“Our Eyes Are upon Thee”

By Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

As Job in the Old Testament, in a time of suffering some might feel that God has abandoned them. Because we know that God has power to prevent or remove any affliction, we may be tempted to complain if He does not do it, perhaps questioning, “If God does not grant the help I pray for, how can I have faith in Him?” At one point in his intense trials, righteous Job said:

“Then know that God has wronged me and drawn his net around me.

“Though I cry, ‘I’ve been wronged!’ I get no response; though I call for help, there is no justice.”

In His response to Job, God demands, “Wilt thou condemn me, that thou mayest be righteous?” Or in other words, “Will you even put me in the wrong? Will you condemn me that you may be justified?” Jehovah forcefully reminds Job of His omnipotence and omniscience, and Job in deepest humility admits he possesses nothing even close to the knowledge, power, and righteousness of God and cannot stand in judgment of the Almighty:

“I know that thou canst do every thing,” he said, “and that no thought can be withholden from thee.

“… I uttered that I understood not; things too wonderful for me, which I knew not. …

“Wherefore I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.”

In the end, Job was privileged to see the Lord, and “the Lord blessed the latter end of Job more than his beginning.”

It truly is folly for us with our mortal myopia to presume to judge God, to think, for example, “I’m not happy, so God must be doing something wrong.” To us, His mortal children in a fallen world, who know so little of past, present, and future, He declares, “All things are present with me, for I know them all.” Jacob wisely cautions: “Seek not to counsel the Lord, but to take counsel from his hand. For behold, ye yourselves know that he counseleth in wisdom, and in justice, and in great mercy, over all his works.”

Some misunderstand the promises of God to mean that obedience to Him yields specific outcomes on a fixed schedule. They might think, “If I diligently serve a full-time mission, God will bless me with a happy marriage and children” or “If I refrain from doing schoolwork on the Sabbath, God will bless me with good grades” or “If I pay tithing, God will bless me with that job I’ve been wanting.” If life doesn’t fall out precisely this way or according to an expected timetable, they may feel betrayed by God. But things are not so mechanical in the divine economy. We ought not to think of God’s plan as a cosmic vending machine where we (1) select a desired blessing, (2) insert the required sum of good works, and (3) the order is promptly delivered.

God will indeed honor His covenants and promises to each of us. We need not worry about that. The atoning power of Jesus Christ—who descended below all things and then ascended on high and who possesses all power in heaven and in earth—ensures that God can and will fulfill His promises. It is essential that we honor and obey His laws, but not every blessing predicated on obedience to law is shaped, designed, and timed according to our expectations. We do our best but must leave to Him the management of blessings, both temporal and spiritual.

President Brigham Young explained that his faith was not built on certain outcomes or blessings but on his witness of and relationship with Jesus Christ. He said: “My faith is not placed upon the Lord’s working upon the islands of the sea, upon his bringing the people here, … nor upon the favors he bestows upon this people or upon that people, neither upon whether we are blessed or not blessed, but my faith is placed upon the Lord Jesus Christ, and my knowledge I have received from him.”

Our repentance and obedience, our service and sacrifices do matter. We want to be among those described by Ether as “always abounding in good works.” But it is not so much because of some tally kept in celestial account books. These things matter because they engage us in God’s work and are the means by which we collaborate with Him in our own transformation from natural man to saint. What our Heavenly Father offers us is Himself and His Son, a close and enduring relationship with Them through the grace and mediation of Jesus Christ, our Redeemer.

We are God’s children, set apart for immortality and eternal life. Our destiny is to be His heirs, “joint-heirs with Christ.” Our Father is willing to guide each of us along His covenant path with steps designed to our individual need and tailored to His plan for our ultimate happiness with Him. We can anticipate a growing trust and faith in the Father and the Son, an increasing sense of Their love, and the consistent comfort and guidance of the Holy Spirit.

Even so, this path cannot be easy for any of us. There is too much refining needed for it to be easy. Jesus said:

“I am the true vine, and my Father is the husbandman.

“Every branch in me that beareth not fruit [the Father] taketh away: and every branch that beareth fruit, he purgeth it, that it may bring forth more fruit.”

The process of God-directed purging and purifying will, of necessity, be wrenching and painful at times. Recalling Paul’s expression, we are “joint-heirs with Christ; if so be that we suffer with him, that we may be also glorified together.”

So, in the midst of this refiner’s fire, rather than get angry with God, get close to God. Call upon the Father in the name of the Son. Walk with Them in the Spirit, day by day. Allow Them over time to manifest Their fidelity to you. Come truly to know Them and truly to know yourself. Let God prevail. The Savior reassures us:

“Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading your cause before him—

“Saying: Father, behold the sufferings and death of him who did no sin, in whom thou wast well pleased; behold the blood of thy Son which was shed, the blood of him whom thou gavest that thyself might be glorified;

“Wherefore, Father, spare these my brethren [and my sisters] that believe on my name, that they may come unto me and have everlasting life.”

Consider some examples of faithful men and women who trusted God, confident that His promised blessings would be upon them in life or in death. Their faith was based not on what God did or did not do in a particular circumstance or moment in time but on knowing Him as their benevolent Father and Jesus Christ as their faithful Redeemer.

When Abraham was about to be sacrificed by the Egyptian priest of Elkenah, he cried out to God to save him, and God did. Abraham lived to become the father of the faithful through whose seed all the families of the earth would be blessed. Earlier, on this very same altar, that same priest of Elkenah had offered up three virgins who “because of their virtue … would not bow down to worship gods of wood or of stone.” They died there as martyrs.

Joseph of old, sold into slavery as a youth by his own brothers, in his anguish turned to God. Gradually, he rose to prominence in his master’s house in Egypt but then had all this progress ripped away because of the false accusations of Potiphar’s wife. Joseph could have thought, “So prison is what I get for keeping the law of chastity.” Instead he continued to turn to God and was prospered even in prison. Joseph suffered a further crushing disappointment when the prisoner he befriended, despite his promise to help Joseph, forgot all about him after being restored to his position in Pharaoh’s court. In due course, as you know, the Lord intervened to put Joseph in the highest position of trust and power next to Pharaoh, enabling Joseph to save the house of Israel. Surely Joseph could attest “that all things work together for good to them that love God.”

Abinadi was intent on fulfilling his divine commission. “I finish my message,” he said, “and then it matters not [what happens to me], if it so be that I am saved.” He was not spared a martyr’s death, but assuredly he was saved in the kingdom of God, and his one precious convert, Alma, changed the course of Nephite history leading up to the coming of Christ.

Alma and Amulek were delivered from prison in Ammonihah in answer to their plea, and their persecutors were slain. Earlier, however, these same persecutors had cast believing women and their children into a raging fire. Alma, witnessing the horrific scene in agony, was constrained by the Spirit not to exercise the power of God to “save them from the flames,” that they might be received up to God in glory.

The Prophet Joseph Smith languished in jail at Liberty, Missouri, powerless to help the Saints as they were pillaged and driven from their homes in the bitter cold of winter. “O God, where art thou?” Joseph cried. “How long shall thy hand be stayed?” In response, the Lord promised: “Thine adversity and thine afflictions shall be but a small moment; and then, if thou endure it well, God shall exalt thee on high. … Thou art not yet as Job.”

In the end, Joseph could declare with Job, “Though [God] slay me, yet will I trust in him.”

Elder Brook P. Hales related the story of Sister Patricia Parkinson, who was born with normal eyesight but by age 11 had gone blind.

