Milton R. Hunter

First Council of the Seventy (April 6, 1945 – June 27, 1975)

General Conference Addresses

  • April 1972 General Conference
    • The Miracle of Missionary Work
      • “The faith and devotion of mission presidents and their wives and families present marvelous stories of sacrifice and service to spread the gospel of Jesus Christ and build up his kingdom.”
  • October 1971 General Conference
    • The Vitality of Love
      • “Christ declared that the second great commandment was to love our neighbor as ourselves. The Master Teacher knew that it is human nature for all people to be self-centered. Thus, to be a good Christian, we must love other people as much as we love ourselves. If we loved our neighbors as much as we love ourselves, all our dealings with them would be in kindness, charity, and generosity.”
      • “Parents should express their love to their children and show them in numerous ways that they love them dearly. Then the Spirit of the Lord will reside in the home. The family will be love-centered and thereby God-centered. The children in turn will reciprocate the love to the parents and strive to please them.”
  • April 1971 General Conference
    • “Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery”
      • “We are living today in a very permissive society. Having abandoned the ancient Christian morality, many people claim to accept a new morality, which in reality is to live contrary to the laws of chastity as proclaimed by God. We are living in a day when a sexual revolution is being proclaimed. Enticements to illicit behavior are found everywhere. Day by day a flood of them is growing worse in novels, magazines, movies, TV, and advertising.”
      • “Many religious leaders have ceased teaching that sin exists. Where are the Christian ministers who stir their audiences with sermons on chastity; who proclaim condemnations of adultery and of all manners of immoral acts? Some ministers and religious teachers have become converted to modern permissive thinking and even have become advocators of it.”
      • “Thus, a basic law in marriage is the law of chastity. Men and women cannot defile the fountain of life and reap a fullness of joy. Happiness and purity of heart and mind go hand in hand.”
  • April 1970 General Conference
    • Witnesses to the Book of Mormon
      • “So impressive was the influence of the resurrected Lord on the ancient Americans that when the Spaniards came, they found all the Indian tribes throughout the western hemisphere ardently worshiping his memory. During the American colonial period everywhere, traditions were found that told of a white and bearded God who visited the ancestors of the Indians in ancient America. All of these Indian traditions and writings bear witness to the visits made by the resurrected Savior to America, as recorded in the Book of Mormon.”
  • October 1969 General Conference
    • Where Do We Go When We Die?”
      • “What is death? It is nothing more than the separation of the spiritual body from the physical body. The physical tabernacle becomes diseased, worn, and aged, and, therefore, no longer a fit home for the spirit. Thus the spirit—the real person, in which all the good deeds committed, also the bad deeds committed, the personality—goes on alive as a spirit personage in the spirit world.”
  • April 1969 General Conference
    • A Great and Marvelous Work
      • “Since the coming forth of the Book of Mormon is so astounding, it has divided all people who have come into contact with it into two definitely separate groups—believers and nonbelievers. Those who believe love it, enthusiastically testify to its divinity, and proclaim its great worth to humanity. Those who disbelieve it hate it. Many brilliant men have written viciously against it. No book has had as many attacks made upon it as has the Book of Mormon.”
  • October 1968 General Conference
    • A Prophet “Great Like Unto Moses”
      • “It seems to be definite, therefore, that all the prophets, seers, and revelators who headed the various gospel dispensations, such as Adam, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Moses, and Joseph Smith, were called, sanctified, and foreordained by God before they came into mortality perform the great woe which they performed here.”
  • October 1966 General Conference
    • Seeking Peace and Happiness
      • “The measure of a people’s happiness comes in proportion to the amount of love they have in their hearts for their fellowmen.”
      • “Satan however, has never exerted more influence among the children of men than he is exerting throughout the world today to bring about sin and misery and the destruction of the human race. Wars, strife, hate, greed, selfishness, and all sorts of evil exist everywhere. Crime is on the increase throughout the nation, especially among the youth. Murder, adultery, robbery, traffic in drugs, and numerous other crimes are reported daily in the newspapers.”
      • “The devil has never found a better tool in the history of the world to destroy the happiness of human beings than liquor. It is a companion of prostitution, an associate of gambling, a friend of murder, robbery, poverty, and divorce. In fact, liquor is a companion of all the bad and sordid things one finds in life.”
