LDS Freedom Forum

Speaking in sacrament meeting in his home ward in the Sandy Utah Cottonwood Creek Stake, President Packer testified of the reality of the Savior and the joy of Christmas to ward and family members.

"I want our family to know that they have heard grandpa bear his testimony," he said. "I know that Jesus is the Christ, that He lives, that the gospel is true, and that I know Him when I see Him, and I know His voice when I hear Him. I want you little ones to remember that you heard your grandfather bear a special witness of the Lord Jesus Christ and of the gift of the Holy Ghost."
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President Packer added, "The other thing that was said when he preached and they marveled at it: 'Is not this the carpenter, the son of Mary, the brother of James, and Joses, and of Juda, and Simon?' — so we know he had four brothers — 'and are not his sisters here with us?' (Mark 6:3). So there were at least two sisters in the family.

"So Mary and Joseph had at least six children after the birth of Christ.

"That is the family, and that is the pattern. That is what the gospel is about."

President Packer said questions often arise that cannot be answered in mortality. "You have to understand the eternal nature of things," he said. "When you understand that there was no beginning and there will be no end, then you understand that all things are not done in mortality."
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"If you could see beyond the veil, you would finally come to believe that the word 'father' means Father and that all of the love and tenderness and strength that comes into a man's life as a father is at least evident in our Father, the Father of us all. And Christ, His Beloved Son, the Only Begotten Son, we can know how He felt when Christ was taken."

"I know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ," she testified. "I know that Joseph Smith was and is a Prophet. Through his calling and obedience, he was able to restore all the ordinances to us so that we can participate in this experience. I know we have a Father in Heaven who hears and answers our prayers. Even in the darkest hour He is there, and He buoys us up. We can feel His presence and that of our Savior at all times if we keep ourselves clean. He knows us personally."

Elder Allan Packer spoke of the personal worthiness and righteousness needed for Church members to return to their Father in Heaven.

He said as he has traveled this year as a General Authority he has tried to share the key message of the reality of the living Christ. "I bear testimony of the Savior that He lives," Elder Packer said.

bobhenstra wrote:Thank you, I loved this part!

For example, he said, Church members sometimes worry about promises in a patriarchal blessing that are unfulfilled by the untimely death of a young man or young woman.

"It does not all have to happen in mortality," he said. "It happens in this life and the next. The thing we will know as we go through the veil is how much the same it is, not how different it is."

He said those who serve in the First Presidency and Quorum of the Twelve know about the proceedings of the gospel beyond the veil. "We are not so desperate when someone dies young, because we have the knowledge of what can be taken care of and fixed beyond the veil," he said.

Bob