Welcome to Closer to Christ through General Conference,
where two friends who love Jesus share our own
approach to studying the most recent General
Conference talks. This is Abby and Amy. Let's
jump into it. We are talking about, this is a
special, special talk and it was actually a BYU
devotional with President Dallin H. Oaks. He
is the president of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter -day Saints. topic is coming closer
to Jesus Christ. This was such a treat for all
of us, and we are so excited. It is not technically
a conference talk, however, because he addressed
the entire world. We just wanted to fit this
right in. We think it fits in very nicely. So
he was speaking to those in the Marriott Center,
but Also, this was for a wider audience. It was
for the entire world. We were all invited to
hear this. He says, you are an audience greatly
loved by the Lord, and He desires all of you
to return to His presence. He prayed for inspiration
in what the Lord would have them say to each
of us. I was giddy, Abby, just listening to this.
It was so much fun. And I've heard them express
the things that they think that they want to
talk about change when all of a sudden they become
the mouthpiece for the Lord. And he directs the
message a little bit differently. He told us
that he was present at the 100th anniversary
of BYU. Now fast forward another 50 years, we're
celebrating the 150th anniversary of the same
university. And he invited us to think, what
have we become over the last half century? Some
of us haven't even lived a half century yet.
But the point being, when we reflect back on
our lives, You know, are we more prepared to
meet the Savior today than we were yesterday,
10 years ago, 20 years ago, 50 years ago? Meet
the Savior and our parents in heaven. His words
were this, what I have to say applies to all
who follow the words of a prophet. So let's see
what our current prophet has for us. Great. So
first, gratitude for those around the world who
have felt to pray for him. I felt that deeply
that he was humbled by that. Those prayers have
been felt, he said. Then we get to hear his reflection
on a teen, on a term frequently referred to as
the mantle, and what a significant term this
is. So in the Bible, we learn that the cloak
of the prophet Elijah descends on Elisha as a
symbol of the passage of prophetic authority.
We first experienced that mantle in our church
when the prophet Joseph Smith became the first
prophet of this dispensation. Not then, but rather
after the challenges, turmoil, and years after
his passing, when reports of the meeting in Navu
in Nauvoo of who should succeed the murdered
Prophet Joseph Smith. So witnesses of this mantle
settled, it settled on Brigham Young and witnesses,
those who watched, I really love this part because
he made it very clear that some had visual experiences,
some Heard Joseph's voice and many had a feeling
and then this is the point that I really appreciated
that He said each of us receives revelation differently.
They all experience the same thing They all felt
it differently each of us had this opportunity
this week to recognize that same mantle settling
on president oaks Maybe it's in the truth. He
speaks maybe it's in the message that you hear
maybe with your physical eyes, but you literally
see you know We experienced the mantle being
She just did. It was really great. I thought
it was really tender to reflect on watching the
mantle of prophethood settle upon President Nelson
is what he said. He was reminiscing. He said
he watched this mantle settle on President Nelson
after 34 years of rubbing shoulders with this
man. He said, I felt that his prophetic gifts
were magnified. And we all have witnessed his
profound leadership. It was a sweet moment to
appreciate all that we learned through President
Nelson. I felt God's love. preparing him and
sending him at the exact time that he did. And
I knew that he also prepared and sent President
Oaks in that same way. For sure. It was best
to hear how that transfer of the mantle felt
to him as a very physical thing. To observers,
it symbolizes a transfer of priesthood authority.
To the person who receives that authority, it
is a very different and real, very real. Within
a few minutes after learning of the president's
death, I felt the heaviness of responsibility
settle upon me along with important impressions
of what I was required to do now. I love that.
