President Benson Addresses Cache Regional Conference

The Book of Mormon testifies of Christ, and all other things are secondary to this, President Ezra Taft Benson said at a multiregional conference in Logan, Utah, February 15. He addressed separate congregations of more than seven thousand members in morning and afternoon sessions at Utah State University.

“The Lord says he gave Joseph Smith power from on high and revealed the Book of Mormon, which contains the whole gospel, which was given by inspiration,” he said.

President Benson told the congregation the Book of Mormon was written for us in this day. Mormon abridged centuries of records, and God guided him in what to include in the abridgment that would be needed for our day. Moroni, the last one to write in the Book of Mormon more than fifteen hundred years ago, also speaks to us today. President Benson said that Moroni speaks to us as if we were present because the Lord had made us known to him.

Under President Benson’s direction, Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve conducted and spoke. Elder Yoshihiko Kikuchi of the First Quorum of the Seventy also spoke. He is a member of the presidency of the Utah North Area. Speakers also included Sister Benson, Sister Nelson, and Sister Kikuchi.

President Benson said the Book of Mormon does two things. First, it tells in a plain manner of Christ and his gospel. It testifies of His divinity and our need to put our trust in Him. It bears witness of the Fall and Atonement and the first principles of the gospel. It proclaims we must endure to the end in righteousness.

Second, it exposes the enemies of Christ. It fortifies humble followers of Christ against the evils of the devil in our day. The kind of apostates that appear in the Book of Mormon are similar to the kind we have today, President Benson said, adding that God molded the Book of Mormon so we might know how to combat the evil concepts of our time.

Elder Nelson focused on a similar theme in his address. He said the problems of today have different names but are well described in the scriptures. He related frequent references to profanity, adultery, fornication, and other evils in scriptures and said they are the evils with us today.

“The solutions to the problems of society will not be found in gimmicks, but in the word of the Lord,” he declared.

Correspondent: J. R. Allred is director of information services at Utah State University and a high councilor in the Logan Utah University Third Stake.