President Nelson’s Invitations to Come Closer to the Savior
Tami L. Johnson
In October of 2018, President Russell M. Nelson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter- Day Saints, extended four invitations to the women of the Church:
President Nelson said, “I hope that each of these invitations has brought you closer to the Savior. If you have struggled with any of them, please don’t be hard on yourself. You can start today. The Lord is happy with any effort you make to draw closer to Him.”
Also, a promise from President Nelson in which he said, “…As you prayerfully study the Book of Mormon, the heavens will open for you. The Lord will bless you with increased inspiration and revelation.”
As I have personally taken on President Nelson’s four invitations, I have felt blessed in my own life as well as that of my family. I did not finish the Book of Mormon by the end of the year but I was pretty close.
I stayed up very late reading on New Year’s Eve but my eyes became weary and tired and I had to tell myself it was alright I didn’t finish by the end of 2018. I would definitely finish during the first part of 2019.
What a tremendous outpouring of the Spirit I have had while reading the Book of Mormon. It has been profound and tangible. I know this book to be true and the prophets whose words are written therein are true. It is applicable to our daily lives in these latter days. A strong emphasis on keeping the commandments, repentance, having the pure love of Christ (charity), trusting in the Lord, not losing hope, and testifying of Christ are many of the words and phrases that stood out to me.
I felt a greater sense of peace and joy when I abstained from social media for 10 days; and I was so thankful I chose to follow President Nelson’s invitation regarding this.
On the last Sunday in December, on President Nelson’s Instagram page, he invited the sisters in the Church to share their experiences in the comment section. Over 5,000 sisters accepted this invitation and shared their feelings.
My dear friend, Jennie Taylor, commented by saying, “I will finish the Book of Mormon tomorrow morning. Today, I read the same chapter (Moroni 8) that turned out to be the last chapter my solider husband ever read before being killed in Afghanistan less than a month after this challenge was given. Nothing brings me more peace than knowing of the covenants he and I have made with each other and with God.”
Jennie goes onto say, “The Book of Mormon gives me a daily reminder of those covenants, and the daily opportunity to invite the Holy Ghost into my life. I am so thankful for this challenge and for the divine guidance we receive from our loving Heavenly Father through his prophet on the earth today #majorbrenttaylor.”
Another friend of mine, Saundra Dinsdale, wrote, “I was glad to accept your challenge! I got off to a good start in rereading the Book of Mormon by using the time I would have spent on social media. I underlined every reference to the Savior in blue pencil. When I look at all the blue markings in my Book of Mormon, it strengthens my testimony that the Book of Mormon truly is another testament of Christ!”
If you’d like to read further inspiring comments from others who participated in President Nelson’s Invitations you may go to his Instagram page: @russellmnelson
You may want to know more about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints or the Book of Mormon. For this you can go to www.lds.org.