The first order of business that he had is he
said, Heavenly Father wants us to be or become
active members of the Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter -day Saints. So, proceeding forward
on the covenant path into the eternities, I also
did think it was very a nice nod to President
Nelson that he said, you know, what President
Nelson refers to as the covenant path. I just
like that he's going to carry on to carry that
on. Yeah, very sweet. Russell M. Nelson issued
So he emphasized this. In coming days, it will
not be possible to survive spiritually without
the guiding, comforting, and constant influence
of the Holy Ghost. And we all remember this as
being a quote from President Nelson. A couple
years back, President Nelson re -emphasized the
importance of serving missions. And I remember
we were teaching a mission prep class at the
time and these kids would be like, well, I was
wondering about whether I should go. And then
the prophet said that, you know, I have like
a covenant that I made a covenant that I said
that I would serve. And like Amy, you and I,
we've heard that many prophets, but it mattered
when these kids heard it from the prophet of
their day for themselves. At the time they were
thinking of a mission. But I was just thinking
how cool it is when a previous prophet says something
and then the subsequent prophet Like President
Oaks reaffirms what President Nelson's saying
about the idea of surviving spiritually with
the guidance of the Holy Ghost becoming a priority.
it reaffirms that it's just as important. It's
nice to hear from the succeeding prophet. A quote,
one of the many reasons you will need the constant
influence of the Holy Ghost is that you live
in a season where the adversary has become so
effective at disguising truth that if you don't
have the Holy Ghost, you will be deceived. Many
obstacles lie ahead. The distractions will be
many. And we've all felt it. So it's not like
doom and gloom. It's just him affirming that
yeah, this is a hard time to live and we have
to be on our guard and we have the tools that
we need to stay ahead of absolutely the Satan's
plan. Yes, this is what's happening. This is
the focus, right? He wants to help all our members
overcome present. or future doubts. I really
appreciated the way he said that. Whatever those
doubts, the way to overcome them is to get closer
to our Savior, Jesus Christ. Again and again,
He has taught us that He is the way. I think
it's something I have found a lot of peace in
for myself. I might hear something that doesn't
settle in a right way, or I think, hmm, that's
new information to me. But through experience,
I have learned that because I have a desire to
believe the words of God's called leaders, I
have found peace in knowing that eventually I
will learn for myself the truths of those things.
So I particularly love that he says there is
a way to overcome future doubts. He knows that
they will be there. It's just part of human nature,
right? Abby, do you want to share his impressions
on this? Yeah, he said he had four impressions
and I'm already seeing this on memes and so I'm
loving it when they come up because I can just
be reminded of the four main. Talk this will
dissect into each of them and our experiences
that come to our mind as we're kind of going
through each of these to say Yeah, I've experienced
the blessing of that thing will will be different
for each of us, but the impressions They're powerful.
He says first strength in our faith in him Second
increase our humility third seek help from others
and fourth be patient. So like I said, we'll
touch on each of these points and Want me to
take the first one go for it faith in the Lord
Jesus Christ and his son Do we know what their
mission was and still is? He has wanted us to
know the truths that they have taught, and there
are sources to look to overcome our doubts for
ourselves. We can do things like daily prayer
and scripture study. We can focus on the first
article of faith. We believe in God, the Eternal
Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ, and in the
Holy Ghost. It's the first article of faith for
a reason. putting our effort into this key principle
of gospel opens us up to all other gospel truths.
And from my own experience, when I'm trying to
learn something and I don't know it for myself
yet, that truth is my anchor. The truth of the
Godhead. The truth of, you know, eternal parents
and a Savior and the companionship of the Holy
Ghost. Those anchor me and I hold that. It's
kind of a placeholder until I can know This new
truth for myself and I feel like just what you
mentioned earlier Like I I want to know for myself
that it's true. Maybe it doesn't come immediately
some things people say i'm like, yep I've got
that totally feels right. I can run with it.
Sometimes they just don't settle right You don't
know where to put it, but I know that I want
to know Yeah, and I want it to feel comfortable.
I just need a little more information. So I've
done that myself. I've just been like, I'm not
really sure, but I know that that's a prophet
of God and I put my trust in him. So let me,
let me open that in my prayer. Like help me,
help me find the things that I need to reconcile
that to know that truth for myself. Totally.
