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AUTHOR PROFILE
Boyd K. Packer
Boyd K. Packer is described in biographical records as an American religious leader (1924–2015) (1924–2015). The selections gathered here touch on baptisms for the dead, temples, fathers & fatherhood. This profile brings the attributed quotations together with their available source information.
“The ordinary soul, struggling against temptation, failing and repenting, and failing again and repenting, but always determined to keep his covenants – can still expect to one day hear ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant.'”— Boyd K. Packer
Biography at a glance
- Profile: American religious leader (1924–2015)
- Life: 1924–2015
- Public roles: President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
- Quotes in this collection: 48
Life and work
Boyd K. Packer held public roles including President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles. Biographical records connect Boyd K. Packer with Brigham Young University and Weber State University. This collection includes 48 quotations credited to Boyd K. Packer. Each quotation page preserves its own citation, when supplied, so readers can follow the passage back to its stated context.
Reading the quotations
The selections gathered here touch on baptisms for the dead, temples, fathers & fatherhood. These topic links make it easier to compare these words with other voices in the LDS Flow library. Citations are shown on the individual quotation pages where the source collection provided them.
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Sources and further reading
Quotes by Boyd K. Packer
48 quotes
“The ordinary soul, struggling against temptation, failing and repenting, and failing again and repenting, but always determined to keep his covenants – can still expect to one day hear ‘Well done thou good and faithful servant.'”
You need not know everything before the power of the atonement will work for you. Have faith in Christ, it begins to work the day you ask.
Ensign, May 1997, p. 10
“The study of the doctrines of the gospel will improve behavior quicker than a study of behavior will improve behavior.”
“Do Not Fear”
There are those within the Church who are disturbed when changes are made with which they disagree or when changes they propose are not made. They point to these as evidence that the leaders are not inspired. They write and speak to convince others that the doctrines and decisions of the Brethren are not given through inspiration. Two things characterize them: they are always irritated by the word obedience, and always they question revelation. It has always been so. Helaman described those who “began to disbelieve in the spirit of prophecy and in the spirit of revelation; and the judgments of God did stare them in the face” (Helaman 4:23). “They were left in their own strength” (4:13), and “the Spirit of the Lord did no more preserve them; yea, it had withdrawn from them” (4:24). Changes in organization or procedures are a testimony that revelation is ongoing. While doctrines remain fixed, the methods or procedures do not.
Ensign, November 1989, p. 15
“Here and now then, we move to accomplish the work to which we are assigned. . . . We gather the records of our kindred dead, indeed, the records of the entire human family; and in sacred temples in baptismal fonts designed as those were anciently, we perform these sacred ordinances.”
“The Redemption of the Dead,” Ensign, November 1975, 99
Your responsibility as a father and a husband transcends any other interest in life.
The Father and the Family
“At the temple the dust of distraction seems to settle out, the fog and the haze seem to lift, and we can ‘see’ things that we were not able to see before and find a way through our troubles that we had not previously known.”
The Holy Temple
“The line of priesthood authority was broken. But mankind was not left in total darkness or completely without revelation or inspiration. The idea that with the Crucifixion of Christ the heavens were closed and they opened in the First Vision is not true. The Light of Christ would be everywhere present to attend the children of God; the Holy Ghost would visit seeking souls. The prayers of the righteous would not go unanswered.”
“The Light of Christ,” Ensign, April 2005, 11;
“Your body is the instrument of your mind. In your emotions, the spirit and the body come closest to being one. What you learn spiritually depends, to a degree, on how you treat your body. That is why the Word of Wisdom is so important. “The habit-forming substances prohibited by that revelation – tea, coffee, liquor, tobacco – interfere with the delicate feelings of spiritual communication, just as other additive drugs will do. Do not ignore the Word of Wisdom, for that may cost you the “great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures” promised to those who keep it. And good health is an added blessing.”
Ensign, November 1994, p. 61
“The Word of Wisdom does not promise you perfect health, but it teaches how to keep the body you were born with in the best condition and your mind alert to delicate spiritual promptings.”
General Conference, April 1996
“I found in the Word of Wisdom a principle with a promise. The principle: Care for your body; avoid habit-forming stimulants, tea, coffee, tobacco, liquor, and drugs (see D&C 89:3–9). Such addictive things do little more than relieve a craving which they caused in the first place. The promise: Those who obey will receive better health (see D&C 89:18) and “great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures”
“Ye Are the Temple of God,” LDS General Conference (October 2000)
“The bodies and minds and morals of increasing numbers of little children are brutalized and abused by those who should protect them. In it all, mankind has sown a bitter wind and reaps heartbreak, guilt, abandonment, divorce, addiction, disease, and death; and little children suffer. If these sins remain unchecked, civilization will be led unfailingly to destruction.”
