Saturday, June 29, 2013
Elder David A Bednar, Pray Always, October 2008 General Conference
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.
Elder Richard G Scott, The Eternal Blessings of Marriage, April 2011 General Conference
It is so rewarding to be married. Marriage is wonderful. In time you begin to think alike and have the same ideas and impressions. You have times when you are extremely happy, times of testing, and times of trial, but the Lord guides you through all of those growth experiences together.
Elder Richard G Scott, The Eternal Blessings of Marriage, April 2011 General Conference
Two of the vital pillars that sustain Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness are marriage and the family. Their lofty significance is underscored by Satan’s relentless efforts to splinter the family and to undermine the significance of temple ordinances, which bind the family together for eternity.
Richard G Scott, The Eternal Blessings of Marriage, April 2011 General Conference
Pure love is an incomparable, potent power for good. Righteous love is the foundation of a successful marriage. It is the primary cause of contented, well-developed children.
President Dieter F Uchtdorf, The Hope of God's Light, April 2013 General Conference
Your Heavenly Father knows that you will make mistakes. He knows that you will stumble—perhaps many times. This saddens Him, but He loves you. He does not wish to break your spirit. On the contrary, He desires that you rise up and become the person you were designed to be.
President Dieter F Uchtdorf, The Hope of God's Light, April 2013 General Conference
Lift up your soul in prayer and explain to your Heavenly Father what you are feeling. Acknowledge your shortcomings. Pour out your heart and express your gratitude. Let Him know of the trials you are facing. Plead with Him in Christ’s name for strength and support. Ask that your ears may be opened, that you may hear His voice. Ask that your eyes may be opened, that you may see His light.
Robert D Hales, Gratitude for the Goodness of God, May 1992
Gratitude expressed to our Heavenly Father in prayer for what we have brings a calming peace—a peace which allows us to not canker our souls for what we don’t have. Gratitude brings a peace that helps us overcome the pain of adversity and failure. Gratitude on a daily basis means we express appreciation for what we have now without qualification for what we had in the past or desire in the future. A recognition of and appreciation for our gifts and talents which have been given also allows us to acknowledge the need for help and assistance from the gifts and talents possessed by others.
Gratitude is a divine principle
Robert D Hales, Gratitude for the Goodness of God, May 1992
The point I would like to make is that when we express thankfulness to God and to his Son, Jesus Christ, we base our faith and repentance upon their forgiveness and their goodness.
Elder Boyd K Packer, October 2012, The Atonement
No matter what our transgressions have been, no matter how much our actions may have hurt others, that guilt can all be wiped out. To me, perhaps the most beautiful phrase in all scripture is when the Lord said, “Behold, he who has repented of his sins, the same is forgiven, and I, the Lord, remember them no more.”11
That is the promise of the gospel of Jesus Christ and the Atonement: to take anyone who comes, anyone who will join, and put them through an experience so that at the end of their life, they can go through the veil having repented of their sins and having been washed clean through the blood of Christ.12
Elder Boyd K Packer, These Things I Know, April 2013 General Conference
Agency is defined in the scriptures as “moral agency,” which means that we can choose between good and evil. The adversary seeks to tempt us to misuse our moral agency.
The scriptures teach us “that every man may act in doctrine and principle pertaining to futurity, according to the moral agency which I have given unto him, that every man may be accountable for his own sins in the day of judgment.”5
Dieter F Uchtdorf, Forget Me Not, November 2011 General Conference
I want to tell you something that I hope you will take in the right way: God is fully aware that you and I are not perfect.
Let me add: God is also fully aware that the people you think are perfect are not.
Friday, June 28, 2013
President Dieter F Uchtdorf, The Love of God, October 2009 General Conference
When we truly understand what it means to love as Jesus Christ loves us, the confusion clears and our priorities align. Our walk as disciples of Christ becomes more joyful. Our lives take on new meaning. Our relationship with our Heavenly Father becomes more profound. Obedience becomes a joy rather than a burden.
President Dieter F Uchtdorf, The Love of God, October 2009 General Conference
No, God does not need us to love Him. But oh, how we need to love God!
For what we love determines what we seek.
What we seek determines what we think and do.
What we think and do determines who we are—and who we will become.