Not just blind faith. Like, not the blind faith's
bad. That sounded terrible. Not just. blindly
following. I just want to take the word faith
out of it. You can take someone's word and you
can weigh that against what you know about God
and you can also say, God show me how this is
true. I like to pray to Heavenly Father and say,
Heavenly Father, the prophet said this, please
show this how it applies to my life and help
me to see how it's real in my life because it's
going to feel a little bit different for every
person I feel like. Totally. So humility, here
we are. great way to go at this. Humility draws
us closer to Jesus Christ. When we are humble,
we can more clearly hear the Lord's voice. We
all need helpers to teach us humility. Oh my
gosh, love this story that he said. President
Oaks shared a lesson in humility that he learned
from himself, and I'm just going to read his
exact words. He says, my first year as a professor
at the University of Chicago Law School, a famous
faculty member died and the dean asked me to
teach his classes for several weeks until a suitable
substitute could be provided. The legal subject
was one with which I was not very familiar, so
I struggled hard and finally felt like congratulating
myself on fulfilling an assignment. Afterwards,
a student gave me what I thought was going to
be a compliment. He said, Mr. Oaks, I was in
that class you taught for a professor so -and
-so, and I must tell you, I was really impressed.
You'll make a good teacher someday." So good.
He's a very precise man, and he does pride himself
on doing his best. The fact that he's bringing
it up all these years later, it makes me laugh.
We all need experiences like that. I think kids
are the best. Right? They're the best at keeping
us humble. They only speak truth. President Ezra
Taft -Nelson... Benson. Oh my goodness. Sorry,
guys. President Ezra Taft -Benson... Oh my gosh.
What is it? No, it is right. President Ezra Taft
-Benson said, the antidote for pride is humility,
meekness, submissiveness, humility responds to
God's will. To the fear of his judgments and
to the needs of those around us. Let us choose
to be humble, he pleaded. Yes, choose to be humble.
Humility is a foundational virtue that enables
us to develop other Christ -like qualities and
become who our Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ
intend us to be. Spencer W. Kimball taught that
humility is teachableness, free from contention
or self -justification. It is repentant, forgiving,
and aware that we all make mistakes. A humble
person does not seek attention, honor, or popularity
as a guiding commandment in mortality. Humility
prepares us to meet our savior and helps us stay
focused on what matters most. The Lord loves
all his children and desires their return, yet
some hinder their spiritual growth through inactivity,
distancing themselves from church teachings and
covenants. This might be returned missionaries,
this might be youth who lack commitment to marriage
and family, this might be adults who seek priesthood,
who do not seek priesthood blessings or covenant
responsibilities. Prophetic leaders are deeply
concerned for those whose faith is declining,
but they emphasize that God lovingly and persistently
seeks each person. Kind of felt like Elder Caroline,
he's in relentless pursuit of us. Yes. Staying
true to commandments and covenants. and not letting
secular learning restrict spiritual vision keeps
us on the covenant path. And again, we're at
a university, we know people are in the midst
of seeking secular knowledge at a religious institution,
but it's something that a lot of people battle.
And I think when you don't have that balance
of... being an institute of religion that you're
attending, you have to fight even harder to gain
secular knowledge and not let your faith be squelched.
Absolutely, Abby. So here we are, we're going
to talk about this balance of attaining knowledge.
So we're grateful to know that there are two
methods of gaining needed knowledge. One, the
evolving disclosures of man discovered by the
scientific method. And then number two is the
truth. the truths disclosed by this spiritual
method, which begins with faith in God, relies
on Scripture, inspired teaching, and also personal
revelation. There's no ultimate conflict between
knowledge gained by these different methods,
because God, our omnipotent, eternal Father,
knows what all truth is, and it beckons us to
learn by both methods. Love that! The balance
of both of those are needed. quote by Elder Richard
L. Evans really just sets it off perfectly as
far as balance goes. He has a really good answer
for those who are caught off balance by some
scientific evidence that seems to be contrary
to what we interpret from the scriptures. He
says, there may be some seeming discrepancies.
Do not worry about them. Eternity is a long time.
