The October 2025 Come Follow Me Ministering Printable ties together Elder James R. Rasband’s April 2025 General Conference talk “The Plan of Mercy” and the July 2025 “Come, Follow Me” message on Doctrine and Covenants 109.
October 2025 Ministering Printable (4×6)
You can print these printables as 4×6 photo prints. They are also a higher resolution if you want to enlarge them. Watercolor generated by AI.
October 2025 Come Follow Me Ministering Message
Doctrine and Covenants 109 – Jesus Christ and His Mercy
Imagine selling your home to someone who couldn’t afford it—and then promising to cover their missed payments. That’s not how contracts usually work. In business, we expect agreements to be made only with those who can keep their end of the deal.
The Kirtland Temple Dedication
But the Lord works differently. In the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple, Joseph Smith highlights three important truths in the very first verse of Doctrine and Covenants 109. “Thanks be to thy name, O Lord God of Israel, who keepest covenant and showest mercy unto thy servants who walk uprightly before thee, with all their hearts.’”
First, the Lord keeps His covenants. When we make a covenant with Him, He will always uphold his part.
Second, the Lord shows mercy when we fall short of our covenants. He promises us a home that we could never afford, then pays the price Himself at an unimaginable cost. Because we are imperfect, the covenant depends on the Lord’s promises and mercy.
Third, the Lord’s focus is not on a flawless performance, but on the sincerity of our hearts. We qualify for His mercy when we strive to walk uprightly before Him with all our hearts. Without His help, none of us is perfect. We all need a merciful God who strengthens us through His covenants.
This kind of contract is founded entirely on love. We trust in a Heavenly Father who is not only willing to accept an imperfect payment, but who also gives us the means by which we can make that payment perfect. Through His love, the Lord perfects us, and through our love, we offer Him our hearts.
Divine Acceptance
It is through the Lord’s grace and mercy that we are able to turn our meager efforts into an offering worthy of His divine acceptance. It is only through Him that we can prepare to receive His promises. In verses 10 to 11 in the dedicatory prayer, Joseph Smith prays:
“And now, Holy Father, we ask thee to assist us, thy people, with thy grace, in calling our solemn assembly, that it may be done to thine honor and to thy divine acceptance; And in a manner that we may be found worthy, in thy sight, to secure a fulfilment of the promises which thou hast made unto us.”
The words “divine acceptance” can apply to a few different things. First, the Lord’s acceptance is divine because He is divine. Second, it is only through his divine love and mercy that He is willing and able to accept our offering. Third, His acceptance is divine because He has sanctified our offering and made it divine.
Temporal and Spiritual Poverty
Building the temple was a tremendous sacrifice for the Saints, but it was not a perfect sacrifice. The financial costs brought out the worst in some people. Saints fought over work assignments, priorities, and approaches. They often doubted whether they could build a temple at all. In Doctrine and Covenants 95, the Lord had to rebuke them for fighting and not moving forward with the work on the temple.
On the morning of the solemn assembly, I also imagine that not everything went smoothly. I am sure there were some lost shoes and maybe a fight about whose turn it was to do the dishes. I’d be surprised if at least one family member didn’t get yelled at for making them late, so they were stuck in the overflow.
Out of their temporal and spiritual poverty, the Saints gave their all to building the temple. And because the Lord keeps His covenants and shows mercy, it was enough.
Our Temple Preparation
In the dedicatory prayer, Joseph asks for the Lord’s mercy and asks Him to sanctify the Saints and their temple. I like to think that today, we do something similar when we participate in temple recommend interviews. The temples may already be dedicated, but it is our opportunity to dedicate ourselves to the temple. We present ourselves as worthy before the Lord to receive His promised blessings. But like the early Saints, it is only through the Lord’s mercy that we are worthy to enter.
In the temple interview, we are asked about our testimony of Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ, the Atonement, and the Restoration of the gospel. I feel comfortable answering those questions even though my testimony is still growing. I strive to grow closer to the Lord. In doing so, I have come to know Him and His gospel. I have seen the fruits in my life, and they bear testimony to the truth of the gospel. I know the church is true, and I know that the Lord is my Savior.
