TO.

THEONE
Elder Boyd K. Packer
....
Elder Boyd K. Packer was sustained in 1970 as a member of the Council of the Twelve of The .
Church of JesusChrist of Latter-day Saints. Previously he served as an Assistant to the Council of the
Twelve and, at one time, as president of the New England Mission. He is presently responsible for a
number of important Church programs, including the priesthood home teaching, family home evening, and military relations programs.
During World War II, Elder Packer was a bomber pilot . He holds bachelor's and master's degrees
from Utah State University and a doctora te in educational administrat ion from Brigham Young Un iversity. He has worked extensive ly in the Church Educational System, including the seminaries and
institutes of religion, having directed the development of the system of seminaries for Indian students throughout the country . He has been active in community affairs and served as a city councilma n. He has also authored several books.
He is married to Donna Smith. They have ten children.
This fire side addr ess was given in the Marriott Center at Brigham Young Un iversity on March 5,
1978.

What I say in this presentation will be

serious and solemn. I will not speak to everyone. I ask the indulgence of the "ninety and
nine," while I speak to "the one." I ask you,
the ninety and nine, to sit quietly if you will ,
reverently if you can, and to generously help
create an atmosphere where we can reach that
one who desperately needs the counsel that I
will present. The cooperation of you of the
ninety and nine may not, after all, prove to be
without some benefit to you. There may be a
time in the years ahead when you can use
something of what I say to help someone else,
perhaps someone very close to you.
I have worried for fear that any treatment of
the subject I approach may be indelicate or
immodest. I feel perhaps as did Jacob, the
Book of Mormon prophet, when he opened a
sermon with these words:

I understand those word s of Jacob as I never

have ,before. I see before me the worthy youth
of Zion. I must nevertheless touch upon a subject such as he did, and for the same reason.
One more sentence from Jacob: "Wherefore I, Jacob, gave unto them these words as I
taught them in the temple, having first obtained mine errand from the Lord" (Jacob
1 :17; emphasis added). Rest assured that I
have wrestled in prayer over this assignment.
And so, now to the subject. To introduce it I
must use a word. I will use it one time only.
Please notice that I use it as an adjective, not
as a noun; 1 reject it as a noun. I speak to
those few, those very few, who may be subject to homosexual temptations. I repeat, I accept that word as an adjective to describe a
temporary condition. I reject it as a noun naming a permanent one.
I have had on my mind three general questions concerning this subject. First: Is sexual
perversion wrong?
There appears to be a consensus in the
world that it is natural, to one degree or another, for a percentage of the population.
Therefore, we must accept it as all right. However, when you put a moral instrument on it,
the needle immediately flips to the side labeled "wrong." It may even register "dan-

... It grieveth me that I must use so much boldness of speech concerning you, before your wives
and your children, many of whose feelings are exceedingly tender and chaste and delicate before
God, which thing is pleasing unto God; . ..
But, notwithstanding the greatness of the task, I
must do according to the strict command s of God,
and tell you concerning your wickedness and
abominations, in the pr esence of the pure in heart,
and the broken heart, and under the glance of the
_piercing eye of the Almighty God . (Jacob 2:7, 10)

33

34

Boyd K. Packer

gerous." If there has been heavy indulgen ce, it

registers clear over to " spirit ually destructive."
The answe r: It is not all right. lt is wrong! It
is not desirable; it is unn atural; it is abnormal;
it is an aff liction . W hen practiced, it is im moral. It is a transgression.
There is much in the scriptur es that applies
to this subj ect ind irectl y as w ell as a number
of very dir ect references. In all of them, this
and every other fo rm ot mora l mischief is condemn ed. I read b ut two . This, from Roma ns,
chapter on e:
For this cause Cod gave them up unto vile affection s: for even their women did chan ge the natural
use into that which is against nature:
And fikewi se also the men, leaving the natural
use of the woman, bu rned in their lust one tow ard
another; men with men work ing that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recomp ence of their erro r which was meet. (Roma ns
1:26-27; emphasis add ed)

