Keith B. McMullin

Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric (December 27, 1995 – March 31, 2012)

General Conference Addresses

• October 2011 General Conference
  •  The Power of the Aaronic Priesthood
    • “It has been my experience that you who serve as deacons, teachers, and priests are as willing, reliable, and capable in doing your duty as we expect you to be. We admire you. Your vitality is infectious, your abilities astounding, your association invigorating. You and the Aaronic Priesthood office you hold are essential to Heavenly Father’s work with His children and the preparation of this earth for the Second Coming of His holy Son. Our vision of you and your duty looks beyond your age.”
    • “What can a deacon, teacher, or priest do to receive the spirit of revelation and magnify his calling? He can live so as to enjoy the cleansing, sanctifying, and illuminating power of the Holy Ghost.”
    • “This will help you rise to the noble stature of your manhood. The qualities of courage, trustworthiness, humility, faith, and goodness will be yours. Friends will admire you, parents will praise you, brethren in the priesthood will depend on you, and the young women will adore you and become even better because of you. God will honor you and endow your priesthood service with power from on high.”
• April 2010 General Conference
  • Our Path of Duty
    • “For those who eschew evil and live good lives, who strive for a brighter day and keep the commandments of God, things can get better and better even in the face of tragedy. The Savior showed us the way.”
    • “The duty of which I speak is what we are expected to do and to be. It is a moral imperative summoning forth from individuals and communities that which is right, true, and honorable. Duty does not require perfection, but it does require diligence. It is not simply what is legal; it is what is virtuous. It is not reserved to the mighty or high in station but instead rests on a foundation of personal responsibility, integrity, and courage. Doing one’s duty is a manifestation of one’s faith.”
• October 2008 General Conference
  • God Loves and Helps All of His Children
    • “This truth elevates the human family. Men and women are wondrous creations endowed with divine attributes. At the time of Creation, God placed in Adam and Eve the supernal capacity to bear children in their likeness. We are all, therefore, in His image.”
    • “We do, however, contend with serious mortal frailties and hazards. Sickness, aging, and death are inescapable. Hardships and heartaches are part of life’s journey. Personal dispositions, appetites, and passions clamor for gratification.”
    • “Hers is but one of many such healings. But none stands as a greater witness of how Heavenly Father helps His children through prayer than the one that took place in a hospital room, with 12-year-old Janice and two humble servants of God, some 58 years ago.”
    • “It is with great reverence and awe that I bear witness of the Lord Jesus Christ. In doing so, I am reminded how careful we must be in the use of His name. While His influence, teachings, and deliverance endear Him to us, we would do well not to speak of Him as though He were the friend next door.”
• April 2007 General Conference
  • Lay Up in Store
    • “There is no need to be anxious about events leading up to the Second Coming. Let us instead be filled with gratitude for our understanding of what lies ahead. Let us appreciate that we are in charge of our own world, being the Lord’s agents over that which He has entrusted to us.  The formula is simple: Be faithful. Unencumber your life. Lay up in store.”
• October 2005 General Conference
  • Be Prepared … Be Ye Strong from Henceforth
    • “Calamities are a form of adversity, and adversity is a necessary part of Heavenly Father’s plan for the happiness of His children.”
    • “If our hearts are right before God, adversity will school us, help us overcome our carnal nature, and nurture the divine spark within us.”
    • “Every time calamity strikes, there is a corresponding sacred obligation that falls upon each of us to become better.”
• April 2004 General Conference
  • Jesus, the Very Thought of Thee
    • “Because the testimony of Jesus is God-given, it stands preeminent and is essential to a happy life. It is the fundamental principle of our religion, and all other things pertaining to our faith are appendages to it.”
    • “Nurtured through righteous living, this testimony of Jesus becomes the governing force in all that a person does.”
    • “Jesus, the very thought of Thee fills my heart with inexpressible joy. It controls every part of my being. My life, my loves, my ambitions are molded, enlivened, and given purpose because I know that Thou art the Christ, the Holy One.”
• October 2002 General Conference
  • Come to Zion! Come to Zion!
