Thursday, October 30, 2014

Kindness

Dallin H Oaks, Loving Others and Living with Differences
Kindness is powerful, especially in a family setting.

Teens

Dallin H Oaks, Loving Others and Living with Differences, October 2014 General Conference
We challenge all youth to avoid bullying, insults, or language and practices that deliberately inflict pain on others. All of these violate the Savior’s command to love one another.

Bullying

Dallin H Oaks, Loving Others and Living with Differences, October 2014 General Conference
We challenge all youth to avoid bullying, insults, or language and practices that deliberately inflict pain on others. All of these violate the Savior’s command to love one another.

Anger

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: George Albert Smith (2011), 225, 226, 228
“unkind things are not usually said under the inspiration of the Lord. The Spirit of the Lord is a spirit of kindness; it is a spirit of patience; it is a spirit of charity and love and forbearance and long suffering. …

“… But if we have the spirit of fault finding … in a destructive manner, that never comes as a result of the companionship of the Spirit of our Heavenly Father and is always harmful.

“… Kindness is the power that God has given us to unlock hard hearts and subdue stubborn souls.”

President Dieter F Uchtdorf, O How Great the Plan of Our God!, October 2016 General Conference
Let us remember, the most important work we do in our families is through the power of the Holy Ghost. Whenever we raise our voices in anger, the Spirit leaves our companionships and families. When we speak in love, the Spirit can be with us. Let us remember that our children and grandchildren measure our love by how much devoted time we give them. Above all, don’t lose patience and don’t give up!

James 1:20
20 For the wrath of man worketh not the righteousness of God.

Tuesday, October 28, 2014

Progression

L Tom Perry, Finding Lasting Peace and Building Eternal Families, October 2014 General Conference
Our journey through life has periods of both good times and bad. Each presents different challenges. How we learn to adjust to the changes which come along depends on the foundation on which we build. The gospel of our Lord and Savior provides a sure and solid foundation. It is constructed piece by piece as we gain knowledge of the Lord’s eternal plan for His children.

President Dieter F Uchtdorf, Receiving a Testimony of Light and Truth, October 2014 General Conference
The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is a place for people with all kinds of testimonies. There are some members of the Church whose testimony is sure and burns brightly within them. Others are still striving to know for themselves. The Church is a home for all to come together, regardless of the depth or the height of our testimony. I know of no sign on the doors of our meetinghouses that says, ‘Your testimony must be this tall to enter.’
...
Let us acknowledge that most often gaining a testimony is not a task of a minute, an hour, or a day. It is not once and done. The process of gathering spiritual light is the quest of a lifetime.

Solutions to the World’s Problems

President Dieter F Uchtdorf, Receiving a Testimony of Light and Truth, October 2014 General Conference
“The Apostle Paul taught a parallel principle regarding spiritual knowledge. ‘The natural man receiveth not the things of the Spirit of God,’ he wrote to the Corinthians, ‘for they are foolishness unto him: neither can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned.’12

“In other words, if you want to recognize spiritual truth, you have to use the right instruments. You can’t come to an understanding of spiritual truth with instruments that are unable to detect it.”


My Thoughts
{
We can not understand the world's problems or the solution to them if we take God out of the equation.

While we try to figure it out by ourselves we argue and debate endlessly.
}

“The more we incline our hearts and minds toward God, the more heavenly light distills upon our souls. And each time we willingly and earnestly seek that light, we indicate to God our readiness to receive more light. Gradually, things that before seemed hazy, dark, and remote become clear, bright, and familiar to us.”

Friday, October 24, 2014

How to Have Joy

D Todd Christofferson, Free Forever, to Act for Themselves, October 2014 General Conference
Indeed, the real manifestation of God’s love is His commandments.

God's Plan

Elder M Russell Ballard, God Is at the Helm, October 2015 General Conference
The plan [of salvation] also provides us with a unique, eternal perspective that we are God’s spirit children.

D Todd Christofferson, Free Forever, to Act for Themselves, October 2014 General Conference
Indeed, the real manifestation of God’s love is His commandments.

