Motions of a Hidden Fire
By President Jeffrey R. Holland
- Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker shares the personal and painful experience of his wife Pat's passing, describing her virtues and their 60-year marriage.
The most personal and painful of all these recent experiences has been the passing of my beloved wife, Pat. Shewasthe greatest woman I have ever known"”a perfect wife and mother, to say nothing of her purity, her gift of expression, her spirituality. She gave a talk once titled "Fulfilling the Measure of Your Creation." It seems to me that she fulfilled the measure ofhercreation more successfully than anyone could have dreamed possible. She was a complete daughter of God, an exemplary woman ... (continued)
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Motions of a Hidden Fire
By President Jeffrey R. Holland
- Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts being hospitalized in a medical crisis shortly after his wife's burial and experiencing a journey that seemed to take him to the edge of eternity, which led to an admonition to return to his ministry with more urgency.
Another experience began 48 hours after my wife"™s burial. At that time, I was rushed to the hospital in an acute medical crisis. I then spent the first four weeks of a six-week stay in and out of intensive care and in and out of consciousness. Virtually all my experienceinthe hospital during that first period is lost to my memory. What isnotlost is my memory of a journeyoutsidethe hospital, out to what seemed the edge of eternity. I cannot speak fully of that experience here, but I can say th ... (continued)
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Motions of a Hidden Fire
By President Jeffrey R. Holland
- Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker expresses gratitude for the prayers and support he received from church members during his illness, including his high school class fasting for him and his name being on the prayer roll of temples.
That leads me to athirdtruth that came in those months of loss, illness, and distress. It was a renewed witness of and endless gratitude for the resolute prayers of this Church"”your prayers"”of which I have been the beneficiary. I will be eternally grateful for the supplication of thousands of people who, like the importuning widow,2[SeeLuke 18:1"“8]repeatedly sought heaven"™s intervention in my behalf. I received priesthood blessings, and I saw my high school class fast for me, as did ... (continued)
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Motions of a Hidden Fire
By President Jeffrey R. Holland
- Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker testifies that God hears every prayer and responds according to His plan, even if the answers are not as we hoped, as was the case with prayers for his wife's health.
Brothers and sisters, I testify that God hearseveryprayer we offer and responds to each of them according to the path He has outlined for our perfection. I recognize that at roughly the same time so many were praying for the restoration of my health, an equal number"”including me"”were praying for the restoration of my wife"™s health. I testify that both of those prayers were heardandanswered by a divinely compassionate Heavenly Father, even if the prayers for Pat werenotanswered the way I ... (continued)
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Nourish the Roots, and the Branches Will Grow
By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on the significance of the year 2024, marking various anniversaries of his baptism, call as a General Authority, and move to the United States due to his calling.
The year 2024 is something of a milestone year for me. It marks 75 years since I was baptized and confirmed a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in Zwickau, Germany. The year 2024 also marks 30 years since my call as a General Authority and 25 years since our family had to move from Germany to the United States as a result of that calling. And almost exactly 20 years ago—on October 2, 2004—I was sustained as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and a ... (continued)
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Nourish the Roots, and the Branches Will Grow
By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker reminisces about his childhood experiences in an old chapel in Zwickau, where he felt the Spirit of God and gained a testimony of Jesus Christ and the Prophet Joseph Smith.
When I think about my personal journey of discipleship, my mind often goes back to an old villa in Zwickau, where I have cherished memories of attending sacrament meetings of the Church of Jesus Christ as a child. It is there where the seedling of my testimony received its earliest nourishing. This chapel had an old air-driven organ. Every Sunday a young man was assigned to push up and down the sturdy lever operating the bellows to make the organ work. I sometimes had the great privilege of assi ... (continued)
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Nourish the Roots, and the Branches Will Grow
By Elder Dieter F. Uchtdorf
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker visits Zwickau years later to find the cherished chapel of his youth replaced by an apartment building, but he reflects on how the spiritual witness he gained there has grown stronger over time.
