Come Follow Me Reading Plan at Scripture Plus
October Conference 2019
“Invitation” by Russell M. Nelson 1/1/2020
Talk by President Nelson on COVID-19. I feel that we are very blessed to have a prophet at the present time who is a medical professional AND is not only a friend of the Chinese, but speaks their language.
Bicentenial General Conference (YouTube – FanMade)
“Now Is The Time To Prepare” – a conference talk given by Russell M. Nelson 2005
As wickedness in the world increases, more calamities will come.
The Living Christ
Daily revelation will become most important in the future as “deepfake” enters our lives.
Deepfakes are videos that are fake but appear completely real or, as Elder Gerard said, they have “the ability to take someone’s image or voice and make it appear to do or say something that they did not do or say.”
“As we learn to hear the word of the Lord with great clarity, we will be able to discern truth from error, fake from not fake.”
Centered in Christ? CHOOSE TO:
BE UNIFIED: Differences are not just acknowledged but cherished. Unity is not sameness. We need our fellow Saints, and our fellow Saints need us.
TEACH children and youth to know their eternal identity and purpose and deepen their conversion to Jesus Christ, getting His gospel into their hearts and inspiring them to choose to follow Him.
MINISTER as a missionary and a member. We need to find, teach, baptize and make disciples. It does not need to be complicated, but we need to be courageous enough to invite people to come and see and come and help, and eventually they will come and stay!
REPENT: It requires an honest heart and real intent. Repentance is discipleship.
USE the correct name of the church.
STUDY Come Follow Me & scriptures.
DO temple and family history work.
BECOME self-reliant.
“Our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His mightiest works between now and when He comes again. But in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”
Russell M Nelson
“When the house of Israel rejected the teachings of the Lord and persecuted the prophets in biblical times, Jehovah scattered His people far and wide among the heathen—but with a promise that one day they would be gathered back into the fold of the Lord, he said. And that promised day is today.”
Temporal and Spiritual Are Bound Together -The two great commandments—to love God and our neighbor—are a joining of the temporal and the spiritual. Dieter F. Uchtdorf
The wise prepare, the fool goes blindly ahead to suffer the consequences.
This concept of preparedness is nothing new; in fact, long before the word Prepper or survivalist became part of the modern lexicon, the Bible encouraged the wise man to study the dangers ahead and then take precautions to protect themselves and their family from those threats.
Those threats are spiritual as well as temporal.
Proverbs 27:12 (KJV)
A prudent man foreseeth the evil, and hideth himself; but the simple pass on, and are punished.
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Noah didn’t wait until it started raining to build the ark. He was obedient.
Unfortunately, this is how some people live today, waiting until the last possible moment to prepare for what’s coming. This can be witnessed at the grocery store every time a natural disaster warning is issued. Time after time, the unprepared descend on the supermarket; only to find the store wiped out by other unprepared people, all hoping to stock up right before the disaster hits.
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As we study the things that God asks us to do, keep in mind that no one is perfect, but our belief in Jesus Christ brings us to to the reality of repentance. Repentance is for little sins as much as for big ones. Daily repentance means frequent correction, like a ship maintaining a course.
Be willing to admit when you make mistakes. Be humble enough to apologize to and in front of others. Let them see how you are striving to make things better, and share your testimony of how the Savior has helped you change.
Keep the Commandments: Exodus 20
God gives us commandments for our benefit. They are instructions from a loving Father in Heaven to help us have happy lives. He also gives us agency, or the ability and opportunity to choose between good and evil.
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.”God wants what is best for you. If you put something else before Him in your life, it’s harder for him to bless you.
“Thou shalt not make unto thee any graven image.”Anything you worship more than God is a “graven image.” Cars, clothes, sports, even our jobs are dangerous things to worship because they can go away. But God will never go away, and that’s why it’s best for us to only worship Him.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.”This can mean using God’s name like a swear word, or it can mean saying you are a Christian but not living or acting like Jesus would want you to act.
.“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.” Sunday, or the Sabbath day, is a day we can all go to church, worship God, and learn how to be better people and Christians. Keeping it holy means doing our best to remember Him throughout the day.
“Honour thy father and thy mother.” It’s important to show our parents respect. This might look different for everyone, but we should always try to love and care for those who cared for us first.
“Thou shalt not kill.”A simple but important rule for anyone.
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.” Men and women make promises to each other when they are married. These promises are important, and breaking them causes deep sadness. Keeping those promises help men and women have happy marriages and happy lives.
