It remains only for you and me to both seek and tender that forgiveness—to both repent and to extend charity to others—which enables us to pass through the door the Savior holds open, thus to cross the threshold from this life into exaltation. Today is the day to forgive others their trespasses, secure in the knowledge that the Lord will thus forgive ours. As Luke significantly recorded, “Be ye therefore merciful” (Luke 6:36; emphasis added). Perfection may elude us here, but we can be merciful. And in the end, repenting and forgiving are among God’s chief requirements of us.Lance B. Wickman
There is Hope
For all who have fallen prey to addiction, “there is hope … because the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ makes all things possible.”
M. Russell Ballard
“Hope is a precious principle by which to live. However, some among us may have lost all hope because of sin and transgression. A person can become so deeply immersed in the ways of the world that he sees no way out and loses all hope. My plea to all who have fallen into this trap of the adversary is to never give up! Regardless of how desperate things may seem or how desperate they may yet become, please believe me, you can always have hope.
Always.”
—M. Russell Ballard
Winners Determine Life
"Many times true winners in life are those who have been hurt and disappointed but, have risen above these challenges. Often in life, God gives us difficulties to bring out the best in us. It's true, life does not determine winners, winners determine life".
-Marvin J. Aston
Prayer is the Surpernal Gift
“Prayer is a supernal gift of our Father in Heaven to every soul. Think of it: the absolute Supreme Being, the most all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful personage, encourages you and me, as insignificant as we are, to converse with Him as our Father."
Elder Richard G. Scott
Pruned by the master gardener
"Rarely, if ever, is there a truly great soul except he has been tried and tested through tears, and adversity---seemingly pruned by the hand of the master gardener. By applying the knife and the pruning hook the branch is shaped and fashioned to God's omnipotent design, in order that its full fruitage may be realized"
Boyd K. Packer
There is Hope
For all who have fallen prey to addiction, “there is hope … because the Atonement of the Lord Jesus Christ makes all things possible.”
M. Russell Ballard
“Hope is a precious principle by which to live. However, some among us may have lost all hope because of sin and transgression. A person can become so deeply immersed in the ways of the world that he sees no way out and loses all hope. My plea to all who have fallen into this trap of the adversary is to never give up! Regardless of how desperate things may seem or how desperate they may yet become, please believe me, you can always have hope.
Always.”
—M. Russell Ballard
Winners Determine Life
"Many times true winners in life are those who have been hurt and disappointed but, have risen above these challenges. Often in life, God gives us difficulties to bring out the best in us. It's true, life does not determine winners, winners determine life".
-Marvin J. Aston
Prayer is the Surpernal Gift
“Prayer is a supernal gift of our Father in Heaven to every soul. Think of it: the absolute Supreme Being, the most all-knowing, all-seeing, all-powerful personage, encourages you and me, as insignificant as we are, to converse with Him as our Father."
Elder Richard G. Scott
Pruned by the master gardener
"Rarely, if ever, is there a truly great soul except he has been tried and tested through tears, and adversity---seemingly pruned by the hand of the master gardener. By applying the knife and the pruning hook the branch is shaped and fashioned to God's omnipotent design, in order that its full fruitage may be realized"(Teachings of Harold B. Lee, p. 191).
Happiness in ordinary things
“Find happiness in ordinary things, and keep your sense of humor.”
--Boyd K. Packer--
Love is the healing balm
“Because love is the great commandment, it ought to be at the center of all and everything we do in our own family, in our Church callings, and in our livelihood. Love is the healing balm that repairs rifts in personal and family relationships. It is the bond that unites families, communities, and nations."
-Dieter F. Uchtdorf
Dignity in any occupation
“There is great dignity and worth in any honest occupation. Do not use the word menial for any labor that improves the world or the people who live in it. There is no shame in any honorable work.”
Boyd K. Packer
The straight and narrow path
"...the strait and narrow path, though clearly marked, is a path, not a freeway nor an escalator. Indeed, there are times when the only way the strait and narrow path can be followed is on one's knees!"
--Neal A. Maxwell
We belong to one big family
“We are not here isolated and alone, differently formed and composed of different material from the rest of the human race. We belong to and are part of this family, consequently we are under obligations one to another, and the Latter-day Saints … are under obligations to their brethren and sisters scattered in the nations who, through indigent circumstances, are unable to gather to themselves … the comforts of life.”
Brigham Young
No fear of the future
“I bear witness of the power of the priesthood given to the Church to protect us and guide us. And because we have that, we have no fear of the future. Fear is the opposite of faith. We move forward, certain that the Lord will watch over us, particularly in the family.”
Boyd K. Packer
The greatest good we can do
“The greatest good we can do in helping others become what they can become will be to lead them to the Savior.”
D. Todd Christofferson
God watches over us
"God does watch over us and does notice us, but it is usually through someone else that he meets our needs."
-Spencer W. Kimball
Healing Power of His Attonement
There is no sin or transgression, pain or sorrow, which is outside of the healing power of His Atonement.
C. Scott Grow
The Person we are Today
"The person we are when we depart this life is the person we will be as we enter the next. Thankfully, we do have Today. . . . We really are immortal in the sense that Christ's Atonement conquers death, both physical and spiritual. And provided we have so lived Today that we have claim on the Atonement's cleansing grace, we will live forever with God. This life is not so much a time for getting and accumulating as it is a time for giving and becoming. Mortality is the battlefield upon which justice and mercy meet. But they need not meet as adversaries, for they are reconciled in the Atonement of Jesus Christ for all who wisely use Today."
