President Dallin H. Oaks opened plainly: “This is the Church of Jesus Christ, so named because it is His Church with the restored fulness of His doctrine and authority in these latter days.” He testified that God, the Eternal Father, is the Father of our spirits, the framer of heaven and earth, and the author of the plan of our salvation, and that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son, Jehovah, and the Messiah, “the God of the whole earth.” As the Book of Mormon declares, “Salvation was, and is, and is to come, in and through the atoning blood of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent” (Mosiah 3:18). Latter-day Saints invite all to come unto Christ, as Amaleki urged: “I would that ye should come unto Christ, who is the Holy One of Israel, and partake of his salvation, and the power of his redemption” (Omni 1:26).
He spoke as a pastor. “As your President, I pray for what our Heavenly Father wants for each of us—to be active members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, proceeding forward on the covenant path into the eternities.” “We need one another’s prayers. I feel the positive effect of your prayers. I am thankful, and I love you.”
Everyone has present or future struggles, which “Those may include questions or doubts. Whatever they are, the way to overcome them is to get closer to our Savior, Jesus Christ.” Focus on developing faith in God and the mission of His Son. Strong faith “It means daily trying, one step at a time, with prayer and scriptural learning. We are all a work in progress.” We are at different places on what President Nelson called the covenant path, so “We need to be patient with one another and, occasionally, even with ourselves.”
He addressed intellectual doubt directly. Overcoming uncertainty, which may include resolving conflicts between the evolving understanding of science and the sometimes incomplete teachings of religion can be a lengthy process. It involves building faith and strengthening humility. His counsel: “Hold on to the first article of faith even if something else is uncertain. And while you wait, wait upon the Lord, which includes trusting in His timing as well as in His promises.”
Prophetic leaders are deeply concerned about members of diminishing faith. “We love you, young and old, men and women. So does the Lord God! He is relentless in His loving pursuit of each of you.” He urged keeping commandments and covenants, and warned, “Never let your secular learning limit your spiritual horizons.” There are two methods of gaining needed knowledge: the evolving disclosures of man through the scientific method and digital information which may be inaccurate, and truths discovered through the spiritual method which begins with faith in God and relies on inspired teaching and personal revelation. “There is no ultimate conflict between knowledge obtained by these different methods because God, our omnipotent Eternal Father, knows all truth and expects us to learn by both methods.”
Along the way we should draw closer to Christ and grow in humility. President Spencer W. Kimball defined humility as teachableness: an ability to realize that all virtues and abilities are not concentrated in oneself. Protection comes through simple practices: the weekly renewal of covenants through the sacrament, consistent efforts to live by those covenants, and, for the endowed, regular temple attendance. “These simple practices will protect and strengthen you.”
He then taught the universality of the Savior’s reach. The great Creator died “for all men, that all men might become subject unto him” (2 Nephi 9:5), but forgiveness requires meeting His conditions, including faith, repentance, which depend on our desires, choices, and actions. “He cometh into the world that he may save all men if they will hearken unto his voice” (2 Nephi 9:21). The Book of Mormon records the Savior telling the Nephites that the Father had commanded Him to visit other sheep (3 Nephi 15:21; 16:1–3; John 10:16), and that He would visit others, such as the lost tribes. “The Book of Mormon is a great witness that the Lord loves all people and reaches out to all, everywhere”: “Know ye not that I, the Lord your God, have created all men, and that I remember those who are upon the isles of the sea?” (2 Nephi 29:7).
Book of Mormon teaching also contradicts the erroneous assertion that the grace of God saves only a chosen few. The Savior inviteth all to come unto him, and he denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female, and he remembereth the heathen. And all are alike unto God (2 Nephi 26:33). “His grace is for all.” He manifests Himself to believers in every nation by the power of the Holy Ghost (2 Nephi 26:13). “These promises from the Book of Mormon are true. Millions believe them and have had experiences to affirm their truth. I invite all to believe them.” The Lord will eventually bring forth inspired teachings given to His children in various nations, including accounts of His visit to the lost tribes.
We live in the day foretold when righteousness and truth sweep the earth as with a flood to gather the elect (Moses 7:62), and many in the world are hungry for our Savior Jesus Christ and his teachings. The Book of Mormon came forth so we “may know [of] the covenants of the Lord” and for the convincing of all “that Jesus is the Christ, the Eternal God, manifesting himself unto all nations” (title page). His closing call: “I call upon all to act on these truths and to share them with others that we may all draw closer to Jesus Christ, our Savior.”
