April 2022 General Conference | Saturday Sessions | #GeneralConference | Cliffs Notes | Spark Notes

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EASTER STUDY (Day 9 of 9) Christ's Resurrection: Christ Has Won the Victory over Death and Hell!

Saturday morning session recap #generalconference https://t.co/AwF5nMKqq7 pic.twitter.com/CenkeREzXq

— James Valentine (@ValentineJames) April 2, 2022

Saturday Morning Session

Opening Hymn: Come We That Love the Lord – Hymn 119
Conducting: President Dallin H Oaks

Hymn: Awake And Arise – Hymn 8

Invocation: Elder Jose L. Alonso of the Seventy

Hymn: Love is Spoken Here – Children’s Songbook pg. 190

Talk: President Russell M Nelson – 17th president and prophet of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

Preaching the Gospel of Peace

May this conference be a spiritual rejuvenation
Prophets have foreseen this day when there would be wars and rumors of wars, and when the whole earth would be in commotion. – Matthew 24
As followers of Jesus Christ, we plead with leaders of nations to find peaceful resolutions to their differences.
We call upon people everywhere to pray for those in need, to do what they can to help the distressed and to seek the Lord’s help in ending any major conflicts.
Condemnation of violence – it goes against everything the Savior taught
The gospel of Jesus Christ has never been more needed.
Contention violates everything the Savior stood for and taught.
I love the Lord Jesus Christ and testify that His gospel is the only enduring solution for peace
Reaffirms every able and worthy young man should serve a mission.
- You have been held in reserve for this time to gather Israel.
Brothers and sisters, the gospel of Jesus Christ has never been needed more than it is today.
- The gospel is a gospel of peace
All Young Men should serve a mission.
- This is a priesthood duty.
Sisters are encouraged to serve
- Their service is a valuable addition.
May you seek and receive personal revelation
Each of us has a role to play in the gathering of Israel
General Conference is a time of understanding, reflection, and renewal

Talk: Elder M. Russell Ballard – Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Missionary Service Blessed My Life Forever

Elder Ballard suffers from macular degeneration and is blind in his left eye. He is grateful for other types of vision.
Hindsight vision: How my full time missionary service blessed his life and shaped his life’s destiny
Mission service helped me to
- Better husband and father
- Helped with Business
- Prepared for a lifetime of service in the church.
Serving missions help us to get to know the Lord better
You will grow spiritual as you serve others.
Commit to yourselves and to Heavenly Father that you will serve a mission and that from this time forward you will strive to keep your hearts, hands and minds clean and worthy
You will learn how to hear the promptings of the holy ghost.
You will show Him that He can trust you.
Calls on all who desire to serve a mission to begin preparing now.
- Talk with parents and leaders.
- Talk with your friends and encourage them to serve.
Parents need to talk with their kids about serving a mission.
If you held off serving a mission due to the pandemic, now is the time.
Pandemic missionaries have been valuable in their service. T
- They have used technology to serve.
Keep up the good habits after your mission.
- Continue to read, pray, and study.
Missionary service will bless your lives forever.

Talk: Sister Reyna I. Aburto – 2nd Counselor General Relief Society Presidency

We Are The Church Of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

She was baptized at age 26, had a 3 year old son, and had recently separated from her 1st husband.
The Church is more than the buildings and the ecclesiastical structure; the Church is us, the members
We are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, with Christ at the head and the Prophet as His mouthpiece
We are all one family in Christ
- sometimes we are givers
- sometimes we are receivers
Even our smallest efforts are making a significant difference in God’s Kingdom.
Fast offerings are given from members who make a sacrifice.
The Church is the scaffolding with which we build eternal families
Sisters who serve in primary and young women are some of the most active sisters in the Relief Society.
Let us have the faith of a child.
- Even our small efforts are making a difference.
Let us realize how privileged we are to belong to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
We are all afflicted in some manner.
- We need each other.
- We can bring each other to the healing power of the Savior.
God has sought to gather His children front her beginning of time in order to bring about the immortality of man – Moses 1:39

Talk: Elder David A. Bednar – Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

