Welcome to Closer to Christ, their general conference,
where two friends who love Jesus share our own
approach to studying the most recent general
conference talks. This is Abbey and Amy. Let's
jump into it. Today, we're going to talk about
Sacred Scriptures, the Foundation of Faith by
Elder Quentin L. Cook, a member of the Twelve.
Abbey, so good to see you. It's been a minute.
Amy's been dealing with some stuff. We hope she's
on the mend, but in case she's not, keep praying
for her for us. Thanks, Abby. Have you ever taken
a second to think about what you accomplish with
your phone? For most of us, they're a significant
part of our lives. In fact, the other day, I
just went to the eye doctor and he was, because
I'm getting of an older age, we were talking
about, he's like, everything you do now is right
up close. So we got to make sure you can see
up close. I'm like, okay. Are those glasses on
your face like close -up readers or? They're
not, but we switched to that just to kind of
see. And I'm like, all right, sounds good. My
sister, I FaceTimed her like yesterday and I
was like, cute glasses. She's like, yeah, I can't
see. It's unreal. Like over that age. It's true.
So yes, our life is now right in front of our
faces. We're moving into a world that is becoming
dominated with artificial. intelligence and we
embrace it, or we get left behind as far as matters
of working life go. However, there is something
that absolutely trumps AI and that is divine
intelligence. This comes from divine revelation,
which comes as we embrace divine sources. So
there's AI and there's actual divine intelligence.
Today we get to appreciate the blessing of sacred
scriptures. I love this part. Elder Cook talked
about a saying that he saw on a t -shirt and
it said, book. The original handheld device.
So good. How do you prefer to read scriptures,
Amy? Are you like a paper copy or a digital gal?
I'm actually a digital gal. I love to have everything
like just right within my fingertips. I tend
to get sidetracked a little bit. So I love having
my link to conference talks or different things
that I like. topics that I've been studying.
I love to be able to look at a note that was
like from 2014. What was I learning then? You
know, I write my testimony about a particular
verse of scripture or whatever. So I love seeing
that and having it all right in my hand. And
then to see how like life experience has changed,
maybe how you're seeing the verse in that moment.
100%. As you're looking back. I add to it or
whatever. I'm doing a lot of editing. When I
look back at my older notes, I'm like, oh, I
spelled that wrong. No, not that my thoughts
have changed. I'm like, I can barely read that.
You know how that is when I write you something.
I'm not a good proofreader. Abby E's. But I would
say the same thing. I would say that I tend more
to digital because I don't particularly care
for my handwriting. It's hard for me to read.
I'm like writing so furiously. It's pretty illegible.
And so I do find I can keep my thoughts. I can
read them years later. And even if they have
to have a little bit of grammar editing, I can
understand what I was trying to say. I can read
through that. I have heard people, though, who
tend to get distracted by. what other options
are on their phone. Yeah. And so they'll set
that aside for a time and gravitate to the paper
scriptures. Totally. So they know they're not
going to be going down rabbit holes. They just
want to stay in like the pure and simple scripture.
That so makes sense. Yeah. And I think we all
have seasons where we go to different things.
That's exactly what I would say. It's season.
So like right now, I would say digital. That
makes sense. But whether handheld or digital.
The Holy Bible and the Book of Mormon, another
testament of Jesus Christ, both provide us spiritual
guidance and teachings from Jesus Christ, the
Savior of our world. We treasure these books,
their profound role in documenting God's direction
to ancient prophets and people and the guidance
they provide for our own personal lives. Combined
with the teachings of living prophets, these
sacred scriptures provide doctrinal direction
for us in today's world. These scriptures are
most powerful when they give instruction, correction,
comfort. and consolation to individuals and also
families who seek guidance from the Lord. First,
we have to know what is available, what is out
there. Then we have to hear it, read it. Next,
we have to opt in and then implement those teachings
that we found. Yeah. Sacred scriptures combined
with inspiration from the Holy Spirit should
be our primary source. It should facilitate our
conversations. It should give us a desire to
follow Jesus Christ. If what we're putting in
us isn't... Drawing us closer to Jesus Christ,
there's better options out there for what's going
in. Absolutely, Abby. Scriptures are the foundation
that, if utilized, will allow us to withstand
the adversary's constant efforts to undermine
faith. This is true due to current members and
investigators. It's true for everybody. Elder
Cook recognized new members as the lifeblood
of the church throughout its history. And I totally
agree. It was so sweet where he said that. Yeah.
