Brothers and sisters, it is so good to be with you. BYU-Idaho is an amazing place. My son attended this institution for a year, and I have fun memories of taking him here. I also had some scary moments—skidding and sliding on the roads and driving in the snow for the first time as I helped him move during registration week. For a Jamaican, this was quite the baptism of fire. We don’t get snow, and you here get maybe more than you need.
I am here with my sweetheart, Nadine, and it is wonderful to be with President and Sister Meredith, who are amazing disciples of Jesus Christ.
I think often of the story Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs; it’s a household movie and story around the world. You may remember the mirror on the wall and the question, “Who is fairest of them all?” You may remember the envy and malice of her stepmother once the mirror declared that Snow White was the fairest of them all.
Her stepmother would stop at nothing to get this precious young woman killed. You may also remember the apple and the disguise and the trap. Who would turn away or reject a gift from an innocent, harmless-looking old woman?
It was Elder J. Golden Kimball who once said, “I find that a man [or woman] can act good and talk good and look good and not do any good.” [1]
Poor Snow White did not know that this innocent old woman was her wicked stepmother in disguise.
This is very prevalent today—false goodness, wolves in sheep’s clothing, hidden agendas, fake relationships, counterfeits, it’s all here.
Mormon expressed a similar message in Moroni 7 to those of the church referred to as “the peaceable followers of Christ.” He said, “Wherefore, a man being evil cannot do that which is good; neither will he give a good gift.
“For behold, a bitter fountain cannot bring forth good water; neither can a good fountain bring forth bitter water; wherefore, a man being a servant of the devil cannot follow Christ; and if he follow Christ he cannot be a servant of the devil.
“Wherefore, all things which are good cometh of God; and that which is evil cometh of the devil; for the devil is an enemy unto God, and fighteth against him continually, and inviteth and enticeth to sin, and to do that which is evil continually.
“But behold, that which is of God inviteth and enticeth to do good continually; wherefore, every thing which inviteth and enticeth to do good, and to love God, and to serve him, is inspired of God.
“Wherefore, take heed, my beloved brethren, that ye do not judge that which is evil to be of God, or that which is good and of God to be of the devil.” [2]
The Prophet Joseph Smith could be considered exhibit A for Mormon as he taught these principles. A close look at his life reveals that he could never have produced the many good things that flowed from his labor, life, and worship had he been evil.
Think of it: The Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, and the Pearl of Great Price; the doctrine of the temple, celestial kingdom, and all the glories; the priesthood and its associated keys; the clarity of certain doctrines such as the Godhead and the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Would the results we now see in Salt Lake City, Rexburg, and cities around the world be possible coming from the hands of an evil man?
In sacred moments like baby blessings, baptisms, endowments, sealings, temple dedications, mission calls, general conferences, or patriarchal blessings, would we feel the influence of the Holy Ghost as we do if these moments flowed from a bitter fountain? I think not.
I have had many witnesses in the past of the truthfulness of the gospel, but I am having a further witness right now, during this period of my life, as I open my eyes. Whenever I feel the Holy Ghost in a meeting, or in settings like these, I remember, a man being evil cannot offer a good gift. I allow my testimony of Joseph Smith and Jesus Christ to grow.
There is a war against goodness in this world. Lucifer is seeking to obscure the good in our eyes, if we let him.
He is hiding the good, and this leads to despair, stress, discouragement, and disheartened hopes. He wants the things that are bad to be normal and natural, and that which is good to be weird and awkward. He wants cleanliness and holiness to be uncommon and unpopular. If goodness becomes uncomfortable, then half the battle is won; this is Lucifer’s way. We need more champions for good and God like Joseph Smith. President Nelson has commissioned the youth—and each of us, really—to be this kind of champion. [3]
In 2024, President Nelson declared, “My dear brothers and sisters, 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.” [4]
Can I share some “majesties of this moment” happening around the world?
