Sunday October 7, 2007 - Morning Session of General Conference

Sunday Morning Session of the 177th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

President Eyring - First Counselor in the First Presidency

O Remember, Remember (Text, Audio, Video)

He started off hos talk saying a few words about President Faust. He said, "I always felt that when I grew up, I wanted to be like President Faust. There may still be time."

He talked of how he had started, when his children were young, to stop at the end of each day and ponder on where he had seen the hand of God blessing his family. He would then jot down a few lines. He ended up giving a copy of that journal to his children. "...find ways to recognize and remember God’s kindness."

He quoted a line from the hymn Count Your Blessing “Count your many blessings; name them one by one, And it will surprise you what the Lord has done.”

He also quoted Helaman 12:1-2,5 -

1 And thus we can behold how false, and also the unsteadiness of the hearts of the children of men; yea, we can see that the Lord in his great infinite goodness doth bless and ^aprosper those who put their ^btrust in him.

2 Yea, and we may see at the very ^atime when he doth ^bprosper his people, yea, in the increase of their fields, their flocks and their herds, and in gold, and in silver, and in all manner of ^cprecious things of every kind and art; sparing their lives, and delivering them out of the hands of their enemies; softening the hearts of their enemies that they should not declare wars against them; yea, and in fine, doing all things for the welfare and happiness of his people; yea, then is the time that they do ^dharden their hearts, and do ^eforget the Lord their God, and do ^ftrample under their feet the Holy One—yea, and this because of their ease, and their exceedingly great prosperity.
5 Yea, how quick to be lifted up in ^apride; yea, how quick to ^bboast, and do all manner of that which is iniquity; and how slow are they to remember the Lord their God, and to give ear unto his counsels, yea, how slow to ^cwalk in wisdom’s paths!

Elder Quentin L. Cook - Apostle

Live by Faith and Not by Fear (Text, Audio, Video)
He shared some thoughts about being called as an apostle and how inadequate he felt. He said that when he had been called as a general authority in 1996. Elder Neal A. Maxwell told him "the most important qualification for all of us serving in the kingdom is to be comfortable in bearing witness of the divinity of the Savior."

Claudio R.M. Costa - Member of the Presidency of the Seventy
Don't Leave for Tomorrow What You Can Do Today(Text, Audio, Video)

He quoted from The Family: A Proclamation to the World - "Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other and for their children." He gave a list of 3 things we can do to protect and strengthen our families that President Faust listed in a talk he gave at a Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting in January of 2004.

1. Family prayer. Parents must teach their children that they are God's children and therefore need to pray to Him daily.
2. Family home evening. As President Faust taught us, family home evening is for all of us no matter what stage of life we are in. We must have Monday nights free of all other activities that might keep us from gathering as a family.
3. Personal and family scripture study. We need to help our children strengthen their faith and testimony through this basic habit

The Proclamation states that fathers "are responsible to provide the necessities of life and protection for their families. Mothers are primarily responsible for the nurture of their children."

Julie B. Beck - Relief Society General President
Mothers Who Know (Text, Audio, Video)
She spoke about mothers who know who they are.
Here are the topic points of her talk:
There is eternal influence and power in motherhood.
Mothers Who Know Bear Children.
Mothers Who Know Honor Sacred Ordinances and Covenants.
Mothers Who Know Are Nurturers.
Mothers Who Know Are Leaders.
Mothers Who Know Are Teachers.
Mothers Who Know Do Less.
Mothers Who Know Stand Strong and Immovable.

Elder Christoffel Golden Jr. - Seventy
Small and Simple Things (Text, Audio, Video)

His talk focused on the power we can receive from obedience to the things the Lord has asked us to like prayer, scripture study, and attending church. As we obey these things our strength and obedience increases and so on and so on as we progress.

David A. Bednar - Apostle
Clean Hand and a Pure Heart(Text, Audio, Video)

"Our spiritual purpose is to overcome both sin and the desire to sin, both the taint and the tyranny of sin."

He talked of the Savior's visit to America after he was resurrected. There the Savior taught the same basic principles that he taught the people at Jerusalem.

Elder Bednar talked of baptism and of striving to live that the Holy Ghost can always be with us. "

Prophets throughout the ages have emphasized the dual requirements of (1) avoiding and overcoming bad and (2) doing good and becoming better. Consider the penetrating questions posed by the Psalmist:

“Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord? or who shall stand in his holy place?

“He that hath clean hands, and a pure heart; who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully” (Psalm 24:3–4)."

He talked of how some feel that the goal of obeying all of God's commandments is not possible in this life. He testified "that the Savior will strengthen and assist us to make sustained, paced progress."

President Gordon B. Hinckley - Prophet
The Stone Cut Out of the Mountain(Text, Audio, Video)
He spoke of the remarkable growth of the Church.

He was the second person to talk about the Nicean Creed and subsequent creeds and the errors that they have lead to in Christianity. Many of the doctrines contained within are not supported by the Bible.