Post # 215 -- Part 1 -- Counsel from members
of the Twelve Apostles -- The World Will Win the War on
COVID-19, President Ballard Says
Contributed By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News editor
- 26 MARCH 2020
Dear Family and Friends
I have been thinking about the counsel that we have been
receiving during this pandemic and i would like to take the
next few posts to share this counsel with yo just in case
you have not had the opportunity to read these articles
I know that these articles have been posted in the
Church News, but i don't know just how many of you read
the Church News. Again I felt like this series of counsel
from members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
during the COVID-19 outbreak is important enough to
share with each one of you.
President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, in his office
in Salt Lake City on Tuesday, March 13, 2018. Photo by Ravell Call, Deseret News
ARTICLE HIGHLIGHTS
- Use digital tools to help you minister and to reach out
- to others when you feel discouraged.
- Pray in gratitude and for guidance.
- Study the scriptures.
“Let’s be happy and keep going forward and do the
best we can, and these circumstances will change.” —President M.
Russell Ballard
RELATED LINKS
Editor’s note: This is part one in a series of counsel from members of
the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles during the COVID-19 outbreak.
Click on the following names to read counsel from Elder Jeffrey R.
As the progression of the COVID-19 pandemic marches across the
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.
an interview March 24. “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 and freedom prevailed and things resolved themselves.”
The world will win this “war on the corona virus,” said the 91-year-old
Church leader.
However, President Ballard acknowledged that as the spread of
COVID-19 ripples, many people are worried not only about the
disease but also its economic impact on families.
He spoke to the Church News 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, or
ward activities—on March 12. More than half the Church’s
missionary force have returned or are returning to their home
nations to be released or reassigned. And the First Presidency
suspended all temple activity Churchwide at the end of the day
on March 25.
Under unique and difficult circumstances, he and the other leaders
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continue to
oversee the work of the kingdom. President Ballard 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.”
10 Be still, and know that I am God: I will be exalted among the
heathen, I will be exalted in the earth.
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
President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter–day Saints, waves to the crowd as he exits the
stand after speaking at a BYU devotional in the Marriott Center in Provo on Tuesday,
March 3, 2020. Photo by Scott G. Winterton, Deseret News.
As a result of the coronavirus, people around the world seem to be
more concerned about one another, President Ballard said.
They should also pray for divine guidance and offer gratitude for
“the gospel to guide their lives,” he said. “We are coming to realize
how precious our families are, how precious our neighbors are,
how precious our fellow Church members are. … There are
lessons we are learning now that will make us better people.”
Until then, the Lord has blessed the world with digital tools “that
keep us moving forward,” he said.
Church members are prepared to navigate these circumstances
ministering, he said.
“There has been some wonderful, wise, careful ministering being
done through social media, through phone calls, through notes
of concern.”
Prayer
Members should also pray for divine guidance and offer gratitude
that they have “the gospel to guide their lives,” he said.
President Ballard recalled addressing 12,000 Latter-day Saints
in Boston, Massachusetts, on October 20—a gathering that would
now be restricted by the coronavirus. He spoke of a nation
“founded on prayer” and “preserved by prayer” and called on
Latter-day Saints and all people to pray again for their government
leaders and their families.
The invitation was not just for Latter-day Saints in the United States,
he said, 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.”
“Revelation is alive and well and operating in The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints,” he said.
Missionaries
Revelation is also guiding the Church’s response to direct
missionary work worldwide.
Latter-day Saint leaders are doing “what we have to do to protect
the missionaries,” he said. “I have never seen anything like it in
my years as a General Authority. The steps that are being taken
are wise and temporary. We are asking every day, ‘What are we
going to do and 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.
“Some may be quarantined or in a holding pattern. They can still
progress in their gospel understanding.”
President M. Russell Ballard, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles of The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, speaks to missionaries at the Brampton Stake
Center in Brampton, Ontario, Canada, March 7, 2020. Photo by Hyungwon Kang, for the
Deseret News.
Encouragement
President Ballard encouraged those who feel discouraged to pick up
the scriptures and study them; use technology to watch a Church
video or to contact their 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.
Church members also have the opportunity to hear words from
the First Presidency, members of the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles, and other Church leaders next week during general
conference.
The coming weeks will usher in a spiritual season with general
conference, Palm Sunday, and Easter, said President Ballard.
“The Lord Jesus Christ loves us with a love beyond our
ability to comprehend,” he said. “The kingdom of God will
continue to roll forth.”
Then he added, “Everything is going to be just fine as we
turn our hearts to our Father in Heaven and look to Him
and to the Savior as the Redeemer of all mankind.”
I feel like President Ballard has given us -- each one
of us -- not only members of the Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, something great. He
has given us all some hope and encouragement to
help us get through this pandemic together with
the Lord, of course.
I think he reminds us that we can and should learn
from the past, our past, the ‘times of turmoil in
world history, the lessons learned, and why he can
look to the future with calm resolve.’ He said ‘history
articulates the resiliency of humankind.’ this refers
to our resiliency you know.
He begins sharing and comparing history with the
following quote: “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.”