Elder Hales recounted: “I’ve known Pat for many years and recently told her that I admired the fact that she is always positive and happy. She responded, ‘Well, you have not been at home with me, have you? I have my moments. I’ve had rather severe bouts of depression, and I’ve cried a lot.’ However, she added, ‘From the time I started losing my sight, it was strange, but I knew that Heavenly Father and the Savior were with my family and me. … To those who ask me if I am angry because I am blind, I respond, ‘Who would I be angry with? Heavenly Father is in this with me; I am not alone. He is with me all the time.’”

In the end, it is the blessing of a close and abiding relationship with the Father and the Son that we seek. It makes all the difference and is everlastingly worth the cost. We will testify with Paul “that the sufferings of this present [mortal] time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.” I bear witness that no matter what our mortal experience may entail, we can trust God and find joy in Him.

“Trust in the Lord with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding.

“In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.”

In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Job 19:6–7, New International Version Study Bible (2018).

Job 40:8.

Job 40:8, New Revised Standard Version.

Job 42:2–3, 6.

Job 42:12.

Moses 1:6; see also Doctrine and Covenants 38:2.

Jacob 4:10.

King Benjamin taught that all God requires of us is to keep His commandments, “for which if ye do, he doth immediately bless you” (see Mosiah 2:22, 24). This does not mean, however, that all blessings come quickly. God’s blessings are immediate in the sense that His commandments carry their own reward. It also means that obedience to His commandments brings the blessing of living in His presence by having His Holy Spirit with us (see Alma 36:30).

See Doctrine and Covenants 82:10.

See Doctrine and Covenants 88:6.

See Matthew 28:18.

See Doctrine and Covenants 130:20–21.

Brigham Young, “Instructions,” Deseret News, Nov. 21, 1855, 290; emphasis added.

Ether 12:4.

See Mosiah 3:19; see also Dallin H. Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 32; Liahona, Jan. 2001, 40.

Romans 8:17.

John 15:1–2.

Romans 8:17; emphasis added.

See 1 Corinthians 13:12.

See Russell M. Nelson, “Let God Prevail,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 92–95.

Doctrine and Covenants 45:3–5; emphasis added.

See Abraham 1:7, 15, 20.

See Abraham 2:11.

Abraham 1:11.

Romans 8:28.

Mosiah 13:9.

See Alma 14:23–28.

Alma 14:10.

Alma 14:11: “The Spirit constraineth me that I must not stretch forth mine hand; for behold the Lord receiveth them up unto himself, in glory; and he doth suffer that they may do this thing, or that the people may do this thing unto them, according to the hardness of their hearts, that the judgments which he shall exercise upon them in his wrath may be just; and the blood of the innocent shall stand as a witness against them, yea, and cry mightily against them at the last day.”

Doctrine and Covenants 121:1–2.

Doctrine and Covenants 121:7–8, 10.

Job 13:15.

Brook P. Hales, “Answers to Prayer,” Ensign or Liahona, May 2019, 14.

Romans 8:18.

Proverbs 3:5–6.

A Study in Obedience

By Lane Johnson

Assistant Editor

On the operating table under a bright light and surrounded by a jungle of glittering equipment is a sixty-year-old man being covered with special green drapes that leave a long, rectangular opening squarely over the middle of his chest and another opening over his left leg.

Dr. Russell M. Nelson joins seven other members of the surgical team in the room: the senior resident in surgery; a surgical nurse; an anesthesiologist; a heart-lung machine specialist; a computer specialist; and two other nurses, one of whom is in charge of the operating room. I stand slightly apart from them, an observer, scrubbed and wearing sanitized clothing.

Having taken their positions, they begin their work with an alacrity that is somewhat chilling to a newcomer. The senior resident, in one deft stroke, makes a foot-long incision the length of the sternum, following quickly with a cauterizing tool that seals off the numerous small vessels that have begun to bleed into the wound.

Meanwhile, Dr. Nelson is making an incision in the left leg to locate a vein that will be removed. This is to be a quadruple coronary arterial bypass operation—in other words, surgery to bypass obstructions in four arteries that feed the patient’s heart muscle. The vein being taken from the thigh will be used for the bypass grafts. There is a snipping of scissors and more cauterizing. I make an unscheduled exit to the hallway for a breath of fresh air and a reassessment of my determination to continue with this assignment.

Then comes the whirring sound of an electric saw. Reentering the room, I am stationed at the head of the operating table, where in full view before me I see that the patient’s sternum has been sawed through longitudinally and an ingenious retractor has been placed in the cleft. Several cranks on a short lever spread the retractor apart—and there, between the patient’s spread ribs, is his beating heart.

Soft music is playing quietly over the intercom. The surgeons’ eyes reveal no amazement, no sense of drama—only deliberate concentration. My weak-in-the-knees feeling soon leaves, and the procedure takes on a magnetic fascination.

An incision is carefully made into the aorta and one of the chambers of the heart, which continues to beat. Long sutures are prepared. Tubes coming from the heart-lung machine—the “pump”—are inserted into the incisions, and at a given signal the heart-lung machine whirrs into action. Now the dark venous blood entering the heart is intercepted and routed through the heart-lung machine, which oxygenates it and returns it—now a brighter red—to the arterial system leading to the patient’s body. At length the heartbeat slows to a stop and the intricate repairs begin.

The surgeons now wear glasses with powerful magnifiers built into the lenses. Using a very small scalpel, they begin to carefully probe the layer of fat around the heart to locate the arteries in question, which are scarcely distinguishable from the surrounding fatty tissue. They find one, and after a glance at an X-ray illuminated on the wall, the surgeon makes a small slit. Then a small catheter is inserted into the slit and pushed carefully up the artery until it suddenly comes to a stop against an obstruction. After a light tap on the catheter, which I can almost feel in my own fingertips, the surgeon says, “That’s it. There’s just a very narrow opening for blood to pass through.”

A section of the pencil-size vein that will serve as the graft is carefully measured and trimmed to the correct length. Then, with the utmost care and an amazing display of teamwork, the two surgeons begin to sew the graft onto the slit in the artery. The tiny, curved needle passes from hand to hand; the hairlike thread is drawn snug; the knots are tied.

After more than an hour of painstaking labor, four grafts have been connected to the aorta. Suddenly the blood pressure drops, much to everyone’s surprise. Making the diagnosis immediately, Dr. Nelson points to a clamp that should have been left on one of the many tubes at this critical point in the procedure. It is quickly replaced—a small mistake, but one that could have been costly.

“I still love you,” he says to the team member responsible for the oversight. There is a nod of appreciation. Then Dr. Nelson adds with a wry tone, “Sometimes I love you more than other times …”

And there are smiling eyes all around. He is clearly the one in control of this operation. He keeps the atmosphere light enough so that all the team members remain relaxed. But there is also an unspoken demand for constant concentration.

Photography by Eldon Linschoten

“This is how an emergency has to be handled,” says the anesthesiologist quietly aside. “The surgeon in charge—whoever he is—has got to stay cool. He has to stay calm and think, ‘Let’s find out what has to be done, and then do it.’”

Dr. Nelson later comments: “It’s a matter of extreme self-discipline. Your natural reaction is, ‘Take me out, coach! I want to go home.’ But of course you can’t. A life is totally dependent on the whole surgical team. So you’ve got to stay just as calm and relaxed and sharp as you ever were.”

He recalls his days as an intern when he saw instances of undisciplined conduct in the operating room. Once when he was helping amputate a gangrenous leg, the surgeon became so excited that as he was cutting through tissue loaded with deadly organisms, he slipped and jabbed the knife through Dr. Nelson’s arm.

