President Nelson invites church members to increase their capacity for charity and virtue
President Russell M. Nelson sounded notes of optimism and warning Sunday afternoon and invited listeners to take intentional steps to increase their charity, virtue and confidence before God at the conclusion of the 195th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
'As we go to our Heavenly Father with increasing confidence, we will be filled with more joy and our faith in Jesus Christ will increase,' he said. 'We will begin to experience spiritual power that exceeds our greatest hopes.'
The church's 100-year-old prophet-leader was the last of 32 speakers at the two-day conference, which drew 98,397 to the Conference Center and Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Millions more watched and listened to broadcasts and livestreams.
While he said the Church of Jesus Christ is experiencing great momentum, he also warned listeners against divisiveness.
'The present hostility in public dialogue and on social media is alarming. Hateful words are deadly weapons,' he said. 'Contention prevents the Holy Ghost from being our constant companion.'
He invited church members and others to take specific steps to shield themselves and help others. He said increasing charity and virtue can help them lead the way as peacemakers.
'The Savior is the Prince of Peace. We are to be his instruments for peace,' he said.
'In the Lord's own words, charity and virtue open the way to having confidence before God,' he added. 'Brothers and sisters, we can do this. Our confidence truly can wax strong in the presence of God, right now!'
President Nelson attended the Sunday session after viewing the four earlier sessions from home. His message was pre-recorded as a concession to age. 'My eyes continue to get older,' he said.
As he prepared to announce 15 new temple locations at the end of his talk, he said regular worship in temples increases capacity for charity and virtue.
'Time in the temple increases our confidence before the Lord,' he said. 'Increased time in the temple will help us prepare for the Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We do not know the day or the hour of his coming. But I do know that the Lord is prompting me to urge us to get ready for that 'great and dreadful day.''
Sunday's temple announcement brings the total number of Latter-day Saint temples to 382 — including 202 that are dedicated. The others are in various stages of planning or construction.
With the 15 new locations, President Nelson now has announced 200 temples since becoming church president in January 2018. (The full list of new temples is at the bottom of this story.)
Sunday's other speakers described Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as 'perfectly loving, kind, patient, understanding and perfectly glorious,' in the words of Elder John A. McCune, a General Authority Seventy.
President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, said the Father designed his plan of happiness with divine, saving help in mind.
First, God planned to send his Son, Jesus Christ, to provide a 'glorious erasing' of repented sins, said President Oaks, who also listed four other helps that God provided his children:
The light or spirit of Christ to help each person know good from evil.
The cluster of directions available in scripture known as commandments, ordinances and covenants.
The manifestations of the Holy Ghost that witness of truth.
The gift of the Holy Ghost as a daily companion from the Godhead.
'Our part in this Divine Plan,' President Oaks said, 'is to trust in God and seek and use these divine helps, most notably the Atonement of his Beloved Son, our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ.'
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles noted that Sunday's conference marked the exact 195th anniversary of the 1830 worship service that served as the formal organization of the church. He called it 'a singular event in the history of the world' and some of the most important glorious 'good news' any person can receive.
'The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ's New Testament church restored,' Elder Bednar said. 'This church is anchored in the perfect life of its chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ, and in his infinite Atonement and literal Resurrection. Jesus Christ has once again called apostles and has given them priesthood authority.'
That first meeting on April 6, 1830, he added, was 'the culmination of a sequence of miraculous experiences.'
The second in a 'sequence of miraculous experiences' that led to the church's organization was the publication of the Book of Mormon, followed by the restoration of the keys of the priesthood authority bestowed by ancient prophets and apostles upon Joseph Smith,' Elder Bednar said.
Every person is a child of God who should seek connection with deity and push back against feelings of shame, speakers said.
The truth that each is a child of God is breathtaking and literal, said Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
'This is not just a nice song we sing,' he said. 'Will you please accept, open and receive this gift of knowledge and understanding from him? Will you hold it close as the precious treasure it is? Re-receive this gift, or perhaps truly receive it for the very first time, and let it transform every aspect of your life.'
God and Christ love every person, said Sister Tamara W. Runia, first counselor in the Young Women General Presidency.
