Use Music

 President Dallin H. Oaks said: "The singing of hymns is one of the best ways to put ourselves in tune with the Spirit on the Lord... Sacred music has a unique capacity to communicate our feelings of love for the Lord. This kind of communication is a wonderful aid to our worship.... Our hymns contain matchless doctrinal sermons, surpassed only by the scriptures in their truth and poetic impact." 

"Worship through Music," Ensign, Nov. 1994, 10, 11. 

Oaks BYU Speech at Prophet

 

Coming Closer to Jesus Christ

Dallin H. Oaks

President of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints

I share four impressions that will draw us closer to our Savior:

• First, strengthen our faith in Him.
• Second, increase our humility.
• Third, seek help from others.
• Fourth, be patient.

Use the Language and Methods of Peacemakers

 

A Peculiar Treasure

By Elder Alan R. Walker

Of the Seventy

What a revolutionary teaching for personal relationships! Love even your enemies! But who are our enemies? The full meaning of enemies in the sources from which King James’s translators chose the word enemies includes military foes but even extends to any who actively oppose one another. Today we might say that we are commanded to love our adversaries. All mortals are beloved children of God. As President David O. McKay taught, “There is no better way to manifest love for God than to show an unselfish love for one’s fellowmen.”...

When we seek to keep all the commandments in our personal lives, we are sometimes accused of having no love for those who don’t. When we show personal love and support loving causes, we are sometimes misunderstood as implying support for results that contradict our other religious duties. But as followers of Christ, we should seek to live peaceably and lovingly with other children of God who do not share our values and do not have the covenant obligations we have assumed. In a democratic government we should seek fairness for all. In countless circumstances, strangers’ suspicions or even hostility gradually gives way to friendship when personal contacts produce mutual respect....

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...

Peacemakers! How it would change the world if followers of Christ would forgo harsh and hurtful words in all their communications....

My brothers and sisters, as followers of Christ, let us follow Him by forgoing contention and by using the language and methods of peacemakers. In our families and other personal relationships, let us avoid what is harsh and hateful. Let us seek to be holy, like our Savior...

Oaks felt the Lord was preparing him for some special service

 

President Dallin H. Oaks: A Life of Hard Work, Optimism, and Faith

By Richard E. Turley Jr.

As Dallin and June pondered their future, they decided to accept an offer from the dean of the University of Chicago Law School for Dallin to serve on its faculty. He didn’t want to teach forever but “felt … this whole thing was just being prepared for me … to equip me for some future job I must do.”...

By summer 1970, Dallin began having premonitions that he would replace Ernest L. Wilkinson, long-time president of Brigham Young University—feelings he resisted. For years after graduation from law school, Dallin remarked to June that he felt the Lord was preparing him “for some special service.” If the Lord was giving him so much, “he would surely expect a return,” Dallin said, “and I hoped I would have the wisdom to recognize the opportunity when the call came, and the courage to accept it.”...

By 1984, Dallin still felt a new opportunity to serve was coming in his life. Yet he did not know what it was. On April 6 of that year, the answer came when President Gordon B. Hinckley (1910–2008) called him to serve as a member of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.

“My life,” Dallin replied, “is in the hands of the Lord, and my career is in the hands of His servants.”

Dallin now knew what the Lord wanted him to do, but it was not at all what he had expected. “Throughout the remainder of your life,” he asked himself, “will you be a judge and lawyer who has been called to be an Apostle, or will you be an Apostle who used to be a lawyer and a judge?”

“The most important parts of my calling”—in fact, “the only parts that are really unique in the service of the Lord,” he recognized—“were those parts that I knew nothing about—those parts where I would have to start all over at the beginning. I knew that if I concentrated my time on the things that came naturally and the things that I felt qualified to do, I would never be an Apostle. I would always be a former lawyer and judge. I made up my mind that was not for me. I decided that I would focus my efforts on what I had been called to do, not on what I was qualified to do. I determined that instead of trying to shape my calling to my credentials, I would try to shape myself to my calling.”