  • October 1965 General Conference
    • The Dynamics of Testimony
      • “From Paul’s statement it is evident that people do not obtain their testimonies through their physical senses but through their spiritual senses. Thus Brigham Young and his people obtained their knowledge directly from God, receiving it through their spiritual senses, and so a testimony can be termed spiritual knowledge. Those who have received strong testimonies feel that spiritual knowledge may be even more real than knowledge gained through the physical senses.”
      • “It is a fact that the gift of the Holy Ghost is bestowed upon each baptized person when he is confirmed a member of the Church of Jesus Christ, but the Holy Ghost will not abide with that person if he is not righteous and pure in heart. A person who has a powerful testimony—even a dynamic, compelling testimony—can easily lose it.”
      • “A testimony grows through a person’s humility, willingness to submit to God’s will, and continuous obedience. The more completely one conforms his life to the teachings of the Master, the greater will be his testimony and the manifestations of the gift of the Spirit.”
  • April 1963 General Conference
    • A Letter to My Son Michael
      • “Seek day by day throughout your life to have sufficient inspiration and wisdom to know what the Lord our Savior desires you to do; and then work under that divine inspiration to do it at all times to the best of your ability.”
      • “Pray to your Heavenly Father every night before you retire to bed. Pray to him every morning before you leave your bedroom. Pray for the sick and afflicted, the poor and needy, the widows and orphans and all workers of righteousness throughout the world. Pour out your heart in thanksgiving to him for the numerous blessings that he gives you. Pray to him for his divine guidance in your schoolwork. He will answer your prayers by enhancing your memory and by giving you strength and wisdom to complete your assignments. He will help you to succeed in your numerous undertakings.”
  • October 1961 General Conference
    • Keep God’s Commandments Now
      • “Jesus Christ is the great Lawgiver and Judge. He is the one that will give us our rewards and blessings for righteousness, and, on the other hand, withhold blessings or give us the punishments for failing to live righteous lives. He judges on a very fair basis by eternal law. He cares not whether one is rich or poor, bond or free, male or female.”
  • April 1961 General Conference
    • The Greatest Event in Ancient America
      • “When the Catholic Fathers first came to the New World, they found among the various Indian tribes the tradition and practices of many of the gospel teachings. The religious beliefs and practices, as well as their traditions, were so near like Christianity that many of the Catholic Fathers claimed that the Indians had Christianity before the coming of the Europeans.”
  • October 1960 General Conference
    • Judge Not
      • “Throughout my life in mingling with many people of various religious denominations I have observed that as a rule it seems as if human beings like to gossip. We like to hear unsavory things about our neighbors and talk about each other. It seems that ofttimes we get a certain degree of satisfaction or even joy out of saying bad things about other people. We thoughtlessly and sometimes maliciously judge each other. We censure our associates sometimes unjustly, many times unkindly; and most of the time we speak without having the evidence to back up what we are saying.”
      • “If all of us would love our neighbors—would love all the people with whom we associate-as much as we love ourselves, we would do no unkind things to them.”
      • “In all of our dealings with each other, our hearts should be filled with charity toward all men. We should show forth an abundance of charity toward all the people with whom we associate.”
  • April 1960 General Conference
    • Man Will Live Again
      • “Religions that have offered great satisfaction to the worshipers are those that have had strong doctrines of the immortality of man. Especially in times of sorrow and bereavements have they been able to offer comfort to those in distress.”
  • October 1959 General Conference
    • Missionary Work in Central America
      • “These two important stories demonstrate the fact that the Lord is touching the hearts of the Lamanites, and they are receiving the gospel. He is opening the way for the fulfilment of the promises made to the Lamanites or Indians by the Book of Mormon prophets.”
  • April 1959 General Conference
    • The Messiah and the Jews
      • “Also, I told him that when the Jews repent and accept the gospel of Jesus Christ, which, according to the ancient prophets, will take place at the time of the fulness of the Gentiles, and when they look not for another Messiah to come but accept him who has come as their Messiah, then God will remember the covenants made with their ancestors. At that time missionaries of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, having the true gospel, will take that gospel to the Jews. Many of them will believe and accept Jesus as the Christ, the Messiah, the Savior of the world.”
