Feature Article

A Sense of the Sacred | PDF | Audio | Additional Language Options
Elder D. Todd Christofferson
Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
CES Fireside for Young Adults
November 7, 2004
Brigham Young University

On April 5, 2008, members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints sustained the reorganized leadership of the Church. This weekend being the first worldwide General Conference of the Church since the passing of President Gordon B. Hinckley, President Thomas S. Monson was officially sustained as prophet, seer, revelator, and president of the Church, with Elders Henry B. Eyring and Dieter F. Uchtdorf as his counselors in the First Presidency.

The opening in the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles left by Elder Uchtdorf"s call to the First Presidency was filled by Elder D. Todd Christofferson, formerly of the Presidency of the Seventy. In honor of Elder Christofferson's call to the apostleship, the General Feature for April is an address he delivered at the November 7, 2004, CES Fireside for Young Adults, entitled "A Sense of the Sacred."

In his address, Elder Christofferson stated,

"The importance of having a sense of the sacred is simply this—if one does not appreciate holy things, he will lose them. Absent a feeling of reverence, he will grow increasingly casual in attitude and lax in conduct. He will drift from the moorings that his covenants with God could provide. His feeling of accountability to God will diminish and then be forgotten. Thereafter, he will care only about his own comfort and satisfying his uncontrolled appetites. Finally, he will come to despise sacred things, even God, and then he will despise himself.

"On the other hand, with a sense of the sacred, one grows in understanding and truth. The Holy Spirit becomes his frequent and then constant companion. More and more he will stand in holy places and be entrusted with holy things. Just the opposite of cynicism and despair, his end is eternal life."

Our hope is that as each of us sustain Elder D. Todd Christofferson in his calling as prophet, seer, and revelator, and apply his counsel in our lives, we will gain a greater sense of the sacred and grow in understanding and truth, preparing ourselves for the great gift of eternal life.

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