April 1995 General Conference Saturday Morning

Thomas S. Monson -The Solemn Assembly Sustaining of Church Officers

• It is proposed that we sustain Gordon Bitner Hinckley as prophet, seer, and revelator and President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.
• Thomas Spencer Monson as First Counselor in the First Presidency of the Church and James Esdras  Faust  as Second Counselor.
• Thomas Spencer Monson as President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles and Boyd Kenneth Packer as Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
• Members of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Boyd K. Packer, L. Tom Perry, David B. Haight, Neal A. Maxwell, Russell M. Nelson, Dallin H. Oaks, M. Russell Ballard, Joseph B. Wirthlin, Richard G. Scott, Robert D. Hales, Jeffrey R. Holland, and Henry B. Eyring.

Boyd K. Packer -"The Shield of Faith"

• The Lord has provided a system in which there is no aspiring, no maneuvering for position or power, not even a hint of soliciting for votes or cultivating influence. The system does not allow it, neither would the Lord permit it. It does not work the way man usually works, and so it should be. The Lord remained the prophet Isaiah, "My ways [are] higher than your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts."
• The sustaining of the prophet is still an essential ongoing part of the safety of this people.
• The adversary would divide us, break us up, and if he can, destroy us. But the Lord said, "Lift up your hearts and rejoice, and gird up your loins, and take upon you my whole armor, that ye may be able to withstand the evil day, ... taking the shield of faith wherewith ye shall be able to quench all the fiery darts of the wicked."
• That shield of faith is not produced in a factory but at home in a cottage industry.
• The shield of faith is to be made and fitted in the family. No two can be exactly alike. Each must be handcrafted to individual specifications.
• It takes the steady strength of a father to hammer out the metal of it and the tender hands of a mother to polish and fit it on. Sometimes one parent is left to do it alone. It is difficult, but it can be done.
• Materials from which a shield of faith is made: reverence, courage, chastity, repentance, forgiveness, compassion. In church we can learn how to assemble and fit them together. But the actual making of and fitting on of the shield of faith belongs in the family circle. Otherwise it may loosen and come off in a crisis.
• This shield of faith is not manufactured on an assembly line, only handmade in a cottage industry. Therefore our leaders press members to understand that what is most worth doing must be done at home. Some still do not see that too many out-of-home activities, however well intended, leave too little time to make and fit on the shield of faith at home.

Robert K. Dellenbach -The Translation Miracle of the Book of Mormon

• The Book of Mormon is presently in print in over eighty languages and is now being translated or prepared for publication in many, many more.
• The Church contracts capable, experienced member translators who are fluent in English as well as their native tongue who possess integrity and high moral character so that the spirit of inspiration will guide their work. Just as in Joseph Smith's day, the ability to translate holy writ today is a spiritual gift from God.
• Yet, even with the most competent member translators and advanced technology available, the entire process, from beginning to publication, requires approximately four years.
• Joseph's original English translation, except for a few minor grammatical and textual emendations, remains the text that we use today and is the standard for all other language translations of the Book of Mormon throughout the world.
• no other person with such limited education and facility as Joseph has single-handedly translated in such a short period of time from ancient writings over five hundred pages of scriptural text. That translation now has seventy-three million books in distribution.

J. Ballard Washburn -The Temple Is a Family Affair

• Two important things are necessary to have the Holy Ghost:
• First, we must live worthy of it, and
• Second, we must ask for it.
• Let me give a word of caution here. We cannot go to His holy house unworthily without bringing upon ourselves the judgments of God. For God will not be mocked.
• We must prepare them for the temple first, and then they will be prepared for missions.
• The greatest blessings of eternity come to us through the temple. God's greatest gift, eternal life, can only come to a man and woman together. And every worthy person will someday have this blessing.
• The home is the place where we learn to overcome selfishness and give ourselves in service to others.

Merrill J. Bateman -The Power to Heal from Within

• Just as there are parents to greet a newborn on earth, the scriptures teach that caring family members greet the spirits in paradise and assist them in the adjustments to a new life.
• Death teaches that we do not experience a fullness of joy in mortality and that everlasting joy can be achieved only with the assistance of the Master.

Robert D. Hales -Hear the Prophet's Voice and Obey

• Twice in the space of a year we have lost prophets who are very dear to us, President Ezra Taft Benson and President Howard W. Hunter.
• There has always been a desperate need for the steady and reassuring voice of a living prophet of God: one who will speak the mind and will of God in showing the way to spiritual safety and personal peace and happiness.
• Listen to a prophet's voice and obey. There is safety in following the living prophet.
• Regardless of the consequences, they have had the strength to speak the words of God with plainness and boldness.

Joseph B. Wirthlin -Living Water to Quench Spiritual Thirst

• "No man comes to be President of this church except he has been apprenticed for a lifetime."

Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi