Testimony of the Book of Mormon

Powerful Testimony of the Book of Mormon by Elder Holland...

"Endure To The End"

“Wherefore, ye must press forward with a steadfastness in Christ, having a perfect brightness of hope, and a love of God and of all men. Wherefore, if ye shall press forward, feasting upon the word of Christ, and endure to the end, behold, thus saith the Father: Ye shall have eternal life.”

Book of Mormon, 2 Nephi 31:20


Enduring to the end is a personal responsibility. You are expected to “work out your own salvation” (Philippians 2:12) relying on the merits and mercy of the Savior and His Atonement. As you continue to live the gospel, you will grow closer to your Heavenly Father, enjoy and appreciate the Atonement of the Savior, and experience greater feelings of the love, joy, and peace that come from the Atonement. Your heart will be changed, your family will draw closer together, and you will find security in living the restored gospel. As you continue to exercise faith in Christ, repent from your sins, and renew your covenants, you will enjoy continued guidance from the Holy Ghost. If you endure to the end of your life and stay true to your covenants, you will receive eternal life.

We are who we are!

We are who we are because of our parents, we are who we are because of our grandparents. When two people meet and marry, the child becomes a little of each. They become their parents and they become their grandparents from generations before us, and carry a little of us from the past present and future.

"Peace Be Still"

"In the performance of our responsibilities, I have learned that when we heed a silent prompting and act upon it without delay, our Heavenly Father will guide our footsteps and bless our lives and the lives of others. I know of no experience more sweet or feeling more precious than to heed a prompting only to discover that the Lord has answered another person’s prayer through you." (Thomas S. Monson, “Peace, Be Still,” Ensign, Nov 2002, 53.)

Temple Work!

What a glorious thing it is for us to have the privilege of going to the temple for our own blessings. Then after going to the temple for our own blessings, what a glorious privilege to do the work for those who have gone on before us. This aspect of temple work is an unselfish work. Yet whenever we do temple work for other people, there is a blessing that comes back to us.

My experience at the temple a couple of months ago is one I won't soon forget. The impression and feeling I had that this one man had been waiting a long time for his temple work to be done, I felt the tears well up in my eyes and chills up my back as this man was excepting his temple work. I was excited to go back and finish his endowments, but didn't know the next step.

After a few weeks a neighbor came over and helped me learn the program to progress this man to the next step. It was another small miracle to us that we were able to figure out how to progress him. My neighbor said she had never experienced anything like this before, she then said to me that this man must want me to do his work. His name is Edward Maren Moore, born in England in 1874 we again are stuck. We can only find him and his Mother, and need to seal him to his Mother but can't find if there is a Father, a wife or children. I believe there is... because I can't get this man out of my mind. I think it is his way of telling me or pushing me to look harder.

Please help me in your prayers that I can help find this mans family and put them together. I know how important my family is to me, and how much I need them and want them in my life and in the life to come.

I know when the time is right I will find more of this man and with your help he will prompt me again.

Steadfast Day to Day

"We have in the modern history of the Church contrasting examples of men who were highly favored of the Lord. One, Hyrum Smith, remained totally faithful and committed, even to the giving of his life, while the other, Oliver Cowdery, despite having witnessed 'some great things' in the history of the Restoration, became blinded by his personal ambition and lost his exalted place in the leadership of the Church.

". . . No one except the Prophet Joseph was more honored with the ministering of angels than Oliver Cowdery.

"But when the Prophet Joseph fell upon hard times, Oliver was critical of him and became estranged from him. . . .

". . . Even though Oliver came back, he lost his exalted place in the Church.

"In contrast, President Heber J. Grant said of Hyrum Smith: 'There is no better example of an older brother's love than that exhibited in the life of Hyrum Smith for the Prophet Joseph Smith. . . . They were as united and as affectionate and as loving as mortal men could be. . . . There never was one particle of . . . jealousy . . . in the heart of Hyrum Smith. No mortal man could have been more loyal, more true, more faithful in life or in death than was Hyrum Smith to the Prophet of the living God' ("Hyrum Smith and His Distinguished Posterity," Improvement Era, Aug. 1918, 854–55).

"He responded to every need and request from his younger brother, Joseph, who led the Church and received the revelations which we have today. Hyrum was steadfast day to day, month by month, year in and year out."

