'Call to action'
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Speaking near the conclusion of general conference Sunday afternoon, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Twelve suggested three things that the twice-yearly gatherings declare to the world.
"First," he said, "they declare eagerly and unequivocally that there is again a living prophet on the earth speaking in the name of the Lord. And how we need such guidance! Our times are turbulent and difficult. We see wars internationally and distress domestically. Neighbors all around us face personal heartaches and family sorrows. Legions know fear and troubles of a hundred kinds."
All people — the righteous as well as the unrighteous, the young along with the elderly — face opposition and travail. Only the rod of iron — the declared word of God — can bring them through to safety, Elder Holland said.
"We all need that rod. We all need that word. No one is safe without it, for in its absence any can '(fall) into forbidden paths and (be) lost.' How grateful we are to have heard God's voice and felt the strength of that iron rod in the conference these past two days."
Elder Holland said that some people have suggested that Church leaders are out of touch in their declarations and that they don't know the issues.
"I will say with all the fervor in my soul that never in my personal or professional life have I ever associated with any group who are so in touch, who know so profoundly the issues facing us, who look so deeply into the old, stay so open to the new, and weigh so carefully, thoughtfully and prayerfully everything in between.
"I testify that the grasp this body of men and women have of moral and societal issues exceeds that of any think tank or brain trust of comparable endeavor that I know of anywhere on this earth. I bear personal witness of how thoroughly good they are, of how hard they work, and how humbly they live."
Second, each general conference marks a call to action to all. There are many in the world — the poor and the weary, the discouraged and downhearted — who can be rescued only by those who have more and know more and can help more, Elder Holland said.
"The Lord will lead you to those in need if you will but embrace the gospel of Jesus Christ that has been taught in this conference," Elder Holland declared.
Third, Elder Holland said, a general conference is a declaration to all the world that Jesus is the Christ, and that He and His Father appeared to the boy prophet Joseph Smith to restore His Church on earth again.
"This conference and every other conference like it is a declaration that He condescended to come to earth in poverty and humility, to face sorrow and rejection, disappointment and death in order that we might be saved from those very fates as our eternity unfolds, that 'with his stripes we are healed,"' Elder Holland said.
