I remember very vividly sitting in a meeting of Stake leaders sometime in 2019. At the time, I was a member of the Sunday School Presidency in the Rolla ward (ward is the LDS term for home congregation). The previous General Conference, President Russell M Nelson introduced the Come Follow Me Program for Individuals and Families.

I feel like this was a huge landmark time for our church. Instead of the 3 hour block that we had been using for long before I was a member of the church, we were shortening Sunday meetings to 2 hours and then placing an emphasis on Gospel study within the home.

In that stake meeting I referenced at the beginning, our Stake President Herman Blau said something that would help shape my testimony even further. In speaking about the new home centered church, President Blau stated “I wish I knew what he (President Nelson) saw coming.”

Well it became pretty evident about a year later what President Nelson saw coming. We all know what happened to the world in 2020 in regards to the pandemic. We saw so many businesses, churches, schools, and social gatherings having to be put on hold for what we thought was going to be a short time, but turned out to be much longer than anticipated.

As tough as that was, I kept thinking about how blessed we were as a church to have already implemented our home centered church the year before. How we were totally prepared for the coming alteration in our lives.

In reading my Come Follow Me this morning, it asked me the question “What teachings, prophecies, or promises have you heard from living prophets?”

The answer was almost instantaneous. President Nelson’s implementation of home centered church was, like I mentioned earlier, a landmark moment for our church… and one of the most testimony building events in my life. This sealed for me the truth of our church and the Gospel of Jesus Christ. It gave me zero doubt in my mind that Jesus was at the head of our church and that our Heavenly Father speaks directly through our Prophet, President Russell M. Nelson.

Members of our faith, I challenge each of you to think about how you have had experiences with the Prophet and heeded to his advice over the years. What stands out to you?

People outside of our faith, I challenge you to explore our church. There are so many blessings within and I would love for all of you to experience them!