthood holders to bring back the lost sheep. And he had heard the prayer of his presidency. He heard them come to agreement on the name of the boy to be rescued and on his own name.

I was watching when the secretary walked up the street toward the less-active boy’s house. He walked slowly as if he were going into great danger. But within a half hour he came back down the road with the boy, smiling happily. I’m not sure he knew it then, but he had gone with faith that he was on the Lord’s errand. That faith has stayed with him and has grown over his years as a missionary, a father, a leader of young men, and a bishop.

Let’s talk about what such faith means for a bishop. A bishop is sometimes called to serve people who know him well. Ward members know something of his human weaknesses and his spiritual strengths, and they know that others in the ward could have been called—others who seem better educated, more seasoned, more pleasant, or even better looking.

These members have to know the call to serve as a bishop came from the Lord, by revelation. Without their faith, the bishop, who was called of God, will find it harder to get the revelation he needs to help them. He will not succeed without the faith of the members to sustain him.

Happily, the reverse is also true. Think of the Lord’s servant King Benjamin, who led his people to repentance. The people’s hearts were softened by their faith that he was called of God, despite his human weaknesses, and that his words came from God. You remember what the people said: “Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; … we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually” (Mosiah 5:2).

For a leader to succeed in the Lord’s work, the people’s trust that he is called of God must override their view of his infirmities and mortal weaknesses. You remember how King Benjamin explained his own leadership role:

“I have not commanded you to come up hither that ye should fear me, or that ye should think that I of myself am more than a mortal man.

“But I am like as yourselves, subject to all manner of infirmities in body and mind; yet I have been chosen by this people, and consecrated by my father, and was suffered by the hand of the Lord that I should be a ruler and a king over this people; and have been kept and preserved by his matchless power, to serve you with all the might, mind and strength which the Lord hath granted unto me” (Mosiah 2:10–11).

Your leader in the Lord’s Church may seem to you weak and human or may appear to you strong and inspired. The fact is that every leader is a mixture of those traits and more. What helps servants of the Lord who are called to lead us is when we can see them as the Lord did when He called them.

The Lord sees His servants perfectly. He sees their potential and their future. And He knows how their very nature can be changed. He also knows how they can be changed by their experiences with the people they will lead.

You may have had the experience of being made stronger by the people you were called to serve. I was once called as a bishop of young single adults. I am not sure whether the Lord’s purposes were more for what changes I could help Him make in them or the changes He knew they would make in me.

To a degree I do not understand, most of those young people in that ward acted as if I was called of God especially for them. They saw my weaknesses but looked past them.

I remember one young man who asked for counsel about his educational choices. He was a freshman at a very good university. A week after I had given the advice, he scheduled an appointment with me.

When he came into the office, he surprised me by asking, “Bishop, could we pray before we talk? And could we kneel? And may I pray?”

His requests surprised me. But his prayer surprised me even more. It went something like this: “Heavenly Father, You know that Bishop Eyring gave me advice last week, and it didn’t work. Please inspire him to know what I am to do now.”

Now you might smile at that, but I didn’t. He already knew what the Lord wanted him to do. But he honored the office of a bishop in the Lord’s Church and perhaps wanted me to have the chance to gain greater confidence to receive revelation in that calling.

It worked. As soon as we stood up and then sat down, the revelation came to me. I told him what I felt the Lord would have him do. He was only 18 years old then, but he was mature in spiritual years.

He already knew he didn’t need to go to a bishop on such a problem. But he had learned to sustain the Lord’s servant even in his mortal weaknesses. He eventually became a stake president. He carried with him the lesson we learned together: if you have faith that the Lord leads His Church through revelation to those imperfect servants He calls, the Lord will open the windows of heaven to them, as He will to you.

From that experience, I carried away the lesson that the faith of the people we serve, sometimes more than our own faith, brings us revelation in the Lord’s service.

There was another lesson for me. If that boy had judged me for my failure to give him good advice the first time, he never would have come back to ask again. And so, by choosing not to judge me, he received the confirmation he desired.

Yet another lesson from that experience has served me well. As far as I know, he never told anyone in the ward that I had not given good counsel at first. Had he done that, it might have reduced the faith of others in the ward to trust the bishop’s inspiration.

I try not to judge servants of the Lord or to speak of their apparent weaknesses. And I try to teach that by example to my children. President James E. Faust shared a credo that I am trying to make my own. I commend it to you:

“We … need to support and sustain our local leaders, because they … have been ‘called and chosen.’ Every member of this Church may receive counsel from a bishop or a branch president, a stake or a mission president, and the President of the Church and his associates. None of these brethren asked for his calling. None is perfect. Yet they are the servants of the Lord, called by Him through those entitled to inspiration. Those called, sustained, and set apart are entitled to our sustaining support.

