for their inspired messages, and to the Mormon Tabernacle Choir

for the beautiful music they have

provided this Easter morning.

It will now be my privilege to speak

to you, brothers and sisters.

Following my remarks, the choir will sing "He Is Risen."

The benediction will then be offered by Elder Joaquin

Costa of the Seventy.

What a glorious privilege it has been

to celebrate Easter with you on this Sunday

of general conference!

Nothing could be more fitting than to commemorate

the most important event that ever occurred on this earth

by worshipping the most important being who ever walked

this earth.

In this, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints,

we worship Him who commenced His infinite Atonement

in the Garden of Gethsemane.

He was willing to suffer for the sins and weaknesses of each

of us, which suffering caused Him "to bleed at every pore."

He was crucified on Calvary's cross

and rose the third day as the first resurrected being

of our Heavenly Father's children.

I love Him and testify that He lives!

It is He who leads and guides His Church.

Without our Redeemer's infinite Atonement, not one of us

would have hope of ever returning

to our Heavenly Father.

Without His Resurrection, death would be the end.

Our Savior's Atonement made eternal life

a possibility and immortality a reality for all.

It is because of His transcendent mission

and the peace He grants His followers that my wife, Wendy,

and I felt comfort late on January 2, 2018,

when we were awakened by a phone call telling us

that President Thomas S. Monson had stepped through the veil.

How we miss President Monson!

We honor his life and his legacy.

A spiritual giant, he left an indelible imprint

upon all who knew him and upon the Church that he loved.

On Sunday, January 14, 2018, in the upper room of the Salt Lake

Temple, the First Presidency was reorganized

in the simple yet sacred pattern established by the Lord.

Then at yesterday morning's solemn assembly,

members of the Church throughout the world

raised their hands to confirm the earlier

action taken by the Apostles.

I am humbly grateful for your sustaining support.

I am also grateful for those upon whose shoulders I stand.

It has been my privilege to serve

in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles for 34 years

and to know personally 10 of the 16 previous Presidents

of the Church.

I learned much from each of them.

I also owe much to my forebears.

All eight of my great-grandparents

were converts to the Church in Europe.

Each of these stalwart souls sacrificed everything

to come to Zion.

During subsequent generations, however, not all my ancestors

remained so committed.

As a result, I was not raised in a gospel-centered home.

I adored my parents.

They meant the world to me and taught me crucial lessons.

I cannot thank them enough for the happy home life they

created for me and my siblings.

And yet, even as a boy, I knew I was missing something.

One day I jumped on the streetcar

and went to an LDS bookstore to find a book about the Church.

I loved learning about the gospel.

As I came to understand the Word of Wisdom,

I wanted my parents to live that law.

So, one day when I was very young, I went to our basement

and smashed on the concrete floor every bottle of liquor!

I expected my father to punish me, but he never said a word.

As I matured and began to understand

the magnificence of Heavenly Father's plan,

I often said to myself, "I don't want one more Christmas

present!

I just want to be sealed to my parents."

That longed-for event did not happen

until my parents were past 80, and then it did happen.

I cannot fully express the joy I felt that day.

And each day, I feel that joy of their sealing and my sealing

to them.

In 1945, while I was in medical school,

I married Dantzel White in the Salt Lake Temple.

She and I were blessed with nine splendid daughters and one

precious son.

El ultimo.

Today our ever-growing family is one of the greatest

joys of my life.

In 2005, after nearly 60 years of marriage,

my dear Dantzel was unexpectedly called home.

For a season, my grief was almost immobilizing.

But the message of Easter and the promise of resurrection

sustained me.

Then the Lord brought Wendy Watson to my side.

We were sealed in the Salt Lake Temple on April 6, 2006.

How I love her!

She is an extraordinary woman--a great blessing to me,

to our family, and to the entire Church.

Each of these blessings has come as a result

of seeking and heeding the promptings of the Holy Ghost.

Said President Lorenzo Snow, "This is the grand privilege

of every Latter-day Saint ... that it is our right to have

the manifestations of the Spirit every day of our lives."

One of the things the Spirit has repeatedly

impressed upon my mind since my new calling

as President of the Church is how willing the Lord is

to reveal His mind and will.

The privilege of receiving revelation

is one of the greatest gifts of God to His children.

Through the manifestations of the Holy Ghost,

the Lord will assist us in all our righteous pursuits.

I remember in an operating room, I have stood over

a patient--unsure about how to perform an unprecedented

procedure--and experienced the Holy Ghost diagramming

the technique in my mind.

To strengthen my proposal to Wendy, I said to her,

"I know about revelation and how to receive it."

