- When a mother bears and cares for a child, she not only helps the earth answer the end of its creations, but she glorifies God!
- Just as building and institutions have foundations, so do we as individuals have foundations that support our faith. Some are weak; some are strong. We can waffle "like a wave of the sea driven with the wind and tossed," or we can stand on a firm foundations and anchor ourselves with straps of spiritual steel, rooted and grounded to the timeless pillars of the gospel.
- "Strait is the gate, and narrow the way that leadeth unto the exaltation and continuation of the lives, and few there be that find it, because ye receive me not in the world neither do ye know me. But if ye receive me in the world, then shall ye know me."
- Principle 1: Have a sincere desire to know the truth.
- Principle 2: Learn the importance of reading the scriptures.
- Reading the scriptures. You need to study them in order to come to know God, who is the source of all truth.
- Principle 3: Learn the value of prayer.
- Joseph came to know the truth because he prayed. In our time, millions of members of this Church also testify of the reality of the Restoration because, following that counsel, they asked the Lord with faith. You have the same right to receive an answer to your prayers because a testimony is a gift that God gives only to those who ask with real intent. Try it, and the promise will be fulfilled.
- Principle 4: Discover the blessing of meditation.
- Principle 5: Experience the joy of going to church.
- The Lord said that charity is "the pure love of Christ," that which is "most joyous to the soul," "the greatest of all the gifts of God," "perfect" and "everlasting."
- All men may have the gift of love, but charity is bestowed only upon those who are true followers of Christ.
- 1. Recognize His love.
- 2. Receive His love in humility.
- Receive it. Feel it. It is not enough just to know that God loves you. The gift is to be felt continually day by day. It will then be a divine motivator throughout your life.
- 3. Convey His love.
- "Welcome the opportunity that takes you beyond your ordinary self if you would grow."
- If I could have one thing happen for every woman in this Church, it would be that they would feel the love of the Lord in their lives daily.
- We have to be careful what we desire, for the Lord grants unto us the desires of our heart.
- "Whether they be unto salvation or unto destruction." God will grant unto us, according to our will, the things which we desire.
- I always wanted to go where the Lord wanted me to go, to say what He wanted me to say--"I'll be what you want me to be," dear Lord.
- Perhaps what we feel during conference is similar to the feeling experienced by the Savior's earliest disciples as they followed Him from place to place to hear Him teach the good news of His gospel.
- We sometimes fail to understand that the everlasting peace Jesus promises is an inner peace, born in faith, anchored by testimony, nurtured with love, and expressed through continual obedience and repentance. It is a peace of spirit that echoes through the heart and the soul. If one truly knows and experiences this inner peace, there is no fear from worldly disharmony or discord. One knows deep down inside that all is well as far as the things that really matter are concerned.
- There is no peace in sin.
- One cannot be at peace if one is living a life out of harmony with revealed truth.
- God's peace is not to be hoarded. Rather, it is to be shared liberally with our families, our friends, and our communities. It is to be shared with the Church as well as those who are not members of our Church.
- Our faith, our knowledge is not based on ancient tradition, the creeds which came of a finite understanding and out of the almost infinite discussions of men trying to arrive at a definition of the risen Christ. Our faith, our knowledge comes of the witness of a prophet in this dispensation who saw before him the great God of the universe and His Beloved Son, the resurrected Lord Jesus Christ.
Sharon G. Larsen -Standing in Holy Places
- Standing in holy places is all about being in good company, whether you are alone or with others.
- When we determine within ourselves that we will control our thoughts and our actions and be the best we can possibly be, the best of life will come to us.
- A holy place is where we feel safe, secure, loved and comforted.
- It is possible the loneliest of times are when we are surrounded by people, even friends, who are making wrong choices, and we have to stand alone. There are some places it would not be safe for you to go even to help someone in need. The Lord said to stand in holy places. There are places where the Spirit would never be. You know where those places are. Stay away from them. Do not encourage a curiosity that ought to be stopped. Pay attention to what you are feeling so you will know when you are feeling unsure or uneasy.
- Holy places can be wherever you are--alone, in a crowd, with strangers, with friends.
- "Stand a little higher and let the nobility of good character shine through [your] lives. "
- All of you have been blessed with many talents and gifts.
- As women, we were born with a natural ability to love and nurture others.
- To nurture means to support each other, to encourage each other, to nourish and love each other.
- Let us not use a loud voice but a soft voice when we talk to those we love.
- Being a mother is a great blessing, not a sacrifice.
- Our prophets have said that they don't worry about the youth who pray twice a day. Now, if they don't worry about us, then we don't need to worry about ourselves, as long as we sincerely pray twice a day.
