President Nelson - To the young adults Flashcards
Now, this is a singular time in your life. There won’t be another quite like it. You are establishing priorities and patterns that will dramatically affect not just your mortal life but also your eternal life.
Worldwide Devotional for Young Adults with President Nelson—May 2022
My responsibility is to educate and prepare you also for your immortal experience—meaning, how to gain eternal life.
Teachings of the finest institutions of higher learning have limitations, because secular education generally ignores three major truths that are rarely addressed:
First, each of us is going to die.
Second, because of Jesus Christ, each of us is going to be resurrected and become immortal.
And third, Judgment Day is ahead for each of us.
These three absolute truths should form the foundation of your spiritual education.
Because of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness, we know a lot about our postmortal possibilities. We know that our Father’s house has many mansions. We know that God loves His children so much that, as President Dallin H. Oaks has taught, “all the children of God”—with the fewest of exceptions—will “wind up in a kingdom of glory.” Just think of it! Our Father created kingdoms of glory—telestial, terrestrial, and celestial—to provide a glorious place for His children.
My purpose tonight is to make sure that your eyes are wide open to the truth that this life really is the time when you get to decide what kind of life you want to live forever. Now is your time “to prepare to meet God.”
Mortal lifetime is hardly a nanosecond compared with eternity. But, my dear brothers and sisters, what a crucial nanosecond it is! During this life we get to choose which laws we are willing to obey—those of the celestial kingdom, or the terrestrial, or the telestial—and, therefore, in which kingdom of glory we will live forever.
Every righteous choice that you make here will pay huge dividends now. But righteous choices in mortality will pay unimaginable dividends eternally. If you choose to make covenants with God and are faithful to those covenants, you have the promise of “glory added upon [your head] for ever and ever.”
please don’t be uninformed or naïve about the opportunities and challenges of mortality. In that spirit, you need to understand three fundamental truths that will help you prepare your future course:
First, know the truth about who you are.
Second, know the truth about what Heavenly Father and His Son have offered you.
And third, know the truth related to your conversion.
I believe that if the Lord were speaking to you directly tonight, the first thing He would make sure you understand is your true identity.
And yet, the way you think about who you really are affects almost every decision you will ever make.
So who are you? First and foremost, you are a child of God, a child of the covenant, and a disciple of Jesus Christ. As you embrace these truths, our Heavenly Father will help you reach your ultimate goal of living eternally in His holy presence.
Heavenly Father’s plan for His children allows us to live where and how He lives and ultimately to become more and more like Him. His plan literally makes the richest blessings of all eternity available to us, including the potential for us to become “joint-heirs with Christ.”
God knows all and sees all. In all of eternity, no one will ever know you or care about you more than He does. No one will ever be closer to you than He is. You can pour out your heart to Him and trust Him to send the Holy Ghost and angels to care for you. He demonstrated His ultimate love when He sent His Only Begotten Son to die for you—to be your Savior and your Redeemer!
Through His Atonement, the Lord Jesus Christ overcame the world. Therefore, He is “mighty to … cleanse [you] from all unrighteousness.” He will deliver you from your most excruciating circumstances in His own way and time. As you come unto Him in faith, He will guide, preserve, and protect you. He will heal your broken heart and comfort you in your distress. He will give you access to His power. And He will make the impossible in your life become possible.
Jesus Christ is the only enduring source of hope, peace, and joy for you.
God will do everything He can, short of violating your agency, to help you not miss out on the greatest blessings in all eternity.
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. Then at the end of mortal life, precious is the reunion of each covenant child with our Heavenly Father.
He also cares deeply that all His children have an opportunity to hear the glad tidings of the restored gospel. Heavenly Father has sent His children to earth for more than six millennia. Most of these people have not yet received the ordinances that would qualify them for eternal life. That is why temples are so significant. That is why the gathering of Israel on both sides of the veil is the most important cause on earth today.