April 2009 General Conference -Priesthood Session

Boyd K. Packer -Counsel to Young Men

• President Clark described youth as "hungry for things of the Spirit [and] eager to learn the gospel." He said: "They want it straight, undiluted. They want to know ... about our beliefs; they want to gain testimonies of their truth. They are not now doubters but inquirers, seekers after truth."
• "You do not have to sneak up behind this spiritually experienced youth and whisper religion in [their] ears; you can come right out, face to face, and talk with [them]. ... You can bring these truths to [them] openly. ... There is no need for gradual approaches."
• The priesthood is something you cannot see nor hear nor touch, but it is a real authority and a real power.
• He said that I had been given a body of such physical proportion and fitness to enable my spirit to function through it unhampered by physical impediment. That encouraged me.
• Always take care of your body. Take nothing into your body that will harm it.
• You may see others who seem to have been given a more perfect body than yours. Do not fall into the trap of feeling poorly about your height or weight or your features or your skin color or race.
• You are a son of God. You lived in a premortal existence as an individual spirit child of heavenly parents. At the time of your birth, you received a mortal body of flesh and blood and bone in which to experience earth life.  You will be tested as you prepare yourself to return to our Heavenly Father.
• "What? know ye not that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own?"
• Your gender was determined in the premortal existence. You were born male. You must treasure and protect the masculine part of your nature. You must have respectful, protective regard for all women and girls.
• Do not run with friends that worry your parents.
• You young men should not complain about schooling. Do not immerse yourself so much in the technical that you fail to learn things that are practical. Everything you can learn that is practical--in the house, in the kitchen cooking, the yard--will be of benefit to you. Never complain about schooling. Study well, and attend always.
• "Whatever principle of intelligence we attain unto in this life, it will rise with us in the resurrection."
• We are to learn about "things that are above, and things that are beneath, things that are in the earth, and upon the earth, and in heaven."
• Learn to work and to support.
• Fear is the opposite of faith. Do not be afraid!

Richard C. Edgley -This Is Your Phone Call

• Now is the time to rally around, lift up, and help the families in our quorums who may be in distress.
• Now, let me say a few words to those of you who are currently unemployed. The responsibility for finding employment or improving your employment rests with you. Continued guidance comes from the Lord through regular fasting and prayer. Your quorum leaders, bishops, specialists, and employment resource center staff will help in your efforts. We fear, however, that often priesthood leaders are unaware of your situation. Speak up! Let them know you are looking for work. And bishops and priesthood leaders, rise up and let the brotherhood of the priesthood engage themselves in the wonderful opportunity to truly be a quorum, a brotherhood, a brother's keeper.

Claudio R. M. Costa -Priesthood Responsibilities

• First, we have a responsibility to our families. Second, we have a responsibility to our employers. Third, we have a responsibility to the Lord's work. Fourth, we have a responsibility to ourselves."
• "It is imperative that you not neglect your families. Nothing you have is more precious."
• Regarding our responsibility to our employers, President Hinckley said: "You have an obligation. Be honest with your employer. Do not do Church work on his time."
• He also reminded us that our employment enables us to take care of our family as wee as allowing us to be effective servants in the Church.
• "'... Always remember that people are looking to you for leadership and you are influencing the lives of individuals either for good or for bad, which influence will be felt for generations to come.'"
• Our example will always speak loudly.
• "Most service given by priesthood holders is accomplished quietly, without fanfare. A friendly smile, a warm handclasp, a sincere testimony of truth can literally lift lives, change human nature, and save precious souls."

Dieter F. Uchtdorf -We Are Doing a Great Work and Cannot Come Down

• The tendency to focus on the insignificant at the expense of the profound happens to everyone. We are all at risk. The driver who focuses on the road has a far greater chance of arriving at his destination accident free than the driver who focuses on sending text messages on his phone.
• Our weakness is in failing to align our actions with our conscience.
• Pause for a moment and check where your own heart and thoughts are. Are you focused on the things that matter most? How you spend your quiet time may provide a valuable clue. Where do your thoughts go when the pressure of deadlines to gone? Are your thoughts and heart focused on those short-lived fleeting things that matter only in the moment or on things that matter most?
• Sometimes the things that distract us are not bad in and of themselves; often they even make us feel good.
• It is possible to take even good things to excess.
• Even some programs of the Church can become a distraction if we take them to extremes and allow them to dominate our time and our attention at the expense of things that matter most. We need balance in life.
• We cannot and we must not allow ourselves to get distracted from our sacred duty. We cannot and we must not lose focus on the things that matter most.
• "I am doing a great work, so that I cannot come down."
• Think of the power we would have as individuals and as a body of the priesthood if, in response to every temptation to lose focus or lower our standards--the standards of God, we responded, "I am doing a great work and cannot come down."

Henry B. Eyring -"Man Down!"

• You will need bravery and you will need boldness because your are enlisted in the Lord's army in the last dispensation. This is not a time of peace. That has been so since Satan arrayed his forces against our Heavenly Father's plan in the premortal existence.
• Such a feeling of responsibility for others is at the heart of faithful priesthood service. Our comrades are being wounded in the spiritual conflict around us. So are the people we are called to serve and protect from harm. Spiritual wounds are not easily visible, except with inspired eyes. But bishops, branch presidents, and mission presidents sitting before fellow disciples of the Savior can see the wounded and the wounds.
• The wounds of sin are often not felt at first by the one being hurt. Satan seems sometimes to inject something to deaden the spiritual pain while inflicting the wound. Unless something happens soon to begin repentance, the wound can worsen and widen.
• Consequently, as a priesthood holder responsible for the spiritual survival of some of Heavenly Father's children, you will then move to help without waiting for a cry, "Man down!" Even a best friend or other leaders or parents may not see what you have seen.
• You may have been the only one to sense by inspiration the warning cry. The others may feel, as you will be tempted to think, "Maybe the trouble I thought I saw is just my imagination. What right do I have to judge another? It's not my responsibility. I'll leave it alone until he asks for help."
• Only an authorized judge in Israel is give the power and the responsibility to verify that there is a serious wound, to explore it, and then, under inspiration from God, to prescribe the necessary treatment for healing to begin. Yet you are under covenant to go to a spiritually wounded child of God. You are responsible to be brave enough and bold enough not to turn away.
• "Two are better than one; because they have a good reward for their labour.
• "For if they fall, the one will lift up his fellow: but woe to him that is alone when he falleth; for he hath not another to help him up."
• "None but fools will frifle with the souls of men."

Thomas S. Monson -Be Your Best Self

• "Be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you."
• To those within the sound of my voice who are struggling with challenges and difficulties large and small, prayer is the provider of spiritual strength; it is the passport to peace.

Until you next see these words;

I'll be watching the leaves.

Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi