"Because I Pray for You"
Elder Glen L. Rudd
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recalls a weekly pledge from his youth about service in the priesthood, linking it to the importance of serving well in tennis and in the Church.
When I was a young man in the Aaronic Priesthood, we boys used to stand in our quorum meetings and repeat in unison, "Priesthood means service. Bearing the priesthood, I will serve." This was our weekly pledge. It was part of every quorum meeting. Most of us began to understand that honoring the priesthood required our being active and serving in the Church.
In those days we played a lot of tennis. We knew that, in tennis, if we didn"™t serve well, we usually didn"™t win. Our priesthood le ... (continued)
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"Because I Pray for You"
Elder Glen L. Rudd
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker shares a touching story of a young boy who expressed his faith by telling an Apostle that he prays for him, which is why the Apostle is protected in his travels.
One morning a good many years ago, a member of the Council of the Twelve came to my office and told me of a beautiful, touching experience that had happened to him that day. He had gone to the old Deseret Gym to enjoy the steam bath for a while. As he sat there in the heavy steam, he heard the door open and looked upward toward the door to see who was entering. He could not see anyone, but he had a feeling someone else was there in the room with him. After a few minutes he saw a young Primary-ag ... (continued)
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"Because My Father Sent Me"
Elder Loren C. Dunn
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker observed a father in a busy airport kneeling down to patiently feed his small son an ice cream cone because the boy's snowsuit prevented him from bending his arms.
I was in a busy airport last week and there, amidst great numbers of people rushing to catch their planes, was a father kneeling down by his son, patiently feeding him an ice cream cone which the son was too small to hold himself. The little boy needed help because his snowsuit, which kept him warm, also made it impossible for his arms to bend. I thought to myself,What a great dad!
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"Because My Father Sent Me"
Elder Loren C. Dunn
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
A young missionary from a ranch felt homesick and out of place on his mission, but after calling his father, he was encouraged to 'cowboy up,' which helped him to hang on and begin to embrace the spirit of his mission.
I remember one experience of a fine young man who spent his life on the ranch, just as his own father did. When the boy got into the mission field, it was all strange: too many people, not enough open spaces. He wanted badly to go home. Finally, the mission president had the young missionary call his father. The father listened patiently as his son said how homesick he was, and then the father spoke in terms that his son could understand, and as I heard about this, it brought a smile to my face. ... (continued)
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"Because My Father Sent Me"
Elder Loren C. Dunn
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
When the speaker was first called to his church calling, President David O. McKay asked him to serve in a way that would be pleasing to his own father, which the speaker saw as a lifelong challenge.
When I sat across from President David O. McKay and was first called to this calling some 32 years ago, I remember that after he discussed with me what would be expected, he then charged me to serve by asking me to carry out this calling in a way that would be pleasing to my own father. That was enough of a challenge for a lifetime. President McKay knew my father, who had been a stake president for 20 years, and I looked on my father as one of the greatest men I knew. My first understanding of h ... (continued)
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"Because She Is a Mother"
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
A mother sacrifices her share of bread for her children, exemplifying a mother's selflessness.
There are some lines attributed to Victor Hugo which read:
"She broke the bread into two fragments and gave them to her children, who ate with eagerness. "˜She hath kept none for herself,"™ grumbled the sergeant.
""˜Because she is not hungry,"™ said a soldier.
""˜No,"™ said the sergeant, "˜because she is a mother."™"
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"Because She Is a Mother"
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
A young mother writes about her struggles and realizations in her role, finding hope and purpose in partnership with God.
One young mother wrote to me recently that her anxiety tended to come on three fronts. One was that whenever she heard talks on LDS motherhood, she worried because she felt she didn"™t measure up or somehow wasn"™t going to be equal to the task. Secondly, she felt like the world expected her to teach her children reading, writing, interior design, Latin, calculus, and the Internet"”all before the baby said something terribly ordinary, like "goo goo." Thirdly, she often felt people were s ... (continued)
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"Becometh As a Child"
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
A nonmember medical student from Brazil, Valentim Goncalves, who once played tennis with the speaker, was later encountered as a member and stake president in Curitiba, Brazil.
