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‘Reach out in Love’: LDS Church releases suicide prevention videos

Posted at 12:57 PM, Jul 02, 2018
and last updated 2018-07-02 17:21:30-04

SALT LAKE CITY — The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints has released a series of videos they hope will provide resources to prevent suicide.

According to the LDS Church, the series of videos are part of an ongoing effort to prevent suicide and they encourage members of the LDS faith to “listen to and love those considering suicide.”

Several of the videos feature Elder Dale G. Renlund of the LDS Church’s Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“Elder Renlund encourages Latter-day Saints to ‘reach out in love and caring for those who have suicidal thoughts, who have attempted suicide, who feel marginalized in any way. We need to reach out with love and understanding. And you do that in concert with health care professionals, with ecclesiastical leaders, with friends and family support,'” the LDS Church states.

The series of videos also feature personal stories from those who have had experience with suicide or suicide attempts as well as commentary from Sister Carol F. McConkie, who was a member of the LDS Church’s Young Women’s general presidency until April 2018.

The full series of videos as well as other suicide prevention resources are available at suicide.lds.org

If you or someone you know is struggling with thoughts of suicide, help is available 24/7 by calling 1-800-273-TALK. Utahns can also visit Hope4Utah and the Suicide Prevention Resource Center for additional resources. You can also download the SafeUT app for instant, confidential crisis services.