Elder James E Faust, Gratitude As a Saving Principle, April 1990 General Conference
As with all commandments, gratitude is a description of a successful mode of living. The thankful heart opens our eyes to a multitude of blessings that continually surround us. President J. Reuben Clark said, “Hold fast to the blessings which God has provided for you. Yours is not the task to gain them, they are here; yours is the part of cherishing them.” (Church News, 14 June 1969, p. 2.)
Elder James E Faust, Gratitude As a Saving Principle, April 1990 General Conference
A grateful heart is a beginning of greatness. It is an expression of humility. It is a foundation for the development of such virtues as prayer, faith, courage, contentment, happiness, love, and well-being.
President Henry B Eyring, Remembrance and Gratitude, October 1989 General Conference
You could have an experience with the gift of the Holy Ghost today. You could begin a private prayer with thanks. You could start to count your blessings, and then pause for a moment. If you exercise faith, and with the gift of the Holy Ghost, you will find that memories of other blessings will flood into your mind. If you begin to express gratitude for each of them, your prayer may take a little longer than usual. Remembrance will come. And so will gratitude.
President Thomas S Monson, An Attitude of Gratitude, April 1992 General Conference
Let us follow Him. Let us emulate His example. Let us obey His word. By so doing, we give to Him the divine gift of gratitude.
Thomas M Monson, An Attitude of Gratitude, April 1992 General Conference
We can lift ourselves, and others as well, when we refuse to remain in the realm of negative thought and cultivate within our hearts an attitude of gratitude. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues.
President Thomas M Monson, Hidden Wedges, April 2002 General Conference
"The spirit must be freed from tethers so strong and feelings never put to rest, so that the lift of life may give buoyancy to the soul. In many families, there are hurt feelings and a reluctance to forgive. It doesn’t really matter what the issue was. It cannot and should not be left to injure. Blame keeps wounds open. Only forgiveness heals.”
President Dieter F Uchtdorf, The Merciful Obtain Mercy, April 2012 General Conference
Christ’s Atonement is infinite and eternal. Forgiveness for our sins comes with conditions. We must repent, and we must be willing to forgive others. Jesus taught: “Forgive one another; for he that forgiveth not … [stands] condemned before the Lord; for there remaineth in him the greater sin”3 and “Blessed are the merciful: for they shall obtain mercy.”4
President Boyd K Packer, The Brilliant Morning of Forgiveness, October 1995 General Conference
That great morning of forgiveness may not come at once. Do not give up if at first you fail. Often the most difficult part of repentance is to forgive yourself. Discouragement is part of that test. Do not give up. That brilliant morning will come.
President Boyd K Packer, The Brilliant Morning of Forgiveness, October 1995 General Conference
The gospel teaches us that relief from torment and guilt can be earned through repentance. Save for those few who defect to perdition after having known a fulness, there is no habit, no addiction, no rebellion, no transgression, no offense exempted from the promise of complete forgiveness.
James E Faust, The Healing Power of Forgiveness, April 2007 General Conference
If we can find forgiveness in our hearts for those who have caused us hurt and injury, we will rise to a higher level of self-esteem and well-being.
President Gordon B Hinckley, Forgiveness, October 2005 General Conference
Somehow forgiveness, with love and tolerance, accomplishes miracles that can happen in no other way.
Elder Robert D Hales, To Act for Ourselves: The Gift and Blessings of Agency, April 2006 General Conference
After you are on the path and are “free to choose” again, choose to reject feelings of shame for sins you have already repented of, refuse to be discouraged about the past, and rejoice in hope for the future. Remember, it is Satan who desires that we be “miserable like unto himself.” 25 Let your desires be stronger than his. Be happy and confident about your life and about the opportunities and blessings that await you here and throughout eternity.
Elder Robert D Hales, To Act for Ourselves: The Gift and Blessings of Agency, April 2006 General Conference
How do you reclaim that agency? How do you begin again to exercise it in the right way? You choose to act in faith and obedience. May I suggest a few basic choices that you can begin to make now—this very day.
Choose to accept—truly accept—that you are a child of God, that He loves you, and that He has the power to help you.
Choose to put everything—literally everything—on the altar before Him. Believing that you are His child, decide that your life belongs to Him and that you will use your agency to do His will. You may do this multiple times in your life, but never, never give up.
Choose to put yourself in a position to have experiences with the Spirit of God through prayer, in scripture study, at Church meetings, in your home, and through wholesome interactions with others. When you feel the influence of the Spirit, you are beginning to be cleansed and strengthened. The light is being turned on, and where that light shines, the darkness of evil cannot remain.
