“Deep in Our Heart (excerpts),” New Era, May 2020, 22–23.
Deep in Our Heart (excerpts)
As we come to see [the] principles [in the Children and Youth program] more clearly, … we will see how the Lord is trying to help us—all of us—get His gospel deeper in our hearts. …
The first principle is relationships. … We are not expected to find or walk the covenant path alone. We need love and support from parents, other family members, friends, and leaders who are also walking the path. …
… As we plan activities, meetings, and other gatherings, let us remember an overarching purpose of these gatherings is to build loving relationships that unite us and help get the gospel of Jesus Christ deeper in our hearts.
… To connect our hearts with heaven, we need individual spiritual experiences. … Those experiences come as the Holy Ghost carries the word and love of God to our mind and heart. …
… The word initiates and increases our faith in Christ and fuels within us a desire to become more like the Savior—that is, to repent and walk the covenant path. …
This is far more than an exercise in goal setting or self-improvement. Goals are simply a tool that helps us connect with heaven through revelation, agency, and repentance. …
Finally, to get the gospel of Jesus Christ deep in our hearts, we need to engage in it—to give our time and talents to it, to sacrifice for it. …
I promise, as we focus on these principles … the gospel of Jesus Christ will sink deeper in all our hearts. We will see the Restoration move forward to its ultimate purpose, the redemption of Israel and the establishment of Zion.