Harmony In Marriage Comes Only When One Esteems the Welfare of His of Her Spouse Among the Highest of Priorities

Harmony in marriage comes only when one esteems the welfare of his or her spouse among the highest of priorities. When that really happens, a celestial marriage becomes a reality, bringing great joy in this life and in the life to come

Author: Russell M. Nelson
Title: Celestial Marriage
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 92–95

If We Are to Be Safe Individually, As Families, And Secure as A Church

It is my purpose to show that in troubled times the Lord has always prepared a safe way ahead. We live in those “perilous times” which the Apostle Paul prophesied would come in the last days.1 If we are to be safe individually, as families, and secure as a church, it will be through “obedience to the laws and ordinances of the Gospel.”2 Author: Boyd K. Packer Title: The Test Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 88–91

Focus on Flesh Instead of Faith

What could be more deceptive than to entice men—young and old, holding the holy priesthood of God—to view seductive pornography and thus focus on flesh instead of faith, to be consumers of vice rather than guardians of virtue?

Author: Elaine S. Dalton
Title: A Return to Virtue
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 78–80

The Lord Isn't Asking Us to Load Up a Handcart

The Lord isn’t asking us to load up a handcart; He’s asking us to fortify our faith. He isn’t asking us to walk across a continent; He’s asking us to walk across the street to visit our neighbor. He isn’t asking us to give all of our worldly possessions to build a temple; He’s asking us to give of our means and our time despite the pressures of modern living to continue to build temples and then to attend regularly the temples already built. He isn’t asking us to die a martyr’s death; He’s asking us to live a disciple’s life....This is not a time for the spiritually faint of heart.

Author: M. Russell Ballard
Title: The Truth of God Shall Go Forth
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 81–84

God Will Hold You Responsible for Those Whom You Migh Have Saved Had You Done Your Duty

Each priesthood holder attending this session tonight has a calling to serve, to put forth his best efforts in the work assigned to him. No assignment is menial in the work of the Lord, for each has eternal consequences. President John Taylor warned us, “If you do not magnify your callings, God will hold you responsible for those whom you might have saved had you done your duty.”7 And who of us can afford to be responsible for the delay of eternal life of a human soul? If great joy is the reward of saving one soul, then how terrible must be the remorse of those whose timid efforts have allowed a child of God to go unwarned or unaided so that he has to wait till a dependable servant of God comes along.

Author: Thomas S. Monson
Title: To Learn, to Do, to Be
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 60–62, 67–68

The Lord Isn't Going to Send the President of the Church or Peter James and John to that House. He is Sending You!

Every priesthood holder stands at a unique place and has an important task that only he can perform.

We all have heard stories of how President Monson visits and blesses the elderly and the sick, always attending to their needs and bringing them cheer, comfort, and love. President Monson has a natural way about him that makes people feel better about themselves. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if President Monson could visit and watch over every family in the Church?

It would. But, of course, he can’t—and he shouldn’t. The Lord has not asked him to do that. The Lord has asked us, as home teachers, to love and watch over our assigned families. The Lord has not asked President Monson to organize and conduct our family home evening. He wants us, as fathers, to do this.

You may feel that there are others who are more capable or more experienced who could fulfill your callings and assignments better than you can, but the Lord gave you your responsibilities for a reason. There may be people and hearts only you can reach and touch. Perhaps no one else could do it in quite the same way.

Our Heavenly Father asks that we represent Him in the noble work of reaching out and blessing the lives of His children. He asks us to stand firm with the power of the priesthood in our hearts and souls and give the calling we have at this moment our best efforts.

Author: Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Title: Lift Where You Stand
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 53–56

Unique Place That Only We Can Perform

Every priesthood holder stands at a unique place and has an important task that only he can perform.

Author: Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Title: Lift Where You Stand
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 53–56

Your Calling is An Opportunity to Become What Heavenly Father Wants You to Become

Whatever your calling, I urge you to see it as an opportunity not only to strengthen and bless others but also to become what Heavenly Father wants you to become.

Author: Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Title: Lift Where You Stand
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 53–56

These Are Your Days

My dear brethren of the Aaronic Priesthood, these are your days! Do not squander them! Be sober! Take “the shield of faith, wherewith ye shall … quench all the fiery darts of the wicked.”31 Then “fight the good fight of faith.”32 And when you have done all, “stand”33 still and “see the salvation of the Lord.”34 I assure you that His salvation will come, delivering you and yours from every evil.

Author: James J. Hamula
Title: Winning the War against Evil
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 50–53

Hold Your Wife

By divine design a woman is fundamentally different from a man in many ways.2 She is compassionate and seeks the interests of others around her. However, that compassionate nature can become overwhelming for women who identify far more to accomplish than they can possibly do, even with the help of the Lord. Some become discouraged because they do not feel they are doing all they should do. I believe this is a feeling that many worthy, effective, devoted women of the Church experience.

Therefore, as a husband or son, express gratitude for what your wife and mother do for you. Express your love and gratitude often. That will make life far richer, more pleasant and purposeful for many of the daughters of Father in Heaven who seldom hear a complimentary comment and are not thanked for the multitude of things they do. As a husband, when you sense that your wife needs lifting, hold her in your arms and tell her how much you love her. May each of us ever be tender and appreciative of the special women who enrich our lives.

Author: Richard G. Scott
Title: Honor the Priesthood and Use It Well
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 44–47

Pray Always

We learn from these verses that the spiritual creation preceded the temporal creation. In a similar way, meaningful morning prayer is an important element in the spiritual creation of each day—and precedes the temporal creation or the actual execution of the day. Just as the temporal creation was linked to and a continuation of the spiritual creation, so meaningful morning and evening prayers are linked to and are a continuation of each other.

Consider this example. There may be things in our character, in our behavior, or concerning our spiritual growth about which we need to counsel with Heavenly Father in morning prayer. After expressing appropriate thanks for blessings received, we plead for understanding, direction, and help to do the things we cannot do in our own strength alone. For example, as we pray, we might:

• • Reflect on those occasions when we have spoken harshly or inappropriately to those we love the most.

• • Recognize that we know better than this, but we do not always act in accordance with what we know.

• • Express remorse for our weaknesses and for not putting off the natural man more earnestly.

• • Determine to pattern our life after the Savior more completely.

• • Plead for greater strength to do and to become better.

Such a prayer is a key part of the spiritual preparation for our day.

During the course of the day, we keep a prayer in our heart for continued assistance and guidance—even as Alma suggested: “Let all thy thoughts be directed unto the Lord” (Alma 37:36).

We notice during this particular day that there are occasions where normally we would have a tendency to speak harshly, and we do not; or we might be inclined to anger, but we are not. We discern heavenly help and strength and humbly recognize answers to our prayer. Even in that moment of recognition, we offer a silent prayer of gratitude.

At the end of our day, we kneel again and report back to our Father. We review the events of the day and express heartfelt thanks for the blessings and the help we received. We repent and, with the assistance of the Spirit of the Lord, identify ways we can do and become better tomorrow. Thus our evening prayer builds upon and is a continuation of our morning prayer. And our evening prayer also is a preparation for meaningful morning prayer.

Morning and evening prayers—and all of the prayers in between—are not unrelated, discrete events; rather, they are linked together each day and across days, weeks, months, and even years. This is in part how we fulfill the scriptural admonition to “pray always” (Luke 21:36; 3 Nephi 18:15, 18; D&C 31:12). Such meaningful prayers are instrumental in obtaining the highest blessings God holds in store for His faithful children.

Author: David A. Bednar
Title: Pray Always
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 41–44

The Infinite Power of Hope

[My Mother'] faith overcame her fear, and her hope overcame her despair. She was not a woman who would sit and bemoan tragedy. She moved. She put her faith and hope into action....Hope is one leg of a three-legged stool, together with faith and charity. These three stabilize our lives regardless of the rough or uneven surfaces we might encounter at the time....Hope is not knowledge, but rather the abiding trust that the Lord will fulfill His promise to us...It is believing and expecting that our prayers will be answered. It is manifest in confidence, optimism, enthusiasm, and patient perseverance....Like Father Abraham, we will “against hope [believe] in hope....”Hope is critical to both faith and charity. When disobedience, disappointment, and procrastination erode faith, hope is there to uphold our faith.

Author: Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Title: The Infinite Power of Hope
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 21–24

A Private Priesthood Interview

For a few minutes I ask you to consider that you and I are alone in a quiet place where the atmosphere permits direction by the Holy Spirit. Some of you receive periodic personal worthiness interviews, while others have callings where that seldom occurs. Will you consider that in the next few minutes you and I will have a private priesthood interview?

As we share these moments together, I ask you to ponder your personal worthiness to use the sacred authority you hold. I will also ask you to consider how consistently you use your priesthood to bless others. My intent is not to criticize but to help increase the benefits that flow from your use of the priesthood.

