President Monson - Sunday Morning Session (April 3, 2016 General Conference)
Brothers and sisters, before I begin my formal message today, I would
like to announce four new temples which, in coming months and years,
will be built in the following locations: Quito, Ecuador; Harare,
Zimbabwe; Belém, Brazil; and a second temple in Lima, Peru.
Elder Hallstrom - Saturday Morning Session (April 2, 2016 General Conference)
"Five months ago, my wife, Diane, and I
went to Africa with Elder and Sister David A. Bednar. The sixth and last
country we visited was Liberia. Liberia is a great country with a noble
people and a rich history, but things have not been easy there. Decades
of political instability and civil wars have worsened the plague of
poverty. On top of that, the dreaded Ebola disease killed nearly 5,000
people there during the latest outbreak. We were the first group of
Church leaders from outside the area to visit Monrovia, the capital
city, since the World Health Organization declared it safe to do so
after the Ebola crisis.
On a very hot
and humid Sunday morning, we traveled to a rented meeting facility in
the center of the city. Every available chair was set up, totaling 3,500
seats. The final count of attendees was 4,100. Almost all who came had
to travel by foot or some form of inconvenient public transportation; it
was not easy for the Saints to gather. But they came. Most arrived
several hours before the appointed meeting time. As we entered the hall,
the spiritual atmosphere was electric! The Saints were prepared to be
taught.
When a speaker quoted a
scripture, the members would say the verse aloud. It did not
matter—short scripture or long; the entire congregation responded in
unison. Now, we do not necessarily recommend this, but it was certainly
impressive that they could do it. And the choir—they were powerful. With
an enthusiastic choir director and a 14-year-old young man at the
keyboard, the members sang with vigor and strength.
Then
Elder Bednar spoke. This, of course, was the anticipated highlight of
the gathering—to hear an Apostle teach and testify. Clearly with
spiritual direction, partway through his remarks, Elder Bednar stopped
and said, “Do you know ‘How Firm a Foundation’?”
It seemed that 4,100 voices roared in response, “YES!”
He then asked, “Do you know verse 7?”
Again the entire group answered, “YES!”
The
arrangement of the mighty hymn “How Firm a Foundation” sung by the
Mormon Tabernacle Choir for the last 10 years has included verse 7,
which was not sung much previously. Elder Bednar instructed, “Let’s sing
verses 1, 2, 3, and 7.”
Without
hesitation, the choir director jumped up and the Aaronic
Priesthood–bearing accompanist immediately began to energetically play
the introductory chords. With a level of conviction I have never felt
before in a congregational hymn, we sang verses 1, 2, and 3. Then the
volume and spiritual power was elevated when 4,100 voices sang the
seventh verse and declared:
The soul that on Jesus hath leaned for repose
I will not, I cannot, desert to his foes;
That soul, though all hell should endeavor to shake,
I’ll never, no never, I’ll never, no never,
I’ll never, no never, no never forsake!10
In one of the most remarkable
spiritual events of my life, I was taught a profound lesson that day. We
live in a world that can cause us to forget who we really are. The more
distractions that surround us, the easier it is to treat casually, then
ignore, and then forget our connection with God. The Saints in Liberia
have little materially, and yet they seem to have everything
spiritually. What we witnessed that day in Monrovia was a group of sons
and daughters of God who knew it!
Elder Andersen - Saturday Afternoon Session General Conference (April 2, 2016)
Elder Joseph Ssengooba is from Uganda.
His father died when he was seven. At age nine, with his mother and
relatives unable to care for him, he was on his own. At age 12, he met
the missionaries and was baptized.
Joseph
told me of his first day at church: “After sacrament meeting, I thought
it was time to go home, but the missionaries introduced me to Joshua
Walusimbi. Joshua told me that he was going to be my friend, and he
handed me a Children’s Songbook so I wouldn’t have to go into
Primary empty-handed. In Primary, Joshua put an extra chair right next
to his. The Primary president invited me to the front and asked the
whole Primary to sing for me ‘I Am a Child of God.’ I felt very
special.”
The branch president took Joseph to the Pierre Mungoza family, and that became his home for the next four years.
Eight years later when Elder Joseph Ssengooba began his mission, to his
great surprise his trainer was Elder Joshua Walusimbi, the boy who had
made him feel so welcome on his first day in Primary. And his mission
president? He is President Leif Erickson, the little boy who stayed away
from Primary because he was terrified about giving a talk. God loves
His children.
When my wife, Kathy, and I were in Africa a few weeks ago, we visited
Mbuji-Mayi, Democratic Republic of the Congo. Because the chapel was not
large enough for the 2,000 members, we met out of doors under large
plastic coverings supported by bamboo poles. As the meeting began, we
could see dozens of children watching us, clinging to the bars on the
outside of the wrought-iron fence that surrounded the property. Kathy
quietly whispered, “Neil, do you think that you might want to invite the
children to come in?” I approached District President Kalonji at the
podium and asked him if he would welcome the children outside the fence
to come join us inside.
Elder Renlund - Saturday Morning Session General Conference (April 2, 2016)
My dear brothers and sisters, while
living in Africa, I sought advice from Elder Wilford W. Andersen of the
Seventy about helping Saints who live in poverty. Among the remarkable
insights he shared with me was this: “The greater the distance between
the giver and the receiver, the more the receiver develops a sense of
entitlement.”
This principle underlies
the Church’s welfare system. When members are not able to meet their
own needs, they turn first to their families. Thereafter, if necessary,
they can also turn to their local Church leaders for assistance with
their temporal needs.1
Family members and local Church leaders are closest to those in need,
frequently have faced similar circumstances, and understand best how to
help. Because of their proximity to the givers, recipients who receive
help according to this pattern are grateful and less likely to feel
entitled.
The concept—“the greater the
distance between the giver and the receiver, the more the receiver
develops a sense of entitlement”—also has profound spiritual
applications. Our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, are the
ultimate Givers. The more we distance ourselves from Them, the more
entitled we feel. We begin to think that we deserve grace and are owed
blessings. We are more prone to look around, identify inequities, and
feel aggrieved—even offended—by the unfairness we perceive. While the
unfairness can range from trivial to gut-wrenching, when we are distant
from God, even small inequities loom large. We feel that God has an
obligation to fix things—and fix them right now!
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