I love his approach. He’s so warm and welcoming, isn’t he?

Elder Wood, and Elder Carlson, Frank, everyone else.

It’s just a delight to be here. In fact, we probably have a few extra minutes because Elder Uchtdorf’s with President Ballard right now for just a few minutes. And so before I jump in I’d like to ask you all a question. This is audience participation time for just five minutes.

We have been richly edified, not only at this conference, but this weekend.

What have you learned and what are you feeling?

Anyone by the show of hands?

Who’s brave enough to start this off for just a minute? What have you learned and what are you feeling after this weekend?

Please, good brother.

There is hope.

There is hope.

And Dr. Andrew Skinner reinforced that, in the doctrine of Christ there is hope.

There is hope in Christ. There is belonging for everyone. Thank you for that. Others, please, what have you learned and felt?

Yes, good brother.

Stay in the boat. Stay in the boat.

“The old ship Zion”, said President Ballard years ago. Do you remember that?

“The good ship Zion.” Yes, sister.

The gospel is about love.

The gospel is about love. And didn't Elder Christofferson put a point on what perfect love

meant, as taught by Moroni in Moroni 7 and 8.

Perfect love, it’s different than unconditional love.

Thank you for that.

What else, please?

Right here, yes. Please, in the middle. Temples should be more centric in our lives.

Temples should be more sacred in our lives, is that what I heard? (off screen) Centric.

Oh, centric. The very center.

Just as Jesus is core to everything we do, His house, core to everything we do.

To go be with Him often in His house.

Thank you for that. Any others?

Yes, Elder Ringwood. I just discovered something, a good friend who had an impact on my youth is still here blessing

the lives of others, Wayne Hull. Where is Wayne Hull? Oh, you’re the one that already started this.

Elder Ringwood, you’ve got to connect the dots for us here. He doesn't look that old,

but he used to love me when I was a little kid.

I was his priest quorum advisor. You were his priest quorum advisor.

You know what, I really love this connection. Elder Ringwood is the Executive Director of the Priesthood and Family Department.

He’s kind of like my boss, if you look at ecclesiastical lines that way.

He’s here to support all of you.

And my talk is about connection and healing.

That in our lives there are these connections that are made that are just

undeniable how God has orchestrated us to be together.

When’s the last time you saw each other, Elder Ringwood and Brother Hull?

Long time, probably. Probably my dad’s funeral.

Dad’s funeral. I mean, this is so unique. And I’m going to talk about this, because I met several of you years ago that are here in this room today.

We’ll talk about those connections. Let’s have one more.

Yes, good brother.

Seek daily restoration.

Okay, seek daily restoration he said.

Refreshing, renewal, restoration. You think about the application of the sacrament, you think about our daily worship in counselling with the Lord, our daily worship of the Lord.

Thank you for that. One more I saw, yes.

Choose discomfort.

Oh, he said, “Choose discomfort.” Well, the Lord certainly chastises those whom He loves.

“We can choose to be humble”, said Alma, “or we can compelled to be humble.”

And choosing that humility is important. Thank you so much.

Well, as a young boy I often wondered why my Grandpa Jaggi was so ornery.

My grandmother, a living angel, seemed to be the opposite in her demeanor, she was always happy and smiling and warm and welcoming.

My Grandfather was distant and gruff and occasionally mean.

I wondered, “Why did she put up with him?” When I was about 12 years old I finally gathered enough courage to ask Grandma why she stayed with Grandpa after all those years.

She replied, he’d served his country and experienced some horrific

experiences, that she could never leave her hero and her husband.

She was indeed an angelic being.

In January, 1940 my Grandpa Stanley Jaggi decided to leave high school at age 17 and enlist in the Army, an Army Ranger.

You can see here to look on his face as he prepared for leave home and serve in the military.

He was happy.

Raised in Logan in a faithful Latter-day Saint home and excited to see the world.

As I’ve studied the pictures our family has collected and deposited to FamilySearch over the years, I’ve looked closely for Grandpa’s expression, and expressions of what he was feeling.

I could tell he had been wounded, as you look at these pictures, in many ways during the various battles in the Pacific during 52 months of service in World War II.

Fifty-two months.

When Grandpa was sick and ailing in his later years he recited for the first time some of the tragic circumstances of his many years of service in the Pacific.

Losing his whole platoon in a friendly fire accident, being lost in a Philippine jungle for nine months, and other atrocities of war had taken their toll on Grandpa’s psyche.

I recognized for the first time that service in war, service to our country, indeed, all of your service, is service to God.

I also recognized the healing power of a celestial companion, who alongside the Savior, always seemed to minister to my grandpa, and so many others.

