Excerpts from recent addresses by President Gordon B. Hinckley

BE NOT FAITHLESS

Be not faithless, but believing. In what shall we believe? In the first place, we shall believe in God our Eternal Father. He is the Father of each of us. He is the ruler and the governor of the entire universe and yet, somehow, He can hear each of us when we pray. What a marvelous thing that is, and that the God of Heaven will hear your prayers and my prayers. We are His children.

Be not faithless, but believe in Jesus Christ, the Son of God, the great Creator, who condescended to come to earth and walked among men and [was] abused and persecuted and crucified unto death. But, He arose the third day and stands at the side of His Father, the Living Son of the Living God, to pour out His blessing upon each of us.

Be not faithless, but believing in the divine mission of the Prophet Joseph Smith, who had the greatest vision that has occurred in all this modern world, when God the Father and Jesus Christ the Son appeared to him and parted the curtains to usher in the Dispensation of the Fullness of Times.

Be not faithless, but believing in this sacred book which we call the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ. It was said of old, it was said by the Savior, that in the mouths of two or more witnesses shall all things be established. Here is the Bible, one witness. Here is the Book of Mormon, the other witness. They go hand-in-hand testifying of these things which we have spoken.

Believe in the truth and divinity and be not faithless concerning The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. The Lord declared it to be the only true and living Church upon the face of the whole earth with which He was pleased. That is not my statement. That is the statement of the Lord Himself.

Believe in yourself, my brothers and sisters. You are a child of God. You do have something of divinity within you. Believe in your capacity to do great and good things. We have these missionaries here tonight. I supposed when they were called to the Merida mission, they had no idea where it was. They had to go to the library and get an atlas and look it up. Now they think this is the greatest place on the face of the earth, and the greatest people. - From Cancun, Mexico member meeting, Nov. 13, 1997

COUNSEL TO YOUTH

I'd like to say just a word to the young people here. You who are in your teens, you wonderful hope of the future, you faithful young Latter-day Saints, you who attend seminary and go to institute, you who are the best generation we have ever had in this Church, be faithful. Be true. Don't let yourselves fall into evil ways. Take advantage of your great opportunities. Get all of the education you can possibly get. Education is the key which will unlock the door of opportunity, and the Lord has laid upon you the responsibility to secure an education. Don't let yourselves become involved in evil things. Watch your language. Don't profane the name of Deity. Don't play around with pornography. It can destroy you. Don't get involved in drugs of any kind. They can destroy you. You walk your way, praying to the Lord to give you strength to move forward, and God will bless you, and your lives that lie ahead of you will be sweet and happy and wonderful. God bless you. - From Mexico City, Mexico member meeting, Nov. 9, 1997

FOUNDATION OF CHURCH

As I see it, there are four great foundation stones on which this Church stands, irremovable. The first, the Great Vision, the visit of the Father and the Son to the boy Joseph Smith, the opening of the heavens in this the Dispensation of the Fulness of Times, the great bringing together of all of the work of God in all the past dispensations throughout the history of the world. The curtain was parted with that First Vision, and it stands as an absolute fundamental in the Church and its history and its well-being.

The second is the Book of Mormon, a new witness for Jesus Christ, a living testimony of the Redeemer of the world. Five thousand copies were printed in that first edition. This year, I think we will print and distribute about two or three million copies. It goes on and on and on. It grows and grows and grows. Its voice is translated into more and more languages. It stands as something which can be held and read and savored and prayed about and pondered over as the word of the Lord for this dispensation, by the people everywhere who will listen to it, read it, pray about it.

The third is the restoration of the priesthood. This remarkable and wonderful gift of authority in these great latter days given under the hands of John the Baptist, and Peter, James and John, and the keys of that priesthood which came from them and from other visitations, given by the Lord to His people in this dispensation. Without it, we have nothing. It is the power of governance in the Church. It is the authority to speak in the name of God. It is the greatest gift that any man can hold. It will bless his life and the life of his family, and the life of many others, if he will live and magnify it.

And fourth is the great work for the dead, the sealing ordinances in the House of the Lord, by which we as individuals gain our blessings and then they have the privilege of extending them to others. No other church in all the world has it, and no other church pretends to have it. And great and tremendous is the mandate which is laid upon us as a people in the exercise of it. - From Salt Lake Bonneville Stake conference, Nov. 23, 1997

LIFELONG LEARNING

I hope that you will take from this [Brigham Young] University the habit of seeking knowledge and that this habit will never leave you for as long as you live. A truly educated man never ceases to learn. He never ceases to grow. I hope you young women, as you take upon yourselves the burden of rearing families, will never set aside your desire to acquire knowledge. I hope that you will read to your children. They will be blessed and you will be blessed if you do so. I hope that you will even read to your husbands. They need to be read to. I hope that you will read to yourselves. - From BYU devotional, Nov. 4, 1997

MISSIONARY SERVICE

My dearly beloved young men, prepare yourselves for the great and marvelous responsibility of missionary service. Live worthy of it. Keep your lives clean. Keep the sleaze, the dirt, the filth of the world out of your lives. Live close to the Lord and He will honor you, and bless you, and magnify you, and be close to you, and hear and answer your prayers. Great is our responsibility. Ours is the obligation to teach the gospel of peace to every nation, every kindred, every tongue, every people upon the face of the earth. We now have some 57,000 missionaries under call. But when all is said and done, we have barely scratched the surface. My dear young friends, the Lord needs your help. Prepare yourselves. Live worthy of it. It will not be easy. It will be difficult. It will be discouraging, but it will be wonderfully rewarding. - Montevido, Uruguay regional conference, Aug. 10, 1997