"It is my purpose to ease the pain of those who suffer," President Boyd K. Packer, Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve, said as he began his conference address

President Boyd K. Packer

Saturday afternoon. The suffering of which he spoke was "the pain of conscience which follows our mistakes."

After citing scriptural acknowledgment that everyone has sinned (see 1 John 1:8, 10),

President Packer said, "All of us at sometime, and some of us much of the time, suffer remorse of conscience for the things we did wrong or things left undone. That feeling of guilt is to the spirit what pain is to the physical body. But guilt can be harder to bear than physical pain."

Nor can guilt, or "the pain in our conscience," be healed the same way as can physical pain. But there is a cure for the depressing feelings of guilt, disappointment, failure or shame.

"The prophets teach how painful guilt can be," he said. He quoted Alma 36:12, and noted the graphic words "racked," "torment," and "harrowed up" that Alma used to describe his feelings of guilt. Further, President Packer said that the prophets speak of the "gall of bitterness" (Alma 41:11); and often compare the pain of guilt to fire and brimstone. He quoted Joseph Smith who said that the torment of disappointment in the mind "is as exquisite as a lake burning with fire and brimstone." (Joseph Smith, Journal of Discourses 6:8.)

"That lake of fire and brimstone, ever burning but never consumed, is the description in the scriptures for Hell," President Packer said.

Further, he said that too many needlessly carry burdens of guilt and shame. "The Atonement offers redemption from spiritual death and from suffering caused by sin. For some reason, we think the Atonement of Christ applies only at the end of mortal life to redemption from the Fall, from spiritual death. It is much more than that. It is an ever-present power to call upon in everyday life. When we are racked or harrowed up or tormented by guilt or burdened with grief, He can heal us."

President Packer said, "We know that some anxiety and depression is caused by physical disorders, but much (perhaps most) of it is not pain of the body but of the spirit. Spiritual pain resulting from guilt can be replaced with peace of mind."

"We can ever 'retain a remission of [our] sins.' (Mosiah 4:12.) Baptism by immersion is for a remission of our sins. The Atonement. . . can be activated with so simple a beginning as prayer. But to restore our innocence, after serious transgressions, there must be confession to our bishop, who is the appointed judge.

"The Lord promised, 'A new heart . . . will I give you.' (Ezekiel 36:26.) That spiritual heart surgery, like in the body, may cause you pain and require a change in habits and conduct.

"All that has been printed, or preached or sung or built or taught or broadcast [in His Church] has been to the end that men and women and children can know the redeeming influence of the Atonement of Christ in their everyday lives and be at peace."