Brandon, I am at home reviewing tonight. (8:23pm Saturday 1/13/18) and listening to a prophet. See how what this prophet says compares to what TSM sounded like. See how many demands and commands and requirements and suggestions he makes compared to President Monson. Number them if you can or are willing. This is not the whole talk. Just most. >>My beloved brothers and sisters, it is a joy to be with you again in another general conference.
Home Evening
Regarding our home evenings, an evening home with the family or an evening out to some place of interest with your family only partly solves the need of the home evening. Basically important is the teaching of the children the way of life that is vitally important. Merely going to a show or a party together, or fishing, only half satisfies the real need, but to stay home and teach the children the gospel, the scriptures, and love for each other and love for their parents is most important.
We have recommended that so far as possible all the children have their own scriptures and learn to use them.
Patriarchal Blessings
These are happy days, the days of the patriarchs, and it is our great hope that every person, including the older youth, will be given the opportunity of having a patriarchal blessing, which is recorded in the official records of the Church.
I have great confidence in the patriarchs and in their blessings. When the patriarch is a faithful Latter-day Saint and remains close to the Lord and is a student of the scriptures, the promises which he makes under his special authority and calling will be fulfilled, if the recipient of the blessing is faithful and true.
Of course, it is the right of every father and his duty as patriarch of his own family to give a father’s blessing to his children, and it is our hope that every father will give a sacred blessing to each of his children, especially as they are leaving home to go to school or on missions or to be married, which blessing should then be noted in the individual’s private journal.
Records
A word about personal journals and records: We urge every person in the Church to keep a diary or a journal from youth up, all through his life.
Would every family, as they now hold their home evenings, train their children from young childhood to keep a journal of the important activities of their lives, and certainly when they begin to leave home for schooling and missions?
Clean-Up
We are highly pleased with the response to the planting of gardens. It is health-building, both from the raising of crops and the eating of them. It is delightful to see so many gardens all over the land, and reports come in from numerous families and individuals who have obtained much saving and pleasure in the planting of gardens. We hope this will be a permanent experience of our people, that they will raise much of what they use on their table.
In addition to the gardens, we hope our people will straighten up their fences and clean the fence lines and tear down the old unused barns and outbuildings.
Choirs
We are grateful that many of our bishops have established excellent choirs for their services. It is splendid and we encourage it.
Education
The Church from the beginning has been committed to the principle that “the glory of God is intelligence.” (D&C 93:36.) We therefore encourage our people to study and prepare to render service with their minds and with their hands.
Some are inclined toward formal university training, and some are inclined more toward the practical vocational training. We feel that our people should receive that kind of training which is most consistent with their interests and talents. Whether it be in the professions, the arts, or the vocations; whether it be university or vocational training, we applaud and encourage it.
Vandalism and Theft
Our faith has been greatly strained, as we have learned of the profligate stealing in some communities, where millions of dollars are taken by shoplifters from our merchants.
In the end, the public must eventually pay. Why would any man, woman, or child steal from the friendly merchants and his folks and neighbors? This is unbelievable.
And great losses are sustained with the incredible amount of vandalism.
We can hardly understand the makeup of any person who would destroy for the mere satisfaction of doing it. Certainly we could have more pride in ourselves than to wreak havoc on property. Is it possible that some of us have that little respect for ourselves?
Brothers and sisters, we hope that we will all live frugally (as was discussed in our welfare meeting), and within our means, and that we will pay our debts faithfully and honestly.
In many parts of the world there are people who take delight in various destructive activities. These people are sadists, like Nero, the emperor of Rome, who is said to have burned the city of Rome to watch a big fire, and then blamed it upon the Christians. He is said to have loved the circuses of ancient Rome with all their sadistic activities, and we wonder what makes men so. And why do people slash tires, break windows, beat up innocent people, and set fires and throw bombs?
Let the Lord answer this matter:
“If ye walk in my statutes, and keep my commandments, and do them; …
“I will give peace in the land, and ye shall lie down, and none shall make you afraid. …
Permissiveness
The growing permissiveness in modern society gravely concerns us. Certainly our Heavenly Father is distressed with the increasing inroads among his children of such insidious sins as adultery and fornication, homosexuality, lesbianism, abortions, pornography, population control, alcoholism, cruelty expressed in wife-beating and child-abuse, dishonesty, vandalism, violence, and crime generally, including the sin of living together without marriage.
