President Gordon B. Hinckley
"Let us be good people. Let us be friendly people. Let us be neighborly
people. Let us be what members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints ought to be."
My brothers and sisters, my heart is filled with gratitude this morning as
we gather in this great conference. I am grateful that the Lord has spared
my life to see this day. As I reminded the young women to whom I spoke
a week ago, someone recently gave me a copy of my old high school
yearbook. It was the year of my graduation. It was 73 years ago. I was part
of the class of 1928. It was an intriguing experience to thumb through it.
Most of those who were so young and energetic at that time have passed
on. A few are left, but they are wrinkled and somewhat feeble in their
movements. Now and again when I complain of some little ailment, my
wife will say, "It's your age, boy."
I repeat, I am deeply grateful to be alive. I am excited with this wonderful
age in which we live. I thank the Lord for men and women of great
dedication and great capacity who are doing so much to extend human life
and to make it more comfortable and pleasant. I am grateful for good
doctors who help us with our infirmities. I am thankful for wonderful
friends, among whom I include the great and faithful Saints across the
world whom I have come to know. Thank you for all that you do for me,
for the letters you send, for flowers and books and various expressions of
your thoughtfulness and love. I am thankful for generous friends through
whose kindness it has been possible for me to get out among the Saints in
the nations of the earth, to meet with them, to share testimony and love
with them. I am grateful for my dear wife, with whom I have shared these
nearly 64 years of companionship. I feel grateful for a faithful posterity.
The Lord has blessed me in a marvelous way.
I am thankful for my Brethren of the General Authorities,
who are so kind and deferential toward me. I am thankful for
every one of you in this great family, more than 11 million
strong, which constitutes The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints.
In opening the conference I simply want to very briefly give a
report on the Church.
It is stronger than it has ever been. It is not only larger in
numbers, but I believe there is greater faithfulness among the
Saints generally. During the past six months we have had the
opportunity of dedicating temples scattered over the earth, far
and wide. We have heard testimony of the truth of this work
spoken in various languages. We have seen the overwhelming
faith of our people who have traveled long distances to get to
these dedications. We have witnessed a marvelous increase in
the growth of temple activity. We are experiencing slow but
steady improvement in most of our fields of activity.
I am so grateful that we live in an era of comparative peace.
There are no great wars raging across the world. There is
trouble here and there but not a great worldwide conflict. We
are able to carry the gospel to so many nations of the earth and
bless the lives of the people wherever it goes.
We are well on our way to enlarging the educational opportunity for our youth.
We have announced that Ricks College will become a four-year school to be known
as BYU—Idaho. We are grateful to learn that the school has now received
an endorsement from the accrediting body. It is remarkable to have this in so
short a time.
We are constructing new buildings on a scale of which we never
have dreamed before. We must do so if we are to accommodate
the growth of the Church.
The welfare program moves forward. We are particularly
grateful that we have been able to extend humanitarian aid of a
very substantial volume in many parts of the earth. We have
distributed food, medicine, clothing, bedding, and other
necessities to assist those who have suddenly found themselves
victims of catastrophe.
I will speak this evening to the priesthood brethren concerning
another program which I think will be of great interest to all of
you.
One of the bellwether marks of the growth and vitality of the
Church is the construction of temples. I have spoken of this
before, but I am so deeply grateful that since we last met in
general conference we were able to reach our goal of 100
operating temples by the end of the year 2000; in fact, we
exceeded it. We have just come from dedicating a temple in
Uruguay, the 103rd working temple of the Church.
The great work of temple building goes on throughout the world. I looked the
other day at a list of all the temples which are now in operation or have been
announced—121 of them. I was amazed at the length of the list and at the
incredible diversity of the areas in which they are located. It is wonderful,
but we are not satisfied. We will keep on working to bring the temples to the
people, making it more convenient for Latter-day Saints everywhere to receive
the blessings which can only be had in these holy houses.
I have said before that the blessings of the temple represent that
fulness of the priesthood of which the Lord spoke when He
revealed His will unto the Prophet Joseph Smith. With the
location of temples much nearer to the homes of our people,
there is made more available to them all of the ordinances to be
had in the Lord's house for both the living and the dead.
Temples will soon be dedicated in Winter Quarters, Nebraska;
Guadalajara, Mexico; and Perth, Australia. They are under
construction in Asunción, Paraguay; Campinas, Brazil; the
Tri-Cities area of Washington; Copenhagen, Denmark;
Lubbock, Texas; Monterrey, Mexico; Nauvoo, Illinois;
Snowflake, Arizona; and The Hague, Netherlands. Another six
temples have been announced and ground-breaking services will
soon be held for these. In addition, we have visited and are
giving consideration to a significant number of potential temple
sites in the United States, Central and South America, Europe,
and the isles of the sea. I will not mention their names because
this would only create excitement when we do not yet have the
ground on which to build them.
The construction of each temple represents a maturing of the
Church. We will continue to build these sacred houses of the
Lord as rapidly as energy and resources will allow. We are
grateful for the faithful Latter-day Saints who pay their tithing
and make possible this important program.
We are not without critics, some of whom are mean and
vicious. We have always had them, and I suppose we will have
them all through the future. But we shall go forward, returning
good for evil, being helpful and kind and generous. I remind
you of the teachings of our Lord concerning these matters. You
are all acquainted with them. Let us be good people. Let us be
friendly people. Let us be neighborly people. Let us be what
members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
ought to be.
My dearly beloved brethren and sisters, how much I appreciate
your prayers and your love. I extend my love to each of you.
May the heavens open, and may blessings come down upon you
in abundance as you walk in faithfulness before the Lord.
We shall now be pleased to go forward with the proceedings of
this great gathering.
God bless you, my beloved associates, I pray in the name of
Jesus Christ, amen.