But We Heeded Them Not

Let us all press on
“Heed not” to the evil influences and mocking voices of today’s worldWe will heed not what the wicked may say but the Lord alone we will obey
Entering into sacred covenants binds us and yokes us to the Savior
Those in the great and spacious building will mock us and try to dissuade us from pursuing the fruit of the tree of life if we heed what they say (pay attention to it)
When one is steadfast in coming unto Christ “and are yoked with Him,” he or she “receives the cleansing, healing and strengthening blessings of His infinite and eternal Atonement.”T
The doctrine of Christ written ‘with the Spirit of the living God … in fleshy tables of [our hearts]’ increases our capacity to ‘heed not’ the many distractions, taunts and diversions in our fallen world.
- For example, faith focused in and on the Lord Jesus Christ fortifies us with spiritual strength.
- Faith in the Redeemer is a principle of action and of power
The ability to resist the temptations and the fiery darts of the adversary is promised to those individuals who ‘hold fast to’ rather than merely ‘cling to’ the word of God
Valiant Latter-day Saints are able to “heed not” worldly influences by meaningful scripture study, fervent prayer, participating in the sacrament and ministering to others.
Inviting the Holy power of the Ghose in our lives helps us to heed not worldly influences
- Scripture study
- Fervent Prayer
- Weekly sacrament
If we do right we will not fear for our Lord is always near
Gospel covenants and ordinances operate in our lives much like a compass.
- Covenants point us to our Lord Jesus Christ.
  - Like a compass
Common pattern among those who heed not what the wicked say:
- A deep testimony of the plan of salvation.
- Personal testimony of the salvation of Jesus Christ
- Connections to the Savior that are individual, personal and specific.
One of the names of Christ is “The Word” – John 1:1
Holding fast to the rod, rather than clinging to, will help us be resistant to temptation
- 1) Remember and honoring our connection to the savior
- 2) Using the scriptures to hold on to the truth
If we abide in Christ, He will abide in and walk with us.
Although our humble desire is for the Savior’s teachings to be honored by all, the words of the Lord through his prophets are often contrary to the thinking and trends of the world.
- It’s always been so

Hymn: Let Us All Press On – Hymn 243

Talk: Elder Neil L Andersen – Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Following Jesus: Being a Peacemaker

No one is immune from the polarizing voices, including the Savior.
Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God. – Matthew 5:9
Every person on earth is an offspring of God
How does a peacemaker calm and cool the fiery darWe ts?
- We remain confident and share our beliefs with conviction
We don’t eradicate evil with more evil.
By the shield of our faith in Jesus Christ, we become peacemakers, quenching, meaning to calm, cool or extinguish, all the fiery darts of the adversary
Peacemakers are not passive.
- They are persuasive in the Savior’s way.
Opposition should not surprise us.
- We rejoice in the blessing of agency.
Technology enables individual opinions to spread quickly regardless of their truthfulness, fairness or kindness.
- The Savior taught in the Sermon on the Mount how to survive “in a contemptuous world.”
We choose the path of peacemakers.
We are not elected or selected from applications, we are called.
We genuinely love and care for our neighbors whether they believe like we do.
“Cannot boundary lines exist without drawing battlelines?” – Russell M. Nelson
There are times when a peacemaker when we resist the desire to respond.
Jesus taught us to withdraw from circles of anger.
We too can move away from contention without isolating ourselves from others.
Jesus was troubled in His Spirit about one who prepared to betray Him
John 13. The Savior’s perfect example of a peacemaker.
- Washed feet of the Disciples
- Was troubled by Judas’s betrayal
- He spoke of Love
- A new commandment I give unto you… Love one another. – John 13:35
May we love Him, and love one another.
- May we be peacemakers, that we may be called the ‘children of God’

Talk: Elder Eduardo Gaverret – First Quorum of the Seventy

I Have Nothing More to Give You

We had no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.
This ‘mighty change of heart’ brings us a feeling of freedom, trust and peace
How do we obtain that mighty change of heart?
- Cultivate a desire to change through prayer and fasting
Lord I give you everything
It is not enough for our hearts to change, we must maintain that change in order to grow closer to God.
As we participate in the conference this weekend, let the words of our prophets, which will come from the Lord, enter our hearts to experience a mighty change.
Experience a “mighty change of heart” by doing five things
- studying the scriptures
- strengthening one’s faith in Jesus Christ
- Praying
- Fasting
- covenanting to “surrendering our hearts to Him”
How to maintain that mighty change?
- Partake of the sacrament
- Participate in temple work
- Love for neighbors
- Missionary Work
This mighty change of heart brings us a feeling of freedom, trust and peace.
- This change of heart is not an event
  - It takes faith, repentance and constant spiritual work to happen.
- It begins when we desire to submit our will to the Lord
  - It materializes when we enter into and keep covenants with Him
That change is then strengthened and enforced
That change has a positive effect on us and on others around us.

