Brigham Young

The gospel is of a character that a man may be benefitted by it if he will, but it has no help for the man who fails to take advantage of that which it offers. It is a perfect system of self-development. A man can rise to the most exalted heights, if he will; or he may loiter by the way, waste the day-light until he is overtaken in his darkness and thence must grope his way, because he failed to take advantage of the light.

Today is our day, brethren and sisters. We cannot hope, when the night comes, when the grave has demanded its own, for the development and progress that is available to us today. These bodies of ours God has given us for development. We are separated from them when we go into the grave. We are not ourselves, we are only partial when the body and the spirit are separated. Why will we loiter, instead of developing that which is perfect, the human soul. Separated, it is a divided thing; together, it may rise to the most exalted height. We preach to the world faith. Have we faith? We preach to the world repentance. Do we repent? Do we place our feet each day upon the mistakes of yesterday, using them as stepping stones to a higher life, to the new birth symbolized by the baptism of water? Have we taken to ourselves every day the new birth of the Spirit? Have we risen to more exalted heights? Are we in closer communion with God than we were yesterday? If not, we have failed to take advantage of opportunity offered in the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ.

Elder Brigham S. Young, Conference Report, April 1927, Afternoon Meeting 59

Rulon S. Wells

The Lord inspired the fathers of our country, our Revolutionary fathers, with this same spirit of human liberty, this right of free agency. This great struggle for liberty did not begin on this earth; it began before the foundations of it were laid. The Lord devised the plan whereby we might be liberated and made free and independent. The Lord designs that we shall be so. There was war in heaven before the foundations of this earth were laid. And what was that great conflict over? It was a struggle for the liberties of the children of God.

Elder Rulon S. Wells, Conference Report, April 1930, Second Day—Morning Meeting 70

Neal A. Maxwell

Petitioning in prayer has taught me that the vault of heaven, with all its blessings, is to be opened only by a combination lock: one tumbler falls when there is faith, a second when there is personal righteousness, and the third and final tumbler falls only when what is sought is (in God's judgment, not ours) "right" for us.  Sometimes we pound on the vault door for something we want very much, in faith, in reasonable righteousness, and wonder why the door does not open.  We would  be very spoiled children if that vault door opened any more easily than it does now.  I can tell, looking back, that God truly loves me by the petitions that, in his perfect wisdom and love, he has refused to grant me.  Our rejected petitions tell us not only much about ourselves, but also much about our flawless Father.

Neal A. Maxwell, "Insights From My Life," p. 200

Jeffrey R. Holland

To hear someone so remarkable say something so tremendously bold, so overwhelming in its implications, that everything in the Church - everything - rises or falls on the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and, by implication the Prophet Joseph Smith's account of how it came forth, can be a little breathtaking.  It sounds like a "sudden death" proposition to me.  Either the Book of Mormon is what the Prophet Joseph Smith said it is or this Church and its founder are false, fraudulent, a deception from the first instance onward.

Not everything in life is so black and white, but it seems the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and its keystone role in our belief is exactly that.  Either Joseph Smith was the prophet he said he was, who, after seeing the Father and the Son, later beheld the angel Moroni, repeatedly heard counsel from his lips, eventually receiving at his hands a set of ancient gold plates which he then translated according to the gift and power of God - or else he did not.  And if he did not, in the spirit of President Benson's comment, he is not entitled to retain even the reputation of New England folk hero or well-meaning young man or writer of remarkable fiction.  No, and he is not entitled to be considered a great teacher or a quintessential American prophet or the creator of great wisdom literature.  If he lied about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, he is certainly none of those.

I feel about this as C.S. Lewis once said about the divinity of Christ... I am suggesting that we make exactly that same kind of do-or-die, bold assertion about the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the divine origins of the Book of Mormon.  We have to. Reason and rightness require it.  Accept Joseph Smith as a prophet and the book as the miraculously revealed and revered word of the Lord it is or else consign both man and book to Hades for the devastating deception of it all, but let's not have any bizarre middle ground about the wonderful contours of a young boy's imagination or his remarkable facility for turning a literary phrase. That is an unacceptable position to take - morally, literally, historically, or theologically.