My son, like some of you, received his mission call during COVID-19. Our miraculous missionaries, while staying in their apartments and working almost exclusively online, baptized more than 125,000 people during COVID. The partnership between the missionaries and the members could not have been stronger. [5]
Currently, more than 800,000 students worldwide are enrolled in seminary and institute, the highest enrollment in the history of the Church.” In some areas, we are increasing by more than 20,000 students a year. [6]
This year, we rolled out life preparation lessons for seminary. We will help youth, two days a week, focus on missionary preparation, temple preparation, their mental health, and other life skills. We hope youth will be better armed to face the world and be prepared for life.5 This is happening.
Temples dot the land, but think of what has happened in seven years. Two hundred temples were announced or under construction during that time. I will never forget that President Nelson announced 34 new temples, including one in Dubi, during the three general conferences that occurred during the COVID-19 pandemic. This, when all our temples were closed or operating in a very limited way.
What was our prophet teaching us? You may remember Him saying, “It may seem odd to announce new temples when all our temples are closed for a while. … These … new temples will bless the lives of many people on both sides of the veil of death. … [God] is bringing the blessings of the temple closer to His children everywhere.” [7]
One could ask, what does President Nelson see? Or, what is he allowing himself to see? Certainly, he sees and is a champion for good things now and good things to come.
While we can be grateful for all the majestic things happening around us in the Church and kingdom of God and in the world, I would like to invite you today to look for the majestic things happening inside you.
Please consider the following questions:
- Do I see the goodness in me?
- How is the Lord hastening His work in me?
- How fast am I allowing that work to proceed?
Do not miss “the majesty of this moment.” What is happening inside you? Is the Lord working a marvelous work in you? Can He say, “Behold a marvelous work is about to come forth” [8] in Kevin, John, Brayden, Rebekah? Part of that marvelous work has already begun.
I want you to know that I know Jesus Christ loves you as you are, this very minute, but He is not content to leave you the way you are right this minute. Jesus Christ wants you to progress. His work will not progress at your expense. In fact, you are His work.
Do you remember when President Nelson taught us about hesed? [9]
“Once we make a covenant with God, we leave neutral ground forever. God will not abandon His relationship with those who have forged such a bond with Him. In fact, all those who have made a covenant with God have access to a special kind of love and mercy. In the Hebrew language, that covenantal love is called hesed (חֶסֶד).”
“We thereby create a relationship with God that allows Him to bless and change us. … If we let God prevail in our lives, that covenant will lead us closer and closer to Him.”
Then, President Nelson defined what ‘Hesed’ means:
“Because God has hesed for those who have covenanted with Him, He will love them. He will continue to work with them and offer them opportunities to change. He will forgive them when they repent. And should they stray, He will help them find their way back to Him. … He will never tire in His efforts to help us, and we will never exhaust His merciful patience with us.”
Isn’t this teaching from our prophet powerful? Remember our Father, who wants to help us progress, will never quit.
Now, I have an assignment for you. It is simple. I want to invite you today to take a close look at what the Lord is doing inside you.
I invite you to read and study Jacob 5. As you do, I invite you to think of yourself as the tree. Don’t read it as if the tree is the Church or the large group called the House of Israel. Read it as if you are Israel—one who will “let God prevail” in their life. One who will give Him free and full access to their life without restrictions, conditions, or limits. [10]
Brothers and sisters, the more I think about Jesus hastening His work in me and my development, preparation, and growth toward becoming like Him, the more I realize that it has much more to do with what I allow—and who I give access—than anything else.
We have three fundamental powers in the world: the power of God, which is supreme; the power of Lucifer; and man’s power. Our ability, privilege, and awesome responsibility to choose is agency or, in other words, man’s power. We use it to determine who gets access.
Please consider these five simple principles before you fulfil this assignment:
If Lucifer has access, we will regress spiritually and, eventually, in every aspect of our lives. However, if Jesus Christ has access, we will progress. The more we give Him access to our hearts and lives, the faster we will progress spiritually and temporally. You will see a hastening. You will experience majestic moments.
