Willing and Worthy to Serve
President Thomas S. Monson
📅 0
📖 general conference
During World War II, a wounded marine used the power of the priesthood to command another severely wounded marine to stay alive until medical help could arrive, and they both survived.
During World War II, in the early part of 1944, an experience involving the priesthood took place as United States marines were taking Kwajalein Atoll, part of the Marshall Islands and located in the Pacific Ocean about midway between Australia and Hawaii. What took place in this regard was related by a correspondent"”not a member of the Church"”who worked for a newspaper in Hawaii. In the 1944 newspaper article he wrote following the experience, he explained that he and other correspon ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Willing and Worthy to Serve
President Thomas S. Monson
📅 0
📖 general conference
As a bishop in 1950, the speaker wrote 23 personal letters each month to servicemen from his ward, and after persistent effort, one serviceman named Brother Bryson responded, expressing his gratitude and sharing his spiritual progress.
Such a call of duty"”a much less dramatic call but one which nonetheless helped to save a soul"”came to me in 1950 when I was a newly called bishop. My responsibilities as a bishop were many and varied, and I tried to the best of my ability to do all that was required of me. The United States was engaged in a different war by then. Because many of our members were serving in the armed services, an assignment came from Church headquarters for all bishops to provide each serviceman a subscript ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Willing and Worthy to Serve
President Thomas S. Monson
📅 0
📖 general conference
Years later, the speaker met Brother Bryson again, who was now serving in the presidency of his elders quorum, and expressed his gratitude for the personal letters that had helped him during his service.
Years later, while attending the Salt Lake Cottonwood Stake when James E. Faust served as its president, I related that account in an effort to encourage attention to our servicemen. After the meeting, a fine-looking young man came forward. He took my hand in his and asked, "Bishop Monson, do you remember me?"
I suddenly realized who he was. "Brother Bryson!" I exclaimed. "How are you? What are you doing in the Church?"
With warmth and obvious pride, he responded, "I"™m fine. I se ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Willing to Receive
Elder Marion D. Hanks
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
A little girl in a home for homeless children sends out a note with the message 'I love you,' showing the innate need for love among God's children.
A little girl living in a place for homeless children earned displeasure from annoyed attendants by depositing a note in a tree limb which could be reached from outside the institution. The apprehended little rulebreaker was quickly fetched to the superintendent, who opened the note which read, "To whoever finds this, I love you." God"™s children need to be loved, and to have someone to love.
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Willing to Receive
Elder Marion D. Hanks
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
Enoch's conversation with God reveals God's sorrow over the suffering of his children who do not love each other or choose Him.
In that same chapter of the book of Moses to which Brother Busche has just referred, there is a conversation recorded that is for me one of the most instructive and tender in all literature. Enoch had "built a city that was called the City of Holiness, even Zion," which "in process of time, was taken up into heaven. "¦ "And "¦ the God of heaven looked upon the residue of the people [that is, upon those who had not been taken up], and he wept"Moses 7:19, 21, 28 Then Enoch said to the Lord: ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Willing to Receive
Elder Marion D. Hanks
- Of the First Quorum of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
A story of three men after death, each encountering a gracious host who asks about their relationship with Christ, revealing different levels of preparedness and devotion.
Long ago I heard an important story which has been helpful to me. I have not seen it in writing and therefore cannot give credit as I would like. The story has obviously been deliberately fashioned to teach in a provocative way principles in which I believe. Over a period of time three men, as each of us ultimately will, passed from mortal life to ongoing immortality. Each, as he made the transition, at once found himself in the presence of a gracious person who made him feel comfortable and cal ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?
Elder Matthew L. Carpenter
📅 0
📖 general conference
A woman who had suffered from an issue of blood for 12 years was healed immediately when she touched the border of Jesus's garment.
In another instance, a woman with an issue of blood 12 years, who "had spent all [of] her living upon physicians, "¦ came behind him, and touched the border of his garment: andimmediatelyher issue of blood[ceased]. "¦
"And Jesus said, Somebody hath touched me: for I perceive that virtue is gone out of me.
