His Promised Blessings

"Mortality's supreme test is to face the "why" and then let it go, trusting humbly in the Lord's promise that "all things must come to pass in their time."

Lance B. Wickman

"For those who are discouraged by their circumstances and are therefore tempted to feel they cannot serve the Lord this day, I make you two promises. Hard as things seem today, they will be better in the next day if you choose to serve the Lord this day with your whole heart. Your circumstances may not be improved in all the ways which you desire. But you will have been given new strength to carry your burdens and new confidence that when your burdens become too heavy, the Lord, whom you have served, will carry what you cannot. He knows how. He prepared long ago. He suffered your infirmities and your sorrows when He was in the flesh so that He would know how to succor you."

Henry B. Eyring

"Service to others deepens and sweetens this life while we are preparing to live in a better world. It is by serving that we learn to serve. When we are engaged in the service of our fellowmen, not only do our deeds assist them, but we put our own problems in a fresher perspective. When we concern ourselves more with others, there is less time to be concerned with ourselves! In the midst of the miracle of serving, there is the promise of Jesus that by losing ourselves, we find ourselves!"

Spencer W. Kimball

"God promises a safe landing, not a calm passage. If God brings you to it, He will bring you through it."

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"Faith is a spiritual gift from God that comes through the Holy Ghost. It requires a correct understanding and knowledge of Jesus Christ, His divine attributes and perfect character, His teachings, Atonement, Resurrection, and priesthood power. Obedience to these principles develops complete trust in Him and His ordained servants and assurance of His promised blessings. There is no other thing in which we can have absolute assurance. There is no other foundation in life that can bring the same peace, joy, and hope. In uncertain and difficult times, faith is truly a spiritual gift worthy of our utmost efforts. We can give our children education, lessons, athletics, the arts, and material possessions, but if we do not give them faith in Christ, we have given little."

Kevin W. Pearson

"It is time to give ourselves to the Master and allow Him to lead us into fruitful fields where we can enrich a world filled with darkness and misery. Each of us, no matter who we are, no matter where we serve, must arise and make the most of each opportunity that comes."

Mary Ellen Smoot

"There is help. There is happiness. There really is light at the end of the tunnel. It is the Light of the World, the Bright and Morning Star, the "light that is endless, that can never be darkened." It is the very Son of God Himself. It is the return of hope, and Jesus is the Sun. To any who may be struggling to see that light and find that hope, I say: Hold on. Keep trying. God loves you. Things will improve. Christ comes to you in His "more excellent ministry" with a future of "better promises." He is your "high priest of good things to come."

Jeffrey R. Holland

"He who knows the path perfectly has promised, "Be of good cheer, for I will lead you along.

The kingdom is yours … and the riches of eternity."

Neal A. Maxwell

"I promise you, as a servant of the living God,
that every man and woman who obeys the commandments of God shall prosper, that every promise made of God shall be fulfilled upon their heads, and that they will grow and increase in wisdom, light, knowledge, intelligence, and, above all, in the testimony of the Lord Jesus Christ."

Heber J. Grant

I Am the Way, the Truth, and the Life

"In moments when the light of resolution dims

and when the heart grows faint,

we can take comfort from His promise:

"Be not weary in well-doing.

Out of small things proceedeth that which is great.

Behold, the Lord requireth the heart and a willing mind."

Thomas S. Monson 

"None of us will escape tragedy and suffering. Each of us will probably react differently.

However, if we can recall the Lord's promise, "for I the Lord am with you,"

we will be able to face our problems with dignity and courage.

We will find the strength to be of good cheer instead of becoming resentful, critical, or defeated.

We will be able to meet life's unpleasant happenings with clear vision, strength, and power."

Marvin J. Ashton 

"How grateful I am to know that God loves us.

The incomprehensible depth of that love found expression in the gift of His Only Begotten Son."

President Gordon B. Hinckley 

"Those who have felt the touch of the Master's hand somehow cannot explain the change which comes into their lives. There is a desire to live better, to serve faithfully, to walk humbly, and to be more like the Savior. Having received their spiritual eyesight and glimpsed the promises of eternity, they echo the words of the blind man to whom Jesus restored sight:

One thing I know, that, whereas I was blind, now I see

President Thomas S. Monson 

"We turn with hope...to Him who walked the dusty paths of villages we now reverently call the Holy Land, to Him who caused the blind to see, the deaf to hear, the lame to walk, and the dead to live. To Him who tenderly and lovingly assured us, 'I am the way, the truth, and the life'

"And now, as pertaining to this perfect atonement, wrought by the shedding of the blood of God--I testify that it took place in Gethsemane and at Golgotha, and as pertaining to Jesus Christ, I testify that he is the Son of the Living God, and was crucified for the sins of the world. He is our Lord, our God, and our King. This I know of myself independent of any other person. I am one of his witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God's Almighty Son, that he is our Saviour and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way."

Elder Bruce R. McConkie 

"Do not allow yourself to be self-condemning. Avoid discouragement. Teach yourself correct principles and govern yourself with honor. Appropriately involve yourself in helping others. As we develop proper self-image in ourself and others, I promise you the "nobody" attitude will completely disappear. Ever remember wherever you are today within the sound of my voice that you are someone."

Marvin J. Ashton 

"Follow me," the Savior said. And we realize that to follow him is not impossible. The miles which he traveled, each of us can travel, for he took them one step at a time, one journey at a time. You could walk from Jerusalem to Nazareth. You could walk to the Sea of Galilee from Nazareth. You could follow Joseph and Mary and Jesus to Egypt. You could walk to the Mount of Transfiguration and back and forth from Jerusalem to Bethlehem, the Dead Sea, Bethany, the River Jordan. All these, you could do. But this is not the kind of following that he expected. He meant for us to follow his teachings and his example. Anyone with normal health can walk those miles and climb those hills and ford those streams.

But it is quite another thing to be "even as I am,"  

Spencer W. Kimball 

"Each of us will taste the bitter ashes of life, from sin and neglect to sorrow and disappointment. But the atonement of Christ can lift us up in beauty from our ashes on the wings of a sure promise of immortality and eternal life. He will thus lift us up, not only at the end of life, but in each day of our lives."

Bruce C. Hafen 

"These simple words-"He is not here, but is risen"-have become the most profound in all literature. They are the declaration of the empty tomb. They are the fulfillment of all He had spoken concerning rising again. They are the triumphant response to the query facing every man, woman, and child who was ever born to earth."

Gordon B. Hinckley

"What is the cost of discipleship? It is primarily obedience. It is the forsaking of many things. But since everything in life has a price, it is a price worth paying, considering that the great promise of the Savior is for peace in this life and eternal life in the life to come. It is a price we cannot afford not to pay."

James E. Faust, 

There is Beauty All Around

·        Psalms 118:24

24 This is the day which the Lord hath made; we will rejoice and be glad in it.

The Light of Life Brings Divine Light

 

The light of life brings divine light into the problems and troubles of this life and helps to turn life's problems into steppingstones to eternal progression and to developing a godlike character.

Bernard P. Brockbank

"One of the gifts God has promised to all who earnestly seek Him is faith. 'Faith is a gift of God bestowed as a reward for personal righteousness.

It is always given when righteousness is present,

and the greater the measure of obedience to God's laws

the greater will be the endowment of faith.'

Elder Bruce R. McConkie

"Truly understood and properly practiced,

faith is one of the grand and glorious powers of eternity.

It is a force powerful beyond our comprehension."

Joseph B. Wirthlin

Why worry when you can pray?

Don't keep the faith...........spread it around.

Faith can place a candle in the darkest night

Faith makes things possible ...........Not easy.

Faith sometimes requires  "Boldness...venturing out in front, going first, standing in front of the mob, the congregation. . . or the hard eyed gaze of only one doubter."

President N. Eldon Tanner

Pray as if everything depends on God.

Then work as if everything depends on you.

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If you believe in an unseen Christ,

you will believe in the unseen Christlike potential of others.

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Faith is not without worry or care,

but faith is fear that has said a prayer.  

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Faith is trust in what the spirit learned eons ago.   

B.H. Roberts

"Sometimes those blessings in our lives

that we have yet to receive lie beyond the scope of mortal eyes. . . 

It is always faith that allows us to see 'afar off'

with spiritual vision all that God intends for His children."

Anne C. Pingree

BELIEVE IN GOD and that He is a rewarder

of them that serve Him in righteousness.

Believe in God as a person, the Father of our spirits to whom we may go in prayer.  The vital faith that comes of a knowledge of a personal God to whom we can speak

 and from whom we can receive strength is the thing that will give us power and capacity and stability to stand up

and take our place among the peoples of the earth.

