Transcript
♪ Come, ye children of the Lord ♪
♪ Let us sing with one accord. ♪
♪ Let us raise a joyful strain ♪ ♪ To our Lord who soon will reign ♪
From the conference center in Salt Lake City, Utah,
this is the Saturday morning session of the 193rd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
with speakers selected from leaders of the Church.
Music for this session is provided by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
This broadcast is furnished as a public service by Bonneville Distribution.
Any reproduction, recording, transcription, or other use of this program without written consent is prohibited. President Dallin H. Oaks,
First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church, will conduct this session.
♪ Then with joy each heart will swell. ♪
Brothers and sisters, we welcome you to the Saturday morning session of the 193rd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and extend a warm welcome to members and friends participating in the conference throughout the world, wherever you may be.
President Russell M. Nelson, who presides at the conference, has asked me to conduct this session.
We acknowledge the General Authorities and the General Officers who will be in attendance throughout the conference.
We note the absence of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland,
who is unable to join us due to COVID.
Our prayers are with you and Sister Holland. Your presence will be greatly missed.
The music for this session will be provided by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square,
under the direction of Mack Wilberg and Ryan Murphy with Richard Elliott and Brian Mathias at the organ.
Throughout this conference, the Tabernacle Choir will be joined by global participants who have traveled to Salt Lake City from Brazil, Ghana, Malaysia, Mexico, the Philippines, and Taiwan.
The choir opened this meeting with “Come Ye Children of the Lord” and will now favor us with “Redeemer of Israel.”
The invocation will then be offered by Elder Benjamin M. Z. Tai of the Seventy.
[MUSIC PLAYING] “Redeemer of Israel”
♪ Redeemer of Israel, Our only delight, ♪
♪ On whom for a blessing we call, ♪
♪ Our shadow by day, And our pillar by night, ♪
♪ Our King, our Deliverer, our all! ♪
♫♫
♪ We know he is coming To gather his sheep ♪
♪ And lead them to Zion in love; For why in the valley ♪
♪ For why in the valley Of death should they weep ♪
♪ Or in the lone wilderness rove? ♪
♫♫
♪ How long we have wandered as strangers in sin, ♪
♪ And cried in the desert for thee! ♪
♪ Our foes have rejoiced When our sorrows they’ve seen, ♪
♪ But Israel will shortly be free. ♪
♫♫
♫♫
♪ As children of Zion, good tidings for us; ♪
♪ The tokens already appear. ♪
♪ Fear not, fear not, and be just, For the kingdom is ours. ♪
♪ The hour of redemption ♪ ♪ is near. ♪
Our Father in Heaven, at this Easter season and the commencement of this general conference, we’re grateful for the opportunity to gather and to give thanks to thee
for Thy Son, Jesus Christ.
We’re grateful for His atoning sacrifice and the renewal,
the resurrection, and the redemption it provides.
We express gratitude for Thy servants,
our prophets and apostles, from whom we will receive guidance and counsel this day. Father, please bless us with an abundance of Thy Spirit as we open our ears,
our hearts, and our minds, that we may heed Thy voice and align ourselves with Thy will
so that we may go forth with greater confidence, clarity,
courage, and compassion for all of Thy children.
This is our prayer of invocation in the name of Thy Son,
our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ,
amen.
We will now be pleased to hear from Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. He will be followed by President Bonnie H. Cordon, Young Women General President. Following her remarks, the choir will sing the “Day Dawn Is Breaking.”
After the singing, we will hear from Elder Carl B. Cook of the Presidency of the Seventy and Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
You likely remember hearing a letter from the First Presidency read in your ward or branch several weeks ago.
The letter announced that next Sunday, Easter Sunday,
all wards and branches are to meet for sacrament meeting only,
leaving additional time for worship at home as families to commemorate this most important holiday.
The First Presidency’s letter caught my attention and it caused me to reflect on the way our family has celebrated Easter through the years.
The more I thought about our celebrations, the more I found myself wondering if we are inadvertently shortchanging the true meaning of this holiday so central to all believers in Jesus Christ.
Those thoughts led me to ponder the difference between the way we have celebrated Christmas as compared with Easter.
During December, we somehow managed to incorporate the fun of “Jingle Bells,” Christmas stockings, and gifts alongside other, more thoughtful traditions—such as caring for those in need,
singing our favorite Christmas carols and hymns, and, of course,
opening the scriptures and reading the Christmas story in Luke 2.
Every year, as we read this beloved story from a large old Bible,
our family does what your family probably does,
dressed with towels on our heads and donning bath robes to represent Joseph, Mary, and the many who came to worship the Baby Jesus.
We reenact the treasured Christmas story of the Savior's birth.
Our family celebrations at Easter, however, have been somewhat different.
I feel our family has relied more on going to church to provide the meaningful Christ-centered part of Easter, and then as a family, we’ve gathered to share in other Easter-related traditions.
I’ve loved watching our children and now our grandchildren hunt for Easter eggs and dig through their Easter baskets.
But the First Presidency letter was a wake up call.
Not only did they invite all of us to make sure our celebration of the most important event to ever happen on this earth—
the Atonement and Resurrection of Jesus Christ—
include the reverence and respect the Lord deserves;
they also gave us more time with our families and friends to do so on Easter Sunday. These words of the Prophet Joseph Smith add additional context to the significance of the events surrounding Easter. Quote: “The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it.” Lisa and I have discussed ways that our family can do better during the Easter season. Perhaps the question we have asked ourselves is one we could all contemplate: How do we model the teaching and celebration of the resurrection of Jesus Christ,
the Easter story, with the same balance, fullness, and rich religious tradition of the birth of Jesus Christ,
the Christmas Story? It seems we’re all trying.
I observe a growing effort among Latter-day Saints toward a more Christ-centered Easter. This includes a greater and more thoughtful recognition of Palm Sunday and Good Friday, as practiced by some of our Christian cousins.
We might also adopt appropriate Christ- centered Easter traditions found in cultures and practices of countries worldwide.
New Testament scholar N. T. Wright suggested: “We should be taking steps to celebrate Easter in creative new ways in art, literature, children's games, poetry, music, dance, festivals, bells, special concerts. ...
This is our greatest festival.
Take Christmas away and in biblical terms you lose two chapters at the front of Matthew and Luke, nothing else.
Take Easter away and you don’t have a New Testament;
You don’t have a Christianity.”
We cherish the Bible for all it teaches us about the birth, ministry, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
No three words embody more hope and eternal consequence for all of humankind than those uttered by a heavenly angel on Easter morning at the Garden Tomb: “He is risen.”
We are deeply grateful for New Testament scripture that preserves the story of Easter and the Savior’s Easter ministry in Judea and Galilee.
As Lisa and I pondered ways to expand our family Easter celebration to be more Christ-centered,
we discussed what scripture reading tradition we might introduce to our family—the Luke 2 equivalent for Easter, if you will.
And then we had this heavenly epiphany:
In addition to the important verses about Easter in the New Testament,
we, as Latter-day Saints, are endowed with the most remarkable Easter gift—
a gift of unique witness,
another testament of the Easter miracle that contains perhaps the most magnificent Easter scriptures in all of Christianity.
I'm referring, of course, to the Book of Mormon, and more specifically to the account of Jesus Christ appearing to the inhabitants in the new world in His resurrected glory.
The Prophet Joseph Smith described the Book of Mormon as “the most correct of any book,”
and beginning with 3 Nephi 11,
it tells the magnificent story of the resurrected Christ’s visit to the Nephites, the Savior’s Easter ministry.
These Easter scriptures bear record of the resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. In these chapters, Christ calls Twelve Apostles, teaches as He did in His Sermon on the Mount, announces that He has fulfilled the law of Moses, and prophesies about the latter-day gathering of Israel.
He heals the sick and prays for the people in such a glorious way that “no tongue can speak, neither can there be written by any man, neither can the hearts of men conceive so great and marvelous things as we both saw and heard Jesus speak;
and no one can conceive of the joy which filled our souls at the time we heard him pray for us unto the Father.”
