For Healing, Return, Repent, and Be Converted, Sister Callister Says at BYU Women’s Conference
Contributed By Sarah Jane Weaver, Church News editor
Women attend the BYU Women’s Conference May 4–5, 2017.
Article Highlights
- True and complete healing of every kind comes through the Savior.
“If we are truly converted, that will be evidenced by our obedience to the commandments.” —Sister Kathryn Callister, keynote speaker
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The Lord “loves us and will heal us, if we will come unto Him”—no matter the circumstances, said Sister Kathryn Callister during a keynote session of BYU Women’s Conference on Thursday, May 4.
“During times of trial and discouragement, I have felt the healing hands and power of our Savior,” said Sister Callister, wife of Brother Tad R. Callister, Sunday School General President and an emeritus General Authority.
Addressing the topic “Return, Repent, and Be Converted That I May Heal You” (3 Nephi 9:13), Sister Callister spoke of welcoming a premature grandson to her family. Born at 28 weeks and weighing only 2 pounds 4 ounces, the family was not sure the infant child would survive. Showing a photograph of the baby’s little hand, placed on his father’s hand, Sister Callister said that the baby “instinctively knew that he could trust his father—that he was a source of comfort, love, and even healing.”
In much the same way, she continued, “we must reach out to the Savior and our Father in Heaven as the ultimate source of our healing.”
Brother Tad R. Callister, Sunday School General President and an emeritus General Authority, and his wife, Sister Kathryn Callister.
The words “afflicted in any manner” (3 Nephi 17:7) remind “us that the Savior can heal us not just from physical ailments, but that same power can also heal us from mental, social, emotional, and spiritual ailments as well,” she said.
Sister Callister noted that after all of the upheaval, death, and destruction in the Americas during Book of Mormon times, Jesus Christ spoke through the darkness to those who were spared. “He invited them to ‘return unto me, and repent of your sins, and be converted, that I may heal you’ (3 Nephi 9:13). That same invitation is for all of us—His daughters and His sons.
“What do we need to do to be eligible for that healing? The Savior tells us that we need to first ‘return unto [Him] and repent.’”
Sister Callister said when she and her husband were assigned to work in the Church’s Pacific Area, she saw an example of this on the remote island nation of Kiribati.
“Most of the residents of that coral atoll rely on the sea for much of their sustenance. While there we visited a wonderful less-active family consisting of a returned-missionary father, a mother, and four precious children. Their simple home was located between palm trees in a picturesque spot right on the ocean. As my husband encouraged this dear family to return to activity, the Spirit filled the room, and the father, obviously touched, said, ‘My boat has been headed in the wrong direction. Today I will change the direction of my sails.’”
Sister Callister said for the Lord’s healing powers to be invoked, His children must not only return and repent, but also become converted. “If we are truly converted, that will be evidenced by our obedience to the commandments,” she said.
In the Louvre Museum in Paris, France, there is a majestic marble statue named Winged Victory—sometimes known as Nike, she said. A Greek sculpture from the 2nd century B.C., it is one of the most famous statues in the world.
“Towering at the top of a sweeping staircase near the entrance to the museum, it is breathtaking at first sight. Even though severely damaged—missing her head, arms, and feet—with her gracefully outstretched wings and robes, seemingly fluttering in the wind, she is stunningly beautiful.”
Winged Victory “reminds me that, even though none of us are perfect here on earth, that through the Atonement of the Savior we can overcome our weaknesses and imperfections and become spiritual masterpieces—even like Him.“
True and complete healing of every kind comes through the Savior, she concluded. “You can never take Him out of the equation and end up with forgiveness and healing. … If we don’t return to the Savior, or become converted to Him, there is nowhere else to go for those powers that leave no scars and can heal for eternity.”
Women attend the BYU Women’s Conference May 4–5, 2017. Photo courtesy of BYU Photo.
Women attend the BYU Women’s Conference May 4–5, 2017. Photo courtesy of BYU Photo.
