Quotes of the Week:
"From the Book of Mormon we learn how disciples of Christ live in times of war."
"All that I am, or hope to be I owe to my angel mother."
M. Russell Ballard, "The Greatest Generation of Missionaries," Ensign, 11/02, 46
Julie B. Beck, "What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best: Stand Strong and Immovable," Ensign, 11/07, 76
David A. Bednar, "And Nothing Shall Offend Them," Ensign, 11/06, 95-97
D. Todd Christofferson, "Justification and Sanctification", Ensign, June 2001, 18
Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Sunday Will Come," Ensign, 11/06, 29-30
Handouts:
Remember, such "fortifications" are not a sign of weakness. On the contrary, they show strength. . . . Remember Moroni's "strongholds" were the key to his success. Creating your own "strongholds" will be the key to yours.
No matter how wicked and ferocious and depraved the Lamanites might be (and they were that!), . . . they were not the Nephite problem. They were merely kept there to remind the Nephites of their real problem, which was to walk uprightly before the Lord.
Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Times in Which We Live," Ensign, 11/01
Now, brothers and sisters, we must do our duty, whatever that duty might be. Peace may be denied for a season. Some of our liberties may be curtailed. We may be inconvenienced. We may even be called on to suffer in one way or another. But God our Eternal Father will watch over this nation and all of the civilized world who look to Him. He has declared, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Ps. 33:12). Our safety lies in repentance. Our strength comes of obedience to the commandments of God.
Let us be prayerful. Let us pray for righteousness. Let us pray for the forces of good. Let us reach out to help men and women of goodwill, whatever their religious persuasion and wherever they live. Let us stand firm against evil, both at home and abroad. Let us live worthy of the blessings of heaven, reforming our lives where necessary and looking to Him, the Father of us all. He has said, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).
Are these perilous times? They are. But there is no need to fear. We can have peace in our hearts and peace in our homes. We can be an influence for good in this world, every one of us.
May the God of heaven, the Almighty, bless us, help us, as we walk our various ways in the uncertain days that lie ahead. May we look to Him with unfailing faith. May we worthily place our reliance on His Beloved Son who is our great Redeemer, whether it be in life or in death, is my prayer in His holy name, even the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
There is no spiritual power in living by convenience. The power comes as we keep our covenants.
Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, 11/90, 84
Keep your covenants and you will be safe. Break them and you will not.
What the stripling warriors said about their mothers is impressive. They said not "our mothers taught us" but "our mothers knew it." Their mothers gave their sons something more important than teachings--they gave them testimony. One of the greatest gifts a mother gives her children is the gift of her own faith and testimony. Children need the gift of knowing that their mothers know the truthfulness of the gospel.
The portrait of these Lamanite mothers illustrates the influence and power of a mother's testimony. Mothers who share their testimony freely and often with their children, both through their words and actions, will see their own striplings feel after God and receive "glorious discoveries and eternal certainty."
. . . we are grateful for the way [these Lamanite wives] have enriched our lives. . . . Above all, we seek to stir up the faith of our children to feel after God through the power of our own testimonies. May our own children echo the words of the stripling warriors, "We do not doubt our mothers knew it."
Julie B. Beck, Ensign, 11/07, 76
The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than at any tie in the history of the world, we need mothers who know. . . . When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children.
Ezra Taft Benson, Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice, 32-36
Suggestions for mothers as they guide their precious children:
1. Take time to always be at the crossroads in the lives of your children, whether they be six or sixteen.
2. Take time to be a real friend to your children.
3. Take time to read to your children.
4. Take time to pray with your children.
5. Take time to have a meaningful weekly home evening. Make this one of your great family traditions.
6. Take time to be together at mealtimes as often as possible.
7. Take time daily to read the scriptures together as a family.
8. Take time to do things together as a family.
9. Take time to teach your children.
10. Take time to truly love your children. A mother's unqualified love approaches Christlike love.
Matthew Cowley, Cowley Speaks, 109
You sisters . . . belong to the great sorority of saviorhood. You may not hold the priesthood. Men are different, men have to have something given to them to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. You are born with an inherent right, and inherent authority, to be the saviors of human souls. You are the co-creators with God of his children.
M. Russell Ballard, "The Greatest Generation of Missionaries," Ensign, 11/02, 46
These inexperienced young men were so spiritually and physically prepared, and so powerful, that they frightened their foes into surrendering! . . .
. . . today we are fighting a battle that in many ways is more perilous, more fraught with danger than the battle between the Nephites and the Lamanites. Our enemy is cunning and resourceful. We fight against Lucifer, the father of all lies, the enemy of all that is good and right and holy. . . .
