Welcome to T&S’ fifth and final round of coverage of General Conference. We welcome your comments.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf is conducting this session of Conference.
Chorus: Sweet is the Work.
Prayer: ?
Chorus: I Stand All Amazed.
President Boyd K. Packer — The Witness
“Almost mid-sentence it happened. I could not describe to you what happened if I were determined to do so. It is beyond my power of expression, but it is as clear today as it was that night more than 65 years ago. I knew it to be a very private, very individual manifestation. At last I knew for myself. I knew for a certainty, for it had been given to me.”
“Like most things of great worth, knowledge which is of eternal value comes only through personal prayer and pondering. These, joined with fasting and scripture study, will invite impressions and revelations and the whisperings of the Holy Spirit. This provides us with instruction from on high as we learn precept upon precept.”
“Parenthood is a sacred privilege and, depending upon faithfulness, it can be an eternal blessing. The ultimate end of all activity in the Church is that a man and his wife and their children can be happy at home.”
“After all the years that I have lived and taught and served, after the millions of miles I have traveled around the world, with all that I have experienced, there is one great truth that I would share. That is my witness of the Savior Jesus Christ.”
Elder William R. Walker — Live True to the Faith
“It would be a wonderful thing if every Latter Day Saint knew the conversion stories of their forefathers.”
“Whether or not you are a descendant of pioneers, the Mormon pioneer heritage of faith and sacrifice is your heritage. It is the noble heritage of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.”
“The more connected we feel to our righteous forefathers, the more likely we are to make wise and righteous choices.”
“We must not forget the experiences we have had in the temple and we must not forget the promises and the blessing that come to each of us because of the temple.”
Elder L. Tom Perry — Obedience Through Our Faithfulness
“Men and women who ignore the gentle promptings of the Spirit will often learn, as the Prodigal Son learned, through the natural consequences of disobedience and riotous living.”
“To succeed in life, we must teach our spirit and body to work together in obedience to God’s commandments. If we heed the gentle promptings of the Holy Ghost, it can unite our spirits and bodies in purpose and guide us back to our eternal home to live with our Father in Heaven.”
“I recognize the challenges associated with having faith in Jesus Christ and obedience will be more difficult for some than others. I have enough years of experience to know that while the personalities of horses can be very different, and, therefore, can be easier or more difficult to train, that the variety of people is far greater. Each of us is a son or daughter of God, and we have a unique pre-mortal and mortal story. Accordingly, there are very few one-size-fits-all solutions.”
“Too often we think of obedience as the passive and thoughtless following of the orders or dictates of a higher authority. Actually, at its best, obedience is an emblem of our faith in the wisdom and power of the highest authority, even God.”
“Those who rely solely on themselves and follow only their own desires and self-inclinations are so limited when compared to those who follow God and tap into his insight, power, and gifts. It has been said: “Someone who is all wrapped up in himself or herself makes a very small package.” Strong, proactive obedience is anything but weak or passive. It is the means by which we declare our faith in God and qualify ourselves to receive the powers of heaven. Obedience is a choice.”
Chorus: Hark All Ye Nations
Elder Lawrence E. Corbridge — The Prophet Joseph Smith
“Opposition, criticism and antagonism are companions to the truth. Whenever the truth is revealed with regard to the purpose and destiny of man, there will be a force to oppose it.”
“There is no dispute about what Joseph Smith accomplished, only how he did what he did and why. And there are not many options. He was either pretender or prophet. Either he did what he did alone or he had the help of heaven. Look at the evidence, but look at all of the evidence, the entire mosaic of his life, not any single piece.”
Elder Michael John U. Teh — For Where Your Treasure Is
“In times of calamity or tragedy, the Lord has a way of refocusing us and our priorities. All of a sudden, all the material things we worked so hard to acquire do not matter. All that matters is our family and our relationships with others.”
“Out of necessity, most of us are involved in earning money and acquiring some of the world’s goods to be able to sustain our families. It requires a good part of our time and attention. There is no end to what the world has to offer, so it is critical that we learn to recognize when we have enough. If we are not careful, we will begin to chase after the temporal more than the spiritual.”
