Thorpe B. Isaacson

Assistant to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles (January 23, 1970 – November 9, 1970)
Counselor in the First Presidency (October 28, 1965 – January 18, 1970)
Assistant to the Quorum of Twelve Apostles (September 30, 1961 – October 28, 1965)
First Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric (April 6, 1952 – September 30, 1961)
Second Counselor in the Presiding Bishopric (December 12, 1946 – April 6, 1952)

General Conference Addresses

• October 1965 General Conference
  • The Word of Wisdom
    • “There is only one sure way not to become an alcoholic, and that is total abstinence.”
• April 1965 General Conference
  • Prophets Are in Our Midst
    • “That means that the words you have heard today, yesterday, and the day before, and that you hear from time to time from the prophets and the Apostles are the same as if the Lord were speaking to you. We who are privileged to work closely with these great men constantly see the inspiration of the Lord flowing to them back to you and to me.”
• April 1964 General Conference
  • Judge Not
    • “Each of us could learn to distinguish between men and their ideas, to disagree without being disagreeable, and to take no pleasure in ruining any man or his good name or his future because most of us, if not all of us, have guilt enough—each in his own way.”
• October 1963 General Conference
  • Need for Great Teachers
    • “Teachers, do you realize that the boys today under your direction may be the doctors of tomorrow, they may be the businessmen of tomorrow, they may be the teachers to take your place tomorrow, the legislators of tomorrow, the public office-holders, church leaders. Yes, they may be the men who may go to the moon; some may be great artists and authors. Some may be great industrial tycoons, and some may be the leaders America will need so badly to survive in this puzzled world. Yes, teacher, you have their future in your hands. Don’t let any boy fail because of you, his teacher.”
    • “Great teachers are always underpaid. Probably it can never be said that a great teacher is paid enough, but a poor teacher is paid too much, regardless of what he is paid.”
• April 1963 General Conference
  • Thrift and Debt
    • “Thrift has become somewhat obsolete. There are too many who do not have any savings. They spend all they make, and in many cases they spend more than they make. Perhaps the saddest feature of all is the fact that the lack of thrift and savings and the practice of debt and spending are causing very many family problems. It is estimated that more divorces were caused last year by financial problems than by any other single cause or reason.”
• October 1962 General Conference
  • Relying on God
    • “It would be well if all of us in our respective appointments and responsibilities would get down on our knees and ask Almighty God to guide us, whether we be in government service or education; whether we be in business, industry or church work. It may be that as individuals we may become too self-sufficient and rely on our own wisdom; if so, we are likely to fail.”
• April 1962 General Conference
  • The Blessing of Fasting
    • “If Latter-day Saints faithfully fulfilled the law of the fast, and if they prayed in connection therewith as commanded and paid an honest fast offering, they would be blessed more abundantly—both temporally and spiritually—and there would be ample funds in the Church to provide for all our poor, as the Lord has commanded. He has given us the way, but sad as it may seem, we are negligent about the payment of an honest fast offering.”
    • “Many of us may sometimes wonder why blessings are seemingly withheld from us. It could well be that the laws on which those blessings are predicated have escaped our attention or that we underestimate the necessity for obedience to those laws. It may well be therefore, that many of our desired blessings are never realized because we do not more faithfully obey the law of fasting and prayer and contribute for the blessing of the poor the full value of the meals not consumed on Fast Day.”
• October 1961 General Conference
  • A Release and a Call
    • “If there is any work that has to be left undone, it must not be the work of the Church.”
• April 1961 General Conference
  • Stand for America
    • “Not anything of value is without price, neither honor nor freedom, neither life nor living, neither health nor wealth, nor anything which is counted for the blessing of man. The greater the worth, the greater the price.”
• October 1960 General Conference
  • Look to Our Young Men
    • “I want to bear you my testimony that I know that God lives. I love the Lord. I want to bear testimony to you that we can get close to the Lord, perhaps closer than we ourselves may fully realize, but it will take humility; it will take effort, and we cannot be satisfied just to go on the road of least resistance. Let us make sure that these thousands of Aaronic Priesthood boys are not neglected. What a shame it would be if we failed to give every boy proper encouragement, training, planning, or if we did anything that would deny any one of these boys receiving a call for his mission.”
