The Moroni Method

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Hello beloved sisters and brothers,

Upcoming Special Events

• On Sunday, January 8, there will be a special worldwide devotional hosted by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and his wife, Pat, for all adults ages 18 - 30 whether single or married. We will be hosting a viewing party at the stake center with refreshments afterward.

• On Saturday and Sunday, January 14, 15 please plan to gather together for our Stake Conference…details here…

  • Don’t miss root beer floats after the Saturday evening session.

  • Please bring mobile devices to each session

  • Bring donations for the Winter Clothing Drive on Sunday morning before the General Session

• The annual Community Winter Clothing Drive will be held Saturday, January 21 from 9-10 in the stake center. Please invite friends and neighbors to participate as donors or as recipients.

Weekly Message: The Moroni Method

For Christmas, I received a fitness tracking device that monitors daily activities and vital signs. One of its many impressive features is that it uses the gathered information to create various scores related to different aspects of health. For instance, each morning, it produces a “sleep score” to tell me how well (or not) it thinks I slept…and gives me suggestions for ways to improve my sleep.

What if there were a device that could measure our daily discipleship and create a “spiritual health score”?

I imagine such a device would measure the things we think, say, and do every day… But to give an accurate spiritual health score it would also need to evaluate why and how we do them.

For example, rather than just checking if I attend church, it might measure how attentive I am when I am there or how well I apply what is being taught. It might evaluate my willingness to assist others or whether I contribute in positive ways in the community.

In addition to measuring if I read scriptures daily, a spiritual fitness monitor would probably measure how kindly (or not) I treat others. It might evaluate the types of entertainment I seek or how accepting I am of others despite differences.

Rather than measuring if I say my prayers daily…it might also measure what I actually talk to God about and how those conversations are drawing me closer to Him.

It might measure how frequently or deeply I reflect on my covenants during the week. It might measure how frequently I take time to reflect on sacred patterns and principles of eternal life.

Rather than just checking to see if I visited my fellow saints, it might ask if I have created a trusting relationship with them so I could effectively minister to them… so they would feel comfortable asking for help when needed. It might want to know if I have reached out to those who seem lost or alone or in distress… even when I wasn’t ‘assigned’ to do so.

I think a spiritual fitness tracker would certainly be an interesting device…but we already have the means to evaluate our spiritual health…

I call it The Moroni Method…

The prophet Moroni was concerned about his spiritual health. He learned and shared this great truth…

And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness…

…if they humble themselves before me, and have faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.

…I will show unto them that faith, hope and charity bringeth…the fountain of all righteousness. (Ether 12:27,28)

Moroni invites each of us to prayerfully reflect and humbly allow God to teach us how He would like us to improve. He then explains that by following this process with faith, hope and charity, our weakness will be changed to strength and we may be led to the “fountain of all righteousness”

I pray that we will intentionally evaluate and increase our spiritual health this year using Moroni’s Method, as we prepare ourselves for the Savior’s prophesied return.

I love you all.

President Gardner