Remember that Lucifer is not omniscient. He knows things about you because of the premortal existence, but that is his memory. [11] He has no certainty about our choices. He seeks to prevent things from happening, but he has no power to do so. He knows some things to target in our lives, but he cannot control the outcome. This is why he showed up in the scared grove, on the mountain with Moses, and in the wilderness as Jesus fasted. This is why he will show up before your mission, before or after your sealing, after you return home from a mission, after you move away to college, before you are about to graduate, before you are about to receive a calling, or before you are to be released.
Lucifer is cunning, but he is ignorant. If you limit his access, you limit his power. This means that, with the help of the Lord, you can render him powerless.
Think of Moses: “In the name of the Only Begotten, depart hence, Satan.” [12]
Think of Joseph Smith: “But, exerting all my powers to call upon God to deliver me out of the power of this enemy which had seized upon me … I saw a pillar of light.” [13]
Think of Jesus Christ: “Get thee hence, Satan: for it is written, Thou shalt worship the Lord thy God, and him only shalt thou serve.” [14]
In every case, when the power of agency is righteously exercised, the evil one has no choice but to depart.
On the other hand, God, our loving Heavenly Father, does not have a veil, nor does Jesus Christ. Their knowledge of you is certain, and their vision of you is past, present, and future. They are omniscient. [15] Please think about this. What do They know? Everything. And Jesus Christ knows you twice over. He knows your past, present, and future, but He intimately knows your pain, struggles, and desires because He has suffered it and lived it vicariously.
Do you see why access and agency are important? Will you give Lucifer more access—the one who knows your history, maybe some prophecy, but is ignorant? Or will you give access to Him who will work with you based on certainty; Him who will never tire and will never give up on you?
God can do very little, even with hesed, if we become indifferent and defiant. Those two attitudes together result in rebellion. [16]
In your mind, you might hear a negative voice saying, “All or nothing. If you can’t be perfect now, don’t even try.” Or you may think, “I have failed already; I will fail again. What is the point?” These are tools of the adversary.
Remember, Jesus never used those words. Consider His invitations:
- “It is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength.” [17]
- I “will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able.” [18]
- “I will give unto the children of men line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little.” [19]
- “Come unto me all ye that labor and I will give you rest.” [20]
We largely say we have started the process of repentance because we have done something significantly wrong, or have done many significantly wrong things in the past, and now feel it is time to start the process. We do this because we want to be free from sin and guilt and be clean before the Lord. We go to Him in desperation and need.
The challenge is that when we have been forgiven, and we feel the great, undeniable joy associated with forgiveness, we then say, “I have completed my repentance process.” I cannot tell you how often I have heard that statement. Is that true, though?
Brothers and sisters, I testify that Jesus Christ is not and never will be finished with you. That mindset restricts His access. We are finished because we have changed something from bad to good. But what about something good to better, or something better to best? Is that still not repentance?
Jesus Christ not only redeems, but He also enables. [21] You see, both His power to redeem and enable help us change. Instead of saying, “I have completed the repentance process,” why don’t we say, “I have started the repentance process, and I will stay in the repentance process.”
President Nelson said, “Nothing is more liberating, more ennobling, or more crucial to our individual progression than is a regular, daily focus on repentance. Repentance is not an event; it is a process. Experience the strengthening power of daily repentance—of doing and being a little better each day. We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves. We choose to grow spiritually and receive joy—we choose to become more like Jesus Christ!” [22] There it is again: agency and access.
With these principles in mind, will you now read Jacob 5? As the tree, ponder the question, “What will the Lord prune away and what will He graft in, if I allow him access?”
Watch Him work, and you will be a witness of the “majesty of this moment.” Some of this will be painful, and you will be required to be actively engaged and be all in. This will require you to do what you are inspired to do and change what you are inspired to change. You will be tempted to stop giving the Lord access—please don’t! Act in His strength.
