President Oaks speaks about the need for us to become a disciple of Jesus Christ through conversion instead of having a knowledge of Jesus Christ by having a testimony.  The need for us to become something more than our knowledge is essential for our eternal progression.

• It is not even enough for us to be convinced of the gospel; we must act and think so that we are converted by it.
  

He shares that when we die and we all enter God's presence during the final judgement, we will be judge based on what we did with the knowledge we were given.  Our judgement will not be a list of good and bad things we did but more of a review of who we became through the adversities of life.

• The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts—what we have done. It is an acknowledgment of the final effect of our acts and thoughts—what we have become.

The plan of salvation leads us to what our Heavenly Father wants us to become.  Our focus should be on how we are becoming more like our Father in Heaven through our earthly experiences.

• The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.
  
• The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan by which we can become what children of God are supposed to become.

President Oaks shares that our family relationships will have more effect on who we become spiritually than any calling, service, or event that we have in our lives.  The day to day family trials, teach us more about becoming like our Heavenly Father than any other venue we could find ourselves in.  It is no wonder that we are being encouraged today to make our homes a place where the spirit can be felt.

• Now is the time for each of us to work toward our personal conversion, toward becoming what our Heavenly Father desires us to become. As we do so, we should remember that our family relationships—even more than our Church callings—are the setting in which the most important part of that development can occur. The conversion we must achieve requires us to be a good husband and father or a good wife and mother. Being a successful Church leader is not enough. Exaltation is an eternal family experience, and it is our mortal family experiences that are best suited to prepare us for it.
  
• I hope the importance of conversion and becoming will cause our local leaders to reduce their concentration on statistical measures of actions and to focus more on what our brothers and sisters are and what they are striving to become.
  

A list of challenges in life is given that could cause us much pain, concern, and heartache.  President Oaks says that these experiences cause us to learn what God wants and needs us to become.

• Most of us experience some measure of what the scriptures call “the furnace of affliction.” Some are submerged in service to a disadvantaged family member. Others suffer the death of a loved one or the loss or postponement of a righteous goal like marriage or childbearing. Still others struggle with personal impairments or with feelings of rejection, inadequacy, or depression. Through the justice and mercy of a loving Father in Heaven, the refinement and sanctification possible through such experiences can help us achieve what God desires us to become.
  

It is not enough for each of us to do the right things.  It is vital that we learn how to do the right things for the right reasons.  This requires a deeper understanding of the Father's purpose for us.

• We are challenged to move through a process of conversion toward that status and condition called eternal life. This is achieved not just by doing what is right, but by doing it for the right reason—for the pure love of Christ.

President Oaks speaks about the parable fo the laborer. Some people labored all day long, while some labored just a few hours, but in the end, all were paid the same amount agreed upon. He shares that God's process of making us something takes some people longer than others and we should never be discouraged or saddened by someone receiving the same blessings we receive even if those lessons are learned very late in life. He encourages us to never give up, never stop striving, and we will become more and more like our Father in Heaven day by day.

• Instead of being judgmental about others, we should be concerned about ourselves. We must not give up hope. We must not stop striving. We are children of God, and it is possible for us to become what our Heavenly Father would have us become.

There are two ways that we can know we are on the right path leading us to become more like our Heavenly Father. President Oaks shares:

• If we are losing our desire to do evil, we are progressing toward our heavenly goal.

The apostle Paul taught us that we have to have the “mind of Christ.” President Oaks explains what this means.

• I understand this to mean that persons who are proceeding toward the needed conversion are beginning to see things as our Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ, see them. They are hearing His voice instead of the voice of the world, and they are doing things in His way instead of by the ways of the world.

What a great reminder that we need to worry about ourselves and not worry about others process of conversion.  Our Father in Heaven is mindful of each of His children both in and out of the church.  He is working with those inside and outside the church to become more than they currently are.  He is preparing those that need the gospel and He is preparing those that have the gospel to help those that don't.  We are naive to think that we are the only ones that our Father in Heaven is concerned with and we should never be discouraged that others took a different path to finding our Father than we took.  The gospel plan helps us to become what God wants us to become.  People inside and outside the church are progressing towards that goal of what our Father wants them to become.

President Oaks speaks about the resurrection and the things we know about the resurrection that testify that Jesus Christ has overcome death on our behalf.

• The question of resurrection from the dead is a central subject of scripture, ancient and modern. The resurrection is a pillar of our faith. It adds meaning to our doctrine, motivation to our behavior, and hope for our future.
  
