"Men Are, That They Might Have Joy"
Elder Milton R. Hunter
- Of the First Council of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recalls asking college students at the LDS Institute of Religion what they would wish for if they could have one wish, and most students initially chose materialistic items like money or a car.
I recall that when I was teaching students at the LDS Institute of Religion at Logan, on several different occasions I asked the college students the question which I have just asked you. Almost immediately and invariably those fine young college men would reply, "A million dollars," or they would say, "A Cadillac," or something else of a worldly nature. After due consideration of this problem, we always came to a united conclusion that material things of this world are not the most worth while. ... (continued)
Forgiveness
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"Men Are, That They Might Have Joy"
Elder Milton R. Hunter
- Of the First Council of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker discusses the common belief that accumulating wealth can buy happiness, but points out that many who become rich also accumulate problems and find that wealth does not bring the satisfaction they expected.
I suppose that the vast majority of people have felt that if they could accumulate a lot of wealth, then with that money they could buy anything they desired. In other words, they believe that an abundant life, a fulness of joy could be purchased with that wealth. Numerous people have struggled diligently to accumulate wealth, with the result that many of them have become exceedingly rich. Some of them have actually worshiped mammon. Doubtless these people found that that wealth brought addition ... (continued)
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"Men Are, That They Might Have Joy"
Elder Milton R. Hunter
- Of the First Council of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker mentions how some people, including Latter-day Saints, have tried to find happiness by breaking the Word of Wisdom and indulging in substances like tea, coffee, tobacco, and liquor, only to find that it does not bring joy and leads to other problems.
Other people have felt that they could satisfy that urge for happiness by indulging all of their physical appetites; for example, even some Latter-day Saints have felt that they could satisfy that inner urge for happiness by breaking the Word of Wisdom—by satisfying their appetite for tea, coffee, tobacco, and liquor. Certainly many of them found that those things did not increase their joy. They cut off many of their opportunities for an abundant life, and especially is that true in the ... (continued)
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"Men Are, That They Might Have Joy"
Elder Milton R. Hunter
- Of the First Council of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker also notes that some people believe indulging in sexual immorality will bring happiness, but they eventually realize that such actions lead to unhappiness and the loss of the Spirit of God.
Others have felt that by indulging their sexual emotions, by committing adultery, they could satisfy that inward urge for happiness. It is my opinion that such self-indulgent people, without any exception, find to their regret and chagrin that sin never is happiness. They have found that adulterers become very unhappy in this life, casting from themselves the Spirit of God and, as the Savior said, their final status will be to be ". . . cast down to hell and suffer the wrath of Almighty God..." ... (continued)
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"Men Are, That They Might Have Joy"
Elder Adam S. Bennion
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker shares his gratitude for the power of the priesthood, which he credits for his recovery from illness.
I am doubly grateful to be here today because last October I missed this conference. Recently out of the hospital, I was convalescing at home. But that experience has brought me something that perhaps I could have had in no other way. I stand here today grateful for the blessings of our Father in heaven and his goodness. I bring you my witness to the power of the priesthood, because under the hands of these my good brethren, I have been blessed back to health and strength. I know the power o ... (continued)
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"Men Are, That They Might Have Joy"
Elder Adam S. Bennion
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker tells of a visit to a home in Klamath Stake where the hostess, crippled by polio, remains active and spirited despite her affliction.
When I was introduced to the home at which I was to stay in Klamath [Oregon-California] Stake, I felt a little embarrassed because the hostess, the wife of a member of the stake presidency, was in a wheel chair, crippled from the effects of polio for twenty years. But the look in her face convinced me that I need have no misgivings. She wheels around in that wheel chair, thanks to the kindliness of a good husband, as if the house had been built just for her. She wheels out into the kitchen be ... (continued)
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"Men Are, That They Might Have Joy"
Elder Adam S. Bennion
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts his visit to Zion Park Stake, where he was inspired by a family that has risen above their considerable afflictions.
A few weeks later I went down to Zion Park [Utah] Stake. I shall be grateful all the rest of my days for the inspiration of that visit. In one family there I think I saw as much affliction as I have ever seen in any other one family. But those good people have risen above it so wonderfully. The president of the stake down there served in the war, and it is almost a miracle that he came back alive. He wears a steel plate now, a cranial plate, with the index across the forehead that it is ther ... (continued)
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"Men Are, That They Might Have Joy"
Elder Adam S. Bennion
- Of the Council of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on the joy of living the gospel, not as an obligation but as a privilege, and the richness of the Book of Mormon's teachings on joy.
Well, in the light of those two experiences I should like to join with you for just a little while this afternoon in consideration of one of the richest declarations ever made. I love the Book of Mormon and have done so ever since I was a youngster. For this afternoon I have chosen from the second book of Nephi the passage that I want to develop just a little with you: And now, behold, if Adam had not transgressed he would not have fallen, but he would have remained in the garden of Eden. And a ... (continued)
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"Mom, Are We Christians?"
Elder Gary J. Coleman
- Of the Seventy
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📖 general conference
Cortnee, a mission president's daughter, is questioned about her Christian faith at school and seeks confirmation from her mother.
When 14-year-old Cortnee, a daughter of a mission president, entered a new high school as a freshman, she was asked by classmates if she was a Christian. They scoffed at her response that she was a Mormon, a common reference to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. Upon arriving home she asked her mother, 'Mom, are we Christians?'
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"Mom, Are We Christians?"
Elder Gary J. Coleman
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts his upbringing in a devout Christian family of a different faith and his eventual conversion to The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
Growing up in my family, we lived as devout members of another Christian faith. I was baptized a member of that church shortly after my birth. Our family went to church each week. For many years my brothers and I assisted the pastors who conducted our Sunday services. I was taught the importance of family prayer as our family prayed together each day. I thought that someday I would enter the full-time ministry in my church. There was no question in our minds that we could define ourselves as dev ... (continued)
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"Mom, Are We Christians?"
Elder Gary J. Coleman
- Of the Seventy
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📖 general conference
The speaker describes his struggle with the doctrine of the Trinity and his enlightenment upon learning about the First Vision experienced by Joseph Smith.
The knowledge of God and His physical separateness from His Son and the Holy Ghost was lost after the death of Christ and His Apostles. Confusion and false doctrines about the Godhead were fashioned out of the Nicene Creed and Constantinople councils, where men declared that instead of three separate beings, the Godhead was three persons in one God, or the Trinity. Just as Christian Protestant reformers struggled with these creeds of men, I did as well. The teachings about the Trinity that I lea ... (continued)
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"Mom, Are We Christians?"
Elder Gary J. Coleman
- Of the Seventy
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📖 general conference
The speaker shares his experience of reading the Book of Mormon and receiving confirmation of its truth through the Holy Ghost.
President Gordon B. Hinckley has said, 'I cannot understand why the Christian world does not accept this book.' I first read the Book of Mormon at the age of 21. I then asked God if it was true. The truth of it was manifested unto me by the comforting power of the Holy Ghost. I know that the Book of Mormon is a second testament of Jesus Christ. I join my testimony with the prophets of this sacred book to declare that 'we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of C ... (continued)
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"Mom, Are We Christians?"
Elder Gary J. Coleman
- Of the Seventy
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📖 general conference
The speaker testifies of the restoration of priesthood authority and the direct line of priesthood authority from Jesus Christ to current priesthood holders.
Another restored truth of the gospel I became acquainted with was the restoration of priesthood authority, or the power to act in God"™s name. Former prophets and apostles, such as Elijah, Moses, John the Baptist, Peter, James, and John, have been sent by God and Christ in our day to restore the holy priesthood of God. Every priesthood holder in this Church can trace his priesthood authority directly to Jesus Christ. Men now possess the keys to establish the Church so that we can come unto Chr ... (continued)
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"Mom, Are We Christians?"
Elder Gary J. Coleman
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker concludes by affirming Cortnee's Christian identity as a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and testifies of the restored truths of the Church.
Cortnee asked, 'Mom, are we Christians?' As a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, you are a Christian, and I am too. I am a devout Christian who is exceedingly fortunate to have greater knowledge of the true 'doctrine of Christ' since my conversion to the restored Church. These truths define this Church as having the fulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ. Like other members of the Church, I now understand the true nature of the Godhead, I have access to additional scriptur ... (continued)
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"Mrs. Patton, Arthur Lives"
Elder Thomas S. Monson
- Of the Council of the Twelve
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📖 general conference
The speaker recounts a story about his boyhood friend, Arthur Patton, who enlisted in the Navy at the age of 15 and died in the Battle of the Coral Sea during World War II.
Story of Arthur Patton
May I tell you about Arthur? He had blond, curly hair and a smile as big as all outdoors. Arthur stood taller than any boy in the class. I suppose this is how he was able to fool the recruiting officers and enlist in the Navy at the tender age of 15. To Arthur and most of the boys, the war was a great adventure. I remember how striking he appeared in his navy uniform. How we wished we were older, or at least taller, so we too could enlist.
Youth is a very special time of ... (continued)
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"Mrs. Patton, Arthur Lives"
Elder Thomas S. Monson
- Of the Council of the Twelve
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker describes visiting Arthur Patton's grieving mother after his death and reassuring her about the possibility of life after death.
Will Arthur live again?
With a prayer in my heart, I approached the familiar walkway to the Patton home, wondering what words of comfort could come from the lips of a mere boy.
The door opened, and Mrs. Patton embraced me as she would her own son. Home became a chapel, as a grief-stricken mother and a less-than-adequate boy knelt in prayer.
Arising from our knees, Mrs. Patton gazed into my eyes and spoke: "Tom, I belong to no church, but you do. Tell me, will Arthur live again?"
Time dims the m ... (continued)
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"Murmur Not"
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Tevye from 'Fiddler on the Roof' openly murmurs to God, acknowledging his complaints are directed at the Lord.
We all remember, in Fiddler on the Roof, Tevye’s verbal asides to God.
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"Murmur Not"
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Cain murmured against the Lord because Abel's offering was accepted but his was not, illustrating that intentions are as important as deeds.
An early scriptural instance of murmuring involved Cain’s offering to the Lord, illustrating how our intentions are at least as important as our deeds. (See Moses 5:20–21) Cain was 'wroth' that Abel’s offering was acceptable but not his.
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"Murmur Not"
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Laman and Lemuel murmured against their father Lehi for leading them into the wilderness and accused him of judging the Jerusalemites too harshly.
Laman and Lemuel murmured against father Lehi for leading them into the wilderness because of the 'foolish imaginations of his heart.' (See 1 Ne. 2:11, 1 Ne. 3:31, 1 Ne. 4:4) This same depressing duo declared that father Lehi had judged the Jerusalemites too harshly, yet Jerusalem was soon to fall.
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"Murmur Not"
Elder Neal A. Maxwell
- Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
📅 0
📖 general conference
Oliver Cowdery and Emma Smith were both told not to murmur when faced with disappointments or withheld desires.
Oliver Cowdery fell short of the coveted privilege of translating. He was told, 'Do not murmur, my son, for it is wisdom in me that I have dealt with you after this manner.' D&C 9:6 Emma Smith was likewise told to 'murmur not' when certain things were withheld from her. D&C 25:4
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