Priorities

Today in the library there was a paper with these three quotes on them. Instead of taking the page or making a Xerox copy of it so I'd have another piece of paper floating around my house or car, I copied them by hand on the back of an old program.

This is an interesting thought. Sometimes we make our habits without even trying to.

First we make our habits,
Then our habits make us.

I like this quote from Elder Oaks. Mother has always said we can afford what we want to afford.

Let us remember that desires dictate our priorities. Priorities shape our choices & choices determine our actions.

Elder Dallin H. Oaks - Conferece address, April 2011

And finally,

Unless a man shall endure to the end, in following the example of the Son of the living God, he cannot be saved.

~ 2 Nephi 31:16

Gateway virtue

Ever heard of a gateway virtue before? Neither have I. I have heard of gateway drugs though.

"Patience may well be thought of as a gateway virtue, contributing to the growth and strength of its fellow virtues of forgiveness, tolerance, and faith."

--Elder Robert C. Oaks, "The Power of Patience", October Conference 2006

Do you have to have patience before you can move on to forgiveness, tolerance & faith?

There were some great thoughts on Facebook, I snagged them, as well as one I liked from a blog I follow.

To forgive is to set a prisoner free and discover that the prisoner was you.

~ Lewis B. Smedes

"Everybody wants happiness. Nobody wants pain. But you can't have a rainbow without a little rain."

~ Kameryn

"Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the ability to cope with it”

“The road of life twists and turns and no two directions are ever the same. Yet our lessons come from the journey, not the destination.”

"You can't sing all the verses for your life's song at the same time."

Destination

When going on a road trip, there is generally a destination in mind. When plotting life's journey, we should have a destination in mind.

"If we choose the wrong road, we choose the wrong destination."

--Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Be Not Deceived," Ensign, November 2004, 44

Not all roads end up in the same place. President Thomas S. Monson had several choices for employment. He chose to stay in Salt Lake & work for Deseret News & that has made all the difference. Not only in his life, but in the lives of millions of Church members.

The following quote is from Elder Bruce R. McConkie's last conference talk. I remember it. He was so ill & he died just a few days after giving it.

"I am one of [Jesus Christ's] witnesses, and in a coming day I shall feel the nail marks in his hands and in his feet and shall wet his feet with my tears. But I shall not know any better then than I know now that he is God's Almighty Son, that he is our Savior and Redeemer, and that salvation comes in and through his atoning blood and in no other way."

--Bruce R. McConkie, "The Purifying Power of Gethsemane," Ensign, May 1985, 9

One of my favorite hymns is I Believe in Christ by Elder McConkie.

I remember meeting Elder McConkie when I worked in the Missionary Dept. He was on the Missionary Executive Committee. I had to run a letter over to the Administration Building for his signature. I expected to just give it to his secretary & she would take it in to him. She told me to go right in, he was waiting for it. OMG! This was a man I greatly admired. I couldn't imagine even being in his presence. I had on a pair of shoes with rubber soles. I remember his carpet being so soft, I tripped walking to his desk.

Walk in the way of the Lord

Tonight's quotes are timely. I needed them

"We live in terribly complex times. We are confronted by very serious problems. Some of us are faced with sickness, with economic difficulties, with worry and concern over many matters. Our refuge, our peace, our well-being lie in walking in the way of the Lord."

--Gordon B. Hinckley, "Inspirational Thoughts", Liahona, Feb 2007, 2–6

Our well-being lie in walking in the way of the Lord.

"Faith in the Lord is trust in the Lord. We cannot have true faith in the Lord without also having complete trust in the Lord's will and in the Lord's timing. As a result, no matter how strong our faith is, it cannot produce a result contrary to the will of Him in whom we have faith. Remember that when your prayers do not seem to be answered in the way or at the time you desire. The exercise of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ is always subject to the order of heaven, to the goodness and will and wisdom and timing of the Lord. When we have that kind of faith and trust in the Lord, we have true security and serenity in our lives."

--Dallin H. Oaks, "The Atonement and Faith", Ensign, Apr 2010, 30–34

And maybe I'm not praying for the right thing.