Choose to obey and keep your covenants, beginning with your baptismal covenant. Renew these covenants weekly by worthily partaking of thesacrament.
Choose to prepare to worthily attend the temple, make and renew sacred covenants, and receive all of the saving ordinances and blessings of the gospel.
Finally, and most importantly, choose to believe in the Atonement ofJesus Christ. Accept the Savior’s forgiveness, and then forgive yourself. Because of His sacrifice for you, He has the power to “remember [your sins] no more.” 24 You must do likewise.
Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, Elder Robert D Hales, October 2010 General Conference
Contrary to the world’s secular teaching, the scriptures teach us that we do have agency, and our righteous exercise of agency always makes a difference in the opportunities we have and our ability to act upon them and progress eternally.
Agency: Essential to the Plan of Life, Elder Robert D Hales, October 2010 General Conference
Of the 10 definitions and usages of the word agency, none expressed the idea of making choices to act. We teach that agency is the ability and privilege God gives us to choose and “to act for [ourselves] and not to be acted upon.” 1 Agency is to act with accountability and responsibility for our actions. Our agency is essential to the plan of salvation. With it we are “free to choose liberty and eternal life, through the great Mediator of all men, or to choose captivity and death, according to the captivity and power of the devil.” 2
Elder Richard G Scott, He Lives! All Glory to His Name, April 2010 General Conference
The Atonement is that essential ingredient of our Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness without which that plan could not have been activated. Your understanding of the Atonement and the insight it provides for your life will greatly enhance your productive use of all of the knowledge, experience, and skills you acquire in mortal life.
Elder Richard G Scott, He Lives! All Glory to His Name, April 2010 General Conference
Without the Atonement, Father in Heaven’s plan of happiness could not have been placed fully into effect. The Atonement gives all the opportunity to overcome the consequences of mistakes made in life. When we obey a law, we receive a blessing. When we break a law, there is nothing left over from prior obedience to satisfy the demands of justice for that broken law. The Savior’s Atonement permits us to repent of any disobedience and thereby avoid the penalties that justice would have imposed.
Elder Richard G Scott, He Lives! All Glory to His Name, April 2010 General Conference
There is an imperative need for each of us to strengthen our understanding of the significance of the Atonement of Jesus Christ so that it will become an unshakable foundation upon which to build our lives. As the world becomes more devoid of foundational standards and as honor, virtue, and purity are increasingly cast aside in the pursuit of appetite, our understanding of and faith in the Atonement of Jesus Christ will provide strength and capacity needed for a successful life. It will also bring confidence in times of trial and peace in moments of turmoil.
Elder Richard G Scott, For Peace At Home, April 2013 General Conference
Recognize the good in others, not their stains. At times a stain needs appropriate attention to be cleansed, but always build on his or her virtues.
When you feel that there is only a thin thread of hope, it is really not a thread but a massive connecting link, like a life preserver to strengthen and lift you. It will provide comfort so you can cease to fear. Strive to live worthily and place your trust in the Lord.
We need not worry if we can’t simultaneously do all of the things that the Lord has counseled us to do. He has spoken of a time and a season for all things. In response to our sincere prayers for guidance, He will direct us in what should be emphasized at each phase of our life. We can learn, grow, and become like Him one consistent step at a time.
Elder Richard G Scott, For Peace At Home, April 2013 General Conference
As you center your home on the Savior, it will naturally become a refuge not only to your own family but also to friends who live in more difficult circumstances. They will be drawn to the serenity they feel there. Welcome such friends into your home. They will blossom in that Christ-centered environment. Become friends with your children’s friends. Be a worthy example to them.
One of the greatest blessings we can offer to the world is the power of a Christ-centered home where the gospel is taught, covenants are kept, and love abounds.
Elder Richard G Scott, For Peace at Home, April 2013 General Conference
I have learned a truth that has been repeated so frequently in my life that I have come to know it as an absolute law. It defines the way obedience and service relate to the power of God. When we obey the commandments of the Lord and serve His children unselfishly, the natural consequence is power from God—power to do more than we can do by ourselves. Our insights, our talents, our abilities are expanded because we receive strength and power from the Lord. His power is a fundamental component to establishing a home filled with peace.
Elder Richard G Scott, For Peace At Home, April 2013 General Conference
Doing all we can to invite the gentle, guiding influence of the Holy Ghost into our lives is critical in our attempts to center our homes on the Savior. Acting obediently on those promptings strengthens us even more.
