Good afternoon my beloved Brothers and Sisters in Christ. Today, I was given the opportunity to speak to you about the message given by Elder Ryan K. Olsen of the Seventy from the October 2022 General Conference. Titled, The Answer is Jesus.

I love his overall message of the importance for us to have our focus on Jesus Christ. It is inspiring!

Time and time again we may find ourselves not relying on the help and blessings from the Lord.

He wants to bless you, but we at times, just want to do things on our own or may feel like we don't see his help in our lives.

We should strive to change that way of thinking, why? Because Our Father in Heaven and our Savior, Jesus Christ awaits for you to call upon them through personal and family prayers, scripture studies, and doing Temple work.

We as friends and members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the means and priesthood to do so much more for ourselves, our families, and others.

We must strive to implement the teachings of the gospel of Christ in our daily tasks. We are children of God. "It is our individual and collective love of the Savior, and our covenants with Him, that bind us together."

When we have our mind, body, and soul as one, together with the Holy Spirit and Jesus Christ, we will See, Feel and Know how blessed we are and can be toward others.

The Lord knows and trusts each of you and how much he depends on you to do his will here on the earth. That is an important duty.

I do know the feeling when being asked or called to do something that I sometimes feel unworthy or inadequate of what is needed of me from others or from the Lord.
It is natural to have those feelings, it is ok to have some doubts. But what gives us the courage and strength to accomplish or fulfill what has been asked of us, is Jesus Christ.
I have witnessed so many Miracles in my life because of faith and the willingness in being obedient when called upon.

There was a time when I was called to the Young Women auxiliary in a previous ward, where I felt they made a mistake in calling me to teach the Young Women, who at that time did not like any of the leaders that were called. And those girls did make known that they did not like you. I was a bit uncomfortable.

It has been years since I was in Young Women's and I wasn't sure I could relate to them. A few months later with tremendous trial and error, I noticed some improvements. But there was one moment when I felt the Lord's hand in helping me build a connection with those young girls.

During one of our holiday activities, a few of the girls started to complain about a particular leader and felt the need to make her feel uncomfortable, by ignoring her or refusing to help when she asked. I didn't understand why or what this leader did to make these girls treat her in such a way, but I honestly wanted to use the laying on the hands on them but I knew that wouldn't solve anything.

The prompting of the Holy Spirit touched my heart and mind, to confront these girls through the Power of Listening. Honestly, when I got that impression, I wasn't sure what to do or how to go about it, but to just listen, that's all. I wasn't ready for what happened after I followed that prompting.

Eventually, I approached the girls and ask them kindly for their thoughts on how they would decorate one of the primary rooms for the ward trunk or treat walkthrough. They were surprised that I even asked for their opinions. I listen intently and patiently, and suddenly, the Holy Spirit touch the hearts of those young girls and they began to open up about how they felt about the young women's program, activities, leadership, etc.

The Lord knew their hearts and troubles, he also knew that as much as I wanted nothing to do with their drama and rude behavior, He Trusted in me that I would Listen and have Compassion on them.

From that moment on and that simple act of listening to the Holy Spirit and those young women, a connection, a trust, and friendships was made, that have impacted our lives.

I was able to talk with them about their behavior and help resolve any issues they had at that time.
Peace and comfort were felt and I was happy that it went well.

To this day, I still keep in contact with those young women and whenever they had a question about something or just needed someone to talk to, I would do what I was prompted to do so many years ago, which is to listen and be of comfort to them as the Savior is a comfort to me.

When we look into Jesus's mortal life and ministry, there you will find many ways and examples of accomplishing hard and sometimes uncomfortable tasks.
In our relationship with the Savior, He looks at the heart and is “no respecter of persons.”

For the wonderful Youth and the Young single adults, President Russell M. Nelson expressed that, “there is something undeniably special about this generation of youth & young adults. Your Heavenly Father must have great confidence in you, to send you to earth at this time. You were born for greatness!”

Yes, you are great! I believe in that saying with all my heart.

