"The Great Plan of Happiness"
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Adam and Eve transgressed in the Garden of Eden, which was a necessary step to initiate mortality and open the doorway to eternal life.
For reasons that have not been revealed, this transition, or 'fall,' could not happen without a transgression—an exercise of moral agency amounting to a willful breaking of a law (see Moses 6:59). This would be a planned offense, a formality to serve an eternal purpose. The Prophet Lehi explained that 'if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen' (2 Ne. 2:22) but would have remained in the same state in which he was created. 'And they would have had no children; wherefore they w ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Great Plan of Happiness"
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Latter-day Saints celebrate Eve's decision to transgress in the Garden of Eden, recognizing it as a wise and courageous act necessary for the progression of God's plan.
Some Christians condemn Eve for her act, concluding that she and her daughters are somehow flawed by it. Not the Latter-day Saints! Informed by revelation, we celebrate Eve’s act and honor her wisdom and courage in the great episode called the Fall (see Bruce R. McConkie, 'Eve and the Fall,' Woman, Salt Lake City: Deseret Book Co., 1979, pp. 67–68). Joseph Smith taught that it was not a 'sin,' because God had decreed it (see The Words of Joseph Smith, ed. Andrew F. Ehat and Lyndon ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Great Plan of Happiness"
Elder Dallin H. Oaks
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Adam and Eve understood the necessity of the Fall and expressed gratitude for the knowledge and joy it brought into their lives.
Modern revelation shows that our first parents understood the necessity of the Fall. Adam declared, 'Blessed be the name of God, for because of my transgression my eyes are opened, and in this life I shall have joy, and again in the flesh I shall see God' (Moses 5:10). Note the different perspective and the special wisdom of Eve, who focused on the purpose and effect of the great plan of happiness: 'Were it not for our transgression we never should have had seed, and never should have known good ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heart and a Willing Mind"
Elder James M. Paramore
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker's friend Bob helps a fellow quorum member overcome smoking through daily prayer and support, leading to the member and his wife being sealed in the temple for eternity.
For instance, consider my friend Bob and his watchcare over an elder who smoked. Nearly every morning, he would see a fellow member of his quorum and pray with him to help him overcome smoking and then give him a pack of Lifesavers or package of gum to help him during the day. Later, Bob would see him and his wife with hands linked across the temple altar, sealed for eternity.
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heart and a Willing Mind"
Elder James M. Paramore
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
A schoolteacher asks her class what their fathers taught them about self-reliance, and Johnny humorously recounts how his father taught him to swim by throwing him into a lake while he was in a gunnysack.
Men of the priesthood, I remember a story about a schoolteacher who asked a returning class what their fathers had taught them about self-reliance during a summer vacation. After several accounts were told, she asked Johnny what his dad had done. And Johnny replied, "My dad taught me how to swim; he took me out in the middle of Utah Lake, threw me overboard, and told me to swim back to shore." "Wow," the teacher said, "that took a lot of courage." And Johnny replied, "It wasn"™t bad at a ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heart and a Willing Mind"
Elder James M. Paramore
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
As a child, the speaker learns about boundaries when his friend gets stuck in quicksand despite warnings, and they need a cowboy's help to rescue him.
When I was five years old, my mother helped me to learn about boundaries when she said to me nearly every day, "Jimmy, don"™t go near the quicksand," which was just a couple hundred feet away from our house. Well, guess what Jimmy and his young friends would do? We would go there. As we walked closer to the quicksand, one of my friends walked onto this rather wet, darker-looking sand. It looked almost like the rest of the sand. At first his feet wouldn"™t move, and we all laughed. And then ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heart and a Willing Mind"
Elder James M. Paramore
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker is surprised in Italy when a young man shares how his family was converted to the Church by missionaries, leading to over 170 baptisms over the years.
