- Tapped by obedience

- Brings peace, happiness- Quenches burning thirst

The "living water" of the gospel of Jesus Christ can eternally quench a thirst for happiness, peace, and everlasting life, said Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Council of the Twelve.

Speaking Saturday morning, Elder Wirthlin emphasized that the Savior's "living water" is needed in this time of "great spiritual thirst."

"Many in the world are searching, often intensely, for a source of refreshment that will quench their yearning for meaning and direction in their lives," he said. "They crave a cool, satisfying drink of insight and knowledge that will soothe their parched souls. Their spirits cry out for life-sustaining experiences of peace and calm to nourish and enliven their withering hearts."

He recounted the story of the Samaritan woman at the well, to whom the Savior promised "whosoever drinketh of the water that I shall give him shall never thirst." (John 4:14.)

The well of living water of which the Savior spoke, Elder Wirthlin said, is tapped by obedience to the commandments. He described many upon the earth "who are only kept from the truth because they know not where to find it." (D&C 123:12.)

"Let us work with all our heart, mind and strength to show our thirsty brothers and sisters where they may find the living water of the gospel, that they may come to drink of the water that springs `up unto everlasting life,' " he said.

He said the Lord provides "the living water that can quench the burning thirst of those whose lives are parched by a drought of truth." But He "expects us to supply to them the fulness of the gospel by giving them the scriptures and the words of the prophets and to bear personal testimony as to the truth of the restored gospel to alleviate their thirst."

Today, said Elder Wirthlin, many people spend their lives "carving out cisterns of worldly gain that cannot hold the living water that satisfies their natural thirst for everlasting truth."

He said that prophets and apostles provide an abundant stream of eternal truth that, if obeyed, "brings the living water of the Lord into our lives."

"We miss hearing the voice of President Howard W. Hunter. . . . He raised us to new heights of understanding and urged us to renew our commitment to keep sacred covenants," said Elder Wirthlin. "His personal example of these Christlike virtues taught us with a persuasive power that even transcended his unforgettable spoken words."

Elder Wirthlin said that President Hunter's successor, sustained earlier in the session, is President Gordon B. Hinckley. "He is the Lord's anointed. He holds all the priesthood keys and is authorized to exercise them in leading and directing the kingdom of God.

"I bear my witness that President Hinckley has been foreordained, raised up, prepared and called of God `to declare his word among his people, that they might have everlasting life.'

"The First presidency and the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles stand as His duly authorized and ordained servants, charged with the sacred and solemn responsibility to guide His Church in these latter days."