In major speech, LDS President Dallin Oaks says he wants to help all members ‘overcome present or future doubts’

Provo • In his first major address as president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, Dallin H. Oaks urged members across the globe Tuesday to draw closer to Christ to help them overcome any doubts they have about their faith.

“You live in a season where the adversary has become so effective at disguising truth that if you don’t have the Holy Ghost, you will be deceived,” he warned in a devotional at a packed Marriott Center at Brigham Young University. “Many obstacles lie ahead. The distractions will be many. Even active members may sometimes have concerns about some historical, doctrinal or social issues connected with the church.”

The 93-year-old Oaks, a former BYU president, thanked the multitudes of members who have prayed for him as he took the helm of the 17.5 million-member church in October.

This “mantle” of prophet, Oaks said, settled in soon after the Sept. 27 death of his immediate predecessor, President Russell M. Nelson, as did the full weight of his new position.

“Within a few minutes after learning of our president’s death,” he said, “I felt the heaviness of responsibility settle upon me, along with important impressions of what I was required to do now.”

One of Oaks’ goals, he said, is to “help all our members overcome present or future doubts” about the church. The way for them to do so, he added, was to:

• Strengthen their faith in Jesus.

• Increase their humility.

• Seek help from other believers.

• Practice patience.

Beware of social media, podcasts

Oaks cautioned about the danger of “speculation and false information” in podcasts and on social media. He said some individuals protest or question church doctrines without fully understanding them.

“Don’t be persuaded by false or inaccurate information,” Oaks advised. “Discuss your concerns with faithful well-informed friends, and always take those concerns to the Lord.”

Oaks also encouraged Latter-day Saints to remain humble, a “master virtue,” he said, that will enable them to grow “closer to Jesus Christ.”

A former Utah Supreme Court justice, he shared a story from his time as a first year professor at The University of Chicago Law School.

A well-known faculty member had died and Oaks was asked to teach his classes until a substitute teacher could be provided.

Oaks fulfilled this assignment — despite the classes being on a legal subject with which he was unfamiliar — and congratulated himself on completing the task. Afterward, one of his students approached Oaks and offered what he expected would be a compliment.

“Mr. Oaks,” the student said, “I was in that class you taught for Professor So-and-So, and I must tell you I was really impressed. You will make a good teacher, some day.”

This sentiment humbled Oaks. “I was overly confident in my abilities as a teacher,” he conceded, “and that student provided a perspective that has blessed me to this day.”

This story was especially impactful to BYU student Kyra Sauter, one of more than 18,000 people in attendance at the Marriott Center, who said humility is a virtue she wants to acquire.

“Since he’s become prophet, I’ve seen President Oakes just grow so much in his love for the church,” Sauter said. “I liked a lot of what he said about humility. I think I could use a lot of the words that he said, because I am one of the least humble people I know.”

A pitch for marriage and children

The church’s 18th president, who was joined by wife Kristen at the devotional, said “those of diminishing faith and activity in the restored church are a major source of concern” to the faith’s top leaders.

“The Lord loves all of his children and longs for their return, but we all know examples of returned missionaries who have interrupted their spiritual growth by periods of inactivity,” he said. “We know of youth who have jeopardized their spiritual growth by separating themselves from church teaching, such as those who are expressing little desire to be married or have children.”

In one of his two interviews since rising to church president and in previous sermons, Oaks has raised concerns about young members delaying marriage and childbearing.

Last month, for instance, he voiced hope that lowering the minimum missionary age for young women from 19 to 18 would “reduce the age of marriage” for Latter-day Saint couples.

Part of God’s plan, he said then, is to “overcome the tendency of waiting until the late 20s” to marry.

And in a worldwide devotional in 2023, Oaks declared that “marriage is central to the purpose of mortal [and eternal] life,” along with the “commandment to multiply and replenish the Earth.”

In Tuesday’s address, however, Oaks instead shifted his focus to the company that members keep.

“Seek friends and associates who are striving to follow the Lord, with whom you can feel the Spirit and reinforce your faith,” he said. “Surround yourself with people who believe.”

Faith Lee, a BYU student from St. George, said she especially connected with this sentiment.

“He talked a lot about surrounding yourselves around people with the same faith and people who will uplift you,” Lee said. “It hit me hard because when I was in high school, I didn’t have those kinds of friends. And so it was like a personal message to me.”

BYU student Katelyn Bodine said Oaks’ message gave her hope for the future — despite challenging personal circumstances.

“I feel very uplifted,” Bodine said, “It’s easy to get bogged down, and I think it was a nice feeling just having President Oaks reiterate, ‘You need to have faith in Christ, you need to be patient, you need to be humble.’ It gives me hope that life will get better.”

The church president pointed out that all people are in different places on their spiritual journeys.

“We need to be patient with one another and, occasionally, even with ourselves,” Oaks said. “Overcoming doubt — resolving conflicts between the evolving understanding of science and the sometimes-incomplete teachings of religion can be a lengthy process, like building faith or acquiring humility.”