You may assume that the bishop and the seminary, Sunday School, and Young Men teachers and leaders are in a better position to motivate and inspire your sons than you are. That simply is not the case. While ecclesiastical leaders are important to your son’s priesthood and missionary preparation, the Church exists as a resource to you. It is not a substitute for your inspired teaching, guidance, and correction.
Consequently, if we are “raising the bar” for your sons to serve as missionaries, that means we are also “raising the bar” for you. If we expect more of them, that means we expect more of you and your wife as well. Remember, Helaman’s 2,000 stripling warriors were faithful because “they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him” (Alma 53:21)—and that instruction came in their homes. . . .
While we are profoundly grateful for the many members of the Church who are doing great things in the battle for truth and right, I must honestly tell you it still is not enough. We need much more help. And so, as the people of Ammon looked to their sons for reinforcement in the war against the Lamanites, we look to you, my young brethren of the Aaronic Priesthood. We need you. Like Helaman’s 2,000 stripling warriors, you also are the spirit sons of God, and you too can be endowed with power to build up and defend His kingdom. We need you to make sacred covenants, just as they did. We need you to be meticulously obedient and faithful, just as they were. (emphasis added)
I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross. . . . It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God.
I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest.
But the doom of that day did not endure.
The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind. . . .
Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.
But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.
No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come.
It is better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent.
. . . it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else. . . .
You and I cannot control the intentions or behavior of other people. However, we do determine how we will act. Please remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose not to be offended.
Neal A. Maxwell, as cited in Unlocking the Book of Mormon, p. 363
Anxious Moroni did not have all the facts, as is evident in his biting complaint to Pahoran. Pahoran's meek reply is a lesson to us all, as it certainly must have been to Moroni. . . . Where individuals have said too much with too little data, meekness plays a very crucial, correcting role in what follows.
To a group of Saints in the South Seas, President Kimball observed, "President Joseph F. Smith, the president of the Church, reported, 'You brothers and sisters from New Zealand, I want you to know that you are from the people of Hagoth.' For New Zealand Saints, that was that. A prophet of the Lord had spoken."
When there is contention, the Spirit of the Lord will depart, regardless of who is at fault.
Terrorist organizations . . . must be ferreted out and brought down. . . .
We are a people of peace. We are followers of the Christ, who was and is the Prince of Peace. But there are times when we must stand up for right and decency, for freedom and civilizations, just as Moroni rallied his people in his day to the defense of their wives, their children, and the cause of liberty.
We must never forget that nations may--and usually do--sow the seeds of their own destruction while enjoying unprecedented prosperity.
Sanctification has been defined as "the process of becoming free from sin, pure, clean, and holy through the atonement of Jesus Christ."
D. Todd Christofferson, "Justification and Sanctification", Ensign, June 2001, 18
Personal persistence in the path of obedience is something different than achieving perfection in mortality. Perfection is not, as some suppose, a prerequisite for justification and sanctification. It is just the opposite: justification (being pardoned) and sanctification (being purified) are the prerequisites for perfection. We only become perfect “in Christ” (see Moro. 10:32), not independently of Him. Thus, what is required of us in order to obtain mercy in the day of judgment is simple diligence.
Only as an individual can you develop a firm faith in God and a passion for personal prayer. Only as an individual can you keep the commandments of God. Only as an individual can you repent. Only as an individual can you qualify for the ordinances of the salvation and exaltation.
"From the Book of Mormon we learn how disciples of Christ live in times of war."
--Ezra Taft Benson, CR, 10/86, 7
"All that I am, or hope to be I owe to my angel mother."
--Abraham Lincoln
Further Reading:
Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Times in Which We Live," Ensign, 11/01M. Russell Ballard, "The Greatest Generation of Missionaries," Ensign, 11/02, 46
Julie B. Beck, "What Latter-day Saint Women Do Best: Stand Strong and Immovable," Ensign, 11/07, 76
David A. Bednar, "And Nothing Shall Offend Them," Ensign, 11/06, 95-97
D. Todd Christofferson, "Justification and Sanctification", Ensign, June 2001, 18
Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Sunday Will Come," Ensign, 11/06, 29-30
Handouts:
53:4-7--Our Spiritual Fortifications
David E. Sorensen, Ensign, 5/01, 41-42Remember, such "fortifications" are not a sign of weakness. On the contrary, they show strength. . . . Remember Moroni's "strongholds" were the key to his success. Creating your own "strongholds" will be the key to yours.
Alma 53:9
Hugh Nibley, Since Cumorah, 339-40No matter how wicked and ferocious and depraved the Lamanites might be (and they were that!), . . . they were not the Nephite problem. They were merely kept there to remind the Nephites of their real problem, which was to walk uprightly before the Lord.
Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Times in Which We Live," Ensign, 11/01
Now, brothers and sisters, we must do our duty, whatever that duty might be. Peace may be denied for a season. Some of our liberties may be curtailed. We may be inconvenienced. We may even be called on to suffer in one way or another. But God our Eternal Father will watch over this nation and all of the civilized world who look to Him. He has declared, “Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord” (Ps. 33:12). Our safety lies in repentance. Our strength comes of obedience to the commandments of God.
Let us be prayerful. Let us pray for righteousness. Let us pray for the forces of good. Let us reach out to help men and women of goodwill, whatever their religious persuasion and wherever they live. Let us stand firm against evil, both at home and abroad. Let us live worthy of the blessings of heaven, reforming our lives where necessary and looking to Him, the Father of us all. He has said, “Be still, and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).
Are these perilous times? They are. But there is no need to fear. We can have peace in our hearts and peace in our homes. We can be an influence for good in this world, every one of us.
May the God of heaven, the Almighty, bless us, help us, as we walk our various ways in the uncertain days that lie ahead. May we look to Him with unfailing faith. May we worthily place our reliance on His Beloved Son who is our great Redeemer, whether it be in life or in death, is my prayer in His holy name, even the name of Jesus Christ, amen.
Alma 53:10-18--Importance of Covenants
M. Russell Ballard, Ensign, 5/99, 86There is no spiritual power in living by convenience. The power comes as we keep our covenants.
Boyd K. Packer, Ensign, 11/90, 84
Keep your covenants and you will be safe. Break them and you will not.
Alma 53-56 The Stripling Warriors
S. Michael Wilcox, Daughters of GodWhat the stripling warriors said about their mothers is impressive. They said not "our mothers taught us" but "our mothers knew it." Their mothers gave their sons something more important than teachings--they gave them testimony. One of the greatest gifts a mother gives her children is the gift of her own faith and testimony. Children need the gift of knowing that their mothers know the truthfulness of the gospel.
The portrait of these Lamanite mothers illustrates the influence and power of a mother's testimony. Mothers who share their testimony freely and often with their children, both through their words and actions, will see their own striplings feel after God and receive "glorious discoveries and eternal certainty."
. . . we are grateful for the way [these Lamanite wives] have enriched our lives. . . . Above all, we seek to stir up the faith of our children to feel after God through the power of our own testimonies. May our own children echo the words of the stripling warriors, "We do not doubt our mothers knew it."
Julie B. Beck, Ensign, 11/07, 76
The responsibility mothers have today has never required more vigilance. More than at any tie in the history of the world, we need mothers who know. . . . When mothers know who they are and who God is and have made covenants with Him, they will have great power and influence for good on their children.
Ezra Taft Benson, Come Listen to a Prophet's Voice, 32-36
Suggestions for mothers as they guide their precious children:
1. Take time to always be at the crossroads in the lives of your children, whether they be six or sixteen.
2. Take time to be a real friend to your children.
3. Take time to read to your children.
4. Take time to pray with your children.
5. Take time to have a meaningful weekly home evening. Make this one of your great family traditions.
6. Take time to be together at mealtimes as often as possible.
7. Take time daily to read the scriptures together as a family.
8. Take time to do things together as a family.
9. Take time to teach your children.
10. Take time to truly love your children. A mother's unqualified love approaches Christlike love.
Matthew Cowley, Cowley Speaks, 109
You sisters . . . belong to the great sorority of saviorhood. You may not hold the priesthood. Men are different, men have to have something given to them to make them saviors of men, but not mothers, not women. You are born with an inherent right, and inherent authority, to be the saviors of human souls. You are the co-creators with God of his children.
M. Russell Ballard, "The Greatest Generation of Missionaries," Ensign, 11/02, 46
These inexperienced young men were so spiritually and physically prepared, and so powerful, that they frightened their foes into surrendering! . . .
. . . today we are fighting a battle that in many ways is more perilous, more fraught with danger than the battle between the Nephites and the Lamanites. Our enemy is cunning and resourceful. We fight against Lucifer, the father of all lies, the enemy of all that is good and right and holy. . . .
You may assume that the bishop and the seminary, Sunday School, and Young Men teachers and leaders are in a better position to motivate and inspire your sons than you are. That simply is not the case. While ecclesiastical leaders are important to your son’s priesthood and missionary preparation, the Church exists as a resource to you. It is not a substitute for your inspired teaching, guidance, and correction.
Consequently, if we are “raising the bar” for your sons to serve as missionaries, that means we are also “raising the bar” for you. If we expect more of them, that means we expect more of you and your wife as well. Remember, Helaman’s 2,000 stripling warriors were faithful because “they had been taught to keep the commandments of God and to walk uprightly before him” (Alma 53:21)—and that instruction came in their homes. . . .
While we are profoundly grateful for the many members of the Church who are doing great things in the battle for truth and right, I must honestly tell you it still is not enough. We need much more help. And so, as the people of Ammon looked to their sons for reinforcement in the war against the Lamanites, we look to you, my young brethren of the Aaronic Priesthood. We need you. Like Helaman’s 2,000 stripling warriors, you also are the spirit sons of God, and you too can be endowed with power to build up and defend His kingdom. We need you to make sacred covenants, just as they did. We need you to be meticulously obedient and faithful, just as they were. (emphasis added)
Alma 56:16--Depressed in Body and Spirit
Joseph B. Wirthlin, "Sunday Will Come," Ensign, 11/06, 29-30I think of how dark that Friday was when Christ was lifted up on the cross. . . . It was a Friday filled with devastating, consuming sorrow that gnawed at the souls of those who loved and honored the Son of God.
I think that of all the days since the beginning of this world’s history, that Friday was the darkest.
But the doom of that day did not endure.
The despair did not linger because on Sunday, the resurrected Lord burst the bonds of death. He ascended from the grave and appeared gloriously triumphant as the Savior of all mankind. . . .
Each of us will have our own Fridays—those days when the universe itself seems shattered and the shards of our world lie littered about us in pieces. We all will experience those broken times when it seems we can never be put together again. We will all have our Fridays.
But I testify to you in the name of the One who conquered death—Sunday will come. In the darkness of our sorrow, Sunday will come.
No matter our desperation, no matter our grief, Sunday will come. In this life or the next, Sunday will come.
Alma 59:9
Ezra Taft Benson, The Teachings of Ezra Taft Benson, p. 285It is better to prepare and prevent than to repair and repent.
Alma 60:19-36--Pahoran and Taking Offense
David A. Bednar, "And Nothing Shall Offend Them," Ensign, 11/06, 95-97. . . it ultimately is impossible for another person to offend you or to offend me. Indeed, believing that another person offended us is fundamentally false. To be offended is a choice we make; it is not a condition inflicted or imposed upon us by someone or something else. . . .
You and I cannot control the intentions or behavior of other people. However, we do determine how we will act. Please remember that you and I are agents endowed with moral agency, and we can choose not to be offended.
Neal A. Maxwell, as cited in Unlocking the Book of Mormon, p. 363
Anxious Moroni did not have all the facts, as is evident in his biting complaint to Pahoran. Pahoran's meek reply is a lesson to us all, as it certainly must have been to Moroni. . . . Where individuals have said too much with too little data, meekness plays a very crucial, correcting role in what follows.
Alma 63:4-10--Hagoth and His People
Millet and McConkie, Doctrinal Commentary on the Book of Mormon, 3:329To a group of Saints in the South Seas, President Kimball observed, "President Joseph F. Smith, the president of the Church, reported, 'You brothers and sisters from New Zealand, I want you to know that you are from the people of Hagoth.' For New Zealand Saints, that was that. A prophet of the Lord had spoken."
Helaman 1:1-21--Contention
James E. Faust, Ensign, 5/96, 41When there is contention, the Spirit of the Lord will depart, regardless of who is at fault.
Helaman 1-2--Gadianton Robbers
Gordon B. Hinckley, Ensign, 11/01, 72Terrorist organizations . . . must be ferreted out and brought down. . . .
We are a people of peace. We are followers of the Christ, who was and is the Prince of Peace. But there are times when we must stand up for right and decency, for freedom and civilizations, just as Moroni rallied his people in his day to the defense of their wives, their children, and the cause of liberty.
Helaman 3:24-25--Prosperity
Ezra Taft Benson, A Nation Asleep, 14We must never forget that nations may--and usually do--sow the seeds of their own destruction while enjoying unprecedented prosperity.
Helaman 3:35--Sanctification
Book of Mormon Student Manual, p. 265Sanctification has been defined as "the process of becoming free from sin, pure, clean, and holy through the atonement of Jesus Christ."
D. Todd Christofferson, "Justification and Sanctification", Ensign, June 2001, 18
Personal persistence in the path of obedience is something different than achieving perfection in mortality. Perfection is not, as some suppose, a prerequisite for justification and sanctification. It is just the opposite: justification (being pardoned) and sanctification (being purified) are the prerequisites for perfection. We only become perfect “in Christ” (see Moro. 10:32), not independently of Him. Thus, what is required of us in order to obtain mercy in the day of judgment is simple diligence.
Helaman 3:35--Firm in the Faith
Russell M. Nelson, Ensign, 11/03, 44Only as an individual can you develop a firm faith in God and a passion for personal prayer. Only as an individual can you keep the commandments of God. Only as an individual can you repent. Only as an individual can you qualify for the ordinances of the salvation and exaltation.
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