Chapter 39
Ever at the Helm
As 2013 dawned, President Thomas S. Monson looked forward to a momentous year. It marked not only his fifth as president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints but also his fiftieth as an apostle of the Lord. The time seemed right to reflect on his presidency and the state of the Church.
Some years earlier, President Monson had received a letter from a struggling Church member. “The gospel has never left my heart, even though it has left my life,” the man wrote. “Please don’t forget those of us who are out here—the lost Latter-day Saints.”
The man’s moving words had reminded President Monson of a painting he once saw of a lifeboat plunging into roiling, white-capped waters to save a stranded ship. The painting had a long, unremarkable name, which President Monson had shortened to three simple words: To the Rescue. The phrase had turned into something of a theme for his presidency. Since becoming prophet, he had felt a greater urgency to follow the Savior in reaching out with understanding and love to those who felt unhappy, afraid, lost, or alone.
On February 3, President Monson commemorated his presidency’s five-year anniversary with a message to the Saints. “Our opportunities to serve one another are limitless,” he declared. “We’re surrounded by those in need of our attention, our encouragement, our comfort, our support, our kindness.”
He urged the Saints to remember the Savior’s words: “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.”
In his message, the prophet also spoke of missionary work, one of the many ways Church members could come to the rescue of others. A few months earlier, he had announced a change to the minimum age for missionary service, lowering it to nineteen for young women and eighteen for young men.
Thousands of missionary applications, more than half of them from young women, soon poured into Church headquarters. The change had given more youth new opportunities to strengthen their testimonies of the Savior and renew their commitment to the Church through missionary service. It also created fewer conflicts for Church members in countries where university policies or military service made serving difficult.
Continuing his message, President Monson noted that thirty-one new temples had been announced and sixteen had been dedicated during the past five years. “These numbers will continue to increase,” he promised, “as we move forward in making temples accessible to all of our members, wherever they may live.”
Finally, he remarked on his advancing age. “Last August I celebrated my eighty-fifth birthday,” he said. “Age eventually takes its toll on all of us.” Yet he assured the Saints that the Church was in good hands.
“Our Savior, Jesus Christ, whom we follow, whom we worship, and whom we serve, is ever at the helm,” he testified. “As we now go forward, may we follow His example.”
On May 28, 2017, Willy Binene stood to bear his testimony at his ward meetinghouse in Luputa. It was his family’s last Sunday there—at least for a while. He and Lilly had recently received a call from the First Presidency to serve as the leaders of the Côte d’Ivoire Abidjan Mission, on the western coast of Africa. Having missed his chance to serve a full-time mission as a young man, Willy had always hoped to one day serve a mission alongside Lilly. But neither of them had expected the call to come so soon.
A year earlier, Elder Neil L. Andersen of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles had come to the DRC to break ground for the temple in Kinshasa. During the trip, he and his wife, Kathy, traveled to Mbuji-Mayi, a city some ninety miles north of Luputa, to meet with the Saints in the area. Willy met Elder Andersen and shared his story with him.
Several months after Elder Andersen’s visit, the apostle surprised Willy and Lilly with a video call. He told them the Lord had another assignment for them and asked some questions about their life and work responsibilities. He then asked Lilly, “Would you agree to leave your country to go and serve the Lord elsewhere?”
“Yes,” Lilly told him. “We are willing.”
About a week later, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf extended the call to serve as mission leaders. They received it with a mix of joy and fear. Both felt unsure if they could measure up to their new responsibilities. But it was not the first time the Lord had asked them to do something hard, and they were willing to commit themselves wholly to His service.
“If it is God who called us,” Lilly thought, “He alone will manifest Himself and qualify us for the work.”
Their four children—aged five to sixteen—took the news well. The Saints in Luputa, however, could not hide the sadness on their faces when Willy and Lilly’s call was announced. For over two decades, Willy had helped the Church blossom in Luputa, growing from a small group of displaced believers to a thriving stake of Zion. The Saints did not simply think of him as their former district and stake president. The restored gospel had taught them to see each other as brothers and sisters, so Willy, Lilly, and the Binene children were their family.
