Historic conference puts the focus on member responsibility to stamp out racism

SALT LAKE CITY — The twin Christian directives to gather God’s children and love one another create a responsibility for members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints to provide leadership in stamping out racism, the church’s president said Sunday.

“I grieve that our Black brothers and sisters the world over are enduring the pains of racism and prejudice,” President Russell M. Nelson said, speaking to millions on the final day of the faith’s global general conference. “Today, I call upon our members everywhere to lead out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice. I plead with you to promote respect for all of God’s children.”

His statements on race provided a bookend to those made on the opening day of the conference by his first counselor in the First Presidency, President Dallin H. Oaks, who said Latter-day Saints “must do better to help root out racism,” especially in the United States.

“Please listen carefully to what I am about to say,” President Nelson said Sunday. “God does not love one race more than another. His doctrine on this matter is clear. He invites all to come unto him, ‘Black and white, bond and free, male and female.’”

Black church members called the statement historic.

“He was the first prophet to condemn anti-Black racism from the pulpit in general conference,” said James C. Jones, co-host of the “Beyond the Block” podcast. “That’s a win I want to take for a whole lap. That made me super happy to hear and made me feel super validated. Now people will start to look into anti-Black racism, and they will be ready to hear and be open-minded about it.”

President Nelson’s landmark talk was a highlight of the church’s 190th Semiannual General Conference, which he called glorious and capped off with the announcement of plans for six new temples. It spoke to the global nature of a church that now numbers 16.5 million members in 196 nations and territories.

“That he called out anti-Black racism alone was a huge deal,” said Jones, the Black Latter-day Saint podcaster. “The fact he made this a global message meant he expanded it to the entire African diaspora.”

Another leader issued a global call for people across the world to pray for their country and their national leaders while others offered encouragement and paths to peace in the face of the turbulence of 2020.

“We stand today at a major crossroads in history, and the nations of the Earth are in desperate need of divine inspiration and guidance,” said President M. Russell Ballard, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“This is not about politics or policy,” he said. “This is about peace and the healing that can come to individual souls as well as to the soul of countries — their cities, towns and villages — through the Prince of Peace and the source of all healing, the Lord Jesus Christ.”

‘The most important work in the world’

President Nelson and President Oaks clearly stated that Blacks have legitimate grievances about ongoing racism. The natural implications of Jesus Christ’s teachings that all are equal in his eyes and share the same divine potential is profound, President Nelson said.

Christ also taught that Israel must be gathered in the last days, a doctrine that has energized President Nelson throughout his ministry as an apostle and has animated his 32 months as the church’s president. On Sunday, he said The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is latter-day covenant Israel and called gathering Israel “the most important work in the world” because it is the prelude for Christ’s Second Coming.

President Nelson defined the gathering of Israel as drawing all people to Christ through missionary, temple and family history work, as well as helping others build faith and testimony.

President Nelson said his soul stirred recently when he learned that one of the meanings of Israel in Hebrew is “let God prevail.”

“Thus, the very name of Israel refers to a person who is willing to let God prevail in his or her life,” he said.

“The Lord is gathering those who are willing to let God prevail in their lives,” he added. “The Lord is gathering those who will choose to let God be the most important influence in their lives. For centuries, prophets have foretold this gathering, and it is happening right now!”

Finding peace in calamity

President Ballard reiterated President Nelson’s Saturday message about Christ’s teaching to “love your enemies.” He said praying for enemies demonstrates a belief that God can change people’s hearts, and he asked church members to redouble their commitment to prayer.

“Prayer will lift us and draw us together as individuals, as families, as a church and as a world,” he said. “Prayer will influence scientists and help them toward discoveries of vaccines and medications that will end this pandemic. Prayer will comfort those who have lost a loved one. It will guide us in knowing what to do for our own personal protection.”

President Ballard made it clear that prayer must be combined with action, saying people should get up after praying and “do what we can to help.”

Finding comfort and peace during uncertain times was another strong theme of Sunday’s conference sessions. President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, said the divine purpose of life is to test, prove and polish God’s children. He offered encouragement in the face of what he said are mortality’s inevitable trials.

“You might reasonably wonder why a loving and all-powerful God allows our mortal test to be so hard,” he said. “It is because he knows that we must grow in spiritual cleanliness and stature to be able to live in his presence in families forever.”

Sister Lisa L. Harkness, first counselor in the Primary general presidency said times of turmoil can leave believers feeling their faith is stretched to the limits of their endurance and understanding.

“Waves of fear can distract us, causing us to forget God’s goodness, thus leaving our perspective shortsighted and out of focus,” she said. “Yet it is in these rough stretches of our journey that our faith can be not only tried but fortified.

“Regardless of our circumstances, we can intentionally make efforts to build and increase our faith in Jesus Christ. It is strengthened when we remember that we are children of God and that he loves us. Our faith grows as we experiment on the word of God with hope and diligence, trying our very best to follow Christ’s teachings.”

Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles listed the calamities caused by the coronavirus pandemic — death, sickness, cancellations, closures, disappointment, sorrow and discouragement.

“Many, many of you have dealt with heartbreaking disappointment, sorrow and discouragement,” he said. “So how do we heal, endure and move forward when things seem so broken?”

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Christianity comforting but not comfortable

Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Twelve went on to list challenges beyond the pandemic, including marriage troubles, cancer and other physical health problems, mental and emotional health challenges, and economic, political and social concerns. He encouraged conference listeners to be willing to wait on the Lord.

