“Whatever the question, the
answer is the Gospel of Jesus Christ.” This reassuring reality was expressed as
part of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland’s testimony to a worldwide gathering of Young
Single Adults. The event took place through the medium of a live, interactive
broadcast with Elder Holland and other Church leaders when he left his concluding
testimony and apostolic blessing on March 8, 2016 (#LDSFace2Face event, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZwIULpPZhcQ).
Susan and I were both very
impressed by the broadcast.
As stated by Elder Holland, the
overarching purpose of the meeting was to help the young people (and others, I
would add) know that, “God and this Church love you.” At the conclusion of the
meeting, as he began his testimony, Elder Holland read
from the Book of Mormon, Moroni 10: 32, 33. After doing so, he asked the
rhetorical question regarding the Savior’s redemptive power in each of our
lives, and referring to the words of the scripture, “Surely there must be
someone in this vast international, global audience who wants to be free from sin;
who wants to be without blemish again; who wants to be without spot, and made
holy?”
He then continued, “That’s what the gospel
of Jesus Christ does. That’s what The Church of Jesus Christ does, as the
vehicle for the gospel of Christ.”
In his testimony, he provided
these reassuring perspectives,
“The matters of
the universe, of keeping planets in order and whether the daffodils come up in
the spring, those are nice ancillary issues. What They do without sleep or
slumber is try to bring happiness and health and joy to us. I bear witness of
that. I testify of it. I am the recipient of that love and so are you, even on
the days when it might not be as recognizable it is true, it is their nature,
it is the way of Godliness. It is the promise that their grace is sufficient
and they can make us holy and happy.
"Of the many
titles that I love of the Savior, and there are dozens, let me close with
testimony of three titles. One is that He is the bright and morning star. He is
the sun and also the Son in English, that always comes up. If you are ever in
the dark of the night, and if your night seems to go for more than one night
and then on through the day and then for weeks at a time, I promise you in the
name of the Lord that the sun will come up, the darkness will flee, the hope
will return, that you will be happy again, that Christ is the bright and
morning star.
"He is also
the 'High Priest of Good Things to Come'. I promise you that wonderful things
are in store for each one of you. If you could see your future, you would be
more ecstatic than I would be able to describe or you would be able to contain.
There'll be highs and lows and ups and downs, but when it's all over, when we
have lived our life and kept the faith, we will be with the Gods and the Goddesses,
we will be with the priests and the priestesses, and we will be among them and
like them and with them, and we will be look back on the splendor of all the
things that are to come-days ahead, weeks ahead, months ahead, most of which we
never saw, many of which we never dreamed of, but we'll look back and realize
that they came. Christ is the 'High Priest of Good Things to Come'.”
In recent days, our activity
here in the mission field as public affairs missionaries has been busy with a
variety of tasks and opportunities. We have covered—and in some cases
personally attended—a variety of stories ranging from the re-dedication of a
park in Tauranga, New Zealand to honor the name and life of Matthew Cowley; to the
completion of large numbers of Mormon Helping Hands projects throughout New
Zealand and other nations in the Pacific;and finally, to the re-dedication of
the Fiji Temple in the midst of the strongest cyclone ever recorded in the
southern hemisphere.
We have witnessed the beauty
and power of the gospel in action in each of these instances. We have seen the
name and works of the Church and its members grow stronger in all that has been
accomplished.
And in the case of the Fiji
Temple cultural celebration and re-dedication, come to understand the
miraculous hand of God as He tempered the elements at just the right time and
in a needed way, even though there turned out to be tremendous devastation in
many parts of so many of the islands of Fiji. The reassurance and peaceful
feelings of President Henry B. Eyring and Elder Quentin L. Cook that the
re-dedication activities should go forward—despite the imminent approach of a
category-5 cyclone headed directly toward Suva, Fiji—brought comfort to all who
had worked so hard over many months to prepare.
Other stories which document
the ongoing work of the Church in the Pacific have also been of interest.
In the first example, on
Sunday, 28 February, His Royal Highness Viliami ʻUnuaki-ʻo-Tonga Lalaka moʻe
ʻEiki Tukuʻaho of Tonga, Prince ‘Ata, and over 100 members of the Nukuʻalofa
Tonga North Stake of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (Mormons),
undertook an historic journey together (see: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/article/%C2%A0tonga-prince-and-latter-day-saints-journey-together).
They travelled 10 kilometres
by boat to the beautiful island of ‘Atata, off the coast of Tongatapu, to hold
the first Sunday services of the Church ever to be held there.
In a second story, which was
carefully and lovingly prepared by Susan over several days, the dedication of
Mormon missionaries’ efforts to help rebuild the lives of those in Fiji, many
of whom have lost virtually all their worldly possessions, has been tender and
full of hope (see: http://www.mormonnewsroom.org.nz/8290396549451483597). The devastating effects of the Category 5 Cyclone
Winston three weeks ago are still being felt in some areas of the beautiful
islands of Fiji. But senior missionary couples and young single missionaries of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints are giving full-time service in
the midst of the devastation.
Today is Sunday (Saturday
back home), and we will enjoy again an opportunity to meet with our brothers
and sisters in the Glen Innes Ward of east Auckland. Made up of mostly Tongan
and Maori Saints, we have grown to love the members of our ward. And we also
enjoy teaching the Temple Preparation Classes to those preparing for this great
blessing.
We know that the Church is
true. We know that the Savior lives, and that we have a Father in Heaven; both
of whom, along with the Holy Ghost, watch over and guide every aspect of our
lives. We are most grateful for this knowledge.
We hope each of you, back
home, is happy and well. We pray each day for your welfare.
Fall is beginning in the
South Pacific, and springtime is coming in the northern hemisphere. What a
wonderful, carefully prepared world it is, in which we are all blessed to live
while we sojourn through our mortal experiences.
Until next time, we send our
love,