“I didn’t like that too well,” he says in obvious understatement. “I resolved then and there that I would discipline my body to be subject to the dominion of my spirit.”

Four hours have now elapsed, and things are just about wrapped up. The heart-lung machine has been disengaged and the heart gently shocked into activity with electrodes; the grafts, now fairly bulging with a new blood supply for the heart muscle, have been checked for leaks. The heart is doing well on its own, and the patient is stable. Thoughts now turn to the patient’s worried family, and one of the nurses reaches for a telephone: “We’re off the pump, we’ve done four grafts, and Dr. Nelson will be down in about 45 minutes.”

Open-heart operations like this one are done more than 100,000 times each year in the United States. In his more than thirty years as a pioneer in the field, he has seen the technology associated with open-heart surgery, and the expertise of surgeons, advance to the point where less than two in one-hundred patients fail to leave the hospital.

His own medical education began in 1942 during his second year at the University of Utah, and since that time he has developed a summary view of medicine that is remarkably simple: “As a physician analyzes a patient’s problem,” he says, “one crucial question needs an answer: Is the patient’s condition one that will improve with the passage of time, or will it become worse? For example, a fractured rib will heal with only minimal care; but a deteriorating heart valve cannot heal, and with time will only worsen. The doctor’s function is to convert the process from one that will not heal to one that will heal with the passage of time.”

In carrying out that function, he says, a physician or surgeon must realize that he has no healing power in himself to dispense. He can only depend on the divinely endowed and timelessly dependable healing powers of the human body. He quotes from the Doctrine and Covenants: “There is a law, irrevocably decreed in heaven before the foundations of this world, upon which all blessings are predicated—

“And when we obtain any blessing from God, it is by obedience to that law upon which it is predicated.” (D&C 130:20–21.)

“In other words,” he continues, “whenever a blessing is received, it’s because a law has been obeyed. And that means it will always work—not just most of the time, not just some of the time, but every single time without exception. That takes the pressure off an individual who is willing to study the laws that govern the physical body and be obedient to them. Otherwise we’d be crazy to take these patients down to death and back every day.”

It was while he was studying medicine at the University of Utah that he met his wife-to-be. He had been recruited for a role in a play, and when he arrived at the theater for the first rehearsal, he heard the soprano voice of a dark-haired young woman on the stage. He stopped suddenly and asked the director, “Who is that beautiful girl singing up there?”

“That’s Dantzel White. She’s the one you’ll be performing with,” was the reply.

He vividly remembers the feeling that came over him. “I thought she was the most beautiful girl I had ever seen and sensed that she was the one I would marry,” he said. Dantzel felt the same way. When she went home to Perry, Utah, she announced to her parents that she had met the man she wanted to marry. Three years later they were married in the Salt Lake Temple.

Having entered the university’s medical school in 1944, Russell completed the four-year course in three years, with continuing encouragement from his wife and his parents, Edna and Marion C. Nelson. Then followed an internship at the University of Minnesota Hospitals where, in addition to the normal surgical training, he began a program leading to the Ph.D. degree. He also became part of a team that received a five-year research grant to develop a machine that would take over the functions of a patient’s heart and lungs while the heart was being surgically repaired. The challenges were enormous, but after nearly three years of labor it was ready for use. In 1951 it was used for the first time in an open-heart operation on a human being.

After a two-year interruption for medical service in the U.S. Army during the Korean War and another year of service at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston, he returned to the University of Minnesota and completed his Ph.D. degree in 1954. With this long period of advanced surgical training behind them, he and Dantzel returned to Salt Lake City with their family, which now included four daughters—Marsha, Wendy, Gloria, and Brenda—with a fifth, Sylvia, soon to arrive. As an assistant professor of surgery at the University of Utah College of Medicine, he continued in research, teaching, and surgery.

Those first days of open-heart surgery were, in his words, “like sailing an uncharted sea,” with moments of euphoria but with despair as well, when surgery was unable to save a life. Brother Nelson describes one such instance early in his career: “In 1957, Brother and Sister H. brought their third child to me for repair of congenital heart disease. Their first child had died from congenital heart disease before the advent of cardiac surgery, and their second also died after an unsuccessful open-heart operation that I performed. I operated on the third child, but she died later that night.

“My grief was beyond expression. When I went home, I told the story to Dantzel and said, ‘I’m through. I’ll never do another heart operation as long as I live!’ I wept most of the night. All I could think of were the faces of those two parents, and I could still see those pathetic children in my mind, blue-lipped and with clubbed fingers, yet with smiles of confidence and hope. I determined that my inadequacies would never be inflicted on another human family.

“When morning came, Dantzel finally said, ‘Isn’t it better to keep trying than to quit now and require others to go through the same grief of learning what you already know?’

“I listened to her counsel. I returned to the laboratory to work a little harder, learn a little more, and strive further.”

Twenty-five years later, he has still not become hardened to the suffering of his patients. “Nowadays doctors have a very high rate of success in these operations,” he says, “but we can’t save everyone—that would be impossible. Sometimes all we can do is offer comfort. We don’t ever want to destroy hope. The doctor’s job is to cure sometimes, to relieve suffering frequently, but always to comfort.”

In 1959 he left the University of Utah and went into private practice. There he was, thirty-five years old and with a family of six children, in training all those years after medical school, going deeper and deeper into debt in order to properly train himself.

His lack of concern for money is reflected in a humorous incident that occurred when he was called, in 1964, to be president of the Bonneville Stake. Elders Spencer W. Kimball and LeGrand Richards were assigned the task of choosing a new stake president, and in an interview Elder Kimball showed him a figure written on a piece of paper and asked him if that was all the tithing he had paid in the previous year. Glancing at the paper, Brother Nelson said, “Yes, it’s an honest tithing.”

“Well, I thought you were a little more prosperous than this figure might indicate,” said Elder Kimball.

“I don’t know how much I paid,” he said. “All I can say is, it’s a full tithing.”

But great was his embarrassment when he went home and consulted his records. As it happened, that was the year they had moved from one ward to another within the stake. Consequently, the figure Elder Kimball had showed him was the amount he had paid for the one month they had lived in their new ward; Elder Kimball didn’t have record of the tithing he had paid during the previous eleven months of the year!

Nevertheless, he was called to the demanding work of a stake president. Prior to his setting apart, Brother Nelson had mentioned that one of the serious challenges facing him as a surgeon was the difficulty of aortic valve replacement. In the blessing, Elder Kimball promised him that the quality of his work as a surgeon would increase so that he would have the time to serve as stake president without jeopardizing his patients. Elder Kimball himself was to benefit later from this blessing, for in 1972 the open-heart operation that Dr. Nelson performed on him included aortic valve replacement.

In 1965, Dr. Nelson was presented with an extraordinary opportunity to assume the position of professor of surgery and chairman of the Division of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery at another major university. Included in the offer was a generous salary and an arrangement to pay fully for the college education of all his children when the time came.

The Nelsons were overwhelmed by this offer and were inclined to accept. But before making a decision that affected not only their family but also his service as stake president, he sought the counsel of President David O. McKay.

After hearing the details of the situation, President McKay closed his eyes, leaned back in his chair, and pondered the matter for some time. Then he said, “Brother Nelson, it doesn’t feel good to me. I don’t think you should go to Chicago.”

“That was it,” says Dr. Nelson. “We declined their gracious offer with many thanks. And here we stayed.”