James E. Faust, "Some Great Thing," Ensign, Nov. 2001, 46–47

Look to the Divinity within Us

FaustJE_95-99.jpg

"One of this nation's leading pollsters, Richard Wirthlin, has identified through polls an expression of the basic needs of people in the United States. These needs are self-esteem, peace of mind, and personal contentment. I believe these are needs of God's children everywhere. How can these needs be satisfied? I suggest that behind each of these is the requirement to establish one's own personal identity as the offspring of God. All three needs, regardless of ethnic background, culture, or country, can be met if we look to the divinity that is within us."

James E. Faust, "Heirs to the Kingdom of God," Ensign, May 1995, 61–62

"hang by a thread"

This popular prophecy of Smith's is explained in the Encyclopedia of Mormonism:

LDS attachment to the Constitution has been further encouraged by an important oral tradition deriving from a statement attributed to Joseph Smith, according to which the Constitution would "hang by a thread" and be rescued, if at all, only with the help of the Saints. Church President John Taylor seemed to go further when he prophesied, "When the people shall have torn to shreds the Constitution of the United States the Elders of Israel will be found holding it up to the nations of the earth and proclaiming liberty and equal rights to all men" (JD 21:8). To defend the principles of the Constitution under circumstances where the "iniquity," or moral decay, of the people has torn it to shreds might well require wisdom at least equal to that of the men raised up to found it. In particular, it would require great insight into the relationship between freedom and virtue in a political embodiment of moral agency. (Encyclopedia of Mormonism, Vol.1, 1992)

Have Enough Faith

"God expects you to have enough faith and determination and enough
trust in Him to keep moving, keep living, keep rejoicing. In fact, He expects you not simply to face the future (that sounds pretty grim and stoic); He expects you to embrace and shape the future--to love it and rejoice in it and delight in your opportunities... God is anxiously waiting for the chance to answer your prayers and fulfill your dreams, just as He always has. But He can't if you don't pray, and He can't if you don't dream. In short, He can't if you don't believe."


— Jeffrey R. Holland
tags:

Cherish Each Day with Your Families

"Near the end of his life, one father looked back on how he had spent his time on earth. An acclaimed, respected author of numerous scholarly works, he said, 'I wish I had written one less book and taken my children fishing more often.'"Time passes quickly. Many parents say that it seems like yesterday that their children were born. Now those children are grown, perhaps with children of their own. 'Where did the years go?' they ask. We cannot call back time that is past, we cannot stop time that now is, and we cannot experience the future in our present state. Time is a gift, a treasure not to be put aside for the future but to be used wisely in the present."

Thomas S. Monson, "Dedication Day," Ensign, Nov. 2000, 66

“Selfishness is not living as one wishes to live, it is asking others to live as one wishes to live.”

Where Can I Turn For Peace?

"Where Can I turn for peace,
Where is my solace when other sources cease to make me whole.
When with a wounded heart, anger, or malice,
I draw myself apart, searching my soul

Where, when my aching grows,
Where when I languish,
Where, in my need to know, where can I run?
Where is the quiet hand to calm my anguish?

Who, who can understand
He, only One.
He answers privately,
Reaches my reaching,

In my Gethsemane, Savior and Friend
Gentle the peace he finds for my beseeching.
Constant he is and kind
Love without end." (LDS Hymns, #129 - Where Can I Turn for Peace)

Chile Mission Presidents Letter

Read this first. Here is the story I read a few weeks ago from the Mission Presidents wife. Then I read the article from the missionaries. Read it second.
http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/100303chile.html

Chilean Missionary Earthquake Stories

Read this second. Click on the link below and it will take you to this story of the Missionaries in Chile and their earthquake experiences.

http://www.ldsmag.com/churchupdate/100316angels.html#_begart

Mormon Channel

Hey everyone!  If you haven't noticed yet, look to the right a little bit and you'll see a widget for the Mormon Channel!  I thought it would be a good addition, and now we don't have those annoying pop-ups from the daily quotes.  So enjoy!

Rising Generation

I would like to speak specifically to you as you really are. You really are the rising generation in The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints. In October of 1997, Elder Neal A. Maxwell visited the campus of Brigham Young University–Idaho to speak in a devotional. During the day he was on the campus, we talked together about a variety of gospel topics in general and about the youth of the Church in particular. I remember Elder Maxwell making a statement that greatly impressed me. He said, “The youth of this generation have a greater capacity for obedience than any previous generation.”

