Alma Sonne

First Quorum of the Seventy (October 1, 1976 – November 27, 1977)
Assistant to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles (April 6, 1941 – October 1, 1976)

General Conference Addresses

• April 1970 General Conference
  • The Gospel Restored
    • “The Church is well organized and equipped to carry on its mission to the world. Generally speaking, it has been successful, and the gospel of the kingdom is going forth in preparation for Christ’s coming in these the last days. Many barriers have been removed since those hard times when it was first introduced under the leadership of Joseph Smith, a young prophet.”
• October 1969 General Conference
  • Joseph Smith, the Prophet
    • “We are grateful today for the fragmentary history of the early Christian church, for the records from which the four gospels were assembled, and for the teachings and testimonies of its early leaders. They have been a source of inspiration and guidance to the generations that followed. Without those precious records, darkness would have prevailed. The Church has kept and is keeping a faithful record and a reliable history of its growth, its development, and its expansion since it was organized on the sixth day of April 1830; and it will move forward in the future as it has in the past.”
• April 1969 General Conference
  • The Foundation of True Worship
    • “We believe in individual salvation. In other words, man must strive for a place in the hereafter if he wishes to obtain the salvation promised to the faithful. It will not come without effort, without prayerful searching and diligent application of those principles and procedures outlined in the holy scriptures.”
• October 1968 General Conference
  • The Articles of Faith
    • “Man’s destiny is godlike, for he has the opportunity to reach the heights of a glorious exaltation. The restored Church is the most important thing in the universe, for it points the way to eternal salvation and exaltation in God’s kingdom.”
• April 1968 General Conference
  • The Gospel Restored
    • “The mission of the Church is to establish God’s kingdom upon the earth, to safeguard it from error and falsehood, and to promote righteous living among its membership. To carry forward its program, organizations have been perfected, missionary work instituted, and foundations securely laid.”
    • “It is the mission of the Holy Ghost to inspire the Latter-day Saints in their efforts to build God’s kingdom, to enhance and strengthen the missionary system at home and abroad, and to enlighten the minds of those who are searching for the truth.”
    • “Life is full of purpose. Man’s career on earth is an opportunity for growth and development, an opportunity for him to acquire knowledge, power, and experience, and to prepare him for eternal life in God’s kingdom.”
• April 1967 General Conference
  • The Prophets
    • “Without the visions of Moses and Elijah, there would have been no gathering of Israel, and the temple building program characteristic of the Church would have had no beginning. The existence of these temples in the United States, in Canada, in Europe, and on the islands of the sea is a solemn testimony of the sincerity, the conviction, and the positive faith of the Latter-day Saints.”
• October 1966 General Conference
  • Found Not Wanting
    • “Those who live the gospel and introduce it into their daily lives will find no reason to deny its power to save and uplift mankind. The gospel teaches that life after death is a reality. There is a spirit world. The antediluvians were there when Jesus taught the gospel among them.”
• April 1966 General Conference
  • Truth Will Prevail
    • “Health and happiness cannot be bought or given. They are products of service and sacrifice.”
    • “Haphazard use of time, money, and energy means a poor return, devoid of satisfaction and fraught with failure and uncertainty.”
    • “The rock-foundation of such a civilization is a firm faith in the true and living God. Without such faith the soul has no anchorage and life has no purpose.”
• October 1965 General Conference
  • Our Lord and Master
    • “I look around me, and I see the green fields, the flowers, the trees, and the shrubbery, and in the autumn I see the earth illuminated with red and gold before nature goes to rest. I witness God’s handiwork. It bears the mark of a superior intelligence which is beyond my meager comprehension. I can conscientiously conclude that there is a divine plan which provides for man’s future when and where mortality ends.”
    • “I believe in God. I do not serve and worship him blindly. I trust him. He hears and answers my prayers. He sustains me in emergencies and comes to my rescue in times of need.”
• April 1965 General Conference
  • Light: Symbol of God’s Word
    • “We cannot fight change for we are living in a changing world. Permanency has few guarantees. There are things, however, which do not change. Honor, like truth, is not a composite thing. It never changes. It is the light which brightens our pathway. I suppose all people have a degree of light within them. Sometimes it is very dim; sometimes it has been extinguished by evil thoughts and deeds. The human mind is darkened by the shadows of earth. The word “light” appears many times in the scriptures, modern and ancient. When it does, it is symbolic of truth, for God’s word is truth.”
