My dear brothers and sisters, the joy we feel has little to do with the circumstances of our lives and everything to do with the focus of our lives.
Russell M. Nelson
The only way to take sorrow out of death is to take love out of life.
You are never too young to learn, never too old to change.
We were born to die and we die to live. As seedlings of God, we barely blossom on earth; we fully flower in heaven.
Obedience brings success; exact obedience brings miracles.
No, we don't own our children. Our parental privilege is to love them, to lead them, and to let them go.
Life is filled with detours and dead ends, trials and challenges of every kind. Each of us has likely had times when distress, anguish, and despair almost consumed us.
As a medical doctor and cardiac surgeon, I had the responsibility of performing open-heart surgery on President Spencer W. Kimball in 1972, when he was Acting President of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles.
Even more amazing than modern technology is our opportunity to access information directly from Heaven, without hardware, software, or monthly service fees.
A saint serves others, knowing that the more one serves, the greater the opportunity for the Spirit to sanctify and purify.
Irrespective of age, we mourn for those loved and lost. Mourning is one of the deepest expressions of pure love.
How much better it would be if all could be more aware of God's providence and love and express that gratitude to Him.
Honoring the priesthood fosters respect, respect promotes reverence, and reverence invites revelation.
Marriage and family are ordained of God. The family is the most important social unit in time and in eternity. Under God's great plan of happiness, families can be sealed in temples and be prepared to return to dwell in His holy presence forever. That is eternal life!
Saints can be happy under every circumstance.
Your life will be a blessed and balanced experience if you first honor your identity and priority.
We can feel joy even while having a bad day, a bad week, or even a bad year!
The decision to serve a mission will shape the spiritual destiny of the missionary, his or her spouse, and their posterity for generations to come. A desire to serve is a natural outcome of one's conversion, worthiness, and preparation.
Our Heavenly Father loves you. He has created you to be successful and to have joy.
One of the most important concepts of revealed religion is that of a sacred covenant.
A covenant made with God should be regarded not as restrictive but as protective.
Eternal principles that govern happiness apply equally to all.
We need women who are devoted to shepherding God's children along the covenant path toward exaltation; women who know how to receive personal revelation, who understand the power and peace of the temple endowment; women who know how to call upon the powers of heaven to protect and strengthen children and families; women who teach fearlessly.
The Sabbath provides a wonderful opportunity to strengthen family ties.
When we speak of faith - the faith that can move mountains - we are not speaking of faith in general but of faith in the Lord Jesus Christ.
I doubt that the Lord cares much which honorable vocation you choose. But He does care if you love one another and serve one another.
As a medical doctor, I have known the face of adversity. I have seen much of death and dying, suffering and sorrow. I also remember the plight of students overwhelmed by their studies and of those striving to learn a foreign language. And I recall the fatigue and frustration felt by young parents with children in need.
To rule children by force is the technique of Satan, not of the Savior.
It is important for you to know who you are and who you may become. It is more important than what you do, even as vital as your work is and will be.
The wise use of your freedom to make your own decisions is crucial to your spiritual growth, now and for eternity.
Contention does not usually begin as strife between countries. More often, it starts with an individual, for we can contend within ourselves over simple matters of right and wrong. From there, contention can infect neighbors and nations like a spreading sore.
I first found delight in the Sabbath many years ago when, as a busy surgeon, I knew that the Sabbath became a day for personal healing. By the end of each week, my hands were sore from repeatedly scrubbing them with soap, water, and a bristle brush. I also needed a breather from the burden of a demanding profession.
As we dread any disease that undermines the health of the body, so should we deplore contention, which is a corroding canker of the spirit.
Agency is a divine gift to you. You are free to choose what you will be and what you will do.
Generally, the younger the victim, the greater the grief. Yet even when the elderly or infirm have been afforded merciful relief, their loved ones are rarely ready to let go.
From an eternal perspective, the only death that is truly premature is the death of one who is not prepared to meet God.
Our personal intelligence is everlasting and divine.
Our Creator expects His children everywhere to educate themselves.
We teach that God's love for His children is infinite.
Married or single, you sisters possess distinctive capabilities and special intuition you have received as gifts from God. We brethren cannot duplicate your unique influence.
Each daughter of God is of infinite worth because of her divine mission.
I fear that too many have sadly surrendered their agency to the adversary and are saying by their conduct, 'I care more about satisfying my own desires than I do about bearing the Savior's power to bless others.'
I feel impressed to counsel those engaged in personal challenges to do right. In particular, my heart reaches out to those who feel discouraged by the magnitude of their struggle.
In one thousand years of Russia's existence, its first popular national election ever to be held occurred in June 1991. Six days later, the Mormon Tabernacle Choir performed in Moscow!
A faithful woman can become a devoted daughter of God - more concerned with being righteous than with being selfish, more anxious to exercise compassion than to exercise dominion, more committed to integrity than to notoriety. And she knows of her own infinite worth.
Faith in the Lord Jesus Christ can be bolstered as we learn about Him and live our religion. The doctrine of Jesus Christ was designed by the Lord to help us increase our faith.
While the family is under attack throughout the world, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints proclaims, promotes, and protects the truth that the family is central to the Creator's plan for the eternal destiny of His children.
Members of the Mormon Tabernacle Choir are not superhuman. They are ordinary people with ordinary frailties. But therein lies the power of their example.
My dear sisters, whatever your calling, whatever your circumstances, we need your impressions, your insights, and your inspiration. We need you to speak up and speak out in ward and stake councils.
All leaders in the Lord's Church are called by proper authority. No prophet or any other leader in this Church, for that matter, has ever called himself or herself. No prophet has ever been elected.