This Easter, our family is going to focus on the first 17 verses of 3 Nephi 11.
You recall the great multitude round about the temple and land Bountiful, who heard the voice of God the Father and saw Jesus Christ descending out of heaven to extend the most beautiful Easter invitation.
“Arise and come forth unto me, ... that ye may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet,
that ye may know that I am the God of ... the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world.
And ... the multitude went forth, ... one by one, ... and did see with their eyes and feel with their hands, ... and did bear record that it was he. ...
And ... they did cry out with one accord, saying: Hosanna!
Blessed be the name of the Most High God! And they did fall down at the feet of Jesus, and did worship him.” Imagine,
the Nephites at the temple actually touched the hands of the Risen Lord!
We hope to make these chapters in 3 Nephi as much
a part of our Easter tradition as is Luke 2 of our Christmas tradition.
In reality, the Book of Mormon shares the greatest Easter story ever told.
Let it not be the greatest Easter story never told.
I invite you to look at the Book of Mormon in a new light and consider the profound witness it bears of the reality of the Risen Christ, as well as the richness and depth of the doctrine of Christ.
We might ask, how can reading Book of Mormon scriptures at Easter bless our lives and those of our loved ones in a meaningful way?
More than one might realize. Any time we read and study from the Book of Mormon, we can expect remarkable outcomes.
Recently, Lisa and I attended the viewing of a dear friend,
a woman of faith, whose life was cut short by illness.
We gathered with her family and close friends, exchanging fond memories of this beautiful soul.
While standing away some distance from the casket conversing with others, I noticed two young Primary-age girls approach the casket and stretch up on their tiptoes, eyes just reaching its edge, to pay their final respects to their beloved aunt. With no one else nearby, Lisa slipped over and crouched down beside them to offer comfort and teaching. She asked how they were doing and if they knew where their aunt was now.
They shared their sadness, But then, with confidence brimming in their eyes,
they said they knew their aunt was now happy, and she could be with Jesus.
At this tender age, they found peace in the great plan of happiness and, in their own childlike way,
testified of the profound reality and simple beauty of the Resurrection of the Savior.
They knew this in their hearts because of thoughtful teachings of loving parents, family, and Primary leaders planting a seed of faith in Jesus Christ and eternal life.
Wise beyond their years, many of the truths these young girls understood come to us through the Easter message and ministry of the Resurrected Savior and the words of prophets as told in the Book of Mormon. I’ve observed that when President Russell M. Nelson gives
a gift of the Book of Mormon to someone not of our faith, including world leaders, he often turns to 3 Nephi and reads about the appearance of the resurrected Christ to the Nephites.
In doing so, the living prophet is, in essence, bearing witness of the Living Christ.
We cannot stand as witnesses of Jesus Christ until we can bear witness of Him. The Book of Mormon is another witness of Jesus Christ
because throughout its sacred pages, one prophet after another testifies not only that Christ would come,
but that He did come. I am holding here in my hand a copy of the first edition of the Book of Mormon. Doing so always moves me.
For much of my adult life, I have been fascinated, enthralled, and riveted with what young Joseph Smith did to get this sacred book of scripture translated and published.
But that is not why this book moves me.
It is because this book, more than any other ever published on this earth,
bears witness of the life, the ministry, the teachings,
the Atonement, and the Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
My dear brothers and sisters, studying regularly from this book will change your life. It will open your eyes to new possibilities.
It will increase your hope and fill you with charity.
Most of all, it will build and strengthen your faith in Jesus Christ and bless you with a sure knowledge that He and our Father know you, love you, and want you to find your way back home—with a capital “H.”
Dear brothers and sisters, the time has come foretold by prophets of old,
“when the knowledge of a Savior shall spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people.” We are seeing the fulfillment of this prophecy before our very eyes,
through the witness of Jesus Christ found in the Book of Mormon.
No book does more to show that because of Jesus Christ,
everything changed; because of Him, everything is better; because of Him,
life is manageable—especially in the painful moments;
because of Him, everything is possible.
His visit as a resurrected Savior introduced by God the Father is a most glorious and triumphant Easter message.
It will help our families gain a personal testimony of Jesus Christ as our Savior and Redeemer who broke the bands of death. I close with my testimony of the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and of Jesus Christ as the Son of the living God.
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Brothers and sisters, five years ago today, we raised our hand to sustain our beloved prophet, President Russell M. Nelson as the President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,
the Lord’s mouthpiece for this remarkable season of growth and revelation. Through him, we have received countless invitations
and promised blessings if we will center our lives on our Savior, Jesus Christ. In 2011, while I was serving with my husband as mission leaders in beautiful Curitiba, Brazil,
my phone rang during a meeting.
Rushing to silence it, I noticed the call was from my father.
I quickly left the meeting to answer. “Hi, Dad.”
Unexpectedly, his voice was filled with emotion. “Hi, Bonnie. I need to tell you something. I’ve been diagnosed with ALS.”
My mind swirled with confusion. “Wait, what is ALS?” Dad was already
explaining, “My mind will stay alert while my body slowly shuts down.”
I felt my whole world shift as I began to wrestle with the implications of this grievous news.
But on that unforgettable day, it was his last sentence that found a permanent place in my heart.
My dear father said with urgency. “Bonnie,
never give up an opportunity to testify of Christ.”
I have pondered and prayed over Dad's counsel.
I've often asked myself if I fully know what it means to never give up an opportunity to testify of Christ.
Like you, I have occasionally stood at the first Sunday of the month and bore a witness of Christ. Many times I've testified of gospel truths as part of a lesson. I've boldly taught truth and declared the divinity of Christ as a missionary. Yet this plea felt more personal. It seemed as though he was saying, “Bonnie,
don't let the world overtake you. Stay true to your covenants with the Savior.
Seek to experience His blessings every day and be able to testify through the Holy Ghost of His power and presence in your life.”
We live in a fallen world with distractions coaxing our eyes and hearts downward instead of heavenward.
Much like the Nephites in 3 Nephi 11, we need Jesus Christ.
Can you imagine yourself there among people who had experienced so much chaos and destruction?
What would it have been like to hear the Lord’s personal invitation, “Arise and come forth unto me, that you may thrust your hands into my side, and also that you may feel the prints of the nails in my hands and in my feet,
that ye may know that I am ... the God of the whole earth, and have been slain for the sins of the world. [And] the multitude went forth ... one by one ... and did see with their eyes and
did feel with their hands, and did know ... and had witnessed for themselves.” These Nephites eagerly went forward to thrust their hands into His side and to feel the prints of the nails in His feet so they could witness for themselves that this was the Christ.
Similarly, many faithful people we have studied in the New Testament this year had anxiously awaited Christ's coming.
Then they stepped from their fields,
workbenches, and dinner tables and followed Him,
pressed upon Him, and thronged Him, and sat with Him.
Are we as anxious to witness for ourselves as the multitudes in the scriptures? Are the blessings we seek less needful than theirs?
When Christ physically visited the Nephites at their temple, His invitation was not to stand at a distance and look upon Him,
but to touch Him, to feel for themselves the reality of the Savior of humankind. How can we draw close enough to gain a personal witness of Jesus Christ?
This may be part of what my father was trying to teach me.
While we may not enjoy the same physical proximity as those who walked with Christ during His earthly ministry, through the Holy Ghost we can experience His power every day! As much as we need!
The young women around the world have taught me so much about seeking Christ and gaining a daily personal witness of Him.
Let me share the wisdom of two of them.
Livvy had watched general conference her entire life. In fact, in her home, they traditionally watch all five sessions as a family. In the past,
conference for Livvy had meant doodling or drifting into the occasional unintended nap.
But this October general conference was different. It became personal.
This time, Livvy decided to be an active recipient.
She silenced notifications on her phone and took notes of impressions from the Spirit. She was amazed as she felt specific things God wanted her to hear and do. This decision made a difference in her life almost immediately.
