President Leslie Broadbent was one of them. I don't know that I ever saw the man to know who he was. We'd like to be representative of that great man. We'll call Lorne Broadbent. I'm sure you all realize it's quite a tribute to me to be called a representative of my father and his participation in his work. If there's anything that I'd like to live up to, it's that.

I didn't know him too well myself, having been about four and a half years old when he died, but it's always been held up as an ideal to carry on aspirations and dreams that he had for his family. We all find ourselves in some strange circumstances. Sometimes the teachings that we've been given, testimonies that we feel that we've been born with, tested by sets of circumstances that we never anticipated we always visualize carrying on in pretty much the same way that the work has been conducted in the past the work of the lord while constant in its overall purposes adapt some of us are given jobs to do that take us into circumstances that we may or may not be prepared for We're called upon to enact roles in the world and in society that, while other than we anticipated, may not be too much to our disliking. Starts out to be a role, a job to do, a little excursion, become quite compatible with the way we visualize ourselves at that time. It's not a bit hard to take pride in one's ability to live that.

that role and get out and play their silly game. But there's always the danger that it gets to be no longer a game. Wide enough to know there's just no repose. There's no real satisfaction in nothing but playing their silly game. Necessary, I guess. At least I've reconciled myself to the idea that it was necessary, and I still feel that we should be able to live in.

different dimensions but in my particular work it's been necessary to develop a pretty keen attitude of what i call maybe it's a euphemism but benevolent skepticism and i don't mean to say that this is out of place or that it's wrong because many of the accomplishments that we enjoy in a physical sense in this day and age are the result of many dedicated persons hard work with that attitude of benevolent skepticism, which in other words is merely the attitude of turning and questioning one's basic premises. Many assumptions through the dark ages were only dispelled, many false ideas were only dispelled because people had the courage in the face of orthodoxy to turn a powerful attitude of skepticism upon

upon those basic premises that's all well and good there's a place for that sort of thing to be tough-minded and not general in every every time we approach our daily work to to generalize the the real nub of this thing out the window and that's that's what we do too much sometimes we have to really get down to basic facts as i say there's a there's a place for that sort of thing but there's no repose in it if that's one's entire life in order to gain any peace of mind any satisfaction one has to accept certain basic premises as the truth and it's merely as a matter of well this is personally satisfying to me so and i don't have the time to investigate further i just don't care to hear any conflicting ideas well that's one kind of basic premise that some people take in order to have some

to avoid the eternal conflict and eternal attempt at trying to reconcile contradictions. In this work, we've been told, and I believe it's true, that certain people are blessed with a testimony of the divine mission of Joseph Smith and that he revealed the fullness of the gospel in these latter days. If we have that testimony, that belief, then it necessarily follows from his teachings that that authority has been perpetuated and it's effective in the earth today and that there are those who have the same right and authority to to dispense truth and knowledge which is not in the realm of our individual ability to debate criticize or disprove or even wonder about along those lines If we've made that basic assumption, if we have that testimony that Joseph Smith was a prophet of God and that he has his representatives here, then it follows from the inherent nature of that authority that there's no more room for debate. Now, some may say, well, what about the contradictions? I go to one of the brethren and I get one story and I go to another and I get another story. What about the contradictions?

Well, I think it's fairly obvious. Anybody who thinks about it, the reason there's a contradiction or an apparent contradiction is because somebody wasn't satisfied and didn't care to accept what was said first without debate. They just weren't converted to it initially. It's an old story. Not satisfied with the first answer, get another one. You say, well, now what if the first answer was wrong? After all, there may have been another one that was contradictory. Wrong schmong.

If we had the capability of accepting the direction, say, circumstances changed later and it was appropriate for a different approach to be taken. If we were in that channel, I believe that we'd certainly be given the appropriate direction at that time. It's possible to isolate certain verbal propositions and recognize contradictions. For instance, what do we do with the idea that everybody has this free agency?

Everybody eventually has the opportunity of choosing for himself whether he really accepts the gospel or whether he won't. Nobody gets there on what his parents did. Everybody has to do it for himself. Every tub will sit on its own bottom. That proposition versus the proposition that we as parents are responsible for our children. And if we don't teach them right, they may go astray. We're responsible to see and we...

we make a determined effort while they're young while they're on their mother's knees is the most essential time to influence them so now if we can truly influence them at that tender age then uh and if we have any any crucial any deciding influence over whether they will ultimately accept or reject the gospel then isn't that a little bit contradictory with saying that they will have their free agency well you can't isolate these things that's the trouble with trying to be eternally skeptical and objective in areas that that don't that don't lend themselves to that sort of analysis and they're not appropriate there are aspects of human nature of of spirituality that that just don't lend themselves to certain verbal uh propositions and if we try to analyze all the contradictions in those terms we'll we'll never find repose we'll just never find repose i for one

can be willing to have the courage merely make that that basic assumption which i feel is right and the and the further and more important courage to to carry it on through to accept the teachings of the lord's present-day authorities as the truth without debate without question i've certainly done my share of trying to qualify the principles of the gospel and their application in my life and justify versions which i really know no or not not really the fullness of the spirit of those principles but as i started out by saying you find yourself living a role living a certain attitude ensures we're human so begin to really be that person that role will really be the the qualified the modified abrogated application

of the principle of the gospel in our lives, and it just won't work. That's all there is to it. We each and every one of us have a role, a work to do within the confines and under the direction of the priesthood, so we can bring ourselves to it. And we'll be able to, it's my prayer in the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.