General Conference Odyssey: Sunday morning session, October 7, 2007
O Remember, Remember
Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency
Sunday morning sessions of general conference are always immediately preceded by Music and the Spoken Word, and President Eyring alluded to that as he started off the lineup of speakers for that session of the October 2007 conference.
I was grateful for the choir in their broadcast this morning, which was about the Savior, and grateful to see that the words of one of the songs they sang, ‘This Is the Christ,’ were written by President James E. Faust. As I sat down next to Brother Newell, I leaned over to him and asked, ‘How are your children?’ He said, ‘When President Faust sat in that chair, that’s what he always asked.’ I’m not surprised, because President Faust was always a perfect example of a disciple that was described in Music and the Spoken Word today. I always felt that when I grew up, I wanted to be like President Faust. There may still be time.”
He then told a little story about when his father-in-law lived near his family’s home and had done a project to improve things on their property, and a prompting that followed from the Spirit.
“I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind-not in my own voice-these words: ‘I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.’
“I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.”
This practice of his, of seeing the hand of God blessing his family and writing such occurrences down, is something I’ve heard referred to in Church classes ever since this talk, and I think we can all do better about doing the same for ourselves. We might think we’ll remember all the important things-I know I do that a lot-but our memories can be unreliable without the assistance of a written record, and our memories are also impossible to transfer to others when they’re not recorded.
After beginning this practice of seeing the hand of God in his life, President Eyring reported, “As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.”
Of course, the cynic will talk about things like confirmation bias to dismiss what President Eyring is talking about here. But then, the typical cynic knows little about the dealings of God, or at least less than he could if he would stop seeing ulterior motives in everything.
Speaking to why some might struggle to see God’s hand in their lives, we’re reminded that “the challenge to remember has always been the hardest for those who are blessed abundantly,” because, “It is easy to begin to feel the blessings were granted not by a loving God on whom we depend but by our own powers.”
Not seeing God’s hand isn’t only a problem for those who are prosperous, of course. “It can also be hard to remember Him when our lives go badly. When we struggle, as so many do, in grinding poverty or when our enemies prevail against us or when sickness is not healed, the enemy of our souls can send his evil message that there is no God or that if He exists He does not care about us.”
So how do we see God’s hand in our lives when prayers aren’t answered the way we want, or we can’t separate confirmation bias from our own good fortune? “The key to the remembering that brings and maintains testimony is receiving the Holy Ghost as a companion. It is the Holy Ghost who helps us see what God has done for us. It is the Holy Ghost who can help those we serve to see what God has done for them.”
Live by Faith and Not by Fear
Quentin L. Cook, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
In his first talk as an apostle, Elder Cook said,
“President Hinckley extended this call to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve late Thursday afternoon. I cannot possibly articulate the kaleidoscope of feelings I have experienced since then. There have been sleepless nights and much prayer. My spirits have been buoyed, however, by the knowledge that President Hinckley is the prophet and that the membership of the Church will be praying for me and my family.
“To say that I feel deeply inadequate would be an understatement. When I was called as a General Authority in April of 1996, I also felt unequal to the calling. Elder Neal A. Maxwell reassured me then that the most important qualification for all of us serving in the kingdom is to be comfortable in bearing witness of the divinity of the Savior. A peace came over me at that time and has stayed with me since because I love the Savior and have had spiritual experiences that allow me to testify of Him. I rejoice in the opportunity to bear witness of Jesus Christ in all the world, notwithstanding my inadequacies.”
With Jesus symbolizing living water, Elder Cook used that metaphor while describing a remarkable island in Tonga that his Church assignments had taken him to:
“When drought conditions left the village without water, there was only one way they could obtain fresh water and stay alive. Over the centuries they had found that fresh water traveled down through rock formations inside the mountains and came up in a few spots in the sea.
