Elder Richard G. Scott: He Lives! All Glory to His Name!

The Sunday sessions of conference fell on Easter this year. This talk by Elder Scott was about the Resurrection and the Atonement.

This Easter, as you remember the Resurrection and the price paid and the gift given through the Atonement, ponder what the scriptures teach of those sacred events. Your personal witness of their reality will be strengthened.


Jesus Christ lives. He gave His life to break the bonds of death. His Atonement made fully active the plan of happiness of His Father in Heaven.


Elder Scott said that to understand the Atonement one needs to understand what was required of the Father and the Son: Three of the challenges the Savior faced were:

• First, an enormous sense of responsibility, for He realized that except it be done perfectly, not one of His Father's children could return to Him.
• Second, in His absolutely pure mind and heart, He had to personally feel the consequences of all that mankind would ever encounter, even the most depraved, despicable sins.
• Third, He had to endure the vicious attack of Satan's hordes while physically and emotionally pressed to the limit.

Next is another statement that helps me to feel more comfortable with what I should be doing in the tumultuous times of the latter days:

As the world becomes more devoid of foundational standards and as honor, virtue, and purity are increasingly cast aside in the pursuit of appetite, our understanding of and faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ will provide strength and capacity needed for a successful life.  It will also bring confidence in times of trial and peace in moments of turmoil.

I energetically encourage you to establish a personal study plan to better understand and appreciate the incomparable, eternal, infinite consequences of Jesus Christ's perfect fulfillment of His divinely appointed calling as our Savior and Redeemer. Profound personal pondering of the scriptures accompanied by searching, heartfelt prayer will fortify your understanding of and appreciation for His priceless Atonement.  Another powerful way to learn of Jesus Christ and His Atonement is through consistent temple attendance. 

Use the Church as a righteous tool to strengthen the home, but recognize that as parents we have the fundamental responsibility and privilege to be guided by the Lord in the upbringing of the spirit children He has entrusted to our care.

As you ponder - not just read but ponder and meditate - on scriptural passages, the power of the Holy Ghost will distill truths in your mind and heart as a secure foundation in this uncertain time in which we live.

This Easter, resolve to make the Lord Jesus Christ the living center of your home. Be sure that every decision you make, whether it be of a spiritual or physical nature, be guided by the thought, "What would the Lord Jesus Christ have me do?" When the Savior is the center of you home, it is filled with peace and serenity. There is a spirit of calm assurance that pervades the home that is felt by the children and adults alike.

That is wonderful counsel and wonderful promises that I want for our home.

Elder Quentin L. Cook: We Follow Jesus Christ

Anyone reading this talk should know that we believe in Jesus Christ; that we are Christians.  Members of the Church who read the talk will get a reminder of what it means and looks like to be a follower of Christ. Elder Cook uses the events of the last two days of the Saviors life to help us understand what it means to follow Christ. We can learn much from those last two days.

Ordinances and doctrines of great importance were initiated at the Last Supper. I will mention just three. 

1. . . . the Savior introduced the ordinance of the sacrament. He took bread, broke it, prayed over it, and passed it to His disciples, saying, "This is my body which is given for you: this do in remembrance of me." In this manner He instituted the sacrament.
2. . . . His overwhelming emphasis was on doctrines teaching love as a preeminent principle. He taught, "By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another."
3. . . . through Christ's intercession or direction, "the Holy Ghost was promised to the apostles as another Comforter.

In talking about Easter and the Atonement, Elder Cook quotes the Prophet Joseph Smith: "The fundamental principles of our religion are the testimony of the Apostles and Prophets, concerning Jesus Christ, that He died, was buried, and rose again the third day, and ascended into heaven; and all other things which pertain to our religion are only appendages to it."


Elder Cook then goes on to elaborate on the three "ordinances and doctrines" from the Last Supper (mentioned above.)

As we ponder what it means to be Christians today, think about what our path of discipleship will require of us. I suggest that we contemplate and in appropriate ways emulate what the Savior did in those last two days of His mortal life.


First, consider the Savior's introduction of the sacrament.  Sacrament meeting is the most sacred and holy of all the meetings in the Church.  If we are to be His disciples and to be committed members of His Church, we must remember and reverence the sacrament. It allows each of us to express with broken hearts and contrite spirits our willingness to follow the Savior, to repent, and to become a Saint through the Atonement of Christ. The sacrament allows us to witness to God that we will remember His Son and keep His commandments as we renew our baptismal covenant. This increases our love and appreciation for both the Father and the Son. [This is why Sacrament meeting is so important.]

The Savior also emphasized love and unity and declared that we would be known as His disciples if we have love one to another.  We manifest our love for God when we keep His commandments and serve His children. We don't fully comprehend the Atonement, but we can spend our lives trying to be more loving and kind, regardless of the adversity we face.


How we relate and interact with each other is a measure of our willingness to follow Jesus Christ.  Many in this world are afraid and angry with one another. While we understand these feelings, we need to be civil in our discourse and respectful in our interactions. This is especially true when we disagree. The Savior taught us to love even our enemies.  I found these comments comforting given the growing coarseness of our [un]civil public conversations.

I invite each one of us individually to recognize that how we disagree is a real measure of who we are and whether we truly follow the Savior. It is appropriate to disagree, but it is not appropriate to be disagreeable. Violence and vandalism are not the answer to our disagreements. If we show love and respect even in adverse circumstances, we become more like Christ. [I suppose this applies to any followers of Christ who are talk show hosts too!]