    • “In all of his assertions, Jesus never minimized nor underrated the importance of his message to the world.”
• October 1963 General Conference
  • Christ Is the Cornerstone
    • “As a Church we accept without reservation the divine leadership of Jesus Christ the Lord. Faith in him is the foundation of righteous living. He is the cornerstone of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. To disregard and to ignore him is to extinguish the brightest light in human history.”
    • “Religious teachers talk about theology, their doctrines of salvation—the resurrection, the virgin birth, and many other things. But without the personal Christ as he appeared among men, their teachings would be meaningless and without purpose, and the urge to worship the Almighty would be lost.”
• April 1963 General Conference
  • A Solid Foundation
    • “The Latter-day Saints, no matter where they were, knew they were a chosen people. Their movement westward was not an accident. The Prophet Joseph Smith had referred to the West when he prophesied that the Saints would become a mighty people in the midst of the Rocky Mountains.”
• October 1962 General Conference
  • Growth of the Church
    • “There was no delay in opening the way for the gospel message to the nations. Without money and worldly influence the work was established with a determination and a steadfastness seldom witnessed.”
• April 1962 General Conference
  • Be a Disciple
    • “Some men stand in terror of public opinion. Not so with the disciples of Jesus.”
• October 1961 General Conference
  • Read the Book of Mormon
    • “If Joseph Smith willfully and deliberately fabricated that volume and gave it to the world as scripture, he was unworthy of the confidence of all good men. Of all men he would be the most deceptive and the most dishonest. He would be a stranger to every divine and holy impulse. By every law of affinity his mind would be darkened by his evil designs. God’s Spirit would depart from him. No heavenly inspiration or enlightenment could emanate from one so bad, but his scriptural productions, every one, emphasize moral and spiritual values. They are warnings against wrongdoing. They are confirmations of Bible teachings.”
• April 1961 General Conference
  • And None Shall Stay Them
    • “Jesus chose humble men to represent him before the world. The same caliber of men has been chosen in this dispensation. Humility is a godly virtue. The missionary realizes that he is engaged in God’s work. It is not man’s work. His best qualifications are his worthiness and a firm and unshakable testimony.”
• October 1960 General Conference
  • The Destiny of This Church
    • “In other words, God is directing his work. It is not man-made, neither is it the creation of a human mind. The pioneer prophet Brigham Young was face to face with a gigantic task when he undertook to colonize the West and to keep alive the missionary movement. It was not an easy thing to set up a commonwealth and to transform a desert into cities, towns, and villages, and to provide homes, schools, and churches. It required more than ordinary skill to build up faith and hope and to develop a solid citizenship out of a people who came from many parts of the world.”
• April 1960 General Conference
  • My Testimony
    • “A great and strong testimony, isn’t it, my friends? We can receive the leadership of the Lord Jesus Christ without any doubts and without any misgivings. I know of no man in history who has made a bid for world leadership except only Jesus Christ.”
• October 1959 General Conference
  • The Sermon on the Mount
    • “Then he began to explain if that commandment were believed today we would be living in a different world. Fancy someone believing a teaching which declares, as we measure out to others, it will be measured back to us. There would then be no dishonesty in the world. There would be no persecution. There would be no war. There would be no bloodshed. There would be no contentions in our civilized society because the world stands on one of the great laws taught by the Lord Jesus.”
• April 1959 General Conference
  • Aspire Not for the Honors of Men
    • “I do believe that we have no right as members of the Church to put our first thoughts to the accumulation of worldly things, and I believe he expects us, as stated in that verse I first read, to seek first his kingdom.”
• April 1958 General Conference
  • Jesus the Christ
    • “Mormonism declares that Jesus Christ lived upon the earth, that he mingled with men, that he preached his powerful Sermon on the Mount to a small group of friends and associates who gathered on a mountainside, that he performed mighty miracles, that he was born of the Virgin Mary, that he was put to death on the cross by his enemies, that he arose from the grave on the third day after his crucifixion, and finally, that he is the Son of God. Mormonism also declares that he chose twelve apostles, that he commissioned them to preach the gospel of salvation which he had taught them, and that like him they performed many miracles in his name and established his Church upon the earth.”