 This is the faith, and the only faith, which will bring peace to this troubled world.

Be not faithless, but believing.

Gordon B. Hinckley

Faith is not knowing what the future holds,

 but knowing who holds the future.

Trust Him when dark doubts assail you.

Trust Him when your strength is small.

Trust Him when to simply trust Him,

seems the hardest thing of all.

Mary E. Rathfon

"The challenge which faces every member of the Church is to take the next step,

to accept that responsibility to which he is called, even though he does not feel equal to it,

and to do so in faith with the full expectation that the Lord will light the way before him."

Gordon B. Hinckley

When the Final Exam Came

A group of religion instructors were taking a summer course of the

life of the Savior -- focusing particularly on the parables. 

The following story was related by President James E.  Faust:

    When the final exam came, . . . the students arrived at the

classroom to find a note that the exam would be given in another

building across campus.  Moreover, the note said,

it must be finished within the two-hour time period that was

starting almost at that moment.  

The students hurried across campus. 

On the way, they passed a little girl crying over a flat tire
on her new bike. 

An old man hobbled painfully toward the library with a cane in one
hand, spilling books from a stack he was trying to manage with the other. 

On a bench by the union building sat a shabbily dressed, bearded man [in obvious distress].

    Rushing into the other classroom, the students were met by the

professor,  who announced that they had all flunked the final exam.

    The only test of whether they understood the Savior's life and

teaching, he said, was how they treated people in need.

    Their weeks of study at the feet of a capable professor

had taught them a great deal of what Christ had said and done. 

In their haste to finish the technicalities of the course, however,

they failed to recognize the application represented by the three

scenes that had been deliberately staged. 

They had learned the letter but not the spirit. 

As with all the teachings of the Savior,

the really worthwhile results come not from hearing, but from

doing.

Real Men Wear White

  

This is a letter my niece received from her Young Women's President

 I think it is absolutely wonderful I hope you do as well.

Dear Young Women,

When  I was young, there was this saying,

"Real Men Don't Wear Pink."

And it was true.  The male and female roles were clearly defined.  Girls did certain jobs.

Guys did certain jobs.  Blue was a guy color and Pink was a girl color

and guys didn't wear pink.

Now roles are pretty mixed.  It's ok for men to show what some call their "feminine side." 

I think that's good if it means that it's ok for men to be more gentle,

compassionate and spiritual.

Going around Vernal (Vernal Utah) these days there is a truck

with a logo in the back window. 

 It says, "Real Men don't wear orange." 

It took me a minute to understand what that meant,

but I think they are trying to say that real men would make better choices

and not be found wearing "jailbird orange" doing public service to pay off their crimes. 

We've all seen them.  So, yeah, I have to agree with that

one-Real men wouldn't want to be wearing orange

it if means they have made poor choices.

I'd like to talk about what real men do wear.

Real men wear white. 

It starts when they are only 8 years old and entering the water of baptism.

When  they turn 12

 they start wearing white every Sunday as they perform their priesthood duties,  

clean and worthy

to be at that sacrament table.

 Real men wear white again

at age 19 in a temple of God, preparing to serve a full-time mission.

 Real men are found wearing white as they make

the most important covenants of their life,

kneeling across the alter in a temple of God to be sealed to their

sweetheart for time and all eternity.

 Real men continue to wear white all of their lives working in the temple,

performing sacred ordinances, serving their families and the Lord.

Wouldn't you agree that white is a very nice color for men?

 I think every man would look his best in white.

So why is the Young Women President talking about what men wear to the Young Women?

Because, Young Women,

you are or soon will be dating Young men.

 

In the not too far off future you will be choosing a companion. 

You live with fathers and brothers,

You have many guy friends.  You can influence a fashion trend.

 For behind the white in all these circumstances is a worthy man,

a man working toward celestial glory, a man preparing as you are,

to be what God would have him be.

These are the men who will bring happiness into your life.

For in these circumstances of wearing white is found the Priesthood of God.

Most of the blessing we have that bring us the greatest joy are because of the Priesthood.

 Eternal families, baptism, healings, repentance and forgiveness,

baby blessings, temple blessings,

saving ordinances, communion with our Father in Heaven.

My Dear Young Sisters, Look to the White.

Sister Sheffer