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At the heart of God’s plan for your happiness is your power to choose. Of course, your Heavenly Father wants you to choose eternal joy with Him, and He will help you to achieve it, but He would never force it upon you… The problem is that we don’t always see things as clearly as we would like to...But when you earnestly seek the truth—eternal, unchanging truth—your choices become much clearer. Yes, you still have temptation and trials...But you can manage when you know who you are, why you are here, and when you trust God.
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, Jesus Christ Is the Strength of Youth
One of the keys is to understand that when women and men work together, we accomplish a great deal more than we do working separately. Our roles are complementary rather than competitive…Becoming more in tune with the divine pattern of working together in unity is critical in this day of “me first” messages that surround us...All are designed and needed to bring about Heavenly Father’s divine plan to give each of His children the best opportunity to fulfill his or her divine potential.
- Jean B. Bingham, United in Accomplishing God’s Work
When we take the sacrament, we…covenant to “always remember” Jesus Christ...As we partake of the sacrament, we witness to God that we will remember His Son always, not just during the brief sacrament ordinance. This means that we will constantly look to the Savior’s example and teachings to guide our thoughts, our choices, and our acts…The sacrament provides a time for a truly spiritual experience as we reflect upon the Savior’s redeeming and enabling power through His Atonement.
- Cheryl A. Esplin, The Sacrament—a Renewal for the Soul
In our life’s journey to return to and become more like our Father, we are not left alone. God has given us the necessary gifts to help us in our mortal experience. “Spiritual gifts are blessings or abilities given by God to His children.” These gifts help us navigate our lives toward eternal goals...Using the spiritual gifts we have been given is paramount in order to remain on the right course.
- José A. Teixeira, Gifts to Help Us Navigate Our Life
If individually we each “put on Christ,” then together we can hope to become one, as Paul said, “the body of Christ.”…We are different members of the body of Christ, fulfilling different functions at different times—the ear, the eye, the head, the hand, the feet—yet all of one body. Therefore, our goal is “that there should be no schism in the body; but that the members should have the same care one for another.”
- D. Todd Christofferson, One in Christ
The Lord said that charity is “the pure love of Christ,” that which is “most joyous to the soul,” “the greatest of all the gifts of God,” “perfect” and “everlasting.”… All of our divine attributes seem to flow from and be encompassed by this one. All men may have the gift of love, but charity is bestowed only upon those who are true followers of Christ… We seek these attributes, especially charity, the pure love of Christ.
- Gene R. Cook, Charity: Perfect and Everlasting Love
[T]he children of God come together in the restored Church of Jesus Christ from different social backgrounds, traditions, and cultures, forming this wonderful community of Saints in Christ. Eventually, as we encourage, support, and love each other, we combine to form a mighty force for good in the world…The Lord has inspired His prophets to teach us how we can support and love each other so we can become united in faith and purpose in following Jesus Christ.
- Ulisses Soares, One in Christ
We celebrate this [Easter] morning His victory over death. We cherish our understanding and feel heartfelt appreciation for the Savior’s willing atoning sacrifice on our behalf. His acquiescence to the will of His Father won the supernal victory over death and is the transcendent event in the history of mankind...Christ fulfilled His sacred mission as Savior and Redeemer…we rejoice in all the Savior has done for us.
- Quentin L. Cook, We Follow Jesus Christ
Because we believe the Bible and Book of Mormon descriptions of the literal Resurrection of Jesus Christ, we also accept the numerous scriptural teachings that a similar resurrection will come to all mortals who have ever lived upon this earth. As Jesus taught, “Because I live, ye shall live also”...Because each of us has an assured resurrection, we know that...mortal deficiencies and oppositions are only temporary.
- Dallin H. Oaks, What Has Our Savior Done for Us?
[E]very person who was ever born into this world will receive immortality regardless of his or her behavior in this life. Thus, resurrection and immortality are synonymous. They are not a reward—they are a gift—for we have rendered no service nor attained any accomplishment to warrant these as a reward...The scriptures teach us that there is promise beyond— ...The reward is exaltation in the celestial kingdom of God. Exaltation is the highest of three degrees of glory in the celestial kingdom.
- Royden G. Derrick, The Way to Perfection
Any work you do in the temple is time well spent, but receiving ordinances vicariously for one of your own ancestors will make the time in the temple more sacred, and even greater blessings will be received…Immerse yourself in searching for your ancestors, prepare their names for the sacred vicarious ordinances available in the temple, and then go to the temple to stand as proxy for them to receive the ordinances of baptism and the gift of the Holy Ghost.
- Richard G. Scott, The Joy of Redeeming the Dead
Resurrection is requisite for eternal perfection. Thanks to the atonement of Jesus Christ, our bodies, corruptible in mortality, will become incorruptible. Our physical frames, now subject to disease, death, and decay, will acquire immortal glory. Presently sustained by the blood of life and ever aging, our bodies will be sustained by spirit and become changeless and beyond the bounds of death.