Not without Christ

Another late night with a work day tomorrow. I worked until 8 p.m., a 10-plus hour day, today.

The first quote is from President Thomas S. Monson, I call it his "doubting Thomas" thought. Not because he is doubting, but because of the disciple in the New Testament named Thomas that doubted & the quote begins with the phrase, "If you should have doubting thoughts …"

The next quote, from Elder Dallin H. Oaks,

"Man unquestionably has impressive powers... But after all our obedience and good works, we cannot be saved from the effects of our sins without the grace extended by the atonement of Jesus Christ... Man cannot earn his own salvation."

--Dallin H. Oaks, "What Think Ye of Christ?", Ensign, November 1988

follows President Monson's thought.

God has given many gifts

I found out why the internet turns into a pumpkin at midnight. Every night at midnight, we might as well turn off the computer if we are using the internet because it becomes so slow as to be almost impossible to use. Nick has set it up that way. From zero to 0700 the network storage device has free access to the internet; from 0700 to midnight, the storage device is curtailed. Hmmmm, that means I have 48 minutes to finish my scripture reading. I was almost in tears last night because it took so long to do anything. I saved the quotes in a Notepad document, but couldn't access readthescriptures dot com for my journal or read the scriptures.

The first quote from last night is from Cheiko Okazaki. It was probably given in the April 1996 Relief Society session of General Conference.

"God has given us many gifts, much diversity, and many differences, but the essential thing is what we know about each other — that we are all his children. Our challenge as members of the Church is for all of us to learn from each other, that we may all love each other and grow together."

--Cheiko M. Okazaki; Ensign, May 1996, Page 13

 There was a quote from President Hinckley that is appropriate as we go into the Easter season:

"On Calvary He was the dying Jesus. From the tomb He emerged the Living Christ. The cross had been the bitter fruit of Judas's betrayal, the summary of Peter's denial. The empty tomb now became the testimony of His divinity, the assurance of eternal life, the answer to Job's unanswered question: "If a man die, shall he live again?" (Job 14:14)."

--Gordon B. Hinckley, "The Symbol of Our Faith", Liahona, Apr. 2005, 3

Tonight there was a repeat of one of President Hinckley's quote about cultivating an attitude of happiness.

And the fourth quote is from Elder Oaks telling us we need to give thanks in all things.

"When we give thanks in all things, we see hardships and adversities in the context of the purpose of life... We are meant to learn and grow through opposition, through meeting our challenges, and through teaching others to do the same … the Lord will not only consecrate our afflictions for our gain, but He will use them to bless the lives of countless others."

--Dallin H. Oaks, "Give Thanks in All Things," Ensign, May 2003, 95

We have to forego some things

The internet was so slow last night, I finally just gave up. So, tonight I have FOUR quotes!!!

The first one from last night was about choice, forgoing some things for others.

"We have to forego some good things in order to choose others that are better or best because they develop faith in the Lord Jesus Christ and strengthen our families."

--Dallin H. Oaks, "Good, Better, Best", Ensign, Nov 2007, 104–8

The second one last night was by President David O. McKay, "Thoughts mold your features" found here.

A quote by Elder Maxwell found here, is about people who live without God in their world are unable to find lasting happiness.

And the last one is by President Dieter F. Uchtdorf,

"Commandments and covenants of God are like navigational instructions from celestial heights and will lead us safely to our eternal destination. It is one of beauty and glory beyond understanding. It is worth the effort. It is worth making decisive corrections now and then staying on course."

--Dieter F. Uchtdorf, "A Matter of a Few Degrees", Ensign, May 2008, 57–60

Finding joy in the journey

The quotes tonight are

"The intensity of our desire to share the gospel is a great indicator of the extent of our personal conversion."

--Elder Dallin H. Oaks; Ensign, November 2001, page 7.

Hmmm, interesting concept.

"May we be found among those who give our thanks to our Heavenly Father. If ingratitude be numbered among the serious sins, then gratitude takes its place among the noblest of virtues. Despite the changes which come into our lives and with gratitude in our hearts, may we fill our days-as much as we can-with those things which matter most. May we cherish those we hold dear and express our love to them in word and in deed."

