Elder Packer: Personal revelation is a delicate and refined spiritual communication, best described as a feeling.
Only in a spirit of reverence will members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints receive revelation regarding the truthfulness of the gospel of Jesus Christ.Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Council of the Twelve opened the Saturday afternoon session of the church's 161st Semiannual General Conference with that message to thousands of members gathered in the Tabernacle on Temple Square. Proceedings of the two-day conference are being broadcast to a potential audience of millions in the United States and several foreign countries via satellite and translated into 15 languages.
The afternoon session also included spiritual instruction on repentance, keeping the Sabbath holy and the importance of missionary work throughout the world. President Thomas S. Monson, second counselor in the First Presidency, conducted the session. Music was provided by the Missionary Training Center Mixed Choir.
Elder Packer reminded members that a testimony of the gospel and a witness that the Book of Mormon is true "come in a delicate and refined spiritual communication" that is best described "as a feeling."
He said that witness cannot be forced, nor is it communicated "through the intellect alone, however bright the intellect may be."
"Recently the Council of the First Presidency and Quorum of Twelve Apostles issued a statement alerting members of the church to the dangers of participating in circles which concentrate on doctrine and ordinances and measure them by the intellect alone," he said. "If doctrines and behavior are measured by the intellect alone, the essential spiritual ingredient is missing, and we will be misled."
Elder Packer stressed that personal testimony "is confirmed to us initially and is reaffirmed and enlarged thereafter through a harmonious combination of both the intellect and the spirit."
"There is safety in learning doctrine in gatherings which are sponsored by proper authority. Some members, even some who have made covenants in the temple, are associating with groups of one kind or another which have an element of secrecy about them and which pretend to have some higher source of inspiration concerning the fulfillment of prophecies than do ward or stake leaders or the general authorities of the church," he said.
"Know this: There are counterfeit revelations, which, we are warned, `shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant.' "
Elder Packer encouraged local church leaders to give renewed attention to sacrament and other meetings "to assure that they are truly worship services in which members may be spiritually nourished and have their testimonies replenished and in which investigators may feel that inspiration essential to spiritual conversion."
"No one of us can survive in the world of today, much less in what it will soon become, without personal inspiration," said Elder Packer, who encouraged a renewed spirit of reverence in meetings, participation in congregational singing and the use of reverential terms in prayers.
Elder Faust: Beyond physical rest, observing the Sabbath involves spiritual renewal and worship, as well.
Elder James E. Faust of the Council of the Twelve encouraged members to keep the Sabbath holy by participating in activities that involve much more than resting from physical labor.
Observing the Sabbath correctly "involves spiritual renewal and worship," he said.
During a lifetime of observation, Elder Faust said he has discovered that the farmer who observes the Sabbath seems to get more work done on his farm than he would if he worked seven days. The mechanic will be able to turn out more and better products, and the doctor, the lawyer, the dentist and the scientist will accomplish more by trying to rest on Sunday than by working every day of the week.
"I would counsel all students, if they can, to arrange their schedules so that they do not study on the Sabbath. If students and other seekers after truth will do this, their minds will be quickened and the infinite spirit will lead them to the verities they wish to learn," he said. "This is because God has hallowed this day and blessed it as a perpetual covenant of faithfulness."
Why, Elder Faust questioned, has God asked people to honor the Sabbath? He said the reasons are at least threefold:
- The first has to do with the physical need for rest and renewing. "Obviously God, who created us, would know more than we do of the limits of our physical and nervous energy and strength."
- The second is the need for regeneration and strengthening of spiritual desires. "God knows that, left completely to our own devices without regular reminders of our spiritual needs, many would degenerate into the preoccupation of satisfying earthly desires and appetites."
- The third encompasses obedience to commandments as an expression of our love for God.
"In this day of increasing access to and preoccupation with materialism, there is a sure protection for ourselves and our children against the plagues of the day," Elder Faust said. "The key to that sure protection surprisingly can be found in Sabbath observance."
So where is the line as to what is acceptable and unacceptable on the Sabbath?
"Within guidelines, each of us must answer that question for ourselves," Elder Faust said. "While these guidelines are contained in the scriptures and the words of the modern prophets, they must also be written in our hearts and governed by our conscience."
Elder Maxwell: Real repentance is essential for perfection and goes far beyond simply saying `I'm sorry.'
Repentance too little understood and too little applied "as if it were merely a word on a bumper sticker" - is essential for the perfection of the saints, Elder Neal A. Maxwell said. And giving away sins is the only way a person can come to know God.
"There is no loss of individuality in the men and women of Christ who, longing for home, become `swallowed up in the will of the Father,' " said Elder Maxwell, of the Council of the Twelve. "Righteousness makes us more resplendent; it opens up innumerable possibilities. As consecration carves, character becomes many-splendored. Service enlarges our empathy. There is more light by which to see and much, much more to see and to experience."
Elder Maxwell said that sin, on the other hand, brings sameness.
"It shrinks us by reducing us to addictive appetites and insubordinate impulses. For a brief moment, in its assertions, surging selfishness may create the illusion of individuality, but only as in the grunting, galloping Gadarene swine."
While abstinence from sin is better than the cure, the church leader said repentance is nonetheless available to the "gross sinner as well as to the already good individual striving for incremental improvement."
But Elder Maxwell stressed that real repentance involves "not a mechanical checklist but a check reigning of the natural self."
He added that there can be no repentance without recognition of wrongdoing, without personal suffering and without confession.
"Confessing aids forsaking. We cannot expect to sin extensively and then expect to be rescued painlessly and quickly, being beaten `with a few stripes' privately."
