My dear brothers and sisters, it is a joy for me
to extend my love to you in this general conference
of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
That joy comes from the witness of the Spirit
that the love of the Savior reaches out to each of you
and to all of Heavenly Father's children.
Our Heavenly Father wishes to bless His children
spiritually and temporally.
He understands each of their needs, their pains,
and their hopes.
When we offer succor to anyone, the Savior
feels as if we reached out to succor Him.
He told us that was true when He described a future moment we
all will have when we see Him after our life in this world
is complete.
A picture in my mind of that day has
grown more vivid in the days that I have prayed and fasted
to know what to say this morning.
The Lord's description of that future interview
was given to His disciples, and it
describes what we want with all our hearts to be true for us
as well
(quote): "Then shall the King say unto them
on his right hand, Come, ye blessed of my Father,
inherit the kingdom prepared for you
from the foundation of the world: for I was an hungred,
and ye gave me meat: I was thirsty,
and ye gave me drink: I was a stranger, and ye took me in:
naked, and ye clothed me: I was sick, and ye visited me:
I was in prison, and ye came unto me.
Then shall the righteous answer him, saying,
Lord, when saw we thee an hungred, and fed thee?
or thirsty, and gave thee drink?
When saw we thee a stranger, and took thee in?
or naked, and clothed thee?
Or when saw we thee sick, or in prison, and came unto thee?
And the King shall answer and say
unto them, Verily I say unto you, Inasmuch as ye
have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren,
ye have done it unto me" (close quote).
You and I want that warm welcome from the Savior,
but how can we deserve it?
There are more hungry, homeless, and lonely children
of Heavenly Father than we can possibly reach,
and the numbers grow ever farther from our reach.
So the Lord has given us something that we can each do.
It is a commandment so simple that a child can understand it.
It is a commandment with a wonderful promise
for those in need and for us.
It is the law of the fast.
The words in the book of Isaiah are the Lord's description
of the commandment and the blessing
available to those of us in His Church (quote):
"Is not this the fast that I have chosen?
to loose the bands of wickedness,
to undo the heavy burdens, and to let the oppressed go free,
...
that ye break every yoke?
Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, ...
that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house?
when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and ...
thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,
and thine health shall spring forth speedily:
and thy righteousness shall go before thee;
the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.
Then shalt thou call, and the Lord
shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am.
If thou take away from the midst of thee the yoke,
the putting forth of the finger, and speaking vanity;
and if thou draw out thy soul to the hungry,
and satisfy the afflicted soul; then shall thy light rise
in obscurity, and thy darkness be as the noonday:
and the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy
thy soul in drought, and make fat thy bones:
and thou shalt be like a watered garden,
and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not"
(close quote).
So the Lord has given us a simple commandment
with a marvelous promise.
In the Church today, we are offered the opportunity
to fast once a month and give a generous fast offering
through our bishop or branch president for the benefit
of the poor and the needy.
Some of what you give will be used to help those around you,
perhaps someone in your own family.
The Lord's servants will pray and fast for the revelation
to know whom to help and what help to give.
That which is not needed to help people in your local Church
unit will become available to bless other Church
members across the world who are in need.
The commandment to fast for the poor
has many blessings attached to it.
President Spencer W. Kimball called
failing to follow that law a sin of omission with a heavy cost.
He wrote (quote): "Rich promises are made by the Lord
to those who fast and assist the needy.
...
Inspiration and spiritual guidance
will come with righteousness and closeness
to our Heavenly Father.
To omit to do this righteous act of fasting
would deprive us of these blessings" (close quote).
I received one of those blessings just days ago.
Since general conference falls on a weekend,
that would normally include the fast and testimony meeting.
I fasted and prayed to know how I should still
obey the commandment to care for those in need.
On a Saturday, still fasting, I woke at 6:00 in the morning
and prayed again.
I felt impressed to look at the world news.
There I read this report (quote): "Tropical Cyclone Pam
destroyed many homes as it made a direct hit on Port
Vila, the capital of Vanuatu.
It killed at least six people in Vanuatu,
the first confirmed from one of the most powerful storms
ever to make landfall.
Hardly a tree stood straight as the cyclone
bellowed across the Pacific island nation.
World Vision's emergency assessment team
planned to view damage after the storm died down.
...
They advised residents to seek shelter
in sturdy buildings such as universities and schools."
And then they said, "'The strongest thing they've got is
cement churches,' said Inga Mepham from CARE International.
'Some of them don't have that.
It's hard to find a structure that you'd think would be able
to withstand a Category 5 [storm]'" (close quote).
When I read that, I remembered visiting homes, little homes
on Vanuatu.
I could picture in my mind the people
huddled in homes being destroyed by winds.
And then I remembered the warm welcome
to me of the people of Vanuatu.
I thought of them and their neighbors
fleeing to the safety of our cement chapel.
Then I pictured the bishop and the Relief Society president
walking among them, giving comfort, blankets, food
to eat, and water to drink.
I could picture the frightened children huddled together.
They are so far away from the home where I read that report,
and yet I knew that what the Lord would
be doing through His servants would be possible
only if people were faithful.
I knew that made it possible for them
to succor those children of Heavenly Father.
It was fast offerings given freely by the Lord's disciples
who were far away from them but close to the Lord.
