'Why are we members of the only true Church?'
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Elder Enrique R. Falabella answered an important question Saturday morning: "Why are we members of the only true Church?"
"Even though I cannot answer this question for all 13 million members of the Church, I would like to express from my heart some answers that probably will fit with your own answers," said Elder Falabella of the Seventy.
First, he said, "'he that hath eternal life is rich."'
Riches, he explained, were not a part of his childhood. After his mother died, he and his three siblings lived on his father's meager income. "As time went by, a pair of missionaries taught us the riches of the restored gospel, of the doctrine of the Plan of Salvation and of eternal families. We were baptized, and when my father began his calling as district president, his first objective was to journey to the temple and receive the blessings which would come because of that sacrifice."
Although the 15-day, 4,800 mile journey was filled with difficulties and setbacks, the "promise of life eternal thus gave us the riches of eternity."
Second, Elder Falabella said, the only true Church is a "church of priests."
"The restored Church gives to each home a priesthood holder with the power of God to bless...," he said. "So then, this is also why I am a member of this Church, because the power of the priesthood is again upon the Earth and has reached even unto our homes."
Finally, he said, members join the Church because they have personal testimonies of Jesus' Church and His atoning power.
"The most valuable power we can possess is the treasure of a personal testimony of our Lord Jesus Christ," he said. "A testimony comes to us as we live a worthy life and seek it in prayer.... Through our prayers, the Spirit speaks to our spirit and testifies to us of the reality of our Savior."
Above all else, he added, he is a member of the Church because the Holy Spirit has penetrated his heart and has made it known to him that Christ lives, that "He is my Savior, that He paid for my sins, that He has prepared the way so that if I live according to His precepts, I can enjoy all other promised blessings."