In June 1971, Dr. Nelson received a phone call from President N. Eldon Tanner asking if he could come to his office. He went at once and found that President Harold B. Lee was also there. (President Joseph Fielding Smith was not well that day.) President Lee and President Tanner indicated that they would like him to serve as head of the Sunday School organization of the Church, if it wouldn’t take him away from his work as a surgeon.

When he had recovered from the shock, Dr. Nelson responded by saying that he would accept any call from the Lord even if he had to leave his medical practice. But they insisted that they wanted him to accept the calling only if he could continue his work as a surgeon as well. Thus he entered upon more than eight years of service as general president of the Sunday School.

That summer of 1971 he attended an area conference in Manchester, England. It was there that Elder Kimball first spoke to him of difficulties with his heart. Subsequent tests showed a deteriorating aortic valve and a dangerous obstruction in one of his arteries. As Dr. Nelson explained it, “The risks of an aortic valve replacement alone in a man aged seventy-seven are high. The risks of a coronary graft operation alone in a man of that age are high. To combine them would compound enormously the risk of either one alone.” Surgery was therefore very risky; but on the other hand, the chances for spontaneous recovery without surgery were considered nil.

A special meeting with the First Presidency was called. A weary Elder Kimball, faced with these seemingly insurmountable problems, said, “I’m an old man and ready to die. It is well for a younger man to come to the Quorum and do the work I can no longer do.”

Then President Lee rose and in a firm voice declared, “Spencer, you have been called! You are not to die! You are to do everything that you need to do to care for yourself and continue to live.”

Elder Kimball said, “Then I will have the operation performed.”

At that point Dr. Nelson’s heart sank, for the weight of responsibility then seemed to pass to his shoulders. However, on the eve of the operation, he received a blessing under the hands of President Lee and President Tanner to the effect that the operation would be performed without error and that he need not fear.

The operation was performed on 12 April 1972. It was flawless—thousands of intricate manipulations performed without error, according to the blessing he had received. Even more special to Dr. Nelson was an overpowering feeling that came upon him at the conclusion of the operation: “The Spirit told me that I had just operated on a man who would become president of the Church,” he said.

On another occasion, he and Dantzel were combining five days of surgical meetings with a welcome vacation in Colorado Springs, Colorado. During the third night, however, he was troubled by an uneasy feeling that would not go away, so he awakened Dantzel and said, “Let’s pack and go home.”

Within minutes they were on their way to the airport. With no reservations, they nevertheless got seats on the next flight from Denver and arrived in Salt Lake City an hour later. From the airport he called his secretary and said, “Who’s looking for me?”

“How did you know?” was the surprised reply. “You’re needed at the hospital for Elder Paul H. Dunn.”

Elder Dunn had experienced symptoms of a heart attack during the night, and an arteriogram indicated almost complete obstruction of the coronary arteries. President Kimball arrived and gave Elder Dunn a blessing while the operating room was hurriedly prepared.

Just as Dr. Nelson began operating, the heart attack came. Emergency procedures stabilized the circulation, and the surgery was successfully performed. Elder Dunn recovered and was able to resume his heavy responsibilities.

Since his release from the general presidency of the Sunday School in October 1979, Brother Nelson has served as a Regional Representative. He has a demanding surgical schedule, often with two open-heart operations a day; he’s actively involved in professional associations and community affairs; and he still has children at home.

With such heavy demands on his time, how does he manage to have a rewarding family life with only twenty-four hours in each day? Before giving Dr. Nelson a blessing on the eve of President Kimball’s surgery, President Harold B. Lee asked Dantzel how it felt to be the wife of a man who was so busy in his profession and in his Church calling. She simply replied, “When he’s home, he’s home!”

The relationship between the Nelsons and their children has had a particular quality that speaks of eternal ties. Brother Nelson marvels at the close natural affinity for the children that he has observed in Dantzel over the years. He tells, for example, of the birth of their seventh daughter:

“After Laurie was born, Dantzel and I were waiting for the nurse to bring our newborn daughter to us. Dantzel had been under anesthetic during the delivery and had not yet seen the new baby.

“Suddenly she said, ‘I hear our baby crying.’

“‘You’re kidding,’ I said. ‘You haven’t even seen her yet.’

“But she insisted, ‘That’s our baby. I know her voice.’

“So I left the room and walked down the corridor to the large cart that conveyed all the babies from the nursery to their mothers. There was only one baby crying. They all looked alike to me, so I checked the identification tag and found that the one crying was labeled ‘Baby Girl Nelson, Room 571.’ That was an inspiration to me. Dantzel knew her child’s voice even before she had ever heard it. It reminded me of the Savior’s statement that ‘my sheep know my voice.’”

Another such experience occurred in connection with the birth of their son, Russell, Jr. One night in 1957, Dantzel awakened him to tell him of a very special experience: “It was more than just a dream,” she said. “I saw a little baby boy. He had a round face and lots of hair; he looked just like you! I had a wonderful visit with him.”

Brother Nelson didn’t pay a great deal of attention to this announcement at the time, even though their sixth child was on its way. Over the next seventeen years as that daughter (Emily) and three others (Laurie, Rosalie, and Marjorie) arrived, she told him from time to time, “I saw him again. He’s such a sweet and special little boy.”

Then in 1972 he traveled to Sun Valley, Idaho, to speak at a medical convention. In the middle of the night, he was awakened with a very real experience in which he learned that the child his wife was then expecting was to be a son, the one who had been appearing to Dantzel over the years.

When the child arrived—a hefty twelve-pound boy—and the nurse brought the baby to Dantzel for the first time, she exclaimed, “He’s the one! He’s the one I’ve seen and known for all these years!”

Of his experience as a husband and father, Brother Nelson says that the greatest satisfaction any of us can have is to know that we’re doing what the Lord wants us to do. In that connection, he learned an interesting lesson when, on a rafting trip in the Grand Canyon, he and his daughter Gloria were thrown from the raft as it plunged over a large rapid.

“It was a terrifying experience,” he reflects, “but it taught me to ‘cling to the iron rod.’ As we went over that rapid, I tried to cling to my daughter, fearful for her survival. But as we took more difficult rapids later, I learned to hang on to the ropes tightly and have my daughter hang on to me. The same principle applies in gospel living. If a man will cling to the word of God and be obedient so that his family can rely on him, the whole family will be safe.”

Of his marriage to Dantzel, Brother Nelson says, “It’s clearly the single most important thing I have ever done. She has given me companionship, ten beautiful children, and all those wonderful intangible things a wife gives to a husband to help him strive for fulfillment and selflessness.”

He also describes her willingness to stick by him during the lean years when he was in medical training. He recalls that one night as they were walking down a street in Boston, they pressed their noses against the window pane in a furniture store and Dantzel wistfully asked, “Do you think we’ll ever be able to afford a table and a lamp?” But they got by. “The children didn’t seem to know that it wasn’t normal to sleep in sleeping bags on army cots,” he says.

Their one luxury at that time was a used piano, so that they might have music in their home—a special love of theirs. Dantzel’s particular musical talent is singing. Previous to their marriage, she had won a scholarship to the Juilliard School of Music—an opportunity she exchanged for the privilege of marriage and children. Since 1967, however, she has been a member of the Tabernacle choir. And Russell, after rebelling at the strictures of piano practice as a lad, resumed musical study in college and now plays the piano and organ. In fact, Dantzel reports that he once said he thought he would take up organ playing seriously because in the next world there will be no need for heart surgeons!

