Elder D. Todd Christofferson and sister Kathy Christofferson spoke on trusting Jesus Christ throughout our lives in the concluding session of BYU Women's Conference.
"By Small and Simple Things Are Great Things Brought to Pass"
Sister Christofferson began her address by telling of her and her husband’s visit to the Panama Canal. She connected that much like the Panama Canal moves great ships by the multiplication of tiny actions, through small and simple things we can receive a constant flow of spiritual impressions from a Heavenly Father who is mindful of us.
Among these small and simple things that Sister Christofferson discussed are prayer, scripture study and following the promptings received from the Holy Ghost.
Sister Christofferson shared a story of a mother who was in a very tight spot financially. After a difficult divorce, she couldn’t afford to support her family. After earnest prayer, she received the answer to pay twice the amount in fast offerings than she previously was. With a sense of desperation, she faithfully did as she was prompted, and things got worse. The house became in need of repairs, her child chipped a tooth and another child broke a neighbor’s window. She decided she needed to get a new job, but upon going to her boss to quit, was offered a raise and life-changing promotion.
“I was impressed with her unshaken faith even when everything went wrong after doing the very thing she knew the Lord wanted her to do,” she said.
Sister Christofferson closed by saying, “I know that as we strive to stay consistently faithful even in small things, they will flow together to strengthen us spiritually in remarkable ways. As we look back, we will indeed see the hand of the Lord reaching down to bless us in a constant and marvelous manner.”
"For He That is Mighty Hath Done To Me Great Things"
Elder Christofferson began his remarks by saying, “Not one single human being can ever truthfully claim that he or she is beneath God’s notice or beyond His care, ever! … God is willing to help us, and He does help us.”
He offered four ways that Heavenly Father, Jesus Christ and the Holy Ghost offer help and remind us that we do not need to fear.
1. Commandments
“God knows that if we love Him above all else, our lives will follow the pattern of the Savior’s life.”
When we follow the commandments, we bring peace and joy into our lives, as well as allowing God to bless and strengthen us. Christofferson said, “His commandments are truly a manifestation of God’s love, and our obedience to them manifests our love for Him.”
2. Grace
We are given the opportunity to redeem our mistakes and failures through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Christofferson quotes President Russell M. Nelson, saying, “When we choose to repent, we choose to change! We allow the Savior to transform us into the best version of ourselves.”
He then told the story of a woman who described the repentance process like this: “I am putting my life in order, getting clean and making a fresh start.” Regarding the woman, Christofferson said, “I could see the light in her eyes and the peace in her soul… I was sure the Lord remembered her sins no more.”
3. Truth
Christofferson said, “What a precious gift it is to know what is true and what is not, what is reality and what is not, what is good and what is not and what leads to happiness and what does not. The Savior said that truth makes us free and that without a knowledge of truth, we become the servants of sin and ignorance.”
4. Gifts
The gift of the Holy Ghost is of extreme worth and help to us. We are given other spiritual gifts as well, each individual to our own needs. We are responsible for the cultivation of these gifts, as well as being willing to use them for the Lord’s needs.
We have Personal Responsibility
“Our Heavenly Father is not a ‘helicopter parent.’ He does not generally intervene to protect us from our choices. If He routinely acted that way, our cherished moral agency would become meaningless… our Heavenly Father wants us to learn how to act independently and choose well,” Christofferson said.
Christofferson said, “Christ by His grace can give you the strength to endure what you must and faith to change what in His wisdom should be changed… because of the Savior and His Atonement you need not remain the victim of anyone or anything.”
