Well, of course, the Church did go on. President Joseph Fielding Smith was set apart president of the Church, and a year or so later I found myself standing in a predawn line outside the Salt Lake Tabernacle with BYU roommates hoping to get a seat for general conference. Thankfully, we did, and to this day I remember the overwhelming manifestation of the Spirit that I had as President Smith entered the Tabernacle. The experience was so unmistakable that in that very moment, I realized that I didn’t just believe he was a prophet. I knew it. I knew it in a way that I couldn’t deny.

President Smith’s term in office was short — just a couple of years — and President Harold B. Lee was set apart president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

At 73, President Lee was a youngster as prophets go. Everyone thought that he would be president of the Church for 20 years, maybe more — maybe even until the Millennium. At least, that was a sentiment expressed by some. But then, just 18 months later, President Lee passed away suddenly. The membership of the Church was shocked.

Elder William Grant Bangerter, a General Authority Seventy, later described the situation: “Suddenly he was gone. … It was the first time since the death of the Prophet Joseph Smith when the president had died before it was time for him to die. In deep sorrow and concern, the surging questions arose in the minds of the people, … ‘What will we do now? … Can the Church survive this emergency?’ Of course, we knew that the Church would survive, but it could not possibly be the same. We had never expected Spencer W. Kimball to become the president, and we had not looked to him for the same leadership evident in the life of Harold B. Lee. We knew, of course, that he would manage somehow, until the next great leader arose, but it would not be easy for him, and things would not be the same. ‘O Lord,’ we prayed, ‘please bless President Kimball. He needs all the help You can give him.’” (“A Special Moment in Church History,” October 1977 general conference.)

Well, President Kimball did a whole lot more than survive. Despite dealing with enough serious health setbacks to fill an ICU, he proved to be a dynamic leader. He was the prophet of my young adult years, and I wondered how any other leader could ever measure up to President Kimball’s incredible prophetic vision.

And yet, each succeeding prophet has proved to be the man for the moment. If each was evaluated solely by a list of his achievements, he would take his place among the world’s great contributors. But these prophets of God have not just been accomplished men. They are men the Lord chose, schooled and prepared to lead His Church. He is the divine schoolmaster. He is the one who determines who will be president of the Church and for how long.

I don’t just believe this is true. I know it is true.

When President Russell M. Nelson slipped through the veil less than a week before the October 2025 general conference, I heard some say how “inconvenient” the timing was.

From my point of view, the timing was fantastic. We witnessed, in “real time,” how magnificently the Lord has organized His Church. The very moment President Nelson “graduated,” the Church still had a senior Apostle — President Dallin H. Oaks. It still had a presiding council — the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. And, most significantly, it still had all of the priesthood keys that were restored through Joseph Smith. Thus, it had all the power and structure required for general conference to proceed and to, in a matter of days, reorganize the First Presidency.

I know of no other organization on earth that has such a seamless transition of leadership and power. I know of no other organization where its members are never without guidance — prophetic guidance. I am overwhelmed by the beauty of the Lord’s Church.

President Nelson once stated that he hoped we did not miss the majesty of this moment in the Church, referring to the remarkable events taking place in these latter days. Likewise, I hope we do not miss the majesty of the moment we have just witnessed.

President Dallin H. Oaks is the 10th prophet in my lifetime. With his setting apart, I have marveled yet again at the miracle of prophetic succession. And I have savored the spiritual witness that he is indeed the Lord’s chosen mouthpiece for this time and this season.

We thank Thee, O God, for a prophet.

— Sheri Dew is executive vice president and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corp. and a former member of the Relief Society general presidency.

President Russell M. Nelson’s life and ministry

President Dallin H. Oaks announced as 18th President of the Church, names counselors

How The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints selects a new Prophet

Shortly after the devotional began, several distinguished guests slipped in and took their reserved seats on the front row. President Nelson took note of their arrival and, as soon as the meeting concluded, made a beeline off the rostrum. His first concern after the meeting was greeting the guests whom he had not been able to welcome at a reception beforehand.

President Russell M. Nelson dies at 101

After thanking each for coming, President Nelson began to make his way back to the stage. But before he could get there, a wave of children pushed their way to the front and began to hug President Nelson around his knees, ultimately dropping him to his knees. From the expression on his face, he seemed completely happy sitting on the floor surrounded by children who couldn’t get close enough to him.

There are many words that could be used to describe President Russell M. Nelson: kind, generous, inclusive, visionary, grateful, smart, prophetic, courageous and so on. But that one episode in Asuncion highlighted some of his most enduring qualities: action, generosity of spirit and pure love.

As a pioneering cardiothoracic surgeon, President Nelson learned to make life-and-death decisions in the moment. It was a pattern he carried beyond the operating room. Those closest to him often heard him say, “What’s wrong with now?” when discussing something that needed to be done.

As President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints for nearly eight years, he was a leader of action. Double the number of temples? What’s wrong with now? Undertake a massive project to preserve the Salt Lake Temple? What’s wrong with now? Underscore and emphasize the correct name of the Church — something he was warned could not be done? What’s wrong with now? Build a medical school at BYU? What’s wrong with now?

Sister Wendy Nelson learned early in their marriage to not ask her husband to do anything late in the evening, because he would drop everything to respond. She said, “I tried to tell him that just because we needed a hook on the back of a door, it didn’t need to happen at 10:30 at night.”

How Sister Wendy Nelson embraced her role as President Nelson’s wife

But President Nelson was a man of action, which went hand-in-hand with his innovative spirit. Amid the articles published when he was ordained President of the Church, one journalist (who mimicked many others) wrote that “Nelson’s record during his three decades in church leadership suggests he will make few changes.”

That statement is laughable now. But if that reporter had done any homework at all, he would have found that President Nelson had always been visionary. He had a gift for seeing needs before others did — from the development of a heart-lung machine to the need for missionaries, pre-pandemic, to carry smartphones. Sister Ardeth G. Kapp, former president of the Church’s Young Women organization, told me personally that the Young Women values would have never come to be had it not been for the vision and support of Elder Nelson.

President Nelson was also a man of action when it came to reaching out to others. He was naturally generous with literally everyone.

In a “Time” op-ed published four days before his 101st birthday, President Nelson emphasized two truths: first, that each of us has inherent worth and dignity as children of God; and second, that we should love and respect our neighbor.

He demonstrated his respect and generosity towards others in countless ways. When he assigned his counselors in the First Presidency and members of the Twelve to dedicate temples, rather than dedicating each temple himself, some assumed it was because of his advancing age. Not so. “When an Apostle comes back from dedicating a temple,” he explained, “he is a different Apostle. Why wouldn’t I want my Brethren to have those experiences? It’s the difference between the joy you feel in catching a fish and the much greater delight you have in watching your children catch a fish.”

On President Nelson’s 6th anniversary as Prophet, Church leaders share what they have observed from his leadership

President Nelson established relationships with leaders around the globe, including those of the NAACP, and later was awarded Morehouse College’s inaugural Gandhi-King-Mandela Peace Prize. He pleaded with us to build “bridges of understanding,” because doing so is a hallmark of peacemakers, and today peacemakers are needed everywhere.

President Nelson seemed to build bridges effortlessly, which is perhaps why the Reverend Amos C. Brown from San Francisco’s Third Baptist Church introduced him at the NAACP national convention as his “brother from another mother.” Linking his arms with others became a hallmark trademark of his. Whether he was greeting imams from mosques in Christchurch, New Zealand, that had been brutally attacked or meeting with a group of eager Latter-day Saint teenagers in Vietnam, President Nelson was unfailingly kind, welcoming, and warm.

If you were invited to a meeting he chaired, he wanted to hear what you had to say. If you didn’t participate, he called on you — even if you had less stature than everyone else in the room. The first time my colleagues and I entered the First Presidency board room after he became President of the Church, President Nelson stood up. It took my breath away. I blinked back tears as I wondered why the President of the Church was standing up for the likes of us. But come to find out, he stood up for everyone. And he would have never let a woman enter any room without standing up.

The last time I spoke with President Nelson was the day before he became ill. He called to thank me for a tiny thing I had done, something that was basically unobservable. But he noticed and called to say thanks.

He was always saying thanks, always reaching out to others, always striving for unity.

Prior to the Rome Italy Temple dedication, President Nelson assigned two photographers to take pictures of the senior Brethren at the temple. The photographers assumed he would want a series of photos taken — of the First Presidency, the Quorum of the Twelve, and so on. But President Nelson corrected their assumptions: “There is only one photograph that I care about,” he said. “I want a photograph of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve together.” He wanted to show the unity of the two presiding quorums of the Church.

It wasn’t that President Nelson didn’t welcome vigorous debate, because he did. But he drew the line at contention. “Anger never persuades, hostility never heals, and contention never leads to lasting solutions,” he declared repeatedly.

He himself had a talent for addressing delicate questions. His wife Wendy had a tendency to be “creative” in the kitchen, with mixed results. One evening he responded to what she served him by asking, “Honey, if we were in a restaurant and wanted to order this, what would we call it?”

President Nelson’s prophetic leadership over almost 8 years

Both Dantzel and Wendy Nelson said that when they discussed important issues about their family and home, President Nelson’s common response was, “Mama knows best,” ending any debate. He sought unity everywhere.

Perhaps this was simply a reflection of his deep capacity to love. Nowhere was this more evident than with his family. He adored his wife Dantzel, with whom he had 10 children and a large and ever-growing posterity. His family brought him great joy.

When Dantzel passed away suddenly in 2005, he was bereft. But then, as he explained, the Lord opened his heart to love and marry again, this time with Wendy Watson.

President Nelson’s love only grew with each new family member, heart patient, Church member, leader, dignitary and friend he met. When those Paraguayan children tackled him, he couldn’t have been happier. He was a magnet to children. They hugged him, kissed him and jumped in his arms in country after country. His love for the littlest members of the Church was a reflection of his love for every member everywhere.

To be in the presence of President Nelson was to feel loved, respected and encouraged. I personally have never felt more respected by anyone, anywhere.

There are not enough superlatives to describe President Nelson’s life. From his youngest years, he seemed destined to excel at just about everything he did. Yet, for him, standing above everything else in his life was his love for and devotion to Jesus Christ. Let God prevail. Think celestial. Give the Lord a fair share of your time. Go to the temple and find the Savior there. And use the correct name of the Church. “When we discard the Savior’s name, we are subtly disregarding all that Jesus Christ did for us,” he declared. “In a coming day I will report my stewardship to the Prophet Joseph Smith and Brigham Young and Spencer W. Kimball and others, and I want to be able to tell them I’ve done what the Lord wanted me to do.”

Sheri Dew explains how ‘prophets make you smarter’

One can only imagine what that reunion with the Lord Jesus Christ and past prophets must have been like, for pressing forward in the work of the Lord shaped the life of President Russell Marion Nelson.

When the Nelsons returned from the dedication of the Rome temple, Sister Nelson expected them to savor and rehearse the rich spiritual experience they had had for at least a few days. But that night in their prayers, President Nelson thanked the Lord for all they had experienced and then asked Him to help them place those experiences in their memory bins so that they could move forward with what the Lord now needed them to do.

May we do likewise. May we cherish what we have learned from this devoted and dynamic Prophet of God, then look forward and press on in the work of the Lord. Because as President Nelson repeatedly promised, the best is yet to come.

— Sheri Dew is executive vice president and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corp. and a former member of the Relief Society general presidency.

113 quotes from President Nelson’s 113 general conference addresses

8 new chapters released of ‘Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Russell M. Nelson’

CES accomplishes this at larger institutions like Brigham Young University, electronically accessible programs like BYU–Pathway Worldwide, and gospel-centered curriculum found at seminary and institute classes wherever the Church is established, allowing students to thrive in and through their educational pursuits.

In this episode of the Church News podcast, guest host Sheri Dew, executive vice president of Deseret Management Corp. and a former member of the Relief Society general presidency, sits down with Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Clark G. Gilbert, General Authority Seventy and Church commissioner of education. Together, they discuss the Church Educational System and the Church’s ongoing commitment to both spiritual and educational growth among the rising generation.

Listen to this episode of the Church News podcast on Apple Podcasts, Amazon, Spotify, bookshelf PLUS, YouTube or wherever you get podcasts.

Transcript:

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: I would hope this younger generation would have a sense of how much we care about them, how much we are working to help them and what we are investing — every kind of resource, including time and prayer and tears and love and everything that we can bring to pass. So I would say to that generation, to this generation that we care about so much, our manifestations, indications of concern and care and interest and love are just a fraction of what your Heavenly Father feels for you, and the Savior who gave His life for you, and the Holy Spirit who can and wants to be with you continually. Those things are real. Those are the basic fundamental truths of our existence. And for me, the most fundamental, really, is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fact of His Resurrection is proof of all the rest.

1:06

Jon Ryan Jensen: This is Jon Ryan Jensen, editor of the Church News. Welcome to the Church News podcast. Today, we are taking you on a journey of connection as we discuss news and events of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

In this special episode of the Church News podcast, guest host Sheri Dew — executive vice president of Deseret Management Corp. and a former member of the Relief Society general presidency — sits down with Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Elder Clark G. Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy and commissioner of Church education, to talk about the scope of the Church Educational System and the Church’s commitment to both spiritual and educational growth among the rising generation.

1:48

Sheri Dew: Well, thank you, Brethren, for the chance to visit today. We’re thrilled to have the privilege, so thank you for setting aside some time. You certainly have better things to do than this, but we’re grateful that you’d have this conversation.

Let’s start by setting the stage, if we could, maybe getting the lay of the land. You both have very significant responsibility for Church education, the Church Educational System. Elder Christofferson, you’re the chairman of the Executive Committee of the Board of Trustees. Elder Gilbert, the commissioner of Church education.

So for listeners who probably don’t realize everything that that encompasses, can you just give us an idea of what does it include? Schools, programs, numbers of students, countries where you’re operating — help us appreciate the scope of what you’re doing.

2:42

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: It is a large and growing scope, I would say. We have part of this system — and it is a system; it works together across the world — the major universities, Brigham Young University in Provo, BYU–Idaho in Rexburg, BYU–Hawaii in Laie and then Ensign College here in Salt Lake City, BYU–Pathway Worldwide operating under the auspices of BYU–Idaho, and Ensign College is worldwide. It is really, I guess, in about 180 countries at the moment, with some almost 80,000 participants or students. So that is an online piece of the system, if you will, for certificates and degrees. And then seminaries and institutes, which, of course, is worldwide as well with our youth and young adults. So that is the broad content, if you will, of what we call the Church Educational System. And in numbers, it certainly continues to grow.

3:44

Sheri Dew: What would the numbers be in round numbers?

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: In total, there’s about a million students who are in one of the Church educational programs. So in the higher-ed in the campuses and in Pathway, higher-ed programs, 150,000. Then there’s almost 400,000 institute students, 450,000 seminary students. And then we have EnglishConnect and Succeed in School, and it’s a real investment by the Church. And this has since the Church’s early days been a priority of the Church. Gaining an education and improving oneself has been part of the Church’s priorities.

4:30

Sheri Dew: So, every year, the Church is investing a lot of money in educating our youth. But Pathway goes beyond students who are Latter-day Saints. Talk about that.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: It does. It is primarily Latter-day Saints, but it is open to others, and we find significant numbers participating. And as they participate in Pathway courses, they often join in institute courses as well. So it is an activity that truly has a spiritual aspect to it. Well, all of the Church Educational System does; it is spiritually based. As Clark said, we see it as — and President Nelson has stated as much — education is a religious duty.

So those who participate, whether they are members of the Church or not, are very typically spiritually oriented, and institute is a nice adjunct to the coursework, online coursework, that is offered through Pathway. It just works together very well, as it does on our campuses. We’ve got the religion courses in the college campuses, institutes everywhere, on non-LDS campuses, so that people can get essentially a comparable spiritual experience, I guess you would say, wherever they are.

5:57

Sheri Dew: So, that leads to an interesting phenomena, it seems to me. In the U.S., but actually globally, we see this trend that individuals of all ages, but especially younger individuals — let’s say 30 and under, even 40 and under — are less and less interested in organized religion and are in many cases rejecting it. And yet your numbers in CES are growing.

So what’s happening throughout the Church to create this phenomenon? What are you seeing where you are absolutely immersed in what’s happening inside of CES?

6:33

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: Well, it is an encouraging phenomenon, to be honest with you, and you are right; in Gen Z and some of the other age groups, there is a declining interest, generally speaking, in organized religion. But in the Church and in the Church Educational System, we are seeing the opposite. The trends are all upward, and there are various reasons for it. You can speak to some of the things that we are doing to make it more appealing.

6:59

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: Yeah, it is really interesting to watch. People will hear a story about someone who’s stopped going to church or is losing their faith, and then they’ll hear this national data around Gen Z, and they’ll think, “Oh, everyone’s leaving the Church.” But it just couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, young people are flocking to their faith and our Church at record levels. And I’ll just give you a couple of examples.

Seminary this year, over 57% of all youth were registered for seminary and attending seminary. It’s the highest percentage in the history of the Church. So when you hear these narratives of, “Oh, people are losing their faith” or “They’re not engaged in church,” the highest percentage ever in the history of the Church are attending seminary. That’s also true of institute. So this year, we had the highest number of institute students and the highest percentage ever in the history of the Church. And then some people say, “Well, it’s just the Africans,” because BYU–Pathway is growing in Africa at amazing rates. But it’s right here in the U.S. institutes — the University of Utah, Arizona State, the institutes in the U.S. are growing. And then even as institute is growing, our campuses are growing.

This fall, every single Church university was up at record enrollment rates. BYU–Idaho had the largest enrolled class ever in its history. So something is definitely happening in the hearts and minds of these young people, and I think Elder Christofferson will reflect on some of the spiritual reasons for it. I just would say one thing we see is young people want safe havens to practice and gather with other people of faith. And they feel that when they come to seminary, they feel that when they go to an institute in a campus that might not always reinforce their values and their beliefs. And for many of them, they say, “I want to be on a Church campus, where I can have that strength.”

And this is not a naive hiding from the world. The world is all around us, but they want a place where their values and their belief can be reinforced and they can safely grow in the gospel of Jesus Christ.

9:33

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: And we see, in a broader way, this happening with religious education outside the Church. You see it in Jewish schools, Catholic schools, Evangelicals, whatever. There is a movement, not quite as dramatic as we are seeing here in the Church Educational System, but it is broad. And I think some of it is attributable to what has been done to enhance the institute experience, for example, and the seminary experience.

But I think underlying all of it is the Lord moving with His people, and especially in this generation. You will recall President Russell M. Nelson this past October general conference talked about preparing for the Lord’s return. And among other things, he said I hope we are not missing the majesty of the moment here and that the Lord is, with temples and everything else, is working to build or prepare a people to prepare the world for the Savior’s return. And I think this is part of that.

We take too much credit for ourselves sometimes. The Lord is working. The Spirit is working in this generation, and they feel it. You see them, for example, what did I hear the other day? Half the workers in the Rexburg Idaho Temple are students at BYU–Idaho, and that is just one indicator that shows you what is happening in their spiritual lives. So I believe that maybe we could take a little credit for having something that is worthwhile and appealing to them, but in the end, I believe they are turning to the Lord. Their faith is growing. They respond to the Spirit and to spiritual promptings.

And it is a generation, I think, that is more and more attuned to the holy life and to the whole plan of life as our Heavenly Father has established it. They are reacting to it in a very, very positive way.

11:44

Sheri Dew: So it’s part, really, of the Lord hastening His work, and we see this generation coming along.

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: There’s no question. I’ll give you an example. We did a multiyear study of how to make institute more accessible and engaging for young adults. And a lot of great insights came out of that. We expanded the hours of institute so students in Manila and Hong Kong, they have institute classes at 11 o’clock at night.

