They Are the Future of the Church

Often we equate the reverence of a congregation with the behavior of the children present. True, young children can provide a special challenge to reverence. But the first rule with respect to children is to bring them! They can be taught, they can be taken out, and they can be brought back into the meeting. And in the teaching it is better to minimize the number of training tools that are brought to church, such as toys and food. Latter-day Saint congregations are generally blessed with large numbers of children and youth, and we should be thankful for this. They are the future of the Church.


Author:Robert C. Oaks
Title: Worship through Reverence
Where: Ensign, Dec 2009, 20–23

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When You Go Home Do Not Forget Them

Now, you missionaries, you are part of this responsibility of binding your converts to the Church. You may not be able to continue to visit them. But you can write them occasionally and give them encouragement. I hope that every one of you will make a record in your scriptures of every man, woman, and child whom you baptize, together with their home addresses. Your penmanship may be terrible, but an occasional note from you will give reassurance and comfort and a rekindling of joy. When you go home do not forget them. At all times live worthy of their trust. Write to them occasionally, assuring them of your love.


Author: Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: Find the Lambs, Feed the Sheep
Where: Ensign, May 1999, 104

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By These Means Only May the Spirit of God Become An Abiding Part

To eat the flesh and drink the blood of Christ was and is to believe in and accept Him as the literal Son of God and Savior of the world, and to obey His commandments. By these means only may the Spirit of God become an abiding part of man's individual being, even as the substance of the food he eats is assimilated with the tissues of his body.

Author: James E. Talmage
Title: Jesus the Christ
Where: Jesus the Christ p. 318

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All Beings Who Have Bodies Have Power Over Those Who Have Not

All beings who have bodies have power over those who have not

Author: Joseph Smith
Where: "Chapter 17: The Great Plan of Salvation,” Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Joseph Smith, (2007),206–16

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War Fought in Heaven to Preserve Our Agency

Yes, we mortals are still free to choose. Yes, a war was even fought in heaven to preserve our moral agency. Yet down here, the great gift of agency is often surrendered without so much as a mild whimper!


Author: Neal A. Maxwell
Title: The Seventh Commandment: A Shield
Where: Ensign, Nov 2001, 78

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Truly the Gospel is the Good Life

Some see only sacrifice and limitations in obedience to the commandments of the new and everlasting covenant, but those who live the experience—who give themselves freely and unreservedly to the covenant life—find greater liberty and fulfillment. When we truly understand, we seek more commandments, not fewer. Each new law or commandment we learn and live is like one more rung or step on a ladder that enables us to climb higher and higher. Truly, the gospel life is the good life.

Author: D. Todd Christofferson
Title: The Power of Covenants
Where: Ensign, May 2009, 19–23
Scripture: JST John 1:4

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You Made Your Choice, Stick to It

When people are married, instead of trying to get rid of each other, reflect that you have made your choice, and strive to honor and keep it, do not manifest that you have acted unwisely and say that you have made a bad choice, nor let any body know that you think you have. You made your choice, stick to it, and strive to comfort and assist each other” (Deseret News, 29 May 1861, 98).

Author: Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: Great Shall Be the Peace of Thy Children
Where: Ensign, Nov 2000, 50–53

You and I are Full-Time Finders!

We properly pray for the safety and success of the full-time missionaries throughout the world. And a common element in many of our prayers is a request that the missionaries will be led to individuals and families who are prepared to receive the message of the Restoration. But ultimately it is my responsibility and your responsibility to find people for the missionaries to teach. Missionaries are full-time teachers; you and I are full-time finders. And you and I as lifelong missionaries should not be praying for the full-time missionaries to do our work!

Author: David A. Bednar
Title: Ensign, May 2008, 94–97
Where: Ask in Faith

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Daddy, Do You Own Me?

Parents and teachers, learn to listen, then listen to learn from children. A wise father once said, “I do a greater amount of good when I listen to my children than when I talk to them.”

When our youngest daughter was about four years of age, I came home from hospital duties quite late one evening. I found my dear wife to be very weary. I don’t know why. She only had nine children underfoot all day. So I offered to get our four-year-old ready for bed. I began to give the orders: “Take off your clothes; hang them up; put on your pajamas; brush your teeth; say your prayers” and so on, commanding in a manner befitting a tough sergeant in the army. Suddenly she cocked her head to one side, looked at me with a wistful eye, and said, “Daddy, do you own me?”

She taught me an important lesson. I was using coercive methods on this sweet soul. To rule children by force is the technique of Satan, not of the Savior. No, we don’t own our children. Our parental privilege is to love them, to lead them, and to let them go


Author: Russell M. Nelson
Title: Listen to Learn
Where: Ensign, May 1991, 22

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Left to Find Some Other Explanation for the Book of Mormon

There always were, are now, and ever will be those who stir into 200-year-old dust, hoping to find something Joseph is alleged to have said or done in order to demean him....We do not have to defend the Prophet Joseph Smith. The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ will defend him for us. Those who reject Joseph Smith as a prophet and revelator are left to find some other explanation for the Book of Mormon.

Author: Boyd K. Packer
Title: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ—Plain and Precious Things
Where: Ensign, May 2005, 6

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When You Deal in General You Will rarely Have Success, but When You Deal In Specifics You will Rarely Have Failure

When we deal in generalities, we will never have a success; but as we deal in specifics, we will rarely have a failure.

Author: Thomas S. Monson
Title: The Aaronic Priesthood Pathway
Where: Ensign Nov 1984, 41

Be There

be there. Each of us was there in the Council in Heaven to choose the great plan of happiness we now enjoy. Young men, when you have made a commitment to yourself, your family, your bishop, your employer, be there. When it is time to be in church, at Mutual, or fulfilling a priesthood assignment, be there. When it is time to graduate from school or training programs, be there. When it is time to serve a mission, be there. When the young woman you love most kneels at the altar of God’s holy temple, be there (and not as a witness). When your family is gathered in the celestial kingdom, be there. When the Savior waits to greet you as you return with honor from your life on this earth and your Heavenly Father wants to encircle you about in the arms of His love, be there.

