2013 10 3050 president henry b eyring eng

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robbers waited for the unwary. Hewas on a serious journey, and as wascustomary, he had with him a beast ofburden as well as oil and wine.

In the Lords words the Samaritan,when he saw the woundedman, stopped because he hadcompassion.

More than only feeling compassion,he acted. Always remember the specif-ics of the account:

And [he] went to him, and boundup his wounds, pouring in oil and

wine, and set him on his own beast,and brought him to an inn, and tookcare of him.

And on the morrow when hedeparted, he took out two pence, andgave them to the host, and said untohim, Take care of him; and what-soever thou spendest more, when Icome again, I will repay thee.1

You and the priesthood bearersyou are called to lead can have atleast three assurances. First, the Lord

will give you, if you ask, the feelingsof compassion He feels for those inneed. Second, He will provide others,like the innkeeper, to join with you in

your service. And third, the Lord, likethe good Samaritan, will more thanrecompense all who join in givinghelp to those in need.

You quorum presidents likely haveacted on those assurances more thanonce. You asked others of the Lordspriesthood to help, with confidence

that they would respond with compas-sion. You were not afraid to ask thosewho have responded most often in thepast because you knew that they feelcompassion easily. You asked them,knowing that in the past they have feltthe Lords generosity when they choseto help. You asked some already heav-ily burdened, knowing that the greaterthe sacrifice, the greater the compen-sation they will receive from the Lord.

an evening Church meeting. You hadalready promised to help your wife

with household projects that day. Yourchildren had asked you to do some-thing with them, but you hadnt gottento it yet.

You also knew that the membersof your quorum, particularly the mostfaithful, the ones you usually called onto help, were likely to be in the sametime bind that you were in.

The Lord knew you would havesuch days when He called you tothis position, so He gave you a storyto encourage you. It is a parable foroverloaded priesthood holders. Wesometimes call it the story of the goodSamaritan. But it is really the storyfor a great priesthood bearer in thesebusy, difficult last days.

The story is a perfect fit for theovertaxed priesthood servant. Justremember that you are the Samaritan

and not the priest or the Levite whopassed by the wounded man.You may not have thought of that

story when you faced such challenges.But I pray you will when such dayscome again, as they surely will.

We are not told in the scriptureswhy the Samaritan was traveling onthe road from Jerusalem to Jericho. Itis not likely that he was taking a strollalone since he must have known that

By President Henry B. EyringFirst Counselor in the First Presidency

All of us are blessed with respon-sibility for others. To hold thepriesthood of God is to be

held responsible by God for the eter-nal lives of His children. That is real,that is wonderful, and at times that canfeel overwhelming.

There are elders quorum presidentslistening tonight who know what Imean. Here is what happened to oneof you. It has likely happened to many

of youand more than once. Thedetails may vary, but the situation isthe same.

An elder you do not know wellasked for your help. He had just foundout that he had to move his wife and

young baby boy today from the apart-ment where they have been living toanother one nearby.

He and his wife had already askeda friend if they could borrow a truckfor the day to move their household

and personal belongings. The friendloaned them the truck. The youngfather began to load all they ownedinto the truck, but in the first fewminutes, he hurt his back. The friend

who loaned the truck was too busy tohelp. The young father felt desperate.He thought of you, his elders quorumpresident.

By the time he asked for help, itwas early afternoon. It was the day of

Bind Up Their WoundsI pray that we may prepare ourselves to give whatever priesthoodservice the Lord may set before us on our mortal journey.


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Those who have helped in the pasthave felt the overflowing gratitude ofthe Savior.

You may well have been inspirednot to ask someone to help load andthen unload that truck. As a leader

you know your quorum members andtheir families well. The Lord knowsthem perfectly.

He knows whose wife was nearthe breaking point because herhusband was unable to find time todo what she needed done to care forher needs. He knows which children

would be blessed by seeing theirfather go one more time to help othersor if the children needed the feelingthat they matter to their father enoughfor him to spend time with them thatday. But He also knows who needsthe invitation to serve but mightnot appear to be a likely or willingcandidate.

