Become more obedient

      - Face adversities

      - Build the kingdom

      The time has come for all to feast on the fruit of their own testimony rather than the testimony of another person, Bishop Glenn L. Pace, second counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, said Saturday morning.

      "It is time for a spiritual revival. It is time to dig down deep within ourselves and rekindle our own light," he explained.

      "The testimony of which I speak is much deeper than knowing the Church is true. We need to progress to the point of knowing we are true to the Church. We also need to increase our capacity to receive personal revelation. It is one thing to receive a witness that Joseph Smith saw God and Christ. It is quite another to have a spiritual self-confidence in your ability to receive the revelation to which you are entitled.

      "Many of us take the blessings of the gospel for granted," he continued. "It is as if we are passengers on the train of the Church which has been moving forward gradually and methodically."

      Bishop Pace explained that at times members look out the train's window and feel restricted, so they jump off and play in the woods for a while. Sooner or later, they find it isn't as much fun as Lucifer makes it appear and they work their way back to the train.

      "While on the train, we can see the world and some of our own members outside laughing and having a great time," he remarked. "They taunt us and coax us to get off. Some throw logs and rocks on the tracks to try and derail it. Other members run along side the tracks and while they may never go play in the woods, they just can't seem to get on the train. Others try to run ahead and too often take the wrong turn.

      "I would propose the luxury of getting on and off the train as we please is fading. The speed of the train is increasing, the woods are getting much too dangerous and the fog and darkness are moving in."

      Even more devastating in the long run than today's news of large-scale famine, civil unrest, and natural disasters "is the spiritually destructive hurricane of disobedience to God's commandments that is engulfing the world," Bishop Pace declared.

      "This horrible storm is blowing the moral fiber out of the nations of the earth and leaving the land in moral desolation. Many people seem to be oblivious to this hurricane and have become so desensitized they don't even feel a breeze.

      "To some, the events unfolding in the world today are frightening. This is not a time to panic but it is definitely a time to prepare. What can we do to better prepare ourselves for that which is at our doorstep? It is so simple. We need to get back to basics and learn obedience."

      He added: "In spite of our obedience, trials and tribulations will come our way. Disasters and tribulations are not always for the punishment of the wicked, but often for the sanctification of the righteous.

      "While the world is in commotion, the kingdom is intact."