Author: Robert D. Hales
Title: To the Aaronic Priesthood: Preparing for the Decade of Decision
Where: Ensign, May 2007, 48–51

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Some Great Thing

As persecutions came and Joseph fled the mob at Nauvoo in 1844, Hyrum went with him. As they stood on the bank of the river, contemplating whether to return, Joseph turned to Hyrum and said, 'You are the oldest, what shall we do?'" 'Let us go back and give ourselves up and see the thing out,' Hyrum replied."They returned to Nauvoo and were taken to Carthage, where they died as martyrs within minutes of one another. Hyrum had been faithful to his trust even to the laying down of his life. In all respects he was a disciple of the Savior. But his day-to-day striving made him truly great. In contrast, Oliver Cowdery was great when handling the plates and being attended to by angels, but when called upon to faithfully endure day-to-day trials and challenges, Oliver faltered and fell away from the Church."We do not prove our love for the Savior only by doing 'some great thing.' If the prophet personally asked you to go on a mission to some strange and exotic place, would you go? You would probably make every effort to go. But what about paying tithing? What about doing your home teaching? We show our love for the Savior by doing the many small acts of faith, devotion, and kindness to others that define our character.

Author: James E. Faust
Title: Some Great Thing
Where: Ensign, Nov. 2001, 48

Goes along with this:

What you have done is a very good thing. Now go home, walk across the street, and serve your neighbor

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If You Look You Are Not a Missionary!

If you notice it [pornography] I suppose you are a man. However if you look you are not a missionary!

Author: David McQueen
Title: President of the Ukraine Donetsk Mission 1998-2001

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That Was a Life-Changing Event

I tested the promise that it contained. That was a life-changing event. After that, I never set the book aside.

Author: Boyd K. Packer
Title: The Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ
Where: Ensign, Nov 2001, 62

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You Cannot Do Wrong and Feel Right. It Is Impossible.

You cannot do wrong and feel right. It is impossible!

Author: Ezra Taft Benson
Title: To "the Rising Generation"
Where: New Era, June 1986, 4

Hard as Things Seem Today, They Will Be Better In the Next Day

Hard as things seem today, they will be better in the next day if you choose to serve the Lord this day with your whole heart.

Author: Henry B. Eyring
Title: This Day
Where: Ensign, May 2007, 89–91

Asking the Deacons Quorum President What I Should Teach

I saw that a few years ago in a deacons quorum where I had been called to teach the lessons... I knew that the teaching in that quorum—and in every quorum—was the charge of the president, who had keys. He was to sit in council with all of them. And so I have made a habit of seeking the counsel of the one with the charge from God by asking him, “What do you think I should teach? What should I try to accomplish?”

I learned to follow his counsel because I knew God had given him responsibility for the teaching of his quorum members. I knew one Sunday that God had honored the charge to a young quorum president. I was teaching the deacons. I noticed an empty chair. There was a recording device sitting on the chair, and I could see that it was running. After the class, a boy sitting next to the empty chair picked up the recorder. As he started to leave the room, I asked him why he had recorded our discussion. He smiled and said that another deacon had told him that he wouldn’t be in the quorum that day. He was taking the recorder to his friend at home so that he could listen to our lesson.

I had trusted in the responsibility given to a young quorum president, so help from heaven came.

Author: Henry B. Eyring
Title: A Priesthood Quorum
Where: Ensign, Nov 2006, 43–45

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Thinking Instead a Down Payment Will Do!

“Mighty” changing, however, is mighty hard work, a labor made more difficult by heeding the unflattering urges of the natural man. Too often our possibilities have been muted by the mundane. We are scarcely ready for the vaulting revelations. Imagine—a spirit portion of each of us is actually eternal and that we were with God in the beginning! (see D&C 93:29, 33).

Of course we cannot fully comprehend all this right now! Of course we cannot know the meaning of all things right now. But we can know, right now, that God knows us and loves us individually!

But, brothers and sisters, what keeps us from knowing and loving Him more? Our reluctance to give away all our sins—thinking, instead, a down payment will do.

Author: Neal A. Maxwell
Title: Encircled in the Arms of His Love
Where: Ensign, Nov 2002, 16

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Jesus Is Already Victorious!

In the churn of crises and the sinister swirl of global events, true disciples will maintain faith in a revealing, loving God and in His plan for redeeming His children, which plan is the why of all that God does! (see Moses 1:39). Furthermore, God’s character, as revealed to us, tells us that He has the cosmic capacity to ensure that He really is “able” to do His immense work (see 2 Ne. 27:20–21; Joseph Smith Translation, Isa. 29:22–23).

True disciples will also maintain faith in His atoning Son, Jesus Christ, and, by being “converted unto the Lord” (3 Ne. 1:22), will be steadily undergoing a happy and “mighty change” (see Mosiah 5:2; Alma 5:12–14).

Actually, brothers and sisters, Jesus is already victorious in the greatest battle anyway: “In the world ye shall have tribulation: but be of good cheer; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33; emphasis added).

Author: Neal A. Maxwell
Title: Encircled in the Arms of His Love
Where: Ensign, Nov 2002, 16

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Read to Your Children....And He Will Become Real to Them

Read to your children. Read the story of the Son of God....And there will grow in their hearts a great love for the Savior of the world, the only perfect man who walked the earth. He will become to them a very real living being, and His great atoning sacrifice, as they grow to manhood and womanhood, will take on a new and more glorious meaning in their lives”

Author: Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: Excerpts from Recent Addresses of President Gordon B. Hinckley
Where: Ensign, Apr 1998, 74

The Lord Knows How Many Miles We Have to Go Before We Sleep

Once when traveling with Elder and Sister Russell M. Nelson, we left our hotel in Bombay, India, to catch a plane for Karachi, Pakistan, and then on to Islamabad. When we got to the chaotic airport, our flight had been canceled. Impatiently, I said to the man at the airline counter, “What do you expect us to do, just give up and go back to the hotel?” He said with great dignity, “Sir, you never go back to the hotel.” We rummaged about the airport, found a flight, kept the appointment in Islamabad, and even had a night’s sleep. Sometimes life is like that: we are left to press forward and endure frustrated expectations—refusing to “go back to the hotel”! Otherwise, such “give-up-itis” will affect all seasons of life. Besides, the Lord knows how many miles we have to go “before [we] sleep”! (“Stopping by Woods on a Snowy Evening”).

Author: Neal A. Maxwell
Title: Remember How Merciful the Lord Hath Been
Where: Ensign, May 2004, 44

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The Great Genius of This Church is Work.

The great genius of this Church is work. Everybody works. You do not grow unless you work. Faith, testimony of the truth, is just like the muscle of my arm. If you use it, it grows strong. If you put it in a sling, it grows weak and flabby. We put people to work. We expect great things of them, and the marvelous and wonderful thing is they come through. They produce.

Author: Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: Inspirational Thoughts
Where: Ensign, Mar 2006, 2–6

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Too Many of Us Accept This as Entertainment

Evil that used to be localized and covered like a boil is now legalized and paraded like a banner. The most fundamental roots and bulwarks of civilization are questioned or attacked. Nations disavow their religious heritage. Marriage and family responsibilities are discarded as impediments to personal indulgence. The movies and magazines and television that shape our attitudes are filled with stories or images that portray the children of God as predatory beasts or, at best, as trivial creations pursuing little more than personal pleasure. And too many of us accept this as entertainment.

Author: Dallin H. Oaks
Title: Preparation for the Second Coming
Where: Ensign, May 2004, 7

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If It Alienates Us from the Holy Spirit, Then It Is Not for Us

The standard is clear. If something we think, see, hear, or do distances us from the Holy Ghost, then we should stop thinking, seeing, hearing, or doing that thing. If that which is intended to entertain, for example, alienates us from the Holy Spirit, then certainly that type of entertainment is not for us. Because the Spirit cannot abide that which is vulgar, crude, or immodest, then clearly such things are not for us. Because we estrange the Spirit of the Lord when we engage in activities we know we should shun, then such things definitely are not for us.

Author: David A. Bednar
Title: That We May Always Have His Spirit to Be with Us
Where: Ensign, May 2006, 28–31

Meaning in Home and Visiting Teaching

My father was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer when he was only 44. Our family was devastated. The tumor in his brain made simple tasks and abilities, like using silverware and buttoning up his shirts, very difficult for him. I remember trying to hold back the tears one morning as I watched him struggle to spoon cereal into his mouth.
One rainy weekday afternoon I discovered Dad having difficulty dressing himself in his Sunday suit. He couldn’t communicate very well, but I could see he was agitated. Finally I realized he was preparing to go home teaching. I worried that Dad would lose his balance and fall while out in such a condition, so I tried to discourage him from going. The family he was supposed to visit would surely understand, I told him. But he was determined, and go he did.

When Dad returned, his smile was radiant. His arms were full of fresh, homegrown plums—a gift from the family he had visited.

My father died soon after he made that visit. Whenever I don’t feel like going visiting teaching, I think of my dad—in pain and unable to even speak coherently—still trying hard to fulfill his calling and show others how much he cared about them. That reminds me of the real purpose of visiting teaching. And I think to myself, “If Dad could do it, so can I.”
Title: Lessons Learned from Fathers
Where: Ensign, Apr 2009, 36–39

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They Cannot Lift the Weight of Sin from Their Own Shoulders

But there is one need even hardened and proud people cannot believe they can meet for themselves. They cannot lift the weight of sin from their own shoulders. And even the most hardened may at times feel the prick of conscience and thus the need for forgiveness from God.

Author: Henry B. Eyring
Title: That He May Write upon Our Hearts
Where: Ensign, Aug 2009, 4–9
Why I Like It: Priesthood Holders (HT) hold the keys to the ministering of angels and the gospel of repentance. They are sent to the down trodden to lift the weight of sin from their shoulders."

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If Everything in Life Counted on It, Because in Fact Everything in Life Does Count on It

Let us work a little harder at the responsibility we have as parents. The home is the basic unit of society. The family is the basic organization of the Church.

There is too much of criticism and faultfinding with anger and raised voices. The pressures we feel each day are tremendous. Husbands come home from their employment each day tired and short-tempered. Unfortunately, most of the wives work. They too face a serious challenge that may be more costly than it is worth. Children are left to seek their own entertainment, and much of it is not good.

My brothers and sisters, we must work at our responsibility as parents as if everything in life counted on it, because in fact everything in life does count on it.

If we fail in our homes, we fail in our lives. No man is truly successful who has failed in his home.

Author: Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: Each a Better Person
Where: Ensign, Nov 2002, 99

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If You Don't Pay the Price That Is Needed for Success, You Will Pay the Price of Failure

If you don’t pay the price that is needed for success, you will pay the price of failure. Preparation, work, study, and service are required to achieve and find happiness. Disobedience and lack of preparation carry a terrible price tag. As priesthood holders of this Church...we are the possessors and custodians of these commanding powers which can and do roll back the power of Satan on the earth.

Author: James E. Faust
Title: The Devil’s Throat
Where: Ensign, May 2003, 51

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We Have the Doctrine, Programs, People, and Power to Save Souls

We have the doctrines of truth. We have the programs. We have the people. We have the power. Our mission is more than meetings. Our service is to save souls.

Author: Thomas S. Monson
Title: Sugar Beets and the Worth of a Soul
Where: Ensign, Jul 2009, 4–7

Romatic Love of Youth Will Be Preserved

I have wondered about the patterns of love and family association, the romantic love of youth. Will that be preserved? Oh, yes. That will not only be preserved but glorified and augmented.

Author: Boyd K. Packer
Title: Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting: Building Up a Righteous Posterity February 9, 2008

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Many Good People Seek Them. You Have Them.

Young men, these standards you are privileged to keep are truly a pearl of great price. The world does not understand them. Many good people seek them. You have them.

Author: Earl C. Tingey
Title: For the Strength of Youth
Where: Ensign, May 2004, 49

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Pornography Strangles the Life Out of Relationships

Pornography also inflicts mortal wounds on our most precious personal relationships. In his talk to men of the priesthood last October, President Hinckley quoted the letter of a woman who asked him to warn Church members that pornography “has the effect of damaging hearts and souls to their very depths, strangling the life out of relationships” (Liahona and Ensign, Nov. 2004, 60).

Author: Dallin H. Oaks
Title: Pornography
Where: Ensign, May 2005, 87

Fathers Rise Up and Perform Your Role

There’s another aspect of that, and that is to challenge fathers to take the leadership. The family proclamation asks them to lead out. Fathers should call their families around them for family prayer. Fathers should make sure that family home evenings are held. Sometimes that’s best done by delegating to a mother the planning; she may be a lot better at it than the father. But the Lord holds the father responsible. That’s why we read in the family proclamation that “fathers are to preside.”

