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Son with experiences and refiningengraved into my heart.

The Lords guidance and instructionare essential. He helped the faithfulbrother of Jared by solving one ofhis two challenges when He told himhow to get fresh air into the bargesthat had been faithfully built (seeEther 2:20). But, pointedly, the Lordnot only left temporarily unsolvedthe challenge of how to provide light,but He then made it clear that He, theLord, would allow the buffetings andtrials that necessitated its solving. Heit would be who would send forth the

winds, the rains, and the floods (seeEther 2:2324).

Why would He do that? And whydoes He warn any of us to removeourselves from a source of danger

when He could simply stop the dan-ger from happening? President Wilford

Woodruff told the story of beingspiritually warned to move the car-riage that he, his wife, and child slept

in, only to discover that a whirlwindshortly thereafter uprooted a large

Members of this Church are enti-tled to, and many receive, a spiritual

witness and make sacred covenants tofollow the Lord. Yet despite that, somemove toward Him while others donot. In which category are you?

God should be the center of ouruniverseour literal focal point. IsHe? Or is He sometimes far from thethoughts and intents of our hearts?(see Mosiah 5:13). Notice that its not

just the thoughts of our hearts that areimportant but the intents. How doour behavior and actions reflect theintegrity of our intents?

Our son Ben, when he was 16and speaking in stake conference,asked the question, How would youfeel if someone promised you some-thing every week and never kept thepromise? He continued, Do we takeseriously the promise we make when

we partake of the sacrament and cov-

enant to keep His commandments andalways remember Him?The Lord gives us ways to help

remember Him and His sustainingpowers. One way is through that com-mon lot we all shareadversity (see

Alma 32:6). As I look back at the trialsI have faced, it is clear that they haveresulted in my growth, understanding,and empathy. They have drawn mecloser to my Heavenly Father and His

By Elder Terence M. VinsonOf the Seventy

Our six-year-old grandson, Oli,

who affectionately calls mePoppy, had to get something

from the car. His dad stood inside thehouse and, without Oli being aware,unlocked the car door remotely as Oliapproached it, then locked it again

when he was done. Oli then raninside with a big smile!

All the family asked him, How didyou get the car door to unlock for you,

then to lock again? He just smiled.Our daughter, his mother, said,

Maybe its like when Poppy does itmaybe you have magic powers likehim!

When it happened a second timea few minutes later, his response tofurther questions about his newfoundabilities was: Its amazing! I think itsbecause Poppy loves me and is oneof my best friends, and he takes careof me!

I have been blessed to know of trulymiraculous things that have occurredin the lives of faithful Saints throughout

Africa, Papua New Guinea, Australia,New Zealand, and the islands of thePacific. I agree with OliI think itsbecause those faithful people feel thesame way about Heavenly Father andthe Savior as Oli feels about me. Theylove God as a close friend, and Hetakes care of them.

Drawing Closer to GodOur Savior wants us to really love Him to the point that wewant to align our will with His.

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tree and dropped it exactly where thecarriage had previously stood (seeTeachings of Presidents of the Church:Wilford Woodruff[2004], 47).

In both of these instances, theweather could have been adjustedto eliminate the dangers. But hereis the pointrather than solve theproblem Himself, the Lord wants usto develop the faith that will help usrely upon Him in solving our prob-lems and trust Him. Then we canfeel His love more constantly, morepowerfully, more clearly, and morepersonally. We become united withHim, and we can become like Him.For us to be like Him is His goal.In fact, it is His glory as well as His

work (see Moses 1:39).A young boy was trying to smooth

out the dirt area behind his house sohe could play there with his cars. There

was a large rock obstructing his work.The boy pushed and pulled with all hismight, but no matter how hard he tried,

the rock wouldnt budge.His father watched for a while, then

came to his son and said, You needto use all your strength to move a rockthis large.

The boy responded, I have usedall my strength!

His father corrected him: No youhavent. You havent had my help yet!

They then bent down together andmoved the rock easily.

The father of my friend Vaiba

Rome, Papua New Guineas first stakepresident, was also taught that hecould turn to his Father in Heavenin times of need. He and his fellow

villagers could survive only throughthe crops they grew. One day he lit afire to clear his portion of the villagefarmland for planting. However, thefire had been preceded by a longhot period, and the vegetation was

very dry. So his fire became of the

President Thomas S. Monson variety,

as our prophet himself describedat the last general conference (seeObedience Brings Blessings,EnsignorLiahona,May 2013, 8990). Itbegan to spread to the grassland andbushes, and in the words of his son,a big monster of fire resulted. Hefeared for his fellow villagers and thepossible loss of their crops. If they

were destroyed, he would be subjectto village justice. Being unable toextinguish the fire, he then remem-

bered the Lord.I now quote from his son, myfriend: He knelt on the hill inthe bushes and started to pray toHeavenly Father to stop the fire.Suddenly there appeared a big blackcloud above where he was pray-ing, and it rained so hardbut only

where the fire was burning. When helooked around, there was clear skyeverywhere except where the flames

burned. He couldnt believe the Lord

would answer a simple man like him,and he again knelt down and criedlike a child. He said it was the sweet-est feeling (see Alma 36:3).