For yet another time, a speaker at this conference talked about how noisy and distracting our world is. Elder Cook continues: We live in a noisy, contentious world, where it is possible to be viewing or listening to information, music, or even pure nonsense virtually every waking hour. If we want to have the inspiration of the Holy Ghost, we must find time to slow down, ponder, pray, and live so we are worthy to receive and act upon His promptings. We will avoid major mistakes if we heed His warnings. It is our privilege as members to receive light and knowledge form Him even to the perfect day.


Elder Cook concluded with a story from Samoa following the recent tsunami there. He said, As we met with the families in Samoa, the significance of spiritually going to the higher ground, living a better life, and clinging to saving ordinances was abundantly clear.  As I have pondered . . . the current condition of the world, I have felt an urgency to counsel each of us to seek the higher ground - the refuge and eternal protection of the temple.

Elder L. Whitney Clayton: That Your Burdens May Be Light

Elder Clayton starts off with a story of a man in Peru carrying a large burlap bag of firewood on his back - the bag was bigger than he was. It was his burden.

Elder Clayton talked about burdens coming from three sources:

• A natural product of the conditions of the world we live in. Things like illness, physical disability, hurricanes, earthquakes, etc. These are not fault of our own. We can prepare for them, but and we will all confront them at one time or another
• Another source is from the misconduct of others. These could include abuse, addictions, sin, incorrect traditions, repression, crime, gossip, and unkindness.
• The third type of burdens are those made by our own mistakes and shortcomings.

Burdens come to us all, but we are allowed to experience them for our benefit and growth. I like these three points that he makes about why and how burdens are for our benefit.


Our unique individual experiences can help us prepare to return to Him. The adversity and afflictions that are ours, however difficult to bear, last, from heaven's perspective, for "but a mall moment; and then, if [we] endure it well, God shall exalt [us] on high." We must do everything we can to bear our burdens "well" for however long our "small moment" carrying them lasts.


Burdens provide opportunities to practice virtues that contribute to eventual perfection. They invite us to yield "to the enticings of the Holy Spirit, and [put] off the natural man and [become] a saint through the atonement of Christ the Lord, and [become] as a child . . . "


Thus burdens become blessings, though often such blessings are well disguised and may require time, effort, and faith to accept and understand. 


Elder Clayton gave four examples of burdens becoming blessings.

• Adam: Work is a continual burden, but it is also a continual blessing "for [our] sake." for it teaches lessons we can learn only "by the sweat of [our] face."
• Alma: Our economic challenges may help prepare us to hear the word of the Lord. (Or to set proper priorities.)
• The Nephites and Lamanites during the time of the Gadianton Robbers: Political unrest, social disorder . . . may humble us and motivate us to see heavenly shelter from societal storms.
• Joseph Smith: The suffering we experience through the offenses of others is a valuable, though painful, school for improving our own behavior.

He also adds: Bearing up under our own burdens can help us develop a reservoir of empathy for the problems others face. 


Keeping our baptismal covenants helps relieve our own burdens as well as those burdened souls we serve. Those who offer such assistance to others stand on holy ground. [Remember] "Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me."


Elder Clayton reminds us that our burdens may be lifted through repentance: When we repent and keep the commandments, forgiveness and relief from our burdened conscience come with the help that only the Savior offers, for "surely, whosoever repenteth shall find mercy."

Elder Jorge F. Zeballos: Attempting the Impossible

Attempting the Impossible seems to be about fulfilling Jesus Christ's command to "be perfect even as I, or your Father who is in heaven is perfect." (3 Nephi 12:48)  Elder Zeballos offers some counsel concerning this daunting task.

Eternal life is to live with our Father and with our families forevermore. Should not this promise be the greatest incentive to do the best within our reach and give the best of ourselves in pursuit of what has been promised to us?


President David O. McKay said that  the rich rewards come only to the strenuous strugglers.


The command to become perfect, as He is, encourages us to

• achieve the best of ourselves,
• to discover and develop the talents and attributes with which we are blessed by a loving Eternal Father, who invites us to 
• realize our potential as children of God.

The next paragraph got me thinking about our marriage fireside topic of "Keeping All of the Balls in the Air":

Immediately after teaching that "it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength," King Benjamin indicated that "it is expedient that he should be diligent, that thereby he might win the prize." God will not require more than the best we can give because that would not be just, but neither can He accept less than that because that would not be just either. Therefore, let us always give the best we can in the service of God and our fellowmen.

Elder Neil L. Andersen: "Repent . . . That I May Heal You"

Some thoughts on the Repentance, Forgiveness, and the Atonement  by Elder Anderson:

I am amazed at the Savior's encircling arms of mercy and love for the repentant, no matter how selfish the forsaken sin. I testify that our Savior is able and eager to forgive our sins.


For most, repentance is more a journey than a one-time event.  Repentance is turning away from some things, such as dishonesty, pride, anger, and impure thoughts, and turning toward other things, such as kindness, unselfishness, patience, and spirituality. It is "re-turning" toward God.


I like that point that repentance is not just "turning away" from wrong, but it is also "turning toward" Godly things. Too often we forget that second part and that is why we don't completely heal. We need to do both parts.