As Willy bore his testimony to ward members, he felt immense love for them. Yet his eyes remained dry—even as Lilly, the choir members, and everyone else around him wept. Few things in his life had gone as expected. It seemed every time he had made a plan—for school, for a full-time mission, for work—something happened, sending him off in another direction. But looking back on his life, he could see the Lord had always had a plan for him.
After the meeting, Willy’s emotions finally overwhelmed him, and tears poured from his eyes. He did not think that he had ever done anything special. In fact, he felt a bit inconsequential, like a drop in the ocean. But he knew the Lord was guiding him, urging him along as the plan became clearer and more defined.
At their house, he, Lilly, and the children said goodbye to their friends. The family then climbed into a car waiting to take them to their next field of service.
“You can never be in a hurry,” Willy realized. “Leave time up to God.”
President Monson passed away on January 2, 2018. Although his health had been declining for several years, his testimony had always remained vibrant. One day, shortly before his death, his counselors in the First Presidency visited him at his home. Just as they were leaving, he had stopped them and said, “I love the Savior Jesus Christ. And I know that He loves me.”
During his ten years in office, President Monson had guided the Saints through an era of rapid social change and astonishing technological advancements. Social media platforms had provided Church members with new ways to share the gospel, foster understanding with people outside the faith, and connect with general authorities. The development of smartphones and other mobile devices had aided this work and given rise to the Gospel Library app in 2010, giving Saints across the world easier access to the scriptures, Church magazines, and other resources.
President Monson had also overseen the expansion of missionary work, a greater emphasis on interfaith outreach, and an increase in humanitarian efforts. Under his leadership, the Church had partnered with several organizations to assist refugees from war-torn areas, aid the victims of natural disasters, and ease the suffering of the sick and hungry.
The Church had also built on the work of the Perpetual Education Fund and other efforts to provide educational opportunities to people around the globe. In 2009, BYU–Idaho and three other locations had piloted a program that blended in-person classes and online instruction to make higher education more available and affordable to students. In 2017, this program became BYU–Pathway Worldwide, which had gone on to serve tens of thousands of students in over fifty countries.
But above all, President Monson’s greatest legacy was his compassionate, Christlike ministry. The day after his death, newspapers ran story after story about a life lived quietly visiting hospitals and funerals, sitting at the bedsides of sick friends, and encouraging young people and adults to come unto Jesus Christ.
On January 14, 2018, the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles ordained and set apart Russell M. Nelson as the seventeenth president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The new prophet spoke to Church members two days later with President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring, his counselors in the First Presidency.
“Our divine mandate,” he said, “is to go to every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, helping to prepare the world for the Second Coming of the Lord.” As a presidency, they wanted each member to “keep on the covenant path” and “begin with the end in mind.”
“The end for which each of us strives is to be endowed with power in a house of the Lord, sealed as families, faithful to covenants made in a temple,” he declared. “Your commitment to follow the Savior by making covenants with Him and then keeping those covenants will open the door to every spiritual blessing and privilege available to men, women, and children everywhere.”
President Nelson soon introduced several adjustments within the Church to aid this important work. At the April 2018 general conference, he announced that high priests would begin attending quorum meetings with elders. With the assistance of Elder Jeffrey R. Holland and Relief Society general president Jean B. Bingham, he also introduced a new way of caring for others, called “ministering,” to replace home and visiting teaching.
In a talk about ministering, Elder Holland urged the Saints to embrace “heartfelt discipleship,” reminding them of the Savior’s great commandment to His apostles: “Love one another.” Sister Bingham likewise encouraged the Saints to follow Christ’s example. “As you have the privilege to represent the Savior in your ministering efforts,” she said, “ask yourself, ‘How can I share the light of the gospel with this individual or family? What is the Spirit inspiring me to do?’”
Less than three months after being set apart, President Nelson embarked on the first of many global ministry tours. Traveling with Sister Wendy Nelson, whom he married in 2006 after the death of his first wife, Dantzel, the prophet visited Saints in eight cities on four continents in eleven days.
“Whenever I’m comfortably situated in my home, I’m in the wrong place,” he said. “I need to be where the people are. We need to bring them the message of the Savior.”