Get Married and Have Children

 

The Family-Centered Gospel of Jesus Christ

By President Dallin H. Oaks

President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

Despite that doctrinal context, there is opposition. In the United States we are suffering from a deterioration in marriage and childbearing. For nearly a hundred years the proportion of households headed by married couples has declined, and so has the birthrate. The marriages and birthrates of our Church members are much more positive, but they have also declined significantly. It is vital that Latter-day Saints do not lose their understanding of the purpose of marriage and the value of children. That is the future for which we strive. 

The national declines in marriage and childbearing are understandable for historic reasons, but Latter-day Saint values and practices should improve—not follow—those trends...

As parental influences diminish, Latter-day Saints still have a God-given responsibility to teach their children to prepare for our family destiny in eternity...

Our Savior, Jesus Christ, is our ultimate role model. We will be blessed if we model our lives after His teachings and self-sacrifice. Following Christ and giving ourselves in service to one another is the best remedy for the selfishness and individualism that now seem to be so common....

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. Family bonds are also strengthened by family stories, creating family traditions, and sharing sacred experiences. President Spencer W. Kimball reminded us that “stories of inspiration from our own lives and those of our forebears … are powerful teaching tools.” They are often the best sources of inspiration for us and our posterity.

Eliminate Arrogance/Provocation, Subdue Criticism, Practice Patience

 

Glad Tidings of Great Joy

By President Dallin H. Oaks

Liahona Dec 2025

Christmas awakens in us a desire to extend ourselves beyond our normal ties of love and friendship. The heavenly proclamation “on earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14) was not limited to those for whom we already have feelings of love and affection. It directed goodwill to casual friends, to strangers, even to enemies. Christmas is also a time for forgiving, a time to heal old wounds and restore relationships that have gone awry.

Christmas is a time to eliminate arrogance and provocation, to subdue criticism, to practice patience, and to de-emphasize differences among people. We have the incentive to extend sincere fellowship to all persons, those who are and those who are not of our faith, observing the command God had the prophet Moses give to the children of Israel.

When You Have Been Hurt By Others...

 

The Atoning Love of Jesus Christ

By Elder Neil L. Andersen

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

For you who have been so unfairly injured by the serious sins of another, I long to share the Savior’s love and compassion, His comfort and peace.

The sadness you have felt, the heartbreak, the loss, the suffocating feeling of betrayal, the upending of your life as you imagined it to be—I give you my absolute assurance, the Savior knows you and loves you. Reach out to Him. He is your comfort and strength; He will send His angels to bear you up. When will your pain be gone, your grief subdued, the unwanted memories forgotten? I do not know. But this I do know: He has the power to bring beauty from the ashes of your suffering....

President Dallin H. Oaks has taught: “Because of His atoning experience in mortality, our Savior is able to comfort, heal, and strengthen all men and women everywhere, but I believe He does so only for those who seek Him and ask for His help.

President Oaks's Tribute to President Nelson

 

Introduction

By President Dallin H. Oaks

President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

My own brief tribute—suitable to this conference and to the tributes we have already paid—is this: I loved Russell M. Nelson and have learned more about the gospel and gospel leadership from my long friendship and association with him than from any other leader I have personally known. He is our model as a servant and follower of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Fundamental Spiritual Maintenance

 

Divine Helps for Mortality

By President Dallin H. Oaks

First Counselor in the First Presidency

Just as our physical muscles cannot be developed or maintained without straining against the law of gravity, so mortal growth requires us to strain against Satan’s temptations and other mortal opposition. Most important for spiritual growth is the requirement to choose between good and evil....

Thus, President Joseph F. Smith taught that the Holy Ghost will “enlighten the minds of the people with regard to the things of God, to convince them at the time of their conversion of their having done the will of the Father, and to be in them an abiding testimony as a companion through life, acting as the sure and safe guide into all truth and filling them day by day with joy and gladness, with a disposition to do good to all men, to suffer wrong rather than to do wrong, to be kind and merciful, long suffering and charitable. All who possess this inestimable gift, this pearl of great price, have a continual thirst after righteousness. Without the aid of the Holy Spirit,” President Smith concluded, “no mortal can walk in the straight and narrow way.”

IV.

With so many powerful helps to guide us in our mortal journeys, it is disappointing that so many remain unprepared for their appointed meeting with our Savior and Redeemer, Jesus Christ. His parable of the ten virgins, spoken of so frequently in this conference, suggests that of those invited to meet Him, only half will be prepared.