Just days later, her friends invited her to an inappropriate movie.
She reflected, “I felt the words and the spirit of conference return into my heart. And I heard myself declining their invitation.”
She also had the courage to share her testimony of the Savior in her ward.
After these events, she stated, “The amazing thing is, when I heard myself testify that Jesus is the Christ,
I felt the Holy Ghost confirm it again for me.”
Livvy did not skip like a stone over the surface of conference weekend.
No, she dove in, mind and spirit, and found the Savior there. And then there’s Maddy. When her family stopped attending church,
Maddy was confused and not certain what to do.
She realized something significant was missing. So at the age of 13, Maddy began attending church alone.
Even though being alone was sometimes hard and uncomfortable, she knew she could find the Savior at church, and she wanted to be where He was.
She said, “In church, my soul felt like it was at home.”
Maddy held on to the fact that her family had been sealed together for eternity. She started bringing her younger brothers with her to church and studying scriptures with them at home.
Eventually, her mom began joining them.
Maddy told her mom of her desire to serve a mission and asked if her mom could be ready to attend the temple with her. Today, Maddy is in the MTC. She’s serving. She’s witnessing of Christ. She is... She’s an example.
Her example has helped lead both her parents back to the temple and back to Christ. Like Livvy and Maddy, as we choose to seek Christ the Spirit will witness of Him in many different situations.
These witnesses of the Spirit occur as we fast, pray, wait, and continue forward. Our closeness to Christ grows through worshiping frequently in the temple, repenting daily, studying scriptures,
attending church and seminary, pondering our patriarchal blessings, worthily receiving ordinances, and honoring sacred covenants.
All of these invite the Spirit to enlighten our minds, and they bring added peace and protection. But do we honor them as sacred opportunities to testify of Christ?
I have attended the temple many times, but when I worship in the house of the Lord, it changes me. Sometimes fasting, I find myself simply going hungry.
But other times I feast on the Spirit with purpose.
I sometimes have mumbled prayers that are repetitive and routine, but I have also come eager to receive counsel from the Lord through prayer.
There is power in making these holy habits less of a checklist and more of a witness. The process will be gradual, but will grow with daily active participation and purposeful experiences with Christ. As we consistently act on His teachings,
we gain a testimony of Him.
We build a relationship with Him and our Heavenly Father. We begin to become like Them.
The adversary creates so much noise that it can be difficult to hear the Lord's voice. Our world, our challenges, our circumstances will not get quieter. But we can and must hunger and thirst after the things of Christ to hear Him with clarity.
We’ll want to create muscle memory of discipleship and testimony that will bring into focus our reliance on our Savior each day. My father's been gone for 11 years now,
but his words are alive in me.
“Bonnie, never give up an opportunity to testify of Christ.”
I invite you to join me in accepting his invitation,
to look for Christ everywhere—
I promise He is there.
True joy rests on our willingness to come closer to Christ and witness for ourselves. We know that in the last days, every knee shall bow and every tongue confess. That Jesus is the Christ. I pray this witness will become a natural and normal experience for us now, that we will take every opportunity to joyfully
testify “Jesus Christ lives!”
Oh, how I love Him.
How grateful we are for His infinite Atonement, which has made eternal life a possibility and immortality a reality for us all.
I testify of the Savior’s goodness and great glory. In His sacred name, even Jesus Christ, amen.
[MUSIC PLAYING] “The Day Dawn is Breaking”
♪ The day dawn is breaking, the world is awaking, ♪ ♪ The clouds of night’s darkness are fleeing away, ♪
♪ The worldwide commotion from ocean to ocean, ♪ ♪ Now heralds the time of the beautiful day. ♪
♪ In many a temple the Saints will assemble ♪ ♪ And labor as saviors of dear ones away. ♪
♪ Then happy reunion and sweetest communion ♪ ♪ We’ll have with our friends in the beautiful day. ♪
♪ Beautiful day of peace and rest, ♪
♪ Bright be they dawn from east to west. ♪
♪ Hail to thine earliest welcome ray, ♪
♪ Beautiful bright, millennial day. ♪
♫♫
♪ Still let us be doing our lessons reviewing, ♪ ♪ Which God has revealed for our walk in his way; ♪ ♪ And then wondrous story, the Lord in his glory ♪
♪ Will come in his powe’r in the beautiful day. ♪
♪ Beautiful day of peace and rest, ♪
♪ Bright be thy dawn from east to west. ♪ ♪ Hail to thine earliest welcome ray, ♪
♪ Beautiful bright millennial day. ♪
♫♫
♪ Then pure and supernal our friendship eternal, ♪ ♪ With Jesus we’ll live, and his counsels obey, ♪
♪ Until ev’ry nation will join in salvation ♪ ♪ And worship the Lord of the beautiful day. ♪
♪ Beautiful day of peace and rest, ♪
♪ Bright be thy dawn from east to west. ♪
♪ Hail to thine earliest welcome ray, ♪ ♪ Beautiful bright millennial day. ♪
♪ Hail to thine earliest welcome ray, ♪
♪ Beautiful, bright, ♪ ♪ millennial day. ♪
♪ Beautiful day. ♪
♫♫
Elder George A. Smith, an Apostle, received counsel from the prophet Joseph Smith at a time of great difficulty: “He told me I should never get discouraged, whatever difficulties might surround me. If I was sunk in the lowest pit of Nova Scotia and all the Rocky Mountains piled on top of me, I ought not to be discouraged, but hang on, exercise faith, keep up good courage, and I should come out on top of the heap at last.”
How could the Prophet Joseph say that to someone who is suffering?
Because he knew it was true. He lived it.
Joseph repeatedly experienced severe difficulties in his life.
However, as he exercised faith in Jesus Christ and His Atonement and just kept going, he overcame seemingly insurmountable obstacles.
Today, I would like to renew Joseph’s plea
not to let discouragement overwhelm us when we face disappointment, painful experiences, our own inadequacies, or other challenges.
When I say “discouragement,” I'm not talking about the more debilitating challenges of clinical depression, anxiety disorder, or other illnesses that require special treatment.
I'm just talking about plain old discouragement that comes with the ups and downs in life. I am inspired by my heroes who just keep going with faith no matter what. In the Book of Mormon, we read of Zoram, the servant of Laban.
When Nephi obtained the brass plates,
Zoram was faced with the choice to follow Nephi and his brothers into the wilderness, or possibly lose his life. What a choice!
Zoram’s first inclination was to run,
but Nephi held him and made an oath that if he would go with them, he would be free and have a place with their family.
Zoram took courage and went with them.
Zoram suffered afflictions in his new life,
yet he pressed forward with faith.
We have no indication that Zoram clung to his past
or harbored resentment toward God or others.
He was a true friend of Nephi, a prophet, and he and his seed dwelled in freedom and prosperity in the promised land.
What had been a huge obstacle in Zoram’s path eventually led to rich blessings due to his faithfulness and willingness to just keep going with faith.
Recently, I listened to a courageous sister share how she persevered through difficulties. She had some challenges, and one Sunday she was sitting in Relief Society listening to a teacher who she thought lived a picture-perfect life—
totally different from her own. She was tired and discouraged.
She felt like she didn’t measure up—or even belong— so she got up and left, planning to never to return to church.
Walking to the car, she felt a distinct impression:
“Go into the chapel and listen to the sacrament meeting speaker.”
She questioned the prompting, but felt it again strongly. So she went into the meeting. The message was exactly what she needed.
She felt the Spirit. She knew the Lord wanted her to stay with Him, to be His disciple, and to attend church. And so she did.
Do you know what she was grateful for? That she didn't give up.
She just kept going with faith in Jesus Christ, even when it stretched her,
and she and her family are being abundantly blessed
as she presses forward. The God of heaven and earth will help us overcome discouragement and whatever obstacles we encounter, if we look to Him, follow the promptings of the Holy Ghost, and just keep going with faith.