I will also say that, Abby, I absolutely have
a testimony of that the scriptures contain doctrinal
truth and that they really like if you're ever
wanting to course correct, you go back to the
scriptures and you look up maybe a topic that
you're struggling with. And as you study that.
The Lord will give you a contrite heart. I'm
sorry, a broken heart and a contrite spirit.
You will feel His words that are living and that
they actually apply to you in your life right
then. This just happened to me the past couple
of weeks, and I'm just grateful to tears that
Heavenly Father is so loving. And whenever He
gives correction to me, it's so gentle that...
Just that makes me feel so grateful for the atonement.
And I'm thinking, I'm such an unprofitable servant
in a lot of ways. And it kind of blows my mind
that he deals with me so patiently instead of
saying, hey, Amy, you're kind of a jerk. Or why
did you do this? It's just what I've been getting
over and over again is return to my word and
repent. And I just keep getting that over and
over again. It's not. horrible things I've done.
It's just the, am I trying to be as Christlike
as possible? Am I in his word? Do I, is it part
of my bones? Is that what I really want every
single day is to give mercy to people, to extend
love and to recognize that every day I've been
given mercy from a loving heavenly father. And
that's possible because of Christ's atonement.
I'm just so grateful for that. And that's all
because the scriptures. And like you said, foundational.
Yeah. If utilized in that way. We can, like we
said, we can go down rabbit holes. We can read
a lot of accessory things. We can steer off of
sacred divine sources and get into a much deeper
rabbit hole of people's opinions about things.
I mean, even this podcast. Right. This is our
opinion about things. It's everybody's. opportunity
to listen to that and say that the spirit is
not resonating with me on that and steer clear
from that or to say, yeah, the things that they're
speaking are bringing me closer to Jesus Christ
and maybe continue to listen for that reason.
But I love what you're saying. It's it always
goes back to the scriptures when something really
shakes you. You have to peel those things back
and say, okay, I've added that. I've added that
onto scripture, but let me get back to the scripture
and say, does this support the scripture truth
that I know to be true? Totally, 100%. And I
know what you've been dealing with the last couple
of weeks. And it's unfortunate that you're going
through a physical trial right now and trying
to heal your body from some things. that is that
is a bad that is hard thing but it's awesome
to see like what it's really opened you up to
is just peeling back the layers and also like
looking at your spiritual foundation and yeah
You've had a lot of time. You have had to like
hunker down at the house and I've missed you.
It's been like three weeks. It's been two full
weeks. Two full weeks. It felt longer than that.
Yeah, because it was broken up, right? It was
like half of one week, a full week, half of the
next week. That's a long time. Like you said,
it's a lot of time to sit and reflect and then
reassess and address the things that come to
top of mind. It is. After he talked about how
new members were the lifeblood of the church,
he... jump right into a story on the William
Edward Musselman family. Do you remember that?
Yes. He said that he came to know these people
when he was a young bishop in California. The
father was a lawyer, general counselor for a
major corporation. He had a devoted wife named
Janet. She was helping her family to strive to
be more Christ -like. So they were already living
a beautiful, blessed life. There was a son and
daughter, early 20s. And, you know, as a family,
they were enjoying the blessings of what it looks
like to follow Jesus Christ in their life. But
there was something more that could be added
to them. And they started investigating the church.
They had received the lessons. They were attending.