• April 1957 General Conference
  • Truth Will Prevail
    • “I know this, and I testify to you that I do know it. No alterations and no far-fetched explanations have been necessary. The original declarations made by Joseph still stand. They cannot and have not been changed to satisfy the whims of critics, either in the Church or out of the Church.”
• October 1956 General Conference
  • Faith, the Bedrock of Life
    • “No nation can grow permanently great without God. History has so proven. The foundation of spirituality is faith in the true and living God. Without such faith man is forever in the shadows, for he has lost his greatest incentive to right living.”
    • “Faith is constructive for it supplies the urge to do things. A people blessed with faith are progressive, and invincible before difficulties.”
    • “Skepticism, on the other hand, has no vitality. It offers no program. It contradicts every claim to a life after death. It robs man of his belief in moral and spiritual values, and destroys his fondest hopes and noblest aspirations. Unbelief is negative and rejects the revelations of God however manifested.”
• April 1956 General Conference
  • The Strongest Fortification
    • “Strip the Christian religion of the doctrine of the resurrection, and you lose its motivating power, as was stated so well by President McKay the other day. There is no doctrine which received more attention of Christ’s twelve apostles, whom he sent into the world, than the resurrection. To deny it is to be ruled entirely by skepticism and unbelief. Mankind needs to have a conviction concerning the resurrection of the Lord Jesus.”
• October 1955 General Conference
  • Believest Thou the Prophets?
    • “Christ’s plan of salvation came to light gradually through holy prophets. Back of them is Jesus Christ, the light of the world, and the greatest of all the prophets. His gospel is the beacon light. The voice of the prophets is the voice of God to generations past, present, and future. These prophets came as they were needed. They were chosen before they were born. Their messages were always vital, important, and timely. Their testimonies were strong and fervent. They called people to repentance. They rebuked sin in high places. Their mission was to purify and regenerate the human family and to turn the hearts of men to God, who is the Creator, the Ruler, and the Giver of life. These living oracles seldom argued. They announced and interpreted God’s will and made no compromise whatever with worldly standards and patterns, however glowing and colorful they might appear.”
• April 1955 General Conference
  • Render Unto Caesar
    • “We have heard many things during this conference, and during this Easter time, about Jesus, the Christ. His perfect life has been extolled. His teachings have been expounded. His resurrection has been explained in the light of modern and ancient scriptures, and his divine mission has been emphasized by everyone who has spoken from this stand during the conference.”
    • “He left no room for equivocation and argument on the question of his divinity and his Sonship, and I am happy today as I stand here, that I belong to a Church which accepts that teaching as very fundamental.”
    • “The moral side of Christ’s character has no parallel. In it we find absolute perfection. No flaw, no blemish, no weakness is discovered. He is without sin. He was as great as the gospel he preached. He met every situation perfectly. He said and did the right thing at the right moment.”
• October 1954 General Conference
  • A Testimony
    • “I bear testimony that the gospel of Jesus Christ was restored through his instrumentality. I bear testimony, also, that Jesus is the Christ; that he submitted to the world the plan of life and salvation. It is the only plan by which we can come back to our Father in heaven, and I bear testimony, that plan has been restored again to the earth through Joseph Smith, the Prophet. Hesitate, my friends, ere you doubt this great modern miracle, for the gospel is upon the earth, and the Holy Priesthood has been restored, by which men can officiate in the name of God.”
• April 1954 General Conference
  • Abundantly Blessed
    • “I believe that the paramount obligation resting upon the Church today is to proclaim the divine mission of Jesus Christ. His Church, while standing practically alone amongst all the Christian churches, is boldly declaring that Jesus is the Christ, the Redeemer of mankind.”
• October 1953 General Conference
  • Testimonies—The Strength of the Church
    • “I want to say a word about the testimony which comes to each one of us who is active in the Church. A testimony is a precious gift from God. I have often said that the testimony we possess, you and I, is in reality the strength of the Church.”
    • “It is our paramount duty today and always to safeguard our testimonies and to live so that we will never lose them. That may seem like a big order, but I am sure it is God’s will.”
• April 1953 General Conference
  • Book of Mormon a Great Converter
    • “The Church from its very beginning in this dispensation has put forth every effort, it seems to me, to tell the world about the restoration of the gospel and the mission of Joseph Smith, the Prophet.”
