Pres. Monson presides
Pres. Uchtdorf conducts
BYU Choir sings: “For the Strength of the Hills.”
Invocation: David L. Beck of the YM
Choir sings: “On This Day of Joy and Gladness.”
Elder Ballard
We need the greatest generation of missionaries in the history of the Church. World is more challenging. Young people have many more distractions. Technology has expanded and almost everyone has access to handheld devices for good and ill.
I speak to missionaries now serving, future missionaries, returned missionaries and all single adults.
Interviewed by bishops and stake presidents. You may not be interviewed by a GA. But a member of the Quorum of the 12 assigns every missionary to a specific mission. Your photograph comes up on a computer screen together with specific information. We review your answers to the missionary recommendation questions. For that moment, it seems like you are responding to us. Then we assign you. It is not the same as a face to face interview, but it is close.
We also do videoconferencing.
We need your whole heart and soul. We need young adults who are willing to listen to the Spirit. It is time to raise the bar for your entire generation.
Answer these questions:
–Do you read the scriptures?
–Do you kneel in prayer?
–Do you fast and donate a fast offering each month?
–Do you think deeply about the Savior during the Sacrament?
–Do you try to keep the Sabbath day holy?
–Are you honest at home, church and work?
–Do you avoid looking at pornography and photos that might embarrass you?
–Are you careful with your time? (Avoid Tinder and Snapchat).
–Is there anything in your life you need to change and fix beginning tonight?
Please courageously repent if you are lacking anything in these areas.
Additional counsel: RM does not mean retired Mormon. Do things of your own free will. Visit people who are lonely, sick and discouraged. Continue to learn and grow and receive inspiration.
Four new courses in Institute. Young Single Adults need to date and marry. Don’t text, use your own voice to introduce yourself. To actually hear a voice may shock her, perhaps into saying yes.
Elder Ulisses Soares of the Seventy (speaking in Portuguese — Yay!)
Great simultaneous translation.
Quotes president Monson: “The moral fabric of society seems to be unraveling at amazing speed. None are exempt. We need not despair, we are waging a war with sin, and we can win.”
Followers of Satan try to deceive us. Despite the opposition, Pres. Monson has taught that this is a war we can and will win.
Capt Moroni defended the truth. He also remained humble. Moroni had great faith in God.
One deacon saw his friends looking at pornography. He said it was wrong. His classmates ridiculed him, but one listened to him and followed his counsel.
The war between good and evil will continue throughout our lives. Satan and his followers only have power over us if we permit it.
We must be alert to this danger.
How to preach. On his mission, he learned to rely on the Spirit, not on worldly arguments. No evil forces can confuse the faith and testimony of a true disciple of Jesus Christ.
Larry M. Gibson
If you focus on the silver, all you can see is yourself. Seek not the things of this world, seek first the kingdom of God. Think about our eternal destiny.
Tells a touching story about his relationship with his sons.
Young men should learn to be a father. If you look at the priesthood duties, it appears you should learn to be a father.
President Uchtdorf
Tells the story of the Potemkin villages. Fake villages created for show. Any attempt to make others believe we are better than we really are.
Desire to impress can shift from useful to deceitful. Don’t draw near to the Lord with your mouths, but their hearts are far from the Lord.
Jesus condemned hypocrites. Whited sepulchers.
Don’t try to cover sins or gratify pride or vain ambition. The heavens withdraw, the spirit of the Lord is grieved.
Why do we try to appear active, prosperous and dedicated outwardly, but inwardly we have left our first love.
We may have lost our focus on the essence of the Gospel. Don’t try to impress others for personal gain.
We should examine our hearts to make an immediate course correction. Don’t try to impress others with lofty goals. Do the goals make a difference in the lives of members with problems?
What is our ministry? Don’t allow the hungry, the sick, the afflicted to pass by.
We need to look at our personal goals. We need to look at the real needs of our beloved fellow man. The Savior wants to know the condition of our heart. How do we minister to those in our care? How do we grow closer to the Savior?
Elder U says he hungers to be edified by the Holy Spirit, to follow the Savior, and to become a better man. He does not speak because Pres. Monson wants him to or because his wife wants him to. He is there because he loves his Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ.
Come unto Christ, who makes weak things strong.
The Church is not an auto showroom, it is more like a maintenance center. We come to Church not to hide our problems, but to heal them. Become genuine followers of Christ.
GREAT TALK BY ELDER UCHTDORF. VERY HUMBLING.
President Eyring
All of us must speak and act in the name of God in difficult moments. Often there is no time to make preparation.
Giving a blessing. He said an injured girl would live, the doctor doubted, but the girl did live.
The power to speak and act in God’s name requires revelation. You need to pray for the companionship of the Holy Ghost.
Before he gave the blessing, he had begun to understand the power of prayer.
Go before God often. Witness that we remember Him. HT to pray: pray to help them, know their hearts, feeling God’s love for them. Pray, always plead with God that He will bless you with His Spirit.
Pray that God will always warn you and protect you from evil. You must pray for the protection of the Holy Ghost.
President Monson
Come all ye sons of God who have received the priesthood. Let us consider our callings and follow Jesus Christ our Lord.
We are united as one in our priesthood callings.
Sect of his deacon’s quorum. Took pride in his work. Did all he could to best of his ability. I hope each young man has a spiritual awareness of the sacredness of his ordained calling.
Took the sacrament to a shut in, lived a mile from the chapel. When entered, could feel the Spirit of the Lord. Gave him bread and water. Bro. Wright said: “God Bless you my boy.” God did bless me.
Try to be like the sons of Mosiah.
Told an entertaining story about an interview with a priesthood leader to receive the Melchezedek priesthood.
Told a great story about healing a man while in the Navy during WWII.
(You can tell Pres. Monson is having health problems by his speech, but overall he did really well in this talk. I pray for him and his family.).
Choir: “Master, the Tempest is Raging”