My beloved brethren and sisters, I wish to acknowledge my

gratitude for your sustaining faith and prayers. The Lord has

imposed upon the leadership of this Church a great and serious

trust, and you have supported us in that responsibility. We know

that you pray for us, and we wish you to know that we pray for

you.

Not a day passes that I do not thank the Lord for faithful Latter-day

Saints. No day passes that I do not pray that He will bless you

wherever you are and whatever your needs.

I wish to remind you that we are all in this together. It is not a

matter of the General Authorities on one hand and the membership

of the Church on the other. We are all working as one in a great

cause. We are all members of the Church of Jesus Christ.

Within your sphere of responsibility you have as serious an

obligation as do I within my sphere of responsibility. Each of us

should be determined to build the kingdom of God on the earth and

to further the work of righteousness.

I think I can honestly say that we have no selfish desires with

reference to this work other than that it succeed.

We of the First Presidency are constantly dealing with a great

variety of problems. They come before us every day.

At the close of one particularly difficult day, I looked up at a

portrait of Brigham Young that hangs on my wall. I asked, "Brother Brigham, what should we do?" I thought I saw him smile

a little, and then he seemed to say: "In my day, I had problems

enough of my own. Don't ask me what to do. This is your watch.

Ask the Lord, whose work this really is." And this, I assure you, is

what we do and must always do.

As I reflected on these matters that recent difficult day, I opened

my Bible to the first chapter of Joshua and read these words:

"Have not I commanded thee? Be strong and of a good courage; be

not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with

thee" (Joshua 1:9).

I said to myself: "There is never reason to despair. This is the work of God. Notwithstanding the efforts of all who oppose it, it will go

forward as the God of heaven has designed it should do."

I turned the pages of the Old Testament to the second chapter of

Isaiah and read these words:

"And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord's house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and

shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it.

"And many people shall go and say, Come ye, and let us go up to

the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob; and he

will teach us of his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for out of

Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from

Jerusalem" (Isaiah 2:2–3).

Ever since the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated, we have

interpreted that scripture from Isaiah, repeated again in Micah (see Micah 4:1–2), as applying to this sacred house of the Lord. And of

this place, since the day of its dedication, an ever-increasing

number from across the world have said in effect, "Come ye, and

let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of

Jacob, that He might teach us of His ways, that we might walk in

His paths."

I believe and testify that it is the mission of this Church to stand as

an ensign to the nations and a light to the world. We have had

placed upon us a great, all-encompassing mandate from which we

cannot shrink nor turn aside. We accept that mandate and are

determined to fulfill it, and with the help of God we shall do it.

There are forces all around us that would deter us from that effort.

The world is constantly crowding in on us. From all sides we feel

the pressure to soften our stance, to give in here a little and there a

little.

We must never lose sight of our objective. We must ever keep

before us the goal which the Lord has set for us.

To quote Paul:

"Finally, my brethren, be strong in the Lord, and in the power of

his might.

"Put on the whole armour of God, that ye may be able to stand

against the wiles of the devil.

"For we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against

principalities, against powers, against the rulers of the darkness of

this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places" (Ephesians

6:10–12).

We must stand firm. We must hold back the world. If we do so, the

Almighty will be our strength and our protector, our guide and our

revelator. We shall have the comfort of knowing that we are doing

what He would have us do. Others may not agree with us, but I am

confident that they will respect us. We will not be left alone. There

are many not of our faith but who feel as we do. They will support

us. They will sustain us in our efforts.

We cannot be arrogant. We cannot be self-righteous. The very

situation in which the Lord has placed us requires that we be

humble as the beneficiaries of His direction.

While we cannot agree with others on certain matters, we must

never be disagreeable. We must be friendly, soft-spoken,

neighborly, and understanding.

Now I emphasize a theme already treated in this conference. To

our young people, the glorious youth of this generation, I say, be

true. Hold to the faith. Stand firmly for what you know to be right.

You face tremendous temptation. It comes at you in the halls of popular entertainment, on the Internet, in the movies, on television,

in cheap literature, and in other ways—subtle, titillating, and

difficult to resist. Peer pressure may be almost overpowering. But,

my dear young friends, you must not give in. You must be strong.

You must take the long look ahead rather than succumbing to the

present seductive temptation.

Uncouth-looking entertainers draw big crowds of our youth. They

grow rich from high admission prices. Their songs, so many of

them, are suggestive in nature.

Pornography is everywhere with its seductive invitation. You must

turn away from it. It can enslave you. It can destroy you.

Recognize it for what it is—tawdry and sleazy stuff created and

distributed by those who grow rich at the expense of those who see

it.

