Please! Read the Letter

This is a talk given in Sacrament Meeting in Metz France on August 10, 2025, given by me and translated in French by Annie.

I had a friend who passed away recently who was a magician, and he loved to display his tricks and illusions to anyone at any time. It didn't matter where he was, whether it be in church, a restaurant, a store, among friends or among strangers. He would go into a restaurant and while waiting for his order, go to nearby tables and perform his tricks, always to the delight of his audience. He carried tricks in his fanny pack and would switch them out every few days. There is something about a well executed magic trick that is intriguing and fascinating. He used to say that tricks worked because of deception, and the more skilled the magician, the better and more complicated the deception. "All magicians are liars," he would say. But we are fascinated by being deceived, and we ask to see the trick again and again.

Now use your imagination and consider the most skilled magician, with his vast knowledge and unlimited skills, a former Son of the Morning, once considered among the very elect in Heaven. He is so skilled, in fact, that it was necessary, if he was going to be among us, to have some protections given to us by our Father, so that we might not be deceived. 

Now imagine also that this most skilled magician has everything in his power to use to deceive us, such as communication, images, worldly powers, money, social media, history, our wants and desires, churches and church leaders, even the word of God--whatever He can use to distort and deceive and work his magic. He can also use other humans and even his followers as his assistants, even the most impressive, or at least would impress us the most. To some, that would be those who are successful and powerful. To others, it would be those who are kind and appear very loving. And to others those in authority; those most educated. And to others it would be those who look and act like they do.

Even though Satan is among us, there are some who will not be deceived. The Lord refers to those who are not deceived as His very elect. And what distinguishes those who are not deceived? "And whoso treasureth up my word, shall not be deceived..." (JS Matthew 1:37 emphasis added).

I cannot say it loud enough or enough times just how crucial the word of God is in our day. Without it, we will be deceived, find ourselves cut off from the Spirit of God, and be unprepared for the events that will precede the Lord’s second coming. 

Partial truths from the pulpit, blogs, podcasts, and social media will not cut it. We are either armed with the Sword of Truth or we are not. There is no middle ground. Only the word of God will keep us from being deceived in these last days. When his people’s devotion to Jesus Christ becomes but a shallow version of His law and word, it lacks the power to withstand evil, and being deceived is the result.

Why do you think the book was given to us? Angels do not come on trivial errands, to deliver books for occasional light reading to people whom they do not really concern. The matter in the Book of Mormon was selected, as we are often reminded, with scrupulous care and with particular readers in mind. 

We fawn over President Oaks coming to Europe, and yet treat lightly that Moroni himself delivered God’s words to us. And what does the Book say?

Repent or turn to Christ. It is to Christ and only to Christ that we are to turn. He alone is our salvation. We are to live by every word that "proceeded forth from the mouth of God" (D&C 84:44). 

Time is no longer on the side of soothing platitudes. It is best to state the problem based on what the scriptures actually say and to point to their solution. While most of us acknowledge that Book of Mormon prophets saw our day (Mormon 8:34–41), should we not also admit that what they saw seldom matches our high opinion of ourselves? We are the wild branches and as prophesied, bring forth wild fruit.

The Book tells us that repentance is knowing exactly who and what we are: nothing! Always retain in remembrance His goodness and our nothingness, which is the essence of Godly Sorrow. The only type of sorrow that brings about repentance.

How do we avoid being deceived? Of course Christ is the remedy, but how do we come to Christ? How exactly do we partake of His goodness, His incorruptible state of righteousness, and His promise to make us incorruptible like He is? 

The answer is through His words! Words that come from the mouth of God and strike everything else as insignificant! There is a danger to rely only on the pulpit narrative, when Christ himself points us to the scripture narrative--His words.

The Lord makes it clear that we come unto Him through His words, and that "whoso receiveth not my voice (His words) is not acquainted with my voice, and is not of me." 

This plan for us requires that we choose either good or evil, and that we learn to recognize the difference, and understand exactly what is good and what is evil. Again we turn to His words which tell us that good is the righteousness of God, and evil is everything else. One way is narrow and the other broad. The Lord tells us that we get in the right way because of His words and we stay in the right way because of His words. We see this by virtue of the word of God being identified as the Rod of Iron, with the word being compared to the Liahona and with the word of God being truth, light, spirit, even the Spirit of Jesus Christ. Why? 

Because the word of God leads us to the fountain of living waters, the love of God and to the righteousness of God. While ignoring and not receiving His words keeps us in darkness and leads us to wander in strange paths and eventually being captive by the chains of hell, and by being deceived, thinking we are on the right path. And when we shine the light of His words upon ourselves, we see the corruption, the flawed goodness, the evil. And yet at the same time we see His goodness and righteousness, and willingly and joyfully turn to Him and rely wholly upon His merits.

I want to conclude by sharing with you the Hymn of the Pearl from the Acts of Thomas. In this classic tale, a king's son has come down to earth to find a pearl which he is to return to its heavenly depository. Here below he becomes defiled with the things of the world, until a letter from heaven, signed by all the Great and Mighty Ones, recalls to him his true heritage and his purpose in coming to earth. Whereupon he casts off his earthly garments, and with the pearl returns to the waiting arms of his loved ones in the royal courts on high  and to his robe of glory that has been carefully kept for him in the Treasury.

The scriptures are our letter from Heaven, reminding us of our heavenly home and the way to get there. 

Please. Read the letter!