Talk: Elder Larry S. Kacher – First Quorum of the Seventy

Ladder of Faith

In tragedy, we can become more faithful while walking on the covenant path.
Faith in Jesus Christ can guide one through the complexities and challenges of life.
- These potential stumbling blocks can become stepping stones while climbing the “ladder of faith.
- It is called a ladder because it suggests that faith is not static.
  - It can go up or down according to the choices we make.”
Part of life is to make stumbling blocks become stepping stones
When moving toward true faith in Jesus Christ, “obedience is no longer an irritant, but becomes a quest.”
Each person decides how high to climb the ladder of faith.
We can choose to make the choices needed to increase our faith in the Savior.
Even when our faith is weak, the Lord’s hand will always be stretched out
Faith without works is dead – James 2
Obedience in faith of the Savior qualifies us to have His spirit to always be with us.
As faith increases we see a subtle shift. What do I want? → What does God want?
Indeed, we will find that there is simplicity on the other side of life’s complexities as we remain steadfast in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope.
Unbelief blocks our ability to see miracles, Faith unlocks the blessings of heaven.
How high we climb on the ladder of faith is our decision.
“I will go and do” vs. “How is it possible?”
As our faith in the Savior increases, we observe a subtle shift that includes a divine understanding of our relationship with God — a steady movement away from ‘What do I want?’ to ‘What does God want?
Reorganized Stake. Modern day ‘Jonah & the whale’ story. You can’t hide from the Lord.
If one’s current path is in conflict with faith in the Savior, return to Him.
- Your exaltation and that of your posterity depend on it.

Hymn: On this Day of Joy and Gladness – Hymn 64

Talk: President Henry B. Eyring – Second Counselor of the First Presidency

Steady in the Storms

We live in increasingly perilous times.
- Goal to stand steady in these storms with a peaceful heart
Know that there are Prophets and Apostles called of God.
Rock of our redeemer, who is Christ the Son of God, you must build your foundation.
Hel 5:12 Build on the rock of Christ
Now is the time to build on that foundation.
We are free to choose between right and wrong, we cannot avoid the consequences of our choices.
Sorrows will come to those that do not heed His warnings.
We want all to not shrink, but to look up at Him, and hear Him say, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.”
King Benjamin knew that people had to have their natures changed through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. That change is “we must become as a child — a little child.”
We must have our natures changed to build on that sure foundation.
Each of us, wherever we are, knows that we live in increasingly perilous times.
- My prayer is that I might help you stand steady in the storms we face, with a peaceful heart.
It will become more difficult, not easier, to honor the covenants we must make and keep to live the gospel of Jesus Christ
Changing natures happens as people make and renew covenants with God.
- That brings the power of Christ’s Atonement to allow that transformation in our hearts.”
That change and experiences increase a person’s capacity to love and obey.
- Faith in Jesus Christ leads to repentance.
- These changes can help qualify for gifts from the Holy Ghost, including comfort and guidance.
Being “like a child” means to emulate the Savior, who prayed for strength to do His Father’s will and atone for the sins of all of His Father’s children.
I have learned from many experiences that the Holy Ghost speaks most often in a quiet voice, heard most easily when one’s heart is meek and submissive, like that of a child.
King Benjamin, who understood as well as any mortal what it meant to be a man of strength and courage, makes it clear that to be like a child is not to be childish.
- It is to be like the Savior.
Mosiah 3:19 Put off the natural man. Becometh as a child
We obey and gain power to resist temptation and we gain the holy ghost.
Our natures change to become as a little child, obedient to God and more loving
Faith will lead you to repentance and daily covenant keeping.
You will reach out to others to join you on the rock of your foundation.
When the storms in life come, you can be steady because you are standing on the rock of your faith in Jesus Christ
Our natures must be changed to become as a child to gain the strength we must have to stand steady and at peace in times of peril
He knows perfectly the storm we are going through.
Accept His help
The Savior knows the storms and the places of safety on the way home to Him and to our Heavenly Father
Faith in Jesus Christ always leads to greater hope and to feelings of charity toward others, which is the true love of Christ
The Savior knows the way.
- He is the way.

