City, this is the Sunday morning session of the 185th Semiannual

General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day

Saints, with speakers selected from the General

Authorities and general officers of the Church.

Music for this session is provided

by the Mormon Tabernacle Choir.

This broadcast is furnished as a public service

by Bonneville Distribution.

Any reproduction, recording, transcription,

or other use of this program without written consent

is prohibited.

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Second Counselor

in the First Presidency of the Church,

will conduct this session.

[MUSIC PLAYING - "ARISE, O GOD, AND SHINE"]

Dear brothers and sisters, dear friends,

we welcome you to the Sunday morning session

of the 185th Semiannual General Conference

of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

President Thomas S. Monson, who presides at the conference,

has asked that I conduct this session.

We extend our greetings and warm regards

to those of you who are participating

in these proceedings throughout the world

by radio, television, the Internet, or satellite

transmission.

We acknowledge the General Authorities

and the general officers who are in attendance this morning.

The music for this session will be provided by the Mormon

Tabernacle Choir under the direction of Mack Wilberg,

with Richard Elliott and Andrew Unsworth at the organ.

The choir opened this meeting with "Arise, O God, and Shine"

and will now favor us with "Redeemer of Israel."

The invocation will then be offered by Elder Chi Hong (Sam)

Wong of the Seventy, after which the choir will

sing "If the Savior Stood beside Me."

[MUSIC PLAYING - "REDEEMER OF ISRAEL"]

Our Heavenly Father, we are grateful to have

the opportunity to gather together this conference.

We pray in particular for the three new Apostles whom

Thou hast called and we sustained yesterday.

We also pray that Thou can bless us to soften our hearts,

to continue to be kind to one another,

to make progress and balance our life on this earth

according to Thy will, that we will

have eternal joy with Thee.

And we pray so, humbly, in the name of Thy Son,

our Savior, even Jesus Christ, amen.

[MUSIC PLAYING - "IF THE SAVIOR STOOD BESIDE ME"]

It will now be our privilege to hear from our beloved prophet,

President Thomas S. Monson.

He will be followed by the three new members

of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, Elders Ronald A.

Rasband, Gary E. Stevenson, and Dale G. Renlund,

who were sustained yesterday afternoon

and have been invited to share their testimonies with us

today.

President Monson.

Brothers and sisters, how good it

is to be with you once again.

As you know, since we were together in April,

we have been saddened by the loss of three of our beloved

Apostles--President Boyd K. Packer, Elder L. Tom Perry,

and Elder Richard G. Scott.

They have returned to their heavenly home.

We miss them.

How grateful we are for their examples of Christlike love

and for the inspired teachings they have left to all of us.

We extend a heartfelt welcome to our new Apostles, Elder Ronald

A. Rasband, Elder Gary E. Stevenson, and Elder Dale G.

Renlund.

These are men dedicated to the work of the Lord.

They are well qualified to fill the important positions

to which they have been called.

Recently, as I have been reading and pondering the scriptures,

two passages in particular have stayed with me.

Both are familiar to us.

The first is from the Sermon on the Mount:

"Let your light so shine before men,

that they may see your good works,

and glorify your Father which is in heaven."

The second scripture is one which came to my mind

as I pondered the meaning of the first.

It is from the Apostle Paul's epistle to Timothy:

"Be thou an example of the believers,

in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith,

in purity."

I believe the second scripture explains, in great part,

how we can accomplish the first.

We become examples of the believers

by living the gospel of Jesus Christ

in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith,

and in purity.

As we do so, our lights will shine for others to see.

Each of us came to earth having been given the Light of Christ.

As we follow the example of the Savior and live as He lived

and as He taught, that light will burn within us

and will light the way of others.

The Apostle Paul lists six attributes that

will allow our lights to shine.

Let us look at each one.

I mention the first two attributes together--being

an example in word and in conversation.

The words we use can lift and inspire,

or they can harm and demean.

In the world today there is a profusion of profanity

with which we seem to be surrounded

at nearly every turn.

It is difficult to avoid hearing the names of Deity being used

casually and thoughtlessly.

Coarse comments seem to have become a staple of television,

movies, books, and music.

Bandied about are slanderous remarks and angry rhetoric.

Let us speak to others with love and respect,

ever keeping our language clean and avoiding words or comments

that would wound or offend.