• April 1960 General Conference
  • Eternal Values
    • “These facts emphasize strongly that there is a great deal lacking in modern character. How can we as adults expect to mold character in our children if we are guilty of these indiscretions. Perhaps we should spend more time teaching honesty. It has not changed. It never will change. This is a basic human value that should be taught with emphasis.”
• October 1959 General Conference
  • Not Yet, Dear Lord, Not Yet
    • “I am grateful to be alive, and I promised the Lord that I would bear testimony of that power and that healing influence whenever I could have the strength to do so. I thank God, and I hope that you thank God just to be alive. If you feel that you are not quite prepared or ready for that change from life to death, let me urge you now—today—to change your life. Remember it only takes a few seconds to change from life unto death. Let me urge you to make the necessary adjustments in your life. Yes, make new resolutions. Turn back, if you have reason to believe that you are on the wrong road, turn back now. It isn’t too late.”
• April 1959 General Conference
  • Responsibility for the Guidance of Youth
    • “Marriage is the gateway through which a man or woman obtains personal experience in human relationships. Parenthood is the opportunity for putting that experience to heavenly and practical use. It is a God-given right for parents to have children so that they can give them intelligent, mental, moral and spiritual training. Parent love is beautiful, but parent love combined with intelligent discipline is the force that turns children into great characters. Misdirected and misguided offspring result in one of civilization’s appalling wastes and present-day problems. Good citizens are necessary to civilization but good parents are obligatory if civilization is to continue.”
• October 1958 General Conference
  • London Temple Dedication
    • “I truthfully believe that there are one million members of this Church—at least those who are old enough and who realize the value of prayer—who are praying each day for the President of the Church, the prophet of the Lord, and for the General Authorities of the Church. We are so profoundly grateful to you for your prayers and your faith.”
    • “What price for peace? There are some scientists who predict that we are headed for very serious trouble from spawning radiation. There is perhaps an answer to it all. Power? Power is not the answer. Faith is the answer. Would the people of this nation be willing to live in accordance with the teachings of God in order to guarantee peace? In recorded history, we have recognized that in times past, because of the righteousness of the people, the Lord has seen fit to protect a nation and stay the hands of those who would destroy civilization.”
    • “What we find in life depends upon what we give life. The same skies are dull and leaden to one, but glorious with their own blue to another.”
• April 1958 General Conference
  • Their Souls Are Precious
    • “A few years ago as I stood by the side of that tomb in Old Jerusalem I think I loved Jesus more then than I have ever done before in my life. We accept the resurrection of Jesus as true, and we know he came forth from the tomb as the Resurrected Christ, thereby giving eternal life, probably God’s greatest gift to man.”
    • “God can win strange victories in the hearts and lives of those who believe in him.”
    • “Unless we are willing to prepare for a new dark age, we must soon acknowledge that as good as we think we are, we are not good enough to get along without the God our forefathers found indispensable.”
• April 1957 General Conference
  • Seek not to Counsel the Lord
    • “Nothing will give a person the joy and happiness that he gets from service to his brethren and his fellow men in Church work.”
• October 1956 General Conference
  • Trust in the Lord
    • “That new interest in religion is widespread, and many have come to recognize that science alone cannot measure up to expectations in providing answers to the deepest questions of religion, and sometimes religion has something tremendous to say in the present world struggle. This change or revival is one of honest and intelligent inquiry, and students are approaching courses with open-mindedness.”
    • “Ideals are like the stars: You cannot touch them with your hands, but like the mariner, you can use them for your guidance; and if you follow them, they will light the way, and you will reach your destination.”
• April 1956 General Conference
  • Restoration of the Aaronic Priesthood
    • “Argument, debate, criticism, and faultfinding are not of the Lord. Despondency and discouragement are not of the Lord. Courage cometh from the Lord.”
    • “May I plead with the boys of the Aaronic Priesthood and the men holding the Aaronic Priesthood to value highly that great blessing of the Aaronic Priesthood. May I plead with you, my brethren, my friends, and my associates, my business acquaintances, to make such adjustments as necessary in your lives and do not put it off too long so that you can have the joy and the blessings that come from the Holy Priesthood.”
