President Nelson invites church members to increase their capacity for charity and virtue

President Russell M. Nelson sounded notes of optimism and warning Sunday afternoon and invited listeners to take intentional steps to increase their charity, virtue and confidence before God at the conclusion of the 195th Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“As we go to our Heavenly Father with increasing confidence, we will be filled with more joy and our faith in Jesus Christ will increase,” he said. “We will begin to experience spiritual power that exceeds our greatest hopes.”

The church’s 100-year-old prophet-leader was the last of 32 speakers at the two-day conference, which drew 98,397 to the Conference Center and Tabernacle on Temple Square in Salt Lake City. Millions more watched and listened to broadcasts and livestreams.

While he said the Church of Jesus Christ is experiencing great momentum, he also warned listeners against divisiveness.

“The present hostility in public dialogue and on social media is alarming. Hateful words are deadly weapons,” he said. “Contention prevents the Holy Ghost from being our constant companion.”

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He invited church members and others to take specific steps to shield themselves and help others. He said increasing charity and virtue can help them lead the way as peacemakers.

“The Savior is the Prince of Peace. We are to be his instruments for peace,” he said.

“In the Lord’s own words, charity and virtue open the way to having confidence before God,” he added. “Brothers and sisters, we can do this. Our confidence truly can wax strong in the presence of God, right now!”

President Nelson attended the Sunday session after viewing the four earlier sessions from home. His message was pre-recorded as a concession to age. “My eyes continue to get older,” he said.

As he prepared to announce 15 new temple locations at the end of his talk, he said regular worship in temples increases capacity for charity and virtue.

“Time in the temple increases our confidence before the Lord,” he said. “Increased time in the temple will help us prepare for the Second Coming of our Savior, Jesus Christ. We do not know the day or the hour of his coming. But I do know that the Lord is prompting me to urge us to get ready for that ‘great and dreadful day.‘”

Sunday’s temple announcement brings the total number of Latter-day Saint temples to 382 — including 202 that are dedicated. The others are in various stages of planning or construction.

With the 15 new locations, President Nelson now has announced 200 temples since becoming church president in January 2018. (The full list of new temples is at the bottom of this story.)

Sunday’s other speakers described Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ as “perfectly loving, kind, patient, understanding and perfectly glorious,” in the words of Elder John A. McCune, a General Authority Seventy.

President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency, said the Father designed his plan of happiness with divine, saving help in mind.

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First, God planned to send his Son, Jesus Christ, to provide a “glorious erasing” of repented sins, said President Oaks, who also listed four other helps that God provided his children:

• The light or spirit of Christ to help each person know good from evil.
• The cluster of directions available in scripture known as commandments, ordinances and covenants.
• The manifestations of the Holy Ghost that witness of truth.
• The gift of the Holy Ghost as a daily companion from the Godhead.

“Our part in this Divine Plan,” President Oaks said, “is to trust in God and seek and use these divine helps, most notably the Atonement of his Beloved Son, our Savior and Redeemer Jesus Christ.”

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles noted that Sunday’s conference marked the exact 195th anniversary of the 1830 worship service that served as the formal organization of the church. He called it “a singular event in the history of the world” and some of the most important glorious “good news” any person can receive.

“The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is Christ’s New Testament church restored,” Elder Bednar said. “This church is anchored in the perfect life of its chief cornerstone, Jesus Christ, and in his infinite Atonement and literal Resurrection. Jesus Christ has once again called apostles and has given them priesthood authority.”

That first meeting on April 6, 1830, he added, was “the culmination of a sequence of miraculous experiences.”

The second in a “sequence of miraculous experiences” that led to the church’s organization was the publication of the Book of Mormon, followed by the restoration of the keys of the priesthood authority bestowed by ancient prophets and apostles upon Joseph Smith,” Elder Bednar said.

Every person is a child of God who should seek connection with deity and push back against feelings of shame, speakers said.

The truth that each is a child of God is breathtaking and literal, said Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“This is not just a nice song we sing,” he said. “Will you please accept, open and receive this gift of knowledge and understanding from him? Will you hold it close as the precious treasure it is? Re-receive this gift, or perhaps truly receive it for the very first time, and let it transform every aspect of your life.”

God and Christ love every person, said Sister Tamara W. Runia, first counselor in the Young Women General Presidency.

“Listen for that voice that says good things about you — the voice of the Savior, your finest friend, and your Father in Heaven, who is really there,” she said. “Remember, their love and your worth are always great, no matter what.”

Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve said Easter, which falls on April 20 this year, helps connect God’s children to him.

“Easter in Jesus Christ helps us mend, reconcile, make right our relationships, on both sides of the veil,” he said. “Jesus can heal grief; he can enable forgiveness. He can free us and others from things we or they have said or done that otherwise bind us captive.”

Father in Heaven loves each of his children perfectly, so much so that he provides them compensating blessings for things beyond their control, Presiding Bishop Gérald Caussé said.

“My dear friends,” Bishop Caussé said, “if you ever feel limited or disadvantaged by the circumstances of your life, I want you to know this: The Lord loves you personally. He knows your circumstances, and the door to his blessings remains wide open to you no matter the challenges you face.”

Temples announced by President Nelson

The new temples are:

• Reynosa, Mexico
• Chorrillos, Peru
• Rivera, Uruguay
• Campo Grande, Brazil
• Porto, Portugal
• Uyo, Nigeria
• San Jose del Monte, Philippines
• Nouméa, New Caledonia
• Liverpool, Australia
• Caldwell, Idaho
• Flagstaff, Arizona
• Rapid City, South Dakota
• Greenville, South Carolina
• Norfolk, Virginia
• Spanish Fork, Utah