How to Succor Everyone

It's not often that General Conference includes two consecutive talks by the same speaker, but that's what happened this time. This Conference, President Eyring gave two talks in a row, though there was about a week between them. In the first talk of the Saturday Morning Session of Conference, "Is Not This the Fast That I Have Chosen?", President Eyring gave the quote that I shared half a week ago: "When we offer succor to anyone, the Savior feels it as if we reached out to succor Him."

The problem, as President Eyring went on to say, is that many of those who suffer are beyond our personal reach. Some of them live in far-away countries racked by storms, famines, or war. Some of them suffer silently, telling no one of their plight except their Bishops. How can we help them?

The answer, as the title of President Eyring's talk suggests, is by fasting. We can fast for their suffering to be alleviated, but we can also then be the answer to our own prayers by giving a generous fast offering. The funds from our fast offerings are used to help the needy around our neighborhoods and around the world, "whose sorrows He [the Savior] feels," and "whose relief the Lord will feel as if it were His own."

We can't reach everyone ourselves, but our collective fast offerings can. Fast offerings have reached suffering saints in Vanuatu and Sierra Leone, not that I know where either of those places are, as well as those suffering in the four corners of the Earth. By giving fast offerings, we can be part of a worldwide effort to help people all over the world. As Christians, and as human beings, we have a natural desire to help others. Our fast offerings allow us to extend the help that we can give to anyone who needs it, anywhere in the world. It is truly an inspired program and it brings miraculous blessings, both into our lives and into the lives of God's children everywhere on Earth.