My dear brothers and sisters, I am grateful that the Lord has blessed me to speak with you. My eyes are getting older, so today I will present my message with the aid of a desktop teleprompter.

In this conference, the Lord has spoken to us through His servants. I urge you to study their messages and use them as a litmus test of what is true and what is not during the next six months.

What is a litmus test? How can we use the messages of General Conference as a litmus test?

The preservation and renovation of the Salt Lake Temple and other areas on Temple Square has been underway for nearly five years. Present projections indicate that this work will be completed by the end of 2026. We are grateful for all who are working on this massive project.

During the last six months, we have dedicated or rededicated nine temples in five countries. Between now and the end of the year, we will dedicate five more.

Go here to see a short video illustrating the remarkable spread of temples across the world in recent years.

Today, we are pleased to announce plans to construct 17 more temples. Please listen reverently as I announce the locations:

– Juchitán de Zaragoza, Mexico
– Santa Ana, El Salvador
– Medellín, Colombia
– Santiago, Dominican Republic
– Puerto Montt, Chile
– Dublin, Ireland
– Milan, Italy
– Abuja, Nigeria
– Kampala, Uganda
– Maputo, Mozambique
– Coeur d’Alene, Idaho
– Queen Creek, Arizona
– El Paso, Texas
– Huntsville, Alabama
– Milwaukee, Wisconsin
– Summit, New Jersey
– Price, Utah

Which of these announcements are you most excited about?

My dear brothers and sisters, do you see what is happening right before our eyes? I pray that we will not miss the majesty of this moment. The Lord is indeed hastening His work.

Why are we building temples at such an unprecedented pace? Because the Lord has instructed us to do so. The blessings of the temple help to gather Israel on both sides of the veil.

President Brigham Young said, “We will have hundreds of temples and thousands of men and women officiating therein for those who have fallen asleep, without having had the privilege of hearing and obeying the Gospel” (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Brigham Young [1997], 312). And President Ezra Taft Benson said: “Our predecessors have prophesied that temples will dot the landscape of North and South America, the isles of the Pacific, Europe, and elsewhere. If this redemptive work is to be done on the scale it must be, hundreds of temples will be needed” (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson [1988], 247).

These blessings also help to prepare a people who will help prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord! As the prophet Isaiah prophesied and as memorialized in Handel’s Messiah, when Jesus Christ returns, ‘the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.‘

In that day, ‘the government shall be upon His shoulder, and His name shall be called Wonderful, Counselor, The Mighty God, The Everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace.’ Jesus Christ will govern from both Old Jerusalem and the New Jerusalem ‘built upon the American continent.‘ From these two centers, He will direct the affairs of His church. In that day, the Lord will be known as ‘King of Kings and Lord of Lords’. Those who are with Him will be ‘called, and chosen, and faithful.‘

Brothers and sisters, now is the time for you and for me to prepare for the second coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus the Christ. Now is the time for us to make our discipleship our highest priority.

Is this a prophetic warning?

In a world filled with dizzying distractions, how can we do this?

Regular worship in the temple will help us. In the house of the Lord, we focus on Jesus Christ. We learn of Him. We make covenants to follow Him. We come to know Him. As we keep our temple covenants, we gain greater access to the Lord’s strengthening power. In the temple, we receive protection from the buffetings of the world.

How have you experienced the strengthening power and protection of the temple?

Promises

We experience the pure love of Jesus Christ and our Heavenly Father in great abundance! We feel peace and spiritual reassurance, in contrast to the turbulence of the world,.

Here is my promise to you: every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find Him in the temple. You will feel His mercy. You will find answers to your most vexing questions. You will better comprehend the joy of His gospel.

The Prophet makes a number of promises here – what are they?

I have learned that the most crucial question we each must answer is this: To whom or to what will I give my life?

My decision to follow Jesus Christ is the most important decision I have ever made. During medical school, I gained a testimony of the divinity of God the Father and His Son, Jesus Christ. Since then our Savior has been the rock upon which I have built my life. That choice has made all the difference.

