122 7/14/25

 Hello Family, I’ll keep this short today. I just wanted to send a couple of thoughts that stood out to me this past week as I re-listened to the talks given by President Holland and Elder Kearon this past conference. Both thoughts have reference to where we are currently in our own personal discipleship.


The first was from President Holland who was quoting Richard L. Evans 60 years ago: “Many of us profess to be Christians, yet we … do not take Him seriously. … We respect Him, but we don’t follow Him. … We quote His sayings, but we don’t live by them.” “We admire Him, but we don’t worship Him.”


This quote should give us all pause as we consider where we currently stand in our personal quest to follow the Savior. Graham talked about this yesterday in our Come Follow Me. That we must each be vigilant not to fall into the trap of “going through the motions.”


The second thought came from Elder Kearon’s message, Receive His Gift. Referencing our divine identity he said, “Imagine you are hearing this for the first time! You really are His cherished daughter. You really are His precious son.”

“With His omniscient love, He knows exactly who you were before you were sent to earth and what you have experienced so far in your mortal life, and He has mercifully planned for your every tomorrow. And oh, how He yearns to one day have you return to Him, to receive the supreme intent of all His beautiful gifts, eternal life with Him.”


”The question is not whether this gift of truth is real but whether we will discover and receive it. The gift has already been bestowed upon us by the Father. The price for the ultimate purpose of this gift has already been paid by the Saviour. But if you have been taught this, said this, and sung this truth for years, maybe the awesome wonder of it has long since faded and you no longer feel its power and peace.”


“I invite you to receive, either for the first time or to a greater extent than ever before, the magnificent realisation that you truly are God’s beloved child. You must undo the bow, tear off the wrapping paper, open the box, and actively receive with grateful humility a true, pure understanding of this foundational truth. The Holy Spirit can bear witness to your heart that you are indeed a child of the Most High.”


So the invitation this week is to consider our own personal discipleship. Where do we stand currently? How will we, “to a greater extent than ever before”, draw closer to our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ? I hope you will take time in your personal study this week to ponder on your true divine identity.


I love each one of you, and hope you have an amazing week!


Dad


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