Editor’s note: To support personal and family gospel learning, the Church News is publishing articles on messages from April 2025 general conference. It is recommended to listen to or read the full address in addition to reviewing these resources.
About this talk
- “The Plan of Mercy”
- Elder James R. Rasband | General Authority Seventy
- Saturday evening session of April 2025 general conference.
- Theme: The Lord’s mercy can be found in temples, in seeking forgiveness and in receiving revelation.
Read the full message here.
Read a summary of Elder Rasband’s message here.
Outline
A prophet’s invitation
- President Russell M. Nelson invited Church members in April 2024 to study the Kirtland Temple dedicatory prayer in Doctrine and Covenants 109. As Elder Rasband studied it, he was reminded that Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation is a plan of mercy.
Newly called missionaries serving in the temple
- Newly called missionaries are encouraged to receive the temple endowment as soon as possible and to attend the temple often. This time can be a blessing as they learn more about temple covenants.
- The Lord promised that in the temple, all members of the Church can have their hearts softened and their prejudices give way to truth (see Doctrine and Covenants 109:55-57).
The Lord answers Joseph Smith’s plea for mercy
- When Joseph Smith dedicated the Kirtland Temple, he prayed for mercy for the members of the Church. One week later, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the Kirtland Temple and said, “I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house” (Doctrine and Covenants 110:7).
- President Nelson taught that the promise of Christ’s manifestation also “applies to every dedicated temple today.”
Finding mercy in the house of the Lord
- Church members can find mercy in the house of the Lord as they make covenants with God. Covenants give members increased access to a special kind of love and mercy called “hesed.”
- Temple attendees find mercy in the opportunity to be sealed to their families for eternity and as they understand that every part of the plan of salvation is a manifestation of mercy.
Seeking forgiveness opens the door to the Holy Ghost
- Revelation following a plea for mercy is a common pattern in the scriptures. This was the case for Joseph Smith, Enos and King Lamoni’s father.
- For those who struggle to feel answers to prayer, seeking the Lord’s mercy is one of the most powerful ways to feel the witness of the Holy Ghost.
Pondering God’s mercy opens the door to a testimony of the Book of Mormon
- Moroni 10:3-5 urges readers to ponder what the Book of Mormon reveals about the Lord’s mercy. The Father’s plan is really as merciful as the prophets of the Book of Mormon testify.
- Those struggling to receive answers to their prayers, like Elder Rasband did when he first read the Book of Mormon, are invited to ponder the ways the Lord has been merciful.
Reflection questions
What have you learned about God’s mercy in the house of the Lord?
What has repentance taught you about the Lord’s mercy?
How have you felt temple attendance soften your heart?
What can you do to more fully seek Heavenly Father’s mercy?
When have you felt empowered by your covenants?
Speaker quotes
- “It might be said that the plan of salvation is a plan of happiness precisely because it is a ‘plan of mercy’ (Alma 42:15).”
- “For those who sometimes struggle to feel answers to prayer, seeking the Lord’s mercy is one of the most powerful ways to feel the witness of the Holy Ghost.”
- “Is the Father’s plan as taught in the Book of Mormon really this merciful? I testify that it is and that the peace-giving and hopeful teachings of mercy in the Book of Mormon are true.”
Reference scriptures
- “Behold, I would exhort you that when ye shall read these things, if it be wisdom in God that ye should read them, that ye would remember how merciful the Lord hath been unto the children of men, from the creation of Adam even down until the time that ye shall receive these things, and ponder it in your hearts.”
- “For behold, I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house.”
- “And now, the plan of mercy could not be brought about except an atonement should be made; therefore God himself atoneth for the sins of the world, to bring about the plan of mercy, to appease the demands of justice, that God might be a perfect, just God, and a merciful God also.”
Invitations and promises
- “In the temple, we find mercy in the covenants we make. Those covenants, in addition to the baptismal covenant, bind us to the Father and the Son and give us increased access to what President Nelson has taught is ‘a special kind of love and mercy … called hesed’ in Hebrew.”
- “If you are struggling, may I invite you to follow Moroni’s counsel to ponder on the many ways the Book of Mormon teaches ‘how merciful the Lord hath been [to] the children of men’ (Moroni 10:3)? Based on my experience, I hope that when you do, the peace of the Holy Ghost can enter your heart and you can know, believe, and feel that the Book of Mormon and the plan of mercy it teaches are true.”
- “I know that [the Savior] will manifest Himself in mercy in His holy temple and in every part of our life if we will seek Him.”
Stories
- In the April 2024 general conference, President Nelson invited members of the Church to study the dedicatory prayer of the Kirtland Temple — recorded in section 109 of the Doctrine and Covenants — as a tutorial for how the temple spiritually empowers members of the Church to face challenges. Elder Rasband followed this invitation and was reminded that Heavenly Father’s plan of salvation is a plan of mercy.
- When Joseph Smith dedicated the Kirtland Temple, he prayed for mercy for the members of the Church, enemies of the Church, leaders of the country and the nations of the earth, in addition to himself and his family. One week later, on Easter Sunday, April 3, 1836, Jesus Christ appeared to Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery in the temple and said, “I have accepted this house, and my name shall be here; and I will manifest myself to my people in mercy in this house” (Doctrine and Covenants 110:7). This promise must have been special for Joseph.
- Joseph Smith’s First Vision in the Sacred Grove followed his prayer asking for God’s mercy. Three years later, the angel Moroni appeared after Joseph’s pleading for forgiveness. Similarly, Enos heard the voice of the Lord after praying for forgiveness, and King Lamoni’s father was converted after praying, “I will give away all my sins to know thee” (Alma 22:18). Even without having these same dramatic experiences, seeking the Lord’s mercy is one of the most powerful ways to feel the witness of the Holy Ghost.
From the footnotes
- 4. As with all temple blessings, God’s bestowal of these blessings is dependent upon our keeping the covenants we make in the temple.
- 11. The Oxford English Dictionary defines mercy as “clemency and compassion shown to a person who is in a position of powerlessness” (“mercy,” oed.com). Mercy, like grace, is an expression of God’s love and kindness — His “hesed.” Whereas mercy is focused on withholding a punishment we deserve, grace typically refers to God giving us blessings we do not deserve and without regard to merit.
- 30. ... Sometimes we may focus so much on [the Savior’s] love for us just the way we are that we lose sight of the fact that the way we are — as natural men and women whose behavior inevitably falls short of living the commandments — demands that justice be satisfied. If we misunderstand and view His love as doing away with the demands of justice, we diminish the gift of His atoning sacrifice and the suffering He did to pay the terrible price of justice. It would be discouragingly ironic if His love for us were understood to make unnecessary His atoning sacrifice. How much better it is to look squarely at the full demands of justice and to then be grateful that He loved us enough to bear those very real demands on our behalf.
Additional resources
- Related image: “The Lord Appears in the Kirtland Temple” by Del Parson
- Related video: “Enos Prays Mightily”
- Related hymn: No. 1026, “Holy Places”
Recent conference talks on mercy
- Elder Ulisses Soares: “The Savior’s Abiding Compassion” (October 2021)
- Elder Dale G. Renlund: “Do Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly With God” (October 2020)
- Sister Sharon Eubank: “By Union of Feeling We Obtain Power With God” (October 2020)
Who is Elder Rasband?
- Elder James R. Rasband was sustained as a General Authority Seventy on April 6, 2019, at age 56. At the time of his call, he had been serving as an Area Seventy in the Utah South Area. First an attorney in Seattle, Washington, he later served as dean of the J. Reuben Clark Law School at BYU and academic vice president of BYU.