Are your private, personal thoughts conducive to the guidance of the Holy Spirit, or would they benefit from a thorough housecleaning? Do you nourish your mind with elevating material, or have you succumbed to the enticement of pornographic literature or Web sites? Do you scrupulously avoid the use of stimulants and substances that conflict with the intent of the Word of Wisdom, or have you made some personally rationalized exceptions? Are you most careful to control what enters your mind through your eyes and ears to ensure that it is wholesome and elevating?

If you are divorced, do you provide for the real financial need of the children you have fathered, not just the minimum legal requirement?

If you are married, are you faithful to your wife mentally as well as physically? Are you loyal to your marriage covenants by never engaging in conversation with another woman that you wouldn’t want your wife to overhear? Are you kind and supportive of your own wife and children? Do you assist your wife by doing some of the household chores? Do you lead out in family activities such as scripture study, family prayer, and family home evening, or does your wife fill in the gap your lack of attention leaves in the home? Do you tell her you love her?

If any of you feel uncomfortable with any of the answers you have mentally given to the questions I have asked, take corrective action now. If there are worthiness issues, with all of the tenderness of my heart I encourage you to speak to your bishop or a member of your stake presidency now. You need help. Those matters that trouble you will not heal themselves. Without attention they will likely get worse. It may be difficult for you to speak to your priesthood leader, but I encourage you to do it now for your own good and for the benefit of those who love you.

Author: Richard G. Scott
Title: Honor the Priesthood and Use It Well
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 44–47

Vicarious Immorality of Pornography

the vicarious immorality of pornography.

Author:D. Todd Christofferson
Title: Come to Zion
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 37–40

Come What May, And Love It

hen I was young I loved playing sports, and I have many fond memories of those days. But not all of them are pleasant. I remember one day after my football team lost a tough game, I came home feeling discouraged. My mother was there. She listened to my sad story. She taught her children to trust in themselves and each other, not blame others for their misfortunes, and give their best effort in everything they attempted.

When we fell down, she expected us to pick ourselves up and get going again. So the advice my mother gave to me then wasn’t altogether unexpected. It has stayed with me all my life.

“Joseph,” she said, “come what may, and love it.”

I have often reflected on that counsel.

I think she may have meant that every life has peaks and shadows and times when it seems that the birds don’t sing and bells don’t ring. Yet in spite of discouragement and adversity, those who are happiest seem to have a way of learning from difficult times, becoming stronger, wiser, and happier as a result.

Author: Joseph B. Wirthlin
Title: Come What May, and Love It
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 26–28

We Cannot Retain the Spirit Without Consistenly Partaking of the Sacrament

By participating weekly and appropriately in the ordinance of the sacrament we qualify for the promise that we will “always have his Spirit to be with [us]” (D&C 20:77)....We cannot retain the Spirit of the Lord if we do not consistently comply with this commandment.

Author: Dallin H. Oaks
Title: Sacrament Meeting and the Sacrament
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 17–20

Faith is a Choice

Faith is not only a feeling; it is a decision. He would need to choose faith.

Author: Neil L. Andersen
Title: You Know Enough
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 13–14

My Mission Means Everything to Me.

My mission means everything to me 47 years after the fact. There may have been one day in those 47 years that I have not thought of my mission; I’m just not sure what day that would have been.”5

Author: Jeffrey R. Holland
Title: The Atonement (seminar for new mission presidents, June 26, 2007, 1.)
Quoted by Silvia H. Allred Nov. 2008 Ensign p.11

Members of a Well-Managed Family Do Not Pay Interst; They Earn It

Members of a well-managed family do not pay interest; they earn it.

Author:L. Tom Perry
Title: Let Him Do It with Simplicity
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 7–10

Very Casual Dress is Almost Always Followed By Very Casual Manners

I believe very casual dress is almost always followed by very casual manners.

Author:L. Tom Perry
Title: Let Him Do It with Simplicity
Where: Ensign, Nov 2008, 7–10

The New and Everlasting Covenant Defined

The scriptures speak of the new and everlasting covenant. The new and everlasting covenant is the gospel of Jesus Christ. In other words, the doctrines and commandments of the gospel constitute the substance of an everlasting covenant between God and man that is newly restored in each dispensation. If we were to state the new and everlasting covenant in one sentence it would be this: “For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

Author: D. Todd Christofferson
Title: The Power of Covenants
Where: Ensign, May 2009, 19–23