  • October 1958 General Conference
    • A Marvelous Work and a Wonder
      • “In humility and from the depths of my heart, I want to bear testimony that I know that “a marvelous work and a wonder” has been established—the true Church of Jesus Christ is here upon the earth founded through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I know as I know that I am alive that he is a prophet of God, one of the greatest that the world has known. I also solemnly bear witness that all the presidents who have presided over the Church in this dispensation, including our beloved President David O. McKay, are prophets of the true and living God. President McKay holds the keys of the kingdom, which keys and position of prophet, seer, and revelator, he shall continue to hold through divine appointment until death and then another will be appointed by the Lord to replace him.”
  • April 1958 General Conference
    • Through the Blood of the Lamb
      • “In closing I would like to remind all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints that you and I have taken upon ourselves the name of Christ through faith, repentance, baptism, and confirmation. All of us have entered into a covenant that we will keep all of God’s commandments. The Lord has promised us that if we do so and remain faithful to the end that someday we shall be quickened by a celestial power.”
  • April 1957 General Conference
    • Gratitude
      • “I hope that we can become very appreciative, because I think that is one of the grand principles of the gospel of Jesus Christ. The principle of gratitude is closely akin to the attribute of love. It is akin to unselfishness. In showing our appreciation, I think possibly the best opportunity we have is to serve each other. In this way we help to build God’s kingdom.”
  • April 1956 General Conference
    • Marriage Customs of the Quiché Maya
      • “In addition to the principal purpose of missionary work, i.e., finding the honest in heart, teaching them the gospel, and thereby bringing souls unto God, I truly believe that a mission is one of the greatest schools in the world for the personal development of the missionaries. Those humble laborers who put their hearts and souls into the work and lose themselves in the service of others naturally receive an individual growth and development beyond their greatest expectations. I think there is no university that can better prepare our sons and daughters for positions of leadership and for life in general, developing their personalities more fully, than can service in the mission fields. From this viewpoint, as well as from many others, the missionary program is marvelous and a great blessing to the members of God’s kingdom.”
  • October 1955 General Conference
    • The Modern Scriptures—Our Greatest Aids
      • “In conclusion, I desire to speak briefly to the members of Church of Jesus Christ. If we as members will give heed to the teachings of the Savior, rendering obedience to all of his commandments, if we will walk along the path which these latter-day scriptures point out, all of the blessings promised in these scriptures will be ours. Some day we shall come back into the presence of the Father and the Son and receive eternal life.”
  • April 1955 General Conference
    • Indian Traditions of the Book of Mormon
      • “I shall answer that question in the affirmative. Yes, we do have some very important documents which were written between two and three hundred years prior to the publishing of the Book of Mormon which make the claim that many years ago the ancestors of the American Indians possessed an important, sacred book. These writings are so explicit that one could easily believe that the ancient records spoken of by the Indian writers are the same records as the ones from which the Book of Mormon was translated by the Prophet.”
  • October 1954 General Conference
    • Book of Mormon Evidences
      • “Also, during the same period of time, enemies of truth and light have done everything within their power to oppose the Book of Mormon, trying to prove that its claims are false. Some of these men, no doubt, were merely misled; but the majority of them did what they did with evil intent. The result has been that all of their works have come to naught. The evil results of their efforts have vanished as the dew on earth’s verdure vanishes in the presence of the rising sun. Thus, the Book of Mormon stands today in higher repute than ever before in the history of the Church. None of its claims have been proven to be false. On the other hand, a vast accumulation of evidences—some of which speak as it were from the dust and others from the ancient past—continue to bear witness to the divinity of this sacred book and to its truthfulness.”
  • April 1954 General Conference
    • Men Are, That They Might Have Joy
      • “Other people have felt that they could satisfy that urge for happiness by indulging all of their physical appetites; for example, even some Latter-day Saints have felt that they could satisfy that inner urge for happiness by breaking the Word of Wisdom—by satisfying their appetite for tea, coffee, tobacco, and liquor. Certainly many of them found that those things did not increase their joy. They cut off many of their opportunities for an abundant life, and especially is that true in the case of using alcohol. The devil has found no better tool to bring about poverty, misery, and divorce, and even to lead one into gross sins, than the use of alcohol.”
      • “Others have felt that by indulging their sexual emotions, by committing adultery, they could satisfy that inward urge for happiness. It is my opinion that such self-indulgent people, without any exception, find to their regret and chagrin that sin never is happiness.”
