Vaugn J. Featherstone

First Quorum of the Seventy (October 1, 1976 – October 6, 2001)
General President of the Young Men (October 6, 1985 – October 6, 1990)
Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric (April 6, 1972 – October 1, 1976)

General Conference Addresses

  • October 1999 General Conference
    • One Link Still Holds
      • “Doesn’t it make you deeply grateful to belong to a church with apostles and prophets at the head—knowing that one link will always hold, one light will never go out? As the world moves deeper and deeper into sin, this wonderful Church stands like a giant granite boulder.”
      • “Beloved youth, aren’t you thankful to God that the apostles and prophets never waver on sin? No matter how strong the winds of public opinion may blow, the Church is immovable.”
      • “One of the most important influences on the religiosity of our youth is the spontaneous religious discussions in our homes.”
  • April 1992 General Conference
    • A Prisoner of Love
      • “There is a need—not to leave homes forever, but for a time—then return and reap the rich harvest of the faithful labor. Your children and grandchildren will be blessed.”
      • “We see attempts at legalization of drugs, abortion, homosexuality, and other compromising, drifting philosophies. Some of the brightest in our generation have been swept by giant waves onto treacherous shoals. We may not have been all that we should have been as parents, but we have loved our children, this church, our homelands, and cared for people in all nations. Some of the best blood of our generation has been spilled to preserve freedom. We have sacrificed many things to provide those who would follow better things than we had. This may well be another opportunity to reach our own by serving others.”
  • October 1987 General Conference
    • A Champion of Youth
      • “Some who work with youth may feel that they do not “fit” the calling. It is not always comfortable to work with the youth, but for me, as God is my witness, I love them.”
      • “This generation will face trials and troubles that will exceed those of their pioneer forebears. Our generation has had some periods of respite from the foe. The future generation will have little or none. But their great faith in the Lord will give them needed strength.”
      • “Young women were not foreordained to do what priesthood holders do. Theirs is a sacred, God-given role, and the traits they received from heavenly mother are equally as important as those given to the young men.”
  • October 1983 General Conference
    • Called As If He Heard a Voice from Heaven
      • “In this generation, growing up is no picnic for a young man. It requires stability, high standards, prayer, and parents and Aaronic Priesthood advisers who care.”
      • “Bishops, keep your eyes open, with a constant prayer in your heart that the Lord will let you know when your youth are in trouble.”
  • October 1982 General Conference
    • However Faint the Light May Glow
      • “There is a great purging and humbling that comes from the wells of despair. False pride is stripped away. The light of home flickers dimly through the dark miles of distance.”
      • “A minister recently read the parable of the prodigal son over the radio. He concluded with: “The younger brother stood justified before the Lord due to his repentance, and the older brother fell under the greater condemnation.” When I heard this, I wept and I thought, “Oh, you foolish man. You do not understand the Lord’s teachings.” The older son had been hurt and neglected and, true, had not exercised love and compassion to his wayward brother; but no thinking man could ever suppose that his transgression compared to the wasteful, extravagant, riotous living with harlots of the younger brother.”
      • “I think I have an understanding of what the Lord was trying to teach in this beautiful parable which extends hope to all. The Savior is standing with open arms to receive and forgive all who will come unto him. His atoning and redemptive suffering in Gethsemane and on Golgotha’s hill are the greatest acts of love ever performed.”
      • “All who are active have someone close who may he inactive, indifferent, or clothed in transgression’s soiled robes. They need the sweet, abiding love of a compassionate parent or loving brother or sister. Jesus will bless every member of the Church who will go out and bring someone back.”
  • October 1980 General Conference
    • Forgive Them, I Pray Thee
      • “For one to be forgiven of sin, the Lord requires that he come unto him, mourn over his sins, forsake the sins, be teachable, forgive others, and confess.”
      • “Huck Finn was right. You can’t pray a lie; and regardless of what may be decided by a common judge, actual forgiveness cannot take place until true repentance has preceded it. The common judge serves as the Lord’s agent. A bishop may be deceived, but the Holy Ghost cannot. When confession takes place, it ought to be from the inner-most depths of the heart and soul.”