Sheri Dew: Because it works for them.

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: Yeah. And they wanted more relevance, and we changed some of the curriculum to be right around issues that related to their lives. But as we were doing all of these focus groups and survey analysis, one thing was really clear across all young adults, across the Church: They were coming to institute because they wanted to deepen their relationship with the Savior.

And so yes, we’re trying to be more relevant and more accessible and do things that will help them. But at the heart, it was the students who wanted a relationship with Jesus Christ. And when Elder Christofferson says there’s something happening right now as we prepare for the return of the Savior, and you used the word there’s a “hastening” happening, we also think some of what’s happening in all of these settings, young adults and youth, is temple covenants. And we think our young people are going to the temple. They’re entering the temple, they’re making covenants.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: And they’re serious about those covenants in all aspects of their lives.

13:28

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: So I think the proximity of temples, President Nelson’s teaching of covenants in temples, there’s fruits to that, those efforts, and they’re showing up just, I think, we feel like one of the many ways they’re showing up is through participation in Church education. But there’s a deeper phenomenon happening, and we think it is the hastening, and we think it is temple covenants and just a generation who’s looking at the world and saying, “I don’t think that’s the way. I don’t think there’s happiness there, and there’s something deeper.” And these youth are smart, and these young adults are smart, and they’re turning back to religion. They’re turning back to a relationship with Jesus Christ, and they want to be in these settings, and it’s an amazing thing to behold. And we’re trying to respond with resources.

14:23

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: Yeah, we’re trying to support them. We, like in the Quorum of the Twelve, we have been speaking and visiting institutes and large groups of this age group, this age generation around the U.S., but everywhere in the world as we can.

Sheri Dew: Say more about that.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: It was earlier this year, I was, as an example, at the Red Mountain Institute, we call it — it is in Mesa, Arizona — it is not connected particularly to any individual campus. It is close to many of the participants are students at Mesa Community College, I think. But I was just blown away with the numbers that were there when we had a devotional. They filled the chapel, the classrooms and the hallways, it seemed like. But there was an energy there, great vibrant energy and spiritual energy, and it was a highlight for me. I will never forget that experience.

And it is interesting; Sister Camille Johnson was at that same institute just a couple months ago, I think, and had the same experience, our Relief Society general president. Later at Weber State University, and then just a couple weeks ago at Snow College. They are the same experience. You feel it when you walk in the room, but we are trying to support them and be with them. There was one week this year where we had five members of the Twelve in the same week at different institutes around the country.

15:54

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: The commitment from the Quorum of the Twelve to this generation is exceptional of all the places they could be and of all the responsibilities they have. He said that one night, we had five of the Twelve speaking in institutes across the country, and it’s inspiring to see. And the young adults feel it. They feel they’re a priority, and they want to be around prophet, seers and revelators, and the response to these devotionals has been remarkable.

16:25

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: Well, it’s a good way to say it. They are a priority, from our standpoint. And we are devoting, as you said, a lot of resources, financial and so forth. But I think the most important are the spiritual resources responding to the spiritual needs and desires that we see there.

It is not only the young adults, though; we are going all the way down through the age groups into elementary schools and junior highs. And I am not talking about institute; I am talking about the programs such as seminary, but additional efforts in Africa, primarily, but around the world increasingly, of what we call “Succeed in School.”

And it succeeds because it is simple. This is operated under the auspices of seminaries and institutes, our S&I program, but this gathers younger students — members of the Church primarily but, again, others who want to join them — after-school hours for an hour or two of mentoring and teaching the very basics — the math, those writing skills and so on — that they are not getting adequately in their public education, and so with their parents’ support, they come for an extra hour or so, and then typically a seminary class is combined with the evening. Members are called to teach these. S&I has a great curriculum for anyone who is willing to teach these basic skills.

And so they really do improve in secular material, but there is the spiritual element combined with it, which is why it succeeds, I think. But we are seeing in many places in Africa, their scores on national exams, really, have soared just with that little extra attention that supplements in a very important way what they are getting in school. So we are not setting up schools, but we are helping them really succeed in the schools where they are.

18:29

Sheri Dew: So it’s like tutoring, in a way. It’s like a little measure of group tutoring.

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: Yeah. And then there’s a social dynamic, which is we’re signaling to the young people of the Church, the youth of the Church: “Education matters. We care about you, and we care about learning.”

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: They go together, the spiritual and the education are connected.

18:54

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: Even in seminary, we mentioned that we’re seeing a record percentage of the Church attending seminary, higher than ever in the Church’s history, and we’ve tried to respond with the resources to help this right growing number of students, and just like the Succeed in School program, the seminary curriculum, this year, the First Presidency approved some changes to put life resources into the instruction for youth across the Church.

Sheri Dew: Such as?

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: Time management, college preparation, emotional resilience, mental health, physical health, mission preparation, temple preparation and life skills, but still, scripture based, Christ centered in a seminary class, and the youth just love it. One, they need these resources. They know these are going to help them. And two, they’re so confident when they realize their faith, their Church, has something to teach them, to help them, in these areas that is unique and different from the world. And the initial response to adding this, we still are —

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: It does not replace the scriptural foundation of seminary; supplements.

20:14

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: Still sequential scripture tied to “Come, Follow Me” three days a week, but two days a week they have curriculum that’s focused on these life skills. And boy do we need it across the Church. And just imagine every youth in this entire Church getting trained on how to involve the Lord in their education, getting training on emotional resilience and how to work through anxiety and depression, and how to help a friend who’s doing that, and how to prepare for the temple.

And again, someone might look at this and say, “Well, this is making seminary more relevant. More students want to come.” We look at it and say, “The Lord’s gathering these young people together. How do we put resources in their lives that He wants them to have at this time?”

21:08

Sheri Dew: So, one of the things that I’m hearing, though, is an incredible emphasis from the senior leaders of the Church. Elder Christofferson, you sit in the Quorum of the Twelve. You mentioned Sister Camille Johnson, the general president of the Relief Society, the commissioner of Church education, all the way up to the First Presidency, who presides over the Board of Trustees.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: That is right. They are the officer.

Sheri Dew: So, incredible attention from the most senior leaders in the Church about our youth, on down to our children, saying we need to give them the tools that will help them, spiritual and temporal.

21:47

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: Yeah, and we are blessed with resources to do that at the moment. We can build as many temples as fast as we can get contractors to put them on, we can open missions — 36 last year, new missions — we could really invest in our people and the young people in this generation and their education and their spiritual development. So this is one of the reasons there is a Church to start with, why it is not just every person with a singular spiritual relationship with God and no association with other people. There is a reason that Christ established a Church, and it is to support one another in this way, among other things.

So it is exciting to be a part of it. It is exciting to see it. I think I am younger now because of the association; I get energized with these contacts and association with the young people. But it is something you said a moment ago: The focus is involving the Lord in your education, in your life, but in your education as part of your life. And it is — I don’t know; it is not necessarily automatic. I think we can emphasize education, and we do, and some people say, “Well, college is not for me” or “Higher education is not for me” or “I am in debt. I don’t want to get into debt to go into higher-ed,” and so forth.

So those are real concerns. And we would say, “Pursue higher education, but the right higher education for the person.” For some, it is going to be vocational and the trades. For some, it is going to be college and academia. For some, it may be another approach that continues to expand their mind and their capacities and their talents and abilities. And if they will involve the Lord, then we can help them with all of — the even the logistical things.

When you think about it, we have got in our stakes now in the Utah Area, for example, education specialists who will coach and in each of the wards help members coach young people on what educational opportunities there are beyond high school and how to afford them, how to do it in a way that doesn’t put you in debt and what options you have. Every interest can be accommodated, I think, so we invest in that way so that it is not just get more education; it is: “Let’s get the right package for you. Let’s tailor it for you.”

24:26

Sheri Dew: So you’ve touched on some of the real-life issues that you’re trying to help address as part of a spiritual foundation of education. When we think about our youth today, youth and young adults, or they just face certain kinds of challenges today that are unique, certainly unique from when I was their age, but probably unique from even 20 years ago. We talk so much about mental health, as we should, and hear so much about anxiety. And I think I’ve been anxious about things my whole life, but probably not in the same way.

So when you look at our youth and young adults, and especially young adults that are now in this most critical phase, they’re deciding not just who they’re going to marry but even if they’re going to get married, how they’re going to earn a living, what kind of a family structure they want to create and what kind of people they want to be.

What worries you the most for them, in behalf of them, when you look at everything they’re dealing with that we probably didn’t deal with at their age?

25:30

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: One aspect of it, I guess you could say, is distraction. There is so much at their fingertips, literally and figuratively, that can draw their attention, so many voices, so many competing voices, so much that would draw them or anyone away from the Spirit, away from that personal, individual spiritual guidance that comes quietly and in quiet moments. And so, such a cacophony of voices around them that they have to learn to intentionally find time to be with God, so to speak.

I was thinking of an interview I heard years ago on the radio of Bishop Desmond Tutu, the Anglican archbishop in South Africa, and the interviewer asked a very perceptive question. He says, “Has anything changed in the way you pray over the years?” And he said, “Yes. As a matter of fact, it has. Earlier in my life, my prayers were a list, long list of things I needed or problems I wanted to have solved. And now more often, I am quiet.”

And he said, “Sit with the Lord.” He said, “It is like a fire in winter. It warms you. You don’t have to be anybody special. It just warms you.” And I thought, “What a beautiful metaphor.” The quiet time in prayer or meditation and studying the scriptures in seminaries, in institute classes and in conversations with friends, but times where you really shut the world out, so to speak, or at least concentrate on what the Lord is trying to communicate to you.”

It is more and more of an effort, I think, to find that in your life or create it consistently in your life. President Nelson spoke about this. His very first message as President of the Church was about personal revelation, and he talked about finding a sacred grove kind of place for yourself where you can go often. He said when you can just focus on communication and getting what the Lord would have you receive, that is still valid instruction, and it is just harder now for people of any age, but young adults especially, who have less experience. So his counsel is good. I think we just have to keep emphasizing and helping them learn how to do that.

28:21

Sheri Dew: Beautiful. Elder Gilbert, anything to add?

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: Well, that talk Elder Christofferson referenced, the first message from President Nelson, at the end, he said in the coming days, it will be impossible to survive spiritually without the guiding, nurturing, strengthening influence of the Holy Ghost. And I think this generation has so much coming at them, like Elder Christofferson said, and not only is it noise, but so much of it’s not true. We mentioned this narrative that people are leaving the Church in record numbers, when the data says just the opposite. But that’s just one of many mistruths this rising generation has to live with. They get told things that aren’t true about marriage, about gender, about testimony, and I think President Nelson knew they would need the Holy Ghost in their lives.

Sheri Dew: And one of the things we’re encouraged by is they are going to the temple, they are coming to seminary, they’re in institute and on a Church campus. But one of the many fruits of that is that they’re learning how to listen and be quiet and calm and hear the Holy Ghost, and they’ll need that at this time. And you say, “What’s different from when we were younger?” Things that were so obvious, even to people who were mildly religious now are confusing and debated.

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: To like everybody, or to lots of people.

Sheri Dew: To everyone, yeah. And President Nelson’s reminder that you will need the Holy Ghost to discern truth. In fact, he said, “To survive spiritually.” And so my worry is that they’ll be misled. My hope and encouragement is so many are getting the Holy Ghost and It’s teaching them what’s really true.

30:21

Sheri Dew: So let’s do the flip side. And you touched on it, Elder Christofferson, talking about, was it Red Mountain? Red Mountain Institute, with the experience you’re having with our youth. What gives you the greatest hope about this generation?

30:36

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: For me, at least one of the things is the fact that they crave that kind of spiritual guidance. They crave that relationship through the Spirit with the Savior. They are pursuing it. It is not like, “Gee, something’s missing in my life.” They know what it is; they know what they need, I should say; and they are pursuing it actively. They are coming. Nobody forces them to come to institute or seminary or — well, maybe your mom or dad help a little bit at times — but they are drawn by the Spirit. They respond to It, I guess. I don’t know if that is different from past generations. It seems to me like it is maybe a little more intense, a little more common, I guess, or widespread. But that is encouraging.

31:29

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: I just agree with Elder Christofferson. You just see them, and you see them coming. I was in a YSA state conference in Lethbridge, Canada, recently, and every bishopric had young adults in it. The High Council was full of young adults. The engagement they had in building and serving each other, and it’s just inspiring. And there are those who struggle. It wouldn’t be accurate to say, even though the numbers are up and the enrollment is growing that there aren’t young adults and youth who struggle, who have faith questions.

But what’s amazing is how many find their way back to realize it is the Church and a testimony in the Church that they can anchor on. And so not only are young adults coming to institute, but those who have struggled are finding their way back. And I just wish members of the Church could come with us on our Saturday ministering visits. Almost every stake conference I go to, we’re out ministering to some family or young couple or an individual who struggled with their faith, and they find their way back.

And President Nelson said the truth is it’s much harder to find happiness where it doesn’t exist. But when you yoke yourself to Jesus Christ, He and He alone does have the power to bring you to the joy you need in your life. And we see that. And so there are a lot of young adults who figure that out before they ever leave. But even those who struggle for a season, they realize the happiness isn’t outside of the gospel, and they find their way back. And that gives me hope over and over and over again as I see it play out in the lives of so many young people.

33:24

Sheri Dew: If you were sitting with a mother or dad or a bishop or a good friend of someone who’s really struggling, what would you counsel them to do? Let’s say it’s a young adult who’s really struggling. How would you counsel them to work with them or to interact with them?

33:43

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: Well, you had better love them. You had better start, and that should permeate everything else in your relationship. If they feel that, then you can help. If they don’t, it is very hard for them to respond to whatever counsel you want to give. It has to be genuine, and it is a spiritual gift, frankly. It says in Moroni, this charity, the pure love of Christ, is something that we can pray for and receive. If we are disciples, we are entitled to have that. So it is all based in that. But I think what we are trying to say is there are tremendous resources available to anyone and everyone struggling or cruising, it does not matter. That is why we are here.

That is why we put the investment we do into Church education and all its ramifications. And there are other resources as well that the Church can make available and does make available on the Gospel Library app and everything else. But if they feel that love and the genuine interest in them and a degree of patience, basically saying, “Walk with me. You don’t have to have all the answers immediately. You don’t have to have the solutions to everything in this moment,” try the path the Lord has outlined, and you will find in due course that it works, that it really is the source of happiness, that everything else disappoints in the end. I think that is another thing President Nelson said; everything else is a disappointment. This is where you are going to find what you really are hoping for.

35:27

Sheri Dew: And he’s saying that after having lived 100 years, saying, “This is what I’ve learned.” Elder Gilbert, anything to add on that?

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: I love that we start with love, and nothing’s going to matter if they don’t feel you care about them. The other thing is to live the gospel; shine a light, be a good example, treat them with empathy, be concerned about things in their life, even that don’t have to do with church but matter to them.

35:58

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: If I could interrupt you, I think that is a very good point to emphasize. Be a rock yourself. Be that stable example that when they are prepared and ready, they can look to that will be a guide for them. Some people feel like, “Well, if this person is struggling, I have to go with them and be with them,” and you don’t do them a lot of service if you are trying to mirror their conduct in an effort to try to be a buddy or a friend. You need to be the example, the standard, the rock on which they can later build, or show them how to build on the rock of Christ, is what it really is. But you have got to be that example, that covenant keeper, that will inspire them when they are ready, where they can go, where the help is.

36:45

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: On that point, President Nelson said if you want to help someone who’s struggling, live your covenants. And Sister [Tamara W.] Runia has said, “Stay at the tree.” Beckon them back to the tree, but don’t leave the tree. And I think that would be love them, serve them, live your covenants, and then put them to work. So many people sit there and worry and wonder and struggle with things in their life, and if they just serve other people. That’s one of the things I’m so encouraged about, is seeing how much the young people of the Church are being engaged in the youth program, where we’re having them teach, we’re having them serve each other.

I mentioned the YSA units that are putting the young adults to work, and if they just live the gospel, serve other people, they’re going to feel something. And then, boy, for that parent or friend who’s just wept over worry, just to have hope, because they do come back. They don’t find happiness outside of the gospel, and It might take longer than any of us would like, but have hope and be patient and trust the Lord and His timeline, and He cares about them more than we do, even as loving parents and youth leaders and friends and siblings. And as Elder [Patrick] Kearon said “God is in relentless pursuit” of His children, and that’s true. Trust that He’s trying to get to them too. And in so many cases, it will happen.

38:32

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: Don’t forget the power in prayer. It has an impact that probably does not come any other way. We cannot be with people we love all the time and be there at their side, helping them at every moment. But the Spirit can, and the Lord can, through prayer, our prayers, in response to our prayers, make a powerful difference in them and change us too in the process so that we are better. But I would just underline one thing you said, and that is: Get involved. Get outside yourself, I think, would be a counsel, my counsel to many young people who are really despondent about whatever and struggling.

Try not to be so inward focused. Get out of yourself and serve, whether it is just something you are called to do or you invent. You find a need. That is this Light the World campaign we have every Christmas. Just find somebody who needs help, and there are plenty around, and do what you can. You can’t change the world entirely, but you can light and help and make a difference. And when you start focusing outwardly and seeing what you can do that would bless somebody else, your life changes, obviously, as well.

39:53

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: Sheri, I have a young adult daughter. We were doing a “Come, Follow Me” lesson with our girls at home, and the young adult daughter was home for the weekend, and we were talking about testimony. And to your point, Elder Christofferson, the girls were like, “Well, you get a testimony by going to church and reading the scriptures.” And this young adult daughter said, “If you want a testimony, help other people who are struggling, and you’ll feel God in their life and His concern for them, and you’ll know He’s there. And I thought, “Wow, I wish I had thought of that as a response,” but this is such an important part of anchoring testimony, is serving other people.

40:40

Sheri Dew: So to conclude, you’ve been so generous with your time, thank you. Elder Gilbert, is there anything else you’d like to say? And then, Elder Christofferson, perhaps concluding with any concluding counsel or words of testimony.

40:52

Elder Clark G. Gilbert: I’d just say to all of us who love and admire and work with young adults and youth, trust them. In the Doctrine and Covenants, Section 58, it says the power is in them, and let them have responsibility. Put them in places where they have to use their agency to think, to act, to serve other people. Put them to work in your family, in a calling. They want to be engaged. They want opportunities to serve, and when they do, they will feel something deeper. President Nelson has told the young adults first, and then he told the whole Church, “Take charge of your testimony.” In fact, he used the word “plead.”

And we always pay attention when the Prophet says, “I plead with you.” And he said to the young adults in his worldwide message to them, “I plead with you to take charge of your testimony. Work for it. Own it. [Feed it.] Nurture it so that it will grow.” And I have so much confidence in this generation. It is hard. What they’re facing is hard, but the Lord is pouring out blessings, resources and His Spirit in unprecedented ways. And we see that happening, and it’s inspiring. And so yes, this is a challenging time, but counter to the narrative, our young people are rising up in record numbers, and we can take confidence in them, and it can inspire us to be better ourselves. And the Lord is doing something powerful. He’s hastening the work, and one of the ways He’s doing it is through the future of this Church, which are youth and are young adults, and it’s inspiring to see what’s happening in their lives.

42:49

Elder D. Todd Christofferson: Thank you. I agree. I would hope this younger generation would have a sense of how much we care about them, how much we are working to help them and what we are investing — every kind of resource, including time and prayer and tears and love and everything that we can bring to pass. Elder Gilbert, he does not even sleep at night; he is just so constant. How do you do it? He is a whirlwind of effort. And he is just everywhere trying to strengthen the Church Educational System and guide it appropriately.