Jeffrey R. Holland, "True or False," New Era, June 1995, 6

C.S. Lewis

I am trying here to prevent anyone saying the really foolish thing that people often say about Him: 'I'm ready to accept Jesus as a great moral teacher, but I don't accept his claim to be God.' That is the one thing we must not say.  A man who was merely a man and said the sort of things Jesus said would not be a great moral teacher.  He would either be a lunatic - on the level with the man who says he is a poached egg - or else he would be the Devil of Hell.  You must make your choice.  Either this man was, and is, the son of God: or else a madman or something worse.  You can shut Him up for a fool, you can spit at Him and kill him as a demon; or you can fall at His feet and call Him Lord and God.  But let us not come with any patronizing nonsense about His being a great human teacher.  He did not leave that open to us.  He did not intend to.

C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, New York: Macmillan Publishing Co., 1952, pp. 40-41

W. Ian Thomas

There are few things quite so boring as being religious, but there is nothing quite so exciting as being a Christian!  Most folks have never discovered the difference between the one and the other, so that there are those who sincerely try to live a life they do not have, substituting religion for God, Christianity for Christ, and their own noble endeavors for the energy, joy, and power of the Holy Spirit.  In the absence of reality, they can only grasp at ritual, stubbornly defending the latter in the absence of the former, lest they be found with neither!  They are lamps without oil, cars without gas, pens without ink, baffled at their own impotence in the absence of all that alone can make man functional; for man was so engineered by God that the presence of the Creator within the creature is indispensable to His humanity.  Christ gave himself for us to give Himself to us!  His presence puts God back into the man! He came that we might have life - God's life!  There are those who have a life they never live.  They have come to Christ and thanked Him only for what He did, but do not live in the power of who He is.  Between the Jesus who 'was' and the Jesus who 'will be' they live in a spiritual vacuum, trying with no little zeal to live for Christ a life that only He can live in and through them, perpetually begging for what in Him they already have!

W. Ian Thomas, in Bob George Classic Christianity [Eugene, Oregon: Harvest House Publishers, 1989], foreward

Solomon Bennett Freehof

as quoted by W. Eugene Hansen:

Years ago I preferred clever people.  There was a joy in beholding ... a mind ... bearing thoughts quickly translated into words, or ideas expressed in a new way.  I find now my taste has changed.  Verbal fireworks often bore me.  They seem motivated  by self-assertion and self-display.  I now prefer another type of person; one who is considerate, understanding of others, careful not to break down another person's self-respect. ... My preferred person today is one who is always aware of the needs of others, or their pain and [their] fear and [their] unhappiness, and their search for self-respect. ... I once liked clever people.  Now I like good people."


W. Eugene Hansen, "Love," Ensign, Nov 1989, 24

Wayne S. Peterson

Our home should ideally be a refuge where each member feels safe, secure, loved, and insulated from harsh criticism and contention that we so often encounter in the world.  Christ set a perfect example of maintaining emotional control in every setting. Appearing before Caiaphas and Pilate, He was buffeted, slapped, spat upon, and mocked by His tormentors (see Matt. 26; Luke 23). The great irony was that they demeaned their Creator, whose suffering was undertaken out of love for them.  In the face of this unjust abuse, Jesus maintained His composure, refusing to act unkindly. Even on the cross, in the midst of that unspeakable agony, His plea was, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do” (Luke 23:34).  He expects the same of us. To those who would follow Him, He said, “By this shall all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye have love one to another” (John 13:35).  May we evidence our discipleship by strengthening our homes in kind and loving ways. May we remember that “a soft answer turneth away wrath” and strive through our relationships and encounters to shape a character that will meet with the Savior’s approval.

Wayne S. Peterson, “Our Actions Determine Our Character,” Ensign, Nov 2001,  83

Rusell M. Nelson

Indeed, in some instances, the merciful companion to truth is silence. Some truths are best left unsaid.

Russell M. Nelson, “Truth—and More,” Ensign, Jan 1986, 69

Margaret D. Nadauld

Women of God can never be like women of the world. The world has enough women who are tough; we need women who are tender. There are enough women who are coarse; we need women who are kind. There are enough women who are rude; we need women who are refined. We have enough women of fame and fortune; we need more women of faith. We have enough greed; we need more goodness. We have enough vanity; we need more virtue. We have enough popularity; we need more purity.

Margaret D. Nadauld, “The Joy of Womanhood,” Ensign, Nov 2000,  14

Dallin H. Oaks

One who focuses on faults, though they be true, tears down a brother or a sister. The virtues of patience, brotherly kindness, mutual respect, loyalty, and good manners all rest to some degree on the principle that even though something is true, we are not necessarily justified in communicating it to any and all persons at any and all times.

Dallin H. Oaks, “Criticism,” Ensign, Feb 1987,  68

Gordon B. Hinckley

I am asking that we look a little deeper for the good, that we still voices of insult and sarcasm, that we more generously compliment virtue and effort. I am not asking that all criticism be silenced. Growth comes of correction. Strength comes of repentance. Wise is the man who can acknowledge mistakes pointed out by others and change his course.  What I am suggesting is that each of us turn from the negativism that so permeates our society and look for the remarkable good among those with whom we associate, that we speak of one another’s virtues more than we speak of one another’s faults.

Gordon B. Hinckley, “The Continuing Pursuit of Truth,” Ensign, Apr 1986, 2

Jenkins Lloyd Jones

as quoted by Gordon B. Hinckley:

Anyone who imagines that bliss ... is normal is going to waste a lot of time running around shouting that he has been robbed.  [The fact is] most putts don’t drop. Most beef is tough. Most children grow up to be just people. Most successful marriages require a high degree of mutual toleration. Most jobs are more often dull than otherwise. … Life is like an old-time rail journey—delays, sidetracks, smoke, dust, cinders and jolts, interspersed only occasionally by beautiful vistas and thrilling bursts of speed. The trick is to thank the Lord for letting you have the ride.

Big Rock Candy Mountains,” Deseret News, 12 June 1973, A4 quoted by Gordon B. Hinckley, “A Conversation with Single Adults,” Ensign, Mar 1997, 58

Robert D. Hales

True friends make it easier to live the gospel. They never make us choose between their ways and the Lord’s ways. They help us be the kind of person that attracts other true friends.

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

Marvin J. Ashton

A friend in the true sense is not a person who passively nods approval of our conduct or ignores improper behavior. A friend is a person who cares. When we lose someone who cares about us, we lose one of our most valuable assets… A friend is a priceless possession because a true friend is one who not only is willing to love us the way we are, but is able to leave us better than he found us. We are poor when we lose friends because generally they are willing to reprove, admonish, love, encourage, and guide us for our best good.

Marvin J. Ashton, “It’s No Fun Being Poor,” Ensign, Sep 1982,  72

Marvin J. Ashton

Listening is more than being quiet. Listening is much more than silence. Listening requires undivided attention. The time to listen is when someone needs to be heard. The time to deal with a person with a problem is when he has the problem. The time to listen is the time when our interest and love are vital to the one who seeks our ear, our heart, our help, and our empathy.  We should all increase our ability to ask comfortable questions, and then listen—intently, naturally. Listening is a tied-in part of loving. How powerful are the words, “Wherefore, my beloved brethren, let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath: “For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.” (James 1:19–20.)

Marvin J. Ashton, “Family Communications,” Ensign, May 1976,  52

M. Russell Ballard

Nothing is more important to the relationship between family members than open, honest communication… Often what we see in the eyes and what we feel in the heart will communicate far more than what we hear or say. A word to you children: Never be disrespectful to your parents. You must also learn to listen, especially to the counsel of your mom and dad and to the promptings of the Spirit. There are powerful moments of communication through regular family prayer and through family scripture study. The scriptures will help define family values and goals, and talking together about them will assist family members to learn to become individually secure, spiritually strong, and self-reliant.

M. Russell Ballard, “Like a Flame Unquenchable,” Ensign, May 1999,  85

Robert E. Wells

Too often, criticism attacks tender, unprotected feelings. When we criticize, we are implying blame, censure, condemnation, reprobation, and denunciation—and we’re setting ourselves up as judges, as if we were qualified to point out someone else’s faults and weaknesses.

For some people, sharp questions or quick rejoinders are habits. Criticism is a form of humor for them, and they enjoy feeling superior when they see someone else’s discomfort. This is a tragic, sinful attitude that must be changed.

Robert E. Wells, “Overcoming Those Differences of Opinion,” Ensign, Jan. 1987, 60

L. Lionel Kendrick

Christlike communications are expressed in tones of love rather than loudness. They are intended to be helpful rather than hurtful. They tend to bind us together rather than to drive us apart. They tend to build rather than to belittle.  Christlike communications are expressions of affection and not anger, truth and not fabrication, compassion and not contention, respect and not ridicule, counsel and not criticism, correction and not condemnation. They are spoken with clarity and not with confusion. They may be tender or they may be tough, but they must always be tempered.   The real challenge that we face in our communications with others is to condition our hearts to have Christlike feelings for all of Heavenly Father's children. When we develop this concern for the condition of others, we then will communicate with them as the Savior would. We will then warm the hearts of those who may be suffering in silence. As we meet people with special needs along life's way, we can then make their journey brighter by the things that we say.   Christlike communications will help us to develop righteous relationships and ultimately to return to our heavenly home safely. May we treasure the divine gift of communication, and may we use it wisely to build and to assist others on this marvelous journey through mortality. 

L. Lionel Kendrick "Christlike Communications," Ensign, Nov. 1988, 24

Thomas S. Monson

Men, take care not to make women weep, for God counts their tears.

Thomas S. Monson, “Standards of Strength,” NewEra, Oct 2008, 2–5

James E. Faust

We need to remind ourselves as husbands that our wives have been blessed with the divine gifts of intuition, faith, and love. They enjoy priesthood blessings even though they do not hold any priesthood office. … Priesthood blessings are not just male- or husband-oriented, but reach their potential flowering in the eternal relationship of the husband and wife sharing and administering these great blessings to our families. These blessings are the keys to eternal life, salvation, and exaltation through obedience.

James E. Faust, “Brethren, Love Your Wives,” Tambuli, Apr 1982, 7

Dallin H. Oaks

In contrast to the institutions of the world, which teach us to know something, the gospel of Jesus Christ challenges us to become something.  [Conversion] signifies not just a convincing but a profound change of nature…which requires us to do and to become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.  This is achieved not just by doing what is right, but by doing it for the right reason—for the pure love of Christ...  Instead of being judgmental about others, we should be concerned about ourselves. We must not give up hope. We must not stop striving. We are children of God, and it is possible for us to become what our Heavenly Father would have us become.

Dallin H. Oaks, “The Challenge to Become,” Ensign, Nov 2000,  32

James E. Faust

A patriarchal blessing from an ordained patriarch can give us a star to follow, which is a personal revelation from God to each individual. If we follow this star, we are less likely to stumble and be misled. Our patriarchal blessing will be an anchor to our souls, and if we are worthy, neither death nor the devil can deprive us of the blessings pronounced. They are blessings we can enjoy now and forever.

James E. Faust, “Priesthood Blessings,” Ensign, Nov. 1995, 63.

Thomas S. Monson

Your patriarchal blessing is yours and yours alone. It may be brief or lengthy, simple or profound. Length and language do not a patriarchal blessing make. It is the Spirit that conveys the true meaning. Your blessing is not to be folded neatly and tucked away. It is not to be framed or published. Rather, it is to be read. It is to be loved. It is to be followed. Your patriarchal blessing will see you through the darkest night. It will guide you through life’s dangers. Your patriarchal blessing is to you a personal Liahona to chart your course and guide your way.

Thomas S. Monson, “Your Patriarchal Blessing: A Liahona of Light,” Ensign, Nov 1986,  65

Richard P. Lindsay

The Lord has already revealed many things he expects of you: righteousness, obedience, compassion, honesty. You’ve been taught about them all your life. And you’ve already made commitments—at baptism, each time you take the sacrament, when you receive the priesthood. Remember a patriarchal blessing is an expression of the Lord’s love for you personally. More than anything else, it will help you understand through the Spirit your own marvelous potential and some of the great blessings the Lord has in store for you as you keep his commandments.

Richard P. Lindsay, “Chart Your Course by It,” New Era, Sep 1990,  4

James E. Faust

Our testimonies can be strengthened and fortified and our lives given greater purpose every time we read and reread our patriarchal blessings. By their very nature, all blessings are qualified and conditional, regardless of whether the blessing specifically spells out the qualification or not. Each blessing is absolutely qualified and given upon the condition of the faithfulness of the recipient of the blessing.

James E. Faust, “Your Patriarchal Blessing,” New Era, Nov 2005,  4

M. Russell Ballard

We need to become so deeply converted to the gospel of Christ that the fire of the covenant will burn in our hearts like flame unquenchable. And with that kind of faith we will do what is necessary to remain true and worthy.

M. Russell Ballard, “Like a Flame Unquenchable,” Ensign, May 1999, 85

Spencer W. Kimball

I find that when I get casual in my relationships with divinity and when it seems that no divine ear is listening and no divine voice is speaking, that I am far, far away.  If I immerse myself in the scriptures the distance narrows and the spirituality returns.

Spencer W. Kimball, What I Hope You Will Teach My Grandchildren, 6

Sheri Dew

No woman who understands the gospel would ever think that any other work is more important or would ever say, “I am just a mother,” for mothers heal the souls of men… And if the day comes when we are the only women on earth who find nobility and divinity in motherhood, so be it. For mother is the word that will define a righteous woman made perfect in the highest degree of the celestial kingdom, a woman who has qualified for eternal increase in posterity, wisdom, joy, and influence.

Sheri Dew, “Are We Not All Mothers?,” Ensign, Nov 2001, 96

Boyd K. Packer

The atonement is the very root of Christian doctrine. You may know much about the gospel as it branches out from there, but if you only know the branches and those branches do not touch that root, if they have been cut free from that truth, there will be no life nor substance nor redemption in them. 

 

Boyd K. Packer, “The Mediator,” Ensign, May 1977, 54

Dallin H. Oaks

The reality of our total dependence upon Jesus Christ for the attainment of our goals of immortality and eternal life should dominate every teaching and every testimony and every action of every soul touched by the light of the gospel.  If we teach every other subject and principle with perfection and fall short on this one, we have failed in our most important mission.

Dallin H. Oaks, CES-SLC,  Feb 7, 1992

Henry B. Eyring

When the Holy Ghost is your companion you can have confidence that the Atonement is working in your life.

Henry B. Eyring, Come Unto Chirst, BYU Fireside, (found in To Draw Closer To God, 1997, pp 49-50)

Bruce R. McConkie

The actual cleansing of the soul comes when the Holy Ghost is received.  The Holy Ghost is a sanctifier whose divine commission is to burn dross and evil out of a human soul as though by fire.

Bruce R. McConkie, New Witness for the Articles of Faith, p. 239

Henry B. Eyring

To know His will you must be committed to do it. The words “Thy will be done,” written in the heart, are the window to revelation.  The answer comes by the Holy Spirit. You will need that guidance often. To have the Holy Ghost as your companion you must be worthy, cleansed by the Atonement of Jesus Christ. So, your obedience to the commandments, your desire to do His will, and your asking in faith will determine how clearly the Master can guide you by answers to your prayers.

Henry B. Eyring, “Rise to Your Call,” Ensign, Nov 2002, 75

Joseph Fielding Smith

When a man has the manifestation from the Holy Ghost, it leaves an indelible impression on his soul, one that is not easily erased. It is Spirit speaking to spirit, and it comes with convincing force. A manifestation of an angel, or even the Son of God himself, would impress the eye and mind, and eventually become dimmed, but the impressions of the Holy Ghost sink deeper into the soul and are more difficult to erase.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 2:151

Henry B. Eyring

It takes a choice to “feast upon the words of Christ.” And even the feast is not nourishing without a choice to do what the words of Christ tell [us] to do. With faith and obedience practiced long enough, the Holy Ghost becomes a constant companion, our natures change, and endurance becomes certain.

Henry B. Eyring, “True Friends,” Ensign, May 2002, 26

Ezra Taft Benson

One of the trials of life is that we do not usually receive immediately the full blessing for righteousness or the full cursing for wickedness. That it will come is certain, but ofttimes there is a waiting period that occurs.

 

Ezra Taft Benson, “The Great Commandment—Love the Lord,” Ensign, May 1988,  4

Joseph Fielding Smith

What would man amount to without this free agency? He would be no better than a mechanical contrivance. He could not have acted for himself, but in all things would have been acted upon, and hence unable to have received a reward for meritorious conduct. He would have been an automaton; could have had no happiness nor misery, ‘neither sense nor insensibility,’ and such could hardly be called existence.

Joseph Fielding Smith, Doctrines of Salvation, comp. Bruce R. McConkie, 3 vols. [Salt Lake City: Bookcraft, 1954–56], 1:64).

Robert D. Hales

Agency leads us to act: to seek that we may find, to ask that we may receive guidance from the Spirit, to knock on that door that leads to spiritual light and ultimately salvation. I bear special witness that our Savior Jesus Christ is the source of that light, even the Light and Life of the World. As we use our agency to follow Him, His light will grow within us brighter and brighter until that perfect day when we are welcomed into the presence of our Father in Heaven for all eternity.

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

Man's Search for Meaning

Reflecting on his horrendous wartime experiences, Viktor Frankl recalled: “We who lived in concentration camps can remember the men who walked through the huts comforting others, giving away their last piece of bread. They may have been few in number, but they offer sufficient proof that everything can be taken from a man but one thing: the last of the human freedoms—to choose one’s attitude in any given set of circumstances, to choose one’s own way.

 

Man’s Search for Meaning [1985], 86.

Sheri Dew

We are here to demonstrate by our choices that we want to be in the kingdom of God more than anything else.

