Saturday general conference: Church leaders call for end to toxic rhetoric, hateful messages

In the midst of a divisive political season, Latter-day Saint leaders invited millions Saturday to model their communications after Jesus Christ and avoid harsh attacks on others or sending hateful messages.

They also said Christ relentlessly pursues each person with love and an unwavering desire to provide forgiveness and peace, a theme woven through 20 talks over three sessions of the 194th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

“As we pursue our preferred policies in public actions, let us qualify for his blessings by using the language and methods of peacemakers,” said President Dallin H. Oaks, first counselor in the First Presidency. “In our families and other personal relationships let us avoid what is harsh and hateful. Let us seek to be holy, like our Savior.”

The 19 other speakers included seven apostles, two women leaders and 10 General Authority Seventies.

They also said the combination of the gospel of Jesus Christ and his church have the power to transform lives in ways that provide peace and joy.

“We are members of the Church of Jesus Christ. We are members of the church of joy!” said Elder Patrick Kearon of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

Church President Russell M. Nelson, who turned 100 last month, attended the afternoon session and watched the morning and evening sessions from home.

President Jeffrey R. Holland, acting president of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, watched the evening session from home.

President Henry B. Eyring, second counselor in the First Presidency, conducted the morning session from his seat. Elder Gerrit W. Gong and Elder Ronald A. Rasband of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles conducted the other sessions, which drew 54,646 to the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City.

Cease harsh attacks

“We need to love and do good to all. We need to avoid contention and be peacemakers in all our communications,” President Oaks said. “This does not mean to compromise our principles and priorities, but to cease harshly attacking others for theirs. That is what our perfect role model did in his ministry. That is the example he set for us, as he invited us to follow him.”

Two other apostles talked about communications.

“Our speech, for example, can edify or demean,” Elder D. Todd Christofferson said. “There is much in public and personal discourse today that is malicious and mean–spirited. There is much conversation that is vulgar and profane, even among youth. This sort of speech is a ‘weapon of rebellion’ against God, ‘full of deadly poison.’”

Elder Gerrit W. Gong said, “Holiness to the Lord says ‘no’ to the profane, ‘no’ to snarky cleverness at others’ expense, ‘no’ to algorithms that monetize anger and polarization. Holiness to the Lord says ‘yes’ to the sacred and reverent, ‘yes’ to our becoming our freest, happiest, most authentic best selves as we follow him in faith.”

Elder Christofferson also spoke plainly about those who attack religion. He noted that Antichrists in the Book of Mormon rejected religious authority and taught that there was no such thing as sin and therefore no need for repentance and a Savior. He called them a classic study of active rebellion against God.

“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.”

Christ relentlessly pursues us with his love

Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Twelve said Jesus Christ went beyond sympathizing “with our imperfections.

“No, he went beyond that, infinitely beyond that, and restored his church to enable access to his power” by taking all sin upon himself and bearing the cross, he said.

“The Savior did all this because he loves his Father and he loves us,” Elder Renlund said. “He has already paid the infinite price so he can ‘claim all those who have faith in him (and) advocate’ for them — for us. Jesus Christ wants nothing more than for us to repent and come unto him so that he can justify and sanctify us. In this desire, he is relentless and unwavering.”

Elder Kearon said church members who think they should think about their mistakes during the sacrament each Sunday could turn that practice on its head.

“In the stillness, we can ponder the many ways we have seen the Lord relentlessly pursue us with his wonderful love that week! We can reflect on what it means to ‘discover the joy of daily repentance.’ We can give thanks for the times the Savior entered into our struggles and our triumphs, and the occasions where we felt his grace, forgiveness and power giving us strength to overcome our hardships and bear our burdens with patience and even good cheer.”

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Elder Bednar said the Book of Mormon looks to the future with principles, warnings and lessons for today’s challenges and circumstances, including pride and contention.

• “Ancient voices from the dust plead with us today to learn this everlasting lesson: prosperity, possessions and ease constitute a potent mixture that can lead even the righteous to drink the spiritual poison of pride.”

• “If we are not faithful and obedient, we can transform the God-given blessing of prosperity into a prideful curse that diverts and distracts us from eternal truths and vital spiritual priorities. We always must be on guard against a pride-induced and exaggerated sense of self-importance, a misguided evaluation of our own self-sufficiency, and seeking self instead of serving others.”