To her credit--and, as I have come to learn,

typical of her--she had already sought and received her own

revelation about us, which gave her the courage to say yes.

As a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles,

I prayed daily for revelation and gave thanks to the Lord

every time He spoke to my heart and mind.

Imagine the miracle of it!

Whatever our Church calling, we can pray to our Heavenly Father

and receive guidance and direction,

be warned about dangers and distractions,

and be enabled to accomplish things we simply

could not do on our own.

If we will truly receive the Holy Ghost

and learn to discern and understand His promptings,

we will be guided in matters large and small.

When I recently faced the daunting task

of choosing two counselors, I wondered

how I could possibly choose just two from twelve men whom I love

and respect.

Because I know that good inspiration is

based upon good information, I prayerfully met one-on-one

with each Apostle.

I then sequestered myself in a private room in the temple

and sought the Lord's will.

I testify that the Lord instructed

me to select President Dallin H. Oaks and President Henry B.

Eyring to serve as my counselors in the First Presidency.

In like manner, I testify that the Lord inspired

the call of Elder Gerrit W. Gong and Elder Ulisses Soares

to be ordained as His Apostles.

I and we welcome them to this unique brotherhood of service.

When we convene as a Council of the First Presidency

and Quorum of the Twelve, our meeting rooms

become rooms of revelation.

The Spirit is palpably present.

As we wrestle with complex matters,

a thrilling process unfolds as each Apostle freely expresses

his thoughts and point of view.

Though we may differ in our initial perspectives,

the love we feel for each other is constant.

Our unity helps us to discern the Lord's will for His Church.

In our meetings, the majority never rules!

We listen prayerfully to one another

and talk with each other until we are united.

Then when we have reached complete accord,

the unifying influence of the Holy Ghost is spine-tingling!

We experience what the Prophet Joseph Smith

knew when he taught, "By union of feeling

we obtain power with God."

No member of the First Presidency

or Quorum of the Twelve would ever

leave decisions for the Lord's Church to his own best

judgment!

Brothers and sisters, how can we become the men and women--the

Christlike servants--the Lord needs us to be?

How can we find answers to questions that perplex us?

If Joseph Smith's transcendent experience in the Sacred Grove

teaches us anything, it is that the heavens are open

and that God speaks to His children.

The Prophet Joseph Smith set a pattern for us

to follow in resolving our questions.

Drawn to the promise of James that if we lack wisdom

we may ask of God, the boy Joseph

took his question directly to Heavenly Father.

He sought personal revelation, and his seeking

opened this last dispensation.

In like manner, what will your seeking open for you?

What wisdom do you lack?

What do you feel an urgent need to know or understand?

Follow the example of the Prophet Joseph.

Find a quiet place where you can regularly go.

Humble yourself before God.

Pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father.

Turn to Him for answers and for comfort.

Pray in the name of Jesus Christ about your concerns,

your fears, your weaknesses--yes,

the very longings of your heart.

And then listen!

Write the thoughts that come to your mind.

Record your feelings and follow through with actions

that you are prompted to take.

As you repeat this process day after day, month after month,

year after year, you will "grow into the principle

of revelation."

Does God really want to speak to you?

Yes!

"As well might man stretch forth his puny arm to stop

the Missouri river in its decreed course ...

as to hinder the Almighty from pouring down

knowledge from heaven upon the heads

of the Latter-day Saints."

You don't have to wonder about what is true.

You do not have to wonder whom you can safely trust.

Through personal revelation, you can receive your own witness

that the Book of Mormon is the word of God,

that Joseph Smith is a prophet of this dispensation,

and that this is the Lord's Church.

Regardless of what others may say or do,

no one can ever take away a witness borne to your heart

and mind about what is true.

I urge you to stretch beyond your current spiritual ability

to receive personal revelation, for the Lord has promised that

"if thou shalt [seek], thou shalt receive revelation upon

revelation, knowledge upon knowledge,

that thou mayest know the mysteries and peaceable

things--that which bringeth joy, that which bringeth life

eternal."

There is so much more that your Father in Heaven

wants you to know.

As Elder Neal A. Maxwell taught, "To those who have eyes to see

and ears to hear, it is clear that the Father and the Son

are giving away the secrets of the universe!"

Nothing opens the heavens quite like the combination

of increased purity, exact obedience,

earnest seeking, daily feasting on the words of Christ

in the Book of Mormon, and regular time

committed to temple and family history work.

To be sure, there may be times when you feel as

though the heavens are closed.

But I promise that as you continue to be obedient,

expressing gratitude for every blessing the Lord gives you,

and as you patiently honor the Lord's timetable,

you will be given the knowledge and understanding you seek.

Every blessing the Lord has for you--even miracles--will

follow.