Lance B. Wickman
Moving forward the work of the Lord
"We must do all that is required in moving forward the work of the Lord in building His kingdom in the earth. We can never compromise the doctrine which has come through revelation, but we can live and work with others, respecting their beliefs and admiring their virtues, joining hands in opposition to the sophistries, the quarrels, the hatred--those perils which have been with man from the beginning."
Gordon B. Hinckley
Windows of heaven
"Do you want the windows of heaven opened to you? Do you wish to receive blessings so great there is not room enough to receive them? Always pay your tithing and leave the outcome in the hands of the Lord."
Joseph B. Wirthlin
Apostasy
"Apostasy usually begins with question and doubt and criticism. It is a retrograding and devolutionary process. The seeds of doubt are planted by unscrupulous or misguided people, and seldom directed against the doctrine at first, but more often against the leaders."
Spencer W. Kimball
Losing ourselves in service
'Unless we lose ourselves in the service of others, there is little purpose to our own lives."
Thomas S. Monson
Desires
We are all tempted to desire that worldly quartet of property, prominence, pride and power. We might desire these but we should not fix them as our highest priorities.
Dallin H. Oaks
The future
"The future is as bright as your faith."
Thomas S. Monson
The Bible and other scripture
"Some Christians, in large measure because of their genuine love for the Bible, have declared that there can be no more authorized scripture beyond the Bible. In thus pronouncing the canon of revelation closed, our friends in some other faiths shut the door on divine expression that we in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold dear: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and the ongoing guidance received by God's anointed prophets and apostles. Imputing no ill will to those who take such a position, nevertheless we respectfully but resolutely reject such an unscriptural characterization of true Christianity."
"At . . . moments of crisis and challenge, some choose to abandon faith just at the time when it most needs to be embraced. Prayer is ignored at the very hour when it needs to be intensified. Virtue is carelessly tossed aside when it needs to be cherished. God is forsaken in the all-too-human yet mistaken fear that He has forsaken us.
God watches over us
"God does watch over us and does notice us, but it is usually through someone else that he meets our needs."
-Spencer W. Kimball
Healing Power of His Attonement
There is no sin or transgression, pain or sorrow, which is outside of the healing power of His Atonement.
C. Scott Grow
The Person we are Today
"The person we are when we depart this life is the person we will be as we enter the next. Thankfully, we do have Today. . . . We really are immortal in the sense that Christ's Atonement conquers death, both physical and spiritual. And provided we have so lived Today that we have claim on the Atonement's cleansing grace, we will live forever with God. This life is not so much a time for getting and accumulating as it is a time for giving and becoming. Mortality is the battlefield upon which justice and mercy meet. But they need not meet as adversaries, for they are reconciled in the Atonement of Jesus Christ for all who wisely use Today."
Lance B. Wickman
Moving forward the work of the Lord
"We must do all that is required in moving forward the work of the Lord in building His kingdom in the earth. We can never compromise the doctrine which has come through revelation, but we can live and work with others, respecting their beliefs and admiring their virtues, joining hands in opposition to the sophistries, the quarrels, the hatred--those perils which have been with man from the beginning."
Gordon B. Hinckley
Windows of heaven
"Do you want the windows of heaven opened to you? Do you wish to receive blessings so great there is not room enough to receive them? Always pay your tithing and leave the outcome in the hands of the Lord."
Joseph B. Wirthlin
Apostasy
"Apostasy usually begins with question and doubt and criticism. It is a retrograding and devolutionary process. The seeds of doubt are planted by unscrupulous or misguided people, and seldom directed against the doctrine at first, but more often against the leaders."
Spencer W. Kimball
Losing ourselves in service
'Unless we lose ourselves in the service of others, there is little purpose to our own lives."
Thomas S. Monson
Desires
We are all tempted to desire that worldly quartet of property, prominence, pride and power. We might desire these but we should not fix them as our highest priorities.
Dallin H. Oaks
The future
"The future is as bright as your faith."
Thomas S. Monson
The Bible and other scripture
"Some Christians, in large measure because of their genuine love for the Bible, have declared that there can be no more authorized scripture beyond the Bible. In thus pronouncing the canon of revelation closed, our friends in some other faiths shut the door on divine expression that we in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints hold dear: the Book of Mormon, the Doctrine and Covenants, the Pearl of Great Price, and the ongoing guidance received by God's anointed prophets and apostles. Imputing no ill will to those who take such a position, nevertheless we respectfully but resolutely reject such an unscriptural characterization of true Christianity."
-Jeffrey R. Holland
Hold to the iron rod
"At . . . moments of crisis and challenge, some choose to abandon faith just at the time when it most needs to be embraced. Prayer is ignored at the very hour when it needs to be intensified. Virtue is carelessly tossed aside when it needs to be cherished. God is forsaken in the all-too-human yet mistaken fear that He has forsaken us. "The truth is that our only safety, our only security, our only hope is to hold fast to that which is good. As the mists of darkness gather around us, we are only lost if we choose to let go of the iron rod, which is the word of God."
David A. Bednar
