Parallelisms in President Russell M. Nelson's "Confidence in the Presence of God"

President Russell M. Nelson passed away on September 27, 2025, after serving as the president of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints since January 14, 2018. His final General Conference talk — “Confidence in the Presence of God” — was delivered on April 6, 2025. This talk includes two parallelisms.

The first explains what he means by “having confidence before God.”

According to President Nelson, “having confidence before God” means believing we can approach Him “right now,” that He “hears us,” that He “understands our needs better than we do,” that He “loves us more than we can comprehend,” that He “sends his angels to be with us and with those we love,” and that He “yearns to help each of us reach our highest potential.”

The key to developing this type of divine confidence — as he explains later in his talk — is seeking charity (being a peacemaker in today’s hostile climate) and virtue (being pure in thought).

The second parallelism — in the final paragraph of his talk — addresses the approaching Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

Just as the Lord is preparing to “come again,” we should be preparing to “receive Him.” We do that by developing confidence before God.