You might not know this, but President Monson and I
are twins.
On the very day that I was born, in the very hour
in northern California, the 36-year-old Thomas S. Monson
was sustained as the newest Apostle.
I love my special, personal link to the prophet
of God, President Monson.
The prophets are speaking about women.
You will hear some of their words in this meeting.
For my text I am going back almost 40 years
to a remarkable prophecy written by President Spencer W.
Kimball.
September 1979 was only the second time
that the women of the global Church
had met in a general meeting.
President Kimball had prepared his talk,
but when the day of the conference came,
he was in the hospital.
So instead, he asked his wife, Camilla Eyring Kimball,
to read his remarks on his behalf.
Sister Kimball read the prophet's words,
which emphasized the influence of LDS women
on the good women of the world prior to the Second
Coming of the Savior.
Near the end, there was an electrifying charge
to the women of the Church that we have
been talking about ever since.
Let me quote a little bit about what President Kimball said:
"Finally, my dear sisters, may I suggest to you
something that has not been said before or at least
in quite this way.
Much of the major growth that is coming to the Church
in the last days will come because many of the good women
of the world ... will be drawn to the Church in large numbers.
This will happen to the degree that the women of the Church
reflect righteousness and articulateness in their lives
and to the degree that the women of the Church are seen
as distinct and different--in happy ways--from the women
of the world.
"Among the real heroines in the world who will come
into the Church are women who are more concerned with being
righteous than ... being selfish.
These real heroines have true humility,
which places a higher value on integrity than on visibility."
And then he finishes by saying, "It will be ...
female exemplars of the Church [who] will be a significant
force in both the numerical and the spiritual growth
of the Church in the last days."
What a prophetic statement that is.
Just to summarize: It will be good relationships
of women that will trigger much of the major growth that's
coming to the Church in the years ahead.
The friendships that Relief Society women, young women,
and Primary girls build with sincere, faithful, godly women
and girls of other faiths will be
a significant force in how the Church grows in the last days.
President Kimball called these women
from other backgrounds "heroines"
who will be more concerned with being righteous than selfish
and who will show us that integrity is
more valuable than visibility.
I have met so many of these good women
as I do my work around the world,
and their friendships are precious to me.
You know them too among your friends and neighbors.
They may or may not be members of the Church right now,
but we connect in friendship that is very important.
How do we play our part?
What should we do?
President Kimball say five things:
The first is to be righteous.
Being righteous doesn't mean being perfect or never making
mistakes.
But it means developing an inner connection with God,
repenting of our sins, and freely helping others.
Women who have repented have changed the course of history.
I have a friend who was in a car accident when she was young,
and from that she became addicted to pain medication.
Later on, her parents divorced.
She became pregnant from this brief relationship,
and her addictions continued.
But one night she looked at the chaos and the mess of her life,
and she thought, "Enough."
She cried out to the Savior Jesus Christ to help her.
She said she learned that Jesus Christ was stronger than even
her terrible circumstances and that she
could rely on His strength as she
walked the road of repentance.
By coming back to the Lord and His ways,
she changed the course of her history,
and her little boy's history and her new husband's.
She is righteous.
She has a wide-open heart for others who have made mistakes
and want to change.
Just like all of us, she isn't perfect,
but she knows how to repent and to keep trying.
The second is to be articulate.
Being articulate means to clearly express
how you feel about something and why.
Earlier this year there was a post on my Facebook newsfeed
that disparaged Christianity.
And I read it, and I was a little bit annoyed,
but I shrugged it off.
But an acquaintance who is not a member of our faith
responded with a comment of her own.
This is what she wrote: "[This is] the exact opposite of what
Jesus stood for--he was ... radical [in] his time
because he ... equalized the world. ...
He [spoke to] prostitute[s], [He] ate with ...
tax collector[s] ..., befriended powerless women and children
... , [and] gave us the story of the Good Samaritan.
It follows that ... true Christians would be striving
to be the MOST loving people in the world."
When I read that, I thought to myself, "Why didn't I
write that?"
Each of us needs to be better at articulating
the reasons for our faith.
How do you feel about Jesus Christ?
Why do you stay in the Church?
Why do you believe the Book of Mormon is scripture?
Where do you get your peace?
Why does it matter that the prophet
has something to say in 2017?
How do you know he is a real prophet?
Use your voice and your power to articulate what you know
and feel--on social media, in quiet conversations with
your friends, when you're chatting with
your grandchildren.
Tell them why you believe and what it feels like,
and if you ever doubted, and how you got through it,
and what Jesus Christ means to you.
As the Apostle Peter said, "Be not afraid ...;
but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts:
and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh
you a reason of the hope that is in you."
The third is to be different.
Let me tell you a story that happened this July on Panama
City Beach in Florida.
Late in the afternoon, Roberta Ursrey
saw her two young sons screaming for help from 100 yards out
into the ocean.
They had become caught in a strong current,
and they were being carried out to sea.
A nearby couple tried to rescue the boys,
but they also got caught in the current.