Fathers, rise up and perform your role.

Author: Dallin H. Oaks
Title: Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting: Building Up a Righteous Posterity February 9, 2008

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Priesthood Blessings are the Great Equalizer

In Kirtland, when the remaining priesthood keys were restored, the Lord said, “This is the beginning of the blessing which shall be poured out upon the heads of my people.” 1 I am grateful for the outpouring of blessings that has come to each of us through the priesthood of God. By the power of the priesthood, this world and everything in it, including each of us, were created. The priesthood is intricately woven into who we are and have ever been. 2 As sons and daughters of God, we each have unique responsibilities and roles, and through the blessings of the priesthood, we are all given equal partnership, gifts, and blessings.

Last fall our oldest granddaughter was baptized and confirmed a member of the Church. After she received the Holy Ghost, her newest sister was blessed and given a name. The following month, another new granddaughter was named and blessed. Since then I have reflected often on the privileges those little girls enjoy because the priesthood of God has been restored.

I hope our granddaughters and grandsons grow up knowing that they are not and have never been third-party observers of the priesthood. The blessings of the priesthood, which “are available to men and women alike,” 3 are woven in and through and around their lives. Each of them is blessed by sacred ordinances, and each of them can enjoy the blessings of spiritual gifts by virtue of the priesthood.

All faithful members of the Lord’s Church are equally blessed by priesthood ordinances. The first ordinance 4 in a child’s life usually takes place when he or she is a baby and is given a name and a blessing. When children reach the age of accountability, they are baptized. There is not a separate baptism for boys and girls. The same baptismal ordinance is performed for a young girl and a young boy, who are baptized in the same font. When those children are confirmed and receive the Holy Ghost, the same power is given to each of them. They qualify for the help of that holy power through their faithfulness and not in any other way.

As members of the Church, we are equal before the Lord as we partake of the sacrament. Through our faith in Jesus Christ and the power of His Atonement made possible because of that ordinance, we can all repent and become better.

Each of us is equally entitled to a priesthood blessing when we are sick or need added support from the Lord in our lives. A young woman who desires a patriarchal blessing is equally entitled to know her lineage and potential as a young man her same age. The blessings that come to each of them through Abraham are powerful and important.

We teach all young men and young women to prepare to go to the temple so they can “receive the blessings of [the] fathers that [they] may be entitled to the highest blessings of the priesthood.” 5 When one of my nieces received her temple endowment a few months ago, she exclaimed with joy: “I made it! All of my life I have been taught about preparing for the temple, and I made it!”

Every man and woman who is willing to serve the Lord and can qualify for a temple recommend makes covenants of obedience and sacrifice. Each is endowed “with power from on high.” 6

Every elder and sister who receives a mission call is set apart to do the Lord’s work, and each is given authority to preach the gospel of Christ.

A man and a woman who enter into the full partnership of a covenant temple marriage share equally in the blessings of that covenant if they are faithful. 7 The Lord has said that their covenant will be in force after this life, and together they are promised power and exaltation. 8

President Ezra Taft Benson said, “When our children obey the Lord and go to the temple to receive their blessings and enter into the marriage covenant, they enter into the same order of the priesthood that God instituted in the very beginning with father Adam.” 9

I saw the power of priesthood blessings when I visited a family where the young father lay dying. Surrounding him were his wife and beautiful daughters. On each wall of that room was at least one picture of the family or the temple. The mother testified of their blessings when she said: “We are empowered and protected by our covenants. Our family will endure forever. The Lord is watching over us, and we are not alone.” All faithful members are equally blessed by the outpouring of blessings they receive through priesthood ordinances.

Because the priesthood has been restored, we also share equally in the blessings of spiritual gifts. The Lord gives us these gifts for our own benefit 10 and to help each other. 11

Moroni said that “there are different ways that these gifts are administered; but it is the same God who worketh all in all; and they are given by the manifestations of the Spirit of God unto men, to profit them.

“For behold, to one is given by the Spirit of God, that he may teach the word of wisdom;

“And to another, that he may teach the word of knowledge by the same Spirit;

“And to another, exceedingly great faith; and to another, the gifts of healing by the same Spirit.” 12

As I have tried to learn Spanish and remember Portuguese (which I knew as a child), I have prayed for and felt the help of the Lord as I communicate in those tongues. I have heard other Church leaders and missionaries bear powerful testimonies in languages they have barely studied. I know people who are given the spiritual gift of a believing spirit. When they hear the gospel, it rings true in their hearts. I know others who are given the gift of wisdom or the ability to use knowledge in righteous ways. Some have the ability to work miracles, some are gifted healers, and others have great discernment. 13

When I was a little girl, I often experienced serious illness. My father was always willing and worthy to use the priesthood power he held to bless me. But I have also felt that my mother’s special gifts contributed to my healing. She was truly gifted in her ability to minister to my needs and help me get well. Her great faith that the Lord would lead her to answers about medical treatment was a comfort to me. How blessed I was to have two parents who lovingly used their spiritual gifts.

President Wilford Woodruff said that “it is the privilege of every man and woman in this kingdom to enjoy the spirit of prophecy, which is the Spirit of God; and to the faithful it reveals such things as are necessary for their comfort and consolation, and to guide them in their daily duties.” 14

The blessings of the priesthood make it possible for every person who is set apart to serve in any office in the Lord’s Church to receive “authority, responsibility, and blessings connected with the office.” 15

Spiritual gifts are numerous and varied and come to us as we seek them and use them appropriately. We enjoy them because of the power of the Holy Ghost, which is in and around and woven through our lives. 16

Through the blessings of the priesthood, the Lord shows us that He is “no respecter of persons.” 17 In my travels, I usually have the chance to visit members in their homes. Some of those homes are very basic dwellings. At first I would say to myself: “Why am I blessed with a house that has electricity and plumbing when this family does not even have water near their home? Does the Lord love them less than He loves me?”