I have a great respect for learning. for academic
endeavor and the university atmosphere. I have
a great respect for science and scientists and
for the search of truth. But remember this, science
after all, even when it is true and final and
factual, is simply man's discovering of a few
things that God already knows and controls and
is ordering of the universe. God has not told
us all that he knows. Could you imagine? We wouldn't
be able to hold it all. We believe in continuous
revelation. Be patient. keep humble and balanced
in all things. I felt like that was just a perfect
thing to hear in a university setting. It was
my favorite maybe up to that point. Same. It
was so beautifully said, articulated. It touched
my heart. I'm a science major in college. How
did I not know that? Yeah. I have my bachelor
of science in dental hygiene. Specifically. So
tons of science classes, heavily weighted. And
so it was a big part of my education. And I felt
like, as I didn't attend an Institute of Religion,
my professors spent a lot of time trying to tell
me that I would need to set aside my religion
for my scientific pursuits. You know, this is
an orb over here. And it's nice what you think,
but really to be a scientist that you kind of
need to be over here and try to use quotes from
apostles to say like, Religion has its place
and science has its place, but they're never
meant to co -mingle Interesting and I performed
particularly horrible on the test, you know Stuff
that was related to the origin of man like bombed
it and so I turned to prayer and I asked Heavenly
Father for the ability to learn the material
for the sake of the test and not because I held
it to be truth and Earned myself a hundred percent
on the second pass. Nice. Yeah, I have the opportunity
to homeschool my children the critical the I
like It's okay. It's critical to me that I educate
them in all of their studies with secular and
religious knowledge intertwined, that when we
teach science that I'm saying the master scientist,
the master organizer, a mathematician, that you
know all math, in art, in symmetry, in beauty.
Like I can involve him in all of those ways.
And I love that. Certainly they're going to enter
the world that they're going to have to, they're
going to have to listen to people that want to
educate them in a different way. But I'm hoping
that they know how to recognize truth for truth.
But again, just to reemphasize the quote you
shared. All of the studies that we do are simply
man's discovering of a few things that God already
knows and controls in his ordering of the universe.
Absolutely. I love that. Totally. As the Book
of Mormon teaches, the Lord doth bless and prosper
those who put their trust in him. Trusting in
the Lord is a particular need for all who wrongly
discount the commandments of God and the teachings
of his prophets by measuring them against the
latest findings and wisdom of man. A third way
to draw closer to the Savior is to associate
with other believers. Who are these people in
our lives? Are they trusted associates, local
church members, other faithful friends, a spouse,
a significant other? We know that Satan has become
increasingly crafty at how he aims to get us
in his grafts. To quote the talk, an abundance
of speculation and false information in podcasts
and on social media surround us. Some may protest
to question the truth of church doctrine without
knowing or even understanding the fullness of
that doctrine. Don't be persuaded by false or
inaccurate information. Discuss your concerns
with faithful well -informed friends, and always
take those concerns to the Lord. Absolutely.
He made a very good point. We know very little
about the spirit world before or after mortality,
and relying on speculation beyond what God has
revealed can lead to confusion and doubt. Trusting
God both in what He has revealed and what He
has not is protection against mistaken beliefs.
Then he shares a story, a stake president's experience,
that illustrates this. When a young man said
he was leaving the church after spending time
with unbelieving friends, he was deeply moved
simply by hearing a sincere testimony again by
this stake president. The story shows how faith
can be strengthened by surrounding ourselves
with belief rather than doubt. I love when the
boy said he was just so taken by this pure testimony
because he said it's been a long time since he'd
heard in a long time since I've heard this I've
been hanging out with those who don't believe
it was just a very stark contrast and I love
how the spirit pricked his heart and He says
what if that sick president hadn't chose to speak
right in that moment that he's like I don't want
to I don't want to force my beliefs on him, but
just testifying of something, you know to be
true is the best way to invite the spirit and
clearly And we are struggling boy felt it. Yes,
and we already know that this boy respected him
to a degree. He asked him to be his mentor. Yeah,
and so I just think it was a beautiful way to
To that relationship sort of fostered that you
know what I mean, and it's the spirit knew that
and told him to speak up So what he says is The
story shows how faith can be strengthened by
surrounding ourselves with belief rather than
doubt. Our prophet shared this. I say to all
of you, seek friends and associates who are striving
to follow the Lord with whom you can feel the
Spirit and reinforce your faith. Surround yourself
with people who believe. Renew your covenants
by taking partaking of the sacrament weekly and
consistently try to live according to those sacred
covenants. Regularly attend the temple. Stay
on the covenant path. These simple practices
will protect you and strengthen you. Again, we've
heard this simple but wise counsel from other
prophets of God. And now to hear it from our
prophet, to have him reaffirm these brings reassurance
to me that we are in great hands. Which all that
time and time again, and looking back, I mean,
you saw me slaughter the prophet, President Nelson,
or President Benson's name, but there's just
quotes from prophets throughout the ages. And
so when he, when he and his first address as
the prophet to the world, is speaking and he
references all of these other prophets to the
generation. I just like, it's just linking them
all together. Knowing that that succession has
carried on flawlessly. The final point of the
talk was maybe the one I felt maybe the most
called out on, that was patience. We are all
a work in progress. We are all at different places
on what President Nelson called the covenant
path. We need to be patient with one another.
and occasionally even with ourselves. Love that.
