I cannot recall a time that I did not believe in Jesus Christ.
What a gift it would be to receive at Christmastime a greater knowledge of the Lord. What a gift it would be to share that knowledge with others.
There will always be those little minds who, out of vanity or intellectual display, will attempt to destroy faith in the very foundations of life.
The Saints never suffer as the sinners do.
Try as you may, you cannot put the Lord in your debt. For every time you try to do His will, He simply pours out more blessings upon you.
Truth is truth, whether labeled 'science' or 'religion.'
Blessed are they who seek to learn wisdom.
Many men and women in the world demonstrate great willpower and self-discipline in overcoming bad habits and the weaknesses of the flesh.
The Book of Mormon, the record of Joseph, verifies and clarifies the Bible. It removes stumbling blocks; it restores many plain and precious things.
The Bible sits on the pulpit of hundreds of different religious sects.
Some spiritually alert parents hold early-morning devotionals with their families in their homes. They have a hymn, prayer, and then read and discuss the Book of Mormon.
Truly a man does not live by bread alone. A good name is still to be preferred over great riches. Especially is it to be preferred to the appearance of riches, acquired with nothing down and nothing to pay for two months.
Efficient spending and saving will give the family more security, more opportunities, more education, and a higher standard of living.
We all know of families who have obligated themselves for more than they could pay. There is a world of heartache behind such cases.
Many a family, in order to make a 'proper showing,' will commit itself for a larger and more expensive house than is needed, in an expensive neighborhood. Almost everyone would, it seems, like to keep up with the Joneses.
No other single influence has had so great an impact on this earth as the life of Jesus the Christ.
Nations cannot endure in sin.
If a man does not control his temper, it is a sad admission that he is not in control of his thoughts.
Young adults enrolled in universities and colleges or other postsecondary training should avail themselves of the opportunity to take institute of religion courses or, if attending a Church school, should take at least one religion course every term.
Virtue is akin to holiness, an attribute of godliness.
Can human hearts be changed? Why, of course! It happens every day in the great missionary work of the Church. It is one of the most widespread of Christ's modern miracles. If it hasn't happened to you -- it should.
Mothers, stay close to your daughters. Earn and deserve their love and respect. Be united with their father in the rearing of your children. Do nothing in your life to cause your daughters to stumble because of your example.
I am grateful my own eternal companion served a mission in Hawaii before we were married in the Salt Lake Temple, and I am pleased that I have had three granddaughters serve full-time missions.
Young women, the family unit is forever, and you should do everything in your power to strengthen that unit.
Christ removed self as the force in His perfect life. It was, 'Not my will, but thine be done.'
Food production is just one part of the repeated emphasis that you store a provision of food which will last for at least a year wherever it is legally permissible to do so.
The moral code of Heaven for both men and women is complete chastity before marriage and full fidelity after marriage.
One of the standards on which your happiness is based, now and in your future, is moral purity.
Let your minds be filled with the goal of being like the Lord, and you will crowd out depressing thoughts as you anxiously seek to know Him and do His will.
Every accountable child of God needs to set goals, short- and long-range goals. A man who is pressing forward to accomplish worthy goals can soon put despondency under his feet, and once a goal is accomplished, others can be set up.
Sin pulls a man down into despondency and despair.
From the Book of Mormon, we learn how disciples of Christ live in times of war.
There is a difference between a convert who is built on the rock of Christ through the Book of Mormon and stays hold of that iron rod, and one who is not.
Reading the Book of Mormon is one of the greatest persuaders to get men on missions.
I challenge the homes of Israel to display on their walls great quotations and scenes from the Book of Mormon.
I have a vision of homes alerted, of classes alive, and of pulpits aflame with the spirit of Book of Mormon messages.
If you really want to receive joy and happiness, then serve others with all your heart. Lift their burden, and your own burden will be lighter.
Time is numbered only to man.
I testify to you that God's pay is the best pay that this world or any other world knows anything about.
If someone wants to marry you outside the temple, whom will you strive to please -- God or a mortal? If you insist on a temple marriage, you will be pleasing the Lord and blessing the other party.
We should put God ahead of everyone else in our lives.
The great test of life is obedience to God.
Attractive labels are usually attached to the most dangerous programs, often in the name of public welfare and personal security.
The United States of America has been great because it has been free.
Freedom can be killed by neglect as well as by direct attack.
Beguiling voices in the world cry out for 'alternative lifestyles' for women. They maintain that some women are better suited for careers than for marriage and motherhood.
In the beginning, God placed a woman in a companion role with the priesthood.
The world is increasing in wickedness.
An unvirtuous citizenry tend to elect representatives who will pander to their covetous lustings.
America, North and South, is a choice land, a land reserved for God's own purposes.
Constitutional government, as designed by the framers, will survive only with a righteous people.
The founders had a strong distrust for centralized power in a federal government. So they created a government with checks and balances. This was to prevent any branch of the government from becoming too powerful.
