“Holiness unto the Lord”

By Elder Dale G. Renlund

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

In 1907 a wealthy Englishman named George Herbert, the fifth Earl of Carnarvon, moved to Egypt and took up an interest in archaeology. He approached a well-known Egyptologist, Howard Carter, and proposed a partnership. Carter would oversee their archaeological excavations, and Carnarvon would provide the funding.

Together they successfully explored a variety of locations. Then they received permission to excavate in the Valley of the Kings, located near modern-day Luxor, where the tombs of many pharaohs had been found. They decided to look for the tomb of King Tutankhamun. Tutankhamun had ascended to the throne of Egypt more than 3,000 years earlier and reigned for 10 years before his unexpected death. He was known to have been buried in the Valley of the Kings, but the location of his tomb was unknown.

Carter and Carnarvon spent five years unsuccessfully searching for Tutankhamun’s tomb. Eventually Carnarvon informed Carter that he was finished with the fruitless quest. Carter pleaded for just one more season of excavation, and Carnarvon relented and agreed to the funding.

Carter realized that the entire floor of the Valley of the Kings had been methodically excavated—except the area of their own base camp. Within a few days of digging there, they found the first steps leading down to the tomb.

When Carter eventually peered into the antechamber of Tutankhamun’s tomb, he saw gold everywhere. After three months of cataloging the contents of the antechamber, they opened the sealed burial chamber in February 1923—100 years ago. This was the most famous archaeological find of the 20th century.

During those years of ineffectual searching, Carter and Carnarvon had overlooked what was literally under their feet. Some five centuries before the Savior’s birth, the Book of Mormon prophet Jacob referred to taking for granted or undervaluing what is nearby as “looking beyond the mark.” Jacob foresaw that the people of Jerusalem would not recognize the promised Messiah when He came. Jacob prophesied that they would be a “people [who] despised the words of plainness … and [would seek] for things that they could not understand. Wherefore, because of their blindness, which blindness [would come] by looking beyond the mark, they must needs fall.” In other words, they would stumble.

Jacob’s prediction proved accurate. During Jesus’s mortal ministry, many looked beyond the mark, beyond Him. They looked past the Savior of the world. Instead of recognizing His role in fulfilling Heavenly Father’s plan, they condemned and crucified Him. They looked and waited for someone else to bring them salvation.

Like those people in Jerusalem, and like Carter and Carnarvon, we too can be prone to look beyond the mark. We need to guard against this tendency lest we miss Jesus Christ in our lives and fail to recognize the many blessings He offers us. We need Him. We are counseled to rely “wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save.”

He is our mark. If we incorrectly imagine that there is a need for something beyond what He offers, we deny or diminish the scope and power He can have in our lives. He has claimed the rights of mercy and extends that mercy to us. He is the ultimate “source [to whom we should] look for a remission of [our] sins.” He is our Advocate with the Father and champions what the Father has wanted all along: for us to return to Him as inheritors in His kingdom. We need to, in the words of the prophet Alma, “cast about [our] eyes and begin to believe in the Son of God, that he will come to redeem his people, and that he shall suffer and die to atone for [our] sins; and that he shall rise again from the dead, which shall bring to pass the resurrection.” Jesus Christ is our treasure.

The Savior has given us many ways to focus on Him intentionally, including the daily opportunity to repent. Sometimes we undervalue how great this offered blessing is. When I was eight years old, I was baptized by my father. Afterward, I held his hand as we were going to cross a busy street. I was not paying attention and stepped from the curb just as a big truck came rumbling by. My father jerked me back, out of the street and onto the curb. Had he not done so, I would have been hit by the truck. Knowing my own mischievous nature, I thought, “Maybe it would have been better for me to be killed by the truck because I’ll never be as clean as I am now right after my baptism.”

As an eight-year-old, I had mistakenly presumed that the water of baptism washed away sins. Not so. In the years since my baptism, I have learned that sins are cleansed by the power of Jesus Christ through His atoning sacrifice as we make and keep the baptismal covenant. Then, through the gift of repentance, we can remain clean. I have also learned that the sacrament brings a powerful virtuous cycle into our lives, enabling us to retain a remission of our sins.

Just like the treasure that was under the feet of Carter and Carnarvon, the treasured blessings of the sacrament are available to us each time we attend sacrament meeting. We are promised that the Holy Ghost will be our constant companion if we approach the sacrament the way a new convert approaches baptism and confirmation, with a broken heart and contrite spirit and a determination to live up to that baptismal covenant. The Holy Ghost blesses us with His sanctifying power so that we can always retain a remission of our sins, week in and week out.

