Days Never to Be Forgotten
By Elder Gary E. Stevenson
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on President Russell M. Nelson's 100th birthday and the media coverage it received, using it as an opportunity to introduce a global audience to a prophet of God.
We just witnessed the power of a truly historic moment as we celebrated with tens of millions the 100th birthday of President Russell M. Nelson.
Reporting on President Nelson"™s birthday,Newsweekwrote a headline that read, "World"™s Oldest Religious Leader Turns 100." They then listed the world"™s 10 oldest faith leaders"”with President Nelson first on a list that included Pope Francis and the Dalai Lama.3[See Theo Burman, "World"™s Oldest Religious Leader Turns 100,"Newsweek, ... (continued)
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Days Never to Be Forgotten
By Elder Gary E. Stevenson
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker tells the story of Evan, a young boy who spent his summer vacation collecting jars of jelly to donate to his local food bank, inspired by a project on the JustServe website.
Evan, a young Primary-age boy, decided to spend his summer vacation from school gathering supplies for peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to donate to his local food bank. He found the project on the JustServe website. Young Evan enlisted his entire school class to help collect over 700 jars of jelly!15[See Jessica Lawrence, "Finding Joy in Donating Jelly,"Church News, June 18, 2023, thechurchnews.com.]Let the people you serve know that your concern for them is rooted in your love of God ... (continued)
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Days Never to Be Forgotten
By Elder Gary E. Stevenson
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts the story of over 600 youth from Scotland and Ireland who traveled to the Preston England Temple to perform over 4,000 ordinances, many for their deceased ancestors.
Recently a group of over 600 youth from Scotland and Ireland traveled to the Preston England Temple, performing over 4,000 ordinances, many of which were for their personal deceased ancestors!17[See Melina Myers, "Scottish and Irish Youth Perform over 4,000 Ordinances in the Preston England Temple,"Church News, June 13, 2024, thechurchnews.com.]I urge you to become engaged in family history, spend time in the temple, and carefully prepare yourself to be the kind of man or woman ready to marry ... (continued)
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Embrace the Lord"™s Gift of Repentance
By Elder Jorge M. Alvarado
- Of the Seventy
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker shares a personal experience of feeling amazed and reassured by a hymn after being sustained as a General Authority Seventy.
I testify of a loving Heavenly Father. In the April 2019 general conference, moments after I was sustained in my new responsibility as a General Authority Seventy, the choir sang a rendition of "I Stand All Amazed" that pierced my heart and soul.
I marvel that he would descend from his throne divine
To rescue a soul so rebellious and proud as mine,
That he should extend his great love unto such as I,
Sufficient to own, to redeem, and to justify.1["I Stand All Amazed,"Hymns, no. 193.]
As I he ... (continued)
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Embrace the Lord"™s Gift of Repentance
By Elder Jorge M. Alvarado
- Of the Seventy
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts the story of Célia Cruz Ayala from Ponce, Puerto Rico, who had her purse stolen with a wrapped Book of Mormon inside, which ultimately led the thief to repent and seek the gospel.
I"™d like to share with you an example of the tender mercies of the Lord through an experience that occurred in my beloved home island of Puerto Rico.
It was in my hometown of Ponce that a sister in the Church, Célia Cruz Ayala, decided that she was going to give a Book of Mormon to a friend. She wrapped it and went to deliver this gift, more precious to her than diamonds or rubies, she said.10["My brothers and sisters, how preciousisthe Book of Mormon to you? If you were offered diamon ... (continued)
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Faithful to the End
By Sister Andrea Muñoz Spannaus
- Second Counselor in the Young Women General Presidency
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
David, a young shepherd with great faith, volunteered to fight Goliath, a giant Philistine warrior, and defeated him with a single stone from his sling.