Bad Soil for the Spirit

When...our outlook is dominated by skepticism, cynicism,[and] criticism...the Spirit cannot be with us.
Author: Robert D. Hales
Title: Seeking to Know God, Our Heavenly Father, and His Son, Jesus Christ
Where: Ensign, Nov 2009, 29–32

Never Too Busy For Deacons Quorum Work

Fulfilling priesthood assignments was a priority, as the following account illustrates: “As part of their job, the deacons hitched up horse and buggy each month before fast day and went house-to-house collecting offerings for the poor of the Church. Afterwards they took their gatherings to the bishop—bottles of fruit, flour, squash, honey, occasionally a half-dollar or so in loose change. So eager was Andrew to teach his boy his duty that nothing else interfered with Spencer’s collection on that day. The Kimball horse and buggy was never too busy to be used for deacons quorum work."

Title: The Life and Ministry of Spencer W. Kimball
Where: Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Spencer W. Kimball, (2006),xiv–xxxvii

There Will Be Nothing In This World That Can Defeat Us

Though the storm clouds may gather, though the rains may pour down upon us, our knowledge of the gospel and our love of our Heavenly Father and of our Savior will comfort and sustain us and bring joy to our hearts as we walk uprightly and keep the commandments. There will be nothing in this world that can defeat us.

Author: Thomas S. Monson
Title: Be of Good Cheer
Where: Ensign, May 2009, 89–92

He Set a Course For Each of Us

[Heavenly Father] set a course for each of us that can polish and perfect us to be with Him.

Author: Henry B. Eyring
Title: Adversity
Where: Ensign, May 2009, 23–27
Why I liked it: This has a familiar cord with what Bishop Keith B. McMullan shared in our Stake Conference Spring '09, "all things that are happening now in the world are in accordance with the plan of our Heavenly Father."

GO ON! (The Parable of the Owl Express)

During my college days, I was one of a class of students appointed to fieldwork as a part of our prescribed courses in geology—the science that deals with the earth in all of its varied aspects and phases, but more particularly with its component rocks, the structural features they present, the changes they have undergone and are undergoing—the science of worlds.

A certain assignment had kept us in the field many days. We had traversed, examined, and charted miles of lowlands and uplands, valleys and hills, mountain heights and canyon defiles. As the time allotted to the investigation drew near its close, we were overtaken by a violent windstorm, followed by a heavy snow—unseasonable and unexpected, but which, nevertheless, increased in intensity so that we were in danger of being snowbound in the hills. The storm reached its height while we were descending a long and steep mountainside several miles from the little railway station at which we had hoped to take [a] train that night for home. With great effort we reached the station late at night while the storm was yet raging. We were suffering from the intense cold incident to biting wind and driving snow; and, to add to our discomfiture, we learned that the expected train had been stopped by snowdrifts a few miles from the little station at which we waited.

… The train for which we so expectantly and hopefully waited was the Owl Express—a fast night train connecting large cities. Its time schedule permitted stops at but few and these the most important stations; but, as we knew, it had to stop at this out-of-the-way post to replenish the water supply of the locomotive.

Long after midnight the train arrived in a terrific whirl of wind and snow. I lingered behind my companions as they hurriedly clambered aboard, for I was attracted by the engineer, who during the brief stop, while his assistant was attending to the water replenishment, bustled about the engine, oiling some parts, adjusting others, and generally overhauling the panting locomotive. I ventured to speak to him, busy though he was. I asked how he felt on such a night—wild, weird, and furious, when the powers of destruction seemed to be let loose, abroad and uncontrolled, when the storm was howling and when danger threatened from every side. I thought of the possibility—the probability even—of snowdrifts or slides on the track, of bridges and high trestles which may have been loosened by the storm, of rock masses dislodged from the mountainside—of these and other possible obstacles. I realized that in the event of accident through obstruction on or disruption of the track, the engineer and the fireman would be the ones most exposed to danger; a violent collision would most likely cost them their lives. All of these thoughts and others I expressed in hasty questioning of the bustling, impatient engineer.

His answer was a lesson not yet forgotten. In effect he said, though in jerky and disjointed sentences: “Look at the engine headlight. Doesn’t that light up the track for a hundred yards [90 m] or more? Well, all I try to do is to cover that hundred yards of lighted track. That I can see, and for that distance I know the roadbed is open and safe. And,” he added, with what, through the swirl and the dim lamplighted darkness of the roaring night, I saw was a humorous smile on his lips and a merry twinkle of his eye, “believe me, I have never been able to drive this old engine of mine—God bless her!—so fast as to outstrip that hundred yards of lighted track. The light of the engine is always ahead of me!”