Our spiritual foundation is strengthened through repentance and by conscientiously preparing for and worthily partaking of the sacrament. Only with a robust spiritual foundation can we handle the metaphorical rain, wind, and floods that confront us in our lives. Conversely, our spiritual foundation is weakened when we voluntarily skip sacrament meeting or when we do not focus on the Savior during the sacrament. We may unintentionally “withdraw [ourselves] from the Spirit of the Lord, that it may have no place in [us] to guide [us] in wisdom’s paths that [we] may be blessed, prospered, and preserved.”

When we have the Holy Ghost with us, we will be inspired and guided to make and keep other covenants, such as those we make in temples. Doing so deepens our relationship with God. You may have noticed that many new temples have been announced in recent years, bringing temples ever closer to members. Paradoxically, as temples become more accessible, it may be easier for us to become more casual about temple attendance. When temples are distant, we plan our time and resources to travel to the temple to worship there. We prioritize these journeys.

With a temple close at hand, it can be easy to let little things get in the way of attending, saying to ourselves, “Well, I’ll just go another time.” Living close to a temple does bring greater flexibility in scheduling time in the temple, but that very flexibility can make it easier to take the temple for granted. When we do, we “miss the mark,” undervaluing the opportunity to draw closer to the Savior in His holy house. Our commitment to attend should be at least as strong when the temple is nearby as when it is distant.

After Carter and Carnarvon excavated elsewhere in the Valley of the Kings looking for Tutankhamun’s tomb, they realized their oversight. We do not need to labor unsuccessfully, as they did for a time, to find our treasure. Nor need we seek counsel from exotic sources, prizing the novelty of the source and thinking such counsel will be more enlightened than that which we can receive from a humble prophet of God.

As recorded in the Old Testament, when Naaman sought a cure for his leprosy, he was indignant at being asked to dip himself seven times in a nearby ordinary river. But he was persuaded to follow the prophet Elisha’s counsel rather than rely on his own preconceived notions of how the miracle should occur. As a result, Naaman was healed. When we trust God’s prophet on the earth today and act on his counsel, we will find happiness, and we too can be healed. We need to look no further.

Brothers and sisters, I encourage you to remember and always focus on Jesus Christ. He is our Savior and Redeemer, the “mark” to whom we should look, and our greatest treasure. As you come to Him, you will be rewarded with strength to face life’s challenges, courage to do what is right, and the ability to fulfill your mission in mortality. Treasure the opportunity to repent, the privilege of partaking of the sacrament, the blessing of making and keeping temple covenants, the delight of worshipping in the temple, and the joy of having a living prophet.

I bear my solemn and sure witness that God, the Eternal Father, is our Heavenly Father and that He lives; Jesus is the Christ; He is our kind, wise heavenly Friend; and this is His restored Church. Thank you for your faith and faithfulness. I pray that you will be blessed, prospered, and preserved, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The full name of the fifth Earl of Carnarvon is George Edward Stanhope Molyneux Herbert.

A computed tomography (CT) scan done in 2005 indicated that King Tutankhamun may have suffered a compound fracture of one of his leg bones, perhaps leading to an infection and death.

Most of the New Kingdom pharaohs of Egypt were buried in the Valley of the Kings. Most of those tombs were found and robbed in antiquity.

This account of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb is primarily based on Eric H. Cline, “King Tut’s Tomb,” in Archaeology: An Introduction to the World’s Greatest Sites (2016), 60–66.

Numerous factors contributed to Carter’s and Carnarvon’s choices of where to excavate—and where not to excavate—in the Valley of the Kings. The area around the base camp was not immediately appealing for excavation. The triangular area provided visitor access to the tomb of Ramses VI, so excavations there would be particularly disruptive. The area was covered by, in Carter’s words, “a number of roughly constructed workmen’s huts, used probably by the labourers in the tomb of Rameses[,] … [and] three feet of soil that lay beneath them.” It did not seem likely that huts would have been built on top of the entrance to a tomb (see Howard Carter and A. C. Mace, The Tomb of Tut-ankh-Amen: Discovered by the Late Earl of Carnarvon and Howard Carter, vol. 1 [1923], 124–28, 132).

For other accounts of the discovery of Tutankhamun’s tomb, see Zahi Hawass, Tutankhamun and the Golden Age of the Pharaohs (2005); Nicholas Reeves, The Complete Tutankhamun: The King, the Tomb, the Royal Treasure (1990), 80–83; and Nicholas Reeves and Richard H. Wilkinson, The Complete Valley of the Kings: Tombs and Treasures of Egypt’s Greatest Pharaohs (1996), 81–82.

Jacob 4:14.

2 Nephi 31:19.

See Moroni 7:27–28.

2 Nephi 25:26.

Alma 33:22.

See Doctrine and Covenants 76:52.