Then one day I sat in a temple next to a sister who lives in a humble house. I spent two hours at her side. I looked often into her beautiful eyes and saw the love of the Lord in them. As we finished our work in the temple, I had a powerful realization. In all of the eternal blessings, in all of our most important privileges and opportunities, we were equals. I had been “baptized unto repentance,” 18 and so had she. I had spiritual gifts, and so did she. I had the opportunity to repent, and so did she. I had received the Holy Ghost, and so had she. I had received temple ordinances, and so had she. If both of us had left this world together at that moment, we would have arrived equal before the Lord in our blessings and potential.

Priesthood blessings are the great equalizer. Those blessings are the same for men and women, for boys and girls; they are the same for married and single, rich and poor, for the intellectual and the illiterate, for the well-known and the obscure.

I am grateful that through the infinite fairness and love of God, all men and women were given equal partnership, gifts, blessings, and potential through priesthood ordinances and spiritual gifts. Because of the priesthood, which is woven in and around and through our lives, every power, every covenant we need to do our life’s work and walk back to our heavenly home has been poured out upon our heads. In the name of Jesus Christ, amen.

Author: Julie B. Beck
Title: An Outpouring of Blessings
Where: Ensign, May 2006, 11–13

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Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood - Explained

The late Elder Delbert L. Stapley of the Quorum of the Twelve once observed: "There are two main requirements of this oath and covenant. First is faithfulness, which denotes obedience to the laws of God and connotes true observance of all gospel standards. . . .
"The second requirement . . . is to magnify one's calling. To magnify is to honor, to exalt and glorify, and cause to be held in greater esteem or respect. It also means to increase the importance of, to enlarge and make greater."⁸
The Prophet Joseph Smith was once asked, "Brother Joseph, you frequently urge that we magnify our callings. What does this mean?" He is said to have replied, "To magnify a calling is to hold it up in dignity and importance, that the light of heaven may shine through one's performance to the gaze of other men. An elder magnifies his calling when he learns what his duties as an elder are and then performs them."
Author: Thomas S. Monson
Title: Our Sacred Priesthood Trust
Where: Ensign, May 2006, 54–57

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My Private Life vs. My Professional Life

Danger lurks when we divide ourselves with expressions such as “my private life,” “my professional life,” or even “my best behavior.” Living life in separate compartments can lead to internal conflict and exhausting tension.... Inner peace comes only as we maintain the integrity of truth in all aspects of our lives.

Author: Russell M. Nelson
Title: Living by Scriptural Guidance
Where: Ensign, Nov 2000, 16–18

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The Eye is More Perfect Than Any Camera Ever Invented

With its 107 million cells, connected to the brain by over 1 million neurons, the eye is more perfect than any camera ever invented. It caused Charles Darwin to humbly admit, “That the eye with all its inimitable contrivances … could have been formed by natural selection, seems, I freely confess, absurd in the highest sense.”1

Author: Douglas L. Callister
Title: Our God Truly Is God
Where: Ensign, Jan 2008, 64–68
Why I liked it: Simply a great article I read in the Ensign.

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Those Heroric Opportunites are Few and Far Between

We can live as a Zion people, if we wish to. Will it be hard? Of course it will, for the waves of Babylonian culture crash incessantly against our shores. Will it take courage? Of course it will.

We have always been entranced by tales of courage of those who faced fearsome odds and overcame. Courage is the basis and foundation for all of our other virtues; the lack of courage diminishes every other virtue that we have. If we are to have Zion in the midst of Babylon, we will need courage.

Have you ever imagined that, when it came to the test, you would perform some act of bravery? I know I did, as a boy. I imagined that someone was in peril and that, at the risk of my own life, I saved him. Or in some dangerous confrontation with a fearsome opponent, I had the courage to overcome. Such are our youthful imaginations!

Almost 70 years of life have taught me that those heroic opportunities are few and far between, if they come at all.

But the opportunities to stand for that which is right—when the pressures are subtle and when even our friends are encouraging us to give in to the idolatry of the times—those come along far more frequently. No photographer is there to record the heroism, no journalist will splash it across the newspaper’s front page. Just in the quiet contemplation of our conscience, we will know that we faced the test of courage: Zion or Babylon?

Make no mistake about it: much of Babylon, if not most of it, is evil. And we will not have the pricking of our thumbs to warn us. But wave after wave is coming, crashing against our shores. Will it be Zion, or will it be Babylon?

If Babylon is the city of the world, Zion is the city of God. The Lord has said of Zion: “Zion cannot be built up unless it is by the principles of the law of the celestial kingdom” (D&C 105:5) and, “For this is Zion—the pure in heart” (D&C 97:21).

Wherever we are, whatever city we may live in, we can build our own Zion by the principles of the celestial kingdom and ever seek to become the pure in heart. Zion is the beautiful, and the Lord holds it in His own hands. Our homes can be places which are a refuge and protection, as Zion is.

We do not need to become as puppets in the hands of the culture of the place and time. We can be courageous and can walk in the Lord’s paths and follow His footsteps. And if we do, we will be called Zion, and we will be the people of the Lord.

Author: David R. Stone
Title: Zion in the Midst of Babylon
Where: Ensign, May 2006, 90–93

Priesthood Means Service; Bearing the Priesthood I Will Serve

Another lesson I learned was the joy of service to others. I have spoken before of how my father, who was the bishop of our ward, had me load up my wagon and deliver needed food and supplies to the homes of those families who were in need. He wasn’t alone in his desire to reach out to those in distress.

Seventy-five years ago, Bishop William F. Perschon presided over the Fourth Ward of the Pioneer Stake in Salt Lake City. He was a German immigrant, a convert to the Church, and he spoke with a thick accent. He was a fine businessman, but what most distinguished him was his great compassion for others.

Each week during priesthood meeting, Bishop Perschon had the Aaronic Priesthood bearers recite the following phrase: “Priesthood means service; bearing the priesthood, I will serve.”

It wasn’t merely a slogan. When widows needed assistance, Bishop Perschon and the Aaronic Priesthood were there to help. When a chapel was being built, Bishop Perschon and the Aaronic Priesthood were there. When the sugar beets and potatoes at the welfare farm needed weeding or harvesting, Bishop Perschon and the Aaronic Priesthood were there.

Later, William Perschon served in the stake presidency, where he influenced a young bishop by the name of Thomas S. Monson. In the 1950s, Bishop Perschon was called to preside over the Swiss-Austrian Mission and played an instrumental role in building the first “overseas” temple, located in Bern, Switzerland.

