Doctrine and Covenants 110: 4; 76: 22

How are we hearing His voice as He speaks through prophets today?

"4 I am the first and the last; I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain; I am your advocate with the Father." (Doctrine and Covenants 110: 4)

"22 And now, after the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony, last of all, which we give of him: That he lives!" (Doctrine and Covenants 76: 22)

And here's the introductory commentary for this week's reading assignment: "April 14–20: “I Am He Who Liveth, I Am He Who Was Slain” Easter : 

"April 3, 1836, was Easter Sunday. After helping administer the sacrament to Saints in the newly dedicated Kirtland Temple, Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery found a quiet place behind a veil and bowed in silent prayer. Then, on this sacred day when Christians everywhere were commemorating the Resurrection of Jesus Christ, the risen Savior Himself appeared in His temple, declaring, “I am he who liveth, I am he who was slain” (Doctrine and Covenants 110:4).

What does it mean to say that Jesus Christ is “he who liveth”? It doesn’t just mean that He rose from the tomb and appeared to His disciples in Galilee. It means that He lives today. He speaks through prophets today. He leads His Church today. He heals wounded souls and broken hearts today. So we can echo the words of Joseph Smith’s powerful testimony: “After the many testimonies which have been given of him, this is the testimony … which we give of him: That he lives!” (Doctrine and Covenants 76:22). We can hear His voice in these revelations, witness His hand in our lives, and feel “the joy this sentence gives: ‘I know that my Redeemer lives!’” (Hymns, no. 136)."

Jesus Christ lives indeed! Just got the opportunity to listen to Him speak through prophets during the recent general conference (April 2025). So grateful for the technology. We can now watch the conference live or right after and we can watch or read the talks from our own devices anytime. It's a lot easier now to have access to the words spoken by the Lord's servants during the semi-annual conference unlike before when those of us who live outside the US needed to wait for six months before we could have access to the general conference talks. Now we have the opportunity to put into action the words that we're hearing from the general conference talks immediately. I'm so grateful for this opportunity. 

I'm so grateful for the general conference talks I was able to hear from the comfort of my own home yesterday. It's Sunday yesterday and one of the talks reminded me of making the Sabbath a delight. In his talk entitled "Reverence for Sacred Things", Elder Soares said: "We can also experience such spiritual transformation as we faithfully participate in the Church’s worship service, including tuning our hearts to the Lord through our sincere singing of sacred hymns. Turning aside—like Moses—from worldly distractions, especially our cell phones or anything not in harmony with this sacred moment, enables us to turn our full attention to partaking of the sacrament, with our minds and hearts focused on the Savior and His atoning sacrifice along with our own covenants. Such sacramental focus will foster a reverently renewing moment of our communion with the Savior and will make the Sabbath a delight and transform our life."

When I am able to keep the Sabbath day holy as the Lord commanded, I feel peaceful and joyful. Keeping the Sabbath day holy is indeed making the Sabbath a delight. I'm grateful for a husband whose core values are the same as mine. Both of us naturally decide to do things so that we are able to keep the Sabbath day holy and make the Sabbath a delight. Keeping the Sabbath day holy has been our priority ever since we got married. When we go on a trip together, we don't want to schedule traveling on a Sunday because Sunday is rest day as the Lord appointed. When we go out to celebrate our birthdays or our wedding anniversary, we also don't want to do it on a Sunday. Just like our recent trip to enjoy swimming at the Tawaen Beach at Koh Larn island of Pattaya to celebrate our 8th year of marriage. The date of our anniversary was yesterday (Sunday, 13th April) and we got back from Pattaya the day before (Saturday). We don't want to spend money on Sunday unless we're traveling to go to and come back from Church. So, we postponed our dinner date in celebration of our wedding anniversary to today, Monday. I feel peaceful and joyful doing this because we're able to focus on the Lord on His day and I know He is pleased with us when we make the effort to truly keep His day holy.