Obedience in Small Things

Obedience of the heart and soul embraces all of who we are: our behavior and our attitudes, our actions and our desires, our diligence and our love. That kind of willing obedience connects us to Christ in a powerful way and brings His Spirit, love, power, and joy into our lives. A casual, reluctant, surface kind of obedience will not do. The Lord requires of us obedience that is exact, willing, and deep. He wants obedience of the whole heart and soul....

Remember, obedience in small things creates a spirit of obedience in all things. Moreover, obedience in small things brings the Spirit into our lives and strengthens our faith in Christ and our resolve to do His will. It opens our hearts to Him and blesses us with the strength and discipline to withstand temptations to violate the law of chastity, succumb to greed and materialism, or fall into apostasy. Obedience in small things prepares us to give our hearts to the Lord so that we will accept and fulfill the increasingly demanding personal assignments and commandments that come to us from the Lord throughout our lives.

• APRIL 2016
• THE REDEEMING AND STRENGTHENING POWER OF THE SAVIOR’S ATONEMENT

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The Redeeming and Strengthening Power of the Savior’s Atonement

By Elder Kim B. Clark

Of the Seventy

From a devotional address, “All Things Which Are Good Cometh of Christ,” delivered at Brigham Young University–Idaho on March 31, 2015. For the full address, go toweb.byui.edu/devotionalsandspeeches.

When You Face Challenges and Need Capacity Beyond Your Own

There is no sin, no guilt, no shame, no fear, no loneliness, no heartache, no loss, no depression, no sadness, no terror, no pain, no challenge, no weakness that Jesus has not experienced and overcome. He has all power over all things....

If you turn to Christ when you face challenges and need capacity beyond your own, He can strengthen you and magnify your capacity....

In times of trial and at other times, these marvelous blessings can be ours when we look forward with the eye of faith and take righteous action. Looking forward with the eye of faith in times of trial, however, is not easy. The natural man in us looks forward with the eye of fear and sees only darkness, failure, and pain.

Fear does not go away easily. It resists our efforts to overcome it and returns easily...

• APRIL 2016
• THE REDEEMING AND STRENGTHENING POWER OF THE SAVIOR’S ATONEMENT

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The Redeeming and Strengthening Power of the Savior’s Atonement

By Elder Kim B. Clark

Of the Seventy

From a devotional address, “All Things Which Are Good Cometh of Christ,” delivered at Brigham Young University–Idaho on March 31, 2015. For the full address, go toweb.byui.edu/devotionalsandspeeches.

Don't You Know That I Know That He Has Asthma?

• APRIL 2016
• THE REDEEMING AND STRENGTHENING POWER OF THE SAVIOR’S ATONEMENT

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The Redeeming and Strengthening Power of the Savior’s Atonement

By Elder Kim B. Clark

Of the Seventy

From a devotional address, “All Things Which Are Good Cometh of Christ,” delivered at Brigham Young University–Idaho on March 31, 2015. For the full address, go toweb.byui.edu/devotionalsandspeeches.

In 1982 my father and mother submitted their papers to serve a mission. When the call came, it shocked my mother. They had been called to serve in the Philippines Davao Mission.

“No!” my mother exclaimed to my father. “You’ve got to call them and tell them we can’t go to the Philippines. Don’t they know you have asthma? And I don’t want to deal with all those lizards and bugs.”

My father reminded my mother that she had always encouraged him never to turn down a call from the Lord. She knew that was true, but that didn’t make her feel any better. One night a few days later she woke my dad up at about 2:30 a.m.

“Did you hear that voice?” she asked.

“No, I didn’t hear any voice,” he replied.

“Well, I have heard the same voice three times tonight. It said, ‘Why are you worrying? Don’t you know that I know he has asthma? I will take care of him and you. Get yourself ready to serve in the Philippines.’”

My mother and father went forward with faith in the Lord and had a marvelous experience in the Philippines. My father served as the first counselor in the mission presidency, and he and my mother trained hundreds of missionaries and thousands of faithful Latter-day Saints in preparation for the coming of wards and stakes on the island of Mindanao.

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Things Don't Happen When You Think They Should

Some young adults pray and long for a temple marriage but feel they have no power to obtain one. Perhaps the counsel in Doctrine and Covenants 58:3–4 applies:

“Ye cannot behold with your natural eyes, for the present time, the design of your God concerning those things which shall come hereafter, and the glory which shall follow after much tribulation.

“For after much tribulation come the blessings.”