“The Tongan men would set off in their small boats with a wise elder standing at one end of the boat looking for just the right spot. The strong young men in the boat stood ready with containers to dive deep into the seawater. When they reached the appropriate spot, the wise man would raise both arms to heaven. That was the signal. The strong young men would dive off the boat as deep as they could and fill the containers with fresh springwater. This old patriarch likened this lifesaving tradition to the living waters of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the wise man to God’s prophet here on earth. He noted that the water was pure, fresh, and, in their drought condition, lifesaving. But it was not easy to find. It was not visible to the untrained eye. This patriarch wanted to know everything the prophet was teaching.”
While a native of Cache Valley in Utah, Elder Cook spent his professional life and raised his family in the San Francisco Bay area. That, and his travels to various parts of the world as a member of the Seventy led him to state, “I believe we can raise righteous children anywhere in the world if they are taught religious principles in the home.”
Don’t Leave for Tomorrow What You Can Do Today
Claudio R. M. Costa, Presidency of the Seventy
Elder Costa also paid tribute to President Faust in his talk, and also spoke of principles taught in the family proclamation. Amidst all that he stated, “We can lay down our lives for those we love not by physically dying for them but rather by living for them-giving of our time; always being present in their lives; serving them; being courteous, affectionate, and showing true love for those of our family and to all men-as the Savior taught.”
Mothers Who Know
Julie B. Beck, Relief Society General President
From a worldly perspective President Beck’s talk in this session was the most cringe, which conversely makes it the most based talk of the session from a gospel perspective, as she spoke about the value of righteous mothers. “The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than at any time in the history of the world, we need mothers who know.... When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children.”
It doesn’t get much more based than this: “Whereas in many cultures in the world children are ‘becoming less valued,’ in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children.”
It’s easy to forget that motherhood isn’t limited to mortality; it’s an eternal attitude, not just something to do for a few decades of life amidst other endeavors. “Some women are not given the responsibility of bearing children in mortality, but just as Hannah of the Old Testament prayed fervently for her child, the value women place on motherhood in this life and the attributes of motherhood they attain here will rise with them in the Resurrection.”
One of the greatest contributions mothers make is in what they teach their children. This has always been true, and it becomes all the more important as the Church puts more emphasis on home-centered worship.
“A well-taught friend told me that he did not learn anything at church that he had not already learned at home. His parents used family scripture study, prayer, family home evening, mealtimes, and other gatherings to teach. Think of the power of our future missionary force if mothers considered their homes as a pre-missionary training center. Then the doctrines of the gospel taught in the MTC would be a review and not a revelation. That is influence; that is power.”
Small and Simple Things
Christoffel Golden Jr., Quorum of the Seventy
Elder Golden, of South Africa, spoke of the strength we can get from the small and simple things found within our worship, particularly from the triad of prayer, scripture study, and the sacrament. Quoting Joseph Fielding Smith he said,
“In my judgment the sacrament meeting is the most sacred, the most holy, of all the meetings of the Church. When I reflect upon the gathering of the Savior and his apostles on that memorable night when he introduced the sacrament ... my heart is filled with wonderment and my feelings are touched. I consider that gathering one of the most solemn and wonderful since the beginning of time.”
“Brothers and sisters, may we discover anew the divine power of daily prayer and the convincing influence of the Book of Mormon and the holy scriptures. On Sundays, when partaking of the sacrament, may we do so in the spirit of true devotion to Him who is the giver of all things.”
Clean Hands and a Pure Heart
David A. Bednar, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Elder Bednar’s talk was a call for us to take our discipleship to the next level, stating,
“The purpose of our mortal journey is not merely to see the sights on earth or to expend our allotment of time on self-centered pursuits; rather, we are to ‘walk in newness of life’ (Romans 6:4), to become sanctified by yielding our hearts unto God, and to obtain ‘the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:16).
We are commanded and instructed to so live that our fallen nature is changed through the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost.”
