I shook the hand of then Elder Russell M. Nelson after one of his discourses at Brigham Young University.\u00a0 While I attended BYU, I made a goal to shake every Apostle\u2019s hand.\u00a0 I arrived at devotionals and firesides early to get a seat, enabling me to accomplish that goal before graduating in 1995. Elder Nelson felt kind and relatable while delivering his discourses with profound and stirring power.<\/p>\n President Russell M. Nelson began his prophetic ministry in April 2018 with a world tour beginning in London and ending in Hawaii. After London, he visited Jerusalem.<\/p>\n \u201cAs the new president to the Church, I felt that there were two messages that I would like to convey to our people,\u201d President Nelson said<\/a>. \u201cOne is that Jesus is the Christ and He has a message for all of God\u2019s children. And the second is that His is a global invitation. We invite all of God\u2019s children to come unto their Savior.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n He gave a similar message at a regional conference in Laie, Hawaii.\u00a0 Because of my ward calling, Anthony and I were invited to attend the conference in person. The packed Cannon Center welcomed President and Sister Nelson and President and Sister Holland.\u00a0 What a glorious and memorable moment I experienced when, listening to President Nelson in person, the Holy Ghost indelibly imprinted a knowledge that Russell M. Nelson was a prophet of God.\u00a0 His words floated over the congregation and penetrated my heart, and the Holy Ghost confirmed his words and prophetic call.<\/p>\n In October 2018, President Nelson extended \u201ca prophetic plea<\/a>\u201d to the women of the Church \u201cto shape the future by helping to gather scattered Israel.\u201d He extended four invitations: to hold a 10-day fast from social media, read the Book of Mormon before the end of the year, attend the temple regularly, and participate fully in Relief Society.<\/p>\n I had been called as a seminary teacher that summer and began teaching at the first of August.\u00a0 Because of some long-standing health challenges, fulfilling that calling wreaked havoc on me. By October, I was in zombie, survival mode. I drove from Ewa Beach to the Laie Hawaii Temple weekly and felt like I participated fully in Relief Society.<\/p>\n I logged out of social media and deleted it from my phone for 10 days.<\/p>\n I altered work hours and began working in the Laie Hawaii Temple one extra afternoon.<\/p>\n The only time I could add reading the Book of Mormon was before seminary at 6:10 am.\u00a0 Getting adequate sleep was one of my major challenges. I set my alarm, got up earlier, and began reading the Book of Mormon<\/a> every morning before going to teach the Doctrine and Covenants. I found I could do it!\u00a0 How was that possible?\u00a0 I finished the Book of Mormon by the end of the year.<\/p>\n Among the doctrine and spiritual aspects of reading the Book of Mormon so quickly and straight through and being in the temple more often, I gained a deeper testimony of following the prophet.\u00a0 If I accepted the prophet\u2019s invitation, the Lord would strengthen and magnify my abilities and efforts.\u00a0 The strength gained from that small prophetic challenge accepted has had lasting effects.<\/p>\n A friend from Ewa Beach, who also accepted those challenges at that time, messaged me an invitation to join her in reading the Book of Mormon by the end of the year in memoriam. It\u2019s easier to accept the invitation this time, and I\u2019m doing it with a willing and grateful heart.<\/p>\n I finally came to terms during President Nelson\u2019s presidency that I may not reach my goal of visiting every temple in the world.\u00a0 I\u2019ve visited over 100, but need a more profitable job at this point to reach that goal.\u00a0 I\u2019ve decided that visiting the 49 temples extant when I made the goal will fulfill it.\u00a0 I have 16 of those original temples still to visit.\u00a0 I will still reach for the loftier goal as possible.<\/p>\n Four temple announcements are particularly meaningful to me.\u00a0 President Nelson announced a temple in China and Dubai, United Arab Emirates, on the same day in 2020. I jumped from my chair and rattled off all of the happy Arabic words I could think of.\u00a0 I felt so much joy at those two announcements.\u00a0 I didn\u2019t know if I would be alive for a temple announced in the Middle East and China. And I was!!<\/p>\n When we lived on Maui, I\u2019d stand at the edge of a favorite cliff and pray for a temple on that island.\u00a0 I thought we\u2019d be there forever (like I used to think at every move,) and I couldn\u2019t imagine anything more lovely than Maui with a House of the Lord.\u00a0 I cried at hearing Maui\u2019s temple announced.<\/p>\n I served my mission in Scotland, assigned twice to Edinburgh. Edinburgh is my second-favorite city I\u2019ve ever lived in (second only to Jerusalem.) I\u2019ve found so many ancestral connections to Scotland and Edinburgh.\u00a0 The whole country is a sacred space to me for so many reasons.\u00a0 Hearing President Nelson say, \u201cEdinburgh Scotland,\u201d overwhelmed me, and I screamed in surprise and jumped up and down (totally reverently, President Nelson!)<\/p>\n In 2015, President Russell M. Nelson dedicated the Priesthood Restoration site. 2024 marked the 195th anniversary of the Melchizedek Priesthood\u2019s restoration.\u00a0 I\u2019d read President Nelson\u2019s thoughts about the site in Heart of the Matter<\/em> and saw the videos and news clips the Church presented in May 2024.\u00a0 I\u2019d never been to that site, but after hearing some of President Nelson\u2019s response to the sacred space, I wanted to go, too.<\/p>\n \u201cBoth the anticipation of that event and the actual experience itself moved me deeply,\u201d President Nelson wrote in his 2023 book, \u201cHeart of the Matter.\u201d \u201cOther than the Sacred Grove and a few additional landmarks in and around Palmyra, New York, there may be no other location in history of Church history as central to the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ as is the area in and around Harmony.\u201d<\/p>\n As he and others walked a new trail system throughout the woods where the Aaronic priesthood was restored, President Nelson noted that \u201cthe reality of priesthood keys and priesthood power was tangible.