See David A. Bednar, “Teach to Build Faith in Jesus Christ” (address given at the seminar for new mission leaders, June 23, 2023); Rachel Sterzer Gibson, “Teach to Build Faith in Jesus Christ, Elder Bednar Instructs,” Church News, June 23, 2023, thechurchnews.com.

The sacrament was, however, not instituted as a specific means of securing a remission of our sins (see James E. Talmage, The Articles of Faith, 12th ed. [1924], 175). A person cannot willfully sin on Saturday evening and expect that all he or she needs to do is eat a piece of bread and drink a cup of water on Sunday and magically be cleansed. But the sanctifying effect of the Holy Ghost can cleanse all who repent with a sincere heart and with real intent.

See 3 Nephi 18:12–13.

Mosiah 2:36.

President Russell M. Nelson said: “God has a special love for each person who makes a covenant with Him in the waters of baptism. And that divine love deepens as additional covenants are made and faithfully kept” (“Choices for Eternity” [worldwide devotional for young adults, May 15, 2022], Gospel Library). The multiple covenants on the covenant path are not just sequential but additive and even synergistic. They facilitate a closer and stronger connection with God. Such a connection allows us to be transformed to the point that His image is in our countenances and our hearts have been mightily and permanently changed (see Alma 5:14).

President Nelson explained that the Lord “is making His temples more accessible. He is accelerating the pace at which we are building temples. He is increasing our ability to help gather Israel. He is also making it easier for each of us to become spiritually refined” (“Focus on the Temple,” Liahona, Nov. 2022, 121).

See 2 Kings 5:9–14.

See “I Know That My Redeemer Lives,” Hymns, no. 136.

By Elder Terence M. Vinson

Of the Presidency of the Seventy

Somewhat hidden in the Old Testament book of Haggai is a description of a group of people who could have used Elder Holland’s counsel. They got it wrong by not placing Christ at the center of their lives and their service. Haggai paints some thought-provoking word pictures as he reprimands these people for staying in their comfortable houses instead of building the Lord’s temple:

“Is it time for you, O ye, to dwell in your ceiled houses, and this house lie waste?

“Now therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.

“Ye have sown much, and bring in little; ye eat, but ye have not enough; ye drink, but ye are not filled with drink; ye clothe you, but there is none warm; and he that earneth wages earneth wages to put it into a bag with holes.

“Thus saith the Lord of hosts; Consider your ways.”

Don’t you love those descriptions of the futility of prioritizing things of no eternal consequence above the things of God?

In a recent sacrament meeting I attended, a returned missionary quoted a father who summed up this idea perfectly when he said to his children, “What we need here is less Wi-Fi and more Nephi!”

Having lived in West Africa for five years, I saw plenty of examples of people prioritizing the gospel naturally and unashamedly. One such example is the name of a tire repair and wheel balancing business in Ghana. The owner has named it “Thy Will Alignment.”

We can feel enduring joy when our Savior and His gospel become the framework around which we build our lives. However, it’s so easy for that framework to become, instead, the things of the world, where the gospel sits as an optional extra or as simply attending church for two hours on Sundays. When this is the case, it is tantamount to putting our wages into “a bag with holes.”

Haggai is telling us to be committed—to be, as we say in Australia, “fair dinkum” about living the gospel. People are fair dinkum when they are what they say they are.

I learned a little about being fair dinkum and being committed by playing rugby. I learned that when I played my hardest, when I gave my all, my enjoyment of the game was greatest.

My favorite year of rugby was the year after high school. The team of which I was a member was both talented and committed. We were the champion team that year. However, one day we were to play a lowly ranked team, and after the game we all had dates to take to the big, annual college dance. I thought that because this would be an easy game, I should try to protect myself from injury so I would be able to enjoy the dance fully. In that game, we were not as committed in the hard contacts as we might have been, and we lost. To make things worse, I ended the match with a very swollen, fat lip that did not enhance my appearance for my big date. Perhaps I needed to learn something.

A very different experience occurred in a later game in which I was totally committed. At one point I ran with real intent into a contact; immediately I felt some pain in my face. Having been taught by my father that I should never let the opposition know if I was hurt, I continued to play out the game. That night, while trying to eat, I found that I couldn’t bite. The next morning, I went to the hospital, where an X-ray confirmed that my jaw was broken. My mouth was wired shut for the next six weeks.

Lessons were learned from this parable of the fat lip and the broken jaw. Despite my memories of unsatisfied cravings for solid food during the six weeks when I could ingest only liquids, I feel no regrets about my broken jaw because it resulted from my giving my all. But I do have regrets about the fat lip because it symbolized my holding back.

Giving our all doesn’t mean that we will be continually enveloped in blessings or always have success. But it does mean that we will have joy. Joy is not fleeting pleasure or even temporary happiness. Joy is enduring and is founded on our efforts being accepted by the Lord.

