Welcome to our digital mini BYU Women's Conference.
My name is Sandra Rogers, chair of this year's conference.
Wherever you are, I am grateful to have you with us.
I am delighted to introduce the speakers for this session.
Sister Jean B. Bingham and Sister Sharon Eubank
will address the topic "Gathering Together
in the Latter Days."
Sister Eubank is the First Counselor in the Relief Society
General Presidency.
Since 1998, she has been employed by the Church's
Welfare Department and is currently the president
of Latter-day Saint Charities.
She is a former member of the Relief Society general board.
Sister Eubank graduated from Brigham Young University.
Sister Bingham is serving as the 17th Relief Society General
President.
At the time of her call, she was the First Counselor
in the Primary General Presidency.
She has degrees from National Louis University in Illinois.
She and her husband, Bruce, are the parents of two daughters
and have five grandchildren.
I invite you to read more about Sister Eubank and Sister
Bingham on our Women's Conference website.
We are very grateful for their preparation.
I know you will be uplifted by their presentation.
It is so wonderful to meet with you in this format.
We are living examples of the power of gathering
despite challenging times.
In these past two years, much has
been said about gathering Israel on both sides of the veil.
In October 2018, President Russell M. Nelson
invited every woman to shape the future
by helping to gather Israel.
He reiterated what he had said to the youth
the previous June when he declared
that "this gathering is the greatest
challenge, the greatest cause, and the greatest
work on Earth today."
What does that mean, gathering Israel?
Israel is a name for God's covenant people.
That is us and many others scattered throughout the world
who are willing to follow the teachings of the restored
gospel and example of Jesus Christ.
Gathering Israel simply means bringing yourself, your family,
and other loved ones, either living now
or who have passed to the other side of the veil, closer
to our Heavenly Father and His Son, our Redeemer.
The goal is to unite families who
are prepared to live with Them eternally.
But why now?
Why is it so important now?
Because we in this last dispensation have been given
the charge to prepare the world for the Second Coming
of our Savior Jesus Christ.
President Nelson explains that clearly,
quote, "A necessary prelude to that second coming is
the long-awaited gathering of scattered Israel."
This doctrine of the gathering is
one of the most important teachings
of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
And we not only teach this doctrine,
but we participate in it.
We do so as we help to gather the elect of the Lord
on both sides of the veil.
This is truly the latter day, our day.
This now is filled with great challenges as well as
great opportunities.
Earthquakes and fires, wars and contentions, economic stresses
and government instability, widespread famine
and worldwide diseases, not to mention attacks
on the sanctity of the family and the home all
create great upheaval and uncertainty.
As President Nelson observed, "We
have great cause for concern, but we do not
need to let our fears displace our faith.
We can combat those fears by strengthening our faith."
That is why each of you wanted to gather at this Women's
Conference, to strengthen your faith in God the Eternal Father
and in His Son, Jesus Christ.
With all the uncertainties in life,
we do know that we are daughters of our Heavenly Father, who
loves us, and we surely love Him.
We understand there is a divine plan that
helps us become our best selves when we choose to follow Jesus
Christ and take advantage of the gifts of His Atonement
for each of us.
What blessings this knowledge brings.
So take heart.
At the same time that we are experiencing
these major challenges, this is an unprecedented time
of great opportunities for personal growth.
We are being reminded of those things of lasting value
on which to focus our energy.
We are learning to share the message of the gospel
through technology as well as personal connections,
and we are increasing our understanding
of the value of temples.
All these efforts are part of the gathering.
So how do we accomplish this gathering?
Again, President Nelson enthusiastically
and clearly tells us how.
"Anytime you do anything that helps anyone
on either side of the veil take a step
toward making covenants with God and receiving
their essential baptismal and temple ordinances,
you are helping to gather Israel.
It is as simple as that."
As we look at the various opportunities to help
in the gathering, Sister Eubank's and my thoughts
immediately went to several important responsibilities we
each have as covenant members of the Church--ministering
missionary efforts, temple and family history work,
and caring for those in need.
You wonderful women are fulfilling these assignments
in simple yet remarkable ways.
