Establish Zion

 Elder Richard J. Maynes

The Church has never been bigger or stronger than it is today. There are more members, wards, stakes, and missions than ever before. In Helaman, 40 years before Christ, it talks about the prosperity of the church. He says that tens of thousands were baptized. We have exceeded that because now we have hundreds of thousands baptized.

Strong wards make strong stakes; strong families make strong wards. We need to establish Zion in our own homes.

 “Twas a sheep not a lamb that strayed away
In the parable Jesus told,
A grown-up sheep that strayed away
From the ninety and nine in the fold.

And why for the sheep should we seek
And earnestly hope and pray?
Because there is danger when sheep go wrong;
They lead the lambs astray.

Lambs will follow the sheep, you know,
Wherever the sheep may stray.
When sheep go wrong, it won’t take long
Til the lambs are as wrong as they.

And so with the sheep we earnestly plead
For the sake of the lambs today,
For when sheep are lost, what a terrible cost
The lambs will have to pay!”

― C.C. Miller

The principle the world lives is, For me to win, you must lose.

The principle of mutuality, that we try to learn in the Church is, “I win by helping you win” or “when I win, I bring others with me.” For me to win exaltation, my wife/husband has to win first.

If we aren’t receptive to promptings, it affects those around us.

We need to have more faith than fear.

We, in everyday life, are inside stories where the Holy Ghost is helping bring something about. We have to be sensitive so that He can work miracles.

He spoke of the DR Congo where they are the poorest country on earth. They were sending their fast offerings to SLC. When asked by leaders why they weren’t using it more for families there, they said, “We believe that every family should have at least one good meal a day. The rest of the fast offerings can go to SLC to bless lives of those less fortunate.  He said they sang the hymns like each person had a mic; they prayed the great thanks for the many, many rich blessings they had, referring to the Gospel in their lives.