- Conference presenters spoke about how discussions about motherhood, pregnancy, and women’s bodies directly shape how young people talk about the pro-life movement.
- Speakers discussed how members can hold firm to their beliefs while showing love and compassion.
- Service organizations attended to facilitate projects and show how service is vital to the pro-life movement.
Dozens of members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints gathered Saturday in Provo, Utah, to discuss the value of life, the importance of motherhood, and the “war strategy” for the pro-life movement.
Read more Where BYU and Utah landed in Week 6’s AP top 25 poll
The gathering marked the third annual conference for Latter-day Saints for Life, a pro-life coalition.
Throughout the conference, centered on the theme “Stand for Life with Love,” speakers returned to a common question: How can members stand for life while changing the way they talk about it?
How Latter-day Saints for Life started
Jessica Spackman, president of Latter-day Saints for Life, gave introductory remarks at the conference.
In 2022, Spackman noticed a gap in the presence of Latter-day Saints within the pro-life community. She noted that many other religious groups were unaware of the church’s stance on the pro-life movement.
“I’ve heard from members across the country who’ve been turned down from joining and helping in various pro-life efforts because of their religious beliefs,” Spackman said.
The lack of belonging and awareness inspired her to start Latter-day Saints for Life with friends in 2022.
Over the past four years, the group went from four members to “over 1,500 members across all 50 states,” said Spackman.
She ended her remarks by referencing the theme of the conference. “I know you have a role to play, and the Lord can give you both the strength and the words you need to stand for life with love.”
She continued, “I know there are few things that will be more rewarding for you when you stand before the Lord at the last day than to say that you stood up for the least of these.”
A call for cultural change
Sarah Clark, the keynote speaker who founded Turning Point USA’s Utah Valley University chapter and is active on social media with an Instagram following of more than 60,000, spoke about balancing religious truths with compassion.
She referenced a Latter-day Saint general conference address by Elder Clark G. Gilbert of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Teach Truth and Love.”
In the talk, Elder Gilbert emphasized that “for disciples of Jesus Christ, truth and love always walk together,” she said.
This summed up the theme for this year’s pro-life conference, she said.
Clark went on to call for a change in culture.
She asked members to “change how you talk about issues surrounding the law of chastity, from fire and brimstone to an attitude of cherishing life.”
The next culture shift she addressed was how to react to unexpected pregnancies. She said we should respond with encouragement and a helping hand in these situations.
“Another culture shift we need to make, brothers and sisters, but particularly the sisters, is how we talk of women, female bodies,” Clark said. She went on to explain that although things like childbirth and women’s experiences can be painful, and we can be realistic about these things, we should “speak of the beautiful creation that is your body.”
She ended her remarks by testifying of the Savior’s love and atonement and the value of life. “To everyone within the sound of my voice and the women outside, please know your infinite, divine worth; your life is worth the blood and body of our Savior Jesus Christ.”
A quilt and a calling
The nonprofit, Stitching Hearts Worldwide, providing a service project for conference attendees. The nonprofit helps to “ease suffering and heal hearts worldwide by providing service opportunities to create humanitarian products.”
Read more Opinion: Bad information about SNAP leads to bad policy
Krysti Wright, founder of Stitching Hearts, shared her story with the Deseret News.
She said in 2015 Sister Cheryl A. Esplin, second counselor in the Primary general presidency, spoke about “filling our homes with light and truth.” Inspired by the talk, Wright said, “I just felt so strongly that I needed to do something to serve.”
In 2016, Wright went to the Lord in prayer and “asked if this was something I could do?” She felt called to start an organization that helps deliver quilts and other essentials to those in need.
Over the past decade, Stitching Hearts has grown into a worldwide organization, providing aid to countries like Jordan, Bangladesh, Lebanon and Somalia.
They also serve refugees and foster care children at the local level.
Wright said that this Thanksgiving they will be doing a service project with the missionaries at the Missionary Training Center in Provo, Utah.
Haydan Perry, vice president of engagement for Brigham Young University’s pro-life club, said she became involved with the pro-life movement because “these are children of God and I think it’s important that they have a right to life.”
Nevertheless
Steven Sharp Nelson, cellist and co-founder of The Piano Guys, spoke on the bond between a mother and child.
At the end of his remarks, he performed on the cello.
His youngest daughter, Annie, explained to him when she was a toddler why she always wanted her mom to put her to bed. She said, “I spent a long time in mummy’s tummy. That’s why I’m a mommy’s girl.”
Nelson said, “The beautiful truth of this is a mother and a child have a bond that exists nowhere else.”
He went on to depict the “Nevertheless wall” that hangs in his office — referring to Christ in the Garden of Gethsemane. Christ pushed through the pain of the atonement because it was the Lord’s work for him to do.
The wall has paintings of men and women throughout history who have pushed through to do the Lord’s work. We may have to push through moments of fear and silence, he said, and say, “Nevertheless, Thy will be done.”
A strategy, not a surrender
At the conclusion of the conference, keynote speaker and blogger Jeremy Goff shared his “war strategy” for fighting for life.
Goff’s strategy consisted of learning true doctrine, reframing how members discuss motherhood and loving, praying and serving.
He echoed what Clark said about how culture and conversation shape views. “If all you do is talk about how hard things are, then that’s what the kids hear,” Goff said.
He added that we should not “sugar coat” or hide the reality of motherhood, but we should also express the joy and divinity that comes with it.
Goff said that when dealing with those with opposing views, “you simply need to love them, serve them, pray for them, and trust that our Father loves them more than you love them.”
Read more Highlights, key plays and photos from No. 12 Utah’s win over Kansas