And he is one of thousands. I love our university and college leaders. They are the best. They really are. They are exciting people, they are deep, they are strong, and they are fun. And we’re pouring in our time as general authorities. We are doing everything we can to invest in them and to help them succeed. And we know it is one by one; they it is not just like a group succeeds or a generation succeeds, it is every individual, but it has to be the focus, one by one, and that is, I think, one thing that we are increasingly good at in Church education, and that is more of an individual focus in institute and seminary and even in universities where it is not so easy always.

But to make sure that we are looking out for the ninety and nine and the one to the full extent that we can. And that only reflects — that is not to praise ourselves — that just reflects where the Lord is with them, and He is moving us to be more attentive and to make a greater, stronger investment with them. They have a crucial role to play in all that is happening in the Lord’s plan and this dispensation, and as we are hastening toward the end, toward the conclusion of that, they are crucial. Their role is crucial. Individually, each one matters, and it is not just for what they are contributing, although that is crucial and vital, but it is because they have infinite worth. Every one of them.

We do all our ordinances one by one because everybody matters, and we don’t do a group baptism; one by one, name by name, every person is infinitely valuable in the Lord’s eyes. So that is, I think, a lot of what we are trying to do is help them see that, but that is how the Lord views them, and they begin to appreciate that and react accordingly. So I would say to that generation, to this generation that we care about so much, our manifestations, indications of concern and care and interest and love are just a fraction of what your Heavenly Father feels for you, and the Savior who gave His life for you, and the Holy Spirit who can and wants to be with you continually. Those things are real. Those are the basic fundamental truths of our existence.

And for me, the most fundamental, really, is the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. The fact of His Resurrection is proof of all the rest. It’s the evidence, the conclusive evidence that God lives, that Jesus is His divine Son, that He can fulfill every promise, He has all power on earth and heaven. And there is where we turn. That is the great encompassing reality of existence, and that is a blessing I feel in my life, to be able to spend my whole life testifying of the truth of those things, and I do, in this moment as well. And I would think — I know I speak for the First Presidency and the Twelve in saying this — that we pray for them and, in the name of Christ, we bless them. And I do so now, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

47:15

Jon Ryan Jensen: Thank you for listening to the Church News podcast. I’m your host, Church News editor Jon Ryan Jensen. I hope you learned something today about The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and had your faith in the Savior increase by looking through the Church News window as a living record of the Restoration. Please subscribe, rate and review this podcast so it can be accessible to more people. And if you enjoyed the messages we shared today, please share the podcast with others. Thanks to our guests; to my producer, KellieAnn Halvorsen; and to others who make this podcast possible. Join us every week for a new episode. Find us on your favorite podcasting channels or with other news and updates about the Church on TheChurchNews.com or on the Church News app.

Listen to more episodes of the Church News podcast

Recent Church Educational System graduates, class of 2024, share about the journey to and blessings of education

‘Consecrate learning to heaven,’ says commissioner of Church education

Another distinctive experience was President Russell M. Nelson’s rededication of the iconic Washington D.C. Temple that rises majestically out of the beltway looping the United States’ capital city. President Nelson attended the original dedication in 1974 as President Spencer W. Kimball’s doctor, so his memories of that sacred edifice were fascinating.

President Jeffrey R. Holland’s rededication of the  St. George Utah Temple this past weekend was another unforgettable temple experience. That President Holland was able to preside over this rededication at all was a miracle in and of itself. We — meaning the Church collectively — nearly lost him earlier this year. But there he was, speaking with both tenderness and spiritual power, in a house of the Lord that means so much to him, his beloved wife, Pat, and his entire family. Five generations of Hollands have been sealed in the St. George temple.

So, it is not just Moroni who can declare without equivocation that “God has not ceased to be a God of miracles” (Moroni 9:15). Each of us who witnessed President Holland presiding over the St. George temple rededication saw the “marvelous works of God”— meaning, we saw a miracle.

But that is just the beginning.

In President Holland’s remarks prior to offering the dedicatory prayer, he recited some of the hardship and pure anguish those early pioneers endured just to build what would become the first temple dedicated in the Utah territory.

The intense summer heat was life-threatening, the water often polluted and the soil bad. And that was just for starters. There were rattlesnakes, swarms of mosquitoes, coyotes, Gila monsters and ground water on the temple site that threatened to foil any attempt at a firm foundation.

But somehow those early pioneers sent to tame the forbidding southern Utah desert ultimately achieved their goal. One can only imagine how many miracles, not to mention legions of angels, it took to help those indomitable early Saints settle St. George and actually build a pioneer temple. There were no doubt miracles aplenty.

Thus, perhaps the reason the rededication of this temple touched me so deeply is because it is a living monument to the reality of miracles. The miracle that it was ever constructed in the first place. The miracle of the Restoration of the gospel that blesses us with temples and the eternal promises made there. The miracle of the restoration of the priesthood, that makes the ministering of angels, personal revelation and every saving ordinance performed in the temple a living, breathing reality. The miracle of faith represented by the hundreds of thousands of faithful Saints who have worshipped and served in the St. George temple since its original dedication in 1877. The miracle that a beloved prophet, seer and revelator was healed by the Lord such that he could preside over the dedication that means so much to him, his family and the Saints in St. George, who feel a special kinship with him. And the miracle of knowledge, revelation, power and peace that each of us can experience every time we enter the doors of any House of the Lord.

Sometimes it may be tempting to think that, sure, the Lord blesses His chosen servants or the pioneers or others who seem unusually deserving with miracles. But we’re not always so sure about ourselves. President Nelson has counseled each of us, however, to “expect miracles.” And perhaps nothing on earth better represents the hope and promise of heavenly help than does the temple.

We always think of Christmas as a season of miracles, as well we should. Christmas allows us to rejoice in Jesus Christ, the Giver of gifts. Nowhere is Jesus Christ more present than in His holy house.

During this season of giving, may we first thank Jesus Christ for the miracle of His atoning sacrifice and the Restoration of His gospel. And as we enter the sacred doors of His House, may we ask for and expect to receive miracles.

For He has always been, and will always be, a God of miracles.  

— Sheri Dew is executive vice president and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corp., parent company of the Deseret News.

I first met Sister Pat last summer when it was my good fortune to sit next to her at one of those amazing multicourse Italian dinners in Rome that never seems to end. But I scarcely noticed the food or the time as she and I talked about everything from family to the challenges she encounters as she directs the important work of Catholic nuns throughout the world. I relished every minute.

As dinner drew to a close, she said, “Who would have thought we would have so much in common?” I agreed and then offered a thought that had occurred to me as we talked: “That’s because we both not only believe in God, but we feel accountable to Him. And that gives us a natural bond.” To which she responded by squeezing my arm.

I thought about Sister Pat during Elder Clark G. Gilbert’s concluding address at BYU’s Religious Freedom Annual Review earlier this summer. Elder Gilbert, a General Authority Seventy and Church commissioner of education, admonished people of faith who do little more than “mumble” quietly about what they believe to stand up and be counted. He encouraged believers to work across religious traditions to openly declare that faith in God is the most dynamic force in their lives. People of faith, he said, in essence, literally have the power to change the world.

Increasingly, it is not just people of faith who can see the truth of this assertion. Also speaking at BYU’s religious freedom event, Jonathan Rauch — a senior fellow at the Brookings Institution who identifies himself as a gay, atheistic Jew — said this: “I believe that the breakdown in the ability of religious institutions to transmit values — what you all call spiritual formation — is an underlying cause, if not the most important cause, of the political crisis we have.” Then, referring to earlier comments at the symposium from Russell Moore, editor-in-chief of Christianity Today, Rauch added: “The crisis that Russell Moore is describing as a crisis for Christianity is also a crisis for democracy. … The answer [to our current crisis] is that the values that are implicit, explicit in Christianity are pretty good.”

Now, there is a profound truth, if an understated one. Yes, the values and, may I add, truths taught and modeled by Jesus Christ are not just pretty good — they are, in fact, life-changing.

In the most recent general conference, President Russell M. Nelson said it this way: “Whatever questions or problems you have, the answer is always found in the life and teachings of Jesus Christ.”

We do not all have to believe the same things in order to cherish one another, respect each other’s faith traditions and lift our voices together about how much we love and depend upon our faith — and about how vital religion is to the well-being and stability of every society. You no doubt remember the Prophet Joseph Smith’s familiar statement that he was “just as ready to die in defending the rights of a Presbyterian, a Baptist or a good man of any other denomination; for the same principle which would trample upon the rights of Latter-day Saints would trample upon the rights of the Roman Catholics or of any other denomination.”

Lifting our voices together requires us to stop mumbling about what we believe. According to several recent global studies conducted by the Radiant Foundation, upwards of 80% of the world’s population still believes in God. Imagine what would happen if believers the world over stopped mumbling about the importance of God in their lives. Imagine the impact if we were all more open about acknowledging our dependence upon Him.

I am guessing that Sister Pat hasn’t spent a single day of her life mumbling about what she believes. Her delightful openness about her devotion to Jesus Christ is one of the reasons I loved her instantly — not to mention felt that I had met a true sister. When I saw her again this summer, it was as though I was greeting a longtime friend and an ally in the cause of faith.

The apostle Peter urged us to “be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh [us] the reason of the hope that is in [us] (1 Peter 3:15).”

For me, that reason is Jesus Christ. May we shout from the rooftops that because of Him, we can find strength to carry on. Because of Him, we can hope for a better world and a much better world to come.

— Sheri Dew is executive vice president and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corp., parent company of the Deseret News.

Her influence began decades ago. During the 1980s, when she served both as a counselor in the Young Women general presidency and as first lady of Brigham Young University, she spoke frequently. Often this was in BYU’s Marriott Center in what became known, affectionately, as the “Jeff and Pat Show,” when she and her husband, BYU President Jeffrey R. Holland, shared the pulpit at university devotionals. I quickly learned to pay attention to anything and everything she had to say. She seemed so young but was so wise. Pat Holland had a way of looking at life, as well as teaching the gospel, that spoke to me. I found myself hanging on her every word.

As just one example of her depth and gospel insights, she articulated the vital impact women have in families, society and the Church in one brilliant sentence: “If I were Satan and wanted to destroy a society,” she said, “I think I would stage a full-blown blitz on women.”

That simple truth made my mind explode with new impressions. I was a young stake Relief Society president at the time, and I quoted her again and again to help the sisters of our stake appreciate the importance and gravity of their distinctive divine role. Pat Holland had a penchant for saying things that opened my eyes.

But her influence wasn’t confined to what she taught. It also radiated from who she was — a woman of grace, intellect, articulate persuasion and strength, wrapped in meekness. A woman of sophistication who nonetheless always radiated warmth. A woman who had a backbone of steel when it came to standing for truth and doing what the Lord asked her to do. A woman of profound faith.

When she was called as a counselor in the Young Women general presidency — despite being married to a busy university president and having children at home — she said “yes” and somehow managed to cover all the bases. When President Gordon B. Hinckley asked her Apostle-husband to move to Chile for two years to preside over that area of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, she packed her bags and moved to a country where she didn’t know the language, but where her love and compassion for the people transcended nouns and verbs. Later, when her health became frail, she approached her challenges with an eye of faith. Always faith.  

Sister Holland was a spiritual giant among women, though I don’t think she ever saw herself that way. When Deseret Book approached her about writing a book, she seemed utterly shocked that anyone would think she had something to say worth publishing. Her book, “A Quiet Heart,” won awards; but more importantly, it built faith.

Last year, Sarah Weaver and I had the privilege of interviewing Elder and Sister Holland for the Church News. To sit at their feet and observe the effortless way they finished each other’s sentences, took turns citing scriptures and prophetic statements that buoyed them up during difficult times, and shared life lessons they had learned together, was unforgettable. They were beautifully, equally yoked — the very essence, it seemed to me, of what a celestial marriage can be. And though we were there to interview them, Sister Holland kept turning the conversation back to us. How were we? she asked. How were our families? And so on. She was far more interested in talking about others than herself.  

Earlier this year, I had the privilege of sitting next to Sister Holland during a temple endowment session. At one point in the session, I had a profound awareness come over me. I can’t find the words to do that moment justice, other than to say that I knew I was seated next to sheer goodness and that this was a woman I should seek to emulate.

Borrowing a sentiment from the Book of Mormon, if all women were like her, the very forces of evil would be shaken. The powers of darkness would never have a chance.

From my point of view, the wives of general authorities are among the unsung heroines of the Church. They go wherever their husbands are called to serve, endure grueling travel, sacrifice precious moments with family, live in countries foreign to them, speak and teach whenever called upon, and live their lives “on stage” for all to see. No one has done this more beautifully than did Patricia Terry Holland.

She is a woman for the ages, and her passing leaves a gaping hole. But her wisdom and shining example, her model of pure faith and sheer goodness live on. I express profound gratitude to have known and loved and learned from Sister Pat Holland.  — Sheri Dew is executive vice president and chief content officer of Deseret Management Corporation and a former member of the Relief Society general presidency.

In an open dialogue at a public event sponsored by Brigham Young University’s International Center for Law and Religion Studies, the Rev. Andrew Teal — a chaplain and fellow as well as lecturer of theology at Oxford’s Pembroke College — and Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles talked about the makings and foundation of their rich friendship. 

What a privilege it was to witness an hour of delightful interchange that revealed the depth and breadth of friendship these two devoted, inspiring leaders share. Though they have walked different theological paths, their focus was clearly on the many beliefs, concerns and pursuits they have in common. 

Remembering the first time he met Elder and Sister Holland at Oxford, the Rev. Teal said it was “like the inflaming of souls who have known each other and been committed to something forever.”

For his part, Elder Holland said of the Rev. Teal, borrowing liberally from the thirteenth Article of Faith: “He personifies as beautifully as anyone I know this language revered by Latter-day Saints: ‘We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous and in doing good to all men. … If there is anything virtuous, lovely or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.’”

As they spoke, I thought about a recent visit I had with a woman I met just two years ago at the NAACP annual convention where President Russell M. Nelson delivered a keynote address. The Rev. Theresa Dear is an ordained elder in the African Methodist Episcopal Church and has a host of distinguished accomplishments to her credit in the field of human resources.

On the face of it, our backgrounds couldn’t be more different. But every time we’re together, I feel refreshed and understood. I always learn from the Rev. Dear. Because she has been places in her life I have not been, she broadens my point of view and understanding, even on the most sensitive of subjects. What a gift it is to feel safe to ask questions about race, culture and complex social issues without feeling judged or criticized. What a relief to discuss tender topics with the confidence that the discussion is meant to shed light and create bonds rather than lead to the division and acrimony we see so often in media today. I always want to do better and be better after time with the Rev. Dear.

And that’s how I felt after witnessing the genuine affection Elder Holland and the Rev. Teal modeled. They exemplified what Paul told the Galatians when he declared that the whole of God’s law is fulfilled in this simple commandment: “Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself” (Galatians 5:14). As the Rev. Teal said, “Friendship can change the world.” Which of course is true because friendship is the embodiment of the Second Commandment. When all is said and done, it all comes down to love.

Read more: How Elder Holland and the Rev. Teal of Oxford became friends and what this interfaith friendship means to them

In another setting, Elder Holland said that “true love requires action. We can speak of love all day long, we can write notes and sonnets that proclaim it, we can sing lyrics that praise it, and we can preach sermons that encourage it, but until we manifest that love in action our words are nothing.”

Love means allowing each other to learn, grow, start over and try again. It even means striving to understand another’s point of view — one that, at first, may seem nothing short of crazy.

In a recent BYU Forum address, the Rev. Teal said that social media has “democratized dissent.” Therein lies a root problem affecting every one of us today. Social media has given anyone so inclined a bully pulpit that can be used to tear down, criticize and shout angry retorts.  

But Elder Holland and the Rev. Teal showed a far better way forward — the joy of a friendship that has emerged not despite differences, but because of them. Neither leader backed away from his personal beliefs, yet the demonstration of love was positively palpable. They didn’t just preach about the Second Commandment, they showed us what it looks like.

The Rev. Teal has said that one of his favorite quotes is from St. Benedict: “Every day we begin again.” So quoting the Rev. Teal and St. Benedict, might we each begin anew to forge bonds of friendship with those who may see the world differently than we do.

Such is the essence of the Second Commandment. And the Second Commandment will indeed change the world.

— Sheri Dew is executive vice president of Deseret Management Corporation and the CEO of Deseret Book Company. She served in the Relief Society general presidency from 1997-2002. 

The tune was memorable, but it was the lyrics that ignited the frenzy: “You’re not alone, even when you’re feeling on your own, you are loved in ways that can’t be shown; your needs are known; you’re not alone.”

Who doesn’t relate to that? Everyone experiences loneliness. Ironically, though we are more connected technologically than ever, current studies suggest we may be the loneliest of all peoples. The American Psychological Association recently reported that “loneliness levels have reached an all-time high, with nearly half of … U.S. adults reporting that they sometimes or always feel alone.” In another survey, 70% of young adults reported sometimes or always feeling alone.

Loneliness is actually a matter of life or death. The chronically lonely have a 26% greater chance of dying, which is roughly the equivalent of someone who smokes 15 cigarettes a day.

And that was before COVID-19 hit and introduced a whole new wave of isolation. In the past, we may not have realized just how life-sustaining smiles, hugs, handshakes and moments with friends are.

BYU professor Julianne Holt-Lunstad says “Our bodies and our brains expect the proximity of others. When we don’t have that proximity, when we feel like we have to face everything on our own, it makes it all so much harder.”

Surely one thing we’ve learned this year is that we need each other.

But there is an additional kind of loneliness central to the human condition that we all experience. Mortality is a spiritual wilderness where we are separated from our Heavenly Parents and the heavenly home where our spirits are most at peace. Eliza R. Snow described this separation when she penned: “Yet ofttimes a secret something whispered, ‘You’re a stranger here.’ And I felt that I had wandered from a more exalted sphere.”

The pain of separation from others is exceeded only by the haunting vacuum created when we separate ourselves from God.

When Elder Gordon B. Hinckley inaugurated missionary work in the Philippines in 1961, he did so by holding a poignant sunrise service at the beautiful American Military Cemetery on the outskirts of Manila. At the time, there was one known Filipino member of the Church.

Soon thereafter, Elder Hinckley returned to Manila with four missionaries in tow whom he had transferred from Hong Kong. Sister Marjorie Hinckley accompanied her husband, and as they prepared to leave the young men in that bustling metro area where there was not yet a Church infrastructure to support them, her motherly instincts took over. “How can you leave these boys here alone?” she pressed her husband. Elder Hinckley responded simply, “They are not alone. The Lord will be with them.” And with that, the Hinckleys got on a plane and left.

His statement proved prophetic. I was in Manila 35 years later when, on May 29, 1996, President Hinckley returned to the Philippines, which then boasted nearly 400,000 members.

On the day he was to speak at an evening devotional in Manila, by midafternoon the Araneta Coliseum was filled beyond capacity. Some 35,000 members had stuffed themselves into 25,000 seats. The aisles and concourses were wall-to-wall people.

When President Hinckley entered the coliseum, the congregation leaped to their feet and began to applaud as they sang three emotional verses of “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet.” That large hall was filled with spiritual electricity. In the moment, I couldn’t help but think about those first four elders who, as promised, had never been alone.

The truth embedded in Michael McLean’s song and President Hinckley’s promise can anchor each of us, if we allow it to. As earthquakes, fires, hurricanes, civil unrest, political storms and even a pandemic rage, the majesty of the gospel of Jesus Christ contains the most enduring antidotes to loneliness.

Said Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: “Because Jesus walked such a long, lonely path utterly alone, we do not have to do so. His solitary journey brought great company for our little version of that path — the merciful care of our Father in Heaven, the unfailing companionship of this Beloved Son, the consummate gift of the Holy Ghost, angels in heaven, family members on both sides of the veil, [and] prophets and apostles. … Trumpeted from the summit of Calvary is the truth that we will never be left alone or unaided, even if sometimes we may feel that we are.”

