he always knew he would find his father at his desk reading the scriptures

My love of the scriptures, including the Book of Mormon, started while I served a mission in Seoul, Korea. When it really became a part of me, however, was after my mission.

I am most grateful today for a wise mission president, F. Ray Hawkins, who committed me to do 14 things as I finished my mission. One of those things was to continue to love the scriptures and to read from them daily. It was that commitment that kept me from missing scripture study too many days in a row. It was that commitment that helped me reintroduce structure into my life similar to the structure I had in the mission field so I could study every day.

For most of my married life, I was diligent from Monday to Friday. I always knew when I needed to wake up so I could exercise and study before I needed to be at school and later at work. Saturday belonged to my children, and I didn’t always read on that day because I was constantly going and coming from sports, dance, and lessons. The point is that even if I didn’t keep my commitment to read daily, I did read regularly. I established a positive pattern and habit. When I missed a day or two, I got right back on track quickly.

When my oldest son was speaking in church before beginning his mission, he made a statement that helped me understand how grateful I was for my mission president. My son reported that each morning when he would come upstairs to read the Book of Mormon with the family prior to going to school, he always knew he would find his father at his desk reading the scriptures. I am indebted to a wise mission president for helping me have a generational impact on my son.

If you have not begun a lifelong commitment to study daily from the scriptures, I invite you to begin today. If you are already doing so, I invite you to continue. I am sure that many of you returned missionaries made a commitment to your mission president similar to my commitment. I invite you to be truly committed to do just what you were challenged to do. I plead with you to make the Book of Mormon a large part of that daily commitment.

When you slip, start again. Don’t let one missed day turn into two and then three or four. This will be a blessing to you, and it will also bless your children. One day your own son or daughter may stand to speak in church and say, “I remember always seeing my dad and my mom reading the Book of Mormon.”

I encourage you to read the Book of Mormon. I encourage you to experience it personally. It is the word of God. It will lead you to do good. You can know it is true, and you can pass that testimony on to future generations.

You Can Know for Yourself, Michael T. Ringwood, February 2017 Ensign

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

Easiness and Willingness To Believe Not Circumstance Dependant But Commtment

An examination of our lives will reveal periods when we found it easier to believe the word of God. Periods of significant change, such as marriage or the birth of a child; periods of intense service from a new calling or a mission; periods in our youth with a wonderful bishop, youth leaders, and seminary teachers; periods of trials; and periods of growth from learning for the first time about the gospel are all periods of an easiness to believe. Perhaps the most significant period is childhood. As a child I found it easy to believe the word of God taught to me by valiant parents and grandparents. No wonder we are admonished to become as little children to inherit eternal life (see3 Nephi 11:38). No wonder we are taught to “bring up [our] children in light and truth” (D&C 93:40).

If you are like me, you will find what really brought an easiness and willingness to believe were not the circumstances but the commitment to live the gospel during these periods of life. You were found more often on your knees and immersed in the scriptures during these periods. You found it easier to gather for family home evening and family prayer. You found it easy to be in church and to worship in the temple. You found it easy to pay tithes and offerings. Indeed, the daily living of the gospel brings a softness of heart needed to have an easiness and willingness to believe the word of God.

Michael T. Ringwood, "An Easiness and Willingness to Believe", Ensign, Nov. 2009, 100–102