Elder Robert D. Hales: 'Seeking to know God our Heavenly Father and His Son Jesus Christ'
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Seeking to know God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ is the foundation for a meaningful life, Elder Robert D. Hales of the Quorum of the Twelve taught during the Saturday afternoon session of general conference.
"Without God life would end at the grave and our mortal experiences would have no purpose," he said. "Growth and progress would be temporary, accomplishment without value, challenges without meaning. There would be no ultimate right and wrong, and no moral responsibility to care for one another as fellow children of God. Indeed, without God there would be no mortal or eternal life."
Belief in Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, he said, begins to build in one's heart upon hearing the teachings of prophets, and that belief becomes galvanized after receiving a spiritual witness from the Holy Ghost.
"We know He lives because we believe the testimonies of His ancient and living prophets," Elder Hales said. "We have felt God's Spirit confirm that the testimonies of these prophets are true."
Further, Elder Hales testified that the way to know the truth about God is through the Holy Ghost. "The Holy Ghost is the third member of the Godhead and is a personage of Spirit," he said. "His work is to 'testify of [God]' (John 15:26), and to 'teach [us] all things' (John 14:26)."
Elder Hales said, "No testimony is more significant to us in our time than the witness of Joseph Smith, He was the prophet chosen to restore the ancient Church of Christ in this, the last time when the gospel will be on the earth before the return of Jesus Christ. Like all the prophets who opened the work of God in their time, Joseph was given especially clear and powerful prophetic experiences to prepare the world for the Savior's Second Coming."
"Brothers and sisters, you may already know, deep in your soul, that God lives," he said. "You may not know all about Him yet and do not understand all His ways. But the light of belief is in you, waiting to be awakened and intensified by the Spirit of God.
"So, come. Believe the testimonies of the prophets. Learn of God and Christ. The pattern to do so is clearly taught by prophets of old and prophets today. … With your own testimony of God, you will be able to bless your family, your posterity, your friends — all those you love. Your personal knowledge of God is not only the greatest gift you will ever give; it will bring you the greatest joy you will ever have."