We call upon our Church members everywhere to renew their efforts to strengthen the home and to honor their parents, and to build better communications between parent and child.
Important as it is, building stronger homes is not enough in the fight against rising permissiveness. We therefore urge Church members as citizens to lift their voices, to join others in unceasingly combatting, in their communities and beyond, the inroads of pornography and the general flaunting of permissiveness. Let us vigorously oppose the shocking developments which encourage the old sins of Sodom and Gomorrah, and which defile the human body as the temple of God.
To our beloved brethren and sisters everywhere, as well as to all peoples of the world who love the Lord and desire to live in harmony with the teachings of the gospel of Jesus Christ, we say no people can remain strong and happy who condone these loose standards of morality.
While we cannot tolerate sin and we exercise Church discipline against those who do sin, we must help the transgressor, with love and understanding, to work his or her way back to full fellowship in the Church. Let us help each toward the blessing of a lasting repentance, a resolute turning away from error.
I have on occasion cited the need for many reservoirs in our lives to provide for our needs. I have said, “Some reservoirs are to store water. Some are to store food, as we do in our family welfare program and as Joseph did in the land of Egypt during the seven years of plenty. There should also be reservoirs of knowledge to meet the future needs; reservoirs of courage to overcome the floods of fear that put uncertainty in our lives; reservoirs of physical strength to help us meet the frequent burdens of work and illness; reservoirs of goodness; reservoirs of stamina; reservoirs of faith.
“Yes, especially reservoirs of faith, so that when the world presses in upon us, we stand firm and strong; when the temptations of a decaying [and, I should add, increasingly permissive and wicked] world about us draw on our energies, sap our spiritual vitality, and seek to pull us down, we need a storage of faith that can carry youth, and later adults, over the dull, the difficult, the terrifying moments; disappointments; disillusionments; and years of adversity, want, confusion, and frustration.
“And who is to build these reservoirs? Is this not the reason that God gave to every child two parents?
“It is those parents who sired them and bore them who are expected [by the Lord] to lay foundations for their children and to build the barns and tanks and bins and reservoirs.” (Faith Precedes the Miracle, Deseret Book, pp. 110–11.)
Deceit of Conspiring Men
We must be aware that one of the most powerful forces Satan uses to destroy our purity of life is the deceit of conspiring men.
While deceitful men produce and sell alcoholic drinks the whole world over, to the amount of millions of gallons and for millions in gains and profits, the truth of the Lord’s words is coming home today in the terms of poverty; broken health; broken homes; broken hearts; industrial distress through loss of efficiency, lower production, and absenteeism; and carnage on the world’s highways, caused partly through the determination to exceed the speed limits on the highways.
In this day of the “new morality” as sex permissiveness is sometimes called, we should be made aware of the Lord’s concern about immorality and the seriousness of sex sins of all kinds.
We have come far in material progress in this century, but the sins of the ancients increasingly afflict the hearts of men today. Can we not learn by the experiences of others? Must we also defile our bodies, corrupt our souls, and reap destruction as have peoples and nations before us?
God will not be mocked. His laws are immutable. True repentance is rewarded by forgiveness, but sin brings the sting of death.
We hear more and more each day about the sins of adultery, homosexuality, and lesbianism. Homosexuality is an ugly sin, but because of its prevalence, the need to warn the uninitiated, and the desire to help those who may already be involved with it, it must be brought into the open.
It is the sin of the ages. It was present in Israel’s wandering as well as after and before. It was tolerated by the Greeks. It was prevalent in decaying Rome. The ancient cities of Sodom and Gomorrah are symbols of wretched wickedness more especially related to this perversion, as the incident of Lot’s visitors indicates.
There is today a strong clamor to make such practices legal by passing legislation. Some would also legislate to legalize prostitution. They have legalized abortion, seeking to remove from this heinous crime the stigma of sin.
We do not hesitate to tell the world that the cure for these evils is not in surrender.
