The 192nd Annual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints wraps up Sunday with two more sessions.
President Russell M. Nelson, leader of the 16.8 million-member global faith, delivered a major address Sunday morning. Dallin H. Oaks, his first counselor in the governing First Presidency, was also expected to give a sermon Sunday.
At the conference’s close, Nelson also traditionally gives brief remarks and announces new temples to be built.
Saturday’s speakers — appearing before 10,000 in-person attendees at a Conference Center allowed back at half-capacity in Salt Lake City and millions more watching and listening remotely around the world — focused on the importance of young members, especially men, serving missions, while discussing topics ranging from suicide prevention to abuse survivors and the church’s doctrine of Heavenly Mother.
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Patrons enter the Conference Center for General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
Leaders named new general presidencies for the women’s Relief Society and children’s Primary organizations. The church also released growth figures for 2021, showing membership increased by about 0.8% during the year.
Here are the latest updates from Sunday’s sessions, during which The Tabernacle Choir at Temple Square performed as well:
Morning session
Seventy Hugo E. Martinez: Self-reliance is a lifelong process
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) General authority Seventy Hugo E. Martinez speaks at General Conference on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
Adults can “best be on the path towards self-reliance,” said general authority Seventy Hugo E. Martinez, “when they have been taught the gospel of Jesus Christ and have practiced its doctrine and principles since childhood.”
Self-reliance is a doctrine of the gospel, said the native of Puerto Rico, “a process that lasts a lifetime, not an event.” It requires “growing in spiritual strength, physical and emotional health, pursuing our education and employment, and being temporally prepared.”
Martinez advised parents to “regularly apply the principles of the Children and Youth development program” — and to “participate in service and activities.”
“Is this task ever finished during our lives?” Martinez asked. “No, it is a lifelong process of learning, growth and work.”
Apostle Ronald A. Rasband touts religious freedom
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Apostle Ronald A. Rasband speaks during General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
Apostle Ronald A. Rasband spoke passionately about what he said was “another scourge sweeping the globe — attacks on your and my religious freedom.”
These attacks work “to remove religion and faith in God from the public square, schools, community standards and civic discourse,” Rasband said. “Opponents of religious freedom seek to impose restrictions on expressions of heartfelt convictions. They even criticize and ridicule faith traditions. Such an attitude marginalizes people, devaluing personal principles, fairness, respect, spirituality and peace of conscience.”
In the LDS Church’s beginnings, “opposition, persecution and violence plagued our first latter-day prophet, Joseph Smith, and his followers.”
In response, Smith published 13 fundamental tenets of the growing church including this one: “We claim the privilege of worshipping Almighty God according to the dictates of our own conscience, and allow all men the same privilege; let them worship how, where, or what they may.”
His statement “is inclusive, liberating and respectful,” Rasband said. “That is the essence of religious freedom.”
The apostles spelled out four ways societies benefit from religious freedom:
• It helps believers place “God at the center of our lives.”
• It fosters “expressions of belief, hope and peace.”
• It “inspires people to help others.”
• It acts as “a unifying and rallying force for shaping values and morality.”
The good of religion, “its reach, and the daily acts of love,” Rasband said, “which religion inspires, only multiply when we protect the freedom to express and act on core beliefs.”
Seventy Michael T. Ringwood: Help other return to God
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) General authority Seventy Michael T. Ringwood speaks at General Conference on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
God sent Jesus Christ to lay down his life “for every one of us.”
“This he did because he loves us and designed a plan for each of us to return home to him,” said general authority Seventy Michael T. Ringwood. “….But this is not a blanket, catch-all, hit-and-miss sort of plan. It is personal, set forth by a loving Heavenly Father, who knows our hearts, our names, and what he needs us to do.”
And then everyone has others who help them, Ringwood said.
“No matter who you are or your current circumstances, someone…wants to return to Heavenly Father with you,” he said. “I am grateful for those who never give up on us, who continue to pour out their souls in prayer for us, and who continue to teach and help us qualify to return home to our Father in Heaven.”
And why does this “personalized plan for us include helping others return to him?” Ringwood asked. Because “that is how we become like Jesus Christ.”
Apostle Gary E. Stevenson: Love, share and invite
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Apostle Gary E. Stevenson speaks at General Conference on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
Apostle Gary E. Stevenson urged all Latter-day Saints to act as missionaries “through simple, easily understandable principles taught to each of us from childhood — love, share and invite.”
He went on to counsel:
• “Whenever we show Christlike love towards our neighbor, we preach the gospel — even if we do not voice a single word.”
• He urged members to “simply add to the list of things we already share” the things “we love about the gospel of Jesus Christ. … When it comes to missionary work, God doesn’t need you to be his sheriff. He does, however, ask that you be his sharer.”
• “There are hundreds of invitations we can extend to others,” he said. “As we invite others to learn more about the gospel of Jesus Christ, we take part in the Savior’s call to engage in the work of his commission.”
Primary leader Amy A. Wright: Christ is the healer
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Amy A. Wright, second counselor and soon-to-be first counselor in the Primary general presidency, speaks at General Conference on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
Jesus Christ will help believers “successfully navigate the things in our lives that are broken, no matter our age,” said Amy A. Wright, second counselor and soon-to-be first counselor in the Primary general presidency. “He can heal broken relationships with God, broken relationships with others, and broken parts of ourselves.”
Christ knows everyone’s “complete story and exactly what we suffer, as well as our capabilities and vulnerabilities,” Wright said. “...He is the source of healing all that is broken in our lives. As the great mediator and advocate with the Father, Christ sanctifies and restores broken relationships — most importantly our relationship with God. "
Wright has spent many hours at a cancer treatment facility “united in my suffering with many who were yearning to be healed. Some lived; others did not,” she said in her sermon. “I learned in a profound way that deliverance from our trials is different for each of us, and therefore our focus should be less about the way in which we are delivered and more about the deliverer himself. Our emphasis should always be on Jesus Christ. Exercising faith in Christ means trusting not only in God’s will but also in his timing. For he knows exactly what we need and precisely when we need it.”
Everyone has something in their life “that is broken that needs to be mended, fixed or healed,” Wright said. “...I testify that there is nothing in your life that is broken that is beyond the curative, redeeming and enabling power of Jesus Christ.”
Apostle D. Todd Christofferson: Trust God no matter the circumstance
(The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) Apostle D. Todd Christofferson speaks at General Conference on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
Apostle D. Todd Christofferson warned church members not to “presume to judge God. To think, for example, ‘I’m not happy, so God must be doing something wrong.’”
Serving a mission is not a guarantee of a “happy marriage and children.” Avoiding doing schoolwork on the Sabbath is not a guarantee of good grades. Paying tithing is not a guarantee that “God will bless me with that job I’ve been wanting,” Christofferson said. While it is “essential that we honor and obey” God’s laws, “not every blessing predicated on obedience to law is shaped, designed, and timed according to our expectations.”
The apostle emphasized that the Almighty doesn’t always intervene and relieve suffering or pain, even for the faithful.
“In the end, it is the blessing of a close and abiding relationship with the Father and the Son that we seek,” he said. “It makes all the difference and is everlastingly worth the cost.”
The process of purification, Christofferson continued, “will, of necessity, be wrenching and painful at times. … In the midst of this refiner’s fire, rather than get angry with God, get close to God.”
(Chris Samuels | The Salt Lake Tribune) Patrons enter the Conference Center for General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Salt Lake City on Sunday, April 3, 2022.
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