President Henry B. Eyring

President Henry B. Eyring

First Counselor of the Presidency

“Come Unto Me”

President Henry B. Eyring

General Conference

April 2013 Saturday Morning Session

           We have often heard that we need to come unto Christ. We need to follow Him and keep His commandments. That is exactly what this talk is about. President Eyring begins his talk by telling a story from his youth. When he was younger he was sitting in the chapel singing “Abide With Me; ‘Tis Eventide” and he remembers feeling very close to the Spirit and feeling the Holy Ghost very strongly. He then proceeds to tell the story of the Twelve Apostles three days after Christ had been crucified. As Christ walked alongside His Apostles, they did not recognize who He was until He blessed and broke the bread at dinner. This is exactly how it is in our life. We will not know who Christ is unless we come to him and learn of Him and the things he has done for us. We must be willing to keep His commandments and help those around us with charity.

            We can also come closer to the Lord when we are devoted to Him. When we do this, He blesses those we love. This happens often when missionaries go out into the field and preach the word of God. I have heard so many stories of families who are greatly blessed because of a loved one serving the Lord. At this point, President Eyring makes a very valuable promise. He says, “My promise to you who pray and serve the Lord cannot be that you will have every blessing you may wish for yourself and your family. But I can promise you that the Savior will draw close to you and bless you and your family with what is best. You will have the comfort of His love and feel the answer of His drawing closer as you reach out your arms in giving service to others. As you bind up the wounds of those in need and offer the cleansing of His Atonement to those who sorrow in sin, the Lord’s power will sustain you. His arms are outstretched with yours to succor and bless the children of our Heavenly Father, including those in your family.” This promise really shows us the importance of serving the Lord and coming to him.

            As I think about the many promises that are given to us in this talk I realize how important service to the Lord really is. This reminds me of the talk my Bishop recently gave in our Ward Conference. He said that we need to do our callings and serve the Lord, not because we have to but because we want to and we love the Lord. It is so important to remember this as we serve the Lord. If we do it just because we are told to, we will not be able to receive the full blessings from the Lord. President Eyring said, “It will be a time of for those who have drawn close to Him in His service in this life. It will be a joy to hear the words, ‘Well done, thou good and faithful servant.’” I absolutely love this quote and I honestly believe that it will be such an honor to hear these words. The important thing to remember is that we need to come to the Lord and serve Him in any way that we can.

            This talk makes it very obvious to me why I need to think about serving the Lord and doing all that I can to show that I am the Lord’s servant and will do what I can to spread the gospel and bring others to Him as well. This talk matters to me because I want to hear the words, “Well done, thou good and faithful servant.” This talk shows the blessings we can receive from following the commandments of the Lord and doing everything we can because we love Him and not because we have to do it.

           

“We Are One”

President Henry B. Eyring

General Conference

April 2013 Priesthood Session

            No matter what part of the world we are in or how many members there are in the area the priesthood is the same and it needs to be used for the purpose of bringing people unto Christ and His gospel. President Eyring spoke of a few different young men who lived very different lives but yet have the same purpose. He spoke of one young man who came to Utah, learned of the church, but later went back to his home country where there were no missionaries. He was not able to get baptized in Utah because he was too young, but when the missionaries finally came to his area, he became a member of the Church and he helped convert others and they would meet as a small group each week. Elder Eyring, himself, experienced the power of His priesthood and it helped him to share the gospel with others while he was serving for the Air Force in New Mexico. He explains how he was placed there for a short period of time but soon was placed there longer and was able to teach many people the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

            The last story he shared was of a young deacon who helped a ward grow. This ward works together, whether an Elder or a Deacon to share the gospel and bring people to the Church. Although all three of these experiences are very different, President Eyring makes it clear that they are all of one purpose. He says, “We sanctify ourselves and fulfill our individual duties to the commandment to take the gospel to all of our Heavenly Father’s children.” This is what President Eyring wants us to do. Although he is speaking to the priesthood holders of the church, I feel like everyone in the church can come together to share the gospel to all the world and unite in this great calling.

