The Church of Jesus Christ grows in record numbers with messages of peace in a violent age, leaders say

A global church in mourning is growing throughout the world with a message of peacemaking, love and new beginnings in an age riddled with violence, tragedy and polarization, leaders said Saturday at the 195th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

A week after the death of President Russell M. Nelson, the church’s prophet and leader for the past seven years, President Dallin H. Oaks paid his friend a brief, heartfelt tribute on Saturday morning in the Conference Center in Salt Lake City.

“I love Russell M. Nelson and have learned more about the gospel and gospel leadership from my long friendship and association with him than from any other leader I have personally known,” he said. “He is our model as a servant and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.”

The conference began without a church president or a First Presidency, which dissolved at President Nelson’s death, for the first time since 1951. The Quorum of the Twelve Apostles is temporarily the leading body of the church, with President Oaks the leader of the Quorum.

A new president will not be announced Sunday, based on President Oaks’ statement that the conference will proceed as assigned and planned by President Nelson. President Nelson’s funeral is planned for Tuesday.

The conference started six days after a deadly attack on a Latter-day Saint sacrament meeting in Grand Blanc, Michigan, an attack that took the lives of four Latter-day Saints.

“We realize that our hearts are mourning loss, and some feel uncertainty caused by violence or tragedy throughout the world,” said Elder Gary E. Stevenson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. “Even devout people gathered in sacred spaces — including our hallowed chapel in Michigan — have lost their lives or loved ones."

Leaders reported record growth and credited Jesus Christ’s messages of peacemaking and second chances.

Nearly 900,000 converts have joined the church in the past 36 months, said Elder Quentin L. Cook of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“These wonderful new converts come from every part of the world,” he said. “In the first six months of this year, conversions have risen by more than 20% over the previous year in Europe, Africa, Asia, the Pacific and Latin America. In North America we have seen a 17% increase.”

He said the growth was a clear witness the gospel of Jesus Christ “is touching hearts and changing lives everywhere.”

Two apostles drew parallels between the challenges Christ and his disciples faced during the Roman occupation of Israel with those facing his followers today.

“We must remember that the Savior, during his earthly ministry, also lived in turbulent and violent times,” Elder Cook said. “His focus was not on the political challenges of the day; it was on the perfection of the Saints.”

“It was not easy for the Savior in the volatile world during his mortal sojourn,” he said, “it was not easy for our early leaders and members, and it is not easy for us.”

Elder Stevenson said two generations of young people separated by those 2,000 years could have the same question: “Can I truly become a peacemaker when the world is in commotion, when my heart is filled with fear and when peace seems so far away?”

He and others said the answer is a resounding yes.

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You are a child of light

Speakers repeatedly underscored the church doctrine that each person is a son or daughter of a Heavenly Father.

“You are a blessed being of light, the spirit child of an infinite God,” said Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf of the Twelve. “And you bear within you a potential beyond your capacity to imagine. … Your origin story is divine, and so is your destiny.

“You left heaven to come here, but heaven has never left you! You are anything but ordinary. You are gifted!”

He said faith takes practice.

“Discipleship takes self-discipline,” he said. “It is not a casual endeavor, and it doesn’t happen by accident.”

Welcoming the new and the returning

Elder Cook asked church members to wrap their arms around new converts, who represent 5% of church membership, and those who return to the church after an absence.

“Many join the church at great personal sacrifice and desperately need the love and support of their fellow Saints,” he said.

Those new members are the fulfillment of the Book of Mormon prophecy in the allegory of the olive tree, said Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Twelve. In the allegory, the Lord of the vineyard and his servants strengthen olive tree roots and branches by grafting together branches from diverse locations.

“Today, those invited to the supper of the Lord come from every place and culture,” he said, adding that “living the gospel of Jesus Christ includes making room for all in his restored church.”

“We are all better when no one sits alone,” he said.

Belonging is a basic need, said Sister J. Anette Dennis, first counselor in the Relief Society general presidency. Some who struggle with faith or other trials may find it hard to attend church because they feel they don’t fit the mold.

She urged church members to share Christ’s love with them.

“The Savior’s teaching on this is very simple,” she said. “It’s summed up in the Golden Rule: Do unto others as you would have others do unto you. Put yourself in that person’s place and treat them the way you would want to be treated if you were in their shoes.”

A church of new beginnings

The Church of Jesus Christ offers a new beginning to converts and those who have had a faith crisis, said Elder Patrick Kearon of the Twelve, in the third session of conference Saturday evening.

