Elder Ulisses Soares on the power of faith and trust in God

Elder Ulisses Soares (born October 2, 1958) has served as a Seventy since April 2005, and as a member of the Presidency of the Seventy since January 2013. He was sustained to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles on April 1, 2018.

"If we are not rooted by steadfast trust in God and the desire to serve Him, the painful experiences of mortality can lead us to feel as though we are burdened by a heavy yoke; and we can lose the motivation to live the gospel fully. Without faith, we will end up losing the capacity to appreciate those designs of our God regarding the things that will happen later in our life. (See D&C 58:3.)

"In these moments of trial, the adversary—who is always on the lookout—tries to use our logic and reasoning against us. He tries to convince us that it is useless to live the principles of the gospel.... We must not allow him to deceive us; for when we do, we falter in our faith and lose the power to obtain God’s blessings.

"If we are steadfast and do not waver in our faith, the Lord will increase our capacity to raise ourselves above the challenges of life. We will be enabled to subdue negative impulses, and we will develop the capacity to overcome even what appear to be overwhelming obstacles....

"Brothers and sisters, I invite you to place all of your trust in God and in the teachings of His prophets. I invite you to renew your covenants with God, to serve Him with all your heart, regardless of the complex situations of life. I testify that by the power of your unwavering faith in Christ, you will become free of the captivity of sin, of doubt, of unbelief, of unhappiness, of suffering; and you will receive all of the promised blessings from our loving Heavenly Father."

- Ulisses Soares, "Confide in God Unwaveringly," General Conference April 2017
Click here to read or listen to the full talk

Elder Soares shared these remarks as a member of the Seventy a year before his call as an apostle. He talked about the challenges of mortality and the difficulties that enter each life, often bringing feelings of burden and discouragement. One of the Adversary's tactics is to attack us in those times of challenge and steal our motivation to live the Gospel and continue in obedience. Elder Soares reminds us that through faithfulness and trust in God, we grow in our capacity to "raise ourselves above the challenges of life."

These are wonderful promises of help and inspiration. Elder Soares invites us to recommit, to renew covenants, and to continue in faithfulness in order to receive God's help now and attain the promises of eternity.

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2018)