However, the last temple recommend question isn’t as easy: “Do you consider yourself worthy to enter the Lord’s house and participate in temple ordinances?” There is only one way I can answer yes to this question, and it is through the mercy of my Savior. On my own, I am not worthy. This is why I desperately need a God who both keeps covenants and extends mercy. Just as Joseph humbly asks the Lord for His “divine acceptance,” we can have the same prayer in our hearts as we enter into the house of the Lord. It is only through His sanctifying power and enabling grace that we are worthy to enter the temple.
We Are All Worth Saving
During the dedicatory prayer, Joseph asks for mercy nine times. He asks for mercy for his family and those he loves. He also asks for mercy for the families of the other Saints and those they love. But Joseph’s request for mercy does not stop there. If we prayed for mercy only for ourselves and those closest to us, we would misunderstand God’s nature and His relationship with all of us.
Joseph also prays for mercy on the mobs who had driven the Saints from their homes. Joseph prays for God’s mercy on all nations, rulers, leaders, churches, and people, from the powerful to the poor, needy, and afflicted. There is no one who is beyond His mercy. We are all sons and daughters of God, and we are all worth saving.
A Plan of Mercy
In the April 2025 General Conference, Elder James R. Rasband reminded us of President Nelson’s invitation to study Doctrine and Covenants 109, which was given when the Church acquired the Kirtland Temple. President Nelson promised that it “is a tutorial about how the temple spiritually empowers you and me to meet the challenges of life in these last days.”
As Elder Rasband studied the section, he was reminded “that the Lord is merciful and that our Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation is truly a plan of mercy.” And that “time in the house of the Lord softens our own hearts by centering us on Jesus Christ and His mercy.”
When we recognize the role of His mercy in our own worthiness, we come to understand that this same mercy prepares all of us—even those who wrong us—to receive Heavenly Father’s blessings. This mercy softens the hearts of men and women as we bear testimony of Christ. It is also through this mercy that “their prejudices … give way before the truth” (Doctrine and Covenants 109:56).
We Need Mercy Today
In these latter days, the world needs soft hearts; the world needs mercy. When we struggle for answers, Elder Rasband reassures us that “for those who sometimes struggle to feel answers to prayer, seeking the Lord’s mercy is one of the most powerful ways to feel the witness of the Holy Ghost.”
In recent days, this truth has been especially meaningful. It was hard losing President Russell M. Nelson. And it was even harder when the tragedy in Grand Blanc, MI, happened the very next day. President Nelson has a gift for shining light into dark places. I wanted to see his face and hear his voice so badly.
What a blessing it was to turn to his last General Conference talk, “Confidence in the Presence of God.” And what a tender mercy to be reading Doctrine and Covenants 109 this week in “Come, Follow Me.” As I have revisited President Nelson’s promise, I am reminded that God’s mercy blesses us all. Keeping covenants with Him prepares us to face life’s challenges in the last days.
As Elder Rasband shares, “I express my gratitude for the Father’s great plan of mercy and for the Savior’s willingness to carry it out. I know that He will manifest Himself in mercy in His holy temple and in every part of our life if we will seek Him.”
October 2025 Come Follow Me Ministering Handout
On the printable, I included a watercolor of the Detroit Michigan Temple, the closest temple to the meetinghouse in Grand Blanc Township, Michigan. When Elder Bednard visited the chapel, he shared, “In the midst of this horrible event, what I have seen are faithful Latter-day Saints following the admonition of President Nelson to be peacemakers in how they respond to this episode and how they support and serve each other.”
I got the heart pens because they were squishy and the quote talks about softening our hearts.
Did you like this October 2025 Come Follow Me Ministering message? Find more Relief Society Ministering Printables for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
These ministering printables are a great way to help families incorporate the “Come, Follow Me” lessons into their own study. They are also perfect for Young Women’s, Relief Society, Sunday School, or Family Home Evening. I hope that these ministering printables will be a simple way to reach out to those we minister to.