• October 1955 General Conference
  • Be Ready To Pray
    • “So, I would plead with all young married couples that you should be careful in everything you do so that nothing will prevent you from going to the Lord when you are faced with similar problems, and you will be faced with them. Perhaps not the exact one of this young couple, but many similar. You will need the blessings of the Lord just as that wonderful young couple needed them.”
    • “I would plead with all of us that we adjust our affairs and our lives and our living so that when the time comes that we need the blessings of the Lord, we can go to him and know that he will hear us and grant our petitions.”
• April 1955 General Conference
  • Upon You My Fellow Servants
    • “It is not uncommon for thousands of us Latter-day Saints to bow our heads in prayer and close our eyes, and to follow the prayer of him who may be mouth. Truly we are a praying people. The world has judged us to be a praying people, and we confess that we not only pray in large gatherings at conference, but we also pray every day of our lives, and we accept the principle of prayer.”
• October 1954 General Conference
  • A Visit to the Holy Land
    • “No wonder he was calm; no wonder he was lovable and kind. Even in the face of that torture and suffering. God had prepared him to meet this crisis.”
    • “Some would say he was a great teacher. Some of the world like to leave it at that. Oh, no, he was more than just a great teacher. He was the Son of God. He was the Redeemer of the world, and he did appear just as surely to the Prophet Joseph in the Sacred Grove as he appeared to his disciples in Jerusalem.”
• April 1954 General Conference
  • Faith
    • “We need not walk alone nor stumble in the dark, because if our faith is right, it will light our way. Faith is a gift of God.”
• October 1953 General Conference
  • Not for the Idler
    • “Membership in the Church is not for the idler, nor for one who would seek an easy way to salvation. However, it should not difficult for us to keep the commandments of the Lord if we have a desire in our hearts to do so and if we are willing to make the effort.”
    • “To do right only because we are forced to do so, rather than because we have a desire to do so, does not contribute to proper development of character.”
    • “Unless we can banish indifference, conquer indolence, renounce injustice, overcome intemperance, expel intolerance, and abolish ingratitude from our souls, we may not be good representative members of the Church.”
    • “To so many people, Sunday is now spoken of as a holiday, not a “holy day.” Let us consider this before we break the Sabbath day.”
    • “We can be judged more by what we love than by what we own.”
• April 1953 General Conference
  • Security Found in Living the Gospel
    • “In the gospel of Jesus Christ is found the complete law of happiness—the laws that govern our daily lives, the laws that we can follow without any hesitation or without any misgivings. As members of the Church, we need no security other than the gospel. If we live it, there will come to all of us everything that we may need and everything that we may desire.”
    • “We must not expect perfection in the other fellow because we ourselves do not give perfection. We might be more tolerant with one another.”
• October 1952 General Conference
  • A Testimony—Our Most Priceless Possession
    • “I realize there is great stress being placed on education, and rightly so. This Church has always sponsored and fostered education. Ever since the Pioneers came here, this Church has supported and sustained schools and universities, seminaries and institutes. The authorities have believed in education but they have also stressed greatly spiritual, religious education in the hearts and souls of our young people.”
    • “Yes, the object of all gospel teachings is to promote faith and build a testimony. Without a personal conviction or without a personal testimony, our teaching may lack warmth and light. Testimony inspires testimony; conviction begets conviction.”
    • “You may sometimes wonder if your testimony is waning, but let that be a signal to you, let that be the time that you come to one of your brethren, one of your friends; that is the signal for you quickly to associate yourself with the Church and become very active in the Church, that is the time that you must confide in God your Eternal Father.”
    • “The person whose fate is most distressing is he who has lost his faith and his testimony. He may live near you or me—he may go about performing his daily work, yet he is very much alone. He is unhappy, and he lacks a sense of belonging. Life seems to have no purpose to him; he is the man who having had a testimony has now lost it, but faith and prayer can return him to us and bring about a renewal of that testimony. It has happened to many, and it will happen again.”
• April 1952 General Conference
  • Blessings Through Faith
    • “I prayed, first, because I believe in prayer, and second, because I need the blessings of the Lord as one of the weakest among you.”
    • “There are no such things as great sacrifices in this Church. There may be great responsibilities, but with them come great blessings.”
• October 1951 General Conference
  • Keep the Faith
    • “I would plead with you with all the earnestness of my soul that you repent of your wrongdoings. Let the Spirit of the Lord come into your hearts, and you will know joy that you have never known before.”
