Speakers:
President Thomas S. Monson: Welcome to Conference
Elder Richard G. Scott: To Acquire Spiritual Guidance
Sister Vicki F. Matsumori: Helping Others Welcome the Whisperings of the Spirit
Elder L. Whitney Clayton: That Your Burdens May be Light
Brother Russell T. Osguthorpe: Teaching Helps Save Lives
Elder David A. Bednar: More Diligent and Concerned at Home
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf: The Love of God
Welcome to Conference
President Thomas S. Monson
President of the Church
Since last we met in April of this year, we have dedicated the beautiful Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple in South Jordan, Utah. Sandwiched between the Draper Utah Temple dedication in March and this most recent dedication of the Oquirrh Mountain Utah Temple in August, a spectacular two-night cultural event was held featuring youth from both temple districts. The productions retraced the rich legacy of Utah through song and dance. All told, approximately 14,000 youth participated over the two nights.
We continue to build temples. We desire that as many members as possible have an opportunity to attend the temple without having to travel inordinate distances. Worldwide, eighty-three percent of our members live within 200 miles of a temple. That percentage will continue to increase as we construct new temples around the world. Currently there are one hundred and thirty temples in operation, with sixteen announced or under construction.
Millions of ordinances are performed in the temples each year in behalf of our deceased loved ones. May we continue to be faithful in performing such ordinances for those who are unable to do so for themselves. I love the words of President Joseph F. Smith as he spoke of temple service and of the spirit world beyond mortality. Said he: “Through our efforts in their behalf, their chains of bondage will fall from them, and the darkness surrounding them will clear away, that light may shine upon them and they shall hear in the spirit world of the work that has been done for them by their people here, and will rejoice with you in your performance of these duties.”
Brothers and sisters, the Church continues to grow, as it has since being organized over 179 years ago. It is changing the lives of more and more people every year and is spreading far and wide over the earth as our missionary force seeks out those who are looking for the truths which are found in the gospel of Jesus Christ. We call upon all members of the Church to befriend the new converts, to reach out to them, to surround them with love and to help them feel at home.
I would ask that your faith and prayers continue to be offered in behalf of those areas where our influence is limited and where we are not allowed to share the gospel freely at this time. Miracles can occur as we do so.
To Acquire Spiritual Guidance
Elder Richard G. Scott
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
[Elder Scott reported a circumstance in which he had received very personal direction from the Lord, and then continued with these words.]
When that last, most sacred experience was concluded, I had received some of the most precious, specific, personal direction one could hope to obtain in this life. Had I not responded to the first impressions, and recorded them, I would not have received the last, most precious guidance.
What I have described is not an isolated experience. It embodies several true principles regarding communication from the Lord to His children here on earth. I believe that you can leave the most precious, personal direction of the Spirit unheard because you do not respond to, record, and apply the first promptings that come to you.
Impressions of the Spirit can come in response to urgent prayer or unsolicited when needed. Sometimes the Lord reveals truth to you when you are not actively seeking it, such as when you are in danger and do not know it. However, the Lord will not force you to learn. You must exercise your agency to authorize the Spirit to teach you. As you make this a practice in your life, you will be more perceptive to the feelings that come with spiritual guidance. Then, when that guidance comes, sometimes when you least expect it, you will recognize it more easily.
The inspiring influence of the Holy Spirit can be overcome or masked by strong emotions such as anger, hate, passion, fear, or pride. When such influences are present it is like trying to savor the delicate flavor of a grape while eating a jalapeno pepper. Both flavors are present, but one completely overpowers the other. In like manner, strong emotions overcome the delicate promptings of the Holy Spirit.
I share a warning. Satan is extremely good at blocking spiritual communication by inducing individuals, through temptation, to violate the laws upon which spiritual communication is founded. With some he is even able to convince them that they are not able to receive such guidance from the Lord.
Helping Others Recognize the Whisperings of the Spirit
Sister Vicki F. Matsumori
Second Counselor, Primary General Presidency
The scriptures and the prophets teach what this constant companionship [of the Holy Ghost] feels like. The Lord tells us, “I will tell you in your mine and in your heart, by the Holy Ghost, which shall come upon you and which shall dwell in our heart.” Enos stated, “While I was struggling in the spirit, behold, the voice of the Lord came into my mind,” Joseph said, “You feel pure intelligence flowing into you, it may give you sudden strokes of ideas…” President Henry B. Eyring described the influence of the Holy Ghost as “peace, hope and joy…” He added. “Almost always I have also felt a sensation of light.”
My favorite description, though, comes from an 8-year-old boy who had just received the Holy Ghost. He said, “It felt like sunshine.”
However, it is not always easy to discern these “sunshine” moments at first. The Book of Mormon tells us of some faithful Lamanites who “were baptized with fire and with the Holy Ghost and they knew it not.” We can help others become more familiar with the promptings of the Spirit when we share our testimony of the influence of the Holy Ghost in our lives. Remember that some experiences are too sacred to relate. However, by sharing testimony of the Spirit in our lives, those who are unfamiliar with these promptings are more likely to recognize when they have similar feelings.”
That Your Burdens May Be Light
Elder L. Whitney Clayton
Of the Presidency of the Seventy
Many years ago I walked at dawn through the narrow cobblestone streets of Cusco, Peru, high in the Andes Mountains. I saw a man from a local indigenous group walking down one of the streets. He was not a big man physically, but he carried an immense load of firewood in a huge burlap sack on his back. The sack seemed to be as big as he was. The load must have weighed as much as he did. He steadied it with a rope that looped under the bottom of the sack and circled up around his forehead. He gripped the rope tightly on both sides of his head. He kept a rag on his forehead underneath the rope to keep it from cutting into his skin. He leaned forward under his burden and walked with deliberate, difficult steps.
