The use of medical science is not at odds with our prayers of faith and our reliance on priesthood blessings.

The use of medical science is not at odds with our prayers of faith and our reliance on priesthood blessings. When a person requested a priesthood blessing, Brigham Young would ask, “Have you used any remedies?” To those who said no because “we wish the Elders to lay hands upon us, and we have faith that we shall be healed,” President Young replied: “That is very inconsistent according to my faith. If we are sick, and ask the Lord to heal us, and to do all for us that is necessary to be done, according to my understanding of the Gospel of salvation, I might as well ask the Lord to cause my wheat and corn to grow, without my plowing the ground and casting in the seed. It appears consistent to me to apply every remedy that comes within the range of my knowledge, and [then] to ask my Father in Heaven … to sanctify that application to the healing of my body.”

Dallin H. Oaks, "Healing the Sick", Ensign, May 2010, 47–50

Whether you decide to push a key on your computer which will take you to pornography can make all the difference in your life.

I speak of the results of choice. All of our choices have consequences, some of which have little or nothing to do with our eternal salvation and others of which have everything to do with it.

Whether you wear a green T-shirt or a blue one makes no difference in the long run. However, whether you decide to push a key on your computer which will take you to pornography can make all the difference in your life. You will have just taken a step off the straight, safe path. If a friend pressures you to drink alcohol or to try drugs and you succumb to the pressure, you are taking a detour from which you may not return. Brethren, whether we are 12-year-old deacons or mature high priests, we are susceptible. May we keep our eyes, our hearts, and our determination focused on that goal which is eternal and worth any price we will have to pay, regardless of the sacrifice we must make to reach it.

No temptation, no pressure, no enticing can overcome us unless we allow such. If we make the wrong choice, we have no one to blame but ourselves. President Brigham Young once expressed this truth by relating it to himself. Said he: “If Brother Brigham shall take a wrong track, and be shut out of the Kingdom of heaven, no person will be to blame but Brother Brigham. I am the only being in heaven, earth, or hell, that can be blamed.” He continued: “This will equally apply to every Latter-day Saint. Salvation is an individual operation.”

The Apostle Paul has assured us, “There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."

The Three R's of Choice, Thomas S. Monson, October 2010 General Conference

Why Are We Here?

It may be beneficial to search our own hearts. For example, we might ask ourselves, why do we serve in the Church of Jesus Christ?

We could even ask, why are we here at this meeting today?

I suppose if I were to answer that question on a superficial level, I could say that I’m here because President Monson assigned me to speak.

So I really didn’t have a choice.

Besides that, my wife, whom I love very much, expects me to attend. And how can I say no to her?

But we all know there are better reasons for attending our meetings and living our lives as committed disciples of Jesus Christ.

I am here because I desire with all my heart to follow my Master, Jesus Christ. I yearn to do all that He asks of me in this great cause. I hunger to be edified by the Holy Spirit and hear the voice of God as He speaks through His ordained servants. I am here to become a better man, to be lifted by the inspiring examples of my brothers and sisters in Christ, and to learn how to more effectively minister to those in need.

In short, I am here because I love my Heavenly Father and His Son, Jesus Christ.

I am sure this is your reason too. This is why we are willing to make sacrifices and not just declarations to follow the Savior. This is why we bear with honor His holy priesthood.

On Being Genuine, Dieter F. Uchtdorf, April 2015 General Conference

We are waging a war with sin, my brothers and sisters, but we need not despair. It is a war we can and will win.

The world can at times be a frightening place in which to live. The moral fabric of society seems to be unraveling at an alarming speed. None—whether young or old or in-between—is exempt from exposure to those things which have the potential to drag us down and destroy us. Our youth, our precious youth, in particular, face temptations we can scarcely comprehend. The adversary and his hosts seem to be working nonstop to cause our downfall.

We are waging a war with sin, my brothers and sisters, but we need not despair. It is a war we can and will win. Our Father in Heaven has given us the tools we need in order to do so. He is at the helm. We have nothing to fear. He is the God of light. He is the God of hope. I testify that He loves us—each one.

Looking Back and Moving Forward, April 2008 General Conference, Thomas S. Monson

I Hope You Understand the Importance of Visiting the Lonely, Sick, or Discouraged

I would hope that all of our young adults, whether or not you served full-time missions, understand the importance of visiting with people who are lonely, sick, or discouraged—not only as an assignment but also because of the genuine love you have for Heavenly Father and His children.

The Greatest Generation of Young Adults,  M. Russell Ballard, April 2015 General Conference

If the grim realities you are facing at this time seem dark and heavy and almost unbearable, remember that in the soul-wrenching darkness of Gethsemane

If the grim realities you are facing at this time seem dark and heavy and almost unbearable, remember that in the soul-wrenching darkness of Gethsemane and the incomprehensible torture and pain of Calvary, the Savior accomplished the Atonement, which resolves the most terrible burdens that can occur in this life. He did it for you, and He did it for me. He did it because He loves us and because He obeys and loves His Father. We will be rescued from death—even from the depths of the sea.


April 2015 General Conference, Quentin L. Cook,  The Lord Is My Light

Our Protections In This Life, Our Refuge From the Storm

Our protections in this life and for eternity will be in individual and family righteousness, Church ordinances, and following the Savior. This is our refuge from the storm. For those who feel they are alone, you can stand resolutely in righteousness knowing that the Atonement will protect and bless you beyond your ability to fully understand.
April 2015 General Conference, Quentin L. Cook,  The Lord Is My Light

In Pursuit of Me and Mine, Have We Forgotten Thee and Thine

It saddens me when I hear of some who stop serving or even attending church because they are released from a calling or feel overlooked for a position or title. I hope they will one day learn the same lesson I learned as a young missionary—that the service that counts most is usually recognized by God alone. In our pursuit of me and mine, have we forgotten Thee and Thine?

All I really want in life is to please my fathers—both earthly and heavenly—and to be more like Shiblon.

April 2015 General Conference, Michael T. Ringwood, Truly Good and Without Guile

He Studied When It Was Time to Study. He Worked When It Was Time to Work

He was one of the most obedient and faithful missionaries I had known. He studied when it was time to study; he worked when it was time to work. He left the apartment on time and returned on time. He was diligent in studying Korean even though the language was especially difficult for him.
April 2015 General Conference, Michael T. Ringwood, Truly Good and Without Guile

Great Men and Women Are Always More Anxious to Serve Than to Have Dominion

President Spencer W. Kimball: “Great women and men are always more anxious to serve than to have dominion.”

In a world where praise, position, power, accolades, and authority are sought on every side, I honor those wonderful and blessed souls who are truly good and without guile, those who are motivated by a love of God and their neighbors, those great women and men who are “more anxious to serve than to have dominion.”

Today there are some who would have us believe our search for relevance can be satisfied only by obtaining position and power. Yet, thankfully, there are many who are uninfluenced by this perspective. They find relevance in seeking to be truly good and without guile. I have found them in all walks of life and in many faith traditions. And I find them in large numbers among the truly converted followers of Christ.

April 2015 General Conference, Michael T. Ringwood, Truly Good and Without Guile

Faith, Family, Freedom...When One of Them Is Cut, the Other Two Will Bleed

Faith. Family. Freedom. Big issues with great complexities. Big issues inextricably linked with the hope and promise of democracy. Big issues that are intertwined, interlinked, and interlocked so tightly that when one of them is struck, the other two are damaged; so that when one of them is cut, the other two will bleed


J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Conference Washington, D.C., February 15, 2013, Jeffrey R. Holland

So rather than redefining marriage and family as we see increasing numbers around us trying to do, our age ought to be reinforcing and exalting that which has been the backbone of civilization since the dawn of it.

The gifted Michael Novak takes a similar tack in his eloquent commentary on the family:
Clearly, the family is the seedbed of economic skills, money habits, attitudes toward work, and the arts of financial independence. The family is a stronger agency of educational success than the school. The family is a stronger teacher of the religious imagination than the church. Political and social planning in a wise social order begin with the axiom What strengthens the family strengthens society. Highly paid, mobile, and restless professionals may disdain the family (having been nurtured by its strengths), but those whom other agencies desert have only one institution in which to find essential nourishment.

