President Monson's messages: New temples and keep feelings in check

Five new temples and a caution against the destructive wake left by anger.

Those were the highlights of bookend messages Saturday by President Thomas S. Monson of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints as he opened and concluded the first day of the church's 179th Semiannual General Conference.

"To be angry is to yield to the influence of Satan," said President Monson in his concluding address of Saturday night's priesthood session in the Conference Center. "No one can make us angry. It is our choice. If we desire to have a proper spirit with us at all times, we must choose to refrain from becoming angry. I testify that such is possible."

All are susceptible to feelings that, if left unchecked, can lead to anger, he added.

"We experience displeasure or irritation or antagonism and, if we so choose, we lose our temper and become angry with others," he said. "Ironically, those others are often members of our own families — the people we really love the most."

In the Saturday morning session, he opened the two-day conference by announcing five new LDS temples — in Brigham City; Fort Lauderdale, Fla.; Concepcion, Chile; Fortaleza, Brazil; and Sapporo, Japan.

While no new members were added to the Quorums of the Seventy, 13 were released Saturday.

The four released from the First Quorum of the Seventy — Elders Charles Didier, John M. Madsen, Lynn A. Mickelsen and Dennis B. Neuenschwander — were designated emeritus general authorities.

Released from the Second Quorum of the Seventy were Elders Douglas L. Callister, Shirley D. Christensen, James M. Dunn, Daryl H. Garn, Clate W. Mask Jr., Robert C. Oaks, William W. Parmley, W. Douglas Shumway and Robert S. Wood.

Morning session

Also speaking in the day's first meeting, President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, second counselor in the First Presidency, underscored the importance of the love of God as a defining attribute for LDS members.

"Let us be known as a people who love God with all our heart, soul and mind, and who love our neighbor as ourselves," he said. "When we understand and practice these two great commandments in our families, in our wards and branches, in our nations, and in our daily lives, we will begin to understand what it means to be a true disciple of Jesus Christ."