Jesus Christ atoned for every member of the human family. And because He did, we are never truly alone.

— Sheri Dew is executive vice president of Deseret Management Corporation and CEO of Deseret Book Company. She served in the Relief Society general presidency from 1997-2002.

Gratefully, my siblings and I have the glorious assurance that we have not lost her. But the reality remains that we can’t call Mother on the phone or tease her about her quirks or empathize with her as she bemoans the fact that “they won’t let me drive anymore” (knowing full well the “they” was us).

I’m coming to realize that grieving is a kind of enhanced gratitude. Surely it is yet another dimension of the spirit of Elijah — hearts of the children turning to their fathers … and mothers. Memories have paraded across my mind like a home movie marathon. Hilarious moments, experiences both sweet and somber, times she defended me when I didn’t deserve it, and even her reprimands — all have come back in waves. Along with the reality that when Mother stepped across the veil, the one person who has believed in me from the day I was born is no longer here. No one can take her place.  

It was an afternoon in June when my siblings and I received word that her condition had suddenly changed, and we hurried to her side. She’d been pretty spunky two nights before, when I’d last seen her, so it was shocking to find her completely unresponsive. We all surrounded Mother’s bed as my brother gave her a final priesthood blessing.  

We expected her to pass that night, but she didn’t. All that night and the next day she hung on. We wondered what she was waiting for.

I volunteered to take the next night shift. Mother’s nurses told us to talk to her because she could likely hear us. So after everyone else had left, and it was just the two of us, I told Mother again how much I loved her. Then, through tears, I thanked her for one unselfish act after another that she’d done for us. About then I sensed for the first time that my father was there. And with that, I found myself saying something I hadn’t expected.

“Mother,” I said, “you have given your life to us. You have put our needs ahead of your own again and again. But your body is worn out. There isn’t anything else you can do for your family here. But on the other side of the veil, with Dad, you’ll be able to help us in countless ways. Mom, I think it’s time for you to go.”

Within literally moments, Mother’s breathing changed. When a nurse walked in the room a few minutes later, I asked her if what I was hearing was the “death rattle.” She nodded, and that night I held Mother’s hand as  she made her final, labored attempts to breathe. She passed away early the next morning.

I’ll never forget that sequence of events. I don’t know if we have any control over when we depart this life. But I cannot deny the timing of what happened. It felt to me then, and has even more in retrospect, that when Mother heard me say she could help her family more on the other side of the veil, she let go. One final time, she put us ahead of herself.

My mother never saw herself as anything but the most ordinary woman, but there was nothing ordinary about her goodness or her faithfulness or her absolute devotion to her children. 

We saw Mother’s greatness honored in an unexpected way as we prepared to lay her to rest. After a small, COVID-appropriate memorial for her in our Kansas hometown, we emerged from the chapel to find a policeman waiting to escort the funeral cortege to the cemetery.

Ours is a small hometown, and we didn’t need help maneuvering through traffic. But that act of respect is typical of the simple decency you always find in the people there. As we proceeded to the cemetery, every oncoming vehicle pulled off the road to pay their respects. But the sweetest moment came when we saw a woman who had gotten out of her pickup and was standing with her head bowed as we passed.

I have no idea who that woman was, and I’m sure she didn’t know whom she was honoring. But I will never forget the reverence I felt as an unknown passer-by paid tribute to my mother, a woman whose sheer goodness gave her a kind of quiet but profound influence that can only be fully measured by the Lord.     

— Sheri Dew is executive vice president of Deseret Management Corporation and the CEO of Deseret Book Company.  She served in the Relief Society general presidency from 1997-2002. 

Then, as I sat in the last endowment session I’ll likely attend for a while, I felt a familiar sensation gnawing at me. It took just seconds to identify what it was. Mourning. I was starting to mourn the fact that life as I’ve known it — weekly time in the temple, sacrament and other meetings that allow me to renew my covenants and enjoy the camaraderie of my ward family — is changing, at least for a period of time. 

As I sat in that temple session, trying to relish every word, my mind flashed to an important message Elder Neil L. Andersen gave several years ago at BYU. When I got home, I read it again and came across this comforting declaration: “As evil increases in the world, there is a compensatory spiritual power for the righteous. As the world slides from its spiritual moorings, the Lord prepares the way for those who seek Him, offering them greater assurance, greater confirmation, and greater confidence in the spiritual direction they are traveling. The gift of the Holy Ghost becomes a brighter light in the emerging twilight.”

I can feel the truth of Elder Andersen’s statement.

Nothing happening in the world today is catching the Lord off-guard. Satan hasn’t pulled a fast one on Him. Circumstances that led to the inception and spreading of the coronavirus were all foreseen by Him who sees all. That is clear, because our leaders have been getting us ready for this very hour.

Sarah Jane Weaver: What helped me plan my father’s funeral amid coronavirus restrictions

One of my nephews said this week, “Well, if this virus mess doesn’t convince you that there is a living prophet who has been trying to prepare us for days like these, I don’t know what would.”  

Indeed. The fruits of revelation are often more easily seen in hindsight. It is no surprise to those who believe in prophets that more than a year ago President Russell M. Nelson, with 14 others ordained as prophets, seers and revelators, introduced a home-centered, Church-supported curriculum and admonished us to be more intentional about studying and teaching the gospel in our homes.

It is no surprise that two years ago they introduced ministering and asked us to learn to care for each other in a higher, holier way.

During this unusual season when the way we worship and serve the Lord has been modified, let’s make sure we see the ways the Lord is blessing us. 

And President Nelson’s counsel from his first address as President of the Church seems even more prescient today. Pleading with us to “increase [our] spiritual capacity to receive revelation,” he added, “I am optimistic about the future. It will be filled with opportunities for each of us to progress, contribute, and take the gospel to every corner of the earth. But I am also not naïve about the days ahead. We live in a world that is complex and increasingly contentious.”

Our complex, highly interconnected world has witnessed this in dramatic fashion as COVID-19 reached pandemic proportions seemingly overnight.

And yet, there is great cause for optimism. In a video released as the Church prepared for the first Sabbath in decades without formal sacrament meetings, President Nelson reassured us that “our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ know us, love us, and are watching over us. Of that we can be certain.” And he promised us comfort and peace as we continue to “Hear Him.”

Surely this is what Elder Andersen was referringto when he declared that “as evil increases in the world, there is acompensatory power, an additional spiritual endowment, a revelatory gift forthe righteous.”

During this unusual season when the way we worship and serve the Lord has been modified, let’s make sure we see the ways the Lord is blessing us. Let’s be sure we identify the compensatory blessings and power He has for those who seek them.  

Latter-day Saints find 'compensatory blessings' amid coronavirus pandemic

If you identify such experiences that are appropriate to share, the Church News would love to hear about them. You may email your experience to: ChurchNews@DeseretNews.com.

In a time of darkness, the ministering power ofthe Light of the World will be even easier to see. How beautiful it will be if,as a global Church family, we don’t just endure this particular challenge butwe seek the hand of the Lord in our lives and then share our witness of Hismercy, power and peace.  

One of the countries we visited was Cambodia, and I have never forgotten what we experienced there. The Church was in its infancy in Phnom Penh, where the first convert had been baptized just five years earlier (in May 1994) and the members still met in a house.

The first day in Phnom Penh, we met with Young Women, Relief Society and priesthood leaders. As I looked into their faces from the front of the room, I was struck with how young they were. But they were eager to learn and proved to be quick studies. After the meeting, the district Relief Society president rode away on the back of a scooter. My memory is that she was 21 years old.  

The next day we spoke at a devotional for youth and young adults. I’ll never forget standing at the door and greeting everyone as they entered. It was the same group we’d met with the day before! Leaders and young adults were one and the same. The pioneering in Cambodia — as in many parts of the world, I would come to understand — was being led by young adults.

At the beginning of Sister Larson’s message to them, she asked how many had parents who were members of the Church. In a group of perhaps 125, just four raised their hands — and two of them were siblings. So in that gathering of the youth of Phnom Penh, just three households had parents who were members. Tragically, many of the households didn’t have parents at all — the result of the disastrous aftermath of the Khmer Rouge.

As we left Cambodia, I could not stop thinking about those young members of the Church. Somehow, in a non-Christian country where 97 percent of the population were Buddhists, they had recognized Jesus Christ as their Savior and gained a witness that the Restoration of the gospel was the vehicle for His power on the earth.

For 20 years I’ve thought about that experience.  

Imagine, then, my joy to visit Cambodia again a couple of weeks ago as part of the media team covering the ministry of President Russell M. Nelson and his wife, Sister Wendy Nelson, and Elder D. Todd Christofferson and his wife, Sister Kathy Christofferson. I felt a wave of emotion when I walked into a large convention hall and found 2,800 Cambodian Saints gathered to hear two prophets — one of them the senior Apostle — testify of the Risen Lord and His gospel.

I was standing in the back of the hall when President Nelson stood to speak. As he asked if the Saints would like to know more about the temple that had been announced for their land, you could feel excitement fill the room. Then when President Nelson asked if they’d like to see what it would look like and a picture of the proposed Phnom Penh Temple flashed on large screens, gasps and a rush of the Spirit filled the hall.

I had quick tears. There may have been nearly 3,000 Saints seated in front of me, but what I could see was a hundred or so youth — new converts, every one of them — crowded into a small home learning how to be leaders. From those humble beginnings have come wards and stakes and now the promise of a temple.

Those youth of 20 years ago are now seasoned leaders of the Church, parents and grandparents of children growing in the gospel, and anchors to the Church in their corner of Southeast Asia.

As the Book of Mormon makes clear, the Lord is able to do His own work. Even in parts of the world where the very idea of a Savior is foreign to most, His Spirit is touching hearts and changing lives.

The gathering is real and its impact in nearly every corner of this earth is tangible. The Apostle Peter spoke of being an eyewitness to the majesty of the Lord Jesus Christ. As we witness the fruits of the gospel of Jesus Christ, each of us has a similar privilege. Two weeks ago in Phnom Penh, I gratefully witnessed the majesty of what happens when the power and love of Jesus Christ fills hearts and homes, transforms lives and blesses countries.

p>President Ezra Taft Benson’s life is remarkable by any measure — and almost impossible to do justice to in a full-length biography, let alone in one article.

Studying the life of a prophet is more, much more, than simply recounting events. It is an opportunity to see the hand of the Lord in action as He prepares and tutors a man to be ready when the moment comes that He anoints him as His mouthpiece on the earth. To begin, let’s establish a brief context for reviewing President Benson’s life:

Ezra Taft Benson was a farm boy from Whitney, Idaho. Born on Aug. 4, 1899, he was blessed with a great heritage in the Church and was the namesake of his great-grandfather, Elder Ezra T. Benson, who was called as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles by Brigham Young.

The young Ezra served a mission to England in 1921, returning home to marry the love of his life, the beautiful Flora Amussen, whom he adored. He and Flora were devoted to each other, and they would have six children — two sons, Reed and Mark, and four daughters — Barbara, Beverly, Bonnie and Beth. Ezra graduated from BYU with honors and was voted the man most likely to succeed. He and Flora then journeyed east to Iowa State, where he received a master’s degree in agricultural economics — again graduating with honors. He then returned to Idaho to pursue a career in agriculture, serving first as a county extension agent.

After distinguishing himself in the agricultural arena in Idaho, he was tapped by the National Council of Farmer Cooperatives in Washington, D.C. to serve as its executive director, and he and Flora moved their young family to the nation’s capital. This experience gave him his first exposure to bureaucracy and also his first national exposure as an agricultural expert. While there, he was called to serve as the first president of the newly organized Washington D.C. Stake.

He had also served for a short time in Boise as a stake president. It was while living in Washington, D.C. that, at age 43, he was asked to meet with President Heber J. Grant, who in July 1943 called him to serve as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Both he and Elder Spencer W. Kimball were subsequently sustained in the October 1943 general conference. While Elder Benson was serving as a member of the Twelve, he was tapped by U.S. President Dwight D. Eisenhower to serve in his cabinet as Secretary of Agriculture. During this and subsequent years, Elder Benson became a staunch defender of freedom in all of its forms. Then, in 1985, he became President of the Church, where he became known for his love and advocacy of the Book of Mormon. With this brief thumbnail sketch of his life forming the background, let’s consider three characteristics that Ezra Taft Benson exemplified.

Ezra Taft Benson was man of deep faith.

There are countless evidences of Elder Benson’s faith, but none more fascinating than what transpired in 1946.

On Dec. 22, 1945, President George Albert Smith convened a special meeting of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. World War II had ended in September, and many of the European Saints had not had contact with Church headquarters for years.

President Smith indicated that after prayer and contemplation, he had determined to call one of the Twelve to go to Europe for an unspecified length of time to re-establish contact with the European Saints and to facilitate the distribution of much-needed welfare supplies. When President Smith announced that he had decided to call Elder Ezra Taft Benson to go to Europe, not only was Elder Benson surprised but so were many of his colleagues as he had the largest and youngest family still at home.

With Flora’s full support, he immediately began to obtain necessary clearances; and a month later, he headed for Europe as president of the European Mission. What he found there defied description. Europe was devastated. Entire cities were in rubble. Bridges, wharfs, and roads had been bombed.

There were no phones, little food, no roads, no gas, and few cars for civilians. In most instances, he was the first civilian to travel throughout the occupied areas of Germany, Czechoslovakia, Poland and Austria. Just getting from place to place required faith, the ability to receive revelation, and administrative know-how.

In Paris, he tried to gain access to the occupied areas of Germany, but the U.S. colonel was incredulous: “Mr. Benson, are you crazy? Don’t you realize there has been a war here? No civilian travelers have entered these areas. All travel is restricted to the military.”

Elder Benson quietly asked if he could obtain permission to travel into those areas if he could find a car. Finally, the colonel conceded. And much to the colonel’s surprise, Elder Benson found a car. Again and again, Elder Benson was told no. No, he couldn’t get seats on a plane, but he’d get seats on that plane. No, he couldn’t proceed into certain areas, and then those in charge would relent. No, he couldn’t buy fuel, and he’d find fuel.

And everywhere he went, he found Saints who were suffering.

On one occasion he wrote Sister Benson about a group of members whom he’d seen combing the ditch banks for food: “Some take ordinary grass and weeds and cut it up to mix with a little chicken feed and water which is their meal. I noticed between [church] meetings some would take out of their pocket a little cup partly filled with chicken feed or cereal and water, which they would eat cold. … I didn’t intend to write all this sad picture. I have tried to spare you at home most of the heart-rending scenes in Europe today. But somehow I just couldn’t hold it in this morning. It’s terrible to contemplate” (Ezra Taft Benson: A Biography, p. 218). What he found in Berlin defied description.

He recorded in his journal: “I witnessed scenes that seemed almost outside this world. … I smelled the odor of decaying, human bodies. … I saw old men and women with small hatchets eagerly digging at tree stumps and roots in an effort to get scraps of fuel and then pulling them home for miles on anything that would roll. … Later I faced in a cold half-wrecked auditorium off a bombed street 480 cold half-starved but faithful Latter-day Saints. … I heard their harrowing experiences including murder, rape and starvation of their loved ones.

Yet there was no bitterness or anger but a sweet expression of faith in the gospel” (ETB, p. 211).

Repeatedly, for nearly a year, Elder Benson did the impossible — bringing food and hope to the European Saints. His mission of mercy both tested and increased his spiritual, emotional and physical strength. And it increased his faith.

Ezra Taft Benson was a man of principle.

Almost no one saw Elder Benson’s appointment as U.S. Secretary of Agriculture coming. A Farm Journal reporter capsulized much of the sentiment: “Ezra Benson is going to shock Washington. He’s in the habit of deciding everything on principle” (ETB, p. 259). Though his term in office was not without controversy, and some journalists and politicians predicted he’d be the first member of President Dwight D. Eisenhower’s Cabinet to go, he ended up staying the entire eight years of Eisenhower’s two terms.

Elder Benson brought his values, behaviors and beliefs to his government office. Everywhere he went, he taught truth and stood firm in defending principles he believed in. In short, his philosophy was summed up in two statements: First, “I feel it is good strategy to stand up for the right, even when it is unpopular. Perhaps I should say, especially when it is unpopular.” And second, “A man at times must compromise.

The test is to be found in what he is not willing to compromise, no matter how great the pressure. … [T]his nation cannot go on compromising a little bit of freedom here and a little there without eventually losing it all. It just isn’t good for government to do for people what they can and should do for themselves” (ETB, pp. 303, 270). The New York Times magazine attributed the Secretary’s eventual success to “his religion. … He acts like a man whose conscience is always clear — his testimony today will be the same next week or the week after or a year from now.

He doesn’t have to remember what he said to an opposition Senator at their last meeting. This is a built-in ulcer-saving device not always found in Washington.” In 1959, a diplomatic junket took him to the Soviet Union. His was only the second U.S. Air Force plane to land in Moscow since World War II. While there, he wanted to visit one of the two Protestant churches there.

Finally, on the last day of his trip, he visited the Central Baptist Church in the heart of Moscow. One reporter described the scene as they entered the church: “Every face in the old sanctuary gazed incredulously as our obviously American group was led down the aisle.

They grabbed for our hands as we proceeded to our pews, which were gladly vacated. … Their wrinkled old faces looked at us pleadingly. They reached out to touch us. They gripped our hands like frightened children” (ETB, p. 342). When the minister invited Elder Benson to speak, he bore his testimony of Jesus Christ and told the people to have hope and that truth would prevail.

One cynical newsman who’d complained about “going to church with Ezra” stood and wept openly.

The editor of Farm and Ranch magazine wrote: “Imagine getting your greatest spiritual experience in atheistic Russia. … This Methodist backslider stood crying unashamedly, throat lumped, and chills running from spine to toes. It was the most heart-rending and most inspiring scene I’ve ever witnessed” (ETB, p. 344).

Ezra Taft Benson was a man who deeply loved the Lord.

As President of the Church, President Benson pleaded with the Saints to immerse themselves in the Book of Mormon, promising that “there is a power in the book which will begin to flow into your lives the moment you begin a serious study of the book.

You will find greater power to resist temptation. You will find the power to avoid deception. You will find the power to stay on the strait and narrow path” (Ensign, November 1986, p. 7). President Thomas S. Monson, his second counselor, summarized President Benson’s leadership: “President Benson has the capacity to bring men and women back to the strait and narrow pathway. He would have made a great wagon master in bringing the saints across the plains.

He wouldn’t have let them wander to the goldfields of California. And he wouldn’t have let them stop and plant for two or three seasons in the lush, rich soil of Iowa. He knows how to say, ‘Move on, wagon train.’ He would have brought them to the valleys of the mountains successfully. Spirituality will be the main contribution and theme of his administration.

That spirituality will lead to a greater study of the Book of Mormon. It will lead to more temple work. It will lead to greater Christian service, and it will lead to a holier people.”

It is a privilege to gather in this celebration of the family. I am, however, a curious choice to introduce this session. I am not married and have not had the privilege of bearing children—which are, candidly, the heartbreaks of my life. This isn't by choice. My dream was to marry and have a house full of children. The answer to why I haven't yet married is simple: No one has ever asked me. So you may wonder, Why am I here, and why do I care so much about the family?

I care in part, precisely because I haven't yet been blessed with a husband or family of my own. I know firsthand that the passage in Genesis is true: It is not good for man or woman to be alone.¹ This is not just good theology, it's terrific sociology.² As grateful as I am for many things, I am painfully aware that I am not complete without a faithful husband.