Later, at the October 2018 general conference, President Nelson announced a change to Sunday meeting schedules to make gospel living more home centered and Church supported. The change reduced the length of weekly Church meetings by one hour, giving Saints more time to study the gospel at home. Come, Follow Me—a new curriculum for adult Sunday School, youth and Primary classes, and individual and family study—began playing a key role in bringing Saints to Christ through gospel learning.
At the conference, President Nelson also spoke about using the correct name of the Church, instead of nicknames. “I realize with profound regret that we have unwittingly acquiesced in the Lord’s restored Church being called by other names, each of which expunges the sacred name of Jesus Christ!” he declared. “When we omit His name from His Church, we are inadvertently removing Him as the central focus of our lives.”
Under President Nelson’s direction, the Church instituted a new children and youth program to replace Scouting, Personal Progress, and other activities for young Saints. As part of this change, the Church extended For the Strength of Youth conferences to all Latter-day Saint teenagers between the ages of fourteen and eighteen. Like EFY and TFY, FSY gave youth a chance to spend a week attending gospel-centered classes and talks, making new friends, and strengthening their testimonies.
Following these adjustments, the Church released a new handbook of instructions, General Handbook: Serving in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Designed to help all people come unto Christ, the guidebook provided clear direction to help the Saints assist in God’s work. Unlike its predecessors, the General Handbook was a single volume available through the Church’s website and mobile app. To support consistent, inspired leadership in the global work of the Church, it was available in fifty-one languages.
Early in his administration, President Nelson began working closely with the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, or NAACP, to promote respect, civility, and racial and ethnic harmony throughout the world. He condemned racism and urged the Saints to uplift and respect all of God’s children.
Throughout the 2010s, questions about the status of women in the Church also led to important changes in Church practice. As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Russell M. Nelson had taught that women were “full partners in the work of salvation” and that their perspective in Church councils was essential. Elder Dallin H. Oaks had also clarified that women have priesthood authority in fulfilling their callings. “We are not accustomed to speaking of women having the authority of the priesthood in their Church callings,” he had said, “but what other authority can it be?”
Beginning in 2015, women who served as general officers began sitting on key general administrative councils at Church headquarters. Relief Society general president Linda K. Burton became a member of the Priesthood and Family Executive Council, Young Women general president Bonnie L. Oscarson joined the Missionary Executive Council, and Primary general president Rosemary M. Wixom joined the Temple and Family History Executive Council. And in 2019, President Nelson and his counselors authorized women to serve as official witnesses at baptisms and in temple sealings.
Like President Monson, President Nelson sought understanding as the Church addressed issues affecting LGBTQ individuals. In 2015, the United States had become the nineteenth country to legalize same-sex marriage. Since then, the First Presidency had reiterated the Church’s respect for the law of the land while also affirming its commitment to marriage between a man and a woman.
As the Church strove to understand and provide for the needs of LGBTQ members and their families, it added more videos and resources to its website. During a Brigham Young University devotional, Elder M. Russell Ballard urged Church members to be more sensitive to the feelings and experiences of LGBTQ Saints. “Certainly we must do better than we have done in the past,” he declared, “so that all members feel they have a spiritual home where their brothers and sisters love them and where they have a place to worship and serve the Lord.”
From the start of his administration, President Nelson had testified of the importance of temples in keeping God’s children on the “covenant path” and gathering Israel on both sides of the veil. During his first two years, he announced thirty-five new temples in places as diverse as Bengaluru, India; Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea; and Budapest, Hungary. During that time, eight new temples were also dedicated, including a house of the Lord in Rome, Italy.
The prophet believed the Rome Temple marked a turning point in the history of the Church. “Things are going to move forward at an accelerated pace,” he declared after the dedication. “The Church is going to have an unprecedented future, unparalleled. We’re just building up to what’s ahead now.”
At the October 2019 general conference, President Nelson announced that 2020 would be a bicentennial celebration, a time for the Saints to remember the two hundredth anniversary of Joseph Smith’s First Vision of Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
He invited the Saints to immerse themselves in the light of the Restoration. “In the next six months, I hope that every member and every family will prepare for a unique conference that will commemorate the very foundations of the restored gospel,” he said. “As you do, general conference next April will be not only memorable; it will be unforgettable.”
