"These conferences are held . . . to strengthen our testimonies
of this work, to fortify us against temptation and sin, to lift our sights,
to receive instruction."
Brethren and sisters, we've had a wonderful conference. The talks have been inspirational.
The prayers of the speakers who prepared them and of those of us who heard them
have been answered. We've all been edified. Now, before I give my concluding words
I would like to make a little explanation. People are talking about why in the
world I'm walking with a cane. That's become the topic of conversation these days.
Well, I saw that Brigham Young used a cane. John Taylor had a cane, and Wilford
Woodruff had a cane, and President Grant had a cane in his old age. And I've seen
President McKay with a cane and Spencer Kimball with a cane, and I'm just trying
to get in style.
The fact of the matter is, I have a little vertigo. I'm a little unsteady on
my feet, and the doctors don't know why it is. But they're still working on
me, and I hope it'll be over in a day or two.
Now, we've all been edified in this great conference. We should all be standing
a little taller as we adjourn today than we were when we came together yesterday
morning.
I constantly marvel at these great semiannual gatherings. We have heard 26
speakers during these two days. That's a very large number. Each is told how
much time he or she will have. But none is told what to speak about. And yet
all of the talks seem to harmonize, one with another, each a thread in the tapestry
of a grand and beautiful pattern. I think nearly everyone in this vast worldwide
audience can now say of one or more of the talks, "That was intended just for
me. That is just what I needed to hear."
This is the reason, I may say, why these conferences are held—to strengthen
our testimonies of this work, to fortify us against temptation and sin, to lift
our sights, to receive instruction concerning the programs of the Church and
the pattern of our lives.
Many churches, of course, have large gatherings, but I know of none to compare
with these conferences held every six months, year after year. They are truly
world conferences.
This work is alive and vital as it moves across the world in communities both
large and small. The genius of this work lies with the missionaries who teach
in faraway places with strange-sounding names, and the converts who come of
these teachings. As I have occasion to travel, these are the places I like to
visit, the small and largely unknown and scattered branches where a great pioneer
work is going forward.
Now, brothers and sisters, let us go forth from this conference with a stronger
resolve to live the gospel, to be more faithful, to be better fathers and mothers
and sons and daughters, to be absolutely loyal to one another as families, and
absolutely loyal to the Church as members.
This is God's holy work. It is divine in its origin and in its doctrine. Jesus
Christ stands as its head. He is our immortal Savior and Redeemer. His revelation
is the source of our doctrine, our faith, our teaching, in fact the underlying
pattern of our lives. Joseph Smith was an instrument in the hands of the Almighty
in bringing to pass this Restoration. And that basic element of revelation is
with the Church today as it was in Joseph's day.
Our individual testimonies of these truths are the basis of our faith. We must
nurture them. We must cultivate them. We can never forsake them. We can never
lay them aside. Without them we have nothing. With them we have everything.
As we return to our homes, may we experience a strengthening of our faith in
these eternal and unchanging truths. May there be peace and love in our homes
and an abundance of the good things of heaven and earth, I humbly pray as I
bid you good-bye for another season, in the sacred name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Previous