    • “The establishment of Zion should be the aim of every member of this Church. It can be safely said: As we seek with all our hearts to bring forth and establish Zion, the vexations of too little time will disappear. There are joys and blessings by enlisting in this noble cause. One’s personal life is transformed. The home is no longer a hotel but a place of peace, security, and love. Society itself changes. In Zion, contentions and disputations cease, class distinctions and hatreds disappear, no one is poor—spiritually or temporally, and all manner of wickedness is no more.”
    • “Among the doctrines that give rise to this highest order of priesthood society are love, service, work, self-reliance, consecration, and stewardship.”
    • “We are sons and daughters of God and are truly dependent upon Him for all that we have. If we keep His commandments, He will never forsake us. But Heavenly Father does not do for us what we can and should do for ourselves. He expects us to use the means we receive of Him to care for ourselves and our families. When we do so, we are self-reliant.”
    • “These principles of love, work, self-reliance, and consecration are God given. Those who embrace them and govern themselves accordingly become pure in heart. Righteous unity is the hallmark of their society. Their peace and harmony become an ensign to the nations.”
• April 2001 General Conference
  • An Invitation with Promise
    • “The experience taught me that just being a member of this Church is not enough. Nor is merely going through the motions of membership sufficient in this day of cynicism and unbelief. The spirituality and vigilance of a saint are required.”
    • “Being saintly is to be good, pure, and upright. For such persons, virtues are not only declared but lived. For Latter-day Saints, the kingdom of God, or the Church, is not a byline; rather, it is the center and the substance of their lives. Home is “a bit of heaven,” not a hotel. The family is not merely a societal or biological entity. It is the basic eternal unit in God’s kingdom wherein the gospel of Jesus Christ is taught and lived. Indeed, Latter-day Saints diligently strive to become a little better, a little kinder, a little nobler in the daily affairs of life.”
    • “Worldly wealth loses its peril through conscientious adherence to the Lord’s tithe. Returning to Him a tithe of all He provides engenders in the giver a love of God above all else. It introduces the obedient to the higher law of giving without command. The fast and fast offerings are embraced and power comes to loose the bands of wickedness, lift heavy burdens, bless the less fortunate, and strengthen family ties. The covenant of tithing weans the faithful from the love of money and its attendant trappings.”
• April 1999 General Conference
  • Welcome Home
    • “Mortal life is like unto the traveler on a homeward journey. The miles seem long, the minutes slow, the events of the day protracted and tedious. Eventually, however, familiar scenes come into view. They may be hills or valleys, country landscapes or towering buildings, a teeming thoroughfare or a quiet neighborhood street. Whatever the scene, its familiarity quickens the traveler’s step, invigorates his wearied soul, and restores sweet feelings of anticipation and peace. At long last, he is home again.”
    • “When temptation besets us, we experience pain of conscience. A sensitive conscience is the evidence of a healthy spirit. The pain or guilt we feel is the spirit’s reaction to temptation, imperfection, or sin.”
• October 1997 General Conference
  • “Behold the Man”
    • “Newly baptized converts make an abrupt departure from past habits and ways. They are frequently alone in the Church, without the support of family and familiar faces. They stand on a path that is strait, narrow, and true. It is also new and can be a bit baffling.”
    • “The gospel is imparted and received in two ways—one comes before the other. The first contains a lesser portion which prepares; thereafter comes the greater portion which fulfills. The substance of each is found in the ordinances and workings of the holy priesthood—beginning in the Aaronic, culminating in the Melchizedek.”
    • “Because youth and age are so visible in the Aaronic Priesthood, we could mistakenly assume they somehow determine the powers and effectiveness of this priesthood. Remember, please remember: In the Church, it is worthiness and the power of God that qualify men for the work. Expectation, opportunity, and service contribute more to one’s growth than do birthdays. In the kingdom of God, the age of majority begins with ordination.”
• April 1996 General Conference
  • “Ye May Know”
    • “This is a phenomenon of mortality and lies at the heart of one’s skepticism. But amidst differing views on spiritual matters, there comes to us from scripture the wonderful and comforting promise “Ye may know.” Though our backgrounds are different, we are all children of the same Heavenly Father. He has provided a way to bridge our differences, a way each of us may know. This way is through the power and sure witness of the Holy Ghost.”

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