The sanctity of sex is utterly destroyed in its salacious portrayal in

the media. That which by its nature is inherently beautiful is

corrupted in its popular presentation. I was pleased to note that our

Church-owned television station here in Salt Lake City refused to

carry a network program of a salacious nature. It was also

interesting to note that the only other station belonging to this

network to cancel the broadcast was one in South Bend, Indiana,

the location of the University of Notre Dame. It is comforting to

know that there are others who feel as strongly as we feel and are

willing to do something about it.

Life is better than that which is so frequently portrayed. Nature is

better than that. Love is better than that. This kind of entertainment

is only an evil caricature of the good and the beautiful.

You young men and women who are hearing me today, you

university students on many campuses realize that one of the great

problems on these campuses is binge drinking. It diminishes

abilities. It destroys lives. It wastes money and time and

constructive effort. What a sorry sight it is to see bright young

people damage themselves and ruin their opportunities with

excessive drinking.

It was a great tribute to the students of Brigham Young University

when the Princeton Review found them to be the most "stone-cold

sober" student body in America. Most of you, of course, cannot

attend BYU, but wherever you are you can live by the same

standards required on the BYU campus.

I recently read in our New Era magazine an article on young Latter-day Saints in Memphis, Tennessee. In some instances, they

are the only Latter-day Saints on campus. One of them is quoted as

saying, "I may be the only member in my school, but . . . even

when I'm physically alone, I'm never spiritually alone" (in Arianne

B. Cope, "Smiling

in Memphis," New Era, Oct. 2003, 23–24).

Another is quoted: "I know a lot of teens wonder if they really

know if the gospel is true. But . . . here you have to know one way

or the other because people are asking you about it every day.

Every time you answer a question, you share your testimony" (New

Era, Oct. 2003, 25).

These young people, scattered through that big city, have learned

to stand together, to bolster one another.

God bless you, my dear young friends. You are the best generation

we have ever had. You know the gospel better. You are more

faithful in your duties. You are stronger to face the temptations

which come your way. Live by your standards. Pray for the

guidance and protection of the Lord. He will never leave you

alone. He will comfort you. He will sustain you. He will bless and

magnify you and make your reward sweet and beautiful. And you

will discover that your example will attract others who will take

courage from your strength.

As it is with the youth, so it is with you adults. If we are to hold up

this Church as an ensign to the nations and a light to the world, we

must take on more of the luster of the life of Christ individually

and in our own personal circumstances. In standing for the right,

we must not be fearful of the consequences. We must never be

afraid. Said Paul to Timothy:

"For God hath not given us the spirit of fear; but of power, and of

love, and of a sound mind.

"Be not thou therefore ashamed of the testimony of our Lord" (2

Timothy 1:7–8).

This Church, I submit, is far more than a social organization where

we gather together to enjoy one another's company. It is more than

Sunday School and Relief Society and priesthood meeting. It is

more than sacrament meeting, more even than temple service. It is

the kingdom of God in the earth. It behooves us to act in a manner

befitting membership in that kingdom.

You men who hold the priesthood have such a tremendous

responsibility. You must avoid the sultry siren voice of the world.

You must rise above it. You must stand in the stature of the

priesthood of God. You must eschew evil in all of its forms and

take on the nature of goodness and decency, letting the light, the

divine light, shine through your actions.

There is no way that a home can be a place of refuge and peace if

the man who resides there is not an understanding and helpful

husband and father. The strength to be gained from our homes will

make us better able to face the world, more acceptable to the

society in which we move, more valuable to those who employ us—better men.

I know many such men. It is evident that they love their wives and

their children. They are proud of them. And the marvelous thing is,

they are tremendously successful in their chosen professions. They

are magnified and honored and respected.

And to you women. I spoke at length to the women of the Relief

Society a week ago. That talk represented my heartfelt views

concerning you. You too can take on the luster of Christ. You too

can be strong and encouraging and beautiful and helpful.

I remind all of us that we are Latter-day Saints. We have made

covenants with our Heavenly Father, sacred and binding. Those

covenants, if we keep them, will make us better fathers and

mothers, better sons and daughters.

I believe that others will rally around us if we will do so. We can

stand for truth and goodness, and we will not stand alone.

Moreover, we shall have the unseen forces of heaven to assist us.

I take you back to the Old Testament:

"And when the servant of the man of God was risen early, and

gone forth, behold, an host compassed the city both with horses

and chariots. And his servant said unto him, Alas, my master! how

shall we do?

"And he answered, Fear not: for they that be with us are more than

they that be with them.

"And Elisha prayed, and said, Lord, I pray thee, open his eyes, that

he may see. And the Lord opened the eyes of the young man; and

he saw: and, behold, the mountain was full of horses and chariots

of fire round about Elisha" (2

Kings 6:15–17).

The Lord has said to us:

"Therefore, fear not, little flock; do good; let earth and hell

combine against you, for if ye are built upon my rock, they cannot

prevail. . . . 

"Look unto me in every thought; doubt not, fear not" (D&C 6:34,

36). In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.