I testify that the good that is in you is real. This was tested and proven in the premortal existence. It is not up for debate. You can offer any fruit of the gospel of Jesus Christ to anyone. It is because of this goodness that the Lord wants to hasten His work in and through you.
Brothers and sisters, please remember that Jesus Christ is your safe space. Elder Holland taught: “‘Come as you are,’ a loving Father says to each of us, but He adds, ‘Don’t plan to stay as you are.’ We smile and remember that God is determined to make of us more than we thought we could be.” [23]
This majestic work began with your creation. Jesus Christ is a Creator. He is still creating. He is creating me. I am still “a work in progress.” An eternity from now, can you imagine what I will be? What you will be? [24] You are in His hands. Don’t leave—stay in His hands, stay the course, stay in the relationship. Intensify the relationship you have with Jesus Christ through your covenants.
I testify that it does not matter who you think you are right now, what your capabilities are, what you are good at or not good at, what you hate or dislike about yourself, or what any other person has to say about you. It does not matter what your past sins were. [25] What matters is that He—who shaped the world and framed the universe; whose domain is the expanse of space—is engaged in working to shape you, to make you better, in time and all eternity. With His help, you will be your best self, and He won’t lose the world in the process. This is the work of Gods. [26]
In the words of President Nelson, “There is no limit to the Savior’s capacity to help you. His incomprehensible suffering in Gethsemane and on Calvary was for you! His infinite Atonement is for you!” [27]
He is full of grace and truth, and that means He will never not be available—never not have the power or reach to change even our very natures and desires—if we stay with him long enough: “And again I would exhort you that ye would come unto Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift, and touch not the evil gift, nor the unclean thing. [28]
Do not miss the “majesty of this moment” because it is your moment. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Notes
[1] J. Golden Kimball, “What Is a ‘Good Man’?,” in Conference Report, October 1932.
[2] Moroni 7:3,10-14.
[3] “So, now I am inviting every young woman and every young man … in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to enlist in the youth battalion of the Lord … Please do not stay off the covenant path one more minute. Please come back through true repentance, now. We need you with us in this youth battalion of the Lord. It just won’t be the same without you!” (Russell M. Nelson and Wendy W. Nelson, “Hope of Israel,” Worldwide Youth Devotional, June 3, 2018).
[4] Russell M. Nelson, “The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again,” Liahona, November 2024.
[5] “Now fast forward to January of 2020. That month, President Russell M. Nelson, now President of the Church, authorized every missionary worldwide to have a smartphone. Then, just weeks later, the pandemic shut down the world and proselyting as we knew it stopped. Elder Brent H. Nielson, then executive director of the missionary department, was initially concerned that baptisms might drop to nearly zero. But they didn’t. Inspired missionaries working from their apartments found and baptized 125,000 people in 2020—largely because they had smartphones.” Says Elder Nielson: “I quickly learned that the Lord had prepared us for this day. Prophets can see around corners.” (Sheri Dew, “Prophets Can See Around Corners,” BYU Speeches, November 02, 2022).
[6] Chad H Webb, “Reach and Impact of Seminaries and Institutes,” CES Religious Educators Conference, June 2024.
[7] Russell M. Nelson, “Go Forward in Faith,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2020.
[8] Doctrine and Covenants 4:1.
[9] Russell M. Nelson, “The Everlasting Covenant,” Liahona, October 2023.
[10] “The word willing is crucial to this interpretation of Israel. We all have our agency. We can choose to be of Israel, or not. We can choose to let God prevail in our lives, or not. We can choose to let God be the most powerful influence in our lives, or not,” (Russell M. Nelson, “Let God Prevail,” Ensign or Liahona, November 2020).
[11] Abraham 3:22–28.
[12] Moses1:18–21.
[13] Joseph Smith—History 1:16.
[14] Matthew 4:10.
