In his October 2019 Conference address, Elder David A. Bednar warned that “spiritual complacency and casualness make us vulnerable to the advances of the adversary.”
He continued by teaching:
Constant vigilance is required to counteract complacency and casualness. To be vigilant is the state or action of keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties. And keeping watch denotes the act of staying awake to guard and protect. Spiritually speaking, we need to stay awake and be alert to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and the signals that come from the Lord’s watchmen on the towers.
Focusing our lives in and on the Savior and His gospel enables us to overcome the tendency of the natural man to be spiritually snoozy and lazy. As we are blessed with eyes to see and ears to hear, the Holy Ghost can increase our capacity to look and listen when we may not typically think we need to look or listen or when we may not think anything can be seen or heard.
Our living prophets have repeatedly taught that our homes are the true centers of gospel learning and living. It is essential that we take seriously our responsibility to teach and live the gospel in our homes. It is also crucial that we are not casual or complacent in how we are going forward in our homes with, among other things, the administration of the sacrament, “Come, Follow Me,” prayer, and scripture study. We must, as Elder Bednar taught, “stay awake” and “be alert” to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and the signals that come from our leaders. If we are lazy, complacent or casual in our homes relative to our gospel learning and living, we (and our families) are increasingly vulnerable to the advances of the adversary.
As a Bishopric, during this time of at-home worship, we invite you to examine your efforts in making sure your home is a true center of gospel learning and living, and enhance and improve your efforts as directed by the Holy Ghost and our leaders. We all have a wonderful opportunity available to all of us at this time to grow and improve as individuals and families.
Remember the Savior’s encouragement and promise to the prophet Joseph Smith while he was suffering in Liberty jail: “My son, peace be unto thy soul; thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; And then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high; thou shalt triumph over all thy foes.”
It is not enough or acceptable to simply endure; rather, let us endure this time well! We endure this trial well by staying spiritually alert and awake, improving our efforts in the home, growing spiritually, teaching our children the gospel as guided by the Holy Ghost, and becoming more like the Savior in all that we do. Remember that as we focus our lives and our homes in and on the Savior and His gospel, especially while trying to make our homes true centers of gospel learning and living, He will enable us to overcome the tendency to be “spiritually snoozy and lazy”, magnify our efforts, bless our families, and enable us through His atoning sacrifice to become more like Him.
Elder Bednar concluded his address with a promise—as you “respond in faith to this invitation, inspired thoughts will come to your mind, spiritual feelings will swell in your heart, and you will recognize actions that should be undertaken or continued so that you can “take upon you [the] whole armor [of God], that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand.”
Other Items of Note
· Zoom Meetings. Thank you to all of those who participated in the Relief Society and Elders Quorum Zoom Meetings this past Sunday. We appreciate your support and all the inspired thoughts, testimonies, and experiences shared.
· Missionary Departure. Elder Jaxon Jensen is nearing completion of his online training and virtual MTC program and will be departing to serve in the Tucson, Arizona mission on July 6, 2020.
· Release. Brother Bruce Isaacson has been released as the First Counselor in the Ward Sunday School Presidency.
· YW and YM Summer Activities. The young women and young men in our ward are planning activities for the summer where we will be meeting together in-person. Please understand that all of these activities are optional for the youth; so, please do what is best for your family in deciding whether to send your child to any activity. That said, for all in-person youth activities, please note that: groups are limited to under 20; masks will be required for all youth and their leaders; and we will follow all recommended social (physical) distancing guidelines. As a ward, we support our leaders’ call to wear masks to help mitigate the spread of COVID-19 (see https://www.ksl.com/article/46769135/28-faith-leaders-call-on-utahns-to-wear-masks-to-slow-spread-of-covid-19).
· Ministering. We continue to encourage you to regularly check in on neighbors and those to whom you minister. Please minister temporally and spiritually to those you love and care for to ensure their needs are being meet. Brethren, please make sure you are contacting your assigned families / individuals, especially to ensure that they all have an opportunity to partake of the sacrament each week. That said, please also remember to respect individuals’ desires to maintain appropriate physical distance and continue to practice healthy patterns as suggested by our Department of Health.
· Temple Recommends. Elder Bednar recently encouraged every individual—youth and adults—to have a current temple recommend during this time. He said, “[t]he importance of having a temple recommend is not just an operational element of being a member of the Savior’s Restored Church,” he said. President Howard W. Hunter called the temple “the great symbol of [our] membership” because the temple is the “supernal setting for [our] most sacred covenants” He concluded by saying that “[w]e should always be worthy of and carry with us a valid temple recommend.”
We echo Elder Bednar’s invitation that even during this time, youth and adults should have a current temple recommend. Parents, we ask that you encourage your child/ren to reach out and set up an interview with a member of the Bishopric if your child’s recommend has expired. Temple recommends can be issued or renewed by meeting with a member of the Bishopric and Stake Presidency. Please contact Brother Ryan Jensen to set up an appointment. A member of the Bishopric will provide instruction on the process. Further, when meeting remotely with a member of the Bishopric and Stake Presidency, please make sure to dress as you would if you were meeting in person for the interview(s).
· Other Interviews. All other online video meetings with the Bishop should also be arranged through Brother Ryan Jensen.
· Full-Time Missionary Invitation / Facebook Page. Although COVID-19 has halted much of traditional missionary work, God has provided a way for us to sweep the earth, as with a flood, to gather out mine elect from the four corners of the earth” (Moses 7:62). We can find, teach and baptize through social media. The Utah Ogden Mission has created Facebook pages specific to communities in its mission. Our stake’s page is intended to reach the particular needs of those within our stewardship. This will be one of the primary tools used in the missionary efforts to gather the Lord’s elect (D&C 29:7) and “invite all to come unto Christ” (D&C 20:59). The full-time missionaries are asking that we embrace and promote the Utah Ogden Mission’s 3-step “Share the Light!” social media plan. The plan is as follows:
Stage 1: Members like and follow the Facebook page designated for our area: https://www.facebook.com/ChurchofJesusChristinLogan
Stage 2: Members use the content created by missionaries to enhance their Come Follow Me and other teaching in the home and share the content on their personal profiles. Members prayerfully select nonmember and less active friends they can share content with, including personal invitations and testimonies.
Stage 3: Members invite their nonmember and less active friends to share and comment on posts
· Book of Mormon. We hope that everyone received a copy of the Book of Mormon (left on your door) together with a study guide and testimonies from Bro. and Sis. Weston, our Ward Missionaries (thank you!). We hope that you as read and study the Book of Mormon, you find peace, comfort, and hope, and feel inspired and prompted to share your testimonies of the Book of Mormon with your neighbors of other faiths.