- President Oaks said it is erroneous not to teach that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone.
- President Henry B. Eyring said God allows hard mortal tests so his children can experience spiritual growth needed to live in his presence.
- Primary General President Rosemary K. Chibota shared the African greeting ‘Sawubona,’ meaning ‘I see you,’ to acknowledge another person’s worth and humanity.
- Elder Quentin L. Cook condemned internet bullying and reputation destruction as reprehensible, urging integrity and virtue as solutions.
The Book of Mormon is a great witness that God loves all people and that the gospel of Jesus Christ is for everyone, the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints said Sunday morning at the faith’s 196th Semiannual General Conference.
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“His grace is for all,” President Dallin H. Oaks said 10 days before the first anniversary of his ordination as the church’s 18th president and prophet.
“Book of Mormon teachings contradict the erroneous assertion that the grace of God saves only a chosen few,” he said at the conclusion of the Sunday morning session of the conference, which ends this afternoon.
President Oaks, coming off last month’s landmark speech about the Constitution at the National Cathedral in Washington, D.C., addressed the state of faith around the globe and the growth of the Church of Jesus Christ.
“All around us we see evidence that many in the world are hungry for our Savior Jesus Christ and his teachings,” he said.
President Oaks also declared the church is Christ’s church on earth.
“This is the Church of Jesus Christ, so named because it is his church with the restored fulness of his doctrine and authority in these latter days,” he said.
He spoke directly to church members struggling with their faith.
“A major source of concern to your prophet-leaders are those members of diminishing faith in Jesus Christ,” he said. “We love you … So does the Lord God! He is relentless in his loving pursuit of each of you.”
President Oaks asked listeners to keep God’s commandments and be true to their covenants.
“Never let your secular learning limit your spiritual horizons,” he said.
He said none should feel alone.
“We all have present or future concerns or struggles we are trying to overcome,” he said. “Those may include questions or doubts. Whatever they are, the way to overcome them is to get closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Again and again, he has taught us that he is the way.”
He counseled listeners to focus on developing their faith in God and the mission of Jesus Christ.
“Strong faith requires more than strong desire,” he said. “It means daily trying, one step at a time, with prayer and scriptural learning.”
He asked listeners to trust God’s timing and promises, increase their humility, protect themselves by partaking of the sacrament weekly and attend the temple regularly.
“We are all a work in progress,” he said, adding that “We need one another’s prayers. I feel the positive effect of your prayers. I am thankful, and I love you.”
The global audience also learned Sunday morning the meaning of the southern African greeting “Sawubona” — “I see you,” as church leaders encouraged them to help God to comfort and support each other through life’s biggest challenges.
Sunday morning’s other speakers raised the specters of sickness, poverty, fear, grief, sorrow, doubt, distraction, deception, bullying and natural disaster.
“You might reasonably wonder why a loving and all-powerful God allows our mortal test to be so hard,” said President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency.
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He shared two reasons. First, God knows that challenges can provide space for his children to experience the growth in spiritual cleanliness they need to be able to live in his presence. Second, trials test his children to determine if they will do what he commands them.
But God sends Jesus Christ and all his faithful disciples to help him keep his promise to comfort, support and provide relief to them in their distress, President Eyring said.
“You are an important part of the Lord’s answers to their prayers for assurance,” he said.
Primary General President Rosemary K. Chibota, who grew up in Africa, shared the concept of Sawubona, a greeting that acknowledges another person’s worth and humanity — “I recognize you. I respect you. You matter.”
“God’s view of us is always more complete and more hopeful than our own,” she said.
President Chibota pleaded with the millions watching and listening to the conference to pray to see others as God sees them.
“Your Heavenly Father sees you. Your Savior Jesus Christ sees you,” she said. “They know your name, your circumstances, your gifts and your divine potential. As we learn to see ourselves and one another as they do, our homes, wards, schools and communities will become places of belonging, healing and love.”
She invited listeners to take time in the next week to learn the name of someone who may feel unseen, pray to see others as Heavenly Father sees them and replace worldly labels with the eternal truths that they are children of God, children of covenant and disciples of Jesus Christ.
Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles urged the conference to recognize that integrity and virtue lead to happiness.
“We show our integrity by living virtuous lives and caring for and serving others,” he said. “The ultimate reward of integrity and virtue is the constant companionship of the Holy Ghost.”
Happiness is challenged today by a lack of interest in virtue and coarse and crude conduct, language and discourse.
“Any use of the internet to bully, destroy a reputation or place a person in a bad light is reprehensible,” he said.
The solution is integrity, virtue and on-going repentance, he said.
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles asked listeners to live with courage born of faith in Jesus Christ.
He said faith and courage are hallmarks of Jesus Christ.
“Being his true disciple, overcoming the world, keeping his commandments and trusting in him and his promises is not a casual pursuit,” he said, especially in a world filled with doubts, distractions and deceptions.
“Spiritual courage is the triumph over obstacles, doubt and fear in choosing the right,” he said. “It has always taken spiritual courage, born of faith in Jesus Christ, to be his disciple.”
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