The role of a father, a mother, and of children with respect to them, is the absolutely critical center of social force. Even when poverty and disorientation strike, as over the generations they so often do, it is family strength that most defends individuals against alienation, lassitude, or despair. The world around the family is fundamentally unjust. The state and its agents, and the economic system and its agencies, are never fully to be trusted. One could not trust them in Eastern Europe, in Sicily, or in Ireland—and one cannot trust them here. One unforgettable law has been learned painfully through all the oppressions, disasters, and injustices of the last thousand years: if things go well with the family, life is worth living; when the family falters, life falls apart.

With current statistics telling us that “worldwide, there are . . . 40 million abortions per year” and
that “41 percent of all births in the United States [are] to women who [are] not married,” we should be declaring boldly that inherent in the very act of creation is, for both parents, a lifelong  commitment to and responsibility for the child they created. No one can with impunity terminate that life, neglect that care, nor shirk that responsibility. Paul wrote to Timothy, “But if any provide not for his own, and specially for those of his own house, he hath denied the faith, and is worse than an infidel.” If Paul could see our day, surely he would repeat that counsel and would mean more than providing physical nourishment, essential as that is. If we want democracy to work and society to be stable, parents must nourish a child’s mind and heart and spirit. Generally speaking, no community of whatever size or definition has enough resources in time, money, or will to make up for what does not happen at home. 

So rather than redefining marriage and family as we see increasing numbers around us trying to do, our age ought to be reinforcing and exalting that which has been the backbone of civilization since the dawn of it. I leave with you this final quote on that subject from David Brooks, with a phrase or two of my own added: At some point over the past generation, people around the world entered what you might call the age of possibility. [Another label for our time.] They became intolerant of any arrangement that might close off their personal options. The transformation has been liberating, and it’s leading to some pretty astounding changes. For example, for centuries, most human societies forcefully guided people into two-parent families [with a father and a mother who
were devoted to each other]. Today that sort of family is increasingly seen as just one option among many. . . .My view is that the age of possibility is based on a misconception. People are not better off when they are given maximum personal freedom to do what they want. [People are] better off when they are enshrouded in commitments that transcend personal choice—commitments [to traditional marriage and time-honored family life].

J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Conference Washington, D.C., February 15, 2013, Jeffrey R. Holland

The Foundation for a Productive Household Begins with Marriage

This plea for marriage was underscored in a recent article from the Witherspoon Institute: The foundation for a productive household begins with marriage. Other arrangements cannot measure up, not for the child, not for the couple, not for society, and certainly not for the economy. . .If marriage makes the world and economy go ’round, these newer family structures truncate productivity, and society begins to limp along.

J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Conference Washington, D.C., February 15, 2013, Jeffrey R. Holland

Reason and Experience Both Forbid Us To Expect The National Morality Can Prevail in Exclusion of Religious Principle

In his moving farewell address George Washington said: Of all the dispositions and habits which lead to political prosperity, religion and morality are indispensable. . . . And let us with caution indulge the supposition that morality can be maintained without religion. Whatever may be conceded to the influence of refined education on minds of peculiar structure, reason and experience both forbid us to expect that national morality can prevail in exclusion of religious principle.

In that same spirit John Adams made this legendary statement to the officers of the Massachusetts militia in 1798:

We have no government armed with power capable of contending with human passions unbridled by morality and religion. Avarice, ambition, revenge, or gallantry, would break the strongest cords of our Constitution as a whale goes through a net. Our Constitution was made only for a moral and religious people. It is wholly inadequate to the government of any other.

It was said of us a long time ago that “the Americans combine the notions of [religion] and of liberty so intimately in their minds, that it is impossible to make them conceive the one without the other.”

May it ever be so.


J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Conference Washington, D.C., February 15, 2013, Jeffrey R. Holland

You Read A Sacred Text and You Put It Back on the Shelf and It's Still Making A Demand of You

I loved what Chief Rabbi Lord Jonathan Sacks of Great Britain said a few years ago in this same vein:

You read Jane Austen [and] you put it back on the shelf and it makes no further demand of you until you feel like reading it again. But you read a sacred text and you put it back on the shelf [and] it’s still making a demand of you. It is saying this is a truth to be lived. . . . That is the difference between religion and culture. . . .. . . Unless you hear a command [or] an obligation that comes from beyond you [and I would add “from above you”], you will not be able to generate sustainable, [actionable faith].5

J. Reuben Clark Law Society, Conference Washington, D.C., February 15, 2013, Jeffrey R. Holland