Thankfully, when we are weak or incapable, the Lord can strengthen our faith.
He can increase our capacity beyond our own.
I have experienced that. More than 20 years ago,
I was unexpectedly called as an Area Seventy, and I felt very inadequate.
Following my training assignments, I was to preside at my first stake conference.
The stake president and I meticulously planned every detail.
Shortly before the conference, President Boyd K. Packer,
then Acting President of the Quorum of Twelve Apostles, called to see if he could accompany me. I was surprised and of course agreed.
I asked how he would like to proceed since he would preside.
He suggested that we undo the plans and prepare to follow the Spirit.
Thankfully, I still had ten days to study,
pray, and prepare. With an open agenda,
we were on the stand 20 minutes before the leadership meeting began.
I leaned over to the stake president and whispered,
“This is a wonderful stake.”
President Packer elbowed me gently and said, “No talking.”
I stopped talking and his general conference talk “Reverence Invites
Revelation” came to mind. I observed that President Packer was writing down references. The Spirit confirmed to me that he was receiving impressions for the meeting. My learning experience had just begun.
President Packer spoke for the first 15 minutes and emphasized the importance of conducting all meetings as guided by the Holy Spirit.
He then said, “We’ll now hear from Elder Cook.”
On my way to the pulpit, I asked how long he would like me to take
and if there was a topic he would like me to address.
He said, “Take 15 minutes and carry on as you feel inspired.”
I took 14 minutes and shared everything I had on my mind.
President Packer stood again and spoke for another 15 minutes and shared this scripture:
“Speak the thoughts that I shall put into your hearts, and you shall not be confounded before men; for it will be given you ... in the very moment what ye shall say.”
He then said, “We will now hear from Elder Cook.” I was shocked!
I had never considered the possibility that I would be asked to speak twice in one meeting.
I didn’t have anything to say in mind. Praying fervently and relying on the Lord for help, somehow I was blessed with a scripture, a thought, and I was able to speak for 15 minutes. But I sat down totally exhausted.
President Packer spoke for 15 minutes about following the Spirit, and shared Paul’s teachings that we should not speak “words which man’s wisdom teacheth, but which the Holy Ghost teacheth.”
As you can imagine, I was overwhelmed when he said for the third time, “We’ll now hear from Elder Cook.”
I was empty. I had nothing.
I knew it was time to exercise more faith.
Slowly, I made my way to the pulpit, pleading to God for help.
As I stepped up to the microphone, the Lord miraculously blessed me to somehow give another 15-minute message.
The meeting finally ended, but I quickly realized that the adult session would start in an hour. Oh no!
Like Zoram, I sincerely wanted to run. But just as Nephi caught him, I knew President Packer would catch me.
The adult meeting followed the very same pattern.
I spoke three more times. The next day during the general session, I spoke once. After the conference, President Packer said with affection, “Let’s do it again sometime.”
I love President Boyd K. Packer and appreciate all that I learned.
Do you know what I'm grateful for?
That I didn't give up or resist.
If I had given in to my desperate desire to escape from those meetings, I would have missed an opportunity to increase my faith,
to receive a rich outpouring of love and support from my Heavenly Father.
I learned of His mercy, the miraculous enabling power of Jesus Christ, His Atonement, and the powerful influence of the Holy Ghost.
In spite of my weakness, I learned that I can serve;
I can contribute when the Lord is by my side if I just keep going with faith. Regardless of the size, scope, and serious challenges we face in life,
we all have times when we feel like stopping, leaving, escaping, or possibly giving up, but exercising faith in our Savior Jesus Christ helps us overcome discouragement, no matter what obstacles we encounter.
Just as the Savior finished the work He was given to do,
He has the power to help us finish the work we have been given.
We can be blessed to move forward along the covenant path, no matter how rocky it becomes, and eventually receive eternal life.
As the Prophet Joseph Smith said, “Stand fast, ye Saints of God,
hold on a little while longer and the storm of life will be past,
and you will be rewarded by that God whose servants you are.”
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Dear brothers and sisters, friends, welcome to general conference.
After general conference last October, Sister Gong and I walked through the Conference Center to say hello and to hear your gospel experiences.
Our members from Mexico said, “Hoy es el tiempo de México.”
We learned Gilly and Mary are friends from England.
When Mary joined the Church, she lost her place to live.
Gilly generously invited Mary to come live with her. Full of faith, Gilly says, “I’ve never doubted the Lord is with me.” At conference,
Gilly also had a joyful reunion with the sister missionary who baptized her 47 years ago.
Jeff and his wife, Melissa, were attending general conference for his first time. Jeff played professional baseball. He was a catcher and is now a physician anesthesiologist.
He told me, “Much to my surprise, I’m moving toward baptism because it feels like the most authentic and honest way to live.” Earlier, Melissa had apologized to Jeff’s assigned ministering brother,
“Jeff does not want ‘white shirts’ in our house.”
The ministering brother said, “I’ll find a way.”
Now, he and Jeff are good friends.
At Jeff’s baptism, I met a congregation of Latter-day Saints whom Jeff, Melissa, and their daughter, Charlotte, love.
As followers of Jesus Christ,
we seek to minister to others as He would
because lives are waiting to change.
When Peggy told me her husband, John, after 31 years of marriage, was going to be baptized, I asked what had changed.
Peggy said, “John and I were studying the New Testament Come, Follow Me and John asked about Church doctrine.”
Peggy said, “Let’s invite the missionaries.”
John said, “No missionaries ... unless my friend can come.”
Over ten years, John's ministering brother had become his trusted friend.
I thought, “What if John’s ministering brother had stopped coming after one, two, or nine years?” John listened. He read the Book of Mormon with real
intent. When the missionaries invited John to be baptized, he said yes.
Peggy said, “I fell off my chair and started to cry.”
John said, “I changed as I drew closer to the Lord.”
Later, John and Peggy were sealed in the holy temple.
Last December, John passed away at age 92.
Peggy says, “John was always a good person, but he became different in a beautiful way after he was baptized.”
Sister Gong and I met Meb and Jenny by video during the COVID pandemic.
We met many wonderful couples and individuals by video during COVID, each prayerfully introduced by their stake president.
Meb and Jenny humbly said concerns in their lives made them wonder if their temple marriage could be saved and, if so, how.
They believed Jesus Christ’s Atonement and their covenant commitments could help them.
Imagine my joy when Meb and Jenny received new temple recommends and returned together to the house of the Lord. Later, Meb almost died.
What a blessing Meb and Jenny had restored covenant relationships with the Lord and each other and feel the ministering love of many around them.
Everywhere I go, I gratefully learn from those who minister and care
as our Savior would. In Peru,
Sister Gong and I met Salvador and his siblings.
Salvador and his siblings are orphans. It was Salvador's birthday.
The Church leaders and members who faithfully ministered to this family inspire me. “Pure religion and undefiled” is this—“to visit the fatherless and widows,” “succor the weak, lift up the hands which hang down, ... strengthen the feeble knees.”
In Hong Kong, an elders quorum president modestly shares how their quorum consistently conducts 100% ministering interviews. Quote: “We prayerfully organize companionships so everyone can care for someone and be cared for,” he says.
“We regularly ask each companionship about those for whom they minister.
We do not check boxes. We minister to the ministers who care for our people,” end quote. In Kinshasa, Democratic Republic of the Congo, President Bokolo shares how he and his family joined the Church in France.
One day, as he was reading his patriarchal blessing, the Spirit inspired Brother Bokolo to return with his family to the DR Congo. Brother Bokolo knew they would face many challenges if they returned, and their Church, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, was not yet established in Kinshasa.
Yet in faith, as have many others, the Bokolos followed the Lord’s Spirit.
In Kinshasa, they ministered to and blessed those around them, overcame challenges, received spiritual and temporal blessings. Today, they rejoice in having a house of the Lord in their country.
A convert was ministered to by personal example. A as a young man,
he said he spent his days lounging at the beach.