As he climbed to his place in the cab, I hastened to board the first passenger coach; and as I sank into the cushioned seat, in blissful enjoyment of the warmth and general comfort, offering strong contrast to the wildness of the night without, I thought deeply of the words of the grimy, oil-stained engineer. They were full of faith—the faith that accomplishes great things, the faith that gives courage and determination, the faith that leads to works. What if the engineer had failed, had yielded to fright and fear, had refused to go on because of the threatening dangers? Who knows what work may have been hindered, what great plans may have been nullified, what God-appointed commissions of mercy and relief may have been thwarted had the engineer weakened and quailed?

For a little distance the storm-swept track was lighted up; for that short space the engineer drove on!

We may not know what lies ahead of us in the future years, nor even in the days or hours immediately beyond. But for a few yards, or possibly only a few feet, the track is clear, our duty is plain, our course is illumined. For that short distance, for the next step, lighted by the inspiration of God, go on!

Author: James E. Talmage
Title:Three Parables—The Unwise Bee, the Owl Express, and Two Lamps
Where: Ensign, Feb 2003, 8

Spiritually Immunize Your Children

With the proper serum, the physical body is protected against disease. We can also protect our children from moral and spiritual diseases. The word inoculate has two parts: in—“to be within”—and oculate means “eye to see.” When children are baptized and confirmed (see D&C 20:41, 43; D&C 33:15), we place an eye within them—the unspeakable gift of the Holy Ghost (see D&C 121:26)....If you will accept it in your mind and cradle it in your feelings, a knowledge of the restored gospel and a testimony of Jesus Christ can spiritually immunize your children.... While we cannot erase wickedness, we can produce young Latter-day Saints who, spiritually nourished, are immunized against evil influences.

Author: Boyd K. Packer
Title: Do Not Fear
Where: Liahona, May 2004, 77–80

1

Our Safety Lies in Repentance

Now, brothers and sisters, we must do our duty, whatever that duty might be. Peace may be denied for a season. Some of our liberties may be curtailed. We may be inconvenienced. We may even be called on to suffer in one way or another. But God our Eternal Father will watch over this nation and all of the civilized world who look to Him. He has declared, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Ps. 33:12). Our safety lies in repentance. Our strength comes of obedience to the commandments of God.

Author: Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: The Times in Which We Live
Where: Ensign, Nov 2001, 72

When In Situations of Stress

When, in situations of stress, we wonder if there is any more in us to give, we can be comforted to know that God, who knows our capacities perfectly, placed us here to succeed. No one was foreordained to fail or to be wicked.

When we have been weighed and found wanting, let us remember that we were measured before and were found equal to our tasks; and therefore, let us continue but with a more determined discipleship.

When we feel overwhelmed, let us recall the assurance that God will not overprogram us; he will not press upon us more than we can bear (see D&C 50:40).

Author: Neal A. Maxwell
Title: A More Determined Discipleship
Where: Ensign, Feb 1979, 69–73

Command the Respect and Admiration of Your Associates in All Walks of Lifei

Life gives to all the choice. You can satisfy yourself with mediocrity if you wish. You can be common, ordinary, dull, colorless; or you can channel you life so that it will be clean, vibrant, progressive, useful, colorful, rich. You can soil your record, defile your soul, trample underfoot virtue, honor, and goodness, and thus forfeit an exaltation in the kingdom of God. Or you can be righteous, commanding the respect and admiration of your associates in all walks of life, and enjoying the love of the Lord. Your destiny is in your hands and your all-important decisions are your own to make.

Author: Spencer W. Kimball
Title: The Miracle of Forgiveness, p.236

Do Not Delay

One of the questions we must ask of our Heavenly Father in private prayer is this: “What have I done today, or not done, which displeases Thee? If I can only know, I will repent with all my heart without delay.” That humble prayer will be answered. Author:Henry B. Eyring Title: Do Not Delay Where: Ensign, Nov 1999, 33

See Also:

http://quotestokeep.blogspot.com/2022/08/daily-prayer.html

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As You Serve Him...the Benediction On This Day, On Every Day , And On Our Lives

As you serve Him, you will come to know better the voice by which you shall be called. When you go to sleep at the end of a day, the words may come back in memory: “Well done, thou good and faithful servant: thou hast been faithful over a few things.”10 I pray for that benediction on this day, on every day, and on our lives.

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

1

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

1

1

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

1

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

1

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

1

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

1

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

1

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

1

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

1

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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