Introduction
On 17 February, 2018, recently elevated LDS Prophet and President Russell M Nelson spoke at a local multi-stake event in Las Vegas Nevada. You can view the Mormon Newsroom coverage of the event here. While the event was not broadcast beyond the few local chapel buildings, a former member attended the session and broadcast the event using Facebook live. He has granted permission for me to make his recording public.
This is one of the first full addresses delivered by the new Prophet to members of the church. In it, President Nelson acknowledges that different Prophets bring different styles and focus to the church and this speech is our first glimpse into what a Nelson administration will look like.
I have attempted to clean up the audio and make it as clear as possible within the limitations of the source material. Additionally I have done my best to stabilize the video, though the portable nature of the phone used to record it limits the video quality and stability. A transript of his address is provided below, with section headings added for ease of navigation.
Video
Transcript
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Opening Joke
I’m also told that they have live internet feed proceedings of this conference going to many other places. Let me just tell you what I see. This chapel is jammed. I don’t know. People are standing because there aren’t enough seats. So, you folks that are at those other facilities take heart with an example that happened to me some years ago now. I was at a stake conference and after a greet or two people came by to shake hands. This one very pleasant lady came up and said, “Oh, Elder Nelson, I’m so happy to see you, I’ve been watching you on TV all these years and now you’re here in person.” Then she said, “You look a lot better on TV.” So, you folks rejoice in those other chapels.
Agency, Gun Control and Second Chances
Everyone here tonight is filled with joy, filled with faith, and devotion. It’s almost palpable. I know your hearts are heavy, as are Wendy’s and mine, as we contemplate those ruthless killings in Florida this last week. I think of Alaina Petty, 14 year old Latter Day Saint, whose life was snuffed out by that sniper’s bullet. It’s natural for you and others say, “how could God allow things like that to happen?” Well, God allows us to have our agency, and men have passed laws to allow guns to go to people who shouldn’t have them.
Just think of the fact that the gospel is the gospel of second chance. Alaina Petty sits in the arms of her Lord, and her Creator, and he gives us a second chance. “Born to get a second birth” we sing at Christmas time. Well, John said it well when he said, “I am the resurrection and the life. He that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live. And whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die.” Now that’s the eternal perspective that you get from our Lord and Savior. So, sad as we are, happy are we for the atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ, which gives Alaina another chance. And others like her. She was a Latter Day Saint. I know one other Latter Day Saint was seriously wounded, but I think she’s gonna make it.
The Bee and the Butter
Well, let’s go on a picnic. I invite you to go with me and Sister Nelson. On one warm summer night we had dinner out in our backyard. A pesky little bee buzzed around us wishing to join us for our hot dinner. I repeatedly waved a napkin at this bee to let him know he should leave. But despite our warnings, this persistent intruder returned again, and again, and again. It was quickly apparent that the bee was fascinated with our butter. There it is, doesn’t that look good? We finally gave up trying to shoo him away and watched his soft landing on the gooey butter. He feasted on the butter for several minutes. He was literally gorging himself. Soon we noticed that he was no longer sitting in balance. Then we realized that he was no longer moving at all. He was dead. In a matter of a few minutes we watched this energetic, healthy bee proceed from temptation to pleasure to loss of freedom, indulgence and then death. Ironically, surrounding him as he wallowed in the butter were beautiful flowers created especially to bring joy to his life. He succumbed to a distraction that trapped him and destroyed him.
So, what can we all learn from this parable of the bee and the butter and our summer night dinner together? Not only for our own lives, but for others too. Your ultimate safety in this life lies in never taking the first enticing step toward going where you should not go, and doing what you should not do.
Your Body, Your Temple
Our divine Creator has provided each one of you with your own body. It’s your own personal temple. It’s a temple to house your immortal spirit. That spirit that had that beginning in that pre-mortal realm. Sister Nelson thinks there were DVDs made of that. I don’t know. But I do know that you existed as pre-mortal spirits. And now you have come to earth and that marvelous immortal spirit has that tabernacle of flesh. Your very own house of the Lord.
Appetites and the Adversary
I love to study about the human body. I’ve learned that it can protect itself, it can regulate itself. My blood sugar levels, every year I’ve watched them. Always on the mark. Amazingly it can heal itself. Now, in order to fulfill God’s great plan of happiness and allow pre-mortal spirits the privilege of life here on Earth was put into each of us powerful appetites. Those appetites are necessary for our physical survival. Each of us has an appetite for food. We get hungry by the clock. Fast day is sometimes a slow day because it’s a long time before meals. We have an appetite for drink and we have an appetite for love. Those appetites are absolutely essential for the perpetuation of our lives.
