Hope is putting faith

"For thou knowest that we have done this work through great tribulation;

 and out of our poverty we have given of our substance to build a house to thy name,

that the Son of Man might have a place to manifest himself to his people."

D&C 109:5

Quotes by Thomas S. Monson

"Hope is putting faith to work when doubting would be easier"

Fortaleza Brazil Temple

The principles of living greatly include the capacity to face trouble with courage,

disappointment with cheerfulness, and trial with humility.

Gilbert Arizona Temple

"Remember who you are and what God expects you to become."

Fort Lauderdale Florida Temple

"Don't save something for a special occasion. Every day of your life is a special occasion."

Hartford Connecticut Temple

"He who gives money gives some, he who gives time gives more, and he who gives of himself gives all."

Indianapolis Indiana Temple

"Youth need less critics and more models."

Philadelphia Pennsylvania Temple

"There will be occasions in each of our lives when we will be called upon to explain or to defend our beliefs.

When the time for performance arrives, the time for preparation is past."

Trujillo Perú Temple

"Don't forget: one of the saddest things in life is wasted talent."

Tegucigalpa Honduras Temple

"When faith replaces doubt, when selfless service eliminates selfish striving,

the power of God brings to pass His purposes."

Sapporo Japan Temple

"The good you have done, the kind words you have spoken,

the love you have shown to others, can never be fully measured."

Provo City Center Temple

"There is no tomorrow to remember if we don’t do something today, and to live most fully today,

we must do that which is of greatest importance.

Let us not procrastinate those things which matter most."

Paris France Temple

"Find joy in the journey."

Phoenix Arizona Temple

"As I contemplate all that you face in the world today, one word comes to my mind. It describes an attribute needed by all of us but one which you at this time of your life and in this world–will need particularly. That attribute is courage."

Córdoba Argentina Temple

"To you who are parents, I say, show love to your children. You know you love them, but make certain they know it as well. They are so precious. Let them know. Call upon our Heavenly Father for help as you care for their needs each day and as you deal with the challenges which inevitably come with parenthood. You need more than your own wisdom in rearing them."

Rome Italy Temple

"Everyone can be discontented if he ignores his blessings and looks only at his burdens."

Brigham City Utah Temple

"Rather than dwelling on the past, we should make the most of today, of the here and now, doing all we can to provide pleasant memories for the future…If you are still in the process of raising children be aware that the tiny fingerprints that show up on almost every newly cleaned surface, the toys scattered about the house, the piles and piles of laundry to be tackled, will disappear all too soon,

and that you will, to your surprise, miss them, profoundly."

God Has Blessed America

When God speaks a promise,

our hearts awaken and our minds take note.

Wayne E. Brickey

We believe the people of the United States shall,

by precept and example,

bring self government and free institutions to the peoples of the earth.

We believe America will stand to all the world

as the Apostle of the great doctrines…

When America shall fully meet this measure of conduct,

it will reach its destiny in the earth. 

Then America will take her true place as a leader among the nations and

her principles, her ideals, her laws,

shall fill the earth.

J. Reuben Clark

Peace is the gift of God

" I am saying to you that to me the Constitution of the United States

is just as much from my Heavenly Father as the Ten Commandments "

George Albert Smith

"This life is not given to us as a pastime.

There was a solemn purpose in our creation, in the life that God has given to us.

Let us study what that purpose is, that we may progress and obtain eternal life."

George Albert Smith

"We do not believe that the heavens are sealed over our heads, but that the same Father who loved and cherished the children of Israel loves and cherishes us. We believe that we are as much in need of the assistance of our Heavenly Father in the directing of our lives as they were. We know that in the day and age in which we live the seal has been broken, and God has again spoken from the heavens."

 George Albert Smith

“I would rather trust in the living God than in any other power on earth.”

Stand Fast Through the Storms of Life

You will have all kinds of trials to pass through. And it is quite as necessary for you to be tried as it was for Abraham and other men of God... God will feel after you, and He will take hold of you and wrench your very heart strings and if you cannot stand it you will not be fit for an inheritance in the Celestial kingdom of God

Joseph Smith Jr.

"You cannot drive people to do things which are right,

but you can love them into doing them, if your example

is of such a character that they can see you mean what you say."