Greater peace will come as you couple your efforts to be obedient with serving those around you. So many individuals who have what they perceive to be meager talents humbly and generously use those talents to bless the lives of those around them. Selfishness is the root of great evil. The antidote for that evil is exemplified in the life of the Savior. He shows us how to focus our lives outward in unselfish service to others.
Elder M. Russell Ballard, Fathers and Sons: A Remarkable Relationship, October 2009 General Conference
A one-on-one relationship should be a routine part of your stewardship with your sons. Every father needs at least one focused, quality conversation with his sons every month during which they talk about specific things such as school, friends, feelings, video games, text messaging, worthiness, faith, and testimony. Where or when this happens isn’t nearly as important as the fact that it happens.
Elder M. Russell Ballard, This Is My Work and Glory, April 2013 General Conference
If any one of you feels your faith or your testimony of Heavenly Father’s plan is less than you know it should be, then turn more fully to the Savior. Let His light and His living water do for you and your family what a little water and light did in bringing life back to the weakened tomato plant.
Elder M. Russell Ballard, This Is My Work and Glory, April 2013 General Conference
Just as a woman cannot conceive a child without a man, so a man cannot fully exercise the power of the priesthood to establish an eternal family without a woman. In other words, in the eternal perspective, both the procreative power and the priesthood power are shared by husband and wife.
Tuesday, June 11, 2013
President Boyd K Packer, These Things I Know, April 2013 General Conference
“The consummate power of the priesthood has been given to
protect the home and its inhabitants. The father has the authority and
responsibility to teach his children and to bless and to provide for them the
ordinances of the gospel and every other priesthood protection necessary. He is
to demonstrate love and fidelity and honor to the mother so that their children
can see that love.”
President Boyd K Packer, These Things I Know, April 2013 General Conference
“We will not always be safe from the adversary’s influence, even
within our own homes. We need to protect our nestlings.”
Sunday, June 9, 2013
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, This, The Greatest of All Dispensations, July 2007 CES Fireside
God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe.
Saturday, June 8, 2013
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Happiness Your Heritage, October 2008 General Conference
In the end, the number of prayers we say may contribute to our happiness, but the number of prayers we answer may be of even greater importance.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Of Things That Matter Most, October 2010 General Conference
In family relationships love is really spelled t-i-m-e,time. Taking time for each other is the key for harmony at home. We talk with, rather than about, each other. We learn from each other, and we appreciate our differences as well as our commonalities. We establish a divine bond with each other as we approach God together through family prayer, gospel study, and Sunday worship.
President Boyd K. Packer, These Things I Know, April 2013 General Conference
We know that we are spirit children of heavenly parents, here on earth to receive our mortal bodies and to be tested. We who have mortal bodies have the power over the beings who do not.4 We are free to choose what we will and to pick and choose our acts, but we are not free to choose the consequences. They come as they will come.
President Boyd K. Packer, These Things I Know, April 2013 General Conference
Teach yourself and teach your families about the gift of the Holy Ghostand the Atonement of Jesus Christ. You will do no greater eternal work than within the walls of your own home.
President Boyd K. Packer, These Things I Know, April 2013 General Conference
I have come to know that faith is a real power, not just an expression of belief. There are few things more powerful than the faithful prayers of a righteous mother.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Waiting on the Road to Damascus, April 2011 General Conference
Often, the answer to our prayer does not come while we’re on our knees but while we’re on our feet serving the Lord and serving those around us. Selfless acts of service and consecration refine our spirits, remove the scales from our spiritual eyes, and open the windows of heaven. By becoming the answer to someone’s prayer, we often find the answer to our own.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Waiting on the Road to Damascus, April 2011 General Conference
Our Father in Heaven expects us to study it out first and then pray for guidance as we seek answers to questions and concerns in our personal lives. We have our Heavenly Father’s assurance that He will hear and answer our prayers. The answer may come through the voice and wisdom of trusted friends and family, the scriptures, and the words of prophets.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, This, The Greatest of All Dispensations, July 2007 General Conference
God is eagerly waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can’t if you don’t pray, and He can’t if you don’t dream. In short, He can’t if you don’t believe.
President James E Faust, Choices, April 2004 General Conference
As we look into the future, we are going to need to be stronger and more responsible for our choices in a world where people “call evil good, and good evil.” 10 We do not choose wisely if we use our agency in opposition to God’s will or to priesthood counsel. Tomorrow’s blessings and opportunities depend on the choices we make today.