We all know examples of the unprepared: returned missionaries who have interrupted their spiritual growth by periods of inactivity, youth who have jeopardized their spiritual growth by separating themselves from Church teaching and activities, men who have postponed their ordination to the Melchizedek Priesthood, men and women—sometimes the posterity of noble pioneers or worthy parents—who have departed the covenant path short of making and keeping covenants in the holy temple.

Many of such deviations occur when members fail to follow the fundamental spiritual maintenance plan of personal prayer, regular scripture study, and frequent repentance. In contrast, some neglect weekly renewal of covenants by not partaking of the sacrament. Some say the Church is not meeting their needs; those substitute what they perceive as their future needs ahead of what the Lord has provided in His many teachings and opportunities for our essential service to others.

Humility and trust in the Lord are the remedies for such deviations.

Forgo Contention

 

Following Christ

By President Dallin H. Oaks

First Counselor in the First Presidency

What should followers of Christ teach and do in this time of toxic communications? What were His teachings and examples?

It is significant that among the first principles Jesus taught when He appeared to the Nephites was to avoid contention. While He taught this in the context of disputes over religious doctrine, the reasons He gave clearly apply to communications and relationships in politics, public policy, and family relationships....

Peacemakers! How it would change personal relationships if followers of Christ would forgo harsh and hurtful words in all their communications....

Potential adversaries should begin their discussions by identifying common ground on which all agree....

As followers of Christ, we teach and testify of Jesus Christ, our Perfect Role Model. So let us follow Him by forgoing contention. As we pursue our preferred policies in public actions, let us qualify for His blessings by using the language and methods of peacemakers. In our families and other personal relationships, let us avoid what is harsh and hateful. Let us seek to be holy, like our Savior,

Charity is a State of Being

 President Dallin H. Oaks observed: “The reason charity never fails and the reason charity is greater than even the most significant acts of goodness … is that charity, ‘the pure love of Christ’ [Moroni 7:47], is not an act but a condition or state of being. … Charity is something one becomes” (“The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov. 2000, 34).

What Does It Mean to Pray with Real Intent?

 What Does It Mean to Pray with Real Intent?

President Dallin H. Oaks, First Counselor in the First Presidency, explained that praying with real intent means that the person prays something like this: “I do not ask out of curiosity but with total sincerity to act on the answer to my prayer. If Thou wilt give me this answer, I will act to change my life. I will respond” (in Neil L. Andersen, “Spiritually Defining Memories,” Liahona, May 2020, 22, note 19).

You Are Called For What You Can Become

 

Faith to Act and Become

By Elder Ciro Schmeil

Of the Seventy

“What do we talk about during lunch with the prophet?” was the thought that came to my mind. So I decided to ask President Nelson if he had any counsel or guidance for me since I was just starting my calling. His answer was very simple and direct; he looked at me and said, “Elder Schmeil, you are called for what you can become.” I walked away from that experience pondering about what the Lord wants me to become. As I thought about this, I realized that He wants me to become a better husband, father, and son and a better servant. I then realized that all of this could be accomplished as I worked to become a better disciple of the Savior Jesus Christ....

President Dallin H. Oaks taught that “the Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become.”

Attitude About Going to Church

 

The Need for a Church

By President Dallin H. Oaks

First Counselor in the First Presidency

Some say that attending church meetings is not helping them. Some say, “I didn’t learn anything today” or “No one was friendly to me” or “I was offended.” Personal disappointments should never keep us from the doctrine of Christ, who taught us to serve, not to be served.⁷ With this in mind, another member described the focus of his Church attendance:

“Years ago, I changed my attitude about going to church. No longer do I go to church for my sake, but to think of others. I make a point of saying hello to people who sit alone, to welcome visitors, … to volunteer for an assignment. …

“In short, I go to church each week with the intent of being active, not passive, and making a positive difference in people’s lives.”⁸

President Spencer W. Kimball taught that “we do not go to Sabbath meetings to be entertained or even solely to be instructed. We go to worship the Lord. It is an individual responsibility. … If the service is a failure to you, you have failed. No one can worship for you; you must do your own waiting upon the Lord.”⁹

Church attendance can open our hearts and sanctify our souls.