An example of such acceptance is the story of Oliver Granger. As President Boyd K. Packer stated: “When the Saints were driven from Kirtland, … Oliver was left behind to sell their properties for what little he could. There was not much chance that he could succeed. And, really, he did not succeed!” He had been commissioned by the First Presidency to do a task that was difficult, if not impossible. But the Lord commended him for his apparently unsuccessful efforts in these words:

“I remember my servant Oliver Granger; behold, verily I say unto him that his name shall be had in sacred remembrance from generation to generation, forever and ever, saith the Lord.

“Therefore, let him contend earnestly for the redemption of the First Presidency of my Church, … and when he falls he shall rise again, for his sacrifice shall be more sacred unto me than his increase, saith the Lord.”

That may be true of all of us—it’s not our successes but rather our sacrifice and efforts that matter to the Lord.

Another example of a true disciple of Jesus Christ is a dear friend of ours in Côte d’Ivoire in West Africa. This wonderful, faithful sister suffered terrible emotional, and even some physical, abuse from her husband over a sustained period of time, and eventually they divorced. She never wavered in her faith and goodness, but because of his cruelty to her, she was deeply hurt for a long time. In her own words, she describes what happened:

“Though I said I forgave him, I always slept with a wound; I spent my days with that wound. It was like a burn in my heart. Many times I prayed to the Lord to take it away from me, but it hurt so bad that I strongly believed I was going to spend the rest of my life with it. It hurt more than when I lost my mom at a young age; it hurt more than when I lost my dad and even my son. It seemed to expand and cover my heart, giving me the impression I was going to even die at any time.

“Some other times I asked myself what the Savior would have done in my situation, and I would rather say, ‘This is too much, Lord.’

“Then one morning I looked for the pain that comes from all this in my heart and went deeper, looking for it in my soul. It was nowhere to be found. My mind quickly passed to review all the reasons I [had] to feel hurt, but I did not feel the pain. I waited the whole day to see if I was going to feel the pain in my heart; I did not feel it. Then I knelt down and thanked God for making the atoning sacrifice of the Lord work for me.”

This sister is now happily sealed to a wonderful, faithful man who loves her deeply.

So what should our attitude be if we are true disciples of Christ? And what is the gospel worth to us when we do “consider [our] ways,” as Haggai suggested?

I love the example of the correct attitude shown by King Lamoni’s father. You’ll remember his initial anger at finding his son being accompanied by Ammon, a Nephite—a people whom the Lamanites hated. He drew his sword to contend with Ammon and soon found Ammon’s sword at his own throat. “Now the king, fearing he should lose his life, said: If thou wilt spare me I will grant unto thee whatsoever thou wilt ask, even to half of the kingdom.”

Note his offer—half his kingdom for his life.

But later, after understanding the gospel, he made another offer. “The king said: What shall I do that I may have this eternal life of which thou hast spoken? Yea, what shall I do that I may be born of God, having this wicked spirit rooted out of my breast, and receive his Spirit, that I may be filled with joy, that I may not be cast off at the last day? Behold, said he, I will give up all that I possess, yea, I will forsake my kingdom, that I may receive this great joy.”

This time, he was prepared to give up all his kingdom, because the gospel was worth more than all he had! He was fair dinkum about the gospel.

So, the question for each of us is, are we also fair dinkum about the gospel? Because being half-hearted is not being fair dinkum! And God is not known for showering praise on the lukewarm.

There is no treasure, nor any hobby, nor any status, nor any social media, nor any video games, nor any sport, nor any association with a celebrity, nor anything on earth that is more precious than eternal life. So the Lord’s counsel to every person is “consider your ways.”

My feelings are best expressed in the words of Nephi: “I glory in plainness; I glory in truth; I glory in my Jesus, for he hath redeemed my soul from hell.”

Are we true followers of Him who gave His all for us? He who is our Redeemer and our Advocate with the Father? He who was Himself absolutely committed in His atoning sacrifice and is so now in His love, His mercy, and His desire for us to have eternal joy? I plead with all who hear and read these words: Please, please don’t put your total commitment off until you get around to it at some nonexistent, future time. Get fair dinkum now and feel the joy! In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Haggai 1:4–7.

See John 15:11; Romans 14:17; 2 Corinthians 8:2; Hebrews 12:2; Moses 5:10, 7:53.

See Enos 1:3–6, 27; Doctrine and Covenants 52:15; 97:8–9.

Boyd K. Packer, “The Least of These,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2004, 86.

Doctrine and Covenants 117:12–13.

Personal correspondence.

Alma 20:23.

Alma 22:15.

See Revelation 3:15–16.

