One of the most surprising, but delightful parts of my study of the Oct. 1968 General Conference was realizing it contained a hidden talk by Russell M. Nelson! Almost everyone thinks President Nelson’s first talk was given in 1984 when he was called as an apostle. But his first talk was actually given 16 years before his call as an apostle, he gave this address at the Oct. 1968 General Conference when he was the Bonneville Stake President. But because the gospel library app only goes back to 1971, almost no one has ever heard of this talk, even though it is a fantastic talk! So, from the conference archives, here is President Nelson’s FIRST conference talk!

Placing Our Homes in Order by Russell M. Nelson

Dear brethren, prayerfully and humbly I respond to this request to speak about the home and the family, for I am constantly aware of the challenging responsibility in my own home to “place it in order” (D&C 93:44) Those who know me best may surely say, “Physician, heal thyself” (Luke 4:23) as I would treat this subject.

Importance of the home

The importance of the home has been stressed continually by the Lord. Even the early Church leaders were reproved, as recorded in the Doctrine and Covenants: “And now a commandment I give unto you—. . . you shall set in order your own house, for there are many things that are not right in your house” (D&C 93:43) In this day, the Prophet of God on earth, President David O. McKay, has proclaimed that “no other success can compensate for failure in the home.” Brethren, as bearers of the priesthood, we know we should and we want to become good fathers and leaders in our homes.

The home itself symbolizes the temporal challenges that face us as fathers. We go into debt to acquire one. Financial prudence demands that we budget our expenditures, and our Christian concern for others dictates that we live within our means and pay our bills promptly. Yet, as we build our homes, we must remember that the home exists only to serve our family; the family does not exist to serve the home. We provide a home where our children may play, and welcome their friends as we welcome ours.

I used to worry about the fingerprints and other marks on the furniture until one day when I visited the home of the late Elder and Sister Adam S. Bennion. I remember well how Sister Bennion said, in a reflective mood, how each dent in the woodwork brought back memories of their happy children riding their tricycles through the house. She regarded these identifying marks among the most precious items in the home, and went on to suggest that she now wished she had shellacked the little fingerprints on the mirror, rather than wiping them off.

Laboratory of learning

The home we provide is the most important laboratory of learning, where children must learn to share and to work. Sometimes my efforts haven’t been too successful. One Saturday afternoon, a few years ago, I was working in the yard when I heard the bells of the ice cream wagon coming closer. My little black-haired daughter with dark brown eyes came running to her daddy and, in her charming way, asked for a dime.

Sensing this as a golden opportunity to teach her a lesson, I said, “All right, sweetheart, but why don’t you work for your money, the same as everyone else does?”

The tears erupted as she cried, “But Daddy—I don’t like to work!”

Our home is a home of order when our children have learned to work, and when our storage program is adequate to tide us through the vicissitudes of life against which our prophets have warned us. Our home is in order when we are always ready for a visit from the Lord, our bishop, or our home teacher, and when there is never a word of disloyalty expressed about our Church leaders.

The queen of our home

Brethren, our home can never be any better than our selection and care of the one to be the queen in our castle. This sweet and hopefully eternal companion needs particular attention, for she is so tender and so special. “Thou shalt love thy wife with all thy heart, and shall cleave unto her and none else” (D&C 42:22)

If you really love her, you are more concerned for her welfare than for that of yourself. Do you see that she has opportunity for her self-improvement? She has the same God-given desire for perfection as you do. A regular day of diversion whereby she may pursue this goal is so vital. But do you know what she wants most from you? Your companionship, your courtesies, and your communication. And least? Your selfishness and silence. Each couple must constantly cultivate the art of communication.

In our own busy lives, Sister Nelson and I have found a lot of merit in the regular stroll together, which is good exercise for our bodies as well as for our souls. Exercise has become popular now. It is not uncommon to see a man jogging alone around the neighborhood, as competent medical authorities have suggested that you should “run for your life.” How much better it would be for two hearts and their love affair if we could alter the slogan “Run for your life” to “Walk with your wife.”

The blessing of the priesthood

As we honor the queen of our home, we must never underestimate the power, blessing, and authority of the priesthood that we bring to the home. President McKay said, “No man who holds that priesthood should fail to ask the blessing on his food, or to kneel with his wife and children and ask for God’s guidance. A home is transformed because a man holds and honors the priesthood.” (The Instructor, October 1968, p. 378.)

