(9/28/97)
            Let us one and all take an inward look. Perhaps it is because we have not humbled
            ourselves; because we have failed to heed the commandments and to accept and abide
            in the revelations already given, that there is not more given to us. It is my humble
            opinion that we are receiving council by inspiration, or revelation, at every general
            conference of the Church. Would it not be wise for the members of the Church to pay
            more heed to these counsels and prepare ourselves for more to come?—Joseph Fielding
            Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, Vol.2, p.205

            (9/29/97)
            The living prophet is more important to us than a dead prophet. The living prophet has
            the power of TNT. By that I mean "Today's News Today." God's revelations to Adam
            did not instruct Noah how to build the ark. Noah needed his own revelation. Therefore,
            the most important prophet, so far as you and I are concerned, is the one living in our
            day and age to whom the Lord is currently revealing His will for us. Therefore, the most
            important reading we can do is any of the words of the prophet contained each week in
            the Church section of the Deseret News and any words of the prophet contained each
            month in our Church magazines. Our marching orders for each six months are found in
            the general conference addresses, which are printed in the Ensign magazine.—President
            Ezra Taft Benson, 1980 BYU Devotional Speeches of the Year

            (9/30/97)
            Let me add that when a revelation comes for the guidance of this people, you may be
            sure that it will not be presented in some mysterious manner contrary to the order of the
            Church. It will go forth in such form that the people will understand that it comes from
            those who are in authority, for it will be sent either to the presidents of stakes and the
            bishops of the wards over the signatures of the presiding authorities, or it will be
            published in some of the regular papers or magazines under the control and direction of
            the church, or it will be presented before such a gathering as this at a general
            conference. It will not spring up in some distant part of the Church and be in the hands of
            some obscure individual without authority, and thus be circulated among the Latter-day
            Saints.—Elder Joseph Fielding Smith, General Conference, October 1910

            (10/1/97)
            We are gathered together at this general conference, not with the expectation that any
            new revelation will be given or any new doctrine set forth, but to be reminded of the
            truth and to have our minds stirred up in remembrance of those things which we have
            heard or read, and thus be renewed in our spirits and in the prosecution of our
            labors.—Elder Marriner W. Merrill, General Conference, October 1901

            (10/2/97)
            We are met today in our General Conference, and this particular conference, in the
            spring of the year, brings to our minds the wonderful experience that the boy Joseph
            Smith had 101 years ago. As I ponder the glorious revelation that was vouchsafed to
            him, and look back upon the early days of his ministry, I sometimes wonder if he, in his
            wildest fancies, in his greatest hopes and ambitions, dreamed that, in the short space of
            one century, conferences of the Church would be held where there would be in
            attendance thousands and tens of thousands of its members. To me these gatherings are
            a testimony that the work is of our heavenly Father, that it has his sanction, and that
            that which we are doing and striving to do has his hearty approval. He is blessing us and
            sustaining us in our efforts to do that which he gave to his children, through the Prophet
            Joseph Smith, at the beginning of the last century. Nowhere in the world is there a
            gathering of people comparable with these conference meetings held in Salt Lake City
            today, and for the next two or three days. Nowhere in the world is there such a gathering
            of men and women giving their all for the great work of the Master. Nowhere on earth
            will you find the body of men bearing the Priesthood of the living God, that you find here
            in Zion, on the occasion of these conferences. The power, the influence, and the spirit of
            these gatherings, are carried in, to all the world by the men and women, who come here
            and attend these meetings.—Winslow Farr Smith, General Conference, April 1921

            (10/3/97)
            Brethren and sisters, I do not know much, but what I do know, I know well; I am a
            well-trained soldier; I have been laboring in the Church under the direction of the
            general authorities for over 35 years; I have seen a whole council of the Twelve fill their
            missions and pass over, and still live, and I know from my missionary experience in the
            world and at home, that we are the servants of the living God; that we hold divine
            authority; that every member in this Church, from the least unto the greatest, is entitled
            to revelation and inspiration and the spirit of prophecy for his own guidance.—Elder J.
            Golden Kimball, General Conference, April 1926
 
 

                  The LDS Daily WOOL