April 1998 General Conference Sunday Morning

Thomas S. Monson -Look to God and Live

• "You can't run away from trouble; there's no place that far!"
• Life is a school of experience, a time of probation. We learn as we bear our afflictions and live through our heartaches.
• It may safely be assumed that no person has ever lived entirely free of suffering and tribulation, or has there ever been a period in human history that did not have its full share of turmoil, ruin, and misery.
• When the pathway of life takes a cruel turn, there is the temptation to ask the question "Why me?" Self-incrimination is a common practice, even when we may have had no control over our difficulty. At times there appears to be no light at the tunnel's end, no dawn to break the night's darkness. We feel surrounded by the pain of broken hearts, the disappointment of shattered dreams, and the despair of vanished hopes. We join in uttering the biblical please "Is there no balm in Gilead?" We feel abandoned, heartbroken, alone.
• To all who so despair, may I offer the assurance found in the psalm "Weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning."
• Whenever we are inclined to feel burdened down with the blows of life, let us remember that others have passed the same way, have endured, and then have overcome.
• There seems to be an unending supply of trouble for one and all. Our problem is that we often expect instantaneous solutions, forgetting that frequently the heavenly virtue of patience is required.

Dallin H. Oaks -Have You Been Saved?

• We are not saved in our sins, as by being unconditionally saved through confessing Christ and then, inevitably, committing sins in our remaining lives. We are saved from our sins by a weekly renewal of our repentance and cleansing through the grace of God and His blessed plan of salvation.
• Let us take a course to be saved today.
• He asked, "Will your missionaries preach only to unbelievers, or will they also try to preach to believers?" We replied that our message was for everyone, believers and unbelievers. We gave two reasons for this answer--one a matter of principle and the other a matter of practicality. We told him that we preached to believers as well as unbelievers because our message, the restored gospel, makes an important addition to the knowledge, happiness, and peace of all mankind. As a matter of practicality, we preach to believers as well as unbelievers because we cannot tell the difference. I remember asking this distinguished leader, "When you stand before a congregation and look into the faces of the people, can you tell the difference between those who are real believers and those who are not?" He smiled wryly, and I sensed an admission that he had understood the point.
• "[We are] not argumentative. We do not debate. We, in effect, simply say to others, 'Bring all the good that you have and let us see if we can add to it.'"

W. Eugene Hansen -Children and the Family

• "The family is ordained of God. ... Children are entitled to birth within the bonds of matrimony, and to be reared by a father and a mother who honor marital vows with complete fidelity.
• "There's nothing so boring as loafing, because you can't stop and rest."
• Parents need to give each of their children opportunities to contribute to the well-being of the family. In such a family, children are happier and there is a spirit of love and unity in the home.
• Money and material possessions are not the keys to happiness and success.
• "I don't mind being educated in the school of hard knocks--it's the refresher courses I keep getting that are the trial."
• I thank the Lord for loving parents who taught values both spiritual and moral and who wisely made it clear that there were certain nonnegotiables.
• They taught by what they did, not just by what they said.

Margaret D. Nadauld -Come unto Christ

• Surely it pleases the Lord when we, His children, reach out to one another, to give help along the way, and to bring another closer to Christ.

Henry B. Eyring -That We May Be One

• At the creation of man and woman, unity for them in marriage was not given as hope, it was a command!
• Our Heavenly Father wants our hearts to be knit together. That union in love is not simply an ideal. It is a necessity.
• Satan would tear us from loved ones and make us miserable. And it is he who plants the seeds of discord in human hearts in the hope that we might be divided and separate.
• All of us know something of the sadness and loneliness of being separate and alone. We don't need to be told which we should choose. We know. But we need hope that we can experience unity in this life and qualify to have it forever in the world to come. And we need to know how that great blessing will come so that we can know what we must do.
• "Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which shall believe on me through their word;
• "That they all may be one; as thou, Father, art in me, and I in thee, that they also may be on in us."
• The Spirit of God never generates contention. It never generates the feelings of distinctions between people which lead to strife. It leads to personal peace and a feeling of union with others. It unifies souls. A unified family, a unified Church, and a world at peace .depend on unified souls.
• As long as we love the things of the world first, there will be no peace in us.
• "The Lord has given us nothing that is useless or unnecessary."
• We do not know the hearts of those who offend us. Nor do we know all the sources of our own anger and hurt.

Gordon B. Hinckley -Testimony

•  It is the presence of wonderful people which stimulates the adrenaline. It is the look of love in their eyes which gives me energy.
• This thing which we call testimony is the great strength of the Church. It is the wellspring of faith and activity. It is difficult to explain. It is difficult to quantify. It is an elusive and mysterious thing, and yet it is as real and powerful as any force on the earth.
• This testimony which is carried in the hearts of our people motivates to an impelling duty. IT is found in young and old.
• That spirit of testimony has come down to us, who are the inheritors of their precious faith.
• Wherever the Church is organized its power is felt. We stand on our feet and say that we know. We say it until it almost appears to be monotonous. We say it because we do not know what else to say. The simple fact is that we do know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, and that this is their cause and their kingdom. The words are simple, the expression comes from the heart. It is at work wherever the Church is organized, wherever there are missionaries teaching the gospel, wherever there are members sharing their faith.
• There may not be acceptance, but who can refute or deny the quiet voice of the inner soul speaking with personal conviction.
• I've recently been in Palmyra, New York. Of the events which occurred in that area, one is led to say: "They either happened or they did not. There can be no gray area, no middle ground."
• And then the voice of faith whispers: "It all happened. It happened just as he said it happened."

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

-Sarnic Dirchi

The Dream

I was at work, and I'd thought I'd finished organizing our freezer, but when I went by, I noticed that I had missed a whole shelf of boxes and they needed to be put away, but I kept getting pulled away to finish other tasks I'd started as well, then my Manager Reci asked me when I was working tomorrow and I told him 3:30 and he was mad at me for not telling him sooner that he worked that late, but I hadn't seen him in three days so I hadn't been able to tell him....

Then the unholy tones of daylight pulled me away....
and I became myself again. :)

-S.N.D