It isn’t enough to avoid evil, but to find ways to do good:
“The gospel of Jesus Christ encompasses much more than avoiding, overcoming, and being cleansed from sin and the bad influences in our lives; it also essentially entails doing good, being good, and becoming better. Repenting of our sins and seeking forgiveness are spiritually necessary, and we must always do so. But remission of sin is not the only or even the ultimate purpose of the gospel. To have our hearts changed by the Holy Spirit such that ‘we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually’ (Mosiah 5:2), as did King Benjamin’s people, is the covenant responsibility we have accepted. This mighty change is not simply the result of working harder or developing greater individual discipline. Rather, it is the consequence of a fundamental change in our desires, our motives, and our natures made possible through the Atonement of Christ the Lord. Our spiritual purpose is to overcome both sin and the desire to sin, both the taint and the tyranny of sin.”
Of course, when the scriptures talk about clean hands they’re talking about more of a spiritual than a physical cleanliness, and that comes through Christ’s atonement.
“Let me suggest that hands are made clean through the process of putting off the natural man and by overcoming sin and the evil influences in our lives through the Savior’s Atonement. Hearts are purified as we receive His strengthening power to do good and become better. All of our worthy desires and good works, as necessary as they are, can never produce clean hands and a pure heart. It is the Atonement of Jesus Christ that provides both a cleansing and redeeming power that helps us to overcome sin and a sanctifying and strengthening power that helps us to become better than we ever could by relying only upon our own strength. The infinite Atonement is for both the sinner and for the saint in each of us.”
Elder Bednar also cautions us, “Clean hands alone will not be enough when we stand before Him who is pure and who, as ‘a lamb without blemish and without spot’ (1 Peter 1:19), freely spilled His precious blood for us.” We also need a pure heart. It’s the difference between refraining from sin, and fully repenting by no longer desiring to sin.
There are no shortcuts or quick fixes for achieving a pure heart. It requires consistent and conscious effort.
“We will not attain a state of perfection in this life, but we can and should press forward with faith in Christ along the strait and narrow path and make steady progress toward our eternal destiny. The Lord’s pattern for spiritual development is ‘line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little’ (2 Nephi 28:30). Small, steady, incremental spiritual improvements are the steps the Lord would have us take. Preparing to walk guiltless before God is one of the primary purposes of mortality and the pursuit of a lifetime; it does not result from sporadic spurts of intense spiritual activity.”
The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain
Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church
At the start of his talk President Hinckley said, “Now, my brothers and sisters, we live with an interesting phenomenon. A soloist sings the same song again and again. An orchestra repeats the same music. But a speaker is expected to come up with something new every time he speaks.” Yes, it’s true on all counts. And there’s a bit of humor in making such an observation. One of the reasons why people loved President Hinckley so much was because of the humor he could show in his talks.
As he shared some of his feelings about the Church, President Hinckley stated, “This work is unique and wonderful. It is fundamentally different from every other body of religious doctrine of which I know.” Those who know anything about the Church’s doctrine can identify or explain how it differs from the doctrines of other churches; one of those differences can be found in our teaching that the heavens are not closed, that God the Father can and does manifest Himself to those of His children who seek Him in faith, starting in most dramatic fashion with the experience of Joseph Smith as a 14-year-old boy when he saw the Father and the Son in the woods near his home. President Hinckley mentioned other instances when the Father Himself was manifested to men; His voice was heard when Jesus was baptized, at the mount of transfiguration, and just before Jesus appeared to the faithful in the Americas; and He was seen by Stephen. But Joseph’s vision was the first time the Father was both seen and heard simultaneously.
“One is led to wonder why it was so important that both the Father and the Son appear. I think it was because They were ushering in the dispensation of the fulness of times, the last and final dispensation of the gospel, when there would be gathered together in one the elements of all previous dispensations. This was to be the final chapter in the long chronicle of God’s dealing with men and women upon the earth.”
