Words of the Living Prophet

“[The Lord] expects us to be good neighbors, Christians in every sense of the word, those who follow the Golden Rule—‘whatsoever ye would that men should do to you, do ye even so to them’ (Matt. 7:12; 3 Ne. 14:12). My brothers and sisters, we must be good neighbors. We must be a friendly people. We must recognize the good in all people. We don’t go about tearing down other churches. We preach and teach in a positive and affirmative way.”¹

“What does [the Lord] expect of us as members of this Church? He expects us to be Latter-day Saints. He expects us to be His followers. He expects us to bring into our lives something of a pattern of the life of the Savior, the only perfect man who ever walked the earth, who condescended to come down, to leave His Father, to walk the dusty roads of Palestine and die on the cross in the great act of Atonement, which has brought blessings into our lives that could come in no other way—the blessing of salvation, the blessing of the Resurrection, the opportunity of exaltation, if we will work for it.

“… There is before us a great model of the Redeemer of the world, whose life and precepts and teachings we try to follow. And that will lead to growth and opportunity and exaltation. He has opened the way. And we, His grateful servants, ought to be working at it constantly.”²

“We are living, my brothers and sisters, in the day of prophecy fulfilled. This is the greatest season in the history of the Church. There never before was a time like this. We are larger in numbers, a great family of 10 million people scattered over 160 nations. The media treat us honestly and generously and right. We have a good reputation among most people. … This is a wonderful time to be alive. It is a wonderful time to be a member of this Church. I envy these young people who are here today. Their lives are ahead of them. They will see marvelous things in the years that lie ahead. I have no doubt of it whatever. The Church will grow and grow and grow, and no force under the heavens can stop it.”³

“I want to plead with you to keep your thoughts clean, the things you think about, the things you dwell on. Get out of the gutter and stand tall and clean and keep yourselves aloof from those things. They will only destroy you. They are just like a terrible poison. They will tear you down and utterly ruin your lives. Stay above them. Keep your thoughts clean and speak clean words.”⁴

“People ask me what my favorite scripture is. I say, ‘Well, I have several of them. One of them is this: “Be thou humble; and the Lord thy God shall lead thee by the hand, and give thee answer to thy prayers” (D&C 112:10).’ There is no room for arrogance in our lives. There is no room for conceit in our lives. There is no room for egotism in our lives. We must be humble before the Lord. He has so declared, and if we will do it, He will hear our prayers and answer them with a blessing upon our heads.”⁵

“An argument never won a convert. I’m convinced of that. It takes a humble testimony, when all is said and done, to win a convert to this Church.”⁶

“Keep yourselves open to the inspiration of the Lord. Listen to the whisperings of the Spirit. I remember when Brother [Harold B.] Lee set me apart as a stake president. He said, ‘Listen for the whisperings of the Spirit in the stillness of the night.’ Now, I believe in that. I have seen in my experience, and I think I can testify that the Lord has spoken quietly. I didn’t hear any words, but in the middle of the night, ideas have come into my head which, I think, have been prophetic in their nature.”⁷

“Every convert to this Church needs and deserves someone to put an arm around him or her and make a friend. Every convert who comes into this Church needs work to do. Time and effort offer people growth. Every convert in this Church needs someone to answer his or her questions. … Face up to it! Let us reach out to these people! Let us befriend them! Let us be kind to them! Let us encourage them! Let us add to their faith and their knowledge of this, the work of the Lord.”⁸