Melvin J Ballard I am a witness that

Melvin J. Ballard “I am a witness that there is a spirit attending the administration of the sacrament that warms the soul from head to foot; you feel the wounds of the spirit healed, and the load being lifted. Comfort and happiness come to the soul that is worthy and truly desirous of partaking of the spiritual food. Who is there among us that does not wound his spirit by word, thought, or deed, from Sabbath to Sabbath? We do things for which we are sorry and desire to be forgiven, or we have erred against someone and given injury. . . We want every Latter-day Saint to come to the sacrament table because it is the place for selfinvestigation, for self-inspection, where we may learn to rectify our course and to make right our own lives, bringing ourselves into harmony with the teachings of the Church and with our brothers and sisters. ” (Sermons and Missionary Services of Melvin Joseph Ballard, pp. 140 -150)

CES Student Manual “The sacrament is a sacred ordinance and should be participated in only when a person is striving sincerely to keep the covenants thereof. However, if a person waits until he is totally free from sin, he will never partake of the sacrament. The sacrament is a source of spiritual power, and compounds the problem of becoming more worthy. However, sins of a serious nature may cause us to lose the privilege of partaking of the sacrament through probation, disfellowshipment, or excommunication. Generally, if a sin is serious enough to warrant not partaking of the sacrament for any length of time, it is probably serious enough to warrant a discussion of that transgression with priesthood leaders. ” (CES Book of Mormon Student Manual for Religion 121, 122 (1989), pp. 121 -122)

Ezra Taft Benson “That man is greatest, and most blessed and joyful whose life most closely fits the pattern of the Christ. It has nothing to do with earthly wealth, power or prestige. The only true test of greatness, blessedness, joyfulness is how close a life can come to being like the master Jesus Christ. He is the right way, the full truth and the abundant life. ” (BYU Speeches of the Year, 1974)

Bruce R. Mc. Conkie “Perfect prayers are always answered. Proper petitions are always granted. The Lord never rejects a prayer uttered by the power of the Spirit, or denies a petition sought in the name of Christ, that accords with the divine will. ” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p. 384)

Joseph Fielding Smith “There is nothing strange in the fact that when the Lord came to the Nephites, Nephi was baptized and so was everybody else although they had been baptized before. The Church among the Nephites before the coming of Christ was not in its fullness and was under the law of Moses. The Savior restored the fullness and gave to them all the ordinances and blessings of the gospel. Therefore, it actually became a new organization, and through baptism they came into it. We have a similar condition in this dispensation. The Prophet Joseph Smith and Oliver Cowdery were baptized by command of the Angel John the Baptist. Several others were baptized before the organization of the Church. However, on the day the church was organized, all who had been previously baptized were baptized again, not for the remission of sins, but for entrance into the Church. In each case the reason was the same. ” (Answers to Gospel Questions Vol. 3, pp. 205 -6)

Bruce R. Mc. Conkie “Jesus was present before them as the symbol of the Father. Seeing him, it was as though the saw the Father; praying to him, it was as though they prayed to the Father. It was a special and unique situation that as far as we know has taken place only once on earth during all the long ages of the Lord’s hand-dealings with his children. ” (The Promised Messiah, p. 561)

Bruce R. Mc. Conkie “On this occasion, because of the importuning and the faith, and because the hour and the time had arrived, the Lord in his providences poured out the Holy Ghost upon the First Presidency and the Twelve in a miraculous and marvelous manner, beyond anything that any then present had ever experienced. The revelation came to the President of the Church; it also came to each individual present. There were ten members of the Council of the Twelve and three of the First Presidency there assembled. The result was that President Kimball knew, and each one of us knew, independent of any other person, by direct and personal revelation to us, that the time had now come to extend the gospel and all its blessings of the House of the Lord, to those of every nation, culture, and race, including the black race. There was no question whatsoever as to what happened or as to the word and message that came. There is no way to describe in language what is involved. This cannot be done. You are familiar with Book of Mormon references where the account says that no tongue could tell and no pen could write what was involved in the experience and that it had to be felt by the power of the Spirit. This was one of those occasions. To carnal people who do not understand the operating of the Holy Spirit of God upon the souls of man, this may sound like gibberish of jargon or uncertainty or ambiguity; but to those who are enlightened by the power of the Spirit and who have themselves felt its power, it will have a ring of veracity and truth, and they will know of its verity. I cannot describe in words what happened; I can only say that it happened and that it can be known and understood only by the feeling that can come into the heart of man. ” (All are Alike Unto God, CES Symposium, BYU, August 1978)

Bruce R. Mc. Conkie “Except for a few who are the humble followers of Christ, the Gentiles will not repent. They will revel in their abominations and sin against the restored gospel, and they will be burned by the brightness of our Lord's coming while the righteous - here called the remnant of Jacob shall abide the day. And then, in the prophetic imagery, it will be as though the remnant of Israel overthrew their enemies as a young lion among the flocks of sheep. ” (Millennial Messiah, p. 248, 242; Mortal Messiah, 4: 334 -35)

Bruce R. Mc. Conkie “Judah will gather to old Jerusalem in due course; of this, there is no doubt. But this gathering will consist of accepting Christ, joining the Church, and receiving anew the Abrahamic covenant as it is administered in holy places. As all the world knows, many Jews are now gathering to Palestine, where they have their own nation and way of worship, all without reference to a belief in Christ or an acceptance of the laws and ordinances of his everlasting gospel. Is this the latter -day gathering of the Jews of which the scriptures speak? No! It is not; let there be no misunderstanding in any discerning mind on this point. This gathering of the Jews to their homeland, and their organization into a nation and a kingdom, is not the gathering promised by the prophets. It does not fulfill the ancient promises. This gathering of the unconverted to Palestine [is] a political gathering. But a political gathering is not a spiritual gathering, and the Lord’s kingdom is not of this world. ” (A New Witness for the Articles of Faith, pp. 519 -520; The Millennial Messiah, p. 229)