Like all of you, my grandmother is an example of the believers in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, and in purity.

When the woman with an issue of blood touched the

border of the Savior’s garment,

and immediately her issue of blood ceased, Jesus could've kept on walking

through the multitude who thronged and pressed against Him.

The Master Healer, Jesus, stopped asked a question, looked around, and found

the one.

He said, “Daughter, be of good comfort, thy faith have made thee whole.

Go in peace.” When Jesus came to the Nephites after hundreds of years of waiting and watching, after introducing Himself and declaring His submission of His will to His Father, He said to the multitude, “Arise and come forth, that ye may thrust your hands into my side, and also that ye may feel

the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet, that ye may know that I am the God of Israel, and the God of the whole earth, and have been slain

for the sins of the world.

And it came to pass that the multitude went forth, and thrust their hands into His side, and did feel the prints of the nails in His hand and in His feet; and this they did do going forth one by one until they had all gone forth, and did see with their eyes and did feel with their hands, and did know of a surety.” The Savior ministered one by one.

It was His pattern during His mortal life, and it also became a pattern after His resurrection.

Said President Russell M. Nelson, “A hallmark of the Lord’s true and living Church will always be an organized directed effort

to minister to individual children of God and their families.

Because it is His church, we, as His servants, will minister to the one, just as He did.

We will minister in His name, we will minister with His power and His authority, and with His loving-kindness.” Jesus has taught us, and continues to teach us, through His living prophets, that our ministry

as missionaries, chaplains, members of the Church, it to look out for the one, to find the one, to love the one.

The Lord seems to put us in positions in our lives, just like Elder Ringwood

and Brother Hull, to do as He has asked.

The Savior’s ministry to the one is not just for the destitute or the lonely

or the beleaguered, but it is for all of us.

This past August I was assigned to preside at the Phoenix South Mountain Stake Conference.

I had just begun my new assignment working in the Priesthood and Family Department with Elder Ringwood and Richard and Frank, and so many others, and I was working with the youth, the young adults and Military Relations.

I was also beginning my assignments in the Missionary Department.

I’d been praying diligently to learn as much as I can, as fast as I can, and to be a better instrument in the Lord’s hands to help Him hasten His work.

After outlining some of my responsibilities in a training meeting, including my feelings of inadequacy to perform my duties, a brother in the audience in Phoenix, Gene (Wycoll?), approached me

and he said, “I have the handbooks for the Military Relations portion of your ministry.” I was incredulous, as Frank had briefed me on my responsibilities, but had not, as of yet, given me any “handbooks”.

Gene went home and he brought back two books

that I now hold in my hands, “Faith in the Service” and “Saints at War”.

He had highlighted several portions of the books, knowing that would be of most

benefit to me as I prepared for this magnificent conference in which we have all been a part.

As I’ve read through these books I’ve felt the spirit confirm the truth of your

missionary calling and that of the chaplain’s ministry.

Here’s a picture of Gene, Susan, and Abraham.

They are here with us today.

It’s especially poignant that Abraham -- if you would stand, Abraham -- is one of the first baptized members of the Church in Afghanistan.

And just three weeks ago he was granted asylum in the United States of America. (applause) Thank you.

Thank you. Thank you, Abraham.

Abraham is an example of hope in Christ that we just talked about.

Someone who could get out of Afghanistan a year and a half ago to Peru, and walk from Peru to our border, to get over the border and be imprisoned for months.

And then being able to have some contacts in Brother (Wycoll?) and Susan to be able to overcome such difficult challenges and go through the courts process. And in the meantime be endowed this last March in the Ogden Temple.

He is an example of hope.

I’m grateful to the Lord for bringing us together, Gene, Susan, Abraham. And I have felt ministered to by the Savior as a coincidence of my assignment in Phoenix that had been given months earlier.

Was it coincidence that I was assigned Military Relations in the Priesthood and Family Department?

Elder Ringwood, through inspiration, knew something that

I didn't even know, but the Lord knew.

Coincidence that months before my assignment to Military Relations I was

given an assignment to preside in the Phoenix South Mountain Stake, where Gene and Susan lived?

My brothers and sisters, President Monson often said, and subsequent apostles have taught that, “There are no coincidences.

Experiences in life have taught us to always look for the Lord’s hand.” As we are all on the Lord’s errand in our ministry, let us always be on the lookout for His tender mercies, “For they are over all those whom He has chosen because of their faith to make them mighty, even unto the power

of deliverance.” You are all here today, this past weekend, not by coincidence, yours is a beautiful foreordination to “lift where you stand”.