"And when the woman saw that she was not hid, she "¦ declared unto him before all the people "¦ how she was healedimmediately."5[SeeLuke 8:43"“47emphasis added.]
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?
Elder Timothy J. Dyches
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The Savior heals an impotent man at the pool of Bethesda who had been suffering for 38 years.
During a time of joyful feasting at Jerusalem, the Savior left the multitudes to seek out those in greatest need. He found them at Bethesda, the five-porch pool by the sheep market that was renowned for attracting the afflicted. The Gospel of John tells us that near the pool "lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. "For an angel went down at a certain season into the pool, and troubled the water: whosoever then first after the troubl ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?
Elder Timothy J. Dyches
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
Jesus heals ten lepers on His way to Jerusalem, and one returns to thank Him, demonstrating the importance of faith before a miracle.
In another tender scene, Luke tells us that the Savior, while traveling to Jerusalem, met 10 lepers. Because of their infirmity, they "stood afar off"Luke 17:12They were outcasts"”unclean and unwanted. "Jesus, Master, have mercy on us," they criedLuke 17:13in other words, importuning, "Isn"™t theresomethingYou can do for us?" The Great Physician, full of compassion, still knew that faith must precede the miracle and therefore told them, "Go shew yourselves unto the priests"Luke 17:14 ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?
Elder Timothy J. Dyches
- Of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
Corrie ten Boom, a survivor of a concentration camp, learns to forgive a former Nazi guard through the love of Christ.
Corrie ten Boom, a devout Dutch Christian woman, found such healing despite having been interned in concentration camps during World War II. She suffered greatly, but unlike her beloved sister Betsie, who perished in one of the camps, Corrie survived. After the war she often spoke publicly of her experiences and of healing and forgiveness. On one occasion a former Nazi guard who had been part of Corrie"™s own grievous confinement in Ravensbrück, Germany, approached her, rejoicing at her ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?
Elder Matthew L. Carpenter
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker's youngest son experienced a massive stroke while on his mission, and through quick action by his companion and medical intervention, he eventually recovered and returned to complete his mission.
A few months into his mission, our youngest son and his missionary companion were completing their study when our son felt a dull pain in his head. He felt very strange; at first he lost control of his left arm; then his tongue went numb. The left side of his face began to droop. He had difficulty speaking. He knew something was wrong. What he didn"™t know was that he was in the middle of a massive stroke in three areas of his brain. Fear began to set in as he became partially paralyzed. How q ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Wilt Thou Be Made Whole?
Elder Matthew L. Carpenter
📅 0
📖 general conference
The Gospel of John recounts the healing of a man who had been infirm for 38 years by Jesus Christ, who made him whole immediately.
The Gospel of John recounts the story of a certain man who had endured a debilitating infirmity for 38 years.
"When Jesus saw him lie, and knew that he had been now a long time in that case, he saith unto him, Wilt thou be made whole?"
The impotent man responded that no one was around to help him when he needed it most.
"Jesus saith unto him, Rise, take up thy bed, and walk.
"Andimmediatelythe man was made whole, and took up his bed, and walked."4[SeeJohn 5:5"“9emphasis added.]
Please note ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Winding Up Our Spiritual Clocks
Elder Dean L. Larsen
- Of the Presidency of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker reflects on the winding down of his physical 'clock' as he ages and compares it to the need for regular spiritual maintenance.
On the wall of the kitchen in our home hangs a clock. It"™s a windup clock. That is, it is necessary every seven or eight days to wind up the mechanism with a key. If this is not done at regular intervals, the clock eventually begins to lose time; its chimes become sluggish and off-tone. Finally it stops until it is rewound again.
Sometimes when I am rewinding this clock, I think how good it would be if I could restore my physical powers to their youthful vigor in a manner as simple as this. I ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Winding Up Our Spiritual Clocks
Elder Dean L. Larsen
- Of the Presidency of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
Elder Albert E. Bowen's 1949 address is recalled, emphasizing the need for regular spiritual rejuvenation to resist temptation and maintain good resolutions.
