Come Unto the Lord With All Your Heart

In the April 2025 general conference, Elder Ronald A. Rasband spoke about these words of President Nelson: “Do you see what is happening right before our eyes? I pray that we will not miss the majesty of this moment! The Lord is indeed hastening His work.” Elder Rasband then quoted a well-known prophecy of Joseph Smith who said to a relatively small group in 1834: “It is only a little handful of Priesthood you see here tonight, but this Church will fill North and South America—it will fill the world.” The apostle then commented, “That prophecy is being fulfilled ‘right before our eyes.’ The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is growing in members and families, missions and missionaries, meetinghouses and temples, and in enrollment in our seminaries, institutes, and universities all around the world.” He highlighted in particular the rapid building of temples in recent years: “Today the Church has 367 temples in various stages of design, construction, or operation. And for what purpose? The answer is proclaimed on each temple: ‘Holiness to the Lord.’ The temple opens the way to the highest blessings our Father in Heaven has for each one of us. Brothers and sisters, we are hastening our holiness as we live temple worthy, as we worship in the house of the Lord, and as we make covenants with God for ourselves and on behalf of our ancestors on the other side of the veil.” That number is now at 382 with the fifteen that President Nelson announced in the same conference. President Nelson’s vision to accelerate temple building is indeed remarkable. Elder Larry Wilson, former executive director of the temple department, relates how he presented a fifteen-year plan for building temples at the beginning of President Nelson’s tenure as the prophet. Elder Wilson proposed that 60 temples be built in that period. President Nelson said after listening carefully to the presentation, “Larry, I would feel better about your plan if there were another zero behind that number.” In other words, he wanted 600 instead of 60, something totally unprecedented.

                The hastening of the work of the Church to build temples to the Lord surely highlights a need for each of us individually to be more committed and devoted spiritually to Him. Elder Rasband also related, “Last fall I spoke at a devotional to an arena full of seminary and institute students and their parents at the University of Utah. Their attendance said much about their desire to know and follow Jesus Christ. My message to those students was clear: Give the Lord equal time. I counseled them to balance their studies with true higher learning, even a study of ‘the Son of the living God.’ I ask the same of everyone today: Whatever is on your to-do list, give equal time, not spare time, to the Lord in personal scripture study, family study of Come, Follow Me, prayer, Church callings, ministering, partaking of the sacrament, worshipping in the temple, and pondering the things of God. Our Lord and Savior has said, ‘Learn of me … and ye shall find rest unto your souls.’ Take Him at His word. And give Him equal time.” I don’t know that many of us can give the same quantity of time to spiritual things that we give to handling the necessities of daily life and family, but surely we can give equal quality of time to Him as we put the same kind of effort in serving Him as we might give to a demanding career or to education or to taking care of family. Moroni invited us to devote ourselves to the Lord with these powerful words: “O then despise not, and wonder not, but hearken unto the words of the Lord, and ask the Father in the name of Jesus for what things soever ye shall stand in need. Doubt not, but be believing, and begin as in times of old, and come unto the Lord with all your heart, and work out your own salvation with fear and trembling before him” (Mormon 9:27). As we come unto the Lord with all our heart—giving Him the highest quality of our time— we can ask Him for all things we stand in need of see His miracles in our lives. Ultimately Elder Rasband’s invitation is for us to live by the first great commandment. I love the way that a scribe put it to the Savior: “And to love him with all the heart, and with all the understanding, and with all the soul, and with all the strength, and to love his neighbour as himself, is more than all whole burnt offerings and sacrifices” (Mark 12:33). As we truly love the Lord, we will give to Him our time and whole-hearted devotion. Elder Rasband also quoted this invitation of President Nelson: “I plead with you to let God prevail in your life. Give Him a fair share of your time. As you do, notice what happens to your positive spiritual momentum.” As we behold the majesty of the Lord’s work rolling forward right before our eyes, we can remember President Nelson’s incredible devotion to Him and our own need to always let God prevail in our lives.