“Thou shalt not steal.” It is important to God that His children are honest with each other. Taking anything that doesn’t belong to you is stealing, and is against His commandment.
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.” This one is about honesty. If you lie to someone, you are “bearing false witness,” and may cause harm to yourself and to others.
“Thou shalt not covet.”To covet means to be so jealous of something someone else has that you want it desperately. Coveting makes a person miserable and keeps them from putting God first. This commandment helps keep you from falling into this bad habit.
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Members of different churches have different beliefs and some believe that they should be doing the following:
Study the Scriptures – The scriptures are written records of God’s dealings with His children as recorded by prophets under the guidance of the Holy Ghost. We show our faith by studying, believing, and obeying God’s revealed word.
Pray Often – God commands us to pray to Him. You can pray at any time -and in any setting.
Follow the Prophet – A prophet is called and chosen by God and is a righteous man with great faith. The Lord reveals truth to him through the Holy Ghost. He commands His prophet to teach truth to all people. Those who believe God’s words as revealed through His prophet are blessed.
Live the Law of Chastity – God delights in chastity. Chastity means limiting all sexual relations to one husband (for women) or one wife (for men). It also means strict abstinence from sexual relations before marriage and complete fidelity and loyalty to one’s spouse after marriage. Those who live the law of chastity enjoy the strength that comes from self-control. They enjoy confidence and trust in their family relationships. They can enjoy more fully the influence of the Holy Ghost in their lives.
Obey the Word of Wisdom – This law teaches us what foods and substances we should and should not use to maintain the health of our bodies and to keep us free from evil influences. The Lord promises blessings of health, strength, protection against evil, and greater receptiveness to spiritual truths.
Keep the Law of Tithing – To those who pay tithing, the Lord promises that He will “open … the windows of heaven, and pour … out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it” (Malachi 3:10). These blessings may be temporal or spiritual, but they will come to those who obey this divine law.
Observe the Law of the Fast – Great blessings are available to those who obey God’s commandment to fast. Fasting means going without food and drink for a period of time. Fasting and prayer go together. When we fast and pray with faith, we are more receptive to receiving answers to our prayers and blessings from the Lord. He promises us that He will guide us continually. We should fast and pray for specific purposes. Fasting is private and spiritual, and we should not draw attention to the fact that we are fasting.
Obey and Honor the Law – Obey the laws of the country in which you live. Be a good citizen, participate in civil government and the political process, and render community service. Do so, however, as a concerned citizen, not as a representatives of your church.
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The foundation of preparedness goes back to the beginning of time; its principles are found throughout the Bible, with numerous passages dedicated to preparedness planning and survival. For those that are Christian, many of these passages might sound familiar; for those that aren’t, there are still many truths that can be discovered by reading them.
“The two great commandments—to love God and our neighbor—are a joining of the temporal and the spiritual. It is important to note that these two commandments are called “great” because every other commandment hangs upon them. In other words, our personal, family, and Church priorities must begin here. All other goals and actions should spring from the fountain of these two great commandments—from our love for God and for our neighbor.” Matthew 22:36–40 . Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Help Your Neighbors by inviting them to join in preparedness.
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However much faith to obey God we now have, we will need to strengthen it continually and keep it refreshed constantly. We can do that by deciding now to be more quick to obey and more determined to endure. Learning to start early and to be steady are the keys to spiritual preparation. Procrastination and inconsistency are its mortal enemies. Let me suggest to you four settings in which to practice quick and steady obedience. One is the command to feast upon the word of God. A second is to pray always. A third is the commandment to be a full-tithe payer. And the fourth is to escape from sin and its terrible effects. Each takes faith to start and then to persevere. And all can strengthen your capacity to know and obey the Lord’s commands.
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Spiritual Preparedness has to do with a person’s CORE VALUE and BELIEF system. No matter how physically prepared a person is with know-how, supplies, strategies and tactical maneuvers, there will ALWAYS be a challenge thrown at us that simply cannot be fixed with “things. Being tied into one’s core values and beliefs will often be the only thing that can get a person through tough times.
“I told the brethren that the Book of Mormon was the most correct of any book on earth, and the keystone of our religion, and a man would get nearer to God by abiding by its precepts, than by any other book.” Joseph Smith
“There is a power in the book (Book of Mormon) which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book. You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path. The scriptures are called “the words of life”, and nowhere is that more true than it is of the Book of Mormon. When you begin to hunger and thirst after those words, you will find life in greater and greater abundance.” Ezra Taft Benson