āAs parents, we should remember that our lives may be the book from the family library which the children most treasure. Are our examples worthy of emulation? Do we live in such a way that a son or a daughter may say, āI want to follow my dad,ā or āI want to be like my motherā? Unlike the book on the library shelf, the covers of which shield its contents, our lives cannot be closed. Parents, we truly are an open book in the library of learning of our homes.ā
| Ensign, Nov. 2000, 65.
āThe Savior teaches that we will have tribulation in the world, but we should ābe of good cheerā because He has āovercome the worldā (John 16:33). His Atonement reaches and is powerful enough not only to pay the price for sin but also to heal every mortal affliction. The Book of Mormon teaches that āhe shall go forth, suffering pains and afflictions and temptations of every kind; and this that the word might be fulfilled which saith he will take upon him the pains and the sicknesses of his peopleā (Alma 7:11; see also 2 Nephi 9:21).
āHe knows of our anguish, and He is there for us. Like the Good Samaritan in His parable, when He finds us wounded at the wayside, He binds up our wounds and cares for us (see Luke 10:34). Brothers and sisters, the healing power of His Atonement is for you, for us, for all.ā
āLucifer whispers that lifeās not fair and that if the gospel were true, we would never have problems or disappointments. ā¦ The gospel isnāt a guarantee against tribulation. That would be like a test with no questions. Rather, the gospel is a guide for maneuvering through the challenges of life with a sense of purpose and direction.ā
| āThis Is a Test. It Is Only a Test,ā The Best of Womenās Conference (2000), 134ā35
The best way to obtain truth and wisdom is not to ask from books, but to go to God in prayer, and obtain divine teaching.
āAll of us, young and old, will do well to realize that attitude is more important than the score. Desire is more important than the score. Momentum is more important than the score.ā
| "Who's Losing?" General Conference, October 1974
WeĀ obtainĀ a remission of our sins by pleading to God, who compassionately responds, but weĀ retainĀ a remission of our sins by compassionately responding to the poor who plead to us.
āCovenants with God are serious and solemn. A man should prepare for, learn about, and enter such covenants with the intent to honor them. A covenant becomes a pledge of self. Paraphrasing the English playwright Robert Bolt, a man makes a covenant only when he wants to commit himself quite exceptionally to a promise. He makes an identity between the truth of the promise and his own virtue. When a man makes a covenant, he is holding himself, like water, in his cupped hands. And if he opens his fingers, he need not hope to find himself again. A covenant-breaker no longer has a self to commit or a guarantee to offer.ā
| The Priesthood and the Saviorās Atoning Power
āI, the Lord, will forgive whom I will forgive,ā but then He said, āā¦ of you it is required to forgive all men… May I add a footnote here? When the Lord requires that we forgive all men, that includes forgiving ourselves. Sometimes, of all the people in the world, the one who is the hardest to forgiveāas well as perhaps the one who is most in need of our forgivenessāis the person looking back at us in the mirror.ā
| The Merciful Obtain Mercy
āThe people around us are not perfect. People do things that annoy, disappoint, and anger. In this mortal life it will always be that way. Nevertheless, we must let go of our grievances. Part of the purpose of mortality is to learn how to let go of such things. That is the Lordās way. Remember, heaven is filled with those who have this in common: They are forgiven. And they forgive.ā
| The Merciful Obtain Mercy
āThere is enough heartache and sorrow in this life without our adding to it through our own stubbornness, bitterness, and resentment. ā¦ We must let go of our grievances. ā¦ That is the Lordās way.ā
| āThe Merciful Obtain Mercy,ā 76ā77
Let us make peace with the past year. Let go of the emotional angst and noise, the frictions and annoyances that clutter our lives. May we grant each other our new possibilities instead of fixating on our past limitations. Letās give the new Scrooge in each of us a chance to change.