- The divine light which you carry within your soul is inherited from God because you are His daughter. Part of the light which makes you so magnificent is the blessing of womanhood. What a wonderful thing it is for you to know that your female, feminine characteristics are an endowment from God. Our latter-day prophets teach that "gender is an essential characteristic of individual premortal, mortal, and eternal identity and purpose." It is a holy blessing to be born with the exquisite qualities of a daughter of God. Women of God, both old and young, are spiritual and sensitive, tender and gentle. They have a kind, nurturing nature. This is your inheritance. Never belittle the gifts God has given to you. Develop the divinity that is within you. Don't dull the brightness of the spirit you came with from heaven. The Lord needs your goodness and your influence in this world.
- The world will try to make you think that being good is outdated and old-fashioned and that popularity comes from breaking the rules and lowering your standards. Don't buy into that way of thinking. As you watch TV or read magazines, you might be made to feel abnormal when, really, you are the one who has it figured out.
- The kind of young woman who can be a terrific torchbearer has high standards all the time, not just in her prom dress, but every, ordinary day.
- You have made modesty a way of life. It is more than how you dress:
- 1. Your behavior is decent and modest, and yet you are very fun to be with.
- 2. Your language is never crude but happy and interesting.
- 3. You are well groomed, and that is appealing.
- 4. You are focused on developing your talents and achieving your goals, not piercing and tattooing and flaunting your body.
- 5. You play sports with gusto but never lose control.
- 6. You don't seem to care about what the latest pop star wears or does because you have a certain style of your own.
- In summary, you do not imitate the world's standards because you know a higher standard.
- It is so much easier to do what is right than it is to do what is wrong. Life is so much less complicated when you are good.
- "Let us plant our feet upon the highway that leads to happiness and the celestial kingdom, not just occasionally, but every day, and every hour, because if we will stay on the Lord's side of the line, if we will remain under the influence of our Heavenly Father, the adversary cannot even tempt us. But if we go into the devil's territory ... we will be unhappy and that unhappiness will increase as the years go by, unless we repent of our sins and turn to the Lord."
- "If you ever find yourself where you hadn't ought to be--then get out!"
- I have always felt that if we speak in generalities, we rarely have success; but if we speak in specifics, we will rarely have a failure.
- First, an attitude of gratitude.
- You are precious in their sight and in the sight of your Heavenly Father. He hears your prayers. He extends to you His peace and His love. Stay close to Him and to His Son, and you will not walk alone.
- Second, a longing for learning.
- 'Faith and doubt cannot exist in the same mind at the same time, for one will dispel the other."
- "Seek ye out of the best books words of wisdom; seek learning, even by study and also by faith."
- We must be true to our ideals, for ideals are like the stars: you can't touch them with your hands, but by following them you reach your destination.
- Third, a devotion to discipline.
- "You can't be right by doing wrong; you can't be wrong by doing right." Your personal conscience always warns you as a friend before it punishes you as a judge.
- The battle for self-discipline may leave you a bit bruised and battered but always a better person. Self-discipline is a rigorous process at best; too many of us want it to be effortless and painless. Should temporary setbacks afflict us, a very significant part of our struggle for self-discipline is the determination and the courage to try again.
- "How glorious and near to the angels is youth that is clean; this youth has joy unspeakable here and eternal happiness hereafter."
- Finally, let each of us cultivate a willingness to work.
- There will come into every life moments of despair and the need for direction from a divine source--even an unspoken plea for help. With all my heart and soul I testify to you that our Heavenly Father loves you, is mindful of you, and will not abandon you.
Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!
-Sarnic Dirchi
The Dream
I was in school taking a test, not that I was a student. I was graduated, but I had ended up in a classroom, I think to just learn, and the teacher -my Anatomy teacher- was handing out quizzes. I read the questions, and answered them, and then when he graded them it turned out that I had gotten a 100% He asked if I was part of this class and I told him no, that I had graduated a couple of years ago. Which seemed to impress him because he turned to the rest of the class and told them that I had managed to answer questions without studying and get them all right while everyone else was doing less than well. He even pointed out one student that hadn't even tried to answer the questions, circling the answers that were obviously wrong, that didn't even fit with the question. He then asked who else wasn't a student a few other people raised their hands and stated that they had gotten over 100% on their quizzes, which made me feel not as great. How could they get over a 100? Still, I managed to console myself that I had still gotten a perfect score.
But then I was in a sort of camp in the back yard, I was on a mission to gather some wings to smuggle them away from the evil general so he couldn't use them. I went to the table selling supplies, looking at different things, and slowly passed my brother who slipped a long thing package containing the wings from under some blankets and handed them to me. I immediately went inside and upstairs to my bedroom closet and placed the wings in there, working to hide them by moving my skirts and shirts over the top of them and piling things on top while trying to make it look like I wasn't trying to hide anything there. Make it look natural. But somehow, the wings got out, we fought, and then I was falling the wings being placed on my back....
Then the unholy tones of daylight pulled me away....
and I became myself again. :)
-S.N.D
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