\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n \u201cThis was holy ground,\u201d he wrote. \u201cThe reason for such a profound feeling of reverence is clear. The restoration of the priesthood keys to the earth was crucial. Priesthood keys authorize men on earth to act and speak in the name of God.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<\/div>\n 2020 brought worship at church and in temples to a halt and inspired the actual application of a home-centered church.\u00a0 During the April 2020 general conference, along with so many other incredible things, President Nelson asked us all to participate in the Hosanna Shout.<\/a>\u00a0 Anthony and I stood in our little living room in Ewa Beach, Hawaii, and followed President Nelson\u2019s directions.\u00a0 While I knew millions of people also participated, it felt so personal and intimate and holy\u2014President Russell M. Nelson, President Dallin H. Oaks, President Jeffrey R. Holland, and me and Anthony.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n President Nelson\u2019s Messianic messages increased: Prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Savior.\u00a0 He is coming!\u00a0 I sat riveted as I identified Second Coming language that soon became clearer and clearer, with music attached<\/a>.\u00a0 In his final general conference message, President Nelson again affirmed the needed preparation for Jesus Christ\u2019s Second Coming and that we can stand with confidence in the presence of God now.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n \u00a0<\/p>\n My most meaningful and important takeaway from President Russell M. Nelson\u2019s ministry centers on his perpetual pleas to increase time in the House of the Lord. He promised that miracles we could never imagine would flow to our families.\u00a0 Having experienced blessings after following his 2018 invitations to read the Book of Mormon by the end of the year and attend the temple more, I kept increasing my temple attendance every time he pled with us to do so.\u00a0 I sought miracles in my family.\u00a0 President Nelson promised miracles.\u00a0 I had a growing testimony that his promises were fulfilled.\u00a0 I kept increasing my temple attendance.<\/p>\n And suddenly, unexpectedly, a\u00a0miracle<\/a> occurred in our family.\u00a0 It was astounding, never before imagined in my wildest dreams.\u00a0 While telling the story to my aunt<\/a>, I mentioned President Russell M. Nelson\u2019s general conference promises and how I focused on those as I began intentionally worshipping in the temple.\u00a0 She asked for the quote I mentioned, and I realized the conference talk promises spanned the years of President Nelson\u2019s presidency.\u00a0 I reviewed all of his talks and pulled out the pertinent promises<\/a>.\u00a0 Essentially, they all boiled down to this:<\/p>\n The Lord fulfills the words of His prophet!\u00a0 Blessings have poured from heaven into the Hargrove home.\u00a0 The power and mercy of God are clearly evident.\u00a0 Light and truth pierce mortality\u2019s darkness. The family tree expands and blossoms. The veil thins.\u00a0 I have never felt closer and more known to my ancestors than now. I have never felt the power of God more actively in my life than now. Never have I seen such fruit from following prophetic counsel as now. Never have I felt so much internal peace.<\/p>\n These are all resultant blessings promised by a prophet of God. And I believe that all of Russell M. Nelson\u2019s words will be fulfilled just as magnificently.<\/p>\n President Russell M. Nelson encouraged deeper personal conversion by reminding me of my divine identity and purpose.\u00a0 He challenged me to study scriptures<\/a> searchingly.\u00a0 He became our grandfather and loved us as his own.\u00a0 I joined the Lord\u2019s battalion<\/a> and think celestial.<\/a>\u00a0 I recognize the power that God blesses me with<\/a>.\u00a0 I am following a tutorial<\/a> to be spiritually empowered to meet challenges ahead. He challenged me to forgive and be a peacemaker<\/a>.\u00a0 But mostly, President Nelson, quietly and ably, invited me to stay on the covenant path<\/a> so that I could truly know Jesus Christ, the Living Son of the Living God, and he believed I could.<\/p>\n<\/body><\/html>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Russell M. Nelson, our dear friend\u2014because he was such a dear friend to all\u2014graduated from mortality on September 27, 2025.\u00a0 Like millions of my fellow members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, I reflected on the life of this prophet of God and how his ministry impacted me personally. I shook the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3071,"featured_media":9029,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[19,102,26,63],"class_list":["post-9011","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-christlike-attributes","tag-miracles","tag-second-coming","tag-words-of-the-prophets"],"yoast_head":"\n![\"Russell](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/819\/2025\/10\/Russell_M_Nelson_cropped2-225x300.jpg\")
President Russell M. Nelson Visited Hawaii<\/h3>\n
Sisters\u2019 Participation in the Gathering of Israel<\/h3>\n
Then, President Nelson, a prophet of the Lord, invited me to do those four things. Would I follow the prophet\u2019s invitation or not?<\/h4>\n
Temples!\u00a0 Dubai, China, Edinburgh, and Maui<\/h3>\n
Priesthood Restoration Site<\/h3>\n
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\u201cAct and speak in the name of God.\u201d<\/h4>\n<\/blockquote>\n
![\"The](\"https:\/\/wp-media.patheos.com\/blogs\/sites\/819\/2025\/10\/Susquehannah-River-300x140.jpg\")
Hosanna Shout<\/h3>\n
The Restoration of the Fulness of the Gospel of Jesus Christ: A Bicentennial Proclamation to the World<\/h3>\n<\/div>\n
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Stand with Confidence in the Presence of God<\/h3>\n
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Increase Your Time in the House of the Lord and See Miracles<\/h3>\n
if you consecrate more time to worshipping in the temple, the Lord will bless you in unexpected ways with miracles.<\/strong><\/em><\/h4>\n
I thank God for a prophet!<\/h3>\n