He then indicated that his statement was based upon a truth taught by President George Q. Cannon: “God has reserved spirits for this dispensation who have the courage and determination to face the world, and all the powers of the evil one, visible and invisible, to proclaim the Gospel, and maintain the truth, and establish and build up the Zion of our God, fearless of all consequences. He has sent these spirits in this generation to lay the foundation of Zion never more to be overthrown, and to raise up a seed that will be righteous, and that will honor God, and honor him supremely, and be obedient to him under all circumstances.”

Elder David A. Bednar

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

CES Fireside for Young Adults • May 3, 2009 • Brigham Young University–Idaho

"Family"

"May every spouse, every child, and every parent be blessed to communicate and receive love, to bear and be edified by strong testimony, and to become more consistent in the seemingly small things that matter so much.

"In these important pursuits we will never be left alone. Our Heavenly Father and His Beloved Son live. They love us and know our circumstances, and They will help us to become more diligent and concerned at home."

David A. Bednar, "More Diligent and Concerned at Home," Ensign, Nov. 2009, 20

Ghana Accra Temple

"In November 1974 President Spencer W. Kimball dedicated the Washington, D.C., Temple. Many of the General Authorities were present. Elder and Sister Packer were among them when, on 22 November 1974, the prophet testified: 'The day is coming, not too far ahead of us, when all the temples on this earth will be going night and day. There will be shifts, of course, and people will be coming in the morning and in the hours of the day and throughout the day and we will have no vacations for the temples. But there will be a corps of workers night and day almost to exhaustion, because of the importance of the work and the great number of people who lie asleep in the eternity and who are craving, needing, the blessings we can bring them.'"

OBEDIENCE

“… [One] aspect of obedience is our obedience to spiritual promptings..
How many times have we felt regret for ignoring a prompting from a higher
source?”

James E. Faust, Ensign, May 1999, 45

He is Reachable Any Time Any Place

“Access to our Creator through our Savior is surely one of the great privileges and blessings of our lives. I have learned from countless personal experiences that great is the power of prayer. No earthly authority can separate us from direct access to our Creator. There can never be a mechanical or electronic failure when we pray. There is no limit on the number of times or how long we can pray each day. There is no quota of how many needs we wish to pray for in each prayer. We do not need to go through secretaries or make an appointment to reach the throne of grace. He is reachable at any time and any place.” James E. Faust

Murry Paul Dickson "True Strength"

“Anyone can give up, it's the easiest thing in the world to do. But to hold it together when everyone else would understand if you fell apart, that's true strength.”

Impressions of the Spirit

“Impressions of the Spirit can come in response to urgent prayer or unsolicited when needed. Sometimes the Lord reveals truth to you when you are not actively seeking it, such as when you are in danger and do not know it. However, the Lord will not force you to learn. You must exercise your agency to authorize the Spirit to teach you. As you make this a practice in your life, you will be more perceptive to the feelings that come with spiritual guidance. Then, when that guidance comes, sometimes when you least expect it, you will recognize it more easily.” Richard G. Scott

Escaping Temptation

“Do not expect to be free entirely from trouble and disappointment and pain and discouragement, for these are the things that we were sent to earth to endure. . . . The scriptures promise, ‘There hath no temptation taken you but such as is common to man: but God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that ye are able; but will with the temptation also make a way to escape, that ye may be able to bear it’ (1 Corinthians 10:13).” Boyd K. Packer,

Remembrance of Sin

"Sometimes we wonder why we remember our sins long after we have forsaken them. Why does the sadness for our mistakes at times continue following our repentance? . . . The scriptures do not say that we will forget our forsaken sins in mortality. Rather, they declare that the Lord will forget (see D&C 58:42–43; see also Alma 36:17–19). “The forsaking of sins implies never returning. Forsaking requires time. To help us, the Lord at times allows the residue of our mistakes to rest in our memory.” Neil L. Andersen,

Young Single Adult Gems - 24 July 2009
Our Savior’s Invitation


“Our Savior extended this invitation to each and every one of us individually:

“ ‘Take my yoke upon you, and learn of me; for I am meek and lowly in heart: and ye shall find rest unto your souls.

“ ‘For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.’