Witnessing how courageous, smart, dedicated, strong, and faithful you all are, gives me that spiritual boast I sometimes need in my life. Your parents, grandparents, aunties and uncles, guardians, leaders, and friends, are blessed because of you.
We can learn so much from you, even though we are the grown ups with many years of experiences.
I am grateful for our Youth. I am grateful to our Young adults. Each of you matters in this ward and in this church.

When you continue to build your relationship with the Lord through your spiritual studies, you will be surprised at what accomplishments you will achieve at home, school, and church. You are a blessing, not a burden. Remember that.

In the New Testament, the Savior taught his disciples that He is “the way, the truth, and the life.” He is the answer to the question of how to come unto Heavenly Father. Gaining a testimony of His divine role in our lives is important for us to learn.

President Howard W. Hunter expressed that “We must know Christ better than we know him; we must remember him more often than we remember him; we must serve him more valiantly than we serve him.” What a great quote to reflect upon.

Elder Olsen shared his thoughts on that quote that helped him on his mission. He said, to know Christ, to remember Him, and to serve Him. Missionaries throughout the world are united in this purpose: to “invite others to come unto Christ by helping them receive the restored gospel through faith in [Him] and His Atonement” and through “repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost, and enduring to the end.”

Let us all come unto Christ and strive to share the gospel messages of the Savior and to KNOW him, to REMEMBER Him and to SERVE him.

Being called to serve as a Young Women advisor in our ward has opened my eyes and my heart in service, even more then I've ever experienced.

A calling can feel overwhelming or sometimes challenging, but I promise you brothers and sisters, that you can do it. You have the gifts and talents to do it. The Lord NEEDS you and TRUST in you to fulfill that calling.

Witnessing what our youth and young adults are going through in these latter days, encouraged ME to build my faith even more stronger in Jesus Christ.
With the Unique challenges, bold moves from Satan, tough experiences, unexpected and hard times that we may face, we are blessed at the same time, because we have the Restored Gospel and the Holy Scriptures, the Melchizedek and Aaronic Priesthood, Baptismal and Temple Covenants, the Atonement and the Sacrament. And the best part of our lives is that we all have the companionship of the Holy Spirit and the Power of Prayer. What a joy we have, that we can communicate with our Heavenly Father through his beloved Son, Jesus Christ.
Our prayers are heard and will be answered in the Lord's timing.

With all this knowledge and blessings that we have right now, shouldn't we Rejoice more? Shouldn't we make time to Share it more with families and others? Shouldn't we Utilize it more through service?

When Elder Olsen was serving as a Mission President, he said something profound that could help us in our service in our callings or for those who wants to serve a full time mission. He said, Serving is not about you; it is about the Savior. You will be called to a place, but more importantly, you will be called to a people. You will have the great responsibility and blessing of helping new friends understand that the answer is Jesus.

This rings true, brothers and sisters. Jesus Christ will always be the answers for our lives. We must remember that always.

If he wasn't the answer before, seek to know for yourself that he truly is the answer for you. I know with all my heart that He IS the answer in my life.

My beloved brothers and sisters of the Midvale 14th ward and to all those who are finding their way back to God, no matter how difficult or confusing the challenges may be, you can always remember that the answer is simple: it is always Jesus.

I testify, that this Restored Gospel will bring TRUTH to our hearts that our Savior has given his life that we will LIVE and not perish.
I know that President Russell M. Nelson, the first presidency, the 12 apostles, the general & auxiliary authorities and local leaders are men and women called of God, to lead, guide and help us in these latter days.
I know The book of mormon and the Holy scriptures testifies the importance of having faith in Jesus Christ that can bring us understanding and real peace in trouble times.

May we stay on the Covenant path, hold fast unto our Faith and testimony of this wonderful gospel. And may we come unto Christ with a broken heart and a contrite spirit. That we may Know for sure that Jesus is the answer.
I humbly say these things in the Holy and Sacred name of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. Amen