“New beginnings are at the heart of the Father’s plan for his children,” he said. “This is the church of new beginnings! This is the church of fresh starts! ... Fresh starts are the mission of the Son! New dawns, new chapters, and new chances are the simple core of the gospel’s good news!

He said everything Christ did provided a new start for each person he healed, blessed, taught and relieved of sin.

“He didn’t withdraw from them, and He certainly won’t withdraw from you,” he said. “ ... The adversary is the only one who benefits from the idea that you’re sunk. You are not.”

Another apostle, Elder Neil L. Andersen, said those new beginnings are possible because of Christ’s atoning love.

“My desire is to offer hope for those seeking forgiveness for very serious sins and to offer comfort to those seeking healing from the anguishing wounds caused by the serious sins of others,” he said.

He shared stories of people who suffered deep grief and guilt due to sin and error and how Christ and his gospel helped them.

“The sadness you have felt,” Elder Andersen said, “the heartbreak, the loss, the suffocating feeling of betrayal, the upending of your life as you imagined it to be — I give you my absolute assurance, the Savior knows you and loves you.“

He added, “As we believe in him, follow him, and trust him, he will lift us from our sorrows and our sins.”

Peacemaking

Profound personal peace is found by those who commit to the Savior and his commandments, Elder Cook said.

“Peacemaking requires courage and compromise,” Elder Stevenson said, “but does not require sacrifice of principle. Peacemaking is to lead with an open heart, not a closed mind. It is to approach one another with extended hands, not clenched fists.”

He offered a one-week, three-step plan for practicing peacemaking.

• Attempt to create a contention-free home zone. “When contention starts, pause and reboot, with kind words and deeds.”
• Engage in digital bridge building — “Before posting, replying or commenting online ask: Will this build a bridge? If not, stop. Do not send. Instead, share goodness. Publish peace in the place of hate.”
• Repair and reunite — “Each family member could seek out a strained relationship in order to apologize, minister, repair and reunite.”

The Family Proclamation is church doctrine

Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Twelve restated the church’s position that the 1995 Proclamation on the Family is church doctrine.

“When presented, the Proclamation did not align with the views of many in the world,” he said. “Not then. Not now. There are those who take issue with the declaration on family, marriage and gender. Some suggest the church pull back, revise, or even set the Proclamation aside.

“This Proclamation on the Family is, as President (Gordon B. Hinckley stated 30 years ago), doctrine, brothers and sisters. The principles are not out-of-step but perfectly in-step with the ways of the Lord and his covenant path.”

He said the members of the Twelve love all church members deeply.

“We pray for you and seek the Lord’s guidance for you,” he said. “Stay with us. You live in challenging times when the adversary seeks to make you his. Do not be drawn off. And if you are, come back. Our arms reach out to you as will those of others who love you.”

The power of Primary songs

Sister Tracy Y. Browning, second counselor in the Primary general presidency, said Primary songs are a sacred gift.

“Although I did not grow up in Primary,” the convert said, “the Spirit has quickly taught me the sacredness of its songs, and they have become part of my personal worship.” She said songs from Primary, the church’s organization for children up to age 11, “have carried a holy influence in my life and have lifted my soul, taught me eternal truths and drawn me nearer to the Savior and to his gospel.”

She said President Nelson taught that “children can learn the doctrine when they’re learning to sing just as much as they can learn the doctrine in a class.”

Primary songs can be reservoirs of “faith-filled sermons” pointing children to the Savior and devotion to his gospel.

Church leadership

President Nelson’s death triggered the instant dissolution of the First Presidency, and his counselors, President Oaks and Elder Henry B. Eyring, returned to their places in the Quorum of the Twelve.

That quorum is now the most senior body in the church and is directing the church until the First Presidency is reorganized, a period known as an apostolic interregnum, Elder Eyring explained as he conducted the morning session.

Church members again sustained President Oaks as the quorum president during the Saturday morning session, the same as they have at every ward, stake and general conference for the past seven-and-a-half years.

He is now the senior apostle and is expected to be set apart soon as the church’s 18th prophet and president.

Fortunately," Elder Cook said, “living prophets provide the guidance we specifically need for our day. President Dallin H. Oaks will continue that spiritually powerful legacy.”

“I thank God,” Elder Andersen said, “for the noble life of President Dallin H. Oaks.”