• “May I suggest that if you or I believe we are sufficiently strong and stalwart to avoid the arrogance of pride, then perhaps we already are suffering from this deadly spiritual disease. Simply stated, if you or I do not believe we could be afflicted with and by pride, then we are vulnerable and in spiritual danger. In the space of not many days, weeks, months or years, we might forfeit our spiritual birthright for far less than a mess of pottage.”

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

Elder Christofferson spoke about burying weapons of rebellion against God, a reference to the Book of Mormon story of believers burying their weapons of war.

• “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 Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Elder Andersen titled his talk, “The Triumph of Hope.” He spoke of the August death of Trey Andersen, the son of his nephew, who had been accepted into the accounting program at BYU beginning this fall and planned to serve a mission next year. Trey died of complications from heart transplant surgery. He said hope in Christ comforted Trey’s family.

• “Like a light whose brilliance grows, hope brightens the darkened world, and we see our glorious future. Since the beginning, our Heavenly Father and his Beloved Son have eagerly blessed the righteous with the precious gift of hope.”

• “There is no pain, no sickness, no injustice, no suffering, nothing that can darken our hope as we believe and hold tightly to our covenants with God in the house of the Lord. It is a house of light, a house of hope.”

Elder Dale G. Renlund of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Elder Renlund compared the powerful combination of nitroglycerin and kieselguhr into dynamite to a combination he described as “beyond price,” the gospel of Jesus Christ and The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

• “The covenantal access to his power is through his church. The combination of the Savior’s gospel and his church transforms our lives.”

• “You will find that the combination of the Savior’s gospel and his church brings power into your life. This power is far greater than dynamite. It’ll shatter the rocks in your way, transform you into an inheritor in God’s kingdom, and you will be ‘filled with that joy which is unspeakable and full of glory.’”

• “The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints enables access to God’s power because it is authorized by him both to teach the doctrine of Christ and to offer the gospel’s saving and exalting ordinances.”

Elder Gerrit W. Gong of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

• “Your stories of holiness to the Lord in everyday life inspire us. You live seven C’s: communion with God; community and compassion with each other; commitment and covenant with God, family and friends — centered in Jesus Christ.”

• “Growing evidence highlights this striking fact: religious believers are on average happier, healthier, and more fulfilled than those without spiritual commitment or connection.”

• “What researchers call ‘religious structural stability’ offers clarity, purpose, and inspiration amid life’s twists and turns. The household of faith and community of Saints combat isolation and the lonely crowd.”

Elder Ulisses Soares of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

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 Apostles

As a convert, Elder Kearon asked church members to worship — rather than just attend — during church services, and to express their joy on their faces and in their singing.

• “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!”

President Emily Belle Freeman, general Young Women president

President Freeman noted that her husband Greg recently received a diagnosis requiring intensive surgery and months of chemotherapy and said God’s priesthood unlocks heavenly power desperately needed by his children.

• She noted that at the time Latter-day Saints believe the priesthood was restored to earth, Emma Smith received a revelation. “Through revelation, Emma would learn about the inward sanctification and covenant connection that would increase the ability of those priesthood ordinances to work in her life.”

• “Emma didn’t just have a front row seat to the Restoration; she was an essential participant in the work taking place. She would be set apart ‘to expound scriptures, and to exhort the church.’ Emma was given a sacred role to help prepare the Saints to worship.”

• “Through his divine power, God would heal her heart, enlarge her capacity, and transform her into the version of herself he knew she could become. And through the ordinances of the Melchizedek Priesthood, ‘the power of godliness (would be) manifest’ in her life and the Lord would part the veil so she could receive understanding from him. This is what it looks like for God’s power to work within us.”

Sister Kristin M. Yee, second counselor in the Relief Society general presidency

• “Repenting allows us to feel God’s love, and to know and love him in ways we would never otherwise know.”

• “I will forever be grateful to my Savior that I can change and be cleansed. He has my heart, and I hope to do whatever he would have me do and become.”

• “There have been difficult and complex relationships in my life that I have struggled with and sincerely sought to improve. At times, I felt like I was failing more often than not. I wondered, did I not fix things the last time? Did I not truly overcome my weakness? I’ve learned over time that I am not necessarily defective; rather, there is often more to work on and more healing that is needed.”