- Russell M. Nelson, Perfection Pending
While we look at Paul’s service, we are inspired and uplifted by our own “Pauls” in our day, who also serve, teach, and testify with love and gratitude amidst the challenges they face in their lives and in the lives of their loved ones…While the challenges of mortality will come to all of us in one way or another, let us focus on the goal of our “press[ing] toward the mark,” which is “the prize of the high calling of God.”…It is not so much about what we are going through in life but what we are becoming.
- Edward Dube, Pressing toward the Mark
[A] sanctifying symmetry in repentance and forgiveness invites us each to offer others that which we ourselves need and desire. Sometimes our willingness to forgive someone else enables both them and us to believe we can repent and be forgiven. Sometimes a willingness to repent and an ability to forgive come at different times.…The Lord, who sees and understands perfectly, forgives whom He will; we (being imperfect) are to forgive all. As we come to our Savior, we focus less on ourselves. We judge less and forgive more.
- Gerrit W. Gong, Happy and Forever
What does it mean to be honest?...It is a commandment from God to be honest, and “complete honesty is necessary for our salvation.” …When we are tempted to be dishonest, and this temptation comes to all of us, we may suppose that no one will ever know….Heavenly Father always knows, and we are ultimately accountable to Him. This knowledge helps me continually strive to live up to this commitment: “[I] believe in being honest.”
- Ann M. Dibb, I Believe in Being Honest and True
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is truly the power that can change our lives and lead us to salvation. How can we build this faith? Through our actions…When we courageously exercise our faith and when we go forward relying on the merits of Christ, He will bless us and guide us in all of our efforts. He will strengthen us and bring us peace in the time of our trials. “For we walk by faith, not by sight.”
- David E. Sorenson, Faith is the Answer
The atoning power of Jesus Christ is essential because none of us can return to our heavenly home without help. In mortality, we invariably make mistakes and violate God’s laws. We become stained by sin and cannot be allowed back to live in God’s presence. We need the Savior’s atoning power so that we can be reconciled to Heavenly Father.
- Dale G. Renlund, The Priesthood and the Savior’s Atoning Power
[T]here is an important difference between the sorrow for sin that leads to repentance and the sorrow that leads to despair...Godly sorrow inspires change and hope through the Atonement of Jesus Christ. Worldly sorrow pulls us down, extinguishes hope, and persuades us to give in to further temptation...True repentance is about transformation, not torture or torment.
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, You Can Do It Now!
Even in our busy lives, we can follow the example of Jesus and see individuals—their needs, their faith, their struggle, and who they can become…Ask to see others as He does... Then act by loving, serving, and affirming their worth and potential as prompted...Christ will enable us to…see others as He does. With His help, we can discern what is most needful. We can begin to see the hand of the Lord working in and through the ordinary details of our lives.
- Michelle D. Craig, Eyes to See
Latter-day Saints, as with other followers of Jesus Christ, are always looking for ways to help, to lift, and to love others....When we love God with all our hearts, He turns our hearts to the well-being of others in a beautiful, virtuous cycle...our greatest joy comes as we help our brothers and sisters, no matter where we live in this wonderful world. Giving help to others—making a conscientious effort to care about others as much as or more than we care about ourselves—is our joy.
- President Russell M. Nelson, The Second Great Commandment
[A]re we making our discipleship too complicated? This beautiful gospel is so simple a child can grasp it, yet so profound and complex that it will take a lifetime—even an eternity—of study and discovery to fully understand it…we need to make a conscientious effort to devote our energy and time to the things that truly matter, while uplifting our fellowmen and building the kingdom of God...I pray that we will focus on “the simplicity that is in Christ” ...
- Dieter F. Uchtdorf, It Works Wonderfully!
Tests and trials are given to all of us. These mortal challenges allow us and our Heavenly Father to see whether we will exercise our agency to follow His Son....we...choose to wait upon the Lord, saying, “Thy will be done.”...We may not know when or how the Lord’s answers will be given, but in His time and His way, I testify, His answers will come. For some answers we may have to wait until the hereafter...Let us not give up on the Lord. His blessings are eternal, not temporary.
- Robert D. Hales, Waiting upon the Lord: Thy Will Be Done
To keep our hope resilient as we face life’s trials, the Savior’s grace is ever ready and ever present. His grace is a “divine means of help or strength"...His grace and His loving eye are upon us throughout our entire journey as He inspires, lightens burdens, strengthens, delivers, protects, heals, and otherwise “succor[s] his people,” ...we need to continue getting up each time we fall, with a desire to keep growing and progressing despite our weaknesses.
- Lynn G. Robbins, Until Seventy Times Seven
[S]teadiness of direction requires three continuing actions: (1) the reaffirmation of the desired goal, (2) an assessment of current position, and (3) the initiation of needed course corrections…These actions are…in harmony with the Apostle Paul’s admonition, “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith”… Are we conducting frequent “spiritual checkups” to assess our standing before God and to determine whether we are on the path leading to eternal life?
- Carlos E. Asay, Stay on the True Course