Church Leaders Share Stories of Hope and Healing With Latter-day Saint Chaplains at Annual Seminar

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By Trent Toone, Church News

Many years ago, Young Women General President Emily Belle Freeman and others collaborated to purchase a gift for a friend on a special occasion. They decided to buy a beautiful vase for the woman to have in her home.

But when President Freeman picked up the vase, she could hear it rattling inside the box.

“I don’t think vases are supposed to rattle,” she thought.

She opened the package and the vase poured out in 29 pieces.

President Freeman arranged to get a new one and was told she could throw the broken one away. But then she became curious to see if she could use glue to reconstruct the vase.

In the process, she learned several lessons about fixing broken things, primarily that it takes time and patience.

“It took two weeks to put that vase back together. I learned that brokenness requires a lot of effort to fix. I learned something about enabling strength. I learned something about healing broken things and those moments when we feel like our own life is in 29 pieces,” she said before holding up the colorful vase full of glued cracks.

“It’s important for us to remember that we have a Savior who knows how to fix broken things.”

President Freeman shared the experience while speaking to hundreds of chaplains endorsed by The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and their spouses who were gathered in the Conference Center Theater for the 2024 Chaplain Training Seminar on Tuesday, October 8.

The annual three-day event, held following October general conference, is sponsored by the Church’s Military Relations and Chaplain Services Division. The theme of the 2024 seminar comes from 2 Timothy 3:14 — “Continue Thou in Christ.”

Speakers at the seminar on Monday, October 7, included Maj. Gen. Trent Davis, U.S. Air Force chief of chaplains; Abby Cox, Utah’s first lady; and Brigitte Madrian, dean of BYU’s Marriott School of Business.

Joining President Freeman as speakers at the seminar on Tuesday morning were Young Men General President Steven J. Lund and Sheri Dew, executive vice president and chief content officer at Deseret Management Corp. and a former member of the Relief Society general presidency.

Christ Will Walk With Us

Along with the broken vase, President Freeman told other personal experiences related to broken things, including her husband’s battle with cancer and when she had a broken leg while on a tour in Israel. Each time she related what she learned back to Jesus Christ.

“I love that we learn that we don’t walk this path alone, that Christ will walk this path with us, and that He will teach us important lessons along the way,” she said. “One of the greatest lessons that we learn from times of trial is how to give compassion to others when they are in their darkest times. Times like this will remind us when we are on the other side of this, that we have more to give, and we will give better because of what we have learned from living through a dark space.”

President Freeman shared several lessons and applications from the New Testament parable of the good Samaritan, including the meaning of “rescue.”

“Sometimes rescue requires crossing the road and meeting someone where they are,” she said. “Sometimes rescue requires getting your hands dirty. Sometimes rescue requires sitting with someone through the darkest hours of the night.”

President Freeman invited the chaplains to consider how often had the Samaritan walked that road. Had he rescued the wounded before? Why did he have cloth for the binding of wounds and oil and wine for cleansing and healing, unless he knew who he would find on that road? How many times had the Samaritan carried the wounded to the refuge of the inn?

“The story of the good Samaritan whispers of charity. The binding up of wounds. The anointing and cleansing of painful things,” she said, adding that these are characteristics of chaplains, those called to offer charity.

“It seems that one Samaritan is not enough because the Savior ends by saying, ‘Go, and do thou likewise’ (Luke 10:37). I need you to now go and do the same thing, because how many wounded are on the road? Are we ready for the compassionate detours? Are we ready to bind up the wounds of the brokenhearted? Are we prepared to walk that road?”

‘Continue Thou in Christ’

President Lund’s remarks centered on the seminar’s theme, “Continue Thou in Christ,” and the significance of the word “continue” in religious contexts. He said the word “continue” appears 47 times in the Bible and 62 times in restoration scripture — 16 in the Book of Mormon, 43 in the Doctrine and Covenants and three in the Pearl of Great Price.

“It should be no surprise to us that the word ‘continue’ entered our vocabulary through religious teachings since it is a prominent element of the very doctrine of Christ,” he said. “The doctrine of Christ builds from a kernel of faith into repentance, baptism, receiving the gift of the Holy Ghost and culminating with enduring to the end — with ‘continuing.’”

The Church’s “For the Strength of Youth: A Guide for Making Choices” is designed to help young men and young women learn about covenant principles and then continue in living them.

“The title of the first chapter crystalizes the most powerful resource in creation to help us continue,” President Lund said. “The title reads simply, ‘Jesus Will Help You.’ It teaches that if we turn to him, Jesus Christ can strengthen us as we seek to keep our covenants.”

President Lund concluded by telling the story of a bishop and his wife experiencing the death of their daughter in a car accident while on their way to their son’s baptism. Despite their grief, the bishop felt prompted to attend sacrament meeting the next morning. He sat with the priests at the sacrament table where he led the prayers, emphasizing the importance of remembering Christ. He hoped to bring comfort and needed spiritual strength to his family and congregation. Through this experience, the family testified of the promise that Christ’s spirit would be with them, illustrating how continuing in faith helps navigate life’s trials with divine support.

“Continuing in Christ means putting shoulders to wheel, it means fighting the good fight, it means honoring and protecting and serving. And it means that through all of that, we will have His Spirit always to be with us,” he said. “It is my testimony that that is the case, that He will be with us and we can carry on. We can continue.”

Christ and Freedom

As a participant in a USO tour in Alaska when she was close to 20 years old, Sister Dew found herself at a base at Fort Yukon, above the Arctic Circle.

Before leaving, the group was requested to hold a brief sacrament meeting with a lonely Latter-day Saint airman, who hadn’t partaken of the sacrament in nearly a year. Seeing how deeply the airman savored renewing his covenants with the Lord affected her deeply and taught her about the liberating power of the Savior’s Atonement.

“It became intensely personal, the promise that I could always have the Spirit with me if I took upon me the name of Christ, if I kept His commandments and if I tried to always remember Him felt liberating somehow,” she said. “It felt like a promise that could free me from the stress of my everyday life.”

Sister Dew invited the chaplains to consider this fundamental truth: “Jesus Christ is the greatest and most profound source of freedom we will ever experience in this life.”

“I imagine that many of those whom you counsel believe in Jesus Christ, but do they recognize the freedom that is available to us because of Him?” she said.

During a painful and difficult period in her 30s described as a “black, emotional hole,” Sister Dew told how she read Luke 4:18 and came to have a deeper appreciation of the Savior’s ability to set the captive free and heal the brokenhearted.

“The words, ‘brokenhearted,’ ‘deliverance,’ ‘liberty’ and ‘bruised’ leaped off the page in neon,” she said. “That scripture in Luke launched me on a quest to better understand what the Savior had done for me when He had atoned.”

She came to learn that the grace of Jesus Christ can free anyone from the worries and heartaches of this world and replace it with joy.

Sister Dew invited the chaplains to look for and ponder ways the Lord has demonstrated His love and forgiveness and how He has freed them from some of the burdens of life. She bore witness that the Savior has “soothed my emotional wounds and helped me grapple with weakness, and he has liberated me.”

“I testify of the reality of the merciful, liberating power of Jesus Christ. He has healed my broken heart again and again,” she said. “I testify that making and keeping covenants and seeking the Lord’s atoning help leads to freedom and true, rejoicing forever.”

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