Uchtdorf-Daily-Restoration
In an Inspirational Message video, Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf explains the importance of daily restoration in avoiding walking in circles spiritually. Photo is a screenshot from the video.All rights reserved.
By Ryan Jensen, Church News
The Church’s newest Inspirational Message video illustrates a story and principle taught by Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf in October 2021 general conference.
Titled “Daily Restoration,” the video shows a number of individuals who were given GPS trackers (not maps) in the middle of a dense forest and told to walk in a straight line. Each expressed confidence that walking in a straight line would be an easy task.
Each participant was equally surprised when shown the GPS data that proved how not-straight their hiking path was. S-curves, big circles, small circles and other variations in paths were met with disbelief by the hikers who each believed they had walked in a straight or nearly-straight line.
The video quotes Elder Uchtdorf, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, sharing excerpts from his “Daily Restoration” message from general conference.
Uchtdorf-daily-restoration
A computer screen shows the way one hiker didn’t walk in along the straight line she thought she had in a new Inspirational Message video. Photos is a screenshot from the video.All rights reserved.
“Without reliable landmarks, we drift off course,” Elder Uchtdorf said. “... This applies to us physically. It also applies to us spiritually.”
The video also shows members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sharing their experiences of personal drifting away from the Church and from the Savior.
“At the time, I didn’t think there was anything wrong,” one man says in the video.
“Church became something that wasn’t of importance and we started to not go,” another man says.
One woman talks about being kicked out of her home as a teenager due to some of her choices. “I was drinking. I was smoking weed with my friends. I didn’t feel like anyone cared,” she said.
Just as those individuals recognized the small steps that led them away from the path, they also recognized that change was possible to get back on the right path.
“People can come back and they can change,” one woman said.
And another man in the video said, “Just as small little things can lead us off the path, small little things can also lead us back on the path.”
Elder Uchtdorf said, “When darkness creeps into our lives, as it often does, our daily restoration opens our hearts to heavenly light, which illuminates our souls, chasing away shadows, fears, and doubts.”
Individuals in the video shared their examples of daily restoration. Prayer, scripture study, repentance, service and other steps were among those mentioned by the video’s participants.
Uchtdorf-daily-restoration
In a new Inspirational Message titled “Daily Restoration,” Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf testifies, “God is among us and that He will surely draw near to all who draw near to Him.” Photo is a screenshot from the video.All rights reserved.
The Inspirational Message concludes with Elder Uchtdorf bearing his testimony and saying, “We need an ongoing, daily infusion of heavenly light.
“We need ‘times of refreshing.’ Times of personal restoration.”
“I bear my personal witness that God is among us and that He will surely draw near to all who draw near to Him.”
The video is available on YouTube, the Church’s social media channels, and will be available soon in Gospel Library and Gospel Media.
Copyright 2023 Deseret News Publishing Company.