One day he said, “I saw an attractive girl in a modest swimsuit.”
Amazed, he went to ask why such an attractive girl would wear such
a modest swimsuit. She was a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and asked with a smile,
“Would you like to come to church Sunday?” He said yes.
Years ago, Elder L. Tom Perry shared how he and his companion regularly ministered to a sister who lived alone in a rough Boston neighborhood.
When Elder Perry and his companion arrived, the sister cautiously directed, “Put your temple recommends under the door.”
Only after seeing the temple recommends would she unbolt multiple locks and open the door. Of course, I am not saying ministering companionships need temple recommends,
but I love the thought that as those who honor covenants minister, hearts unlock and hearts open.
Elder Perry also offered practical advice: “Give companionships
a reasonable number of assignments prayerfully chosen, clustered geographically where appropriate, so travel time is used well,” he would counsel. “Start with those who need visits. Build from those most likely to welcome and respond well to visits.”
He concluded, “Faithful consistency brings miracles.” Higher and holier ministering comes when we pray for the “pure love of Christ” and follow the Spirit. It also comes as elders quorum and Relief Society presidencies, under the Bishop’s direction, oversee ministering efforts,
including assigning ministering companionships.
Please give our young men and young women needed opportunity to accompany and be mentored by experienced ministering brothers and sisters. And please let our young rising generation inspire ministering brother and sister companions. In some places in the Church,
we have a ministering gap.
More say they are ministering than say they are being ministered to.
We do not want checklist concern,
but more often we need more than a sincere hello in the hall or a casual “Can I help you?” in the parking lot.
In many places we can reach out,
understand others where they are, and build relationships when we regularly visit members in their homes.
Inspired invitations change lives. When invitations help us make and keep sacred covenants,
we draw closer to the Lord and each other.
It is said that those who understand the true spirit of ministering do more than before,
while those who do not understand do less. Let’s do more as our Savior would.
As our hymn says, “It is a blessing of duty and love.” Ward councils, elders quorum and Relief Societies, please hearken to the Good Shepherd and help Him “seek that which was lost, ...
bring again that which was driven away, ... bind up that which was broken, ... strengthen that which was sick.”
We may entertain “angels unawares” as we make room in His inn for all. Inspired ministering blesses families and individuals, it also strengthens wards and branches.
Think of your ward or branch as a spiritual ecosystem.
In the spirit of the Book of Mormon allegory of the olive trees,
the Lord of the vineyard and His servants bring forth precious fruit and strengthen each tree by binding together the strength and weaknesses of all the trees.
The Lord of the vineyard and His servants repeatedly ask,
“What more can I do?”
Together, they bless hearts and homes, wards and branches through inspired, consistent ministering.
Ministering—shepherding—makes our vineyard one body, a sacred grove.
Each tree in our grove is a living family tree. Roots and branches intertwine. Ministering blesses generations. When service is needed, wise bishops, elders quorum, Relief Society presidencies ask, “Who are the ministering companions?”
Ward councils and ministering interviews
ask not only about challenges or problems, but also look with eyes to see and rejoice in the Lord’s many tender mercies in our lives
as we minister as He would.Our Savior is our perfect example.
Because He is good, He can go about doing good.
He blesses the one and the 99. He is ministering personified.
We become more like Jesus Christ when we do unto the least of these
as we would unto Him, when we “love our neighbor as ourselves,” when we “love one another, as I have loved you,” and when “whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.”
Jesus Christ ministers. Angels minister.
Followers of Jesus Christ “minister one to another,” rejoice
with them that rejoice, and “weep with them that weep,” “watch
over ... and nourish [the people] with things pertaining to righteousness,”
“remember ... the poor and the needy, the sick and the afflicted.” Let His name be known through our ministry.
As we minister as He would, we witness His miracles, His blessings. We obtain “a more excellent ministry.”
We may tire physically. But in His service, we do “not weary in well doing.” We diligently do our best, do not run faster than we have strength, but trust, as the Apostle Paul teaches, that “God loveth a cheerful giver.” For God “ministereth seed to the sower
both minister bread for your food and multiply your seed sown.” In other words, God enriches “every thing to all bountifulness.” They which “soweth bountifully shall also reap bountifully.”
Wherever we are in this Easter season, let us reach out and care as our Savior would,
especially to those whom we are privileged by love and assignment to minister. In so doing, may we draw closer to Jesus Christ and each other, becoming more like Him and the followers of Jesus Christ
He would have us each be. In His sacred name, Jesus Christ, amen.
As directed, the congregation will join the choir in singing. “Now Let Us Rejoice.” After the singing, we will hear from Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
He will be followed by Elder Allen D. Haynie of the Seventy.
[MUSIC PLAYING] “Now Let Us Rejoice”
♫♫
This is the Saturday morning session of the 193rd Annual General Conference
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
♫♫
♫♫
♫♫
♪ Now let us rejoice in the day of salvation. ♪ ♪ No longer as strangers on earth need we roam. ♪
♪ Good tidings are sounding to us and each nation, ♪
♪ And shortly the hour of redemption will come, ♪
♪ When all that was promised the Saints will be given, ♪
♪ And none will molest them from morn until ev’n, ♪ ♪ And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden, ♪
♪ And Jesus will say to all Israel, “Come home.” ♪
♪ We’ll love one another and never dissemble ♪ ♪ But cease to do evil and ever be one. ♪
♪ And when the ungodly are fearing and tremble, ♪
♪ We’ll watch for the day when the Savior will come, ♪
♪ When all that was promised the Saints will be given, ♪
♪ And none will molest them from morn until ev’n, ♪
♪ And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden, ♪
♪ And Jesus will say to all Israel, “Come home.” ♪
♪ In faith we’ll rely on the arm of Jehovah ♪
♪ To guide thru these last days of trouble and gloom, ♪
♪ And after the scourges and harvest are over, ♪
♪ We’ll rise with the just when the Savior doth come. ♪
♪ Then all that was promised the Saints will be given, ♪
♪ And they will be crown’d with the angels of heav’n, ♪
♪ And earth will appear as the Garden of Eden, ♪
♪ And Christ and his people will ever be one. ♪
President Russell M. Nelson, our beloved prophet,
has profoundly emphasized our unique responsibility is to help gather scattered Israel and prepare the world for the second coming of Jesus Christ.
The Father of our spirits desires His children to be safely gathered home.
Our Heavenly Father's plan for safely gathering His children to our heavenly home is not based on worldly success, economic status, education, race, or gender.
Father's plan is based on righteousness,
keeping His commandments, and receiving sacred ordinances and honoring the covenants we make. The divinely inspired doctrine that we are all brothers and sisters and “all are alike unto God” underlies this great work of gathering. This doctrine accords with those who deeply desire for people of diverse economic and racial status to experience better lives. We applaud and join in such efforts.
Moreover, we desire for all of God's children to come unto Him and receive the eternal blessings He offers through His Gospel.
In the Lord’s preface to the Doctrine and Covenants, He declares,
“Hearken ye people from afar; and ye that are upon the islands of the sea, listen together.” I love that the very first verse in the Doctrine and Covenants includes the people who are on “the islands of the sea.”
I have had three specific calls to serve and live on the islands of the sea. I first served as a young missionary to the British Isles.
Second, as a new General Authority in the Philippines islands, and then as Area President in the Pacific Islands, which includes Polynesian Islands. All three of these areas have successfully gathered believers to the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
Missionaries first arrived in the British Isles in 1837.
This was one year after Joseph Smith's dedication of the Kirtland Temple,
where Moses committed “the keys of the gathering of Israel from the four parts of the earth and the leading of the ten tribes from the land of the north.” The early success in the British Isles is legendary.
By 1851, over half the members of the Church were baptized converts living in the British Isles.
In 1961, Elder Gordon B. Hinckley visited and initiated full-time missionary efforts in the Philippine Islands.
At that time, there was only one Filipino Melchizedek Priesthood holder.
