Most Popular General Authority Speeches Through the Decades

General Conference is this weekend! Our excitement has left us here at BYU Speeches reminiscent of all the amazing BYU devotionals by General Authorities over the last six decades. Read excerpts from some of the most popular speeches of each decade by some of our most beloved apostles and prophets.

2010s: Tad R. Callister
“Our Identity and Our Destiny,” 2012

“As members of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, we believe that we are the spirit offspring of God with inherited spiritual traits that give us the divine potential to become like our parent, God the Father.
“It is this doctrine of identity that defines our potential destiny of godhood. If one does not correctly understand his divine identity, then he will never correctly understand his divine destiny. They are, in truth, inseparable partners.”

2000s: Jeffrey R. Holland
“Remember Lot’s Wife,” 2009

“I plead with you not to dwell on days now gone, nor to yearn vainly for yesterdays, however good those yesterdays may have been. The past is to be learned from but not lived in. We look back to claim the embers from glowing experiences but not the ashes. And when we have learned what we need to learn and have brought with us the best that we have experienced, then we look ahead, we remember that faith is always pointed toward the future. Faith always has to do with blessings and truths and events that will yet be efficacious in our lives.”

1990s: Henry B. Eyring
“Waiting Upon the Lord,” 1990

“If we are going to do our duty, we are going to need the powers of heaven. And if we are going to be given access to the powers of heaven, we are going to have to learn to wait upon the Lord. . . .
“If you will wait upon the Lord while you listen to this next general conference, if you will listen for his voice, you will recognize it in the words spoken by his servants. Forget about them as human personalities, and when the conference is over, I promise you that you will have a quiet assurance that those human beings are called of God and that God honors their calls.”

1980s: Bruce R. McConkie
“The Three Pillars of Eternity,” 1981

“All things center in, revolve around, are anchored to, and are built upon the atoning sacrifice of the Lord Jesus Christ. There is no language given to men or angels to proclaim these truths with the power and verity and dignity that should attend them. Let it be blazoned in burning fire through all the sidereal heavens that salvation is in Christ and comes because of his atoning sacrifice.”

1970s: Neal A. Maxwell
“Meeting the Challenges of Today,” 1978

“When we have been weighed and found wanting, let us remember that we were measured before and we were found equal to our tasks; and, therefore, let us continue, but with a more determined discipleship. When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not overprogram us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear.”

1960s: Gordon B. Hinckley
“The Loneliness of Leadership,” 1969

“I would like to say to you here today, my brethren and sisters, there is loneliness—but a man of your kind has to live with his conscience. A man has to live with his principles. A man has to live with his convictions. A man has to live with his testimony. Unless he does so, he is miserable—dreadfully miserable. And while there may be thorns, while there may be disappointment, while there may be trouble and travail, heartache and heartbreak, and desperate loneliness, there will be peace and comfort and strength.”

1950s: Hugh B. Brown

“The Profile of a Prophet,” 1955

In a discussion with a judge, Hugh B. Brown explained the legitimacy of Joseph’s call as a prophet of God. At the end of their discussion, the judge said, “’Mr. Brown, I wonder if your people appreciate the import of your message. Do you?’ He said, ‘If what you have told me is true, it is the greatest message that has come to this earth since the angels announced the birth of Christ.’”