While nobody knew it at the time, this would be the last general conference President Hinckley attended before his death the following January. It has been my custom in this project to include the closing paragraphs of an apostle’s final talk, as a final testimony, and even though President Hinckley did speak briefly at the end of the following session, this talk contains more by way of testimony than his later remarks would. So, while I can and will include his final remarks in the next installment, the end of this talk also fits my criteria for a final testimony from the prophet who helped guide the Church during some of the most pivotal years of my life:
“Today I stand in wonder at the marvelous things which God revealed to His appointed prophet while he was yet young and largely unknown. The very language of these revelations is beyond the capacity of even a man of great learning.
“Scholars not of our faith, who will not accept our singular doctrines, are puzzled by the great unrolling of this work, which is touching the hearts of people across the earth. We owe it all to Joseph the Prophet, the seer and the revelator, the Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was foreordained to come forth in this generation as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty in restoring to the earth that which the Savior taught when He walked the roads of Palestine.
“To you, this day, I affirm my witness of the calling of the Prophet Joseph, of his works, of the sealing of his testimony with his blood as a martyr to the eternal truth. Each of you can bear witness of the same thing. You and I are faced with the stark question of accepting the truth of the First Vision and that which followed it. On the question of its reality lies the very validity of this Church. If it is the truth, and I testify that it is, then the work in which we are engaged is the most important work on the earth.
“I leave with you my testimony of the truth of these things, and I invoke the blessings of heaven upon you. May the windows of heaven be opened and blessings showered upon you as the Lord has promised. Never forget that this was His promise and that He has the power and the capacity to see that it is fulfilled. I so pray as I leave my blessing and love with you in the sacred name of our Redeemer, even the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.”
Henry B. Eyring, Second Counselor in the First Presidency
Sunday morning sessions of general conference are always immediately preceded by Music and the Spoken Word, and President Eyring alluded to that as he started off the lineup of speakers for that session of the October 2007 conference.
I was grateful for the choir in their broadcast this morning, which was about the Savior, and grateful to see that the words of one of the songs they sang, ‘This Is the Christ,’ were written by President James E. Faust. As I sat down next to Brother Newell, I leaned over to him and asked, ‘How are your children?’ He said, ‘When President Faust sat in that chair, that’s what he always asked.’ I’m not surprised, because President Faust was always a perfect example of a disciple that was described in Music and the Spoken Word today. I always felt that when I grew up, I wanted to be like President Faust. There may still be time.”
He then told a little story about when his father-in-law lived near his family’s home and had done a project to improve things on their property, and a prompting that followed from the Spirit.
“I took a few steps toward the house, thinking of what he was doing for us, and just as I got to the door, I heard in my mind-not in my own voice-these words: ‘I’m not giving you these experiences for yourself. Write them down.’
“I went inside. I didn’t go to bed. Although I was tired, I took out some paper and began to write. And as I did, I understood the message I had heard in my mind. I was supposed to record for my children to read, someday in the future, how I had seen the hand of God blessing our family. Grandpa didn’t have to do what he was doing for us. He could have had someone else do it or not have done it at all. But he was serving us, his family, in the way covenant disciples of Jesus Christ always do. I knew that was true. And so I wrote it down, so that my children could have the memory someday when they would need it.”
This practice of his, of seeing the hand of God blessing his family and writing such occurrences down, is something I’ve heard referred to in Church classes ever since this talk, and I think we can all do better about doing the same for ourselves. We might think we’ll remember all the important things-I know I do that a lot-but our memories can be unreliable without the assistance of a written record, and our memories are also impossible to transfer to others when they’re not recorded.
After beginning this practice of seeing the hand of God in his life, President Eyring reported, “As I kept at it, something began to happen. As I would cast my mind over the day, I would see evidence of what God had done for one of us that I had not recognized in the busy moments of the day. As that happened, and it happened often, I realized that trying to remember had allowed God to show me what He had done.”
Of course, the cynic will talk about things like confirmation bias to dismiss what President Eyring is talking about here. But then, the typical cynic knows little about the dealings of God, or at least less than he could if he would stop seeing ulterior motives in everything.