“But let us emphasize that right and wrong, righteousness and sin, are not dependent upon man’s interpretations, conventions and attitudes. Social acceptance does not change the status of an act, making wrong into right. If all the people in the world were to accept homosexuality, … the practice would still be a deep, dark sin.” (The Miracle of Forgiveness, Bookcraft, p. 79.)
As we think back upon the experiences of Nineveh, Babylon, Sodom and Gomorrah, we wonder—will history repeat itself? What of our world today? Are we forgetting in our great nations the high and lofty principles which can preserve the nations?
@@ how high did you number? See how different he was than President Monson. Monson would never had said all those things in a million years! He was so gentle and undemanding. So encouraging and inspiring. Is it OK for a prophet to be unique? Do they all need to be in Christ’s perfect image? Nope! We are allowed our own personality. As Mark Clayton taught me: Vern’s hands on the head, anointed priesthood blessings will be Vern flavored. Brandon’s will be Brandon flavored. There is not one right way Brandon! There is only one strait and narrow path with an iron rod on the side back to God but each man takes his own footsteps and no one exactly copies anyone elses trail! Are you reassured? If you live the gospel your way. . . it will be good enough! Believe it! You are good enough. We may lose our worthiness but we never lose our worth! Do you remember that quote from the Women’s session? You heard me say before that I have a real difficult time with this quote: As President Brigham Young taught: “The least, the most inferior spirit now upon the earth … is worth worlds.” ~~~ Let me point out the need to differentiate between two critical words: worth and worthiness. They are not the same. Spiritual worth means to value ourselves the way Heavenly Father values us, not as the world values us. Our worth was determined before we ever came to this earth. “God’s love is infinite and it will endure forever.”3On the other hand, worthiness is achieved through obedience. If we sin, we are less worthy, but we are never worth less! We continue to repent and strive to be like Jesus with our worth intact. As President Brigham Young taught: “The least, the most inferior spirit now upon the earth … is worth worlds.”4 No matter what, we always have worth in the eyes of our Heavenly Father.
Despite this marvelous truth, how many of us struggle, from time to time, with negative thoughts or feelings about ourselves? I do. It’s an easy trap. Satan is the father of all lies, especially when it comes to misrepresentations about our own divine nature and purpose. Thinking small about ourselves does not serve us well. Instead it holds us back. As we’ve often been taught, “No one can make you feel inferior without your consent.”5 We can stop comparing our worst to someone else’s best. “Comparison is the thief of joy.” @@@ Wait a minute? I love this world. I believe in conservation. I believe in our stewardship of our wonderful planet! I believe it is a glorious living being who hurts and aches with wickedness and sin and can’t keep from expressing that discomfort of having a wicked population on its surface by earthquakes and tsunamis, volcanoes and contortions. Our earth means the world to me! :) And yet one tiny inferior spirit is worth worlds? You have got to be kidding! We commit so many offenses against our planet. Our pollutions are horrible. But compared to hurting a fellow spirit those are nothing? My mind can’t comprehend, can’t fathom, can’t believe, can’t understand that degree of value yet! @@@ Well who was that masked man? Was it the lone ranger? Nope it was SWK. The Lengthen your stride, Quicken your stride, Do it, Do it now, prophet! Oct ‘77 opening address. Here is the rest: As we think back upon the experiences of Nineveh, Babylon, Sodom and Gomorrah, we wonder—will history repeat itself? What of our world today? Are we forgetting in our great nations the high and lofty principles which can preserve the nations?
I recall to mind the words of General Douglas MacArthur on the occasion of the Japanese surrender:
“Military alliance, balances of power, League of Nations all in turn failed. … We have had our last chance. If we do not now devise some greater and more equitable system, Armageddon will be at our door. The problem basically is theological and involves … improvement of human character. It must be of the spirit if we are to save the flesh.” (Douglas MacArthur, “Last Chance,” Time, September 10, 1945.)
Are we not inviting eventual destruction as we desecrate all things holy and sacred, even to the common and irreverent use in our daily talk of the names of Deity, and make his holy day, the Sabbath, a day of work, of commercialism, and of pleasure-seeking?
How then can we hope to escape the wrath of God and have peace and righteousness in the land? The answer came thundering down from Mt. Sinai and remains the answer. We go to Sinai:
“Thou shalt have no other gods before me.
