“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…
“We are agents, and agents are responsible for something. In this case, we are responsible for the choices we make based on the knowledge we have and the gifts we are given. We cannot make a choice without being responsible for the consequences. Why do we have agency? -To choose good. -To choose Christ. -To choose eternal life—again and again. …A testimony should not have an expiration date. It should not weaken or diminish because something in my life has changed or something in the world has changed. It should get stronger because, like the servant’s talents in the parable of the talents, my personal testimony is a gift to be multiplied—not buried. Looking back on those difficult days of testing and persecution that I went through as a child…
Apply the following quote from Elder Barcellos to anti-racism: “The Savior taught that “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts” and that “out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.” The quality of our thoughts and words is a good indicator of the purity of our hearts. Am I fostering too many negative thoughts about others’ actions or motives, or even about myself? Am I too quick to judge and condemn others? Do I seek to find excuses or justification for my mistakes? And what about my words? Do they lift and inspire those around me? Or do they often create conflict and resentment? …as you perform this spiritual assessment of your heart and notice some negative symptoms starting to creep in, please don’t panic! …He has even…
“One of the blessings of my service in Primary is that my heart has learned to love in languages that my tongue does not speak. I have found joy in connecting with fellow Saints through the shared language of sacred music. And especially through the simple songs of Primary, the Holy Spirit has transcended language barriers and filled my heart with His whispering. In children’s voices, the love of God and His Son, Jesus Christ, has been proclaimed in clear, piercing truth. …I know that Heavenly Father hears and answers the sincere prayers of His children, no matter their age, circumstance, or language. He listens to the quiet pleadings of our hearts. …I know that we are literal children of God, created in His image, endowed with divine potential, and…
“Although the pressures felt by today’s rising generation differ from those of the young person in Galilee—polarization, secularization, retaliation, road rage, outrage, and social media pile-ons—both generations face cultures of conflict and tension. …Here they receive the same enduring invitations from the Lord: to let their light shine before others, to seek righteousness even when persecuted, and to love their enemies. They also receive encouraging words from living prophets of the Restoration: “Peacemakers needed.” Disagree without being disagreeable. Replace contention and pride with forgiveness and love. Build bridges of cooperation and understanding, not walls of prejudice or segregation. And the same promise: “Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.” …The gospel of Jesus Christ nurtures and knits these divine traits, including peacemaking, into our…
“What can we do when we see or experience racial prejudice in our congregations? Despite our efforts to live God’s standards, racism may still occur among Church members. Elder Fred A. “Tony” Parker, who served as an Area Seventy, shared his experience: “When I’ve been a victim of racism, I’ve found success in meeting it head-on, forgiving the individual and addressing the issue. If someone says something to hurt my feelings, I need to find a way to help him understand why that hurt. It is an opportunity not only to forgive but to build a relationship so that the person doesn’t just look at Tony Parker as an African-American but as a child of God. Jesus taught forgiveness, and He taught us when we have been offended to take it…
A Note from Meetinghouse Mosaic on the Following Document: We recognize that this is not a perfect document and people may have a variety of feelings toward what information is included (or left out). We acknowledge the hard parts and hold space for those feelings. We also want to celebrate the bold and direct statements that were made. We see this document as a great step forward and wait with anticipation for more reconciliation, repair, and improvement in regards to race and the church. “Race is a concept that categorizes people based on the color of their skin or other physical features. Unfortunately, race is often used to justify mistreatment or to suggest that one group is better than another. The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints teaches that…
“Because of God’s grace, our abilities or inabilities are not the principal basis for extending or accepting a calling. God does not expect perfect performance or exceptional talent to participate in His work. If so, Queen Esther would not have saved her nation, Peter would not have led the early Church, and Joseph Smith would not be the Prophet of the Restoration. As we act in faith to do something beyond our abilities, our weakness is exposed. This is never comfortable, but it is necessary for us to “know that it is by [God’s] grace … that we have power to do these things.” We will fall many times as we engage in God’s work. But in our effort, Jesus Christ catches us. He gradually lifts us to experience salvation…
“In the dedicatory prayer, given by revelation, the Prophet Joseph Smith prayed that “when thy servants shall go out from thy house … to bear testimony of thy name,” the “hearts” of “all people” would “be softened”—both the “great ones of the earth” and “all the poor, the needy, and [the] afflicted.” He prayed that “their prejudices may give way before the truth, and thy people may obtain favor in the sight of all; that all the ends of the earth may know that we, thy servants, have heard thy voice, and that thou hast sent us.” This is a beautiful promise for a newly called missionary—to have prejudices “give way before the truth,” to “obtain favor in the sight of all,” and to have the world know they are…
“OUR LOVE FOR GOD AND HIS CHILDREN IS A POWERFUL TESTIMONY TO THE WORLD THAT THIS IS TRULY THE SAVIOR’S CHURCH Many years ago Sister Uchtdorf and I were traveling through southern Germany. It was just before Easter, and we invited a good friend, who was not a member of the Church, to join us in our Sunday worship service. …Afterward, as we drove home, I turned to talk to our friend. I wanted to explain that this was just one small branch and it didn’t really represent the Church as a whole. But before I could say a word, she spoke up.“That was beautiful,” she said. I was speechless. She continued, “I’m so impressed with how people treat each other in your church. They all seem to come from…