Sister missionaries had emphasized that reading
the Book of Mormon and praying for a testimony
of that sacred scripture would be the key to
their testimony or the foundational piece. Then
you did. And remarkably, the family preferably
read the entire Book of Mormon. Isn't that amazing?
Quickly, yeah. At the same time that they were
doing this searching, They started getting a
ton of literature that was critical to the church,
enough to fill a cardboard box. Jeez. So Elder
Cook, the bishop at the time, was asked to come
in and help to answer some of these questions
that the literature was bringing up. So the literature
is sitting there in a box in the middle of the
room, I guess, and they open this discussion
with a prayer. While they're praying, Elder Cook,
the spirit whispers to Elder Cook. that the father
already knew that the gospel of Jesus Christ
was true. Love it. And this was important. The
sisters had believed the rest of the family were
on board, but they weren't really sure where
the dad stood as far as his testimony of the
gospel. So they finished the prayer, and Elder
Cook says, I've been impressed by the Spirit
to know that you already have a testimony. Is
this true? And the father looks at him intently
and says that, yeah, the Spirit had confirmed
the truth of the Book of Mormon, and for him,
that. was enough to know that the church was
true as well so then he said well now is it important
to discuss what is in these pamphlets and the
dad agreed it's not important to even delve into
that because i know for myself from what i've
prayed that that foundation those scriptures
are true so that that's that's all that's all
the information he needed from there and so if
you know he's followed this family they were
quickly baptized. They were sealed a year later,
and he's watched their lives. They've remained
faithful in the church. He's even been able to
perform a temple ceremony for, I guess, one of
the granddaughters at this point. Amazing. I
love that. The conversions that are occurring
in our day are equally remarkable. Elder Cook
says that last June, Coach Andy Reid, head football
coach of the Kansas City Chiefs, and I, along
with others representing our faith and other
faiths, spoke in a multi -faith event at the
Riverside Church in New York City. Coach Reid
emphasized second chances and responded to invitations
and opportunity. opportunities, which is what
the gospel of Jesus Christ is all about. The
next morning with our wives, Tammy, Reed, and
Mary, we attended the sacrament meeting at the
Manhattan Second Ward. It was a spiritual service.
There were many new converts in the congregation.
Five recently baptized members, four men and
one young man, were among the Aaronic Priesthood
members passing the sacrament. I am happy to
report that a similar influx of new members is
happening throughout the church. With the internet
being what it is, it seems like all you hear
are public announcements. It's true, right, that
people are leaving the church. But hearts are
being softened and people are becoming more vocal
about Jesus Christ. And people throughout the
world are joining the church in a significant
way. That is so beautiful, Abby. It did touch
my heart when he said that, because like, I agree.
That's what you see, people very vocal and they're
leaving. But when you look at... you know, a
handful of stories to that compared to thousands
and thousands that are entering around the world
and the opportunities that it's creating for
them and knowing that that foundational piece,
the Book of Mormon, is what's changing their
lives. Yeah. You know, I don't know the exact
quote, but I've always loved this, that the work
of the Lord moves forward without fanfare. I
love that because it's just, it's kind of like
nature. It's just steady and there's steady progress.
And pretty soon the snow outside is going to
melt and the river is going to get, you know,
it rushes more and we're going to get leaves
on the trees. It's without fanfare. It just goes.
But on the other side, as far as Satan is concerned,
he does a lot of fanfare. So it's easy to take
notice. Make it look like this is the trend,
that this is the majority. And it's just not.
Yes. I'm thinking that if I was a new convert
listening to Elder Cook speak, I would have felt
extra special when he said this. We are grateful
for the noticeable increase in those who respond
to sacred invitation, change their lives, and
accept the opportunity to follow Jesus Christ.