President James E. Faust, Choices, April 2004 General Conference
In this life we have to make many choices. Some are very important choices. Some are not. Many of our choices are between good and evil. The choices we make, however, determine to a large extent our happiness or our unhappiness, because we have to live with the consequences of our choices. Making perfect choices all of the time is not possible. It just doesn’t happen. But it is possible to make good choices we can live with and grow from. When God’s children live worthy of divine guidance they can become “free forever, knowing good from evil; to act for themselves and not to be acted upon.
President Howard W. Hunter, The Law of the Harvest, March 1966 BYU Devotional
The government will take from the “haves” and give to the “have nots.” Both have lost their freedom. Those who “have,” lost their freedom to give voluntarily of their own free will and in the way they desire. Those who “have not” lost their freedom because they did not earn what they received. They got “something for nothing,” and they will neither appreciate the gift nor the giver of the gift.
Elder Quentin L. Cook, Can Ye Feel So Now, October 2012 General Conference
For any whose lives are not in order, remember, it is never too late to make the Savior’s Atonement the foundation of our faith and lives.
Elder Bruce C Hafen, The Atonement: All for All, April 2004 General Conference
Christ’s Atonement is at the very core of this plan. Without His dear, dear sacrifice, there would be no way home, no way to be together, no way to be like Him. He gave us all He had.
Elder Jeffrey R. Holland, The Laborers in the Vineyard, April 2012 General Conference
It is not possible for you to sink lower than the infinite light of Christ’s Atonement shines.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Of Regrets and Resolution, October 2012 General Conference
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, The Merciful Obtain Mercy, April 2012 General Conference
Remember, heaven is filled with those who have this in common: They are forgiven. And they forgive.
President Dieter F. Uchtdorf, The Merciful Obtain Mercy, April 2012 General Conference
When the Lord requires that we forgive all men, that includes forgiving ourselves. Sometimes, of all the people in the world, the one who is the hardest to forgive—as well as perhaps the one who is most in need of our forgiveness—is the person looking back at us in the mirror.
Russell M. Nelson, Nurturing Marriage, April 2006 General Conference
Marriage is sanctified when it is cherished and honored in holiness. That union is not merely between husband and wife; it embraces a partnership with God. 8 “Husband and wife have a solemn responsibility to love and care for each other.
President Lorenzo Snow, Deseret Weekly, April 1897 as referenced by President Kimball in The Importance of Celestial Marriage
When two Latter-day Saints are united together in marriage, promises are made to them concerning their offspring that reach from eternity to eternity. They are promised that they shall have the power and the right to govern and control and administer salvation and exaltation and glory to their offspring worlds without end. And what offspring they do not have here, undoubtedly there will be opportunities to have them hereafter. What else could man wish? A man and a woman in the other life, having celestial bodies, free from sickness and disease, glorified and beautified beyond description, standing in the midst of their posterity, governing and controlling them, administering life, exaltation and glory worlds without end!
Elder F. Burton Howard, Eternal Marriage, April 2003 General Conference
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.
Bruce R. McConkie, Celestial Marriage, June 1978
The most important single thing that any Latter-day Saint ever does in this world is to marry the right person, in the right place, by the right authority.
President Spencer W. Kimball, The Importance of Celestial Marriage, October 1979 First Presidency Message
Marriage is perhaps the most vital of all decisions and has the most far-reaching effects, for it has to do not only with immediate happiness, but also with eternal joys. It affects not only the two people involved, but also their families, particularly their children and their children’s children, down through the latest generations.
Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Protect the Children, October 2012 General Conference
The most powerful teaching of children is by the example of their parents.
Elder Paul V. Johnson, The Blessings of General Conference, October 2005 General Conference
Every time we are obedient to the words of the prophets and apostles we reap great blessings. We receive more blessings than we can understand at the time, and we continue to receive blessings long after our initial decision to be obedient.
Thursday, June 6, 2013
Elder Jeffrey R Holland, The Laborers in the Vineyard, April 2012 General Conference
I do not know who in this vast audience today may need to hear the message of forgiveness inherent in this parable, but however late you think you are, however many chances you think you have missed, however many mistakes you feel you have made or talents you think you don’t have, or however far from home and family and God you feel you have traveled, I testify that you have not traveled beyond the reach of divine love.
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