The Book of M ormo n states: " And men are

instructed sufficiently that they know good
from evil . .. " (2 Nephi 2:5). Even one w ho is
spiritually imm ature ou ght intui tively to sense
that such actions are wron g, very wrong .
There is a reason wh y w e in the Chur ch do
not talk more op enly abou t th is subj ect. Some
matt ers are best handled very privately . With
many thing s, it is easy- very easy-t o cause the
very thing s we are trying to avoid . On one occasion, wi th a fri end of mine , I w~nt to the
medical center of a large university to see anoth er friend who was a do.ctor there. In the
waiting room befor e us was a low tabl e covered w ith pamphl ets describing variou s diseases. My friend observed : "W ell, there they
are. Read ~nough abo ut it and yo u'll think
you 've got it."
Cpo not be mi sled by tho se w ho w hisper
tha t it is part of you r nature and therefore rig ht
fo r you . That is false do ctrin e~
The second question: Is thi s tendency im po ssible to change? \J.s it preset at the ti me of
birth and loc ked in?) Do you ju st have to live
wit h it ? For examp le, the shutter of an expensive camera is calibrated at the factory and
cannot be adjusted in the field. If such a camera, by chance, is throw n out of calibrat io n or

dam aged, it cann ot be fixed lo cally. It must

eventu all y go bacl< to th e factory , fo r onl y
there can it be put in ord er. Is pe rversion li ke
that? The answer is a conclusiv e no! It is not
like that.
Some so-called expert s, and many of those
wh o have yie lded to the practice, teach that it
is con genital and incur abl e and that one just
has to learn to live with it. They can poin t to a
history of very litt le success in trying to put
wh atever mechanism that causes this back into
proper adjustment. They have, to support
them, some very co nvincing evide nce. M uch
of the so- called scientifi c literature con clude s
that there really is not mu ch that can be done
abou t it.
I reject that conclusi on out of hand . And
there is a very sensibl e reason. How can a
concl usion on a matter like thi s be valid w hen
the studies have ignored the part of our nature
most affected by it ? It has not been fully studied as a moral and a spi ritual disord er.
It is not unchangeabl e. It is not lock ed in .
O ne does not just have to yield to it and live
with it. Test it against mor al law and yo u learn
something very quickly . If a co nditi on that
draws both men and wom en int o one of the
ugli est and most debased of all physic al perfo rmances is set and cannot be overcom e, it
w oul d be a glar ing exception to all mor al law.
If that wer e so (and it is not), it would stand
out as a strange and peculiar except io n, one
that can be appli ed to no ne oth er of the kind s
of mischief that relate to the power of procreatio n. Such a thing is to tally inconsistent.
The Lord doe.s not work by exception s. He
wo rks by rules. Put a moral or a spiritu al test
up on it and the needle fl ips conclusively to the
ind icator that says " corre ctable. " Almost every
major physical di sease was onc e thought to be
incurable bu t yiel ds now that the cause is full y
known and the right com bination of remedies
is applied.
Now, back to the illustr ation of the camera.
There is a reason w hy th ere has been . so little
success in putt ing this mechanism back into
prop er adju stment - we keep using the wrong
manual of instructio n. For the mo st part, ex-

F
To the One
perts refer to the pages written by those who
are assigned to do corrective work, rather than
to the instruction provided by the Maker who
created us.
When we understand the fundamental moral law better than we do, we will be able to
correct this condition routinely. The solution
to this problem rests with the "thou shalts"
and the "thou shalt nots."
If someone is heavily involved in perversion,
it becomes very important to him to believe
that it is incurable. Can you not see that those
who preach that doctrine do so to justify
themselves? Some who become tangled up in
this disorder become predators. They proselyte the young or the inexperienced. It becomes very important for them to believe that
everyone, to one degree or another, is "that
way." You hear them claiming that a large percentage of the population is involved, in one
way or another, with this activity. Do not be
deceived. If you are one of the few who are
subject to this temptation, do not be misled
into believing that you are a captive to it. That
is false doctrine!
The third question is a very logical extension
of the other two: If it is wrong, and if it is not
incurable, how can it be corrected? What can
be done for someone who has had a few
thoughts in this direction? Or for one who has
experienced a long and ugly history of indulgence? How can they be helped?
First, understand that the power of procreation is good! It is the power to create life.
Think of that! The power to generate life given
to man! Through its employment a couple can
unselfishly bring children into the world. This
power becomes a binding tie in marriage.
Those who employ this power in complete
worthiness have the promise of eternal increase. Those who do not, face the possibility
that it will be withdrawn from them.
In marriage a couple can unselfishly express
their love to one another. They reap, as a result, a fulfillment and a completeness and a
knowledge of their identity as sons and
daughters of God.
The power of procreation is good-divinely