2 Nephi 33:6.

By Elder Ronald A. Rasband

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Today, as has been said, we join with Christians around the world to honor Jesus Christ on this Palm Sunday. Nearly 2,000 years ago, Palm Sunday marked the beginning of the last week of the mortal ministry of Jesus Christ. It was the most important week in human history.

What began with the heralding of Jesus as the promised Messiah in His triumphant entry into Jerusalem closed with His Crucifixion and Resurrection. By divine design, His atoning sacrifice concluded His mortal ministry, making it possible for us to live with our Heavenly Father for eternity.

Scriptures tell us that the week began with throngs standing at the gates of the city to see “Jesus the prophet of Nazareth of Galilee.” They “took branches of palm trees, and went forth to meet him, and cried: Hosanna: Blessed is the King of Israel that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

That biblical account of so long ago reminds me of being on a Church assignment in Takoradi, Ghana. Remarkably, I was there on Palm Sunday.

I was to divide the Takoradi Ghana Stake to create the Mpintsin Ghana Stake. Today, there are over 100,000 members of the Church in Ghana. (We welcome the Ga Mantse, His Majesty King Nii Tackie Teiko Tsuru II of Accra, Ghana, who is with us today.) Meeting with these Saints, I felt their profound love and devotion to the Lord. I expressed my great love for them and that the President of the Church loved them. I referred to the Savior’s words recorded by John: “That ye love one another, as I have loved you.” They deemed it the “I love you conference.”

As I looked up and down the rows of those dear brothers and sisters and their families in the chapel, I could see in their faces the glow of testimony and faith in Jesus Christ. I felt their desire to be counted as part of His far-reaching Church. And when the choir sang, they sang like angels.

Like on Palm Sunday of old, these were disciples of Jesus Christ gathered to pay tribute to Him as did those at the gates of Jerusalem who, with palms in their hands, exclaimed, “Hosanna … : Blessed is he that cometh in the name of the Lord.”

Even the parishioners in a church nearby were honoring Palm Sunday. As I was speaking from the pulpit, I noticed out the window they were joyfully walking down the street waving palms in their hands, much like those in this photo. It was a sight I will never forget—all of us that day worshipping the King of kings.

President Russell M. Nelson has admonished us to make Palm Sunday “truly holy by remembering, not just the palms that were waved to honor the entrance of Jesus into Jerusalem, but by remembering the palms of His hands.” Then President Nelson referred to Isaiah, who spoke of the Savior’s promising, “I will never forget you,” with these words: “Behold, I have graven thee upon the palms of my hands.”

The Lord knows firsthand that mortality is hard. His wounds remind us that He “descended below … all” that He might succor us when we suffer and be our example to “hold on thy way,” His way, that “God shall be with [us] forever and ever.”

Palm Sunday was not just an event, another page in history with a date, time, and place. Jesus Christ’s triumphant entry into Jerusalem and the events of the week that followed exemplify doctrine we can apply in our lives today.

Let us look at some of the eternal doctrine that weaves through His ministry concluding in Jerusalem.

First, prophecy. For example, Old Testament prophet Zechariah prophesied of Jesus Christ’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem, even describing He would ride on a donkey. Jesus foretold His Resurrection as He prepared to enter the city, saying:

“Behold, we go up to Jerusalem; and the Son of man shall be betrayed unto the chief priests and unto the scribes, and they shall condemn him to death,

“And shall deliver him to the Gentiles to mock, and to scourge, and to crucify him: and the third day he shall rise again.”

Second, the companionship of the Holy Ghost. Joseph Smith taught, “No man can know that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” The Savior promised His disciples at the Last Supper in the upper room, “I will not leave you comfortless.” They would not be alone to carry the truths of the gospel forward but would have the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost to guide them. “Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you,” He promised; “not as the world giveth, give I unto you.” With the gift of the Holy Ghost, we have that same assurance—that we “may always have his Spirit to be with [us]” and “by the power of the Holy Ghost [we] may know the truth of all things.”

Third, discipleship. True discipleship is unfailing commitment, obedience to eternal laws, and love of God, first and foremost. Nothing wavering. The multitude who paid tribute with palms hailed Him as the Messiah. That was exactly who He was. They were drawn to Him, His miracles, and His teachings. But the adulation for many did not last. Some who earlier had shouted, “Hosanna,” soon turned and cried, “Crucify him.”

Fourth, the Atonement of Jesus Christ. In His final days, following Palm Sunday, He carried out His remarkable Atonement, from the agony of Gethsemane to the mockery of His trial, His torture on the cross, and His burial in a borrowed tomb. But it did not stop there. With the majesty of His calling as the Redeemer of all of Heavenly Father’s children, three days later He stepped forth from that tomb, resurrected, as He had prophesied.