--Thomas S. Monson, "Finding Joy in the Journey", Ensign, Nov 2008, 84–87

President Monson's talk, "Finding Joy in the Journey," was a lesson in Priesthood & Relief Society in 2009. I still remember it. For the month of November, 2010, I tried finding something every day to be grateful for & posting it on Facebook & my blog. I still try to do it, especially in my prayers.

Judge not

I thought the internet was going to go down again tonight. It has gone down at midnight the last 3 nights in a row. I'm not going to read my scriptures tonight, but will see if I can get the quotes up before the internet goes down. The first quote is from Elder Wirthlin about knowing where your children are. This is the 3rd time I've had it. I recognized it because I remembered what I had written the first time - my kids didn't like it when I wanted them to tell me where they were going.

The next one is about judging

"We should refrain from anything that seems to be a final judgment of any person...the Lord alone has the capacity to judge...And, in all of this we must remember the command to forgive."

--Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "Judge Not" and Judging", Media Name

Treasures

What are treasures? I went to Google & found these definitions, among others:

• treasure - accumulated wealth in the form of money or jewels etc.
• treasure - any possession that is highly valued by its owner; "the children returned from the seashore with their shells and other treasures" 
• treasure - a collection of precious things; "the trunk held all her meager treasures"

I also found a cool blog named Rachel's Latter-day Saints Blog with an entry titled What Are Treasures in Heaven? I would like to read this & other entries in the blog, but don't have time tonight.

Readthescriptures dot com has taken another snippet of Elder Oaks' conference address from General Conference 1993:

"The Savior taught that we should not lay up treasures on earth but should lay up treasures in heaven (see Matt. 6:19-21). In light of the ultimate purpose of the great plan of happiness, I believe that the ultimate treasures on earth and in heaven are our children and our posterity."

--Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "The Great Plan of Happiness", Ensign, Nov. 1993, 75

And it still bothers me. What happens if you don't have children or have just one or two children? One of Mother's friends was always bragging about how many grandchildren she had, which I thought was quite insensitive, especially when Mother only has 2 & she's mighty lucky to have those.

Elder DeHaan's conference address was a repeat from Never simply temporal. And seems to go hand in hand with tonight's quote.

Do things in wisdom & order

I thought about not making an entry tonight. One quote is a repeat & the other one bothers me. I took the reference provided for the quote, searched for it & read the address. After I read it in context, it didn't bother me any more, but I found this quote toward the end of it that I really like.

"... we should remember King Benjamin’s caution to “see that all these things are done in wisdom and order; for it is not requisite that a man should run faster than he has strength” (Mosiah 4:27). I think of that inspired teaching whenever I feel inadequate, frustrated, or depressed."

--Elder Dallin H. Oaks, "The Great Plan of Happiness", Ensign, Nov. 1993, 75

The next quote was a repeat from here. Elder Baxter counsels to hold fast to that which is good.

The power of correct principles

I thought of this familiar quote from Joseph Smith, "I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves."

"Well-taught doctrines and principles have a more powerful influence on behavior than rules."

--Elder Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, Nov. 1999, 79

And yes, onward ever onward

"The path to eternal life is not on a plateau. Rather, it is an incline, ever onward and upward. Hence, ever-increasing spiritual understanding and energy are required to reach our destination. Because the pernicious opposition by Satan continues, the continuous enlightened guidance of the Holy Ghost is absolutely essential."

--Elder Keith K. Hilbig, "Quench Not the Spirit Which Quickens the Inner Man", October 2007 General Conference

I went searching for Joseph Smith's quote & found this in Elder Richard G. Scott's talk, The Power of Correct Principles.

Joseph Smith’s inspired statement, “I teach them correct principles, and they govern themselves,” still applies. (Quoted by John Taylor, in Millennial Star, 15 Nov. 1851, p. 339.) The Lord uses that pattern with us. 

- Elder Richard G. Scott, "The Power of Correct Principles", Ensign, May 1993, 32