“When we do His work and His will, rather than our own will, we will realize that the yoke is easy and the burden is light. He will be with us always. He will reveal to us the exact portion that we need for success with our families, our career, and every responsibility that we have in His Church. He will help us to grow individually and as brethren in the priesthood.”

Claudio R. M. Costa, “Priesthood Responsibilities,” Ensign, May 2009, 58

"Always Have His Spirit"

A newly baptized member told me what she felt when she received that gift. This was a faithful Christian woman who had spent her life in service to others. She knew and loved the Lord, and she had felt the manifestations of his Spirit. When she received the added light of the restored gospel, she was baptized and the elders placed their hands upon her head and gave her the gift of the Holy Ghost. She recalled, “I felt the influence of the Holy Ghost settle upon me with greater intensity than I had ever felt before. He was like an old friend who had guided me in the past but now had come to stay.”

For faithful members of the Church of Jesus Christ, the companionship of the Holy Spirit should be so familiar that we must use care not to take it for granted. For example, that good feeling you have felt during the messages and music of this conference is a confirming witness of the Spirit, available to faithful members on a continuing basis. A member once asked me why he felt so good about the talks and music in a sacrament meeting, while a guest he had invited that day apparently experienced no such feeling. This is but one illustration of the contrast between one who has the gift of the Holy Ghost and is in tune with his promptings and one who has not, or is not.

If we are practicing our faith and seeking the companionship of the Holy Spirit, His presence can be felt in our hearts and in our homes. A family having daily family prayers and seeking to keep the commandments of God and honor his name and speak lovingly to one another will have a spiritual feeling in their home that will be discernible to all who enter it. I know this, because I have felt the presence or absence of that feeling in many LDS homes.

It is important to remember that the illumination and revelation that come to an individual as a result of the gift of the Holy Ghost do not come suddenly or without seeking. President Spencer W. Kimball taught that the Holy Ghost “comes a little at a time as you merit it. And as your life is in harmony, you gradually receive the Holy Ghost in a great measure” (The Teachings of Spencer W. Kimball, ed. Edward L. Kimball [1982], 114)."Always Have His Spirit"

Dallin H. Oaks, Ensign, Nov. 1996, 59–61

"The companionship of Christlike friends deeply touches and changes our lives. We should well remember that the Lord often sends 'blessings from above, thru words and deeds of those who love'...Love is the very essence of the gospel of Christ. In this church, prayers for help are often answered by the Lord through the simple, daily service of caring brothers and sisters. In the goodness of genuine friends, I have seen the reflected mercy of the Lord Himself. I have always been humbled by the knowledge that the Savior regards us as His friends when we choose to follow Him and Keep His commandments."
Joseph B. Wirthlin - General Conference. Oct. 1997

Am I An Eample ?

“Ask yourself these questions: Am I an example of respect in my home by the way I treat those I love the most? What is my demeanor during a sports event? If my child has a disagreement with a teacher, coach, or peer, do I listen to both sides of the issue? Do I show respect for the property of others as well as take care of my own? How do I respond to others with whom I disagree in matters of religion, lifestyle, or politics?

“As parents and leaders exemplify and teach respect for others, we confirm in the hearts of our children that each of us is truly a child of God and all are brothers and sisters through eternity. We will focus on the things we have in common—on the qualities of heart that bind the family of God together, rather than on our differences.”

Margaret S. Lifferth, “Respect and Reverence,” Ensign, May 2009, 11

Faith

Faith in something greater than ourselves enables us to do what we have said we'll do, to press forward when we are tired or hurt or afraid, to keep going when the challenge seems overwhelming and the course is entirely uncertain.”