They enter the covenant path through faith, repentance,
baptism, and confirmation as taught in the Holy
Bible and the Book of Mormon. That last line,
you know, might serve as a reminder to all of
us what the covenant path looks like. And it's
much easier to stay on when this sacred scriptures
end. allowing the Spirit to confirm the truths
of those sacred scriptures. You know, don't just
get thrown aside for some passing comment or
some influencer on the internet. We cannot underestimate
the significance of sacred scriptures, both in...
conversions and also in remaining faithful to
the gospel. What did ancient prophets know? They
knew about the mission of Jesus Christ and they
taught his gospel. The book of Mormon helps us
draw closer to God as we learn, understand, and
apply its teachings. The prophet Joseph Smith
taught a man or woman would get nearer to God
by abiding by the book's precepts than by any
other book. Amen. I'm glad that that scripture
was shared with us. Do you remember it being
Sharon? Sharon? Sharon? I'm making up words here.
Do you remember a time in your childhood when
that was presented to you? Shared. That's the
word. You mean the quote by Joseph Smith? That
you become no closer to God than any other book.
Yeah, it was always like, wow. I wasn't even
great at reading the Book of Mormon back then
when that was shared with me. But shared, I used
it correctly right there. But as an adult. I've
seen it multiple times. And I know for a fact
that if I need something, if I need to recenter
myself, if I need some firm footing, all I have
to do is open the Book of Mormon. And the answer,
it's there in some form. It takes me opening
it. It takes me opting in and spending some time
there. But the answers, I've never been failed.
The answers have been there. I totally agree,
Abby. He bore a simple yet powerful testimony.
Next, he said, to know that the Book of Mormon
is the Word of God, we need to read, ponder,
and pray about it, and then act according to
the precepts. The prophet Moroni promised that
God will reveal the truth of the book to us as
we pray with a sincere heart, with real intent,
and with faith in Christ. Studying the Book of
Mormon is essential for enduring conversion.
You can't read it and have a testimony of it
and think that that's going to withstand. you
know, the things that life's going to throw at
us. It's a constant, continuous process. Because
at the same time, you think my testimony that
is so rock solid that nothing's going to happen
to it, Satan's going to take that as an opportunity
to put something else in its place. Oh, yeah.
Especially when President Nelson said that he's
quadrupling his efforts and his tactics are varied
and they're different now. I mean, it's like
his game is on, ours needs to be too. Thank you.
Something to reflect on is how blessed we are
to have the Bible and also the Book of Mormon,
another testament of Jesus Christ. The Book of
Mormon provides fundamental doctrine that enhances
and builds upon the Bible. The doctrine of the
atonement of Jesus Christ is a profound example.
The Bible provides an accurate account of the
mortal ministry of Jesus Christ, including his
death and his resurrection. The Book of Mormon
is more explicit about the atonement of Jesus
Christ, absolutely, something prophets explain
in detail prior to his death. I just this this
week, I was studying a talk that President Russell
M. Nelson gave back in 1995. And I absolutely
love the way he masterfully he first shared a
scripture from Christ's mortal ministry from
the Bible is Matthew five something. And then
the very next one that he shared was from the
Book of Mormon. And it like. It just worked so
perfectly together. And I just love how it was
seamless. It was like, well, this is what happened
here. But then it was different. Like he said,
notice the change of words. It was actually,
he was saying, be therefore perfect, even as
our father is perfect. Right before he died,
he said that. Then after his resurrection, he
says to the Nephites, be therefore perfect, even
as I. He's like, notice the difference. He didn't.
So he was talking about how that showed him about
the resurrection, completed his perfection. I
just loved it that that was available to us.
So it's totally true that the Book of Mormon
is explicit about the atonement of Jesus Christ.
We get to learn so much from it. Another testament.
It adds to it. It doesn't take away from it.
I was reading some comments on some social media
stuff and was informed that members of The Church
of Jesus Christ of Latter -day Saints can't feel
the Spirit. They're devoid of the Spirit because
they've added Scripture to what was already there
and perfect. And I was like, man, if you read
the book, you'd let the Spirit tell you whether
that was true or not. Amen. And, you know, I
don't like to dabble in that. It's not like I
was like looking for anti -Mormon literature.
