General Conference Opens With Millions Watching Exclusively From Home
Apr 4, 2020, 8:18 PM
SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints across the world said that amid the coronavirus pandemic, they found comfort in the words of their Church leaders during the first session of a unique, historic General Conference.
“We’ve really been anxious as to what we’ve been asked to do to prepare,” said Heidi Loewen, who is the mother of five children. Her family was especially looking forward to conference because of the turmoil across the globe right now with the coronavirus.
“You can just tell that the prophet is very sincere and that he loves us and that he loves God,” said Heidi’s son, Jeremy Loewen, who was one of the thousands of missionaries brought home early because of the virus. “I am really excited to receive a tone of revelation.”
“The tone of (President Russell M. Nelson’s) voice shows how important we all are here together as a family,” said Heidi’s 16-year-old daughter, Sadie.
It’s not just being felt in the United States. Heather Evertsen and Gunda Mattys both live in Italy and are in the heart of the COVID-19 pandemic. Heather lives in Florence and Gunda lives outside Milan.
“There is not a single person that is not struggling,” said Evertsen about what is happening. “It’s a feeling we never felt before.”
“People are dying,” said Mattys. “We have been on lockdown for over six weeks now.”
Both mothers said watching General Conference this weekend and hearing from their church leaders has already brought peace, comfort and insight.
“See their smiling faces, hear them say what they feel, and their testimonies is very uplifting to us especially for us in these hard-hit areas where you don’t know what’s going to happen,” said Mattys.
“(President Nelson) mentioned that when we are prepared we have no need to fear,” said Evertsen. “That’s the comfort that I always hear from the prophet that it’s okay we will get through this.”