“… Disrespect for ecclesiastical leaders has caused many to suffer spiritual weakening and downfall. We should look past any perceived imperfections, warts, or spots of the men called to preside over us, and uphold the office which they hold” (“Called and Chosen,” Ensign orLiahona, Nov. 2005, 54–55).

That counsel blesses servants of God under all conditions.

In the early days of the Lord’s Church, leaders close to the Prophet Joseph Smith began to speak of his faults. Even with all they had seen and knew of his standing with the Lord, their spirit of criticism and jealously spread like a plague. One of the Twelve set for us all the standard of faith and loyalty we must have if we are to serve in the Lord’s kingdom.

Here is the report: “Several elders called a meeting in the temple for all those who considered Joseph Smith to be a fallen Prophet. They intended to appoint David Whitmer as the new Church leader. … After listening to the arguments against the Prophet, Brigham [Young] arose and testified, ‘Joseph was a Prophet, and I knew it, and that they might rail and slander him as much as they pleased; they could not destroy the appointment of the Prophet of God, they could only destroy their own authority, cut the thread that bound them to the Prophet and to God, and sink themselves to hell’” (Church History in the Fulness of Times Student Manual [Church Educational System manual, 2003], 2nd ed., 174; see also Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 79).

There is a thread that binds us to the Lord in our service. It runs from wherever we are called to serve in the kingdom, up through those called to preside over us in the priesthood, and to the prophet, who is bound to the Lord. It takes faith and humility to serve in the place to which we are called, to trust that the Lord called us and those who preside over us, and to sustain them with full faith.

There will be times, as there were in the days of Kirtland, when we will need the faith and the integrity of a Brigham Young to stand in the place the Lord has called us to, loyal to His prophet and to the leaders He has put in place.

I bear you my solemn and yet joyful witness that the Lord Jesus Christ is at the helm. He leads His Church and His servants. I bear witness that Thomas S. Monson is the only man who holds and exercises all the keys of the holy priesthood on earth at this time. And I pray blessings on all the humble servants who serve so willingly and well in the restored Church of Jesus Christ, which He leads personally. I testify that Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ. They spoke to him. The keys of the priesthood were restored for the blessing of all of Heavenly Father’s children. It is our mission and our trust to serve in our place in the Lord’s cause. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Trek Continues!

By Elder M. Russell Ballard

https://www.lds.org/general-conference/2017/10/the-trek-continues?lang=eng

One hundred seventy years ago, Brigham Young looked across the Salt Lake Valley for the first time and declared, “This is the right place!”1 He knew the place because the Lord had revealed it to him.

By 1869, more than 70,000 Saints had made a similar trek. Despite their many differences in language, culture, and nationality, they shared a testimony of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost, the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and a desire to build Zion—a place of peace, happiness, and beauty in preparation for the Second Coming of the Savior.

Among those first Saints to arrive in Utah was Jane Manning James—the daughter of a freed slave, a convert to the restored Church, and a most remarkable disciple who faced difficult challenges. Sister James remained a faithful Latter-day Saint until her death in 1908.

She wrote: “I want to say right here, that my faith in the gospel of Jesus Christ as taught by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, is as strong today, nay, it is if possible stronger than it was the day I was first baptized. I pay my tithes and offerings, keep the word of wisdom, I go to bed early and rise early, I try in my feeble way to set a good example to all.”

Sister James, like so many other Latter-day Saints, not only built Zion with blood, sweat, and tears but also sought the Lord’s blessings through living gospel principles as best she could while holding on in faith to Jesus Christ—the great healer to all who sincerely seek Him.

The early Saints were not perfect, but they established a foundation upon which we are building families and a society that love and keep covenants, which is highlighted in various news stories around the world because of our commitment to Jesus Christ and our volunteer efforts to help those nearby and far away.

President Eyring, may I add appreciation to the tens of thousands of yellow-shirt angels serving in Texas, Mexico, and other places to your tribute.

I have a deep conviction that if we lose our ties to those who have gone before us, including our pioneer forefathers and mothers, we will lose a very precious treasure. I have spoken about “Faith in Every Footstep” in the past and will continue in the future because I know that rising generations must have the same kind of faith that the early Saints had in the Lord Jesus Christ and His restored gospel.

My own pioneer forefathers and mothers were among those faithful pioneers who pulled handcarts, rode wagons, and walked to Utah. They, like Sister Jane Manning James, had deep faith in every one of their footsteps as they made their own trek.

Their journals are filled with descriptions of hardships, hunger, and sickness and also testimonies of their faith in God and the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.