35

good-and productive. Pervert it, and it can be

bad-devilishly bad-and destructive.
This power is very different from our physical or emotional nature. We cannot toy with
it, or employ it prematurely or unwisely, without being on some very dangerous ground.
Now it is not all that unusual for a boy or a
girl, in a moment of childish play with someone of the same gender, to enter into some
mischief that should remain essentially innocent and meaningless and should be forgotten. And two young men or two young women, motivated
by some attraction
or
responding to a desire for affection-any kind
of affection-sometimes
are drawn almost innocently into unnatural behavior. They can be
drawn into some circumstance that makes
them, for the moment, doubt their identity.
Do not be deluded into thinking that such
thoughts and feelings are normal for you. Just
because you experience some period of confusion, do not make of that thing something
that it is not. Do not order your life to conform
to a transient thought or experience.
And just because someone has stubbed his
toe a bit, or just because someone did not
watch carefully where he was going and got
off the track into some unnatural behavior, or
just because he may have fallen victim to
some clever predator, that is no reason to
jump off the cliff into spiritual oblivion.
It is normal for a male to want to become
more masculine, or for a female to want to become more feminine. But one cannot increase
masculinity or femininity by deviate physical
contact with one of his own gender. There are
many variations of this disorder, some of them
very difficult to identify and all of them difficult to understand. When one projects himself
in some confused role-playing way with those
of the same gender in an effort to become
more masculine or more feminine, something
flips over and precisely the opposite results. In
a strange way, this amounts to trying to love
yourself.
A male, in his feelings and emotions, can
become less masculine and more feminine
and confused. A female can become, in her

36

Boyd K. Packer

emotions, less feminine and more masculine

and confus ed . Because the bod y cannot
change, the emotional part may struggle to
transform itself into the opposite gender. Then
an individual is on a hopeless, futile quest for
identity where it can never be achieved.
There is even an extreme condition in whi ch
some individu als, in a futile search, will und ergo so-called " change" operation s in an effort
to restructure their identit y and become
whole. Do not ever even consider that. That is
no answer at all! That has eternal, permanent
co nsequ ences. If an indi vidual becom es
trapped som ew here between masculinity and
femininit y, he can be captive of the adversary
and und er the threat of losing his pot ential
godhood . And so we are brought once again
to the doctrin e of agency, which is fundamental to the very purpo se of our coming into
mortality.
If an indi vidual trie s to receive comfort , satisfaction, affection, or fulfillment from deviate
physical interaction w ith som eone of his own
gender, it can becom e an addi ction! At fir st it
may fill a need and give comfo rt of some kind ,
but, wh en that has faded, feeling s of guilt and
depression follow. A greater need soon
emerges. A cycle begins which sets that individual on a long, sad, destructi ve skid into
emotional and physical disintegration, and ultimately spiritual oblivion.
For centuri es men have sought to find the
cause of this condition. This is an essential
step in dev eloping a cure. Perversion may
have some very physical expressions, but it is
not a ph ysic al disord er. A mo st extensive
physical examination will not reveal one shred
of evidence that it is. Physicians have never located any tangible control center in the body
that can be adjusted by medical or surgical
means to change this condition. The next obvious place to look is the emotional or psychological part of our nature. Here we come
clo ser.
Psychologi sts and psychiatrists
have
struggled for generations to find the cause.
Many have searched with resolut e dedication
and have studied everything that might have a

bearing on it-parent-child relation ships, inherited tendencies , environmental influences , and

a hundred and one oth er things. These things
and many, many more remain on the scope.
They either have some important effect on this
problem, or they are affected in important
ways by this problem.
Counselor s somehow seem always to be
working on the symptoms. Wh en they find
something that works on one case and apply it
to another, it may not work at all. They have
not, as yet, found a remedy. This condition
cannot as yet be uniforml y corrected by emotional or phy sical or psychological or psychiatric treatment. Depending on the severity,
some forms of these treatments are of substantial help in about 25 percent of the cases.
And anything that doe s help, does help .. But
there must be a better answer.
Since perversion can have such an effect on
the physical and on the emoti onal, it has been
thou ght to be centered there. But wher e do
w e turn wh en the physical and the emot ional
tr eatments are only partly successful? To Latter-day Saints the answer ought to be ob vious.
We turn to the spiritual nature. The world may
not regard that as important, but we do! When
thi s is regarded as a moral matter and as a
spiritual matter, there are answers not otherwise available.
The cause of this disorder has remained hidden for so long because we have been looking
for it in the wrong place. When the cause is
discovered, it may be nothing so mysterious
after all. It may be hidden because it is so
obvious.
I present a possibilit y. And I remind you-I
am talking to the on e. You, th e ninety and
nine, are merely listening in. I am conscious
that when I mention it, the first reaction may
be resistance, resentment, even hostility-that
is to be expected-but hear me out!
Have you explored the possibility that the
cause, when found , will turn out to be a very
typical form of selfi shness-sel f ishness in a
very subtle form? Now-and und erstand this-I
do not think for a minute that the form of selfishness at the root of the perversion is a con-