So I didn't wait for Sunday.
I took a fast offering to my bishop that morning.
I knew that my offering might be used by the bishop and Relief
Society president to help someone in my neighborhood.
My small offering may not be needed
near where my family and I live, but the local surplus
could reach even as far as Vanuatu.
Other storms and tragedies will come across the world to people
the Lord loves and whose sorrows He feels.
Part of your fast offering and mine
this month will be used to help someone somewhere
whose relief the Lord will feel as if it were His own.
Your fast offering will do more than help feed and clothe
bodies.
It will heal and change hearts.
The fruit of a freewill offering may
be the desire in the heart of the recipient
to reach out to others in need.
That happens across the world.
It happened in the life of Sister Abie Turay, who
lives in Sierra Leone.
A civil war began in 1991 there.
It ravaged the country for years.
Sierra Leone was already one of the poorest countries
in the world.
During the war it was unclear who controlled the country.
Banks closed, government offices were shuttered,
police forces were ineffective against rebel forces,
and there was chaos, killing, and sorrow.
Tens of thousands of people lost their lives,
and more than two million people were forced from their homes
to avoid this slaughter.
Even in such times, The Church of Jesus Christ
of Latter-day Saints grew.
One of the first branches was organized in the city
where Sister Turay lived.
Her husband was the first branch president.
He served as a district president during the civil war.
When guests visit Sister Turay's home now,
she loves to show them two treasures from the war:
a blue and white striped shirt she
got from a bale of used clothing given by members of the Church,
and a blanket, now worn and riddled with holes.
She says (quote): "This shirt is the first clothing I received.
I used to wear it to go to work.
It was so good.
It made me feel so beautiful.
I didn't have other clothes.
During the war, this blanket kept us warm,
me and my children.
When the rebels would come to attack us,
this is the only thing I could lay my hands on as we
fled to the bush to hide.
So we would take the blanket with us.
It would keep us warm and keep the mosquitoes away from us"
(close quote).
Sister Turay speaks of her gratitude
for a mission president who would
make his way into the war-torn country with money
in his pocket.
Those funds from the fast-offering donation
of someone like you allowed the Saints to buy food
that most Sierra Leoneans could not buy
at a price they could afford.
Sister Turay, speaking of those who were generous enough
to donate for them to survive, says (quote),
"When I think of the people who did this,
I think they were sent by God, because ordinary human beings
made this kind gesture for us" (close quote).
A visitor from the United States sat with Abie not long ago.
During his time with her, he found
his eyes drawn to a set of scriptures
that were on a table.
He could tell they were a treasure, well marked
with notes in the columns.
The pages were worn.
Some were torn.
The cover was detached from the scripture binding.
He held the scriptures in his hand
and gently turned the pages.
As he did, he found a yellow copy
of a tithing donation slip.
He could see that in a country where
$1 was worth its weight in gold, Abie Turay
had paid $1 as her tithing, $1 to the missionary fund,
and $1 as a fast offering for those who, in her words,
were "truly poor."
The visitor closed Sister Turay's scriptures
and thought, as he stood with this faithful African mother,
that he was on sacred ground.
Just as to receive the blessing of your fast offering and mine
can change hearts, so does fasting
for the good of another.
Even a child can feel it.
Many children and some adults may for personal reasons
find a 24-hour fast difficult.
It can be, in the words of Isaiah, felt
that the fast has "afflicted [their] soul."
Wise parents recognize that possibility
and so are careful to follow the counsel of President Joseph F.
Smith (quote): "Better to teach them the principle
and let them observe it when they are old enough to choose
intelligently" (close quote).
I saw the blessing in that counsel recently.
One of my young grandsons had found a 24-hour fast
beyond his powers of endurance, but his wise parents still
placed the principle in his heart.
One of his school friends recently lost a young cousin
to accidental death.
My grandson asked his mother on fast day,
at about the time he had always felt
the fast was too hard to continue,
whether it would make his grieving friend feel better
if he continued his fast.
His question was the confirmation
of President Joseph F. Smith's counsel.
My grandson had come to the point where
he not only understood the principle of the fast,
but it had been planted in his heart.
He had come to feel that his fasting and prayers would
lead to a blessing from God for someone in need.
If he lives the principle often enough,
it will bring the wonderful effects
in his own life promised by the Lord.
He will have the spiritual blessing of power
to receive inspiration and greater capacity
to resist temptation.
We do not know all the reasons why
Jesus Christ went into the wilderness to fast and to pray.
But we know at least one of the effects:
the Savior resisted Satan's temptations
to misuse His divine power.
The brief time we fast every month
and the small amount we offer for the poor
may give us only a small part of the change in our natures
to have no more desire to do evil.
But there is a great promise, even as we do all
that we reasonably can to pray, to fast,
and to donate for those in need (quote):
"Then shall thy light break forth as the morning,
and thine health shall spring forth speedily:
and thy righteousness shall go before thee;
the glory of the Lord shall be thy rearward.
Then shalt thou call, and the Lord
shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am."
I pray that we will claim those great blessings for ourselves
and for our families.
I bear my witness that Jesus is the living Christ,
that in His Church we are invited
to help Him as He cares for the poor in His way,
and that He promises everlasting blessings will
come from our helping Him.
In the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.