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Nelson, Russell M. : Earthquakes & Global Pandemics
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Prior to my call to full-time service as a Church leader, I worked as a medical doctor specializing in the teaching, research, and practice of thoracic and cardiovascular surgery. I performed about seven thousand operations. During nearly four decades as a student of medical sciences, I learned to distinguish between the physical and spiritual components of the human soul. A patient could be physically weak but spiritually strong, and vice versa. For example, on many occasions I watched the critically ill mobilize great spiritual strength in order to undergo a high-risk operation to correct a physical problem within the heart. In contrast, I saw individuals without physical abnormality who were seriously ill because of spiritual loss of heart. Duties have taken me to approximately one hundred nations of the earth, where I have observed the physical and spiritual dualism of life on a broader scale. There I have noted examples of the same physical and spiritual disparity that I previously encountered in my profession. I have observed that if a great physical disaster should strike, such as a devastating earthquake or flood, people are motivated spiritually by an uncommon desire to help one another. After the great earthquake in Armenia in December 1988, for example, I saw spontaneous outpourings of help from all over the world. Donors from many nations contributed aid to hundreds of thousands of homeless victims. Generosity seemed to transcend political or racial differences. Fortunately, such major disasters are rare. But unfortunately, when normal life resumes, the pendulum seems to swing from spiritual vitality to laxity. It is ironic that as affluence and physical comforts increase, spiritual strength declines. This observation has prompted the title for my message: “Combatting Spiritual Drift—Our Global Pandemic.” Reversing this crisis in the health of the human spirit is an enormous challenge.
Elder Russell M. Nelson
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The Millennium
President Russell M. Nelson
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Now, grandeur may not be the word you would choose to describe these past few months! How are we to deal with both the somber prophecies and the glorious pronouncements about our day? The Lord told us how with simple, but stunning, reassurance: “If ye are prepared ye shall not fear.” What a promise! It is one that can literally change the way we see our future. I recently heard a woman of deep testimony admit that the pandemic, combined with an earthquake in the Salt Lake Valley, had helped her realize she was not as prepared as she thought she was. When I asked whether she was referring to her food storage or her testimony, she smiled and said, “Yes!” If preparation is our key to embracing this dispensation and our future with faith, how can we best prepare? For decades, the Lord’s prophets have urged us to store food, water, and financial reserves for a time of need. The current pandemic has reinforced the wisdom of that counsel. I urge you to take steps to be temporally prepared. But I am even more concerned about your spiritual and emotional preparation. In that regard, we can learn a lot from Captain Moroni. As commander of the Nephite armies, he faced opposing forces that were stronger, greater in number, and meaner. So, Moroni prepared his people in three essential ways. First, he helped them create areas where they would be safe—“places of security” he called them. Second, he prepared “the minds of the people to be faithful unto the Lord.” And third, he never stopped preparing his people—physically or spiritually.
President Russell M. Nelson
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And to each of you who has made temple covenants, I plead with you to seek—prayerfully and consistently—to understand temple covenants and ordinances. Spiritual doors will open. You will learn how to part the veil between heaven and earth, how to ask for God’s angels to attend you, and how better to receive direction from heaven. Your diligent efforts to do so will reinforce and strengthen your spiritual foundation. My dear brothers and sisters, when renovations on the Salt Lake Temple are completed, there will be no safer place during an earthquake in the Salt Lake Valley than inside that temple. Likewise, whenever any kind of upheaval occurs in your life, the safest place to be spiritually is living inside your temple covenants! Please believe me when I say that when your spiritual foundation is built solidly upon Jesus Christ, you have no need to fear. As you are true to your covenants made in the temple, you will be strengthened by His power. Then, when spiritual earthquakes occur, you will be able to stand strong because your spiritual foundation is solid and immovable.
President Russell M. Nelson
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