f
To the One
scious one, at least not to begin with. I am
sure it is quite the opposite. Selfishness can attach itself to an individual without his being
aware that he is afflicted with it. It can become
imbedded so deeply and disguised so artfully
as to be almost indistinguishable.
It is hard to believe that any individual
would, by a clear, conscious decision or by a
pattern of them, choose a course of deviation.
It is much more subtle than that. If one could
even experiment with the possibility that selfishness of a very subtle nature may be the
cause of this disorder, that quickly clarifies
many things. It opens the possibility of putting
some very sick things in order.
The spiritual perspective for the cure of perversion emerges with the realization that the
physical power of creation or procreation is
different from every other part of our nature. It
is so devised that the only employment of it
calculated to bring happiness is in giving, not
in receiving. Consider this: One cannot procreate a/one. And this: One cannot procreate
with his own gender. These are absolutes. And
there is a third: One cannot procreate without

yielding or giving.
When one has the humility to admit that a
spiritual disorder is tied to perversion and that
selfishress rests at the root of it, already the
way is open to the treatment of the condition.
It is a painful admission indeed that selfishness
may be at the root of it, but we do not have
much evidence that one can cure perversion
by trying to cure perversion. If unselfishness
can effect a cure, we ought to be desperate
enough by now at least to experiment with the
possibility. I repeat, we have had very little
success in trying to remedy perversion by
treating perversion. It is very possible to cure it
by treating selfishness . .
Some individuals, entangled in perversion,
make a clear-cut decision to come out in the
open, to stay that way, and to plunge further
into it. That becomes a clear-cut act of selfishness. There is an inevitable result. From it
we learn something important. Any individual
is, of course, free to do that because each has
his agency but he cannot do that and produce

37

any happiness for those who love him nor, ultimately, for himself.
There are bonds of love that tie human
beings together. How sad when signals of love
are sent across this network of communication
from one human being to another and there
comes back in return static, rejection, heartbreak, and agony! That kind of signal generates very quickly from selfishness. That is a
selfish signal.
Individuals guilty of very selfish acts inevitably hurt those around them. No person ever
made a conscious decision to make unnatural
behavior his life-style without sending brutal,
destructive, selfish signals to those who love
him.
If you cannot understand perversion-and I
admit that I cannot understand it-you can understand unselfishness and selfishness. And
you can learn to cure perversion.
Now, before we go any further, let me point
out that anything can be perverted-even unselfishness. So don't come up with some rationalization that participation in an act of sexual deviation is a generous and an unselfish
gesture. Don't claim that it is an unselfish thing
to relieve the craving of someone who is similarly affected. Any thinking soul ought to
know better than that. And don't argue that in
natural relationships, even in marriage, there
can be complete and brutal selfishness. That
may be true, but that is not our subject. And in
any case, that is no justification for any immoral or selfish act of any kind.
The admission that one may suffer from
selfishness cuts to the very quick. That is how
deep the cut must be to repair many physical
disorders. And yet our hospitals are full to
overflowing with patients. They count it quite
worthwhile to submit to treatment, however
painful. They struggle through long periods of
recuperation and sometimes must be content
with a limited life-style thereafter, in some
cases in order just to live. Is it not reasonable
that recuperation from this disorder might be
somewhat comparable? If unselfishness can
cure it-if it has to be applied for a long period

