Elder Dallin H. Oaks' wife, June Dixon Oaks, helped make him who he became. In listing the major turning points in his life, he put at the top his first date with June. His marriage to her gave his life balance, resolve, and purpose. Suddenly, the good student became a great one. The hard worker, a tireless laborer. The spiritual novice, a true disciple. "My academic achievement and career successes have been based on the fact that I married someone I loved who helped me focus my energies," Elder Oaks wrote. …

[June] was hardly ever sick. Thus, everyone was surprised when, in 1997 at age 64, she began to experience muscle pain and diminished energy. At first, no one expected anything serious, and the initial diagnosis seemed innocent enough: a temporary condition that she would eventually overcome. But she didn’t get well. And a liver biopsy soon followed. On July 15, 1997, when Dallin got home from work, June met him at the door and announced the grim results: it’s cancer. …

Given her condition, she might have lived only three or four months. But, in fulfillment of a blessing, she lived more than a year. A year filled with chemotherapy, nausea, weakness, hope, disappointment, family togetherness, and resolve to face the inevitable. …

By the late afternoon of July 21, [1998], Elder Oaks felt he had an answer to his prayers about when to release Sister Oaks from mortality. … "We had prayer," Elder Oaks wrote, "and then at 4:35 p.m., I put my hands on her head, and tearfully released her by the power of the priesthood. We then sat around her bed and suffered as she struggled so hard to breathe. Then, her breathing became more shallow, and her hands began to get cold, gradually moving up the arms. We knew she was going. At 5:30 p.m., she peacefully slipped away."

The children of God in all nations have His promise that He will manifest Himself to them. The Book of Mormon tells us:

"He manifesteth himself unto all those who believe in him, by the power of the Holy Ghost; yea, unto every nation, kindred, tongue, and people, working mighty miracles, signs, and wonders, among the children of men according to their faith" (2 Nephi 26:13).

…

A medical doctor in a village in Nigeria had a dream in which he saw his good friend speaking to a congregation. Intrigued, he traveled to his friend's village on a Sunday and was astonished to find exactly what he had seen in his dream—a congregation … being taught by his friend, who was their bishop. … [H]e and his wife were taught and baptized. Two months later over 30 others in their village had also joined the Church, and their clinic had become the meeting place.

… [D]uring a visit to a distant college town, [a man from northern India who had converted to Christianity] saw an advertisement for … "The BYU Young Ambassadors." During their performance, an inner voice told him to go into the lobby after the program and a man in a blue blazer would tell him what to do. In this way he obtained a Book of Mormon, read it, and was converted to the restored gospel. He has since served as a missionary and as a bishop.

…

A family in [Cambodia] was searching for the truth. While their 11-year-old son was riding his bicycle he saw some men in white shirts and ties showing someone a picture and asking who it was. He felt he should stop. As he watched, he was prompted to say, "That is Jesus Christ, the Son of God, and He came to save man." Then he rode away. It took the missionaries a month to find him and his family. Today, the father is a counselor in the mission presidency.

… [A] family … visited the open house for a new chapel in Mongolia. As the father walked through the door a powerful force went through his body, a feeling of peace he had never experienced before. Tears flowed. He asked the missionaries what that amazing feeling was and how he could feel it again. Soon, the entire family was baptized.

These are only a few examples. There are thousands more.

To our hundreds of thousands of home teachers and visiting teachers, I suggest that it is good to visit our assigned families; it is better to have a brief visit in which we teach doctrine and principle; and it is best of all to make a difference in the lives of some of those we visit. That same challenge applies to the many meetings we hold—good to hold a meeting, better to teach a principle, but best to actually improve lives as a result of the meeting.

A message given by a general authority at a general conference, a message prepared under the influence of the Spirit, to further the work of the Lord, is not given to be enjoyed. It is given to inspire, to edify, to challenge, or to correct. It is given to be heard under the influence of the Spirit of the Lord, with the intended result that the listener learns from the talk and from the Spirit what he or she should do about it.