Thank you, Elder Gong
and Elder Soares, for your heartfelt
expressions of faith. We are so very grateful for
you and your dear companions. Now, dear brothers and
sisters, we constantly seek direction from
the Lord on how we can help our members keep the
commandments of God, especially those two great commandments
to love God and our neighbors. For months we have been seeking
a better way to minister to the spiritual and
temporal needs of our people in the Savior's way. We have made the
decision to retire home teaching and visiting
teaching as we have known them. Instead, we will implement
a newer, holier approach to caring and
ministering to others. We will refer to these efforts
simply as "ministering."
Effective ministering
efforts are enabled by the innate
gifts of the sisters and by the incomparable
power of the priesthood. We all need such protection
from the cunning wiles of the adversary. Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the
Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Sister Jean B. Bingham,
General President of the Relief Society, will explain
how assigned brethren of the priesthood and assigned
sisters of the Relief Society and Young Women
will now function in serving and
watching over members of the Church
throughout the world. The First Presidency
and the Twelve are united in endorsing
their messages. Gratefully and prayerfully
we open this new chapter in the history of the Church. In the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.