We have heard about some of your efforts
and would love to share some of the marvelous examples of what
you sisters are doing around the world.
At first glance, you would think a global pandemic
would make ministering harder.
But in fact, it has simply brought out our creativity
in new ways.
Something extraordinary is not going
to be stopped by a little social distancing.
So here are three examples from Relief Society
sisters around the world who are finding
creative ways to minister in challenging times.
Sister Annika in the Hannover Germany Stake
made a simple two-minute video to send
to families with children so they could
learn primary songs at home.
Let's take a look at it.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[SINGING IN GERMAN]
[END PLAYBACK]
I don't know that song in English,
so that's the first time it will always be in German in my mind.
A lot of counseling and ministering
is now taking place over technology,
and suddenly, the technology is available,
so we feel we're in the same room
even though we're many miles and timezones apart.
Maybe your photo libraries have begun filling
with pictures like these.
This is our General Presidency meeting.
This is the Relief Society general board
meeting all together.
And this is the Takapuna Ward Relief Society presidency
meeting over technology in New Zealand.
If you look closely, you can see a husband
in the background who's taking the photo.
Sister Bernice and her daughter in Accra, Ghana,
took food and made a visit to a neighbor family
that they knew was struggling.
They not only helped the family who was having a hard time,
but they got to spend time walking and talking together,
which Bernice says is precious to her
to spend that time with her daughter.
In the Pacific Area, Sister Elly made of white sacrament cloth
for the families that they minister
to to use when they were blessing the sacrament at home.
She said, "When we went into COVID-19 lockdown
and started to think of doing the sacrament at home,
I thought about how I wanted this to be special and sacred
and a reverent time.
The next day, I went and bought the best fabric I could afford
and made cloths for my family and our ministering families."
Now Sister Bingham will give some examples
about sharing the gospel by sharing friendship
and testimony.
Missionary work--sometimes it takes a challenge to get us
thinking about new ways to share the gospel.
For example, how could you possibly do missionary work
when you're confined to your apartment for weeks?
Watch what these sisters in the Milan Italy Mission did.
[VIDEO PLAYBACK]
[MUSIC PLAYING]
[END PLAYBACK]
Creative, fun, and spiritual.
In the Gyeonggi stake in Korea, sisters
are inviting their friends to a virtual yoga class
every morning.
The best part, they say, is feeling connected
and chatting before and after the yoga practice.
The Paris France Mission recently held a devotional
for missionaries and friends to discuss
what they had learned during the 39 days they had been staying
home that they wouldn't have been able to learn otherwise.
One investigator friend wrote afterward,
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart
for having allowed me to participate at this evening
Zoom meeting.
It was a blessing to see your beautiful faces
and to listen to testimonies.
So now, I will offer my fears, my despair,
my continuous heartbreak to our Heavenly Father,
begging him to rescue me."
What about new opportunities to gather together
through the work of uniting families for eternity?
During this time when the temples are closed,
many sisters are engaging more and more in family history.
A sister who is serving as a senior missionary
in Independence, Missouri, wrote,
"Last week after meetings were canceled,
we self-isolated at our apartment
using our phones and computers to keep in touch with members
and to reach out to less actives.
To keep busy, I decided to do some family history,
even though for quite a while, it
has been difficult to find new names.
"When I logged on to FamilySearch,
I found a notification of a record waiting to be attached.
That one record led me to find, in just five days,
about 70 people in my line, most of whom
needed multiple ordinances done, and there
were many more I was able to attach that already
had their work done.
I consider it a true miracle.
"The flow of names stopped this morning,
and this afternoon, we found out we were all
being released to go home.
I feel truly blessed to have been
able to serve here in Independence,
and I am sad to leave.
But I also feel blessed to have been
able to serve family on the other side of the veil
during this difficult time."
Sandy and her husband, Steve, have
begun to use their regular temple
time to help a Native American friend find and connect
to her family on FamilySearch.
With no access to the internet at home or in the community,
and after collecting what oral history she could,
this sister, Suzy, was frustrated
in her efforts to find out more about her ancestors.