'Listen for that voice that says good things about you — the voice of the Savior, your finest friend, and your Father in Heaven, who is really there,' she said. 'Remember, their love and your worth are always great, no matter what.'
Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve said Easter, which falls on April 20 this year, helps connect God's children to him.
'Easter in Jesus Christ helps us mend, reconcile, make right our relationships, on both sides of the veil,' he said. 'Jesus can heal grief; he can enable forgiveness. He can free us and others from things we or they have said or done that otherwise bind us captive.'
Father in Heaven loves each of his children perfectly, so much so that he provides them compensating blessings for things beyond their control, Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé said.
'My dear friends,' Bishop Caussé said, 'if you ever feel limited or disadvantaged by the circumstances of your life, I want you to know this: The Lord loves you personally. He knows your circumstances, and the door to his blessings remains wide open to you no matter the challenges you face.'
The new temples are:
Reynosa, Mexico
Chorrillos, Peru
Rivera, Uruguay
Campo Grande, Brazil
Porto, Portugal
Uyo, Nigeria
San Jose del Monte, Philippines
Nouméa, New Caledonia
Liverpool, Australia
Caldwell, Idaho
Flagstaff, Arizona
Rapid City, South Dakota
Greenville, South Carolina
Norfolk, Virginia
Spanish Fork, Utah
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
a day ago
- Yahoo
‘Keep Beaufort Beaufort' is a reminder and a rallying cry for us all
'Keep Beaufort Beaufort.' What beautiful marching orders from Cynthia Jenkins, who stepped down this month as the director of the Historic Beaufort Foundation after a-14 year tenure there. You'd think this is a group that looks back in time, sometimes to an aggravating degree, and it does. But since 1947, it has looked forward by doing its best to keep Beaufort Beaufort. I hope the foundation is the first one to capitalize on the 'Keep Beaufort Beaufort' T-shirts, if they haven't done so already. But really, that is the cry of our times all over the South Carolina Lowcountry — 'Save us, dear God, from ourselves.' And we're not the only ones in the fight. The most famous municipal rallying cry is probably 'Keep Austin Weird' in Texas, but it's easy to imagine a lot of T-shirt wishes closer to home. Keep Bluffton Eccentric. Keep St. Helena Gullah. Keep Hilton Head Over There. Keep Columbia Hot. Keep Myrtle Beach Kitschy. Keep Charleston From Sinking. A real one today is 'Keep Chelsea Rural,' a grassroots reaction to the kudzu vine of growth that is now reaching beyond Bluffton and Hardeeville to overtake Highway 462 in rural Jasper County. A similar new plea is 'Save the Euhaw.' As Hilton Head Island has grown from a few thousand residents to around 40,000 while luring 3.5 million visitors a year, some people even marched in the streets trying to 'save' things. We've had: Save Our Trees. Save the Sea Pines Deer. Save the Forest Beach Chickens. Save the Tiki Hut. Have all these people over all this time been asking too much? Cynthia Jenkins was in the best position to know what it means, and understand what it will take, to keep Beaufort Beaufort. All of these grassroots wishes implore us to know who we are. What is our soul? And why would we sell it to the devil? What is our birthright? And why would we sell it for a bowl of lentil stew? 'Keeping' and 'saving' our soul implores us to know who it is that is defining who or what we are. Is it the travel brochure or the poet? The Big Mac or the shrimp burger? Trader Joe's or Harold's Country Club? Beaufort can tell her own story, if we'll but have the sense to listen. It is older than the United States of America itself, and has somehow rolled with the tides and the times under six different flags. It serves today a feast of flavor brought by the Africans, Huguenots, Spanish, English, Scots, and, yes, plenty of damn Yankees. Best-selling author Pat Conroy, who was adopted by the people of Beaufort when he was just a sniveling Marine Corps dependent, came as close as anyone to capturing the allure of Beaufort in mere words. In 'The Prince of Tides,' Conroy wrote, 'To describe our growing up in the low country of South Carolina, I would have to take you to the marsh on a spring day, flush the great blue heron from its silent occupation, scatter marsh hens as we sink to our knees in mud, open you an oyster with a pocketknife and feed it to you from the shell and say, 'There. That taste. That's the taste of my childhood.'' Countless others have savored it over 400 years. We can thank Cynthia Jenkins for her years of attention to every detail of her unique home town. But we can also thank her for reminding us how important it is to 'Keep Beaufort Beaufort.' David Lauderdale may be reached at lauderdalecolumn@