What was the most important decision you ever made? Has your decision made a difference?

That decision has made so many other decisions easier. That decision has given me purpose and direction. It has also helped me weather the storms of life. Let me share two examples.

First, when my wife, Dantzel, unexpectedly passed away, I could not reach any of our children. There I was, alone, devastated, and crying out for help.

Gratefully, through His Spirit, the Lord taught me why my dear Dantzel had been taken home. With that understanding, I was comforted. Over time, I was better able to cope with my grief. Later, I married my beloved wife, Wendy. She was a central part of my second example.

When Wendy and I were on an assignment in a distant land, armed robbers put a gun to my head and pulled the trigger. But the gun did not fire. Throughout that experience, both of our lives were threatened. Yet Wendy and I felt an undeniable peace. It was the peace ‘which passeth all understanding.‘

How can we experience peace in such distressing and frightening experiences?

Brothers and sisters, the Lord will comfort you too! He will strengthen you. He will bless you with peace, even amidst chaos.

Please listen to this promise of Jesus Christ to you: “I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my spirit shall be in your hearts and mine angels round about you to bear you up.”

In October 2019, President Nelson said: 

“…every time you worthily serve and worship in the temple, you leave armed with God’s power and with His angels having “charge over” you.”

There is no limit to the Savior’s capacity to help you. His incomprehensible suffering in Gethsemane and on Calvary was for you! His infinite Atonement is for you!

I urge you to devote time each week – for the rest of your life – to increase your understanding of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

How are you doing with this invitation?

My heart aches for those who are mired in sin and don’t know how to get out. I weep for those who struggle spiritually or who carry heavy burdens alone because they do not understand what Jesus Christ did for them.

Jesus Christ took upon Himself your sins, your pains, your heartaches, and your infirmities. You do not have to bear them alone!

What wonderful additional doctrine we receive from Alma 7:11-12! By taking upon himself the pains, afflictions, infirmities and temptations of others, Christ knows from experience how best to help us in our struggles. 

He will forgive you as you repent. He will bless you with what you need. He will heal your wounded soul.

Promises

As you yoke yourself to Him, your burdens will feel lighter. If you will make and keep covenants to follow Jesus Christ, you will find that the painful moments of your life are temporary. Your afflictions will be swallowed up in the joy of Christ.

It is neither too early nor too late for you to become a devout disciple of Jesus Christ.Then you will experience fully the blessings of His Atonement. You will also be more effective in helping to gather Israel.

More promises from the Lord’s Prophet! How do we claim them?

My dear brothers and sisters, in a coming day, Jesus Christ will return to the earth as the millennial Messiah. So today I call upon you to rededicate your lives to Jesus Christ. I call upon you to help gather scattered Israel and to prepare the world for the second coming of the Lord. I call upon you to talk of Christ, testify of Christ, have faith in Christ, and rejoice in Christ!

Come unto Christ and ‘offer your whole [soul] ‘to Him. This is the secret of life and of joy!

President Nelson here issues 8 calls for action:

• to rededicate our lives to Jesus Christ
  to help gather scattered Israel
  to prepare the world for the Second Coming
  to talk of Christ
  to have faith in Christ
  to rejoice in Christ
  to come unto Christ
  to offer your whole soul unto Him.

How will we respond to these calls? Is it important that we do?

The best is yet to come, my dear brothers and sisters, because the Savior is coming again! The best is yet to come because the Lord is hastening His work. The best is yet to come as we fully turn our hearts and our lives to Jesus Christ.

I bear my solemn witness that Jesus Christ is the Son of God. I am His disciple. I am honored to be His servant. At His second coming, ‘the glory of the Lord shall be revealed, and all flesh shall see it together.’ That day will be filled with joy for the righteous!

Through the power of the sacred priesthood keys I hold, I declare this truth to you and to all the world! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

What parts of President Nelson’s message most impressed you?
How will it change you?

NB: Passages in italics are direct quotes from President Nelson’s talk.

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