Restitution is also required, Elder Maxwell said.
"In this rigorous process, so much clearly depends upon meekness. Pride keeps repentance from starting or continuing. Some fail because they are more concerned with the preservation of their public image than with having Christ's image in their countenances," he said. "Pride prefers cheap repentance, paid for with shallow sorrow. Unsurprisingly, seekers after cheap repentance also search for superficial forgiveness instead of real reconciliation. Thus, real repentance goes far beyond simply saying `I'm sorry.' "
Elder Davila: Investigators and members of the church should never give up, should seek best the gospel offers.
Elder Julio E. Davila paid tribute Saturday to Mormon missionaries, their parents, supporters and leaders and members of the church who made it possible for him and his wife to become church members.
Twenty-three years ago, Elder Davila - now a member of the Quorums of the Seventy - had his first contact with Mormon missionaries preaching in his native Bogota, Colombia. Ironically, he said one of those missionaries was Alan Packer, son of Elder Boyd K. Packer of the Council of the Twelve.
His conversion, he said, did not come about easily. Even when he began to attend church, he criticized many temporal things at the meetinghouse, such as the crooked pictures on the walls.
"The branch president, a fine and wise man, appointed me as the `pictures supervisor,' " he said. "I have never seen that position in the handbook, but it served me very well to start my involvement in the service of the Lord."
Based on his personal experiences, Elder Davila gave this advice to leaders, members and new converts looking for retention and reactivation:
- Let every man and woman participate in the preparation of this world for the Second Coming of the Savior.
- Receive with joy the callings and releases that come from the Lord through inspired leaders.
- Be co-workers with God in "bringing to pass the immortality and eternal life of man."
Elder Doxey: Listening can help us overcome deafening decibels of today's environment and hear the words of God.
The Lord is speaking, but "with the deafening decibels of today's environment," all too often people fail to hear him, said Elder Graham W. Doxey of the Quorums of the Seventy.
"Listening is a challenge for us all today. Time to listen. The ability to listen. The desire to listen," he said. "On religious matters, too many of us are saying, `What did you say, speak up, I can't hear you.' And when he doesn't shout back, or cause the bush to burn, or to write us a message in stone with his finger, we are inclined to think he doesn't listen, doesn't care about us. Some even conclude there is no God."
But Elder Doxey emphasized the questions are not "Does God live, does God love me, does God speak to me?" The critical question rather is, "Are you listening to him?"
He offered these suggestions to "filter out the heavy decibels of darkness:"
- Revitalize weekly worship. "When you sing the hymns, for instance, ponder the meaning of the words, enjoy the spirit of the music."
- Partake of the sacrament. "Don't merely `take' the sacrament. Think of the covenants you are making."
- "Pray to know God's will, not to get things."
- Study the scriptures. "This still small voice is speaking to you personally. Please be still and listen!"
Elder Kofford: The facts that represent our lives are what will determine our victory or defeat in the life to come.
Using a story with symbolic meanings, Elder Cree-L Kofford told faithful church members that it's not too late to write their life story and win their ultimate inheritance.
"There is an old adage among trial lawyers that says, `We don't make the facts, we only present them,' " said Elder Kofford, of the Quorums of the Seventy. "The facts which represent your life are the facts that will ultimately determine your victory or defeat."
Saying that he was, in an allegorical sense, at conference "as a member of the trial team assembled by your chief advocate," Elder Kofford warned church members that "our adversary is prepared to spend such time, effort and money as is necessary to deprive you of your inheritance."
"In preparation for your appearance on the witness stand, you should be advised that in the law, we have what are known as threshold questions," he said. "These are simply questions that are the point of beginning or the starting place. The threshold question in your trial is: `Do you love the Lord thy God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind?' "
Elder Kofford warned that if you answer no, there will be a motion for judgment against you. That motion will be granted.
"If your answer is in the affirmative, there will then follow hours, perhaps days, of questions, each designed to prove that you do not, in fact, keep his commandments." He said among those questions will be the following:
"Do you love your neighbor as yourself? Do you place worldly pursuits or personal pleasures above your service to God? Do you take the name of the Lord in vain? Do you keep the Sabbath day holy? Do you honor your father and mother? Do you commit adultery or fornication? Do you steal? Do you bear false witness? Do you covet?
"The ultimate outcome of your case is dependent upon the facts which you provide."
Elder Muren: The church's 40,000 missionaries are evidence that God hasn't forgotten his children.
The nearly 40,000 LDS missionaries, called by a prophet of God, are visual evidence that the Lord has not forgotten his children, Elder Joseph C. Muren said.
In an address in which he recalled his own conversion, Elder Muren of the Quorums of the Seventy said missionaries are the Lord's representatives. "They come with a message that represents what the world really needs and wants."
Elder Muren said it was 37 years ago, during his first year of university studies, that his conversion to the gospel began and he was baptized. It was then that he met Elder Henry Eddington of Shoshone, Idaho, and Elder Eleazer Asay of Orem, Utah. Together they began teaching him the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
Nearly 30 years later while on an assignment in Idaho, Elder Muren said he was approached by Velma Holsinger, the daughter of Elder Eddington who taught him the gospel in California. At her home he read pages in Elder Eddington's journal that dealt with his conversion.
"We are often asked why the church continues to send out tens of thousands of missionaries every year," he said.
Elder Muren said the answer is clear in the scriptures. "Today, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints continues with this sacred resposibility; i.e., to go and teach all nations, `. . . teaching them to observe all things whatsoever I have commanded you. . . . ' "