Are we continually grateful for the incomparable Atonement of Jesus Christ? Do we feel its purifying power, right now? That is why Jesus Christ, the Author and Finisher of our salvation, went to Jerusalem, to save us all. Do these words in Alma strike a chord: “If ye have experienced a change of heart, and if ye have felt to sing the song of redeeming love, I would ask, can ye feel so now?” I can truly say, the choir in Takoradi that Palm Sunday sang “the song of redeeming love.”

That last fateful week of His mortal ministry, Jesus Christ gave the parable of the ten virgins. He was teaching of His return to those prepared to receive Him, not with palms in their hands but with the light of the gospel within them. He used the image of lamps lit and burning, with extra oil to fuel the flame, as a description of a willingness to live His ways, embrace His truths, and share His light.

You know the story. The ten virgins represent members of the Church, and the bridegroom represents Jesus Christ.

The ten virgins took their lamps and “went forth to meet the bridegroom.” Five were wise, prepared with oil in their lamps and some to spare, and five were foolish, lamps dark with no oil in reserve. When the call came, “Behold, the bridegroom cometh; go ye out to meet him,” the five who were “wise and [had] received the truth, and [had] taken the Holy Spirit for their guide” were ready for “their king and their lawgiver,” that “his glory [would] be upon them.” The other five were frantically trying to find oil. But it was too late. The procession went forward without them. When they knocked and pleaded for entrance, the Lord responded, “I know you not.”

How would we feel if He said to us, “I know you not!”

We, like the ten virgins, have lamps; but do we have oil? I fear there are some who are just getting by on a thin skiff of oil, too busy with worldly pressures to properly prepare. Oil comes from believing and acting on prophecy and the words of living prophets, President Nelson in particular, his counselors, and the Twelve Apostles. Oil fills our souls when we hear and feel the Holy Ghost and act on that divine guidance. Oil pours into our hearts when our choices show we love the Lord and we love what He loves. Oil comes from repenting and seeking the healing of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

If some of you are looking to fill what some call “a bucket list,” this is it: fill your bucket with oil in the form of the living water of Jesus Christ, which is a representation of His life and teachings. In contrast, checking off a far-off place or a spectacular event will never leave your soul feeling whole or satisfied; living the doctrine taught by Jesus Christ will. I mentioned examples earlier: embrace prophecy and prophetic teachings, act on promptings of the Holy Ghost, become a true disciple, and seek the healing power of our Lord’s Atonement. That bucket list will take you somewhere you want to go—back to your Father in Heaven.

That Palm Sunday in Takoradi was a very special experience for me because I shared it with a faithful congregation of brothers and sisters. So it has been on continents and islands all around the world. My heart and soul, like yours, longs to shout, “Hosanna to the Most High God.”

Though we do not stand at the gates of Jerusalem today with palms in our hands, the time will come when, as prophesied in Revelation, “a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, [will stand] before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands.”

I leave with you my blessing as an Apostle of Jesus Christ that you will diligently strive to live righteously and be among those who, with palms in their hands, will herald the Son of God, the great Redeemer of us all. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

All four of the Gospels—Matthew 21–28; Mark 11–16; Luke 19–24; and John 12–21—describe the last days of Jesus Christ’s ministry in mortality, which was divinely designed to make the blessings of salvation and exaltation available to all of God’s children. At times the authors differ in what they include but not in the Savior’s teachings and actions.

See Matthew 21:10–11.

John 12:13.

Per Membership and Statistical Records, there are 102,592 members in Ghana.

John 15:12.

Every time I spoke with members, they would say to me, “Elder Rasband, our dear Apostle, I love you.” These people are so filled with the Spirit and the love of God that they share that love easily.

Matthew 21:9.

See Russell M. Nelson, “The Peace and Hope of Easter” (video), Apr. 2021, ChurchofJesusChrist.org/media; Isaiah 49:16.

Doctrine and Covenants 122:8. In December 1838 the Prophet Joseph and a handful of other Church leaders were unjustly imprisoned in Liberty Jail. The conditions were dreadful. After months in wretched circumstances, he wrote to the members in March of 1839, including prayers where he had petitioned the Lord to have compassion on his situation and the “suffering saints.” He also shared the Lord’s response to those prayers as recorded in Doctrine and Covenants 121–23.

Doctrine and Covenants 122:9. The Lord’s encouragement to Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail brought him comfort and spiritual understanding that adversity and trials can strengthen us, teach patience, and foster self-mastery. The Lord called for him to “hold on thy way,” which was the way of the Lord, enduring unjust treatment as had “the Son of [God, who] hath descended below them all. Art thou greater than he?” (Doctrine and Covenants 122:8).

Doctrine and Covenants 122:9. The pledge that God “shall be with you” is a sure promise for those who hold fast to their faith and trust in the Lord.

See Zechariah 9:9.