Since the beginning of the COVID-19 closing of temples,
Sandy and Steve have found eight more of Suzy's grandparents,
aunts, and uncles who could now receive the audiences
of salvation and exaltation.
Sandy said, "There is such a joy in helping
those who can't help themselves to become more involved
in their own family history.
Like President Nelson has said, there's
really nothing more important for us
to do right now than to be gathering Israel
on both sides of the veil."
Now I'll ask Sister Eubank to give some examples
about ways we can help care for those in need.
Caring for those in need is part of our DNA
when we're disciples of Jesus Christ,
and we're always looking for ways
that we can follow His examples.
Most opportunities aren't hard.
They just require us not to procrastinate and think
that someone else is going to do it.
I found it interesting that the sisters in Nigeria
are saying, "We value phone calls now more than ever.
We talk about everything, and we just uplift each other since we
cannot meet at church."
Sister Shelley in Ghana called a sister
who couldn't listen to general conference
because her electricity was out, and she told her
about the temple that was coming to Benin City.
She said, "I worried because it was so late,
but I felt impressed to call her.
The sister said it was the best birthday gift
she could have ever received."
Next is a story about how the Beira Mozambique Stake worked
together to help keep public places safer
from the transmission of COVID-19.
Due to the low number of COVID-19 cases in Mozambique,
the government hasn't called for a total shutdown,
but they have made it mandatory to use
face masks in all public transportation and places.
Freeman Dickie, the Beira Mozambique Stake president,
explains when he says, "Most of the people in Beira
live below the poverty line and can't afford a face mask.
During the worldwide fast, an idea
popped up, which we qualified as revelation.
We counseled together as stake leaders
and decided to help the government's efforts
through Church members.
"Through the bishops, we bought and distributed sewing kits
to ward members to make an average of 100
masks per family.
The masks would be given through the municipality
to the local markets, which have a high concentration of people.
Today, we collected 6,140 masks and handed them over
to the municipality.
The mayor of Beira, Mr. Daviz Simango,
joined us during the distribution of the masks
in the market.
The stake Relief Society presidency
also wore Helping Hand yellow vests
to explain how to use a mask and distribute them
to the business owners.
"The feeling among the members who participated was great.
Many speak of being the first time as a family
they worked late into the night, trying
to reach the target of 100.
They speak of how close they grew
to know each other as a family, and most were using their hands
to sew the masks.
All felt great love for their fellow citizens
as they were ministering to those not of our faith."
One final example--many of the sisters living along
the Wasatch Front in Utah are having a chance to participate
in a medical mask-seeing project.
I thought you might like seeing how that project began
and the impact it will have for hospitals and care centers
across the state.
The idea for this project began early
on the morning of March 20.
Dr. Ron Day, who is a pediatric cardiologist
at Primary Children's Medical Center,
had attended a staff meeting where
the shortages of medical protective gear
were made plain.
As a member of the Church, Dr. Day
knew what committed Latter-day Saint volunteers were
capable of.
He called the Relief Society office and asked for help.
From that initial partnership was born a conglomeration
of groups, including Intermountain Healthcare,
Latter-day Saint Charities, University of Utah Health,
and the Relief Society.
The audacious goal we set was to sew 5 million clinical masks
for hospitals and caregivers in this state and beyond.
Giant rolls of medical-grade surgical mesh
were ordered from China and delivered to Salt Lake City.
A company in the valley agreed at a minimal cost
to cut the fabric into bolts, and then they
used giant die cutters to cut out the patterns
and bag them into kits of 100.
Sister Bingham participated in Governor Herbert's press
conference, inviting 50,000 volunteers
to sign up and help sew the masks.
On April 21, volunteers began picking up the kits
at specific Deseret industries.
All kinds of people from all kinds of backgrounds
participated.
And just like in Beira, Mozambique,
it brought families together, and it
brought our community gather to benefit
heroic medical professionals.
Sister Bingham noted earlier that gathering Israel simply
means bringing yourself and your family and other loved ones,
living and dead, closer to Heavenly Father and Jesus
Christ.
Critical to the gathering together in the latter days
is the gift of the Holy Ghost.
