Our Marching Orders

One of the principles of the gospel that really stood out to me in this week's reading of Come, Follow Me was in Joshua 6. In this chapter the Lord instructs Joshua (who has just succeeded Moses as the leader of the children of Israel; Deut. 34:9) on how to conquer the city of Jericho.

What impressed me about this chapter is how obedient the Israelite army was to the words of their prophet, and through their obedience they witnessed a miracle.

Are we as obedient to our latter-day prophet as the Israelites were to theirs? What are the "marching orders" we've been given by Pres. Nelson to help us conquer our enemies so we can inhabit the promised land? I recently studied the 32 general conference talks that Pres. Nelson has given since he became the President of the Church (April 2018-Oct 2021) and I kept track of the instructions (themes) that he has most often repeated. Here's a list of what he's talked about most...

• Faith
• Daily Repentance
• Hear Him
• Study Scriptures
• Study General Conference messages
• Spiritual Survival
• Speak of Christ
• Let God Prevail
• Serve
• Fast and Pray
• Spend more time in the temple (this was by far the top instruction that was repeated)

In this past general conference, Pres. Nelson asked us to "seek and expect miracles" in our lives and to "do the spiritual work to seek miracles." For the past four years Pres. Nelson has been telling us what that spiritual work is (see list above), as we obey his prophetic counsel then we will see miracles in our lives.