Attendees listen during the 189th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, Oct. 6, 2019. | Jeffrey D. Allred, Deseret News
SALT LAKE CITY — President Russell M. Nelson announced revised temple recommend questions and designated 2020 a bicentennial year of the First Vision as he closed the final session Sunday afternoon of the 189th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“General conference next April will be different from any previous conference,” he promised. “In the next six months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel.”
The conference is scheduled for April 4 and 5.
“In the springtime of the year 2020, it will be exactly 200 years since Joseph Smith experienced the theophany that we know as the First Vision,” President Nelson said. “God the Father and his beloved Son, Jesus Christ, appeared to Joseph, a 14-year-old youth. That event marked the onset of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness, precisely as foretold in the Holy Bible.”
He then called the temple the crowning jewel of the Restoration.
“Its sacred ordinances and covenants are pivotal to preparing a people who are ready to welcome the Savior at his Second Coming,” he said.
He said that because the temple is the House of the Lord and sacred, all who enter must qualify. Then President Nelson read revised temple recommend questions, which will be asked of each member by both a member of their bishopric or stake presidency:
1. Do you have faith in and a testimony of God, the Eternal Father; his Son, Jesus Christ; and the Holy Ghost?
2. Do you have a testimony of the Atonement of Jesus Christ and of his role as your Savior and Redeemer?
3. Do you have a testimony of the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ?
4. Do you sustain the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as the prophet, seer and revelator and as the only person on the earth authorized to exercise all priesthood keys? Do you sustain the members of the First Presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles as prophets, seers and revelators? Do you sustain the other general authorities and local leaders of the church?
5. The Lord has said that all things are to be “done in cleanliness” before him (Doctrine and Covenants 42:41). Do you strive for moral cleanliness in your thoughts and behavior? Do you obey the law of chastity?
6. Do you follow the teachings of the Church of Jesus Christ in your private and public behavior with members of your family and others?
7. Do you support or promote any teachings, practices or doctrine contrary to those of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints?
8. Do you strive to keep the Sabbath day holy, both at home and at church; attend your meetings; prepare for and worthily partake of the sacrament; and live your life in harmony with the laws and commandments of the gospel?
9. Do you strive to be honest in all that you do?
10. Are you a full-tithe payer?
11. Do you understand and obey the Word of Wisdom?
12. Do you have any financial or other obligations to a former spouse or to children? If yes, are you current in meeting those obligations?
13. Do you keep the covenants that you made in the temple, including wearing the temple garment as instructed in the endowment?
14. Are there serious sins in your life that need to be resolved with priesthood authorities as part of your repentance?
15. Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the Lord’s house and participate in temple ordinances?
President Nelson said church members can prepare for April’s general conference by reading Joseph Smith’s account of the First Vision in Latter-day Saint scripture. He also said they can engage in the church’s “Come, Follow Me” study of the Book of Mormon, which begins in January.
“Select your own questions. Design your own plan. Immerse yourself in the glorious light of the Restoration,” he said. “As you do, general conference next April will not only be memorable, it will be unforgettable.”
He also suggested watching the Book of Mormon videos the church is releasing.
Finally, President Nelson left a blessing on the conference.
“I leave with you my love and my blessing, that each of you may become happier and holier with each passing day,” he said. “Meanwhile, please be assured that revelation continues in the church and will continue under the Lord’s direction until ‘the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done.’”
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