Latter Part of These Latter Days
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Sheri Dew President and CEO of Deseret Book Company For God our Father and His Son Jesus Christ, with Their perfect foreknowledge, already recommended every one of you to fill your mortal probation during the most decisive period in the history of the world. You are here now because you were elected to be here now (see 1 Peter 1:2). This is not new news. You have been told countless times that you are a chosen generation reserved for the latter part of the latter days. Just two months ago, in general conference, President Gordon B. Hinckley said once again: “You are the best generation we have ever had” (“An Ensign to the Nations, a Light to the World,” Ensign, November 2003, 84). It’s akin to being chosen to run the last leg of a relay, where the coach always positions his strongest runner. You were recommended to help run the last leg of the relay that began with Adam and Eve because your premortal spiritual valor indicated you would have the courage and the determination to face the world at its worst, to do combat with the evil one during his heyday, and, in spite of it all, to be fearless in building the kingdom of God. You simply must understand this, because you were born to lead by virtue of who you are, the covenants you have made, and the fact that you are here now in the 11th hour. You were born to lead as mothers and fathers, because nowhere is righteous leadership more crucial than in the family. You were born to lead as priesthood and auxiliary leaders; as heads of communities, companies, and even nations. You were born to lead as men and women willing “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places,” because that’s what a true leader does (Mosiah 18:9; emphasis added). You were born to lead, and, in the words of Isaiah, you were born for glory (see Isaiah 62:2–3). ... The simple fact is that our Father did not recommend Eve or Moses or Nephi or countless other magnificent exemplars for this dispensation—He recommended you and me. Do you think God would have left the last days to chance by sending men and women He couldn’t count on? A common theme of patriarchal blessings given to men and women your age is that you were sent now because our Father’s most trustworthy children would be needed in the final, decisive battle for righteousness. That is who you are, and it is who you have always been.
President and CEO of Deseret Book Company
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We often talk about living in the latter days. We are, after all, Latter-day Saints. But perhaps these days are more “latter” than we have ever imagined. Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, “Hope of Israel” [worldwide youth devotional, June 3, 2018], Gospel Library. IF
Sister Wendy Nelson
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Great power lies in learning who you really are. Please take time to think prayerfully about these facts: •You are an elect son or daughter of God. •You were created in His image. •You were taught in the spirit world to prepare you for anything and everything you would encounter during this latter part of these latter days. That teaching endures within you! Learn for yourselves who you really are. Ask your Heavenly Father, in the name of Jesus Christ, how He feels about you and your mission here on earth. If you ask with real intent, over time the Spirit will whisper the life-changing truth to you. Record those impressions and review them often, and follow through with exactness. I promise you that when you begin to catch even a glimpse of how your Heavenly Father sees you and what He is counting on you to do for Him, your life will never be the same! Russell M. Nelson, Facebook, Sept. 10, 2019, facebook.com/russell.m.nelson. IF
President Russell M. Nelson
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You're here now because God chose you to be here now, and that says something crucial and important about you. We are living in this final and last dispensation, the only dispensation that will not end in apostasy. Our Father reserved you for now because He knew you would have the courage and strength to withstand the adversary's coming opposition to God's plan for you. Heavenly Father knew you would recognize truth, and He knew you would be willing to help carry the message of Jesus Christ and His gospel to others around the world. Using a baseball analogy, we are in the last half of the ninth inning. Our Heavenly Father and His Son chose you to be on their team when the game's on the line. This means they know you. They trust you and they'll help you fulfill your personal mission on this earth. So, during this conference do what young Joseph Smith did when he had a question. Prayerfully ask God if what I tell you is true. Ask Him if you really are one of His elect and noble spirits. Ask Him if you have a special part to play in the gathering of Israel. That is His agenda for this final inning. If you ask sincerely, with great humility I promise you the Lord will let you know through the whisperings of His Spirit. The answers may not come quickly but they will come. And when you know who you really are, you'll have the courage to enlist in the Lord's battalion to help gather Israel for the rest of your life. Russell M. Nelson [For Strength of Youth, 2022].