To stand in the office in which you are appointed, to minister to the one

and help the Savior in the healing of others.

Elder Uchtdorf, who will join us shortly, said, “Every calling provides

an opportunity to serve and to grow.

I urge you to see it as an opportunity, not only to strengthen and bless others, but also to become what Heavenly Father wants you to become.

Our Heavenly Father asks that we represent Him in the noble work of reaching out and blessing the lives of His children.

There may be people and hearts only you can reach and touch.

Perhaps no one else could do it in quite the same way.

If we all stand close together in the place the Lord has appointed and lift where we stand” -- remember the piano, all lifting at the same time

-- “nothing can keep this divine work from moving upward and forward.” Like the Savior, yours is also a ministry to the one.

You put on your fatigues, your other uniforms, and even other clothing, but now I better understand the spiritual uniform you put on.

You are certainly clothed with the armor of God.

When we were called to the Utah Ogden Mission from California as mission leaders in 2015, we felt the need to connect with the people at Hill Air Force Base.

Chaplain Eric Harp was kind and courteous, unassuming, and deeply connected as he escorted me around various parts of the base.

When we entered the sanctuary I asked how he performed services for various faiths.

He showed me the back of the sanctuary where I saw Star of David, or a cross that could be displayed, depending on which religious service he was

officiating in.

He, of course, mentioned that Latter-day Saints did not use those symbols during services.

I then asked, “What is common amongst all faiths?” He pointed to the immovable structure in the middle of the sanctuary, it was a stone altar.

He explained that Muslim, Jewish, Catholic, Protestant, and Latter-day Saint services were all offered in the sanctuary, and they all believe in the sanctity and significance of the altar.

Isn’t it fascinating, no matter what religion, and their belief in the divinity of the Savior or not, they still all come to the altar of sacrifice, symbolic of the one, even the sacrifice of the Only Begotten of the Father, which is full of grace and truth.

When I met Chaplain Harp on that summer day at Hill Air Force Base I had no idea

of what he had experienced in Landstuhl, Germany years earlier

ministering to the one.

May I read and excerpt of his one-on-one ministry at the hospital in Landstuhl

for the first stop for the injured in Iraq in 2005?

He wrote this, “When Moses went up to Mount Sinai he took of his shoes

because the ground upon which he stood was sacred.

As I serve here at the Landstuhl Regional Medical Center, I have felt many times as if I should remove my shoes as I enter the rooms of these patients.

What makes the place sacred is their sacrifice.

The words 'sacred' and 'sacrifice' are formed from the same root.

To sacrifice is to make sacred.

Some of these wounded warriors give the ultimate sacrifice.

As I enter the room and look into the eyes of men and women who will not be alive tomorrow, who in some cases are struggling to stay alive just long enough for Mom, Dad, or a spouse to come so they can say goodbye, I feel I am standing on hallowed ground.

These individuals laid down their lives for principles such as freedom,

liberty, duty, honor, God, and country.

To me, that is sacred.

People often say to me, ‘How can you do it?

Surely, you are ready to quit after working for three years in intensive care units.’ I answer that this has been the most challenging yet rewarding time

of my 15 years in the chaplaincy.

I place my time in the ICU alongside my full-time mission in establishing

defining moments in my life.” May I pause and point out that Chaplain Eric Harp is here with us today.

Where are you, Eric?

Raise your hand.

There you are.

I’d never met him before that day in Layton, Utah.

I didn't know about his ministry across the world before then.

I didn't know he would share his stories in these books, or that I would be called

to help out with Military Relations as a General Authority. What is the coincidence of that?

That here now, today, both Chaplain Harp and I are ministered to by the one, through the Holy Ghost. That we can be uplifted by the Savior’s benevolences.

There are no coincidences, my brothers and sisters, in the work of the Lord, especially when we are ministering to the one.

Part of my new responsibilities in Military Relations is to interview

prospective chaplains after they are called, set them apart, and their spouses, as missionaries in conjunction with their assignments as chaplains. You all know this procedure.

I also get to interact with amazing staff like Frank and Rick, who are here, the Church’s Military Relations Department, who I may just need to pause here for a second and thank once again, to honor Frank Clawson.

After many years, you all know, he’ll be retired.

Can we all give Frank one more round of applause, too?

(applause)

Thank you, Frank.

Recently while interviewing a new prospective staff member, I met Todd Linton on a Zoom call.

When I joined the call he immediately started smiling -- big smile -- some of his first words to me were, “I really look forward to meeting who married Sister Amy Stewart.” As a missionary in Karlsruhe, Germany, nearly 30 years ago, Elder Todd Linton has served as a district leader and zone leader in the same area as my wife, Sister Amy Stewart.