Amazingly, there are over 850,000 members of the Church today in the Philippine Islands.
I admire the Philippine people.
They have a deep and abiding love for the Savior.
Perhaps less well known is the ongoing missionary effort to the Polynesian Islands. It commenced in 1844 when Addison Pratt arrived in what is now French Polynesia.
Many Polynesians already believed in eternal families and accepted Jesus Christ as their Savior. Today,
almost 25 percent of Polynesians in the Polynesian Islands are members of the Church. I once listened to a 17-year-old girl on a distant Tahitian island who was a seventh generation member.
She paid tribute to her ancestors who had been converted in 1845, two years before early Church members arrived in the Salt Lake Valley.
These examples are just a part of a much larger picture.
President Nelson has continuously emphasized that the gathering of Israel is the “greatest challenge, cause, and ... work
on the earth today.” Until the Restoration of the Church of Jesus Christ, including the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the revelation and priesthood keys given to the Prophet Joseph Smith,
understanding of the gathering of Israel was fragmentary and limited.
The distinctive name “Israel” was the title conferred upon Jacob. It came to represent the posterity of Abraham through Isaac and Jacob. The
original promise and covenant to Father Abraham is set forth in Abraham 2:9–10,
which reads in part: “And I will make of thee a great nation, ...
And I will bless [all nations] through thy name; for as many as receive this Gospel shall be called after thy name, and shall be accounted thy seed, and shall rise up and bless thee, as their father.” During the Council in Heaven, in the premortal existence, the plan of salvation was discussed and sustained.
It included certain laws and ordinances of the priesthood instituted before the foundation of the world and predicated upon the gathering.
It also included the overriding principle of agency.
After several centuries as a powerful people, including the reigns of Saul, David, and Solomon, Israel was divided.
The tribe of Judah and part of the tribe of Benjamin became the kingdom of Judah. The remainder, identified as the ten tribes,
became the kingdom of Israel.
After 200 years of separate existence, the first gathering of Israel occurred in 721 BC when the ten tribes of Israel were carried away captive by the Assyrian king.
They later went to the north countries. In 600 BC
at the commencement of the Book of Mormon,
Father Lehi led a colony of Israelites to the Americas.
Lehi understood the scattering of Israel, of which he was a part.
He is quoted by Nephi as saying that “the House of Israel ... should be compared like unto an olive tree, whose branches should be broken off and should be scattered upon all the face of the earth.”
In the so-called New World,
the history of the Nephites and Lamanites as set forth in the Book of Mormon ends in approximately AD 400.
Descendants of Father Lehi are spread throughout the Americas.
This is clearly described by Mormon in 3 Nephi 5:20, which reads, “I am Mormon and a pure descendant of Lehi.
I have reason to bless my God and my Savior Jesus Christ, that he brought our fathers out of the land of Jerusalem.” Clearly, the high point in Israel’s chronological history is the birth, message, ministry, and mission of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ. After the Savior’s eternity-shaping death and resurrection, a second well-known scattering of Judah occurred between 70 AD and 135 AD when, due to Roman oppression and persecution,
the Jews dispersed throughout the then known world.
President Nelson has taught: “The Book of Mormon came forth as a sign that the Lord had commenced to gather [the] children of the covenant.”
Thus, the Book of Mormon, translated by the Prophet Joseph Smith through the gift and power of God,
is directed to Lehi’s descendants, scattered Israel, and Gentiles who are adopted into the tribes of Israel.
The heading to 1 Nephi 22, reads in part:
“Israel will be scattered upon all the face of the earth—The
Gentiles will nurse and nourish Israel with the gospel in the last days.”
The Book of Mormon title page reads that one of its purposes is for “the convincing of the Jew and Gentile that Jesus is the Christ.”
With the Restoration and Book of Mormon,
the concept of gathering Israel has greatly expanded.
Those who accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, regardless of lineage, become part of gathered Israel.
With that gathering and the numerous temples built and announced,
we are in a unique position to gather Israel on both sides of the veil as never before under the Father’s plan.
President Spencer W. Kimball, speaking of the literal gathering of Israel, stated: “Now the gathering of Israel consists of joining the true church
and ... coming to a knowledge of the true God.
Any person, therefore, who has accepted the restored gospel and who now seeks to worship the Lord in his own tongue and with the saints in the nations where he lives,
has complied with the law of the gathering of Israel and is heir to all of the blessings promised to Saints in these last days.
... The gathering of Israel now involves conversion,” end quote.
As viewed through a clear lens,
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints have the great privilege of loving, sharing, inviting,
and helping gather Israel to receive the fullness of the Lord’s covenant blessings.
This includes Africans and Europeans, South and North Americans, Asians,
Australians, and those upon the Isles of the Sea.
“For verily, the voice of the Lord is unto all men.”
“This gathering shall continue until the righteous are assembled in the congregation of the Saints, in the nations of the world.”
No one has addressed the gathering more directly than
President Russell M. Nelson.
“Any time you do anything that helps anyone on either side of the veil
take a step toward making covenants with God and receiving their essential baptismal and temple ordinances,
you are helping to gather Israel. It is as simple as that,” end quote.
Where is the Church today?
In the 62 years since I commenced serving a mission in 1960, the number of full-time missionaries serving under a call from the prophet has increased from 7,683 to 62,544.
The number of missions has increased from 58 to 411.
The number of members has increased from approximately 1,700,000
to approximately 17 million.
The COVID 19 pandemic temporarily impacted some of our opportunities to share the gospel. It also provided experience using new technology, which will greatly enhance the gathering.
We are grateful that members and missionaries are now expanding efforts to gather scattered Israel.
Growth continues everywhere, especially South America and Africa.
We also appreciate that so many across the world have responded to President Nelson's powerful invitation for increased missionary service.
Nevertheless, our commitment to love, share, and invite can be greatly expanded.
An essential part of this missionary effort is for individual members to become beacon- light examples wherever we live.
We cannot be in camouflage.
Our Christlike example of kindness, righteousness, happiness, and sincere love for all peoples can create not only a guiding beacon light for them, but also an understanding that there is a safe harbor in the ordinances of salvation and exaltation of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
Please understand that there are remarkable blessings in sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ.
The scriptures speak of joy and peace, forgiveness of sins, protection from temptations, and sustaining power from God.
Looking beyond this mortal life, we will be prepared to share the gospel with those in darkness
and under the bondage of sin in the great world of the spirits of the dead. My specific prayer today is for every child, young man, young woman, family, quorum, Relief Society, and class to review how we individually and collectively accept dramatic counsel to help gather Israel that has been issued by the Lord and our beloved Prophet.
We respect agency. In this secular world, many will not respond and participate in the gathering of Israel, but many will. And the Lord expects those who have received His gospel to urgently strive to be a beacon-light example that will help others come to
God. This allows our brothers and sisters across the earth to enjoy the supernal blessings and ordinances of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and be safely gathered home.
I bear my sure and certain apostolic witness of the divinity of Jesus Christ and our Father in Heaven’s plan for us. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
When I was a young boy. I loved Saturday because everything I did
on that day seemed like an adventure.
But no matter what I did, it was always preceded by the most important thing of all—watching cartoons on television.
One such Saturday morning, as I was standing by the television and flipping through channels,
I discovered that the cartoon I expected to find had been replaced by a broadcast of the general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
While looking at the television and lamenting that there was no cartoon,
I saw a white-haired man in a suit and tie sitting in a nice chair.
There was something different about him.
So I asked my oldest brother, “Who is that?”
He said, “That’s President David O. McKay. He’s a prophet.”
I remember feeling something and somehow knowing that he was a prophet. And then, because I was a cartoon-crazed young boy, I changed the channel. But I've never forgotten what I felt during that brief, unexpected, revelatory moment with a prophet.
Sometimes it only takes a moment to know. Knowing by revelation that there's a living prophet on the earth changes everything.