• October 1952 General Conference
  • God Intervenes in Human Affairs
    • “We recognize and are aware of a similar power and influence emanating from the missionary system of the Church. Who can measure the influence of just one missionary who goes into the world to proclaim the gospel message? The missionary spirit which rests upon him, somehow or other, reaches out to the home from which he comes, to his relatives and friends and to all with whom he comes in contact. His life becomes a great missionary force in the world.”
• April 1952 General Conference
  • Missionary Labors
    • “May I say that the Church, as we have it today, is a product of the missionary system, begun six months after its organization. The Book of Mormon, the Articles of Faith, the revelations to the Prophet and the fundamental, philosophical teachings have survived a century of relentless opposition, criticism, and investigation. No changes, no apologies, no retractions have been necessary. The Church is like a rock in the storm-tossed seas, like a beaten anvil, immovable. Its foundation is firm and deep. It cannot be uprooted. Joseph Smith was a Prophet of God. We are here, you and I, because of his prophetic vision.”
• October 1951 General Conference
  • How Do We Find God?
    • “After all, brethren and sisters, how do we find God except in the service of our fellow men? I know from actual experience and observation that the leaders of this Church are unselfish in their service and in their devotion.”
• April 1951 General Conference
  • Truth and Righteousness Will Triumph
    • “When I left for Europe to take on a great responsibility, one I felt that was altogether too great for me to assume, President Smith called me to his office. He gave me only a very brief admonition, and I suspect he has given it to many. Said he, “Remember, Brother Sonne, give the Lord a chance.” I believe that admonition remained with me throughout my mission over in Europe. I’m not sure that I needed it so much, for I was very humble and prayerful in the work I had to do, but the advice was so good and so sound, that I never forgot it. And I feel what success came from our endeavors over in Europe during a crucial time was due in large measure to the help which we received from our Heavenly Father.”
• October 1950 General Conference
  • There Is No Middle Ground
    • “There is no middle ground upon which you can consider the claims of Joseph Smith. He was either prophet or fraud, for he did his work like one called of God.”
• April 1950 General Conference
  • God’s Purposes Are Ripening in the Earth
    • “I do not believe the Church will ever fail in any great emergency. God will always be at the helm to inspire and direct its leaders.”
    • “God’s purposes are ripening in the earth, and the predictions concerning the last days are being fulfilled. The gospel is being preached without fear or favor wherever religious freedom has been established. The preservation of that freedom rests upon you and me and all free men. The adversary of truth and light is organizing his forces in the world. He is the great enemy of freedom and human rights, both of which are God-given. I have seen the adversary’s system in operation in Europe. It stifles all progress and destroys happiness and independence. It makes for slavery and paves the way for sorrow and disappointment. It is the exact opposite of Christ’s plan of life and salvation. The two can never be blended.”
• October 1946 General Conference
  • Conviction Necessary for Action
    • “I am convinced if freedom in America; and elsewhere, is to be preserved, we must return to God. Indeed, I believe that years before the gospel was restored, preparations were made for its restoration. It was no accident that Christopher Columbus reached the shores of San Salvador in three flimsy vessels. It was no accident that the invincible armada of King Phillip of Spain was scattered by a storm which arose at an opportune moment on the high seas. It was no accident that a few drops of water, more or less, as Victor Hugo said, fell on the battlefield of Waterloo and brought about the defeat of Napoleon Bonaparte. It was no accident that thirteen loose, unorganized colonies on the Atlantic seaboard, without money, without credit, without a navy, without an army, were victorious in the Revolutionary War. It was no accident that the profound and great political truth set forth in the Declaration of Independence found expression through the pen of Thomas Jefferson. Why? Because he was inspired, and freedom of worship was an essential part of the gospel of Jesus Christ.”
• April 1946 General Conference
  • A Good Tree
    • “The unprejudiced student, the searcher after truth will see in Mormonism the counterpart of primitive Christianity. His investigations will discover in it the same spirit, the same energies and fortitudes, the same type of leadership and the same far-reaching objectives. He will see in Joseph Smith the characteristics of a true prophet of God like the prophets whose names and deeds glorify the pages of Biblical history. He will find that Joseph Smith is not easily dislodged from his position as a prophet of God. The Prophet’s claims will never be nullified by the declarations of traitors and blasphemers.”
    • “Wicked and degraded men do not bring light and hope and joy to their fellow men. A mind darkened by evil could not attract God-fearing men and women of faith, integrity, and intelligence whose lives have reflected good work and worthy achievements.”
