Elder Hugo E. Martinez, a General Authority Seventy, spoke during the Sunday morning session of April 2022 general conference. He taught about the importance of self-reliance and how to teach it to children and youth. The following is a summary of what he said.
Notable quotes from Elder Martinez
“Adults can best be on the path towards self-reliance when they have been taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and have practiced its doctrine and principles since childhood and as youth in the home.”
“Striving to be self-reliant is part of our work along the covenant path that leads us back to Heavenly Father and to His son Jesus Christ.”
“Self-reliance is a doctrine of the gospel of Jesus Christ and not a program. It is a process that lasts a lifetime and not an event.”
Summary of Elder Martinez’s talk
Striving to be self-reliant is part of the work along the covenant path to strengthen faith in Jesus Christ and “joyfully binds us to Him through the covenants and ordinances of salvation and exaltation.” Becoming self-reliant occurs through growth in spiritual strength, physical and emotional health, pursuing education and employment, and being temporally prepared. It is a lifelong, continuous, daily process.
One important way to teach self-reliance to children and youth is the daily use of the Children and Youth development program. “Parents and children learn the gospel of Jesus Christ, participate in service and activities, and work together in four areas of personal development that are unique for each child.”
It is important that children and youth create their own goals in each of the four areas of personal development.
Following Jesus Christ includes becoming self-reliant and teaching this to children and youth. This is best done by being good examples of service to others, living and teaching the doctrine and principles of self-reliance, and obeying the commandment to build self-reliance as part of the gospel of Jesus Christ.
“This is the Church of Jesus Christ. His gospel blesses families here on earth and throughout the eternities.”
About Elder Martinez
- Elder Hugo E. Martinez and his wife, Sister Nuria Alvarez de Martinez, were both in their medical residency training in Mississippi when missionaries knocked on their door in 1982. They were soon baptized, and one year and one month later they were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple, on Oct. 3, 1983. They are the parents of five children.
- Elder Martinez was sustained as a General Authority Seventy on April 5, 2014 — the first general authority from the Caribbean.
- Elder Martinez was born in 1957 in Mayaguez, Puerto Rico, to Hugo E. Martinez-Sandin and Daly Morales-Alamo de Martinez.
Elder Martinez in the news
- Elder Martinez, the president of the Africa West Area, presided and offered the dedicatory prayer at the groundbreaking ceremony at the Freetown Sierra Leone Temple on March 18 — the country’s first temple.
Elder Martinez and Elder Larry S. Kacher, a General Authority Seventy and first counselor in the Africa West Area presidency, were in attendance for the inauguration of President Adama Barrow of Gambia on Jan. 20. It was the first time general authorities of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints were invited to attend a presidential inauguration in West Africa.