Elder Marcos A. Aidukaitis — If Ye Lack Wisdom
“One should not roam through garbage.”
“In the Kingdom of God the search for truth is appreciated, encouraged, and is in no way repressed or feared.”
“I invite all to seek truth from any of these methods, but especially from God through personal revelation. God will reveal truth to those who seek for it as prescribed in the scriptures. It requires more effort than to just search the Internet, but it is worth it.”
Elder D. Todd Christofferson — The Resurrection of Jesus Christ
“The Savior is not dependent on food or water or oxygen or any other substance, power, or person for life. Both as Jehovah and Messiah, He is the great I Am, the self-existing God. He simply is, and ever will be.”
“Thus, the Savior makes all things right. No injustice in mortality is permanent, even death, for He restores life again. No injury, disability, betrayal, or abuse goes uncompensated in the end because of His ultimate justice and mercy.”
“Given the reality of the Resurrection of Christ, Doubts about the omnipotence, omniscience, and benevolence of God the Father—who gave His Only Begotten Son for the redemption of the world—are groundless. Doubts about the meaning and purpose of life are unfounded. Jesus Christ is in fact the only name or way by which salvation can come to mankind.”
President Thomas S. Monson — Until We Meet Again
“As we ponder the messages we have heard, may we resolve to do a little better than we have done in the past. May we be kind and loving to those who do not share our beliefs and our standards. The Savior brought to this earth a message of love and goodwill to all men and women. May we ever follow His example.”
Chorus: Come, Let Us Anew.
Prayer: ?
Thanks Kent and Dave. Powerful stuff in this session. Normally I despise when people speculate about such things, but the personal and specific nature of President Packer’s talk seemed to me a crowning capstone on his lifetime of apostolic witnesses.
All of the speakers were equally powerful.
Elder Christopherson’s 15-minute long testimony was magnificent.
“The Savior is not dependent on food or water or oxygen or any other substance, power, or person for life. Both as Jehovah and Messiah, He is the great I Am, the self-existing God. He simply is, and ever will be.”
I don’t know quite how to understand this in the context of D&C 93:12-17. Or D&C 20:28 for that matter.
Mark D. I agree. Translate that quote into Latin, and it would be right at home in the writings of St. Anselm of Canterbury. More so than it is in Mormon theology. Strange.
This has been a strange conference in that respect, though. Elder Oaks, basically expanding the concept of Priesthood authority/power to the point that it becomes almost meaningless (Relief Society sisters are acting with Priesthood power when they bake casseroles for the new mothers).
And then, Uchtdorf renders the concept of the Restoration meaningless by declaring that the Restoration just keeps on going on and on and on. The Restoration is still happening.
Very unusual stuff. And who was it that encouraged us to abandon the label Mormon, unless we qualify our statement by including the full name of the Church? Yet, the Church’s own website is called Mormon.org. And on that website you can watch any number of videos of people proudly declaring themselves Mormons.
This is almost too much confusion for me to handle. Maybe I just didn’t get it?
I dearly wish we could get rid of the teleprompter. Watching these leaders read from it is often painful in the extreme.
Giving food to people having a trial is meaningless? Maybe to some, but not to many I know. It removes distractions that can be stressful when more important issues are weighing down souls.
Maybe you’re trying too hard to be confused JoCl. Mormon.org is meant to channel current understanding into greater understanding. Church members are also tasked with that effort.
JoCl, I would say that is a first order question in LDS theology, and Elder Christoffersen took a position on it in uniquely theological terms. The language doesn’t bother me – it is appropriate for the subject. What makes it interesting is this doesn’t seem to be a settled question at all.
What he seems to be saying is that Jesus has always been fully God from all eternity, that he is God independent and apart from any other member of the Godhead, that his divine character and power are independent of nature and natural law, and (by implication) that his glorified, resurrected body is strictly incidental to his divinity, i.e. he doesn’t really need one at all.
As has been debated at some length elsewhere, the claim that Jesus has always been fully God from all eternity is practically equivalent to the claim that he is a member of a different species – a species of (three?) members who are perfect and perfectly divine from the beginning. Is he? Is that really a doctrine the church intends to take a position on?