            In 2002, missionary work became the responsibility of the bishops and many bishops saw this as an opportunity. Every member would become a missionary and would work to share the gospel with those who have been waiting to hear it. Converts grew in numbers because of the enthusiasm and love that the members had for those around them and for the Savior and the Church. I really liked the way he ended his talk by saying, “I pray that wherever we are and whatever duties we have in the priesthood of God, we will be united in the cause to bring the gospel to all the world and that we will encourage people we love to be happy with us in the kingdom of God.” This is such a powerful statement and really shows what we need to do in order to be one in purpose.

            This matters to me because I am a member of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. I know the church is true and I need to share that truth with the entire world. I live differently than some other members of the church, but I am a daughter of God and I can unite with every member in one purpose. That purpose is to bring God’s children to the true gospel. I do not hold the priesthood but I can still share my testimony and preach the gospel to those around me. I also have access to the priesthood that my husband holds. Together we can help those around us and he can give blessings to those who are in need. It is important for every Latter-day Saint to know that we can be united in the gospel and can keep the commandments by bringing those around us to the truth. No matter how diverse we are, we are all God’s children and we need to share that knowledge and our testimony of the true gospel of Christ.

“Write Upon My Heart”

President Henry B. Eyring

General Conference

October 2000

            Prayer is a vital part of being a righteous member of the church, but we can never hear enough about the importance of prayer or what prayer can do for us in our life. The main idea of this talk is to teach our children how to pray and show them, through example, the power of prayer. President Eyring told a couple of powerful stories about his parents and the example they were to him as a child. The one the really stood out to me and touched my heart occurred after the death of his mother. The afternoon after his mother died, his father went into his bedroom and then came back a few minutes later. He had been worried about someone being there to welcome his wife, President Eyring’s mother, into heaven. He received a strong message that his mother, would meet his sweetheart. This was such a powerful example to President Eyring. He said, “Dad surely didn’t intend at that moment to teach me about prayer, but he did. I can’t remember a sermon from my mother or my father about prayer. They prayed when times were hard and when they were good. And they reported in matter-of-fact ways how kind God was, how powerful and how close.”

            Being taught prayer through example is one of the most powerful ways to learn. At one point in his talk, President Eyring makes a statement about using the Lord’s name in vain. If parents use the Lord’s name in a prayer and then turn around and use it in vain, their children will not understand that it is sacred and will be confused about prayer. We need to make sure to show the proper way to pray and to avoid speaking the Lord’s name in vain.

            Another important part of this talk is that prayer is our way to be forgiven. Our Father in heaven has prepared a way for us to return to him one day and this can be done because of the atonement of Jesus Christ. This is such an important thing to remember. Even though we cannot force our children to pray, one day they will get to a point when they will need to pray in order to repent of their sins. They will remember seeing their parents pray and will know they would ask for forgiveness and this will become important to them one day, even if they have always followed the gospel of Christ.

            As I read through this, one quote really stood out to me. President Eyring said, “She knew the Savior, and she loved Him. I had learned from her that we do not close in the name of a stranger when we approach our Father in prayer.” President Eyring made this statement after explaining that his mother had a picture of the Savior in her room where she could see it from her bed at all times. I was really touched by this statement and it really made a lot of sense to me. It does not make sense to end a sacred conversation with our Father in heaven in the name of someone who is a stranger. We need to know the Savior and understand why we pray to our Father through Him. We also need to know what He has done for us and what He will do for us when judgment day comes.

            A General Authority of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in a General Conference gave this talk. To me this shows that it should matter to everyone and I was definitely touched by it and learned a lot. It matters to me because prayer is a huge part of being able to get to know our Father and the Savior as well as being able to communicate with them and repent of our sins. Without prayer, we would not be able to use the atonement to help us return to our Father in heaven. Teaching prayer to my future children and teaching them through my example will not be easy but if I start now and truly work on my prayers, I can be an example to my children like President Eyring’s parents were to him.