October 1990 General Conference Priesthood Session

M. Russell Ballard- Purity Precedes Power

• I emphasize that you do not need to be caught in the trap of being immoral--not one of you, ever.
• "Our future is shaped by our past, ... so be very careful what you do in your past!"
• We cannot foresee what the Lord has in mind for us. Our only course of action is to be prepared and worthy for whatever he requires. We must govern our actions every day with our future in mind.
• One of Satan's clever tactics is to tempt us to concentrate on the present and ignore the future.
• "If we are faithful in keeping the commandments of God His promises will be fulfilled to the very letter. ... The trouble is, the adversary of men's souls blinds their minds. He throws dust, so to speak, in their eyes, and they are blinded with the things of this world."
• The devil is a dirty fighter, and we must be aware of his tactics.
• Sin will always, always, result in suffering. It may come sooner, it may come later, but it will come.
• You never need to repent of a sin you have not committed. That seems obvious, but I want to emphasize it. Repentance is a great blessing, but you should never make yourself sick just so you can try out the remedy. You are infinitely better to maintain your spiritual health by staying morally clean.
• A clean conscience improve their self-esteem. Their relationships with others are better, and they enjoy a very positive acceptance.
• First, understand the standards of moral cleanliness.
• Several years ago, Elder Hartman Rector, who spent twenty-six years as a navy pilot, gave an interesting analogy. the navy had a rule that said, in effect, "Thou shalt not fly thy airplane in the trees." That makes sense. But to ensure that he obeyed this rule, he set his own standard: "Thou shalt not fly thy airplane closer than 5,000 feet to the trees." He said, "When you do this you make the navy's commandment of not flying in the trees easy to live."
• You can know the correct standards of moral conduct by following the promptings of the Spirit. These promptings never will lead you to do anything that makes you feel uncomfortable, unclean, or ashamed.
• Second, once you understand the standards, you must determine that you will live by them.
• Third, while you must exercise your agency and bear the responsibility for your decisions, you need not face temptation alone.
• Fourth, choose friends who share your standards, both members and nonmembers. Such friends will make peer pressure uplifting and positive.
• When you have established a strong bond with such friends, you can reach out to those who have not made firm decisions abut morality. Help them to know that immorality is not "cool."
• Fifth, you young men must cultivate a considerate attitude toward women of all ages.
• Finally, seek help from the Lord, the source of spiritual power.
• Remember, young men, that purity precedes power.
• Brethren, we need not fear the future if we will keep the Lord's commandments and live to be his worthy servants.

Marion D. Hanks -Changing Channels

• "Please accept my thanks. ... You spoke seriously to a group of youth who are used to being told how wonderful they are. They are wonderful, but they needed to do some heavy thinking for a change. You helped them do that. Thank you!"
• A picture forms on my monitor involving a father aboard an airplane on a short business trip. He has with him his five-year-old son and is almost wishing his son were not there because it is a very rough trip. There are downdrafts and updrafts and head winds alternating with tail winds, and some passengers are feeling a bit queasy. Apprehensively, the father glances at his son and finds him grinning from ear to ear. "Dad," he says, "do they do this just to make it fun for the kids?"
• Good parents and family and leaders and friends do go to great lengths to make it fun for the kids, but the fun they are thinking of is wholesome fun; it hurts no one, and it lifts the spirit and is good to remember tomorrow and through a lifetime and forever. It never detracts from the real, long-term joy we came into this world to experience.
• Go so loved that he gave.
• Christ so loved that he gave.
• We are here on this earth to learn, after the example of the Father and the Son, to love enough to give--to use our agency unselfishly.
• What really matters, after all, is what kind of people we are and that we are daily, hourly, deciding and manifesting.
• "Ah, my soul, look to the road you are walking on. He who picks up one end of the stick picks up the other. He who chooses the beginning of a road chooses the place it leads to."
• "You know, in high school you can sort of make up your own world, and be king of it. In the real world, you're with everybody else, and you're just part of it."
• He seems to be wisely using his agency now to follow a more constructive path. He had been on a road that seemed to be leading where he really did not want to be, and he had been mature enough to turn around and choose a better way.

J. Ballard Washburn -Follow the Prophet

• "When a wrong wants righting, or a truth wants preaching, or a continent wants discovering [and, we might add, or God wants us to read the Book of Mormon], God sends a baby into the world to do it."

Durrel A. Woolsey -An Eternal Key

• "For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the whole world, and lose his own soul?"
• We likely will not be called upon to endure the great physical hardships suffered by so many of our pioneer forefathers. Ours is a much more sinister and demoralizing challenge. Often this challenge will approach cloaked in confusing masks of misunderstood rights and agency or the enticements and allurements of a misguided world. We daily face the "anything for a thrill" crowd or the "What's in it for me?" society.
• Dad, you need to be a hero in your family, They need a hero.
• Could not, should not, Father become the hero to his family? A father worthy of attention, worthy of emulation?
• First of all, a generous amount of your time is required.
• "What would it profit me, though I should go out into the world and win strangers to the fold of God and lose my own children? Oh! God, let me not lose my own. I can not afford to lose mine, whom God has given to me and whom I am responsible for before the Lord, and who are dependent upon me for guidance, for instruction, for proper influence."
• Father, one of your greatest resources will be the scriptures.

