The following message was written by Elder Ian S. Ardern of the Seventy of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Elder Ardern is the Pacific Area President of the Church.
The "Come, Follow Me" curriculum for this year is the Doctrine and Covenants. I hope you are enjoying it as much as Sister Ardern and I are.
We have the added bonus of sharing our insights with an early morning Seminary class twice a week. If you know someone who has not yet enrolled in Seminary, encourage them to do so as their attendance and participation will strengthen their testimony and help them to feel the hand of the Lord in their lives.
The first verse in Doctrine and Covenants, Section 3 reads, "The works, and the designs, and the purposes of God cannot be frustrated, neither can they come to naught."
This weekend I "attended" the Pago Pago Mapusaga (American Samoa) stake conference virtually with Elder Fa’alogo, an Area Seventy from Samoa, as my companion. He too "attended" virtually, and again, I realised that the work of the Lord is not being frustrated. There are some inconveniences but those are a long way from frustrating the work of the Lord.
Elder-Ian-S.-Ardern-and-Elder-Sapele-Faalogo-meet-virtually-with-members-and-friends-in-the-Pago-Pago-Mapusaga-(American-Samoa)-stake.
Elder Ian S. Ardern and Elder Sapele Fa’alogo meet virtually with members and friends in the Pago Pago Mapusaga (American Samoa) stake.© 2021 by Intellectual Reserve, Inc. All rights reserved.It was a stake reorganization and interviews were conducted virtually. Elder Fa’alogo and I studied it out in our mind (another Doctrine and Covenants lesson...see Section 9) and felt the will of the Lord through the Holy Ghost. At the conclusion of the conference, the incoming stake presidency members were sustained and then set apart by delegated authority.
We started the conference with a beautiful prelude number by a Primary choir dressed in white with yellow ties and ribbons and it was delightful. Within the Covid-19 restrictions of the country, the children sang with their masks on about how they will live by the teachings of the Saviour. That is what each of us must strive to do each day.
Thank you my fellow Pacific Saints for being "strivers." Your continued faithfulness under different circumstances is faith-building.
I testify that the Lord is aware of you; none of us is forgotten to Him. I know of some of your disappointments along the way, they are part of our earthly experience and can help us to grow in faith, hope and knowledge.
Please remember the words of the Saviour found in the Book of Mormon, another witness of Christ. He said, “Behold, I am the law, and the light. Look unto me, and endure to the end, and ye shall live; for unto him that endureth to the end will I give eternal life.”