3-1-2026 A Ministering Message: Combined for Payson 10th Missionaries and My Dear Family and Friends.

(note:) It is longer than I had any idea it would be. Listen and read as you can a little here and a little there, unless, you feel the impression to plow through it all.)

I'm humbled that the Lord has given me an impression to again write in here. I have so much more to learn to actually "Hear Him" when he speaks. It is still so haphazard for me!

I would like to offer a short story taken from the book "Especially for Mormons". Just that title will date me a little. In fact in a few days i will cross the 71 year age barrier. But first, a hymn.

Inviting the Savior Into our Lives

One day when I really understood what Jesus Christ had done for me, I invited him to come into the house of my heart. And, as soon as I invited him, he came, without any hesitation. And, when he was there, he filled the house with joy. And, I wanted to run and tell all the neighbors about my guest and how wonderful it was to have him there.

When everything was settled, I said, “I hope you will stay and feel perfectly at home here.” And, he said, “I’m sure I will, and now since we are new friends, why don’t you show me around. I would like very much to see the library in the House of your Heart.” And so I did.

Now in my house, the LIBRARY is very small and has very thick walls and is filled with everything I have read. Books, magazines, news articles, everything I have seen, like television shows, movies, plays; all the Sunday School lessons I have listened to, the sermons, the lecturers, they’re all there in the library. And his eyes gazed over all the things that were on the shelf. And, I was a little embarrassed that there was so much trivia there. I wished that more scriptures and church books were really mine and on the shelf. And, I suggested to him that maybe I could stand a little bit of renovation in this room, and he agreed, that maybe we—together—could add more worthwhile things to the library. You see, the library is a very important room because it’s the study so-to-speak of the mind—a sort of control room for the whole house. It affects the lighting, the electricity, and everything else in the house.

And, then he said he would like to see the DINING ROOM; and I took him in. Now in my house, this is a very large room because this is the room of appetites and desires; and it was stacked with all kinds of boxes and things. And, I told him I was always hungry, but I never seemed to be satisfied. And He told me that it was because I was eating the wrong things. He said, “If you would diet as I do, you would never feel hunger; for I live on the word of the Lord, the Father.” And, then He offered me a taste of it; and it was delicious—and oh, the flavor of it. And, I agreed with Him that this alone satisfied, and I knew that I would spend less time in the dining room now that he was a guest in the house.

Next, he asked if he could see my WORKSHOP. Now I had a workshop; it was down in the basement. And, we went down and looked at the workbench and produced much. He looked everything over and said that I had a lot of good equipment, but that I really hadn’t used it to produce much. Oh, there were a few gadgets and trinkets and half-finished projects, but nothing really of great value. And I said, “Well, if I wasn’t quite so busy maybe I could do better. I know all the tools are there, but I’m awkward and clumsy, and I really don’t know how to use them.” So, he said, “Would you like to be able to use the tools in your workshop?” And, I said, “Oh yes, would you help me?” And he said, “I was wondering if you would ask me.” And, so he stood behind me and put his great powerful hands over mine and guided them, and He showed me how to use the tools in the workshop. And, with his hands directing mine, I marveled at the work of art that came out. And, I said, “Now that you have helped me, I am going to come into the workshop often, and this will be a fun room to come to. Will you always help me?” And He said, “Yes, if you invite me to, but I never come unless I am invited.” And so we left the workshop and the next room we went into was the DRAWING ROOM.

