Area Presidency Messages
Elder Evan A. Schmutz shares how the Holy Ghost can change our countenances, fill our bodies and our minds with light, and refine our attitude and appearance so that we can be seen by others as disciples of Christ.
Elder Shayne M. Bowen of the Seventy reflects on the four years he and his, Sister Lynette, have lived and served in the Philippines.
Elder Evan A. Schmutz shares how each of us must become the ministering brothers and ministering sisters that President Nelson has envisioned.
Elder Allen D. Haynie of the Area Presidency talks about the significance of our agency, the freedom to choose, and how sin robs us of our freedom.
Elder Shayne M. Bowen testifies of Christ and defines more clearly who He is.
Elder Evan A. Schmutz recounts his experience when he first met a living Apostle. And how this experience taught him to sustain and live by the words and counsel given to the Church by prophets, seers, and revelators who are chosen to lead us in these latter days.
Elder Allen D. Haynie explains that in Moroni’s writings, we find one of his most profound teachings about the importance of possessing charity.
The ultimate end of Temple and Family History work is to vicariously provide the saving ordinances of the temple to all of our ancestors who have gone before us and who have prepared the way so that we can be where we are today. Our families need us, and we need them.
In this generation, the Lord expects each able young man to be worthy and prepare for missionary service. We know there are some who are honorably excused from service due to health or other reasons. To each of you that cannot serve in a full-time capacity, the Lord loves you as we do and we know that compensating blessings will be yours as you worthily serve the Lord in any capacity that fits your circumstances. The Lord also invites young women to serve, when they feel prompted. He knows that young women are equally capable of performing miracles in his name.
It was a very cold winter day, there had not been much snow that year in Idaho. I remember entering the Idaho Falls temple early that morning thinking, I am about to enter into a covenant with God and with the woman that I love and adore, which is eternal and that will bind us together forever.
One of the most compelling reasons to pay a full tithe is to invite God to prove Himself, to experience how He will “open the windows of heaven” on our behalf and “pour [us] out a blessing” that will exceed our capacity to receive. That is a promised blessing worth claiming from a loving Heavenly Father who also happens to be the creator and ruler of all things.
I still recall an event and a conversation that occurred shortly after my 12th birthday. It shaped the direction of my life. After Sacrament Meeting on the Sunday following my birthday, my family gathered in the Bishop’s office. The Bishop said a few words concerning the importance of the Aaronic Priesthood, and then invited me to sit on a chair while several men in the ward surrounded me and placed their hands on my head. My father, acting under the direction of the Bishop, conferred upon me the Aaronic Priesthood and ordained me to the office of Deacon.