Speaking to why some might struggle to see God’s hand in their lives, we’re reminded that “the challenge to remember has always been the hardest for those who are blessed abundantly,” because, “It is easy to begin to feel the blessings were granted not by a loving God on whom we depend but by our own powers.”
Not seeing God’s hand isn’t only a problem for those who are prosperous, of course. “It can also be hard to remember Him when our lives go badly. When we struggle, as so many do, in grinding poverty or when our enemies prevail against us or when sickness is not healed, the enemy of our souls can send his evil message that there is no God or that if He exists He does not care about us.”
So how do we see God’s hand in our lives when prayers aren’t answered the way we want, or we can’t separate confirmation bias from our own good fortune? “The key to the remembering that brings and maintains testimony is receiving the Holy Ghost as a companion. It is the Holy Ghost who helps us see what God has done for us. It is the Holy Ghost who can help those we serve to see what God has done for them.”
Live by Faith and Not by Fear
Quentin L. Cook, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
In his first talk as an apostle, Elder Cook said,
“President Hinckley extended this call to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve late Thursday afternoon. I cannot possibly articulate the kaleidoscope of feelings I have experienced since then. There have been sleepless nights and much prayer. My spirits have been buoyed, however, by the knowledge that President Hinckley is the prophet and that the membership of the Church will be praying for me and my family.
“To say that I feel deeply inadequate would be an understatement. When I was called as a General Authority in April of 1996, I also felt unequal to the calling. Elder Neal A. Maxwell reassured me then that the most important qualification for all of us serving in the kingdom is to be comfortable in bearing witness of the divinity of the Savior. A peace came over me at that time and has stayed with me since because I love the Savior and have had spiritual experiences that allow me to testify of Him. I rejoice in the opportunity to bear witness of Jesus Christ in all the world, notwithstanding my inadequacies.”
With Jesus symbolizing living water, Elder Cook used that metaphor while describing a remarkable island in Tonga that his Church assignments had taken him to:
“When drought conditions left the village without water, there was only one way they could obtain fresh water and stay alive. Over the centuries they had found that fresh water traveled down through rock formations inside the mountains and came up in a few spots in the sea.
“The Tongan men would set off in their small boats with a wise elder standing at one end of the boat looking for just the right spot. The strong young men in the boat stood ready with containers to dive deep into the seawater. When they reached the appropriate spot, the wise man would raise both arms to heaven. That was the signal. The strong young men would dive off the boat as deep as they could and fill the containers with fresh springwater. This old patriarch likened this lifesaving tradition to the living waters of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the wise man to God’s prophet here on earth. He noted that the water was pure, fresh, and, in their drought condition, lifesaving. But it was not easy to find. It was not visible to the untrained eye. This patriarch wanted to know everything the prophet was teaching.”
While a native of Cache Valley in Utah, Elder Cook spent his professional life and raised his family in the San Francisco Bay area. That, and his travels to various parts of the world as a member of the Seventy led him to state, “I believe we can raise righteous children anywhere in the world if they are taught religious principles in the home.”
Don’t Leave for Tomorrow What You Can Do Today
Claudio R. M. Costa, Presidency of the Seventy
Elder Costa also paid tribute to President Faust in his talk, and also spoke of principles taught in the family proclamation. Amidst all that he stated, “We can lay down our lives for those we love not by physically dying for them but rather by living for them-giving of our time; always being present in their lives; serving them; being courteous, affectionate, and showing true love for those of our family and to all men-as the Savior taught.”
Mothers Who Know
Julie B. Beck, Relief Society General President
From a worldly perspective President Beck’s talk in this session was the most cringe, which conversely makes it the most based talk of the session from a gospel perspective, as she spoke about the value of righteous mothers. “The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than at any time in the history of the world, we need mothers who know.... When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children.”
It doesn’t get much more based than this: “Whereas in many cultures in the world children are ‘becoming less valued,’ in the culture of the gospel we still believe in having children.”