      • “We control our happiness from within by our thoughts and actions. People can be happy without an abundance of material things, even living under the most meager circumstances, if they will abide by the laws which bring about happiness.”
      • “President McKay yesterday mentioned one very definite item basic to happiness. It is service. Joy comes as a result of serving our fellow men. We serve our God through service to his children. There is nothing sweeter in all the world than the spiritual blessings which come to us as the result of service, as the result of losing our lives for the Master’s sake, with the promise that someday we shall receive eternal life.”
  • October 1953 General Conference
    • Selling Our Souls
      • “Yet I do recognize the fact, also, that there are many temptations in mortality which we have, and some of the Latter-day Saints, as a result of these temptations, fall into sin and thereby exchange their souls for the things of this world; for example, the desire to attain wealth, position, or power, accompanied by greed, selfishness, covetousness, and other earthly contaminations, cause some Latter-day Saints to lose their souls.”
      • “I do not believe that the Savior objects to Latter-day Saints becoming wealthy, if they use that wealth as they should. God wants his children to have the good things of the world, if we use that wealth to pay our tithing, and fast offerings, to send out missionaries, to build church houses, and to help build up the kingdom of God here upon this earth in every way; but he warned against the evil effects that wealth might have on members of his Church.”
  • April 1953 General Conference
    • Immortality and Eternal Life
      • “That marvelous statement contains two distinctive features. The one is the immortality of man; and the other, the eternal life. Each of these items means something entirely different, distinctively different, from the other. Immortality means the resurrection from the grave. Eternal life means the type of life that will be lived in celestial glory by those who showed their love for God by keeping his commandments while living in mortality.”
      • “Since eternal life is the greatest of all of God’s gifts to man, it should be of more importance and much more worthwhile to you and me to put forth every effort to attain eternal life than it would be to accumulate a million dollars, or even a million, million dollars, or to rise to any position of leadership in this world, or to gratify any or all of our mortal desires.”
      • “When one thinks as he thinks, acts as he acts, attains power comparable to that enjoyed by him, then that individual has attained exaltation or eternal life.”
  • October 1952 General Conference
    • The Only Name Given Under Heaven
      • “We, the members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, revolt against such teachings, because we know different. We accept Jesus Christ as our Lord, as our God, as our king, as our Savior and Redeemer, as the Only Begotten Son of God here in the flesh, and as the embodiment of all that is good. In fact, in his pre-mortal life, even before this world was created, he enjoyed the status of godhood. Acting in that capacity, along with the Eternal Father, he helped to create this world, as well as many other worlds.”
  • April 1952 General Conference
    • Obedience to God’s Commandments
      • “Now, some people may regard Adam’s answer as one of blind obedience. I think his answer is one of the most sublime illustrations in the scripture of faithful obedience. Although he did not know the full answer why, yet he knew that God would not tell him to do anything which would be harmful for him. He was convinced that all that God commanded him to do was for his own good; therefore, he obeyed, and later on he received light.”
      • “When you and I became members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and were baptized, we entered into a covenant to keep God’s commandments—all of his commandments. We did not covenant to obey just the gospel laws that meet our convenience the ones that we like to keep, but all of God’s commandments.”
  • October 1951 General Conference
    • The Missionary Assignment
      • “If the Savior had come back to earth at the beginning of the fifth century A.D., I doubt whether he would have recognized the Christian Church as the one that claimed descent from that which he had established, so far had it gone astray. Christianity had actually become a composite of Christian beliefs, practices, and doctrines, Jewish teachings and rituals; Greek, Roman, and Egyptian pagan philosophies: and pagan religions of various brands. The Holy Priesthood had been withdrawn from the earth. The power of godliness was no longer present in the Christian Church. Thus there was a complete falling away from the gospel which had been established by the Son of Man. The Church lay in darkness, and the darkness enveloped the earth. This spiritual darkness continued for hundreds and hundreds of years.”
  • October 1950 General Conference
    • Will a Man Rob God?
      • “I have also observed that there are certain members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints—and possibly thousands of them—who are fulfilling Malachi’s prophecy or prediction at the present time. They are robbing God in tithes and offerings. I’ve ofttimes thought and have even expressed the idea that I believe that practically all members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, if they understood the law of tithing, thoroughly; that is, if they knew the will of God in this respect and especially if they could be taught to know of and appreciate the great spiritual blessings which would be received as a result of rendering obedience to this law, they would pay their tithes and offerings to the Lord in full.”
