General conferences during quarantine have been remarkable and so special. In the April 2020 conference there was a video of Saints from all around the world singing in their respective native languages “We Thank Thee, O God, for a Prophet.” This touched my soul; I knew that this was an international Church. With that video, I felt like the Church was declaring to the world that this is a global Church.
Amid all of the problems the world is facing—COVID-19, racial injustices, elections, natural disasters, and other difficult circumstances—the messages of this conference were that “balm of Gilead” I had been praying for. So many messages touched my heart and confirmed the spiritual thoughts and experiences I’d had before.
A common theme in the October 2020 conference was the scripture “He denieth none that come unto him, black and white, bond and free, male and female; … all are alike unto God” (2 Nephi 26:33).
President Russell M. Nelson said: “Today I call upon our members everywhere to lead out in abandoning attitudes and actions of prejudice. I plead with you to promote respect for all of God’s children” (“Let God Prevail,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 94).
While attending BYU–Hawaii, I’ve seen the beautiful truthfulness of this and other conference messages about inclusion and love. The school’s demographic represents over 70 countries. Students from many different backgrounds and cultures sit side by side in the classrooms. They eat together, play together, worship together, and live together in beautiful harmony.
While there, I found it more natural to be friends with people of my own culture and country (since the language barrier wasn’t an obstacle). But I also found an easy way to engage with and befriend people from around the globe: try to learn some of their language.
In the cafeteria, I would sit next to people from Polynesia, southeast Asia, Europe, Africa, South America, and even the smallest, most remote countries around the world. I would ask how to say hello, and every time I saw them, I would say hello in their language. As I did this, my peers, who often felt intimidated by the culture shock of being in a school in Hawaii, would change. They seemed happier when I would come around. I think they felt like they mattered and they were important in some small way. By the time I left BYU–Hawaii, I knew how to say hello in about 20 different languages. I still keep in touch with some of my closest friends from all across the globe.
My time in Hawaii taught me a lot about culture, race, and the Church. This Church is a worldwide Church, and its international members are some of the most Christlike people I know, full of great faith and potential. Even though the language, skin color, and culture of our lands vary, the one thing that unites all of us is our love of the Savior. Because of that love, BYU–Hawaii is a great example of the kind of harmony that we can achieve in the Church everywhere.
I love that the leaders in conference felt moved to talk about racism and prejudice. I felt like my voice and others’ voices were being heard. I’ve heard so many stories of friends and colleagues feeling that members of the Church were judging them for who they were. Although my stories don’t compare in severity, it breaks my heart that others have experienced and still experience these negative words and actions in a place that’s supposed to be safe.
The Church is made up of imperfect souls and has had a long battle with inequality. But these words from Elder Quentin L. Cook are reassuring: “As leaders, we are not under the illusion that in the past all relationships were perfect, all conduct was Christlike, or all decisions were just. However, … [our] desire is that our hearts and minds will be knit in righteousness and unity and that we will be one with [Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ]” (“Hearts Knit in Righteousness and Unity,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 18–19).
Elder William K. Jackson said, “The prophets have taught that it is necessary to leave behind anything in our old cultures that is inconsistent with the culture of Christ” (“The Culture of Christ,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 50). We must recognize the reality of prejudice that has been passed down in our Church culture and have it end with us. We can be the ones to set things right by doing what others in the past didn’t do. We can be the ones to see and understand what others in the past couldn’t.
The second article of faith says, “We believe that men will be punished for their own sins, and not for Adam’s transgression.” Fixating on past wrongs only causes more division, builds more tension, and prevents us from being unified. Acknowledging those past wrongs and then living our lives in unity and love is the ultimate apology and the best testament that our “faithfulness is stronger than the cords of death” (Doctrine and Covenants 121:44).
We cannot answer for everything that members and leaders of the Church did in the past. What we can do is answer President Nelson’s admonition for ourselves: “The question for each of us, regardless of race, is the same. Are you willing to let God prevail in your life? Are you willing to let God be the most important influence in your life? Will you allow His words, His commandments, and His covenants to influence what you do each day? Will you allow His voice to take priority over any other? Are you willing to let whatever He needs you to do take precedence over every other ambition? Are you willing to have your will swallowed up in His?” (“Let God Prevail,” 94).
We need to learn to recognize our differences, celebrate them, and ultimately see ourselves as who we truly are: sons and daughters of a loving Heavenly Father and members of an eternal family. As we learn from one another, seek to understand each other’s languages, and focus every interaction and relationship on the love that God has for us and we have for Him, we will truly become that Zion people spoken of in the scriptures who were “of one heart and one mind” (Moses 7:18).
Regardless of where we are from, deep down we all have an eternal relationship. As we honor this relationship, we will begin to live in the kind of peace and unity that have rarely occurred throughout history. Everything is set up for us to get there; it’s up to us to write that story. It’s up to us to take the necessary steps in that direction. It won’t be easy, but, as President Dallin H. Oaks taught, “[Jesus Christ] gave this command to love, and He promises His help as we seek to obey it” (“Love Your Enemies,” Ensign or Liahona, Nov. 2020, 29).