It’s easy to forget that motherhood isn’t limited to mortality; it’s an eternal attitude, not just something to do for a few decades of life amidst other endeavors. “Some women are not given the responsibility of bearing children in mortality, but just as Hannah of the Old Testament prayed fervently for her child, the value women place on motherhood in this life and the attributes of motherhood they attain here will rise with them in the Resurrection.”
One of the greatest contributions mothers make is in what they teach their children. This has always been true, and it becomes all the more important as the Church puts more emphasis on home-centered worship.
“A well-taught friend told me that he did not learn anything at church that he had not already learned at home. His parents used family scripture study, prayer, family home evening, mealtimes, and other gatherings to teach. Think of the power of our future missionary force if mothers considered their homes as a pre-missionary training center. Then the doctrines of the gospel taught in the MTC would be a review and not a revelation. That is influence; that is power.”
Small and Simple Things
Christoffel Golden Jr., Quorum of the Seventy
Elder Golden, of South Africa, spoke of the strength we can get from the small and simple things found within our worship, particularly from the triad of prayer, scripture study, and the sacrament. Quoting Joseph Fielding Smith he said,
“In my judgment the sacrament meeting is the most sacred, the most holy, of all the meetings of the Church. When I reflect upon the gathering of the Savior and his apostles on that memorable night when he introduced the sacrament ... my heart is filled with wonderment and my feelings are touched. I consider that gathering one of the most solemn and wonderful since the beginning of time.”
“Brothers and sisters, may we discover anew the divine power of daily prayer and the convincing influence of the Book of Mormon and the holy scriptures. On Sundays, when partaking of the sacrament, may we do so in the spirit of true devotion to Him who is the giver of all things.”
Clean Hands and a Pure Heart
David A. Bednar, Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Elder Bednar’s talk was a call for us to take our discipleship to the next level, stating,
“The purpose of our mortal journey is not merely to see the sights on earth or to expend our allotment of time on self-centered pursuits; rather, we are to ‘walk in newness of life’ (Romans 6:4), to become sanctified by yielding our hearts unto God, and to obtain ‘the mind of Christ’ (1 Corinthians 2:16).
We are commanded and instructed to so live that our fallen nature is changed through the sanctifying power of the Holy Ghost.”
It isn’t enough to avoid evil, but to find ways to do good:
“The gospel of Jesus Christ encompasses much more than avoiding, overcoming, and being cleansed from sin and the bad influences in our lives; it also essentially entails doing good, being good, and becoming better. Repenting of our sins and seeking forgiveness are spiritually necessary, and we must always do so. But remission of sin is not the only or even the ultimate purpose of the gospel. To have our hearts changed by the Holy Spirit such that ‘we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually’ (Mosiah 5:2), as did King Benjamin’s people, is the covenant responsibility we have accepted. This mighty change is not simply the result of working harder or developing greater individual discipline. Rather, it is the consequence of a fundamental change in our desires, our motives, and our natures made possible through the Atonement of Christ the Lord. Our spiritual purpose is to overcome both sin and the desire to sin, both the taint and the tyranny of sin.”
Of course, when the scriptures talk about clean hands they’re talking about more of a spiritual than a physical cleanliness, and that comes through Christ’s atonement.
“Let me suggest that hands are made clean through the process of putting off the natural man and by overcoming sin and the evil influences in our lives through the Savior’s Atonement. Hearts are purified as we receive His strengthening power to do good and become better. All of our worthy desires and good works, as necessary as they are, can never produce clean hands and a pure heart. It is the Atonement of Jesus Christ that provides both a cleansing and redeeming power that helps us to overcome sin and a sanctifying and strengthening power that helps us to become better than we ever could by relying only upon our own strength. The infinite Atonement is for both the sinner and for the saint in each of us.”
Elder Bednar also cautions us, “Clean hands alone will not be enough when we stand before Him who is pure and who, as ‘a lamb without blemish and without spot’ (1 Peter 1:19), freely spilled His precious blood for us.” We also need a pure heart. It’s the difference between refraining from sin, and fully repenting by no longer desiring to sin.