Now you see these coincidences starting to add up.

I was delighted to talk with Todd about my wife and her experiences, their experiences serving together in Germany.

He shared some photos and a letter with me.

And as I shared these photos with my wife Amy, we both felt uplifted reflecting

on these memories.

During one of Sister Stewart’s and Elder Linton’s missionary conference -- you can see Elder Todd Linton there.

I don't know if you can see my bride. If you look at the upper left-hand corner, she’s the one smiling. She’s always smiling. Isn’t she beautiful?

You can see that they were participating in a military conference in

Germany, and the local German stake president came to share his 747 airplane checklist.

You know where this is going, don't you?

And how that checklist compared with our own spiritual checklist.

He taught missionaries that before we fly our spiritual 747’s in this world, there are some critical checks we must make to stay spiritually strong while navigating stormy skies.

That German stake president is Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf, who is now the apostle assigned to oversee the entirety of the Priesthood and Family Department, including Military Relations, who will be speaking to us in just a few minutes.

Elder Uchtdorf was also able to meet Todd personally.

Think of it, 29 years later the Lord brought Todd Linton and Jeremy and Amy Stewart and Elder Uchtdorf together in a Military Relations Conference at the church.

Coincidence? Nay.

The Lord has ministered to the four of us by allowing these connections to happen

is such a unique and blessed way.

I share these experiences with you, my brothers and sisters, as a testimony that the Lord knows you, each of you, your families, and the people for whom you have stewardship.

We are all connected as brothers and sisters, children of our Heavenly Father.

When we have eyes to see and ears to hear, the Lord makes known these

beautiful connections.

Even His spirit confirming we are on the right path, we are doing His will

regarding these beautiful connections and coincidences that are being manifest as we all seek to minister to the one.

Sister Sharon Eubank of the General Relief Society said this, “Seeing darkness where I expected to see light reminded me that one of the fundamental needs we have in order to grow is to stay connected to our source of light, even Jesus Christ.

He is the source of our power, He is the light and the life of the world.

Without a strong connection to Him, we begin to spiritually die.

Knowing that, Satan tries to exploit the worldly pressures we all face.

He works to dim our light, he works to short-circuit the connection, to cutoff

the power supply, leaving us alone in the dark.

These pressures are common conditions in mortality.

But Satan works hard to isolate us and tell us we are the only one

experiencing them.”

As Nephi saw in vision much of Christ’s mortal ministry was devoted to blessing

and healing the sick with all kinds of maladies: physical, emotional, spiritual.

He accomplished this as He went forth one by one.

My Grandpa Jaggi began healing later in his life.

My grandma, my father, and his brothers, and their sisters helped start

the process.

I believe Grandpa’s healing continues on the other side of the veil because of the enabling power of the atonement of Jesus Christ.

It is infinite.

“And he spake unto me again saying: Look!

And I looked, and I beheld the Lamb of god going forth among the children of men.

And I beheld multitudes of people who were sick and who were afflicted with all manner of diseases, devils, and unclean spirits; and the angel spake and showed

all these things unto me.

And they were healed by the power of the Lamb of God; and the devils and the unclean spirits were cast out.” Brothers and sisters, I witness of Jesus Christ, even the Living Christ.

He is the Light and the Life of the World.

He did drink out of that bitter cup and suffered the will of the Father in all things from the beginning.

His drinking out of that, as Isaiah described, “cup of fury”, enables each of

us to overcome sin, death, pain, burdens of every kind so that we may be healed and also help others to heal.

You all are, I am, His hands to help in that healing process.

I witness that The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has been restored to the earth.

That when Joseph went into that grove of trees in 1820 asking two fundamental questions, “Lord, may I be forgiven of my sins?

And which church should I join?” That when he went into that garden and then

wrote in his own hand the following words, “I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until if fell upon me.

When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages whose brightness and glory defy all description standing above me in the air.

One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other, ‘This is my Beloved Son, hear Him.’” I witness Jesus and our Heavenly Father appeared to Joseph Smith and helped us understand what so many, for hundreds of years had understood as a trinity, that they are separate and distinct individuals, that we can worship

the Father in the name of Jesus.

I witness that They helped Joseph understand that a church needed to be restored after years and years of absence of priesthood.

The priesthood is on the earth today.

We are led by a living prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, who I quoted earlier.

I witness he is a prophet of God, he leads us and guides us in these, the latter days.

I witness of your tremendous ministry in this time and season,

foreordained, pre-appointed at this time in our lives.

And I say that in Jesus name, amen.