In the Old Testament, the army of the Philistines was battling the Israelites, and every morning and every evening, a giant Philistine named Goliath challenged any Israelite to fight him. Among the Israelite people lived David, a young shepherd much smaller than Goliath but with a giant faith in Jesus Christ! David volunteered to fight. Even the king tried to dissuade him, but David chose to put his trust in Jesus Christ. Previously, David had fought a lion and also a bear. From his own experien ... (continued)
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Following Christ
By President Dallin H. Oaks
- First Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
President Lorenzo Snow emphasized the law of tithing, a commandment given earlier but not yet generally observed by Church members, needing reemphasis due to the circumstances faced by the Church.
Some permanent commandments have taken considerable time to be generally observed. For example, President Lorenzo Snow"™s famous sermon on the law of tithing emphasized a commandment given earlier but not yet generally observed by Church members. It needed reemphasis in the circumstances then faced by the Church and its members.
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Following Christ
By President Dallin H. Oaks
- First Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
President Nelson asks if individuals are willing to let God prevail in their lives, prioritize His voice, and allow His words, commandments, and covenants to influence their daily actions.
In this conference four years ago, President Nelson gave us a prophetic challenge for our own day: "Are you willing to let God prevail in your life? Are you willing to let God be the most important influence in your life? Will you allow His words, His commandments, and His covenants to influence what you do each day? Will you allow His voice to take priority over any other?"
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Following Christ
By President Dallin H. Oaks
- First Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
A little boy flying a kite with his father suggests cutting the string to let it rise higher, but his father explains that the string is what keeps the kite stable against the wind.
Our experiences in mortality are like the little boy and his father flying a kite on a windy day. As the kite rose higher, the winds caused it to tug on the connecting string in the little boy"™s hand. Inexperienced with the force of mortal winds, he proposed to cut the string so the kite could rise higher. His wise father counseled no, explaining that the string is what holds the kite in place against mortal winds. If we lose our hold on the string, the kite will not rise higher. It will be c ... (continued)
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Following Christ
By President Dallin H. Oaks
- First Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
President Russell M. Nelson challenges followers of Christ to be compassionate and peacemakers, and to choose reconciliation over contention.
In general conference last year, President Russell M. Nelson gave us these challenges: "One of the easiest ways to identify a true follower of Jesus Christ is how compassionately that person treats other people. "¦ True disciples of Jesus Christ are peacemakers. "¦ One of the best ways we can honor the Savior is to become a peacemaker." Concluding his teachings: "Contention is a choice. Peacemaking is a choice. You have your agency to choose contention or reconciliation. I urge you to c ... (continued)
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Foreordained to Serve
By Elder Steven R. Bangerter
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts a personal story from when he was 13 years old, where his father taught him the importance of protecting the private times of his life and how those moments can shape one's character and destiny.
One Saturday morning when I was 13 years old, I was mowing the grass as part of my weekly chores. When I finished, I heard the door close at the back of our house and looked to see my father calling me to join him. I walked to the back porch, and he invited me to sit with him on the steps. It was a beautiful morning. I still recall him sitting so close to me that our shoulders were touching. He began by telling me he loved me. He asked me what my goals were in life. I thought, ‘Well, that� ... (continued)
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Fruit That Remains
By Elder Matthew L. Carpenter
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker recalls preserving peaches with his family as a child, which serves as a metaphor for the lasting nature of God's blessings when covenants are kept.
As a young boy, I loved fresh, ripe peaches. To this day, the idea of biting into a juicy, ripe peach with its tangy flavor makes my mouth water. When fully matured peaches are picked, they last two to four days before they spoil. I have fond memories of joining with my mother and my siblings in our kitchen as we would preserve harvested peaches for the coming winter by sealing them in bottles. If we preserved the peaches correctly, this delicious fruit would last several years, not just two to ... (continued)
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Fruit That Remains
By Elder Matthew L. Carpenter
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker shares a story about teaching a Swiss couple about the Church, where the wife was interested in baptism but not in eternal marriage with her husband.
While I was serving a full-time mission in Switzerland, my companion and I shared the gospel with a wonderful 60-year-old Swiss couple. As we taught this couple about the restored Church of Jesus Christ, the woman showed great interest in what we were teaching. Over the next few weeks, she gained a testimony of the reality that the Church of Jesus Christ was restored with correct authority from God and that Jesus Christ directs His Church through living prophets and apostles. We looked forward t ... (continued)
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God Loves All His Children
By Elder Gregorio E. Casillas
- Of the Seventy
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker testifies of the Savior's love and recounts how a prompted visit to a mother and son ministered to him as well.