You cannot know all your quorummembers perfectly well, but God

does. So, as you have done so manytimes, you prayed to know whom toask to help serve others. The Lordknows who will be blessed by beingasked to help and whose family willbe blessed by not being asked. That isthe revelation you can expect to cometo you as you lead in the priesthood.

I saw that happen when I was ayoung man. I was the first assistant ina priests quorum. The bishop calledme one day at my home. He said that

he wanted me to go with him to visita widow in great need. He said heneeded me.

As I waited for him to pick me upat my home, I was troubled. I knewthe bishop had strong and wise coun-selors. One was a famous judge. Theother ran a large company and wouldlater become a General Authority. Thebishop himself would someday serveas a General Authority. Why was the

bishop saying to an inexperiencedpriest, I need your help?

Well, I know better now what hemight have said to me: The Lordneeds to bless you. At the home

of the widow, I saw him, to myamazement, tell the woman that shecould get no help from the Churchuntil she filled out the budget formhe had left with her earlier. On the

way home, as he saw how shockedI was, he chuckled at my surpriseand said, Hal, when she gets controlof her spending, she will be able tohelp others.

On another occasion my bishoptook me with him to the home of

alcoholic parents who sent two fright-ened little girls to meet us at the door.After he visited with the two little girls,we turned away and he said to me,We cant change the tragedy in theirlives yet, but they can feel that theLord loves them.

On another evening he took meto the home of a man who hadntcome to church in years. The bishoptold him how much he loved him and

how much the ward needed him. Itdidnt seem to have much effect onthe man. But that time, and every timethe bishop took me with him, it had agreat effect on me.

There is no way that I can find outwhether the bishop prayed to knowwhich priest would be blessed bygoing with him on those visits. Hemay well have taken other priests

with him many times. But the Lordknew I would someday be a bishopinviting those whose faith had growncold to come back to the warmth ofthe gospel. The Lord knew I wouldsomeday be charged with the priest-hood responsibility for hundreds and

even thousands of Heavenly Fatherschildren who were in desperate tem-poral need.

You young men cannot knowwhat acts of priesthood service theLord is preparing you to give. But thegreater challenge for every priest-hood holder is to give spiritual help.

All of us have that charge. It comeswith being a member of a quorum.It comes with being a member of a


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family. If the faith of anyone in yourquorum or your family is attacked bySatan, you will feel compassion. Muchlike the service and mercy given bythe Samaritan, you will also ministerto them with healing balm for their

wounds in their time of need.In your service as a full-time mis-

sionary, you will go to thousands ofpeople in great spiritual need. Many,until you teach them, will not evenknow that they have spiritual woundsthat, left untreated, will bring end-less misery. You will go on the Lordserrand to rescue them. Only the Lordcan bind up their spiritual wounds asthey accept the ordinances that lead toeternal life.

As a quorum member, as a hometeacher, and as a missionary, you can-not help people repair spiritual dam-age unless your own faith is vibrant.

That means far more than reading thescriptures regularly and praying overthem. The prayer in the moment and

quick glances in the scriptures are not

preparation enough. The reassuranceof what you will need comes with thiscounsel from the 84th section of theDoctrine and Covenants: Neither take

ye thought beforehand what ye shallsay; but treasure up in your mindscontinually the words of life, and itshall be given you in the very hourthat portion that shall be meted untoevery man.2

That promise can be claimed onlyif we treasure up the words of lifeand do it continually. The treasuringpart of that scripture has meant for mea matter of feeling something aboutthe words. For instance, when I havegone to try to help someone waveringin his or her faith about the Prophet

Joseph Smiths divine calling, feelingscome back to me.

It is not only the words from theBook of Mormon. It is a feeling ofassurance of truth that comes when-ever I read even a few lines from theBook of Mormon. I cannot promise

that it will come to every person

infected with doubt about the ProphetJoseph or the Book of Mormon. ButI know Joseph Smith is the Prophetof the Restoration. I know that theBook of Mormon is the word of Godbecause I have treasured it.

