Sister Jean B. Bingham, Relief Society general president, asked Heavenly Father to help the United States become “a land of Good Samaritans” while offering a prayer in the Rose Garden of the White House on May 3 in honor of the National Day of Prayer.
The National Day of Prayer is an annual observance held on the first Thursday of May, inviting people of all faiths to pray for the nation.
In her prayer, Sister Bingham prayed for all those who work to improve lives. “May we become a land of ‘Good Samaritans,’ laboring in love to lift the hands of the downtrodden, the oppressed and the afflicted.”
Sister Bingham acknowledged the relative peace and prosperity enjoyed in this nation but asked Father in Heaven to “to watch over those who are in harm’s way protecting our freedoms in the pursuit of happiness.”
She also acknowledged the need to for individuals to improve. “Help us to find ways to understand and value one another, to work together in cooperation and selflessness rather than seek for personal gain, to satisfy vain ambitions or to gratify pride. May we examine ourselves and become better individuals, thereby increasing the peace and happiness of each citizen in this United States of America.”
Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles offered a prayer at the interfaith service in 2017. For Elder and Sister Uchtdorf, it was their first time in St. Petersburg since the city’s name was changed in 1991. And it was the first time for them in Tallinn since conducting a mission tour there in 1995.
And Elder Uchtdorf still sees now what he did when he first arrived more than three decades ago.
“I could feel back then that the Russian people are a people of faith. You can see how they’re true to their families, true to their friends,” he said. “So, we were impressed back then, and now we’re back, there’s a brightness there. … The people there walk with a different spring in their step. You can see this with the members of the Church — wow, they are happy, they are radiant.”
