What Every Aaronic Priesthood Holder Needs to Understand
Douglas D. Holmes
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📖 general conference
Members of a priests quorum in Sydney, Australia, baptized the Mbuelongo family, which had a profound impact on one of the priests involved.
In Sydney, Australia, four members of a priests quorum baptized members of the Mbuelongo family. The mother of one of these priests related to me how this experience powerfully impacted her son. These priests came to understand what it means to be "commissioned of Jesus Christ."
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What Every Aaronic Priesthood Holder Needs to Understand
Douglas D. Holmes
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📖 general conference
The speaker's 17-year-old son baptized him for their ancestors in the temple, which brought them gratitude for the Aaronic Priesthood.
As you know, priests can now officiate in performing proxy baptisms in the temple. My 17-year-old son recently baptized me for some of our ancestors. We both felt deep gratitude for the Aaronic Priesthood and the privilege of acting for the salvation of God"™s children.
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What Every Aaronic Priesthood Holder Needs to Understand
Douglas D. Holmes
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📖 general conference
A new mission president was surprised to see experienced missionaries setting up children's chairs for new missionaries, which he interpreted as a reflection of how we perceive others and their potential.
When I was a new mission president, I was excited to receive our first group of new missionaries. A few of our more experienced missionaries were preparing for a brief meeting with them. I noticed that they had arranged children"™s chairs in a semicircle.
"What"™s up with the little chairs?" I asked.
The missionaries, somewhat sheepishly, said, "For the new missionaries."
I believe the way we see others significantly impacts their perception of who they are and what they can become.1Our ... (continued)
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What God Hath Joined Together
President Gordon B. Hinckley
- First Counselor in the First Presidency
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📖 general conference
The speaker tells the parable of the Prodigal Son from the Bible to emphasize the enduring love and forgiveness within families, even in the face of rebellion.
I know of no more beautiful story in all of literature than that told by the Master as recorded in the fifteenth chapter of Luke. It is the story of a heady and greedy son who demanded his inheritance, which he wasted until none was left. Penitent, he returned to his father, and his father, seeing him afar off, ran to him and embraced him and fell upon his neck and kissed him.
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What God Hath Joined Together
President Gordon B. Hinckley
- First Counselor in the First Presidency
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📖 general conference
The speaker shares a personal experience of sealing his twin granddaughters in marriage to their chosen partners in the Salt Lake Temple and his emotional reaction during the ceremony.
Ten days ago, I had a beautiful and touching experience in the Salt Lake Temple, the building immediately to the east of this tabernacle. There in that holy sanctuary I had the privilege of sealing in marriage, in two separate but consecutive ceremonies, two beautiful young women who are twins, each to a handsome and able young man of her choice. That evening, a double wedding reception was held where hundreds of friends came to express their love and good wishes.
Mothers often shed tears at a w ... (continued)
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What God Hath Joined Together
President Gordon B. Hinckley
- First Counselor in the First Presidency
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📖 general conference
The speaker recounts an advertisement section in the New York Magazine where lonely individuals were seeking companions, highlighting the underlying sadness and loneliness behind their witty and clever descriptions.
While riding a plane some time ago, I picked up a copy of the New York Magazine. As I thumbed through it, I came to a section titled "Strictly Personals." I counted 159 advertisements placed by lonely men and women seeking partners. It was evident that those who had placed the ads had labored to cast themselves in the best light possible. I wish I had time to read some of them to you. You would enjoy them. There was nothing of an unseemly nature. It was easy to sense that behind these witty an ... (continued)
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What God Hath Joined Together
President Gordon B. Hinckley
- First Counselor in the First Presidency
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📖 general conference
The speaker shares a story from the Bible about Absalom, the rebellious son of King David, to illustrate the heartbreak that can come from family conflicts.
Absalom was the third son of David, a son favored and loved. David had given him a name which meant "father of peace." But he brought not peace"”rather, anger and ambition and sorrow. He killed his brother and conspired against his father. In the midst of his evil actions, in his wicked pursuit for his father"™s throne, while riding a mule Absalom"™s head caught in the branches of an oak tree, and he was left hanging helpless [see 2 Sam. 18:9]. Joab, nephew of David and captain of the ki ... (continued)
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What God Hath Joined Together
President Gordon B. Hinckley
- First Counselor in the First Presidency
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📖 general conference
The speaker recounts a poignant moment shared by a divorced single mother of seven children, expressing her overwhelming feelings and the divine comfort she received.