It causes one to be uninterested in the debate about when is a prophet speaking as a prophet, or whether one is ever justified in selective rejection of prophetic counsel. Such revealed knowledge invites one to trust the counsel of the living prophet, even if we do not fully understand it.
After all, a perfect and loving Father in Heaven has chosen the pattern of revealing truth to His children through a prophet,
someone who never sought such a sacred calling and who has no need of our help to be aware of his own imperfections.
A prophet is someone God has personally prepared, called, corrected, inspired, rebuked, sanctified, and sustained.
That's why we are never spiritually at risk in following prophetic counsel.
Now, whether we like it or not, all of us were chosen in some fashion in the pre-earth life to be born in these latter days.
And there are two realities that are associated with the latter days.
The first reality is that Christ’s Church will be reestablished on the earth. And the second reality is that things are going to get really challenging. The scriptures reveal that in the last days there will be “a great hailstorm sent forth to destroy the crops on the earth,” plagues, “wars
and rumors of wars, and the whole earth shall be in commotion, ... and iniquity shall abound.”
When I was a child, those prophecies of the last days scared me and caused me to pray that the Second Coming would not come in my lifetime—with some success, I might add, so far. But now I pray for the opposite,
even though the prophesied challenges are assured, because when Christ returns to reign,
all of His creations will “lie down safely.”
Current conditions in the world have caused some to panic.
As God’s covenant children, we do not need to chase after this or that to know how to navigate through these troubled times.
We do not need to fear. The doctrine and principles that we must follow to survive spiritually and endure physically are found in the words of a living prophet.
That’s why President M. Russell Ballard declared that “it is no small thing ... to have a prophet of God in our midst.”
President Russell M. Nelson has testified that “God’s long-established
pattern of teaching His children through prophets assures us that He will bless each prophet and that He will bless those who heed prophetic counsel.”
So the key is to follow the living prophet. Brothers and sisters, unlike vintage comic books and classic cars,
prophetic teachings do not become more valuable with age.
That is why we should not seek to use the words of past prophets to dismiss the teachings of living prophets.
I love the parables used by Jesus Christ to teach gospel principles, and I’d like to share one real-life parable of sorts with you this morning.
One day I walked into the cafeteria at Church headquarters to have some lunch, and after getting a tray of food, I entered the dining area and I noticed a table at which all three members of the First Presidency were seated along with one empty chair.
My insecurities caused me to make a quick detour away from that table.
And then I heard the voice of our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, saying, “Allen, there’s an empty chair right
here. Come and sit down with us.” And so I did.
Near the end of the lunch, I was surprised to hear a loud crunching noise.
And when I looked up, I saw that President Nelson had stood his plastic water bottle straight up and then flattened it and replaced the lid.
President Dallin H. Oaks then asked the question I wanted to ask. “President Nelson, why did you flatten your plastic water bottle?” He replied, “It makes it easier for those who are handling recyclable materials because it doesn't take up as much space in the recycling container.”
While pondering that response, I heard the same crunching sound again and I looked to my right, and President Oaks had flattened his plastic water bottle, just like President Nelson.
And then I heard some noise to my left, and President Eyring was flattening his plastic water bottle, although he had adopted a different strategy by doing it while it was horizontal, which took more effort than with the bottle straight up and noticing this, President Nelson kindly showed him the bottle-straight-up technique to more easily flatten the bottle.
At that point, I leaned over to President Oaks and I asked,
“Is flattening your plastic water bottle a new recycling requirement of the cafeteria?” And President Oaks responded with a smile on his face,
“Well, Allen, you need to follow the Prophet.”
Now, I'm confident that President Nelson was not declaring some new recycling-based doctrine in the cafeteria that day.
But we can learn from the prompt response of President Oaks and President Eyring to President Nelson’s example,
and President Nelson's attentiveness to help teach those involved a better way. Elder Neal A. Maxwell shared some observations and counsel that are prophetically on point with respect to our day.
Quote: “In the months and years ahead,
events are likely to require each member to decide whether or not he [or she] will follow the First Presidency.
Members will find it more difficult to halt longer between two opinions. ...
Let us leave a record so that the choices are clear,
letting others do as they will in the face of prophetic counsel. ...
Jesus said that when the fig trees put forth their leaves, ‘summer is nigh.’ Thus warned that summer is upon us,
let us not then complain of the heat,” end quote.
The rising generation is growing up in a time when there are more fig leaves and there is more heat. And that reality imposes
a weightier responsibility on the already-risen generation, particularly when it comes to following prophetic counsel.
When parents ignore the counsel of a living prophet,
they not only lose the promised blessings for themselves, but even more tragically,
teach their children that what a prophet says is insignificant,
or that prophetic counsel can be picked through in a smorgasbord fashion without concern for the resulting spiritual malnutrition. Elder Richard L. Evans once observed, quote: “Some parents mistakenly feel that they can relax a little as to conduct and conformity, ... that they can ease up a little on the fundamentals without affecting their family or their family's future.
But if a parent goes a little off course,
the children are likely to exceed the parents example.” As a generation that has the sacred charge to prepare the rising generation for its prophesied role in the latter days, which role must be fulfilled in a time when the adversary’s influence is at its peak,
we cannot be a source of confusion about the importance of following prophetic counsel.
It is that very counsel that will allow the rising generation to see “the enemy while he [is] yet afar off and then [they can make] ready to withstand the enemy’s attack.”
Our seemingly small deviations, quiet neglect, or whispered criticisms in response to prophetic counsel, may result in our only walking dangerously near the edge of the covenant path. But when magnified by the adversary in the lives of the rising generation, such actions may influence them to leave that path altogether.
Such a result is a generational price that is too high.
Now, some of you may feel like you've fallen short in your efforts to follow the counsel of President Russell M. Nelson. If that’s the case, then repent.
Begin again to follow the counsel of God's chosen Prophet.
Set aside the distraction of childish cartoons and trust the Lord's anointed.
Rejoice because once again, “there is a prophet in Israel.”
Even if you’re unsure, I witness that we can withstand the heat of the latter days and even thrive in them.
We are the Saints of the latter days and these are great days. We were anxious to come to the earth at this time, having confidence that we would not be left to stumble when confronted by the adversary’s increasingly darker and more confusing myths,
but rather to take counsel and direction from he who is authorized to say to us and the entire world, “Thus saith the Lord God.” In the sacred name of the Prophet
who God raised up, the holy one of Israel, even Jesus Christ, amen.
We express gratitude to those who have spoken and to the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square for the beautiful music they have provided this morning.
The choir will now favor us with “Keep the Commandments.”
Our concluding speaker for this session will be President Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency.
Following his remarks, the choir will close this meeting by singing “High on the Mountaintop.” The benediction will then be offered by President Mark L. Pace, who serves as the Sunday School General President.
[MUSIC PLAYING] “Keep the Commandments”
♫♫
♪ Keep the commandments, Keep the commandments; ♪
♪ In this there is safety; in this there is peace. ♪
♪ He will send blessings; ♪
♪ He will send blessings. ♪
♪ Words of a prophet; ♪ ♪ Keep the commandments. ♪
♪ In this there is safety and peace. ♪
♫♫
♫♫
♪ We are his children; ♪
♪ we are his children ♪ ♪ and we much be tested ♪ ♪ to show we are true. ♪
♪ Hold to his promises, ♪
♪ hold to his promises, ♪
♪ Heeding the prophets; ♪ ♪ Keep the commandments, ♪
♪ In this there is safety and peace. ♪
♫♫
♪ In this there is ♪ ♪ safety and peace. ♪
♫♫
♪ there is ♪ ♪ peace. ♪
My dear brothers and sisters, we have been blessed by the inspired
teachings
and the beautiful music that have touched us in this opening session of general conference. We thank you for your participation
and for your faith.
Today I will speak on what I've learned about the miracle of finding personal peace
whatever our circumstances,
The Savior knows that all of Heavenly Father’s children yearn for peace.
And He said He could give it to us.
