Dear brothers and sisters, I first would like to thank each of you and our heavenly father for the wonderful conference weekend we had last week. I also would like to thank all those who participated in the form of prayers, talks, music, and especially helping with our technology. It was a wonderful edifying weekend. Most of us have never experienced the darkness that comes from not knowing the truth of the gospel. Even those of us who are converts to the church, like me, have felt the warmth of the light of the restoration of the gospel even when we weren’t a part of it. As taught to us in the hymn “Hark, All Ye Nations!”, “Oh, how glorious from the throne above Shines the gospel light of truth and love! Bright as the sun, this heavenly ray Lights ev’ry land today.” The light of the restored gospel shines throughout the world in this dispensation. We are blessed, dear brothers and sisters, to live in a time when the truths of the gospel have been restored and we can enjoy the light and blessings that come from the restored gospel. Now, I would like to ask you a few questions, and I would also like to ask you to sincerely think and ponder about the answers. The questions are: -How does the knowledge of the restored gospel influence the way I live my life? -Am I partaking of all the blessing available to me by the restored gospel of Jesus Christ? In the gospel of Jesus Christ, as with many other worthwhile things in our lives, we will get from it as much as we are willing to put into it. If we choose to partially live the gospel of Jesus Christ, we can expect to partake on partial blessings and opportunities for growth. The gospel of Jesus Christ is like a high-yield savings account. The more you put into it the more you will get in return. There is no standardized questionnaire or test to know whether one is living to the best of his or her ability, but I would like to invite you to read Alma 5 regularly and do your own self assessment. Here are a few other questions to consider: do you strive to keep the Sabbath day holy by partaking of the sacrament? Are you doing all that you can, considering all your circumstances, to faithfully serve in your calling(s) and ministering assignments? Do you keep a current temple recommend? My dear brothers and sisters, my purpose in sharing this message is not to bring you a feeling of guilt. Quite the opposite! We are doing good! We are going in the right direction. But I also want to make sure that we are enjoying all the blessings available to us during the journey. Think about how you feel when you learn that you have missed out on a good deal for something that you really wanted? It is not a good feeling, and so we need to make sure that we are taking advantage of all that is available to us through the gospel of Jesus Christ. I would like to bear my testimony to you that I know that our Savior Jesus Christ loves us. He lives. He is the head of this church. He’s mindful of everyone of us. I also know that we are guided by a living prophet today, and I pray that the Lord will strengthen him to lead us through these uncertain times. I also pray that each of us will have the faith to follow the counsel of our prophet. We love you brothers and sisters and we pray for you daily. In the name of Jesus Christ amen! Washington Stake Presidency President Emerson Carnavale
Stake President
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