    • “To you young people, do not lose faith in the Church. Do not lose faith in the government. There may be things done by men in high places that you do not approve, but do not judge the government by that. Think of your founding forefathers, of your Constitution, divinely inspired of the Lord, and you will not lose faith in your land or in your government.”
    • “No person could be doing more to make a peaceful world than to live and teach God’s ways of living. My prayer will always be with all of you in your work.”
• April 1951 General Conference
  • Fathers and Sons
    • “As I look into this great congregation tonight, I have been thinking of the adult members of the Aaronic Priesthood, many of them who have never been inside this building. If we could move this body of men from this building on out to the north and then fill it again and again with adult members of the Aaronic Priesthood in the Church, we could fill this building just as full as it is now, seven or eight times. You know, I’m one of those who believes the Lord loves these men. I believe their wives love them just as much as our wives love us, and their children love them as much as our children love us. If you had a wayward son, would you love him? Well, I only have one son, and I love him very much, and if he were a wayward son, I believe I would love him just the same. What makes you think that the Lord doesn’t love his wayward sons?”
    • “We must now have individual contact and use the rifle method where we can go in and teach those men the principles of the gospel, the teachings that you and I were fortunate and blessed enough to have in our lives, but which many of them, not of their own fault, have been denied.”
• October 1950 General Conference
  • Prayer a Blessing and a Privilege
    • “It is very good to be here to worship God, our Eternal Father, together. We are here for no other purpose. We have no selfish interests. We come here to thank our Father in heaven for the blessings that we enjoy as a people. We come here and unite our faith, and when all of us together can unite our faith humbly, then the Spirit of the Lord is here in rich abundance. It is good to be here and pray together, and when we say “Amen” to these prayers, we have prayed together, and the prayers have been so beautiful and strengthening. It is good to be here and sing together. It is good to be here and hear the word of the Lord as we have heard yesterday and today and that we will hear during the remainder of the conference. It is good to be here and be taught the gospel of Jesus Christ. It is good to be here and partake of the Spirit of the Lord, and as is stated in Genesis: “Truly this is God’s house.””
    • “You’re the happiest when you are trying your best to serve the Lord with all your heart, with all your might, and with all your strength. And I would like to ask you when you’re the most unhappy? You’re the most unhappy when you fail to do those things that the Lord has commanded you to do. Happiness, true happiness, comes from serving the Lord every day as best you can, trying just a little harder today than you did yesterday.”
• April 1950 General Conference
  • The Power of Prayer
    • “Miracles are performed today. The power of healing is in the priesthood and in the Church. Some wonder whether or not miracles are performed today. If they could hear the testimonies of these missionaries in the stakes and these mission presidents, they would have no reason ever to wonder about miracles. But sometimes our faith is not strong enough. Sometimes we are too weak to accept the blessings of the Lord as miracles. Sometimes we are inclined to call them just a coincidence. Sometimes we say, “Oh it’s just one of those things.” That’s because our faith is not strong enough to recognize the hand of the Lord in these miracles and the healing power of the priesthood that is in the world today.”
    • “Testimony inspires testimony, and faith promotes faith, and most of us gain our testimonies through prayer and through work and study, and I think that is as it should be, but we can increase that testimony if we will try to draw close to God our Eternal Father, and have faith in the Lord, Jesus Christ. Faith is so essential to the souls of men. Sometimes we are inclined to be discouraged. Sometimes we are inclined to feel as though it is no use, and oh, if we could just then call upon the Lord for his help.”
    • “Let us live so that the Lord will not leave us alone. Let us stay so close to him that we can go to him with all our problems. I think it isn’t wrong to take our problems to the Lord, because President McKay just told us there isn’t any thought or any act that He is not well acquainted with. And so let’s humble ourselves. Let us put away that false pride, and let us try to live so that we can have the Spirit of the Lord with us each day of our lives, and when our day is over, if we’ve made mistakes, and probably most of us will make mistakes every day, we can go to the Lord and acknowledge those mistakes, and he will forgive us, and he will help us to overcome them.”
• October 1949 General Conference
  • Palmyra Pageant a Great Missionary
    • “Prayer is indeed a privilege; it is indeed a blessing; and it is indeed a comfort. Prayer is not just a duty.”
