Elder Gerrit W. Gong on receiving God's help as we learn to trust Him

Elder Gerrit W. Gong (born December 23, 1953) was called as a Seventy in April 2010, then to the Presidency of the Seventy in October 2015. He was sustained to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles in April 2018.

"Truly, for those with faithful hearts and eyes to see, the Lord’s tender mercies are manifest amidst life’s challenges. Faithfully met challenges and sacrifice do bring the blessings of heaven. In this mortality, we may lose or wait for some things for a time, but in the end we will find what matters most. That is His promise....

"Heavenly Father invites us everywhere to feel His love, to learn and grow through education, honorable work, self-reliant service, and patterns of goodness and happiness we find in His restored Church.

"As we come to trust God, sometimes through pleading in our darkest, loneliest, most uncertain moments, we learn He knows us better and loves us more than we know or love ourselves.

"This is why we need God’s help to create lasting justice, equality, fairness, and peace in our homes and communities. Our truest, deepest, most authentic narrative, place, and belonging come when we feel God’s redeeming love, seek grace and miracles through His Son’s Atonement, and establish lasting relationships by sacred covenants.

"Religious goodness and wisdom are needed in today’s cluttered, noisy, polluted world. How else can we refresh, inspire, and edify the human spirit?"

- Gerrit W. Gong, "All Nations, Kindreds, and Tongues," General Conference October 2020, Saturday afternoon

Click here to read or listen to the full talk

Elder Gong's address in this conference session was unique in that he did not actually attend the meeting though it appeared he was at the same pulpit as the other speakers. His remarks were apparently recorded in advance as a precautionary measure, because he and his wife had been exposed to an active COVID patient. (Shortly after the conference it was announced that he had indeed tested postive.)

Elder Gong spoke about some of the miracles of our time, and the fact that we not only witness the fulfillment of prophecy, but can participate in it. But admid the blessings and joys of our time, we also witness challenges and difficulties. Through it all, there are wonderful promises of help and hope available to us.

Truly we need God's help in our lives as we deal with the hardest challenges. As we feel his "redeeming love" we will find peace and hope.

(Compilation and commentary by David Kenison, Orem, Utah, 2020)