As we open scriptural pages to read of the plan for life on earth, we see that our Father in Heaven made known to the prophets of the Old Testament that the Savior, His Only Begotten Son, would come to earth. Isaiah...and others of the prophets had revealed to them the Christ and that He would come to provide the way for all of us to return to our Father in Heaven. These prophets left their witnesses for us to study and to pray about and to receive our own testimony of the “looked for” Savior of the Old Testament.
- James M. Paramore, The Many Witnesses of Jesus Christ and His Work
“And it shall come to pass in the last days, that the mountain of the Lord’s house shall be established in the top of the mountains, and shall be exalted above the hills; and all nations shall flow unto it."...Ever since the Salt Lake Temple was dedicated, we have interpreted that scripture from Isaiah, repeated again in Micah, as applying to this sacred house of the Lord. And of this place, since the day of its dedication, an ever-increasing number from across the world have said in effect, “Come ye, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord..."
- President Gordon B. Hinckley, An Ensign to the Nations, A Light to the World
[H]umility is a mandatory requirement for us to be ready to return to the presence of God.
We all like to think we are sufficiently humble, but some experiences in life make us realize that the natural, prideful man or woman often is very much alive within us…In Proverbs we find, “A man’s pride shall bring him low: but honour shall uphold the humble in spirit.” In order to develop humility, we must understand what it really means in the context of the gospel. Some people confuse being humble with other things...
- Joni L. Koch, Humble to Accept and Follow
[T]he Savior would not save His people in their sins but from their sins...“And [Christ] hath power given unto him from the Father to redeem [His people] from their sins because of repentance; therefore he hath sent his angels to declare the tidings of the conditions of repentance, which bringeth unto the power of the Redeemer, unto the salvation of their souls.”…Jesus revealed that to atone for our sins and redeem us from death, both physical and spiritual, His suffering caused Himself, “even God, the greatest of all, to tremble because of pain, and to bleed at every pore..."
- D. Todd Christofferson, “Abide in My Love”
The war is for the souls of men...The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is on the offensive in the declaration of good to be good and evil to be evil...Satan offers a strange mixture of just enough good to disguise the evil along his downward path to destruction…He forges a Rembrandt-quality representation by calling evil good and good evil. He has confused many people, even nations and leaders, to the point of an immoral approach to moral issues.
- Durrel A. Woolsey, A Strategy for War
Peace and good tidings; good tidings and peace. These are among the ultimate blessings that the gospel of Jesus Christ brings a troubled world and the troubled people who live in it...Ultimately it is Christ who is beautiful upon the mountain. And it is His merciful promise of “peace in this world,” His good tidings of “eternal life in the world to come” that make us fall at His feet and call His name blessed…Through His suffering and His obedience He has earned and rightly bears the crown of “Prince of Peace.”
- Jeffrey R. Holland, "The Peaceable Things of the Kingdom"
[L]et us devote ourselves more diligently to the preparations needed for the day when pain and evil are ended altogether...It will be a day of redemption and judgment...“God has fixed a day on which he will have the world judged rightly by a man whom he has appointed—and of this he has given assurance to all by raising this man from the dead…In the greatest irony of history, [Jesus] himself underwent cruel and unjust judgment, coming to the place which symbolized and drew together all the myriad cruelties and injustices of history, to bear that chaos, that darkness, that cruelty, that injustice, in himself, and to exhaust its power.”
- D. Todd Christofferson, Preparing for the Lord’s Return
One of the most cherished titles of our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, is “Prince of Peace.” Ultimately His kingdom will be established including peace and love. We look forward to the millennial reign of the Messiah…Peace in the world is not promised or assured until the Second Coming of Jesus Christ…As we rely on the Atonement of Jesus Christ, He can help us endure our trials, sicknesses, and pain. We can be filled with joy, peace, and consolation. All that is unfair about life can be made right through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.
- Quentin L. Cook, Personal Peace in Challenging Times
The Lord is gathering those who will choose to let God be the most important influence in their lives. For centuries, prophets have foretold this gathering, and it is happening right now! As an essential prelude to the Second Coming of the Lord, it is the most important work in the world! This premillennial gathering is an individual saga of expanding faith and spiritual courage for millions of people...Anytime we do anything that helps anyone—on either side of the veil—to make and keep their covenants with God, we are helping to gather Israel.
- President Russell M. Nelson, Let God Prevail
[W]e cannot save ourselves...from our sins, change our bodies to an immortal state, or exalt ourselves. It is only possible through the Savior Jesus Christ and His infinite Atonement...Our perfection is only possible through God’s grace…When we live according to His will, “relying wholly upon the merits of him who is mighty to save,” there is a 100 percent guarantee of being cleansed by the Savior’s blood and eventually being perfected in Him.
