This week, leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints used social media to share messages about making homes sacred spaces and to express gratitude for those responding to needs in their community.
“I testify of Jesus Christ, the Master Healer,” President Russell M. Nelson wrote on Twitter on Sunday, May 3. He expressed his gratitude for the Savior’s “open invitation to come unto Him” and His “matchless power to heal each of us.”
On her Facebook page, Relief Society General President Jean B. Bingham shared a Church News video about ProjectProtect’s effort to make 5 million medical-grade face masks for Utah health workers. The Relief Society partnered with Intermountain Healthcare, University of Utah Health and Latter-day Saint Charities to sew the masks.
“Your response is thrilling!” President Bingham wrote in the post. “For all you wonderful volunteers spending 15–20 hours a week sewing medical grade masks for ProjectProtect Utah, we couldn’t be prouder of the way you represent the Relief Society in the community.”
She also acknowledged members of the Relief Society around the world who are responding to community needs in other ways: “From Boston to Beira, Mozambique, you are doing something ‘extraordinary’!”
On Sunday, May 3, President Henry B. Eyring shared a message on Instagram drawn from the words of the sacrament prayer. The words “always remember Him” and “keep His commandments” should define daily life, he wrote.
“As we remember Jesus Christ always, we might ask in silent prayer, ‘What would He have me do?’” President Eyring continued. “Such prayer, offered in faith in Jesus Christ, ushered in this last dispensation. And it will be at the heart of the part each of us will play in its continuing unfolding.”
Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles wrote about the temporary closure of temples during the COVID-19 pandemic in a Sunday, May 3, Instagram post. While these sacred buildings are inaccessible, he wrote, “we have a choice opportunity to invite the covenants and ordinances of the temple to pass through us.”
“The lessons learned in our previous temple experiences are not recalled only when we are in the temple. They are in our minds, and hopefully in our hearts. And we can have access to those learnings and those memories anytime.”
The Lord will listen to a sincere prayer offered in an individual’s home just as He listens to prayers offered within temples, Elder Bednar added.
The lessons learned in this life can prepare God’s children for eternity. “We have to pray. We have to seek. We have to ask. We have to have eyes to see and ears to hear,” he wrote. “But we can be blessed in remarkable ways to learn lessons that will bless us now and forever.”
In a Tuesday, May 5, Facebook post, Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles reflected on the potential blessings of a period when people have to stay at home more than usual. “I feel impressed that through our inspired leaders, the Lord has prepared His Church both temporally and spiritually for changing and challenging times,” he wrote.
Expressing his gratitude for those who are serving others and making their home “a sanctuary of faith,” he suggested that “recent events can be a spiritual alarm clock focusing us on those things that matter most. One day, we will look back on this as a foundational time of preparation and not just something we had to endure.”
Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ offer strength to endure challenges, Elder Cook testified.
On Thursday, May 7, President Joy D. Jones, Primary general president, shared a video designed to teach children about forgiveness. In her Facebook post, she wrote, “Learning about forgiveness during their Primary years will help our children grow up to understand it and use it to stay on the covenant path. I hope families can pop some popcorn and watch this new video and discuss how something so simple can truly change lives.”
https://www.facebook.com/PrimaryPresident/videos/542675196397038/
“The infuriating unfairness that abounds in this fallen world causes many to reject God’s existence,” wrote Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles in an Instagram post. “I can understand why some might come to that conclusion, but I declare and believe with all my heart that, because of His great atoning sacrifice, the Savior, Jesus Christ, recognizes and understands unfairness and will ultimately compensate for any unfairness inflicted on you or on any of Heavenly Father’s children.”
The Monday, May 4, post emphasized the importance of trust in the Lord and His promises: “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, saith the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8).
“Hold your questions about ‘how’ for later and work on developing faith in Heavenly Father and His plan and in Jesus Christ and His Atonement,” Elder Renlund wrote.