Gordon B. Hinckley

We Are Expected To Keep Our Word

Twenty-five years ago Heiko Mazurek was a young German music student in Vienna, Austria. One day he was walking down the street when a Book of Mormon display caught his eye. So he stopped to talk with the missionaries, and they gave him a copy of the Book of Mormon. He began to read it and to accept the missionary discussions. Eventually he was baptized.
Shortly after his baptism he moved back to his home in Germany to accept a teaching position in a music school. As the mission president at the time, I was concerned that a new convert might get lost in the shuffle of moving away so shortly after baptism. I called Heiko’s new stake president and asked him if he could give Heiko some special attention to assure that he remained active and committed to the kingdom.
A few weeks after Heiko’s arrival in Germany, his caring stake president invited him to travel three hours by train to a Saturday stake priesthood meeting to share his conversion story with the brethren. Heiko accepted the invitation with much fear and trepidation.
He’d never spoken to a large audience before, so the evening prior to his appointed speech Heiko spent a rather sleepless night tossing and turning. When the alarm clock finally rang, he turned it off and promised himself he would just sleep for a few more minutes and then get up. (Does this sound familiar?) However, he was so exhausted from his fitful night’s sleep that he awoke too late to catch the last morning train in time to arrive at the stake center to give his talk.
He hurriedly dressed and rode his bike to the small airport outside of town, and although he was a financially struggling musician, he chartered a small plane for $400 to fly him to his destination.
The stake president phoned me in Vienna after the meeting and described how Heiko had arrived all out of breath, but he gave a wonderful and inspiring testimony, and all in attendance were grateful for the sacrifice he had made to attend.
Several months later Heiko visited us in Vienna, and he recounted his experience of chartering a plane to the priesthood meeting. When he concluded, I asked: “Heiko, why didn’t you just call up President Rueckauer and tell him you would not be able to make it to the meeting and that you would be willing to speak on some future occasion?”
Heiko looked at me indignantly as he said: “President Condie, when the missionaries taught me the gospel, they explained the importance of commitments and of making covenants, and they said that when we make a promise to the Lord or one of His servants, we are expected to keep our word.” (See Spencer J. Condie, In Perfect Balance [Salt Lake City: Deseret Book, 2004], 127–29.) To this day Heiko continues striving to do good continually, and Church members still introduce him to their nonmember friends as “the legendary guy with the airplane.”

The Places You'll Go!

Each of you is representative of a generation of young men and women who in the near future will go out into the world and do great and marvelous things—some within the public scrutiny and some more private and personal. You will eventually be found throughout the world because, indeed, the world will be your campus. Without being aware of it, that well-known author Dr. Seuss described you when he wrote:
OH!
THE PLACES YOU’LL GO!
You’ll be on your way up!
You’ll be seeing great sights!
You’ll join the high fliers
who soar to high heights.
. . .
Wherever you fly, you’ll be best of the best.
And he was right when he said:
You have brains in your head.
You have feet in your shoes.
You can steer yourself
any direction you choose.
[Dr. Seuss, Oh, the Places You’ll Go! (New York: Random House, 1990), 11–12, 15; 2]
There is a scripture found in Revelation 3:8 that reads: “Behold, I have set before thee an open door, and no man can shut it: for thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name.”
The Lord has promised each one of you that He will open doors for you to enter and that He will be a beacon of light for you to follow if you but serve Him. He will make available opportunities and experiences that can help you be successful in both the spiritual and temporal areas of your life.

"Act Well Thy Part"
Samuelson, Sharon G.
January 05, 2010

The Tender Mercies of the Lord

Just released 4 hours ago.

Refiner's Fire

The following story is a great example of how the Lord teaches and molds us through life's trials.

There was a group of women in a Bible study on the book of Malachi. As they were studying chapter three, they came across verse three which says: "He will sit as a refiner and purifier of silver." (Malachi 3:3) This verse puzzled the women and they wondered what this statement meant about the character and nature of God.

One of the women offered to find out about the process of refining silver and get back to the group at their next Bible study. That week this woman called up a silver smith and made an appointment to watch him at work. She didn't mention anything about the reason for her interest in silver beyond her curiosity about the process of refining silver. As she watched the silver smith, he held a piece of silver over the fire and let it heat up. He explained that in refining silver, one needed to hold the silver in the middle of the fire where the flames were hottest as to burn away all the impurities. The woman thought about God holding us in such a hot spot--then she thought again about the verse, that he sits as a refiner and purifier of silver.

She asked the silver smith if it was true that he had to sit there in front of the fire the whole time the silver was being refined. The man answered that yes, he not only had to sit there holding the silver, but he had to keep his eyes on the silver the entire time it was in the fire. If the silver was left even a moment too long in the flames, it would be destroyed. The woman was silent for a moment. Then she asked the silver smith, "How do you know when the silver is fully refined?"

He smiled at her and answered, "Oh, that's easy--when I see my image in it."

If today you are feeling the heat of the fire, remember that God has His eye on you.

Author unknown