All of the examples we've described today
have come as ordinary people follow the quiet promptings
of the Holy Ghost.
This is a gift each one of us has.
We've received it at our baptism,
but it takes a lifetime of practicing to use it well.
Elder Larry Corbridge spoke at BYU at a devotional
a little more than a year ago, and a specific quote
from that talk has been in my study journal ever since.
It's worth sharing today because it describes
the price we must be willing to pay in order to gather together
as God's people.
It's not an unbearable price, but it takes our best efforts.
He said, "Of all the problems you encounter in this life,
there is one that towers above them all,
and it's the least understood.
The worst of all human conditions in this life
is not poverty, sickness, loneliness, abuse, or war, as
awful as those conditions are.
The worst of all human conditions is the most common.
"It's to die spiritually.
It's to be separated from the presence of God,
and in this life, His presence is His spirit.
That's the worst.
"Conversely, the best of all human conditions in this life
is not wealth, fame, prestige, good health, the honors of men,
or security.
As wonderful as some of those things are,
the best of all human conditions is
to be endowed with heavenly power.
It's to be born again, to have the gift, the companionship
of the Holy Ghost, which is the source of revelation, clarity,
love, peace, confidence, and almost every other good thing.
"Pay whatever price you must pay.
Bear whatever burden you must bear, and make whatever
sacrifice you must make to get and keep
in your life the spirit and the power of the Holy Ghost.
Every good thing depends on that."
Isn't it interesting that each of these examples of love
and service began with one person who
listened to the Spirit?
One woman with her own hands and heart and talents
found a way to serve and lift in love.
Sometimes that initial effort expanded
to include a larger group of givers and receivers,
but always the original recipient, if only one,
was blessed.
To God, the worth of one soul is great.
He cares about the sparrow that falls,
the seemingly insignificant one, as much
as He does for those who are famous or seemingly perfect
or hold important positions.
The power of one is indeed powerful.
A waterfall starts but with one drop,
and look what becomes of that.
One by one over time, we can accomplish great things
one step at a time.
A friend of my mother's calls this the daffodil principle,
named after an experience that forever changed her.
You may have heard the story.
Some years ago at her daughter's insistence, the two of them,
with little children in tow, drove through a drizzling fog
up over a mountain to visit a garden high
in the hills of California.
She didn't really want to go but was
willing because it would give her precious time
with her daughter and small grandchildren.
When they arrived, they walked through
the gray drizzle and dark green forest
until they turned a corner on the path
and were brought to a standstill by the amazing vista.
She said, "Before me lay the most glorious sight,
unexpectedly and completely splendid.
It looked as though someone had taken a great vat of gold
and poured it down over the mountain peak
and slopes where it had run into every crevice
and over every rise.
Even in the mist-filled air, the mountainside
was radiant, clothed in massive drifts and waterfalls
of daffodils.
The flowers were planted in majestic swirling patterns,
great ribbons, and swaths of deep orange, white,
lemon yellow, salmon pink, saffron, and butter yellow."
When she inquired how this marvelous display had
come to be, she learned that Gene Bauer,
a retired high school art teacher,
had begun planting daffodil bulbs when
she moved to the area and had continued
to add some every year for the next 40 years.
How was it done?
On a sign at the start of the path,
Gene posted these words of explanation, "One at a time
by one woman, two hands, two feet, and very little brain."
The result of her patient one-by-one work
was a stunningly beautiful garden
that covered five acres with more than a million daffodils
that bloom each spring.
She invited anyone to come and see
and to experience the gorgeous colors,
to enjoy the calming natural atmosphere,
and bask in the beauties of God's creations, all for free.
The woman who visited the garden with her daughter
reflected, "I thought of this woman whom I had never met,
who, more than 35 years before, had
begun to bring her vision of beauty and joy
to an obscure mountaintop, just planting one bulb at a time,
year after year.
This woman, unknown to many, had forever
changed the world in which she lived.
She had created something of ineffable magnificence, beauty,
and inspiration.
The principle her daffodil garden
taught me is that when we multiply tiny pieces of time
with small increments of daily effort, we, too, will find we
can accomplish magnificent things.