You remember the words of Jesus Christ
recorded in the book of John: “Peace
I leave with you, my peace I give unto you; not as the world giveth
give I unto you. Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.”
What He means by peace and how He can give it are revealed by the circumstances of those who heard Him speak those words.
Listen to the account in John of the culmination of Christ's ministry.
Fierce forces of evil were bearing down on Him
and would soon come upon His disciples. Here are the Savior’s words:
“If ye love me, keep my commandments.
And I will pray the Father,
and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you forever;
even the spirit of truth;
whom the world cannot receive because it seeth him not,
neither knoweth him: but ye know him;
for he dwelleth with you, and shall be in you.
I will not leave you comfortless: I will come to you. Yet a little while,
and the world seeth me no more; but ye see me: because I live, ye shall live also.
At that day, ye shall know that I am in my Father, and ye in me, and I in you.
He that hath my commandments and keepeth them,
he it is that loveth me:
and he that loveth me shall be loved of my Father,
and I will love him and will manifest myself to him.
Judas saith unto him, not Iscariot,
Lord, how is it that you will manifest yourself unto us and not unto the world? Jesus answered and said unto him,
If a man love me,
he will keep my words: and my Father will love him, and we will come unto him, and make our abode with him. He that loveth me not keepeth not my sayings;
and the word which ye hear is not mine, but the Father’s which sent me.
These things have I spoken unto you, being yet present with you.
But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost,
whom the Father will send in my name,
he will teach you all things
and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever
I have said unto you. Peace I leave with you, my peace I give unto you: not as the world giveth, give I unto you.
Let not your heart be troubled neither let it be afraid.”
I have learned at least five truths from that teaching of the Savior.
First, the gift of peace is given after we have the faith to keep His commandments.
For those who are covenant members of the Lord’s Church,
obedience is what we have already promised to do.
Second, the Holy Ghost will come and abide with us.
The Lord says that as we continue to be faithful, the Holy Ghost will dwell in us.
That is the promise in the sacramental prayer that the Spirit will be our companion and that we would feel in our hearts and minds His comfort. Third,
the Savior promises that as we keep our covenants,
we can feel the love of the Father and the Son for each other and for us.
We can feel their closeness in our mortal lives,
just as we will when we are blessed to be with Them forever.
Fourth, keeping the Lord’s commandments
requires more than obedience.
We are to love God with all our heart, might, mind, and soul.
Those who do not love Him do not keep His commandments.
And so they will not have the gift of peace in this life and in the world to come. Fifth,
it is clear that the Lord loves us enough to pay the price of our sins
so that we can, through our faith in Him and our repentance,
through the effects of His Atonement,
have the gift of the peace that “passeth all understanding,”
in this life and with Him eternally.
Now some of you, perhaps many, are not feeling the peace the Lord promised.
You may have prayed for personal peace and spiritual comfort,
yet you may feel that the heavens are silent to your pleading for peace.
There is an enemy of your soul who does not want you and those you love to find peace. He cannot enjoy it.
He works to prevent you from even wanting to find the peace the Savior and our Heavenly Father desire you to have.
Satan's effort to sow hatred and contention all around us seem to be increasing.
We see evidence of it happening among nations and cities, in neighborhoods,
in electronic media, and all across the world.
Yet there is reason for optimism.
It is that the light of Christ is placed in every newborn child.
With that universal gift comes a sense of what is right,
a desire to love and be loved.
There is an inborn sense of justice and truth in every child of God as he or she comes into mortality.
Our optimism for personal peace for those children lies in the people who care for them.
If those who rear them and serve them have worked to receive
the gift of peace from the Savior, they will, by personal example and effort,
encourage the faith of the child to qualify for the supernal gift of peace.
That is what the scripture promises:
“Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old,
he will not depart from it.”
It will require the one charged with the child's care and nurturing to be worthy of the gift of peace.
Now, sadly, we have all felt the pain of children raised by inspired parents, sometimes one parent alone,
and those children choose, after a lifetime of faith and peace,
to take the path of sorrow.
Even when that sadness occurs,
my optimism rests in another gift from the Lord. It is this: That he raises up many peacemakers
among His trusted disciples. They have felt the peace and the love of God.
They have the Holy Ghost in their hearts.
And the Lord can guide them to reach out to the wandering sheep.
I have seen it over my lifetime and across the world.
You have seen it as well.
At times when you were being led to the rescue, it may seem accidental.
Once I simply asked someone I met on a trip,
“Would you tell me a little about your family?”
The conversation led me to seek to see a picture of her adult daughter, who she said was struggling.
I was struck with the goodness in the face of that girl in the picture.
I felt impressed to ask if I could have her email address.
Her daughter, she had told me, was at that moment lost and wondering if God had any message for her. He did.
It was this: “The Lord loves you. He always has.
The Lord wants you to come back. Your promised blessings are still in place.”
Members across the Church have felt the Lord’s gift of personal peace.
He is encouraging everyone to help others have the opportunities to come unto Him and qualify
for that same peace themselves.
They, in turn, will choose to seek inspiration to know how they can pass that gift along to others.
The rising generation will become the nurturers of the generation to follow.
The multiplier effect will produce a miracle.
It will spread and grow over time,
and the Lord’s kingdom on earth will be prepared and ready to greet Him with shouts of hosanna. There will be peace on earth.
I bear my sure witness
the Savior lives, and He leads this, His Church.
I have felt His love in my life and His love and concern for all of Heavenly Father's children.
The Savior’s invitation to come to Him is an offer of peace.
President Russell M. Nelson is the living prophet of God in all the earth. He has said, “I give you my assurance that regardless of the world's condition and your personal circumstances,
you can face the future with optimism and joy.” I express my love to you.
Your great faith and love are reaching people and allowing
the Lord to change hearts and so gain a desire to offer others
the gift of peace that passes all understanding.
I pray that you may may find peace, help many others to find it,
and pass it along. There will be a wonderful thousand years of peace when the Lord comes again.
I so testify in joy and in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
[MUSIC PLAYING] “High on the Mountain Top”
♫♫
♫♫
♪ High on the mountain top A banner is unfurled. ♪
♪ Ye nations, now look up; It waves to all the world. ♪
♪ In Deseret’s Sweet, peaceful land, ♪
♪ On Zion’s mount behold it stand! ♪
♫♫
♫♫
♫♫
♪ For God remembers still His promise made of old. ♪
♪ That he on Zion’s hill Truth’s standard would unfold! ♪
♪ Her light should there attract the gaze ♪ ♪ Of all the world in latter days. ♪
♫♫
♫♫
♫♫
♪ His house shall there be reared, His glory to display, ♪ ♪ And people shall be heard in distant lands to say; ♪
♪ We’ll now go up and serve the Lord, ♪
♪ Obey his truth and learn his word. ♪
♫♫
♫♫
♫♫
♪ For there we shall be taught The law that shall go forth, ♪ ♪ With truth and wisdom fraught, To govern all the earth. ♪
♪ Forever there his ways will tread, ♪
♪ And save ourselves with all our dead. ♪
♫♫
♪ High on the mountain top A banner is unfurled, ♪ ♪ Amen! ♪
♪ Amen! ♪
♪ Amen! ♪
Dear Heavenly Father, we bow our heads together as Thy Saints gathered here and around the world, as we rejoice in the blessing of joining and participating in this wonderful session of conference.
We are grateful for the teachings that have been provided, for the testimonies and for the witness of the Spirit that has born
of the truthfulness of these things.
We have come rejoicing and we leave rejoicing with desires to be better and to be more faithful. As we do so,
dear Heavenly Father, we ask Thee,
please disperse before us the forces of darkness and please cause the heavens to shake for our good. We pray in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
This has been a broadcast of the Saturday morning session of the 193rd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Speakers were selected from leaders of the Church.
Music was provided by the Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square.
This broadcast has been furnished as a public service by Bonneville Distribution.
Any reproduction, recording,
transcription, or other use of this program without written consent
is prohibited.