Friends

Never thought of a friend as a possession. A gift, yes. Not a possession. You can't own a friend. You can earn a person's friendship. Sometimes the friendship is given freely.

The epitaph on Lois Carter's headstone says,

A friend is a gift you give yourself.

~ Robert Louis Stevenson

Elder Ashton says,

"A friend is a possession we earn, not a gift. … The Lord has declared that those who serve him and keep his commandments are called his servants. After they have been tested and tried and are found faithful and true in all things, they are called no longer servants, but friends. His friends are the ones he will take into his kingdom and with whom he will associate in an eternal inheritance."

--Marvin J. Ashton, "What Is a Friend?", Ensign, Jan. 1973, 41