Earlier this year, while on assignment in Europe, I had the opportunity to return to Zwickau. Sadly, that beloved old chapel isn’t there anymore. It was torn down many years ago to make room for a large apartment building. I admit that it’s sad to know that this beloved building from my childhood is now just a memory. It was a sacred building to me. But it was just a building. By contrast, the spiritual witness I gained from the Holy Ghost those many years ago has not passed away. ... (continued)
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O Youth of the Noble Birthright
By Brother Bradley R. Wilcox
- First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker shares excerpts from a book called "Children's Letters to God" that contain innocent and humorous questions from children to God.
Our family has always enjoyed a little book called Children’s Letters to God. Here are a few: 'Dear God, instead of letting people die and having to make new ones, why don’t you just keep the ones you’ve got right now?' 'How come you only have ten rules, but our school has millions?' 'Why did you put the tonsils in if you’re just going to take them out again?'
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O Youth of the Noble Birthright
By Brother Bradley R. Wilcox
- First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts a young Apostle, Russell M. Nelson, giving an address about covenants and becoming "children of the covenant," which sets Latter-day Saints apart and gives them access to blessings.
In 1988 a young Apostle named Russell M. Nelson gave an address at Brigham Young University called 'Thanks for the Covenant.' In it, then-Elder Nelson explained that when we use our moral agency to make and keep covenants with God, we become heirs of the everlasting covenant God has made with our forebearers in every dispensation. Said another way, we become 'children of the covenant.'
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O Youth of the Noble Birthright
By Brother Bradley R. Wilcox
- First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker describes the responsibilities and inheritance of the birthright son in Old Testament times, drawing parallels to the responsibilities and blessings of being a "child of the covenant."
In Old Testament times if a father passed away, his birthright son was responsible for the care of his mother and sisters. His brothers received their inheritance and left to make their way in the world, but the birthright son did not go anywhere. He would marry and have his own family, but he would stay until the end of his days to govern the affairs of his father’s estate. Because of this added responsibility, he was given an added measure of the inheritance.
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O Youth of the Noble Birthright
By Brother Bradley R. Wilcox
- First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker compares our mortal experience to a cruise ship where God's children are passengers, and those who choose to make and keep covenants are members of the crew with special responsibilities and compensations.
Our mortal experience could be compared to a cruise ship on which God has sent all His children as they journey from one shore to another. The voyage is filled with opportunities to learn, grow, be happy, and progress, but it is also full of dangers. God loves all His children and is concerned about their welfare. He does not want to lose any of them, so He invites those who are willing to become members of His crew—that’s you. Because of your choice to make and keep covenants, He ... (continued)
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O Youth of the Noble Birthright
By Brother Bradley R. Wilcox
- First Counselor in the Young Men General Presidency
📅 October 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker encourages the youth of the noble birthright to remember their covenant relationship with God and Jesus Christ, which provides them with grace and the power to live differently from the world.
As you fulfill your birthright responsibilities, you are never alone. The Lord of the vineyard labors with you. You are working hand in hand with Jesus Christ. With each new covenant—and as your relationship with Him deepens—you hold each other tighter and tighter until you are firmly clasped together. In that sacred symbol of His grace, you will find both the desire and the strength to live exactly how the Savior lived—differently from the world. You’ve got this beca ... (continued)
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Opposition in All Things
By Elder Mathias Held
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker and his wife took a wrong turn while driving to a friend's house, leading them onto an express highway for miles without being able to turn around, causing them to worry about being late.
Recently, while driving in a city unknown to us, I inadvertently took a wrong turn, which led my wife and me onto an express highway for endless miles without being able to turn around again. We had received a kind invitation to a friend"™s home and worried that we would now arrive much later than we were expected to.
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Opposition in All Things
By Elder Mathias Held
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on how wrong decisions in life can lead to consequences that must be endured humbly and patiently until one can change course, similar to his experience on the highway.
While on this highway and desperately looking for a way out again, I blamed myself for not paying better attention to the navigation system. This experience caused me to think about how in our lives we sometimes make wrong decisions and how we must live with the consequences humbly and patiently until we are able to change our course again.
