Elder Dallin H. Oaks

Elder Dallin H. Oaks spoke on differentiating between authority in the Church and the family.

“When the family is strong, the church is strong. [The two] run parallel with each other,” Elder Oaks said.

Elder Oaks began and framed his talk around the example of his widowed mother, who at home governed her family and at church sustained her priesthood leaders.

Priesthood is the power of God to bless all, Elder Oaks said. Men hold and exercise the priesthood, but blessings are available to men and women alike. Any misuse of the priesthood should be shunned.

“Men are not the priesthood,” Elder Oaks said.

Elder Jeffery R. Holland

Elder Jeffery R. Holland spoke of his granddaughter and specifically tailored his talk to the young women of the church when he taught about women, their worth, their divinity and real beauty.

The Lord knows every daughter’s name, prayers, hopes and dreams, Elder Holland said. The Lord knows what every young woman can become with faith in Him.

Everything that Christ taught, He taught to women too, Elder Holland said.

“We plead with you to make your teenage years a triumph, not a tragedy,” Elder Holland said.

Elder Holland asked the young women to stay true to the standards of the Latter-Day standards and not fall slave to the world and its fashions.

Elder Benjamin de Hoyos

Elder De Hoyos of the Quorum of the Seventy said we can find happiness in our trials because of the Gospel.

“No one needs to feel alone on the road of life, for we are all invited to come unto Christ and be perfected in him,” he said. “Happiness is the purpose of the gospel and the purpose of the redeeming atonement of all men,” he said.

De Hoyos counseled members to live after the manner of happiness by making correct decisions in their lives. Happiness is a condition of the soul as a result of righteous living, he said.

“Happiness comes as a result of our obedience, our courage, and always doing the will of God, even in the most difficult circumstances.”

Elder C. Scott Grow

Elder C. Scott Grow of the Quorum of the Seventy said Christ gave the Book of Mormon as the instrument to gather scattered Israel and that those in Latin America are descendants of the Book of Mormon people who are now being gathered through the gospel.

“The Book of Mormon is their inheritance,” he said. “Jesus Christ did minister unto their fathers.”

He invited members to gather Israel by looking for those who are seeking the Gospel in their lives and invite them in.

“Jesus Christ is the standard that we hold up as a standard to all nations,” Grow said.

Elder Paul K. Sybrowski

Elder Paul K. Sybrowski of the Quorum of the Seventy said members need to seek after those who are lost.

“Sometimes it’s the one in the corner that we haven’t considered,” Sybrowski said.

Sybrowski said members should ask themselves the question, “What would the Savior do with the opportunities that we have to affect the one?”

He said that as this principle is applied, decisions in life will be more Christ-centered.

“It is in the Shepherd’s loving arms and on his shoulders that we are carried home,” he said.

Elder Henry B. Eyring

Elder Eyring said that the tests of life require a more important preparation than just physical preperation, they require learning to exercise powerful faith.

“What we will need in our day of testing is a spiritual preparation,” he said. “It is to have developed a faith in Jesus Christ so powerful that we can pass the test of life upon which everything for us in eternity depends. This test is part of the purpose God had for us in the creation.”

Elder Eyring said the great test of life is to see who will hearken to and obey God’s commands in the midst of the storms of life.

“It is not to endure storms, but to choose the right while they rage,” he said.

Eyring counseled the best time to resist temptation is early, to repent now, and to cast out evil thoughts before they become actions.

Elder M. Russell Ballard

Elder Ballard said this year marks the 10th anniversary since the First Presidency announced the Proclamation to the World on the Family, and that this prophetic document is a call to protect families.

“The proclamation’s clear and simple language stands in stark contrast to the confused and convoluted notions of a society that can’t even agree on a definition of a family, let alone supply the help and support parents and families need,” he said.

Ballard counseled members to make the Proclamation a standard to the world in the same way Moroni did with his Title of Liberty.

“The world needs to know what the proclamation teaches because the family is the basic unit of society, of the economy, of our culture and of our government,” he said. “Nothing is more critically connected to happiness, both our own and that of our children, than how well we love and support one another within the family.”
Copyright Brigham Young University 3 Oct 2005