President Russell M. Nelson
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in the Relief Society General Presidency I want to share something with you that I believe, not because of any hard evidence I have, but because I choose to believe what prophets have said and because of the deep witness of the Spirit I have each time I am with members of the church your age. I'll use an analogy. Think about a championship sports competition such as the final game of World Cup or the Super Bowl or maybe just think about any rivalry game between BYU and the University of Utah which always feels like a championship game. In the last minutes of that game if the score is very close, which of his players will a coach put in to increase his team's chances of winning? His best players of course! The players he has the most confidence in. He would be foolish not to do that. As covenant sons and daughters of God, you have been sent to Earth in the final part of the latter days, the final minutes of the championship game between good and evil, when the stakes are higher than they've ever been, when the battle is the most heated it's ever been because Satan knows he doesn't have much time left. You have been sent at this time and for this time. What does that say about who you are? What does that say about who you were before you came to Earth and the confidence your father in Heaven had to send you at this time? What does that say about your mission and purpose for being here? Our dear prophet declared in a worldwide youth devotional a few years ago, "Our Heavenly Father has reserved many of His most noble spirits—perhaps, I might say, His finest team—for this final phase. Those noble spirits—those finest players, those heroes—are you!" And what another church leader said at this pulpit over twenty years ago also applies to you today, "Do you think God would have left the last days to chance by sending men and women He couldn’t count on? ... you were sent now because our Father’s most trustworthy children would be needed in the final, decisive battle for righteousness. That is who you are, and it is who you have always been." I testify that what they said is true. You have been sent here to fight in the final championship battle between good and evil and the stakes are higher than they've ever been. You are some of our father's most noble spirits, his finest team. You are latter day covenant sons and daughters of God, children of the promised day. We need you, the Lord needs you, the world needs you. Please go out and lift and influence the world for good as covenant children of God and as disciples of Jesus Christ. Don't allow Satan and the voices of the world to negatively influence you and convince you that you are merely sons and daughters of men as he tried to convince Moses. J.
Sister J. Anette Dennis
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The Second Coming of Christ
Elder Neil L. Andersen
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in the Young Women General Presidency Maybe you have thought, “Carest thou not that my life isn’t turning out at all how I’d planned?” Or “Carest thou not that my child is struggling?” Or “Carest thou not that I feel so alone?” Now, I want you to think about the Savior’s next words: “Why are you so fearful? How is it ye have no faith?” Did His disciples look at Him and think He didn’t care about them? Of course He did. Didn’t they trust Him? Of course they did. But maybe they were questioning Him because He was the one who said, “Let’s go to the other side of the lake.” And when they did, they went straight into a storm. Does that sound familiar? You feel like you’re following the Savior and you still end up in a storm. Remember, the storm doesn’t mean He has abandoned you. He is in the boat with you. I believe He is saying to you and to me, when we cannot see the lighthouse, “I’ve got you. I’ve got this, and I’m going to get you to the other side.” When will that happen? When will the promises finally be fulfilled? We don’t know. But we do know the time is drawing near. We were on our mission when President Nelson said, “Time is running out.” And I was in the conference center when he said, “In a coming day, Jesus Christ will return.” Sometimes if we can’t imagine how it will happen, we think maybe it won’t happen. But that’s not true. It is my testimony that the Savior of the world will return. And I got a glimpse of what it might feel like. I got to be part of the Hill Cumorah pageant with hundreds of other actors wearing costumes and portraying people in the Book of Mormon. Towards the end of the play, there is a scene that has stayed with me. When the Savior was crucified, there were earthquakes and houses shook. There were fires and cities sinking into the sea. And somehow in the pageant, they made it sound like it was really happening. On stage, people were crying and wailing. Then it was dark and silent, and hundreds of us made our way onto the stage on the Hill Cumorah just as they had gathered in the Book of Mormon times at the temple. And then we waited. Suddenly we turned our eyes upward to the top of the hill to see a bright figure descending in the dark. He was bathed in light. It was completely quiet as He came down and stood among us. We all fell to our knees at the same time and reverently declared, “Blessed be the name of the most high God.” And this happened night after night. And I remember when Christ called Nephi to come to Him. I thought, “How must Nephi have felt?” He had stayed faithful to the end, even when the people around him were denying that Christ was real. And here He was—real. And night after night, the Spirit whispered to me, “One day this will happen again.” It is my testimony that the Savior of the world will return. And we are all here at the very end of this very last dispensation getting ready for something—the arrival of our King, the return of the real King, Jesus Christ. And one day, you and I will really see Him. I used to be afraid of that moment when I meet my Savior, but not anymore. The thought of standing before someone who sees the pain that no one else sees, who knows the things that have made life so hard, who understands just how hard I’m trying—it gives me such great hope. And it is a fearless hope. Not because I’m good, but because He is. I bear testimony that we have a Savior who knows us intimately. He knows your heart and your heartache. He knows your DNA, the very circumstances you were born into, and the predispositions that are part of the mix precisely because you would grow the most in these conditions. And because of this, He knows the degree of difficulty you are living with. I’ve thought about this moment a lot, and I think I know what I will do. First, I will thank my Savior and fall at His feet and bathe Him with my tears. But the next thing that I will do is point backward and say, “That was hard. That was hard!” And He will say, “I know,” because He does. It is my witness tonight that you are not alone. You’re not just one person fighting by yourself in this beautiful, complicated world. All of us who love, believe, and turn to Christ—we are one. And we can let His radiance and His love shine through us because we are His. So let us be one. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Sister Tamara W. Runia
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