Dear Sisters and Brothers,
I’ve often considered the power of invitations, especially inspired invitations such as those to serve, to minister, to make and keep sacred covenants, to be more kind, to repent, or to forgive. During our April 2020 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson shared a number of inspired invitations and prophetic promises, including the following:
“While worshipping in the temple is presently not possible, I invite you to increase your participation in family history, including family history research and indexing. I promise that as you increase your time in temple and family history work, you will increase and improve your ability to hear Him.”; and,
“I renew my plea for you to do whatever it takes to increase your spiritual capacity to receive personal revelation. Doing so will help you know how to move ahead with your life, what to do during times of crisis, and how to discern and avoid the temptations and the deceptions of the adversary.”
As I’ve acted on these invitations, I witness that prophetic promises have been realized in my life and my capacity to both hear the whisperings of the Spirit and act in faith and love have been enlarged. My invitation to each of us is to prayerfully consider the inspired invitations we’ve received from our dear Prophet and from others in our lives, then listen to the promptings of the Holy Ghost and act.
On behalf of our new Stake Presidency I express sincere love and appreciation for our Savior and for each of you. I testify that Jesus Christ is our Savior and Redeemer, that he cares deeply for each of us and lovingly invites us to come and follow Him. With humility and gratitude we as a Stake Presidency accept the Lord’s invitation to serve and pray for God’s blessings to be with our stake as we joyfully walk the covenant path, invite others to walk with us, and build God’s Kingdom in our hearts and homes.
Sincerely,
President Chris A. Sanford
First Counselor