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The World Will Win the War on COVID-19, President Ballard Says
Read part 1 in a series of interviews featuring counsel from members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the COVID-19 outbreak.
As the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic marched across the globe, President M. Russell Ballard spoke of times of turmoil in world history, the lessons learned, and why he can look to the future with calm resolve.
The Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said history articulates the resiliency of humankind.
The coronavirus pandemic will not be different, he said during an interview on March 24, 2020. “From the beginning of history there have been circumstances similar to this one. Somehow they got through them, and we are going to get through this one.”
In 1941, President Ballard, then 13, returned home from Sunday School and learned from his mother that Pearl Harbor had been bombed, drawing the United States into World War II. He remembered the feeling of panic and the fear of losing everything. “But that’s not what happened,” he said. “The people of the free world rallied, freedom prevailed, and things resolved themselves.”
The world will win this “war on the coronavirus,” said the 91-year-old Church leader.
President Ballard acknowledged, however, that as the spread of COVID-19 continues, many people are worried not only about the disease but also about its economic impact on families.
He spoke to the Church News on March 12, almost two weeks after Church leaders suspended all Church gatherings worldwide, including public worship services and sacrament meetings, stake conferences, leadership conferences, and stake, branch, and ward activities. More than half the Church’s missionary force have returned to their home nations to be released or reassigned. In addition, the First Presidency suspended all temple activity Churchwide on March 25.
Under unique and difficult circumstances, President Ballard and the other leaders of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continue to oversee the work of the kingdom. He articulated with clarity and certainty why Latter-day Saints can have confidence in the future.
The Temple
“Whether you are able to go to the temple or not, your home is a place you can kneel and pray,” President Ballard said. “You can feel Heavenly Father’s Spirit, and you can feel the hand of the Lord in your life on your knees in your bedroom or wherever you find peace to say your prayers. It doesn’t require you to be in the temple to ‘be still, and know that I am God’ (Psalm 46:10). That can happen every day of your life.”
With encouragement from those on the other side of the veil awaiting temple work, “it won’t be long before the temples are up and operating,” he added.
Concern for Others
Because of the coronavirus pandemic, people around the world seem to be more concerned about one another, President Ballard said.
“We are coming to realize how precious our families are, how precious our neighbors are, how precious our fellow Church members are,” he said. “There are lessons we are learning now that will make us better people.”
The Lord has blessed the world with digital tools “that keep us moving forward,” he said. Church members are prepared to navigate current circumstances with home-centered, Church-supported instruction and ministering.
“There has been some wonderful, wise, careful ministering being done through social media, through phone calls, through notes of concern.”
Prayer
Members should pray for divine guidance and offer gratitude that they have “the gospel to guide their lives,” President Ballard said.
He recalled addressing 12,000 Latter-day Saints in Boston, Massachusetts, USA, on October 20, 2019—a gathering that would now be restricted by the coronavirus. He said the United States was founded on prayer and preserved by prayer, and he called on Latter-day Saints and all people to pray for their government leaders and their families.
His invitation was not just for Latter-day Saints in the United States but for everyone across the world. “I think this is a great opportunity for us to exercise our faith and our prayers and to watch out for each other, and we will get through it.”
He added, “Revelation is alive and well and operating in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
Missionaries
Revelation is also guiding the Church’s response to direct missionary work worldwide, and leaders are doing everything they can to protect missionaries.
“I have never seen anything like it in my years as a General Authority,” President Ballard said. “The steps that are being taken are wise and temporary. We are asking every day, ‘What are we going to do, when are we going to do it, and how are we going to do it?’ We are being led by revelation a step at a time. We have not been in this situation before, at least not in my ministry. Do we see light at the end of the tunnel? Absolutely!”
Missionaries, wherever they are, have been encouraged and taught how to keep their work up and to teach their friends and neighbors the gospel through technology.
“Most of them have a smart phone, and … they are really smart,” he said. “Some may be quarantined or in a holding pattern. They can still progress in their gospel understanding.”
Encouragement
President Ballard encouraged those who feel discouraged to pick up the scriptures and study them; use technology to watch a Church video; contact family, friends, or ward members; and keep smiling.
“Let’s be happy and keep going forward and do the best we can, and these circumstances will change,” he said.