George Albert Smith

"Peace is the gift of God.….very peace of God will dwell and abide with you, for that is where peace comes from, and it doesn't dwell anywhere else. . . .Some in speaking of war and troubles, will say are you not afraid? No, I am a servant of God, and this is enough, for Father is at the helm. It is for me to be as clay in the hands of the potter, to be pliable and walk in the light of the countenance of the Spirit of the Lord, and then no matter what comes. Let the lightnings flash and the earthquakes bellow, God is at the helm, and I feel like saying but little, for the Lord God Omnipotent reigneth and will continue his work until he has put all enemies under his feet, and his kingdom extends from the rivers to the ends of the earth."

John Taylor

"Honor the names that you bear, because someday you will have the privilege and the obligation of reporting to your ancestors and your Father in Heaven what you have done with their name."

 George Albert Smith

"Show and prove to the world, to angels and to God, that you are on the side of truth and right, of honesty, purity and integrity, and that you are for God in His kingdom."

 John Taylor

"We may have given to us, in this life, a few things that will give us satisfaction, temporally; but the things that are eternal, the things that are "worthwhile", are those eternal things that we reach out for, and prepare ourselves to receive, and lay hold of by the effort that we individually make."

George Albert Smith

“Everyone meets affliction in mortality,” “Everyone knows some sorrow. Everyone experiences disappointments, even despair, and looks for ways to bear up and keep on going.

The answer for all times and all seasons is to 'trust Jesus.'”

When our souls are spiritually depleted, we can trust that the Lord will provide us with the bread of life and the living waters. When we struggle to fulfill our callings, we can trust that He will sustain and support our efforts. When our lives are hectic and overwhelming, we can trust that the Lord will bless us with peace.

Jeffrey R. Holland's

Those who will receive the Lord Jesus Christ as the source of their salvation will always lie down in green pastures, no matter how barren and bleak the winter has been. And the waters of their refreshment will always be still waters, no matter how turbulent the storms of life. In walking His path of righteousness, our souls will be forever restored; and though that path may for us, as it did for Him, lead through the very valley of the shadow of death, yet we will fear no evil. The rod of His priesthood and the staff of His Spirit will always comfort us. And when we hunger and thirst in the effort, He will prepare a veritable feast before us, a table spread even in the presence of our enemies—contemporary enemies—which might include fear or family worries, sickness or personal sorrow of a hundred different kinds. In a crowning act of compassion at such a supper He anoints our head with oil and administers a blessing of strength to our soul. Our cup runneth over with His kindness, and our tears runneth over with joy. We weep to know that such goodness and mercy shall follow us all the days of our life, and that we will, if we desire it, dwell in the house of the Lord forever.

I pray this morning that all who are hungering and thirsting, and sometimes wandering, will hear this invitation from Him who is the Bread of Life, the Fountain of Living Water, the Good Shepherd of us all, the Son of God: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, … and ye shall find rest unto your souls.” Truly He does fill “the hungry with good things” I pray for these blessings and bear witness of these truths in the sacred and holy name of the Lord Jesus Christ, amen.

Jeffrey R. Holland's

"Stay true in the dark & humble in the spotlight."

Harold B. Lee

"Every experience God gives us, every person He puts into our lives,

is the perfect preparation for a future only He can see.”

Expect to have your hope rekindled.

Expect your prayers to be answered in wondrous ways.

The dry seasons in life do not last.

The spring rains will come again.

'Each of us is an Innkeeper who decides if there is room for Jesus!'

Neal A. Maxwell

"Are we part of the Inn crowd, or are we one of the Stable few?"

Gardeners who make our souls blossom

  

"When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred, friends, and fellow beings. Our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters and friends who have passed away from this earth...bringing messages of love, warning, reproof and instruction,

to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh. "

Joseph Fielding Smith

Let us be grateful to people who make us happy,

they are the charming gardeners who make our souls blossom.

"Sometimes we carry unhappy feelings about past hurts too long. We spend too much energy dwelling on things that have passed and cannot be changed. We struggle to close the door and let go of the hurt. If, after time, we can forgive whatever may have caused the hurt, we will tap 'into a life-giving source of comfort' through the Atonement, and the 'sweet peace' of forgiveness will be ours. Some injuries are so hurtful and deep that healing comes only with help from a higher power and hope for perfect justice and restitution in the next life. . . .

You can tap into that higher power and receive precious comfort and sweet peace."

