The more Latter-day Saints learn about, have faith in, and emulate Jesus Christ, the more they will recognize him as “the source of all healing, peace and eternal progress.”
As believers center their lives on the Christian Savior, Jean B. Bingham said in her first major address to the Mormon faithful since being named the 17th general president of the faith’s all-female Relief Society in April, “you will find joy in your circumstances, whatever they may be.”
“No matter what we have suffered, he is the source of healing,” she said. “Those who have experienced any manner of abuse, devastating loss, chronic illness or disabling affliction, untrue accusations, vicious persecution, or spiritual damage from sin or misunderstandings can all be made whole by the redeemer of the world. However, he will not enter without invitation. We must come unto him and allow him to work his miracles.”
Bingham offered her perspective on Jesus during the opening Sunday session of the faith’s 187th Semiannual General Conference at a packed Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City.
The conference’s final day began without the presence of the church’s 90-year-old ailing leader, President Thomas S. Monson, who is not expected to attend any sessions of this fall’s twice-yearly gathering.
It marks the first time that has happened during Monson’s nearly 10-year tenure as leader of the nearly 16 million-member Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Shortly after the morning session, longtime apostle Robert D. Hales died at a nearby hospital. The 85-year-old leader, who had been in failing health for several years and was unable to attend any of this fall’s conference sessions, was being treated from pulmonary and other conditions.
Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the governing First Presidency, noted Hales’ passing at the start of the final, afternoon session.
“We will miss him,” he said. “His wisdom and goodness have blessed our lives for many years.” During the morning gathering, Eyring mentioned Monson’s brief remarks at the April conference, during which the frail LDS prophet-leader urged all members to read the faith’s signature scripture, the Book of Mormon.
“Like many of you,” Eyring said, “I heard the prophet’s words as the voice of the Lord to me.”
The counselor and many other Mormons intensified their reading and the study of the text, he said, and, as a result, “have found a greater power to resist temptation, and have felt greater faith in a resurrected Jesus Christ, in his gospel, and in his living church.”
As faith increases, Eyring said, so does the desire to do good as does “the courage to go to the rescue of others without concern for our own needs.”
He pointed to the widespread service when Latter-day Saints partnered with other churches, community groups and national organizations to begin cleanup efforts in the aftermath of recent hurricanes in Puerto Rico, St. Thomas, Texas and Florida.
“We see such love in the lives of Latter-day Saints everywhere,” he said. “Each time there is a tragic event anywhere in the world, Latter-day Saints donate and volunteer to the church’s humanitarian efforts. An appeal is seldom needed.”
General authority W. Craig Zwick, a newly named emeritus Seventy, urged Mormons to see others through the eyes of Jesus.
“The gospel net is filled with people in all their variety,” Zwick said. “We can’t fully understand the choices and psychological backgrounds of people in our world, church congregations and even in our families because we rarely have the whole picture of who they are. We must look past the easy assumptions and stereotypes and widen the tiny lens of our own experience.”
He told the story of a young Mormon missionary in his charge who repeatedly asked to go home. Zwick, as mission president, just kept lecturing and challenging the young man to study and work harder, but the young man’s resolve to leave did not change.
Finally, the former mission president was impressed to ask the missionary what was hard for him. The young man responded, “I can’t read.”
Zwick felt horrible about misunderstanding the missionary.
“What he needed most was for me to look beyond my hasty assessment and allow the Spirit to help me understand what was really on this elder’s mind,” he said. “He needed me to see him correctly and offer a reason to hope. Instead, I acted like a giant demolition wrecking ball.”
Today’s world “feeds on comparisons, labeling and criticism,” Zwick said. “Instead of seeing through the lens of social media, we need to look inward for the godly attributes to which we each lay claim. These godly qualities and longings cannot be posted on Pinterest or Instagram.”
To truly love others, he said, believers much practice “accepting the best efforts of people whose life experiences and limitations we may never fully know.”