Hymn: Rejoice! The Lord Is King – Hymn 66

Benediction: Sister Camille N. Johnson – 14th Primary General President

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* Guidelines *

192nd Annual General Conference * April 2 – 3, 2022

Saturday AM * Saturday PM * Women’s Session * Sunday AM * Sunday PM

Listen/Watch

Saturday Afternoon Session of #generalconference recap pic.twitter.com/N6k2tyX272

— James Valentine (@ValentineJames) April 2, 2022

Saturday Afternoon Session

Hymn: (Hymn) – Hymn (#)

Conducting: President Henry B. Eyring – 2nd Counselor in the First Presidency

Music: BYU Idaho Choir

Hymn: Now Let Us Rejoice – Hymn 3

Invocation: Bishop W. Christopher Waddell – 1st Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric

Blessed with things that are said, and not said, but felt.

Hymn: (Hymn) – Hymn (#)

The Sustaining of the Church Officers: by President Dallin H. Oaks – 1st Counselor in the First Presidency

Released
- - Mark D. Eddy
  - Jonathan S. Schmitt
- Relief Society (Effective August 1)
  - Jean B. Bingham – President
  - Sharon Eubank – 1st Counselor
  - Reyna Aburto – Second Counselor
- Primary General Presidency (Effective August 1)
  - Camille Johnson – President
  - Susan Porter – 1st Counselor
  - Amy Wright – 2nd Counselor
Called
- General Authority Seventies
  - Mark D. Eddy
  - James W. McConkie III
  - Isaac K. Morrison
  - Ryan K. Olson
  - Jonathan S. Schmitt
  - Denelson Silva
- Relief Society Presidency (Effective August 1)
  - Camille Johnson – President
  - Jeannie Dennis – 1st Counselor
  - Kristin Yee – 2nd Counselor
- Primary General Presidency (Effective August 1)
  - Susan Porter – President
  - Amy Wright – 1st Counselor
  - Tracy Browning – 2nd Counselor
- 45 new Area Seventies from 23 countries. (The announcement and sustaining were done at the Thursday, March 31, leadership session and published on ChurchofJesusChrist.org.)

Church Auditing Department Report, (2021): Jarrod B. Larson, Managing Director

D&C 120
Funds were administered appropriately.

Statistical Report, (2021):

	2021	2020
Church Units
Stakes	3,498	3,463
Missions	407	405
Districts	520	537
Wards and Branches	31,315	31,136
Church Membership
Total Membership	16,805,400	16,663,663
New Children of record	89,069	65,440
Converts baptized	168,283	125,930
Missionaries
Full-time	54,539	51,819
Church-service	36,639	30,527
Temples
Temples Dedicated	2 Winnipeg Manitoba Temple Pocatello Idaho Temple	1 Durban South Africa
Temples Rededicated	0	0
Temples in operation	170	168

Hymn: I’ll Go Where You Want Me to Go – Hymn 270

Talk: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland – Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Fear Not: Believe Only!

Talk directed at young people (President Nelson’s age or younger)
The young are the faces of our future
Nearly two years of pandemic brought a halt to almost everything — except brutality, violence and other long-standing social, cultural and economic challenges.
It is understandable if the idealism of the youth is waning a bit. Many are desperately searching for something better.
“Begin your search for happiness by embracing the bounty we have already received from the giver of every good gift.
- At precisely the moment many in the world are asking deep questions of the soul, [Latter-day Saints] ought to be answering with the ‘good news’ of the gospel of Jesus Chris
We should be singing the song of redeeming love
You are His most precious possession, His child, to whom He has given prophets and promises, spiritual gifts and revelation, miracles and messages, and angels on both sides of the veil
At the moment many are asking deep question of the soul, we should be sharing the good news