Let me recount for you something I heard about two years ago in this tabernacle. The occasion was a great gathering of single men and women. Elder Marion D. Hanks conducted a panel discussion. Included in that panel was an attractive and able young woman, divorced, the mother of seven children then ranging in ages from five to sixteen. She said that one evening she went across the street to deliver something to a neighbor. Listen to her words as I recall them:
"As I turned around to walk back ho ... (continued)
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What Greater Goodness Can We Know: Christlike Friends
Kathleen H. Hughes
- First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency
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📖 general conference
A home teacher showed love and care for an elderly widow by not only visiting her but also helping with practical needs like winterizing her air conditioner and checking her furnace.
One home teacher I know faithfully made monthly visits to an elderly widow. More than just visit, however, each fall he winterized the sister"™s air conditioner and checked the filter on her furnace. Was that God"™s love or the love of the home teacher? The answer, of course, is both.
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What Greater Goodness Can We Know: Christlike Friends
Kathleen H. Hughes
- First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency
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📖 general conference
The speaker and her husband had a remarkable experience at the temple, being served by many friends and acquaintances, including a young woman from her past, which left her feeling moved by kindness.
A few weeks ago my husband and I attended a temple session. As we entered, we were greeted by a temple worker, a dear friend from our ward. That greeting began a remarkable experience for us. We were met and served, more than any time I remember, by many people we knew: friends from previous wards, friends from the community, men and women we had served with in various callings. The last person I encountered was a young woman I didn"™t recognize. She was lovely, and when she began to speak, I ... (continued)
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What Greater Goodness Can We Know: Christlike Friends
Kathleen H. Hughes
- First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency
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📖 general conference
Thirty-eight years ago, the speaker's father helped a stranded family by lending them his spare tire, trusting they would return it, which they did.
Thirty-eight years ago this month, Dean and I, then newlyweds, traveled to New Mexico to visit my parents. While there, my father took us on a day trip into the mountains in the northern part of the state. In the afternoon, we encountered a car stranded on the roadside with a flat tire. The driver told my father that his spare was also flat and he needed a ride to the nearest town to get the tire fixed. My father, seeing the man"™s family inside the car, said to him, "You"™ll never be able t ... (continued)
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What Greater Goodness Can We Know: Christlike Friends
Kathleen H. Hughes
- First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency
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📖 general conference
The speaker shares her experience of a special sisterhood and friendship while serving with Sisters Parkin and Pingree and others, highlighting the support and love they share.
I"™m experiencing right now a special dimension of sisterhood and friendship as I serve with Sisters Parkin and Pingree and the other women in the auxiliary presidencies and boards. These are good women. Oh, how I love them. After three years together, my dear sisters in the presidency know me well. They know my faith and testimony, but they also know my insecurities and worries. They know that when I"™m tired after a long training trip, I"™m not my best self. But I feel their love and pat ... (continued)
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What Greater Goodness Can We Know: Christlike Friends
Kathleen H. Hughes
- First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency
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📖 general conference
The speaker's younger sister has been struggling with cancer, and despite the distance, they have shared love, prayers, memories, and testimonies through phone calls.
I have had similar experiences with my own family. One of my younger sisters has been struggling with cancer the past few months. We don"™t live close, but phone calls bring her near. We have shared love, prayers, memories, and tender testimonies as she has gone through this difficult ordeal. My sisters are treasured friends. So are my brothers, my dear husband, my children, and my grandchildren (no matter how noisy those grandchildren are).
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What Greater Goodness Can We Know: Christlike Friends
Kathleen H. Hughes
- First Counselor in the Relief Society General Presidency
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📖 general conference
Joseph Smith exemplified friendship by not only expressing sympathy for a brother whose house was burned but also by contributing money to help him.