- Paul V. Johnson, Be Perfected in Him
Twenty-six hundred years ago, Babylon was the world’s great superpower…[and] was the world’s center of learning, law, and philosophy. Its military might was unparalleled. It shattered the power of Egypt...[Now t]he ancient city of Babylon is in ruins. Its splendor is long gone. But Babylon’s worldliness and wickedness live on. Now it falls to us to live as believers in a world of disbelief.
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Be Not Afraid, Only Believe
We can ensure that the voice of the covenant people is not silent in the ears of the rising generation and that Jesus is not a Sunday-only topic. The voice of the covenant people is found in our own words of testimony. It is found in the words of living prophets. And it is preserved powerfully in the scriptures. It is there that our children will come to know Jesus and find answers to their questions. It is there they will learn for themselves the doctrine of Christ. It is there they will find hope. This will prepare them for a lifetime of seeking truth and living on the covenant path.
- Jan E. Newman, Preserving the Voice of the Covenant People in the Rising Generation
The Savior invites us to come unto Him—no matter our circumstances. We come to church to renew our covenants, to increase our faith, to find peace, and to do as He did perfectly in His life—minister to others who feel like they don’t belong...Let us ask Him to show us the way, day by day, to 'bring in … the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind'—that is, everyone—to the great feast of the Lord.
- D. Todd Christofferson, The Doctrine of Belonging
[I]t is not pleasing to the Lord if we are cruel or mean to others...our world needs your goodness and love. Be kind to one another. Jesus taught us to love one another and to treat others as we want to be treated. As we strive to be kind, we draw closer to Him and His loving influence…I testify of Jesus Christ, our Savior, who taught us to love one another as He loved us.
- President Dallin H. Oaks, Parents and Children
Isaiah foresaw that God would do “a marvellous work and a wonder” in the latter days. Those words of Isaiah echoed in the ears of inhabitants of ancient America: “The Lord will set his hand again the second time to restore his people from their lost and fallen state. Wherefore, he will proceed to do a marvelous work and a wonder among the children of men”. That marvelous work would include the coming forth of the Book of Mormon and the Restoration of the gospel.
- President Russell M. Nelson, Scriptural Witnesses
Satan, the father of lies and the great deceiver, would have us question things as they really are and either ignore eternal truths or replace them with something that appears more pleasing…The adversary…does not easily abandon his destructive motives to deceive and demean us…He has always pretended to be something that he is not. He always attempts to hide who he truly is. He claims that obedience will make your life miserable and that it will rob you of happiness.
- Gary E. Stevenson, Deceive Me Not
Revelations are conveyed in a variety of ways...The gradual increase of light radiating from the rising sun is like receiving a message from God “line upon line, precept upon precept”. Most frequently, revelation comes in small increments over time and is granted according to our desire, worthiness, and preparation...as we strive ever more consistently to do good and to become better, we can walk with the confidence that God will guide our steps.
- David A. Bednar, The Spirit of Revelation
Some people have such a powerful experience with the Book of Mormon the first time they open it, but for others the witness of the truthfulness comes more gradually as they read and pray about it… For yet others, a testimony of the Book of Mormon comes more slowly, after much study and prayer…The greatest power of the Book of Mormon is its impact in bringing us closer to Jesus Christ.
- LeGrand R. Curtis Jr., There Is Power in the Book
Entering into the kingdom of God is so important that Jesus was baptized to show us “the straitness of the path, and the narrowness of the gate, by which [we] should enter”.…Jesus was baptized to fulfill His Father’s commandment that sons and daughters of God should be baptized. He set the example for all of us to humble ourselves before our Heavenly Father...As we follow the example of Jesus, we, too, demonstrate that we will repent and be obedient in keeping the commandments of our Father in Heaven.
- Robert D. Hales, The Covenant of Baptism: To Be in the Kingdom and of the Kingdom
Nephi’s treatise on the doctrine of Christ is a treasure to those who feast upon it...We also hear the voice of the Father bearing record: “...He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved.”…When we have built our houses on the foundation of a covenantal relationship with Christ, we are trusting the doctrine of Christ, and as we come unto Him, we have His promise of eternal life. People who trust the doctrine of Christ press forward with steadfastness in Christ and endure to the end. There is no other way to be saved in the kingdom of heaven.
- Evan A. Schmutz, Trusting the Doctrine of Christ
As we strive to stay on the covenant path, it is “the Holy Ghost … [that] will show [us] all things [that we] should do.” When we are unsure or uneasy, we can ask God for help. The Savior’s promise could not be clearer: “Ask, and it shall be given you; … for every one that asketh receiveth.” With the help of the Holy Ghost, we can transform our divine nature into our eternal destiny.
