‘I did it God’s way’ is the formula for joyful, confident lives, apostles say Saturday afternoon

Those who love God and seek his blessings and joy should seek to learn and live his will over their own and those who teach that there is no sin and Savior, apostles said Saturday afternoon at the 194th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles warned against the teachings of Anti-Christs who reject religious authority, oppose the will and word of God and say there is no need for repentance or need for Jesus Christ. He said the only way to live eternally with God is to follow Christ.

“I am reminded of the song made famous years ago by singer Frank Sinatra with the climactic line, ‘I did it my way,’” Elder Christofferson said. “Certainly, in life there is plenty of room for personal preference and individual choice, but when it comes to matters of salvation and eternal life, our theme song ought to be, ‘I did it God’s way,’ because truly there is no other way.”

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said letting God be the most powerful influence in one’s life leads to growth and peace. He said choosing “what works for me,” instead, is an age-old deceptive path that is confusing and exhausting and makes room for self-justification and excuses.

“I testify to you that following the Lord’s will in our life will enable us to find the most precious pearl in the world — the kingdom of heaven,” he said. “I pray that each of us in our time and turn, will be able to declare, with covenant confidence, to our Heavenly Father and Savior Jesus Christ, that ‘what works for Thee, works for me.’”

A third apostle, Elder Patrick Kearon, said the gifts of gospel living sparked his conversion to the Church of Jesus Christ.

“At the start of my journey of faith, joy in Jesus Christ was my first great discovery and it changed my world,” he said. “If you have yet to discover this joy, embark on its quest. This is an invitation to receive the Savior’s gift of peace, light and joy — to revel in it, to wonder at it and to rejoice in it, every Sabbath.”

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Who spoke in the Saturday afternoon session of general conference?

Church President Russell M. Nelson, who watched the morning session from home, attended the afternoon session. Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, conducted the session.

Eight speakers addressed the second of the conference’s five general sessions:

• Elders Christofferson, Soares and Kearon.
• General Authority Seventies — Elders José A. Teixeira, Juan Pablo Villar, David L. Buckner, D. Martin Goury and Aroldo B. Cavalcante.

Elder D. Todd Christofferson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Elder Christofferson encouraged listeners to “bury our ‘weapons of rebellion,” a reference to a Book of Mormon story. He said weapons of rebellion can be active or passive and can include vulgar speech, vanity, misspent time in putting career over family and living an unhealthy lifestyle. He noted that Book of Mormon Antichrists rejected religious authority and the idea that sin exists.

• “Trying to find a different course to heaven is like the futility of working on the Tower of Babel rather than looking to Christ and his salvation.”
• “In the end, burying our weapons of rebellion against God simply means yielding to the enticing of the Holy Spirit, putting off the natural man and becoming a saint ‘through the atonement of Christ the Lord.’ It means putting the first commandment first in our lives. It means letting God prevail. If our love of God and our determination to serve him with all our might, mind and strength become the touchstone by which we judge all things and make all our decisions, we will have buried our weapons of rebellion.”
• “Our Heavenly Father and his Son, our Redeemer, have confirmed their unending commitment to our ultimate happiness through the most profound love and sacrifice. We experience their love daily. Surely, we can reciprocate with our own love and loyalty. May we bury —very, very deep — any element of rebellion against God in our lives and replace it with a willing heart and a willing mind.”

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve

Elder Soares spoke against errors in philosophy that put personal will above the will of God in pursuit of one’s own agenda. He said the most precious pearl of reaching the kingdom of God comes from a higher and holier pursuit of learning and living God’s will for oneself. Those who do can live with “covenant confidence,” he said.