This generation has more impact to do good than any other generation
We can never run away from who we are… Children of the Living God who loves us, who is always ready to forgive us, and will never, ever forsake us
They have it right in Primary: Jesus really does want you for a sunbeam.
Please, Stay for the whole feast.
- Even though you are not sure about the broccoli.
Example of Jairus who wanted healing for his daughter – “Fear Not, Believe Only” (Mark 5)
Before receiving the Holy Ghost, you had the light of Christ implanted in your soul.
- The light was given to protect and teach you.
- Life is the most precious of all gifts
Watch for signs of depression or despair, and all forms of self-harm.
To any of our youth out there who are struggling, whatever your concerns or difficulties, death by suicide is manifestly not the answer
- it will not relieve the pain your are suffering or think you are causing.
- Talk to someone, seek help.
  - Do not destroy a life that Christ gave his life to preserve.
- We will help you bear your struggles.
- You are loved and valued and needed.
Do not deny us the chance to have you.
You are stronger than you think.
- Help is available, from others and especially from God.
- You are loved and valued and needed.
- We need you.
- Fear not, and believe only
Run to the aid of those dealing with depression, despair or any form of self-harm.

Talk: Elder Patrick Kearon – Presidency of the Seventy

He Is Risen With Healing in His Wings: We Can Be More Than Conquerors

- Keep goodness in the face of brutality
- We can survive, we’ve already been rescued and saved.
- Jesus has overcome the abuses of this world to give you power to not only survive, but one day, through Him, to overcome and even conquer.
- We weep with you and are here to help you overcome through Jesus Christ
- When you are the victim…. You are not less loved, God has not seen you as someone to be despised.
- It may seem impossible, but healing can come through Christ.
  - His atonement has power to right all wrongs.
- You are not defined by these terrible things that have been done to you.
  - You are, in glorious truth, defined by your eternally existing identity as a son or daughter of God.
- The abuse was not, is not, and never will be your fault, no matter what the abuser or anyone else may have said to the contrary.
- You are not less worthy or less valuable or less loved as a human being, or as a daughter or son of God, because of what someone else has done to you
- There is no place for any type of abuse in any country of culture.
- Though it may seem impossible, feel impossible, healing can come through the miracle of the redemptive might of the Atonement of Jesus Christ
- Those who seek to abuse are lame
- Abusers who confess, forsake sin, and do all within their power to make recompense can find forgiveness.
- God does not now, nor has He ever, seen you as someone to be despised.
  - Whatever has happened to you, He is NOT ashamed of you or disappointed in you.
    - He loves you in a way you have yet to discover.
    - And you will discover it as you trust in His promises

(Healing comes through the Atonement.

- All who have been wounded or are victims of life’s injustices can find hope and rest in Christ.
Jesus specializes in the seemingly impossible.
- He came here to make the impossible possible, the irredeemable redeemable, to heal the unhealable, to right the unrightable and to promise the unpromisable
You are a survivor and can heal.
- You can overcome and conquer

Talk: Marcos A. Aidukaitis – Quorum of the 70

Lift Up Your Heart and Rejoice

Serving a full-time mission may seem difficult to us.
- Perhaps it requires that we give up important things for a moment.
- The Lord certainly knows this and He will always be by our side
Any time you do anything that helps anyone at any time on any side of the veil, you are gathering israel.
The Lord’s invitation to “Lift up your heart and rejoice, for the hour of your mission is come” (Doctrine and Covenants 31:3) can serve as inspiration to all Latter-day Saints, not just in the mission of gathering Israel on both sides of the veil but particularly in full-time missionary service.
Full Time Missionary
- Teaching Missionary
- Service Missionary
Everyone will have their own set of challenges, including romantic relationships
“Several of my friends shared the same interests in a special young woman”
There is a difference between being blessed and richly blessed.
The Lord Jesus Christ was my great inspiration not to be afraid of the future as I strove to serve Him with all my heart
God is a God of miracles
We were born at this time for a divine purpose
It is worth the effort to trust in God and his promises
While facing challenges at times in full-time service, the Lord can help and guide. “
- He understands what a difficult mission is.
- With His help, we can do hard things.
- He will be by our side, and He will bless us greatly as we humbly serve Him.”
Rich blessings afforded those who serve Him, and missions help preparation for adult life, possible marriage and parenthood, Church service, and professional and community life.

