PROVO, Utah — Speaking in the aftermath of terrorist attacks that killed thousands in the eastern United States, President Gordon B. Hinckley bore a generous testimony of eternal life to members at the Payson Utah Regional Conference in BYU's Marriott Center on Sunday, Sept. 16.

Photo by Greg Hill

On a warm, late-summer morning, members arrive at the BYU Marriott Center for Payson (Utah) regional conference, at which President Gordon B. Hinckley spoke of eternal life.

President Hinckley noted "that in every one of our sacrament meetings this day the Lord will be spoken of, His plan will be spoken of, faith will be testified of, and, hopefully, the hearts of our people will be lifted with gratitude and appreciation to the tremendous gift which the God of heaven has given unto us as a people concerning the eternity of life, the purpose of life, the purpose of this nation, and the great purposes of the restoration of the gospel."

The conference, held on a pleasant late-summer day, drew about 15,000 members from stakes in Nephi, Goshen, Santaquin and Payson, Utah, to join in a similar memorial spirit. They sang together "God Bless America" and "We Thank Thee, O God, For a Prophet," and heard the regional choir sing "Faith in Every Footstep" and "We Ever Pray for Thee." President Hinckley was accompanied by his wife, Marjorie.

Also attending and speaking were Elder Joseph B. Wirthlin of the Quorum of the Twelve and his wife, Elisa; Elder W. Rolfe Kerr of the Seventy and first counselor in the Utah South Area presidency and his wife, Janeil, and Elder Carl W. Bacon, an Area Authority Seventy, and his wife, Carolyn.

President Hinckley spoke of the reality of the resurrection and the continuation of life after leaving mortality. He told the account of Thomas, one of the Savior's disciples who refused to believe his Lord had been resurrected until he could feel the prints of the nails in His hands and feet. President Hinckley quoted John 20:27-28: "Then saith [Jesus] to Thomas, Reach hither thy finger, and behold my hands; and reach hither thy hand, and thrust it into my side: and be not faithless, but believing.

"And Thomas answered and said unto him, My Lord and my God."

Then President Hinckley said: "What a great declaration of the recognition of the risen Christ.

" 'Be not faithless, but believing.' That is the message that I would like to give to the entire world on this day of mourning and worship before the Lord. Be not faithless, but believe."

He told the conference congregation to believe in God, the Eternal Father, and in the Lord Jesus Christ, who "came to earth and walked the dusty roads of Palestine, and then offered Himself up on the cross, gave His life to atone for the sins of each of us, and came forth on the third day. He was seen by many — up to 500, we are told. He came to this Western Hemisphere and showed Himself and spoke to the people here and rose in the heaven with a promise that he would return again."

President Hinckley referred to his appearance on the "Larry King Live" program on CNN the previous Friday, and his affirmative answer to the host's question: "Is life eternal?"

Then he told the conference: "We treasure life, we love life, we cling to life, and we should do. It is a gift of God. But, when all is said and done, it matters not whether we die young or old, for we shall go on living. That will not be the end. We will step across the threshold into a new phase of life. But as this has been a phase, so that also will be a phase."

Referring back to a question from Larry King about the perpetrators of the terrorist attacks, President Hinckley stated: "I said, 'We shall all stand before the bar of God. Every man and every woman will be given the opportunity to stand before the bar of God, and he or she will be expected to make an accounting of himself or herself concerning that which he or she has done with his or her life.' "

Then, in a very positive tone and reciting liberally from Section 76 of the Doctrine and Covenants, he taught the members at the conference about the glory awaiting those righteous people who come forth in the resurrection of the just. He summed up: "Now, my brothers and sisters, I don't know of a greater, more certain and clear promise made to us than those marvelous and wonderful words concerning the celestial kingdom, to which we may go if we live worthy of.

"I can testify to this entire world that I know that life is eternal, that it is everlasting, that the grave is not the end, that those who die young and old shall go on living, that we shall all stand before the bar of God."

President Hinckley said, "How grateful we ought to be, of all the people on this earth, we speak from the words of revelation concerning the eternity of life."

E-mail: ghill@desnews.com