CTR means "Current Temple Recommend"

I am a member of the Provo Utah Grandview Stake and attended our regional conference today. There were over 135 stakes from Wasatch and Utah counties that attended the broadcast transmitted via satellite from the Marriott Center on BYU campus. In attendance was Ann Dibb, member of the Young Women General Board and daughter of President Monson, President Packer, President Utchdorf, and stake presidents from the BYU and Student stakes in the Provo and Orem areas.

The setting of the conference was a little less formal than a General Conference of the church, which made it fun to hear the general authorities of the church cracking more jokes than typical as they addressed thousands of members.

President Jensen, a stake president of the area gave a touching talk about being kind and caring to others. Sister Dibb talked about finding the “real” things in life; including finding real relationships, and real happiness. President Packer talked about missionary work, missionaries, and how we can help those that are of age and have not yet decided to serve, make that important decision to serve. He also stated that there were over 4400 missionaries serving from our region, and that there are enough missionaries currently serving to fill the Marriott Center two and a half times! That was awesome to hear!

Ever since Elder Utchdorf has been serving as a General Authority of the church, I always try to pay special attention to his talks. He has quickly become one of my favorites to listen to and learn from; his talk today was equally as inspiring to me. He gave the members of the church 3 “Tips to succeed in the lifelong conversion process”. They were: study the word of God daily, carry a current temple recommend, and speak with your Father in heaven daily.

One thing he said that I particularly enjoyed was the analogy he made with the meaning of the letters CTR. He acknowledged that CTR means “Choose the Right” but also mentioned that it can have another meaning, “Current Temple Recommend”. What a great reminder to have on my finger everyday! Whenever I put on my CTR ring, I am going to make sure that it becomes my reminder to always CTR and also live worthy to carry a CTR.

I hope that we, as members of the Lord’s true church, can always have the goal to CTR, whatever it may mean to you in your personal life. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Brandon Young, Admin
Provo, UT