PROVO, Utah — An apostle closed the 49th BYU Women’s Conference on Friday evening with a resounding statement about the women in attendance and others like them around the world in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
“Our Latter-day Saint women are incredible,” said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, echoing his April 2011 general conference talk. “The title was true then, and it is still true today.
“One of the reasons it is true is that Latter-day Saint women are uniquely committed in their efforts to walk with the Savior," he said, referring to this week’s women’s conference theme.
“Our women are not incredible because they have managed to avoid the difficulties of life — quite the opposite," Elder Cook told 4,972 women at BYU’s Marriott Center.
“They are incredible because of the way they face the trials of life and their commitment not only to have faith in Jesus Christ but also to walk with him. Despite the challenges and tests life has to offer from marriage issues, lack of marriage, children’s choices, poor health, lack of opportunities and many other problems, they remain remarkably strong and immovable and true to their faith in Jesus Christ and his church.”
Elder Cook said women and men can walk with Jesus Christ on the covenant path by caring for the condition of their hearts.
“The spiritual conditions necessary to proceed along the pathway all relate to the heart,” he said.
Scriptural references to hearts are used to convey the deepest feelings combining the spirit and intellect, Elder Cook said.
“When we speak of righteous hearts, we are combining feelings that emanate from truth, intelligence, our spirits, the light of Christ and the Holy Ghost,” he said.
Elder Cook placed references to hearts in six categories he paired with the covenant path. He referred to hearts that are:
Changed: “A changed heart goes with faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and the beginnings of repentance. I love the description ‘a mighty change of heart.’”
Broken: “Repentance is also accompanied by a broken heart, coupled with a contrite spirit and is a requirement for baptism.”
Healed: “A healed heart is most often present when one understands that the Atonement of Jesus Christ overcomes the unfairness of life and the poor decisions of those who exercise agency in a way that inflicts harm on us.”
Turned: “A turned heart is what happened to the Prophet Lehi when he tasted of the fruit of the gospel and immediately desired to share it with his family. A turned heart elevates us from thinking about ourselves and focuses us on the Savior, others and particularly our own family.”
Full of love, gratitude, joy and peace: “Hearts full of love, gratitude, joy, and peace are the righteous rewards of staying on the covenant pathway and enduring to the end.”
Hardened: “Hardened hearts are also a choice and a reality.”
Elder Cook called faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and keeping his commandments the defining test of life and encouraged women and men to tune their hearts to the music of faith, repeating one of his consistent themes. He noted that the late British rabbi, Jonathan Sacks said some people are tone deaf to faith.
Someone who is tone deaf to the music of faith is out of tune with the Spirit, he said.
“There are those who are in tune with the music of faith,” Elder Cook said. “You know who you are. You love the Lord and His gospel and continuously try to live on the sunny side of the street in accordance with the Savior’s teachings. You are in harmony with the promptings of the Spirit, awakened to the power of God’s word and diligently try to live Christlike lives as his disciples.”
He said the dividing line between those who hear the music of faith and those who are tone deaf or off key is the active study of the scriptures.
Elder Cook noted that some church members are less faithful.
Our desire is for these members to awaken fully to faith and increase their activity and commitment and walk with Jesus Christ," he said.
“Our doctrine is clear; we are to be positive and of good cheer,” he said. “We emphasize our faith, not our fears. We rejoice in the Lord’s assurance that He will stand by us and give us guidance and direction. We are safe when we walk with Jesus.”
Elder Cook’s talk can be viewed now at broadcasts.churchofjesuschrist.org.