Joseph B. Wirthlin -Pure Testimony
- The Holy Ghost will confirm the truths of the restored gospel of Jesus Christ.
- Be sincere. Study. Ponder. Pray sincerely, having faith.
- "If any man will do [God's] will, he shall know of the doctrine, whether it be of God, or whether I speak of myself."
- Don't you be discouraged if the answer to your prayer does not come immediately.
- "A testimony is to be found in the bearing of it. Somewhere in your quest for spiritual knowledge, there is that 'leap of faith,' as the philosophers call it. It is the moment when you have gone to the edge of the light and step into the darkness to discover that the way is lighted ahead for just a footstep or two."
- Feelings of turmoil and despondency often signal a need for repentance.
- Pace is the precious fruit of a righteous life.
- To you who have sincerely repented yet continue to feel the burden of guilt, realize that to continue to suffer for sins when there has been proper repentance and forgiveness of the Lord is prompted by the master of deceit. Lucifer will encourage you to continue to relive the details of past mistakes, knowing that such thoughts can hamper your progress. Thus he attempts to tie strings to the mind and body so that he can manipulate you like a puppet to discourage personal achievement.
- When memory of past mistakes encroaches upon your mind, turn your thoughts to the Redeemer and to the miracle of forgiveness with the renewal that comes through Him. Your depression and suffering will be replaced by peace, joy, and gratitude for His love.
- Have you wandered from the path of joy and now find yourself where you do not want to be, with feelings you do not want to have? Is there a yearning to return to the peace and joy of a worthy life? I invite you with all the love of my heart to repent and come back. Decide to do it now. That journey is not as difficult as it seems. You can cast out guilt, overcome depression, receive the blessing of peace of mind, and find enduring joy. Pray for help and guidance, and you will be led to find it. Go to where you know the light of truth shines--to a worthy friend, a loving bishop or stake president, an understanding parent. Please come back. We love you. We need you. Follow the path to peace and joy through complete repentance. The Savior will help you obtain forgiveness as you sincerely follow all of the steps to repentance. He is the Redeemer. He loves you. He wants you to have peace and joy in your life.
- Our culture and its related traditions help establish our sense of identity and fill the vital human need to belong.
- The power of tradition, however, poses a significant danger. It can cause us to forget our heavenly heritage. To achieve eternal goals, we must reconcile our earthly culture with the doctrine of the everlasting gospel. This process involves embracing all that is spiritually elevating in our family and societal traditions and discarding that which is a barrier to our eternal view and achievement. We must transform ourselves from being "natural" men and women as defined by King Benjamin, and "becometh a saint" by yielding "to the enticings of the Holy Spirit."
- Please be not dismissive and think this principle applies only to others and their culture; know that it is valid for you and for me, wherever on earth we may live or whatever our family circumstances may be.
- Traditions which devalue marriage and family, abase women or do not recognize the majesty of their God-given roles, honor temporal success more than spiritual, or teach that reliance upon God is a weakness of character, all lead us away from eternal truths.
- Jesus Christ ministers to, and loves us all, one by one.
- "The Spirit of God speaking to the spirit of man has power to impart truth. ... Through the Holy Ghost the truth is woven into the very fibre and sinews of the body so that it cannot be forgotten."
- "Earth's crammed with heaven, And every common brush afire with God; And only he who sees takes off his shoes."
- "All I have to do is ... keep my spirit, feelings and conscience like a sheet of blank paper, and let the spirit and power of God write upon it what he pleases. When he writes, I will read; but if I read before he writes, I am very likely to be wrong."
- Never read anything that is not worth remembering.
- "Spirituality is the consciousness of victory over self." It is the sure knowledge that we are winning the struggle for the soul. Sensuality is the realm of self-indulgence. Spirituality is the realm of self victory.
- The Final Judgment is not just an evaluation of a sum total of good and evil acts--what we have done. It is an acknowledgement of the final effect of our acts and thoughts--what we have become. It is not enough for anyone just to go through the motions. The commandments, ordinances, and covenants of the gospel are not a list of deposits required to be made in some heavenly account. The gospel of Jesus Christ is a plan that shows us how to become what our Heavenly Father desires us to become.
- The gospel of Jesus Christ is the plan by which we can become what children of God are supposed to become. This spotless and perfected state will result from a steady succession of covenants, ordinances, and actions, an accumulation of right choices, and from continuing repentance. "This life is the time for men to prepare to meet God."
- The Master's reward in the Final Judgment will not be based on how long we have labored in the vineyard. We do not obtain our heavenly reward by punching a time clock. What is essential is that our labors in the workplace of the Lord have caused us to become something. For some of us, this requires a longer time than for others. What is important in the end is what we have become by our labors. Many who come in the eleventh hour have been refined and prepared by the Lord in ways other than formal employment in the vineyard. These workers are like the prepared dry mix to which it is only necessary to "add water" --the perfecting ordinance of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost. With that addition--even in the eleventh hour--these workers are in the same state of development and qualified to receive the same reward as those who have labored long in the vineyard.
- Never give up hope and loving associations with family members and friends whose fine qualities evidence their progress toward what a loving Father would have them become. Similarly, the power of the Atonement and the principle of repentance show that we should never give up on loved ones who now seem to be making many wrong choices.
- If we are losing our desire to do evil, we are progressing toward our heavenly goal.
- The tugs and pulls of the world are powerful. Worldly lifestyles are cleverly reinforced by the rationalization, "Everybody is doing it," thus fanning or feigning a majority.
- Granted, some sincerely wish for more power in order to do good, but only a few individuals are good enough to be powerful. But craving power and the spotlight sucks out the spiritual oxygen, leaving some "past feeling."
- Those who bestow the transitory things of the world are, themselves, transients. They cannot confer that which is lasting because they do not possess it! Some, so sensing and seeing so little, want to have it all now!
- To begin with, no remedy is more powerful than accessing--more than we do--the gifts of the Holy Ghost!
- The distance to "a far country" is not to be measured by miles but by how far our hearts and minds are from Jesus!
- People too caught up in themselves will inevitably let other people down!
- By paying more attention to what we are rather than exclusively to what we do, our public and our private persons will be the same--the man or the woman of Christ. Our intrinsic value is not dependent, upon mortal acclaim anyway; in fact, the world may actually see us as weak and foolish. Countering, however, are divine affirmations, including this one: "The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."
- Isn't it marvelous, brothers and sisters, that God, who knows everything, still spends time listening to our prayers? Compared to that cosmic fact, what does the world really have to offer us? One round of applause, one fleeting moment of adulation, or an approving glance from a phantom Caesar?
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!
-Sarnic Dirchi
The Dream
It was my wedding day. I was getting married to this Asian like guy, cute face, black hair...we'd been dating for a while, and finally the wedding day was here. But the ceremony wasn't all as I had expected it to be. We held it outside in front of a small Chinese home, where the 'priest' proceeded to use a small blade to cut by my left eye, and then used small scissors to cut all the eyelashes off from my right eye. He then prompted me to put mascara back on, which when I first looked at it, seemed rather pointless, there were no eyelashes there, but running the brush over the area some faint short eyelashes were shown. Then we were married! But, it wasn't the ending I had expected, my husband basically ignored me after that point, as if I had become just another statue in his home. We kissed for the first time, and there was no spark between us, though I tried hard to make it feel that way, nothing. Which seemed to make the distance between us more obvious. And then I realized, this wasn't how I wanted to be married. I'd wanted to be married in the temple. But I wasn't even sure my husband was a member. I don't think he was. Because we had a civil marriage, and I was distraught because now we couldn't get married in the temple for another year, and I was trying to figure out how my life had gotten so off tract when....
The unholy tones of daylight pulled me away....
and I became myself again. :)
-S.N.D
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