Meanwhile, in this world, he is still busy. At age fifty-seven, he has received a multitude of awards for distinguished service, both in the medical profession and in public service. He has had the honor of serving as a director of the American Board of Thoracic Surgeons; he has been president of the Utah Heart Association and the Utah State Medical Association—and the list goes on. But the one interest that overrides all other concerns is his determination to be obedient to the Lord in furthering the work of the kingdom of God.

“The Lord has a tremendous work yet to accomplish in the Church,” he insists. “He’s going to need every faithful soul; there won’t be one prepared, qualified Latter-day Saint who won’t have all the responsibility to shoulder that he or she can bear.

“There are so many wonderful people in countries that are not yet open to the gospel. I remember a Regional Representatives Seminar back in September 1978, in which President Kimball gave a wonderful talk on missionary work in various parts of the world, especially China. He told all of us there that nothing is too hard for the Lord, but that we must do our part—to pray for the people of China, to start learning Mandarin, and to extend our own talents in whatever specialty we might have to the Chinese people. So I started praying that way, and Dantzel and I began to study Mandarin.

“One day I was in Boston for scientific meetings, and I started my day out with a prayer like that in my hotel room. Then during one of the meetings I got restless for some reason, so I moved from the front of the hall and took a seat toward the rear. When an intermission was announced, I found myself sitting next to a Chinese fellow. I thought back on my prayer that morning, and so I introduced myself. He replied in beautiful English that he was Professor Wu of the Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Peking. We struck up a conversation, and before the day was over I had invited him to come to Salt Lake City to give a lecture. He did, and he liked what he saw; and after he returned, I received an invitation to come to the Peoples Republic of China as a visiting professor of surgery. We went, and we’ll be going again in the future.

“Then last August the dean of their medical school, the head of the department of surgery, and two of their top heart surgeons came here and stayed with us a month. They were able to meet President Kimball and several other General Authorities. We write to them frequently now, and one of their young men will be here as one of our trainees for two years beginning in 1983.”

Obedience to a request from the president of the Church to pray for a people or to study a language is only one facet of Russell M. Nelson’s obedience to the maxim “Follow the prophet.” He is baffled when he hears people ask questions like, “Is it really the will of the Lord that we do everything that President Kimball says?”

“The Lord said, ‘Whether by mine own voice or by the voice of my servants, it is the same,’” he reminds us. “My experience is that once you stop putting question marks behind the prophet’s statements and put exclamation points instead, and do it, the blessings just pour.

“I never ask myself, ‘When does the prophet speak as a prophet and when does he not?’ My interest has been, ‘How can I be more like him?’”

In this recent photo, Brother and Sister Nelson are shown with three of their children and six of their grandchildren.

Brother Nelson currently serves as a Regional Representative. Here he meets with stake leaders at Brigham Young University.

In For the Strength of Youth, you will find the teachings of Jesus Christ and His prophets. With these truths as your guide, you can make inspired choices that will bless you now and throughout eternity.

You are a beloved spirit child of God. His great plan of happiness makes it possible for you to grow spiritually and develop your divine potential. He sent Jesus Christ to be your Savior.

Your Father in Heaven trusts you. He has given you great blessings, including the fulness of the gospel and sacred ordinances and covenants that bind you to Him and bring His power into your life. With these covenants come added joy and responsibility. He knows you can make a difference in the world, and that requires, in many cases, being different from the world. Seek your Heavenly Father’s guidance as you make choices. He will bless you with inspiration through the Holy Ghost.

Jesus Christ is the way to eternal joy. As you use your freedom to choose to follow Jesus Christ, you are on the path that leads to eternal happiness. Make Jesus Christ your standard, your rock-solid foundation. Build your life on His teachings, and measure your choices by them. The covenants you make at baptism, during the sacrament, and in the temple are the building blocks of your firm foundation in Christ. You’ll still face struggles and temptations, but Heavenly Father and the Savior will help you through them all.

The purpose of For the Strength of Youth is not to give you a “yes” or “no” about every possible choice you might face. Instead, the Lord is inviting you to live in a higher and holier way—a life focused on eternal truths and the Lord’s promised blessings. This is His way. This guide will teach you about His way. It explains truths He has revealed. Make these truths your guide for making choices—big choices, like making covenants in the temple and serving a mission, as well as daily choices, like how to treat people or how to spend your time.

While others can help you, your spiritual growth is personal. It is your responsibility. Do your best to improve each day, keep God’s commandments and honor your covenants, and help others come closer to the Savior.

See Mosiah 4:29–30 (the ways to sin are numberless, so we must watch ourselves); Helaman 5:12 (build your foundation on Christ); Doctrine and Covenants 45:57 (take the Holy Spirit for your guide); 25:13 (cleave to your covenants).

Each topic has three parts:

Eternal truths, or doctrine of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ

Invitations to act on those truths

Promised blessings that the Lord offers those who live by His teachings

By Elder Neal A. Maxwell

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Brothers and sisters, the scriptures offer us so many doctrinal diamonds. And when the light of the Spirit plays upon their several facets, they sparkle with celestial sense and illuminate the path we are to follow.

Exemplifying this happy reality are the doctrinal teachings concerning desire, which relates so directly to our moral agency and our individuality. Whether in their conception or expression, our desires profoundly affect the use of our moral agency. Desires thus become real determinants, even when, with pitiful naivete, we do not really want the consequences of our desires.

Desire denotes a real longing or craving. Hence righteous desires are much more than passive preferences or fleeting feelings. Of course our genes, circumstances, and environments matter very much, and they shape us significantly. Yet there remains an inner zone in which we are sovereign, unless we abdicate. In this zone lies the essence of our individuality and our personal accountability.

Therefore, what we insistently desire, over time, is what we will eventually become and what we will receive in eternity. “For I [said the Lord] will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts” (D&C 137:9; see also Jer. 17:10). Alma said, “I know that [God] granteth unto men according to their desire … ; yea, I know that he allotteth unto men … according to their wills” (Alma 29:4). To reach this equitable end, God’s canopy of mercy is stretched out, including “all that shall die henceforth without a knowledge of [the gospel], who would have received it with all their hearts, shall be heirs of that kingdom;

“For I, the Lord, will judge all men according to their works, according to the desire of their hearts” (D&C 137:8–9).

God thus takes into merciful account not only our desires and our performance, but also the degrees of difficulty which our varied circumstances impose upon us. No wonder we will not complain at the final judgment, especially since even the telestial kingdom’s glory “surpasses all understanding” (D&C 76:89). God delights in blessing us, especially when we realize “joy in that which [we] have desired” (D&C 7:8).

However, in contrast to God’s merciful plan for our joy and glory, Satan “[desires] that all men might be miserable like unto himself” (2 Ne. 2:27).

Mostly, brothers and sisters, we become the victims of our own wrong desires. Moreover, we live in an age when many simply refuse to feel responsible for themselves. Thus, a crystal-clear understanding of the doctrines pertaining to desire is so vital because of the spreading effluent oozing out of so many unjustified excuses by so many. This is like a sludge which is sweeping society along toward “the gulf of misery and endless wo” (Hel. 5:12). Feeding that same flow is the selfish philosophy of “no fault,” which is replacing the meek and apologetic “my fault.” We listen with eager ear to hear genuine pleas for forgiveness instead of the ritualistic “Sorry. I hope I can forgive myself.”