James E. Faust

To be in your children's memories tomorrow,

you have to be in their life today.

"Service is not something we endure on this earth so we can earn the right to live in the celestial kingdom. Service is the very fiber of which an exalted life in the celestial kingdom is made."
Marion G. Romney

"Everywhere in nature we are taught the lessons of patience and waiting. We want things a long time before we get them, and the fact that we want them a long time makes them all the more precious when they come."

Joseph F. Smith

‎"Never be ashamed of the scars life has left you with.

A scar means the hurt is over, the wound is closed and God has healed you."

"If you feel you are broken, please know you can be mended."

Jeffrey R. Holland

"You exert a certain degree of influence, and be it ever so small, it affects some person or persons, and for the results of the influence you exert you are held accountable. You, therefore, whether you acknowledge it or not, have assumed an importance before God and man that cannot be overlooked. "

Lorenzo Snow

"If you feel you are broken, please know you can be mended."

Jeffrey R. Holland

"Those things which we call extraordinary,remarkable, or unusual may make history, but they do not make real life. After all, to do well those things which God ordained to be the common lot of all mankind, is the truest greatness. To be a successful father or a successful mother is greater than to be a successful general or a successful statesman. True greatness is never a result of a chance occurrence or a one-time effort or achievement. It requires the development of character. It requires a multitude of correct decisions for the everyday choices between good and evil."

Joseph F. Smith

"When you find yourselves a little gloomy, look around you and find somebody that is in a worse plight than yourself; go to him and find out what the trouble is, then try to remove it with the wisdom which the Lord bestows upon you; and the first thing you know, your gloom is gone, you feel light, the Spirit of the Lord is upon you, and everything seems illuminated."

Lorenzo Snow

"Every trial a man goes through, if he is faithful in that trial and does honor to God and his religion he has espoused, at the end of that trial or affliction that individual is nearer to God, nearer in regard to the increase of faith, wisdom, knowledge and power, and hence is more confident in calling upon the Lord for those things he desires."

Lorenzo Snow

"Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts."

Mother Teresa

"The Lord's hand is in our lives; if we will but feel for it, in the darkness,

we can grasp it and be lifted thereby."

 James E. Talmage

For those who love climbing Hills : )

Oh Come On…It’s Not THAT Steep!

by Hilary Weeks

June 18th, 2012

Killer Hill.

It’s about a half mile from our house and it is as bad as it sounds.  Not because there are criminals lurking in the bushes, but because it is a SUPER STEEP CLIMB.  My treadmill has a max incline of 12% and if I had to guess the incline of Killer Hill…it would be at least 82.567%.  I swear it feels like you are running at a 90 degree angle.

The short but arduous, lung-burning climb is fresh in my memory; I faced it last Saturday.  About a mile before approaching the hill, a car passed me.  It looked like one of my girl friend’s cars.  As it passed I thought, “If that was Emily, and she pulled over to see if I wanted a ride so I didn’t have to run up Killer Hill, I would gladly, willingly, gratefully accept.”

That thought was immediately squelched by this one…

“If you can’t do the hard, then you don’t deserve the easy.”

I arrived at the base of the hill.  I stopped, and waited until I could breathe so my lungs would be ready.  I even said a prayer that my body and mind would be strong.  I rarely make it to the top without stopping, hunched over, grabbing my knees, gasping for high-altitude air.

Today, I wanted to conquer the hill.

I wanted to run to the top.  No walking.

I thought about a goal that I’ve been hoping to achieve.  I  told myself that if I made it to the top without stopping or walking, it would symbolically represent me achieving the goal.

I began.  Maybe I shouldn’t have, but I kept my head down.  I didn’t want to see how far I had to go, I just wanted to see each step I took to get there.  I thought of my desired goal.  The hope and vision of achieving it carried me to the top.

I felt victorious…and nigh unto death.

Killer Hill Takeaways…

1.  If I am not willing to push to the top of a painful hill, then I don’t deserve the flat ground.  I appreciate the 0% incline much, much more after experiencing the effort of the steep climb.  (That is an analogy for life…)

2. I can do hard things. (And so can you.)

3. Prayer works.

4. When you are approaching something HARD – get your mind right.  Stop.  Pause.  Focus.  Tell yourself you can do it.  And then go.

5.  When you are focused on your dreams, it makes the effort worth it.