Speaking in Brussels, Belgium, to members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across Europe — and with his remarks broadcast live to 37 countries in 24 languages — President Dallin H. Oaks began by speaking, fittingly, of unity.
“In today’s world there are many interferences with unity,” said President Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, on Sunday, July 13. “Some are political. Some are economic. Some are armed conflicts. In various churches of all denominations and other religious groups, unity is impaired by controversies over doctrine. Some families lack unity.”
And amid the divisions, “there is no worldly way to settle any of these differences that will achieve lasting unity,” said President Oaks.
The remedy? “The only permanent solution to the differences that divide us is for all of us to follow our Savior’s teachings and to gradually become even as He is.”
President Oaks was joined by his wife, Sister Kristen Oaks, at the meeting. Also in attendance was Elder Rubén V. Alliaud, a General Authority Seventy and Europe Central Area president, and Elder Joep Boom, an Area Seventy. The broadcast was watched live in homes and chapels across the Church’s Europe Central Area and is available to watch on the area’s YouTube channel.
The event was transmitted live in Albanian, Bulgarian, Chinese Mandarin, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, English, Farsi, French, German, Greek, Hungarian, Italian, Macedonian, Maltese, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Serbian, Slovak, Slovenian, Spanish, Turkish and Ukrainian. Links to the broadcast in these 24 languages are available at EuropeCentral.ChurchofJesusChrist.org.
President Oaks testified to his international audience that following Christ is a continuous commitment. Disciples can become more like Him by resisting worldly pleasures, keeping covenants, seeking perfection, being a witness of Jesus Christ and serving others.
‘Following Christ is not a casual or occasional practice’
Speaking to His disciples in the Americas, Jesus Christ said: “What manner of men ought ye to be? Verily I say unto you, even as I am” (3 Nephi 27:27).
“What a challenge,” said President Oaks of this charge. “Following Christ is not a casual or occasional practice. It is a continuous commitment and way of life that applies to all persons at all times and in all places. He commands us to follow Him and to become more like Him, here and hereafter.”
President Oaks quoted an April 1994 invitation from President Howard W. Hunter, then president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Let us follow the Son of God in all ways and in all walks of life. Let us make Him our exemplar and our guide. ... To the extent that our mortal powers permit, we should make every effort to become like Christ — the one perfect and sinless example this world has ever seen.”
President Oaks said those who seek to follow Christ should seek to cultivate His attributes — faith in Him, obedience, repentance, humility, love and more.
Resist worldly pleasures
“As we seek to follow Christ and work toward perfection in an imperfect world, we must resist the worldly pleasures around us,” President Oaks said.
He continued: “Following the Lord is not easy. The Lord has warned us again and again, directly and through His servants, that the world will hate us for being different, for doing things in the Lord’s way.”
In the concluding days of His earthly ministry, the Savior told His apostles, “Ye are not of the world, but I have chosen you out of the world, therefore the world hateth you” (John 15:19).
But there is good news. “When we do the Lord’s work in the Lord’s way, we are assured of His blessings to help us,” said President Oaks.
He referenced Church President Russell M. Nelson’s 2018 worldwide youth devotional, where President Nelson invited the rising generation to “stand out; be different from the world. You and I know that you are to be a light to the world. Therefore, the Lord needs you to look like, sound like, act like and dress like a true disciple of Jesus Christ.”
The Prophet continued, “Yes, you are living in the world, but you have very different standards from the world to help you avoid the stain of the world.”
Find the Lord’s strengthening power through covenants
“We need the Lord’s help,” President Oaks said. One way believers find this divine help is when they make and keep covenants with God.
“We are helped by the covenants we make under the Father’s plan of salvation. Our Church is known as a church that emphasizes making covenants with God. Covenants are inherent in each of the ordinances of salvation and exaltation this restored Church administers.”
As Relief Society General President Camille N. Johnson said last May, Latter-day Saints in a covenant relationship “will never exhaust His merciful patience” for them.
President Oaks also quoted President Nelson, who explained in October 2024 that those who keep temple covenants gain greater access to the Lord’s strengthening power. This includes protection from the buffetings of the world.