[15] “Those who try to qualify God’s omniscience fail to understand that He has no need to avoid ennui [tedium] by learning new things. Because God’s love is also perfect, there is, in fact, divine delight in that ‘one eternal round’ which, to us, seems to be all routine and repetition. God derives His great and continuing joy and glory by increasing and advancing His creations, and not from new intellectual experiences.
“There is a vast difference, therefore, between an omniscient God and the false notion that God is on some sort of post-doctoral fellowship, still searching for additional key truths and vital data. Were the latter so, God might, at any moment, discover some new truth not previously known to Him that would restructure, diminish, or undercut certain truths previously known by Him. Prophecy would be mere prediction. Planning assumptions pertaining to our redemption would need to be revised. Fortunately for us, however, His plan of salvation is constantly underway—not constantly under revision. …
“In a very real sense, all we need to know is that God knows all!” (Neal A. Maxwell, All These Things Shall Give Thee Experience [1979], 14–15, 21).
[16] See Mosiah 2:36-37; Isaiah 5:24-25; Isaiah 9:12-13,17; “After all God has done, it remains for man to authorize, by his agency, the heavenly tutoring required to save him. Persuasion is the only tool allowed,” (Ann N Madsen, “‘His Hand Is Stretched Out Still’: The Lord’s Eternal Covenant of Mercy,” From The Desk, January 26, 2025).
[17] Mosiah 4:27.
[18] 1 Corinthians 10:13.
[19] 2 Nephi 28:30.
[20] Matthew 11:28.
[21] “Most of us clearly understand that the Atonement is for sinners. I am not so sure, however, that we know and understand that the Atonement is also for saints—for good men and women who are obedient and worthy and conscientious and who are striving to become better and serve more faithfully. I frankly do not think many of us “get it” concerning this enabling and strengthening aspect of the Atonement, and I wonder if we mistakenly believe we must make the journey from good to better and become a saint all by ourselves through sheer grit, willpower, and discipline, and with our obviously limited capacities,” (David A. Bednar, “In the Strength of the Lord,” BYU Speeches, October 23, 2001).
[22] “Repentance is a rescuing, not a dour doctrine. It is available to the gross sinner as well as to the already-good individual striving for incremental improvement. Repentance requires both turning away from evil and turning to God. When ‘a mighty change’ is required, full repentance involves a 180-degree turn, and without looking back! Initially, this turning reflects progress from telestial to terrestrial behavior, and later on to celestial behavior. As the sins of the telestial world are left behind, the focus falls ever more steadily upon the sins of omission, which often keep us from full consecration,” (Neal A. Maxwell, “Repentance,” Ensign, November 1991).
“In that process of striving to become more like Him … we must always be found in the posture of repentance," (Neal A Maxwell, in a Provo Missionary Training Center broadcast, August 29, 1999).
[23] Russell M. Nelson, “We Can Do Better and Be Better,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2019.
[24] Jeffrey R. Holland, “Songs Sung and Unsung,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2017.
[25] Since I am a work in progress, I am always in the repentance process. What would that mean for my sacrament meeting experience, temple attendance, scripture study, and prayers? I wonder what will change. If you desire to follow Jesus Christ, this is the path. This was always the plan, and I bear testimony that it works because of Him who knows this path intimately. Being one recently set apart as a General Authority Seventy, one who has a lot of growing up to do, I am depending desperately on this process and have decided to give Jesus Christ full access to my soul. My spiritual creation was just the beginning. If the creation never ends, then our development never ends either. We need to stop seeing finite points in life and see progression instead.
[26] “Indeed, God will be disappointed if we do not rely upon the merits, mercy, and grace of the Savior to magnify the God-given abilities we have received. With His loving assistance, He expects us to become the best version of ourselves. That we may start with differing abilities is irrelevant to Him. And it should be to us,” (Dale G. Renlund, “Personal Preparation to Meet the Savior,” Liahona, May 2025).
[27] Russell M. Nelson, “The Lord Jesus Christ Will Come Again,” Liahona, Nov. 2024.
[28] Moroni 10:30.