Some seek to brush aside conscience, refusing to hear its voice. But that deflection is, in itself, an act of choice, because we so desired. Even when the light of Christ flickers only faintly in the darkness, it flickers nevertheless. If one averts his gaze therefrom, it is because he so desires.

Like it or not, therefore, reality requires that we acknowledge our responsibility for our desires. Brothers and sisters, which do we really desire, God’s plans for us or Satan’s?

Whenever spiritually significant things are under way, righteous desires are present. Meek desire characterized those awaiting baptism at the waters of Mormon. With their baptismal commitments spelled out specifically, “they … exclaimed: This is the desire of our hearts” (Mosiah 18:11). The Nephite multitude, enraptured by the presence of the resurrected Jesus, knelt in humble and intensive prayer, yet “they did not multiply many words, for it was given unto them what they should pray, and they were filled with desire” (3 Ne. 19:24).

No wonder desires also determine the gradations in outcomes, including why “many are called, but few are chosen” (Matt. 22:14; see D&C 95:5).

It is up to us. God will facilitate, but He will not force.

Righteous desires need to be relentless, therefore, because, said President Brigham Young, “the men and women, who desire to obtain seats in the celestial kingdom, will find that they must battle every day” (in Journal of Discourses, 11:14). Therefore, true Christian soldiers are more than weekend warriors.

The absence of any keen desire—merely being lukewarm—causes a terrible flattening (see Rev. 3:15). William R. May explained such sloth: “The soul in this state is beyond mere sadness and melancholy. It has removed itself from the rise and fall of feelings; the very root of its feelings in desire is dead. … To be a man is to desire. The good man desires God and other things in God. The sinful man desires things in the place of God, but he is still recognizably human, inasmuch as he has known desire. The slothful man, however, is a dead man, an arid waste. … His desire itself has dried up” (“A Catalogue of Sins,” quoted in Christian Century, 24 Apr. 1996, 457).

This sad condition is yet another variation of the “sorrowing of the damned” (Morm. 2:13).

Even a spark of desire can begin change. The prodigal son, sunk in despair, nevertheless desired and “came to himself,” determining that “I will arise and go to my father” (Luke 15:17–18).

What we are speaking about is so much more than merely deflecting temptations for which we somehow do not feel responsible. Remember, brothers and sisters, it is our own desires which determine the sizing and the attractiveness of various temptations. We set our thermostats as to temptations.

Thus, educating and training our desires clearly requires understanding the truths of the gospel, yet even more is involved. President Brigham Young confirmed, saying, “It is evident that many who understand the truth do not govern themselves by it; consequently, no matter how true and beautiful truth is, you have to take the passions of the people and mould them to the law of God” (in Journal of Discourses, 7:55).

“Do you,” President Young asked, “think that people will obey the truth because it is true, unless they love it? No, they will not” (in Journal of Discourses, 7:55). Thus, knowing gospel truths and doctrines is profoundly important, but we must also come to love them. When we love them, they will move us and help our desires and outward works to become more holy.

Each assertion of a righteous desire, each act of service, and each act of worship, however small and incremental, adds to our spiritual momentum. Like Newton’s Second Law, there is a transmitting of acceleration as well as a contagiousness associated with even the small acts of goodness.

Fortunately for us, our loving Lord will work with us, “even if [we] can [do] no more than desire to believe,” providing we will “let this desire work in [us]” (Alma 32:27). Therefore, declared President Joseph F. Smith, “the education then of our desires is one of far-reaching importance to our happiness in life” (Gospel Doctrine, 5th ed. [1939], 297). Such education can lead to sanctification until, said President Brigham Young, “holy desires produce corresponding outward works” (in Journal of Discourses, 6:170). Only by educating and training our desires can they become our allies instead of our enemies!

Some of our present desires, therefore, need to be diminished and then finally dissolved. For instance, the biblical counsel “let not thine heart envy sinners” is directed squarely at those with a sad unsettlement of soul (Prov. 23:17). Once again, we must be honest with ourselves about the consequences of our desires, which follow as the night, the day. Similarly, faced with life’s so-called bad breaks, the natural man desires to wallow in self-pity; therefore this desire must go too.

But dissolution of wrong desires is only part of it. For instance, what is now only a weak desire to be a better spouse, father, or mother needs to become a stronger desire, just as Abraham experienced divine discontent and desired greater happiness and knowledge (see Abr. 1:2).

Our merciful and long-suffering Lord is ever ready to help. His “arm is lengthened out all the day long” (2 Ne. 28:32), and even if His arm goes ungrasped, it was unarguably there! In the same redemptive reaching out, our desiring to improve our human relationships usually requires some long-suffering. Sometimes reaching out is like trying to pat a porcupine. Even so, the accumulated quill marks are evidence that our hands of fellowship have been stretched out too!

It is up to us. Therein lies life’s greatest and most persistent challenge. Thus when people are described as “having lost their desire for sin,” it is they, and they only, who deliberately decided to lose those wrong desires by being willing to “give away all [their] sins” in order to know God (Alma 22:18).

Unquestionably, parents have such a profound role in assisting in the educating of our desires, especially when parents combine explanation and exemplification! Even so, given our responsibilities for our own desires, we should not be surprised that Adam and Eve, such superb parents who conscientiously taught all things to their children, still lost some of them! Lehi and Sariah made the same effort, doing so “with all the feeling of a tender parent” (1 Ne. 8:37). Yet they experienced the same thing with Laman and Lemuel, who “understood not the dealings of the Lord” (Mosiah 10:14). Fixing responsibility for such recalcitrance where it should be, the Prophet Joseph Smith observed: “Men who have no principle of … truth, do not understand the word of truth when they hear it. The devil taketh away the word of truth out of their hearts, because there is no desire for righteousness in them” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, sel. Joseph Fielding Smith [1976], 96).

Nevertheless, conscientious and able parents will do all they can do to exemplify and explain. Besides, righteous parents are teaching more than they now realize. The later applications of and the grateful expressions for earlier parental influence are often delayed, and often for a long time.

With true desire, we can then really plead:

More holiness give me, …

More patience in suff’ring,

More sorrow for sin,

More faith in my Savior, …

More tears for his sorrows,

More pain at his grief,

More meekness in trial,

More praise for relief.

[“More Holiness Give Me,” Hymns, no. 131]

Brothers and sisters, a loving God will work with us, but the initiating particle of desire which ignites the spark of resolve must be our own!

It all takes time. Said the Prophet Joseph: “The nearer man approaches perfection, the clearer are his views, and the greater his enjoyments, till he has overcome the evils of his life and lost every desire for sin; and like the ancients, arrives at that point of faith where he is wrapped in the power and glory of his Maker and is caught up to dwell with Him. But we consider that this is a station to which no man ever arrived in a moment” (Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith, 51).

Thus the work of eternity is not done in a moment, but, rather, in “process of time.” Time works for us when our desires do likewise!

May God help us so to train our desires, in the name of Jesus Christ, amen!

By President Russell M. Nelson

President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

My dear brothers and sisters, it is a joy to be with you. During these past six months, you have been constantly on my mind and in my prayers. I pray that the Holy Ghost will communicate what the Lord wants you to hear as I speak to you now.

During my surgical internship many years ago, I assisted a surgeon who was amputating a leg filled with highly infectious gangrene. The operation was difficult. Then, to add to the tension, one of the team performed a task poorly, and the surgeon erupted in anger. In the middle of his tantrum, he threw his scalpel loaded with germs. It landed in my forearm!

