- Live the commandments

- Do what is right- Influence others for good

After hearing President Gordon B. Hinckley speak of his recent visit to Palmyra, N.Y., Elder David B. Haight added his witness and spoke of the day the Church was organized. "The glories of the Lord had been poured out upon [that] occasion."

Speaking Saturday morning, Elder Haight of the Quorum of the Twelve recounted the personal experiences and feelings he felt some years ago while participating in a mission presidents seminar in the Palmyra and Fayette, N.Y., area.

A dinner was held in the reconstructed farm home of Peter Whitmer at the close of the seminar, he said. "It was such a moving occasion. The only cooking arrangement they had in that little log home was the fireplace. They didn't have any of the conveniences of today, of course.

"At the conclusion of that spiritual occasion," he continued, "I walked up the steps and looked at those two little bedrooms. The Peter Whitmer family lived there. They turned one of those rooms over to the Prophet Joseph Smith, and there he did some of the translating of the Book of Mormon. Oliver Cowdery joined him later. There they worked in that humble, little setting.

"My heart burned with the wonderful feeling I had of just being in that little farmhouse, and imagining what took place, and of the blessings of heaven that had been poured out."

That evening after the seminar, Elder Haight said he stepped out of the farmhouse with his wife, Ruby, and observed the moonlight shining through the trees. He said at that time he could imagine that on the night of April 6, 1830 - after that small group had organized the Church, the six members had signed the necessary papers to see that it was recognized under the laws of the state of New York and testimonies were borne - "the moon was shining, showing that our Savior smiled upon that occasion and upon that setting."

Elder Haight later learned from records kept by the naval observatory in England that there was a full moon on the night of April 6, 1830.

He then told of receiving a letter from a 19-year-old young man in Idaho who was considering Elder Haight's maturity and wanted to know how life was at his age. "Life is wonderful," Elder Haight, now 91, said with a sense of serenity. "The only way I can describe it, is that I have been blessed all my life."

Among his blessings, Elder Haight counted were family and the joy of posterity. He spoke of "the sparkle in the eyes" of several grandchildren who were recently baptized and observed, "I want our family to know, that the works of their fathers, as Helaman said, were good."

"God lives. He is our Father," he said in conclusion. "Wouldn't it be wonderful if the world today would have some real understanding of the simple Ten Commandments.

"Live the commandments. Do what is right. Take advantage of this great opportunity in your life to live it, to be good, to do good works and to influence other people for good."