The 2021 Philippines Area Plan We will Show Our Love to God by Obeying His Commandments
My dear Filipino brothers and sisters, we love you and we admire your faith. Thank you for being faithful in keeping the commandments of God. We show our love to God by obeying His commandments. God will prevail in our lives as we obey. Let me introduce five priorities we want to focus on in order to obey Him.
1. Hear Him through daily prayer, scripture study and daily repentance. I want to invite all of us, including myself, to take some time to hear Him in our daily spiritual times. Each time after we say our prayer, let us take a moment to hear what Heavenly Father says to us, rather than running to do something else. We may need to take time to ponder when we study the scriptures instead of being hurried to finish studying. Let us take time to find the things we need to repent of every day and ask Him to forgive us. This daily spiritual time will become our routine in which will abide the Spirit of the Lord every day. The Holy Ghost will tell us in our minds and in our hearts (Doctrine and Covenants 8:2). As we take a moment before or after this daily spiritual exercise, our desire to obey the commandments will be stronger and it will be easier for us to let God prevail.
2. Keep the Sabbath day holy and partake of the sacrament weekly. Although COVID-19 has caused many restrictions on Church meetings, we keep finding ways we can keep the Sabbath day holy and partake of the sacrament. I am sorry for those who have limited access, but please know that there are ways we can still keep this commandment. We have learned how to adapt “a new normal” since the pandemic started. Thank you for being patient and following the guidance of your leaders. Thank you for supporting and strengthening each other to obey the law of the Sabbath. Let us remember that “the sabbath was made for man, and not man for the sabbath” (Mark 2:27). God made the Sabbath to bless us. When we keep it holy, we show our love to God and we let Him prevail.
3. Pay a full tithe and generous fast offering. Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin said, “The payment of tithing has less to do with money, but more to do with faith.” The Lord knew that the poor widow’s two mites were all that she had. In this pandemic, we need to trust in God even more now that we have very limited resources. The Law of Tithing is a promised blessing. In Malachi 3:10 we read, “Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.” As we obey the law of tithing, we will become selfreliant. The more members keep this law, the faster we will be self-reliant.
4. Regular study of Come Follow Me. Isn’t it amazing that ‘home-centered, Church-supported’ was introduced and implemented before the pandemic? God prepared us for this uncertain time. We were ready to stay strong by already studying ‘Come Follow Me’ at home before the pandemic. According to Elder Uchtdorf, “There are still a lot of unknowns about this virus. But if there is one thing I do know, it is that this virus did not catch Heavenly Father by surprise” (October 2020 General Conference). Let us study ‘Come Follow Me’ regularly and God will prevail over us.
5. Help our ancestors come unto Christ by submitting their names and completing their temple ordinances. It is not easy to find the names of your ancestors to submit if you do not have the family records. However, once you start to find names, you will be guided in the way you can bless your ancestors. Just start and do your best. The Lord will take care of the rest. Think about why you have been blessed to have many temples in Philippines. You will enjoy seven temples soon. At the April 2020 General Conference, President Russell M. Nelson promised that “… as you increase your time in temple and family history work, you will increase and improve your ability to hear Him.”
My dear brothers and sisters, obedience brings blessings. In Doctrine and Covenants 130:21, it says “…when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” Obedience is the map to guide us back to our Heavenly Home. God will prevail in our lives as we show our love to Him by obeying His commandments. In the name of Jesus Christ, Amen.