At a moment of global crisis, the leader of Christ’s restored Church denounced conflict and called for all people everywhere to pray for those in need — and reaffirmed that all worthy and able young men should serve full-time missions.
“As followers of Jesus Christ, we plead with leaders of the nations to find peaceful resolutions to their differences,” said President Russell M. Nelson on Saturday, April 2, during the opening session of the April 2022 general conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Saturday’s morning session also signaled an ongoing return to a traditional, public general conference. For the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic forced attendance to be largely limited to general Church leaders participating in the conference. The Tabernacle Choir returned for the October 2021 general conference, along with a small group of audience members.
But on Saturday, approximately 10,000 people were allowed in the Conference Center to hear counsel from President Nelson and other leaders.
Contention, declared President Nelson, “violates everything the Savior stood for and taught.”
Christ’s gospel, he added, has never been more needed — and Latter-day Saints have a sacred duty to share the gospel’s peaceful message with others.
“Today I reaffirm strongly that the Lord has asked every worthy, able young man to prepare for and serve a mission. … For you young and able sisters, a mission is also a powerful, but optional, opportunity.”
Read more: President Nelson opens general conference, decrying contention and asking every worthy, able young man to serve a mission
President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, testified of the blessings that come from missionary service.
“The Lord knows you,” he said. “When you are serving your mission, you will have experiences that will help you come to know Him better. You will grow spiritually in serving Him. … He will give you experiences with promptings of the Holy Ghost. … You can show Him that He can trust you and can rely on you.”
Returned missionaries are never released from opportunities to serve in the Church, said President Ballard.
The Church is far more than buildings and structures, said Sister Reyna I. Aburto. The Church is about its members “with Christ at the head and the Prophet as His mouthpiece.”
Even small efforts can make a difference in building God’s kingdom, making it a place where members are united in performing miracles. “Our purpose in His kingdom should be to bring each other to Christ.”
“Heed not” to the noisy mockings and evil influences of the world, taught Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Instead, exercise faith and be true to sacred covenants.
“I witness that fidelity to the covenants and ordinances of the Savior’s restored gospel enables us to press on in the work of the Lord, to hold fast to Him as the Word of God and to heed not the allurements of the adversary,” he said.
Do not simply “cling” to the word of the God, added Elder Bednar. Instead, “hold fast” to His gospel to resist the adversary’s fiery darts.
Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles called for more peacemakers in the world.
“By the shield of our faith in Jesus Christ, we become peacemakers, quenching, meaning to calm, cool or extinguish, all the fiery darts of the adversary,” he said.
Being a peacemaker is not synonymous with being passive. Instead, Elder Andersen explained, peacemakers “are persuasive in the Savior’s way.”
Turn to the Savior by experiencing a “mighty change of heart,” directed Elder Eduardo Gavarret, a General Authority Seventy. Such a change “brings us a feeling of freedom, trust and peace.”
General conference offers opportunities for a “mighty change of heart” when people of all backgrounds allow the words of the prophets to enter their hearts.
Elder Larry S. Kacher, a General Authority Seventy, taught that faith in Christ is not static. Instead, faith rises and falls according to the choices one makes.
When a person moves toward Christ through their faith, “obedience is no longer an irritant, but becomes a quest.”
President Nelson’s second counselor in the First Presidency, President Henry B. Eyring, said security during turbulent times can be found on the sure foundation of Jesus Christ.
President Eyring encouraged his vast audience to emulate the Savior by becoming like a child and look to God for strength.
“Our natures must be changed to become as a child to gain the strength we must have to stand steady and at peace in times of peril,” he said.
Comfort and direction, he added, await all who repent and exercise faith. “The Savior knows the storms and the places of safety on the way home to Him and to our Heavenly Father.”
The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square provided music during Saturday morning’s session of general conference. The session was conducted by President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency. Prayers were offered by Elder Jose L. Alonso, a General Authority Seventy, and President Camille N. Johnson, Primary general president.
Read more April 2022 general conference coverage
