We are grateful to President
Eyring and President Oaks for their inspired messages, and
to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir for the beautiful
music they have provided this Easter morning. It will now be my
privilege to speak to you, brothers and sisters. Following my remarks, the
choir will sing "He Is Risen." The benediction will then
be offered by Elder Joaquin Costa of the Seventy. What a glorious
privilege it has been to celebrate Easter
with you on this Sunday of general conference! Nothing could be more
fitting than to commemorate the most important event that
ever occurred on this earth by worshipping the most
important being who ever walked this earth. In this, The Church of Jesus
Christ of Latter-day Saints, we worship Him who commenced
His infinite Atonement in the Garden of Gethsemane. He was willing to suffer for
the sins and weaknesses of each of us, which suffering caused
Him "to bleed at every pore." He was crucified
on Calvary's cross and rose the third day as
the first resurrected being of our Heavenly
Father's children. I love Him and
testify that He lives! It is He who leads
and guides His Church. Without our Redeemer's infinite
Atonement, not one of us would have hope
of ever returning to our Heavenly Father. Without His Resurrection,
death would be the end. Our Savior's Atonement
made eternal life a possibility and immortality
a reality for all. It is because of His
transcendent mission and the peace He grants His
followers that my wife, Wendy, and I felt comfort late
on January 2, 2018, when we were awakened by
a phone call telling us that President Thomas S. Monson
had stepped through the veil. How we miss President Monson! We honor his life
and his legacy. A spiritual giant, he
left an indelible imprint upon all who knew him and
upon the Church that he loved. On Sunday, January 14, 2018, in
the upper room of the Salt Lake Temple, the First
Presidency was reorganized in the simple yet sacred
pattern established by the Lord. Then at yesterday
morning's solemn assembly, members of the Church
throughout the world raised their hands to
confirm the earlier action taken by the Apostles. I am humbly grateful for
your sustaining support. I am also grateful for those
upon whose shoulders I stand. It has been my
privilege to serve in the Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles for 34 years and to know personally 10 of
the 16 previous Presidents of the Church. I learned much
from each of them. I also owe much to my forebears. All eight of my
great-grandparents were converts to the
Church in Europe. Each of these stalwart
souls sacrificed everything to come to Zion. During subsequent generations,
however, not all my ancestors remained so committed. As a result, I was not raised
in a gospel-centered home. I adored my parents. They meant the world to me
and taught me crucial lessons. I cannot thank them enough
for the happy home life they created for me and my siblings. And yet, even as a boy, I
knew I was missing something. One day I jumped
on the streetcar and went to an LDS bookstore to
find a book about the Church. I loved learning
about the gospel. As I came to understand
the Word of Wisdom, I wanted my parents
to live that law. So, one day when I was very
young, I went to our basement and smashed on the concrete
floor every bottle of liquor! I expected my father to punish
me, but he never said a word. As I matured and
began to understand the magnificence of
Heavenly Father's plan, I often said to myself, "I
don't want one more Christmas present! I just want to be
sealed to my parents." That longed-for
event did not happen until my parents were past
80, and then it did happen. I cannot fully express
the joy I felt that day. And each day, I feel that joy
of their sealing and my sealing to them. In 1945, while I was
in medical school, I married Dantzel White
in the Salt Lake Temple. She and I were blessed with
nine splendid daughters and one precious son. El ultimo. Today our ever-growing
family is one of the greatest joys of my life. In 2005, after nearly
60 years of marriage, my dear Dantzel was
unexpectedly called home. For a season, my grief
was almost immobilizing. But the message of Easter and
the promise of resurrection sustained me. Then the Lord brought
Wendy Watson to my side. We were sealed in the Salt
Lake Temple on April 6, 2006. How I love her! She is an extraordinary
woman--a great blessing to me, to our family, and
to the entire Church. Each of these blessings
has come as a result of seeking and heeding the
promptings of the Holy Ghost. Said President Lorenzo Snow,
"This is the grand privilege of every Latter-day Saint ...
that it is our right to have the manifestations of the
Spirit every day of our lives." One of the things the
Spirit has repeatedly impressed upon my mind
since my new calling as President of the Church
is how willing the Lord is to reveal His mind and will. The privilege of
receiving revelation is one of the greatest gifts
of God to His children. Through the manifestations
of the Holy Ghost, the Lord will assist us in
all our righteous pursuits. I remember in an operating
room, I have stood over a patient--unsure about how
to perform an unprecedented procedure--and experienced
the Holy Ghost diagramming the technique in my mind. To strengthen my proposal
to Wendy, I said to her, "I know about revelation
and how to receive it." To her credit--and, as
I have come to learn, typical of her--she had already
sought and received her own revelation about us, which gave
her the courage to say yes. As a member of the Quorum
of the Twelve Apostles, I prayed daily for revelation
and gave thanks to the Lord every time He spoke
to my heart and mind. Imagine the miracle of it! Whatever our Church calling, we
can pray to our Heavenly Father and receive guidance
and direction, be warned about dangers
and distractions, and be enabled to
accomplish things we simply could not do on our own. If we will truly
receive the Holy Ghost and learn to discern and
understand His promptings, we will be guided in
matters large and small. When I recently faced
the daunting task of choosing two
counselors, I wondered how I could possibly choose just
two from twelve men whom I love and respect. Because I know that
good inspiration is based upon good information,
I prayerfully met one-on-one with each Apostle. I then sequestered myself in
a private room in the temple and sought the Lord's will. I testify that the
Lord instructed me to select President Dallin
H. Oaks and President Henry B. Eyring to serve as my counselors
in the First Presidency. In like manner, I testify
that the Lord inspired the call of Elder Gerrit W.
Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares to be ordained as His Apostles. I and we welcome them to this
unique brotherhood of service. When we convene as a Council
of the First Presidency and Quorum of the
Twelve, our meeting rooms become rooms of revelation. The Spirit is palpably present. As we wrestle with
complex matters, a thrilling process unfolds as
each Apostle freely expresses his thoughts and point of view. Though we may differ in
our initial perspectives, the love we feel for
each other is constant. Our unity helps us to discern
the Lord's will for His Church. In our meetings, the
majority never rules! We listen prayerfully
to one another and talk with each other
until we are united. Then when we have
reached complete accord, the unifying influence of the
Holy Ghost is spine-tingling! We experience what the
Prophet Joseph Smith knew when he taught,
"By union of feeling we obtain power with God." No member of the
First Presidency or Quorum of the
Twelve would ever leave decisions for the
Lord's Church to his own best judgment! Brothers and sisters, how can
we become the men and women--the Christlike servants--the
Lord needs us to be? How can we find answers to
questions that perplex us? If Joseph Smith's transcendent
experience in the Sacred Grove teaches us anything, it is
that the heavens are open and that God speaks
to His children. The Prophet Joseph Smith
set a pattern for us to follow in resolving
our questions. Drawn to the promise of
James that if we lack wisdom we may ask of God,
the boy Joseph took his question directly
to Heavenly Father. He sought personal
revelation, and his seeking opened this last dispensation. In like manner, what will
your seeking open for you? What wisdom do you lack? What do you feel an urgent
need to know or understand? Follow the example of
the Prophet Joseph. Find a quiet place where
you can regularly go. Humble yourself before God. Pour out your heart to
your Heavenly Father. Turn to Him for answers
and for comfort. Pray in the name of Jesus
Christ about your concerns, your fears, your
weaknesses--yes, the very longings of your heart. And then listen! Write the thoughts
that come to your mind. Record your feelings and
follow through with actions that you are prompted to take. As you repeat this process day
after day, month after month, year after year, you will
"grow into the principle of revelation." Does God really want
to speak to you? Yes! "As well might man stretch
forth his puny arm to stop the Missouri river in
its decreed course ... as to hinder the Almighty
from pouring down knowledge from
heaven upon the heads of the Latter-day Saints." You don't have to wonder
about what is true. You do not have to wonder
whom you can safely trust. Through personal revelation,
you can receive your own witness that the Book of Mormon
is the word of God, that Joseph Smith is a
prophet of this dispensation, and that this is
the Lord's Church. Regardless of what
others may say or do, no one can ever take away a
witness borne to your heart and mind about what is true. I urge you to stretch beyond
your current spiritual ability to receive personal revelation,
for the Lord has promised that "if thou shalt [seek], thou
shalt receive revelation upon revelation, knowledge
upon knowledge, that thou mayest know the
mysteries and peaceable things--that which bringeth
joy, that which bringeth life eternal." There is so much more
that your Father in Heaven wants you to know. As Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught,
"To those who have eyes to see and ears to hear, it is clear
that the Father and the Son are giving away the
secrets of the universe!" Nothing opens the heavens
quite like the combination of increased purity,
exact obedience, earnest seeking, daily
feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon,
and regular time committed to temple and
family history work. To be sure, there may be
times when you feel as though the heavens are closed. But I promise that as you
continue to be obedient, expressing gratitude for every
blessing the Lord gives you, and as you patiently honor
the Lord's timetable, you will be given the knowledge
and understanding you seek. Every blessing the Lord has
for you--even miracles--will follow. That is what personal
revelation will do for you. I am optimistic
about the future. It will be filled with
opportunities for each of us to progress, contribute,
and take the gospel to every corner of the earth. But I am also not naive
about the days ahead. We live in a world that is
complex and increasingly contentious. The constant availability of
social media and a 24-hour news cycle bombard us with
relentless messages. If we are to have any
hope of sifting through the myriad of voices and
the philosophies of men that attack truth, we must
learn to receive revelation. Our Savior and
Redeemer, Jesus Christ, will perform some of His
mightiest works between now and when He comes again. We will see
miraculous indications that God the Father and
His Son, Jesus Christ, preside over this earth
in majesty and glory. But in coming days,
it will not be possible to survive
spiritually without the guiding, directing,
and comforting and constant influence of the Holy Ghost. My beloved brothers and
sisters, I plead with you to increase your spiritual
capacity to receive revelation. Let this Easter Sunday be a
defining moment in your life. Choose to do the
spiritual work required to enjoy the gift
of the Holy Ghost and hear the voice of the
Spirit more frequently and more clearly. With Moroni, I exhort you
on this Easter Sabbath to "come unto
Christ, and lay hold upon every good gift,"
beginning with the gift of the Holy Ghost, which gift
can and will change your life. We are followers
of Jesus Christ. The most important truth
the Holy Ghost will ever witness to you is that
Jesus is the Christ, the Son of the living God. He lives! He is our Advocate with
the Father, our Exemplar, and our Redeemer. On this Easter
Sunday, we commemorate His atoning sacrifice,
His literal Resurrection, and His divinity. This is His Church, restored
through the Prophet Joseph Smith. I so testify, with my expression
of love for each of you, in the sacred name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
