Brother Kevin Martin
Bishopric First Counselor
Dear Brothers and Sisters, Happy Spring! I hope you are well and at peace during this time. What a wonderful season of the year Spring is. The newness of life coming out of winter. The flowers and trees are in full bloom, animals of all varieties are born into this beautiful world. The world seems to come alive.
We have been given a newness of life and new growth as well. We have been given the opportunity to focus more on our families and our individual lives. The continued opportunity to make our homes more sacred and a place to worship, not just on a Sunday. Many have the opportunity to have found themselves with more time to build family relationships, and to work on individual growth and development as well. For a short time, our lives have suddenly changed, in ways we may have never thought possible. Yet, through it all, each of us will gain new growth and even a newness of life as we use our time available to follow Him. President Nelson has given each of us the charge to Hear Him. Hearing Him is an individual experience. How one person hears Him, will differ from another, and that is perfectly okay. We are all different and unique, and so is the way He is heard. Heavenly Father wants each of His children to return home.
John 3:16-17 For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever (the one who believes) believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. 17 For God sent not his Son into the world to condemn the world; but that the world through him might be saved. The Saviors Atonement, His death and Resurrection, allows the one who believeth to return back to Father. Jesus was always helping the one.
Luke 15:3-7 looking for the one lost sheep out of the many who were not lost
Luke 8:43-48 Woman who was healed by touching the robe of Jesus
D&C 18:10-15 Worth of just one Soul
Jesus went about His Father’s work, healing the one. The one who was blind. The one who was sick. The one who was a leper. The one who was raised from the dead. The one who ministers to their neighbor. The one who prays every day. The one who serves their family with love and caring. The one who provides for his family. The one who makes mistakes and repents. The one who pays their tithing and still experiences trials of life. The one who is down trodden and oppressed. The one who is a child of God.
Elder David A Bednar has said, “As you study the ministry of Jesus Christ and seek for eyes to see and ears to hear, you will find that He ministered to the “Ones.”
Brothers and Sisters, no matter where you are in this journey of life, there is One, who has given His all for you, the one. There is also another who loves you deeply and wants you to return to His presence one day. A loving Father, who loves the one, who gave one a way back home. May you follow the charge of a living prophet to Hear Him and eventually return home.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. Please click on the link provided to hear the very moving song titled, One by One, written by Elder David A. Bednar.