In a testimony meeting in Bari, Italy, you can imagine my surprise when a young man stood up and said, "If it hadn"™t been for the missionaries, I wouldn"™t be here today." He then went on to tell how his mother and grandparents had been found in Paris, France, by Elders Ben Walton and James Paramore 30 years earlier. After many meetings, the family was baptized. Now this son was on a mission. I later learned that over the years more than 170 people had been baptized by that family.
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heavens Are Not Stayed"
Elder Gordon B. Hinckley
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker shares his upcoming appointment in Hong Kong to meet with about a thousand Chinese Saints, reflecting on the growth of the Church in Asia and the Spirit touching people's hearts.
I should like to add that a great work is going on among the people of the ancient lands of Asia. I have an appointment in the next few days in Hong Kong, where we shall meet in a conference of the Chinese Saints. There will be approximately a thousand of them gather in that city, and as I look into their faces, there will come into my mind renewed faith and increased testimony in the power of God to touch men's hearts everywhere.
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heavens Are Not Stayed"
Elder Gordon B. Hinckley
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts the opening of the mission in the Philippines, reflecting on the sacrifice of American soldiers and sharing a story of a young Filipino who found an old magazine article about Joseph Smith and later converted to the Church.
Opening of Mission in the Philippines
Three years ago I had the opportunity of participating in the opening of our mission in the Philippines. It was an inspirational experience. We gathered at dawn in the American military cemetery on the outskirts of the city of Manila. There before us stood 'row on row' the crosses that mark the graves of more than 17,000 American dead, and inscribed on marble tablets we saw the names of some 36,000 more who died in the battles of the Pacific and whose remain ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heavens Are Not Stayed"
Elder Gordon B. Hinckley
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker contrasts the extensive scientific research and public announcements about the dangers of smoking with the simple revelation given by the Lord through Joseph Smith that tobacco is not good for man.
Can one doubt the need for revelation in this day of complex human problems? Some weeks ago news was broadcast over the country that at a particular hour on a particular day the surgeon general of the United States would issue a report on the effects of smoking. The release time was carefully planned, presumably to affect the stock market least seriously. Then, as President McKay indicated this morning, at the appointed hour radio, television, and the news services dramatically announced the fin ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heavens Declare the Glory of God"
Don Lind
- Astronaut
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker describes his calmness before the space shuttle Challenger launch, the excitement of lift-off, and the experience of entering orbit.
Just after last April conference I was getting ready to take one of the most exciting trips that I can imagine. On April 29 our crew rode the space shuttleChallengerinto orbit to conduct a scientific mission called Spacelab 3. This was a personal thrill for me and a very impressive ride. Most of you, I am sure, have seen a space shuttle lift-off on television. I can assure you that it"™s as exciting as it looks.
I was surprised how calm I felt as we strapped into our seats about two and one-ha ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heavens Declare the Glory of God"
Don Lind
- Astronaut
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts the reentry process from space, the intense heat experienced, and his belief that the Lord was watching over them.
The ride into orbit had been exciting. The trip out of orbit was not quite as novel, because by then I was quite used to space. But it was just as serious. When you are properly trained, you are not frightened in any sense. But you have a great respect for the tremendous energy involved and thus for the inherent risk. You are well aware that every procedure has to be performed precisely right.
We were to land at Edwards Air Force Base just north of Los Angeles, but we started our reentry just to ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heavens Declare the Glory of God"
Don Lind
- Astronaut
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker shares his emotional and spiritual experiences of observing Earth from space and the intense beauty that brought him to tears.
I am sure the general image of space flight is one of impressive machines and billowing flames and the precision of high technology. That is not incorrect. But for me, there were also many special, personal, private feelings. Some of them were fun. Living in weightlessness is delightful. The Peter Pan ability to float to any corner of the laboratory and perch like a sparrow on the slightest protrusion made me feel as though I was living my little boy dreams.
Some of my personal feelings were ver ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heavens Declare the Glory of God"
Don Lind
- Astronaut
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker describes the unique experience of holding a sacrament service in orbit and the special feeling it gave him, similar to being in the temple.