38 Boyd K. Packer
of time, and thereafter continually-is it not
worth it?
We can do many things that are very personal, but these need not be selfish. For instance, it need not be a selfish thing to study
and improve your mind, to develop your talents, or to perfect the physical body. These
can be very unselfish if the motive is ultimately
to bless others. But there is something different about the power of procreation. There is
something that has never been fully explained
that makes it dangerous indeed to regard it as
something given to us, for us.
Now I hope I will not disappoint you too
much if I say at once that I do not know of any
quick spiritual cure-all. Setting aside miracles
for the moment, in which I firmly believe, generally I do not know of some spiritual shock
treatment that will sear the soul of an individual and instantly kill this kind of temptationor any other kind, for that matter. No spiritual
wonder drug that I know of will do it. The
cure rests in following for a long period of
time, and thereafter continually, some very
basic, simple rules for moral and spiritual
health. A lesson from the prophet Elisha is in
order here.
Naaman was the general of the Syrian army.
"He was also a mighty man in valour, but-he
was a leper." There was in his house a slave
girl from Israel. She told of prophets in Israel
who "would recover him of his leprosy." The
king of Syria, wanting to save his valued general, sent a letter to the king of Israel saying that
he had sent Naaman, "that thou mayest recover him of his leprosy."
The king of Israel was frightened and said,
11
Am I God, to kill and to make alive, that this
man doth send unto me to recover a man of
his leprosy?" Elisha heard of the letter and told
the king, "Let him come now to me, and he
shall know that there is a prophet in Israel."
When Naaman arrived, Elisha sent a messenger to him saying, "Go and wash in Jordan
seven times, and thy flesh shall come again to
thee, and thou shalt be clean."
At this Naaman was furious. He thought he
would at least come out and "call on the

name of the Lord his God, and strike his hand

over the place, and recover the leper." And
the Bible records that Naaman "went away in
a rage."
But then his servant (it seems that, always,
there has to be a servant) "came near, and
spake unto him, and said, . . . If the prophet
had bid thee do some great thing, wouldest
thou not have done it? how much rather then,
when he saith to thee, Wash, and be clean?"
Naaman stood rebuked by his humble servant,
and the incident concludes in these words:
"Then went he down, and dipped himself seven times in Jordan, according to the saying of
the man of God: and his flesh came again like
unto the flesh of a little child, and he was
clean" (see 2 Kings 5:1-14).
If I could announce to you some dramatic,
even bizarre, cure for this condition, I am sure
many would move without hesitation to accept it, but when we talk of little things, most,
I fear, will receive it just as Naaman first received the message from the prophet Elisha. If
I should tell you to do some great thing and
you would be cured, would you not do it?
How much better, then, for you to do the little
things! Then your flesh can become again as a
little child, and you will be clean. Think very
seriously on that.
You must learn this: Overcoming moral
temptation is a very private battle, an internal
battle. There are many around you who want
to help and who can help-parents, branch
president, bishop, for a few a marriage partner. And after that, if necessary, there are
counselors and professionals to help you. But
do not start with them. Others can lend moral
support and help establish an environment for
your protection. But this is an individual battle.
Establish a resolute conviction that you will
resist for a lifetime, if necessary, any deviate
thought or deviate action. Do not respond to
those feelings; suppress them. Suppression is
not a very popular word with many psychologists. Look what happened to society when it
became unpopular!
You have a God-given right to be free and
to choose. Refuse the unnatural; choose the

To the One
moral way. You will know, then, where you
are going. Ahead is but the struggle to get
there.
Do not try merely to discard a bad habit or
a bad thought. Replace it. When you try to
eliminate a bad habit, if the spot where ir used
to be is left open it will sneak back and crawl
again into that empty space. It grew there; it
will struggle to stay there. When you discard
it, fill up the spot where it was. Replace it with
something good. Replace it with unselfish
thoughts, with unselfish acts. Then, if an evil
habit or addiction tries to return, it will have to
fight for attention. Sometimes it may win. Bad
thoughts often have to be evicted a hundred
times, or a thousand. But if they have to be
evicted ten thousand times, never surrender to
them. You are in charge of you. I repeat, it is
very, very difficult to eliminate a bad habit just
by trying to discard it. Replace it. Read in Matthew, chapter 12, verses 43 to 45, the parable
of the empty house. There is a message in it
for you.
Now to you, the one, some very direct
counsel. If you are subject to this kind of
temptation, it is essential that you break all
connections with those who for one reason or
another encourage it. Do not go back to
places where you were tempted. Do not frequent those places where people with like
attractions gather. This may require an adjustment socially, occupationally, even geographically.
If you are involved in a liaison, no matter
how innocent it may appear, break it up right
now. Some things tie you to this kind of temptation. Quit them. Avoid the very appearance
of evil. This may be very painful if you are entangled in a relationship with deep emotional
ties. Cut those ties and encourage the other
person to do likewise. Get it done soon, and
get it done completely and finally.
Freedom from this kind of enslavement is
up a trail that an individual must walk alone. If
you stumble, get up and move on. Soon your
bruises will heal. You will grow stronger. Your
battle is two-thirds won, or three.fourths or