They had few worldly goods but enjoyed an abundance of the blessings from the brotherhood and sisterhood they found in the Church of Jesus Christ. When they could, they lifted the downtrodden and blessed the sick through service to one another and by the priesthood of God.

The sisters in Cache Valley, Utah, ministered to the Saints in the spirit of the Relief Society to “work in unity to help those in need.” My great-grandmother Margaret McNeil Ballard served at the side of her husband, Henry, as he presided as bishop of the Logan Second Ward for 40 years. Margaret was the ward Relief Society president for 30 of those years. She took into their home the poor, the sick, and the widowed and orphaned, and she even clothed the dead in their clean temple robes.

Although it is appropriate and important to remember the historic 19th-century Mormon pioneer trek, we need to remember that “the trek through life continues!” for each of us as we prove our own “faith in every footstep.”

New converts no longer gather to pioneer settlements in the western United States. Instead, converts gather to their local congregations, where the Saints worship our Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ. With more than 30,000 congregations established around the world, all are gathered to their own Zion. As the scriptures note, “For this is Zion—the pure in heart.”

As we walk the road of life, we are tested to see if we will “observe to do all things whatsoever [the Lord has] commanded.”

Many of us are on amazing journeys of discovery—leading to personal fulfillment and spiritual enlightenment. Some of us, however, are on a trek that leads to sorrow, sin, anguish, and despair.

In this context, please ask yourself: What is your final destination? Where are your footsteps taking you? And is your journey leading you to that “multiplicity of blessings” the Savior has promised?

A trek back to our Heavenly Father is the most important trek of our lives, and it continues each day, each week, each month, and each year as we increase our faith in Him and in His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ.

We must be careful where our footsteps in life take us. We must be watchful and heed the counsel of Jesus to His disciples as He answered these questions: “Tell us, when shall these things be? and what shall be the sign of thy coming, and of the end of the world?

“And Jesus answered and said unto them, Take heed that no man [and I add woman] deceive you.”

Today I repeat earlier counsel from Church leaders.

• Brothers and sisters, keep the doctrine of Christ pure and never be deceived by those who tamper with the doctrine. The gospel of the Father and the Son was restored through Joseph Smith, the prophet for this last dispensation.
• Do not listen to those who have not been ordained and/or set apart to their Church calling and are not acknowledged by common consent of the members of the Church.
• Be aware of organizations, groups, or individuals claiming secret answers to doctrinal questions that they say today’s apostles and prophets do not have or understand.
• Do not listen to those who entice you with get-rich schemes. Our members have lost far too much money, so be careful.

In some places, too many of our people are looking beyond the mark and seeking secret knowledge in expensive and questionable practices to provide healing and support.

An official Church statement, issued one year ago, states: “We urge Church members to be cautious about participating in any group that promises—in exchange for money—miraculous healings or that claims to have special methods for accessing healing power outside of properly ordained priesthood holders.”

The Church Handbook counsels: “Members should not use medical or health practices that are ethically or legally questionable. Local leaders should advise members who have health problems to consult with competent professional practitioners who are licensed in the countries where they practice.”12

Brothers and sisters, be wise and aware that such practices may be emotionally appealing but may ultimately prove to be spiritually and physically harmful.

For our pioneer ancestors, independence and self-reliance were vital, but their sense of community was just as important. They worked together and helped one another overcome the physical and emotional challenges of their time. For the men, there was the priesthood quorum, and the women were served by the Relief Society. These outcomes have not changed in our day.

The Relief Society and the priesthood quorums provide for the spiritual and temporal well-being of our members.

Stay on the gospel path by having “faith in every footstep” so you can return safely back to the presence of Heavenly Father and the Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord is our precious Savior. He is the Redeemer of the world. We must honor His sacred name and not misuse it in any way, always striving to keep His commandments. If we do so, He will bless us and lead us safely home.

I invite everyone within the sound of my voice to welcome and embrace anyone who is making his or her own trek today, no matter where they are in their journey.

Please remember there is no blessing anyone can share greater than the message of the Restoration, which, when received and lived, promises everlasting joy and peace—even eternal life. Let us use our energy, strength, and testimonies in assisting our missionaries to find, teach, and baptize God’s children so they may have the power of the gospel doctrine guiding their daily lives.

We need to embrace God’s children compassionately and eliminate any prejudice, including racism, sexism, and nationalism. Let it be said that we truly believe the blessings of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ are for every child of God.

I testify that “the trek continues,” and I invite you to stay on the gospel path as you continue pressing forward by reaching out to all of God’s children in love and compassion, that we may unitedly make our hearts pure and our hands clean to receive the “multiplicity of blessings” awaiting all who truly love our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son, for which I humbly pray in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.