Hymn: I Feel My Savior’s Love – Children’s Songbook pg. 74

Talk:Elder Gerrit W. Gong – Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

We Each Have a Story

We each have a story.
- As we discover our story, we connect, we belong, we become
Each of our stories is a journey still in progress, as we discover, create and become with possibilities beyond imagination.
Whether or not we know them, we are each born of a mother and father.
- And each mother and father is born of a mother and father.
- By birth or adoptive lineage, we’re ultimately all connected in the family of God or in the human family.
70-100B have lived on the earth, and there’s only one Gerrit Walter Gong
1820 was an inflection point in history – many after that have records of family ancestors
We each have more family with whom to connect
Family Search (https://www.familysearch.org) has 103B (?) searchable names
The question “Where are you from?” asks us to also connect to our eternal lineage.
When we die, we don’t cease to exist.
- Our ancestors deserve to be remembered through stories, photos, etc
Societies benefit when generations connect in meaningful ways
Families bring joys and sorrows
Still very much alive, our ancestors deserve to be remembered
God wants our families to be happy and forever.
- Forever is too long if we make each other unhappy.
- Happy is too short if cherished relationships stop with this life
Ties with ancestors increase family closeness, gratitude, miracles.
- Such ties can bring help from the other side of the veil
Let good things begin with you.
- Don’t pass on the negative.
Help unite families eternally
Connecting with our ancestors can change lives.
- From their trials and accomplishments, we gain faith and strength.
- From their love and sacrifices, we learn to forgive and move forward.
How can we connect?
- First, see yourself in both generational directions — child, grandchild, great-grandchild, then parent, aunt or uncle, grandparent, great-grandparent.
  - In each time and role, notice who is with you.
  - Gather their photos and stories; make memories real.
- “Second, let the adventure of family history be intentional and spontaneous.”
- Third, visit https://www.familysearch.org — discover, connect and belong.
- Fourth, help unite families eternally.
We each have a story.
- Come discover yours
- Come find your voice, your song, your harmony in Him.
- This is the very purpose for which God created the heavens and the earth and saw that they were good
Learn and acknowledge with gratitude and honesty your family heritage.
- Celebrate and become the positive and where needed humbly do everything possible not to pass on the negative.
- Let good things begin with you
In all our generations, Jesus Christ heals the brokenhearted, delivers the captives, sets at liberty them that are bruised.

Talk: Elder Adrián Ochoa – First Quorum of the Seventy

Is the Plan Working?

When we struggle — for any reason — that does not mean the plan isn’t working. That is when we need the plan the most
Never will the plan of happiness become more real to you than when you are helping others to live it
Coming unto Christ means more than just thinking about Him or talking about Him or even loving Him. It means following Him
When life does not unfold as expected, it might seem that Heavenly Father’s plan is not working, and some may begin to look elsewhere for peace and happiness
Three principles for people who think the plan of happiness isn’t working in their lives (drawn from the story of Peter and Christ walking on water)
- Faith in the Savior
  - Joining the church, reading the scriptures, etc are all acts of faith
  - If you look back on your life, I believe you will see that you have exercised faith many times
- In times of trouble turn to Christ right away.
  - Just like Peter “Lord Save me”
- Humble yourself before the Lord and He will lift you to greater things.
  - Peter accepted the Savior’s rebuke humbly and continued to seek greater faith in Jesus Christ.
  - Let us humbly put ourselves in a position where Jesus Christ can lift us, lead us and make the most of our abilities.
Do not procrastinate the day of your repentance
- Nothing is more liberating to our personal progression than a daily focus on repentance
- Doing and being a little better each day.
When we struggle,for any reason, that doesn’t mean the plan isn’t working. That is when we need the plan the most.
Scriptures aren’t just to give us a testimony, they’re also meant to help us keep commandments

