Dear brothers and sisters, We want you to know how much we love you! We appreciate the love and care you give to others. We thank your for your love and support as well as your love and support of your Bishops or Branch President, your Elders Quorum presidents, Relief Society presidents, Young Women presidents, Primary Presidents, and all those who are called to teach, serve, love. We thank you for your patience and forgiveness as imperfections surface. I so love what Elder Holland has said in this regard: "So be kind regarding human frailty—your own as well as that of those who serve with you in a Church led by volunteer, mortal men and women. Except in the case of His only perfect Begotten Son, imperfect people are all God has ever had to work with. That must be terribly frustrating to Him, but He deals with it. So should we. And when you see imperfection, remember that the limitation is not in the divinity of the work. As one gifted writer has suggested, when the infinite fulness is poured forth, it is not the oil’s fault if there is some loss because finite vessels can’t quite contain it all. Those finite vessels include you and me, so be patient and kind and forgiving." (April 2013 General Conference) This week, in our Come, Follow Me studies, we've had the opportunity to study about the armor of God, Doctrine and Covenants 27:15-18: 15 Wherefore, lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, having done all, that ye may be able to stand. 16 Stand, therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, having on the breastplate of righteousness, and your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace, which I have sent mine angels to commit unto you; 17 Taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked; 18 And take the helmet of salvation, and the sword of my Spirit, which I will pour out upon you, and my word which I reveal unto you, and be agreed as touching all things whatsoever ye ask of me, and be faithful until I come, and ye shall be caught up, that where I am ye shall be also. Amen. First of all, I want to say how much I love the visual the armor of God portrays in my mind. I love how Christ teaches by using objects and ideas we understand and associates them with eternal truths. One of my favorite Family Home Evening activities Sister Jackson and I have shared with our family is about the whole armor of God. Picture a small, simple flannel cutout of a person. As these scriptures are read, laminated pants, breastplate, boots, shield, helmet, and sword are placed on the cutout. When fully "armored" small "darts" are then thrown at the cutout, displaying that the darts are unable to stick to the cutout because of this armor. Such a simple yet powerful visual. (The boys really liked it because it was a soldier and a sword and fiery darts!) There are a couple of things that I reflect on when reading these verses. The first is "lift up your hearts and rejoice". I want to put an exclamation on that, "lift up your hearts and rejoice!" Sisters and Brothers, I testify to you that Jesus Christ loves us! These verses are the formula, the equation that will give us spiritual protection. I encourage everyone to study it and apply it. The second is that each piece of the armor of God is primarily for defense, protection, with the exception of one. The one, of course, is the sword, or the "sword of my Spirit". A sword is not only a defensive object, but also an object for offense or attack. We absolutely need the sword of the Spirit. Three years ago, in his April General Conference address, President Russell M. Nelson said, "in coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost". Take upon you the whole armor of God. I know that as we follow this direction, we can and will be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked. Be faithful until He, our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ comes. The Washington Utah Stake Presidency Noel Jackson
Stake Presidency First Counselor.
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