Excerpts from recent addresses by President Gordon B. Hinckley.
Baptismal Obligation
I want to say to every one of you, to every man, woman, and child who has been baptized, that you have taken upon yourself a very serious responsibility in being baptized, an obligation to live the gospel all the days of your life, to be the kind of man or woman that you ought to be. I just have such tremendous respect for you. Be faithful. Be true. Love the Lord. Love the gospel. Say your prayers night and morning; get on your knees and pray to your Father in Heaven and ask Him for His precious blessings. - From member fireside, San Pedro Sula, Honduras, Jan. 21, 1997
BUILDING THE CHURCH
When you bring someone into the Church, you do not only bring an individual, you bring generations of people - parents today with children, who will become parents who have children, who become parents. That is the story of the gospel of Jesus Christ. That is why it is so important that we hold onto everyone who is baptized. We are not only building the Church for today, we are building it for tomorrow and for all of the tomorrows that lie ahead. - From missionary meeting, Nicaragua Managua Mission, Jan. 21, 1997
FAITH OF PIONEERS
Shining above all of their principles and ideals was their solemn and wonderful belief in the Lord Jesus Christ as their Savior and their Redeemer. They knew Him. He walked with them on that long march to the Elkhorn, up the Platte, beside the Sweetwater, over the Continental Divide, and down through the dry and desert country to this valley of the Great Salt Lake. He was their friend, they offered their prayers in His name. They sang to His glory. With humble appreciation they spoke of His great atoning sacrifice. They put their faith in Him. . . .
What a wonderful people they were. There is nothing like their great effort in all of history. There have been other great migrations. There have been many great causes for which men have given their lives. But in our time, within the span of our memory, stand these noble pioneers. God bless their memory to our good. When the way seems hard, when we are discouraged thinking all is lost, we can turn to them and see how much worse was their condition. When we wonder about the future, we can look to them and their great example of faith. Let us during this sesquicentennial year, my dear friends, go back and read again their epic story. - From CES Young Adult fireside, Brigham Young University, Feb. 2, 1997
GREAT HERITAGE
You are familiar with their [the pioneers'] story. You are the fruit of all of their planning and of all of their labors. Whether you have pioneer ancestry or came into the Church only yesterday, you are a part of this whole grand picture of which those men dreamed. Theirs was a tremendous undertaking. Ours is a great continuing responsibility. They laid the foundation. Ours is the duty to build on it. They marked the path and led the way. Ours is the obligation to enlarge and broaden and strengthen that path until it encompasses the whole earth. What a marvelous thing it is to have a great heritage, my brothers and sisters. What a grand thing to know that there are those who have gone before and laid out the way we should walk, teaching those great eternal principles which must be the guiding stars of our lives and of those who come after us. We today can follow their example. - From CES Young Adult fireside, Brigham Young University, Feb. 2, 1997
LOYALTY
My brethren and sisters, we must be loyal. We cannot be found on the sidelines carping and criticizing and finding fault with one another. We must help one another with each other's burdens. We must share the sorrows of one another. We must rejoice with one another in their victories. We must be loyal to the Church against all its enemies. - From CES Young Adult fireside, Brigham Young University, Feb. 2, 1997
PRIESTHOOD POWER
. . . To the men who have had hands laid upon your heads and received the holy priesthood of God: Do you really know what you have? That you actually have the power, the authority to speak in the name of God the Lord, even the Savior of the world. This is not a small thing, brethren. It is a very sacred and wonderful thing. And to each of you I say, live worthy of that priesthood, stand tall, let it reflect from your lives. Be kind. Be generous. Be thoughtful toward your wives and your children. No man is worthy of the priesthood of God who abuses his wife or children. I believe that with all my heart. You cannot be unkind to your wife and enjoy the blessings of the holy priesthood. This is a royal priesthood which you hold. - From member fireside, Tegucigalpa, Honduras, Jan. 22, 1997
PROSPERITY VS. SORROW
I am pleased to see so many people who are the sons and daughters of Father Lehi. I think if he could look down upon this vast audience there would be great tears in his eyes, tears of gratitude and appreciation. What a great lesson we have to learn from the people of the Book of Mormon. We are reminded in the Book of Mormon of the time when the people were great and wonderful and prospered in the land. . . .
I am grateful, my brothers and sisters, to see us return to the ways of the Lord. We have lived in sorrow long enough. We have lived in pain and poverty and want, and now the God of heaven has opened the windows of heaven and poured down rich and marvelous blessings. . . . Your safety, your peace, your prosperity lies in obedience to the commandments of the Almighty. God bless you, my beloved brethren and sisters, to continue in the faith, to work to build the kingdom. - From first general session, Guatemala City North and South Regional Conference, Jan. 26, 1997
THIS IS YOUR DAY
You are the beneficiaries of all who have gone before you, who have worked so hard and so courageously to establish the work in [Guatemala]. There are now 122,000 members and this is only the beginning. There is not any doubt in my mind that the work will go and grow here in a marvelous and wonderful way, and the membership of the Church will enlarge forever after and we shall have hundreds of thousands of members in the land of Guatemala. This is your day, my brothers and sisters, this is your day. You are here to build the kingdom, to gather in the converts as you find them, to teach the gospel to the descendants of Father Lehi and to build the kingdom in this part of the earth. Great is your opportunity, marvelous is your privilege to be a part of this great work in this great nation. - From missionary meeting, Guatemala Guatemala City Central, North, South Missions, Jan. 24, 1997
VALUE OF WORK
Nothing happens in this world until there is work. You never plow a field by turning it over in your mind. You have to put your hands to the handles of the plow and walk forward. It is easier now, but the principle is the same. There must be work, and what a great and wonderful blessing that is. - From CES Young Adult fireside, Brigham Young University, Feb. 2, 1997
