- Elders David B. Haight and Neal A. Maxwell passed.
- Elders Dieter Friedrich Uchtdorf and Elder David Allan Bednar are called to the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
- The apostolic and prophetic foundation of the Church was to bless in all times, but especially in times of adversity or danger, times when we might feel like children, confused or disoriented, perhaps a little fearful, times in which the devious hand of men or the maliciousness of the devil would attempt to unsettle or mislead.
- "It seems to be a[n] ... unreasonable thing, to suppose that there should be a God ... that has so much concern [for us], ... and yet that he should never speak, ... that there should be no word [from him]."
- "Whoever heard of true religion without communication with God? To me the thing is the most absurd that the human mind could conceive of. I do not wonder."
- For without revelation religion is a mockery and a farce. ... The principle of present revelation ... is the very foundation of our religion."
- God's love fills the immensity of space; therefore, there is no shortage of love in the universe, only in our willingness to do what is needed to feel it.
- Trying to find love without helping and sacrificing for others is like trying to live without eating--it is against the laws of nature and cannot succeed. We cannot fake love. It must become part of us.
- Conversion does not normally cone all at once, even though the scriptures give us dramatic accounts. It come sin stages, until a person becomes at heart a new person. Being "born again" is the scriptural term. It is a change of both how we think and how we feel.
- "[God] has infinite attention to spare for each one of us. He does not have to deal with us in the mass. You are as much alone with Him as if you were the only being He had ever created. When Christ died, He died for you individually just as much as if you had been the only man [or woman] in the world."
- Peace of conscience is the essential ingredient to your peace of mind. Without peace of conscience, you have no real peace of mind. Peace of conscience relates to your inner self and is controlled by what you personally do. Peace of conscience can come only from God through a righteous, obedient life. It cannot exist otherwise. On the other hand, peace of mind is most often affected by external forces such as concern for a wayward child, economic pressures, real or imagined offenses, deteriorating world conditions, or more to do than sufficient time to do it. An unsettled mind is temporary, transitory. Peace of mind is restored by resolving the external forces that disturb it. Not so with a troubled conscience, for it is unrelenting, ever present, a constant reminder of the need to correct your past mistakes, to resolve an offense to another, or to repent of transgression. Oh, a disturbed conscience can be temporarily masked by physical stimulation of the mind and body where one yields to the temptations of alcohol, drugs, pornography, and worse. All this at the cost of an increased appetite for false efforts to calm an aching conscience with the risk of incurring unrelenting addictions. There is a better way to restore peace of conscience.
- It is well to remember that even with peace of conscience you can have temporary periods when your peace of mind is interrupted by external concerns.
- Don't burden your own life with thoughts of retribution. The Lord's mill of justice grinds slowly, but it grinds exceedingly well. In the Lord's economy, no one will escape the consequences of unresolved violation of His laws. In His time and in His way full payment will be required for unrepented evil acts.
- To continue to suffer when there has been proper repentance is not prompted by the Savior but the master of deceit, whose goal is to bind and enslave you. Satan will press you to continue to relive the details of past mistakes, knowing that such thoughts make forgiveness seem unattainable. In this way Satan attempts to tie strings to the mind and body so that he can manipulate you like a puppet.
- "If pain and sorrow and total punishment immediately followed the doing of evil, no soul would repeat a misdeed. If joy and peace and rewards were instantaneously given the doer of good, there could be no evil--all would do good and not because of rightness of doing good. There would be no test of strength, no development of character, no growth of powers, no free agency. ... There would also be an absence of joy, success, resurrection, eternal life, and godhood."
- How we use our God-given moral agency explains why some things happen in our lives. Some of our choices have unforeseen results, which may be good or bad. But often we know in advance that some of our choices will have detrimental or even harmful consequences. I call these "informed choices." because we know our acts will have disastrous results.
I'll be watching the leaves.
Enjoy the day!
-Sarnic Dirchi
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