There are no shortcuts or quick fixes for achieving a pure heart. It requires consistent and conscious effort.
“We will not attain a state of perfection in this life, but we can and should press forward with faith in Christ along the strait and narrow path and make steady progress toward our eternal destiny. The Lord’s pattern for spiritual development is ‘line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little’ (2 Nephi 28:30). Small, steady, incremental spiritual improvements are the steps the Lord would have us take. Preparing to walk guiltless before God is one of the primary purposes of mortality and the pursuit of a lifetime; it does not result from sporadic spurts of intense spiritual activity.”
The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain
Gordon B. Hinckley, President of the Church
At the start of his talk President Hinckley said, “Now, my brothers and sisters, we live with an interesting phenomenon. A soloist sings the same song again and again. An orchestra repeats the same music. But a speaker is expected to come up with something new every time he speaks.” Yes, it’s true on all counts. And there’s a bit of humor in making such an observation. One of the reasons why people loved President Hinckley so much was because of the humor he could show in his talks.
As he shared some of his feelings about the Church, President Hinckley stated, “This work is unique and wonderful. It is fundamentally different from every other body of religious doctrine of which I know.” Those who know anything about the Church’s doctrine can identify or explain how it differs from the doctrines of other churches; one of those differences can be found in our teaching that the heavens are not closed, that God the Father can and does manifest Himself to those of His children who seek Him in faith, starting in most dramatic fashion with the experience of Joseph Smith as a 14-year-old boy when he saw the Father and the Son in the woods near his home. President Hinckley mentioned other instances when the Father Himself was manifested to men; His voice was heard when Jesus was baptized, at the mount of transfiguration, and just before Jesus appeared to the faithful in the Americas; and He was seen by Stephen. But Joseph’s vision was the first time the Father was both seen and heard simultaneously.
“One is led to wonder why it was so important that both the Father and the Son appear. I think it was because They were ushering in the dispensation of the fulness of times, the last and final dispensation of the gospel, when there would be gathered together in one the elements of all previous dispensations. This was to be the final chapter in the long chronicle of God’s dealing with men and women upon the earth.”
While nobody knew it at the time, this would be the last general conference President Hinckley attended before his death the following January. It has been my custom in this project to include the closing paragraphs of an apostle’s final talk, as a final testimony, and even though President Hinckley did speak briefly at the end of the following session, this talk contains more by way of testimony than his later remarks would. So, while I can and will include his final remarks in the next installment, the end of this talk also fits my criteria for a final testimony from the prophet who helped guide the Church during some of the most pivotal years of my life:
“Today I stand in wonder at the marvelous things which God revealed to His appointed prophet while he was yet young and largely unknown. The very language of these revelations is beyond the capacity of even a man of great learning.
“Scholars not of our faith, who will not accept our singular doctrines, are puzzled by the great unrolling of this work, which is touching the hearts of people across the earth. We owe it all to Joseph the Prophet, the seer and the revelator, the Apostle of the Lord Jesus Christ, who was foreordained to come forth in this generation as an instrument in the hands of the Almighty in restoring to the earth that which the Savior taught when He walked the roads of Palestine.
“To you, this day, I affirm my witness of the calling of the Prophet Joseph, of his works, of the sealing of his testimony with his blood as a martyr to the eternal truth. Each of you can bear witness of the same thing. You and I are faced with the stark question of accepting the truth of the First Vision and that which followed it. On the question of its reality lies the very validity of this Church. If it is the truth, and I testify that it is, then the work in which we are engaged is the most important work on the earth.
“I leave with you my testimony of the truth of these things, and I invoke the blessings of heaven upon you. May the windows of heaven be opened and blessings showered upon you as the Lord has promised. Never forget that this was His promise and that He has the power and the capacity to see that it is fulfilled. I so pray as I leave my blessing and love with you in the sacred name of our Redeemer, even the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.”