Sister Reyna I. Aburto, Second Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency said in the Saturday morning session of April 2022 general conference:
From the beginning, God has sought to gather and organize His children5 “to bring to pass [our] immortality and eternal life.”6 With that purpose in mind, He has instructed us to build places of worship7 where we receive knowledge and the ordinances of salvation and exaltation; make and keep covenants that bind us to Jesus Christ;8 are endowed with “the power of godliness”;9 and gather together often to remember Jesus and strengthen each other in Him.10 The Church organization and its buildings exist for our spiritual benefit. “The Church … is the scaffolding with which we build eternal families.”11
While talking to a friend going through a difficult time, I asked how he was surviving financially. In tears, he replied that his bishop was helping him using fast-offering funds. He added, “I don’t know where my family and I would be if it wasn’t for the Church.” I replied, “The Church is the members. They are the ones who willingly and joyfully give fast offerings to help those of us in need. You are receiving the fruits of their faith and determination to follow Jesus Christ.”
My fellow disciples of Christ, let us not underestimate the marvelous work the Lord is doing through us, His Church, despite our shortcomings. Sometimes we are givers and sometimes we are receivers, but we are all one family in Christ. His Church is the structure He has given to guide and bless us as we worship Him and serve each other.
. . . .My dear friends, let us have the faith of a child and rejoice in knowing that even our smallest efforts are making a significant difference in God’s kingdom.
Our purpose in His kingdom should be to bring each other to Christ. As we read in the scriptures, the Savior extended this invitation to the Nephites:
“Have ye any that are sick among you? Bring them hither. Have ye any that are … afflicted in any manner? Bring them hither and I will heal them, for I have compassion upon you; my bowels are filled with mercy.
“… I see that your faith is sufficient that I should heal you.”18
Do we not all have afflictions that can be brought to the Savior’s feet? While some of us have physical challenges, many more battle with emotional strife, others struggle to nurture social connections, and we all seek respite when our spirits are challenged. We are all afflicted in some manner.
We read that “all the multitude, with one accord, did go forth with their sick and … with all them that were afflicted in any manner; and he did heal them every one as they were brought forth unto him.
“And they did all, both they who had been healed and they who were whole, bow down at his feet, and did worship him.”19
From a little boy who pays tithing with faith, to a single mother in need of the Lord’s empowering grace, to a father struggling to provide for his family, to our ancestors in need of the ordinances of salvation and exaltation, to each of us who renews covenants with God every week, we need each other, and we can bring each other to the Savior’s redeeming healing. ~ For Sister Rayna I Aburto’s complete talk click We Are The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