Overcoming doubt, resolving complex between the
evolving understanding of science and sometimes
incomplete teaching and religion can be a lengthy
process, like building faith requiring humility.
Hold on to the first article of faith, even if
something else is uncertain. And while you wait,
wait upon the Lord, which includes trusting in
his timing as well as his promises. And he says,
what should we do in the meantime? How can we
best use our time while we wait? While we wait,
we should be busy busying ourselves. with service.
Again and again, Jesus taught and demonstrated
the power of service to others. I just loved
this talk. Like you said, how he referenced prophets
through the latter days. It was just very I guess
the best word to say was just a very natural
progression of, now he's the next prophet and
he's going to continue on the word of God, just
like the ones before him have. And I just felt
very strongly, I'm grateful for the specific
gifts that he has in this specific time that
we have. One of the ones I've noticed is that
by profession, he is a lawyer. Yes, he's a lawyer
and a judge. and expounds on the law and interprets
it, that's the word. scripture that way in the
Word of God, he takes a lot of sources and he
brings them together and says, what we can learn
from this. I just love that researching that
he has with bringing lots of sources together
and giving us a very full picture of what has
come before us. Christopherson's also a lawyer.
Absolutely. And then Eyring, he's just the touch
of sweetness. So I look at that development of
the first presidency and I'm like, yeah, that's
what we need. So great. We need to have the law
on our side. And, oh yeah, he is a scientist.
Totally. What a perfect first presidency. So
I just love, I absolutely endorse, what's the
word? Sustain. Sustain. I had my hand up, guys.
I couldn't think of the word, but I absolutely
sustain him as our prophet. And I'm just so grateful
that there is a prophet in Israel and that the
Lord loves us enough to give us guidance. The
last podcast that we did, I'm saying her name
wrong. I cringed every time I heard myself say
it, because I think it's maybe Spaniards or is
it Spaniards? Maybe Spaniards. I'm really sorry.
However it is, however it makes you feel less
cringy about me saying it. That's how I want
to say her name. We prepared for, we thought
it was amazing how President Nelson. She prepared
this with President Nelson Still as our prophet
and talking about the mantle and talking about,
you know, inviting a prophet into your home or
to sup and then fully inviting a prophet into
your home. And there's a lot of thoughts were
coming to me as we were preparing for that and
Amy announced, hey, the prophet's going to speak
in his first address on the 10th. We'd love you
to listen to it, invite him into your homes and,
you know, either get a testimony of him or start
to build your testimony of him being prophet
of God called. on Earth today. And so I knew
that I wanted that for myself. And I feel like
I felt very comfortable when that time passed,
we buried President Nelson and the new first
presidency was announced. I was like, yeah, he's
our prophet and that's great. I definitely had
special moments in this talk, hearing him speak,
just retestifying. So I'm not going to say that
it took this talk for me to know he's the prophet
of God, but such a sweet I'm hoping that you
all take the chance to hear it. At this moment
in time, it's still on the main page of the gospel
library and the written words are also transcribed.
Before it was just the video, my husband teaches
seminary and so they paused their scripture study
and tuned into the prophet when he gave the address
and then the following day when it was like archived
or whatever, they showed it to all their subsequent
classes and it sounds like it was something that
all seminaries were encouraged to do. If you
haven't taken the opportunity yet to hear that
first address, go into it with a prayer that
you'll hear what you need to, to be comfortable
in your testimony that a prophet of God walks
this earth today. I would love to close with
his testimony. He said, I testify of Jesus Christ
as apostles are taught to testify of His name,
meaning His sacred work in all the world. I testify
of the truth taught by the restored church. I
share with you and testify to the truth of these
things. as I have today in the name of Jesus
Christ. Amen. Amen. Thanks for letting us divert
from conference talks, but this was really a
fun one to go through you. We'll see you next
time. Hope you have a blessed week.