SALT LAKE CITY — President Boyd K. Packer of the Quorum of the Twelve opened Saturday morning’s session of the 184th Semiannual General Conference of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints by testifying of the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
President Packer began by relating a story about when he presented a set of scriptures to a chaplain as a gift to his college. He recalled that the meeting was somewhat awkward, perhaps because the chaplain was not sure if President Packer was a Christian or not.
“I opened the Topical Guide and showed him one subject: 18 pages (listing) references to the subject of ‘Jesus Christ,'” President Packer said. “Among (them) is this one from the Book of Mormon, Another Testament of Jesus Christ: ‘We preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ, and we write according to our prophecies, that our children may know to what source they may look for a remission of their sins.”
President Packer emphasized that those who repent of their sins will find peace through the mercy of Christ and that the Atonement’s healing power applies to the “wounded innocent” as well.
He told of a time he received a letter from a woman who had endured intense suffering in her life because of wrongdoing committed against her. “In her anger, she mentally cried out, ‘Someone must pay for this terrible wrong,'” President Packer said. “In this extreme moment of sorrow and questioning, she wrote, there came into her heart an immediate reply: ‘Someone already has paid.'”
President Packer closed his address with a message of encouragement to those who feel alone or insignificant in the Church’s efforts. He mentioned that the Prophet Joseph Smith started as a mere 14-year-old boy with a question about which church he should join.
“Joseph’s faith and testimony of the Savior grew as ours must grow, ‘line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little,'” he said.
