"God Is Not Silent" Over the years, I have come to love every place where God’s sons and daughters are gathered. Here on this campus, we have you gathered from all over the world—from Europe to Asia, from Africa to Australia, and from the islands of the sea. We each have a story to tell. Our stories may be different from place to place and person to person, but in many ways, they are also very similar. I was born and raised in a small village in a beautiful country called Botswana, on the African continent. It is a place where people still speak of visions and dreams—where heaven has often felt close. One of the greatest blessings of my life is the fact that I was raised by my…
“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…
Guidance during difficult situations concerning race relations “Several years ago, as a young lawyer, I was involved in resolving a border dispute between countries that had been at war. The work required me to travel on foot through remote areas that were part of the recent war zone. Thousands of land mines had been laid during the war. Expert deminers were there, working to deactivate the mines; however, to my surprise, not all locations of the mines were known. Consequently, on occasion people would accidentally step on them and be injured or killed. To help me complete my work, I’d been provided a special guide named Winta. Winta was well known in the area. He was from a border town that had been attacked. He escaped and then volunteered to stay…
“My surname, Matswagothata, is from Botswana. In my home language, it means “getting out of a difficult situation” or “someone who can do hard things.” And while I haven’t always felt like I can do hard things, my surname is a reminder to me that the Savior can and will guide us through every season of life—especially through difficult times. We all need reminders like that throughout our mortal journey. Perhaps this is why our loving Father in Heaven gives us the opportunity every week to make a covenant with Him as part of the ordinance of the sacrament. He invites us to take upon ourselves the name of His Son, always remember Him, and keep His commandments. He gives us power to rise above mortality’s challenges. Remember Who You…
Unity and the need for attending church as well as having a personal relationship with Christ. “Think about it: None of us could know the true and living Christ without prophetic witness. From Adam to Noah, Moses to Peter, and Joseph Smith to our day, God has chosen to reveal His Son to His children through a prophet. Some say, “I don’t need a prophet or a church to follow Jesus.” But Jesus Himself said to His chosen Apostles, “He that heareth you heareth me; and he that despiseth you despiseth me.” To knowingly reject His prophets is, by His own definition, to reject Him. The Lord warned of a time when “every man walketh in his own way, and after the image of his own god.” Without apostles and prophets,…
Apply the following quote from Elder Amos to anti-racism: “Well, there we have it. The simple secret for happy living is to just follow God’s recipe as detailed in the scriptures. I call it the “Good News Recipe.” What do you do if something goes wrong when following the recipe? Well, embedded in the Good News Recipe is the “secret ingredient” to ensure you always get it right in the end. The answer is always Jesus Christ. I think we all have moments when we feel our ingredients are not good enough, or we struggle to follow the directions, or perhaps we do something out of order, or something happens that is out of our control, and so on. What’s the remedy? It’s simply to add more of what invites…
“It is in the nature of a fallen world—where the devil rages and where everyone is imperfect—that there will be disappointments and offenses, suffering and sorrow, failure and loss, persecution and injustice. It is only by looking to God that individuals, families, and even nations can flourish. President Russell M. Nelson taught, “Because the Savior, through His infinite Atonement, redeemed each of us from weakness, mistakes, and sin, and because He experienced every pain, worry, and burden you have ever had [see Alma 7:11–13], then as you truly repent and seek His help, you can rise above this present precarious world.”
“My friends, there have been moments in my life when I too have felt unimportant, alone, discouraged, and unseen. I have felt as if I did not belong. I was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints when I was 19 years old. One year later, I accepted the call to serve as a full-time missionary, but there was much I had not yet learned about Church history. Early in my missionary service, I learned that there was a period when those of Black African descent were not allowed to enjoy all of the blessings of worshipping in the house of the Lord. Learning this for the first time brought feelings of anger, confusion, doubt, and fear. These feelings were so intense that…
“Oftentimes, the world exalts behaviors born of aggressiveness, arrogance, impatience, and excessiveness, often justifying such attitudes by the pressures of daily life and the inclination toward validation and popularity. When we turn our gaze away from the virtue of temperance and ignore the gentle and moderating influence of the Holy Spirit in our way of acting and speaking, we easily fall into the enemy’s trap, which inevitably leads us to utter words and adopt attitudes we will deeply regret, whether in our social, family, or even ecclesiastical relationships. The gospel of Jesus Christ invites us to exercise this virtue especially in times of challenge, for it is precisely on these occasions that the true character of an individual is revealed. As Martin Luther King Jr. once said, “The ultimate measure…
“Everywhere people are moving. The United Nations reports 281 million international migrants. This is 128 million more individuals than in 1990 and more than three times 1970 estimates. Everywhere, record numbers of converts are finding The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Every Sabbath, members and friends from 195 birth countries and territories gather in 31,916 Church congregations. We speak 125 languages. …Today those invited to the supper of the Lord come from every place and culture. Old and young, rich and poor, local and global, we make our Church congregations look like our communities. As chief Apostle, Peter saw heaven open a vision of “a great sheet knit at the four corners, … In the parable of the good Samaritan, Jesus invites us to come to each other…