Some 12 years ago, there was a tennis match with two LDS physicians and a nonmember medical student from Brazil. With no intervening communication, last month in Curitiba, Brazil, Valentim Goncalves stood by me again, not on a tennis court but instead in a regional conference to translate for me. Thanks to his innate goodness and the good work of others, ophthalmologist Valentim is not only a member, but is a stake president in Curitiba. Valentim and his special wife, sealed in the temple, have ... (continued)
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"Becometh As a Child"
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Nate Barker, a young child, told his mother about a new sister with dark hair and dark eyes who was supposed to join their family, as revealed to him by Jesus. This prediction came true when the family sealed a little girl from Kazakhstan in the temple.
It has been a privilege to seal several adopted children to Nan and Dan Barker, now of Arizona. Some time ago Nate, then just over three, said: 'Mommy, there is another little girl who is supposed to come to our family. She has dark hair and dark eyes and lives a long way from here.' The wise mother asked, 'How do you know this?' 'Jesus told me, upstairs.' The mother noted, 'We don’t have an upstairs,' but quickly sensed the significance of what had been communicated. After much travail a ... (continued)
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"Becometh As a Child"
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Benjamin Ballam, a child with spina bifida, comforted an overwhelmed attendant and a physician with the words 'I love you anyway' during stressful medical situations.
Benjamin Ballam is the special spina bifida child of Michael and Laurie Ballam. He has been such a blessing to them and many others. Also spiritually precocious, Benjamin is a constant source of love and reassurance. Having had 17 surgeries, resilient Benjamin knows all about hospitals and doctors. Once, when an overwhelmed attendant became vocally upset—not at Benjamin, but over stressful circumstances—little three-year-old Benjamin exemplified the words of another Benjamin about ... (continued)
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"Becometh As a Child"
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Joseph Clark became a quadriplegic and, despite his condition, his family coped remarkably well, with his sons believing their father was already making friends in heaven and helping them from beyond.
Joseph and Janice Clark were blessed with two sons, Jacob and Andrew. Five years ago, Joseph was stricken suddenly and, in effect, became a hospitalized quadriplegic. There, supine Joseph’s sons would often be cradled in his arms. Joseph would always smile even when he could not speak audibly. In the eyes of the world, his was a catastrophic illness. Nevertheless, Joseph, his saintly wife, their two boys, and with strong support from parents and families, coped remarkably for five years. ... (continued)
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"Becometh As a Child"
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Four-year-old Mayara Fernanda dos Santos, suffering from leukemia, comforted her anxious mother after receiving a blessing, showing her instinctive wisdom and empathy.
A four-year-old Brazilian girl, Mayara Fernanda dos Santos, suffering from leukemia and on oxygen, was blessed recently by Elder Claudio Costa and myself in Curitiba, Brazil. After the blessing, empathetic little Mayara smilingly wiped a tear from her anxious mother’s cheek. Instinctively wise beyond her years, Mayara knows how to 'comfort those that stand in need of comfort,' including her precious parents who are willing to wait upon the Lord (Mosiah 18:9).
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"Becometh As a Child"
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Jared Ammon, a seven-year-old boy dying of leukemia, asked to be sung 'I Am a Child of God' during his last moments, demonstrating his faith and submission.
Elder Craig Zwick and I shared a precious moment in Fortaleza, Brazil, where we were privileged to bless a special seven-year-old boy who was dying of leukemia. His names—Jared Ammon—tell you much about his parents and family. Accompanied by a thoughtful mission and stake president, there was scarcely room for the four of us to stand beside the bed in the tiny room where Jared Ammon’s faithful 14-year-old sister held him in her arms. His stomach was so severely swollen. When ... (continued)
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"Behold My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am Well Pleased"
Elder George P. Lee
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts receiving a spiritual witness of Jesus Christ's divinity during their youth, while praying in a hogan and reading the Book of Mormon in the desert.
