President Henry B. Eyring: 'Our Perfect Example'

Different as Church members are in circumstances and experiences, they share a desire to become better than they are, said President Henry B. Eyring.

"There may be a few who mistakenly feel they are good enough and a few who have given up trying to be better," he said. "But, for all, the message of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ is that we can and must expect to become better as long as we live."

Speaking during the Sunday morning session, President Eyring, first counselor in the First Presidency, promised Church members that through living the gospel of Jesus Christ they can become like the Savior, who is perfect.

"Considering the attributes of Jesus Christ should quash the pride of the self-satisfied person who thinks he or she has no need to improve," he said. "And even the most humble person can take hope in the invitation to become like the Savior."

President Eyring said that the way that transformation happens is captured in a song written for children. "I am trying to be like Jesus; I'm following in his ways. I'm trying to love as he did, in all that I do and say...."

President Eyring said he remembers watching the faces of children one Sunday while they sang the song. "It seemed to me that they were not just singing; they were declaring their determination. Jesus Christ was their example. To be like Him was their fixed goal. And their eager looks and their shinning eyes convinced me that they had no doubts. They expected to succeed. They believed the instruction of the Savior to be perfect was not a hope but a command. And they were sure He had prepared the way.

"That determination and confidence can and must be in the heart of every Latter-day Saint. The Savior has prepared the way though His Atonement and His example," he said.

Love, he continued, "is the motivating principles by which the Lord leads us along the way towards becoming like Him, our perfect example. Our way of life, hour by hour, must be filled with the love of God and love for others. There is no surprise in that, since the Lord proclaimed that the first and great commandment.

"It is love of God that will lead us to keep His commandments. And love of others is at the heart of our capacity to obey Him."

President Eyring said just as Jesus used a child in His mortal ministry as an example for the people of the pure love they must and could have to be like Him, He has offered individuals the family as an example of an ideal setting in which they can learn how to love as He loves.