J. Thomas Fyans

Presidency of the Seventy (October 1, 1976 – October 6, 1985)
First Quorum of the Seventy (October 1, 1976 – September 30, 1989)
Assistant to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles (April 6, 1974 – October 1, 1976)

General Conference Addresses

• April 1987 General Conference
  • The Book of Mormon’s Witness of Jesus Christ
    • “The oxygen in air is of vital importance. Our physical bodies are completely dependent upon the continuous supply of this most precious commodity. The lack of it for even minutes or seconds can do severe damage to our minds and bodies. Prolonged lack of air can end our mortal lives. But only those of us who traveled by airplane had to be reminded about it, because air, under normal circumstances, is all about us. All we have to do is allow it to flow into our lungs and feed the necessary oxygen to vital parts of our bodies.”
    • “What is to the spirit as air is to the body? A sure knowledge of the Father and his Son.”
    • “By plane or car or bus or train, we traveled safely to this common destination. There is another common destination that beckons us—eternal life with our Father in Heaven. And just as during our physical journey our bodies were dependent on air, so on our spiritual journey we are dependent on spiritual nutrients.”
• October 1985 General Conference
  • Draw Near unto Me
    • “Can you imagine the joy our Heavenly Father must feel when we come to him with the tender faith of a little child and accept the love he has for each of us? He wants us to come to him and has promised that he will be there to welcome us.”
    • “With this scriptural instruction, he has outlined the steps we should follow to draw near unto him. We seek him by studying the scriptures and listening to his prophets, through which we learn about him and his eternal plan for us. We ask through prayer and receive the guidance of his Spirit. And as we knock, the way is opened for us to gain eternal life and return to the Lord’s presence through obedience to his commandments.”
• April 1984 General Conference
  • Who’s on the Lord’s Team?
    • “Serving on the Lord’s team does not happen by chance.”
    • “You young men from all over the world are preparing to become members of a team. You have looked forward to this day with great anticipation. Hands have been laid upon your head to bestow the priesthood of God, in the name of Jesus Christ, that you might stand in His place in administering the sacred ordinances to the children of men. Think about it for a minute.”
• October 1982 General Conference
  • The Pearl of Great Price
    • “We have many wonderful teachings in this Church, all of which contribute to an uplifting, wonderful life. And yet as we look through all these trappings, and down to the very center core, we find that there is the message: yes, the Lord Jesus Christ came in the meridian of time. There he called others—Apostles and seventy, and others—to assist him in the task. He was placed on the cross and then in the tomb, and on the third day he arose. He lives today, and because he lives today, we will live tomorrow. That, I told my friend, is how we console the bereaved.”
• April 1982 General Conference
  • Employment Challenges in the 1980s
    • “The Church can be no more independent than the collective independence of its individual members. We fear that some may misunderstand the intent of the resources of the welfare program of the Church and fall into a false sense of security that will lead to reduced efforts toward self-sufficiency. It is not financially possible, nor is it sound in principle, for the Church to amass the assets necessary to take care of the members of the Church who are physically able to work. All the efforts of the welfare program are directed to helping people become self-sufficient.”
    • “Let troubled times serve as a catalyst for introspection and soul searching—followed by increased spirituality.”
• October 1980 General Conference
  • Seven Events of Great Consequence
    • “Great power has been manifest from mountains. Physical power came from Mount St. Helens, but that may soon be subdued and rest peacefully for an indeterminate number of years. The spiritual power that came from Sinai in olden times and the restorative powers of all ages that have come down from heaven in our day will not be subdued, but will affect us through all the eternities.”
• October 1979 General Conference
  • Priesthood Administration of Welfare Services
    • “Welfare services master planning is the process of (1) developing a plan for teaching gospel principles and practices related to welfare services; (2) identifying needs of the poor, needy, and distressed; and (3) programming resources to meet those needs.”
    • “When the plan is fully implemented, there will exist within an area those elements of the Storehouse Resource System required under varying conditions to assist bishops in caring for the poor, needy, and distressed.”
    • “The real strength of the Church lies in the savings accounts, the gardens, the income-producing skills, the home storage, the resiliency, the talents, and the testimonies of each individual member of the Church and in the family of which each of us is a part. Let us be ever mindful that the greatest blessing of the welfare system is derived by the givers and that each of us should work to be independent and self-reliant as families in order to be in a position to help our less fortunate brothers and sisters. Stated in plainness, each family unit’s personal and family preparedness activity is every bit as important as this vast and marvelous welfare system. The real strength of the Church does not ultimately lie in the financial and commodity reserves of the Church; rather, it rests in the reserves and strength of every household.”
• October 1978 General Conference
  • Ours Is a Shared Ancestry
    • “Our four-generation assignment is like serving the full-time mission. When we have, as a “brother and sister” family, submitted the family group sheets, we have in a sense completed our genealogical mission. This does not mean that we lose interest in genealogy. We can still exercise our free agency and research back as far as we wish. However, there is another way for us to turn our hearts to our fathers. Let me illustrate the advantages and need for the records extraction program.”
• April 1977 General Conference
  • Prepare Now for Your Mission
    • “Now, young man, get up from that reclining position by the fence and move! What will be the result? You will be a better missionary. When our prophet-leader, President Spencer W. Kimball, says, “Every young man on a mission,” he is looking far beyond the months spent in the mission field. Upon your return you will be a better bishop and a better stake president, a better husband, a better father, and a better whatever you will be both in this life and the one to come.”
• April 1976 General Conference
  • The Lamanites Must Rise in Majesty and Power
    • “Prophets are not discerned by intellectual processes. These statements of today have not been presented in proof that President Kimball is a prophet. They are but outward evidences of an inward power—no, not proof for, but a testimony of, divine powers linked with the Source of all eternal truth.”
• April 1975 General Conference
  • Make Haste to Obey
    • “The material we read has a great effect on the nature of our thoughts. We therefore need to be concerned not only with avoiding unwholesome literature, but we must fill our minds with pure knowledge, and we must see that our children do the same.”
    • “Through our scripture study we will come to consider these great leaders of the scriptures as our personal friends, and their messages will take on new and added meaning. We will learn that people of days gone by were not so different from people we know today.”
    • “Where do the streams of our thoughts flow? Are we reading the scriptures? Are we listening to the counsel of our present-day prophet? Are we catching the vision of really living the gospel? Are we feeling the sense of urgency—an urgency to repent, to share the gospel, to prepare for the second coming of the Savior, to obey all God’s commandments?”
• October 1974 General Conference
  • Making Conferences Turning Points in Our Lives
    • “Brothers and sisters, how much are the instructions of this conference going to mean to us? How much will they mean to us as parents? As officers and teachers? As home teachers and visiting teachers?”
    • “From my experiences with conferences, I testify that what is spoken under the influence of the Holy Ghost is scripture.”
• April 1974 General Conference
  • Commitment to Serve
    • “Because of dedicated associates, these scriptures of today—the sermons of this conference—will be within the covers of the Ensign and in your homes as April matures and May is born. We can know the will of the Lord, the mind of the Lord, and the word of the Lord as we ponder these modern scriptures.”

Other Talks

Articles in Church Publications

Other Publications and Resources