Wholeness does not necessarily mean physical and emotional restoration in this life. Wholeness is born of faith in and conversion to Jesus Christ.
Throughout my life, I have struggled with the idea of needing to be perfect. On my mission, I strove to follow every rule in the missionary handbook and listen to every word from my companions and leaders. I wanted to be the perfect missionary. This would often leave me stressed out and frustrated. This idea of perfectionism can be prevalent in Church culture and in everyday life.
In the April 2025 general conference, Camille N. Johnson, Relief Society General President, spoke in her talk, “Spiritually Whole in Him,” about how Jesus Christ can make us spiritually whole. She defined wholeness as to “be complete and full.” Notably, one synonym for complete is thorough, and essentially, being perfect means to “do thoroughly” (the word perfect comes from the Latin word per, meaning “thorough,” and facere, meaning “do”). In this life we may never achieve completeness or perfection, but there are ways we can come closer to achieving it.
Sister Johnson provides insight into how we can: “We are whole in Jesus Christ when we exercise our agency to follow Him in faith, submit our hearts to Him so He can change them, keep His commandments, and enter a covenant relationship with Him, meekly enduring and learning from the challenges of this earthly estate until we return to His presence and are healed in every way.” To become spiritually whole or perfect in Jesus Christ, we need to do the small and simple things the Lord has commanded us to do and use our agency for good: our basic primary answers like attend Church, pray, and read our scriptures, to name a few.
A few years back, another talk was given about perfection called “The Imperfect Harvest” by Elder Vern P. Stanfill. Just as Sister Johnson focuses on spiritual perfection in Jesus Christ, Elder Stanfill reminds us that “perfectionism is not the same as being perfected in Christ.” I was not the perfect missionary. But, I learned that as I consistently did the small and simple things—prayed with real intent, held meaningful scripture study, attended my church meetings, and strove to be charitable to everyone I met—I increased in perfection. I became whole in Jesus Christ because I had the desire to do good and to serve Him.
We can continue to do the small and simple things. They are important and help us become more like the Savior. As we do so, we will increase in spiritual wholeness, bit by bit until we have reached our divine potential.
Read more from Sister Camille N. Johnson’s article “Spiritually Whole in Him” to read about the beauty of becoming spiritually whole in Jesus Christ.
Source: General Conference
—Maddie Hoopes, Latter-day Saint Insights
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Find more insights
Read or watch “Be Ye Therefore Perfect—Eventually” by Elder Jeffrey R. Holland.
Read or watch “The Imperfect Harvest” by Elder Vern P. Stanfill to find more ways to ease the burden of perfectionism in your life.