They Spoke to Us

Report from the 167th Annual General Conference 5–6 April 1997

President Gordon B. Hinckley: Be prayerful. Call on the Lord in faith, and He will hear your prayers. He loves you. He wishes to bless you. He will do so if you live worthy of His blessing.

President Thomas S. Monson, First Counselor in the First Presidency: Jesus Christ, Savior of the world—even the Son of God—was and is the ultimate pioneer, for He has gone before, showing all others the way to follow. May we ever follow Him, I pray.

President James E. Faust, Second Counselor in the First Presidency: A basic eternal truth of this Church is that families may, if they are worthy, have an eternal relationship; for us it would not be heaven without our parents, our grandparents, our eternal companions, our children, and our posterity.

President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: You should learn while you are young that while the Atonement of Christ applies to humanity in general, the influence of it is individual, very personal, and very useful. Even to you beginners, an understanding of the Atonement is of immediate and very practical value in everyday life.

Elder L. Tom Perry of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: We do not need man-made rating systems to determine what we should read, what we should watch, what we should listen to, or how we should conduct our lives. What we do need to do is live worthy of the continued companionship of the Holy Ghost and have the courage to follow the promptings that come into our lives.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: The offices of bishop and branch president and counselors are sacred in this Church. The men who hold those offices are respected by the Lord, inspired by His Spirit. … We honor and love them, and we show this by our consideration for them.

Elder M. Russell Ballard of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Our faith needs to be focused on the fundamental truths that God lives, that we are His children, and that Jesus Christ is His Only Begotten Son and He is our Savior. We need to know that They restored the Church to the earth in its fullness through the Prophet Joseph Smith.

Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: In quiet moments of personal reflecting and pondering, I have benefited from humbly asking myself, “Am I true?”

Elder Richard G. Scott of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Think of the long view of life, not just what’s going to happen today or tomorrow. Don’t give up what you most want in life for something you think you want now.

Elder Henry B. Eyring of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles: Our Heavenly Father loves us. He sent His Only Begotten Son to be our Savior. He knew that in mortality we would be in grave danger, the worst of it from the temptations of a terrible adversary. That is one of the reasons why the Savior has provided priesthood keys so that those with ears to hear and faith to obey could go to places of safety.

Elder Jack H Goaslind of the Presidency of the Seventy: May Heavenly Father bless you to know that you are one of His chosen sons in a blessed and royal generation, and that He has mighty miracles for you to perform. With His strength and the guidance of the Spirit, you too can do all things!

Elder Sheldon F. Child of the Seventy: We make covenants at the waters of baptism. We renew those covenants each week as we worthily partake of the sacrament. We take upon ourselves the name of Christ; we promise to always remember Him and to keep His commandments. And in return He promises us that His Spirit will always be with us.