The Daily - 2020

As we continue faithful, building our faith in Jesus Christ and accepting strength from witnesses around us, we can build our own testimonies and draw nearer to our Savior. We can inherit eternal life.

As we give our hearts to God, the Lord will use His matchless power, His grace, to compensate for our weakness. He has already given us everything that is within our abilities. And so regardless of what we have done, it is always the grace of Christ that saves us. We only have one thing to give in return: our choice to have faith and trust Him.

The Book of Mormon testifies of Jesus Christ. It is permeated with references to His teachings, His love, and His gospel. As we read this book, we will draw nearer to Him.

The new year is often a time to think of renewal. Through Jesus Christ and the Plan of Salvation, all things will be restored. Through the power of the Holy Ghost, the words of ancient and modern prophets, and sincere prayer and searching, we can build a testimony of the love that Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ have for us, and the great things they have in store in these latter days.

In October 2019, Elder David A. Bednar described an experience of watching cheetas hunting a group of topis on the Savannah and taught that there are many lessons we can learn from their behavior. For example, the scriptures teach that we can escape temptation through the saving power of Jesus Christ, and He can only protect us if we stay within the bounds the Lord has set.

We may not always see the dangers that we are faced with. But as we choose to heed the Lord's watchmen, we will have the Lord’s protection from seen and unseen dangers.

The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been releasing a new series of Book of Mormon videos since last fall. The first three videos of the series cover the Come, Follow Me reading for this week. Watching these videos helped me to see Lehi's family as real people, rather than just words on a page. As we make use of the resources that have been carefully prepared for us, we can learn and grow.

The Lord always provides a way for us to obey His commandments, no matter how difficult or even impossible they may seem.

“Commune” means “to communicate intimately.” When we enter a prayer truly seeking to offer thanks, find guidance, and heed the inspiration we receive, we can truly commune with the Lord.

The Lord doesn’t offer fear or anxiety; He gives us peace. If we start to panic about decisions that we have made in faith and felt peace regarding, we can remember Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s counsel: “Beware the temptation to retreat from a good thing. If it was right when you prayed about it and trusted in it, it is right now.” We need to trust the peace the Lord has given us and know that He will continue to speak peace to our minds.

In visions seen by Nephi and Lehi, an iron rod representing the word of God led them to the tree of life. We need to be steadfast, holding to this rod of iron daily throughout our lives. Then, we can reach our goal. We can abide there forever if we only hold fast to the rod.

To be called the people and the church of Christ, we must be “willing to bear one another’s burdens, that they may be light; yea, and [be] willing to mourn with those that mourn; yea, and comfort those that stand in need of comfort, and to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things.” Empathy is one way we accomplish this witness.

As we grasp the iron rod and progress toward the tree of life with fruit that is the love of God, we will find true joy—now and forever. The fruit is most sweet, above all that we have ever before tasted.

Through the Atonement of Jesus Christ, the bands of death were broken. Because of Him, and through the Plan of Salvation, each of us will see our loved ones and our Savior in the next life.

Making sacrifices to serve is always worth it. When we choose to serve with joy and love, we will build lasting relationships.

We sometimes get bogged down with uncertainty, doubt, fear, frustration, or even a simple lack of understanding. But in most circumstances of our lives, we can repeat these words: I did not come this far only to come this far.

Through the atoning sacrifice of Jesus Christ, we can come back. We can give up our sins, our mistakes, and our uncertainty in favor of choosing to believe and choosing to act on that belief. Let’s always seek to be on the path that leads to eternal life and eternal joy, whether than involves staying on or returning to the path.

As we choose to follow Jesus Christ, and as we choose to repent of our sins and serve He who is master of all, we can leave the great and abominable church behind us. We can abandon Babylon and come to Zion. We can be made whole.

It takes courage and faith to find peace in times of trial, but the Lord is always there for us. When we have built our foundations on Christ, we too can find strength in the midst trials to declare, “It is well with my soul!”

Fred Rogers once said, "Forgiveness is a strange thing. It can sometimes be easier to forgive our enemies than our friends. It can be hardest of all to forgive people we love.” But through the healing power of the Atonement Jesus Christ, we can fulfill the commandment to “forgive all men.”

The Lord has taught that “men should be anxiously engaged in a good cause, and do many things of their own free will, and bring to pass much righteousness; For the power is in them, wherein they are agents unto themselves.” Let us emulate the Savior's example of anxious engagement, especially in our Father’s work.

Church leaders have reminded us that we have our own metaphorical Liahonas in our own lives, and their help and guidance is dependent on the heed we give them. As we follow the word of God in our lives, regardless of how small or simple it may seem, we will be blessed with eternal life and our own eternal land of promise.

One of the commandments we have been given is to liken the scriptures unto ourselves. This means that we need to read carefully and apply the lessons in the word of God to our own lives.

Like Nephi, we can know in whom we have trusted. We can have faith in Christ’s infinite Atonement and feel His love. We can awake, rejoice, and praise because of the rock of our salvation.