• The universal resurrection became a reality with the Resurrection of Jesus Christ. On the third day after His death and burial, Jesus came forth out of the tomb. He appeared to several men and women, and then to the assembled Apostles. Three of the Gospels describe this event.

He speaks about the scriptural doctrine of the resurrection.  Jesus Christ is the central part of this doctrine.

• The possibility that a mortal who has died will be brought forth and live again in a resurrected body has awakened hope and stirred controversy through much of recorded history. Relying on clear scriptural teachings, Latter-day Saints join in affirming that Christ has “broken the bands of death” and that “death is swallowed up in victory.” Because we believe the Bible and Book of Mormon descriptions of the literal Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we also readily accept the numerous scriptural teachings that a similar resurrection will come to all mortals who have ever lived upon this earth. As Jesus taught, “Because I live, ye shall live also.”

He speaks about the accounts of many that have seen ancestors and loved ones that have died and are no longer with us on earth. These accounts give us comfort that we are not alone in the future.

• Many living witnesses can testify to the literal fulfillment of these scriptural assurances of the resurrection. Many, including some in my own extended family, have seen a departed loved one in vision or personal appearance and have witnessed their restoration in “proper and perfect frame” in the prime of life. Whether these were manifestations of persons already resurrected or of righteous spirits awaiting an assured resurrection, the reality and nature of the resurrection of mortals is evident. What a comfort to know that all who have been disadvantaged in life from birth defects, from mortal injuries, from disease, or from the natural deterioration of old age will be resurrected in “proper and perfect frame.”

The Savior’s Resurrection is central to what the prophets have called “the great and eternal plan of deliverance from death” (2 Ne. 11:5).

The “lively hope” we are given by the resurrection is our conviction that death is not the conclusion of our identity but merely a necessary step in the destined transition from mortality to immortality. This hope changes the whole perspective of mortal life. The assurance of resurrection and immortality affects how we look on the physical challenges of mortality, how we live our mortal lives, and how we relate to those around us.

There are several assurances that the resurrection give us.  President Oaks shares these simple assurances.

• The assurance of resurrection gives us the strength and perspective to endure the mortal challenges faced by each of us and by those we love, such things as the physical, mental, or emotional deficiencies we bring with us at birth or acquire during mortal life. Because of the resurrection, we know that these mortal deficiencies are only temporary!
  
• The assurance of resurrection also gives us a powerful incentive to keep the commandments of God during our mortal lives. Resurrection is much more than merely reuniting a spirit to a body held captive by the grave. We know from the Book of Mormon that the resurrection is a restoration that brings back “carnal for carnal” and “good for that which is good.”
  
• The assurance that the resurrection will include an opportunity to be with our family members—husband, wife, parents, brothers and sisters, children, and grandchildren—is a powerful encouragement for us to fulfill our family responsibilities in mortality. It helps us live together in love in this life in anticipation of joyful reunions and associations in the next.
  
• Our sure knowledge of a resurrection to immortality also gives us the courage to face our own death—even a death that we might call premature.
  
• The assurance of immortality also helps us bear the mortal separations involved in the death of our loved ones. Every one of us has wept at a death, grieved through a funeral, or stood in pain at a graveside. I am surely one who has. We should all praise God for the assured resurrection that makes our mortal separations temporary and gives us the hope and strength to carry on.

President Oaks concludes with the connection of resurrection with the temple.

• “Temples stand as a witness of our conviction of immortality. Our temples are concerned with life beyond the grave. For example, there is no need for marriage in the temple if we were only concerned with being married for the period of our mortal lives.”
  
• Our temples are living, working testimonies to our faith in the reality of the resurrection. They provide the sacred settings where living proxies can perform all of the necessary ordinances of mortal life in behalf of those who live in the world of the spirits. None of this would be meaningful if we did not have the assurance of universal immortality and the opportunity for eternal life because of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.

The doctrine of the resurrection is central to the role that Jesus Christ played in eternity. It is because of Him, that we are able to be reunited with our families after this life. It is because of Him that we have hope to live with our Father in Heaven once again. How grateful I am to have this knowledge. If we didn't have the doctrine of the resurrection, there would be no need for temples, for families, for trying to become better in our lives. Without the hope that Christ brings, nothing would matter and life would be pointless.  But there is hope, there is life, there is a purpose to life and it all is because of what Jesus Christ has done for each of us.