President Ballard recognized our natural worries
that have probably come to us all at one moment
or another during this pandemic so far. He compares
this with his fears during the bombing of Pearl
Harbor. Now at 91 years of age he said the following
”The world will win this “war on the coronavirus,”
His next topic was that of the Temple. Now there are
no doubt some of you who have not been to the
Temple, but President Ballard shares counsel that
we can all do. He said the following: “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.”
Don't get me wrong, I love to go to the temple and
I miss not being able to go. In fact I had a temple
trip all planned out when this pandemic first hit.
I am waiting patiently for the time when I will be
able to go back to the temple. In the meantime,
did you happen to catch what President Ballard said
we could each do? He said we could kneel in our
homes and pray.
We can each do this right? He said that we can feel
our Heavenly Father’s Spirit as we are on our knees,
in our homes, as we pray in a quiet place. We can feel
the hand of the Lord in our life as we are there on
our knees in prayer. If you are not accustomed to
praying, now might be a very good time to begin, right?
He moves on to our concern for others which has
seemed to have increased during this pandemic. He
said the following which bears repeating: “They should
also pray for divine guidance and offer gratitude for “the gospel
to guide their lives,” he said. “We are coming to realize how
precious our families are, how precious our neighbors are, how
precious our fellow Church members are. … There are lessons
we are learning now that will make us better people.”
He also said that: Until then, the Lord has blessed the world with
digital tools “that keep us moving forward,” If you do not
have the gospel of Jesus Christ in your lives right
now, Then maybe it is a good time to learn about it
from some of our missionaries. You can go here to
check this out with one of our missionaries:
I don't know about you but I think we have all realized
just how important it is to keep our families close. We
have also realized just how important it is to stay in
close contact with all of our family members as our
family members are so precious to us.
Just as are our neighbors and friends and our church
family are also important to us. We have found new
ways to keep in touch and stay close while it is
necessary for us to be apart. I know that I have been
doing a lot of texting myself and even attended a few
Zoom meetings.
The next topic President Ballard speaks of is prayer.
He said that “Members should also pray for divine guidance
and offer gratitude that they have “the gospel to guide their lives,”
He spoke of a nation “founded on prayer” and “preserved by
prayer” and called on Latter-day Saints and all people to pray
again for their government leaders and their families.
He gave an invitation and said that his invitation was
not just for Latter-day Saints in the United States,
he said, but for everyone across the world. He said
“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 finished up this part on prayer with the following
statement; “Revelation is alive and well and operating in The
Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,” i believe that
revelation is available to each one of us if we are
putting forth the efforts necessary to receive our
own personal revelation for ourselves and our families
and we are listening so we can hear Him.
The next topic of this conversation was about
missionaries and how many of them returned home
early while others were resigned to temporary
assignments. He said the following when he was
speaking about the recent changes for our
missionaries to keep them all safe: We are asking every
day, ‘What are we going to do and 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.
He said. “Do we see light at the end of the tunnel? Absolutely!”
he said this with great confidence I am sure. He shared how the
missionaries were still working and encouraged to do so even
though - “Some may be quarantined or in a holding pattern. They
can still progress in their gospel understanding.”
I believe this is true of each one of us that we may be
quarantined or we too may be in a holding pattern, but
each one of us whether we are a missionary or not. We
can and should progress in our gospel understanding.
President Ballard continued with the topic of
encouragement. He recognized that some of us may
“feel discouraged to pick up the scriptures and study them; use
technology to watch a Church video or to contact their family,
friends, or ward members; and keep smiling.
He said the following words of encouragement: Let’s
be happy and keep going forward and do the best we can, and
these circumstances will change,” I believe that he may have
been addressing members of the Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints, his counsel applies to each one of us --
everywhere in the world. His counsel is not limited to our Church
members alone.
This talk was given before the April 2020 general
conference at that time was said that the coming
weeks will bring in a spiritual season with the general
conference then Palm Sunday and Easter. With all
these things coming up it was a very spiritual season;)
Then he said the following statement: “The Lord Jesus
Christ loves us with a love beyond our ability to comprehend,
” he said. “The kingdom of God will continue to roll forth.'' Did you
catch that part about the love that the Lord Jesus
Christ has for each and every om4 of us? Wow!!!!
He finishes his words of counsel with the following
statement: “Everything is going to be just fine as we turn our
hearts to our Father in Heaven and look to Him and to the Savior
as the Redeemer of all mankind.”
Do you realize where we are right now? You guessed it!!
We are at the end of our article as well as at the end of
my ramblings.I hope and pray that each one of you have
found this counsel which President Ballard has shared
with us to be of some value to you. With that said I pray
that you will each apply his counsel in your daily lives.
Keep praying. Keep studying the Book of Mormon
with me and all or our study buddies out there in
cyberspace. Hold your family members close if
they are in your home. If they are distant, do
whatever you can to keep them close. Keep those
lines of communication open.
Please remember who you are!!! You are each one a
child of God! This knowledge alone is priceless!!!
Knowing that you are a part of the family of God is
beyond important, knowing this hs changed my life
for the better. It could change your life as well!
Until my next post please stay safe, healthy and
doing well.
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