Another experience that is very close to me was to have the sacrament in orbit. We were in space for a full week, so of course, we were up there on a Sunday. Our bishop had given me permission to hold my own sacrament service. It was a little unusual. You priests in the audience might consider what it would be like to try to kneel down in weightlessness"”you keep drifting off. For privacy I held my sacrament service in my sleep station"”something like a Pullman berth. I kneeled on what you w ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Heavens Declare the Glory of God"
Don Lind
- Astronaut
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on the long preparation required for space flight, the importance of being ready when opportunities arise, and how his adherence to the Word of Wisdom and his clean record helped him qualify for the astronaut program.
It took me a long time, many years of preparation, to make it into orbit. I learned that important things don"™t come easily or quickly. I learned that persistence pays off. I also learned that you have to be prepared when the opportunity comes. I started preparing for the space program long before there was a space program. I could pass the six-day astronaut physical examination because I had lived the Word of Wisdom all my life. When they started accepting applications for the astronaut prog ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
"The Idler Shall Not Have Place in the Church"
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The Lord commanded the early members of the Church to move from New York to Ohio in 1831, promising to give them His law and endow them with power from on high.
On the second day of January, in the year 1831, the Lord gave a revelation to the Church and in that revelation commanded them to move from the headquarters then established in New York to the Ohio. He gives the reason for it:
And that ye might escape the power of the enemy and be gathered unto me a righteous people, without spot and blameless"”Wherefore, for this cause I gave unto you the commandment that ye should go to the Ohio; and there I will give unto you my law; and there you shall be ... (continued)
Jesus Christ
Repentence
Read Full Talk →
"The Idler Shall Not Have Place in the Church"
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recalls how the early Church members in the Utah valleys were industrious, following the counsel of President Brigham Young and others to start industries and be self-sufficient.
In the early days of the Church in these valleys, great stress was placed upon industry by President Brigham Young and the other brethren, and it was necessary because our forefathers came here with nothing. They had to work. They had to be industrious. It was essential that they produce the things they needed, and therefore counsel to that extent and in that direction was given to them constantly that they should be industrious. They were taught not to be proud in their hearts. They came out he ... (continued)
Faith
Read Full Talk →
"The Idler Shall Not Have Place in the Church"
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker laments the loss of self-sufficiency and industry, recounting an experience where he asked for tailors and cobblers at a stake conference and found none.
We used to have some of these industries here among us, and would still have them if we had been willing to adhere to these counsels that had been given to us in those early days by the authorities of the Church, which we would not do. I used to wear suits that were made at Provo, in the woolen mills. I did that as long as I could get them. The suit I have on now was not made at Provo, nor was it made in Utah"”that is the cloth"”but the tailor made it here, Last week at a stake conference, I ... (continued)
Baptism
Read Full Talk →
"The Idler Shall Not Have Place in the Church"
Elder Joseph Fielding Smith
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
President Joseph F. Smith and President Brigham Young are quoted, emphasizing the importance of industry and self-reliance, and the need to avoid idleness.
Let me present a statement here from President Joseph F. Smith:
There should be no idlers in Zion. Even the poor who have to be assisted should be willing to do all in their power to earn their own living. Not one man or woman should be content to sit down and be fed, clothed, or housed without an exertion on his or her part to compensate for these privileges. All men and women should feel a degree of independence of character that would stimulate them to do something for a living and not be idl ... (continued)
Charity
Read Full Talk →
"The Keys of the Kingdom"
Elder David B. Haight
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
News reporters expected a dramatic story from Spencer W. Kimball's first press interview as President of the Church, but he reaffirmed the consistent message of following the commandments of God.
News reporters listened intently for a possible dramatic story that might indicate new direction to the Church when Spencer W. Kimball became President of the Church and held his first press interview. But he reaffirmed the ageless advice that would come from a prophet when he said, 'Keep the commandments of God. Follow the pathway of the Lord. Walk in his footsteps.'
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →