My Immediate Audience is Myself

These remarks are addressed to the imperfect but still striving in the household of faith. As always, my immediate audience is myself.

Author: Neal A. Maxwell
Title: Consecrate Thy Performance
Where: Ensign, May 2002, 36
Scripture:
Why I liked it:

Time for Scripture Study Requires a Schedule That Will Be Honored

Time for scripture study requires a schedule that will be honored. Otherwise, blessings that matter most will be at the mercy of things that matter least.

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

What Does My Membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Mean to Me?

What does my membership in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints mean to me? It means everything. It influences, enlivens, permeates, and gives purpose and meaning to everything in life that is important to me: my relationship with God, my Eternal Father, and with His Holy Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. It teaches me that through obedience to the principles and ordinances of the gospel, I will find peace and happiness in this life and be invited to live in God’s presence, with my family, in the life that surely will follow mortality, where His mercy will satisfy the demands of justice and encircle me and mine, and you and yours, in the arms of safety. 3

Author: Richard G. Hinckley
Title: Repentance, a Blessing of Membership
Where: Ensign, May 2006, 48–50

Fathers Play an Important Role in Strengthening Gender Identity in Their Children

One authority states: “Studies show that fathers also have a special role to play in building a child’s [self-respect]. They are important too, in ways we don’t really understand, in developing internal limits and control in children.” He continues: “Research also shows that fathers are critical in the establishment of gender in children. Interestingly, fatherly involvement produces stronger sexual identity and character in both boys and girls. It’s well established that the masculinity of sons and the femininity of daughters are each greater when fathers are active in family life.” 5

Author: James E. Faust
Title: Fathers, Mothers, Marriage
Where: Ensign, Aug 2004, 2–7

No Better Way to Ensure Proper Living

We repeat what we have said before: make a habit of going to the house of the Lord. There is no better way to ensure proper living than temple attendance. It will crowd out the evils of pornography, substance abuse, and spiritual atrophy. It will strengthen marriage and family relations.

Author: Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: Closing Remarks
Where: Ensign, May 2005, 102

The Only Way I Have Left to Show the Lord How Much I Love Him

I have a dear friend who served as a stake president. The patriarch in the stake over which he presided had experienced some health challenges and was unable to perform in his calling. The ailing patriarch had difficulty moving about and dressing and caring for himself, and his strength was limited. One Sabbath afternoon this good stake president visited the home of the patriarch to encourage him and check on his well-being. As the stake president entered the home, he found the patriarch dressed in his suit and white shirt and tie, sitting in a recliner in the front room. The stake president greeted the dear patriarch and, knowing how hard it must have been to dress himself, graciously suggested to the patriarch that it was not necessary for him to get dressed up on the Sabbath or to meet visitors. In a kind but firm voice, the patriarch reproved the stake president and said, “Don’t you know that this is the only way I have left to show the Lord how much I love Him?”

Author: David A. Bednar
Title: Quick to Observe
Where: Ensign, Dec 2006, 30–36

Things Have a Way of Working Out.

As a grandfather who has lived a long time, I counsel you to have faith. Things have a way of working out. Stay close to the Church. Keep your children close to the Church.

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

The Tares are Looking More Like Tares All the Time

Individuals and nations will continue to choose what they want, but they cannot alter the ultimate consequences of what they want.

Therefore, in this hastened ripening process, let us not be surprised that the tares are looking more like tares all the time.

Author: Neal A. Maxwell
Title: Hope through the Atonement of Jesus Christ
Where: Ensign, Nov 1998, 61

Divorce Can Be Justified Only in the Rarest of Circumstances

Divorce can be justified only in the rarest of circumstances. In my opinion, “just cause” for divorce should be nothing less serious than a prolonged and apparently irredeemable relationship that destroys a person’s dignity as a human being. Divorce often tears people’s lives apart and shears family happiness. Frequently in a divorce the parties lose much more than they gain.


Author: James E. Faust
Title: Enriching Your Marriage
Where: Ensign, Apr 2007, 4–8

Single Practice to Happy Marriage

After dealing with hundreds of divorce situations through the years, I am satisfied that the application of a single practice would do more than all else to solve this grievous problem.

If every husband and every wife would constantly do whatever might be possible to ensure the comfort and happiness of his or her companion, there would be very little, if any, divorce. Argument would never be heard. Accusations would never be leveled. Angry explosions would not occur. Rather, love and concern would replace abuse and meanness.

Author: Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: The Women in Our Lives
Where: Ensign, Nov 2004, 82–85

General Authorities Teach General Principles

We can add to that that we are teaching general principles because we are General Authorities and general officers.

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

We who are General Authorities and general officers are called to teach His general rules. You and we then lead specific lives and must seek the Lord’s guidance regarding specific circumstances. But there would be mass confusion and loss of gospel promises if no general ideal and no doctrinal standard were established and, in our case today, repeated.

Author: Jeffrey R. Holland
Title: Building Up a Righteous Posterity
Where: Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting February 9, 2008

Confession...Eliminates the Deceit Inherit in Wrongdoing.

The price of discipleship is to forsake evil transgression and enjoy what President Spencer W. Kimball has called “the miracle of forgiveness.” It is never too late. But there can be no remission of sin without a godly sorrow being abundantly manifested in the mind, in the heart, and in the actions of the offender. A major step toward purging oneself of wrongdoing is for the transgressor to confess the transgression to the common judge in Israel, who is the inspired bishop or branch president of the offender. While forgiveness comes only from the Lord, confession is necessary, among other reasons, to eliminate the deceit inherent in wrongdoing.

Author: James E. Faust
Title: The Price of Discipleship
Where: Ensign, Apr 1999, 2

Father Should Do the Ushering of Disruptive Children

The reverence we speak of does not equate with absolute silence. We must be tolerant of little babies, even an occasional outburst from a toddler being ushered out to keep him from disturbing the peace. Unless the father is on the stand, he should do the ushering.

Author:Boyd K. Packer ,” Ensign, Nov 1991, 21
Title: Reverence Invites Revelation
Where: Ensign, Nov 1991, 21

When You Find Who You Are, You Will Be Sorry You Didn’t Try Harder

Elder Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, tells a tender personal story ...When he was a teenager, his family moved from a very comfortable environment for young Henry to a location that was not to his liking. He sulked for a bit until the Spirit spoke directly to him about who he was in God’s plan and how he ought to proceed. One day the Spirit instructed, “When you find who you are, you will be sorry you didn’t try harder.”

Author: Henry B. Eyring as Quoted by Robert C. Oaks
Title: Your Divine Heritage
Where: Ensign, Apr 2008, 46–50

The Stuff of Which Your Dreams are Made

And so, my dear young men, you may not think seriously about it now. But the time will come when you will fall in love. It will occupy all of your thoughts and be the stuff of which your dreams are made. Make yourself worthy of the loveliest girl in all the world. Keep yourself worthy through all the days of your life. Be good and true and kind one to another.

Author: Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: Living Worthy of the Girl You Will Someday Marry
Where: Ensign, May 1998, 49

If You Want Something to Last Forever, You Treat It Differently

If you want something to last forever, you treat it differently. You shield it and protect it. You never abuse it. You don’t expose it to the elements. You don’t make it common or ordinary. If it ever becomes tarnished, you lovingly polish it until it gleams like new. It becomes special because you have made it so, and it grows more beautiful and precious as time goes by.

Author:F. Burton Howard
Title: Eternal Marriage
Where: Ensign, May 2003, 92

We Cannont Expect His Help If We Are Unwilling to Keep His Commandments

We cannot expect His help if we are unwilling to keep His commandments.

Author: Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: If Ye Are Prepared Ye Shall Not Fear
Where: Liahona, Nov 2005, 60–62
Scripture: D&C 101:7

Eliminate "Nonmember" from Our Vocabulary

I believe it would be good if we eliminated a couple of phrases from our vocabulary: "nonmember" and "non-Mormon." Such phrases can be demeaning and even belittling. Personally, I don't consider myself to be a "non-Catholic" or a "non-Jew." I am a Christian. I am a member of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. That is how I prefer to be identified—for who and what I am, as opposed to being identified for what I am not. Let us extend that same courtesy to those who live among us. If a collective description is needed, then "neighbors" seems to work well in most cases.

Author: M. Russell Ballard
Title: Doctrine of Inclusion
Where: Ensign, Nov 2001, 35
Scripture:
Why I liked it:

How Many Kills You Can Make in a Minute with a Computer Game Will Have Zero Effect on Your Capacity to Be a Good Missionary

How many kills you can make in a minute with a computer game will have zero effect on your capacity to be a good missionary

Author: Elder M. Russell Ballard
Title: The Greatest Generation of Missionaries
Where: Ensign, Nov 2002, 46

Second Only to Your Love, They Need Your Limits

The For the Strength of Youth pamphlet is very clear in its call for young women to avoid clothing that is too tight, too short, or improperly revealing in any manner, including bare midriffs. 6 Parents, please review this booklet with your children. Second only to your love, they need your limits

Author: Jeffrey R. Holland
Title: To Young Women
Where: Ensign, Nov 2005, 28

The Inexhaustible Gospel

I am excited to report to you that I am enjoying the scriptures more than ever. I have read a lot in my life—thousands of books, I’m sure. But rarely do I do encore reading except for the holy scriptures. Therefore, I am even more anxiously engaged in the restored gospel than ever because the restored gospel is so engaging. It really does get a grasp on our minds, and there is no end to the exploration that one can make of it. It is, as I said years ago, an “inexhaustible gospel.” To be anxiously engaged really does mean that we are engaged intellectually as well as spiritually, and life in the kingdom, as you all know, is also very engaging. So although some people at my stage of life might say, in effect, “Been there, done that,” not I. I feel instead this sense of anxious engagement in something that I have yet to take the full measure of. As I look back across the sweep of this century, I feel that very strongly.

Author:Elder Neal A. Maxwell
Title: Insights from My Life
Where: Ensign, Aug 2000, 7

Missionary Work Frankly Described

Now, my dear young friends, I hope all of you are pointed in the direction of missionary service. I cannot promise you fun. I cannot promise you ease and comfort. I cannot promise you freedom from discouragement, from fear, from downright misery at times. But I can promise you that you will grow as you have never grown in a similar period during your entire lives. I can promise you a happiness that will be unique and wonderful and lasting. I can promise you that you will reevaluate your lives, that you will establish new priorities, that you will live closer to the Lord, that prayer will become a real and wonderful experience, that you will walk with faith in the outcome of the good things you do.

Author: President Gordon B. Hinckley Title: To the Boys and to the Men
Where: Ensign, Nov 1998, 51

Be Excellent. Don't Be A Scrub.

This is the great day of decision for each of us. For many it is the time of beginning something that will go on for as long as you live. I plead with you: don’t be a scrub! Rise to the high ground of spiritual, mental, and physical excellence. You can do it. You may not be a genius. You may be lacking in some skills. But so many of us can do better than we are now doing. We are members of this great Church whose influence is now felt over the world. We are people with a present and with a future. Don’t muff your opportunities. Be excellent.

Author: President Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: The Quest for Excellence
Where: Ensign, Sep 1999, 2

Turn On the Lights In Our Parents' Eyes

When I was a boy, my mother had to go to work at Garfield Smelter and work like a man to help support the seven children. She worked the graveyard shift as much as she could, I'm sure to be with us during the day. I don't know when the poor woman slept. One Saturday morning, she got off work about 7:00 or 8:00 a.m. She went to bed for a couple of hours and then got up. She had invited all her relatives to dinner. There must have been 35 or 40. She decorated the tables and arranged the chairs and put all the dishes and silverware out. She cooked and baked all day long. The dirty pots and pans and dishes stacked up.

Everyone came to dinner, and after dinner all the dirty dishes were brought into the kitchen. The food was cleared and stacked on the table and cupboards; then the kitchen door was closed and the family began to visit. It was about 8:00 p.m.

I remember standing all alone in the kitchen. In my young mind, I thought: My mother worked all night; she has worked all day to get this dinner. When everyone leaves, she will have to do the dishes and put the food away. It will take two or three hours, and that's not fair. Then I thought, I will do them.

I washed the dishes, did the silverware, the glassware. We didn't have an electric dishwasher; ours was a manual dishwasher, and that night I was manual. I used a half-dozen dish towels. I was drenched from head to foot. I put the food away, cleaned off the table and drainboards; then I got down on my hands and knees and scrubbed the floor. When I was finished, I thought the kitchen was immaculate. It took about three hours.

Then I heard the chairs shuffling, and everyone left. The front door closed, and I heard my mother coming to the kitchen. I was pleased and thought she would be. The door swung open, and even at the age of 11, I recognized that she was startled. She looked around the kitchen, looked at me, and then there was a look I didn't recognize at the time. I do now. It was something like "Thanks. I am tired. I think you understand, and I love you." And she came over and hugged me. There was a light in her eye and a warmth in my heart. I learned it is a wonderful feeling to turn on the lights in our parents' eyes.

Author: Elder Vaughn J. Featherstone
Title: One Link Still Holds
Where: Ensign, Nov 1999, 13

Can We Even Imagine Sending [Our Children] Out in the Morning Without Kneeling and Humbly Asking Together for the Lord's Protection?

With the influences of evil that surround our children, can we even imagine sending them out in the morning without kneeling and humbly asking together for the Lord's protection? Or closing the day without kneeling together and acknowledging our accountability before Him and our thankfulness for His blessings? Brothers and sisters, we need to have family prayer.

Author: Elder Neil L. Anderson
Title: Prophets and Spiritual Mole Crickets
Where: Ensign, Nov 1999, 16

Your Hands Full Now; Your Heart Full Later

We have 10 children. One unsettled Sunday morning when our family was young, my wife was in sacrament meeting. As usual, I was away on Sunday. Our children took up much of a row.

Sister Walker, a lovely, gray-haired grandmother who raised 12 children, quietly moved from several rows back and slid into the row among our restless children. After the meeting, my wife thanked her for the help.

Sister Walker said, “You have your hands full, don’t you?” My wife nodded. Sister Walker then patted her on the hand and said, “Your hands full now; your heart full later!” How prophetic was her quiet comment. That is what grandmothers do!

Author: President Boyd K. Packer
Title: The Golden Years
Where: Ensign, May 2003, 82

People Will Flock Unto the Church

We talked about … people coming as doves to the windows, that all nations should flock unto [the Church]. … If we had told the people what our eyes behold this day, we should not [have been] believed

Author: Elder Sidney Rigdon, Quoted By: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Title: As Doves to Our Windows
Where: Ensign, May 2000, 75 See Also History of the Church, 6:288–89.

Why I liked it: I have heard on at least two occasions people speaking of how a general authority came to a stake conference etc. and spoke of how in the last days people would run to the church. This backs up such stories--that all nations should flock unto the church.

Church is Like a Hospital

Now, if you feel too spiritually maimed to come to the feast, please realize that the Church is not a monastery for perfect people, though all of us ought to be striving on the road to godliness. No, at least one aspect of the Church is more like a hospital or an aid station, provided for those who are ill and want to get well, where one can get an infusion of spiritual nutrition and a supply of sustaining water in order to keep on climbing.

Author: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Title: He Hath Filled the Hungry with Good Things
Where: Ensign, Nov 1997, 64

He Who Wants to Keep His Garden Tidy Does Not Reserve a Plot for Weeds

You cannot play with the animal in you without becoming wholly animal, play with falsehood without forfeiting your right to truth, play with cruelty without losing your sensitivity of mind. He who wants to keep his garden tidy does not reserve a plot for weeds.

Author: Dag Hammarskjold

Live Life to Its Fullest

I want to be thoroughly used up when I die, for the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake.

Author: George Bernard Shaw

We Can Share with All Students the Fire of Our Faith, and They Can Warm Their Hands by It

For many years, I have loved the story that President Packer has told about William E. Berrett's boyhood Sunday School teacher. An elderly Danish brother was called to teach a class of rowdy boys. It didn't seem like much of a fit. He didn't speak the language very well; he still had a heavy Danish brogue; he was much older, with big farm hands. Yet he was to teach these young, rambunctious 15-year-olds. For all intents and purposes, it would not have seemed like a very good match. But Brother William E. Berrett used to say—and this is the part President Packer quotes—that this man taught them somehow; that across all those barriers, across all those limitations, this man reached into the hearts of those rowdy 15-year-old kids and changed their lives. And Brother Berrett's testimony was "We could have warmed our hands by the fire of his faith."

Every student deserves at least that. We may not give the fanciest lesson. We may not be skillful with audiovisual aids (though we can use any we know how to use). But we can share with all students the fire of our faith, and they can warm their hands by it.

Author: Elder Jeffrey R. Holland
Title: Teaching and Learning in the Church
Where: Worldwide Leadership Training Meeting: Teaching and Learning February 10, 2007

The Most Powerful of Human Insticts 2nd Only to the Will to Live

And now just a word on the most common and most difficult of all problems for you young men and young women to handle. It is the relationship that you have one with another. You are dealing with the most powerful of human instincts. Only the will to live possibly exceeds it.

Author: President Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: “A Prophet’s Counsel and Prayer for Youth”
Where: Ensign, Jan 2001, 2

Challenges Today Most Easily Handled

Of course you face challenges. Every generation that has ever walked the earth has faced challenges. We could spend the entire evening talking about them. But of all the challenges that have been faced in the past, the ones we have today, I believe, are most easily handled. I say that because they are manageable. They largely involve individual behavioral decisions, but those decisions can be made and followed. And when that happens, the challenge is behind us

Author: President Gordon B. Hinckley
Title: “A Prophet’s Counsel and Prayer for Youth”
Where: Ensign, Jan 2001, 2

The Advesary Uses the Name of Our Savior

I once had an opportunity to accompany President Spencer W. Kimball to a distant land. We were given a tour of the various sites in the area, including underground catacombs—burial grounds for people who had been persecuted by Christian zealots. As we came up the dark, narrow stairs of that place, President Kimball taught me an unforgettable lesson. He pulled my coattail and said, “It has always troubled me what the adversary does using the name of our Savior.”

Author Elder Robert D. Hales
Title:“To Act for Ourselves: The Gift and Blessings of Agency”
Where: Ensign, May 2006, 4–8

Reading the Scriptures with Sleepy Eyes

When we read the Book of Mormon while rubbing our sleepy eyes, let us remember that we are following the counsel of our prophet and receive the joy that comes from that knowledge.

Author:Elder Won Yong Ko , Of the Seventy
Title:"Sacrifice Is a Joy and a Blessing"
Where: Liahona, Nov 2005, 92–93

Pitiching One's Tent on the Periphery of Religious Faith

In offering such a prayer for the young, may I address a rather specific aspect of their safety? In this I speak carefully and lovingly to any of the adults of the Church, parents or otherwise, who may be given to cynicism or skepticism, who in matters of whole-souled devotion always seem to hang back a little, who at the Church’s doctrinal campsite always like to pitch their tents out on the periphery of religious faith. To all such—whom we do love and wish were more comfortable camping nearer to us—I say, please be aware that the full price to be paid for such a stance does not always come due in your lifetime. No, sadly, some elements of this can be a kind of profligate national debt, with payments coming out of your children’s and grandchildren’s pockets in far more expensive ways than you ever intended it to be.

Author: Jeffrey R. Holland, Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles
Title: “A Prayer for the Children”
Where: Liahona, May 2003, 85–87

Similar to this teaching:  https://quotestokeep.blogspot.com/2023/10/but-if-parent-goes-little-off-course.html?m=0

Lifting Others

You cannot lift another soul until you are standing on higher ground than he is. You must be sure, if you would rescue the man, that you yourself are setting the example of what you would have him be. You cannot light a fire in another soul unless it is burning in your own soul.

Author: President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) Eleventh President of the Church
Title: "Stand Ye in Holy Places "
Where:Ensign, Oct 2008, 44–49
Scripture:
Why I liked it:
You must be on higher ground to lift another.

Need for the Sandpoint Seven

Three hours of meetings on Sunday clearly isn’t sufficient time to prepare our families to withstand the difficulties Moroni saw. We need to connect our celestial goals with everyday life in our homes. Remember that gospel basics—those seemingly “small and simple things” (Alma 37:6) we strive to practice in following the Lord—will ultimately confound Satan and protect our families.

The Lord has stated, “For if you will that I give unto you a place in the celestial world, you must prepare yourselves by doing the things which I have commanded you and required of you” (D&C 78:7).
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Author: Richard J. Maynes
Title: “Protecting Our Families in the Last Days”
Where: Ensign, Oct 2008, 50–52
Scriptures: Doctrine & Covenants 78:7
Why I liked it:
Need for the Sandpoint Seven

Temple Ordinaces

The temple ordinances focus on the rescue and the salvation of families

Author: Eric B. Shumway, President of the Nuku‘alofa Tonga Temple; served as an Area Seventy in the North America West Area from 2004 to 2007
Title: Preparing Yourself for Marriage
Where: Ensign, Oct 2008, 54–57

Why I liked it:
Better insight into the endowment

Blessings of Family Home Evening

Teach your families in your family home evening, teach them to keep the commandments of God, for therein is our only safety in these days. If they will do that, the powers of the Almighty will descend upon them as the dews from heaven, and the Holy Ghost will be theirs.

Author: President Harold B. Lee (1899–1973) Eleventh President of the Church
Title: "Stand Ye in Holy Places "
Where:Ensign, Oct 2008, 44–49

Why I liked it:
Blessings of family home evening.

Scripture Study Requires Effort

Our knowledge will help save us, but each of us must pay the price to obtain it. To do so we may need to get up a little earlier, stay up a little later, or consistently sneak a few precious moments for study during the day.

Author: Marlin K. Jensen, Of the Seventy
Title: “Gospel Doctrines: Anchors to Our Souls”
Where: Ensign, Oct 2008, 58–61

Why I liked it:
Scripture study is demanding and requires effort

Family Is of Cosmic Importance

First, from “The Family: A Proclamation to the World”: “Marriage between a man and a woman is ordained of God and … the family is central to the Creator’s plan for the eternal destiny of His children.”1 Ponder this statement. This single truth—that the cosmic purpose of this earth and the universe has as its central feature marriage and the family, with husband and wife at the core—should inspire our souls and our imaginations. Marriage and family are not human inventions or social constructs evolving from human necessity. They are part of a heavenly order that leads to eternal life and eternal happiness.

Author: Eric B. Shumway, President of the Nuku‘alofa Tonga Temple; served as an Area Seventy in the North America West Area from 2004 to 2007
Title: Preparing Yourself for Marriage
Where: Ensign, November 2008, p.55

Why I liked it:
Marriage is central to the Creators plan.

Service Is Oft Times Not Convenient

[Service] is to be given as needed, not when convenient.

Author: Elder Steven E. Snow, Of the Presidency of the Seventy
Title: Service
Where: Ensign, November 2007, p.102

Why I liked it:
For service to be meaningful I think it at times is inconvenient.