As a man magnifies his calling in the Church, his wife and children receive special blessings, for the rights of the priesthood are inseparably connected with the powers of heaven, as those powers are used in gentleness, love, and righteousness (see D&C 121:36,42) Family prayer under the direction of the priesthood has been a powerful influence in our home!

Training our children

Now let us consider the ultimate reason for our marriage and for our home, namely, our children. I’m so grateful that we have been blessed with the nine we have, for I am convinced, as I’m sure you are, that the youth of this generation are the choicest souls, reserved for these latter days. Brethren, we have fathered their bodies, and now we must father their faith. The training of our youth is a divine commandment. “Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it” (Prov. 22:6) We have such a short time for this training, for most of their attitudes and habits are formed by the time they reach 14 years of age. Let’s consider four ways in which we may father their faith:

Fathering faith in themselves

First, we should father faith in themselves and in their family. Parents need to encourage their children and build their confidence, provide them with opportunities to develop, and give them security and love. I speak with real feeling on this because I have that kind of mother and dad. Dad is here tonight, and I want all to know how grateful I am for him, and for Mother. Every son needs a dad he can be proud of and a mother selflessly giving her life to her husband and children.

Family love is nurtured in home evenings and vacations together. The time and money required are well spent, for love and loyalty cannot be commanded—they have to be earned! Will Rogers once said, “You can’t force love on anyone because then it isn’t love anymore.”

Educational opportunities become a prime responsibility for us as fathers. We want our youth to get all the education they can get. Yet we need to stress the balance between temporal and spiritual education, for the Lord has warned us of the foolishness of some men: “When they are learned they think they are wise, and they hearken not unto the counsel of God, for they set it aside, supposing they know of themselves, wherefore, their wisdom is foolishness and it profiteth them not. And they shall perish.

“But to be learned is good if they hearken unto the counsels of God” (2 Ne. 9:28-29) With this education and faith in themselves and their family, they will know the joy of attainment as individuals in a competitive and free enterprise system.

Faith in country

Second, we should father faith in the country which has given them their opportunity. We need to show them our patriotism, and then they will be patriots, too. As they practice the principles of righteousness, they will grow to leaven the governments of the world with their leadership.

Faith in God

Third, we should father faith in God, their Creator. Opportunities constantly await our utilization. For example, if our youth manifest an interest in a fine camera, the study of the automatic light meter mechanism may provide basis for a discussion about the human eye, with its automatic mechanism regulating how much light may pass through the lens to reach the retina. Perhaps the gift of a watch may open the discussion to the timing mechanism that God has put in your heart, regulating faithfully its 100,000 beats each day. Or, if you have a 15-watt light globe around, let your children know that with the power output of only one-tenth of that globe, or 1.5 watts, God has enabled your heart to perform work equivalent to lift a 150-pound man to the top of the Empire State Building, or to pump enough fluid to fill a 4,000-gallon-tank car each day!

Faith in the gospel

Fourth, we should father their faith in the gospel and in the future. We live in a changing world full of chaos, upheaval, and unrest. As our youth have been taught light and truth in the eternal verities that never change, they will have an anchor to steady them and a standard of reference against which all new hypotheses may be evaluated. For then each will know that if he will “seek first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness, all things shall be added” unto him (Matt. 6:33) Then will our homes be in order! One day Christ will come again, the millennium will be ushered in, and our youth will know the destiny for which we and they have prepared.

Humbly, I pray that we will place and keep our homes in order, to make them the little bit of heaven on earth that God’s Prophet has proclaimed they might be. I testify to the living fatherhood of God, the divine mission of his Son, and the truthfulness of his Church, his gospel, and his prophets. In the name of Jesus Christ. Amen.
Russell M. Nelson, Conference Report, October 1968, pp. 89-91

For the audio of this talk see: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMgfS2u6g8M

If you liked this conference talk by Russell M. Nelson on Placing Our Homes in Order from the archives, you might be interested in these other amazing quotes from this conference see “52+ Impactful Quotes From My Study of the Oct. 1968 General Conference” You might enjoy these other General Conference talks from the archives too (from various conferences)!