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Opposition in All Things
By Elder Mathias Held
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker shares how getting married and having children brought both the greatest joy and profound pain when something happened to a family member, teaching them they are never alone in suffering.
Let me give an example from our own life. Getting married, forming a family, and having children brought to us the greatest moments of joy we have ever experienced in our lives but also the most profound moments of pain, anguish, and grief when something happened to any one of us. Infinite joy and bliss with our children were sometimes also followed by recurring periods of sicknesses, hospitalizations, and sleepless nights filled with distress, as well as finding relief in prayers and priesthood ... (continued)
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Pillars and Rays
By Elder Alexander Dushku
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
Joseph Smith's First Vision where he was enveloped by darkness and then experienced a pillar of light with Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ appearing to him.
The Restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ began with an explosion of light and truth! A teenage boy in upstate New York, with the very ordinary name of Joseph Smith, enters a grove of trees to pray. He"™s worried about his soul and his standing before God. He seeks forgiveness for his sins. And he"™s confused about which church to join. He needs clarity and peace"”he needs light and knowledge.1[SeeJoseph Smith"”History 1:10"“13] As Joseph kneels to pray and "offer up the desires of ... (continued)
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Pillars and Rays
By Elder Alexander Dushku
- Of the Seventy
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
The speaker shares personal experiences of feeling the Spirit in various situations, such as being reverent at a baptism, receiving a witness of Jesus Christ before a mission, being forewarned of a calling, hearing a desired testimony at general conference, praying for a friend's recovery, and receiving comfort from a dream about a deceased friend.
Here are some examples from my own life. They may not be very impressive to some, but they are precious to me. I remember being a rowdy teenager at a baptism. As the meeting was about to begin, I felt the Spirit urge me to sit down and be reverent. I sat down and stayed quiet the rest of the meeting. Before my mission, I was afraid my testimony wasn"™t strong enough. No one in my family had ever served a mission, and I didn"™t know if I could do it. I remember studying and praying desperatel ... (continued)
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Pray, He Is There
By President Susan H. Porter
- Primary General President
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
Ashley felt alone on the playground until she prayed and was then approached by a girl who asked her to play.
Have you ever felt alone? One day when our granddaughter Ashley was six years old, she was the only one without a friend to play with on the school playground. As she stood there, feeling unimportant and unseen, a specific thought came into her mind: 'Wait! I'm not alone! I have Christ!' Ashley knelt down right in the middle of the playground, folded her arms, and prayed to Heavenly Father. The moment she opened her eyes, a girl her age was standing there asking her if she wanted to play. Ashley ... (continued)
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Pray, He Is There
By President Susan H. Porter
- Primary General President
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
Nephi didn't ask why his bow broke; instead, he made a new one and sought guidance on where to hunt for food.
Sometimes you may want to know why something hard is happening in your life or why you didn't receive a blessing you prayed for. Often the best question to ask Heavenly Father is not why but what. Do you remember when Nephi and his family were hungry while they were traveling in the wilderness? When Nephi and his brothers went to hunt for food, Nephi broke his bow. But he didn't ask why. Nephi made a new bow and asked his father, Lehi, where he could go to get food. Lehi prayed, and the Lord sho ... (continued)
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Pray, He Is There
By President Susan H. Porter
- Primary General President
📅 April 2024
📖 general conference
Jonah prayed each morning for peace and strength, and though he didn't always feel relief immediately, he would feel peaceful by the time he reached his classroom.
My new friend Jonah wrote: 'I often feel nervous on my way to school in the morning. I worry about things like being late, forgetting something, and taking tests. When I was 10, I started saying prayers on my drive to school with my mom. I ask for the help I need, and I pray for my family too. I also think of the things I'm grateful for. [Praying to Heavenly Father has] helped me. Sometimes I don't feel the relief right as I get out of the car, but by the time I'm at my classroom, I feel peacefu ... (continued)
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