I was reading some comments just briefly. Just
what are people's thoughts on this thing? A good
temperature check. Yeah, what that did to me
was just to help me reaffirm the testimony that
I have of the sacred Scripture working in tandem.
as they were always meant to. It makes perfect
sense to have both of them to enhance the things
that we already know, to bring out details that
would be lost otherwise. I just love it. A full
picture. I'm so grateful for it, Abby. A reminder
about prophetic promises. Elder Russell M. Nelson
said, I promise you that as you prayerfully study
the Book of Mormon every day, you will make better
decisions. Every day. He also promises that if
you daily immerse yourself in the Book of Mormon,
you can be immunized against the evils of the
day. So to know that efforts are going to be
quadrupled on Satan's side and to know that the
immunization, the only immunization we need is
some time in the Book of Mormon. Yeah. That seems
like a pretty easy antidote, remedy, whatever
to take. It really is amazing. It is wise to
consider an action item here. Okay, so whether
paper or electronic, what is working for each
of us in our own scripture study? How are we
making time for it? Do we notice a difference
when we read? Are we approaching it systematically
or by topic? Are we asking questions as we go?
What is working? Abby, what's working for you
right now? I think I kind of mentioned I had
some time to think about this. The electronic
copy is working for me. I love starting my week
with the Come Follow Me chapters and some suggested
things to study. I love reading the conference
talks that are more dated that they insert into
the Come Follow Me stuff so that I can see how
all of that kind of works in tandem. And I like
to get that done really early in the week because
I feel like it. presents me with opportunities
to have discussions with my kids in very normal
and natural ways. Like it's on your heart, right?
And it's not a checkbox thing for me, but that
kind of takes priority. And then I can move into,
like, I've already shared this. On Sundays, I'm
spending more time in the topical guide, working
through all of the titles and things associated
with Jesus Christ. How's that going? It's great.
I've already evolved it to the point where it's
like... I was like, well, what's it going to
take to do this in a year? What do I need to
get it done for in a year? I love it. I got half
my life left. So it may take a little bit longer
and I may spend more time on like a certain like
the birth of Jesus Christ. I'll tell you, that
was that was a cool one for me just to think
about him coming as a child and his condescension
of Jesus Christ. Like alphabetically, I'm coming
up with the words. I'm thinking it's amazing
to stop and think on every facet of his life
to think how important all of that was into.
gain whatever I can of that particular quality
or trait or experience that he had in this life.
So yeah, it's electronic for me right now. But
I will say, I do love that you mentioned seasons
change. If at some point I feel like I'm getting
too far off the path of just a simple sacred
doctrine, I might stick to my copy of an enzyme
and a copy of the Book of Mormon imprint. That
could be a thing. And if that's what people are
thinking, that's what I'm doing. And it's really
working for me. Yay. I'm glad for you. What about
you? I will say this. I love when you just shared
what your approach is right now. And I like how
you said like you amended it. Yeah. You know,
like being open to the spirit and being open
to. It's changed. And that's the thing, too.
You don't always know what it's going to look
like until you jump into it. And then you're
like, oh, I understand why I had the impression
to start. And now I have a clearer vision of
what I'm doing with this. I'm the same way in
my study. I'll tell you why it evolved. I was
sitting there in sacrament and it did help me
like zero in on the beauty of the sacrament being
passed because I was like, you know, on my phone
in a youthful way, not like in a game, which
I might tend to want to be into or something.
And I thought, you know, if I push through these
scriptures and don't spend the time like really
thinking about them and making them, you know,
Adam, I'm developing. Being my testimony of each
of these words is what I'm doing. But anyway,
if I try to blast through that too fast, the
Spirit was telling me, like, that's very checkboxy.
That's not what we're going for. You're going
for what lessons you can learn to become more
like Him. Yeah. And so I kind of had to take
the time restraint off of it. And that is just
going to take a while. I'm not even sure how
long it's going to take. Totally. That's fine.
And that is just fine. Being in the Scripture
is wonderful. Elder Cook said, I'm particularly
grateful that it allowed sacred. allows sacred
books and church materials to be available digitally.
Amen. They do a lot of work, like to make those
apps successful. They've updated it recently,
kind of make it more appealing. They want to
be like every other app to draw your attention
and suck you into it in a good way. He said,
the internet is a powerful tool for studying
the gospel. Today, many people share scriptures
with friends using technology. There's a Book
of Mormon app, for example. You can... you know,
share that out with people, just the same as
handing like a paper copy of the book. And it's
a great way that you can introduce friends to
the Book of Mormon and easily share it in natural
ways. Another huge blessing about technology
that came to me as I was preparing for this talk
was how we can get the gospel into people's own
tongue. They'll take those Book of Mormon videos.
Years ago when those were coming out, we were
on a church district tour with this guy named
Justin, and he was heavily involved with that
project. So he showed us this. like, intro video
to get you excited about it. And I was like,
Oh, that's so amazing. And he brought out the
idea that when people are illiterate, they never
get to have the Book of Mormon for themselves.
They're counting on you telling them about it.
Right? Yeah. So the way that they did the Book
of Mormon videos was to be so precise in, you
know, what was said and really set the stage
for people. So for the first time, people that
were illiterate could see it. Well, A gal in
our ward shared that her son, he's in Mexico.
And so when you're in Peru, you've got Spanish
and then you've got Quechua because it's the
ancient Incan language. When you're in Mexico,
you've got the Aztecs. You've got an ancient
Aztec dialect. Dialect, totally. You can never
get the Book of Mormon into that. Oh, you could.
It could take years. But actually, you can't
because it's not a written language. It's impossible
to translate the book into an oral. It would
be someone who still speaks it, who would translate
it. And good luck with that. So the right people
fell into the right ways. And I'm going to link
this article from LDS Living. But for $5 ,000,
they can take the videos that we have already
for the Book of Mormon. And then they can use
these people that have this spoken language.
And so then you've got the camera panning on
the eyes of these people who speak that language.
Wow, Abby. And watch them. experience the Book
of Mormon for themselves for the first time.
It's so touching. So I was like, that's the truth.
He's promised that he would get it into the hands
of these ancient ancestors of the book. this
is the way that it's happening right now because
of technology. So as awful as it can be, isn't
it so amazing? That it's also a blessing. Yes.
We know with these amazing benefits of technology
and the gospel that we have to be aware and prepared
for the digital boxes full of anti -literature
out there, kind of like you touched on earlier.
Content meant to create doubt and undermine faith
in precious gospel principles. If it can be part
of the evils of the day that President Nelson
mentioned, the adversary And those who assist
him, knowingly or either unknowingly, have created
on the internet the equivalent of the box of
written material critical of the church that
he described earlier. Yeah, rooms full of them,
right? Intended to draw you away, each of us
away from God's truth. Yeah. If you want to find
anti -content, you can find a host of it. People
poking fun at our leaders. One of the latest
things they'll say, oh, your leaders, they don't
want you to question anything outside of what
they're saying. They don't want you to look outside
for information. I feel like that's a gross exaggeration
of what they're actually counseling us. Agreed.
This talk lays out the fact that it's scriptures
that must be our foundation. And when questions
arise. To start with the sacred scripture. If
you don't believe the Bible to be the word of
God, certainly don't be pondering over the Bible
to get your answers. Certainly don't be pondering.
But if you do agree that the Bible has valid
content and can bring you closer to Jesus Christ,
read that. If you're me and you know that the
Book of Mormon is another testament of Jesus
Christ, you'd be stupid to not, you know, accept
that as a primary source for the questions that
you're undertaking. Absolutely. They literally,
they just want you to feel bad about, about.
They want you to just not agree with the scriptures
or what the prophet's saying and jump right to
their content. No, listen to me. I'm much smarter
than your prophet. What do I know about you?
You have my best intent at heart? I don't think
so. Allow the spirit to guide your studies and
answer your questions rather than algorithms
and social media that never work in your favor.
They never uplift and edify. Can you go to the
internet for answers? Absolutely. But if you
approach it with a heart determined to step off
the covenant path, Satan's going to be more than
happy to lead you to people eager to get you
there. Absolutely. Constantly checking yourself
if the information that you're taking in is even
credible, is a necessary key. What's their motivation
for providing the content that they are? What
sources are they referencing? And remember, not
all sources are equal. Not everyone has your
best interest at mind. 100%. It's interesting
you say that, too, when he says determined to
step off the covenant path. So when I have questions
and I'm actually looking on the internet or something,
I'm Googling something. I'll always start with
a prayer and I say, Heavenly Father, my intent
is to find truth that absolutely 100 % is in
line with the gospel of Jesus Christ. I am not
looking for anything to supplement or other than.
I'm looking for truth. We'll call that divine
Google search. Yep, divine Google search. So
if it falls within there, then that's great.
I go ahead. And if your heart's constricted,
it's hard. You want to be out and you're looking
for a reason to be out and you think that stacking
it with more... literature to get you there is
going to be helpful, you're going to be begging
for Satan to put that material in your face.
It'll be definitely available to you. Agreed,
Abby. He said this, both long -term members and
those newly studying the gospel need to be intentional
about what they view. Do not entertain immoral,
dishonest, or unrighteous material. If you do...
algorithms can lead you down a path that destroys
your faith and impairs your eternal progression.
You can be acted upon positively or negatively,
of course, right? Seek righteousness and avoid
dark internet rabbit holes and doom scrolling.
Fill your life with positive, righteous ideas.
Be joyful, have fun, but avoid foolishness. There
is a difference. The 13th Article of Faith is
a marvelous guide. Above all, immerse yourself
regularly in the Book of Mormon, which will draw
the Spirit into your life and help you discern
truth from error. So, you know, what the question
we might ask is, what if a loved one has gone
down that rabbit hole? His apostolic counsel
comes to us here. He says, return to the sacred
scriptures, prophetic guidance, religious observance
in the home and the music of faith. What he's
saying is you individually do that. Yes. They're
not in a mindset where they're going to want
to do that, but you choose to do that. And that's
going to change how you respond, support, love,
despite, you know, now your differences and opinions
about. about things that you're holding sacred.
Every soul is precious to the Lord. We need you.
The Lord needs you and you need him. You will
always be welcome. During my many years of church
service, he said, I have cherished the wonderful
people who returned to the covenant path and
then served and blessed everyone they loved or
with whom they came in contact with. I want to
add my testimony to that. Somebody that strayed
from the gospel of Jesus Christ and found their
way back. are my favorite people in the world
because they've done the hard work without me
having to. And I can see the testimony that they've
grown in that process. I'm just grateful. Right
now, I can't hold my life together without the
gospel of Jesus Christ. I don't want to intentionally
steer off of it, but I'm hoping that people that
have been off and they're looking for a reason
to come back or a way to come back, know that
it's as simple as starting with. with the scriptures
and knowing that they come with so much valuable
knowledge on the backswing of things. Don't you
think? Very powerful. Yes, Abby. Always remember
that the sacred scriptures and living prophets
are love notes from heaven. Love it. They are
the vehicle by which Heavenly Father makes His
plan of happiness available to all of His children.
Any last thoughts? No. Do you have anything for
us in closing? I'm going to close with this testimony.
He said, I bear sure witness of the divinity
of Jesus Christ. And I'm just going to end with
his sweet, simple testimony. What he said was,
I bear my sure witness of the divinity of Jesus
Christ and the reality of his atonement because
of the things we have learned for ourselves through
scripture study. Amy and I add our testimony
to that testimony as well. And we do that in
his name, Jesus Christ. Amen. Amen.