I know from experience that youcan get the assurance of truth from theSpirit because it has come to me. Youand I must have that assurance beforethe Lord puts us in the way of a trav-eler we love who has been woundedby the enemies of truth.

There is another preparation wemust make. It is a human charac-teristic to become hardened to thepains of others. That is one of thereasons why the Savior went to suchlengths to tell of His Atonement andof His taking upon Himself the painsand sorrows of all of our HeavenlyFathers children that He might knowhow to succor them.

Even the best of Heavenly Fathersmortal priesthood holders do not rise

to that standard of compassion easily.


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the sheepherder on his horsenot abridle on it but a halter. He was occa-sionally slouched down in the saddledozing, since the horse knew which

way to go and the yapping dogs didthe work.

Contrast that to the scene whichI viewed in Munich, Germany, many

years ago. It was a Sunday morning,and we were en route to a missionaryconference. As I looked out the win-

dow of the mission presidents auto-mobile, I saw a shepherd with a staffin his hand, leading the sheep. Theyfollowed him wherever he went. If hemoved to the left, they followed himto the left. If he moved to the right,they followed him in that direction.I made the comparison between thetrue shepherd who led his sheep andthe sheepherder who rode casuallybehind his sheep.

Jesus said, I am the good shep-

herd, and know my sheep.2

Heprovides for us the perfect example ofwhat a true shepherd should be.

Brethren, as the priesthood of Godwe have a shepherding responsibility.The wisdom of the Lord has pro-vided guidelines whereby we mightbe shepherds to the families of theChurch, where we can serve, we canteach, and we can testify to them.Such is called home teaching, and it is

By President Thomas S. Monson

Tonight in the Conference Centerin Salt Lake City and in locationsfar and near are assembled those

who bear the priesthood of God. Trulyyou are a royal priesthoodevena chosen generation, as the ApostlePeter declared.1I am honored to havethe privilege to address you.

When I was growing up, eachsummer our family would drive toProvo Canyon, about 45 miles (72 km)

south and a little east of Salt Lake City,where we would stay in the familycabin for several weeks. We boys werealways anxious to get on the fishingstream or into the swimming hole,and we would try to push the car alittle faster. In those days, the auto-mobile my father drove was a 1928Oldsmobile. If he went over 35 miles(56 km) an hour, my mother wouldsay, Keep it down! Keep it down! I

would say, Put the accelerator down,

Dad! Put it down!Dad would drive about 35 miles anhour all the way up to Provo Canyonor until we would come around abend in the road and our journey

would be halted by a herd of sheep.We would watch as hundreds ofsheep filed past us, seemingly with-out a shepherd, a few dogs yappingat their heels as they moved along.

Way back in the rear we could see

True ShepherdsHome teaching answers many prayers and permits us to seethe transformations which can take place in peoples lives.

Our human tendency is to be impatientwith the person who cannot see thetruth that is so plain to us. We must becareful that our impatience is not inter-preted as condemnation or rejection.

As we prepare to give succor forthe Lord as His priesthood servants,there is a scripture to guide us. Itcontains a gift we will need for our

journey, wherever the Lord will sendus. The good Samaritan had that gift.

We will need it, and the Lord has toldus how we can find it:

Wherefore, my beloved brethren,if ye have not charity, ye are nothing,for charity never faileth. Wherefore,cleave unto charity, which is the great-est of all, for all things must fail

But charity is the pure love ofChrist, and it endureth forever; and

whoso is found possessed of it at thelast day, it shall be well with him.

Wherefore, my beloved breth-ren, pray unto the Father with allthe energy of heart, that ye may be

filled with this love, which he hathbestowed upon all who are truefollowers of his Son, Jesus Christ; that

ye may become the sons of God; thatwhen he shall appear we shall be likehim, for we shall see him as he is; that

we may have this hope; that we maybe purified even as he is pure.3

I pray that we may prepare our-selves to give whatever priesthoodservice the Lord may set before uson our mortal journey. In the sacred

name of Jesus Christ, amen. NOTES

1. Luke 10:3335.

2. Doctrine and Covenants 84:85.

3. Moroni 7:4648.

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2013 10 3050 president henry b eyring eng

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