Chicago Tribune
2 days ago
- Chicago Tribune
Northwest Indiana's Muslim community comes together to observe Eid Al-Adha
Muslims from throughout Northwest Indiana gathered together on Friday to pray and celebrate Eid Al-Adha. The celebration, the first day of a three-day event, was held inside Crown Point's Sparta Dome. The Sparta Dome was selected as the best place to hold the festivity because of the aspect of community, the joining together of Muslims from throughout the area, Jawad Nammari said. Nammari, who is a volunteer at the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center, also served as one of the organizers of the event. 'Rather than hosting the event at one mosque, the Sparta Dome was chosen because it has plenty of space to accommodate the large Muslim community, who are celebrating together from across the Northwest Indiana region. We all join together in prayer,' he said. Eid Al-Adha is one of two main holidays in the Islamic religion and is a celebration that is held worldwide, he said. 'Eid Al-Adha commemorates when Prophet Ibrahim (Arabic for Abraham) was commanded by God to sacrifice his son, Ismail (Arabic for Ishmael), as an act of obedience and fulfilling a commandment from God,' he said. God intervened at the moment of sacrifice and sent a ram to be sacrificed instead. 'This was a test of faith and both father and son passed it with full obedience and trust in God,' he said. The Eid Al-Adha celebration started at sunrise and many of those in the area traveled to either the Illiana Islamic Center in Highland or the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center in Merrillville to say early morning prayers, he said. Ferass Safadi, who serves as treasurer at the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center, said this event is the first time those from both mosques joined together. 'This is history in the making,' Safadi said. The prayer at the beginning of the event is called Takbeenr which is the praising of Allah, Northwest Indiana Islamic Center member Amera Salam Nammari said. Those in attendance greeted each other upon entry to the dome with hugs or handshakes before being seated in chairs or on rugs spread throughout the area. All removed their shoes before the saying of prayers and message of forgiveness and thankfulness led by Iman Mongy El-Quesny of the Northwest Indiana Islamic Center. Following the main prayers, festivities for families continued including bouncy houses and events for young children. Food trucks, which offered traditional meals like shawarma and falafel, were also available to participants. 'Although Muslims worship five times a day daily and are obliged to obey the commandments of God, this day is a holiday as part of honoring a great act of faith, honoring sacrifice, charity and community,' Jawad Nammari said.


Boston Globe
2 days ago
- Boston Globe
Archbishop Henning to lead 'Into the Deep,' a first-ever eucharistic procession by sea for Boston archdiocese
Henning, who is serving his first year of archbishop, decided to take the procession in a new direction, inspired by Boston's long history with the sea. 'When I look out on the ocean, I just find it a place where it's easy to pray, easy to sense the presence of God,' Henning said in a Over the two days, Henning will stop at seven North Shore communities and four Boston neighborhoods. Advertisement 'What if we just brought the Lord to them? What if [people] just have to go as far as the town dock?' Henning said in the video. At each stop, the boat will pause for brief blessings and prayer. The two-day voyage ends with a closing Mass at Gate of Heaven in South Boston. 'The mayors of all the towns we are visiting have been invited, including Mayor Wu,' said Liz Cotrupi, Director of Family Life & Ecclesial Movements at the archdiocese. Harbormasters from multiple towns will guide the Shepherd's Pie into their local harbors, and State Police and fire boats will escort it into Boston Harbor on Sunday morning, Cotrupi added. Advertisement The boat—donated by the Winchester-based Shepherd family—will be captained by Mark Shepherd, Frank Harrington, Winthrop Harbormaster Charles Famolare, and Father Dan Hennessey of Topsfield and Middleton. Below is the full schedule of stops and estimated arrival times. Saturday, June 21 8:30AM – Mass at 10:50AM – 12:20PM – 1:30PM – 2:50PM – 4:15PM – 6:00PM – Prayer Service at Sunday, June 22 8:15AM – 9:20AM – 10:15AM – 11:05AM – 12:00PM – Mass at Rita Chandler can be reached at