simple testimony

sisters: control your tongue

"The sin of verbal abuse knows no gender. Wives, what of the unbridled tongue in your mouth, of the power for good or ill in your words? How is it that such a lovely voice which by divine nature is so angelic, so close to the veil, so instinctively gentle and inherently kind could ever in a turn be so shrill, so biting, so acrid and untamed? A woman's words can be more piercing than any dagger ever forged, and they can drive the people they love to retreat beyond a barrier more distant than anyone in the beginning of that exchange could ever have imagined. Sisters, there is no place in that magnificent spirit of yours for acerbic or abrasive expression of any kind, including gossip or backbiting or catty remarks. Let it never be said of our home or our ward or our neighborhood that 'the tongue is a fire, a world of iniquity . . . [burning] among our members.' "

Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Tongue of Angels," Ensign, May 2007, 17

Reverence

"If reverence is an attitude towards Deity, then it is a private feeling. It is something we feel inside our hearts no matter what is going on around us. It is also a personal responsibility. We cannot blame others for disturbing our reverent attitudes. Where, then, does the development of reverent attitudes begin? The home is the key to reverent attitudes, as it is to every other godlike virtue." --L Tom Perry, "Serve God Acceptably with Reverence and Godly Fear", November 1990 Ensign pg 70

We have been talking about personal accountability and I have apologized profusely to the children for my short temper saying that I need to take responsibility for my actions and not blame them.  This was a perfect quote today to help me remember.

inside out

"The Lord works from the inside out. The world works from the outside in. The world would take people out of the slums. Christ takes the slums out of people, and then they take themselves out of the slums. The world would mold men by changing their environment. Christ changes men, who then change their environment. The world would shape human behavior, but Christ can change human nature."

"Christ changes men, and changed men can change the world."

He said that men changed for Christ will be captained by Christ. "Like Paul they will be asking, 'Lord, what wilt thou have me to do?' (Acts 9:6.) Peter stated they will "follow his steps.' (1 Pet. 2:21.) John said they will 'walk, even as he walked.' " (1 John 2:6.)

President Ezra Taft Benson, General Conference,  October 1985

wise and happy?

""Don't spoil that future. Don't make the kinds of mistakes that will bring regret. You can be wise and happy or stupid and miserable. The choice is yours... I am going to offer you four suggestions tonight which, if adopted, will bring rich and wonderful blessings all of your days. They are be grateful, be smart, be clean, and be prayerful."

(President Gordon B. Hinckley, New Year's Eve Celebration Conference Center, January 2007)

closing our hearts against the evil

"The Lord our God has sent us here to get experience...that we may know the good from the evil and be able to close our hearts against the evil... It is true that some have greater power of resistance than others, but everyone has the power to close his heart against doubt, against darkness, against unbelief, against depression, against anger, against hatred, against jealousy, against malice, against envy. God has given this power unto all of us, and we can gain still greater power by calling upon Him for that which we lack. If it were not so, how could we be condemned for giving way to wrong influences? "

George Q. Cannon (“Gospel Truth”, Vol. I, p. 19)     

 

happy endings

The scriptures are clear: those who are righteous, follow the Savior, and keep His commandments will prosper in the land.¹⁷ An essential element of prospering is having the Spirit in our lives.

However, righteousness, prayer, and faithfulness will not always result in happy endings in mortality. Many will experience severe trials. When this happens, the very act of having faith and seeking priesthood blessings is approved by God. The Lord has declared, “The elders … shall be called, and shall pray for and lay their hands upon them in my name; and if they die they shall die unto me, and if they live they shall live unto me.”¹⁸

There are many kinds of challenges. Some give us necessary experiences. Adverse results in this mortal life are not evidence of lack of faith or of an imperfection in our Father in Heaven’s overall plan. The refiner’s fire is real, and qualities of character and righteousness that are forged in the furnace of affliction perfect and purify us and prepare us to meet God.

Quinten L. Cook, "The Songs They Could Not Sing", October 2011 General Conference

blessings

 We should be grateful for all the tender mercies that come into our lives.¹⁵ We are unaware of hosts of blessings that we receive from day to day. It is extremely important that we have a spirit of gratitude in our hearts.¹⁶

Quinten L. Cook, "The Songs They Could Not Sing", October 2011 General Conference

finding joy in life

"A pebble held close to the eye appears to be a gigantic obstacle. Cast on the ground, it is seen in perspective. Likewise, problems or trials in our lives need to be  viewed in the perspective of scriptural doctrine...No matter how difficult something you or a loved one faces, it should not take over your life and be the center of all your interest.

Challenges are growth experiences, temporary scenes to be played out on the background of a pleasant life. Don’t become so absorbed in a single event that you can’t think of anything else or care for yourself or for those who depend upon you.

Some people are like rocks thrown into a sea of problems. They are drowned by them. Be a cork. When submerged in a problem, fight to be free to bob up to serve again with happiness.

You are here on earth for a divine purpose. It is not to be endlessly entertained or to be constantly in full pursuit of pleasure. You are here to be tried, to prove yourself so that you can receive the additional blessings God has for you."

(Richard G. Scott, "Finding Joy in Life", May 1996)

personal inspiration

"No one of us can survive in the world of today, much less in what it will soon become,without personal inspiration.

[As we learn to become more reverent], the spiritual power in the lives of each member and in the Church will increase. The Lord will pour out his Spirit upon us more abundantly. We will be less troubled, less confused. We will find revealed answers to personal and family problems without all the counseling which we seem now to need. "

Boyd K. Packer ("Revernce Invites Revelation", Ensign Nov. 1991)

 

spiritual self reliance

"We have succeeded fairly well in teaching Latter-day Saints that they should take care of their own material needs and then contribute to the welfare of those who cannot provide for themselves... The principle of self-reliance or personal independence is fundamental to a happy life. In too many places, in too many ways, we are getting away from it.

The substance of what I want to say is this: The same principle - self-reliance - has application to the spiritual and to the emotional. We have been taught to store a year’s supply of food, clothing, and, if possible, fuel - at home. There has been no attempt to set up storerooms in every chapel. We know that in a crunch our members may not be able to get to the chapel for supplies.

Can we not see that the same principle applies to inspiration and revelation, the solving of problems, to counsel, and to guidance? We need to have a source of it stored in every home, not just in the bishop’s office.

If we do not do that, we are quite as threatened spiritually as we should be were we to assume that the Church should supply all material needs. Unless we use care, we are on the verge of doing to ourselves emotionally (and therefore spiritually) what we have been working so hard for generations to avoid materially.

We seem to be developing an epidemic of counselitis which drains spiritual strength from the Church... It is very serious! ... We have become very anxious over the amount of counseling that we seem to need in the Church. Our members are becoming dependent." 

Boyd K. Packer, Solving Emotional Problems in the Lord’s Own Way, Ensign, May 1978, 91