      • “The Lord has given us the law of tithing in order that he might test our honesty. When we use any portion of God’s one tenth, we are robbing him.”
      • “In fact, it makes us more godly. In other words, tithing is a spiritual law which God has given us for the purpose of preparing us to come back into his presence and receive eternal life. Therefore, his course is a wise course. Every wise Latter-day Saint will accept it. Not one of us can afford to be part tithepayers nor non-tithepayers. We need the blessings of the Lord.”
  • April 1950 General Conference
    • The First and Second Great Commandments
      • “Now the commandments are very numerous, and we haven’t time to discuss them in detail on this occasion. You know them as well as I do. But I would just like to call to mind a few of God’s commandments to us. We have the great law of tithing, wherein the Lord has declared that if we do not pay one-tenth of all that we possess to him, we rob God. Among the other great commandments are the law of chastity and the Word of Wisdom. These laws pertain to keeping our bodies clean and pure. There are also the laws and commandments pertaining to honesty, love, charity, patience, kindness, reverence, and numerous others. In fact, the Lord has said that if we receive exaltation in his kingdom, we will do so only on condition that we render obedience to “every word that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God.””
      • “Now, I would like to ask every one of us this afternoon to analyze his or her heart for a moment or two and see if we really love our fellow men. If we do love them, let us see how deep our love is for them. The commandment is to love our neighbors as much as we love ourselves. I know that is most difficult to do. The first law of nature is the law of self preservation, and people pretty generally follow that first law. In fact, I think the most important person to almost everybody in this world is himself or herself.”
      • “A good Latter-day Saint husband may think he loves his wife with all his heart. He may think he loves her more than he loves himself, but if he happens to express an idea that she doesn’t agree with and she voices her disagreement, then his hair immediately stands on end. He builds up all sorts of arguments against her in defending his own position. In fact, he feels a resentment in his heart.”
      • “How many of us are so concerned about the sins of the people of our home towns that after we have done all we can to teach them the way of eternal life, we then sit upon a hill overlooking our home town and weep? I am afraid that very few of us do that. We do not have that much charity; we do not have that much feeling; we do not have that much love in our hearts for those who fall into transgression.”
  • October 1949 General Conference
    • A Testimony of Jesus Christ
      • “Latter-day Saints are looking forward to the day, as predicted by the prophets, when Jesus Christ shall come upon the earth to reign as the Lord of lords and the King of kings. We are looking forward to the day when this earth shall be cleansed of its wickedness, when righteousness shall prevail, and when children shall be born in righteousness and will grow up without sin. At that time they shall live, rear their children, and when they become the age of a tree pass from mortality into immortality in the twinkling of an eye.”
      • “We as members of the true Church are looking forward to that great day when Jesus Christ shall come to his own, and when the devil shall be bound for one thousand years and cease to have power, as was explained yesterday, that he does at the present time, over the hearts of the children of men. At the close of that one thousand years’ time, the devil will be loosed for a short season, and wickedness will again prevail throughout the world. Then will come the day when Lucifer and all his evil hosts will be cast off this earth. They shall go into perdition and dwell as lost souls forever.”
  • April 1949 General Conference
    • Immortality and Eternal Life
      • “Probably of all the human beings who have lived upon this earth, at least a vast majority of them have asked this question of themselves: “Where do we go when we die?” I would say to all Latter-day Saints on this occasion that the place to which you and I go when we die will be determined, to a great extent, upon how we live while we are here—I mean our ultimate destination, the goal that we are striving for. We have the true plan of salvation, the gospel of Jesus Christ, with all the ordinances of the gospel, all the teachings, including the Holy Priesthood after the Order of the Son of God. All of these things which are necessary to bring us back into the presence of God and exalt us in celestial glory are ours. We know, therefore, what will be our destination as members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints if we will live by every word that comes from the mouth of God. On the other hand, with all the power, priesthood, ordinances, doctrines, opportunities, and blessings that are ours, we also know that if we sin sufficiently, we have the power to condemn ourselves to the greatest of depths, even to cast our souls down to hell. The prophets have proclaimed that where much is given much is required at our hands.”