God will have a humble people. Either we can choose to be humble, or we can be compelled to be humble.
Pride adversely affects all our relationships -- our relationship with God and His servants, between husband and wife, parent and child, employer and employee, teacher and student, and all mankind.
Selfishness is one of the more common faces of pride. 'How everything affects me' is the center of all that matters -- self-conceit, self-pity, worldly self-fulfillment, self-gratification, and self-seeking.
Fear of men's judgment manifests itself in competition for men's approval.
No nation which has kept the commandments of God has ever perished, but I say to you that once freedom is lost, only blood -- human blood -- will win it back.
I am a witness to nations and people deprived of their freedom. I was there. I watched that great Iron Curtain drop around nations which formerly had prized their freedom -- good people. I was aghast as these were written off by the stroke of a pen.
The false prophets of Communism predict a utopian society.
Students at universities are sometimes so filled with the doctrines of the world they begin to question the doctrines of the gospel.
I love all our Father's children of every color, creed, and political persuasion.
The undermining of the home and family is on the increase with the devil anxiously working to displace the father as the head of the home and create rebellion among the children.
Time is on the side of truth.
God lives. I know that He lives. I know that Jesus is the Christ and the Redeemer of the world.
Your most important friendships should be with your own brothers and sisters and with your father and mother. Love your family. Be loyal to them. Have a genuine concern for your brothers and sisters.
'What would Jesus do?' or 'What would He have me do?' are the paramount personal questions of this life.
Satan would have you believe that happiness comes only as you surrender to his enticements, but one only needs to look at the shattered lives of those who violate God's laws to know why Satan is called the Father of Lies.
The history of humanity has, to a large extent, been one of groping blindly in the dark, fearing for the future and yet resisting the guiding hand of inspired men who would willingly lead mankind in the path of safety.
The human body is the tabernacle of the spirit, and God expects that it be kept clean and unimpaired.
The condition of the physical body can affect the spirit.
The Book of Mormon exposes the enemies of Christ. It confounds false doctrines and lays down contention.
Opposition provides choices, and choices bring consequences -- good or bad.
The Book of Mormon Is the Word of God.
God's revelation to Adam did not instruct Noah how to build the ark.
Scouting teaches a boy to take care of himself and stand on his own two feet.
When obedience ceases to be an irritant and becomes our quest, in that moment God will endow us with power.
With the Spirit and magnifying your call, you can do miracles for the Lord in the mission field. Without the Spirit, you will never succeed, regardless of your talent and ability.
When our children obey the Lord and go to the temple to receive their blessings and enter into the marriage covenant, they enter into the same order of the priesthood that God instituted in the very beginning with father Adam.
The sacred title of 'father' is shared with the Almighty.
Callings in the church, as important as they are, by their very nature are only for a period of time, and then an appropriate release takes place.
Fathers, yours is an eternal calling from which you are never released.
The greatest events of history are those which affect the greatest number for the longest periods.
The scriptures record remarkable accounts of men whose lives changed dramatically, in an instant, as it were: Alma the Younger, Paul on the road to Damascus, Enos praying far into the night, King Lamoni.
We must be careful, as we seek to become more and more godlike, that we do not become discouraged and lose hope.
The Lord is pleased with every effort, even the tiny, daily ones in which we strive to be more like Him.
We must not lose hope. Hope is an anchor to the souls of men. Satan would have us cast away that anchor.
Longer Version:
We must not lose hope. Hope is an anchor to the souls of men. Satan would have us cast away that anchor. In this way he can bring discouragement and surrender. But we must not lose hope. The Lord is pleased with every effort, even the tiny, daily ones in which we strive to be more like Him. Though we may see that we have far to go on the road to perfection, we must not give up hope.
Becoming Christlike is a lifetime pursuit and very often involves growth and change that is slow, almost imperceptible.
Wickedness never did, never does, never will bring us happiness.
I have a vision of artists putting into film, drama, literature, music, and paintings great themes and great characters from the Book of Mormon.
I reverence the Constitution of the United States as a sacred document. To me its words are akin to the revelations of God, for God has placed his stamp of approval on the Constitution of this land.
Every Latter-day Saint should love the inspired Constitution of the United States -- a nation with a spiritual foundation and a prophetic history -- which nation the Lord has declared to be his base of operations in these latter days.
Years of happiness can be lost in the foolish gratification of a momentary desire for pleasure.
Satan knows that youth is the springtime of life when all things are new and young people are most vulnerable.
Praise your children more than you correct them. Praise them for even their smallest achievement.
It is a truism that children need more of Mother than of money.
The seeds of divorce are often sown and the problems of children begin when Mother works outside the home.
It is mother's influence during the crucial formative years that forms a child's basic character. Home is the place where a child learns faith, feels love, and thereby learns from mother's loving example to choose righteousness.
Too often the pressure for popularity, on children and teens, places an economic burden on the income of the father, so mother feels she must go to work to satisfy her children's needs. That decision can be most shortsighted.