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain. …
“Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy. …
“Honour thy father and thy mother. …
“Thou shalt not kill.
“Thou shalt not commit adultery.
“Thou shalt not steal.
“Thou shalt not bear false witness. …
“Thou shalt not covet.” (Ex. 20:3, 7–8, 12–17.)
And now in the year of our Lord 1977 there are among us those same vices which we have seen wreck empires, and we see them becoming flagrant in all nations. Shall we, like Belshazzar, sow the wind and reap the whirlwind? Shall we permit the home to deteriorate and marriage to become a mockery? Shall we continue to curse God, hate our enemies, and defile our bodies in adulterous and sensuous practices? And when the patience of the Lord with us is exhausted, shall we stand trembling while destruction comes upon us? Or shall we wisely see the handwriting on the wall and profit by the sad experience of the past and return unto the Lord and serve him?
I testify that Jesus is the Christ, this is his program; he is the God of this world, and I know that we can achieve our destiny and build enduring peace only upon the foundations of righteousness.
And may he help us to strive to live his laws and to achieve happiness on earth, I pray in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. @@@ Yes Brandon that was 40 years ago! What power! He dared didn’t he!! 10:52pm So guess who was the second speaker? Answer TSM. How did his talk compare? Answer: Entertaining and inspiring versus Counseling and Requiring. Did he do his Ann Dibbs identified trick of asking someone to do some service? You better believe it! Crud! I couldn’t have picked a better talk for showing his traits, characteristics. This is Monson flavored from beginning to end. When you are done I want you to be able to tell me who he wanted to paint a bright spot on their soul. If you laugh along the way you won’t be alone. The audience loved this talk! @@OCTOBER 1977 | The Way of the Lord by Thomas S. Monson
Frequently we sing the hymn, “Come, listen to a prophet’s voice and hear the word of God.” (Hymns, no. 46.) Today we have listened to the voice of a prophet, Spencer W. Kimball, proclaim the word of God.
Humbly and prayerfully I seek Divine help as I speak to you from the crossroads of the West. Salt Lake City is a mecca for tourists from all parts of the globe. Thousands throng to the beautiful ski slopes of Alta, Brighton, Park City, and Snowbird each winter. Each summer the canyons of Bryce and Zion’s host thousands more. An attraction for all seasons is Temple Square, with its historic Tabernacle, lofty, spired temple, and the beautiful Visitors Center which bids to one and all a friendly welcome.
Situated somewhat off the beaten path, away from the crowd, is yet another famous square. Here in a quiet fashion, motivated by a Christlike love, elderly and handicapped workers serve one another after the divine plan of the Master. I speak of Welfare Square, sometimes known as the Bishops Storehouse. At this central location and at numerous other sites throughout the world, fruits and vegetables are canned, commodities processed, labeled, stored, and distributed to those persons who are in need. There is no sign of government dole nor the exchange of currency here, since only the signed order from an ordained bishop is honored.
Journalists marvel at this unique welfare plan and write glowingly of a people who take justifiable pride in the independence of caring for their own. Most frequently the curious and pleasantly surprised visitor asks three fundamental questions: (1) How does this plan operate? (2) How is it financed? (3) What prompts such devotion on the part of every worker?
Over the years it has been my pleasant opportunity to supply many with the answers to these sincerely asked questions. To the question “How does this plan operate?” I usually respond by mentioning that I had the privilege during the period 1950 through 1955 to preside as a bishop over 1,000 members, situated in the central part of Salt Lake City. In the congregation were eighty-six widows and perhaps forty families who were judged to be in need, at varying times and to some extent, of welfare assistance. Each year, I, along with the thousands of other bishops, would prepare a commodity requirement budget estimating the needs of our people for the coming year. All such budgets were carefully reviewed and compiled and specific assignments given to units of the Church, that the requirements of the needy might be met.
In one ecclesiastical unit the Church members would produce beef, in another oranges, in another vegetables or wheat—even a variety of staples, that the storehouses might be filled and the elderly and needy supplied. The Lord provided the way when he declared, “And the storehouse shall be kept by the consecrations of the church; and widows and orphans shall be provided for, as also the poor.” (D&C 83:6.) Then the reminder, “But it must needs be done in mine own way.” (D&C 104:16.)