      • “It doesn’t make a lot of difference how long we live in this world. The thing which is of vital importance, however, to you and me is how we live.”
  • October 1948 General Conference
    • God the Eternal Father
      • “We believe that God is omniscient: that he is all-knowing, that he sees all things and that he hears all sounds. In other words, that his sight and his hearing know no bounds, and that his knowledge is absolutely unlimited. We even believe that so great is the infinite power of that Divine Being that he can see the things that we do at nighttime in our private chambers or even read the secret thoughts of our hearts.”
      • “You and I are closely akin to God. He is our Father. He is actually and literally the Father of all people who have ever been in this world and who ever will be in this world. We were born unto him in the spirit world as his sons and daughters. By being his children, we inherited from him the divine attributes that he as our Father possesses. It is our duty to develop those attributes. Since we are his sons, he has a great concern over us and a great love for us. He desires that we live in harmony with the gospel plan of salvation in order that we may eventually come back to dwell in his presence.”
  • April 1948 General Conference
    • A Prophet of God
      • “We should also keep in mind the fact that the prophecies of true prophets of God, uttered as a result of divine inspiration, or revelation, must and will all be fulfilled. In fact, in the holy scriptures we are told that the way to distinguish between true and false prophets is whether or not their predictions come to pass.”
      • “I wish to emphasize the fact that this revelation is not limited to Joseph Smith and the other great prophets who preceded him. We have standing at the head of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints today living oracles through whom God reveals his will. Certainly the words of this revelation apply to President George Albert Smith, to his Counselors, to the Twelve Apostles, and to me Patriarch to the Church just as much as they did to Joseph Smith, or to Isaiah, Jeremiah, Moses, Nephi, Alma, Peter, Paul, or to all of the other ancient prophets of God.”
  • October 1947 General Conference
    • The Blessings of Eternal Life
      • “It is God’s purpose and will that we might be happy today, tomorrow, next week, a hundred years from now—yes, a million years from now. You may say in your mind, “But we won’t live that long.” We will live that long. Life is eternal, and the thing that is important to remember is that the way we live today, and the way we live throughout mortality, will determine our happiness throughout eternity, will determine our status forever.”
      • “Youth of the Church, again I call upon you to make a resolution that you will keep your bodies clean and pure in every respect. Obey all the words that proceedeth forth from the mouth of God, living all the principles of the gospel to the best of your ability in order that you might be happy. Do these things in order that you might have that joy which God wishes you to have.”
  • April 1947 General Conference
    • This is the Place
      • “It is not the material things of life which make a people great but the high spiritual qualities of the soul engendered in men and women through faith in God, through a conviction of immortality, and through a recognition that there exists a moral order of laws which must be obeyed, which lifts a race of mortals to a position “a little lower than the angels.””
      • “Time has vindicated the Prophet Joseph Smith and his successor, Brigham Young, in their declarations that the Salt Lake valley and the surrounding intermountain region was the right place in which to establish God’s chosen people and to build up Zion. A hundred years have passed, and Mormons have left a history literally filled with noble deeds and Herculean accomplishments made by a devout, God-fearing people. Credit and great honor have been brought to the intermountain west as the result of the contributions made by our pioneer forefathers in the building of this American frontier. Truly “This is the Place!””
  • October 1946 General Conference
    • The Justice and Mercy of God
      • “Every act that we have committed and every word that we have spoken have come about as a result of our thoughts. Your character and my character today are the results of the complete sum of all our thoughts. Thus a man is literally what he thinks.”
      • “Human beings are so prone to flatter each other and to use the art of sophistry that a true measure of character cannot always be accurately ascertained by the words we speak.”
      • “God our Eternal Father is both merciful and just. He is very merciful in that he gave to the human family the gospel; and to be completely just, he requires each of us to obey every word that has come from his mouth.”
      • “If it is true that our bad unspoken thoughts are recorded against us, will it not be just as true that all our good thoughts unspoken, the kindness, tenderness, sympathy, pity, love, beauty, and charity that enter the breast and cause the heart to throb with silent good, find remembrance in the presence of God, also? Yes, I firmly believe that all of our good impulses and thoughts will find remembrance with the Lord just as much as will the evil that we have thought, said, or done; and certainly since God is our loving Father, he will remember the good with a greater degree of satisfaction and joy than he will the evil.”