39

four-fifths won, when you take charge of your

identity.
Accept yourself as belonging in the tabernacle that God has provided for you. Your
body was provided as an instrument of your
mind. It has the purpose to bless others. Don't
be mixed up in this twisted kind of self -:love.
With physical ailments we always want a
quick cure. If a prescription hasn't worked by
sundown, we want to get another one. For this
ailment there is no other prescription that I
know about. You will have to grow away from
your problem with undeviating-notice
that
word-undeviating determination. The longer
you have been afflicted, or the more deeply
you have been involved, the more difficult and
the longer the cure. Any relapse is a setback.
But if this should happen, refuse to be discouraged. Take your medicine, however bitter
it tastes.
There is great power in the scriptures. Study
the gospel-live it. Read the revelations. Every
prescription against selfishness of any kind will
bring some control of this disease. Every routine of unselfishness will give you more
strength.
Look forward to being well and clean and
happy. Even if you are guilty, there is no life
sentence imposed or pronounced upon you.
Keep that in mind.
Now I want to express my gratitude to you
of the ninety and nine who have listened patiently, I think even intently, to a message that
has been directed, primarily, at the one. I think
your time may not have been misspent. The
principles that we have talked about apply to
any moral temptation, and you may likewise
have been reinforced and forewarned.
I want to tell you, all of you, pointedly that I
have thought this to be a very personal message. No good purpose will be served if you
make this message the subject of chatter in the
dormitories, or in classes, or in Church meetings. I repeat, I have thought this to be a very
personal message, and I have already said that
we can very foolishly cause things we are
trying to prevent by talking too much about
them.

40

Boyd K. Packer

Now, what 1 have to say on thi s subject, I

have said. And that is all I would say to you if
you wrote to me, or if you came to see me
personally. I am not the one to treat you. You
are the one to treat you. If you are worried
about this problem, if you need help, it should
come first from your parents, th en from your
branch president or bishop or from others that
he may enlist to assist you. But you yourself
can call upon a power that can renew yo ur
body. You yourself can draw upon a power
that will reinforce your will. lf you have this
temptation-fight it!
Oh, if I could only convince you that you
are a son or a daughter of Almighty God! You
have a right eous, spiritual power-an inheritance that you have hardly touched. You have
an Elder Brother who is your Ad vocate, your
Strength, your Protector, your M ediator, your
Physician. Of Hirn I bear witne ss. The lord
loves you! You are a child of God. Face the
sunlight of truth. The shadows of discouragemen t, of disappoin tment , of deviation
will be cast behind you.
I came into th e Quorum of the Twelve
Apostles to fill the vacancy when Joseph Fielding Smith became the President of the Church.
He was a good and a great man, a prophet.
He wrote these wo rds with w hich I concl ude,
speaking to you, the one.
Does the journey seem Jong,
The pat h rugged and steep?
Are there bri ars and thorns on the way?
Do sharp stones cut your feet
As you struggle to rise
To the height s through the heat of the day?

Is your heart faint and sad,

Your soul weary within,
As you toil 'neat h your burden of care?
Doe s the load heavy seem
You are forced now to lift?
Is there no one your bur den to share?
Are you weighed down with grief,
Is there pain in your breast,
As you wearily journey aJong?
Ar e you looking behind
To the valley below
Do you wish you were back in the throng?
Let your heart be not faint
Now the journey's begun;
There is One who still beckons to you.
Look upward in gladn ess
And take hold of his hand,
He will lead you to heights that are new,
A land holy and pure
Wher e all trouble doth end,
And yo ur life shaff b e free from all sin,
Where no tears shall be shed
For no sorrows rem ain;
Take his hand and with him enter in.
[Hymns, no. 2451

God bless you, ~he one. You are loved of

Him and of His servants. I bear witness that
God lives, and that great, healing, cleansing
power is extended now to you. And that great
power is set against that intruding power of
perv ersion which now raises its head in society. Come away from it, and one day you
w ill be in His presence. He will welcome you
w ith outstretched arms, and you and He w ill
weep for joy over the one w ho has returned.
In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.