THE ONLY TRUE AND LIVING CHURCH

The only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth. (D&C 1:30)

This doctrine often generates resistance and repels the casual investigator. Some have said, "We want nothing to do with anyone who makes so presumptuous a claim as that."

The early Latter-day Saints were bitterly persecuted for holding to this doctrine. They were the butt of many clever stories. We, of course, are not free from that today. Should we not then make one accommodation and set this doctrine aside? ...Some have recommended that we confine ourselves strictly to evidences of the gospel: happy family life, and temperate living, and so on. Could we not use the words better or best? The word only really isn't the most appealing way to begin a discussion of the gospel.

If we thought only in terms of diplomacy or popularity, surely we should change our course. But we must hold tightly to it even though some turn away. ("The Only True Church," Ensign, Nov. 1985, 80-81) https://www.lds.org/general-conference/1985/10/the-only-true-church?lang=eng

This is "the only true and living church upon the face of the whole earth" according to the word of revelation. Here lies the truth. Here lies the priesthood. Hold to the Church. Do not ever lose sight of the fact that the Church must ever remain preeminent in your lives if you are going to be happy as the years pass. Never let yourselves be found in the position of fighting The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. You cling to it and be faithful to it. You uphold and sustain it. You teach its doctrine and live by it. And I do not hesitate to say that your lives will be the richer and the happier because of that. You cannot find happiness fighting the work of God. Those who have done so have gone down to a dismal end. ("Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley," Ensign, Apr. 1996, 72-73)

That is not my statement. That is the statement of the Lord himself. A minister once said to me, "Aren't you very arrogant to make a statement concerning such magnitude as that?" I said, "I didn't say it. The Lord said it, and because He said it, I believe it is true." (Gordon B. Hinckley "Inspirational Thoughts," Ensign, July 1998, 4)