Robert W. Cantwell -Church Auditing Department Report, 2008
Brook P. Hales -Statistical Report, 2008
- Total Church Membership -13,508,509
- Full-Time Missionaries -52,494
M. Russell Ballard -Learning the Lessons of the Past
- When you are willing to listen and learn, some of life's most meaningful teachings come from those who have gone before you.
- There are times when we have no choice but to venture out on our own and do the best we can at figuring things out as we go along.
- "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it."
- There are great lessons to be learned from the past, and you ought to learn them so that you don't exhaust your spiritual strength repeating past mistakes and bad choices.
- Spiritual light is not lost because God turns His back on His children. Rather, spiritual darkness results when His children turn their collective backs on Him.
- You cannot do a Google search to gain a testimony. You can't text message faith. You gain a vibrant, life-changing testimony today the same way it has always been done. The process hasn't been changed. It comes through desire, study, prayer, obedience, and service. That is why the teachings of prophets and apostles, past and present, are as relevant to your life today as they ever have been.
Quentin L. Cook -Our Father's Plan--Big Enough for All His Children
- Our leaders have consistently counseled us "to live with respect and appreciation for those not of our faith. There is so great a need for civility and mutual respect among those of differing beliefs and philosophies."
Kevin W. Pearson -Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ
- Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness.
- If we desire more faith, we must be more obedient.
- Hope develops as particles of faith become molecules and as simple efforts to live true principles occur.
- Faith and fear cannot coexist.
- Consider it this way: our net usable faith is what we have left to exercise after we subtract our sources of doubt and disbelief. You might ask yourself this question: "Is my own net faith positive or negative?" If your faith exceeds your doubt and disbelief, the answer is likely positive. If you allow doubt and disbelief to control you, the answer might be negative.
- First is doubt. Doubt leads to discouragement. Discouragement leads to distraction. Distraction leads to a lack of diligence. If not reversed, this path ultimately leads to disobedience.
Rafael E. Pino -Faith in Adversity
- The important thing is not how a man died but how he lived.
- "If our lives and our faith are centered on Jesus Christ and his restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong. On the other hand, if our lives are not centered on the Savior and his teachings, no other success can ever be permanently right."
- Living the gospel does not mean that we will everlastingly escape adversity. Rather, it means that we will be prepared to face and endure adversity more confidently.
Richard G. Scott -Temple Worship: The Source of Strength and Power in Times of Need
- That trial has not been a problem for either of us because, when we live righteously and have received the ordinances of the temple, everything else is in the hands of the Lord. We can do the best we can, but the final outcome is up to Him. We should never complain, when we are living worthily, about what happens in our lives.
Russell M. Nelson -Lessons from the Lord's Prayers
- If one is to be forgiven, one must first forgive.
- Adding amen solemnly affirms a sermon or a prayer. Those who concur should each add an audible amen to signify "that is my solemn declaration too."
- "the song of the righteous is a prayer unto me, and it shall be answered with a blessing upon their heads."
- "There is such a thing as overdoing. A man may fast and pray till he kills himself; and there isn't any necessity for it; nor wisdom in it. ... The Lord can hear a simple prayer, offered in faith, in half a dozen words, and he will recognize fasting that may not continue more than twenty-four hours, just as readily and as effectually as He will answer a prayer of a thousand words and fasting for a month. ... The Lord will accept that which is enough, with a good deal more pleasure and satisfaction than that which is too much and unnecessary."
- The concept of "too much and unnecessary" could also apply to the length of our prayers. A closing prayer in a Church meeting need not include a summary of each message and should not become an unscheduled sermon. Private prayers can be as long as we want, but public prayers ought to be short supplications for the Spirit of the Lord to be with us or brief declarations of gratitude for what has transpired.
- When should we pray? Whenever we desire!
Until you next read these words;
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!
-Sarnic Dirchi
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