In the closing moments of the 190th Semiannual General Conference for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, President Russell M. Nelson looked to the worldwide virtual audience and asked them to embrace “a new normal.”

“The challenge for you and me is to make certain that each of us will achieve his or her divine potential,” he said Sunday afternoon. “Today we often hear about ‘a new normal.’ If you really want to embrace ‘a new normal,’ I invite you to turn your heart, mind and soul increasingly to our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ. Let that be your ‘new normal.’”

Latter-day Saints can embrace a new normal by repenting daily, seeking to be increasingly pure in thought and deed, ministering to others, keeping an eternal perspective and magnifying their callings.

“My dear brothers and sisters, live each day so that you are more prepared to meet your Maker,” he said.

At the conclusion of the conference held amid the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic, President Nelson asked members to let God prevail in their lives, overcome prejudice, embrace the future with faith and move forward.

He announced six new temples — Tarawa, Kiribati; Port Vila, Vanuatu; Lindon, Utah; Greater Guatemala City, Guatemala; Sao Paulo East, Brazil; and Santa Cruz, Bolivia — bringing the total number of temples dedicated, announced or under construction to 231.

The temples will bless a world where news reports are filled with accounts of violence, moral denigration and a deadly global pandemic. Lives are being disrupted and many feel isolated and alone, said President M. Russell Ballard during the Sunday morning session.

“I think often of those of you who are suffering, worried, afraid or feeling alone. I assure each one of you that the Lord knows you, that He is aware of your concern and anguish, and that He loves you — intimately and personally, deeply and forever.

“Each night when I pray, I ask the Lord to bless all who are burdened with grief, pain, loneliness and sadness. I know that other Church leaders echo that same prayer. Our hearts, individually and collectively, go out to you and our prayers go to God on your behalf.”

Prayers are needed today for the nations of the earth.

“No matter how you pray or to whom you pray, please exercise your faith — whatever your faith may  be — and pray for your country and for your national leaders. … This is not about politics or policy. This is about peace and the healing that can come to individual souls as well as to the souls of countries.”

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