In the vicinity where I lived and served, we operated a poultry project. Most of the time it was an efficiently operated project supplying to the storehouse thousands of dozens of fresh eggs and hundreds of pounds of dressed poultry. On a few occasions, however, the experience of being volunteer city farmers provided not only blisters on the hands, but frustration of heart and mind. For instance, I shall ever remember the time we gathered together the teenaged Aaronic Priesthood young men to really give the poultry project a spring cleaning treatment. Our enthusiastic and energetic throng gathered at the project, and in a speedy fashion uprooted, gathered, and burned large quantities of weeds and debris. By the light of the glowing bonfires we ate hot dogs and congratulated ourselves on a job well done. The project was now neat and tidy. However, there was just one disastrous problem. The noise and the fires had so disturbed the fragile and temperamental population of 5,000 laying hens that most of them went into a sudden moult and ceased laying. Thereafter we tolerated a few weeds, that we might produce more eggs.
No member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints who has canned peas, topped beets, hauled hay, or shoveled coal in such a cause ever forgets or regrets the experience of helping provide for those in need. Devoted men and women help to operate this vast and inspired program. In reality, the plan would never succeed on effort alone, for this program operates through faith after the way of the Lord.
Sharing with others that which we have is not new to our generation. We need but to turn to the account found in First Kings of the Holy Bible to appreciate anew the principle that when we follow the counsel of the Lord, when we care for those in need, the outcome benefits all. There we read that a most severe drought had gripped the land. Famine followed. Elijah the prophet received from the Lord what to him must have been an amazing instruction: “Get thee to Zarephath: … behold, I have commanded a widow woman there to sustain thee.” When he had found the widow, Elijah declared, “Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.
“And as she was going to fetch it, he called to her, and said, Bring me, I pray thee, a morsel of bread in thine hand.”
Her response described her pathetic situation as she explained that she was preparing a final and scanty meal for her son and for herself, and then they would die.
How implausible to her must have been Elijah’s response: “Fear not; go and do as thou hast said: but make me thereof a little cake first, and bring it unto me, and after make for thee and for thy son.
“For thus saith the Lord God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the Lord sendeth rain upon the earth.
“And she went and did according to the saying of Elijah: and she, and he, and her house, did eat many days.
“And the barrel of meal wasted not, neither did the cruse of oil fail.” (1 Kgs. 17:9–11, 13–16.) This is the faith that has ever motivated and inspired the welfare plan of the Lord.
In response to the second question, “How is your welfare plan financed?” one needs but to describe the fast offering principle. The prophet Isaiah described the true fast by asking, “Is it not to deal thy bread to the hungry, and that thou bring the poor that are cast out to thy house? when thou seest the naked, that thou cover him; and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?
“Then shall thy light break forth as the morning, and thine health shall spring forth speedily: and thy righteousness shall go before thee; the glory of the Lord shall be thy rereward.
“Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer; thou shalt cry, and he shall say, Here I am. …
“And the Lord shall guide thee continually, and satisfy thy soul in drought: … and thou shalt be like a watered garden, and like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.” (Isa. 58:7–9, 11.)
Guided by this principle, in a plan outlined and taught by inspired prophets of God, Latter-day Saints fast one day each month and contribute generously to a fast offering fund at least the equivalent of the meals forfeited and usually many times more. Such sacred offerings finance the operation of storehouses, supply cash needs of the poor, and provide medical care for the sick who are without funds.
In many areas, the offerings are collected each month by the boys who are deacons as they visit each member’s home generally quite early on the Sabbath day. I recall that the boys in the congregation over which I presided had assembled one morning, sleepy-eyed, a bit disheveled, and mildly complaining about arising so early to fulfill their assignment. Not a word of reproof was spoken, but during the following week, we escorted the boys to Welfare Square for a guided tour. They saw firsthand a lame person operating the telephone switchboard, an older man stocking shelves, women arranging clothing to be distributed—even a blind person placing labels on cans. Here were individuals earning their sustenance through their contributed labors. A penetrating silence came over the boys as they witnessed how their efforts each month helped to collect the sacred fast offering funds which aided the needy and provided employment for those who otherwise would be idle.
