He lives!

Those two words are, in essence, the reason why millions of Latter-day Saints either left their homes to come to Salt Lake City on conference weekend or gathered around television sets at home or in stake centers worldwide.

Those words, and this phrase, "And He speaks through His living prophet."

The first two words signify the greatest reason for hope mankind has ever known. The Resurrection wipes away the tears of all who have experienced the death of a loved one — which, since death is universal, means everyone. They signify that Jesus Christ has a love for every man and woman that defies description, and that mistakes can be overcome.

The second phrase signifies that the Lord has not left the world to its own devices in modern times. He still gives direction.

General conference always is a time of spiritual renewal for Latter-day Saints as they listen to inspired messages from Church leaders. It seems to take on added significance when the Sunday sessions coincide with Easter, as they did this year.

The Easter message, the Atonement and Resurrection, is the greatest message ever delivered to mankind, and its promises of hope and renewal are especially uplifting when testified to by those the Lord has called to lead His Church in latter days.

"No words in Christendom mean more to me than those spoken by the angel to the weeping Mary Magdalene and the other Mary when, on the first day of the week, they approached the tomb to care for the body of their Lord," said President Thomas S. Monson. "Spoke the angel, 'Why seek ye the living among the dead? He is not here, but is risen.'

"The empty tomb that first Easter morning was the answer to Job's question, 'If a man die, shall he live again?' To all within the sound of my voice I declare, if a man die, he shall live again. We know, for we have the light of revealed truth."

Time and again during this conference, Church leaders delivered messages with specific references to recent earthquakes in Haiti, Chile and elsewhere, as well as to other natural disasters. They spoke of avoiding pornography, illicit drug use and immoral behavior; of choosing uplifting music and cutting through mixed media messages with the Lord's simple commandment, "Be ye clean."

President Henry B. Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, spoke of new emphasis on programs for the young men and young women of the Church, which he called, "a physical representation of the Lord's trust in the rising generation and in all of us who love them."

President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, spoke of the need to extend our own Christlike compassion to others, "for everyone is walking his or her own difficult path. As disciples of Jesus Christ, we are called to support and heal rather than condemn. We are commanded to mourn with those that mourn and comfort those that stand in need of comfort."

Each speaker, in his or her own way, bore testimony that the Savior was indeed resurrected and that He lives today. They testified of the one thing that brought so many of His true disciples together in one place at the same time — that the Prophet Joseph Smith, as a young boy, saw God the Father and His Son Jesus Christ, and that they restored the true gospel through him.

"My counsel for all of us is to look to the lighthouse of the Lord," President Monson said. "There is no fog so dense, no night so dark, no gale so strong, no mariner so lost but what its beacon light can rescue. It beckons through the storms of life. The lighthouse of the Lord sends forth signals readily recognized and never failing."

Conference is the ultimate Easter message. The events of those three days long ago, culminating with the Resurrection, were not confined to that place and time. They are universal, and as applicable today as ever. That is worth rejoicing.