Monday, October 20, 2014

Living Water

Cheryl A Esplin, The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul, October 2014 General Conference
"Our wounded souls can be healed and renewed not only because the bread and water remind us of the Savior’s sacrifice of His flesh and blood but because the emblems also remind us that He will always be our 'bread of life'12 and 'living water.'13"

Bread of Life

Cheryl A Esplin, The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul, October 2014 General Conference
"Our wounded souls can be healed and renewed not only because the bread and water remind us of the Savior’s sacrifice of His flesh and blood but because the emblems also remind us that He will always be our 'bread of life'12 and 'living water.'13"

Atonement

Carol F McKonkie, The Soul’s Sincere Desire, October 2016 General Conference
“He suffered, bled, and died to glorify His Father, and His merciful petition on our behalf opens the way for each of us to obtain peace in this life and everlasting life in the world to come. He does not want us to suffer longer or endure more trials than needed.”

Richard G Scott, Make the Exercise of Faith Your First Priority, General Conference October 2014
The temple is one of the best places to come to understand the power of the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

Doctrine and Covenants 19:15
15 Therefore I command you to repent—repent, lest I smite you by the rod of my mouth, and by my wrath, and by my anger, and your sufferings be sore—how sore you know not, how exquisite you know not, yea, how hard to bear you know not.

Cheryl A Esplin, The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul, October 2014 General Conference

Each week, she conducted a self-evaluation during the sacrament. She recalled mistakes she had made, and she committed to be better the next week. She was grateful to be able to make things right and be made clean. Looking back on the experience, she said, ‘I was acting on the repentance part of the Atonement.’

Always Remember Him

Francisco J Vinas, The Pleasing Word of God, October 2015 General Conference
The moment we begin to remember Him and keep His commandments every day—and not just on the Sabbath day—is when the remission of our sins begins to gradually take effect and His promise of having His Spirit with us begins to be fulfilled.

Cheryl A Esplin, The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul, October 2014 General Conference
As we partake of the sacrament, we witness to God that we will remember His Son always, not just during the brief sacrament ordinance. This means that we will constantly look to the Savior’s example and teachings to guide our thoughts, our choices, and our acts.8

Covenants

Cheryl A Esplin, The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul, October 2014 General Conference
As we partake of the sacrament, we witness to God that we will remember His Son always, not just during the brief sacrament ordinance. This means that we will constantly look to the Savior’s example and teachings to guide our thoughts, our choices, and our acts.8

Commandments

Elder Russell M Nelson, Let Your Faith Show, April 2014 General Conference
“Spiritual truth cannot be ignored—especially divine commandments. Keeping divine commandments brings blessings, every time! Breaking divine commandments brings a loss of blessings, every time!”

D Todd Christofferson, Free Forever, to Act for Themselves, October 2014 General Conference
Indeed, the real manifestation of God’s love is His commandments.
...
A God who makes no demands is the functional equivalent of a God who does not exist. A world without God, the living God who establishes moral laws to govern and perfect His children, is also a world without ultimate truth or justice. It is a world where moral relativism reigns supreme.
Cheryl A Esplin, The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul, October 2014 General Conference

As we partake of the sacrament, we witness to God that we will remember His Son always, not just during the brief sacrament ordinance. This means that we will constantly look to the Savior’s example and teachings to guide our thoughts, our choices, and our acts.8

Sunday, October 19, 2014

Learn in Your Youth

Cheryl A Esplin, The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul, October 2014 General Conference
A group of young women once asked me, “What do you wish you had known when you were our age?” If I were to answer that question now, I would include this thought: “I wish when I was your age I had understood the significance of the sacrament better than I did. I wish I had understood the sacrament in the way that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland described. He said, ‘One of the invitations inherent in the sacramental ordinance is that it be a truly spiritual experience, a holy communion, a renewal for the soul.’1””

Sacrament/Communion

Elder Peter F. Meurs, The Sacrament Can Help Us Become Holy, October 2016 General Conference
Our sacrament experience can be enhanced when we arrive well before the meeting and ponder as the prelude music is played.”

Elder Dale G Renlund, “That I Might Draw All Men unto Me”, April 2016 General Conference
"To draw closer to the Savior, we must increase our faith in Him, make and keep covenants, and have the Holy Ghost with us. We must also act in faith, responding to the spiritual direction we receive. All of these elements come together in the sacrament. Indeed, the best way I know of to draw closer to God is to prepare conscientiously and partake worthily of the sacrament each week."

President Henry B. Eyring, “The Holy Ghost as Your Companion,”, October 2015 General Conference“If we partake of the sacrament in faith, the Holy Ghost will then be able to protect us and those we love from the temptations that come with increasing intensity and frequency.”

Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, “That They Do Always Remember Him,”, October 2015 General Conference“The Sabbath and the sacrament become much more enjoyable as we study the stories of Christ. In so doing, we create traditions that build our faith and testimony and also protect our
family.” —Elder Claudio R. M. Costa, “That They Do Always Remember Him,” 101.



Francisco J Vinas, The Pleasing Word of God, October 2015 General Conference

“The moment we begin to remember Him and keep His commandments every day—and not just on the Sabbath day—is when the remission of our sins begins to gradually take effect and His promise of having His Spirit with us begins to be fulfilled.”
...
“What might be some of those vanities that can interfere in the process of receiving a remission of our sins and that are associated with keeping the Sabbath day holy?

"Some examples include arriving late for sacrament meeting without a valid reason; arriving, without previously having examined ourselves, to eat the bread and drink from the cup unworthily (see
1 Corinthians 11:28); and arriving without first having confessed our sins and having asked God for forgiveness for them.


“Other examples: being irreverent by exchanging messages on our electronic devices, leaving the meeting after partaking of the sacrament, and engaging in activities in our homes that are inappropriate for that sacred day."


Larry R Lawrence, What Lack I Yet?, October 2015 General Conference
A perfect time to ask, ‘What lack I yet?’ is when we take the sacrament.”
...
“In this reverent atmosphere, as our thoughts are turned heavenward, the Lord can gently tell us what we need to work on next.”
28 But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.

James J Hamula, The Sacrament and the Atonement, October 2014 General Conference

[The sacrament] needs to become more holy and sacred to each of us. Jesus Christ Himself instituted the ordinance to remind us what He did to redeem us and to teach us how we may avail ourselves of His Redemption and thereby live with God again.
...
...the ordinance of the sacrament helps us faithfully endure to the end and receive the fulness of the Father in the same way Jesus did, grace for grace.



Cheryl A Esplin, The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul, October 2014 General Conference
24 For this is in remembrance of my blood of the new testament, which is shed for as many as shall believe on my name, for the remission of their sins.


A group of young women once asked me, “What do you wish you had known when you were our age?” If I were to answer that question now, I would include this thought: “I wish when I was your age I had understood the significance of the sacrament better than I did. I wish I had understood the sacrament in the way that Elder Jeffrey R. Holland described. He said, ‘One of the invitations inherent in the sacramental ordinance is that it be a truly spiritual experience, a holy communion, a renewal for the soul.’1””
...
The sacrament becomes a spiritually strengthening experience when we listen to the sacrament prayers and recommit to our covenants. To do this, we must be willing to take upon us the name of Jesus Christ.2 Speaking of this promise, President Henry B. Eyring taught: ‘That means we must see ourselves as His. We will put Him first in our lives. We will want what He wants rather than what we want or what the world teaches us to want.’3
...
As we partake of the sacrament, we witness to God that we will remember His Son always, not just during the brief sacrament ordinance. This means that we will constantly look to the Savior’s example and teachings to guide our thoughts, our choices, and our acts.8
...
Our wounded souls can be healed and renewed not only because the bread and water remind us of the Savior’s sacrifice of His flesh and blood but because the emblems also remind us that He will always be our “bread of life”12 and “living water.”13



JST, Matthew 26:24


3 Nephi 18:7
 And this shall ye do in remembrance of my body, which I have shown unto you. And it shall be a testimony unto the Father that ye do always remember me. And if ye do always remember me ye shall have my Spirit to be with you.

Friday, October 17, 2014

Apostasy

Lynn G Robbins, Which Way Do You Face?, October 2014 General Conference
The scornful often accuse prophets of not living in the 21st century or of being bigoted. They attempt to persuade or even pressure the Church into lowering God’s standards to the level of their own inappropriate behavior, which in the words of Elder Neal A. Maxwell, will ‘develop self-contentment instead of seeking self-improvement’3 and repentance. Lowering the Lord’s standards to the level of a society’s inappropriate behavior is—apostasy.

16 Therefore thus saith the Lord God, Behold, I lay in Zion for a foundation a stone, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste.

