For His Arm to Be Revealed

Surely it takes a great amount of faith and courage to speak in general conference to millions of Latter-day Saints. It must have been particularly challenging for Elder Kopischke to give his talk in this most recent general conference as he shared some details from a very difficult personal experience. He addressed mental illness and spoke of his son’s experience returning home from a mission early. He recounted, “Due to severe panic attacks, anxiety, and depression, our son returned home from his mission after just four weeks. As his parents, we found it difficult to deal with disappointment and sadness because we had prayed so much for his success. Like all parents, we want our children to prosper and be happy. A mission was to be an important milestone for our son. We also wondered what other people might think. Unbeknownst to us, our son’s return was infinitely more devastating for him. Note that he loved the Lord and wanted to serve, and yet he could not for reasons he struggled to understand. He soon found himself at a point of total hopelessness, battling deep guilt. He no longer felt accepted but spiritually numb. He became consumed by recurring thoughts of death. While in this irrational state, our son believed that the only action left was to take his own life. It took the Holy Ghost and a legion of angels on both sides of the veil to save him.” How difficult this experience must have been for his son and their whole family, and how much courage it must have taken for him (and his son) to share it with the world. But I am so grateful that he did for it is a trial that so many face and one that we need to hear about more. His talk joins two others that I’m aware of—Elder Holland’s in 2013 and Sister Aburto’s in 2019—addressing mental health.

                For me the major message of Elder Kopischke’s talk is that we need a lot more love and understanding when it comes to mental illness. As he spoke of his own experience he recounted the love he and his family received from others: “While [my son] was fighting for his life and during this immensely difficult time, our family, ward leaders, members, and friends went out of their way to support and minister to us. I have never felt such an outpouring of love. I have never sensed more powerfully and in such a personal way what it means to comfort those in need of comfort. Our family will be ever grateful for that outpouring.” Surely the first thing we need as those around us face challenges with mental illness is more compassion and love. We need to judge less, remove unreal expectations, and seek to show the kind of love the Savior did to the poor in spirit. Elder Kopischke further suggested, “We need to constantly watch over each other. We must love one another and be less judgmental—especially when our expectations are not immediately met. We should help our children and youth feel the love of Jesus Christ in their lives, even when they struggle to personally feel love for themselves.” In order to love more and criticize less we need to understand better what mental illness is: “Again, educating ourselves about mental illness prepares us to help ourselves and others who might be struggling. Open and honest discussion with one another will help this important topic to receive the attention it deserves. After all, information precedes inspiration and revelation. These all-too-often invisible challenges can affect anyone, and when we are facing them, they appear insurmountable.” Surely a start to that education that is needed by so many is that these challenges are as real as physical health challenges, and that telling someone to cheer up and get over it won’t make them go away. As Elder Holland put it, they are afflictions “so severe that [they] significantly restrict a person’s ability to function fully, a crater in the mind so deep that no one can responsibly suggest it would surely go away if those victims would just square their shoulders and think more positively.”

                Elder Kopischke quoted one scripture which I believe is powerful counsel to any facing mental illness in themselves or in others. These are the final words from Joseph Smith in Liberty Jail that we have in the Doctrine and Covenants: “Therefore, dearly beloved brethren, let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (123:17). We do all that we can to help and to heal, to love and to minister to those struggling. Then we seek to stand still, knowing that whatever challenges we face there is a God in heaven who knows and loves and understands us perfectly. With that faith we can have the “utmost assurance” that His arm will be revealed in our lives and in the lives of others. Of course the healing and blessings may not always come in the way that we want, or when we want, but keeping our faith in the Savior we have this promise He gave to Joseph in that prison: “God shall be with you forever and ever” (Doctrine and Covenants 122:9). As Elder Kopischke testified, “Jesus Christ is our Savior. He knows us. He loves us, and He will wait on us.”