Everyone in the operating room—except the out-of-control surgeon—was horrified by this dangerous breach of surgical practice. Gratefully, I did not become infected. But this experience left a lasting impression on me. In that very hour, I promised myself that whatever happened in my operating room, I would never lose control of my emotions. I also vowed that day never to throw anything in anger—whether it be scalpels or words.

Even now, decades later, I find myself wondering if the contaminated scalpel that landed in my arm was any more toxic than the venomous contention that infects our civic dialogue and too many personal relationships today. Civility and decency seem to have disappeared during this era of polarization and passionate disagreements.

Vulgarity, faultfinding, and evil speaking of others are all too common. Too many pundits, politicians, entertainers, and other influencers throw insults constantly. I am greatly concerned that so many people seem to believe that it is completely acceptable to condemn, malign, and vilify anyone who does not agree with them. Many seem eager to damage another’s reputation with pathetic and pithy barbs!

Anger never persuades. Hostility builds no one. Contention never leads to inspired solutions. Regrettably, we sometimes see contentious behavior even within our own ranks. We hear of those who belittle their spouses and children, of those who use angry outbursts to control others, and of those who punish family members with the “silent treatment.” We hear of youth and children who bully and of employees who defame their colleagues.

My dear brothers and sisters, this should not be. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are to be examples of how to interact with others—especially when we have differences of opinion. One of the easiest ways to identify a true follower of Jesus Christ is how compassionately that person treats other people.

The Savior made this clear in His sermons to followers in both hemispheres. “Blessed are the peacemakers,” He said. “Whosoever shall smite thee on thy right cheek, turn to him the other also.” And then, of course, He gave the admonition that challenges each of us: “Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you.”

Before His death, the Savior commanded His Twelve Apostles to love one another as He had loved them. And then He added, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another.”

The Savior’s message is clear: His true disciples build, lift, encourage, persuade, and inspire—no matter how difficult the situation. True disciples of Jesus Christ are peacemakers.

Today is Palm Sunday. We are preparing to commemorate the most important and transcendent event ever recorded on earth, which is the Atonement and Resurrection of the Lord Jesus Christ. One of the best ways we can honor the Savior is to become a peacemaker.

The Savior’s Atonement made it possible for us to overcome all evil—including contention. Make no mistake about it: contention is evil! Jesus Christ declared that those who have “the spirit of contention” are not of Him but are “of the devil, who is the father of contention, and [the devil] stirreth up the hearts of men to contend with anger, one with another.” Those who foster contention are taking a page out of Satan’s playbook, whether they realize it or not. “No man can serve two masters.” We cannot support Satan with our verbal assaults and then think that we can still serve God.

My dear brothers and sisters, how we treat each other really matters! How we speak to and about others at home, at church, at work, and online really matters. Today, I am asking us to interact with others in a higher, holier way. Please listen carefully. “If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy” that we can say about another person—whether to his face or behind her back—that should be our standard of communication.

If a couple in your ward gets divorced, or a young missionary returns home early, or a teenager doubts his testimony, they do not need your judgment. They need to experience the pure love of Jesus Christ reflected in your words and actions.

If a friend on social media has strong political or social views that violate everything you believe in, an angry, cutting retort by you will not help. Building bridges of understanding will require much more of you, but that is exactly what your friend needs.

Contention drives away the Spirit—every time. Contention reinforces the false notion that confrontation is the way to resolve differences; but it never is. Contention is a choice. Peacemaking is a choice. You have your agency to choose contention or reconciliation. I urge you to choose to be a peacemaker, now and always.

Brothers and sisters, we can literally change the world—one person and one interaction at a time. How? By modeling how to manage honest differences of opinion with mutual respect and dignified dialogue.

Differences of opinion are part of life. I work every day with dedicated servants of the Lord who do not always see an issue the same way. They know I want to hear their ideas and honest feelings about everything we discuss—especially sensitive issues.

My two noble counselors, President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring, are exemplary in the way they express their feelings—especially when they may differ. They do so with pure love for each other. Neither suggests that he knows best and therefore must rigorously defend his position. Neither evidences the need to compete with the other. Because each is filled with charity, “the pure love of Christ,” our deliberations can be guided by the Spirit of the Lord. How I love and honor these two great men!

Charity is the antidote to contention. Charity is the spiritual gift that helps us to cast off the natural man, who is selfish, defensive, prideful, and jealous. Charity is the principal characteristic of a true follower of Jesus Christ. Charity defines a peacemaker.

When we humble ourselves before God and pray with all the energy of our hearts, God will grant us charity.

Those blessed with this supernal gift are long-suffering and kind. They do not envy others and are not caught up in their own importance. They are not easily provoked and do not think evil of others.

Brothers and sisters, the pure love of Christ is the answer to the contention that ails us today. Charity propels us “to bear one another’s burdens” rather than heap burdens upon each other. The pure love of Christ allows us “to stand as witnesses of God at all times and in all things”—especially in tense situations. Charity allows us to demonstrate how men and women of Christ speak and act—especially when under fire.

Now, I am not talking about “peace at any price.” I am talking about treating others in ways that are consistent with keeping the covenant you make when you partake of the sacrament. You covenant to always remember the Savior. In situations that are highly charged and filled with contention, I invite you to remember Jesus Christ. Pray to have the courage and wisdom to say or do what He would. As we follow the Prince of Peace, we will become His peacemakers.

At this point you may be thinking that this message would really help someone you know. Perhaps you are hoping that it will help him or her to be nicer to you. I hope it will! But I also hope that you will look deeply into your heart to see if there are shards of pride or jealousy that prevent you from becoming a peacemaker.

If you are serious about helping to gather Israel and about building relationships that will last throughout the eternities, now is the time to lay aside bitterness. Now is the time to cease insisting that it is your way or no way. Now is the time to stop doing things that make others walk on eggshells for fear of upsetting you. Now is the time to bury your weapons of war. If your verbal arsenal is filled with insults and accusations, now is the time to put them away. You will arise as a spiritually strong man or woman of Christ.

The temple can help us in our quest. There we are endowed with God’s power, giving us the ability to overcome Satan, the instigator of all contention. Cast him out of your relationships! Note that we also rebuke the adversary every time we heal a misunderstanding or refuse to take offense. Instead, we can show the tender mercy that is characteristic of true disciples of Jesus Christ. Peacemakers thwart the adversary.

Let us as a people become a true light on the hill—a light that “cannot be hid.” Let us show that there is a peaceful, respectful way to resolve complex issues and an enlightened way to work out disagreements. As you demonstrate the charity that true followers of Jesus Christ manifest, the Lord will magnify your efforts beyond your loftiest imagination.

The gospel net is the largest net in the world. God has invited all to come unto Him, “black and white, bond and free, male and female.” There is room for everyone. However, there is no room for prejudice, condemnation, or contention of any kind.

My dear brothers and sisters, the best is yet to come for those who spend their lives building up others. Today I invite you to examine your discipleship within the context of the way you treat others. I bless you to make any adjustments that may be needed so that your behavior is ennobling, respectful, and representative of a true follower of Jesus Christ.

I bless you to replace belligerence with beseeching, animosity with understanding, and contention with peace.

God lives! Jesus is the Christ. He stands at the head of this Church. We are His servants. He will help us to become His peacemakers. I so testify in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Matthew 5:9; see also 3 Nephi 12:9. The Savior’s promise to peacemakers is that they will “be called the children of God.”

Matthew 5:39; see also 3 Nephi 12:39.

Matthew 5:44; see also 3 Nephi 12:44.

See John 13:34.

John 13:35.

See Moroni 7:3–4.

