The Lord's Law of Witnesses

"One of the ways we may know that the warning is from the Lord is that the law of authorized witnesses has been invoked. When the words of prophets seem repetitive, that should rivet our attention and fill our hearts with gratitude to live in such a blessed time."

"Listening to President Oaks can lift our souls, but taking deliberate steps to follow his counsel can change our lives."

"In coming days, it will not be possible to survive spiritually without the guiding, directing, comforting, and constant influence of the Holy Ghost."

"One of the many reasons you will need the constant influence of the Holy Ghost is that you live in a season in which the adversary has become so effective at disguising truth that if you don't have the Holy Ghost, you will be deceived. Many obstacles lie ahead. The distractions will be many."

"In the past eight years, this serious warning has been repeated 13 times in general conference, including five times by members of the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve. They have been spoken 19 times in BYU-Idaho devotionals."

"Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination of (1) increased purity, (2) exact obedience, (3) earnest seeking, (4) daily feasting on the words of Christ in the Book of Mormon, and (5) regular time committed to temple and family history work."

"We can follow the example of Jesus Christ, who is our role model, by choosing to love others — even if they show little or no love toward us. He declared, 'Blessed are the peacemakers: for they shall be called the children of God.' (Matthew 5:9; see also 3 Nephi 12:9)"

"How it would change the world if followers of Christ would forgo harsh and hurtful words in all their communications. In general conference, President Russell M. Nelson challenged us to choose to be a peacemaker, now and always."

"My brothers and sisters, as followers of Christ, let us follow Him by forgoing contention and by using the language and methods of peacemakers."

"I testify that the proclamation on the family is a statement of eternal truth, the will of the Lord for His children who seek eternal life. It has been the basis of Church teaching and practice for the last 22 years and will continue so for the future. Consider it as such, teach it, live by it, and you will be blessed as you press forward toward eternal life."

"President Ezra Taft Benson taught that 'every generation has its tests and its chance to stand and prove itself.' I believe our attitude toward and use of the family proclamation is one of those tests for this generation."

"Great blessings come to families if they pray together, kneeling night and morning to offer thanks for blessings and to pray over common concerns. Families are also blessed as they worship together in Church services and in other devotional settings."

"Take care not to become distracted. Remember His parable of the ten virgins. We want to be among the five humble ones who were admitted to the presence of the Lord."

"With President Oaks's invitation and three apostles explaining the principles of this important parable, I have thought again about President Eyring's message of the law of authorized witnesses. I have found myself riveting my attention on this parable."

"Now is the time for us to make our discipleship our highest priority. In a world filled with dizzying distractions, how can we do this?"

"In our own time, we have been warned with counsel of where to find safety from sin and from sorrow. One of the keys to recognizing those warnings is that they are repeated. For instance, more than once in these general conferences, you have heard our prophet say that he would quote a preceding prophet and would therefore be a second witness — and sometimes even a third."

"A fallacy is to believe that the choice to accept or not accept the counsel of prophets is no more than deciding whether to accept good advice and gain its benefits, or to stay where we are.

But the choice not to take prophetic counsel changes the very ground upon which we stand. It becomes more dangerous. The failure to take prophetic counsel lessens our power to take inspired counsel in the future. The best time to have decided to help Noah build the ark was the first time he asked. Each time he asked after that, each failure to respond would have lessened sensitivity to the Spirit."