So, the cunning wiles of adversary aim to thwart God’s plan. So what does the adversary do? He attacks us through our appetites. He tempts us to eat things we shouldn’t eat, even the bee. To drink things we should not drink, and to love as we should not love.
Think of that bee in the butter. In spite of many warnings he took the first step toward a place he should not have gone. He ate what he should not have eaten, and he died when he could have been alive. He even refused to heed the warnings of an Apostle. Stupid bee!
True Identity
Now I’d like to talk to you a little bit about things that will have positive influence in your lives. Some positive things you can do to make your life both happy and meaningful. One of the most important things you need to learn in life is to know who you really are. Learn about your parents, your grandparents and their forebears. If possible, interview them. Take notes. Learn about the first converts in your family, and maybe you’re the first convert in your family. Well, write it down. Write those notes down and give them to your children and grandchildren.
Most importantly, know that you are an elect son or daughter of God created in his very image.
Patriarchal Blessings
Receive your patriarchal blessing and learn from it. An inspired patriarch will declare your lineage giving you some idea of your connection to God’s covenants made with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, and others of the house of Israel. Learn what it really means to be known as “children of the covenant.” Do you ever watch to your mom and dad, or maybe yourself, do you your family history and you see those initials B.I.C.? Born in the covenant. What does that really mean? Well, the patriarch will also declare something of your future. Both here and in the next world. Live to be worthy of your patriarchal blessing. Receive it and understand it.
You’ve been created for a purpose, just like Sister Nelson said. Learn of your divine purpose and then live up to it. This will come to you as you seek for it. Ask your Heavenly Father in the name of Jesus Christ how he feels about you and your mission here on the Earth. If you ask with real intent over time the spirit will whisper its life changing truths unto you. Record those impressions. Review them often and follow through with exactness.
I promise you that when you begin to catch even a glimpse of how your Heavenly Father sees you and what He is counting on you to do for Him your life will never be the same.
Prophets & Divine Law
Prophets of God have been provided in each dispensation to help people to live well, and to have joy. Each prophet is a unique individual, no two are alike. I’m living proof of that. They have many attributes in common. One is that each prophet understands the importance of divine law. The knowledge of divine law and effective righteous leadership go hand in hand. The more of God’s laws you know, and more importantly live, the more effective your righteous leadership will be.
When I was a young medical student my rigorous study of the human body convinced me that God is real, and that He lives. As I came to know that the body really was God’s creation I became increasingly intrigued with the laws of God that govern the structure and the function of the body. Through years of extensive laboratory research ultimately I learned that the law that governs the blessing of the beating heart is definable. And further, I learned that the beating heart could safely be stopped temporarily to facilitate delicate surgical repairs. How do we do that? We learned that all we had to do is reverse the normal sodium and potassium ratio of blood produced in the heart. Then after the repairs are done we nourish the heart with blood that had a normal sodium potassium ratio and the heart bounced right back into life again. These findings proved to be predictable, dependable and repeatable.
Recently I had the opportunity to explain this to a group of medical students. A learned professor who was there had a little trouble about my telling them they could turn the heartbeat on and off. He asked me, “But what if it doesn’t work?” I replied, “It always works. It never fails. It works according to divine law.” He said no more.
Divine law is incontrovertible and irrefutable. Divine law cannot be denied or disputed. When God’s laws are obeyed relevant blessings always result. Blessings are always predicated upon obedience to applicable law. I think you’ll find something about that in the scriptures.
Existentialists can expound, relativists can rationalize with their monoptic views of reality. They may say that truth is only relative, or even subjective. Wrong! God’s laws are laws. God’s truth is really true. What God says is right is really right. What He says is wrong is really wrong. That’s why it’s imperative for you to know God’s laws. They control this universe and multitudes of others.
But if divine laws are broken consequences follow. Our spirits ache for those who break God’s laws because the consequences always bring misery.
If blessings are wanted divine law must be obeyed. I learned this lesson once again as President Spencer W. Kimball’s surgeon. I had implanted a pacemaker in him previously, and then one day I got a phone call from a “Doctor Elsewhere” who said that President Kimball’s pacemaker was not working well. Ahh. My heart sank. Well, I said, “Send him up.” As we met, President Kimball first asked me to give him a blessing. In that blessing I promised correction of his failed pacemaker. When the blessing was over he said to me, “Now, you may proceed to do whatever you need to do to make that blessing a reality.” He and I both understood that a broken law had to be fixed. So, I proceeded with an operation. On the wire that carried electricity from the pacemaker down to his heart I found a break in the insulation. When I replaced that faulty wire the pacemaker immediately worked again allowing President Kimball’s heart to beat normally. The point is, that not even for God’s prophet could the law relating to the transmission of electricity be ignored.
