This week on social media, President Dallin H. Oaks taught the relationship between God’s love and God’s laws; Elder Quentin L. Cook shared his experience rededicating the Logan Tabernacle; and Elder Ulisses Soares wrote about participating in the G20 Interfaith Forum in Brasília, Brazil.
Other Apostles and leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints shared messages about the Atonement, supporting prophetic direction, waiting upon the Lord, and lessons learned in Primary and seminary.
President Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, wrote that Latter-day Saints — “not all of us but many of us” — are inclined to insist on “the law” and to do so in an unloving way.
However, whenever someone asks him what they can do for a family member who isn’t making good choices, “the first thing I always suggest is keep loving them. In the end, that is something you and I can always do.”
President Oaks continued that God’s love for His children is an eternal reality, and this is because of the relationship between God’s love and His laws.
“The love of God does not supersede His laws and His commandments, and the effect of God’s laws and commandments does not diminish the purpose and effect of His love,” President Oaks shared.
In a video posted to social media, Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said too many people believe in Christ but don’t believe Him — they think the Atonement applies to everyone else but not to themselves.
However, “it applies to every single person in exactly the same way,” Elder Bednar said, adding, “It applies to you, each of you, individually.
The video was accompanied by footage from Elder Bednar’s current ministry in Peru.
Elder Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared his recent experience rededicating the Logan Tabernacle in the city where he grew up.
Some of his earliest memories are of Easter egg hunts on the tabernacle grounds, he recalled, and he remembers when President Spencer W. Kimball, then of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, presided at a stake conference.
The Logan Tabernacle is also where Elder Cook and his wife, Sister Mary Cook, both had their seminary graduations, and where Elder Cook bore his testimony after his missionary service.
However, while the building of the Logan Tabernacle was considered a great accomplishment by the early pioneers of Cache Valley, “none could be more noteworthy than the dedication of those settlers in demonstrating remarkable faith in the Lord Jesus Christ,” Elder Cook wrote. “We are beneficiaries of those who came and stayed, who settled and struggled, and built civilization centered on the Savior and His teachings.”
Elder Soares, of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, posted about participating in the G20 Interfaith Forum in Brasília, Brazil.
While there, he spoke about how mangrove trees filter toxins from coastlines, providing stability to the environment. Similarly, faith-based communities can filter and stabilize society, he said.
“As a collective moral mangrove, we can protect future generations from forces of addiction, isolation, narcissism and moral relativism that could consume them,” Elder Soares wrote. “Each one of us is crucial to the fabric that strengthens and holds our society together and gives us faith in the future of the world.”
Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles shared his recent experience speaking at the Brigham Young University Conference alongside BYU President C. Shane Reese and Elder Clark G. Gilbert — a General Authority Seventy and Church commissioner of education — where Elder Rasband extended three invitations:
- Amplify the teachings of President Russell M. Nelson to let God prevail, think celestial and be better peacemakers.
- Better recognize and support President Nelson’s prophetic direction to become more Christ-centered.
- Give the gift of ministering to the one, fulfilling President Nelson’s wish for his 100th birthday.
While at BYU to speak at the University Conference, Elder Rasband and his wife, Sister Melanie Rasband, visited their missionary granddaughter Sister Ella Chase at the Provo Missionary Training Center, where they had lunch with her district.
“The young people of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints inspire us,” Elder Rasband wrote. “May we learn from the examples of the prophet and the missionaries and strive to align ourselves even more closely with the divine work of our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.”
Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles posted about waiting upon the Lord, offering assurance that the promise found in Isaiah 40:31 — “they that wait upon the Lord shall renew their strength” — is real.
“Trust God. He knows us better and loves us more than we know or love ourselves,” Elder Gong wrote. “His love and knowledge are infinite and perfect. His covenants and promises are constant and sure.”
Sister Amy A. Wright, first counselor in the Primary presidency, posted a video in which she shared her recent experience giving a devotional at a Primary in New Jersey. There, the children had opportunities to conduct, lead music, play instruments, pray, sing, draw, identify doctrine, and teach and testify to each other of Jesus Christ. One boy, 8-year-old Isaac, even played the organ.
“It is my prayer that we will strive to identify the talents and capacity of the Lord’s youngest disciples and then foster opportunities for education and growth,” Sister Wright wrote. “After all, as covenant members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, this is also their Church, and they have an important role to play as together we build the kingdom of God.”
Brother Brad Wilcox, first counselor in the Young Men general presidency, shared a video on Young Men Worldwide inviting youth to dive into seminary, and talked about the impact his own seminary teacher once had on a student grieving the loss of a loved one.
“I realized, as I listened to him teach, that the gospel has answers, answers that can make a difference, that Jesus Christ can make a difference during the hard times in our lives, and that’s a lesson that I’ve never forgotten,” Brother Wilcox said.