    • “It was stated that no group of professionals in all the world could present that pageant as those humble missionaries presented it because their hearts and souls were in it and because they knew this story to be true. They were living that story; they were preaching that story; and for that reason great honor and credit is due those missionaries.”
• April 1949 General Conference
  • Seek and Ye Shall Find
    • “Sometimes we are inclined to question whether it is revelation or inspiration, but that’s because sometimes our faith may waver. Nothing in the world can take the place of faith. Yes, good, sincere, simple faith. Talent will not—nothing is more common in our world than many unsuccessful men who have great talent. Genius will not—unrewarded genius by the score is almost a proverb. Education will not—the world is full of so-called educated men and even educated derelicts. Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and in the mission of his Son is all-powerful.”
    • “We are coming to know that modern life lacks something. A man may have a bank full of money and a library full of books, but he cannot be happy without the Spirit of God. Man is coming to know that he cannot depend altogether on science. Man has learned at last that science has its limitations and that only God, our Father in heaven, is unlimited. At the point beyond which science cannot go, God stands unchangeable, now and forever.”
• October 1948 General Conference
  • Repent and Be Saved
    • “I have come to believe that the only defense that we can have against the spirit of the adversary or against the spirit of the devil is the Spirit of the Lord. That is truly the great defense that we can have.”
    • “We can come near to our Father in heaven through that great principle of prayer and repentance. We have been known as a praying people. We are glad to be known as a praying people, because we believe in prayer.”
    • “May we draw nearer to the Lord each day, thank him for the blessings that we enjoy, try to serve him and keep his commandments with all the strength that we can muster, because therein lies the happiness of life and its fulness.”
• April 1948 General Conference
  • The Way to Happiness
    • “There is an unseen power in every man’s life and that power comes from on high. It is the power that will help man rise above his own natural ability. We have been told at times that man cannot rise above his own natural ability, and I am sure that if we do that, we’ve done pretty well, but with the power and help of the Lord, men often rise far beyond their own natural ability.”
    • “I want to bear you my testimony that great joy comes into the souls of those who try to live the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. I want to repent of my wrongdoings before you this day and before my Maker. I want to tell you that I am grateful for the blessings of the Lord. I know that it will do our hearts good to try to live a little better today than we have in the past. That is our plan of improvement. The Lord has asked us to come unto him humbly and repent of our wrongdoings. Therein we can be made strong.”
    • “For a number of years, some of my friends have said that I was working too hard, and they cautioned me to take it a little easy, but now as I look back over the last fifteen years, the work I was doing was just play and fooling around compared with the work that I have to do in keeping up with my brethren of the General Authorities. I hope that you will pray for us as we pray for you.”
• October 1947 General Conference
  • The Challenge to Youth
    • “One cannot teach the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ without the Spirit of the Lord. I am convinced of that. One cannot be taught the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ without the Spirit of the Lord. I am convinced of that.”
    • “One cannot walk into that grove without feeling that spirit of reverence, that spirit of sacredness, the only spot, if my memory serves me right, where God and his son Jesus Christ both appeared at the same time, at the same place, and they spoke to that boy. Oh, that is a fact! You cannot go into the grove but what you feel that influence. It is different from any other wooded grove in all the world, because it is a sacred place and a hallowed spot.”
    • “Oh, we realize that the young people may make mistakes. Most of us have made mistakes in our lives. But may we also realize that those same young people, if they will only stay close to the Lord, the Lord will forgive his people for mistakes. I think if a father and a mother are so far away from their young people that their young people will not come to them and tell them about their problems, then there is something wrong between father and son and mother and daughter.”
• April 1947 General Conference
  • A Testimony
    • “I would be very ungrateful to my brethren of the General Authorities, and particularly to my Father in heaven, if I failed to thank him publicly for the opportunity that I have had of knowing these men personally. They have been most kind to me, most encouraging, most patient. They have attempted to make me feel welcome, and they have put themselves out to extend to me many kindnesses for which I am grateful. I came to them a stranger, and they took me in.”
    • “If it were in my power, I would like to say a word to my brethren who are somewhat inactive in the Church. I know many of these good men, and I wish I could appeal to them to become more active in the Church because I am satisfied that they are really missing some of the greatest blessings and the greatest happiness in the world.”
    • “I don’t know any other way to stay close to our Father in heaven except by prayer.”

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