Spiritual oasis 'a refuge from the storm'

 

 

When we feel the need for encouragement, when we wonder about our worth or our ability, we need a little reassuring note or whisper in the ear, "You are better than you think you are." ….we all face responsibilities that seem overwhelming at times. We all have doubts and fears, drawing on Christ's love for us, we can remove the dark clouds that challenge our confidence, even in adversity.

 

"With the Lord's help we are always far, far better than we can be by ourselves."

 

Ardeth Kapp

 

"Vital spiritual patterns are evident in the life of the Savior, in the scriptures, and in the teachings of living prophets and apostles. These spiritual patterns are now and always have been important aids to discernment and sources of direction and protection for faithful Latter-day Saints."

 David A. Bednar

"The first great decision made on earth was Adam's decision to leave the Garden of Eden. In doing so he essentially left his Father to cleave to his wife. Given the choice of Eden or Eve, the paradise or the person, he chose Eve. He chose the person."

S. Michael Wilcox

"May each of us live our life in such a way so as to be known for tender,

 kind, refined, faithful, good, virtuous, and pure.

In this way we will have demonstrated that choice to forgo

being considered women of the world."

 Ann M. Dibb

"Even though we may not see from minute to minute that we are moving forward and making progress, I believe we will be able to one day look back at our lives and see that we were, in fact, doing just what we needed to be doing at just the right time in just the right place."

 Virginia H. Pearce

The trials of mortality face each of us. Whether we pass those trials or succumb to them largely depends on whom we ally ourselves with do we “trust in the arm of flesh” or are we sustained in the strength of the Lord?

“We have covenanted with the Lord to go where He wants us to go; we will do what He wants us to do, and we will strive to become what we should and must become. ‘In the strength of the Lord’ and through His grace,

I know that you and I can be blessed to accomplish all things.”

 L. Tom Perry

“Mortality, with its losses, sorrows, sicknesses, disappointments, torments, weeds, mistakes, errors, sins, and other afflictions would be a reasonable test in and of itself. But throw in Satan and his minions and now we have a test of faith and obedience that will ensure the Lord knows what we are made of.”

 Sandra Rogers

“We know that we are involved in God’s work every day, and that changes everything.

It changes the way we think. It changes our decisions.

It changes the way we dress. It changes the way we talk.

It changes the way we live.”

 Julie B. Beck

 “I think Babylon is intent on pulling families apart. This is cause for extreme concern. The family is meant to be eternal, but Babylon isn’t. Babylon is the city of the world; Zion is the city of God. Where do you want to live? Where do you want to raise your family?”

 Mary Ellen Edmunds

“One of the most frequent prayers in the scriptures is this, and it is echoed all throughout the scriptures: ‘How long, O Lord?’ Over and over again, prophets cry out from their agony not just ‘Spare me!’ but ‘How long, O Lord? How long?’ We all want to know when our suffering will end. This becomes the trial within the trial.”

 John S. Tanner

"The Lord knows who we are, where we are, and what our mission is, and what we need in order to accomplish that mission." "Not only has He known us for a long, long time, He has loved us for a long, long time. We are here now because we are supposed to be here now. No one else can have the influence or do the good that we were prepared and foreordained to have and do. No one else can fulfill our individual missions."

Sheri Dew

“I have found in my own personal life, when I have been struggling and feeling weighed down either emotionally, spiritually, or physically that the partaking of the sacrament was a source of great spiritual strength and that those quiet, reverent moments during its administration serve as a spiritual oasis

‘a refuge from the storm’

Brent L. Top

“The sweetest experience in mortality is to know that our Heavenly Father has worked through us,” says President Thomas S. Monson. But he does more than say it — he lives it. Throughout his life, he has been an instrument in the Lord's hands, one through whom the work of the kingdom of God is lovingly carried out.

President Monson cares about people by the millions; he has traveled the earth to bless countless lives in unnumbered lands. He may be known best, though, for caring about people one by one. He takes time for those who may have been mostly forgotten by others. He recognizes the person in the crowd who might need the extra bit of attention he can provide. He goes where the Spirit leads him — even if it means traversing continents to offer a priesthood blessing to a suffering friend.

~

“I testify that each one of us can feel the Lord's inspiration as we live worthily and strive to serve Him”

Thomas S. Monson