“While we work and wait together for the answers to some of our prayers, I offer you my apostolic promise that they are heard and they are answered, though perhaps not at the time or in the way we wanted,” he said. “But they are always answered at the time and in the way an omniscient and eternally compassionate parent should answer them.

“My beloved brothers and sisters, Christianity is comforting but often it is not comfortable,” he said. “The path to holiness and happiness here and hereafter is a long and sometimes rocky one. It takes time and tenacity to walk it.”

Christ’s suffering makes him the perfect healer, President Eyring noted: “You are being nourished and comforted by a loving Savior, who knows how to succor you in whatever tests you face,” adding that “Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ know and love you. They want you to return to them and become like them. Your success is their success.”

The apostles said the blessings God’s children seek do not include ease.

“The greatest blessing that will come when we prove ourselves faithful to our covenants during our trials will be a change in our natures,” President Eyring said. “By our choosing to keep our covenants, the power of Jesus Christ and the blessings of his Atonement can work in us. Our hearts can be softened to love, to forgive and to invite others to come unto the Savior. Our confidence in the Lord increases. Our fears decrease.”

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Unusual times, unusual rewards

Elder Stevenson said the pandemic has taught the church as a whole and its members that the Lord continues to watch over his children during challenging times. Over the past nine months, Latter-day Saints have become more home-centered and honed their ministering skills.

“Ministering brothers and sisters, young women and young men, and others have reached out to provide contact, conversation, yard care, meals, messages via technology and the sacrament ordinance to bless those in need,” he said. “The church itself has also been ministering to others during the pandemic with an unprecedented distribution of commodities to food banks, homeless shelters and immigrant support centers and with projects directed to the world’s most serious hunger situations.”

President Eyring said, “I have seen people rise to great heights through proving faithful in terrible trials. Across the church today are examples. People are driven to their knees by adversity. By their faithful endurance and effort, they become ever more like the Savior and our Heavenly Father.”

Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles advised listeners to do justly, love mercy and walk humbly with God.

“To do justly means acting honorably with God and with other people,” he said. “We act honorably with God by walking humbly with him. We act honorably with others by loving mercy. To do justly is therefore a practical application of the first and second great commandments, to ‘love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind ... (and to) love thy neighbour as thyself.’ To do justly and walk humbly with God is to intentionally withdraw our hand from iniquity, walk in his statutes and remain authentically faithful.”

To be Christlike, he said, a person also chooses God, keeps covenants with him, assimilates the attributes of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ into his or her character and loves one another.

“People who love mercy are not judgmental; they manifest compassion for others, especially for those who are less fortunate; they are gracious, kind and honorable,” Elder Renlund said. “These individuals treat everyone with love and understanding, regardless of characteristics such as race, gender, religious affiliation, sexual orientation, socioeconomic status and tribal, clan or national differences. These are superseded by Christlike love.”

Power over temptation

Additional protection comes to those who align their hearts and desires with those of Jesus Christ, said Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

He counseled listeners that reliance on Christ will help them control their thoughts and avoid temptation, increasing their spiritual maturity and adding to the influence of the Holy Ghost in their lives.

“Then the enemy’s temptations, little by little, will lose their power over us, resulting in a happier and more pure and more consecrated life,” he said.

Elder Soares said resisting little temptations better equips people to avoid serious transgressions that might “cause family problems and disagreements, negative emotions and inclinations, perpetrating injustices and abuses, enslavement by evil addictions and anything else that would be against the Lord’s commandments.”

Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said Latter-day Saints talk of Christ and encouraged church members to do so in their relationships and on social media.

Courage to do so can come from President Nelson’s recommendation to study the 2,200 references to the name of Christ in the church’s topical guide to the scriptures, he said.

“I promise you that as we prepare ourselves as President Nelson did, we also will be different, thinking more about the Savior, speaking of him more frequently and with less hesitation,” he said. “As we come to know and love him more deeply, our words will flow more comfortably, as they do when we speak of one of our children or of a dear friend. Those listening will feel less of a desire to dismiss or debate and a greater willingness to listen and learn.”

Elder Andersen asked believers to take to their social media accounts.

“Be more open on social media in talking about your trust in Christ,” he said. “Most will respect your faith, but if someone is dismissive when you speak of the Savior, take courage from his promise, ‘Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you ... for my sake. ... for great is your reward in heaven.’

“We care more about being his followers than being ‘liked’ by our own followers.”

Till we meet again

President Nelson finished the conference by calling for a different “new normal” than the world’s.

“If you really want to embrace ‘a new normal,’” he said, “I invite you to turn your heart, mind, and soul increasingly to our Heavenly Father, and his Son, Jesus Christ. Let that be your ‘new normal.’ Embrace ‘your new normal’ by repenting daily. Seek to be increasingly pure in thought, word and deed. Minister to others. Keep an eternal perspective. Magnify your callings.”

He rejoiced in the limited reopening of 146 of the faith’s 168 temples, saying that thousands of couples have been sealed and thousands more have received their endowments in the past three months.

“I bless you with an increased desire and ability to obey the laws of God,” he said at the end of the conference. “I promise that as you do, you will be showered with blessings, including greater courage, increased personal revelation, sweeter harmony in your homes and joy, even amid uncertainty.”

The First Presidency and members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles gathered to broadcast the conference from the stage of the Conference Center Theater, but they wore face coverings and sat several feet apart. The only other people in attendance were the speakers and those who said opening and closing prayers.

The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square did not perform during the the conference due to the pandemic. The conference broadcasts on Sunday included recordings of previous choir performances from past general conferences ranging from 2012 to 2019, including “God Be With You Till We Meet Again.”