You could scarcely think of Bishop Perschon without thinking of his concern and compassion for others and his untiring commitment to teach that same quality to others. Of the young men in the Aaronic Priesthood over whom he presided as bishop, 29 went on to become bishops themselves. Ten served in stake presidencies. Five became mission presidents, three accepted calls as temple presidents, and two served as General Authorities.2

That is the power of a great leader, brethren. That is the power of service.

Author: Joseph B. Wirthlin
Title: Life’s Lessons Learned
Where: Ensign, May 2007, 45–47

He Knows The Way Because He Is The Way

I testify that the Savior’s Atonement lifts from us not only the burden of our sins but also the burden of our disappointments and sorrows, our heartaches and our despair. 14 From the beginning, trust in such help was to give us both a reason and a way to improve, an incentive to lay down our burdens and take up our salvation. There can and will be plenty of difficulties in life. Nevertheless, the soul that comes unto Christ, who knows His voice and strives to do as He did, finds a strength, as the hymn says, “beyond [his] own.” 15 The Savior reminds us that He has “graven [us] upon the palms of [His] hands.” 16 Considering the incomprehensible cost of the Crucifixion and Atonement, I promise you He is not going to turn His back on us now. When He says to the poor in spirit, “Come unto me,” He means He knows the way out and He knows the way up. He knows it because He has walked it. He knows the way because He is the way.

Author: Jeffrey R. Holland
Title: Broken Things to Mend
Where: Ensign, May 2006, 69–71

An High Priest of Good Things to Come

Yet in my mind’s eye, for just an instant, I thought perhaps I saw on that side road an old car with a devoted young wife and two little children making the best of a bad situation there. Just ahead of them I imagined that I saw a young fellow walking toward Kanarraville, with plenty of distance still ahead of him. His shoulders seemed to be slumping a little, the weight of a young father’s fear evident in his pace. In the scriptural phrase his hands did seem to “hang down.” 15 In that imaginary instant, I couldn’t help calling out to him: “Don’t give up, boy. Don’t you quit. You keep walking. You keep trying. There is help and happiness ahead—a lot of it—30 years of it now, and still counting. You keep your chin up. It will be all right in the end. Trust God and believe in good things to come.

Author: Jeffrey R. Holland
Title: An High Priest of Good Things to Come
Where: Ensign, Nov 1999, 36

I Had to Try

I always thought the moment of truth would come when I was older. But now, here I was, praying alone in the woods, just like Joseph had.

We sat huddled on the wet lawn in front of the Joseph Smith Monument in Sharon, Vermont, draped in ponchos and plastic garbage bags in a vain attempt to keep dry. We strained to hear the speaker over the sound of the rain, as he explained to us the final activity of the wilderness youth conference we were taking part in.

In a few minutes, we would be sent off to be alone in the woods. We were given a list of things to do, including self-evaluation and scripture reading. The last thing we were to do, however, was what really excited me. Alone in the woods, we were to kneel and pray aloud to our Heavenly Father and ask if the Church was true.

Earlier, the speaker had related to us a story about David O. McKay receiving his patriarchal blessing. President McKay was, at the time, a champion marble player, an activity which, the speaker pointed out, required quite a bit of skill. After the blessing, however, the patriarch told 13-year-old David that he had more important things to do than play marbles. The speaker now gave to us that same wise counsel. “Brothers and sisters,” he pleaded, “please, put away your marbles, and take advantage of this opportunity to find out for yourself if the Church is true.”

It was almost silent as we entered the woods and began to break up into smaller and smaller groups. I think everyone could sense, as I did, the importance of what was about to happen. I pulled my poncho over me and took out the worksheet and program we had been given to write on. To begin my solo experience, I sang all of the songs on the program. After completing the other activities, I came to the prayer.

I was excited to pray, but I was also nervous because I had always thought that I would find out whether or not the Church was true when I was older; I had always put it off. I had felt the Spirit before in fast and testimony meetings and when I received a testimony of the Book of Mormon, but I couldn’t honestly say that I knew the Church was true. What if I prayed and there was just nothing? What if, out here in the woods, kneeling and praying aloud got me nothing but wet?

I decided that I’d never know unless I tried, so I knelt on the soggy leaves and bowed my head in prayer. I spoke in a whisper, fearful that someone might eavesdrop, and I asked very simply to know if I really belonged to God’s true church. I finished my prayer and remained kneeling to await an answer.

At first, I received an impression that I already knew the truth of those things. But I figured that must have been my own thoughts, so I prayed again.

“You already know,” came my answer, along with the warm and calm feeling of the Spirit that enveloped me with peace and joy.

My heart quickened, and I couldn’t hold back the smile that soon covered my face. I realized that through my seminary and personal study, I had built my testimony step by step, precept upon precept, so slowly that I didn’t even realize I had it until I put it to the test.

Now I knew that the Church was true and I could put away, or at least put aside, the less important things in my life and get on with my spiritual growth. I felt so relieved, so content, and so grateful that the Lord had taken the time to let me know personally that the Church was true. Already kneeling, I bowed my head again and gave a prayer of thanks to the Lord for his witness to me that, although I hadn’t recognized it before, I already knew.

Author: David Hersam
Title: I Had to Try
Where: New Era, Aug 1992, 38

Replace Some Leisure Activities With Temple Service...Daytime Temple Attendance

“Encouraging Temple Worthiness and Preparation,” Ensign, June 2003, 76

The First Presidency sent the following letter, dated 11 March 2003, to priesthood leaders to be read in sacrament meeting:

We are grateful for the increased availability of temples worldwide and invite adult members to have a current temple recommend and visit the temple more often. Where time and circumstances permit, members are encouraged to replace some leisure activities with temple service.

“Millions of our ancestors have lived upon the earth without receiving the benefit of temple ordinances. We particularly encourage newer members and youth of the Church who are 12 years of age and older to live worthy to assist in this great work by serving as proxies for baptisms and confirmations.

“We request that local priesthood leaders encourage temple-worthy members to consider ways in which more frequent daytime temple attendance could occur. Home and visiting teachers may wish to arrange transportation for those who need it, particularly during the daytime.