Sometimes tribulation simply means that things don’t happen when you think they should. In the words of Elder Neal A. Maxwell (1926–2004) of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, you must exercise “faith in the Lord’s timing for [you] personally, not just in His overall plans and purposes.”3 This doesn’t mean you simply stand by. As the Prophet Joseph Smith wrote to the Saints, “Let us cheerfully do all things that lie in our power; and then may we stand still, with the utmost assurance, to see the salvation of God, and for his arm to be revealed” (D&C 123:17).

• APRIL 2016
• TAKING THE FEAR OUT OF DATING

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Taking the Fear Out of Dating

By Michael A. Goodman

Associate Professor of Church History and Doctrine, Brigham Young University

What Do I Remember Best?

• APRIL 2016
• PROPHECY AND PERSONAL REVELATION

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FIRST PRESIDENCY MESSAGE

Prophecy and Personal Revelation

By President Henry B. Eyring

First Counselor in the First Presidency

We who listen to and watch the messages of general conference sometimes think afterward, “What do I remember best?” The Lord’s hope for each of us is that our answer will be: “I will never forget the moments when I felt the voice of the Spirit in my mind and heart telling me what I could do to please my Heavenly Father and the Savior.”

Personal Prophetic Epistle

Of this two-way relationship between conference speakers and conference listeners, Elder Jeffrey R. Holland of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles said, “If we teach by the Spirit and you listen by the Spirit, some one of us will touch on your circumstance, sending a personal prophetic epistle just to you.”

Jeffrey R. Holland, “An Ensign to the Nations,” Ensign, May 2011, 113.

Martha and Mary

Although Martha demonstrated marvelous devotion and faith in the Savior in another setting (see John 11:19–29), here she complained, “Lord, dost thou not care that my sister hath left me to serve alone? bid her therefore that she help me” (Luke 10:40). To help Church members learn an important lesson from this episode, Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles once cited a Brigham Young University devotional address by Professor Catherine Corman Parry:

“The Lord did not go into the kitchen and tell Martha to stop cooking and come listen. Apparently he was content to let her serve him however she cared to, until she judged another person’s service. … Martha’s self-importance … occasioned the Lord’s rebuke, not her busyness with the meal."

In Dallin H. Oaks, “‘Judge Not’ and Judging,” Ensign, Aug. 1999, 12–13; emphasis added.

After the Trial

As Elder Scott explained, the “packets of spiritual sunlight” the Lord provides “often come after the trial has been the greatest, as evidence of the compassion and love of an all-knowing Father. They point the way to greater happiness, more understanding, and strengthen [our] determination to accept and be obedient to His will."

Richard G. Scott, “Trust in the Lord,” 17.

Suited to Our Needs

Suited to Our Needs

“Healing blessings come in many ways, each suited to our individual needs, as known to Him who loves us best. Sometimes a ‘healing’ cures our illness or lifts our burden. But sometimes we are ‘healed’ by being given strength or understanding or patience to bear the burdens placed upon us.”

Elder Dallin H. Oaks of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “He Heals the Heavy Laden,” Ensign, Nov. 2006, 7–8.

Put God First in Your Life

“Sisters, of all your associations, it is your relationship with God, your Heavenly Father, who is the source of your moral power, that you must always put first in your life. Remember that Jesus’s power came through His single-minded devotion to the will of the Father. … Strive to be that kind of disciple of the Father and the Son, and your influence will never fade.

D. Todd Christofferson, “The Moral Force of Women,” Ensign, Nov. 2013, 29, 31.

Family Relationships

We owe our families the kind of relationship we can take into the presence of God. We must try not to give offense or take offense. We can determine to forgive quickly and fully. We can try to seek the happiness of others above our own. We can be kind in our speech. As we try to do all these things, we will invite the Holy Ghost into our families and into our lives.

• JUNE 2015
• FAMILIES CAN BE TOGETHER FOREVER

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FIRST PRESIDENCY MESSAGE

Families Can Be Together Forever

By President Henry B. Eyring

First Counselor in the First Presidency

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How Do We Develop Godly Fear?

How do we develop godly fear?

“Godly fear is loving and trusting in Him. As we fear God more completely, we love Him more perfectly. And ‘perfect love casteth out all fear’ (Moroni 8:16). I promise the bright light of godly fear will chase away the dark shadows of mortal fears (see D&C 50:25) as we look to the Savior, build upon Him as our foundation, and press forward on His covenant path with consecrated commitment.”

Elder David A. Bednar of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “Therefore They Hushed Their Fears,” Ensign, May 2015, 49.