See Mosiah 3:19.

3 Nephi 11:29. John the Revelator saw in vision that the devil would come to earth “having great wrath” (Revelation 12:12).

3 Nephi 13:24.

Articles of Faith 1:13.

See Moroni 7:3–4.

Moroni 7:47.

See Moroni 7:48.

See Moroni 7:48.

See Moroni 7:45; see also 1 Corinthians 13:4–5.

Mosiah 18:8.

Mosiah 18:9.

Being a peacemaker does not require us to agree with the ideas or beliefs of others.

See Helaman 3:33–36.

See Alma 24:19; 25:14.

See 1 Corinthians 13:11.

See Doctrine and Covenants 109:22, 26.

3 Nephi 12:14.

2 Nephi 26:33.

By President Dallin H. Oaks

President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

On this glorious Easter Sunday, I have chosen to speak first about the Resurrection, which is a pillar of our faith.

The literal Resurrection of Jesus is the subject of so many scriptures that it is settled doctrine for believers of the Bible and Book of Mormon. For us, the universal Resurrection is equally certain. As the Book of Mormon teaches:

“The spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form. …

“Now, this restoration shall come to all, both old and young, both bond and free, both male and female, both the wicked and the righteous” (Alma 11:43–44).

I wonder if we fully appreciate the enormous significance of this belief in a literal, universal resurrection. The conviction that death is not the conclusion of our identity changes the whole perspective of our mortal life. It affects how we look on the physical challenges of mortality. It gives us the strength and perspective to endure the mortal challenges faced by each of us and by those we love. It signifies that mortal deficiencies are only temporary! It also gives us the courage to face our own death or that of loved ones—even deaths we might call premature.

Our belief in the Resurrection also encourages us to fulfill our family responsibilities in mortality. It helps us live together in love in this life in anticipation of joyful reunions and associations in the next. All of these truths have been preached in this conference session with great clarity.

Living worthy to meet Christ is no easy task. Many current writers characterize the time in which we live as toxic, a time of contempt or hostility toward adversaries. This hostility affects many different relationships in society, involving many whose Christian beliefs should orient them otherwise.

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, taught us how to relate to one another. The great commandments in the law, He taught, were to love—God and neighbor (see Matthew 22:37–39).

Asked, “Who is my neighbour?” Jesus answered with a parable that praised the merciful action of a Samaritan, who belonged to a group the Jews isolated and held in contempt (see Luke 10:29–37). But Jesus’s teachings about the circle of love went far beyond Samaritans. In the Sermon on the Mount, He declared:

“Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shalt love thy neighbour, and hate thine enemy.

“But I say unto you, Love your enemies, bless them that curse you, do good to them that hate you, and pray for them which despitefully use you, and persecute you” (Matthew 5:43–44).

What a revolutionary teaching for personal relationships! Love even your enemies! But who are our enemies? The full meaning of enemies in the sources from which King James’s translators chose the word enemies includes military foes but even extends to any who actively oppose one another. Today we might say that we are commanded to love our adversaries. All mortals are beloved children of God. As President David O. McKay taught, “There is no better way to manifest love for God than to show an unselfish love for one’s fellowmen.”

I witnessed this uncommon loving of an adversary at a stake conference many years ago. As I looked over the audience before the meeting began, I had an unusual impression to call on a particular woman in a yellow dress. I asked the stake president if he believed this woman would give a suitable talk if called on. He said he thought so. At my request, he later called her out of the audience to give a short talk.

As she came forward, I was apprehensive about what she might say. She introduced herself as a nurse employed to watch over patients in a maximum care facility. Her patients included one she described as “the most repulsive man” she had ever met. (Where was this heading? I asked myself.) From his bedridden position, he did everything he could do to make life miserable for the nurses who were caring for him—including foul language, spitting on the floor, and constantly insulting them in other repulsive ways. She despised him.

One evening she heard a loud crash from this man’s room. Responding, she ran to his room and was shocked to find him fallen out of bed and thrashing about in a pool of broken glass, liquid, and blood. In that moment, a profound change came over her. She felt an almost electric current of love from our Heavenly Father to this man. She saw him as a child of God.

As she knelt and held him in her arms and tried to give him comfort, he said, “I want to go home. I just want to go home.” In a short time, he was dead. She testified that being brought to see a despised enemy like this as a child of God was one of the great spiritual experiences of her life. For me, this was a lesson I needed to learn about our Heavenly Father’s love for all His children. That lesson can transform all of us to see each other as children of God who belong to each other.

Years later, President Howard W. Hunter described this same love of God toward His children: “The world in which we live would benefit greatly if men and women everywhere would exercise the pure love of Christ, which is kind, meek, and lowly. … It has no place for bigotry, hatred, or violence. … It encourages diverse people to live together in Christian love regardless of religious belief, race, nationality, financial standing, education, or culture.”

Each of us can strive to follow our Savior in His teachings about how to relate to one another. This does not mean surrendering our values. The covenants we have made inevitably position us as devoted participants in the eternal contest between truth and error. We balance our various responsibilities.

This balancing is not easy. When we seek to keep all the commandments in our personal lives, we are sometimes accused of having no love for those who don’t. When we show personal love and support loving causes, we are sometimes misunderstood as implying support for results that contradict our other religious duties. But as followers of Christ, we should seek to live peaceably and lovingly with other children of God who do not share our values and do not have the covenant obligations we have assumed. In a democratic government we should seek fairness for all. In countless circumstances, strangers’ suspicions or even hostility gradually gives way to friendship when personal contacts produce mutual respect.

The Prophet Joseph Smith taught that we should “pour forth love” to all people. Speaking of our Savior, the Apostle John wrote, “We love him, because he first loved us” (1 John 4:19). We can follow the example of Jesus Christ, who is our role model, by choosing to love others—even if they show little or no love toward us. He declared, “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God” (Matthew 5:9; see also 3 Nephi 12:9).

Peacemakers! How it would change the world if followers of Christ would forgo harsh and hurtful words in all their communications.

In general conference, President Russell M. Nelson challenged us “to choose to be a peacemaker, now and always.”

How can one person be a peacemaker?

A bishop who seeks to heal a troubled marriage or resolve a personal controversy is working for peace.

Young men and women are peacemakers when they forgo the temporary pleasure of self-gratifying activities and involve themselves in service projects and other acts of kindness.

Persons who seek to reduce human suffering and persons who work to promote understanding among different peoples are also important workers for peace. So are faithful mothers and fathers who lovingly care for their own children or shelter foster children and raise them in righteousness rather than leave them to be scarred and twisted by the sins of others.

Our missionaries seek to be peacemakers. They preach repentance from personal corruption, greed, and oppression because only by individual reformation can an entire society eventually rise above such evils. By inviting all to repent and come unto Christ, our missionaries are working for peace by helping individual men and women come unto Christ and experience “a mighty change” of heart and behavior (Mosiah 5:2).

My brothers and sisters, as followers of Christ, let us follow Him by forgoing contention and by using the language and methods of peacemakers. In our families and other personal relationships, let us avoid what is harsh and hateful. Let us seek to be holy, like our Savior, in whose holy name, the name of Jesus Christ, I testify, amen.

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: David O. McKay (2003), 181.

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Howard W. Hunter (2015), 263.

Joseph Smith, “Journal, December 1842–June 1844; Book 3, 15 July 1843–29 February 1844,” 13, josephsmithpapers.org.

Russell M. Nelson, “Peacemakers Needed,” Liahona, May 2023, 100.