SALT LAKE CITY, Utah — The second day of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints’ General Conference continued Sunday morning in Salt Lake City.
The first speaker was Henry B. Eyring of the Church’s First Presidency. Eyring told the faithful that “God is never hidden, but sometimes we are, covered by a pavilion of motivation that draw us away from God and make Him seem distant and inaccessible.”
Eyring encouraged those gathered to be of service to others saying, “As we do what He (Christ) would have us do for His Father’s children, the Lord considers it kindness unto Him, and we will feel closer to Him as we feel His love and His approval.”
President Boyd K. Packer the President of the Quorum of Twelve of Apostles spoke after Erying.
“If you have made mistakes, and all of us have, whether minor or serious, then you have an enormous need to find out how they can be erased so that you are no longer in darkness,” Packer said. “Jesus Christ is the light of the world.”
Packer was followed by Church’s Relief Society General President Linda K. Burton. “We are the Lord’s hands here upon the earth, with the mandate to serve and lift His children,” Burton said. “He is dependent upon each of us.”
Also, quoting Jesus, Burton said, “Whosoever will be great among you, let him be your minister.”
Elder Walter F. Gonzalez of the Presidency of the Seventy spoke and promised that, “The honest seekers of truth will know the truth of all things by the power of the Holy Ghost.”
He went on to say that, “Christ will help and is the way out whether the struggle is with an addiction, depression, or something else.”
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Twelve Apostles said we can expect to be asked someday by Jesus, “Did you love me?”
He went on to say, “We have neighbors to bless, children to protect, the poor to lift up, and the truth to defend. We have wrongs to make right, truth to share, and good to do.”
The final speaker at the morning session of conference was the Church’s president, Thomas S. Monson. Monson suggested that those gathered, “take an inventory of your life and look specifically for the blessings, large and small, you have received.”
Monson went on to say, “our prayers are heard and answered.” Monson added, “I testify that much of that joy comes when we recognize that we can communicate with our Heavenly Father through prayer and that those prayers will be heard and answered — perhaps not now and when we expected they would be answered.”
The first speaker of the Sunday afternoon session was Elder Robert D. Hales of the Twelve Apostles. He spoke about what it means to be a Christian.
“A Christian has faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, that He is the literal Son of God, sent by His Father to suffer for our sins in the supreme act of love we know as the atonement,” Hales said.
Former Pocatello resident Elder Richard G. Scott spoke about the sacred work of the holy temple and the power of baptism.
The conference closed with Monson thanking all who participated in the two-day religious meeting. Monson said, the conference was “inspiring” and he said he was “spiritually fed and uplifted.”
The LDS Church president also thanked the members of the Church for blessing others in their service during the past months.
“Countless are those who have been blessed by your contributions to the work of the Lord,” Monson said.
The next LDS General Conference will take place the first weekend of April.
Dan Cravens is a member of the Blackfoot 15th LDS Ward.