He added the Prophet’s promise: “Every sincere seeker of Jesus Christ will find Him in the temple. You will feel His mercy. You will find answers to your most vexing questions. You will better comprehend the joy of His gospel.”
Seek perfection
In the Sermon on the Mount, the Savior commanded His followers, “Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect” (Matthew 5:48).
“The command to follow Christ and make and keep covenants in the temple is nothing less than a command to become perfect,” said President Oaks.
This divine command to seek perfection, he continued, is part of Heavenly Father’s plan for the salvation of His children.
What does it mean to be perfect? The apostle Paul described “the perfecting of the saints” as coming “in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ” (Ephesians 4:11-13).
And while Latter-day Saints should seek perfection, “our commanded destiny to achieve this ‘measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ’ — to achieve perfection — is a destiny too distant to be achieved in mortality,” noted President Oaks.
There are many ways to seek perfection in one’s mortal life, he said. These include being a witness of Jesus Christ and giving service to others.
Be a witness of Jesus Christ
From the beginning of the Restoration, the Church has sought to follow the Savior’s biblical commission to “teach all nations” (Matthew 28:19). Even as a poor church with only a few thousand members, early Church leaders sent missionaries across states and oceans to bear witness of Christ.
Alma the Elder taught prospective members at the Waters of Mormon the duties of those “desirous to come into the fold of God.” One duty was to “stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things, and in all places that ye may be in, even until death” (Mosiah 18:8-9).
President Oaks explained that “this applies to every member of the Church who has received the Holy Ghost.”
Other spiritual gifts that benefit the faithful include the gifts “to know that Jesus Christ is the Son of God” and “to believe on their words” (Doctrine and Covenants 46:13-14).
“Thus, those who have the gift to know must give their witness,” said President Oaks, “so that those who have the gift to believe on their words can enjoy the benefit of that gift.”
He added the Church’s “unique missionary program” now has more than 78,000 missionaries, including young and senior.
Serve others
Believers can overcome their natural self-centeredness by serving others, said President Oaks. “Service is an imperative for those who worship and seek to follow Jesus Christ.”
For this service to be most effective, though, “it must be accomplished by the love of God and the love of His children,” he said.
The apostle Paul expressed this sentiment when he wrote, “Though I bestow all my goods to feed the poor ... and have not charity, it profiteth me nothing” (1 Corinthians 13:3).
Following Christ means giving service motivated by the pure love of Christ, rather than for personal advantage or any other lesser motive.
“It is not enough to serve God with all of our might and strength,” said President Oaks. “He who looks into our hearts and knows our minds demands more than this. In order to stand blameless before God at the last day, we must also serve Him with all our heart and mind.”
Sister Oaks also spoke and said the world is starving for hope. But one person can make a difference in influencing those around them.
“We are not alone, and we need each other,” she said. “We serve as angels to each other on this earth. Prayers are heard. We are never alone. Times may be hard, but never too hard with those with knowledge of the Lord’s plan. The gospel of Jesus Christ offers hope and healing to all who will seek it.”
Other speakers in Brussels
Elder Rubén V. Alliaud, a General Authority Seventy and Europe Central Area president, spoke with gratitude of the early European Saints who took news of the Restored Church of Jesus Christ to his home country of Argentina 100 years ago.
He also testified that being different can be a blessing if becoming different is part of an individual’s path to being more like the Savior.
“Being different is a core element of conversion. If we are to be as He is, we certainly need to be different than we currently are,” Elder Alliaud said.
In Europe, he noted, many religions are shrinking and individuals are moving away from beliefs they previously held. However, “the Church in Europe is growing at an accelerated pace” because individuals are recognizing the need for more truth in their lives — truth found in the restored gospel of Jesus Christ and in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“Friends are now attending our sacrament meetings in greater numbers than ever before,” he said. “The Church in Europe is alive.”
His wife, Sister Fabiana Alliaud, testified that this is Christ’s Church and encouraged listeners to become witnesses of the Savior’s redeeming and atoning power in their lives.
“I am deeply grateful for a Church that responds to the temporal, spiritual and emotional needs of its members, and for all those who are part of that response team by consecrating their time, resources and talents, honoring their baptismal covenants, following the example of Jesus Christ and seeking inspiration from God,” she said.