Little Children
“I have come to know also that a fundamental purpose of the Word of Wisdom has to do with revelation. From the time you are very little we teach you to avoid tea, coffee, liquor, tobacco, narcotics, and anything else that disturbs your health. And you know that we get very worried when we find one of you tampering with those things. If someone “under the influence” can hardly listen to plain talk, how can they respond to spiritual promptings that touch their most delicate feelings? As valuable as the Word of Wisdom is as a law of health, it may be much more valuable to you spiritually than it is physically.”
Ensign, November 1979, p. 20
“The words death and happiness are not close companions in mortality, but in the eternal sense they are essential to one another.”
“When we speak plainly of divorce, abuse, gender identity, contraception, abortion, parental neglect, we are thought by some to be way out of touch or to be uncaring. Some ask if we know how many we hurt when we speak plainly. Do we know of marriages in trouble, of the many who remain single, of single-parent families, of couples unable to have children, of parents with wayward children, or of those confused about gender? Do we know? Do we care? Those who ask have no idea how much we care; you know little of the sleepless nights, of the endless hours of work, of prayer, of study, of travel—all for the happiness and redemption of mankind. Because we do know and because we do care, we must teach the rules of happiness without dilution, apology, or avoidance. That is our calling.”
The Father and the Family
“I mentioned earlier that the greatest hymns and anthems have not been composed, nor have the greatest illustrations been set down, nor the poems written, nor the paintings finished. When they are produced, who will produce them? Will it be the most talented and the most highly trained among us? I rather think it will not. They will be produced by those who are the most inspired among us. Inspiration can come to those whose talents are barely adequate, and their contribution will be felt for generations; and the Church and kingdom of God will move forward just a little more easily because they have been here.”
“The Arts and the Spirit of the Lord,” That All May Be Edified (Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1982), 285.
“Had agency come to man without the Atonement, it would have been a fatal gift.”
"Atonement, Agency, Accountability," Conference April 1988
There is safety in learning doctrine in gatherings which are sponsored by proper authority. Some members, even some who have made covenants in the temple, are associating with groups of one kind or another which have an element of secrecy about them and which pretend to have some higher source of inspiration concerning the fulfillment of prophecies than do ward or stake leaders or the General Authorities of the Church. Know this: There are counterfeit revelations which, we are warned, “shall deceive the very elect, who are the elect according to the covenant” (Joseph Smith–Matthew 1:22).
Ensign, Nov. 1991, p. 21
Teenagers also sometimes think, “What’s the use? The world will soon be blown all apart and come to an end.” That feeling comes from fear, not from faith. No one knows the hour or the day (see D&C 49:7), but the end cannot come until all of the purposes of the Lord are fulfilled. Everything that I have learned from the revelations and from life convinces me that there is time and to spare for you to carefully prepare for a long life.
Ensign, May 1989, p. 59
“Priesthood holders carry with them the antidote to remove the terrible images of pornography and to wash away guilt. The priesthood has the power to unlock the influence of our habits, even to unchain from addiction, however tight the grip. It can heal over the scars of past mistakes.”
Cleaning The Inner Vessel, October 2010 General Conference
“Among the strongest warnings and the severest penalties in the revelations are those relating to little children.”
Ensign, May 2002, p. 8
“Many of the social restraints which in the past have helped to reinforce and to shore up the family are dissolving and disappearing. The time will come when only those who believe deeply and actively in the family will be able to preserve their families in the midst of the gathering evil around us.” – Spencer W. Kimball, “Families Can Be Eternal,” Ensign, November 1980, 4. “The distance between the Church and a world set on a course which we cannot follow will steadily increase. . . . Across the world, those who now come by the tens of thousands will inevitably come as a flood to where the family is safe.”
“The Father and the Family,” Ensign, May 1994, 21.
“The reason we have not yet produced a greater heritage in art and literature and music and drama is not … because we have not had talented people. … Some have reached great heights in their chosen fields. But few have captured the spirit of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the restoration of it in music, in art, in literature. They have not, therefore, even though they were gifted, made a lasting contribution to the onrolling of the Church and kingdom of God in the dispensation of the fulness of times. … They have missed being what they might have become.”
“The Arts and the Spirit of the Lord,” Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, Aug. 1976, 61.
The work of the Lord has been moved by the members in the wards and stakes and branches who have been blessed with special gifts and who use them unselfishly. Because of what they do, we are able to feel and learn very quickly through music, through art, through poetry some spiritual things that we would otherwise learn very slowly. All of us are indebted to them for their generous service. I am humbly grateful to those who render such service in the Church.
“The Arts and the Spirit of the Lord,” Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, Aug. 1976, 61.