Nothing Can Ever Go Permanently Wrong

“If our lives and our faith are centered upon Jesus Christ and His restored gospel, nothing can ever go permanently wrong. … If our lives are not centered on the Savior and His teachings, no other success can ever be permanently right.”

Howard W. Hunter, “Fear Not, Little Flock” (Brigham Young University devotional, Mar. 14, 1989), 2, speeches.byu.edu.

Do What You Promised to Do

 “At the heart of becoming disciples is doing what we promise to do every time we partake of the sacrament—which is to ‘always remember’ the Lord. This means remembering Him when we choose what media we’re willing to expose our spirits to. It means remembering Him in how we spend our time and when choosing between a steady diet of pop culture or the Word of God. It means remembering Him in the middle of conflict or when temptation looms. It means remembering Him when critics attack His Church and mock truth. It means remembering that we have taken His name upon us.”

Sheri L. Dew, “Sweet above All That Is Sweet” (Brigham Young University Women’s Conference address, May 1, 2014), 7,ce.byu.edu/cw/womensconference/transcripts.php.

Thank Him For Patience

Thank Him for Patience

“If you pray, if you talk to God, and if you plead for the help you need, and if you thank him not only for help but for the patience and gentleness that come from not receiving all you desire right away or perhaps ever, then I promise you that you will draw closer to him.”

President Henry B. Eyring, First Counselor in the First Presidency, “Waiting Upon the Lord,” (Brigham Young University devotional, Sept. 30, 1990), 4,speeches.byu.edu.

Antidote For Pride

Enmity toward our fellowmen is manifested in many ways: “faultfinding, gossiping, back-biting, murmuring, living beyond our means, envying, coveting, withholding gratitude and praise that might lift another, and being unforgiving and jealous...
 “The antidote for pride is humility—meekness, submissiveness. It is the broken heart and contrite spirit.”

Teachings: Ezra Taft Benson, 235, 238.

Pride is Enmity

“Most of us think of pride as self-centeredness, conceit, boastfulness, arrogance, or haughtiness,” taught President Ezra Taft Benson (1899–1994). “All of these are elements of the sin, but the heart, or core, is missing.” He said, “The central feature of pride is enmity [hatred or hostility]—enmity toward God and enmity toward our fellowmen.”

Teachings of Presidents of the Church: Ezra Taft Benson (2014), 232.

A Sacred Sabbath

“How do we hallow the Sabbath day? In my much younger years, I studied the work of others who had compiled lists of things to do and things not to do on the Sabbath. It wasn’t until later that I learned from the scriptures that my conduct and my attitude on the Sabbath constituted a sign between me and my Heavenly Father. With that understanding, I no longer needed lists of dos and don’ts. When I had to make a decision whether or not an activity was appropriate for the Sabbath, I simply asked myself, ‘What sign do I want to give to God?’ That question made my choices about the Sabbath day crystal clear. …

“Faith in God engenders a love for the Sabbath; faith in the Sabbath engenders a love for God. A sacred Sabbath truly is a delight.”

Elder Russell M. Nelson of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles, “The Sabbath Is a Delight,” Ensign, May 2015, 130, 132.

Always Remember Him

• APRIL 2011
• TO ALWAYS REMEMBER HIM

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To Always Remember Him

By Elder D. Todd Christofferson

Of the Quorum of the Twelve Apostles

 Remembering the Savior obviously includes remembering His Atonement, which is symbolically represented by the bread and water as emblems of His suffering and death. We must never forget what He did for us, for without His Atonement and Resurrection, life would have no meaning. ...

I wish to elaborate on three aspects of what it means to “always remember him”: first, seeking to know and follow His will; second, recognizing and accepting our obligation to answer to Christ for every thought, word, and action; and third, living with faith and without fear so that we can always look to the Savior for the help we need....

It would also be appropriate to read this covenant as “always remember Him to keep His commandments.” This is how He always remembered the Father. ...

We can begin by stripping everything out of our lives and then putting it back together in priority order with the Savior at the center.We should first put in place the things that make it possible to always remember Him—frequent prayer and scripture study, thoughtful study of apostolic teachings, weekly preparation to partake of the sacrament worthily, Sunday worship, and recording and remembering what the Spirit and experience teach us about discipleship....

I recognize that aligning our will to that of Jesus Christ as He aligned His will to the Father’s is something not easily achieved....

I can attest that over time our desire and capacity to always remember and follow the Savior will grow.