Latest from Saturday’s LDS General Conference: The church is built on the strength of ‘ordinary disciples,’ says apostle

The biggest question looming as The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints entered General Conference weekend was whether its 100-year-old president, Russell M. Nelson, who has been alive for more than half the faith’s history, would be present at the proceedings.

That query was answered soon enough. Saturday’s morning session started with Nelson viewing the meeting from home. Henry B. Eyring, his 91-year-old second counselor in the governing First Presidency, conducted the session while seated in his chair. His first counselor, 92-year-old Dallin H. Oaks, also was in attendance.

In April, Nelson, the oldest-ever Latter-day Saint prophet, attended two sessions at the Conference Center in downtown Salt Lake City and viewed the remaining three remotely — just like millions of fellow members around the world.

He delivered a recorded address at the two-day gathering’s close, announcing 15 new temples. If the recent conference pattern holds, Nelson will again name new locations for the faith’s most sacred edifices.

The centenarian church leader attended a globally broadcast celebration on his 100th birthday on Sept. 9.

Here are the latest speeches and announcements from Saturday’s three sessions:

General authority David P. Homer: Truth is absolute

Contrary to what some might say, God’s “boundaries between right and wrong are not for us to define,” general authority Seventy David P. Homer told listeners.

“God has established these boundaries himself,” he said, “based on eternal truths for our benefit and blessing.”

Submitting to these boundaries does not limit but expands one’s potential, he argued, stating: “The choice to submit our will to God’s is an act of faith that lies at the heart of our discipleship. In making that choice, we discover that our agency is not diminished; rather, it is magnified and rewarded by the presence of the Holy Ghost, who brings purpose, joy, peace, and hope we can find nowhere else.”

Apostle Dale G. Renlund: The church is ‘ordinary…disciples of Jesus Christ’

The “Lord’s church” is not “a location or a building,” said apostle Dale G. Renlund. It is “simply ordinary people, disciples of Jesus Christ, gathered and organized into a divinely appointed structure that helps the Lord accomplish his purposes…the instrument through which we learn the central role of Jesus Christ in Heavenly Father’s plan.”

The church “offers the authoritative way for individuals to participate in ordinances and make lasting covenants with God,” Renlund said. “Keeping those covenants draws us closer to God, gives us access to his power, and transforms us into who he intends us to become.”

Just as dynamite without nitroglycerin is unremarkable, “the Savior’s church is special only if it is built on his gospel,” the apostle said. “Without the Savior’s gospel and the authority to administer the ordinances thereof, the church isn’t exceptional.”

Without this church, Renlund said, “there is no authority, no preaching of revealed truths in his name, no ordinances or covenants, no manifestation of the power of godliness, no transformation into who God wants us to become, and God’s plan for his children is set at naught.”

He invited listeners to commit fully to the church and Christ’s gospel.

“This power is far greater than dynamite,” he concluded. “It’ll shatter the rocks in your way.”

General authority Karl D. Hirst: God’s love is there, even when one might not feel it

General authority Seventy Karl D. Hirst spoke emphatically of God’s love for all his children, regardless of whether a person may feel worthy of such love.

“However misshapen we might feel we are, his arms are not shortened,” the British church leader said. “No. They are always long enough to ‘reach our reaching’ and embrace each one of us.”

Still, he acknowledged there are times when individuals may not feel that love.

Why that might be, he acknowledged, “I don’t know.” Nevertheless, he reassured listeners that even when this happens, that love “hasn’t gone away.”

He then offered suggestions for how individuals might put themselves in place to increase their sensitivity to God’s love for them. These included time in nature, service and the temple.

Hirst closed: “We have every good reason to ‘rejoice and be filled with love towards God and all men.’ Let’s get full.”

Young Women leader Emily Belle Freeman: Covenants ‘unlock’ divine power, not who officiates

It is not only the men who officiate in religious rituals that matters, said Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman, “what the ordinance and our covenant promise unlocks also deserves the focus of our attention.”

God ordained men to stand in his place through ordinances, Freeman said, but women can experience “inward sanctification and covenant connection.”

She cited the example of church founder Joseph Smith’s wife, Emma, who learned through “divine revelation” that “ordinances combined with the keeping of her covenant promises would increase her companionship with the Spirit and with angels, empowering her to navigate her life with divine guidance.”

Emma knew, Freeman said, that “through his divine power, God would heal her heart, enlarge her capacity, and transform her into the version of herself he knew she could become.”

The sacrament of bread and water, or Communion, is “a weekly reminder of his power working in you to help you overcome,” she said. “Wearing the garment of the holy priesthood is a daily reminder of the gift of his power working in you to help you become. We all have access to the gift of God’s power. Every time we partake of the sacrament. Every time we cross the threshold of a temple.”

Apostle Neil Andersen: The power of hope to sustain the faithful amid life’s greatest trials

Apostle Neil L. Andersen opened the Saturday session with a message of hope.

In contrast to the casual, everyday use of the word hope to express a wish, Andersen explained, “our sacred and eternal hopes centered in Jesus Christ and the restored gospel” have the power to bring reassurance even in one’s darkest hour.

He contrasted the example of two families — one faithful and one that “found pleasure in their intellect and the rejection of their faith.” When tragedy struck each in the form of a death in the family, the faithful family members found peace amid their heartache while the other were overcome with “despair and confusion.”

Temples, a defining feature of the Nelson’s presidency, represent the ultimate symbol of hope, the apostle continued.

“There is no pain, no sickness, no injustice, no suffering, nothing that can darken our hope as we believe and hold tightly to our covenants with God in the House of the Lord,” he told listeners. “It is a house of light, a house of hope.”