Believe in Christ
Repent of sins- Be worthy
Gratitude - for a loving family, for a living prophet, and for Jesus Christ and His Atonement - was the theme of Elder Jerald L. Taylor's Saturday afternoon address.
Speaking for the first time in general conference since being sustained to the Seventy in April 1996, Elder Taylor expressed his gratitude for "goodly parents - a father who was a faithful Latter-day Saint who honored his priesthood, and a loving mother who died when I was a young child."
Elder Taylor explained that his father - with six children to rear - later married a widow with nine children. "I thank my Father in Heaven for all my brothers and sisters who have loved and supported me and who also love the gospel and the Lord."
He expressed thankfulness for his wife, Sharon, and for their family. "I am grateful for this heritage of the Lord and for their love and support."
In speaking of his gratitude for a living prophet, Elder Taylor recounted President Gordon B. Hinckley's visit last November to Chile, where Elder Taylor is first counselor in the area presidency. "That same week Chile hosted an important summit meeting for all nations of Latin America. There were presidents and dignitaries from 16 different countries. Day and night sirens wailed and red lights flashed, to make way for those men as they traveled back and forth from their meetings.
"In the midst of all the commotion, President Hinckley arrived," Elder Taylor related. "There was no fanfare, and no special welcome, recognition or privilege extended to him. My mind went back to a stable many years ago, where the birth of the Son of God went unnoticed, except for a few shepherds in the fields watching over their flocks. God's kingdom on earth moves along quietly behind the scene of more-publicized events."
Speaking of Jesus Christ and His Atonement, Elder Taylor referred to the Garden of Gethsemane, where the Son of God took upon Himself the sins of mankind. "A few hours later, He was tried and judged of men and then crucified on a cross. The Great Jehovah, the Creator of this world and worlds without number, submitted Himself humbly to the desires of evil men and thus accomplished the will of the Father."
It is through repentance that " ` . . . though your sins be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be red like crimson, they shall be as wool,' " Elder Taylor explained. (See Isa. 1:18.)
"I feel
Jesus ChristT will be disappointed if we are not worthy to live with Him and His Father. Brothers and sisters, may we know how to use the key labeled repentance so that we may, as we stand before the Savior, `Listen to him who is the advocate with the Father, who is pleading
ourT cause before him . . . .' (D&C 45:3.)
"My desire is to be worthy to have this everlasting life with Jesus Christ and our Father, and I pray we will all have this same desire and strive to achieve it."