Joseph Smith himself was a great friend to many. He said, "Friendship is one of the grand fundamental principles of "˜Mormonism"™; [it is designed] to revolutionize and civilize the world, and cause wars and contentions to cease and men to become friends and brothers" (History of the Church,5:517). And yet, he knew that friendship was more than an abstraction. He learned one day that a brother"™s house had been burned by enemies. When Church members said they felt sorry for him, the Proph ... (continued)
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What Has Our Savior Done for Us?
By President Dallin H. Oaks
- First Counselor in the First Presidency
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📖 general conference
A woman at a stake conference expressed her lack of motivation to return to church, questioning what Jesus Christ had done for her.
In a Saturday evening meeting at a stake conference many years ago, I met a woman who said her friends had asked her to come back to church after many years of inactivity, but she could not think of any reason why she should. To encourage her, I said, “When you consider all of the things the Savior has done for you, you have many reasons to come back to worship and serve Him.†I was astonished when she replied, “What’s He done for me?â€
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What Have I Done for Someone Today?
President Thomas S. Monson
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📖 general conference
Dr. Jack McConnell was inspired by his father's daily question at the dinner table to perform acts of service throughout his life, leading to a distinguished medical career and the creation of Volunteers in Medicine.
A few years ago I read an article written by Jack McConnell, MD. He grew up in the hills of southwest Virginia in the United States as one of seven children of a Methodist minister and a stay-at-home mother. Their circumstances were very humble. He recounted that during his childhood, every day as the family sat around the dinner table, his father would ask each one in turn, "And what did you do for someone today?"1[Jack McConnell, "And What Did You Do for Someone Today?"Newsweek,June 18, 20 ... (continued)
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What Have I Done for Someone Today?
President Thomas S. Monson
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📖 general conference
For the speaker's birthday, members of the Church performed acts of service and shared their experiences, which deeply touched the speaker's heart.
Just over a year ago, I was interviewed by theChurch Newsprior to my birthday. At the conclusion of the interview, the reporter asked what I would consider the ideal gift that members worldwide could give to me. I replied, "Find someone who is having a hard time or is ill or lonely, and do something for him or her."10[See Gerry Avant, "Prophet"™s Birthday,"Church News,Aug. 23, 2008, 4.] I was overwhelmed when this year for my birthday I received hundreds of cards and letters from members o ... (continued)
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What Have You Done with My Name?
Elder Mervyn B. Arnold
- Of the Seventy
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📖 general conference
President George Albert Smith was visited by his deceased grandfather in a dream, who inquired about what he had done with his name, to which President Smith proudly responded that he had done nothing to bring shame to it.
When President George Albert Smith was young, his deceased grandfather George A. Smith appeared to him in a dream and asked, "I would like to know what you have done with my name." President Smith responded, "I have never done anything with your name of which you need be ashamed."1[Presidents of the Church Student Manual(Church Educational System manual, 2003), 134.]
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What Have You Done with My Name?
Elder Mervyn B. Arnold
- Of the Seventy
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📖 general conference
The speaker recalls the modest inheritance left by their parents, which included some personal items and a small home, but most importantly, they left a legacy of love, hard work, honesty, and a testimony of the gospel.
As I pondered these scriptures and the importance of having a good name, a flood of memories came into my mind about the good name and legacy my parents left my four brothers, my two sisters, and me. My parents did not have the riches of the world, nor did they have silver or gold. Nine of us lived in a two-bedroom, one-bath home with an enclosed back porch, where my sisters slept. When my parents passed away, my brothers and sisters and I gathered to divide their earthly possessions, which were ... (continued)
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What Have You Done with My Name?
Elder Mervyn B. Arnold
- Of the Seventy
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📖 general conference
Helaman named his sons Lehi and Nephi after their ancestors to remind them of their good works and to inspire them to live righteously.
When the beloved prophet Helaman and his wife were blessed with two sons, they named them Lehi and Nephi. Helaman told his sons why they were named after two of their ancestors who had lived upon the earth almost 600 years prior to their births. He said: "Behold, my sons, "¦ I have given unto you the names of our first parents [Lehi and Nephi]Â Â ; and this I have done that when you remember your names "¦ ye may remembertheir works;and when ye remembertheir works ye may know how that i ... (continued)
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