Well, let me tell you President Kimball is a prophet of God. As I watched him closely through various illnesses, and observed his intense penetrating studies as he sought revelation. He was my mentor. My love for him is boundless. I’ve had the spirit of confirmation of every prophet with whom I have served.
Uncertainty
Well, the world is filled with uncertainty. But there need be no uncertainty in your heart, and in your mind about what is true and what is not true. Uncertainty is born of imperfect, or incomplete, information. To God there is no conflict between science and religion. All truth is His. I plead with you, dear brothers and sisters, to learn God’s irrevocable laws. Learn them by study and by faith. That means, among other things, living by every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.
Prayer is a key. Pray to know what to start doing and what to stop doing. Pray to discern between God’s laws and the philosophies of men.
Satan vs Truth
Beware of the cunning counterfeits of the adversary. Through eons of time Lucifer has honed his craft. He is skilled at distraction, distortion and deception. I plead with you to avoid his scheming snares as you would avoid the plague. Entrapments designed by Satan can only bring you misery, spiritual captivity and death. This is true every time. Don’t be like the bee in the butter. Be wise, be careful. The sad consequences of yielding to any of Lucifer’s lures are predictable, dependable, repeatable and regrettable.
Conversely, I promise you that as you know the truth, the truth will make you free. This freedom will unveil to you your divine nature and allow you to prosper personally. You’ll be free from the bondage of sin. You’ll be free to be you. An effective, righteous leader. You’ll be free to be prepared to lead by precept and example wherever you are needed. Truly, the blessings of keeping God’s commandments are also predictable, dependable, and repeatable.
Christ the Mentor
As members of this restored church we know that Jesus Christ our master is our ultimate mentor. One day he will rule and reign as the millennial Messiah. You as a true millennial were born to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ. In fact, the only way for you to be a true millennial is to be one of his dependable millennial disciples. Serve others with love. Doing so will open your mind to personal revelation and inner peace.
Learn to hear the voice of the Lord through the whisperings of the Holy Ghost. As helpful as Google, Twitter, and Facebook may be they simply do not provide answers to life’s most important questions.
Study & Practice
Study “The Family: A Proclamation to the World.” Study “The Living Christ” document. These were both received by revelation. I was part of that. I know what it was like. Why not post these documents where you can see them daily and refer to them and understand what they really mean? Those and other instructions revealed from heaven are what every true Latter Day Saint believes.
Pray for a witness that those truths represent divine law. Learn to articulate those truths in your own words. Practice, and pray, and look for opportunities to speak what you believe. Your ability to lead and to have righteous influence will increase as you do so. I watched President Hinckley practice over and over again some of the truths that he was going to teach before he was going to be interviewed. Even before he performed our sealing in the temple. He practiced the words that he was going to say. That’s the way he got really good at what he said.
Before the Savior
Well, in the coming day you will present yourself before the Savior. You will be overwhelmed to the point of tears to be in His holy presence. You will struggle to find words to thank Him for paying for your sins. For forgiving you of any unkindness towards others. For healing you from the injuries and injustices that you sustained in life. You will thank Him for strengthening you to do the impossible. For turning your weaknesses into strengths, and for making it possible for you to live with Him and with your family forever. His divine identity. His purpose. His atonement and His attributes will become personal and real to you. But you don’t have to wait until then.
Choose to be one of His true disciples now. Anyone who truly loves Him, who truly wants to serve and love and lead as He did. We are His people. We are under covenant to carry the message of the gospel to every kindred nation, tongue, and people. As we work intentionally to become righteous leaders we may sing with one heart – “Let us all press on in the work of the Lord.”
Closing Blessing
Now, my dear brothers and sisters, I would like to leave a blessing upon each of you. You dear friends, brothers and sisters, invoking the keys of the holy apostleship vested in me I bless you to feast upon the words of the Lord Jesus Christ. To learn God’s laws and live by them. I bless each of you to be a good example. To be a true Disciple of Jesus Christ in word and in deed. I bless you to resist sin, to radiate goodness in a way that will attract others to want to be more like you. I want you to know and feel the source of the light within you. I bless you with success in your occupational and educational pursuits. I bless you will seek for and care for your virtuous companion. And I bless each of you to be a righteous leader in your family, community, church and in this country. I also bless you to declare that God lives, Jesus is the Christ, this is His church, we are His people.
I so testify with my expression of love and gratitude for each precious one of you. In the sacred name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