The man was carrying the firewood to the marketplace where it would be sold. In an average day he might make just two or three round trips across the town to deliver similarly awkward, heavy loads.
The memory of him bent forward, struggling down the street has become increasingly meaningful for me with the passage of years. How long could he continue to carry such burdens?
Life presses all kinds of burdens on each of us, some light but others relentless and heavy. People struggle every day under burdens that tax their souls. Many of us struggle under such burdens. They can be emotionally or physically ponderous. They can be worrisome, oppressive and exhausting. And they can continue for years…
No matter the burdens we face in life as a consequence of natural conditions, the misconduct of others or our own mistakes and shortcomings, we are all children of a loving Heavenly Father who sent us to earth as part of His eternal plan for our growth and progress. Our unique individual experiences can help prepare us to return to Him. The adversity and afflictions that are ours, however difficult to bear, last for but “a small moment; and then, if [we] endure it well, God shall exalt [us] on high.” We must do everything we can to bear our burdens “well” for however long our “small moment” carrying them lasts.
Burdens provide opportunities to practice virtues that contribute to eventual perfection. They invite us to “[yield] to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and [put] off the natural man and [become] a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and [become] as a child, submissive, meek, humble, patient, full of love, willing to submit to all things which the Lord seeth fit to inflict upon [us], even as a child doth submit to his father.” Thus burdens become blessings, though often such blessings are well disguised and may require time, effort and faith to accept and understand.
More Diligent and Concerned at Home
(D&C 93: 50)
Elder David A. Bednar
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
As our sons were growing up, our family did what you have done and what you now do. We had regular family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening. Now I am sure what I am about to describe has never occurred in your home, but it did in ours.
Sometimes Sister Bednar and I wondered if our efforts to do these spiritually essential things were worthwhile. Now and then verses of scripture were read amid outbursts, such as: “He’s touching me!” “Make him stop looking at me!” “He’s breathing my air!” Sincere prayers occasionally were interrupted with giggling and poking. And with active, rambunctious boys, family home evening lessons did not always produce high levels of edification. At times Sister Bednar and I were exasperated because the righteous habits we worked so hard to foster did not seem to yield immediately the spiritual results we wanted and expected.
Today if you could ask our adult sons what they remember about family prayer, scripture study, and family home evening, I believe I know how they would answer. They likely would not identify a particular prayer or a specific instance of scripture study or an especially meaningful family home evening lesson as the defining moment in their spiritual development. What they would say they remember is that as a family we were consistent.
Sister Bednar and I thought helping our sons understand the content of a lesson or a specific scripture was the ultimate outcome. But such a result does not occur each time we study or pray or learn together. The consistency of our intent and work was perhaps the greatest lesson—a lesson we did not fully appreciate at the time.
In my office is a beautiful painting of a wheat field. The painting is a vast collection of individual brush strokes—none of which in isolation is very interesting or impressive. In fact, if you stand close to the canvas, all you can see is a mass of seemingly unrelated and unattractive streaks of yellow and gold and brown paint. However, as you gradually move away from the canvas, all of the individual brush strokes combine together and produce a magnificent landscape of a wheat field. Many ordinary, individual brush strokes work together to create a captivating and beautiful painting.
Each family prayer, each episode of family scripture study, and each family home evening is a brush stroke on the canvas of our souls. No one event may appear to be very impressive or memorable. But just as the yellow and gold and brown strokes of paint complement each other and produce an impressive masterpiece, so our consistency in doing seemingly small things can lead to significant spiritual results.
The Love of God
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Second Counselor in the First Presidency
Why Should We Love God?
God the Eternal Father did not give that first great commandment because He needs us to love Him. His power and glory are not diminished should we disregard, deny, or even defile His name His influence and dominion extend through time and space independent of our acceptance, approval, or admiration.
No, God does not need us to love Him. But oh, how we need to love God!
For what we love determines what we seek.
What we seek determines what we think and do.
What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become.
We are created in the image of our heavenly parents; we are God’s spirit children. Therefore we have a vast capacity for love—it is part of our spiritual heritage. What and how we love not only defines us as individuals, it also defines us as a Church.
Love is the defining characteristic of a disciple of Christ.
Since the beginning of time, love has been the source of both the highest bliss and the heaviest burdens. At the heart of misery from the days of Adam until today, you will find the love of wrong things. And at the heart of joy, you will find the love of good things.
And the greatest of all good things is God.
Our Father in Heaven has given us, His children, much more than any mortal mind can comprehend. Under his direction, the Great Jehovah created this wondrous world we live in. God the Father watches over us, fills our hearts with breathtaking joy, brightens our darkest hours with blessed peace, distills upon our minds precious truths, shepherds us through times of distress, rejoices when we rejoice, and answers our righteous petitions.
He offers to His children the promise of a glorious and infinite existence and has provided a way for us to progress in knowledge and glory until we receive a fullness of joy. He has promised us all that He has.
If all that is not enough reason to love our Heavenly Father, perhaps we can learn from the words of the Apostle John, who said, “We love Him, because He first loved us.”
Think of the purest, most all-consuming love you can imagine. Now multiply that love by an infinite amount—that is the measure of God’s love—for you.
God does not look on the outward appearance. I believe that He doesn’t care one bit if we live in a castle or a cottage, if we are handsome or homely, if we are famous or forgotten. Though we are incomplete, God loves us completely. Though we are imperfect, He loves us perfectly. Though we may feel lost and without compass, God’s love encompasses us completely.