Matthew 20:18–19. James E. Talmage writes in Jesus the Christ: “It is … an astounding fact that the Twelve failed to comprehend His meaning. … To them there was some dreadful incongruity, some dire inconsistency or inexplicable contradiction in the sayings of their beloved Master. They knew Him to be the Christ, the Son of the living God; and how could such a One be brought into subjection and be slain?” ([1916], 502–3).

Joseph Smith made this declaration to the Female Relief Society of Nauvoo, April 28, 1842, as quoted in “History of Joseph Smith,” Deseret News, Sept. 19, 1855, 218. Referring to the twelfth chapter of 1 Corinthians, he clarified the third verse, “No man can say that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost,” revising it to say, “No man can know that Jesus is the Lord, but by the Holy Ghost.” (See The First Fifty Years of Relief Society: Key Documents in Latter-day Saint Women’s History [2016], 2.2, churchhistorianspress.org.)

Jesus shared the Last Supper with His disciples (see Mark 14:12–18). The Twelve included Peter, Andrew, James, John, Matthew, Philip, Thomas, Bartholomew, James (son of Alphaeus), Judas Iscariot, Judas (brother of James), and Simon (see Luke 6:13–16).

Jesus instituted the sacrament with His disciples at the Last Supper (see Matthew 26:26–29; Mark 14:22–25; Luke 22:19–20).

The specific day/night in which Jesus instituted the sacrament in the “upper room” is actually disputed because of seeming discrepancies between Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Matthew, Mark, and Luke suggest that the Last Supper took place on “the first day of the feast of unleavened bread,” or the Passover meal (see Matthew 26:17; Mark 14:12; Luke 22:1, 7). John, however, suggests that Jesus was arrested before the Passover meal (see John 18:28), meaning that the Last Supper would have taken place one day earlier than the Passover meal. The Church’s curriculum materials and Latter-day Saint scholarship seem to agree that Jesus held the Last Supper with His disciples in the upper room on the evening before He was crucified. Christians who celebrate Holy Week recognize Thursday as the day of the Last Supper, Friday as the day of the Crucifixion, and Sunday as the day of Resurrection—according to the Gregorian calendar.

John 14:18.

John 14:27.

Doctrine and Covenants 20:77.

Moroni 10:5.

The Bible Dictionary explains, hosanna means “save now.” The word is taken from Psalm 118:25. “The chanting of this psalm was connected at the Feast of the Tabernacles with the waving of palm branches; hence the use of the word by the multitudes at our Lord’s triumphal entry into Jerusalem” (Bible Dictionary, “Hosanna”). See Matthew 21:9, 15; Mark 11:9–10; John 12:13.

Mark 15:14; Luke 23:21.

The centerpiece of our Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation was an infinite atonement that would ensure immortality for all His children and exaltation for those worthy to receive that blessing. When the Father said, “Whom shall I send?” Jesus Christ stepped forward: “Here am I, send me” (Abraham 3:27). President Russell M. Nelson has taught: “[Jesus Christ’s] mission was the Atonement. That mission was uniquely His. Born of a mortal mother and an immortal Father, He was the only one who could voluntarily lay down His life and take it up again (see John 10:14–18). The glorious consequences of His Atonement were infinite and eternal. He took the sting out of death and made temporary the grief of the grave (see 1 Corinthians 15:54–55). His responsibility for the Atonement was known even before the Creation and the Fall. Not only was it to provide for the resurrection and immortality of all humankind, but it was also to enable us to be forgiven of our sins—upon conditions established by Him. Thus His Atonement opened the way by which we could be united with Him and with our families eternally” (“The Mission and Ministry of Jesus Christ,” Ensign, Apr. 2013, 34; Liahona, Apr. 2013, 20).

Resurrection consists of reuniting the body and the spirit in an immortal state, the body and spirit being inseparable and no longer bound to maladies of mortality or death (see Alma 11:45; 40:23).

Alma 5:26; see also Alma 5:14.

The parable of the ten virgins is found in Matthew 25:1–12; Doctrine and Covenants 45:56–59. The surrounding chapters of Matthew 25 suggest that Jesus taught this parable during His last week, after entering Jerusalem in Matthew 21 and just before the Last Supper and His arrest in Matthew 26. In addition to the parable of the ten virgins given that last week, Jesus gave the parable of the fig tree (see Matthew 21:17–21; 24:32–33), parable of the two sons (see Matthew 21:28–32), and parable of the wicked husbandman (see Matthew 21:33–46).

Matthew 25:1.

Matthew 25:6.

Doctrine and Covenants 45:57.

Doctrine and Covenants 45:59.

Doctrine and Covenants 45:59.