May we follow the example of the Savior,

who spoke with tolerance and kindness

throughout His ministry.

The next attribute mentioned by Paul

is charity, which has been defined

as "the pure love of Christ."

I am confident there are within our sphere of influence

those who are lonely, those who are ill,

and those who feel discouraged.

Ours is the opportunity to help them and to lift their spirits.

The Savior brought hope to the hopeless and strength

to the weak.

He healed the sick; He caused the lame to walk,

the blind to see, the deaf to hear.

He even raised the dead to life.

Throughout His ministry He reached out in charity

to any in need.

As we emulate His example, we will

bless lives, including our own.

Next, we are to be an example in spirit.

To me that means we strive to have

in our lives kindness, gratitude, forgiveness,

and goodwill.

These qualities will provide for us

a spirit which will touch the lives of those around us.

It has been my opportunity through the years to associate

with countless individuals who possess such a spirit.

We experience a special feeling when

we are with them, a feeling that makes

us want to associate with them and to follow their example.

They radiate the Light of Christ and help

us feel His love for us.

To illustrate that the light which

comes from a pure and loving spirit is recognized by others,

I share with you an experience of many years ago.

At that time, leaders of the Church

met with officials in Jerusalem to work out

a lease agreement for land on which the Church's Jerusalem

Center would be built. In order to obtain

the permissions needed, the Church

had to agree that no proselyting would

be undertaken by our members who would occupy the Center.

After that agreement had been made,

one of the Israeli officials, who was well acquainted

with the Church and its members, remarked

that he knew the Church would honor

the no-proselyting agreement.

"But," he said, referring to the students who

would attend there, "what are we going to do

about the light in their eyes?"

May that special light ever shine within us,

that it might be recognized and appreciated by others.

To be an example of faith means that we trust in the Lord

and in His word.

It means that we possess and that we

nourish the beliefs that will guide

our thoughts and our actions.

Our faith in the Lord Jesus Christ

and in our Heavenly Father will influence all that we do.

Amidst the confusion of our age, the conflicts of conscience,

and the turmoil of daily living, an abiding faith

becomes an anchor to our lives.

Remember that faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind

at the same time, for one will dispel the other.

I reiterate what we have been told repeatedly--that in order

to gain and to keep the faith we need,

it is essential that we read and study and ponder

the scriptures.

Communication with our Heavenly Father through prayer is vital.

We cannot afford to neglect these things,

for the adversary and his hosts are relentlessly seeking

for a chink in our armor, a lapse in our faithfulness.

Said the Lord, "Search diligently,

pray always, and be believing, and all things shall

work together for your good."

Finally, we are to be pure, which

means that we are clean in body, mind, and spirit.

We know that our body is a temple,

to be treated with reverence and respect.

Our minds should be filled with uplifting and ennobling

thoughts and kept free from those things which

will pollute.

In order to have the Holy Ghost as our constant companion,

we must be worthy.

Brothers and sisters, purity will bring us peace of mind

and will qualify us to receive the Savior's promises.

Said He, "Blessed are the pure in heart:

for they shall see God."

As we prove to be examples in word,

in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith,

and in purity, we will qualify to be lights to the world.

May I say to all of you, and particularly to you

young people, that the world moves further and further away

from the principles and guidelines given to us

by a loving Heavenly Father.

We will stand out from the crowd because we are different.

We will stand out because we dress modestly.

We will be different because we do not use profanity,

because we do not partake of substances which

are harmful to our bodies.

We will be different because we avoid off-color humor

and degrading remarks.

We will be different as we decide

not to fill our minds with media choices that

are base and demeaning and that will remove the Spirit

from our homes and our lives.

We will certainly stand out as we make choices regarding

morality--choices which adhere to gospel principles

and standards.

These things, which make us different from most

of the world, also provide us with that light

and that spirit which will shine in an increasingly dark world.

It is often difficult to be different

and to stand alone in a crowd.

It is natural to fear what others might think or say.

Comforting are the words of the Psalm:

"The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?

the Lord is the strength of my life;

of whom shall I be afraid?"

As we make Christ the center of our lives,

our fears will be replaced by the courage of our convictions.

Life is perfect for none of us, and at times the challenges

and difficulties we face may become overwhelming,

causing our light to dim.

However, with help from our Heavenly Father,

coupled with support from others,