Thomas S. Monson -That We May Touch Heaven

• While we may differ in age, in custom, or in nationality, we hold membership in the same church and are united as one in our priesthood callings.
• "We desire everything in this world for you that is right and good. ... You are choice spirits who have been held in reserve to come forth in this day when the temptations, responsibilities, and opportunities are the very greatest. you are at a critical time in your lives...."
• You cannot do wrong and feel right.
• Because dating is a preparation for marriage, date only those who have high standards.
• Be careful to go to places where there is a good environment, where you won't be faced with temptation.
• "If you ever find yourself in a place you shouldn't ought to be, get out!"
• The way you dress sends messages about yourself to others and often influences the way you and others act. Dress in such a way as to bring out the best in yourself and those around you. Avoid extremes in clothing and appearance.
• Everyone needs good friends.
• Treat everyone with kindness and dignity
• A Latter-day Saint young man lives as he teaches and as he believes. He is honest with others. He is honest with himself. He is honest with God. He is honest by habit and as a matter of course. When a difficult decision must be made, he never asks himself, "What will others think?" but rather, "What will I think of myself?"
• Use language to build and uplift those around you.
• If you have any question about whether a particular movie, book, or other form of entertainment is appropriate, don't see it, don't read it, don't participate.
• Music can, by its tempo, beat, intensity, and lyrics, dull your spiritual sensitivity. You cannot afford to fill your mind with unworthy music.
• In dating, threat your date with respect, and expect your date to show that same respect for you. Tears inevitably follow transgression.
• Men, take care not to make women weep, for God counts their tears.
• "Every action is preceded by a thought. If we want to control our actions, we must control our thinking."
• "There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it."
• Bear in mind, however, that Sunday is not a holiday. Sunday is a holy day.
• When challenged or tempted, you do not need to feel alone. Remember that prayer is the passport to spiritual power.
• Don't put your eternal life at risk.
• You have a heritage: Honor it.
• You will meet sin: Shun it.
• You have the truth: Live it.
• You have a testimony: Share it.

Gordon B. Hinckley - "In ... Counsellors There Is Safety"

• In a previous general priesthood meeting, I spoke about the duty of bishops. I discussed the entire field of their responsibilities. I suppose none of you have remembered that, but I recall doing so nevertheless.
• It is imperative that the president himself select his counselors because theirs must be a compatible relationship. He must have absolute confidence in them. They must have confidence in him. They must work together in a spirit of mutual trust and respect.
• As an assistant, the counselor is not the president. He does not assume responsibility and move out ahead of his president.
• It is the prerogative of the president to make the decision, and it is the duty of the counselors to back him in that decision. His decision then becomes their decision, regardless of their previous ideas.
• A counselor is a partner.
• Such a partnership provides a safety valve. The wise writer of Proverbs tells us that "in .. counsellors there is safety."
• A man or woman thinking alone, working alone, arriving at his or her own conclusions, can take action which might prove to be wrong.
• If there is a lack of unity, there follows an absence of action. Two counselors, working with a president, preserve a wonderful system of checks and balances. they become a safeguard that is seldom, if ever, in error and affords great strength of leadership.
• A counselor is a friend.
• They should be good friends, trusted friends, in a very real sense.
• A counselor is a judge.
• In some circumstances, a counselor may serve as a proxy for his president.
• "It is difficult to have responsibility without authority."
• Do not fear, brethren: there is a Presidency over this Church.
• I pray, my beloved brethren, that we may be faithful and true in these holy callings.

To those who did their best and achieved their goals today.....

Congrats Olympic Medalists!

Gold: China, United States, Russia, Great Britain, Japan, France, South Korea, Germany, Australia, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, Ukraine, Hungary, Belarus, New Zealand, Denmark, Romania, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Poland, Sweden, North Korea, Czech Republic, Kenya, South Africa, Iran, Jamaica, Ethiopia, Slovenia, Croatia, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Switzerland, Lithuania, Grenada, Venezuela

Silver: China, United States, Russia, Great Britain, Japan, France, South Korea, Germany, Australia, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, Hungary, Belarus, New Zealand, Denmark, Romania, Brazil, Cuba, Poland, Sweden, Czech Republic, Kenya, Mexico, South Africa, Iran, Jamaica, Slovenia, Colombia, Slovakia, Croatia, Spain, Azerbaijan, Belgium, India, Dominican Republic, Georgia, Switzerland, Egypt,Armenia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Chinese Taipei (Taiwan), Cyprus, Estonia, Guatemala, Malaysia, Thailand

Bronze: China, United States, Russia, Great Britain, Japan, France, South Korea, Germany, Australia, Italy, Netherlands, Canada, Ukraine, Hungary, Belarus, New Zealand, Denmark, Romania, Brazil, Kazakhstan, Cuba, Poland, Sweden, North Korea, Czech Republic, Kenya, Mexico, Iran, Jamaica, Ethiopia, Slovenia, Colombia, Slovakia, Spain, Azerbaijan, Belgium, India, Lithuania, Armenia, Indonesia, Mongolia, Norway, Serbia, Tunisia, Greece, Moldova, Argentina, Hong Kong, Kuwait, Puerto Rico, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Trinidad & Tobago, Turkey, Uzbekistan

May the competition be just as fierce tomorrow! :)

Until you next see these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!

-Sarnic Dirchi