      • “Beloved, the Lord has provided every soul with a Christlike ecclesiastical leader who has been endowed with powers and keys from on high to be his agent in exercising forgiveness on behalf of the Church. I plead with you: if you have a major transgression on your heart that has not been confessed, go to your bishop. He will be filled with love and charity and will bless your life and take the burden of sin from your heart as a repentant soul in modern Israel.”
  • October 1978 General Conference
  • October 1976 General Conference
    • Principles of Welfare
      • “Whenever a person in the ward is unemployed, the individual has primary responsibility to locate another job. Where he is unable to find a job, his family should help. Quorum and ward assistance should be offered in the very beginning, when the individual is first out of work.”
    • The Impact Teacher
      • “Impact teachers are not cast in a certain mold in the spirit world and introduced on earth’s scene at just the proper time. Every leader in the kingdom can become an impact teacher. Your notoriety may not reach much past the quorum or class, but your influence may be felt in the eternities.”
      • “The work of the impact teacher is first—and with greatest and lasting emphasis—to save the soul of the student. If we do all else and lose the boy or girl, we have failed in our sacred and holy stewardship.”
  • April 1976 General Conference
    • Food Storage
      • “I bear my humble witness to you that the great God of heaven will open doors and means in a way we never would have supposed to help all those who truly want to get their year’s supply. I know we will have time and money if we will commit and keep the commitment.”
  • October 1975 General Conference
    • But Watchman, What of the Night?
      • “Someone asked me once how I felt about amnesty for the draft card burner and the deserter. I told him that I thought every one of them should be taken before General Moroni to be judged.”
      • “When I stand with my hand over my heart and sing our national anthem, I’m so proud I can hardly stand it. When I think of all the noble men who gave their lives for this land, then I feel a sacred resolve well up within me and I know that we must stand fast.”
    • The Developing Welfare Services Department
      • “Careful training of devoted priesthood leaders will enable the Church to implement the Welfare Services programs in developing areas in accordance with revealed principles. Local leaders are learning how to avoid the evils of the dole, avoid the abuse of the use of fast offering funds, and avoid temporal inducement to baptism.”
  • April 1975 General Conference
    • Purity of Heart
      • “I would like to talk tonight about a need for a self-inflicted purging in every single priesthood holder so that we might be pure in heart.”
      • “People cannot hide sin. You cannot mock God and hold the Lord’s holy priesthood and pretend to propose that you are his servant.”
      • “I believe, brethren, we have the willpower. We don’t have to buckle under Satan’s temptations. That urge does not have to be satisfied. It has to be transmuted to other things.”
  • October 1974 General Conference
    • The Savior’s Program for the Care of the Aged
      • “Beset by problems, the elderly poor still cling fiercely to their pride; many will not ask relatives for extra help. They don’t want to be a burden.”
      • “Life can be so full and rich for our beloved senior Saints with snowy crowns. We love you and care for you. You make life so rich and meaningful for us. We pledge to be what we should be in our relationship to you.”
  • October 1973 General Conference
    • “The Gospel of Jesus Christ Is the Golden Door”
      • “That is a true principle of welfare and on that we should understand. Welfare is literally giving and not receiving in the Church of Jesus Christ.”
      • “Don’t be a sluggard. Do a day’s work. Give it your heart and soul, and the Lord will bless you with success and prosper you.”
  • April 1973 General Conference
    • “Now Abideth Faith, Hope, and Charity”
      • “And I pray that the charity of Jesus Christ will be with and abide with each one of us, that we will understand the total dimension of welfare services in the Church.”
  • October 1972 General Conference
    • The Sure Word of God
      • “I believe that the scriptures have every dimension of life that we can cleave unto and find a pattern for living, if we will just go back to the scriptures and study them and learn of them.”
  • April 1972 General Conference
    • A Challenge to the Priesthood
      • “During that time I have had one single purpose in mind. Along with hearing the words of the apostles and prophets and great General Authorities I have looked into their faces and studied them. And I am sure each time that I have found purity of heart. I have found integrity. I have found great love and understanding. I have found self-discipline. I have found all the fine qualities that a holder of the priesthood would like to have. And then I have gone back renewed and decided that I want to put the things I have seen in their faces into mine.”

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