…the Holy Ghost can and will reveal everything we need to soar onto and maintain momentum on the covenant path.
- Dale G. Renlund, A Framework for Personal Revelation
In the Book of Mormon we are admonished to “feast upon the words of Christ; for behold, the words of Christ will tell you all things what ye should do”.…Let us not be slothful because of the easiness of the way. Let us in faith take the words of Christ into our minds and into our hearts as they are recorded in sacred scripture and as they are uttered by living prophets, seers, and revelators. Let us with faith and diligence feast upon the words of Christ, for the words of Christ will be our spiritual Liahona telling us all things what we should do.
- W. Rolfe Kerr, The Words of Christ: Our Spiritual Liahona
We are commanded to pray always to the Father in the name of the Son…counsel with Heavenly Father in morning prayer… During the course of the day, we keep a prayer in our heart for continued assistance and guidance.
…At the end of our day, we kneel again and report back to our Father...Morning and evening prayers—and all of the prayers in between—are not unrelated, discrete events; rather, they are linked together each day and across days, weeks, months, and even years. This is in part how we fulfill the scriptural admonition to “pray always”.
- David A. Bednar, Pray Always
The prophet Isaiah saw in vision a book that he proclaimed was part of “a marvellous work and a wonder.” I testify that the Book of Mormon: Another Testament of Jesus Christ is that book. It is a sacred record written by prophets of God to persuade all people to come unto Christ, and it helps to reveal the gospel of Jesus Christ in its fulness...I know that the Book of Mormon is a second testament of Jesus Christ. I join my testimony with the prophets of this sacred book to declare that “we talk of Christ, we rejoice in Christ, we preach of Christ, we prophesy of Christ.”
- Gary J. Coleman, “Mom, Are We Christians?”
I thank God for his Son, Jesus Christ, for his mission in mortality, and for his ministry as the resurrected Lord. His sacrifice and his glory assure that “the spirit and the body shall be reunited again in its perfect form; both limb and joint shall be restored to its proper frame, even as we now are at this time”. Gratefully and positively, I affirm that there is life after life, first in the spirit world and then in the Resurrection, for each and every one of us.
- President Russell M. Nelson, Life After Life
The reality of the Resurrection of the Savior overwhelms our heartbreak with hope because with it comes the assurance that all the other promises of the gospel are just as real—promises that are no less miraculous than the Resurrection. We know that He has “rise[n] from the dead, with healing in his wings.” We know that He can make us whole no matter what is broken in us. We know that He “shall wipe away all tears from [our] eyes; and there shall be no more death, neither sorrow, nor crying, neither shall there be any more pain.”
- Paul V. Johnson, And There Shall Be No More Death
[W]hen our Savior, Jesus Christ, looks upon us, He sees and understands the pain and burden of our sins. He sees our addictions and challenges. He sees our struggles and afflictions of any kind—and He is filled with compassion toward us… Brothers and sisters, whether you are carrying the burden of unresolved sin, suffering because of an offense committed against you long ago, or struggling to forgive yourself for an accidental mistake, you have access to the healing and redeeming power of the Savior Jesus Christ.
- Peter F. Meurs, He Could Heal Me!
As we exercise faith, He helps us press forward through hardships…Can you think of a more personal, loving image of God the Eternal Father? You are His child. If you are feeling lost, if you have questions or lack wisdom, if you are struggling with your circumstances or wrestling with spiritual dissonance, turn to Him. Pray to Him for comfort, love, answers, and direction. Whatever the need and wherever you are, pour out your heart to your Heavenly Father.
- Alan T. Phillips, God Knows and Loves You
Salvation is not earned…Left to our own devices, the prospect of returning to live in God’s presence is hopeless. Without the blessings that come from Heavenly Father and Jesus Christ, we can never do enough or be enough by ourselves. The good news, though, is that because of and through Jesus Christ we can become enough. All people will be saved from physical death by the grace of God, through the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ.
- Dale G. Renlund, Do Justly, Love Mercy, and Walk Humbly with God
If we humble ourselves and have faith in Jesus Christ, then His grace will enable us to change. In other words, He will empower us to change...His strengthening, enabling grace gives us power to overcome all obstacles, all challenges, and all weaknesses as we seek to change...our divine destiny and purpose is ultimately to become like our Heavenly Father and Savior, Jesus Christ. We do this as we change, or repent. We receive the Savior’s “image in [our] countenances.” We become new, clean, different, and we simply continue to work at it every day.
- Kevin S. Hamilton, “Then Will I Make Weak Things Become Strong”