Sheri Dew, Relief Society Sisterhood Day, South Bend, Indiana, March 23, 2002

Richard L. Evans

Life offers you two precious gifts.  One is time, the other, freedom of choice – the freedom to buy your time with what you will.  You are free to exchange your allotment of time for thrills. You may trade it for base desires. You may invest in greed. You may purchase with it vanity; you may spend your time in pursuit of material things. Yours is the freedom to choose. But these are not bargains, for in them you find no lasting satisfaction.

Richard L. Evans, Man’s Search for Happiness

Strength of Youth

Your Heavenly Father has given you agency.  While you are here on earth, you are being proven to see if you will use your agency to show your love for God by keeping His commandments.  You are accountable to Him for what you do with your abilities and how you spend your time. Do not idle away your time. Be willing to work hard. Choose to do many good things of your own free will.

 

For the Strength of Youth Pamplet, 4

ElRay L. Christiansen

It is your earthly life that you are now living, my young friends. You will live it but once. There will be no reruns, no repeat performances. What you are in this life determines where you will be throughout eternity. You made good in that pre-earth life. You were valiant there.  When you do take the wrong course, you are undoing the work of your prior existence, for there you struggled for ages to prepare for mortality where you now are.

ElRay L. Christiansen, “Three Important Questions,” Ensign, May 1974,  25

Bruce R. McConkie

Our revelation says: “Every spirit of man was innocent in the beginning”—meaning that spirits started out in a state of purity and innocence in preexistence—“and God having redeemed man from the fall, men became again, in their infant state, innocent before God” (D&C 93:38)—meaning that all children start out their mortal probation in purity and innocence because of the atonement.

 

 

Bruce R. McConkie, “The Salvation of Little Children,” Ensign, Apr 1977,  3

Bruce R. McConkie

Having their agency, all the spirits of men, while yet in the Eternal Presence, developed aptitudes, talents, capacities, and abilities of every sort, kind, and degree.  During the long expanse of life which then was, an infinite variety of talents and abilities came into being.  As the ages rolled, no two spirits remained alike.

 

Bruce R. McConkie, Mortal Messiah 1:23

Elaine S. Dalton

The Lord’s counsel to Joshua is His counsel to you today, the “youth of the noble birthright.” (“Carry On,” Hymns, no. 255) “Be strong and of a good courage; be not afraid, neither be thou dismayed: for the Lord thy God is with thee whithersoever thou goest.” (Joshua 1:9) You are not alone! Though you may be the only Latter-day Saint in your school or your group of friends or even your family, you are not alone. You can rely on the strength of the Lord. As Joshua said to the Israelites, “Sanctify yourselves: for to morrow the Lord will do wonders among you.” (Joshua 3:5) This was Joshua’s call for a return to virtue, and it is the same call to us today. We simply cannot do the work we have been reserved and prepared to do unless we can access the strength and confidence that comes by living a virtuous life.

Elaine S. Dalton, “Remember Who You Are!,” Ensign, May 2010, 120–23

Ezra Taft Benson

The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature.

Ezra Taft Benson, “Born of God,” Ensign, Jul 1989, 2

N. Eldon Tanner

The happy home is one where the family lives together, works together, plays together, and prays together; where the parents show love and courtesy and demonstrate it to each other. Love is expressed often through actions and by the spoken word. We should not be like the Scotsman who, at the death of his wife, was receiving expressions of sympathy from his friends. One neighbor commented on what a fine person she was. Jock replied, “Aye, she was a good woman, and I came near telling her so once or twice.”

N. Eldon Tanner, “Celestial Marriages and Eternal Families,” Ensign, May 1980, 15

Robert D. Hales

As we look into the eyes of our children and grandchildren, we see the doubt and fear of our times. Wherever these precious ones go in the world, they hear about unemployment, poverty, war, immorality, and crime. They wonder, “How can we cope with these problems?”
To find answers, they look back into our eyes and listen to our words. Do they hear us speaking faithfully and hopefully, despite the tribulations of our times?
They need to see us continuing to pray and study the scriptures together, to hold family home evening and family councils, to serve faithfully in our Church callings, to attend the temple regularly, and to be obedient to our covenants. When they see our steadfastness in keeping the commandments, their fears will subside and their confidence in the Lord will increase.
By showing our faith through tribulation, we assure them that the fury of the adversary is not fatal. Jesus prayed to His Father on our behalf: “Not that thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that thou shouldest keep them from the evil.” That prayer will be answered in Heavenly Father’s time and season, according to our faith.

Robert D. Hales, “Faith through Tribulation Brings Peace and Joy,” Ensign, May 2003, 15