Now Is the Time
Now is the time we can learn. Now is the time we can repent. Now is the time we can bless others.
My dear brothers and sisters, this conference has been historic in many ways. We have been blessed by the prayers, messages, and music. We have been inspired by servants of the Lord.
We have received important direction for the future. My prayer is that the Spirit has spoken to you directly about things the Lord would have you do.
The future is always uncertain. Weather changes. Economic cycles are unpredictable. Disasters, accidents, and illness can change life quickly. These actions are largely beyond our control. But there are some things we can control, including how we spend our time each day.
I like this poem by Henry Van Dyke, posted on a sundial at Wells College in New York. It reads:
The shadow by my finger cast
Divides the future from the past:
Before it, sleeps the unborn hour
In darkness, and beyond thy power:
Behind its unreturning line,
The vanished hour, no longer thine:
One hour alone is in thy hands,—
The NOW on which the shadow stands.1
Yes, we should learn from the past, and yes, we should prepare for the future. But only now can we do. Now is the time we can learn. Now is the time we can repent. Now is the time we can bless others and “lift up the hands which hang down.”2 As Mormon counseled his son Moroni, “Let us labor diligently; … for we have a labor to perform [while] in this tabernacle of clay, that we may conquer the enemy of all righteousness, and rest our souls in the kingdom of God.”3
The adversary never sleeps. There will always be opposition to the truth. I repeat my urging from this morning to do those things that will increase your positive spiritual momentum, that lift Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf was talking about, that will keep you moving forward through whatever challenges and opportunities come.
Positive spiritual momentum increases as we worship in the temple and grow in our understanding of the magnificent breadth and depth of the blessings we receive there. I plead with you to counter worldly ways by focusing on the eternal blessings of the temple. Your time there brings blessings for eternity.
As the Church grows, we strive to keep pace by building more temples. Forty-four new temples are presently under construction. More are being renewed. I pray for the skilled people who work on those projects across the world.
In the spirit of prayerful gratitude, I am pleased to announce our plans to build a new temple in each of the following locations: Wellington, New Zealand; Brazzaville, Republic of the Congo; Barcelona, Spain; Birmingham, United Kingdom; Cusco, Peru; Maceió, Brazil; Santos, Brazil; San Luis Potosí, Mexico; Mexico City Benemérito, Mexico; Tampa, Florida; Knoxville, Tennessee; Cleveland, Ohio; Wichita, Kansas; Austin, Texas; Missoula, Montana; Montpelier, Idaho; and Modesto, California.
These 17 temples will bless countless lives on both sides of the veil. I love you, my dear brothers and sisters. More important, the Lord loves you. He is your Savior and your Redeemer. He leads and guides His Church. May we be a people worthy of the Lord, who said, “Ye shall be my people, and I will be your God.”4
For this I pray in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.