The thing I liked most about this latest iteration of General Conference was Latter-day Saint leadership’s proper emphasis on Jesus Christ. He was talked about — a lot. That’s the way it always should be. And that’s the way it was, mostly, on this occasion. Hearing that was good for a believer’s soul. There were other spiritual balms, too. What follows here, then, are the conference’s five “greatest hits,” the best talks given, ranked in reverse order, with a few honorable mentions off the top. Here goes …
Honorable mentions: Apostle Dale Renlund’s talk about taking on the name of Jesus Christ and the positive effects that follow; Peter Johnson, of the Seventy, gave a candid talk about ministering that included his story of joining the church as a young Black man, finding out later about the earlier, now rescinded, priesthood ban on Black males, getting angry and confused, vexed by doubt and fear regarding that, and allowing love to help him clear a hurdle that is difficult for any thinking person to clear, and finding testimony and comfort among the Latter-day Saints; Apostle Dieter Uchtdorf’s talk centered on recognizing God’s gifts and amplifying them; and Seventy John Amos’ Southern-fried talk that discussed good ol’ Louisiana cooking and the ingredients that make it good, declaring in so many words that believers should put more Jesus in their diets. Also, the Tabernacle Choir is semiannually a highlight, count on it.
5. Patrick Kearon’s talk, Saturday evening session.
My top criteria for favorably judging a church talk of any kind, especially at General Conference, is this: Did it make followers feel not just encouraged and better about the direction of their lives, but did it offer hope as motivation to live better, to be better, to serve better, to better depend on, to better appreciate and to better aim to follow the example of the heavenly being who’s name is on the front of the building?
Kearon’s speech hit all of those marks. It was classic lovey-dovey Kearon.
Basically, the apostle said we’re all going to mess up and make boneheaded mistakes in this life, but never so many that Jesus can’t or won’t make us whole again. Jesus is the fountain, the essence of goodness and mercy. “He conversed with the social outcasts, he touched the diseased and unclean, he brought comfort to the weary, he taught liberating truth, he called sinners to repentance,” Kearon said. “He offered a new beginning. … He didn’t withdraw from them, he won’t withdraw from you. He painted vast horizons of forgiveness.”
Kearon said Jesus carved a new beginning for everyone. The term “new beginning” is redundant, because all beginnings are new, but we’ll give Kearon a pass on that. He said Christ will give all of us a pass, as many new beginnings as we need. Have we fallen too far to be rescued by Jesus? “No,” he said. The savior has put no limit on anyone’s second or third or fourth or hundredth chance.
4. Gary Stevenson’s talk, Saturday morning session.
Apostle Stevenson emphasized the importance of being a peacemaker, even, especially, in an outrageous world, a world filled with conflict and tension. He urged believers to replace contention and pride with forgiveness and love. “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God,” he recounted. Can you do so when peace seems so far away? Yes. He said prompting peace begins in our own hearts, then spreads to family, to community, and beyond. He echoed and embraced the words of Jesus, saying to love our enemies, and to build bridges, not walls. “Let kindness do its quiet work,” he said. Replace hatred with hope. Being a peacemaker isn’t weak, it’s strong.
3. Dallin Oaks’ talk, Sunday afternoon session.
There were a number of heart-warming aspects to the presumptive new church president’s address. In Oaks’ first complete talk since LDS Church President Russell M. Nelson’s death, there also was a continued tight view regarding what his — and the church’s — definition is of what a family should look like. But there was a portion of what Oaks said here that was encouraging to some Latter-day Saints, especially those who have family members and loved ones who have left the faith for many different reasons.
Oaks reassured those families, without a whole lot of specificity, that there is reason for hope, even inside the doctrine of a high-demand church, that those loved ones who have left are not spiritually doomed. He put it like this: “Many church members have beloved family members who do not embrace gospel values and expectations. Such members need our love and patience. In relating to one another, we should remember that the perfection we seek is not limited to the stressful circumstances of mortality.” He added: “Repentance and spiritual growth can continue in the spirit world that follows mortality.”
2. Gerrit Gong’s talk, Saturday afternoon session.
— Gong, a member of the Quorum of the Twelve, spoke about gospel culture and cultures of all kinds, that everyone, no matter what their language or background or ethnicity or race or country of origin is, they should be accepted and embraced in the community of Christ. He said Latter-day Saint churches are all over the globe, with believers speaking 125 different languages, and all of them are and would be invited into the house and supper of the Lord. He said he has traveled the world, seeing people gather as one in Jesus Christ, as it should be. People of all nations are included. Living Jesus’ teachings includes making room for all in his “restored church.”
He said when the faithful come to church, if they see someone sitting alone, that individual should be greeted and warmly welcomed. We are better, he said, when no one sits alone physically, emotionally or spiritually.
Gong told the tale of a young deacon from a humble family with modest means who hesitated to go to church for the first time, waiting until he got a new pair of shoes before attending. The boy was ridiculed by others, it was said, because his shoes weren’t “fashionable.” As a result, he never wanted to go back to church again.
Everyone should be made to feel at home in the gospel, Gong said. Doesn’t matter what one looks like, what one’s culture or background is, how limited anyone’s means are, regardless of how perfect or imperfect they are. People should come to Jesus Christ and come to — and fully accept — each other. “All are alike unto God,” he said. “… May we find place for one another in the supper of the Lamb. … We are better when no one sits alone.”
1. Anette Dennis’ talk, Saturday evening session.
In a church with so many standards and strictures, some of them misplaced and misapplied, judging others is too common a problem. The first counselor in the presidency of the Relief Society took a hatchet to all that.
Dennis recapped a story she’d read about a 100-year-old runner in a national senior distance race who finished far behind everyone else, but who was enthusiastically cheered on — and energized — by the crowd. When he solitarily crossed the finish line, he was embraced by his competitors. He had taken last in a number of events. But in his age division, he broke world records.
“It is a basic human need to feel belonging,” Dennis said. The crowd gave this old man strength to go on. She made the analogy between the elderly runner and others who might desire or benefit from brotherly and sisterly encouragement. Our congregations and families can be a gathering place where we give each other strength without judging each other, she said.
She added that attending church can be hard at times for any number of reasons — from struggles with faith to personal fatigue to the rigors of everyday life to family matters and more. Some people might have confidence issues, might feel like they don’t measure up or belong. A person might be single in a congregation filled with married people, filled with families.
People do not need judgment, they need to feel the pure love of Christ, she said. It’s congregants’ responsibility to love each other, to offer the pure love of Christ, to bear one another’s burdens rather than heap burdens upon each other, to treat others the way you would want to be treated. It matters little how much or how little faith anyone has, what they look like, where they come from, what their political beliefs are … “We are all part of the family of God.”
Dennis added a bit of powerful personal detail that is rare for a speaker in General Conference. She talked about the depression she suffered earlier in her life, when she was in her 20s, a time when she not only doubted her faith, she didn’t even know if there was a God. She said she felt lost.
“It was hard for me to attend church,” she said. She didn’t want to be seen as somehow lesser than others and she most definitely did not want to be any church member’s “project.” She needed love, not judgment. Bottom line: Only God knows the struggles faced by people and the reasons behind their struggles. Followers of Christ should tuck away their assumptions and appraisements, their presumptions and prejudgments. And be like the crowd cheering on the old runner, as he slowly shuffled along, setting his world records.