Everything I have experienced, everything I have observed, and every deep conviction I have points to a profound truth: that marriage is sacred and was ordained by God, and that when He created the first man and woman and commanded them to procreate, He established His pattern for the family. I believe that is why the family unit forms the very bedrock of society.

We all know that every nation is ultimately at the mercy of its families. If families are riddled with problems, society eventually collapses under the weight of problems too vast for any government to meet. If families are strong, society is strong. I'll never forget meeting a group of young adults in southeast Asia. They were bright, talented, and eager to move forward with their lives. But they lamented not having parents to give them direction and feeling somewhat alone in life. All but a few had been orphaned by war.

In contrast, I met a strong family in Brazil. The grandfather had worked multiple jobs so that his son could go to college. That son became a respected educator. Now his children are highly educated, fluent in multiple languages, and raising families of their own. When I complimented him on his children, he replied, "This is the power of a family. Each generation improves upon the last."

Healthy, thriving societies don't just materialize out of thin air. They are built by healthy, thriving people who must be taught and nurtured somewhere. Schools and governments can help. But no organization can raise children as can a mother and father who love each other. Barbara Bush told a group of U.S. college students, "Your success as a family—our success as a society—depends not on what happens at the White House, but on what happens at your house."³

Therefore, our challenge is to understand how to strengthen families. We tend to focus on policies, legislation, and court opinions related to family. But today I invite you to consider that the single most pervasive threat to the stability and future of the family is sexual immorality in all its forms. Nothing would do more to strengthen the families of the world than a resurgence of moral virtue, particularly sexual purity.

I realize this point of view would get me laughed off most of the world's stages. And I respect everyone's right to believe and live as they choose. But since when has the opinion of the masses been a reliable barometer of what is in humanity's best interests? Too many are inclined to take the path of least resistance, which looks easier but only is at the outset. A relative few today believe that pornography destroys marriages or that adultery and premarital sex actually injure the family—though every great world faith tradition decries immorality. And as a New Testament Christian, it is impossible for me to ignore repeated warnings about the consequences of adultery, fornication, and prostitution—just to name some of the moral infractions identified in holy writ.

No society can be stronger than the moral fiber of its people. There is power in virtue. Said Clare Boothe Luce: "There can be no public virtue without private morality….And there cannot be a good society unless the majority of individuals in it are at least trying to be good people….A nation that is traveling the low road is a nation that is self-destructing. It is doomed, sooner or later, to collapse from within."⁴

Virtue, especially moral virtue, builds strength of character. A lack of virtue damages one's moral compass until ultimately that person can't be trusted. Consider the adulterer. If someone can't be trusted to honor the most sacred promise they'll ever make, who and what will they honor? Benjamin Franklin said it well: "There was never yet a truly great man who was not at the same time truly virtuous."⁵

The Apostle Paul counseled Timothy, "Keep thyself pure."⁶ Those three simple words, if heeded, would transform our world. Ironically, today we have a global fixation on the environment but have embraced a kind of impurity far more lethal than unclean air or water.

University of Chicago studies compiled in 2006 illuminate the problem. Premarital sex among men and women has increased. Adultery? Increased. Cohabitation without marriage? Increased. Number of sexual partners? Increased. Out-of-wedlock births? Increased. Sex among teenagers? Increased. Only one statistic decreased: the age at which youth are having sexual relations.⁷

C. S. Lewis was no doubt right when he called chastity "the most unpopular of the Christian virtues."⁸ Global violation of this virtue has become its own kind of pandemic such that anyone who dares advocate chastity risks being accused of intolerance and even fanaticism.

Yet history tells a different story. One civilization after another has caved in under the weight of its moral debauchery. A stable society is not likely to be destroyed unless it has weakened itself from within. Will and Ariel Durant, who spent four decades writing an eleven-volume history of civilization, concluded that "sex is like a river of fire that must be banked and cooled by a hundred restraints if it is not to consume in chaos both the individual and the group."⁹ Such controls are best provided by fidelity in marriage. Anything short of that undermines marriage, and there is something fundamentally sick about a society where marriage is treated as a throwaway item.

I repeat: Nothing would do more to strengthen the families of our world than a resurgence of fundamental moral virtue, meaning sexual purity.

This is no small quest. The forces that mock morality are entrenched, noisy, and popular. Celebrities of all stripes glamorize immorality by flaunting their sexual escapades. Politicians lie about their adultery and then lie about lying. In my service as a White House delegate to the Commission on the Status of Women at the United Nations several years ago, I experienced the wrath of delegates who were outraged at the mere suggestion that abstinence was one solution for curbing AIDS. Indeed, it may seem hopeless, even ridiculous—morality taken to a bizarre extreme—to advocate purity when much of the world is in a moral freefall.

And yet, moral permissiveness does not lead to greatness. It never has, and it never will. I have observed this firsthand. We lost my brother at 39 to a heart attack, leaving a wife and three children, and we later lost a niece and nephew in a tragic accident. Our family has mourned again and again. But I have never seen anguish or grief to compare with the night a dear friend told his children he was leaving them because of his adultery. His children were distraught, and the ensuing emotional upheaval affects them to this day. Immorality exacts a very high price.

On the other hand, I have witnessed the fruits of moral virtue in the lives of millions of people around the world. In many cultures and lands, I have repeatedly observed that families who are spiritually strong tend to be morally strong, and that virtuous parents tend to raise virtuous children.

Several years ago, I participated in an international policy forum where the discussion moved from prostitution to pornography to abortion and so on. When the moderator invited me to comment, I noted that it seemed impossible not to notice a common theme—that every thorny issue had immoral underpinnings. I then told about my parents, who are devout members of our faith, what they had taught me about marriage and chastity, and how those teachings had governed my life. Afterwards, one woman after another pulled me aside and said the same thing: "You are so lucky. I didn't think chastity was even possible. I wish someone had told me this years ago—it would have changed my life."

I personally know tens of thousands of youth and young adults who are living morally clean lives. They are happy, productive, and anxiously engaged in becoming engaged. Moral purity is not outdated. Admittedly, it is also not easy. But I submit that it is easier than the alternative. Virtuous men and women never worry about a surprise pregnancy or sexually transmitted disease. Never agonize over confessing unfaithfulness. Have no emptiness after a one-night stand. No pain in losing one's family to infidelity. No haunting memories of indiscretions. Quoting C. S. Lewis, "Virtue—even attempted virtue—brings light; indulgence brings fog."¹⁰

A virtuous life is an easier, more fulfilling life. And it is one of the most powerful keys to strengthening families and therefore to strengthening our world.

What then can you and I do? The story of Monsignor O'Flaherty, a courageous Irish priest at the Vatican during World War II is inspiring. Against astonishing odds, he saved the lives of four thousand Allied prisoners of war. In a movie dramatizing his story, the Monsignor poses a question to Pope Pius XII as they discuss the risks the Monsignor's actions pose to the Vatican's political neutrality: "But what is our duty when we come face to face with evil?"

My friends, what is our duty when faced with today's threats to the family? Gordon B. Hinckley said: "The challenge to recognize evil and oppose it is one that every moral, virtuous person must accept. It all begins with our own personal virtue. Reformation of the world begins with reformation of self."¹¹

You are men and women of influence. I invite you to use your influence to embrace and champion a resurgence of virtue. The world is filled with good people who may not know that virtue would transform their lives and who only need to be shown the way. If defending virtue requires sacrifice and discipline, then so be it. We have a choice to make. We can either watch our societies crumble under the weight of moral impurity, or we can lead out in the cause of virtue.

May we go forward, determined to make this world better by making it more clean. May we champion virtue as a key to building strong families. God will help us. No one cares more about our families than He does. As we honor Him by embracing the virtue He has ordained, He will help us preserve the foundational unit of every society, the family. Thank you.

(1) See Genesis 2:18

(2) As stated by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, LDS Temple Open House Video, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

(3) Quoted in Gordon B. Hinckley, Standing for Something, New York City: Random House, 2000, p. 146.

(4) Hall, Wynton C., Schweizer, Peter, Landmark Speeches of the American Conservative Movement, 62.)

(5) Quoted in Thomas S. Monson, Favorite Quotations from Thomas S. Monson, Deseret Book, 1985, p. 111.)

(6) 1 Timothy 5:22.

(7) Tom W. Smith, "American Sexual Behavior: Trends, Socio-Demographic Differences, and Risk Behavior," GSS Topical Report No. 25, National Opinion Research Center, University of Chicago, updated March 2006.

(8) Mere Christianity, NYC, Harper Collins, 1980.

(9) Will and Ariel Durant, The Lessons of History, New York City: Simon & Schuster, pp. 35-36.

(10) Mere Christianity, p. 94.

(11) Standing for Something, p. 39.

Good evening, my dear friends, and my brothers and sisters. It is an honor to be with you as we celebrate the birth of our nation.

I can still remember where I was when it really hit me—how grateful I was to be an American. I was 40,000 feet above the Pacific enroute home from southeast Asia. This wasn't my first trip abroad. Far from it. I'd had many international experiences and had always returned with a greater appreciation for home. But this time, I felt something different, something more. Somehow, the sequence of experiences I'd had on this trip had affected me deeply. Maybe it was seeing so much poverty. Maybe it was meeting so many children orphaned by war. Maybe it was all the people I'd seen who seemed to have no hope. Maybe it was all of the above.

During the long flight, with lots of time to think, I found myself vacillating between gratitude and guilt-gratitude for all I had and guilt because of all I had-until, that is, I had a strong and clear impression: I didn't need to feel guilty because of what I had. But because I had more-more opportunities, more privileges, more freedom—I was expected to do more. The phrase, "Unto whom much is given, much is required" (D&C 82:3) lit up my mind like a neon sign.

We who are citizens of this nation, which is the greatest in the history of the world, have simply been given more. Now, please don't misunderstand. I am not suggesting some kind of arrogant cultural superiority. I love and respect the peoples and cultures of the world. I have seen many of the world's beauties. In nation after nation, I've marveled at magnificent cultures and languages, majestic reminders of antiquity, and people everywhere who are gracious and inspiring and ingenious. My mother has stopped asking me about my trip whenever I return from abroad. Instead she tells me how it went: "I already know what you're going to say. You loved the people! You loved their culture. You can't wait to go back." And it's true. That is what I always say. Because I never lose my sense of awe at the basic wonder of people.

But that fact notwithstanding, there is simply no country that compares with the United States. There are reasons for this. America is a land of promise, a land choice above all others, founded by noble men inspired by God. America was not only founded by God but has been preserved by Him. Thus, we owe our privileges and prosperity, unequaled anywhere in the world, to Him. But with those privileges come great responsibilities — especially our responsibility to serve God and live as He would have us live. In short, this land's future is dependent upon the righteousness of its people. Which means that you and I hold the destiny of the United States of America in our hands.

What then are we to do? Let me illustrate with something my nephew Trevor said when he was about nine. As background, I should explain that for years my seventeen nieces and nephews have routinely and regularly prayed that their Old Maid Aunt would get married. (And I would just like to say that I think the Lord ought to respond, if for nothing else than to preserve the faith of these youth.) One morning I answered the phone to hear my brother, Trevor's father, on the other end, laughing. "I wish you had been here when Trevor blessed the food this morning," he said. "What did Trev say?" I asked, to which my brother responded. "Please bless Aunt Sheri to find a good husband who doesn't smoke, drink, say bad words, or. . .litter!"

Now, I invite you to consider just how profound Trevor's prayer was. Because there are philosophical ramifications to litter. What is litter? It's not just garbage, but garbage left rudely behind that someone else has to pick up. So when all is said and done, I hope the man I marry doesn't litter. Because there are all kinds of litter in this world, and I'm not just referring to gum wrappers. One morning not long ago I walked into my office and by 10:00 a.m. had managed to offend just about everyone who came within shouting distance. When I came to my senses and realized the trail of litter I was leaving behind me—a trail of ill will and hurt feelings—I retraced my steps and apologized, that day at laest picking up my own litter. We are all leaving a trail behind us. The question is, What kind of trail is it?

Trevor's prayer always makes me think about my grandparents, Charles and Maude Dew, who homesteaded our family farm nearly a century ago. With their two sons, they somehow survived the Depression, and the Dust Bowl, and scratched out a meager living on the Great Plains. My respect for their stamina only increased when I came across a letter Ezra Taft Benson received in 1959 while serving as Secretary of Agriculture—a letter that referred to, of all people, my grandparents. The writer of the letter related this: "During the past week-end, I. . .[visited the Dews'] farm and was thrilled with what I saw. West Kansas is. . .no place for a tenderfoot. It takes people who are strong both physically and spiritually to battle the farming conditions in that area. . . .I am writing this letter because I hope that. . .you will have an opportunity to. . .meet this family. You would recognize them as the kind of family that has built the farming areas of this country and you would be inspired by their strength." (Sam R. Carpenter to ETB, 1 December 1959.)

I mention this letter not to boast about my grandparents but because I believe they reflect the character of millions of everyday Americans who have made this country strong. Grandma and Grandpa didn't die rich or famous. They never made the nightly news or the cover of Time Magazine. But on that little farm on the prairie, they learned what all farmers learn naturally and what we all must learn in some way: that you can only reap what you sow. The Apostle Paul taught that "he which soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly; and he which soweth bountifully shall reap also bountifully." (2 Corinthians 9:6.) Grandma and Grandpa planted seeds—literally and figuratively—that have reaped a bountiful harvest. We who descend from them have been shaped by the seeds of integrity and devotion they sowed. We are the beneficiaries of the trail they left behind them—a trail that, fortunately for us, was virtuous.

The cycle of sowing and reaping has been repeated again and again throughout the history of this nation. As the vanguard companies of Mormon pioneers made their epic trek to the Salt Lake Valley in the uncharted American West, they planted crops they would never harvest but that would sustain the wagon trains and handcart companies to follow.

Similarly, our Founding Fathers planted seeds of liberty and freedom that have reaped centuries of harvest for those of us fortunate enough to inherit the privileges and protections guaranteed by the Constitution.

The wealth of the United States does not lie in its stock market or entrepreneurial reservoir. America's wealth lies in its people-in us, and in the seeds we are sowing-which is something the French philosopher Alexis de Tocqueville observed more than 170 years ago. Said he: "I sought for the greatness and genius of America in her. . .fertile fields and boundless prairies, and it was not there; in her rich mines and her vast world commerce, and it was not there. Not until I went to the churches of America and heard her pulpits aflame with righteousness did I understand the secret of her genius and power. America is great because she is good, and if America ever ceases to be good, America will cease to be great." (Democracy in America, first published 1853; Bantam Classic Books, 2000.)

There is much evidence in this country of this goodness. In the aftermath of 9-11, citizens from coast to coast rallied to help, comfort, and dig through rubble. We'll never hear the words, "Let's roll!" without thinking of heroes who forced down their hijacked plane in a Pennsylvania field to preserve the lives of others elsewhere. We'll never forget the images of firemen charging up the Twin Towers stairways as thousands raced down. To quote Anne Frank, "In spite of everything, I still believe that people are really good at heart." (Quoted in Newsweek, 20 December 1999, 62.) And I do truly believe that most people are really good at heart.

However, there are worrisome signs that our collective moral fabric is unraveling. In recent years we have endured so many outrageous national scandals that obscene abuses of power and money seem almost ho-hum. Leaders at the highest levels of government have committed unspeakable breaches of integrity—and then lied until forced to confess. Executives in one corporation after another have "overstated earnings"—in other words, they've cooked the books-and bilked investors out of billions. Here are just a few of the most recent moral belly-flops.

The two top editors of a venerable newspaper resigned after a trail of journalistic fraud cast a shadow of mistrust on the paper. (New York Times, 6 June 2003; Time, 19 May 2002.)

The CEO of a media empire resigned after a federal grand jury indicted her on five criminal counts. (Wall Street Journal, 5 June 2003.)

A CFO in a major corporation was indicated on 100 charges of fraud, obstruction of justice, insider trading, and money laundering (Enron; USA Today, 20 May 2003); a governor is threatened with recall on charges of financial mismanagement; and a self-appointed moral crusader appears to have broken the public trust.

In another arena, no pun intended, three college coaches were fired for lying about everything from immoral liaisons to recruiting violations. In one conference alone, six of twelve schools are either on probation or under NCAA investigation, mostly for coaching misdeeds. (Time, 19 May 2003.) And, sadly, even a baseball hero was suspended after his corked bat shattered.

Regrettably, this brief listing doesn't expose even the tip of what is no doubt a massive iceberg. What trail are we as a people leaving behind us? What kind of harvest can we possibly expect to reap if we are increasingly sowing seeds of deception and deceit?

This is serious. James Madison, who is regarded as the father of the Constitution, put it this way: "We have staked the whole future of American civilization not upon the power of government-far from it. We have staked the future. . .upon the capacity of each. . .of us to govern ourselves according to the Ten Commandments of God." (Russ Walton, Biblical Principles of Importance to Godly Christians, New Hampshire: Plymouth Foundation, 1984, 361.) My dear friends, here is the sobering reality: Our Constitution was written for a moral people. It will not survive a people who collectively lose their virtue. In other words, if America ceases to be good, America will cease to be great.

We have our problems and we have them aplenty. Little by little, one misdeed, one deception, one person at a time, the character of the American people is being reshaped. Thus, if we are to change society, we must change ourselves. For one person can make a difference. God commanded one person—Noah—to build an ark to preserve his family and civilization. It was one woman, the Jewish Queen Esther, who ignored personal danger, spoke truth, and saved a people. Surely the words Mordecai spoke to her apply to us all: "Who knoweth whether thou art come to the kingdom for such a time as this?" (Esther 4:14.)

Each of us have a role to play in preserving this nation. The place to reform our country is not Washington, D. C.—though the capital could stand some reformation. The place to begin is with ourselves. If we want to preserve freedom as we know it, we must live righteously, for "righteousness exalteth a nation" (Proverbs 14:34). Or as John Adams said to his wife Abigail, "To be good, and to do good is all we have to do." (John Adams, Simon & Schuster, 2002, 170.) Which is not unlike what President George W. Bush said to a Joint Session of Congress nine days after the Twin Towers disaster: "I ask you to uphold the values of America, and remember why so many have come here. We are in a fight for our principles, and our first responsibility is to live by them."

America can be no stronger than the goodness of its people. So I repeat: What kind of trail are we leaving behind us? And what seeds are we sowing? May I suggest three seeds we must individually sow if we wish to collectively reap a bountiful national harvest. They are the seeds of integrity, selflessness, and devotion to God.

Number One. Integrity.

Integrity is the first rung on the character ladder, for where there is integrity, other virtues follow. Where there is no integrity, other virtues have no chance of developing.

Today there seem to be flagrant violations of integrity everywhere—the newsroom, the locker room, the board room, even the court room and school room. Spin doctors who can turn a clever phrase but whose regard for the truth is often tainted, seem to be everywhere. Just because someone can artfully express themselves doesn't mean they're worth listening to. "Spinning" used to be what happened in one of Disneyland's famous teacups, not what you did when you wanted to shade or shave the edges off the truth.

Just prior to the last presidential election, I was invited to address an east coast professional organization on the topic of leadership. The "jist" of my message was that true leaders embodied certain virtues—with the key virtue being integrity—because a man or woman who can't be trusted can't lead. I also admitted that the ongoing national debate about whether or not a leader should be expected to be honest had been, to me, absurd.

After the presentation, an accomplished businesswoman approached me. "You know," she said, "I've never thought about the connection between leadership and integrity. But I guess it really is impossible to lead people if they don't trust you."

It was everything I could do to not reply, "You must be kidding! You've never thought your leaders should tell the truth?" Tell me, Do you care if the person who controls your pension tells the truth? Do you care if your son's high school principal is honest about what is going on in his school? Do you care if your daughter's soccer coach is fair, or if companies who package your food adhere to FDA standards? Would you like to know that your surgeon didn't cheat his way through his residency? Do you care if your husband or wife or best friend tells you the truth?