My dear brothers and sisters, on that day when a priesthood leader felt impressed for us to visit a mother and a son that we did not have on our agenda, I proclaim that God knew they needed us. And at the end, I was the one who was ministered to. On that day, I received one of the greatest lessons of the Savior"™s love for us.
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God Loves All His Children
By Elder Gregorio E. Casillas
- Of the Seventy
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
A stake president and the speaker visited a sister who had undergone chemotherapy and helped care for her and her son, feeling the love of Jesus Christ for them.
A while ago, a stake president and I were visiting members of the Church in a local neighborhood. After we finished our scheduled visits, the stake president asked me if we could go see one more family. He felt impressed that we should talk with them.
We knocked on the door, and a sister opened it. She looked at me, but she didn"™t know who I was, so she didn"™t express much. I pointed my hand toward the stake president, who greeted her by name. As soon as she heard and saw him, she rejoiced ... (continued)
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God"™s Favourite
By Elder Karl D. Hirst
- Of the Seventy
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker suggests that when we show Christlike love to others, it contains divinity and heaven gets involved, and we can beckon others to Christ through our actions.
So if someone we care about seems distant from a sense of divine love, we can follow this pattern"”by doing things that bring us closer to God ourselves and then doing things that bring us closer to them"”an unspoken beckoning to come to Christ.
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God"™s Favourite
By Elder Karl D. Hirst
- Of the Seventy
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker encourages those who feel filled with God's love to share it generously, likening it to a principle that by losing oneself for Jesus's sake, one finds greater fulfillment.
If you do feel filled with love in this season of your life, please try and hold on to it as effectively as a sieve holds water. Splash it everywhere you go. One of the miracles of the divine economy is that when we try to share Jesus"™s love, we find ourselves being filled up in a variation of the principle that "whosoever will lose his life for my sake shall find it."21[Matthew 16:25]
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God"™s Favourite
By Elder Karl D. Hirst
- Of the Seventy
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker relates an anecdote about their children playfully arguing over who is the favorite, leading to the speaker's reflection on parental love and its relation to divine love.
Before I begin, I should tell you that two of my children have passed out whilst speaking at pulpits, and I have never felt more connected to them than in this moment. I"™ve got more on my mind than just the trapdoor.
Our family has six children, who sometimes tease one another that they are the favourite child. Each has different reasons for being preferred. Our love for each of our children is pure and fulfilling and complete. We could not love any one of them any more than another"”with e ... (continued)
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God"™s Favourite
By Elder Karl D. Hirst
- Of the Seventy
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on how John the Apostle and Nephi each expressed a personal relationship with Jesus, feeling individually loved, and how this personal love is available to everyone.
In his Gospel, John describes himself as "the disciple whom Jesus loved,"1[John 21:20see alsoJohn 13:2319:2620:221:7]as if that arrangement were somehow unique. I like to think that this was because John felt so completely loved by Jesus. Nephi gave me a similar sense when he wrote, "I glory inmyJesus."2[2 Nephi 33:6emphasis added.]Of course, the Saviour isn"™t Nephi"™s any more than He is John"™s, and yet the personal nature of Nephi"™s relationship with "his" Jesus led him to t ... (continued)
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God"™s Favourite
By Elder Karl D. Hirst
- Of the Seventy
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker addresses those who feel distant from God's love, assuring them that they are not disqualified from heavenly love due to brokenness, as Jesus himself was broken for us.
But perhaps you feel a long way from the love of God. Maybe there is a chorus of voices of discouragement and darkness that weighs into your thoughts, messages telling you that you are too wounded and confused, too weak and overlooked, too different or disoriented to warrant heavenly love in any real way. If you hear those ideas, then please hear this: those voices are just wrong. We can confidently disregard brokenness in any way disqualifying us from heavenly love"”every time we sing the hym ... (continued)
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