Members of the Ursrey family dove in
to rescue the struggling swimmers,
and pretty soon, nine people were caught in the rip current.
There were no ropes.
There was no lifeguard.
The police had sent for a rescue boat,
but the people had been out in the ocean
struggling for 20 minutes, and they were exhausted.
And their heads were slipping under the water.
Among the onlookers on the beach was Jessica Mae Simmons.
She and her husband had the idea to form a human chain.
They shouted at people on the beach to help them,
and dozens of people linked arms and marched into the ocean.
Jessica told the newspaper, "To see people
from different races and genders come
into action to help TOTAL strangers [was] absolutely
amazing to see!"
An 80-person chain stretched toward the swimmers.
Look at this picture of that incredible moment.
Everyone on the beach could only think of traditional solutions,
and they were paralyzed.
But one couple, in a split second,
thought of a different solution.
Innovation and creation are spiritual gifts.
When we keep our covenants, it may
make us different from others in our culture and society,
but it gives us access to inspiration
so that we can think of different solutions
and different approaches and different applications.
We aren't always going to fit in with the world,
but being different in positive ways
can be a lifeline to other people who are struggling.
The fourth is to be distinct.
Distinct means to be recognizably well defined.
Let me go back to the story about Jessica Mae
Simmons on the beach.
Once that human chain was stretching toward the swimmers,
she knew she could help.
Jessica Mae said: "I can hold my breath ...
and go around an Olympic [swimming] pool with ease!
[I know how to get out of a rip current.] I knew I could get
[to each swimmer and then get them back] to the human chain."
So she and her husband grabbed boogie boards and swam
down the chain until they reached the swimmers, and then
one by one they ferried them back
to the chain, who passed them to the safety of the beach.
Jessica had a distinct skill: she knew
how to swim against a riptide.
The restored gospel is recognizably well defined.
But we have to be distinct about how we follow it.
Like Jessica, we need to practice
living the gospel before the emergency
so that, unafraid, we will be strong enough
to help others when they're being swept away
by the current.
And finally, the fifth is to do one through four in happy ways.
Being happy doesn't mean to slap a plastic smile on your face
no matter what is going on.
But it does mean keeping the laws of God
and building and lifting others.
When we build, when we lift the burden of others,
it blesses our lives in ways that our trials
can't take away.
I have a quote by President Hinckley placed
where I can see it every day.
He said: "You don't ... build out of pessimism or cynicism.
You look with optimism, [you] work with faith,
and things happen."
As an example of that happy, optimistic spirit,
I know a 13-year-old girl named Elsa
whose family is moving to Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1,800
miles away from her friends.
It's not very easy when you are 13 to move to a new place.
Elsa was understandably unsure about the move,
so her dad gave her a blessing.
At the very moment of the blessing,
her mom's phone chimed with a text.
The young women who lived in the ward in Louisiana
had sent this picture with this caption:
"Please move into our ward!"
These young women were optimistic
that they would like Elsa even though they hadn't met her.
Their enthusiasm created optimism in Elsa
about the upcoming move and answered her prayer
about whether everything was going to be OK.
There is an energy that comes from happiness and optimism
that doesn't just bless us; it builds everyone around us.
Any small thing that you do to light real happiness in others
shows that you are already carrying the torch
President Kimball lit.
I was 15 years old at the time President Kimball's talk was
given.
So we who are older than 40 years old
have been carrying this charge from President Kimball
ever since that day.
Now I look out at the 8-year-olds
and the 15-year-olds and the 20-year-olds
and the 35-year-olds, and I'm going
to pass this torch to you because you
are the future leaders in this Church,
and it will be up to you to carry this light forward and be
the fulfillment of this prophecy.
We who are older than 40, we're going
to link our arms through yours and feel your strength
and energy.
We need you.
Listen to this scripture found in Doctrine and Covenants
49:26-28.
It may have been written under different circumstances,
but tonight by the Holy Spirit, I
hope you will take it as your personal call
to this sacred work.
"Behold, I say unto you, go forth
as I have commanded you; repent of all your sins; ask and ye
shall receive; knock and it shall be opened unto you.
"Behold, I will go before you and be your rearward;
and I will be in your midst, and you shall not be confounded.
"Behold, I am Jesus Christ, and I come quickly."
I appeal to each of you to put yourself in a place
where you can feel the generous love God has for you.
You cannot put yourself beyond the reach of that love.
And when you feel His love, when you love Him,
you will repent and keep His commandments.
And when you keep His commandments,
He can use you in His work.
His work and glory is the exaltation and eternal life
of women and men.
The prophets are calling on us, my sisters.
Will you be righteous?
Will you articulate your faith?
Can you bear being distinct and different?
Will your happiness in spite of your trials
draw others who are good and noble
and who need your friendship?
Will you turn on your light?
I testify the Lord Jesus Christ will go before us
and be in our midst.
I conclude with the words of our well-loved prophet, Thomas S.
Monson: "My dear sisters, this is your day,
this is your time."
In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.