Just forty years ago, in the October conference of 1949, Elder Albert E. Bowen, a member of the Council of the Twelve, spoke these words:
"Men are mortal and beset by human frailties. They are enticed by the pressures of immediate "¦ desire to depart from the high standards of the perfect law. When they are under the influence of an exalted occasion, they make high resolves. They firmly determine to avoid past mistakes and to do better. But gone out from under the spell of that influence and ab ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Winding Up Our Spiritual Clocks
Elder Dean L. Larsen
- Of the Presidency of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
Amulek's counsel to the Zoramites on the importance of prayer is recounted, highlighting the need for continuous prayer in various aspects of life.
Amulek understood the importance of prayer as a spiritually rejuvenating influence. "Humble yourselves," he said to the Zoramites, "and continue in prayer. "¦
Ye must pour out your souls in your closets, and your secret places, and in your wilderness."Alma 34:19, 26
Amulek counseled the people to pray over their flocks, their households, and their fields. (SeeAlma 34:20"“21"Yea," he said, "and when you do not cry unto the Lord, let your hearts be full, drawn out in prayer unto him conti ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Winding Up Our Spiritual Clocks
Elder Dean L. Larsen
- Of the Presidency of the Seventy
📅 0
📖 general conference
President Spencer W. Kimball's teachings on service are shared, emphasizing how serving others can spiritually uplift and provide perspective on one's own problems.
President Spencer W. Kimball once said, "I have learned that it is by serving that we learn how to serve. When we are engaged in the service of our fellowmen, not only do our deeds assist them, but we put our own problems in a fresher perspective. When we concern ourselves more with others, there is less time to be concerned with ourselves. In the midst of the miracle of serving, there is the promise of Jesus, that by losing ourselves, we find ourselves." President Kimball added, "There is gre ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Windows
President Thomas S. Monson
- Second Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recalls a tender moment when President Hugh B. Brown and his wife waved handkerchiefs to each other as a symbol of assurance before parting for the day.
Windows teach lessons never to be forgotten. Ever shall I remember a visit to the home of President Hugh B. Brown. It was graduation day at Brigham Young University. He was to conduct the exercises, and I was to deliver the commencement address. I drove to President Brown"™s home and escorted him to my car. Before we could drive away, however, he said to me, "Wait just a few minutes. My wife, Zina, will come to the front window." I glanced at the window, noted that the curtain had parted, an ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Windows
President Thomas S. Monson
- Second Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker shares a heartbreaking story of a 91-year-old man who dresses up and waits all day for his family to visit him on his birthday, but they never come.
A national columnist one day titled her story, "What a Forgotten Birthday Can Mean," and then quoted from a letter she had received: "I have never written to you before, but I believe the following might interest you and your readers. I found it in an old magazine. No author"™s name was mentioned"”just "˜A Heavy-Hearted Observer."™ ""˜Yesterday was a man"™s birthday. He was ninety-one. He awakened earlier than usual, bathed, shaved and put on his best clothes. Surely they would come ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Windows
President Thomas S. Monson
- Second Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker recounts a personal experience with an older widow, Mattie, whose son, Dick, had not visited her for many years until he reconnected with the Church and finally visited her.
When I read that touching account, tears came easily. I reflected on an experience in my life, one that had a happier ending. Each time I would visit an older widow whom I had known for many years and whose bishop I had been, my heart grieved at her utter loneliness. A favorite son of hers lived many miles away, and for years he had not visited Mother. Mattie spent long hours in a lonely vigil at her front window. Behind a frayed and frequently opened curtain, the disappointed mother would say t ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →
Windows
President Thomas S. Monson
- Second Counselor in the First Presidency
📅 0
📖 general conference
The speaker tells the story of William Norris, who built a computer manufacturing plant in a poor neighborhood, providing education and employment opportunities for the community.
Such was the experience of William Norris, formerly the chairman of a large computer manufacturing firm and a friend of many years. Mr. Norris determined to build a plant in an area of extreme poverty. The neighborhood was predominantly composed of a minority race"”unmarried women with children, uneducated, uncared-for, but needing help. These women became the work force in the production of high-tech computers. I had the privilege to be hosted by Mr. Norris and to be given a tour of his new f ... (continued)
Forgiveness
Read Full Talk →