Dieter F Uchtdorf

Therefore, my dear brothers and sisters—my dear friends—please, first doubt your doubts before you doubt your faith.  We must never allow doubt to hold us prisoner and keep us from the divine love, peace, and gifts that come through faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.

Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Come, Join With Us, Ensign, Nov. 2013

Boyd K. Packer

It is not wise to wrestle with the revelations with such insistence as to demand immediate answers or blessings to your liking. You cannot force spiritual things. Such words as compel, coerce, constrain, pressure, demand, do not describe our privileges with the Spirit. You can no more force the Spirit to respond than you can force a bean to sprout, or an egg to hatch before it’s time. You can create a climate to foster growth, nourish, and protect; but you cannot force or compel: you must await the growth.

Do not be impatient to gain great spiritual knowledge. Let it grow, help it grow, but do not force it or you will open the way to be misled.

Boyd K Packer, The Candle of the Lord, Ensign. Jan. 1983

Heber J Grant

Mr. Devil, shut up. I don’t care if every patriarch in the Church has made a mistake in a blessing, and told a lie, I believe with all my heart and soul that the gospel is true and I will not allow my faith to be upset.

Heber J Grant, Heber J Grant: A Prophet for Hard Times, Ensign Jan. 2004

click here for the full story of this quote.

Jeffrey R. Holland

"...for me there is no greater amazement and no more difficult personal challenge than when, after the anguish in Gethsemane, after being mocked, beaten, and scourged, Jesus staggers under his load to the crest of Calvary and says, “Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do.” (Luke 23:34.)

If ever there is a moment when I indeed stand all amazed, it is here, for this is an amazement of a different kind. So much of the mystery of his power and ministry tear at my mind: the circumstances of his birth, the breadth and variety of his ministry and miracles, the self-summoned power of his resurrection—before all of these I stand amazed and say, “How did he do it?”

But here with disciples who abandoned him in his hour of greatest need, here fainting under the weight of his cross and the sins of all mankind which were attached to it, here rent by piercing spikes in his palms and in his wrists and in his feet—here now the amazement tears not at my mind but at my heart, and I ask not “How did he do it?” but “Why did he do it?”

It is here that I examine my life, not against the miraculousness of his, but against the mercifulness of it, and it is here I find how truly short I fall in emulation of the Master."

Jeffrey R. Holland, I Stand All Amazed, Ensign Aug. 1986

Boyd K. Packer

A testimony is to be found in the bearing of it. Somewhere in your quest for spiritual knowledge, there is that ‘leap of faith,’ as the philosophers call it. It is the moment when you have gone to the edge of the light and step into the darkness to discover that the way is lighted ahead for just a footstep or two.

Boyd K Packer, The Candle of the Lord, Ensign, Jan. 1983

Jeffrey R. Holland

An anonymous commenter asked me to find a quote by Joseph Fielding Smith. I searched and searched, but could not find it. This quote by Jeffrey R. Holland makes the same statement that anonymous was looking for in the JSF quote, so I hope it will satisfy. If I find the JFR quote I will also post it.

"To consider that everything of saving significance in the Church stands or falls on the truthfulness of the Book of Mormon and, by implication, the Prophet Joseph Smith’s account of how it came forth is as sobering as it is true. It is a ‘sudden death’ proposition. Either the Book of Mormon is what the Prophet Joseph said it is, or this Church and its founder are false, a deception from the first instance onward.

“Not everything in life is so black and white, but the authenticity of the Book of Mormon and its keystone role in our religion seem to be exactly that. Either Joseph Smith was the prophet he said he was, a prophet who, after seeing the Father and the Son, later beheld the angel Moroni, repeatedly heard counsel from Moroni’s lips, and eventually received at his hands a set of ancient gold plates that he then translated by the gift and power of God, or else he did not. And if he did not, he would not be entitled to the reputation of New England folk hero, or well-meaning young man or writer of remarkable fiction. No, nor would he be entitled to be considered a great teacher, a quintessential American religious leader, or the creator of great devotional literature. If he had lied about the coming forth of the Book of Mormon, he would certainly be none of these.

“I am suggesting that one has to take something of a do-or-die stand regarding the restoration of the gospel of Jesus Christ, and the divine origins of the Book of Mormon. Reason and righteousness require it. Joseph Smith must be accepted either as a prophet of God or else as a charlatan of the first order, but no one should tolerate any ludicrous, even laughable 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, literarily, historically, or theologically”

Jeffrey R. Holland, Christ and the New Covenant [1997], 345–46

Joseph B. Wirthlin

The testimony of the Holy Ghost is the strongest testimony that a man can receive.

Smith, Answers to Gospel Questions, 4:92 as quoted in the Seminary and Institute Handbook The Life and Teachings of Jesus and His Apostles, Ch. 9 "Whosever Shall Do the Will of the Father"

Franklin D. Richards

The blessed part about being a peacemaker is that those who are peacemakers and who live the gospel principles receive a testimony borne of the Holy Ghost.  They enjoy the peace that surpasseth all understanding, relief from inner tensions, joy and happiness, contentment, growth and development.

Richard G. Scott

A strong testimony gives peace, comfort, and assurance. It generates the conviction that as the teachings of the Savior are consistently obeyed, life will be beautiful, the future will be secure, and there will be capacity to overcome the challenges that cross our path.

Richard G. Scott, “The Transforming Power of Faith and Character,” Ensign, Nov 2010, 43–46

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

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

Joseph Smith

Unless every member of the Church gains for himself an unshakable testimony of the divinity of this Church, he will be among those who will be deceived in this day when the 'elect according to the covenant' are going to be tried and tested.  Only those will survive who have gained for themselves that testimony.

quoted by Harold B. Lee in Conference Report, Oct. 1950, p. 129