• “This way of thinking is often justified as being ‘authentic’ by those who indulge in self-centered pursuits, personal preferences or want to justify certain types of behavior that frequently don’t match God’s loving plan and his will for them. If we let our heart and mind embrace this way of thinking, we can create significant stumbling blocks for ourselves in acquiring the most priceless pearl that God has lovingly prepared for his children — eternal life.”
• “... Acting on these mental gymnastics of ‘what works for me’ versus doing ‘what always pleases the Lord’ is not a new trend that is unique to our day. It is an age-old mentality that has crossed the centuries and often blinds the wise-in-their-own-eyes and confuses and exhausts many of God’s children. This mentality is, in fact, an old trick of the adversary; it is a deceptive path that carefully leads God’s children away from the true and faithful covenant path.”
• “The ultimate test of our discipleship is found in our willingness to give up and lose our old self and submit our heart and our whole soul to God so that his will becomes ours. One of the most glorious moments of mortality occurs when we discover the joy that comes when doing always those things that ‘work for and please the Lord’ and ‘what works for us’ become one and the same! To decisively and unquestioningly make the Lord’s will our own requires majestic and heroic discipleship! At that sublime moment, we become consecrated to the Lord, and we totally yield our wills to him. Such spiritual submissiveness, so to speak, is beautiful, powerful and transformational.”

Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve

As a convert, Elder Kearon said, “We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ. We are members of the church of joy!” He asked them to worship at rather than attend church services, and to express their joy on their faces and in their singing.

• “Whether your baptism was yesterday or years ago, whether you meet in a large multi-ward church building or under a thatched canopy, whether you receive the sacrament in remembrance of the Savior in Thai or Swahili, I would like to say to you, welcome to the church of joy! Welcome to the church of joy!”
• “Is this spirit of collective rejoicing in Christ what you find? Is this what you bring? Maybe you think this doesn’t have much to do with you, or perhaps you are simply used to how things have always been done. But we can all contribute, no matter our age or our calling, to making our sacrament meetings the joy-filled, Christ-focused, welcoming hour they can be, alive with a spirit of joyful reverence.”
• “We sometimes get stuck there — in the garden, at the cross, inside the tomb. We fail to move upward to the joy of the tomb bursting open, the defeat of death, and Christ’s victory over all that might prevent us from gaining peace and returning to our heavenly home. Whether we shed tears of sorrow or tears of gratitude during the sacrament, let it be in awesome wonder at the good news of the Father’s gift of his Son!”

Elder José A. Teixeira of the Presidency of the Seventy

Elder Teixeira said that Jesus Christ taught that those who bind themselves to him through covenants are counted as the salt of the earth. He shared four ways people can strive to be the salt of the earth.

1. Keep the House of the Lord at the center of your devotion.
2. Be deliberate in your efforts to strengthen others by living the gospel together.
3. Be willing to accept a calling and serve in the church.
4. Use digital communications tools with a purpose — to connect.

Elder Juan Pablo Villar of the Seventy

In a talk titled, “His Hand Ready to Help Us,” Elder Villar said that choosing to “think celestial” will allow believers to recognize that Jesus Christ always stands ready to rescue them.

• “He has the power to help us out of every miserable condition or adverse situation. Regardless of whether we feel close to him, he still can reach us where we are as we are. As we reach out to him in faith, he will always be there, and in his time, he will be ready and willing to grasp our hands and pull us up to a safe place.”
• “Our Savior will be there as many times as necessary to provide help if we want to learn, change, overcome, cope, or succeed in whatever will bring true and everlasting happiness to our lives.”

Elder David L. Buckner of the Seventy

• “To divide and conquer is the adversary’s plan to destroy friendships, families and faith. It is the Savior who unites.”
• “In a contentious and divided world, I testify that the Savior Jesus Christ is the great Unifier.”

Elder D. Martin Goury of the Seventy

• “One of the Holy Ghost’s essential functions is to caution, lead and guide every individual who listens to the soft, inner voice. Just as the blocked communication tubes of a hearing aid can hinder proper functionality, our spiritual connection with our Heavenly Father can also be impaired, leading to dangerous misconceptions or a failure to heed his counsel.”

Elder Aroldo B. Cavalcante

Speaking to prospective young missionaries, he said:

• “Your transformation from your natural to spiritual self will occur ‘line upon line, precept upon precept’ as you earnestly strive to serve Jesus Christ in the mission field through daily repentance, faith, exact obedience and hard work to ‘find constantly, teach repentance and baptize converts.’”

What choir sang and what did they sing?

Music was provided by a children’s choir from northern Utah under the direction of Leslie Walker.

The children wore white shirts and white dresses and sang, “Holding Hands Around the World,” a new Latter-day Saint hymn. They also sang, “Gethsemane,” “Redeemer of Israel,” “When the Savior Comes Again.”