(4/29/99)
"We need to purge out of our lives the desire to come to meetings late and leave
early.... I don't see any of the men that I prize most, leaving any meetings early except
in an emergency. I believe they have the dignity to not offend God. I believe it is an
offense to God when we leave meetings early, and when we come late to meetings."
— Vaughn J. Featherstone, A Self-Inflicted Purging, General Conference, April
1975
(4/30/99)
"As we worship together, we more fully sense the power we are, and the added power
that we might be, as defenders of the way of life preached and exemplified by the
Master." — Carl F. Eyring, General Conference Reports, April 1939, p. 47
(5/1/99)
"The value of Church meetings is not in their frequency but rather in that coming
together often in the spirit of fasting and prayer helps feed the spirit and keep one
close to gospel principles. Just as it is unhealthy and physically dangerous to neglect
one's health and nutrition, so is it spiritually life-threatening to go without the
spiritual nutrition that comes from meeting together, serving one another, and being
taught." — Robert L. Millet and Brent L. Top, Doctrinal Commentary on The
Book of Mormon, p. 330
(5/2/99)
"There are some people that attend meetings year after year and listen to the
servants of the Lord teach them in simplicity and humility the duties that devolve upon
them, and they go away from those meetings and never put in practice what they hear; yet
they take great credit to themselves for always going to meetings. Now, my friends, if you
always went to your dinner, sat down and took a good look at the food, and never partook
of any of it, it would not be long till you died of starvation." — Heber J.
Grant, Collected Discourses, Vol. 3 November 6, 1892
(5/3/99)
"Cling together. Live as close together as you can, and maintain that intercourse
that has been so delightful in the past." — George Q. Cannon, Collected
Discourses, Vol. 4 October 7, 1894
2/9/07
"There is a physician in New York City who writes an interesting prescription to
cure people of their most serious problems of tension, fear, inferiority, guilt,
resentment, and anger. He prescribes that they attend church at least once each
Sunday. If they say they do not believe in religion or that they do not like
sermons, he asks them to go anyway, even if they don't listen to what is said.
If they will just regularly sit quietly and absorb the healing atmosphere, their
mental, spiritual, and physical health will all be greatly improved. The church
is a place especially set apart in which to worship God, and we need to actually
commune with him. The Lord himself said, 'For where two or three are gathered
together in my name, there am I in the midst of them.' (Matt.
18:20.) Then we will be able to say with Jacob at Bethuel, 'Surely the Lord
is in this place..." (Gen.
28:16.)." - Sterling W. Sill, "That Ye Might Have Life," p.237
7/8/07
"I am afraid there is a
carelessness manifest among us in attending our meetings. In some stakes we find
that there is a much greater percentage attending the sacrament meetings than in
others. Don't let us neglect this duty and stay away from the house of the Lord
on His Holy day, but go there and worship Him, partake of the sacrament, and
renew our covenant with the Lord, then we shall receive strength to perform our
duties. Some excuse their absence from sacrament meetings by saying that they
are afraid they might partake of the sacred emblems unworthily. Well, if you
have any such fear in your hearts, see to it that you put yourselves in a
condition that you know you can partake worthily, and remember also that it is a
commandment to us that we shall go to the Lord's house and partake of the
sacrament. If we stay away or avoid partaking of the sacrament, we are cutting
ourselves short of the blessings we could enjoy; in fact such a course will
cause spiritual starvation. Go therefore to the house of worship, pray for the
man that speaks, and he will be able to convey unto you that which you desire to
know, and to build you up in your holy faith. The Lord will be with him. I urge
you to attend your meetings, and to the performance of the many other duties
that rest upon a Latter-day Saint. It is the only way to feel happy and
satisfied." - Anthon H. Lund., "Conference Report," October 1915, First
Day—Morning Session, p.12
7/25/07
"I think the Lord had in mind
our sacrament meetings when, in a revelation given to Joseph Smith August 7,
1831, he said to us and to all of the people of his Church:
"'And that
thou mayest more fully keep thyself unspotted from the world, thou shalt go to
the house of prayer and offer up thy sacraments upon my holy
day;
"'Remember that on this, the Lords day, thou shall offer thine
oblations and thy sacraments unto the Most High, confessing thy sins unto thy
brethren, and before the Lord.' (D&C 59:9, 12.)
"How
shall our people keep themselves unspotted from the world unless they develop
within themselves the spiritual strength and capacity to resist temptation that
is so rampant everywhere we go these days? And where shall they develop such
discipline? I think the meaning of this revelation is clear: they shall develop
such discipline of self and such desire to live above the stains of the world in
their communion with the Lord as worshipers in sacrament meetings." - Gordon B.
Hinckley, "The
Priesthood of Aaron," Ensign (CR), November 1982, p.44
6/21/08
"Weekly sacrament meeting attendance
helps us strengthen our resolve to keep our personal windows of heaven free from
the obscuring haze of earthly distractions and temptations. By partaking of the
sacrament worthily to renew our baptismal covenants, we clarify our view of
life’s eternal purpose and divine priorities. The sacrament prayers invite
personal introspection, repentance, and rededication as we pledge our
willingness to remember our Savior, Jesus the Christ. This commitment to become
like Christ, repeated weekly, defines the supreme aspiration of Latter-day Saint
life." - Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Windows of Light and Truth," Ensign (CR), November 1995, p.75
8/7/09
“We come here twice
each year, in April and in October, and have been doing so since 1867, the year
this Tabernacle was dedicated, and each Conference since has been fraught with
the splendid advice, the wonderful counsel and the lovely and beautiful
testimonies which have been borne here in the past and given to us already in
this great April gathering of 1941. We have had one hundred and forty-eight
Conferences in this building since we started to hold Conferences here, and I
think if there were gathered together that which has been expounded from this
pulpit, the world would be greatly enriched as it never has been before, and we
would know and understand better that which God desires us to understand, and
feel assured of our future safety and of our daily and present actions.” -
Rufus K. Hardy, “Conference Report,” April 1941, Second Day—Morning Meeting, p.
55
2/23/10
“I have learned
to realize, my brethren and sisters, that when ye come together to worship the
Lord, the responsibility is not all upon those who preside at the meeting, nor
is all the responsibility upon those who address us. There is a responsibility
upon each and every one of us. For if we come together with a real desire in our
hearts to worship the Lord, our God, he will do his part and he will feed us
with the bread of life though it may be through a stammering tongue.” -
George W. McCune, “Conference Report,” October 1919, Third Day—Morning Session,
p. 138