Now this was a small, quiet, peaceful place in my heart for deep thoughts and meditation, and he seemed pleased with it and comfortable there. And, so He said, “Let’s meet here often at least twice a day and we can have long talks together, and you can tell me about all your activities and all your ambitions and all your problems—and we’ll talk it over together every day. I thought that sounded wonderful. So, I made an appointment with him every day that I would do that; and I did at first, faithfully. But then I got too busy, and sometimes I would forget to come in the morning. And, sometimes I would forget to come at night. And, sometimes days would go by, and we never had a talk at all. Now it wasn’t that I didn’t want to talk to Him, it was just that I was so busy and had a lot to do. Then, one day as I went to leave, I noticed Him standing in the doorway of the drawing room. And, I said, “Have you been waiting there every morning for me?” And He said, “Yes, we had an appointment, and you haven’t been here for a long time.” And I said, “You’re a guest in my house, and I have neglected you; and I’m sorry.” I had called on Him when I was in need, to come and help me, and He always came, but that was about the way I used Him. When things went well, I didn’t really think we needed our chat as well as we did when things were bad. And so I decided that it had been a very one-sided relationship, and I also realized that he missed me. So I said, “Maybe there’s something I could do for you; you’ve done so much for me.” And he said, “Yes, there’s a great deal you could do for me. I was wondering when you would want to help me.”

“I have so many projects and so many things that need to be done. I could use a good friend like you. For one thing, I have no money in the world at all. I only have yours to use. Would you let me use some of yours?” Yes, of course. “And there are people I just cannot see. I could send you and commission you to go and represent me. Would you do that?”

But then one day I got rebellious and I said, “You demand too much of me. Can’t I have anything to myself. After all, I have things I want to spend my money for, and you’re always there needing something.” Now that wasn’t a very nice way to treat a person, especially a guest. And then he said, “Look at the things of my projects, and who benefits from them.” And, then I really was ashamed because everything I did benefited me as well as others and not Him personally. So I continued His work.

And then one day He said, “There is a peculiar odor in this house, and it’s coming from that locked closet. And, although you’ve let me go into every room in the house, that one door has always been locked, and you’ve never let me in.” Now that made me mad! I had let him into every room in my house; I ran and did his errands for him; I let him use my money, and now he wanted to look in my secret closet. So, I said, “I hold the key, and I will not let you in that closet. It’s very small, only about two feet by four feet. The rest of my house is large enough and is perfectly presentable; so it shouldn’t make any difference.” And he said, “I cannot stay in this house if you do not give me the key to the closet.” And, so he left.

Oh, I was sad. And great despair and gloom and depression came over me. Because you see, once having had Him as a guest in my home, life was unbearable without Him. And so I went and tearfully pleaded with Him and begged Him, “Come back, and I will give you the key to the closet and I will withhold nothing from you—I cannot stand to live without you.”

And so I gave Him the key, and He opened it. And, then quickly and efficiently he cleansed out those things that were dead and rotten that I wanted to feel were not there and wanted to ignore. He cleaned the whole closet out, fumigated it, painted it, and He made it perfectly acceptable. Afterwards, I said, “I’m so ashamed that you know what was in my closet.” And then He said, “Why I see only a house that is totally acceptable to me.” And then I knew why I loved Him so. And why of all my biggest of brothers only this one could love me enough to clean out my closet. And then he said, “You know, I’ve cleaned out so many closets, but it’s a strange thing. I can never remember afterwards what was in them.”

After a few moments, I said, “I get so tired of cleaning all the time, I go from one room to the other trying to keep up in the drawing room, in the dining room, the workshop, and in the library, but I always seem to be behind. I was wondering if you could take over the whole house like you did the closet, and you could be the owner, and I would be the guest and sort of helper or servant. And we’ll switch positions. Instead of me calling on you to help me, you can call on me to help you. Is it possible?” And he said, “Why yes, that’s why I came the first time you invited me.” So I ran and got the deed to my house and I signed it over to Him and I said, “it is yours, it belongs to you, and I withhold nothing from you.”

After I gave him the deed, He immediately started remodeling the house because he was not content to own a cottage. He was the architect, the planner, the builder, and told me eventually we would end up with a magnificent castle. It would take a while to build, but we would build it together. So he started the remodeling. He was the master of the house, and I was the servant, and I did whatever he bid. And there were times when clouds came and gathered around the house, clouds of war, hate and sin. And they beat on the house and demanded entry. But because He was the Lord of the house, it has a firm foundation and none of it was allowed to enter, Inside the house there was warmth, peace, and tranquility regardless of what was outside.