• October 1945 General Conference
  • The Light of the World
    • “I feel that this Church, in carrying forward the great program entrusted to it, is actually and truly spreading light throughout the world.”
    • “As I think of these things I feel that the Latter-day Saints will never surrender their heritage of faith. That faith has given purpose and significance to their lives. It has opened the Holy Bible to their understanding. It has sustained them in adversity and trial. It has offered them every inducement to right living. It has been their refuge and their strength in sorrows and disappointments, and it has established their belief in moral and spiritual values, a most important belief. Faith in God is always the pathway to power and achievement; it is the motive power of progress and advancement.”
• April 1945 General Conference
  • Accomplishments of the Church
    • “I rejoice with you in the zeal and the enthusiasm of the leaders of this Church, and I rejoice with you in the faith and the integrity and the unswerving devotion of the membership of this Church. I say to you that God is at the helm. He is directing this people. He will continue to inspire the leaders of this Church. I appreciate more than I can tell my membership in the Church, my testimony of the truth, the great privileges, and the great opportunities which have come to me because of that membership.”
• April 1944 General Conference
  • Love of Neighbor
    • “The coming forth of Mormonism is the greatest event of modern times, and it will be so regarded in the future by the unprejudiced writers of history. It has survived every storm of opposition; it has never gone backwards; it has never retreated from its high aims and purposes.”
    • “The wayward and the careless must be warned and admonished in the spirit of kindness and brotherly love. Some of them are our neighbors and friends. Our love for them demands that they be brought back into the fold of Christ. Their faith must be revived, nourished and strengthened.”
• October 1943 General Conference
  • Guidance from God
    • “The Master’s words never grow old and trite. They come with the freshness of today, and are never outworn and obsolete. They are always vital and timely. I have seen men grow wealthy and influential in worldly things and at the same time grow exceedingly poor in spiritual things. I do not discount material achievements, but deplore the acquisition of such power and influence at a loss of the higher goal in life.”
    • “With Brigham Young first things came first. He knew there were things, even more important than lands and homes and worldly comforts, things like freedom, the right to worship, the right to grow and develop under the inspiration and guidance of Christian ideals. What better testimony could he give of their integrity and their faith? Here was the workmanship of their own hands. Here were the fruits of their labors, the results of their strivings and sacrifice and struggle. All of it they placed on the altar rather than compromise, and rather than forsake their standards and the guiding principles which sustained them.”
    • “The wisdom of the ages to which he refers is the holy Bible. History has proved that humanity needs guidance and enlightenment. Without guidance man is a law unto himself. He falters and fails. There are signposts everywhere, but men, in their eagerness to pursue their own course, pass them by. God knows His children. He has made provision for their safety and their security. Christ’s gospel is the beacon light to guide humanity. It points the way of salvation. It has come to earth in its fulness to lead the children of men back to God. The true end and felicity of man lies in the enjoyment of God’s favor, and His saving power.”
• April 1943 General Conference
  • Old Fashioned Values
    • “Today, in conference assembled, we rejoice in the efficiency of this Church, in its vitality, its power, its growth, its leadership, in its comprehensive program, and in the wide scope of its activities. The conferences of the Church have always been a great inspiration to the Latter-day Saints. We come here to be renewed in our faith, to be encouraged in our labors and to be strengthened in our responsibility, and we never go away disappointed.”
    • “The paramount need of the hour, it seems to me, is a return to the old-fashioned virtues that formed the very bedrock of our social and economic life.”
• October 1942 General Conference
  • Faith is Necessary to Good Government
    • “A great responsibility rests upon the Latter-day Saints, a responsibility which consists, not only in teaching, but in living the restored gospel. The spiritual crisis existing in the world today is a challenge to every church and to every devoted church member.”
    • “Faith is the bedrock of human life, without which the soul of man has no anchorage. Despotism may govern without such faith, but democracy will die without it.”
• October 1941 General Conference
  • Freedom
    • “There is confusion in the world. We are beset with difficulties, and sometimes I think it is well for us to hark back to the days of the pioneers to get our bearings and to learn the principles upon which they succeeded. Those sturdy people who laid the foundation of all we have and are, were men and women of faith. They were obedient to the commandments of the Lord. They knew that freedom is a priceless treasure.”

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