Author: The First Presidency
Title: Encouraging Temple Worthiness and Preparation
Where: Ensign, June 2003, 76

Highest Priority to Family Prayer, Family Home Evening

We counsel parents and children to give highest priority to family prayer, family home evening, gospel study and instruction, and wholesome family activities. However worthy and appropriate other demands or activities may be, they must not be permitted to displace the divinely appointed duties that only parents and families can adequately perform.

Author: The First Presidency
Title: “Policies, Announcements, and Appointments,” Keeping Children Close to the Church
Where: Ensign, June 1999, 80

A Testimony Is Not a Work That Is Ever Completed And Concluded.

A testimony is not a work that is ever completed and concluded. It is a process of continuous development. Nourishing and strengthening our testimonies is essential to our spiritual survival.

Author: Helvécio Martins
Title: The Value of a Testimony
Where: Friend, Jun 1991, inside front cover

North Star

The great dipper, or Ursa Major, with the pointers ranging nearly towards the North Star. Moral, the lost may find themselves by the Priesthood.

Author: James E. Talmage
Title: The House of the Lord

If We Desire Fulness, We Cannot Hold Back Part

In pondering and pursuing consecration, understandably we tremble inwardly at what may be required. Yet the Lord has said consolingly, “My grace is sufficient for you” (D&C 17:8). Do we really believe Him? He has also promised to make weak things strong (see Ether 12:27). Are we really willing to submit to that process? Yet if we desire fulness, we cannot hold back part!

Author:Neal A. Maxwell
Title: Consecrate Thy Performance
Where: Ensign, May 2002, 36

We May Have Known the Answer for a Long Time and May Need Resolve More Than Response

In pondering and pursuing consecration, understandably we tremble inwardly at what may be required. Yet the Lord has said consolingly, “My grace is sufficient for you” (D&C 17:8). Do we really believe Him? He has also promised to make weak things strong (see Ether 12:27). Are we really willing to submit to that process? Yet if we desire fulness, we cannot hold back part!

Having our wills increasingly swallowed up by the will of the Father actually means an enhanced individuality, stretched and more capable of receiving “all that [God] hath” (D&C 84:38). Besides, how could we be entrusted with His “all” until our wills are much more like His? Nor could His “all” be fully appreciated by the partially committed.

Frankly, it is our prospective selves we betray by holding back whatever the “part.” No need therefore to ask, “Lord, is it I?” (Matt. 26:22). Rather, let us inquire about our individual stumbling blocks, “Lord, is it this?” We may have known the answer for a long time and may need resolve more than His response.

Author:Neal A. Maxwell
Title: Consecrate Thy Performance
Where: Ensign, May 2002, 36

Grab Hold...Diversity, Tolerance, Choice

Now words can be used as weapons against you. If they throw the word diversity at you, grab hold of it and say, “I am already diverse, and I intend to stay diverse.” If the word is tolerance, grab that one, too, saying, “I expect you to be tolerant of my lifestyle—obedience, integrity, abstinence, repentance.” If the word is choice, tell them you choose good, old-fashioned morality. You choose to be a worthy husband or wife, a worthy parent.

Author: Boyd K. Packer
Title: The Standard of Truth Has Been Erected
Where: Ensign, Nov 2003, 24
Scripture:
Why I liked it:

Time Have Not Really Changed. Prayer Continues to Provide Power--Spiritual Power.

Now, if we have hesitated in supplicating God our Eternal Father simply because we have not as yet made the attempt to pray, we certainly can take courage from the example of the Prophet Joseph. But let us remember, as did the Prophet, our prayer must be offered in faith, nothing wavering.

It was by faith, nothing wavering, that the brother of Jared saw the finger of God touch the stones in response to his plea.9

It was by faith, nothing wavering, that Noah erected an ark in obedience to the command from God.10

It was by faith, nothing wavering, that Abraham was willing to offer up his beloved Isaac as a sacrifice.11

It was by faith, nothing wavering, that Moses led the children of Israel out of Egypt and through the Red Sea.12

It was by faith, nothing wavering, that Joshua and his followers brought the walls of Jericho tumbling down.13

It was by faith, nothing wavering, that Joseph saw God our Eternal Father and Jesus Christ, His Son.14

Now, the skeptic may say that these mighty accounts of faith occurred long ago, that times have changed.

Have times really changed? Don’t we today, as always, love our children and want them to live righteously? Don’t we today, as always, need God’s divine, protecting care? Don’t we today, as always, continue to be at His mercy and in His debt for the very life He has given us?

Times have not really changed. Prayer continues to provide power—spiritual power. Prayer continues to provide peace—spiritual peace.

Author: Thomas S. Monson
Title: Come unto Him in Prayer and Faith
Where: Ensign, Mar 2009, 4–9

Our Team Wins

We are surrounded by challenges on all sides (see 2 Cor. 4:8–9). But with faith in God, we trust the blessings He has promised those who keep His commandments. We have faith in the future, and we are preparing for that future. To borrow a metaphor from the familiar world of athletic competitions, we do not know when this game will end, and we do not know the final score, but we do know that when the game finally ends, our team wins. We will continue to go forward “till the purposes of God shall be accomplished, and the Great Jehovah shall say the work is done” (History of the Church, 4:540).

Author: Dallin H. Oaks
Title: Preparation for the Second Coming
Where: Ensign, May 2004, 7

If We Become Casual in Our Study of the Scriptures , We Will Become Casual in Our Prayers

We can and must go often and carefully to the word of God. If we become casual in our study of the scriptures, we will become casual in our prayers.

Author: Henry B. Eyring
Title: Prayer
Where: Ensign, Nov 2001, 15

Increasing Your Power to Teach the Gospel Qualifies You In This World or in the World to Come to Help Heavenly Father in Gathering His Children

There is another thing you can do. You can study the word of God, not for yourself alone but to be an emissary of the Lord Jesus Christ to all the world. When you increase your power to teach the gospel, you are qualifying to help Heavenly Father in gathering His children. As you do that, another blessing will come. Should the need ever come in family life in this world, or in the world to come, to draw back lost sheep, you will have received more power than you may now recognize.