Shortly after the October 2019 general conference, seventeen-year-old Laudy Kaouk felt alone as she drove down the street. “Heavenly Father,” she prayed, “I just need to feel that you are there.”
Laudy was in her final year of high school in Provo, Utah. When she wasn’t in class or applying to universities, she was involved in extracurricular school groups or going to her job at a local restaurant. She was also the president of her Young Women class and a dancer in Luz de las Naciones, the Church’s annual Latin American cultural celebration at the Conference Center. Life could hardly get busier or more hectic.
Things were changing at home, too. She loved being part of a large, close-knit family. Her father was from Syria and her mother was from Venezuela. They were longtime converts to the Church who had immigrated to Provo before Laudy, the youngest in the family, was born. The whole family came home on Sundays, married siblings bringing their spouses and children with them. Laudy always looked forward to these gatherings.
But recently, her house felt a lot emptier. Her older sister had left on a mission to Japan, so Laudy was the only child at home. She had always had siblings living with her, and now she felt lonely. So she poured out her soul to God.
Two weeks later, Laudy received a call from her stake president. He told her that Bonnie H. Cordon, the Young Women general president, wanted to visit with her. Laudy was surprised, but she agreed to the visit. A short time later, President Cordon attended Laudy’s Spanish-speaking ward and sat down to talk with her. “I go and minister to a lot of people around the world and wanted to come and minister to you,” she told Laudy.
As soon as President Cordon said these words, Laudy knew that Heavenly Father had heard her prayer. This visit was His answer.
One month later, Laudy came home from work to find her parents waiting anxiously for her. “You have a letter!” they said. It was from the First Presidency.
Confused, Laudy sat down with her parents and opened the letter. It was an invitation for her to speak at the April 2020 general conference.
“How am I going to do this?” she thought.
The Spirit then whispered Nephi’s words to her: “I will go and do the things which the Lord hath commanded.” All at once, she felt excited and humbled. She knew that God would help her.
On January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization declared a “public health emergency.” An aggressive coronavirus had surfaced in Asia, infecting hundreds of people in China. The virus first manifested in pneumonia-like symptoms, but standard medical treatment had little effect on it. It spread rapidly and unpredictably.
By early February, the disease had a name: COVID-19. Responding quickly to the crisis, Church leaders sent more than two hundred thousand respiratory masks to China. They also began canceling meetings, closing temples for proxy ordinances, and putting missionaries in affected areas under quarantine.
On March 11, WHO declared COVID-19 a pandemic. By then, the disease had spread to 114 countries, infecting more than a hundred thousand people and resulting in thousands of deaths. As with the global influenza pandemic of 1918–19, the First Presidency suspended all in-person Church meetings. The Church stopped admitting new missionaries to some MTCs and devised a system for training missionaries at home through video conferencing. The First Presidency also announced plans for a virtual general conference in April and directed the Saints to hold worship services in their homes, granting priesthood holders temporary authorization to administer the sacrament to their own families.
On March 14, President Nelson addressed the Saints in an online video. “We as a global Church are facing a unique challenge,” he said. “We pray for those who are suffering and for those who have lost loved ones.”
He urged the Saints to take care of themselves and others. “Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, know us, love us, and are watching over us,” he said. “Of that we can be certain.”
On April 4, 2020, Laudy Kaouk sat in the nearly empty auditorium of the Church Office Building, nervously doodling in her notebook. The Saturday evening session of the Church’s 190th Annual General Conference was underway, and soon it would be her turn to speak.
Earlier that day, President Nelson had opened the conference in the small auditorium. The spread of COVID-19 had led the Church to cease in-person events at its schools, reassign or release missionaries, and close all temples indefinitely. As he stood before the Saints, the prophet had no choir behind him, and no familiar rows of general authorities and officers. Instead, his counselors and a handful of speakers sat nearby, each of them spaced several feet apart as a precaution against the spread of COVID-19.
As he addressed the Saints, President Nelson reminded them of the promise he’d made at the end of the last conference—that this bicentennial commemoration of Joseph Smith’s First Vision would be “unforgettable” to those who prepared themselves for it.