Of course you do, because it is not possible to develop a relationship, any relationship— whether between husband/wife, parent/child, teacher/student, or business/customer—with someone you can't trust. There is a reason adultery is referred to as "cheating," because it constitutes such a cruel breach of trust. Trust is the keystone that holds every organization together-whether it is a marriage or a family or a business or a nation.

Our Founding Fathers clearly understood this. When they signed the Declaration of Independence, they pledged not only their lives and fortunes but their sacred honor. They didn't just moralize about integrity. They modeled it. Said one historian of George Washington, "He never lied, fudged, or cheated. . . .[He] came to stand for the new nation and its republican virtues, which was why he became our first President by unanimous choice." (To America, Simon & Schuster, 2002, 10.) Washington himself admitted, "I hope I shall always possess firmness and virtue enough to maintain what I consider the most enviable of all titles, the character of an 'Honest Man.'" (The Spirit of America, 220.)

John Adams felt similarly. He told his grandsons, "I had rather you should be worthy possessors of one thousand pounds honestly acquired by your own labor. . .than of ten millions by banks and tricks." (John Adams, 668-69.) On another occasion Adams declared, "I never swerved from any principle. . .to obtain a vote. I never sacrificed a friend or betrayed a trust." (John Adams, 595.) Which is perhaps why, upon his inauguration as second president, he was called "a man of incorruptible integrity." (John Adams, 470.)

Honest Abe's reputation was equally well-earned. One story is representative. At twenty-four, Lincoln was named postmaster of New Salem, Illinois, at an annual salary of $55.70. But the New Salem office closed before the year was out. It was several years before an agent arrived from Washington to claim the unearned balance of Lincoln's salary—a whopping $17—and by then, his law practice was floundering and Lincoln was broke. But when asked to produce the unearned back pay, Lincoln opened a trunk and removed a yellowed rag bound with string. Inside was the seventeen dollars. The agent was stunned to find the original money untouched. Lincoln said, simply, "I never use any man's money but my own." Imagine what such behavior would do to Wall Street, not to mention Main Street.

Lincoln's moral courage became legendary, for a reason he himself once explained: "The probability that we may fail in the struggle ought not to deter us from the support of a cause we believe to be just; it shall not deter me." (Gene Griessman, The Words Lincoln Lived By, Fireside, 1997, 19.)

Trust is earned one person at a time. Do you do what you say you will do? Can you keep a confidence? Do you tell the truth? Your word is who you are.

Job set the example. Even after losing his wealth, his health, and his family, he declared, "I will not remove mine integrity from me. My righteousness I hold fast, and will not let it go." (Job 27:5-6.) The men and women I admire most are those whose integrity is intact. I find it impossible to admire those whose integrity is not.

Everyone wishes to be dealt with honestly, for it is the only way we can build relation-ships that in turn build our society. And besides, as Mark Twain put it, "If you tell the truth, you don't have to remember anything."

Number Two. Selflessness.

Selfless service has been core to our nation from the beginning. Recently we have again seen dramatic examples of this, as men and women in uniform put their lives on the line to do for us what we were not in a position to do for ourselves. I'll never forget walking through the American Military Cemetery in Manila, where halfway around the world acre after acre of white crosses and Stars of David mark the graves of thousands of Americans who died defending our freedom. That beautiful cemetery in that hot, muggy, distant land felt like hallowed ground.

When in England prior to the recent war with Iraq, Secretary of State Colin Powell is reported to have been asked by the Archbishop of Canterbury if our plans for Iraq were just empire-building. Secretary Powell responded by saying: "Over the years the United States has sent many of its fine young men and women into great peril to fight for freedom beyond our borders. The only amount of land we have asked for is enough to bury those who did not return."

Our history is filled with sterling examples of selfless service. John Adams hinted at the sacrifice he and other Founding Fathers made in a letter to his posterity: "You will never know how much it cost [our] generation to preserve your freedom. I hope you will make good use of it! If you do not, I shall repent in Heaven that I ever took half the pains to preserve it!" (John Adams to Abigail, 1777; Words to Live By, 255.)

Today opportunities to serve one another are endless. There are causes every one of us can care about: school violence, the homeless, pornography, gangs, addiction and abuse in all their forms, and the list goes on and on. As President Bush said this year in his State of the Union address, "Sometimes it takes just one person in someone's life. I urge YOU to be that person."

We are each in a position to make the lives of others better, often in simple ways. For decades, through bouts of cancer and chemotherapy, every election day has found my mother on duty at the election board from before dawn to way past dusk-just like thousands of other Americans who facilitate our privilege to vote. When I asked mom why she has served on the election board for so long, she said, "They have needed help, and I have been able to help." Being willing to help is what makes America strong.

May I suggest, however, that the most crucial service any of us ever give is in our homes, for the family is the fundamental unit of our society. If the family fails, our country will fail.

President Gordon B. Hinckley, President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, said: "I believe our problems, almost every one, arise out of the homes of the people. If there is to be a reformation, if there is to be a change, if there is to be a return to old and sacred values, it must begin in the home. It is here that truth is learned, that integrity is cultivated, that self-discipline is instilled, and that love is nurtured. . . .It is in the home that we learn the values by which we guide our lives. That home may be ever so simple. . ., but with a good father and a good mother, it can become a place of wondrous upbringing. . . .It is broken homes that lead to a breakup in society." (Ensign, November 1998.)

Study after study has confirmed that President Hinckley is exactly right. The proportion of children in broken families has more than quadrupled since 1950. (National Center for Health Statistics data series.) Today, only 42 percent of youth between 14-18 live in an intact, two-parent, married family. Children whose parents divorce are more likely to skip school, get drunk, hurt someone enough to need a doctor, steal, and lie. (National Longitudinal Survey of Youth, 1996, The Heritage Foundation.) On the other hand, teenagers whose parents worship together regularly are far less likely to engage in premarital sex. (National Longitudinal Survey of Adolescent Health, 1995; Center for Data Analysis, The Heritage Foundation.)

These trends are revealing. Clearly, the family is the best place to teach and model the virtue of personal virtue in all its forms. When Thomas Jefferson's wife died, his daughters Martha and Mary were 10 and 4. He relied on Martha to help him teach Mary, telling her, "Teach [Mary] above all things to be good: because without that we can be neither valued by others or ourselves." (Spirit of America, 223.)

We haven't time this evening to detail the contemporary assaults on the family. But here is the bottom line: A village may enrich the life of a child, but a village can never take the place of a mother and father who are faithful to each other and dedicated to raising that child. Marriage between a husband and wife is the best environment in which to raise healthy, happy children who become healthy, happy, contributing adults. Thus, there may not be anything we can do to have a more dramatic effect on the strength of our country than to strengthen our families. And it can happen in simple ways.

My homesteading grandmother, who died when I was eleven, has influenced me my entire life. In Grandma's life history she wrote about the accidental death of her 32-year-old son. "This has been a very hard thing for us to take" she wrote. "It has left a great vacancy that cannot be filled in this life." It was, however, the juxtaposition of Grandma's next sentence that moved me. "But God has been good to us. And I wish to say for the benefit of our posterity, do not ever be slack in your duties. . . .We must always be found defending truth. And we must found teaching it by our every word and action."

I came across these pages recently during a week when I'd had one disillusioning episode after another. I was so discouraged. I felt spent-until I read Grandma's words. Her faith strengthened my faith. Her resolve reinforced mine. Her determination to go on despite despair inspired me to go on. Once again, I harvested seeds she planted long ago.

The family should be where we replenish our emotional supply, for it is the best place to find the courage to be more and do more than we can be or do on our own. Every time a family is strengthened, this nation grows stronger.

Number Three. Devotion to God.

I can vividly remember when history came alive for me—when I realized history was not just obscure facts in dusty old books, but that it was about real people. I was in Istanbul looking at the ancient wall that surrounds that city and that was built during the Ottoman Empire. I found myself wanting to know more about the people who had lived there and then, and what motivated them to build such a wall.

I love trying to understand what motivates people—and particularly those who laid the foundations of this country, for our history is a spiritually stirring saga. There are some today who feel God shouldn't play a role in our public lives, but anyone who knows our history realizes our Founding Fathers didn't see it that way at all. Here is just some of the evidence that this is so: Columbus recorded this: "Our Lord unlocked my mind, sent me upon the sea, and gave me fire for the deed. Those who heard of my enterprise called it foolish, mocked me, and laughed. But who can doubt but that the Holy Ghost inspired me?" (Jacob Wasserman, Columbus, Don Quixote of the Seas, trans. Eric Sutton, 19-20.)

Most who came to this new world believed it had been reserved by God for His purposes. The Pilgrims of Plymouth, the Calverts of Maryland, Roger Williams, William Penn, and many others had deep religious convictions that drove them to this land. John Winthrop preached that his people had covenanted with God to obtain a new place and government. (See Andrew Cunningham McLaughlin, The Foundations of American Constitutionalism, NYU Press, 1932, 33.) And when the Pilgrims landed in this hemisphere, Governor William Bradford recorded, "They fell upon their knees and blessed the God of Heaven." (In God, Family, Country, 115.)

Later, on the eve of the Revolution, Patrick Henry declared that "there is a just God who presides over the destinies of nations, and who will raise up friends to fight our battles for us." (Quoted in This Nation Shall Endure, 68-69.)

And raise up friends He did, for that ragtag band of Colonists should never have won the Revolutionary War. They were outmanned, outmaneuvered, outsmarted, and outgunned again and again by a superior British army. Yet they prevailed. Surely the only explanation is the intervention of God.

That is certainly to Whom George Washington attributed the victory, stating in his first Inaugural Address: "No people can be bound to acknowledge and adore the invisible hand, which conducts the Affairs of men, more than the People of the United States. Every step. . .seems to have been distinguished by some token of providential agency." (The Spirit of America, ed., William. J. Bennett, Simon & Schuster, 1997, 381-82.)

A few years later, when a deadlock gripped the Constitutional Convention, Benjamin Franklin urged that "henceforth prayers imploring the assistance of Heaven, and its blessings on our deliberation, be held in this Assembly every morning before we proceed to business." (Notes of the Debates in the Federal Convention of 1787 Reported by James Madison, Athens, Ohio: Ohio University Press, 1966, xxiii.) The Constitution that resulted from that convention was itself revolutionary. Wrote convention delegate Charles Pickney: "When the great work [of the Constitution] was done. . .I was. . .struck with amazement. Nothing less than that superintending hand of Providence, that so miraculously carried us through the war. . .,could have brought it about so complete." (Essays on the Constitution, ed. P. L. ford, 1892, 412.)

Indeed, the Constitution—which is the most significant legislative document ever adopted by a people—exceeded the genius of the delegates. Surely it was the work of principled men inspired by God-men who not only believed in God, but believed God was guiding them.

This rich heritage of divine guidance makes some developments today hard to understand. I cite as an example the recent court decision banning the Pledge of Allegiance from schoolrooms because of its reference to God. Of course, this wasn't the first. A few years ago the state of New Jersey passed a law deleting any mention of God from courtroom oaths. And not long thereafter, another judge banned Bibles for delivering such oaths because "you-know-who [was] mentioned inside." (Wall Street Journal, 31 July 1996.)

Such developments are frightening. Those who insist that God has no place in our public discourse simply do not understand the fundamental premise upon which this country was founded and upon which it depends. Either that, or they're just plain evil—and perhaps belong on President Bush's list of evildoers. Freedom isn't always lost on the battlefield.

Of course, none of this is new. During the darkest days of the Civil War, President Lincoln called for a national day of fasting and prayer, declaring: "We have been recipients of the choicest bounties of Heaven;. . .we have grown in number, wealth, and power as no other Nation has ever grown. But we have forgotten God. We have forgotten the gracious hand which. . . enriched and strengthened us, and we have vainly imagined. . .that all these blessings were produced by some superior wisdom and virtue of our own. Intoxicated with. . .success we have become. . .too proud to pray to the God that made us. It behooves us. . .to humble ourselves before the offended power." Lincoln concluded by stating, simply: "Those nations only are blessed whose God is the Lord." (Quoted in John Wesley Hill, Abraham Lincoln: Man of God, New York, G. P. Putnam's Sons, 1927, 391; also This Nation Shall Endure, 80-81, 390.)

I wonder what Abraham Lincoln would think of us today. Have we too become intoxicated with our wealth and world domination? Have we become so arrogant that we actually believe we are the ones who have engineered our prosperity? Have we been given so much for so long that we take our privileges for granted? Have we become so self-important and sophisticated that we have forgotten God?

Such trends and attitudes, if they persist unchecked, do not bode well, for as Washington said: "The. . . smiles of heaven can never be expected on a nation that disregards the eternal rules of order and right, which heaven itself has ordained." (Harvard Classics, vol. 43, 243.)

More recently, President Gordon B. Hinckley said this: "We are forgetting God, whose commandments we have put aside. . . .In all too many ways we have substituted human sophistry for the wisdom of the Almighty. . . .Can we expect peace and prosperity. . .while turning our backs on the source of our strength?" (The Spirit of America, Bookcraft, 1998.)

The answer is no. President Lincoln admitted, "I have felt [God's] hand upon me in great trials and submitted to His guidance, and I trust that as He shall further open the way I will be ready to walk therein, relying on His help and trusting in His. . .wisdom." (See Carl Sandburg, Abraham Lincoln: The Prairie Years and The War Years, 1954, Harcourt Brace, 578.)

More recently, some have criticized President Bush for openly acknowledging his dependance upon God. But I must say that I find comfort in knowing that the man who can send us to war is humble enough to pray about it. Those who look to God, believe in Him, and serve Him, are simply doing what our Founding Fathers did-and making our country stronger in the process. Is it time for all of us to once again humble ourselves before God? For make no mistake about it: We are one nation under God.

A couple of years ago I had the poignant experience of visiting the Hiroshima Peace Park. I was accompanied by two missionaries from my Church. As emotional as the memorial was, what touched me most was the fact that Sister Nawahine from Pearl Harbor, Hawaii and Sister Kato from Tokyo, Japan—whose countries' bitter war led to the devastation at Hiroshima—toured the park arm in arm, the best of friends. That day, I saw firsthand that devotion to God can heal all wounds, bridge all cultures, and bless us with peace and freedom.

We are reaping benefits of the seeds of peace and freedom sown by our Founding Fathers and others who forged a stunning trail of integrity, selflessness, and devotion to God. Which again prompts the questions, What trail are we leaving behind us? And what seeds are we sowing?

None of us live only for ourselves. Everything we do affects others. Our collective breaches of integrity and misdeeds could eventually bring our nation down. And likewise, our collective virtue could make America stronger than it has ever been.

I like what Abigail Adams wrote her husband John during a troubling time: "You cannot be. . .an inactive spectator. We have too many high sounding words, and too few actions that correspond with them." (John Adams, 21.)

Those of us who know we are living in a land created by God for the benefit of a moral people cannot afford to be inactive spectators if we wish to preserve the destiny of this nation. Every man and woman, boy and girl, can make a difference. Every young adult. Every family. Homemakers and CEOs and professors. Those who are wealthy and those who are not. Black and white and brown. Old and young and in-between. Those who were born here and those who have been adopted into the American family. Every one of us can make a difference by the seeds we sow and the trail we leave behind us. Those who live with integrity, who give of themselves, and who never forget that God is the Presiding Authority in the universe, are destined to do good and be good. And that is what will continue to make America great.

I am not calling tonight for some unrealistic form of perfection, but I do believe it is possible to be perfectly honest every day. I believe it is possible to live so that others can trust our motives, our judgment, and our word. I believe it is possible to forget ourselves and make life better for someone else through some kind of ongoing selfless service—especially service in our families. And I believe it is not only possible but vital that we strengthen our devotion to God by doing a better job of living as His children ought to live.

There is a statement inscribed on a wall in the Library of Congress that says: "The history of the world is the biography of great men." And I would add, great women. Note that it doesn't say famous men or women. Wealthy men or women. Or gorgeous men or women. It says great men and women. Which I take to mean, in the spirit of de Tocqueville, good men and women.

I will never forget the first time I saw the Lincoln Memorial. It was after dark, and as I climbed the stairs leading up to the monument, what I saw caught my breath: a majestic statue of our sixteenth president, seated as though presiding over the whole of Washington, D. C. I had read enough about Lincoln to know that nothing in his life had come easy. I knew he'd felt alone and stood alone again and again. Which is probably why my eyes filled with tears as I read the inscription engraved above his head: "In this temple, as in the hearts of the people for whom he saved the union, the memory of Abraham Lincoln is enshrined forever."

It is not surprising that it was Lincoln who, in the midst of the Civil War, described the situation in which we once again find ourselves: "We cannot escape history. We. . .will be remembered in spite of ourselves. . . .We know how to save the Union. The world knows we. . .know how to save it. . . .We shall nobly save, or meanly lose, the last best, hope of earth." (As quoted in David Herbert McDonald, Lincoln, Simon & Schuster, 1995, 398.)

You and I cannot escape history, either. We will be remembered in spite of ourselves. We do know how to preserve this union. We can do our part by living with integrity, serving others, and devoting ourselves to God.

During this week of celebration, as you consider what it means to be a citizen of this great nation, I hope you'll think about the wise words of a terrific nine-year-old as he prayed for his old aunt. I hope you'll think long and hard about the trail you're leaving behind, the seeds you are sowing, and the seeds you wish to sow. And I hope you might join with me in accepting the invitation to identify one way you can live with greater integrity, more selflessness, and greater respect for God.

May we each go forward, determined to keep America great by keeping America good. God will help us. We are His children. This is His nation. And if we will turn to Him, He Himself will help us preserve this great land of liberty.

In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.

"Our Father knew exactly what He was doing when He created us," said Sister Dew, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency. "He made us enough alike to love each other, but enough different that we would need to unite our strengths and stewardships to create a whole. . . .

"Thus, no marriage or family, no ward or stake is likely to reach its full potential until husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, men and women work together in unity of purpose, respecting and relying upon each other's strengths."

Speaking Saturday morning, Sister Dew said she wanted to direct her remarks to the young adult men and women of the Church.

"These truths about the divinely appointed stewardships of men and women are largely lost on the world today. . . ," she said. "The Lord's pattern for couples and in large measure men and women serving together in His kingdom, was established by our first parents. Together Adam and Eve labored, mourned, were obedient, had children, taught their posterity the gospel, called upon the name of the Lord, 'heard the voice of the Lord,' blessed the name of God and dedicated themselves to God."

Sister Dew said some may try to persuade the Church's young women that because they are not ordained to the priesthood that they have been shortchanged. "Sisters, we as women are not diminished by priesthood power; we are magnified by it."

She told the Church's young men that their ordination to the priesthood is a grand privilege and responsibility and not a license to dominate. "Be unfailingly worthy to exercise this godly power, which is given you to be of service. A man is never more magnificent than when he is guided by the Spirit to honor the priesthood he holds."

In addition, Sister Dew counseled young men to be humble enough to listen and learn from the women in their lives. "They will provide insight, balance and unique wisdom," she said.

Concluding, Sister Dew said men and women of God must build each other in order to build the kingdom of God. "There is no challenge — with activation, retention, families or anything — that we can't solve when we counsel together in councils and help each other lift the load."

This summer I injured a shoulder and lost the use of an arm for weeks. I hadn't realized how much one arm depends upon the other for balance, or how much less I could lift with one arm than two, or that there were some things I couldn't do at all. This disability not only renewed my respect for those who deal so well with a physical limitation, but helped me realize how much more two arms working together can do.