Author: Henry B. Eyring
Title: Faith and the Oath and Covenant of the Priesthood
Where: Ensign, May 2008, 61–64

Withoug Self-Reliance One Cannot Excercise the Innate Desires to Serve

Can we see how critical self-reliance becomes when looked upon as the prerequisite to service, when we also know service is what godhood is all about? Without self-reliance one cannot exercise these innate desires to serve. How can we give if there is nothing there? Food for the hungry cannot come from empty shelves. Money to assist the needy cannot come from an empty purse. Support and understanding cannot come from the emotionally starved. Teaching cannot come from the unlearned. And most important of all, spiritual guidance cannot come from the spiritually weak

Author: Marion G. Romney
Title: The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance
Where: Ensign, Mar 2009, 61–65

Service is the Very Fiber of Exalted Life

It has always seemed somewhat paradoxical to me that we must constantly have the Lord command us to do those things which are for our own good. The Lord has said, “He that findeth his life shall lose it: and he that loseth his life for my sake shall find it” (Matthew 10:39). We lose our life by serving and lifting others. By so doing we experience the only true and lasting happiness. Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made.

Oh, for the glorious day when these things all come naturally because of the purity of our hearts. In that day there will be no need for a commandment, because we will have experienced for ourselves that we are truly happy only when we are engaged in unselfish service.

Author: Marion G. Romney
Title: The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance
Where: Ensign, Mar 2009, 61–65

Self-Reliance

Many programs have been set up by well-meaning individuals to aid those who are in need. However, many of these programs are designed with the shortsighted objective of “helping people,” as opposed to “helping people help themselves.” Our efforts must always be directed toward making able-bodied people self-reliant.....The practice of coveting and receiving unearned benefits has now become so fixed in our society that even men of wealth, possessing the means to produce more wealth, are expecting the government to guarantee them a profit. Elections often turn on what the candidates promise to do for voters from government funds. This practice, if universally accepted and implemented in any society, will make slaves of its citizens.

We cannot afford to become wards of the government, even if we have a legal right to do so. It requires too great a sacrifice of self-respect and political, temporal, and spiritual independence.

In some countries it is extremely difficult to separate earned from unearned benefits. However, the principle is the same in all countries: We should strive to become self-reliant and not depend on others for our existence.

Governments are not the only guilty parties. We fear many parents are making “gullible gulls” out of their children with their permissiveness and their doling out of family resources. In fact, the actions of parents in this area can be more devastating than any government program.

Bishops and other priesthood leaders can be guilty of making “gullible gulls” out of their ward members. Some members become financially or emotionally dependent on their bishops. A dole is a dole whatever its source. All of our Church and family actions should be directed toward making our children and members self-reliant. We can’t always control government programs, but we can control our own homes and congregations. If we will teach these principles and live them, we can do much to counter the negative effects which may exist in government programs in any country.

Author: Marion G. Romney
Title: The Celestial Nature of Self-Reliance
Where: Ensign, Mar 2009, 61–65

Only the Gospel is Constanly Relevant, and the Substitue Things Won't Work

By the way, do not expect the world’s solutions to the world’s problems to be very effective. Such solutions often resemble what C. S. Lewis wrote about those who go dashing back and forth with fire extinguishers in times of flood (see The Screwtape Letters [1959], 117–18). Only the gospel is constantly relevant, and the substitute things won’t work.

Author: Neal A. Maxwell
Title: Remember How Merciful the Lord Hath Been
Where: Ensign, May 2004, 44

Brethren Who Lead the Church are In Touch

Not often but over the years some sources have suggested that the Brethren are out of touch in their declarations, that they don’t know the issues, that some of their policies and practices are out-of-date, not relevant to our times.

As the least of those who have been sustained by you to witness the guidance of this Church firsthand, I say with all the fervor of my soul that never in my personal or professional life have I ever associated with any group who are so in touch, who know so profoundly the issues facing us, who look so deeply into the old, stay so open to the new, and weigh so carefully, thoughtfully, and prayerfully everything in between. I testify that the grasp this body of men and women have of moral and societal issues exceeds that of any think tank or brain trust of comparable endeavor of which I know anywhere on the earth. I bear personal witness of how thoroughly good they are, of how hard they work, and how humbly they live. It is no trivial matter for this Church to declare to the world prophecy, seership, and revelation, but we do declare it. It is true light shining in a dark world, and it shines from these proceedings.

Author: Jeffrey R. Holland
Title: Prophets in the Land Again
Where: Ensign, Nov 2006, 104–7

Put One Foot in Front of the Other

Recently, I read about Erik Weihenmayer, a 33-year-old man who dreamed of climbing Mount Everest, a feat that defies many of the world’s most expert climbers. In fact, nearly 90 percent of those who attempt the climb never reach the summit. Temperatures sink lower than 30 degrees below zero. Besides extreme cold, 100-mile-per-hour winds, deadly crevasses, and avalanches, the climber must overcome the challenges of high altitude, lack of oxygen, and perhaps unsanitary food and water. Since 1953, at least 165 climbers have died in the attempt to scale the 29,000-foot-high summit.

In spite of the risks, hundreds line up each year to make the ascent, Erik among them. But there is an important difference between Erik and every other climber who had attempted to ascend before: Erik is totally blind.

When Erik was 13 years of age, he lost his sight as a result of a hereditary disease of the retina. Although he could no longer do many of the things he wanted to, he was determined not to waste his life feeling depressed and useless. He then began to stretch his limits.

At age 16 he discovered rock climbing. By feeling the face of the rock, he found handholds and footholds that allowed him to climb. Sixteen years later, he began his ascent up Mount Everest. The story of his climb, as you might imagine, was filled with many harrowing and life-threatening challenges. But Erik eventually scaled the south summit and took his place with those who had gone before him, one of the few to stand on top of the highest mountain on the face of the earth.

When asked how he did it, Erik said, “I just kept thinking … keep your mind focused. Don’t let all that doubt and fear and frustration sort of get in the way.” Then, most importantly, he said, “Just take each day step by step.” 1

Yes, Erik conquered Everest by simply putting one foot in front of the other. And he continued to do this until he reached the top.

Like Erik, we may have obstacles that would hold us back. We may even make excuses why we can’t do what we want to do. Perhaps when we are tempted to justify our own lack of achievement, we can remember Erik, who, in spite of having lost his sight, accomplished what many thought was impossible simply by continuing to put one foot in front of the other.

Author: Joseph B. Wirthlin
Title: One Step after Another
Where: Ensign, Nov 2001, 25