Teachings of the Prophet Joseph Smith
"I advise all of you to be careful what you do, or you may by-and-by find out that you have been deceived.17Stay yourselves;18 do not give way;19 don’t make any hasty moves, you may be saved. If a spirit of bitterness20is in you, don’t be in haste.21 You may say, that man is a sinner.22 Well, if he repents, he shall be forgiven.23 Be cautious:24 await. When you find a spirit that wants bloodshed25—murder, the same is not of God,26 but is of the devil.27 Out of the abundance of the heart of man the mouth speaketh.28"

Being Offended

1 Nephi 16:2
2 And it came to pass that I said unto them that I knew that I had spoken hard things against the wicked, according to the truth; and the righteous have I justified, and testified that they should be lifted up at the last day; wherefore, the guilty taketh the truth to be hard, for it cutteth them to the very center.

Sunday, October 12, 2014

Peer Pressure

Isaiah 51:7
7 ¶Hearken unto me, ye that know righteousness, the people in whose heart is my law; fear ye not the reproach of men, neither be ye afraid of their revilings.

Lynn G Robbins, Which Way Do You Face?, General Conference October 2014

At the youthful age of 22, even Joseph Smith forgot which way he faced when he repeatedly importuned the Lord to allow Martin Harris to borrow the 116 manuscript pages. Perhaps Joseph wanted to show gratitude to Martin for his support. We know that Joseph was extremely anxious for other eyewitnesses to stand with him against the distressing falsehoods and lies being spread about him.
“Whatever Joseph’s reasons were, or as justified as they may appear, the Lord did not excuse them and sharply rebuked him: ‘How oft you have transgressed … and have gone on in the persuasions of men. For, behold, you should not have feared man more than God’ (Doctrine and Covenants 3:6–7; emphasis added). This poignant experience helped Joseph remember, forever after, which way he faced.
...
"While it certainly takes courage to face perils, the true badge of courage is overcoming the fear of men. For example, Daniel’s prayers helped him face lions, but what made him lionhearted was defying King Darius (see Daniel 6). That kind of courage is a gift of the Spirit to the God-fearing who have said their prayers. Queen Esther’s prayers also gave her that same courage to confront her husband, King Ahasuerus, knowing that she risked her life in doing so (see Esther 4:8–16)."
...
King Saul disobeyed the word of the Lord by keeping the spoils of war because he ‘feared the people, and obeyed their voice’ (1 Samuel 15:24). To appease rebellious Israel at the foot of Mount Sinai, Aaron crafted a golden calf, forgetting which way he faced (see Exodus 32). Many of the New Testament chief rulers ‘believed on [the Lord]; but because of the Pharisees they did not confess him, lest they should be put out of the synagogue: for they loved the praise of men more than the praise of God’ (John 12:42–43).”
...
Still others, self-deceived and in self-denial, plead or demand that bishops lower the standard on temple recommends, school endorsements, or missionary applications. It isn’t easy being a bishop under that kind of pressure. However, like the Savior who cleansed the temple to defend its sanctity (see John 2:15–16), bishops today are called upon to boldly defend the temple standard. It was the Savior who said, ‘I will manifest myself to my people in mercy … if my people will keep my commandments, and do not pollute this holy house’ (D&C 110:7–8).
...
"The Savior, our great Exemplar, always faced His Father. He loved and served His fellowmen but said, “I receive not honour from men” (John 5:41). He wanted those He taught to follow Him, but He did not court their favor. When He performed an act of charity, such as healing the sick, the gift often came with the request to “tell no man” (Matthew 8:4Mark 7:36Luke 5:148:56). In part, this was to avoid the very fame which followed Him in spite of His efforts to eschew it (see Matthew 4:24). He condemned the Pharisees for doing good works only to be seen of men (see Matthew 6:5)."
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May His inspiring example strengthen us against the pitfalls of flattery from without or of conceit from within. May it give us courage to never cower or fawn at the feet of intimidation. May it inspire us to go about doing good as anonymously as possible and not ‘aspire to the honors of men’ (D&C 121:35).

Luke 16:13

 13 ¶No servant can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.

Alma 60:36

“Behold, I am Moroni, your chief captain. I seek not for power, but to pull it down. I seek not for honor of the world, but for the glory of my God, and the freedom and welfare of my country”

Revenge

President Boyd K Packer, The Reason for Our Hope, General Conference October 2014
I recently received a letter from a woman who reported having endured great suffering in her life. A terrible wrong, which she did not identify but alluded to, had been committed against her. She admitted that she struggled with feelings of great bitterness. In her anger, she mentally cried out, ‘Someone must pay for this terrible wrong.’ In this extreme moment of sorrow and questioning, she wrote that there came into her heart an immediate reply: ‘Someone already has paid.’”