“Little did I know,” he said, “that speaking to a visible congregation of fewer than ten people would make this conference so memorable and unforgettable for me!”
Laudy had done her best to prepare for the conference, as President Nelson had asked the Saints to do. She had read some of Joseph Smith—History in the Pearl of Great Price and marveled at the young prophet’s determination to do the Lord’s work, despite his lack of education. “Wow,” she’d thought, “he probably felt really inadequate.”
It was a feeling she herself knew. She wasn’t someone who dreaded public speaking, but the thought of being in front of millions of people was intimidating. Sometimes she doubted herself, but she also had experiences that boosted her confidence. As she worked on her talk, she had felt the Lord guiding her, as He had guided Joseph Smith. Her talk did not take shape all at once. Rather, it had come little by little, one prompting at a time, as she prayed, pondered, and went to the temple.
Now Elder Gerrit W. Gong was finishing his talk, and Laudy put her notebook away. She approached the pulpit, and as soon as she took her place behind it, her nervousness vanished. “I am grateful to be here,” she said. “I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I could share, and I hope the Spirit speaks to you directly through my message.”
When the pandemic struck, Laudy’s school had shifted to remote learning, and her daily routines changed dramatically. As conference approached, she and her parents had carefully followed lockdown procedures to make sure she stayed healthy and did not put anyone else at the conference at risk. She was sad that her parents and other family members were not in the room with her now. But she knew they were nearby, watching on television, and she could sense that her ancestors were also listening to and supporting her.
Laudy’s talk lasted about six minutes. She spoke of the power of priesthood blessings and the love and peace she felt when she received them from her dad. “Don’t hesitate to ask for a blessing when you need extra guidance,” she said. “Some of us might suffer with anxiety, depression, addiction, or feelings that we are not enough. Priesthood blessings can help us overcome these challenges and receive peace as we move forward into the future.”
She testified—from experience—that God knew His children personally. “He is always aware of us and blesses us even when we feel we don’t deserve it,” she said. “He knows what we need and when we need it.”
When Laudy finished, another youth speaker, Enzo Petelo, stood and gave a talk. And as she listened to him, Laudy could hardly remember what had happened during her own talk. Did she do all right?
As soon as the session was over, she ran outside the auditorium to meet her parents. “Did I say it too fast?” she asked.
“No, hija,” her mother said. “You did such a good job.”
The next morning, President Nelson thanked the Saints for choosing to hear the word of the Lord, despite global upheaval. “The increasing darkness that accompanies tribulation makes the light of Jesus Christ shine ever brighter,” he testified. “Just think of the good each of us can do during this time.”
He invoked the Father’s words to Joseph Smith in the Sacred Grove: “This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!”
“In those two words—‘Hear Him’—God gives us the pattern for success, happiness, and joy in this life,” he said, urging the Saints to hear, hearken, and heed the word of the Lord. “I promise that you will be blessed with additional power to deal with temptation, struggles, and weakness,” he said. “I promise miracles in your marriage, family relationships, and daily work. And I promise that your capacity to feel joy will increase even if turbulence increases in your life.”
Following these remarks, President Nelson announced a new proclamation from the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve Apostles on the Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The broadcast then cut to a video of him reading the proclamation as he stood in the Sacred Grove.
“Two hundred years have now elapsed since this Restoration was initiated by God the Father and His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ,” the proclamation declared. “We affirm that God is making known His will for His beloved sons and daughters. We testify that those who prayerfully study the message of the Restoration and act in faith will be blessed to gain their own witness of its divinity and of its purpose to prepare the world for the promised Second Coming of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.”
At the close of President Nelson’s message, Saints in countries around the world stood up, wherever they were gathered, and raised white handkerchiefs in the air. Since the dedication of the Kirtland Temple in 1836, Church members had praised the Father and Son with a sacred Hosanna Shout. And today was no different.
Following the prophet’s lead, the Saints waved their handkerchiefs in the air as their voices rejoiced together across the globe:
Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to God and the Lamb.
Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to God and the Lamb.
Hosanna, Hosanna, Hosanna to God and the Lamb.