From that hallowed day forward, there was no urging required by our deacons. On fast Sunday mornings they were present at 7:00, dressed in their Sunday best, anxious to do their duty as holders of the Aaronic Priesthood. No longer were they simply distributing and collecting envelopes. They were helping to provide food for the hungry and shelter for the homeless—all after the way of the Lord. Their smiles were more frequent, their pace more eager, their very souls more subdued. Perhaps now they were marching to the beat of a different drummer; perhaps now they better understood the classic passage, “Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these my brethren, ye have done it unto me.” (Matt. 25:40.)
To the third and final question, “What prompts such devotion on the part of every worker?” the answer can be stated simply: An individual testimony of the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ, even a heartfelt desire to love the Lord with all one’s heart, mind, and soul, and one’s neighbor as oneself.
This is what motivated a personal friend, now deceased, who was in the produce business, to telephone me during those days as a bishop and say, “I’m sending to the storehouse a semi-truck and trailer filled with citrus fruits for those who would otherwise go without. Let the storehouse management know the truck is coming, and there will be no charge; but Bishop, no one is to know who sent it.” Rarely have I seen the joy and appreciation this generous act brought forth. Never have I questioned the eternal reward to which that unnamed benefactor has now gone.
Such kind deeds of generosity are not a rarity, but are frequently found. Situated beneath the heavily traveled freeway which girds Salt Lake City is the home of a sixty-year-old single man who has, due to a crippling disease, never known a day without pain nor many days without loneliness. One winter’s day as I visited him, he was slow in answering the doorbell’s ring. I entered his well-kept home; the temperature in save but one room, the kitchen, was a chilly 40 degrees. The reason: not sufficient money to heat any other room. The walls needed papering, the ceilings to be lowered, the cupboards filled.
Troubled by the experience of visiting my friend, a bishop was consulted and a miracle of love, prompted by testimony, took place. The ward members were organized and the labor of love begun. A month later, my friend Lou called and asked if I would come and see what had happened to him. I did, and indeed beheld a miracle. The sidewalks which had been uprooted by large poplar trees had been replaced, the porch of the home rebuilt, a new door with glistening hardware installed, the ceilings lowered, the walls papered, the woodwork painted, the roof replaced, and the cupboards filled. No longer was the home chilly and uninviting. It now seemed to whisper a warm welcome. Lou saved until last showing me his pride and joy: there on his bed was a beautiful plaid quilt bearing the crest of his McDonald family clan. It had been made with loving care by the women of the Relief Society. Before leaving, I discovered that each week the Young Adults would bring in a hot dinner and share a home evening. Warmth had replaced the cold; repairs had transformed the wear of years; but more significantly, hope had dispelled despair and now love reigned triumphant.
All who participated in this moving drama of real life had discovered a new and personal appreciation of the Master’s teaching, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35.)
To all within the sound of my voice I declare that the welfare plan of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is inspired of Almighty God. Indeed, the Lord Jesus Christ is its Architect. To you I extend a heartfelt and sincere invitation: Come to Salt Lake City and visit Welfare Square. Your eyes will glow a little brighter, your heart will beat a little faster, and life itself will acquire a new depth of meaning. May such be your experience, I pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen. @@@ Did you notice the same old quote from Isaiah telling me not to hide my ability to sustain from my brother? “and that thou hide not thyself from thine own flesh?” How did Ann Dibbs know to quote that scripture at his funeral yesterday? Yep, there are characteristic Monson scriptures aren’t there! The ones he loved and the ones he lived by. Did you know he had a photographic memory? I know you have some of the gift as well. I think I have developed and audiographic memory. People are constantly amazed at the things I am able to repeat that they said years ago. To tell you the truth. . . I really think those remembered words are just because they surprised me. Sort of like the quote from BY about the inferior spirit being worth worlds.
Leonard Heard is the name they are offering me. Can you imagine a computer program that offers you temple names? Wow, have times ever changed. It make me glad to know the church thinks the internet is ours! The church thinks it has been invented by revelation for genealogy. Computers make so much genealogy possible and the millenium will need it!