Our Savior wants us to really loveHim to the point that we want to alignour will with His. We can then feel Hislove and know His glory. Then He canbless us as He wants to. This hap-pened to Nephi the son of Helaman,

who reached the stage where the Lordtrusted him implicitly and, because of

that, was able to bless him with all thathe asked (see Helaman 10:45).InLife of Pi,the fictional book

by Yann Martel, the hero voices hisfeelings about Christ: I couldnt getHim out of my head. Still cant. I spentthree solid days thinking about Him.

The more He bothered me, the lessI could forget Him. And the more Ilearned about Him, the less I wantedto leave Him ([2001], 57).

Colleyville, Texas, USA

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Scripture teaches that the bodyand the spirit are the soul of man.7Asa dual being, each of you can thankGod for His priceless gifts of yourbody and your spirit.

The Human BodyMy professional years as a medical

doctor gave me a profound respect forthe human body. Created by God asa gift to you, it is absolutely amazing!

Think of your eyes that see, ears thathear, and fingers that feel all the won-drous things around you. Your brainlets you learn, think, and reason. Yourheart pumps tirelessly day and night,almost without your awareness.8

Your body protects itself. Paincomes as a warning that something is

wrong and needs attention. Infectiousillnesses strike from time to time, and

when they do, antibodies are formedthat increase your resistence to subse-

quent infection.Your body repairs itself. Cuts andbruises heal. Broken bones can be-come strong once again. I have citedbut a tiny sample of the many amazingGod-given qualities of your body.

Even so, it seems that in everyfamily, if not in every person, somephysical conditions exist that requirespecial care.9A pattern for coping

with such a challenge has been

By Elder Russell M. NelsonOf the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

My dear brothers and sisters,each day is a day of decision.President Thomas S. Monson

has taught us that decisions determinedestiny.1The wise use of your freedomto make your own decisions is crucialto your spiritual growth, now and foreternity. You are never too young tolearn, never too old to change. Your

yearnings to learn and change comefrom a divinely instilled striving for

eternal progression.2Each day bringsopportunity for decisions for eternity.

We are eternal beingsspirit chil-dren of heavenly parents. The Biblerecords that God created man inhis own image, . . . male and femalecreated he them.3Recently I heard achorus of children sing the belovedsong I Am a Child of God.4I won-dered, Why havent I heard that songrendered more often by singing moth-ers or faithful fathers? Are we not all

children of God? In truth, not one ofus can ever stop being a child of God!As children of God, we should

love Him with all our heart and soul,even more than we love our earthlyparents.5We should love our neigh-bors as brothers and sisters. No othercommandments are greater thanthese.6And we should ever revere the

worth of human life, through each ofits many stages.

Decisions for EternityThe wise use of your freedom to make your own decisions iscrucial to your spiritual growth, now and for eternity.

Thats exactly how I feel about theSavior. He is always near, especiallyin sacred places and in times of need;and sometimes, when I least expect,I feel almost like He taps me on theshoulder to let me know He lovesme. I can return that love in my ownimperfect way by giving Him my heart(see D&C 64:22, 34).

Just a few months ago I sat withElder Jeffrey R. Holland as he assignedmissionaries to their missions. As

we left he waited for me, and as wewalked he draped his arm around myshoulder. I commented to him on hisdoing the same thing once before in

Australia. He said, Thats because Ilove you! And I knew that was true.

I believe that if we could have theprivilege of walking physically withthe Savior, that we would feel His armdraped over our shoulder just likethat. Like the disciples heading towardEmmaus, our hearts would burn

within us (Luke 24:32). This is His

message: Come and see (John 1:39).It is personal, inviting, and embracingin its invitation to walk with His armaround our shoulders.

May we all feel as confident asEnos, as reflected in the last verse ofhis short but profound book: I rejoicein the day when my mortal shall puton immortality, and shall stand beforehim; then shall I see his face withpleasure, and he will say unto me:Come unto me, ye blessed, there is a

place prepared for you in the man-sions of my Father (Enos 1:27).Because of the multiplicity of

experiences and the power withwhich the Spirit has witnessed to me,I testify with absolute surety that Godlives. I feel His love. It is the sweetestfeeling. May we do what is neededto align our will with His and trulylove Him. In the name of Jesus Christ,amen.