We can change the world."
You, too, have done and can do magnificent things one step
at a time with the Lord's help.
And as we join our small efforts together, just
think of the influence for good we
can have on the world around us.
Sometimes we feel like we don't measure up
to the grand measuring stick of what others are doing.
We may feel that our contributions are
so simple or so small that they just
don't have that much impact.
Yet we know from the Savior's example
that meaningful service does not have
to be flashy or widely known to be of great value.
Let me share one woman's learning experience
that resonated with me.
"Late one night, having spent a long day working hard,
I turned off the light and prepared to go to bed.
Before locking the front door, I opened it for a moment
to take a deep breath of the cool night air.
The moon was silver on the trees,
but the night had a warm, dark feeling.
"I breathed deeply.
A sweet fragrance filled my lungs,
and I looked about me in wonder.
Next to the door was a plant that had previously
escaped my notice.
A rather scraggly bush had shot forth a tall white stalk
covered with blossoms.
"During the day, the stalk had looked like a green knobby
spike that needed to be pruned.
But here in the night, its green buds had opened,
and the white flowers were filling the blackness
with a fragrance so sweet, it was like a balm.
The plant was night-blooming ginger,
which only flowers in the darkest hours.
During the day, it wouldn't merit a glance."
Like night-blooming ginger, you may flower in unlikely places,
but be assured that your efforts are making a difference
and that they are good enough.
These ideas that we've shared with you
and others that will come to you can help you now,
or maybe they will help you in the future.
But gather your courage, your testimony,
and let's gather each other.
Connect with your sisters and brothers.
Doing so will remind us about who we are,
and it will strengthen us, and it will lift us
to a place of greater peace.
I share my unshakeable testimony that as we turned to the Lord
in our difficult circumstances and seek
to know what He wants us to do through the Holy Ghost,
He will send us to others, and He will send others to us.
The Apostle Paul lovingly counseled the Philippians
to not be overly concerned about challenges, "but in everything,
by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving,
let your requests be made known unto God.
And the promise is that if you do
that, the peace of God, which passeth all understanding,
shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus."
And then Paul tells us what to focus on in order
to receive the peace we seek.
"Whatsoever things are true, wherever things are honest,
just, pure, lovely, whatsoever things are of good report,
if there be any virtue or any praise, think of these things."
It is understandable that people are now stressed physically,
economically, and emotionally.
However, you have an advantage.
Because of your knowledge and testimony of the gospel,
your spiritual strength can help you not only cope,
but be resilient in the face of these challenges.
In one way, these current circumstances
are a blessing because they are forcing
us to prioritize, to simplify, to be intentional,
and to be creative.
It's a gift, and we are up to receiving it.
Finally, we can't tell you all the things you should or could
do to make this a time of peace and growth
for yourself and others, but the Holy Spirit can.
We are promised that by the power of the Holy Ghost,
ye may know the truth of all things.
Another favorite reassuring scripture,
written in our hearts as well as framed in our offices, is this.
"I can do all things through Christ,
which strengtheneth me."
Just a couple of months ago, my presidency
had the wonderful privilege of meeting
with the First Presidency in an informal chat.
They were interested in our thoughts and feelings about you
sisters and the challenges we feel
most impact your daily happiness and eternal progression.
At the conclusion of our sweet time together,
we asked President Nelson what message he would
like us to share from him.
He said, as he often does, "Tell them I love them.
I thank them, and we need them."
We, too, love you.
We pray for you, and we have every confidence that you
are capable of great things.
Done with simplicity and in the Lord's way,
focusing on what is eternally important,
and seeking revelation through the Holy Ghost,
you will accomplish astonishing things.
We know that when we follow the example of our Savior Jesus
Christ and put His teachings into practice, we are blessed.
We know that our Heavenly Father loves each of His children,
that we are in His hands, and that Jesus Christ will empower
us through our covenants to meet every demand that life makes
of us with faith and ultimate success.
May you feel the love of our Father in heaven
in the coming days and weeks and months and years.
He will always be near.
In the name of His Beloved Son, Jesus Christ, amen.
[MUSIC PLAYING]