"I am persuaded that we should continue [the Savior's] work of ministering to those in need, whether in things spiritual or in things temporal," said President Marion G. Romney, second counselor in the First Presidency, in an October 1980 general conference address.

"I have long concluded that the work which you and I call welfare service is the work of the Savior. This welfare plan is His plan; its principles are His principles; its spirit is His spirit. . . ."President Romney cited King Benjamin's address, in which the Nephite leader stated: "If ye do this, ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; . . .

"And ye will not have a mind to injure one another, but to live peaceably, and to render to every man according to that which is his due.

"And ye will not suffer your children that they go hungry, or naked; neither will ye suffer that they transgress the laws of God. . .

"But ye will teach them to walk in the ways of truth and soberness; and ye will teach them to love one another, and to serve one another.

"And also, ye yourselves will succor those that stand in need of your succor; ye will administer of your substance unto him that standeth in need." (Mosiah 4:12-16.)

President Romney further quoted Mosiah 4:26, in which King Benjamin counseled: " . . . impart of your substance to the poor, every man according to that which he hath, such as feeding the hungry, clothing the naked, visiting the sick and administering to their relief, both spiritually and temporally, according to their wants."

President Romney asked: "Is there any question, brothers and sisters, about our obligation in this program? Is there any doubt that retaining a remission of sins depends on our caring for one another? If we believe these teachings, if we profess to follow the Savior and His prophets, if we want to be true to our covenants and have the Spirit of the Lord in our lives, then we must do the things that the Savior said and did."

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'Mighty' change of heart comes only from faith in Jesus Christ

"When King Benjamin finished his remarkable address in the land of Zarahemla, the people all cried with one voice that they believed his words," wrote President Ezra Taft Benson.

"They knew of a surety that his promises of redemption were true, because, said they, `the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent . . . has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, [and note this] that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually.' " (Mosiah 5:2.)

President Benson wrote that when an individual has undergone this mighty change - which is brought about only through faith in Jesus Christ and through the operation of the Spirit - it is as though he or she has become a new person. "Thus the change is likened to a new birth," President Benson noted.

"Thousands of you . . . have experienced this change. You have forsaken lives of sin, sometimes deep and offensive sin, and through applying the blood of Christ in your lives, have become clean. You have no more disposition to return to your old ways. You are in reality a new person. This is what is meant by a change of heart." (The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 470.)

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Applying the scriptures :

King Benjamin's teachings led to gratitude, faith, repentance

In his October 1989 general conference address, Bishop Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the Presiding Bishopric, spoke of some of life's events that prompt remembrance and gratitude.

He spoke of King Benjamin who taught that no one is above another because "all are dust, to which God has given life and then sustained it."

"[King Benjamin] described a fact which is true for every human being: unforgiven sin will bring us unending torment. And he described the gift we all have been offered: those whose faith in Jesus Christ leads them to repentance and forgiveness will live in never-ending happiness.

"King Benjamin's teaching had a miraculous effect. Gratitude for what they had led to faith unto repentance. That led to forgiveness. That produced new gratitude. And then King Benjamin taught that, if we can remember and so remain grateful, we will retain a remission of our sins through all the losses and the gains of life."

Bishop Eyring quoted Mosiah 4:11-12, in which King Benjamin exhorted his people to always remember the greatness of God, to humble themselves, to call on the name of the Lord daily, to remain steadfast in the faith. King Benjamin promised: " . . . if ye do this ye shall always rejoice, and be filled with the love of God, and always retain a remission of your sins; and ye shall grow in the knowledge of the glory of him that created you, or in the knowledge of that which is just and true."

Bishop Eyring asked: "How can you and I remember, always, the goodness of God, that we can retain a remission of our sins? The Apostle John recorded what the Savior taught us of a gift of remembrance which comes through the gift of the Holy Ghost: `But the Comforter, which is the Holy Ghost, whom the Father will send in my name, he shall teach you all things, and bring all things to your remembrance, whatsoever I have said unto you.' (John 14:26.)

"The Holy Ghost brings back memories of what God has taught us. And one of the ways God teaches us is with His blessings; and so, if we choose to exercise faith, the Holy Ghost will bring God's kindnesses to our remembrance."