He told me as time went on that he would move my house to another city. He would take care of all the arrangements, and I wouldn’t even have to know the day it took place or when. He said that I would be in a city where he had the deed to all the houses and there would be no storms or darkness, and I would like the neighbors better. It sounded wonderful, and I looked forward to it with eagerness. And, I looked back so long ago when I first invited Christ to come into the house of my heart as a guest, and thought about the many years it took to have the courage to give him the deed to the house. And I wondered why I had been so stingy and had reluctantly wanted to turn it over because he showered me with gifts and took care of all the remodeling, and I was always the debtor. Author Unknown

As we now read what we just listened to, I would invite you to especially and thoughtfully and prayerfuly feel the words of the 5-7th verses. We rarely sing these

1. How firm a foundation, ye Saints of the Lord, Is laid for your faith in his excellent word! What more can he say than to you he hath said, Who unto the Savior, who unto the Savior, Who unto the Savior for refuge have fled?

2. In ev’ry condition–in sickness, in health, In poverty’s vale or abounding in wealth, At home or abroad, on the land or the sea–As thy days may demand, as thy days may demand, As thy days may demand, so thy succor shall be.

3. Fear not, I am with thee; oh, be not dismayed, For I am thy God and will still give thee aid. I’ll strengthen thee, help thee, and cause thee to stand, Upheld by my righteous, upheld by my righteous, Upheld by my righteous, omnipotent hand.

4. When through the deep waters I call thee to go, The rivers of sorrow shall not thee o’erflow, For I will be with thee, thy troubles to bless, And sanctify to thee, and sanctify to thee, And sanctify to thee thy deepest distress.

5. When through fiery trials thy pathway shall lie, My grace, all sufficient, shall be thy supply.The flame shall not hurt thee; I only design Thy dross to consume, thy dross to consume,Thy dross to consume and thy gold to refine.

6. E’en down to old age, all my people shall proveMy sov’reign, eternal, unchangeable love;And then, when gray hair shall their temples adorn, Like lambs shall they still, like lambs shall they still ,Like lambs shall they still in my bosom be borne.

7. The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake, I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!

I testify that Jesus is the Christ! The Savior and Redemmer of all mankind. No matter the race, creeed, or the nationality. We are in that period of time where the winding up scenes are increasing almost daily.

The fighting in the middle east. The terrible things happening in Mexico. And in so many other places around the world. Look at our own country, the adversary has done such a good job on dividing this country. I would invite each of you to come to know Jesus Christ.!!!!!!! Let Him bring peace to your heart no matter the tribulation you might be experiencing.

We must seek His help in keeping our families safe from the affects of this world.

As PresidentNelson taught : “In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost.”

Be not afraid, Only Believe.

With Easter on the horizon. Please take time to seek the Lord. Find the opportunity to truly pour your heart out to him. I know that I need to drastically change the way I pray. Ihave become to casual in my prayers. Perhaps that is why the Lord has been trying to teach me 3 things:

1. Pray for Charity. Pray that my heart and my sould be filled with charity for all of Heavenly Fathers children. Even for all living souls.

2. The One. Seek for the One. It can even be several "ones" at the same time. But, am I listening to the Spirit and helping the one. Including myself if necessary.

3. Willing; "I ask for these blessings, for the help, for the miracles wanted and needed

   But, not my will but thy will be done"

One last video, "A lesson on Prayer". I woud inivte each of you to find the time to watch and to ponder his words.

Debbie and I love each of you. Your Heavenly Parents and the Savior Jesus Christ love you. We do have a prophet helping to guide His church. It is the True church of Jesus Christ. No matter what might be happening in your lives, they are there! If you have slipped away from the covenants you have made. He welcomes you back with open arms. Listen as he whispers to you ,how much he loves you and wants you to return to his arms.

I so testify in the name of Jesus Christ, Amen