Latino Saints Encouraged to “Walk in the Light of His Love”

  • 15 November 2011

A multiregional choir of more than 364 children, youth, and adults, accompanyied by a flute, violin, and Venezuelan harp, sang “Hazme andar en la luz” (“Teach Me to Walk in the Light”), the hymn and Primary song that were the inspiration for the devotional’s theme.

“I pray that, in the light of His love, we may be believers and not unbelievers, remembering the intense desire of our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, and our own desire to be reunited with Them in the mansions They have prepared for Their faithful children.” —Elder Claudio D. Zivic of the Seventy

Elder Claudio D. Zivic of the Seventy and Elder Gary B. Doxey, Area Seventy, spoke at this year’s Latino event, a Church-sponsored devotional titled “En la Luz de Su Amor” (“In the Light of His Love”), held on Sunday, November 13, at the Conference Center in Salt Lake City, Utah, USA.

Thousands of Spanish- and Portuguese-speaking members of the Church and their friends attended the devotional at the Conference Center, while thousands more participated in a live broadcast sent to other meetinghouses in North, Central, and South America. The devotional broadcast in English, Portuguese, and Spanish was viewed live online by more than 7,000 in 34 countries around the world.

A multiregional choir of more than 364 children, youth, and adults, accompanyied by a flute, violin, and Venezuelan harp, sang “Hazme andar en la luz” (“Teach Me to Walk in the Light”), the hymn and Primary song that were the inspiration for the devotional’s theme.

Elder Zivic, a native of Buenos Aires, Argentina, presided at the event and offered “10 basic rules for living as true believers.” He encouraged each person to examine his or her devotion to Jesus Christ, the “one name that has changed the course of humankind for good.”

The following are the 10 rules Elder Zivic taught, each followed by the scripture or hymn that he cited:

Elder Zivic promised that as each person follows these rules by examining his or her own devotion to the Savior, each would become a “true believer.”

“I pray that, in the light of His love, we may be believers and not unbelievers,” he said, “remembering the intense desire of our Heavenly Father and our Lord Jesus Christ, and our own desire to be reunited with Them in the mansions They have prepared for Their faithful children.”

Elder Doxey, an Area Seventy in the Utah South Area, spoke first, encouraging those participating “to walk in the light.”

“Each individual has a divine spark as a spirit son or daughter of our Heavenly Father,” he said. “If we kindle it by walking in God’s light, the spark will grow to unlock our infinite and eternal potential.”

He taught that we can learn to walk in God’s light by distinguishing good from evil and choosing to follow the good.

“Those who continue in the light receive more and more light,” he promised.

Elder Doxey taught the difference between the Light of Christ, which, he explained, is our inherent conscience that guides us to truth, and the Holy Ghost, which is “reserved only for those who are worthy of it and have received it through the laying on of hands after baptism.”

“We must be attuned to [the Holy Ghost’s] influence,” he said, “for it is a ‘still, small voice’ (see 1 Kings 19:11–13). It communicates thoughts to our minds and feelings to our hearts (see D&C 8:2). We must listen carefully, pay attention, and be willing to follow the feelings we receive. Otherwise, they will leave us.”

For nine years the Church has provided inspirational events for the growing Latino community of Saints in Utah. The initiative has included Christmas concerts, devotionals, and stage plays, including last year’s first-ever Spanish-language version of Savior of the World in the Conference Center Theater.

Sunday’s devotional marks the first time that the annual program was broadcast live to meetinghouses. This year’s devotional is currently available online in English, Portuguese, and Spanish.

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