A Prophet’s Blessing

O God our Heavenly and Eternal Father, look down in love and in mercy upon this thy church and upon the members of the church who keep thy commandments.

President Joseph Fielding Smith
10th President of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints
April 1972
143rd Annual General Conference
Sunday Afternoon Session

My dear brethren and sisters: I feel that the Lord has been with us in all the sessions of this conference; that we have been fed the bread of life; and that we are better prepared now to be the kind of people the Lord would have us be.

I am grateful to all of the Brethren for their wise counsel and for the messages they delivered as they were guided by the power of the Spirit.

I think we should conclude on a tone of thanksgiving, of blessing, and of testimony.

I have no language to convey the feelings of thanksgiving which are in my heart for the infinite and eternal blessings the Lord has given to me, to my family, to the Church, and, in fact, to the whole world.

I am grateful for the atoning sacrifice of the Son of God—that because of his suffering and death all men shall be raised in immortality, while those who believe and obey his laws shall have eternal life in his kingdom.

I am thankful for the restoration of eternal truth in this final gospel dispensation; for the mission and ministry of Joseph Smith, the Prophet, and my grandfather, Hyrum Smith, the Patriarch; and for the fact that the keys of the kingdom of God have been committed again to man on the earth.

I am pleased with the growth and development of the Church, with the increased missionary work, with the many temples we now have, and with the lives of all those who are seeking to serve the Lord.

I pray that the Lord will bless all the members of the Church; and by virtue of the keys and power which I hold, I bless the Saints—those who dwell in the household of faith, those who love and seek the Lord.

What a glorious thing it is to have the saving truths of the everlasting gospel, to be members of “the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth” (D&C 1:30), to be on the path leading to eternal life in our Father’s kingdom!

O God our Heavenly and Eternal Father, look down in love and in mercy upon this thy church and upon the members of the church who keep thy commandments. Let thy Spirit dwell in our hearts forever; and when the trials and woes of this life are over, may we return to the, presence, with our loved ones, and dwell in thy house forever, I humbly pray, in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.