Two are usually better than one,¹ as our Father confirmed when He declared that "it was not good that the man should be alone"² and made a help meet for Adam—someone with distinct gifts who would give him balance, help him shoulder the burdens of mortality, and enable him to do things he couldn't do alone. For "neither is the man without the woman, neither the woman without the man, in the Lord."³

Satan understands the power of men and women united in righteousness. He is still stinging from his banishment into eternal exile after Michael led the hosts of heaven, comprised of valiant men and women united in the cause of Christ, against him. In the chilling words of Peter, "The devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour."⁴ Lucifer is determined to devour marriages and families, because their demise threatens the salvation of all involved and the vitality of the Lord's kingdom itself. Thus, Satan seeks to confuse us about our stewardships and distinctive natures as men and women. He bombards us with bizarre messages about gender, marriage, family, and all male-female relationships. He would have us believe men and women are so alike that our unique gifts are not necessary, or so different we can never hope to understand each other. Neither is true.

Our Father knew exactly what He was doing when He created us. He made us enough alike to love each other, but enough different that we would need to unite our strengths and stewardships to create a whole. Neither man nor woman is perfect or complete without the other. Thus, no marriage or family, no ward or stake is likely to reach its full potential until husbands and wives, mothers and fathers, men and women work together in unity of purpose, respecting and relying upon each other's strengths.

These truths about the divinely appointed stewardships of men and women are largely lost on the world today. You will not find them on a TV sitcom or even, sadly, in some homes and wards. But they are not lost to the Lord, who has given us "a pattern in all things, that [we] may not be deceived."⁵ The Lord's pattern for couples and in large measure men and women serving together in His kingdom was established by our first parents. Together Adam and Eve labored,⁶ mourned,⁷ were obedient, had children,⁸ taught their posterity the gospel,⁹ called upon the name of the Lord, "heard the voice of the Lord,"¹⁰ blessed the name of God,¹¹ and dedicated themselves to God. Repeatedly the scriptures about Adam and Eve refer to the pronoun they.

Neither Adam with his priesthood nor Eve with her motherhood could bring about the Fall alone. Their unique roles were interconnected. They counseled with one another, lifted burdens neither could have lifted alone, and then faced the wilderness, with all of its uncertainty, together. This is the Lord's pattern for righteous men and women.

Now, some of us encounter life circumstances that are less than ideal. I understand this. I personally deal with this. And yet, my dear young friends, in whose hands rests the future of the Church and its families, I must tell you that your understanding of this divine pattern will affect your marriage, your family, your ability to help build the kingdom, and your eternal life.

My young sisters, some will try to persuade you that because you are not ordained to the priesthood you have been shortchanged. They are simply wrong, and they do not understand the gospel of Jesus Christ. The blessings of the priesthood are available to every righteous man and woman. We may all receive the Holy Ghost, obtain personal revelation, and be endowed in the temple, from which we emerge "armed" with power.¹² The power of the priesthood heals, protects, and inoculates all of the righteous against the powers of darkness. Most significantly, the fulness of the priesthood contained in the highest ordinances of the house of the Lord can only be received by a man and woman together.¹³ Said President Harold B. Lee: "Pure womanhood plus priesthood means exaltation. But womanhood without priesthood, or priesthood without pure womanhood doesn't spell exaltation."¹⁴

Sisters, we as women are not diminished by priesthood power, we are magnified by it. I know this is true, for I have experienced it again and again.

Your future husbands and the men with whom you serve will need the support only you can give. You have an inner spiritual strength that President James E. Faust said equals and even surpasses that of men.¹⁵ Do not abdicate your spiritual responsibility. Your faith will preach compelling sermons. No amount of time in front of the mirror will make you as attractive as having the Holy Ghost with you. Bless your family and the Church as only a woman of God can—with virtue, faith, integrity, and constant compassion.

Young men, your ordination to the priesthood is a grand privilege and responsibility, and not a license to dominate. Be unfailingly worthy to exercise this godly power, which is given you to be of service. A man is never more magnificent than when he is guided by the Spirit to honor the priesthood he holds.

If you will marry a virtuous woman who can hear the voice of the Lord, she will bless your life every day of your life. Consider Eve. She was the first to see that the fruit of the tree was good, and after partaking, she "gave unto her husband . . . , and he did eat."¹⁶ Were it not for Eve, our progression would have ceased. Elder Dallin H. Oaks stated that her act was "a glorious necessity [that opened] the doorway toward eternal life. Adam showed his wisdom by doing the same."¹⁷

Young men, you will preside at home and in the Church. But be humble enough to listen to and learn from the women in your life. They will provide insight, balance, and unique wisdom. And when challenges come, you will see how resilient a woman committed to God the Father and Jesus Christ is.

This divine pattern for men and women that strengthens marriages and families also fortifies the Church. For the Church cannot achieve the full measure of its creation unless both faithful men who bear the priesthood and righteous women who rejoice in serving under the direction of the priesthood work together. Time and again I have experienced this joy.

I think of a meeting in Brazil where I had a translator who was unsure of her ability to convert my English into Portuguese. But as it turned out, she and I communicated with ease. After the meeting I found out why. I learned that not only had the General Authority who presided been literally on the edge of his seat behind us the entire meeting, prompting the translator when necessary, but he had also assigned another priesthood leader to pray for both of us throughout the meeting.

That General Authority created a safety net of support so that I could fulfill the assignment he had given me. Such a circle of support has no end, because there is no end to the good works of righteous men and women who respect each other and who thrust in their sickles and reap, side by side, in the Lord's vineyard. If we are going to build the kingdom of God, we as men and women of God must build each other. There is no challenge—with activation, retention, families, or anything—that we can't solve when we counsel together in councils and help each other lift the load.

My dear young friends, learn the Lord's pattern for men and women now. Ponder the scriptural accounts of Adam and Eve and see what the Lord will teach you that will strengthen your marriage, your family, and your Church service. Recent devastating events in the United States seem to indicate difficult days ahead. But they are days that will be filled with confidence and courage if the men and women of your generation unite in righteousness as never before. There is no limit to what you can accomplish if you will work together, equally yoked, under the guidance of the priesthood.

Our Father's patterns help us avoid deception. Look to the Lord and not to the world for your ideas and ideals about men and women. For, my young friends, you are the mothers, fathers, and leaders who were reserved for this unprecedented time because our Father knows you, and He knows you have what it takes to face the world and to be fearless in building the kingdom. Do it together, for it is not good for man or woman to be alone. Lift each other, and together you will be able to lift the beautiful burdens of mortality and have glory added upon your heads forever.¹⁸ The Lord must have righteous men and righteous women to build His kingdom. I know that this is so. God is our Father. His Only Begotten Son is the Christ. This is Their work and Their glory. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

NOTES

1. See Eccl. 4:9.

2. Moses 3:18; see also Abr. 5:14.

3. 1 Cor. 11:11.

4. 1 Pet. 5:8.

5. D&C 52:14.

6. See Moses 5:1.

7. See Moses 5:27.

8. See 2 Ne. 2:20.

9. See Moses 5:12.

10. Moses 5:4.

11. See Moses 5:12.

12. See D&C 109:22.

13. See D&C 131:1–4; D&C 132:19–20.

14. The Teachings of Harold B. Lee (1996), 292.

15. See "What It Means to Be a Daughter of God," Ensign, Nov. 1999, 101.

16. Moses 4:12.

17. "The Great Plan of Happiness," Ensign, Nov. 1993, 73.

18. See Abr. 3:26.

Thankfully, we finally made it to the chapel. But for one unnerving hour, I better understood how mothers who forgo their own safety to protect a child must feel. My siblings had entrusted me with their daughters, whom I love, and I would have done anything to lead them to safety. Likewise, our Father has entrusted us as women with His children, and He has asked us to love them and help lead them safely past the dangers of mortality back home.

Loving and leading — these words summarize not only the all-consuming work of the Father and the Son, but the essence of our labor, for our work is to help the Lord with His work. How, then, may we as Latter-day women of God best help the Lord with His work?

Prophets have repeatedly answered this question, as did the First Presidency six decades ago when they called motherhood "the highest, holiest service . . . assumed by mankind."¹

Have you ever wondered why prophets have taught the doctrine of motherhood — and it is doctrine — again and again? I have. I have thought long and hard about the work of women of God. And I have wrestled with what the doctrine of motherhood means for all of us. This issue has driven me to my knees, to the scriptures, and to the temple — all of which teach an ennobling doctrine regarding our most crucial role as women. It is a doctrine about which we must be clear if we hope to stand "steadfast and immovable"² regarding the issues that swirl around our gender. For Satan has declared war on motherhood. He knows that those who rock the cradle can rock his earthly empire. And he knows that without righteous mothers loving and leading the next generation, the kingdom of God will fail.

When we understand the magnitude of motherhood, it becomes clear why prophets have been so protective of woman's most sacred role. While we tend to equate motherhood solely with maternity, in the Lord's language, the word mother has layers of meaning. Of all the words they could have chosen to define her role and her essence, both God the Father and Adam called Eve "the mother of all living"³ — and they did so before she ever bore a child. Like Eve, our motherhood began before we were born. Just as worthy men were foreordained to hold the priesthood in mortality,⁴ righteous women were endowed premortally with the privilege of motherhood.⁵ Motherhood is more than bearing children, though it is certainly that. It is the essence of who we are as women. It defines our very identity, our divine stature and nature, and the unique traits our Father gave us.

President Gordon B. Hinckley stated that "God planted within women something divine."⁶ That something is the gift and the gifts of motherhood. Elder Matthew Cowley taught that "men have to have something given to them [in mortality] to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. [They] are born with an inherent right, an inherent authority, to be the saviors of human souls . . . and the regenerating force in the lives of God's children."⁷

Motherhood is not what was left over after our Father blessed His sons with priesthood ordination. It was the most ennobling endowment He could give His daughters, a sacred trust that gave women an unparalleled role in helping His children keep their second estate. As President J. Reuben Clark Jr. declared, motherhood is "as divinely called, as eternally important in its place as the Priesthood itself."⁸

Nevertheless, the subject of motherhood is a very tender one, for it evokes some of our greatest joys and heartaches. This has been so from the beginning. Eve was "glad" after the Fall, realizing she otherwise "never should have had seed."⁹ And yet, imagine her anguish over Cain and Abel. Some mothers experience pain because of the children they have borne; others feel pain because they do not bear children here. About this Elder John A. Widtsoe was explicit: "Women who through no fault of their own cannot exercise the gift of motherhood directly, may do so vicariously."¹⁰

For reasons known to the Lord, some women are required to wait to have children. This delay is not easy for any righteous woman. But the Lord's timetable for each of us does not negate our nature. Some of us, then, must simply find other ways to mother. And all around us are those who need to be loved and led.

Eve set the pattern. In addition to bearing children, she mothered all of mankind when she made the most courageous decision any woman has ever made and with Adam opened the way for us to progress. She set an example of womanhood for men to respect and women to follow, modeling the characteristics with which we as women have been endowed: heroic faith, a keen sensitivity to the Spirit, an abhorrence of evil, and complete selflessness. Like the Savior, "who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross,"¹¹ Eve, for the joy of helping initiate the human family, endured the Fall. She loved us enough to help lead us.

As daughters of our Heavenly Father, and as daughters of Eve, we are all mothers and we have always been mothers. And we each have the responsibility to love and help lead the rising generation. How will our young women learn to live as women of God unless they see what women of God look like, meaning what we wear, watch, and read; how we fill our time and our minds; how we face temptation and uncertainty; where we find true joy; and why modesty and femininity are hallmarks of righteous women? How will our young men learn to value women of God if we don't show them the virtue of our virtues?

Every one of us has an overarching obligation to model righteous womanhood because our youth may not see it anywhere else. Every sister in Relief Society, which is the most significant community of women on this side of the veil, is responsible to help our young women make a joyful transition into Relief Society. This means our friendship with them must begin long before they turn 18. Every one of us can mother someone — beginning, of course, with the children in our own families but extending far beyond. Every one of us can show by word and by deed that the work of women in the Lord's kingdom is magnificent and holy. I repeat: We are all mothers in Israel, and our calling is to love and help lead the rising generation through the dangerous streets of mortality.

Few of us will reach our potential without the nurturing of both the mother who bore us and the mothers who bear with us. I was thrilled recently to see one of my youth leaders for the first time in years. As a teenager who had absolutely no self-confidence, I always sidled up to this woman because she would put her arm around me and say, "You are just the best girl!" She loved me, so I let her lead me. How many young men and women are desperate for your love and leadership? Do we fully realize that our influence as mothers in Israel is irreplaceable and eternal?

When I was growing up, it was not uncommon for Mother to wake me in the middle of the night and say, "Sheri, take your pillow and go downstairs." I knew what that meant. It meant a tornado was coming, and I was instantly afraid. But then Mother would say, "Sheri, everything will be OK." Her words always calmed me. Today, decades later, when life seems overwhelming or frightening, I call Mother and wait for her to say, "Everything will be OK."

Recent horrifying events in the United States have underscored the fact that we live in a world of uncertainty. Never has there been a greater need for righteous mothers — mothers who bless their children with a sense of safety, security, and confidence about the future, mothers who teach their children where to find peace and truth and that the power of Jesus Christ is always stronger than the power of the adversary. Every time we build the faith or reinforce the nobility of a young woman or man, every time we love or lead anyone even one small step along the path, we are true to our endowment and calling as mothers and in the process we build the kingdom of God. No woman who understands the gospel would ever think that any other work is more important or would ever say, "I am just a mother," for mothers heal the souls of men.

Look around. Who needs you and your influence? If we really want to make a difference, it will happen as we mother those we have borne and those we are willing to bear with. If we will stay right with our youth — meaning, if we will love them — in most cases they will stay right with us — meaning, they will let us lead them.

As mothers in Israel, we are the Lord's secret weapon. Our influence comes from a divine endowment that has been in place from the beginning. In the premortal world, when our Father described our role, I wonder if we didn't stand in wide-eyed wonder that He would bless us with a sacred trust so central to His plan and that He would endow us with gifts so vital to the loving and leading of His children. I wonder if we shouted for joy¹² at least in part because of the ennobling stature He gave us in His kingdom. The world won't tell you that, but the Spirit will.

We just can't let the Lord down. And if the day comes when we are the only women on earth who find nobility and divinity in motherhood, so be it. For mother is the word that will define a righteous woman made perfect in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom, a woman who has qualified for eternal increase in posterity, wisdom, joy, and influence.

I know, I absolutely know, that these doctrines about our divine role are true, and that when understood they bring peace and purpose to all women. My dear sisters, whom I love more than I know how to express, will you rise to the challenge of being mothers in these perilous times, though doing so may test the last ounce of your endurance and courage and faith? Will you stand steadfast and immovable as a mother in Israel and a woman of God? Our Father and His Only Begotten Son have given us a sacred stewardship and a holy crown in their kingdom. May we rejoice in it. And may we be worthy of Their trust. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

NOTES

"The Message of the First Presidency to the Church," Improvement Era, Nov. 1942, 761. 2. Mosiah 5:15. 3. Moses 4:26. 4. See Alma 13: 2-4, 7-8. 5. See Spencer W. Kimball, "The Role of Righteous Women," Ensign, Nov. 1979, 102. 6. Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 387. 7. Matthew Cowley Speaks (1954), 109. 8. "Our Wives and Our Mothers in the Eternal Plan," Relief Society Magazine, Dec. 1946, 801. 9. Moses 5:11. 10. Priesthood and Church Government, comp. John A. Widtsoe (1939), 85. 11. Heb. 12:2. 12. See Job 38:7.

As a teenager I did not realize that blending in with the crowd would never be my lot. Nor is it yours. For as women of God we must stand tall so that we will stand out from the rest of the world. Only in doing so may we hope to find joy. For finding joy and standing tall, not in feet or inches but as ambassadors for the Lord, are directly connected.

My family has been reminded of this recently in a very poignant way. I have 17 nieces and nephews, who are a pure delight. We have hiked and biked and fasted and prayed together. And recently we have cried together. A few weeks ago we suffered a crushing loss when an accident took the lives of two of my sister's children--Amanda, who was 11, and Tanner, who was 15. Because we have lived together in love, we have truly wept for the loss of them that died (see D&C 42:45).

Our friends in our hometown wept with us, most of them nonmembers, and we knew their hearts might never be more open to truth than on the day two caskets rested in our little Kansas chapel. So we dedicated the funeral entirely to testifying of Christ and the restored gospel. Afterwards many told us how moved they were by what they heard and by what they felt. Some have even asked to learn more. Now, we don't know if anyone affected by our children's deaths will join the Church. But this we do know--that standing up for what we believe and teaching the gospel to friends who had never before been willing to listen helped soothe our pain and bring us joy as a family.

In this world, the only true joy comes from the gospel--the joy that radiates from the Atonement and from ordinances that transcend the veil, and from the Comforter that salves our souls. Recently my 11-year-old niece Aubrey, whose father died five years ago, was asked by a nonmember friend why she wasn't sad about the deaths of her father and, recently, her cousins. Aubrey's reply was classic: "Not sad? Trust me, we are sad, but we know that we will be together again, so we don't worry as much." As a family we've no doubt cried as much, but we don't worry as we would if we hadn't felt the transcendent reach and healing power of Jesus Christ. The gospel is "beauty for ashes" (Isa. 61:3); it is "the oil of gladness" (Heb. 1:9); it is such good news!

Though our children are gone for now, we have the glorious reassurance that we haven't lost them. But what about our Father's children, our brothers and sisters, who are lost and who face not only physical but spiritual death? The gospel of Jesus Christ is all about people. It's about leaving the ninety and nine and going into the wilderness after those who are lost. It's about bearing one another's burdens, with the ultimate burden anyone can bear being walking through this life without light. Hence the Lord's latter-day plea:

"The field is white already to harvest; and it is the eleventh hour, and the last time that I shall call laborers into my vineyard. . . .

". . . Wherefore, thrust in your sickles, and reap with all your might" (D&C 33:3, 7).

Ancient prophets foresaw a day "when the knowledge of a Savior [would] spread throughout every nation, kindred, tongue, and people" (Mosiah 3:20). That day has come. And it is our turn to thrust in our sickles and help with the harvest. That we are here now is no accident. For aeons of time our Father watched us and knew He could trust us when so much would be at stake. We have been held in reserve for this very hour. We need to understand not just who we are but who we have always been. For we are women of God, and the work of women of God has always been to help build the kingdom of God.

When in premortality we accepted our Father's plan, said Elder John A. Widtsoe, "we agreed, right then and there, to be . . . saviors for the whole human family. . . . The working out of the plan became . . . not merely the Father's work, and the Savior's work, but also our work" (Utah Genealogical and Historical Magazine, Oct. 1934, 189). Then, when we were baptized here, we renewed our commitment to--and our covenant with--the Lord. No wonder President Gordon B. Hinckley has declared that "if the world is going to be saved, we have to do it. . . . No other people in the history of the world have . . . received a . . . more compelling mandate than we [have] . . . , and we'd better be getting at it" ("'Church Is Really Doing Well,'" Church News, 3 July 1999, 3).

Sisters, we have work to do. The Prophet Joseph charged the Relief Society with the work of saving souls (see History of the Church, 5:25), for it is our very nature to nurture and to search after those who are lost. And yet, President Spencer W. Kimball lamented that there was a power in Relief Society that had not "yet been fully exercised to . . . build the Kingdom of God" ("Relief Society--Its Promise and Potential," Ensign, Mar. 1976, 4). For all the good it has done in the past, Relief Society has yet to help move this latter-day work forward as it must. Sisters, the time has come to unleash the power of righteous happiness that exists among women of God. The time has come for us to be anxiously engaged in the work of saving souls. The time has come for the sisters of Relief Society to stand with and for the prophet in helping build the kingdom. The time has come for us each to stand tall and to stand together.