This silent, sweet conviction came early in my youth, while I was on my knees in deep supplication in our humble hogan, and at other times, after reading the Book of Mormon while tending the sheep out in the hot desert on the reservation.
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"Behold My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am Well Pleased"
Elder George P. Lee
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker testifies of Christ's premortal existence, his role in the creation, and his willingness to come to Earth as the Redeemer.
I bear testimony that Jesus Christ was the first begotten Son of God in the Spirit. Like the Father himself, he was a personage of great power and intelligence in the universe. For ages before this world was created, he lived and ruled with his Father in Heaven in the premortal existence on a spiritual basis. The Lord Jesus had much to do with our growth and training prior to our birth on earth. Under the direction of the Father, he created this earth and accepted the appointment to come here an ... (continued)
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"Behold My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am Well Pleased"
Elder George P. Lee
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker testifies of the angel Gabriel announcing Christ's birth and of Christ's life, suffering, and crucifixion.
I bear testimony that our Redeemer's birth in Bethlehem was announced by a great concourse of angels and by an angel of great authority and power who had come from the presence of God, saying, 'I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God; and am sent to speak unto thee, and to shew thee these glad tidings.' His excruciating agony in the Garden of Gethsemane was not only physical and mental anguish, but also a spiritual agony that only a god was capable of experiencing. In that hour of tremen ... (continued)
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"Behold My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am Well Pleased"
Elder George P. Lee
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker bears testimony of Christ's resurrection, his visit to the spirit world, and the subsequent resurrection of many saints.
I bear testimony that this same crucified Christ arose on the third day from the tomb, after having met and mingled with others in the spirit world, his spirit was reunited with his body. After being among men on earth, he ascended to his Heavenly Father as a resurrected and glorified being. Immediately following his resurrection many others were resurrected. In Matthew we read: 'And the graves were opened; and many bodies of the saints which slept arose, And came out of the graves after his res ... (continued)
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"Behold My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am Well Pleased"
Elder George P. Lee
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker testifies of Christ's appearance to the Nephites and Lamanites in ancient America after his resurrection.
I bear testimony that our resurrected Lord, clothed in glory, personally manifested himself to the Nephites and the Lamanites in ancient America as they were gathered around their temple in the land Bountiful. They saw the Lord Jesus Christ, clothed in a white robe, coming down out of heaven; and he descended until he stood in their midst. The multitude fell at his feet and worshiped him. They then arose and came to him at his invitation to see and feel the prints of the nails in his hands and f ... (continued)
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"Behold My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am Well Pleased"
Elder George P. Lee
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts the First Vision, where Joseph Smith saw God the Father and Jesus Christ, marking the beginning of the Restoration of the gospel.
I bear testimony that this, the last great dispensation of the fulness of times, was ushered in by the voice of God our Eternal Father, saying: 'This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!' In the spring of 1820, God our Eternal Father and his Son, Jesus Christ, revealed themselves to the boy-prophet Joseph Smith. The darkness of the long night of the apostasy was lifted. This glorious manifestation illuminated the world. Other divine visitations by heavenly messengers and personages were made to the Prop ... (continued)
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"Behold My Beloved Son, in Whom I Am Well Pleased"
Elder George P. Lee
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker testifies of Christ's eventual second coming in glory, his judgment, and his millennial reign.
I bear testimony that our risen Lord and Redeemer will return to earth a second time in his resurrected, immortal body of flesh and bones, and in celestial glory and power. When he comes the second time he will come as a triumphant King of kings and a glorious Lord of lords. He will stand in judgment of sinners who have not repented. He will come as the Almighty God to cleanse the earth and to inaugurate his glorious millennial reign. The Lord Jesus and the resurrected Saints will reign upon the ... (continued)
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