Talk: Elder Kevin S. Hamilton – First Quorum of the Seventy

Then Will I Make Weak Things Become Strong

Humility, coupled with faith in Jesus Christ, will allow us to access the enabling power of His grace and the fullness of blessings available because of His Atonement
Leopards don’t change their spots… But people can.
When Jesus asks you and me to repent, He is inviting us to change
The scriptural word for change is repentance
One of Satan’s greatest lies is that men and women cannot change and should not change.
However, in order to be authentic to “our real, true selves, as sons and daughters of God with a divine nature and destiny… then we will all need to change.”.
No unclean thing can dwell in His presence.
Eth 12:27 Weak things can become strong unto us.
- His grace is sufficient
- 27 And if men come unto me I will show unto them their weakness. I give unto men weakness that they may be humble; and 3) my grace is sufficient for all men that humble themselves before me; for if they 1) humble themselves before me, and have 2) faith in me, then will I make weak things become strong unto them.
As sons and daughters of a loving Father in Heaven, we have the power within us to change
The Lord operates through conditions, or “if-then” statements.
- He has taught that “as we first change our fallen natures, our weakness, then we will be able to change our behaviors.”
Humility and faith in Jesus Christ are requisites to accessing the enabling power of His grace, which makes it possible to overcome all obstacles, all challenges and all weaknesses.
We get weakness (singular), which is mortality. If we come to Christ he will make weak things (plural) strong.
How do we change according to God’s pattern
- Humble ourselves.
  - Natural man is an enemy to God Mosiah 3:19
  - Humble to follow prophet, keep covenants, to want to change and yield hearts to God
- Faith in Christ
- Weak things become strong, and his grace will enable us to change.
  - if(humble + faith) then weak = strong
The Savior worked out His infinite and eternal Atonement so that we could in fact repent, change and become better.
The Savior worked out His infinite and eternal Atonement so that we could in fact repent, change and become better.
- We can actually be born again.
- We can overcome habits, addictions and even the disposition to do evil.
- Becoming like Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ happens through change or repentance.
- We become new, clean, different and we simply continue to work at it every day.
- Sometimes it may feel like two steps forward and one step back, but we continue to humbly move forward in faith
Alma 34: yea, behold the day of this life is the day for men to perform their labors.

Talk: Elder Quentin Cook – Quorum of the Twelve

Conversion to the Will of God

Events that were foundational to his decision to serve a mission
Very few were allowed to serve because of the Korean conflict, only 1 person per ward
- Brother Joe was considering a mission but his father wanted him to attend medical school
True conversion is the constant acceptance of the will of God.
“Damnation” in the KJV was a mistranslation
- But there are still consequences of sin, maybe not hellfire and damnation.
True conversion is brought about by the conscious acceptance and commitment to follow the will of God
Repentance is needed to enter Celestial kingdom
What are obligations of conversion
The Book of Mormon is internally consistent, beautifully written, and contains the answers to life’s great questions.
- It is another testament of Jesus Christ
The Savior graciously invites us to be His voice and His hands.
- The love of the Savior will be our guiding light.
The standard of truth: “The standard of truth has been erected; No unhallowed hand can stop the work from progressing; persecutions may rage, mobs may combine, armies may assemble, calumny may defame, but the truth of God will go forth boldly, nobly, and independent, till it has penetrated every continent, visited every clime, swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the great Jehovah shall say the work is done.”
The Lord has asked each one of us to share His gospel.
- We help others experience a mighty change of heart.
Our personal conversion includes the responsibility to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world
The Lord asks each one of us to share His gospel in word and deed.
- Our personal conversion includes the responsibility to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world
A personal conversion includes the responsibility to share the gospel of Jesus Christ with the world.
- Conversion comes by understanding and accepting the will of God.
A testimony will be strengthened with the knowledge that Joseph Smith was an instrument in the Lord’s hands.
- The Doctrine and Covenants provides the keys, ordinances and covenants necessary for salvation.
- But many are kept from the truth because they know not where to find it.
Many today believe there should be no consequence for sin.
Revealed doctrine establishes that personal repentance is necessary to partake of the Savior’s Atonement and inherit the celestial kingdom.
The Lord instructed the fullness of the gospel to be preached into the ends of the world.
- This should be a ‘laserlike focus’ to everyone who has been blessed with a conversion to the will of God.
- This includes all Latter-day Saints, especially full-time missionaries.
For the Savior’s mandate to share the gospel to become a part of someone, they need to become converted to the will of God, love their neighbors and invite all to come and see.
- The blessings of sharing the gospel include bringing others to Christ, increasing one’s conversion to the will of God and letting God prevail.

Hymn: (Hymn) – Hymn (#) Thy Spirit Lord, Has Stirred Our Souls

Benediction: Jan E. Newman – 2nd Counselor in the Sunday School General Presidency