Matthew 25:12. In the Sermon on the Mount, the Lord refers to those who presume to have “done many wonderful works,” saying, as suggested in the account of the five foolish virgins, “I know you not” (see Matthew 7:22–23).

Just as water is critical to mortal life, Jesus Christ and His teachings (living water) are critical for eternal life (see Guide to the Scriptures, “Living Water,” scriptures.ChurchofJesusChrist.org; see also Isaiah 12:3; Jeremiah 2:13; John 4:6–15; 7:37; 1 Nephi 11:25; Doctrine and Covenants 10:66; 63:23).

3 Nephi 4:32.

Revelation 7:9.

By President Russell M. Nelson

President of the Church

This has been an inspirational and historic conference. We look to the future with enthusiasm. We have been motivated to do better and to be better. The marvelous messages delivered from this pulpit by our General Authorities and General Officers and the music have been sublime! I urge you to study these messages, commencing this week. They express the mind and the will of the Lord for His people, today.

The new home-centered, Church-supported integrated curriculum has the potential to unleash the power of families, as each family follows through conscientiously and carefully to transform their home into a sanctuary of faith. I promise that as you diligently work to remodel your home into a center of gospel learning, over time your Sabbath days will truly be a delight. Your children will be excited to learn and to live the Savior’s teachings, and the influence of the adversary in your life and in your home will decrease. Changes in your family will be dramatic and sustaining.

During this conference we have strengthened our resolve to execute the essential effort to honor the Lord Jesus Christ every time we refer to His Church. I promise you that our rigorous attention to use the correct name of the Savior’s Church and its members will lead to increased faith and access to greater spiritual power for members of His Church.

Now let’s turn to the topic of temples. We know that our time in the temple is crucial to our salvation and exaltation and to that of our families.

After we receive our own temple ordinances and make sacred covenants with God, each one of us needs the ongoing spiritual strengthening and tutoring that is possible only in the house of the Lord. And our ancestors need us to serve as proxy for them.

Consider the great mercy and fairness of God, who, before the foundation of the world, provided a way to give temple blessings to those who died without a knowledge of the gospel. These sacred temple rites are ancient. To me that antiquity is thrilling and another evidence of their authenticity.

My dear brothers and sisters, the assaults of the adversary are increasing exponentially, in intensity and in variety. Our need to be in the temple on a regular basis has never been greater. I plead with you to take a prayerful look at how you spend your time. Invest time in your future and in that of your family. If you have reasonable access to a temple, I urge you to find a way to make an appointment regularly with the Lord—to be in His holy house—then keep that appointment with exactness and joy. I promise you that the Lord will bring the miracles He knows you need as you make sacrifices to serve and worship in His temples.

Currently we have 159 dedicated temples. The proper care and maintenance of those temples is very important to us. With the passage of time, temples are inevitably in need of refreshing and renewal. To that end, plans are now being made to renovate and update the Salt Lake Temple and other pioneer-generation temples. Details on these projects will be shared as they are developed.

Today we are pleased to announce plans to construct 12 more temples. Those temples will be built in the following locations: Mendoza, Argentina; Salvador, Brazil; Yuba City, California; Phnom Penh, Cambodia; Praia, Cape Verde; Yigo, Guam; Puebla, Mexico; Auckland, New Zealand; Lagos, Nigeria; Davao, Philippines; San Juan, Puerto Rico; and Washington County, Utah.

Building and maintaining temples may not change your life, but spending your time in the temple surely will. To those who have long been absent from the temple, I encourage you to prepare and return as soon as possible. Then I invite you to worship in the temple and pray to feel deeply the Savior’s infinite love for you, that each of you may gain your own testimony that He directs this sacred and ageless work.

Brothers and sisters, I thank you for your faith and sustaining efforts. I leave my love and blessing upon you, that you may feast upon the word of the Lord and apply His teachings in your personal lives. I assure you that revelation continues in the Church and will continue until “the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”

I bless you with increased faith in Him and in His holy work, with faith and patience to endure your personal challenges in life. I bless you to become exemplary Latter-day Saints. I so bless you and bear my testimony that God lives! Jesus is the Christ! This is His Church. We are His people, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

See general conference messages online at LDS.org and on the Gospel Library app. They will be printed in the Ensign and Liahona. The Church magazines, including the New Era and the Friend, delivered through the mail or downloaded online, are an important part of your home-centered gospel curriculum.

See, for example, Exodus 28; 29; Leviticus 8.

See Mosiah 4:29.

See Wilford Woodruff, “The Law of Adoption,” discourse delivered at the general conference of the Church, Apr. 8, 1894. President Woodruff said: “We have not got through [with] revelation. We have not got through [with] the work of God. … There will be no end to this work until it is perfected” (Deseret Evening News, Apr. 14, 1894, 9).

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith (2007), 142.