Q&A with the New First Presidency

President Oaks: “You have a Heavenly Father who loves you. He’s provided a plan for you. [Life] is best in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, where we have an explanation for the purpose of life [as well as] challenges and activities that lead you along what we call the covenant path to a heavenly destiny. Trust in the Lord. Come and enjoy His blessings with us. Be true to your Savior, Jesus Christ, and He will lead you back to our Heavenly Father.”

President Eyring: “Congratulations! The Lord saved you for the most exciting time in the history of His work in this world. [You] can be optimistic if [you’ll] trust in the Lord Jesus Christ and be His servants as much as [you] can be. I promise [you] a glorious future.”

President Oaks: “It begins with realizing that we are all children of God and that … He has a plan for [you], wherever [you] are on the pathway toward that divine destiny.”

“Trust in the Lord. Trust [that] He’s your Heavenly Father and He loves you.”

President Eyring: “[You] can’t get far enough away from the Savior that He would ever not be reaching out to [you].”

“Pray [and] you’ll have a feeling of being back from the margins and included.”

President Christofferson: “Put your hand on the plow, take part, join in service. Don’t wait always to be invited off the sideline, but come forward and contribute what you can to the body of Christ. Everyone is valuable. Every contribution is valuable.”

President Oaks: “The whole purpose of mortal life is to prepare us for a heavenly destiny in a family organization, and we are blessed … not when we try to rewrite God’s plan but when we try to find where we fit within it and how we can magnify it.”

President Christofferson: “There’s a line in [“The Family: A Proclamation to the World”] that … says something like, ‘Happiness in family life is most likely to be achieved when founded upon the teachings of the Lord Jesus Christ. … Faith, prayer, repentance, forgiveness, respect, [and] love.’ … It’s true for every individual, whatever circumstance they’re in, whether they’re a family of one or a dozen, it doesn’t matter. Those principles can be applied by anyone in any moment, and it is the path to happiness.”

President Christofferson: “I’m so gratified to see so many taking advantage of whatever they have in the way of technology … to improve themselves, to progress, to grow, to reach out and bless others. But remember, you have to be the master. … You shouldn’t let it master you. … Use this tool that no other generation has had to … accomplish more of the Lord’s work. … Simply remember this: There is no substitute for the Holy Ghost. No technology, no other recourse or source can replace the Spirit.”

President Oaks: “In the restored Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints … are found the answers to life’s greatest questions. … [You] can live better and more securely with those [you] love and look forward to a life with them in the next life … because of the mission of His Only Begotten Son, Jesus Christ.”

President Eyring: “The way to peace and happiness in all lives is to come into the gospel of Jesus Christ and into His Church. My invitation is not just ‘Come and see’ but ‘Come and be.’”

President Oaks: “Jesus Christ is the way. … ‘There shall be no other name given, nor any other way nor means, whereby salvation can come unto the children of men, only in and through the name of Christ, the Lord Omnipotent’ (Mosiah 3:17). He is the way.”