  • April 1946 General Conference
    • Missionary Work
      • “The Protestant Reformation, which resulted in the establishment of numerous Christian denominations—approximately two hundred and fifty of them existing in America today—bears unimpeachable evidence to the fact that a great apostasy did occur as the Master and the prophets of old had predicted it would. Martin Luther, John Calvin, the Wesley brothers, and the other protestors against the erroneous doctrines which had corrupted Catholicism did not claim divine restoration of the Holy Priesthood nor of the principles and ordinances of the gospel.”
      • “Thus every missionary that is called by the First Presidency of the Church of Jesus Christ and set apart by one duly authorized goes into the mission field to speak and act in the name of the God of Israel, and the actions performed are as valid as if Jesus Christ did the missionary work personally. Furthermore, these missionaries are the only servants of God in the entire world who have been divinely appointed, called, chosen, and set apart by the powers of heaven to preach the gospel to the world.”
      • “History records no human experiences filled with greater love and acts of unselfish sacrifice than those connected with the story of the missionary work of the Latter-day Saint elders. During the past one hundred years, thousands and thousands of them have left their homes when called and have traveled over land and sea, paying their own expenses, to preach the restored gospel of Jesus Christ. Hunger and fatigue, and on certain occasions, even imprisonment and martyrdom have been experienced; yet each Latter-day Saint missionary declares that his services while preaching the gospel gave him the happiest experiences of his entire life.”
      • “Remember, missionary work is not the work of any man. It is God’s work, and we have been given the opportunity to help him accomplish his holy purposes. He is directing the missionary work of the Church of Jesus Christ today through his prophet, President George Albert Smith, even as he has done whenever his Church has been on the earth. Thus missionaries are being sent into the world in increasing numbers. Last month one hundred and fifty of them were sent to various parts of the earth to carry good tidings to the honest in heart.”
  • October 1945 General Conference
    • Life is Sacred
      • “Human life is sacred to the Latter-day Saints—as sacred and precious as anything that exists—because of its divine nature. God has revealed to the Prophet Joseph Smith and to the other holy prophets that we are his children, the divine offspring of heavenly beings. Men and women in general are the greatest of God’s creative work, being made in his own image, and endowed through inheritance from our heavenly parents with godly characteristics just as mortal children are endowed with the characteristics of their earthly parents.”
      • “This beautiful doctrine of the divinity of man does not detract in the least from the glory and great exaltation of God the Eternal Father. It merely dignifies and exalts man and makes human life more sacred and purposeful. It fills the universe with meaning, with design, and attaches to life a goal; and an understanding of this doctrine should fill man’s heart with love, charity, and good will toward all of the human family.”
      • “We maintain that life and religion are the same thing: that religion is a seven-day-a-week concern of our people, and that it concerns itself with the temporal as well as the spiritual phases of life.”
      • “A life of joy is a life free from sin.”
      • “In other words, the Mormon concept of the purpose of life is growth—growth intellectually, growth physically, growth morally, and growth spiritually. We call that principle of growth, eternal progression. Mortality marks one short span in the process, but to us today it is the most important period, because God has declared that if we keep this estate in righteousness we shall have glory added upon our heads forever and ever.”
      • “It is positively true that the growth, the eternal progression, for which life offers opportunities reach their culminating point in a life patterned after that of Jesus; therefore, it is the purpose of life to live as the Savior taught us to live and as he himself lived.”
  • April 1945 General Conference
    • A New Call
      • “Before closing my remarks, I would like to bear my testimony. I know that God lives. I know that Jesus the Christ is his Beloved Son. He is the Savior of the world, the Redeemer, the author of the eternal plan of salvation. I know that God, the Eternal Father, through his only begotten son, restored the gospel upon the earth through the Prophet Joseph Smith in our dispensation; that it is the true gospel; that it is the power of God unto salvation. I know that if we live by these eternal principles we shall gain a great reward, even that of eternal life in the kingdom of God. I know that our Heavenly Father is good; that he hears and answers prayers; that he is gracious and kind even beyond our comprehension; and that he delights in blessing those who keep his commandments. The Holy Ghost has borne this testimony to my soul so strongly that I am as sure of these facts as I am that I live. I pray that I may ever live worthy enough to retain this testimony.”

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