Standing tall begins with our own conversion, for when we taste the gospel's "exceeding joy" (Alma 36:24) we want to share it. The casseroles and quilts we have made to relieve suffering are splendid acts of kindness, but no service--I repeat, no service--compares with that of leading someone to Christ. Do you want to be happy? I mean really happy? Then nurture someone along the path that leads to the temple and to Christ.

The most effective way to share the gospel is to live it. When we live like disciples of Christ should live, when we aren't just good but happy to be good, others will be drawn to us because we are "distinct and different--in happy ways," as President Kimball prophesied ("The Role of Righteous Women," Ensign, Nov. 1979, 104). Happy about the way we've chosen to live, happy because we're not constantly reshaping ourselves in the world's image, happy because we have "the gift and the power of the Holy Ghost" (1 Ne. 13:37), happy to stand tall so that we will stand out.

Every time we strengthen our own testimony or help someone else strengthen theirs, we build the kingdom of God. Every time we mentor a newly baptized sister or befriend a wandering soul without judging her or invite a nonmember family to home evening or give a Book of Mormon to a colleague or lead a family to the temple or stand up for modesty and motherhood or invite the missionaries into our homes or help someone discover the power of the word, we build the kingdom of God. Imagine how it lifted my sister's spirits when she read this journal entry Tanner had made just before he died: "Thanks, Mom and Dad, for teaching me about Christ." What builds the kingdom more than raising up a child to the Lord?

With the exception of those serving full-time missions, we needn't don name badges or knock on doors to help build the kingdom. For though some would portray us as dowdy and dominated rather than the dynamic, radiant women we are, no woman is more persuasive, no woman has greater influence for good, no woman is a more vibrant instrument in the hands of the Lord than a woman of God who is thrilled to be who she is. I like to think of us as the Lord's secret weapon. If we did have name tags, I would want mine to read: "Sheri Dew, Woman of God, Busy Building the Kingdom of God."

Imagine what would happen in this Church if every morning 4.5 million of us got on our knees and asked our Father who He needed us to reach out to that day. And then imagine if we did it! Imagine if we consecrated our energy and our focus en masse to the greatest service of all, that of leading our sisters and brothers to Christ. Imagine what will happen when we mobilize the sisters of Relief Society to stand together to help build the kingdom. We will see the awakening and arising of a sleeping, slouching giant.

Tonight I invite you to stand tall, to thrust in your sickle and join in this work with vigor. I invite you to rededicate your life to building the kingdom. To reach out to someone who has wandered. To take a new member under your wing. To consider serving a mission with your husband. To look and pray for missionary moments. To make a difference in someone's life spiritually, especially the members of your own family. None of us have to reach everyone. But what if we all reached someone? And then someone else? And so on. President Hinckley has asked us to "become a vast army with enthusiasm for this work" ("Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep," Ensign, May 1999, 110). As we do so, we will become one of the mightiest forces for good this world has ever seen. For we, the sisters of Relief Society, are women of God. And the work of women of God and the work of the Relief Society has always been to help build the kingdom of God. I believe that we can do more to help our priesthood leaders than we have ever done before.

In my nephew's priesthood quorum, just a few hours before he died, Tanner said this: "You know, if I were to die soon, I would want my funeral to be a missionary farewell." My prayer tonight is that we can be equally clear about our mission as women of God. This isn't just a really nice church that teaches really nice ideas so that we can live really nice lives. This is The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, endowed with His power and charged with carrying His truth to the ends of the earth. I love our Father. And I love His Son. And I have come to know for myself that this is Their work and Their glory and that we are the most blessed of all women to have such a vital part in it. May we lift our "voices as with the sound of a trump" (D&C 42:6). May we find joy as we stand tall and stand together. And may we "cheerfully do all things that lie in our power" (D&C 123:17), and then stand still to see the arm of God revealed as His work goes forward boldly and nobly until "it has . . . swept every country, and sounded in every ear, till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done" (History of the Church, 4:540). In the sacred and holy name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Well, the warning was sobering. But as I proceeded, pleading for direction and protection each step of the way, I realized that my experience wasn't all that unique. Might not our Father have said to you and to me as we left His presence: "The adversary will attempt to thwart your mission, and you will face spiritual and physical danger. But if you will focus on your assignments, if you will heed my voice, and if you will refuse to reduce mortality to a sight-seeing or a shopping trip, you will return safely home"?

The adversary is delighted when we act like sightseers, meaning those who are hearers rather than doers of the word (see James 1:22), or shoppers, meaning those preoccupied with the vain things of this world that suffocate our spirits. Satan baits us with perishable pleasures and preoccupations — our bank accounts, our wardrobes, even our waistlines — for he knows that where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also (see Matt. 6:21). Unfortunately, it is easy to let the blinding glare of the adversary's enticements distract us from the light of Christ. "For what is a man profited, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?" (Matt. 16:26).

Prophets have admonished us to forsake the world and turn our hearts to Jesus Christ, who promised us, "In this world your joy is not full, but in me your joy is full" (D&C 101:36; emphasis added). Said President Spencer W. Kimball, "If we insist on spending all our time and resources building up . . . a worldly kingdom, that is exactly what we will inherit" ("The False Gods We Worship," ENSIGN, June 1976, 6). How often are we so focused on pursuing the so-called good life that we lose sight of eternal life? It is the fatal spiritual equivalent of selling our birthright for a mess of pottage.

The Lord revealed the remedy for such spiritual disaster when He counseled Emma Smith to "lay aside the things of this world, and seek for the things of a better" (D&C 25:10). And Christ provided the pattern, declaring prior to Gethsemane, "I have overcome the world" (John 16:33; emphasis added). The only way that we may overcome the world is by coming unto Christ. And coming unto Christ means walking away from the world. It means placing Christ and Christ only at the center of our lives so that the vanities and philosophies of men lose their addictive appeal. Satan is the god of Babylon, or this world. Christ is the God of Israel, and His Atonement gives us power to overcome the world. "If you expect glory, intelligence and endless lives," said President Joseph F. Smith, "let the world go" (Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph F. Smith [1998], 243; emphasis added).

As sisters in Zion we can be obstacles to the adversary's conspiracy against families and virtue. No wonder he tempts us to settle for earthly pleasures rather than to seek for eternal glory. A 45-year-old mother of six told me recently that when she stopped poring over magazines that plagued her with images of how her home and wardrobe should look, she began to feel more at peace. She said, "I may be chubby, gray, and wrinkled, but I am a chubby, gray, wrinkled daughter of God, who knows me and loves me."

Relief Society can help us turn away from the world, for its express purpose is to help sisters and their families come unto Christ. In that spirit, I join Sister Smoot and Sister Jensen in declaring who we are and in rejoicing in the announced refinements in Relief Society's focus. We no longer have the luxury of spending our energy on anything that does not lead us and our families to Christ. That is the litmus test for Relief Society, as well as for our lives. In the days ahead, a casual commitment to Christ will not carry us through.

As a young girl I saw commitment in my grandmother, who helped Grandpa homestead our farm on the Kansas prairie. Somehow they outlasted the Dust Bowl, the Depression, and the tornadoes that terrorize the Great Plains. I've often wondered how Grandma put up with years of meager income and hard work and how she went on when her oldest son died in a tragic accident. Grandma's life wasn't easy. But do you know what I remember most about her? Her total joy in the gospel. She was never happier than when she was working on family history or teaching with her scriptures in hand. Grandma had laid aside the things of this world to seek for the things of a better.

To the world, my grandma was ordinary. But to me, she represents the unsung heroines of this century who lived up to their premortal promises and left a foundation of faith upon which we may build. Grandma wasn't perfect, but she was a woman of God. Now it is for you and for me to carry forward the banner into the next century. We are not women of the world. We are women of God. And women of God will be among the greatest heroines of the 21st century. As President Joseph F. Smith proclaimed, it is not for us "to be led by the women of the world; it is for [us] to lead . . . the women of the world, in everything that is praise-worthy" (Teachings, 184).

This is not to diminish the lives of countless good women throughout the world. But we are unique. We are unique because of our covenants, our spiritual privileges, and the responsibilities attached to both. We are endowed with power and gifted with the Holy Ghost. We have a living prophet to guide us, ordinances that bind us to the Lord and to each other, and the power of the priesthood in our midst. We understand where we stand in the great plan of happiness. And we know that God is our Father and that His Son is our unfailing Advocate.

With these privileges comes great responsibility, for "unto whom much is given much is required" (D&C 82:3), and at times the demands of discipleship are heavy. But shouldn't we expect the journey towards eternal glory to stretch us? We sometimes rationalize our preoccupation with this world and our casual attempts to grow spiritually by trying to console each other with the notion that living the gospel really shouldn't require all that much of us. The Lord's standard of behavior will always be more demanding than the world's, but then the Lord's rewards are infinitely more glorious — including true joy, peace, and salvation.

How then do we, as women of God, fill the full measure of our creation? The Lord rewards "them that diligently seek him" (Heb. 11:6). We seek Him not only by studying and searching, by pleading and praying and watching always lest we enter into temptation, but by giving up worldly indulgences that straddle the line between God and mammon. Otherwise we risk being called but not chosen because our "hearts are set so much upon the things of this world" (D&C 121:35).

Consider the principle taught in the sequence of this scriptural injunction: "Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, with all thy might, mind, and strength" (D&C 59:5; emphasis added). What the Lord requires first is our hearts. Imagine how our choices would be affected if we loved the Savior above all else. How we would spend our time and money, or dress on a hot summer day, or respond to the call to visit teach and take care of one another, or react to media that offend the Spirit.

It is by letting the world go and coming unto Christ that we increasingly live as women of God. We were born for eternal glory. Just as faithful men were foreordained to hold the priesthood, we were foreordained to be women of God. We are women of faith, virtue, vision, and charity who rejoice in motherhood and in womanhood and in the family. We are not panicked about perfection, but we are working to become more pure. And we know that in the strength of the Lord we can do all righteous things because we have immersed ourselves in His gospel (see Alma 26:12). I repeat, we cannot be women of the world, for we are latter-day women of God. As President Kimball taught, "No greater recognition can come to [us] in this world than to be known as [women] of God" ("The Role of Righteous Women," ENSIGN, Nov. 1979, 102).

This summer I had an unforgettable experience in the Holy Land. As I sat on the Mount of Beatitudes overlooking the Sea of Galilee, I saw in the distance a city built on a hill. The visual image of a city that cannot be hid was stunning, and as I pondered the symbolism I had an overwhelming impression that we as women of God are like that city, that if we will leave behind the things of the world and come unto Christ so that the Spirit radiates through our lives and from our eyes, our uniqueness will be a light unto the world. As sisters of Relief Society, we belong to the most significant community of women on this side of the veil. We are a spectacular city on a hill. And the less we look and act like the women of the world, the more they will look to us as a wellspring of hope, peace, virtue, and joy.

Twenty years ago at this very meeting President Kimball made a statement we have quoted ever since: "Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church in the last days . . . will happen to the degree that the women of the Church reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives and to the degree that [they] are seen as distinct and different — in happy ways — from the women of the world" (ENSIGN, Nov. 1979, 1034; emphasis added). We can no longer be content to just quote President Kimball. We are the sisters who must and will make his prophecy a reality. But we can do it. I know we can.

President Gordon B. Hinckley said recently that "the eternal salvation of the world . . . rests upon the shoulders of this Church. . . . No other people in the history of the world have received . . . [a] more compelling mandate . . . , and we'd better be getting at it" ("'Church Is Really Doing Well,'" Church News, 3 July 1999, 3).

Women of God, that includes us. Tonight I invite each of us to identify at least one thing we can do to come out of the world and come closer to Christ. And then next month, another. And then another. Sisters, this is a call to arms, it's a call to action, a call to arise. A call to arm ourselves with power and with righteousness. A call to rely on the arm of the Lord rather than the arm of flesh. A call to "arise and shine forth, that [our] light may be a standard for the nations" (D&C 115:5). A call to live as women of God so that we and our families may return safely home.

We have such cause to rejoice, for the gospel of Jesus Christ is the voice of gladness! It is because the Savior overcame the world that we may overcome. It is because He rose on the third day that we may arise as women of God. May we lay aside the things of this world and seek for the things of a better. May we commit this very hour to come out of the world and to never look back. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

The Savior's Atonement is stunningly inclusive! "For as in Adam all die, even so in Christ shall all be made alive" (1 Cor. 15:22; emphasis added). Come one, come all, the Lord has invited. The gospel of Jesus Christ is for every man and woman, boy and girl. He doesn't change the rules for the rich or the poor, the married or unmarried, the Portuguese or the Chinese. The gospel is for every one of us, and the spiritual requirements and rewards are universal. In matters pertaining to salvation, "all are alike unto God" (2 Ne. 26:33; emphasis added). The Lord's motives stand in stark contrast to those of Lucifer, who is obsessed with attempting to make us feel less than who we are as sons and daughters of God. He despises a consecrated people and delights at obscuring our vision and enticing us away from the path that leads back to our heavenly home.

As a young BYU student I learned a little something about staying on course when heading home. One Christmas Eve my brother and I left to drive home to Kansas. But early in our journey we learned that a huge snowstorm was heading our way, so we pulled out a map, identified a detour that would skirt the edge of the storm, and headed into parts unknown. Our creative navigating proved dangerous. Our new route was unfamiliar, and we still ran right into the blizzard. To make matters worse, late that night as we were creeping along in blinding snow on an obscure highway, our old Ford quit. We were stranded. And we had absolutely no idea where we were.

Eventually we caught a ride to the nearest town, where we found that we were still hours from home and marooned in Last Chance, Colorado. At that point there was only one thing to do. We called home for help. In the middle of the night our father left to come and rescue us. By the next afternoon we were all safely home.

I'll never forget Christmas Eve in Last Chance, where we were immobilized by a problem largely of our own making and one we were unequipped to solve. That day our father did for us what we could not do for ourselves. Now, each one of us is on the path towards our eternal home. And for various reasons we all need rescue — rescue from loneliness and heartache, from despair and disillusionment, from the consequences of innocent mistakes and blatant sin.

Where do we turn for help? "In the gift of his Son hath God prepared a more excellent way" (Ether 12:11). The Savior isn't our last chance; He is our only chance. Our only chance to overcome self-doubt and catch a vision of who we may become. Our only chance to repent and have our sins washed clean. Our only chance to purify our hearts, subdue our weaknesses, and avoid the adversary. Our only chance to obtain redemption and exaltation. Our only chance to find peace and happiness in this life and eternal life in the world to come.

Left to his own devices, the natural man inevitably succumbs to Satan (see Mosiah 3:19), who abandons his prey once he lures them from the straight and narrow path. But the Savior will guide those who follow Him all the way home. Lehi's family endured an intense wilderness experience designed to teach, test, and sanctify them. Likewise, the path from our former home to eternal life runs right through this earthly wilderness, where we may expect similar challenges and difficulties. But in our journey we are not alone, for the Lord's promise to Lehi is the same to us: "I will prepare the way before you [and] inasmuch as ye shall keep my commandments ye shall be led towards the promised land.... After ye have arrived ... ye shall know that ... the Lord, did deliver you" (1 Ne. 17:13-14).

The Lord knows the way because He is the way and is our only chance for successfully negotiating mortality. His Atonement makes available all of the power, peace, light, and strength that we need to deal with life's challenges — those ranging from our own mistakes and sins to trials over which we have no control but we still feel pain.

The Lord has promised to heal our broken hearts and "to set at liberty them that are bruised" (Luke 4:18); to give power to the faint, to heal the wounded soul, and to turn our weakness into strength (see Isa. 40:29; Jacob 2:8; Ether 12:27); to take upon Him our pains and sicknesses, to blot out our transgressions if we repent, and loose the bands of death (see Alma 7:11-13). He promised that if we will build our lives upon His rock, the devil will have no power over us (see Hel. 5:12). And He has vowed that He will never leave us or forsake us (see Heb. 13:5). There is simply no mortal equivalent. Not in terms of commitment, power, or love. He is our only chance.

Our responsibility is to learn to draw upon the power of the Atonement. Otherwise we walk through mortality relying solely on our own strength. And to do that is to invite the frustration of failure and to refuse the most resplendent gift in time or eternity. "For what doth it profit a man if a gift is bestowed ... and he receive not the gift?" (D&C 88:33). My brother and I would have been foolish to not seek or accept our father's help when we were stranded. Likewise, the Lord is our advocate, and He "knoweth the weakness of man and how to succor them who are tempted" (D&C 62:1). In other words, He knows how to succor all of us. But we activate the power of the Atonement in our lives. We do this by first believing in Him, by repenting, by obeying His commandments, by partaking of sacred ordinances and keeping covenants, and by seeking after Him in fasting and prayer, in the scriptures, and in the temple.

All of which requires our faith in the Lord. President Gordon B. Hinckley has said that "if there is any one thing you and I need ... it is faith."¹ To have faith in Christ is to believe in Him, follow Him, and rely on Him. And it is to be blessed with the peace of conscience and mind that the Apostle Paul spoke of when he said, "I can do all things through Christ which strengtheneth me" (Philip. 4:13).

Not long ago the Relief Society general presidency was asked to meet with two journalists from eastern Europe who were intrigued about service performed by our sisters in their country. We explained that from its earliest days this grand organization of righteous women has sought to not only "relieve the poor but to save souls."² When they asked if we help women with their "emotional problems," explaining that many in their country were discouraged, we responded that in Relief Society we study the doctrines of the gospel, and the gospel teaches us how to be happy even when life is hard. One of the reporters was incredulous: "Is it possible?" she asked. "Is it possible to be happy when life is hard?" Her question tugged at me, for I knew that she did not know where to turn for peace.

Is it possible to be happy when life is hard? To feel peace amid uncertainty and hope in the midst of cynicism? Is it possible to change, to shake off old habits and become new again? Is it possible to live with integrity and purity in a world that no longer values the virtues that distinguish the followers of Christ?

Yes. The answer is yes because of Jesus Christ, whose Atonement ensures that we need not bear the burdens of mortality alone. There is nothing this confused world needs more, nothing that inspires a greater sense of well-being, nothing that has greater power to strengthen families than the gospel of Jesus Christ. President Howard W. Hunter said, "Whatever Jesus lays his hands upon lives. If Jesus lays his hands upon a marriage, it lives. If he is allowed to lay his hands on the family, it lives."³ The Savior will do for each of us what He has promised to do — if we will have faith in Him and receive His gift.

Through the years I, like you, have experienced pressures and disappointments that would have crushed me had I not been able to draw upon a source of wisdom and strength far greater than my own. He has never forgotten or forsaken me, and I have come to know for myself that Jesus is the Christ and that this is His Church. With Ammon I say, "[For] who can glory too much in the Lord? Yea, who can say too much of his great power, and of his mercy ... ? Behold, ... I cannot say the smallest part which I feel" (Alma 26:16). I testify that in this, the twilight of the dispensation of the fulness of times, when Lucifer is working overtime to jeopardize our journey home and to separate us from the Savior's atoning power, the only answer for any of us is Jesus Christ.

May we recommit to seek after this Jesus, of whom the prophets have testified. May we yoke ourselves to Him, draw liberally upon the matchless power of His Atonement, and rise up as sons and daughters of God and shake off the world. To "those who will have him to be their God" (1 Ne. 17:40), the Lord has extended a magnificent promise: "I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, and my Spirit shall be in your hearts, and mine angels round about you, to bear you up" (D&C 84:88). Jesus Christ is our only chance. He will show us the way because He is the way, to which I testify in the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

NOTES

Teachings of Gordon B. Hinckley (1997), 186.

Relief Society Minutebook, ⁹ June 1842.

In Conference Report, Oct. 1979, 93.